Romance: Cowboy Romance: Riding The BIG Bull (BBW Romance, Western Contemporary Romance, Cowboy Romance) (2 page)

As she moved back up the shaft, Paul grew warm with his arousal. Mary teased around the head once more, along the ridge underneath and then spiraling up to the slit once more.

“That’s enough to drive a man insane,”Paul said, his voice breathy now.

Mary traced her tongue down his shaft again, planting slow kissed as she moved. She kissed around and back up to his head and took him into her mouth, sucking as she pressed her tongue against him and slid it down, drawing him in further.

Paul grew harder now, and Mary sucked, wanting to draw out his pleasure from his body. When he finally pulsed, she swallowed him as his passion poured into her body. She did not stop until his moan grew thick. When she pulled away, she looked up at him to see his eyes full of lust.

“So that’s why they call you Twisted Mary, is it?”Paul took hold of her arms beneath the shoulders and pulled her up to her feet. He kissed her hard and passionate, his tongue pushing between her lips. He was hungry for her, and Mary had all of herself to offer him tonight.

I’ll give him everything he wants as much as he wants it. Anything to get him to follow me down that awning.

Paul pulled the laces on the corset that held her dress in place and Mary let it fall to the floor. He pushed her dress down in one motion and stepped back to fill his eyes with her naked body.

“I always heard,”Paul said,“that men called you Twisted Mary because of the way you would twist their desires around, having them serving you on their knees.”

Mary laughed and placed her hands on her hips again.“I have been known to make a man or two grovel. Did you know that our dear doctor likes to polish my shoes with his tongue?”

“I might have spied on you once or twice while you were with your clients.”Paul winked at Mary and she dropped her mouth open. When she saw he was serious, she closed it and narrowed her eyes, wondering if he had any other admissions.“If this is my last night, I have to confess, it was amazing watching you bring powerful men to their knees. I always wondered if I could have you on yours.”

“You just did, if you’ll recall,”Mary said.

Paul shook his head.“Only a fool thinks a woman’s subservient when she does that.”His eyes moved up and down Mary’s body.“Thinking about it, though. I think I would rather be the one on my knees for you anyway.”

He went to his knees and took hold of Mary’s hips, drawing her to him again. His mouth was at her sex, his tongue pressing into the tender skin and tracing up to the gentle nub there. Mary gasped and opened her legs for him as he began to build pleasure in her body. He moved his mouth over her, sucking as he pressed his tongue into the nub and Mary cried out, feeling her pleasure surge and push over her body. Mary ran her fingers through Paul’s hair as her orgasm faded and his ministrations continued.

“That feels so wonderful,”she said.

He said nothing. He only continued to ease his tongue over the nub and suck gently at her sex, taking in her pleasure as it swelled again and washed over her. He did not stop until he had brought it on a third time, leaving her body shaking in the throes of her desire.

“For a man,”he said and kissed her sex gently before looking up at her,“we cannot help ourselves. Once we begin this, all we can do is beg your body for more. It’s like your passion is a nectar that feeds us.”He brought his tongue up the crease of Mary’s sex again and she moaned at the pleasure of it.“Your sex is a darkness that ties us to you and binds us at your feet.”

“Always a poet, aren’t you.”Mary smiled down at him affectionately.

Paul stood and took hold of Mary’s arms, lifting her and throwing her down onto the bed. She laughed as she bounced on the cotton and springs. Then he was upon her, his manhood between her legs, pressing into her sex. She gasped at the feel of him, large and wide there.

Mary delighted in Paul. He was well endowed and he knew how to work in a woman to make it pleasurable for her. He thrust in into her hard and Mary let out a deep and guttural cry. Each push into her was ecstasy as he slid along her wetness, sensitive from the pleasure he had given her. More swelled through her body to be pushed through to her limbs, up her spine, and to her head with each hard thrust into her.

Paul pushed deep into her and Mary put her arms around his shoulders, playing her fingers through the ends of his hair. He held himself there as he pulsed, spilling his pleasure into her body.

He did not stop thrusting, but moved slow now, letting Mary feel the length of him with each pull back and push forward. He grew hard slowly now, and Mary thought he grew wider as well. Her body stretched around him as he worked in her, bringing her pleasure to a gentle swell between her legs before pushing it through her body again, releasing it as a loud moan through her lips.

“I love how responsive your body is to mine,”Paul said. He met Mary’s eyes, and she could see all of the emotion and affection there that he held for her.“I was only going to lay with you that one night. In fact, I was just going to be quick and get back down to my poker game. When I was inside you and felt your body tighten around mine, pulling me deeper into you, I knew I could not do anything else except be there. It was as though you already laid claim to my body.”

“I love you, Paul Raucous,”Mary said. She brought up her hips to meet his body, pulling him deeper into her.“I love how you fill me, and how your eyes draw out my tender side.”

Paul pushed deep into her and his body shook with his pleasure. Mary raised her hips to welcome all of him, feeling his passion spill through her once more.

He pulled out of her and lay beside Mary, his fingers caressing her body. Mary stared up at the ceiling and trembled at his touch, still high from their passion.

“You know if I were not a man of my word, I would take you out of here tonight,”Paul said.“You know that I can’t do it, though. That is also,why you love me. Because you know that I will keep my word, through God’s own apocalypse if I need to.”

Mary sighed and turned her head to look at Paul and meet his eyes.“I know. I just cannot bear the thought that this will be the last night I can lay in our passion and look into those eyes.”

“Do you really think that poorly of my skill?”Paul asked. His voice played at being hurt, but she could see it in his eyes. He knew his chances as well.

“Against any other man, no. I reckon that you could take down the legendary Doc Holiday if given the opportunity and inclination.”Mary sighed and brought a hand up to Paul’s cheek.“I wish there was something that I could do that would see you through tomorrow and back into my arms.”

“You could make me a promise,”Paul said.

“Anything.”Mary’s heart swirled. If her promises could keep him alive, she would give anything.

“Marry me, Mary Steward. Tomorrow, after my showdown with Tom Willis. If I walk back into that saloon, you’ll walk with me to the Padre and let him marry us then and there. Promise me that.”

Mary sighed. If it somehow kept him alive, she supposed that even that, she could do.“I will.”

Paul kissed her lips.“Well then, I suppose we should get ourselves some rest. I have a showdown to survive tomorrow.”

Chapter 3: High Noon

Mary paced along the saloon floor, her long skirt flaring as she turned back and forth. Outside, the entire town was gathered to see the showdown between Rowdy Paul and Marshall Tom Willis. Mary looked at the clock that ticked on the bar. A pair of wire-rimmed glasses sat on the bar in front of it. The glass covering the clock was long since broken, the victim of some brawl, but Earl always checked it to ensure the time was right.

Two minutes until noon.

Mary wrung her hands together and continued her pacing.

She had thought to watch the showdown and found her nerve gone. She had watched many of them. Most were fools, boys who decided they had to prove something for some reason. Occasionally, it would be over the attentions of one of her girls. More often, it was over a slight at the poker table.

Mary liked the excitement of a good showdown. The pounding of boots against the dirt, the sound of leather rustling against cotton, they were all music to her ears. She would pick out her own favorite, and when the guns fired and the dust cleared the air, she would either cheer his victory or be the first to lay her flower over his dead body.

Sometimes showdowns became their own show to watch. When the town was between Sheriffs, Paul had decided to face down a trio of ranch hands who had decided to go rogue on their employer and rustle some of his herd away from him. He had taken out the first two before the dust cleared, all shots going wide of hitting him. The third man ducked behind the saloon’s water trough and Paul danced around his bullets, trying to keep them clear of spectators and use the man’s anger to draw him back into the open. It had worked, and as he came out, Paul took him down with a single shot to the head.

This would be Paul’s last showdown. Mary knew that she should be there, but suddenly her lust for the spectacle was gone.

The tiny chimes of Earl’s clock sounded for noon. Mary listened as the townsfolk outside cheered for Paul. Mary stood still and waited. She could not see outside from where she stood by the bar. She could still hear the sound of boots against packed dirt. As the hush moved over the crowd, she even though she heard the swoosh of leather holsters against thick cotton.

Outside the world was a deathly quiet. Mary’s breathing stopped. The world itself, she thought, had stopped. Then gunshots broke through the silence. Mary heard a cry of pain answer them and fell to her knees, her head down. Her body shook as her tears touched the top of her breasts.

Paul was gone. She thought of the way the sun played in his light brown hair, bringing out flecks of gold. She thought of how his eyes matched the hue of the sky on a clear day. She thought of the touch of his hand, rough and calloused but so gentle over her body. She felt the warmth of his embrace on a cold night. She thought of the sound of his voice as he said her name, how it sounded like music.

“Mary Steward, you did get on your knees for me after all.”

Mary looked up, her eyes wide. Paul stood inside the doors of Earl’s Saloon, his guns in their holsters and the devil’s own grin on his face. Mary leapt to her feet and ran to him, throwing her arms around him, and showering his face with kisses. She tried to kiss each strand of stubble on his cheeks, blessing them for not letting him down.

Paul laughed and pulled her gently away from him, kissing her firmly on the lips. Earl stepped in behind Paul and made his way to his bar. Mary looked into Paul’s eyes as she heard the clunk of thick glasses on the bar.

“You really did it. You beat Tom Willis in a showdown.”Mary kissed him again.“You are the most amazing man I have ever met, Paul Raucous.”

Paul kissed her again.“That I am. Now, I do believe that Earl is serving up some whiskey. Would you care to join me at the bar?I’ll have him bring up one more glass.”

“That I will,”Mary said.

Paul gave her a wink and walked around her to the bar. Mary rose on her toes to see over the heads of those still looking out from the saloon’s porch. Tom Willis stood, bent over his twisted gun. His shoulders shook, and she wondered if he were crying over his loss.

Mary turned and walked up to the bar, taking her place on Paul’s lap rather than a bar stool.

“I told people to stay out a bit,”Earl said.“I thought I’d give you time you need.”He nodded to Paul and Mary.

Mary watched as Earl poured whiskey into three shot glasses. She looked at Paul, curiosity on her face.“Who’s the third shot for?”

Paul tilted his head to the door. Mary turned to see Tom Willis walk in, holding his twisted gun in his hand. He walked up to the bar, bumping into a chair on the way, and uttering a small curse as he did. He sat down on the stool next to Mary and gave her a polite nod before looking to Earl.

“Can you hand me my glasses, Earl. I think I’m about tired of knocking into things today,”Tom said.

Earl grabbed the wire-rimmed glasses in front of the clock and handed them to Tom. Then he placed each of the three shot glasses in front of his guests and leaned back against the back bar, having adopted the devil’s grin himself.

“To all debts being settled.”Paul picked up his shot glass.

“To all debts being settled,”Tom repeated as he picked up his own and lifted it.

Mary looked between the two men, her mind processing everything, pulling together all of the little pieces.

“What are you two doing?”she asked.

“I’m toasting with my Best Man,”Paul said. He nodded to the third shot glass.“It’d be nice if you’d join us. Earl pulled out his best whiskey for the occasion.”

Mary picked up her glass, eyeing both men suspiciously. She joined them in their toast with a raise of her own glass and drank down her shot. The whiskey was warm, but it did nothing to quell the questions on her mind.

“Do you think it’ll be enough?”Earl asked as he took each glass.

“I made Paul the same offer I make any outlaw that’s managed to win the heart of the locals. It keeps peace. It’s not my fault that he’s the first to manage to best me,”Tom said.

Mary looked from Tom to Paul.“How did you best him?”

“It seems Tom is forgetful after a night of drinking and carousing with women,”Paul said.“He left his glasses sitting right there on the bar, but come the stroke of noon, there was nothing he could do about it.”

The look in Paul’s eyes and the grin on Earl’s face confirmed it for her.

“The two of you planned this,”Mary said. She jumped down off Paul’s lap and stepped back so that she had all three culprits in her sight.“And you, Earl, you were colluding with them the whole time.”

Paul laughed and gave Mary a soft smile.“Now Mary, don’t you go blaming Earl for any of this. It wasn’t his doing. Lyn Carlisle practically raised Tom and Ipromised Tom after Carlisle was murdered that I’d see to it the men responsible were brought down.Tom said he would see to it my name was cleared for it. When that couldn’t happen, the decided he would see to it that he had a way to bring me an accounting and let me walk free. All I had to do was make sure the people here loved me enough not to turn me infor the reward.”