Longarm nodded, and turned his horse out into the street. He calculated it was pushing for two o’clock in the afternoon. Neither he nor Davis had had any lunch, but that would have to wait. He had Hannah Diver to worry about first.
She had the door open and was standing in the doorway almost before he could dismount in front of her cabin. Behind him he could hear the rush and roar of the river as it banged and tore against the rocks and the sandbars and banks. He reckoned there were probably trout in the stream. It looked like one of the little rivers he was used to seeing in Colorado.
He walked up to her. She was wearing the same wrapper she’d had on before. It had been hastily and carelessly donned. Some of her was in it, but not all. He could feel a swelling in his groin, but he had no time for that. He was here to take her to jail and he had to keep reminding himself of that.
She said, “Laws, I’ve had me an itch I can’t scratch ever since you left! Where you been?”
He said, “Now, Hannah, we can’t do-“
But he got no further. She grabbed him by the front of the vest, pulled him through the door, and then threw her arms around his neck and fastened her mouth to his. He resisted her probing tongue for as long as he could stand it, but rising desire finally made him join with her, his own mouth covering hers and forcing it open wider and wider. But when he could, he came up for breath and pushed her back gently. He said, “Hannah, we can’t do this. We got some business to tend to.”
She said, “Mister, I’m all the business you can handle right now.” With a quick move she undid the sash of her wrapper and then shrugged it off her shoulders and stood before him naked. He stared at her, unable now to control the desire that was racing through him like a fever. He stared at her belly, noting how the lightness of her skin muted into the light brown hair of her bush, growing darker as it wove its way toward the thatch that sprouted at the joining of her legs. She came toward him and he said, a little breathlessly, “Hannah, now wait …”
But she was tearing at the buckle of his gunbelt. Before he realized what she was doing, he felt the weight leave his hips and heard the clump as his gun kit hit the floor in its holster. He said, “Hannah! That’s a good way to explode a gun.”
She had fallen to her knees, working at his pants belt buckle. She said, “The only gun I want to explode is in here.” Then, faster than he would have thought possible, she had opened his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, and jerked them down around his knees. He felt a shiver of sheer pleasure run through his whole body as she took him in her mouth and began making little sucking sounds. He said, “Oh, oh, oh! Hannah! Be careful! Wait a minute, wait a minute!”
With all the strength he could manage, he reached down, took her by the shoulders, and pulled her up. For a second he bent his mouth to her two erect, hard nipples, the caressing bringing little sounds of pleasure from her. Then he turned her around, facing away from him, and bent her over at the waist, spreading her legs with his hand. She had long legs and was easy to reach. He guided himself into her, surprised at how open and wet she already was. She seemed to get ready faster than any woman he’d ever known.
He held her at the abdomen with both his hands and pulled her buttocks back into him. As he penetrated her, going deeper and deeper with each thrust, she cried out in unison with the movements.
She was leaning forward, her hands on her knees, pushing back at him. As their excitement mounted in tandem, she began letting out little cries that gradually began to run together. He tried to hold himself back, and could feel her begin to tremble. Then it seemed as if they both exploded at the same time. He was dimly aware of a loud screaming and of his own breath and pulse pounding in his ears. He could feel her violent maneuvers, and then his legs turned to jelly and he crumpled, pulling her down with him. He landed on his back on the hardwood floor of the cabin, and she landed on top of him. He was still inside her.
He rested for a moment and then, when he could, lifted her gently off him and set her on the floor at his side. Then, awkwardly, he struggled to his feet, pulled up his jeans, and buttoned and buckled himself as fast as he could.
From the floor Hannah said, “I want some more.”
He shook his head and bent down to retrieve his gunbelt. As he buckled it on he said, “Honey, we can’t. I just come to get you. We’ve got to go into town.”
“Into town?” She frowned. “Whatever for?”
“I don’t really know. But your daddy and your other sisters are at the jailhouse. The sheriff just asked if I’d come escort you in.”
“Whaaat!” She scrambled to her feet and put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean my daddy and my sisters are at the jailhouse! What in hell is going on?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s something about your half-brother. That’s all I know.”
“Half-brother?” Her eyes got cloudy and suspicious. “I ain’t got no half-brother.”
He shrugged. “Then don’t go. All I know is your daddy wants you there. You want me to tell him you ain’t coming?”
She bit her lip. “My daddy is at the jailhouse? My daddy?”
“Dalton Diver. Ain’t he your daddy?”
“Weeell, yes. But what is he doing at the jailhouse? If he’s in any trouble I’ll kill that lard-butt sheriff.”
Longarm shook his head. “He’s not in any trouble. Like I say, I don’t know anything about it. I just happened by and they asked if I’d take word to you. I understand your other sisters are either there or are on the way.”
“What other sisters? You mean the ones still at home?”
Longarm shook his head. “No. I think it’s Rebeccah and Sarah and Salome. You want me to saddle you a horse? Or hitch up a buggy?”
As they were getting ready to leave, Longarm tried to make small talk to keep her mind occupied. He said, “You know, funny thing. You don’t sound like you are from Texas. You got an accent like you hear up north.”
She said, “Naw, I’m from Texas. It must have been from hearin’ Daddy all them years. He used to live in Michigan. That’s way up north.”
