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In no time, the woman had placed a steaming plate of delicious food in front of Anna. She figured she must have help in the back as she didn’t think it possible the woman could have cooked up all these meals so quickly.
By the time her stomach was full and she was feeling a whole lot better, Wade polished off his plate as well and sat back to offer her a friendly grin. “Now that is a real meal. Much better than Joe’s stew, don’t you agree, kid?”
Joe lifted his head and shot Wade an evil look, but turned his attention back to his meal. Anna didn’t bother to agree since Wade had already turned his attention away also.
After all the wranglers had finished their supper they made their way over to the saloon that they had been talking about all day long. Admittedly, Anna wasn’t looking forward to it, but since she had no other choice, she followed Wade into the establishment. The place was deafening loud. It was impossible to hear anything over the racket. In the far back corner a pair of men played an upbeat melody on their matching banjos. However, the music could be barely heard over the hoots and laughter of far too many voices trying to be heard over the other.
The air was thick with smoke and Anna couldn’t help but cough as she followed Wade through a throng of people. If it wouldn’t look so obvious she would have liked to have fanned her hand across her face to stop the disgusting fumes from entering her lungs.
Being the place was so busy and there was barely enough room to walk, she lost sight of Wade momentarily before plowing into his back when he reappeared once more. He didn’t appear to notice, however and was leaning far over a long bar to speak to a man she assumed was the owner of the saloon. Naturally, she couldn’t hear a word, but wasn’t interested in the conversation anyway. She turned and studied her surroundings. Another first. Never before had she ever stepped inside a place like this.
There were elaborately dressed women whose clothing barely covered their breasts, and men whose brazen hands touched parts of the women that had Anna’s eyes bulging in disbelief.
“Well hello, lover.” A woman
with deep red hair piled high on her head and wearing a far too provocative and revealing dress than Anna thought proper, came up behind Wade and cupped his buttocks in her hands. Anna instinctively looked away.
“Evening Marion.”
“You certainly are becoming a more regular feature around here.” she cooed and Anna turned in time to see the woman run a painted finger down his chest. Anna had an urge to slap it away. “Careful, or I’ll begin to think you can’t live without me.”
“You know me, I’m always careful,” he said beneath a smile she had never seen before. It was almost seductive. A tightening in her chest made her shift uncomfortably next to him.
As if noticing they had an audience for the first time, the woman turned and looked at Anna. “Honey, you can stare all you want. I don’t charge a dime for that, but you ain’t got pockets deep enough for a roll with me.”
“The boy’s my newest ranch hand.” Wade told her and thanked the bartender who passed him a glass of brew. “We thought tonight would be his initiation.”
The woman’s brows shot upwards and the face she turned back to Anna held a different look. “Well, that makes a whole lot of difference when your pockets are in Wade Haddock’s pants. What were you thinking? A trio?”
Wade shook his head. “I think for his first time it should be special. And with someone more his age.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at Wade in feigned insult. “It’s a good thing you are a good screw Mr. Haddock, or I’d slap your gentleman face.”
Wade barked with laughter and reached over to slap the woman on her backside. “Gentleman, eh? If that was what you were expecting tonight—”
Anna had heard and seen enough. She turned and walked into the crowd, drowning out Wade’s words. Suddenly desperate for fresh air, she became frustrated when she couldn’t remember the direction of the exit. Brushing past bodies, she was pushed, shoved and hollered at until she was thrust into a corner near a set of stairs leading up to the second floor.
It wasn’t outside, but at least she was as far away from Wade and that overly painted woman as she could get. From her place she could still see them huddled close together near the bar. Their heads within inches of each other. More than likely because that was the only way to be heard, but still it bothered her more than she cared.
Feeling uneasy she looked around at all the unfamiliar faces and suddenly felt very overwhelmed. For the first time since this charade had begun, she felt maybe she had gotten herself in far over her head.
From amongst the saloon chatter filling the overcrowded tavern, one recognizable voice reached her ears. It was barely audible, but its familiarity reached Anna like a bullwhip. A trickle of terror ran down her spine. She spun around, trying to place the voice with the person. But there were too many faces. As if being unmercifully teased she heard it again and spun around in the opposite direction. The words were unclear, but the voice triggered a recollection that had a flood of fear coursing through her veins.
Chapter 9
Wade leaned back against the bar and allowed Marion to cape herself across his lap. He took a swig of his brew and looked across the room. The boy was tucked under a small alcove beneath the stairs, and as usual looked like a frightened kitten. The redhead on his lap lifted her dress in order to get a better position on his leg. She dropped the billowing skirt around them and started grinding herself up against him, momentarily drawing his attention away from the boy.
He groaned inside and felt his member begin to stir. Hell, he needed to get upstairs as soon as possible. He had no idea what was going on with his body this past week, but he had felt hornier then a bull during mating season. Take just that morning, when he had awoken with the boy cradled in his arms. He had figured because of the very cold temperatures he had instinctively searched out body warmth and since the boy was closest, that was who he grabbed. He and his ranch hands had used each other’s body heat many times before when the nights became too unbearable. But, hell, not one of them felt soft and warm and smelled like the valley fresh after a rainfall. Nor had any of them left him with a stiff member.
Simply remembering the incident had him cursing himself silently. Maybe it was the boy’s small frame, so similar to a girl’s. Hell, Joe was right on one account. He had never recalled any of his ranch hands smelling so sweet. Wade figured it was the boy’s age and youth which was still on his side. What the boy needed was a little real life, hard-core experience. And the saloon was as good a place as any to get it.
“Why don’t we take this up to my bed, lover,” Marion purred into his ear.
Wade eyed her beneath heavy lids before finishing the last of his drink and grabbed her by the arm. “Let’s go.”
“I love it when you get rough.”
No matter what the state his libido was in, the day had been long and he was beginning to feel the effects. The mention of bed sounded far too welcoming. But first, he would have to speak to the boy. As he approached the staircase, the kid at first wasn’t visible until upon closer notice Wade could see him huddled in a corner in the far back. A memory of that first night when he found him curled up in a fetal position in the furthest bunk came to mind.
