head was up against the wall. By then, Lucy was squealing and bucking like a filly and Longarm was completely out of his mind. When he finally began to lose control, Lucy locked him into her body, and she almost fainted as her own haunches began to jerk convulsively.
'Holy hog fat,' he panted when he finally caught his breath. 'That was really something!'
'Yes, it was.' Lucy stroked his back. 'I hope I didn't rake you too badly. I just... well, Don Luis was never so strong and I completely lost touch with myself.'
'Me too,' he said, unknotting himself from her embrace and standing on shaky knees. 'But I shouldn't have done that, Lucy.'
'Nonsense,' she said. 'The amazing thing is that You resisted me for as long as you did.'
'I suppose that's true,' he said, feeling a little better. 'You were sure tempting me, weren't you.'
'All the time.' Lucy stood up and her eyes went to the Winchester. 'I promise that I didn't mean to shoot you. I wouldn't have done it.'
He wanted to believe her. 'Really?'
'Yes,' she said, bouncing her head up and down and smiling at him sweetly. 'All that I wanted to do was escape.'
'And if you had, where would you have gone?'
'I don't know. I just... well, the thought of being locked up in the Yuma Territorial Prison completely unnerves me. All I want is to clear my name and try to start life over.'
'If you clear your name, you'll probably inherit your husband's ranch.'
'Probably, although his relatives are sure to contest.'
'You were his wife. You'd have the best claim.'
'I know,' Lucy said, 'but I don't think about that. Longarm, will you please help me?'
'I'll try,' he said. 'We'll stop in Prescott as I've been ordered, and I'll poke around and ask those witnesses some tough questions. Maybe I'll find a couple of inconsistencies in their stories. I don't know, but I'll try.'
Lucy seemed to float across the room, and then she threw her arms around his neck, squeezed it tight, and said, 'I am so lucky that you were the one chosen to escort me to Yuma. It could have been anyone.'
'I guess,' he said, feeling her hands slipping down his flanks to stroke his bare buttocks.
'Let's bathe together,' she said, pulling away.
'You won't try to drown me, will you?' he teased.
'Of course not!'
Longarm climbed into the warm bathtub with Lucy and they arranged themselves real nice together. But while she splashed, hummed, and got him thoroughly aroused again, Longarm made damn sure he kept one eye on his six-gun.
CHAPTER 5
Early the next morning, Longarm was awakened by a loud knock on his hotel room door. He pushed himself erect, then reached to the bedpost and retrieved his sixgun as Lucy stiffed in her sleep and rolled over to stare at him through one heavily lidded eye.
'Who is it!' Longarm called.
'It's Marshal Pat Putnam,' came the reply. 'I need to talk to you right away.'
Longarm sat up in bed. He had met the local marshal on several occasions and had no strong opinions about him, good or bad. Putnam seemed slow and lethargic, but he was said to be honest and fair-minded with a good grasp of the law.
'I'll meet you downstairs in about five minutes, Pat!' Longarm called out. 'Get me some coffee.'
'Will do.' A long pause. 'Are you bringing the woman with you?'
'No,' Longarm said, turning to look at Lucy, who was burrowing deeper under the covers.
'Okay,' Putnam said. 'But I got rounds to make, so don't keep me waiting all morning, Longarm.'
'Five minutes,' he repeated as he knuckled the sleep from his eyes and rolled out of bed.
'What does he want at this ridiculous hour?' Lucy asked. 'For crying out loud, this was to be the first day for me to sleep in since my husband was murdered.'
'Go back to sleep,' Longarm told her. 'I won't be gone long.'
'You're going to leave me unattended?' She looked up at him with a question in her pretty eyes. 'What if I try another escape?'
'I'll lock the door, and I doubt you'll want to risk climbing out this second-story window.'
'You're right.'
Longarm dressed quickly, and although he felt sure that Lucy would no longer try to escape, he buckled on his gun, collected his rifle, and locked their door on his way out.
Putnam was waiting in the small dining room, which contained six tables with red-and-white checked linen tablecloths. Longarm's cup of coffee sat steaming.
They shook hands and Longarm said, 'I was going to come by and check in with you yesterday afternoon, but time just slipped away from me.'
