And come to think of it, she’d gotten into Deadwood at the exact same time he had, but it had taken her a couple of extra days to make it out here to join her husband. The logical explanation for that was that she’d wanted to see what kind of males she could find to suck dry—and he was thinking of that in the sense of a black widow spider, not as the term sometimes related to the pleasures of sex—before she drove out here to join Captain Wingate.
Longarm managed to regain control of himself, and made a small bow while Wingate completed the formalities of introduction.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”
“Likewise, I am sure, sir.” Amanda Wingate laughed and fluttered her eyelashes shamelessly.
“I believe you will find, Longarm, that my Amanda has a perfectly devilish sense of humor. She pretends to be the flirt, you see, but she is really the sweetest lamb possible, and I do love her most dearly.”
“Yes, I can see that you do,” Longarm said.
Poor sonuvabitch, he was thinking. It was a good thing a cuckold’s horns weren’t visible, or Wingate would have been wearing a trophy-sized rack on his head.
“You will join us for dinner, sir?” Mrs. Wingate suggested.
“It would be my pleasure, ma’am.”
“Sir?” The orderly, or another just like him, was peering in through the headquarters tent flap.
“What is it, Boatwright?” the commanding officer asked.
“Wagons coming, sir. Should be that load of supplies you’ve been looking for. You said you wanted to know.”
“Excellent,” Wingate said with a smile. “Thank you.”
The orderly saluted, the gesture perfunctory and poorly executed, and withdrew.
“If you two would excuse me,” Wingate said, “I have to see to the unloading and distribution of these supplies.”
Longarm touched his forehead—he wasn’t wearing a hat but had forgotten that small detail at the moment— and hurried out on Wingate’s heels. He suspected it would be a good idea for him to avoid spending any time alone with the lovely Amanda lest she bring up things best forgotten now that she was back in the company of her husband.
Besides, there is always something delightfully fascinating about watching others hard at work.
Chapter 29
Pale moonlight entered the small, low-ceilinged dugout as the green elk hide nailed over the door was pulled aside.
There was light to see by for only a few seconds. Then a body filled the space, and quickly thereafter the elk skin dropped back into place, closing out the moonlight.
Longarm was not startled. Hell, he’d been more or less expecting the visit.
He heard the faint sound of cloth rustling in the silence of the night. He’d heard the same thing before. This time, though, it was not something he’d been looking forward to. If there had been a lock on the door into the dugout, he would have bolted it. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been.
“Go away,” Longarm said, his voice low. “Go back to your husband, Mrs. Wingate.”
“What? No hello kiss, Marshal? And after all we’ve been to each other. Imagine that.”
“Like I said, ma’am. Go back to your husband. I don’t want you here.”
“You wanted me before, though. Didn’t you?”
“An’ I gave you what you wanted too, but that’s past now. Leave it be.”
“But dear, I didn’t know then that I was fucking a real United States marshal. You should have told me. It is so exciting, darling, thinking about all those vicious criminals you’ve brought to justice. Have you ever had to shoot any of them? Tell me what it feels like to kill a man.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had to shoot nobody.”
“Now why is it that I have the feeling you are lying to me, darling?” She laughed, her voice brittle in the night. He felt her come nearer to him, although it was so dark inside the dugout that he could not see her. “Can you believe it, dear? That was one of the reasons why I chose to marry Tom. He looked so dashing in his uniform. So … martial.” She laughed again. “A strange twist, isn’t that? My martial lover has been a huge disappointment. But not my marshal. You were quite good, you know. You know how to please a woman. Poor Tom doesn’t know anything more about women than he does about killing. A store clerk, that’s all Tom is. A dull and dreary little store clerk. And he hardly knows what to do with that pathetic little thing between his legs. Now you, darling, that is a hammer you have. And you know how to use it. It makes me wet just thinking about how it was being with you. Why, you are the best I’ve had in … months and months. Truly you are.”
Longarm felt the touch of her hand. Finding his waist. His crotch. Slipping inside his trousers to cup and tickle his balls and gently squeeze his cock. “So big,” Mrs. Wingate whispered as she continued to stroke him. “I love that, you know. Is it true that in Mexico they put on performances where ponies fuck human whores? Have you ever seen any such thing? Do you know how excited it makes me feel, thinking about having a cock that size rammed into me? Tell me they really do that sort of thing, dear, and I’ll head straight for Mexico when I leave here.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course, dear. I have no secrets from you.” She laughed. “Well, hardly any. And none at all that are important.”
“Why’d you come here now? I mean, you’ve already as good as said your marriage was a mistake. I know good an’ well you don’t lack for mate companionship. So why’d you come here in the first place?”
