Annie Gets Her Gunmen Read online

“I want you so very much, Garrett.” She put her hand on his cheek. He lifted his head, leaned in, and kissed her mouth.

  “Trust me. I want you just as much.”

  “Stay with me tonight. I don’t want to be in the room all by myself. Please. I want you to hold me until I fall asleep.”

  She searched his troubled gaze for assurance that he wouldn’t leave her to sleep all alone. After several long moments, he finally nodded. “All right, I’ll meet you upstairs after you’ve finished bathing.”

  She smiled and caressed his face. “Thank you. You really are my hero.”

  “I hope you still feel that way tomorrow.”

  “Of course I will. And every day afterwards. You saved me. I owe you my life.”

  “You don’t owe me, but I don’t want you to be alone tonight. I’d just worry about you.”

  * * * *

  Garrett helped Annie wash her entire body again after she’d called out in the rush of her climax. He almost came in his pants the moment she uttered his name. His cock remained at full attention the entire time he spent in the bathing room. He helped her dry off and almost fell backwards into the tub when she grabbed him and kissed him hard on the mouth.

  She knew what she wanted, and she seemed to desire him. Although perhaps making her come helped her amorous attitude. He should not spend the night in her room but couldn’t bring himself to leave her alone. He told himself it was because he didn’t want her to be frightened if she had nightmares, but more than that, he wanted to make sure she was safe.

  If he did nothing else, he would ensure she wasn’t alone. And if anything happened to relieve the ache in his cock, that memory would also be cherished.

  They climbed the back stairwell without seeing a soul, but halfway back to her room, they heard voices in the hallway, so she went on ahead. He promised to come as soon as the coast was clear.

  He waited only a few minutes before advancing down the hallway and knocking on her door.

  She answered before he finished tapping his knuckles on the wood.

  The moment he stepped into her room, Garrett hugged Annabel to him, breathing in the floral scent of her dewy skin fresh from her bath. She wore only a thin cotton nightgown. A part of him wondered if after this near miss rescue, he’d have to follow her for the rest of his days to ensure she was safe. The initial gut reaction to this epiphany warmed his heart at the mere idea that Annabel could be his for the rest of his days. A woman to love and cherish might be that indefinable something he’d been missing in his lonely life.

  A moan escaped her lips as his hands roamed freely across her soft body. In the warmth of her embrace, Garrett relaxed a bit as they held each other close, kissed, and prepared to join their bodies in shared bliss.

  How would he ever be able to leave her if he made love to her tonight? Hell, given the speed at which they were headed for the brass bed, he only had moments to stop this before it became a luscious memory.

  “Annie,” he whispered against her throat. He would have said more in the form of rethinking this night of passion, but she stiffened in his arms the moment he said her name.

  “No one’s ever called me Annie.”

  “Will you mind if I do?”

  “Not if you only do so while we’re in bed.”

  Garrett laughed. “So in public I refer to you as Miss Wallace, but when we get naked together, then I can relax and call you my Annie.”

  Her coy smile only enflamed his passion more. “Who says we’re getting naked together for more than just tonight?”

  Garrett pulled her away to gauge the seriousness in her expression. “Of course there’ll be more than just tonight. Don’t you want more?”

  “Perhaps. I’m not ruling it out, but this experience tonight is not meant to force you into declaring for me. Not at all.”

  “What do you wish for tonight to be then?”

  “I need to feel safe. You make me feel protected. If it weren’t for you, I’d have died in that canyon. Or wanted to die. I need a loving memory, and I know you’ll provide it for me. That’s the kind of man you are, Garrett.”

  “I won’t deny it, but I don’t want you to think this is ordinary. Far from it. I have feelings for you, Annie. I haven’t sorted them all out yet, but I fully expect to see you again. I’d like to know I’ll be welcome.”

  She narrowed the distance between their bodies by pulling him into her chest. Arms around his neck, she pulled his head down to steal a kiss. “I’ll let you call me Annie whenever we are intimate. And while I wouldn’t expect a future between us, I’m not opposed to it. I have this trip to my friend’s home, and then once I get back to my house, I’ll decide if I want a man in my life. Perhaps we could write to each other once we get back to our respective domains.”

  “Or perhaps you could visit Outpost, Colorado, and decide if it is a place you’d want to live with me and start a family.”

  “Perhaps, but for now, just make love to me. I need to feel protected, and I don’t want to think about tomorrow. Just tonight and you.”

  “All right.”

  “You have too many clothes on,” she said between lip-locks.

  “So do you.” He nuzzled her neck with his scratchy whiskers. He probably should have shaved before contemplating intimacy but hadn’t wanted to take the time. Pulling the neckline of her nightgown to the side, he kissed her shoulder once before nibbling a path to her collarbone. She sat up, slid off the bed, and promptly wiggled out of her nightgown. Garrett stood and raced to disrobe as fast as possible.

  Once they stood in front of each other completely naked, Garrett lowered his mouth and captured her lips in a powerful kiss meant to ensure she understood his immediate intentions. He’d have to do his best to convince her that a future together would be splendid.

  * * * *

  Annabel’s bare legs hit the edge of the brass bed. After all the decadent pleasures she’d experienced in her bath, it was a wonder she could still stand. Garrett’s mouth blistered her lips with a demanding kiss as he bent her back to the mattress. His nude body pressed her into the sheets. The overwhelming mass of his upper body nearly crushed her into the bed until he rose up on his elbows.

  His mouth found one nipple and sucked on it deeply. She arched her back with the pleasure of it and a moan slipped out.

  Garrett kissed his way further down her body to the juncture of her legs. Without warning, his face dived between her thighs, and his tongue licked at her clit. She bunched the sheets in her fists, trying not to scream. The walls were not thick, and she didn’t want anyone to hear what she was doing.

  “You taste like spicy honey,” he whispered against her curls before burrowing his mouth against her pussy yet again. His hands slid beneath each butt cheek and gripped her flesh in large hands as he feasted between her legs.

  The rough texture of his facial whiskers added a new level of arousal to the oral experience. She didn’t think she’d last much longer before bellowing her release if he kept up the pressure on her clitoris.

  As if reading her mind and not wanting her to come yet, his tongue soon shot deeply inside her pussy and lapped at her juices, relieving the pressure on her clit. But not for long. A few seconds later, he wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked.

  Climax building, Annabel focused on not screaming too loud once the pleasure took her over the edge. Garrett sent two fingers deeply inside her pussy as he sucked on her clit. The combination proved to be the end of her blissful endurance.

  She bucked her hips as the orgasm washed over her body. She clamped her lips closed to keep from shrieking the walls down but moaned and moaned as the release rolled through her limbs.

  Garrett kept up the delicious torture for only a few moments longer before he shifted on the bed. Towering over her on his knees, he grabbed his massive cock and stroked up and down the length a few times before lowering his hips. He centered his cock between her slick pussy lips and pushed forward.

  The sheer size of him w
as enough to make her almost come again, as he entered her all the way to the hilt. He groaned and pulled out half way before plunging inside her pussy again and again.

  Arms braced on either side of her torso, Garrett picked up the speed of his strokes and soon was pounding inside her. She slid her hands up his arms and around his neck.

  He lowered his mouth to kiss her as deeply as he pierced her with his cock. The spicy flavor of her essence rested on his lips as he devoured her mouth with his tongue and her pussy with his wide shaft.

  Groaning suddenly, his body stiffened above her, and with one final deep cock stroke, he soon stopped moving inside her pussy and slumped over her again, resting on his forearms so as not to crush her.

  Annabel stroked her fingers through his hair. His face was buried against her throat. His warm breaths skittered across her breasts with each exhale he made.

  “That was amazing, Annie. I don’t know about you, but I feel very safe.” He pulled his cock from her body.

  She laughed and pulled on his hair. “I do feel safe, but that’s because you’re here with me.”

  “I can arrange to be with you for another day or two before I have some obligations to take care of, then I can escort you back home. I know you live in Colorado but not the town.”

  “I know where you live, Sheriff. I promise I’ll contact you in a few weeks. For now, let me keep my secret.”

  A deep rush of warm breath slid across her skin. “All right, you keep your secret for now.” He lifted his head to stare deeply into her eyes. “I care for you, Annie. Don’t ever forget.”

  She smiled. “I won’t. Thank you for all you’ve done.”

  His cock stiffened against her belly. He nudged her. “And I’m not even finished yet. Would you like to try something different?”

  “Like what?”

  “You could get on top of me and ride my cock. Then I could play with your lovely breasts.”

  Annabel smiled and nodded. Garrett shifted on the bed and rolled over to his back taking her with him. Legs wide and open to his hips, she looked down at his large, wide cock. “I can’t believe that ever fit inside of me.”

  He laughed and the expression on his face filled her with love. He was a very attractive man. Not hard to love a man like this. Feelings such as these hadn’t occurred to her in so many years. It was very odd to have experienced it twice on this trip. Even as she filled her body with Garrett’s cock, she couldn’t help remembering Dane’s forceful thrusts the first time they’d made love. Each man was near to perfect as far as satisfaction in bed.

  Annabel lowered her body on to Garrett’s cock and rode him like a horse. True to his word, he played with her nipples as she controlled the speed of the sexual encounter.

  His hand slid down to her clitoris and rubbed, gathering some of her creamy essence on his fingers. Leaning up from the bed, he put his hand around to the puckered hole of her backside and slid one wet finger inside. She sucked in a breath of surprise and stopped moving up and down on his cock.

  “Don’t stop, Annie. Let me try this. I think you’ll like it.”

  The odd sensation of his finger wiggling around her rear hole didn’t hurt, and when she concentrated on moving up and down on his cock again, the pleasure she felt intensified. He was right, she liked it a lot.

  He worked his other hand between her thighs and stroked her clit as she pumped her pussy over his cock to her own rhythm. After several moments of various new sensations rippling across her body, Garrett clamped his mouth over one breast and sucked her nipple between his lips.

  The suction sent a vibrant pulse or arousal to her core and was the final touch needed to send her into orgasmic bliss. She screamed Garrett’s name as the fiercely intense release clamped her pussy muscles around his cock.

  Fingers still embedded in her derriere hole, Garrett pushed his cock deeply into her gushing pussy and growled what sounded like a very strong orgasm.

  She slumped over onto his chest and buried her face against his throat. She hadn’t felt this relaxed and satisfied since the night with Dane. A touch of sadness hit her at the thought. It was a little unnerving to have such strong feelings for two men. Men who were virtually strangers to her, albeit intimate strangers. Although each man was very different in looks and general attitude, she found that each of them had touched her very deeply.

  Having a sexual interest in two men was yet another reason she needed to keep the secret of where she lived very private. She’d have to sort out her feelings for each man later on. After the coming competition was resolved, she’d contemplate her options.

  Garrett slid from beneath her, cleaned them both up with the water provided in the room and snuggled up behind her in bed. They fell asleep together without saying another word.

  By the early morning, Garrett had gone without waking her, and Annabel occupied her thoughts on the future of this trip to the gun competition.

  Two more days.

  Chapter Six

  The unrelenting sway of the stagecoach bounced as if each stone they crossed was a veritable boulder. If she never saw a stagecoach again, it would be too soon. The only other person faring worse inside the close confines of the stagecoach was Edna trying to keep her infant calm during the jarring trip. Annabel didn’t think she’d ever travel such a distance with a young child unless forced at gunpoint.

  There was one more overnight stop before they would make it to her final destination in Pine Haven. In order to take her mind away from the uncomfortable ride, Annabel pondered the challenges she faced once she finally arrived there. She’d have to have her arguments all ready before revealing her identity. Having signed up as A. Wallace, it was possible they were expecting her father to show up. Annabel smiled inwardly at her own clever machinations.

  Not expecting there to be any extra rooms at the local hotel because of the competition, Annabel made arrangements in advance to stay with a long time friend.

  Mary and her husband used to live in Annabel’s hometown. They’d grown up together, although Mary was several years older. Now she and her husband owned a large piece of land in the Wyoming territory just outside of Pine Haven. Nestled in the rolling hills on the south side of their vast property sat the original log cabin they’d lived in until their new home had been built down in the valley. At least that’s the way Mary described it in her letter.

  A place to stay out of town would be perfect. Annabel planned to remain in the cabin and borrow a horse to make the short trip or simply walk the couple of miles out of the town and to the annual competition.

  Leaving Garrett behind had been harder than she imagined. He didn’t approach her the morning after they’d spent the night together, but she saw him standing outside the local sheriff’s office as the stagecoach passed. She imagined he looked wistful, but perhaps it had been a trick of the morning light. Once again, no promises had been spoken, but the night before he’d made sure to let her know exactly where he lived if she ever wanted to contact him. He hadn’t pressed her for information on where she lived, but knowing she traveled on a stagecoach, perhaps he had access to detailed itinerary information. If she didn’t contact him, eventually he’d probably be able to track her down. If he followed the name Wallace, perhaps he’d find her even faster since her father had some fame as a gunsmith in local places near her home.

  Annabel decided she’d be lucky to spend more time in the company of either Garrett or Dane, but stringing two men along wasn’t exactly something she’d planned on letting happen. And given the choice between them, she didn’t expect she could make one. Both men were perfect. Each special in his own way.

  Now that she didn’t have the responsibility of caring for her ailing father, perhaps she might consider the possibility of settling down, finding a husband, and starting a family. She had two excellent choices of men from which to make her ultimate selection.

  The deciding factor might be whichever one didn’t have a problem with her being an expert shot with a pisto
l or rifle. Since she’d learned everything her father knew about making guns, she might continue to create them once she got back home. Another factor in her choice between the two men could hinge on their support of her intended livelihood.

  Her father had a name in the gun making business, and he told her long ago that most men wouldn’t trust that a woman could do the job as well. He advised her to create guns and tell anyone asking that he’d made them before he died.

  Annabel figured she could get away with that for a few years but not forever. Eventually, she’d have to find another way to support herself. The home she’d shared with her father wasn’t big enough to cater to boarders, and her only skill came in the form of gun-smith knowledge and practices. Her father told her long ago she had a knack for it and limber enough fingers to craft nice pieces.

  She’d sold several pieces with the Wallace name engraved in the handle, and no one had ever known that it wasn’t her father’s work.

  Her fiancé had planned to help her carry off the continued ploy regarding the guns her father created and taught her to make. Daniel agreed to “take over” her father’s business and together they’d make the custom guns available for sale.

  In the past seven years, since her first secret sale, no one had ever been unhappy with any of the guns put out under the Wallace name. Everyone assumed that her fiancé Daniel had been her father’s apprentice in the business.

  In fact, Annabel was the only one her father ever trained. He told her she was as good as or better than he was. A nice compliment but the true test had been when she’d sold several of her own guns. The Wallace name was also hers, so it wasn’t exactly a lie. People, or rather men, believed what they wanted with regard to gunsmith skills. Even if she’d admitted being the one to craft the guns, no one would ever believe her anyway.

  * * * *

  The very air was alive with a competitive spirit as Annabel rode into the small town of Pine Haven on her borrowed mare. She’d spent yesterday with her friend, Mary, before retiring last night to the cabin nestled in the hilly landscape of her property. The cabin was just as beautiful as described in Mary’s letters.