“To think you went to a whore and asked her how to love on a man. Do you know how cotton pickin’ stupid that is?” He scowled and went on, “All you had to do was ask one of us instead of going to the very town we live in to ask for a demonstration. You all but asked for trouble with a capital T-R-B-L-E.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I’d think any of you can bed a woman when not a one of you can spell.”
Emily looked down at herself and noticed how her arms were black and blue, still dirty from the rumble she had with Marshall Coe and his boys. She could barely tell where the bruises were because of the dirt but she knew they were there. Her body was one large painful reminder.
“Maybe I can’t spell well but I can fuck well. Ask anyone I’ve been with and they’ll tell you,” he said.
“I imagine the list would be too long, Clay.” She stomped over to a nearby chair, held onto it and discarded her boots.
“Yep, it would be but that was before I met you. Emily. I promise you, my dick ain’t been inside of any woman’s pussy in days. I swear it.”
“I saw you,” she whispered. “With my own eyes.”
He dragged her to him and held her close. Tilting her chin up, he looked in her eyes. “You saw me playing rough. You saw her give me a hand job, but you didn’t see me fuck her. I held my cock away from her. How the hell do you think I made it down the hall so fast?”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “I guess you’re like a second man or something. I don’t know but I do know what I saw. I’ll never forget it.”
“I hate that. I do but, honey, I gotta tell ya, I’m good but I don’t shoot off that fast. I promise you. And for the record, a man’s gotta finish his business when his dick gets inside of a woman’s pussy. I was angry at ‘cha for going to a whore and asking her how to take care of us. I was damn mad and probably took it too far by playing rough but…ah hell, Emily. There ain’t no excuse for my bad behavior.”
“No, you’re right. You acted like an animal back there.”
“You’re right, I did.” He reached for her and she smacked his hand away.
“I’m still mad, but it don’t matter, of course, if I am. After all, you already said, you ain’t gonna keep me around for long. That’s why you didn’t have to fuck her today. You’ll go looking for her soon enough. One day, you’ll end up there in her bed so at least now I’ll know where to find you.”
Clay looked at Luke and then Levi. “Did either one of you hear me say something so ridiculous? I mean, did I say anything at all about going back to a whore’s bed?”
Luke started to say something and Emily stopped him by raising her hand and spitting her words. “You said, you didn’t stay anywhere long and you didn’t want to make promises you weren’t going to keep.”
“That’s right, he did, Emily.” Levi narrowed his gaze on a disgruntled Clay. “What? You did! You should learn to keep your trap shut if you don’t want to back up what you say.”
“Come here, Emily.” He stalked forward and she backed right up and she kept backing up until she bumped into Luke who held her close but didn’t help her escape.
Clay framed her face. “What I want you to know is that I care about you. I care about you as much as these two but you gotta know something about us from the very beginning.”
Levi grunted and Luke held her tighter so Clay could drive home his point. “If it’s not Marshall Coe then tomorrow or next week, maybe even next year, it’s gonna be somebody. We ain’t the kind that can stay put, now. I’m tellin’ ya this ‘cause I don’t want no tears when the time comes for us to leave, you hear?”
She shrugged.
His lips lowered to hers and he kissed the cry away. It hung in her throat but it never fell from her lips and the only thing he tasted when he kissed her was pure sugar.
Chapter Eight
Percy sent the Cripple Creek Marshall down to meet the Justice boys. Emily stayed close so she could hear them talk in private. She didn’t believe in giving them the opportunity to candy-coat things for her. Besides, if the Marshall was a turncoat, she wanted to see him headed her way before he struck with force. She wanted to get a good look at him and remember his face.
So far, from what Emily knew about any law enforcer, they all hid behind their guns and ran wild with a badge to protect them from overgrown boy mischief. Often, they took matters too far, like Marshall Coe. She trusted no one except Clay, Luke and Levi. After what she witnessed with Clay and the whore, even he was walking a thin line.
She was relieved to see the Marshall’s expression. He acted glad to see Clay and shook hands with Levi and Luke. She heard him say he was happy to meet them and looking forward to meeting their woman. She shook her head when she heard it. News must’ve traveled fast and Percy probably had everyone in town thinking she was their whore. Well, almost everyone in town. The blonde-haired whore and barkeep at the saloon knew better.
The men discussed something about a judge and from what Emily gathered, the Marshall was going to help them talk to this particular judge the next time he was through Cripple Creek. She hoped so. She’d love to see Marshall Coe get what he had coming to him.
After the Marshall rode away, her three cowboys walked back inside and closed the door. She sat down next to the hearth and stared at the flames underneath the iron kettle.
Clay tousled her hair as he walked by her and then he disappeared into the bedroom. Luke pulled her to him. “Everything is fine now, Emily. The Marshall here is a friend, no doubt about it. A telegraph arrived here hours before we did. He knew we were on our way here, or suspected it anyway. He sent Coe a message and told him he didn’t expect Clay or us but if he saw us, he’d let him know.”
“He won’t,” Levi said. “He gave us his word.”
She felt a rumble in her stomach, an uneasy stir that caused her to fight back a temporary sickness. She feared the friendly Marshall was playing two sides. Maybe tomorrow she’d feel differently. Maybe she was just paranoid. But what if she was right?
“They’re in Cripple Creek, boys.” The Marshall stepped out of the telegraph office and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Seems they plan to stay too.”
“Who sent the telegraph?” one of the cowboys asked. “If I’m going to ride to Cripple Creek, I want to know you received the information from a trusted source.”
“Oh, I believe this one here is as trusted as we get. It’s a surprise and I’ll tell you all about it as we ride.”
“Marshall Coe, is the girl with them?” a farmer asked.
Marshall Coe studied the farmer for a long time before he replied. “I’m afraid the girl is dead.”
“I’ll be damned,” someone else said. “They killed her?”
Marshall Coe looked down at his feet and studied his dirty boots before looking up again. “I’m afraid so. Looks like they had their way with her, cut her up and left her somewhere in between here and Cripple Creek.”
“How the hell would you know that?” another farmer asked.
The Marshall slowly descended from the steps and walked out into the dirt road with a group of ten or twelve men. “The man who sent the telegraph told quite a tale. Those Justice boys are nothing more than vicious outlaws and cold-blood killers. It’s up to us to stop them.”
Once they walked over to the jail, he strode three steps and turned to face his small army. “Are you boys with me?”
A few said ‘yes’ and the others nodded.
“All right then. We ride at daybreak tomorrow. Go kiss your women good-bye and tell them to pray for a safe return. We’re going to need God and luck on our side when we face off with the Justice gang.”