Everyone at the table flinched in reaction to the edge in Slocum’s voice. Wade tried to alleviate the tension by folding his hand and cracking a halfhearted joke. When Slocum still looked like he was ready to punch a hole through Bennett’s face, the miner pushed away from the table and said, “I should probably be going. Lost enough as it is. Evening, gentlemen. Dulcie.”

  “’Night, Wade,” she said.

  “I believe I’ll concede as well,” Mason said. “Seems like you two have matters well in hand.”

  “Oh, don’t be frightened,” Bennett said. “Mr. Slocum’s just spouting off. Play the hand you’re dealt.”

  “Too late,” Slocum snapped. “He said he was out, so he’s out.”

  Mason nodded. “He’s right. I’m out. I believe I have some company waiting for me in my room.” He pushed away from the table, collected what was left of his money, and tipped his hat. The well-dressed fellow didn’t have to walk more than a few paces before some of the company he was after came along to wrap her arms around him and commence negotiations.

  After all her experience in seeing men lose their shirts in card games, Dulcie must have developed a good sense as to when things were about to heat up. Since she hadn’t gotten a signal from Slocum, she folded politely and cast a quick glance over to Conrad. From the corner of his eye, Slocum could see the barkeep motion to one of the big men who made it their business to sniff out trouble and squash it before it could turn a simple night at the Jackrabbit into a bloodbath.

  “You shouldn’t wear your heart on your sleeve like that, sir,” Bennett said. “Especially when playing cards.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes,” he replied, smirking at the sharp tone to Slocum’s voice. “I’ll see your five hundred and raise.”

  After a few seconds ticked by, Slocum growled, “How much you raising?”

  Mr. Bennett passed a hand over his pile of money as if he were a magician performing a minor miracle for an enraptured audience. “All of it.”

  “Fine,” Slocum said.

  “You sure you want to do that?”

  “Yeah.”

  His confidence swelling to unbearable levels, Bennett flipped over a fourth nine. “Like I told you. A man shouldn’t let his emotions run away with him.”

  Slocum nodded slowly. “Maybe you should try to keep that in mind yourself,” he said as he flipped over the seven of clubs, which turned the four cards in front of him into a straight flush.

  It took several seconds for the hand to sink in. Once it did, Bennett made a sour face and pushed away from the table. He glared at Slocum and then flipped open his tailored coat to reveal the finely tooled leather holster around his waist. Slocum’s Colt Navy was drawn and aimed at him before the edge of Bennett’s coat had settled in its new position.

  “You took a hit,” Slocum said. “Take it like a man and walk away.”

  “Or what?” Bennett challenged.

  “Or you’ll take it like a dead man and be carried away.”

  The holster around the rich man’s waist looked as if it had been purchased about an hour ago and the gun was probably carrying the same polish as when it had been resting on a pillow in a display case. Since the sight of it hadn’t done a thing to rattle Slocum, Bennett allowed his coat to cover it up again.

  “No need for theatrics,” he said. “I was merely adjusting the line of my suit.”

  “Of course you were.” Slocum lowered the Colt and tossed a few chips through the air. Bennett caught them only after the clay pieces had bounced off his chest. “Use that to pay for the food you ate. No free meals around here.”

  6

  Slocum’s winnings were wrapped up in a bundle and resting on a chair in the corner of the room he’d rented on the Jackrabbit’s second floor. His gun belt was looped around the back of that same chair so he could get to it if the need should arise. His boots were off and Slocum was in the process of unbuttoning his shirt when someone knocked on his door. He plucked the thick-bladed knife he kept in his right boot and held it so the blade ran along his forearm as he pulled the door open a hair.

  “Who’s there?” he asked when he couldn’t make out more than a hint of an elbow through the narrow crack.

  Dulcie’s face appeared so quickly that Slocum reflexively tightened his grip around the knife’s handle. “It’s me,” she said. “Are you decent?”

  “Mostly.”

  “Too bad. Open up.”

  Slocum stepped back and opened the door. His only reservation to doing so was the fact that it had been a long day and he was looking forward to getting some sleep before an even longer day started. When Dulcie pranced into his room, he quickly lost sight of any reason he might have had for not wanting her there.

  She was in the same dress as before, but her corset wasn’t laced up all the way. The upper few strands had been pulled loose in much the same way a businessman might loosen his tie after a long day at work. In Dulcie’s case, however, her relaxed demeanor allowed the front of her dress to open just a bit more and her breasts to sway a little freer as she strode over to Slocum’s bed. Her rumpled hair spilled over bare shoulders in a way that was even more attractive than when she’d primped for the game.

  “Bet you’re glad to see me,” she said. Holding out a velvet pouch that had the same pattern as her dress, she added, “And even more glad to see this.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Our winnings! Don’t you remember our arrangement?”

  “Oh, yeah. So when do you pay Mr. Bennett his visit?” Slocum asked. “Or have you already been over there?”

  Dulcie tried to look offended, but saw right away that he wasn’t buying it. “I’m just doing my job. Didn’t Conrad tell you that?”

  “He told me a lot of things.”

  “Like I had a deal with Mr. Bennett?”

  “Yep.”

  She waved that off and walked over to the bed. “I told you how I operate. I told you about the signals. Conrad told you what I do around here. If you couldn’t put the pieces together from there, I would have been very disappointed. And if you couldn’t tell what was going on with all those damn drinks he insisted on ordering, I wouldn’t be here right now. Let’s just say,” she added with a beaming smile, “you did not disappoint.” With that, she opened her pouch and upended it over the bed.

  No matter what he’d been feeling before, Slocum couldn’t help but cheer up when he saw all of that money fall onto the bed. He’d already cashed in a good amount of his winnings, but it was always nice to have a little more icing on the cake. “This is my cut?”

  “No, this is the whole thing.”

  “That’s a whole lot of money,” Slocum said as he ran his hand over the mound of cash.

  “And this is after the house took its share. Having you at that table moved the betting up for the whole game. We worked real well together, you and I.”

  “What about Bennett? Isn’t he expecting a share?”

  “He wound up losing and I guarantee my services. I handed back what he paid me, apologized, and that was that. If he’s got any more of a problem, he’ll just have to take it up with Conrad and the boys downstairs with the shotguns.”

  Since he really didn’t care to waste another thought on Bennett’s take, Slocum turned his attention to the money in front of him. “So you brought all this here to split it up, huh? I suppose that’s admirable of you.”

  “Not exactly,” Dulcie replied.

  Slocum turned away from the money and looked over to her. By that time, she was pulling her dress down to expose a pair of firm, rounded breasts. Her nipples were small and became erect as she wriggled out of her clothing. The dress slid over her slender hips and was completely removed with a few more impatient tugs. That only left her boots, which laced all the way up to her knees.

  Smiling widely, she kicked the dress away and turned around to bend over the bed. She twitched her hips back and forth, teasing him with the sight of her tight little backside. “There’s only one thing I like more than winning this much money,” she said while smoothing out the cash so it covered the bed in a more even layer. “And that’s feeling it all over my skin.”

  When Dulcie spread the cash on the bed, she made sure to bump against him whenever possible. He didn’t need any of that to get ready for her. With all the smirks and comments she’d made throughout the card game, he’d been thinking about a moment like this all night long. The fact that she wanted to be taken on a stack of winnings only added heat to the fire. He unbuckled his pants, pulled them down, and freed his stiffening member. She started to turn around, but he held her in place by taking hold of her hips. The feel of her smooth, naked skin got him hard as a rock and he eased his rigid pole between her legs.

  “Oh, God,” she sighed as she bent at the waist and slid her hands beneath the layer of money. “That’s just what I was after.”

  She spread her legs apart for him until Slocum’s cock brushed against the wet lips of her pussy. He shifted his stance, fit himself between her thighs, and buried his penis inside her. Dulcie gripped the top of the bed and let out a satisfied groan. When he started pumping in and out of her, she responded by rocking back and forth to the same rhythm. She was wet, warm, and knew just how to arch her back so he could drive every inch of his erection inside her. When he was in as far as he could go, Slocum gripped her hips and pulled her even closer.

  Dulcie snapped her head up and flipped her hair across her back. “Damn! That’s the spot, John. Right there.”

  Rather than pull out of her, Slocum ground his hips in a slow circle while maintaining a firm grip on her. Dulcie’s buttocks pressed against him and the moisture between her legs made her slicker with every passing second. He eventually eased back, but only so he could pound into her even harder. She grunted and bucked against him as their bodies slapped together with renewed vigor. Slocum placed one hand to the small of her back, which got her wriggling even more.

  “That’s it,” she moaned as she arched her back and lifted her head again.

  Slocum moved the hand on her back to her shoulder while using the other to grab her hair and pull just hard enough to take up the slack. “That what you want?” he snarled.

  “Yes. God, yes!”

  He pulled her hair a little more and pumped his hips at a quicker pace. Before too much of that, he could feel her tightening around him as a series of tremors worked their way through her body. When she climaxed, she leaned forward and pressed her face into the blankets so she could scream as loud as she wanted. Slocum wouldn’t have minded hearing it, but when he pumped into her one more time, she cried out loud enough to make it seem like the blankets weren’t even there.

  He stepped back and allowed her to straighten up. The first thing she did was fix her hair. “That was even better than I thought it would be,” she sighed. Dulcie moved around him with a spring in her step. She ran a hand along Slocum’s arm and chest before moving behind him to start easing him out of his shirt. “You ever seen so much money?”

  “Not for a while,” he admitted.

  “I recommend it. Besides,” she added while turning him around so his back was to the bed, “it’s time I felt you beneath me.”

  Slocum allowed himself to be shoved backward until he dropped onto the bed. The mattress wasn’t the best, but the layer of cash on top of it made it one of the most valuable in town. The money stuck to his skin and crinkled beneath him. Before he had a chance to shove some of it aside, Dulcie was on top of him. She crawled onto him like a cat, scraping her nails against his bare chest and sliding her legs along either side of his.

  “There now,” she purred as she settled so her hips were pressed against him. “Isn’t that nice?”

  “I can think of a few more comfortable spots.”

  She crawled a little farther up along his body until her slick pussy slid along the length of his shaft. “What about now?”

  “Now,” Slocum said as he grabbed her hips again, “it’s your turn to give me some of that hospitality the Jackrabbit’s so famous for.”

  Dulcie smiled and reached down to fit him inside her. “That’s right. My turn indeed.” With that, she impaled herself on him and pressed her palms flat against his chest. She rocked back and forth slowly at first, taking her time by riding his cock so she could feel every inch slide in and out of her.

  Slocum leaned back and enjoyed the view. Her breasts fit nicely within his hands and all he had to do was cup them to get a nice little rise out of her. When he played with her nipples, she closed her eyes and rode him harder.

  The bed creaked beneath them and Slocum added to that by thrusting up as she came down. Dulcie leaned forward so she could grind herself on him once his cock was buried all the way inside her. She placed her hands on the bed on either side of Slocum’s head, arching her back so her tits were brushing against his chest. He reached around to cup her tight little ass while she brushed her rigid nipples against his skin.

  “Good Lord,” she cried. “You’re going to make me . . .” She couldn’t say another word for the next few seconds. When she climaxed again, it was twice as powerful as the one that had come before. She drew a deep breath and held it as her lower body continued its fast, insistent motions.

  Slocum directed her with both hands, pulling her close with every thrust and not allowing her to pull back too far in between them. Indulging a passing fancy, he gave her ass a little swat, which opened her eyes and caused a rush of excitement to roll through her. Feeling that was more than enough to push him over the edge and Slocum gripped her tightly as he pumped into her. Dulcie breathed heavily and hung on for the ride as Slocum buried his cock up inside her and erupted. Then his arms dropped away as if he’d suddenly lost the strength to hold them up any longer.

  “That,” she sighed, “was even better than winning that money.”

  Slocum closed his eyes and lay back as Dulcie climbed off and fell onto her side next to him. The instant her body touched the money that was spread on the bed, she curled up and sighed contentedly.

  “So this is how you celebrate all of your winnings?”

  “Not all of them. Just the really good ones.” Reaching out with one hand to collect some of the bills, Dulcie rubbed them against the front of her naked body and added, “And this is a really good one.”

  “Maybe one of those old men can outdo me.”

  Those words hung in the air for less than ten seconds before both of them started to laugh. Dulcie rolled onto her stomach, played with the money, and absently kicked her feet back and forth. “Mr. Bennett wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything after all those drinks and Mr. Mason wouldn’t have been up for entertaining me like this.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “The girl he took to his room would’ve worn him out in no time at all. Besides, he’s too stuffy to have been much fun anyhow. Even if I could get a rise out of him, he would have just climbed on top of me, stuck it in a few times, and been done with it.”

  “Damn,” Slocum said. “Is that how all you girls talk about the men in this place?”

  “And just how do you men talk about the women you’ve saddled? I suppose it’s all flowery words and batting eyelashes?”

  “I suppose not.”

  “I do need to pay a visit to Mr. Mason, though.” Rolling onto her back so she could stretch her arms out and slide one foot along the top of the bed, she added, “But it can wait until morning.”

  Slocum ran his hand along her belly, enjoying the smooth texture of her skin before moving up to cup her breast. “What are your plans for the morning?”

  “Well, I’ve still got plans for you tonight. Those should get us good and tired and then I thought I’d wake you up properly,” she said as her hand moved between his legs to stroke his penis. Her moisture was still on him, and with a little coaxing, he started getting hard again. “I could take a morning ride, or maybe you’d like to climb on for a spell.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  “But it’ll have to be early. I need to catch Mason before he heads out. I hear he’s got a meeting about some horse deal and he won’t be late for it.”

  Slocum sat up. His hand remained on Dulcie, but was no longer playing with her. Her face immediately soured as she wriggled to entice him to continue what he’d been doing before. “Horse deal?” he asked.

  “That’s right.” She placed her hand on his and tried to move it back to her breasts.

  “Is it a deal with Warren Staples?”

  “I think so. Warren’s been working with a lot of fancy-dressed old men and he always sends them here. I think that’s how he keeps adding to his credit with the owners.” She giggled and added, “The girls are supposed to curl his toes a little just to make sure he keeps steering all those rich men this way.”

  “What’s the deal he’s working on?”

  “I don’t know. Why do you care?”

  “You think you could find out a few things for me?”

  “Probably,” Dulcie replied. “But it might seem peculiar if I become so interested in Mr. Mason’s affairs.”

  “How much for you to make sure it doesn’t seem peculiar?”

  Like a little girl picking out her favorite candy stick, she let her fingers wander through the pile of money until she’d taken out a decent amount. “And this is coming from your share.”

  Slocum knew better than to accept the first offer in any negotiation, so he traced his fingers along her hand and took away about a quarter of the money she’d gathered. “You’re going to his room anyway. Don’t tell me you weren’t going to try and find out a few things while you were there.”

  “Perhaps, but it didn’t have anything to do with the horses he was going to buy.”

  “So he was buying horses instead of selling them?” When he spotted the tight little frown on her face, Slocum removed another couple of bills from her grasp. “Holding out on me so early in the deal doesn’t bode well for working together.”