Taming of Jessi Rose (21 page)

“I can,” Griff replied knowingly. “When Marshal Wildhorse gave me mine, I whined even louder. Told him boils would break out on my body if I put that star on.”

Jessi looked at him. “Boils? You don't have any boils.”

“That's because the thing's been in my saddlebag
since he gave it to me, but it's good to know you noticed their absence.”

His flirting answer made her smile and shake her head. “Do you ever stop?”

The darkness hid his grin. “Nope, and if I didn't think your screaming would wake up everybody around, I'd show you why, right here, right now…”

Her need for him coiled to life. “You know, with your friends around, we won't have any privacy, and that means no more practicing for a while.”

“I know.”

“So what will we do?”

He began to nibble her ear. “I don't know. Shoot them while they sleep, maybe?”

She chuckled softly. “I suppose we can just wait until they're gone.”

His mouth found hers and for a moment speech was forgotten.

When the seal of their lips eased apart, he said, “That's easier said than done. Can you hold out for a few weeks?”

She knew it was a lie, but she said, “Yes.”

He began to laugh. “No, you can't, Jessi Clayton.”

“If you can wait them out, so can I. In fact, it's been proven that women have far more stamina than men.”

He snorted. “What books have you been reading? I'm willing to bet you won't last a week.”

Jessi's jaw dropped and she chuckled, “Are you challenging me, Griffin Blake?”

“Yes, darlin', I am. One week and you'll be so full of need, you won't care who hears you screaming.”

Jessi did not believe him. “You have had too many willing women in your life, Mr. Outlaw.”

“Probably, but I still say you can't last a week. I'm in your blood like snake bite, just like you're in mine.”

“Okay then, you're on. What're you wagering?”

Griff found her fearlessness both humorous and endearing. “Have you ever walked away from a challenge?” he asked wanting to make love to her in spite of the presence of his friends.

“No,” she replied. “What's the wager?”

Amused, he shook his head. “It doesn't matter because you're going to lose.”

She leaned over and kissed him slowly and passionately. When she eased away she whispered. “No, I'm not.”

Grinning, he slid his hand up to her soft, short hair and brought her back to his lips. His lingering fiery kiss filled her with such heat, she melted as if made of wax. When he finally turned her loose, he told her in a hushed voice, “Yes, you are.”

A still spiraling Jessi wanted to retort but couldn't find the will.

“I'll see you later,” he said rising. The smile on his handsome face said it all. “Let me know what you're planning on wagering.”

He left her and disappeared around the side of the house.

In the back, a whistling Griffin found the Preacher sitting outside of his tent reading a Bible by lantern light. The Twins were out scouting the perimeter for varmints.

“Mind if I sit?” Griffin asked. He wondered if Jessi was still sitting on the porch.

“Not a bit.” Preacher closed his Bible and gestured for Griffin to take a seat. He studied Griff for a moment. “You really do care about her, don't you?”

Surprised a bit by the question, Griffin asked, “You weren't spying on me, were you, old man?”

“No,” Preacher replied with a soft chuckle. In reality, Preacher was less than a decade older than Griff, but Griff always insisted on pointing out the age difference whenever they were together.

Preacher added, “Just noticed the way you been watching her since we got here, is all.”

“I do care for her, and I'm as surprised about it as anybody. Never been attracted to an older woman before.”

“Sometimes they make the best kind.”

“So I'm finding.” Griff rubbed the back of his neck. “I always thought that
if
I settled down, it would be with a young one.”

“Both life and love are unexplainable.”

“Do you think I'm in love?” Griff asked.

“Doesn't matter what I think. What do you think?”

“Maybe. Hell, probably, but I know she thinks she's just another notch on the bedpost.”

“And she's not?”

“Nope.”

“What do you propose to do?”

“Find out a way to convince her she's wrong.”

“I'll lend a hand whenever I can.”

“I'd appreciate it. I really would.”

There was a brief silence.

“Do you think this Darcy thing can be fixed?” Preacher asked.

“I do.”

“Then I'll be here for as long as you need me.”

“I appreciate that, too.”

As Jessi lay in bed that night, she smiled thinking back on Griffin. Although she'd never admit it, his kiss on the porch had left her senseless. She couldn't last a few days without his lovemaking, let alone a week. In fact, she wished he were here holding her right now. Deciding it might be best to turn her mind elsewhere, her thoughts moved to Joth. Her desires for Griffin notwithstanding, she missed her nephew's smiling face and hoped he was having a grand time. Closing her eyes,
she sent him a little prayer, then turned over and tried to go to sleep.

An hour or so later, the sound of her door being slowly opened awakened her. Turning to the sound, she tensed then relaxed upon seeing Griffin tipping into the room. Pleased that he'd answered her call, she sat up in the dark and asked softly, “Did you come to lose the bet?”

“Nope, came to keep you warm,” he answered as he closed the door soundlessly. He had on one of her father's robes.

It was warm muggy night and they both knew it, but a delighted Jessi replied, “It is a bit chilly in here.”

“You don't mind me wearing this do you?” he asked indicating the robe as he discarded it.

“No, I—”

He stood before her as nude and as beautiful as a Yoruban god. Whatever else she'd been about to say was forgotten as her desire unfurled in heated response.

She moved over so he could join her beneath the thin sheet and Jessi fit herself back against his bare chest and thighs. The feel of him surrounding her made her want to purr.

“I didn't like sleeping alone,” he confessed.

“Neither did I.” Having him in bed beside her seemed natural, right. Content, she told him, “You know this does mean you lose.”

He whispered against her ear, “How so?” He began to slide his hand over the rise of her nightown covered hip. “I just came to sleep.”

As the lazy caress began to roam further, she replied, “That doesn't feel like sleep to me. I think you're trying to make
me
lose.”

“Me?” he asked innocently.

His hand moved to her breast and slowly began to awaken her nipple. Jessie husked out, “Yes, you.”

He kissed the edge of her neck, “I'm here to sleep, nothing more.”

He was now undoing the buttons on the front of her gown. When he'd opened them to his satisfaction, his seductive play made her arch sensually.

“I'm just helping you relax. Where's all this stamina you were bragging about?”

He slid her nightgown above her hips, then his warm, strong hands proceeded to relax her until her soft gasps rose in the silence.

Still playing with her, he teased his mustached lips across her ear. “Sleepy yet?”

“You're incorrigible,” she pointed out breathlessly.

“And you feel like silk,” he replied thickly.

His hands were magic and she was captured by his spell.

“I suppose I'm not playing fair, am I?” he asked.

“No, you're not,” came her hushed reply.

“Okay,” he said then, “I'll let you go to sleep before you lose the bet.”

“I'm not going to lose.” It was a lie. In a few more moments she wasn't going to give a damn about a bet.

But true to his word, he righted her clothes, much to her disappointment.

Leaning above her, he looked down into her night shrouded eyes. “Better now?” he asked teasingly.

“Incorrigible man.”

He kissed her soundly then held her against him until sleep claimed them both.

 

The new Clayton clan went into town the next morning, and as they rode down the center of the main street, everyone on the walks and in the shop doorways stopped and stared. In the ensuing silence, only the horses' steps could be heard. No one taunted Jessi with ugly names. No one said a word.

“Awfully quiet,” Preacher said, as he rode slowly at Griffin's side.

“That it is,” Griffin replied, eyes cold. He wondered where the folks were who'd yelled out whore on the last visit. Were they too afraid now? Griff hoped so because he planned on taking on the first one who had anything vile to say about Jessi, and he doubted the Twins would show any restraint or mercy, either.

The Darcy Hotel came into view and as they rode by the large white structure, Griff was pleased to see the wood nailed over the shattered glass. He spotted Minerva and Roscoe standing out front by their carriage on the edge of the street, but Griffin spared them hardly a glance.

The Clayton party stopped first at the sheriff's office. Hatcher wasn't pleased to see them. “What do you want, Blake?”

“Good morning to you too, Sheriff Hatcher. These are my friends: Neil July, his brother Two Shafts, and Vance Bigelow. You may know Vance as the Preacher.”

Hatcher stilled. “The bounty hunter?”

Preacher tipped his black hat. “One and the same. Pleased to meet you. Sheriff.”

Watching from the doorway, Jessi thought Hatcher seemed even less pleased now.

“What do you want?”

“To see your Wanted posters,” Griffin said, “and before you say no, we are here in an official capacity. All of my friends are deputies, too.”

Hatcher's jaw tightened. He yanked open a drawer in his desk, reached in, and pulled out a fat stack of posters. He tossed the stack on the desk top. “Here, help yourself,” he told them tightly.

Griffin said, “Jessi, come and take a look, you'd know the faces.”

Jessi didn't recognize anyone in the first five or six
that she glanced at. The men were of all races and were wanted for everything from bootlegging to murder. There were a few women, too, and one face vaguely rang a bell. “You know, if this woman weighed about thirty or forty pounds less and changed her hair, this could be Minerva Darcy.”

Griffin studied the face. He didn't see the resemblance. “I don't know, Jessi, I think you're grasping at straws on that one.”

Jessi shrugged, but went ahead and read the bulletin anyway. The woman's name was Eula Grimes.
Rhymes with crimes
, Jessi thought to herself. Eula was wanted in St. Louis for embezzlement, in Kansas City for counterfeiting, and in Denver for embezzlement and arson. The two embezzlement charges were for marrying men and then disappearing after the wedding. In both cases substantial amounts of money had vanished with her. Jessi still thought she resembled Minerva in an odd sort of way, but Griffin was probably right, she was just grasping at straws.

The faces on the rest of the warrants weren't familiar at all.

“Well, I guess that's that. None of Darcy's men are wanted,” Neil noted, his voice tinted with disappointment.

The sheriff chuckled, “Is that what you were looking for?”

Griff nodded gravely.

“Reed Darcy is smart. Do you think he would be stupid enough to hire wanted men?”

“He's stupid enough to hire a scalp-lock like Percy West,” Griff tossed back.

“And stupid enough to think I'm going to marry him,” Jessi cracked.

By the shocked looks on the faces of the Twins and
the Preacher, Jessi assumed Griffin hadn't told them that part of the story.

Hatcher told Jessi, “If you did, all of these problems would go away.”

“No, thank you. I've been to hell once. I promised I'd never go back.” She turned to her men. “Are we done here?”

“I think so,” Griffin said, noting how hard and cold Jessi's eyes appeared. He knew without asking that the hell she'd referred to had been her time with Calico Bob. “So, Sheriff, are you going to start honoring your badge?”

“What do you know about honor?” he asked caustically. “When you give up everything you have and possess for the one you love and have her die in your arms, then you can judge my character.”

Griffin did not back down. “I've already walked in those boots, Hatcher. A woman I loved more than life died in my arms when I was ten years old. I dug her grave with my bare hands. You and I are a lot more alike than you know.”

That said, he then followed Jessi and his friends out the door.

Jessi made them stop a moment at Gillie's millinery shop so she could make sure it was still locked up tight. Jessi peered through the windows to see if anything were amiss inside, but everything appeared fine.

“Where to next?” Griffin asked Jessi.

“Since our trip to see Hatcher didn't unearth anything, I suppose we can head back.”

Griff polled the Twins and Preacher. Preacher saw no reason to stay, but Two Shafts did. “I need some cartridges. What about the mercantile? Do you think the owner will sell me any, now that everyone knows who we are?”

Jessi said, “I doubt it, but we can always go in and see.”

People were still standing and staring as Jessi and her men moved down the walk. Once again, Jessi Rose Clayton had become the talk of the town, but as always, she didn't care.

The knot of people standing in front of Abe's door skittered out of the way as Jessi and the men made their approach.

Neil July cracked sarcastically, “Nothing like scaring a town full of people to start your day.”