“I grew up hard-shell Baptist myself.”
She laughed and linked her arm with his. “I just meant she doesn’t care what a man does for a living as long as she’s attracted to him.”
Longarm didn’t bother explaining that he had known what she meant. He was a frequent visitor to the Denver Public Library and did quite a bit of reading—especially toward the end of the month when his funds were running low and more expensive pastimes had to wait until he got paid again. He said, “I don’t know that your sister’s that attracted to me. I reckon she was just being polite.”
“I’d say what she did to you in the clubhouse at the racetrack was very polite.”
Longarm stiffened in surprise. “Told you about that, did she?”
“We’re very close. We always have been. There are no secrets between us, Marshal.”
She was very close to him at the moment too. Close enough so that he could feel the warmth of her thigh through their clothes as she pressed against him. Close enough so that when she turned a little, the softness of her breast prodded his arm. She reached across her body with her left arm, since her right was still linked with his left, and boldly rubbed the palm of her hand over the front of his trousers.
The memory of what Janice had done to him had already started his manhood to swelling. Julie’s brazen caress sent even more blood flowing to it. Her hand slid up and down, making a shiver of pleasure go through him. After a couple of infinitely tantalizing moments of that, her fingers began searching for the buttons of his fly.
“Now, hold on a minute, ma’am,” Longarm said.
Deftly, she flipped two of the buttons open, relieving some of the pressure on him. “I intend to hold on,” she said huskily as she found two more buttons and unfastened them. That allowed her to reach inside and free his shaft, which sprang boldly erect as the cold night air washed over it. Julie’s fingers closed around it, feeling even warmer because of the contrast than they might have otherwise.
What the hell was this, a contest? One of the Cassidy sisters had fiddled with him until he came in her hand, so now the other one had to try? Lordy, maybe Julie intended to time him!
He cast a glance at each of the doors leading to the train cars and said, “This is mighty pleasurable, but I ain’t sure it’s such a good idea, Miss Julie. Folks could walk out here on this platform any time-“
“I don’t mind the risk if you don’t, Marshal.”
Janice and Julie were a lot alike, all right, thought Longarm. The chance of being discovered seemed to increase Julie’s excitement, just as it had with Janice. Her breath was coming fast in her throat as she slid her palm maddeningly along the length of his pole. Longarm turned to face her so that at least what she was doing would be shielded from view by their bodies if anybody else stepped out onto the platform.
Then, to his shock, she began sinking in front of him.
She was getting down on her knees, he realized, and he said hurriedly, “Wait a minute, Miss Julie, you’re going to get that nice dress of yours dirty!”
“I don’t care,” she murmured. “I can’t let you think that Janice is the only one who’s attracted to you.”
He felt the hot tickle of her breath against the knob at the end of his shaft, and then the searing heat of her lips as she kissed it. She slid her hand down to the base of his stalk and held on to it tightly as her mouth opened and wetly engulfed the head. Longarm closed his eyes and groaned, his hips twitching as he instinctively delved deeper into the hot cavern of her mouth.
This was a competition, no doubt about it. Janice had brought him to a climax with her hand, and now Julie was bound and determined to do that same thing with her lips and tongue. She was well on the way to accomplishing her end too. Longarm’s shaft was throbbing and swelling already. Julie’s tongue circled him, swiping wetly all around the head of his pole, greedily lapping up the moisture that seeped from him. He shuddered, put one hand on the railing to steady himself, the other hand on her shoulder. He moved it up to her neck, caressing the soft skin under her ear, feeling the slight tickle of strands of hair that had escaped from the arrangement of curls under her hat. One of her hands still held him at the base of his shaft, while the other reached inside his trousers to fondle his sac. Her tight grip had delayed his climax, but he was getting to the point now so that it would take an earthquake to make him hold back—and even that might not do the trick.
Her tongue darted against his opening again in a series of butterfly-light strokes, and that was it. Longarm cupped her chin as his seed boiled up the long tunnel of flesh and erupted from it. He felt the muscles of her throat working against the back of his hand as she swallowed, keeping pace with the flood of juices that came from him. Longarm grunted deeply in pleasure, and a moan came from deep within Julie’s throat as well. She shuddered as her own climax thundered through her.
Longarm gasped for breath and then blew it out in a deep sigh. His legs were about as shaky as a newborn colt’s. Julie licked him clean, her tongue flicking daintily; then, as she buttoned him up again, she said, “My, that was nice, Marshal Long.”
“I reckon you … ought to call me … Custis, Miss Julie.”
“Of course. Help me up, Custis.”
He took hold of her arms and easily lifted her. She tilted her head back to look into his eyes and smiled at him, then came up on her toes and brushed a kiss across his cheek.
“I hope you won’t think I’m completely shameless, Custis. I’m … not in the habit of doing things like this.”
He cupped her chin again, ran his thumb over the tiny dimple there. “No, ma’am,” he said. “I think just as highly of you as I ever did. Never have understood why some folks think that being a mite frisky is something to be ashamed of.”
She laughed. “A mite frisky?” she repeated. “Like a fine mare?”
“I suppose you could say that.”
“Well, then, I’ll take it as a compliment.” Abruptly, her mood grew serious. “Why are you really traveling with the senator, Custis? Has there been some sort of trouble?”
The unexpected questions had him off balance for a second, but he recovered his wits quickly. Maybe he had been wrong about Julie’s motivation for what she had done. Maybe she figured that while he was still grateful for the French lesson she’d given him, she could get some information from him in return.
But why? Surely she didn’t have anything to do with the job that had brought him aboard this train.
Nothing was impossible, Longarm reminded himself. Unlikely sometimes, but not impossible.
Those thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, so there was only a slight hesitation before he answered, “Trouble? Not that I know of. I reckon that’s why I’m here, just to make sure there ain’t any.”
“Well, I feel much better knowing that you’ll be traveling with us for a while.” Her smile was dazzling in the moonlight. “I think I’m really going to enjoy your company.”
“The feeling’s mutual, Miss Julie,” he assured her.
“I have to be getting back to our compartment now. Janice is probably wondering why I’ve been gone so long.” She laughed again. “She’d certainly be surprised if she knew what that breath of fresh air I went out for turned into. Surprised—and disappointed. She’d wish that she could have been here too.”
The image that conjured up had Longarm’s legs feeling a little shaky again. He gave Julie Cassidy a quick hug, then stood there on the platform and watched her go back into the other car. They were damned lucky no one had interrupted them a few minutes earlier. That would have made for a mighty awkward situation, he thought.
He fished a cheroot from the pocket of his vest and chewed on it as he considered the questions Julie had asked him. He had tried to keep the attempt on Senator Padgett’s life as quiet as he could, but it was possible Julie had heard something about it. She wouldn’t know the whole story, though, which would explain why she had tried to pump him. But what business was it of hers if somebody took a few potshots at a politician?