[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter twenty one
Title: RED WEST III.
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: The first chapter in the new year...
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven // Chapter twelve // Chapter thirteen // Chapter fourteen // Chapter fifteen // Chapter sixteen // Chapter seventeen // Chapter eighteen // Chapter nineteen // Chapter twenty //
Heartache
Augusta could not remember the last time anyone threw her off balance so much, if ever. Captain Walker´s behavior made her struggle with such a chaotic mixture of emotions that both her hands and legs started to shake. Not even a warm blanket or the heat of the fire could stop it.
Ever since they had left Buffalo, the captain kept his distance. He treated her politely, yet very formally. However, at the same time, she was well aware of his stealthy glances and gentle touches, like when he helped her into the saddle or handed her a flask of water. Whenever she managed to catch him looking, his eyes told her that John was holding something back. Unfortunately, with each passing day, she felt more uncertain about what it was.
She had been a married woman for more than twenty-five years and it had been a long time since she received proper attention from any man. Already for years before Horace met that whore Elizabeth McCourt, he had rarely performed his marital obligation as her husband. Yet it didn´t occur to her that she could commit adultery as well and acted accordingly. Since Horace´s extramarital affair had already become the public secret, nobody would blame her for it, at least not openly. But she considered herself a woman of principle and didn´t want to fall to her soon-to-be-former husband´s level.
Only now, facing the burning look of the man whom she had liked and admired since their first meeting, she realized that she had never had any real opportunity to cheat on Horace. John Walker attracted her as no other man before. Admitting this fact scared her, because she didn´t believe her affection could be reciprocated.
Augusta had no high opinion of her own appearance and, moreover, she was growing old. Thanks to her status, she often had to deal with false flattery coming from those who wanted to take an advantage of her goodwill. She learned to recognize true intentions behind many empty words the hard way.
Captain Walker was not a liar, but nor was he honest about his feelings. She needed to know if he truly cared for her, or if he just played with her out of boredom and she was being delusional. She had no idea how she gathered courage for it. When his honestly surprised eyes fell upon her face and then lowered to her lips, she could not help but challenge him, even though she feared his reaction as well as her own.
The captain reacted and moved much faster than she had expected and in the next moment, she already found herself in his firm, warm arms.
She only managed to exhale: “John…” before her mouth was sealed with his demanding lips.
The sudden closeness of that damn attractive man warmed Augusta up so quickly that she didn´t even notice the blanket slipping down her shoulders when she raised her hands and circled them around his neck. John pulled her close, his chest pressing against her breasts and his kissing got so passionate Augusta forgot how to breathe. His hard-trained hands around her waist made her feel safe and desirable. She hadn´t felt like this for ages and she loved that.
When John teased her tingling lips for one last time and then slowly pulled away, Augusta couldn´t hear anything else apart from her hard-beating heart for a while. John´s hands shifted, as he soothed her back gently and whispered her name. Only then, she dared to open her eyes and gasped for a breath. The way John was looking at her now left no doubt about what he wanted - that he yearned for her just as she yearned for him.
God, how come I haven´t seen it before? she asked herself amazed.
With a strangely sad expression, John raised one hand and gently touched her cheek.
“I´m sorry,” he said so quietly that she almost missed it despite being right in his arms.
Augusta´s hands, so far comfortably resting on his shoulders, suddenly felt cold.
“About what?” she asked with her stomach clenched.
“That I didn´t endure it,” replied John, with his fingers following the line of her jaw up to ear and then falling down. “That I couldn´t hold back anymore.”
Hearing that guilty tone, Augusta realized what he meant and sighed in relief. At first, she thought he might regret kissing her and that she would not be able to bear.
“That´s what I asked you to do, isn´t it?” she reminded him with a small smile.
John kept observing her expression, as if looking for something: “But you´re married and I shouldn´t…”
“I won´t be for long anymore,” she interrupted him seriously. “Horace made sure I understood that in his last letter.”
Surprisingly persistent, the worried captain started objecting again: “But still…”
“John,” she took his face in her palms. “I can´t describe how happy I´m about what you just did,” she emphasized, feeling her cheeks still flushing.
He covered one of her hands with his: “But was it also the right thing to do?”
Much more decisively than she actually felt, Augusta leant closer to him whispering: “It´s just the two of us here. There´s no one to judge us.”
Something flickered in John´s eyes, something so hot that it made her shiver with excitement.
“You mean it, Augusta?” he asked tensely.
What a silly question that was. John wanted to be sure and she appreciated it, but she never said anything what she would not mean seriously. Suddenly, she was damn grateful to fate for pushing this honest, brave and gentle man into her life. He was everything Horace wasn´t.
“Kiss me again, John,” she requested shakily.
John´s look darkened with desire at her words. Without any warning, he pushed Augusta down on her back and hovered above her, with one of his hands searching for the best way to slip under her shirt. She gulped down heavily, a hot wave of arousal flooding her from head to toes.
“If I do…” John declared hoarsely. “I cannot guarantee that I´ll be able to stop only at that.”
Augusta couldn´t deny that she still felt a bit uncertain and nervous, but her excitement and craving after this man were stronger.
“I don´t want you to stop,” she forced through her tightened throat the most daring words she ever said in years.
On that, John smiled, in a way she had never seen before: “Then I won´t,” he assured her, before leaning down and usurping her lips with a lustful kiss.
***
All the saloon windows were shining brightly and catchy music was playing behind the closed door, which made the tall building a very alluring place to spend the cold, foggy evening. Yet, Kame halted his steps on the opposite side of the darkened street, pretty far from the entrance.
“Lena… Don´t you really change your mind?” he asked hopefully.
The obviously excited girl on his arm looked up to him indignantly: “Kame! You promised!”
He allowed himself an internal sigh. Yes, he made that ill-considered promise to grant Lena one wish, since with his head full of reservation issues, he completely forgot about her birthday and felt guilty about it.
“Nevertheless, I still think it´s a bad idea.”
“Come on, don´t be like this,” Lena fussed. “I´m old enough to try it at least once!”
“Decent girls don´t belong to such places for a good reason,” he reminded her.
Lena stepped away from him with a frown: “Now you sound like our Reverend. Don´t tell me you never broke any of those usual good manners.”
Such an accusation, even if it wasn´t meant seriously, made Kame a bit nauseous. Of course, he did and a hell lot of times… He decided to try a different approach: “If only your parents knew just what you want to do…”
“They would never allow it, I know,” she cut him short a bit annoyed. “But I´m an adult already and you are with me. What can happen?”
“More things than you can imagine,” he assumed pessimistically. “Can´t you just wait for the thanksgiving festival? The whole city will be there, I bet even your parents.”
Lena stood there completely silent and still for a few long seconds.
“So, you´re going to break your promise?” she accused him then almost tearfully. “And here I thought I´m not asking you for that much.”
Kame returned her determined and reproachful gaze and then shook his head in defeat: “All right.”
The girl´s face lightened up immediately: “Yay!”
“But if I tell you to leave, you´ll do it right away, understand?” he emphasized in a futile attempt to tame her enthusiasm.
“Yes, yes!” Lena grabbed his arm again eagerly: “Let´s go already!”
*
Women had no business in any frontier pub, unless they were either saloon girls or whores. That was just the way things were. So, exactly as Kame had expected, once they entered the busy taproom, many astonished and condemning eyes welcomed them.
Assuming the best way to deal with them would be disregard; Kame clasped Lena´s hand and led her the shortest way among the tables to the recently emptied chairs in the corner. He was a little worried what Harada might say about the company he brought along, but the saloon owner himself seemed to be more amused than outraged by the girl´s presence.
And last but not least, a certain person was sitting at the bar counter, in fitting red shirt and with impressive revolvers on both sides of his hips. Kame knew Jin would be working that evening; he just hoped it would be in the brothel as usually. However, it seemed to be the saloon time for Cora´s girls, so he was performing his role of the abusers´ scarecrow here.
“To what do I owe such a rare visit?” Harada asked as he stopped by their table, with his hands full, but the corner of his mouth was twitching with a suppressed smile.
“Birthday celebration, Mr. Harada,” Kame informed him politely, since Lena seemed a bit speechless from all the attention she dragged to herself just by arriving to the taproom. “I couldn´t persuade Lena to think it over…”
The girl glared at him: “Stop it already, Kame,” she complained and defiantly looked up to Harada: “I´d like to finally know what everyone has with that beer and all...”
Mr. Harada nodded with all seriousness he could muster: “I see, I see… Two beers coming right up then.”
And just like that, Kame´s last hope that they could spend Lena´s birthday at her home in peace and quiet was gone.
*
It was supposed to be the usual evening at work with one small change including drinking some beer, which he never did while he was at the brothel. Jin had no idea what his dear boyfriend actually meant by stating that ´he´s busy at Saturday´. Only now, seeing the cute blonde girl by his side, he remembered Kame saying something about the Brices´ girl´s birthday. Though it didn´t make the sight of them any more tolerable.
Lena apparently pulled the best dress out of her wardrobe and Kame - in white shirt and blue waistcoat - looked much neater than Jin was used to seeing him recently. He had to try hard not to stare at that lovely couple all the time.
Fortunately, he was quite busy as well. Saturday evenings in Harada´s Saloon meant men were drinking a lot and the girls were constantly attending to them in the routine dance of alcohol, cards and lust. For once, he was quite grateful for dealings with all kinds of annoying or dangerous situations. Like that, he didn´t have so much time to watch the two of them getting all friendly in that small corner of theirs…
*
Kame could not help but laugh seeing Lena grimacing in disgust after the first gulp.
“I was trying to tell you, but you just didn´t listen,” he reminded her shrugging.
The birthday girl wrinkled up her nose at the tankard: “Does everyone here really drink this?”
“Sure.”
“It´s disgusting!”
“Please, don´t tell Mr. Harada that. It´s mostly about getting used to it,” amused Kame informed her and tasted the beer as well. “Not bad, it´s quite cool.”
“Don´t say,” Lena murmured and stared at the bitter liquid in disbelief, before taking a gulp of it carefully again. “And I wondered so much just what the hell I´m missing.”
“Hangover, headache and nausea,” Kame enlightened her gleefully.
She scowled at him: “Then why are you drinking it?”
“It´s not like I´m a regular in saloons, Lena. And today, I´m here because of you, remember?”
“Right,” she admitted and sipped from her tankard again. “Weird… It´s not that bad now.”
Kame chuckled and wanted to say something, but a sudden ruckus near the bar counter attracted his - just as the most of other guests´ - attention. It seemed that some drunkard behaved inappropriately towards one of the present saloon girls and it didn´t take long for their bodyguard to interfere. It took a few moments of angry yelling and shoving, but in the end, Jin escorted the man out of the taproom without any bigger problems.
Sometimes, Kame wondered what was supposed to be the difference between a saloon girl and a harlot. Since Cora´s girls usually did both, such differentiation seemed unnecessary, but it was apparently a big deal.
Upon the handy bodyguard´s return, all disturbed guests were occupied with their beers and cards again and Cora´s girls flooded their hero with praise and wide smiles. Dana - the very one being abused before - was apparently the most grateful to him. The beer got somewhat too bitter in Kame´s mouth as she forced herself in Jin´s lap and circled her long white arms around his neck.
Kame hid his face in the tankard and took a few long gulps, hoping the beer would help to wash away that aggrieved feeling from seeing Jin quite content with the harlot´s closeness.
“Kame? Are you all right?”
He looked up and moved away in front of Lena´s curious eyes.
“Yeah… Why?”
“You seem upset… Is it really so annoying to be here with me?” she asked quietly, observing his face carefully.
“Of course not, how did you come up with…” without intending it, Kame´s eyes flinched toward the bar counter again and he stuttered. “With… this…”
Dana was kissing Jin. No - more precisely, she was devouring him. It was not any short, provocative kiss on the cheek, which he could have expected and accepted, but a long deep kissing right on the lips. And worst of all, Jin did not seem to mind it at all, more like the opposite.
Kame froze. A part of him realized that this was exactly what they had agreed upon, that their change of behavior might prevent Reverend Kapner from poking his long nose into their relationship. Yet, it didn´t help him to take such a scene calmly and with detachment. Jin was supposed to kiss only his lips like this.
Choking on pointless jealousy, Kame stared at that cheeky girl, who finally pulled away from his boyfriend with blushed cheeks and flirty smile. Jin smiled back at her and then, shaking his head at something she said, he gently pushed her down from his lap.
The blonde harlot danced off to the table of gamblers and Jin´s smile disappeared. He looked around and found Kame´s eyes with certainty of someone who was well aware of where the younger one was sitting. Kame hastily averted his gaze, focusing it inside the half-empty tankard instead. He didn´t want Jin to notice how hurt he was.
A soft, friendly hand patted his arm. Kame returned his attention to Lena, whose eyes were focused on him with unusual, burning urgency.
“So, it´s true,” she said.
A little confused by her words, Kame finally collected himself and remembered he was there in Lena´s company.
“What? What do you mean?”
Lena´s fingers squeezed around his elbow hard, almost hurting him. She leant forward even closer to him; their faces were only inches apart now. Kame was so dumbfounded by his friend´s serious expression that he didn´t even think about backing off this time.
“You two are together,” Lena stated quietly, so that only Kame could hear her words.
He stared at her speechless, shocked for the second time in a row. Was he so distracted with that damn kiss that he couldn´t conceal his reaction?
Kame took a deep, slow breath to buy some time: “Lena, what are you talking…?”
“Don´t even try to deny it,” the girl dismissed his question a bit harshly. “Should I bring a mirror so that you could see yourself?”
He fell silent, trying to comprehend what just happened. Lena sighed, her stiffened expression softened a little and her grip around him loosened. She supported her chin with one hand, not letting her eyes of him: “You´ve always been such a secretive and withdrawn guy, but I got to know you already,” she told him in an emotionally strained voice.
Kame had no idea what to say. Lena turned out to be an unexpected reminder of the fact that there were people apart from his blood brother Liwan, who could see through his pretense. Especially, when he foolishly gave them the time and opportunity.
Surprisingly fast, Lena finished her beer and let the tankard thud on the table. Harada, who still seemed to enjoy the fact that the young girl dared to visit his establishment, shoot them a quick glance. In a short while, he put the next round of beers in front of them. Kame remained silent until the man left to serve another table.
“I´m sorry, Lena,” he apologized then earnestly.
She looked at him surprised: “What for?”
“For that I cannot give you what you´ve been seeking from me,” Kame replied seriously.
Lena chuckled bitterly: “You as my boyfriend was always only my secret wish. You never promised me anything,” she reacted surprisingly self-critically.
“That´s true, but I still hate that you went through this…”
“Just drop it, okay?” Lena pleaded and grabbed the new tankard, taking a long gulp from it. “Huh, I think I´m finally getting a taste for it.”
Kame frowned: “And I think you shouldn´t drink so much.”
“Why? Do you mind it?” Lena smirked in a way, which didn´t suit her at all. “I´m evidently more honest when I do.”
He didn´t exactly agree with such a statement, but neither could he deny it: “I just don´t want you to be sick.”
The girl rolled her eyes: “Oh, please. I´m not sick imagining you two together in bed, what could some beer do?”
Kame´s shoulders subconsciously twitched and he glanced around the taproom, to make sure no one caught the upset girl´s words.
Lena glanced at him with a hint of malice: “What are you so afraid of? That I´ll spill the beans on you two?”
Kame looked her in the eye without a word, which made Lena hunch in her chair.
“I thought you know me better than this,” she accused him.
“Well, since you´re throwing around easygoing statements about my private life, I wonder if I do know you,” he stated harshly, already quite upset.
Lena finally realized that her attitude was not the best she could take and lowered her voice: “I didn´t mean it like that…”
“I really hope you didn´t. You may not realize it, but this is quite a sensitive matter and…”
“I get it! Really,” she interrupted him hastily. “Don´t worry, Kame, I won´t utter a word.”
The tense silence fell upon their table.
Kame observed Lena´s expression and pondered about what to say for a while, before he decided: “If you want to go home, I…”
“No!” she grabbed his hand again. “I want to stay. It´s not like I won´t talk to you because of this...”
“All right,” Kame pulled his chair a bit closer to the girl. Since she didn´t seem to be angry or indignant, he needed to grab the opportunity. “I want to ask - how did you… You know...”
“Figured the two of you out?” Lena completed him with a sad smile. “Well… First, it´s the way you look at him. Second, the way Jin looks at me.”
Kame sent a glance toward the bar counter, but Jin was just talking about something with Harada.
“You mean he´s staring at you or something?” he asked confused.
“Don´t tell me you didn´t notice. Jin doesn´t like me ever since you two got to know each other,” Lena complained with shocking honesty. “He keeps killing me with his eyes since the moment we walked through the door together.”
Kame gaped at her: “I didn´t notice it at all…”
“Naturally,” Lena shrugged. “He´s careful about you not seeing him.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” she confirmed and drank some beer again. “And then there´s also the third point. And you won´t be happy to hear it…”
Kame sighed with a gloomy hunch: “It´s the reverend, right?”
Lena nodded: “His words made me ponder you two more than before. And when I saw you today… You know the rest.”
“Oh, my…” Kame half covered his face with his palm. “This man… He doesn´t know anything about us, yet he keeps pestering us.”
“I´ve noticed you don´t like him,” Lena assumed calmly.
Kame gave her an alarmed look and she raised a hand stopping him from reacting: “For your information - I don´t like him at all either. He´s… I don’t even know how to say it… slimy?”
“I cannot agree more,” he murmured.
“He´s the reason why you started to visit the Sunday Masses, right?” Lena figured.
“Well, yes… You can imagine that we don´t need his attention. I figured he might stop bothering us with it every other day, if we go there from time to time.”
“I see…” Lena murmured in understanding.
They both looked to the bar, where Jin was in the middle of pulling apart the two drunks. They had apparently started to quarrel over the same woman. Jin´s employer - Cora - was involved as well, persuading the two along with her bouncer. It seemed they succeeded since the situation calmed down quickly and those men went to dance with two other girls.
Jin and Cora remained standing at the bar and the woman squeezed Jin´s shoulder gratefully, leaning close to him. She was very pretty, much prettier than Dana was, as Kame realized with the freshly awakened jealousy.
Lena spoke again suddenly: “Why is Jin flirting like this with them if he´s… you know - with you?”
Not seeing the reason for explaining Lena their complicated situation, Kame wanted to dismiss her first, but then he reconsidered. After all, there was nobody else to whom he could confide.
“I know it seems strange, but we agreed that we need some cover to escape Reverend´s attention and figured this might be the way.”
“Ah, I see...” Lena seemed to ponder it a bit. “But… it hurts you,” she said then.
Kame did not react to that and rather raised the tankard to his lips again.
“Do you love him?” Lena asked then, only to reply to herself right away, even before startled Kame could stop coughing the beer out from his lungs. “Who am I kidding? Of course, you do. After everything, why should I be surprised?”
“Lena, I…”
“I´ve got an idea,” she didn´t let him continue and winked at him conspiratorially. “What about I would help you with that cover-up you two need?”
Kame´s eyes widened: “That… I cannot ask you for something like that, Lena!”
“In case you haven´t noticed - you´re not asking, I´m offering.”
“I don´t want to drag you into this,” upset Kame insisted.
“Really? Since I´m probably the only one in the city who knows about you two, I´m kind of dragged in already, don’t you think?”
Kame stared at her, then at the table.
“Am I or not?” Lena repeated stubbornly.
“You wouldn´t talk like this if you were sober,” he brushed her off.
“You´re afraid I might change my mind and tell on you?”
“No. I just don´t want to hurt you, Lena.”
The girl shook her head in disbelief: “Too late to worry about that,” and then she rose from her chair and kissed surprised Kame on the lips.
*
Jin spat out the first gulp from the new tankard of beer, which earned him a resentful stare from Harada. He coughed, trying to get rid of the unwanted liquid in his lungs. It was not because the alcohol would be so disgusting; he just looked in the specific direction at the wrong moment.
He had been a bit worried how his boyfriend would react on his behavior in the saloon, but it was also kind of fun seeing Kame getting jealous because of Dana. Nevertheless, it was much less amusing to see him kissing someone else. Then Jin realized that jealousy was not funny at all.
Frowning, he glanced toward their table again. The blonde girl´s hand was on Kame´s face and she was smiling, whispering something in his ear. Kame seemed surprised and pleased at the same time, obviously not perceiving anything or anyone else apart from that girl.
Damn it, how dare she? Jin cursed in his mind.
Kame had always claimed that Lena Brice was nothing more than his friend and something like a younger sister and now he´s drinking and kissing with her in the saloon in front of everyone? What in the hell happened between those two?
“Whoa, what´s the scary face for?”
Jin turned to his side, finally remembering that he was supposed to continue in the conversation with Cora.
“Nothing, it´s just a bit warm,” he murmured and quickly buried his nose in the tankard again.
“Hey, don´t lie to me,” his employer complained. “I haven´t noticed anyone else causing troubles… Is it something I said?”
Jin hesitated what to say.
“I´m not upset because of Dana, if that´s the case,” Cora leant closer to him with a meaningful smile. “Just a bit surprised. You seemed to take my girls as off limits up until now.”
“And I still do! It´s just…”
“She´s quite persistent, isn´t she?” she finished instead of him.
“Well, yeah…” he admitted, actually relieved he didn´t have to make up any other excuse.
“She has always had a soft spot for you. Not that I´d be surprised.”
“Because you´ve got it as well?” Jin asked before he could think better.
Cora flinched a little.
Jin, you idiot that was quite tactless…
“Sorry. I didn´t mean to…” he rather shut up.
“No, it´s fine,” Cora looked away from him. “You´re right, anyway…” she added quietly and grabbed the glass with her drink.
Great, Jin groaned wordlessly. Their conversation just went from bad to worse. Not that he wouldn´t be pleased by her attention, but he didn´t want to complicate things even more. And Cora´s signs were telling him that she would not be against certain kind of complications between them. Fortunately, before he could think of what to say, Dana appeared at his side.
“Jin, come with me, please! There´s a jerk who insists on taking Jess outside.”
“Ah, yeah, of course…” he took one more gulp from his beer before standing up.
“Should I come with you?” Cora eyed him with unreadable expression.
“I´ll handle it,” he assured her and followed Dana out of the taproom.
*
“So, where is he?” Jin looked around the dark corridor, not seeing any suspicious figure nearby.
“No one like that is here,” Dana behind him admitted.
“What?” confused, he turned to the girl to find her blushing.
“Well, I figured I might save you… It seemed to me that your talk with Cora was kind of unpleasant?”
Jin sighed and only now relaxed: “Maybe a little.”
“See? And… I also wanted to be with you alone for a while.”
Suddenly, Dana pressed against him with her whole body, her lips caressing his chin. Surprised Jin had to lean over the wall to keep them steady.
“Dana, I…”
“Do you want to come with me?” she whispered. “We can enjoy some fun,” her hand slipped down and pressed against Jin´s crotch longingly. “I´ve had enough of those stinking drunks for tonight.”
Jin held his breath and pushed the girl further from him, escaping her teasing touch: “Haven´t you been drinking quite a bit?” he asked with emphasis.
“Only a little,” the girl winked. “Come on…”
Jin shook his head, already fully realizing that Dana wasn´t herself: “Thanks, but not tonight, Dana.”
“Nah, always so polite,” she pursed her lips. “You didn´t seem to mind my company at the bar…”
“And I didn´t, but…”
“So, what´s the problem?” her sneaky fingers grasped his manhood skillfully through the fabric of his trousers. “It´s not here, I can tell,” she grinned.
“Dana, stop it!” he took a couple of steps away from her this time, to create some safer distance between them.
“So grumpy suddenly, huh? What´s up with you?”
“I´m in love, okay?” Jin blurted out before he could think of anything better. “I don´t need this kind of satisfaction.”
“Wow…” Dana´s eyes widened. “That´s… You should have told me! I had no idea!”
“Hey, that´s not mandatory. Why should I…”
However, the tipsy girl ignored him: “Who is it? Do I know her? Wait… Is it Cora? I won´t tell on you, really!”
“Sorry, Dana, but keep out of this,” he requested sharply. “I´d rather keep it to myself.”
“Jeez, you´re no fun…”
“I didn´t take you for such a nosy person.”
Dana staggered a little from one side of the corridor to another: “Shut up,” she murmured insulted.
“Come… I´ll take you to bed.”
“But I don´t wanna…”
“You do. You are drunk and sleepy.”
“And you are annoying! I can go alone.”
“Be quiet and come. This is my job as well.”
Dana started to hiccup: “What… job?”
“To take care of you if you girls are not able to.”
*
“Kame? Are you angry with me?” Lena dared to ask, when they reached the house of her parents and stopped under the small veranda.
Kame´s unreadable, serious look made her even more nervous.
“No and yes,” he replied then.
Gulping the bitter lump in her throat, she stepped back a little, pulling her hand out from under his arm. She didn´t regret kissing him in the saloon. Even though she was aware, that it would not have happened if it wasn´t for beer. However, Kame´s silence was making her anxious.
“Will you tell me why?”
He looked around the street first, which was empty as far as the light of those few lanterns could go and the only audible sounds were coming from the direction of the saloon. He was careful as always.
“I admit that it would help us a lot if you pretended to be my girlfriend, Lena,” he spoke then in a quiet, but the more stern tone.
Us, she repeated to herself bitterly. Even if she knew now what was going on between her Kame and Jin Akanishi and somehow accepted it, it did not hurt any less.
“But I hate the idea of you being dragged into such a comedy. What would your parents think? Actually, I quite wonder what they will say once they hear about what you did in the saloon.”
She frowned and crossed arms on her chest: “I can handle my parents, you don´t need to worry about that.”
Kame sighed in a half tired, half miserable way, which pinched her chest.
“I want to help you,” she tried to persuade him, before he could start discouraging her from it again. “You are my friend, and friends help each other, don´t they?”
He was looking at her wordlessly for a while, before his lips spread in a sad smile: “Of course, you´re right. And I´m glad to have you, Lena.”
Her heart fluttered a little, even though she knew how he meant it.
“I know,” she winked at him. “So?”
“Okay… I agree - on one condition. We let people think whatever they want, but do not actually tell anyone we´re dating.”
“What will be the meaning of it then?” she opposed.
“Once it won´t be necessary for us to pretend anymore, you won´t suffer from gossip and judgment of others. We can say we´ve always been only friends.”
“But…”
“Lena, I don’t want you to have any problems because of me, do you understand?” Kame emphasized.
“Yes…”
“Agreed then?”
She sighed surrendered: “Agreed.”
“Good,” only now, Kame smiled at her. “May I invite my girlfriend to a horseback riding then? Let´s say on Wednesday?”
Lena couldn´t help but laugh, happy just from the idea that she would be spending more time with Kame now: “Well, your girlfriend gladly accepts.”
*
In the end, it didn´t take much persuasion to take Dana to her room and put her to sleep. She really overdid it with alcohol that evening. Otherwise, she would not behaved as she did.
Jin went out from the brothel, intending to have a much-needed drink back at the saloon. But then he spotted a familiar figure at the far end of the street, heading the same way and he reconsidered.
*
Kame was returning to the saloon building far less happy than Lena was after their agreement. It was a great idea how to get Reverend off their back, but he feared what price his dear friend might pay for such a charade.
He didn´t want to deal with any more curious stares and questions and intended to ride home right away. Lost in thoughts, he noticed only in the last moment there was someone lurking in the shadow next to the stables. A hand emerged from the dark, grabbed Kame under the shoulder and pressed him against the nearest wall.
“I can´t believe you wanted to go home without saying anything,” a well-known, hoarse voice, smelling like beer and whiskey blew on his face.
Kame remained still, ignoring the hand, which slipped under his coat.
“Well, I figured you´d be working for the rest of the night,” he replied stiffly.
“I have a break now,” Jin informed him as his cold fingers reached his skin and made Kame shiver.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And I plan to use it properly...”
Kame sighed, when he felt Jin´s lips brushing the skin on his neck and then going up across his cheek, before they reached his mouth and demanded the access inside. A hot wave flooded him, making him excited instead of upset. Jin´s conquering mood was making his knees weak.
“And how is that?” he breathed out a question, when Jin´s tongue finally slipped out from his heated mouth.
“Guess,” Jin encouraged him, while his hand already found the way under his trousers.
“Jin… Don´t you think we should do this at home?” he tried to talk some sense into his horny boyfriend.
“No. Here. Now,” Jin insisted greedily.
Only then, Kame realized where that sudden urge of his came from. He pushed against Jin´s chest in protest, staring at his blurred face.
“Now I get it… It seems the girls aroused you quite a bit, didn´t they?” he assumed agitated.
“So? You´ve got a problem with that?” Jin asked, with a clear challenge in his voice.
Kame tried to release his suddenly tight throat with no success.
“It can be said that I have, yes,” he replied shakily. “With the girls. Not so much with the fact you´re hard…”
“See?” Jin pressed Kame between himself and the wall harshly and he started placing hot, lusty kisses all over his neck.
“At least… Let´s go up to the hayloft as the last time,” Kame suggested feebly, holding onto the remains of clear thinking. “Anyone leaving the saloon might see us here…”
“That´s what makes me even harder,” he received an immediate answer, along with a teasing grope in his crotch.
Kame gasped for a breath, “Don´t be like this, damn it…”
Jin straightened up, his smile flashing in the dark: “Always so responsible… Come,” holding his hand, he led Kame behind him to the small shed for tools adjacent to Harada´s stables.
“Satisfied?” he asked, dragging Kame inside.
Giving up any more resistance, he started to unbutton Jin´s trousers: “This will do…”
***
The two riders stopped their horses within sight of the city spreading on the northwest bank of Yellowstone River.
So this is it, Augusta thought gloomily. This means the end of our journey together.
She had been missing her son dearly and she could not wait to see her grandchild, which was probably born already, but in this moment, she genuinely wished for travelling further than just to Billings.
She could not help but look at the man in a horse saddle beside her and swallowed hard. A month ago, she could not even imagine how much the things would change between her and Captain Walker. With him, she felt so calm and content like never before in her life. The time spent with Horace in bed was never as good as with John on the hard ground in the middle of wasteland. What it would have been like if they could spend the time together from now on?
Augusta tightened her grip on the reins. It was incredible what this man could do with her. John was able to awake the desires and dreams she had buried deep and such a long time ago, she completely forgot about them.
“Augusta? Everything all right?”
John´s worried voice pulled her out of drowning in self-reflection.
She hardly suppressed a sigh: “Not really…” she admitted, not wanting to lie to him.
He studied her face for a short moment: “Aren´t you looking forward to seeing your son?”
“Of course I am. I´m glad we´re finally here, but…” she tried to find the best words to describe what she had in mind. “It feels like this has been a long and at the same time a very short trip. Do you understand what I mean?”
Seeming to be a little sheepish, John ran his fingers through the thick stubble on his chin.
“Yes. And I can only agree,” he said then hoarsely, avoiding her eyes.
Her lips spread in an amused smile. She already saw right through this hard-man mask of his. Suddenly, a terrifying thought came upon her.
“Oh, now I wonder… What about you? Where exactly your family resides? Do you need to travel much further?” she asked tensely.
“They live in Huntley. It´s about two hours away from here. Though, I fear that I won´t be able to stay there with them for long…”
“How comes?”
“I´ve already spent more time than was planned on our journey and I must report to my superiors soon,” John replied a bit depressed. “I assume they´ll call me back to duty soon.”
“Oh… I´m sorry.”
Only now, John turned and looked directly at her with warm tenderness in his eyes: “Don´t be. It was more than worth it.”
- To be continued -
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: The first chapter in the new year...
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven // Chapter twelve // Chapter thirteen // Chapter fourteen // Chapter fifteen // Chapter sixteen // Chapter seventeen // Chapter eighteen // Chapter nineteen // Chapter twenty //
Heartache
Augusta could not remember the last time anyone threw her off balance so much, if ever. Captain Walker´s behavior made her struggle with such a chaotic mixture of emotions that both her hands and legs started to shake. Not even a warm blanket or the heat of the fire could stop it.
Ever since they had left Buffalo, the captain kept his distance. He treated her politely, yet very formally. However, at the same time, she was well aware of his stealthy glances and gentle touches, like when he helped her into the saddle or handed her a flask of water. Whenever she managed to catch him looking, his eyes told her that John was holding something back. Unfortunately, with each passing day, she felt more uncertain about what it was.
She had been a married woman for more than twenty-five years and it had been a long time since she received proper attention from any man. Already for years before Horace met that whore Elizabeth McCourt, he had rarely performed his marital obligation as her husband. Yet it didn´t occur to her that she could commit adultery as well and acted accordingly. Since Horace´s extramarital affair had already become the public secret, nobody would blame her for it, at least not openly. But she considered herself a woman of principle and didn´t want to fall to her soon-to-be-former husband´s level.
Only now, facing the burning look of the man whom she had liked and admired since their first meeting, she realized that she had never had any real opportunity to cheat on Horace. John Walker attracted her as no other man before. Admitting this fact scared her, because she didn´t believe her affection could be reciprocated.
Augusta had no high opinion of her own appearance and, moreover, she was growing old. Thanks to her status, she often had to deal with false flattery coming from those who wanted to take an advantage of her goodwill. She learned to recognize true intentions behind many empty words the hard way.
Captain Walker was not a liar, but nor was he honest about his feelings. She needed to know if he truly cared for her, or if he just played with her out of boredom and she was being delusional. She had no idea how she gathered courage for it. When his honestly surprised eyes fell upon her face and then lowered to her lips, she could not help but challenge him, even though she feared his reaction as well as her own.
The captain reacted and moved much faster than she had expected and in the next moment, she already found herself in his firm, warm arms.
She only managed to exhale: “John…” before her mouth was sealed with his demanding lips.
The sudden closeness of that damn attractive man warmed Augusta up so quickly that she didn´t even notice the blanket slipping down her shoulders when she raised her hands and circled them around his neck. John pulled her close, his chest pressing against her breasts and his kissing got so passionate Augusta forgot how to breathe. His hard-trained hands around her waist made her feel safe and desirable. She hadn´t felt like this for ages and she loved that.
When John teased her tingling lips for one last time and then slowly pulled away, Augusta couldn´t hear anything else apart from her hard-beating heart for a while. John´s hands shifted, as he soothed her back gently and whispered her name. Only then, she dared to open her eyes and gasped for a breath. The way John was looking at her now left no doubt about what he wanted - that he yearned for her just as she yearned for him.
God, how come I haven´t seen it before? she asked herself amazed.
With a strangely sad expression, John raised one hand and gently touched her cheek.
“I´m sorry,” he said so quietly that she almost missed it despite being right in his arms.
Augusta´s hands, so far comfortably resting on his shoulders, suddenly felt cold.
“About what?” she asked with her stomach clenched.
“That I didn´t endure it,” replied John, with his fingers following the line of her jaw up to ear and then falling down. “That I couldn´t hold back anymore.”
Hearing that guilty tone, Augusta realized what he meant and sighed in relief. At first, she thought he might regret kissing her and that she would not be able to bear.
“That´s what I asked you to do, isn´t it?” she reminded him with a small smile.
John kept observing her expression, as if looking for something: “But you´re married and I shouldn´t…”
“I won´t be for long anymore,” she interrupted him seriously. “Horace made sure I understood that in his last letter.”
Surprisingly persistent, the worried captain started objecting again: “But still…”
“John,” she took his face in her palms. “I can´t describe how happy I´m about what you just did,” she emphasized, feeling her cheeks still flushing.
He covered one of her hands with his: “But was it also the right thing to do?”
Much more decisively than she actually felt, Augusta leant closer to him whispering: “It´s just the two of us here. There´s no one to judge us.”
Something flickered in John´s eyes, something so hot that it made her shiver with excitement.
“You mean it, Augusta?” he asked tensely.
What a silly question that was. John wanted to be sure and she appreciated it, but she never said anything what she would not mean seriously. Suddenly, she was damn grateful to fate for pushing this honest, brave and gentle man into her life. He was everything Horace wasn´t.
“Kiss me again, John,” she requested shakily.
John´s look darkened with desire at her words. Without any warning, he pushed Augusta down on her back and hovered above her, with one of his hands searching for the best way to slip under her shirt. She gulped down heavily, a hot wave of arousal flooding her from head to toes.
“If I do…” John declared hoarsely. “I cannot guarantee that I´ll be able to stop only at that.”
Augusta couldn´t deny that she still felt a bit uncertain and nervous, but her excitement and craving after this man were stronger.
“I don´t want you to stop,” she forced through her tightened throat the most daring words she ever said in years.
On that, John smiled, in a way she had never seen before: “Then I won´t,” he assured her, before leaning down and usurping her lips with a lustful kiss.
***
All the saloon windows were shining brightly and catchy music was playing behind the closed door, which made the tall building a very alluring place to spend the cold, foggy evening. Yet, Kame halted his steps on the opposite side of the darkened street, pretty far from the entrance.
“Lena… Don´t you really change your mind?” he asked hopefully.
The obviously excited girl on his arm looked up to him indignantly: “Kame! You promised!”
He allowed himself an internal sigh. Yes, he made that ill-considered promise to grant Lena one wish, since with his head full of reservation issues, he completely forgot about her birthday and felt guilty about it.
“Nevertheless, I still think it´s a bad idea.”
“Come on, don´t be like this,” Lena fussed. “I´m old enough to try it at least once!”
“Decent girls don´t belong to such places for a good reason,” he reminded her.
Lena stepped away from him with a frown: “Now you sound like our Reverend. Don´t tell me you never broke any of those usual good manners.”
Such an accusation, even if it wasn´t meant seriously, made Kame a bit nauseous. Of course, he did and a hell lot of times… He decided to try a different approach: “If only your parents knew just what you want to do…”
“They would never allow it, I know,” she cut him short a bit annoyed. “But I´m an adult already and you are with me. What can happen?”
“More things than you can imagine,” he assumed pessimistically. “Can´t you just wait for the thanksgiving festival? The whole city will be there, I bet even your parents.”
Lena stood there completely silent and still for a few long seconds.
“So, you´re going to break your promise?” she accused him then almost tearfully. “And here I thought I´m not asking you for that much.”
Kame returned her determined and reproachful gaze and then shook his head in defeat: “All right.”
The girl´s face lightened up immediately: “Yay!”
“But if I tell you to leave, you´ll do it right away, understand?” he emphasized in a futile attempt to tame her enthusiasm.
“Yes, yes!” Lena grabbed his arm again eagerly: “Let´s go already!”
*
Women had no business in any frontier pub, unless they were either saloon girls or whores. That was just the way things were. So, exactly as Kame had expected, once they entered the busy taproom, many astonished and condemning eyes welcomed them.
Assuming the best way to deal with them would be disregard; Kame clasped Lena´s hand and led her the shortest way among the tables to the recently emptied chairs in the corner. He was a little worried what Harada might say about the company he brought along, but the saloon owner himself seemed to be more amused than outraged by the girl´s presence.
And last but not least, a certain person was sitting at the bar counter, in fitting red shirt and with impressive revolvers on both sides of his hips. Kame knew Jin would be working that evening; he just hoped it would be in the brothel as usually. However, it seemed to be the saloon time for Cora´s girls, so he was performing his role of the abusers´ scarecrow here.
“To what do I owe such a rare visit?” Harada asked as he stopped by their table, with his hands full, but the corner of his mouth was twitching with a suppressed smile.
“Birthday celebration, Mr. Harada,” Kame informed him politely, since Lena seemed a bit speechless from all the attention she dragged to herself just by arriving to the taproom. “I couldn´t persuade Lena to think it over…”
The girl glared at him: “Stop it already, Kame,” she complained and defiantly looked up to Harada: “I´d like to finally know what everyone has with that beer and all...”
Mr. Harada nodded with all seriousness he could muster: “I see, I see… Two beers coming right up then.”
And just like that, Kame´s last hope that they could spend Lena´s birthday at her home in peace and quiet was gone.
*
It was supposed to be the usual evening at work with one small change including drinking some beer, which he never did while he was at the brothel. Jin had no idea what his dear boyfriend actually meant by stating that ´he´s busy at Saturday´. Only now, seeing the cute blonde girl by his side, he remembered Kame saying something about the Brices´ girl´s birthday. Though it didn´t make the sight of them any more tolerable.
Lena apparently pulled the best dress out of her wardrobe and Kame - in white shirt and blue waistcoat - looked much neater than Jin was used to seeing him recently. He had to try hard not to stare at that lovely couple all the time.
Fortunately, he was quite busy as well. Saturday evenings in Harada´s Saloon meant men were drinking a lot and the girls were constantly attending to them in the routine dance of alcohol, cards and lust. For once, he was quite grateful for dealings with all kinds of annoying or dangerous situations. Like that, he didn´t have so much time to watch the two of them getting all friendly in that small corner of theirs…
*
Kame could not help but laugh seeing Lena grimacing in disgust after the first gulp.
“I was trying to tell you, but you just didn´t listen,” he reminded her shrugging.
The birthday girl wrinkled up her nose at the tankard: “Does everyone here really drink this?”
“Sure.”
“It´s disgusting!”
“Please, don´t tell Mr. Harada that. It´s mostly about getting used to it,” amused Kame informed her and tasted the beer as well. “Not bad, it´s quite cool.”
“Don´t say,” Lena murmured and stared at the bitter liquid in disbelief, before taking a gulp of it carefully again. “And I wondered so much just what the hell I´m missing.”
“Hangover, headache and nausea,” Kame enlightened her gleefully.
She scowled at him: “Then why are you drinking it?”
“It´s not like I´m a regular in saloons, Lena. And today, I´m here because of you, remember?”
“Right,” she admitted and sipped from her tankard again. “Weird… It´s not that bad now.”
Kame chuckled and wanted to say something, but a sudden ruckus near the bar counter attracted his - just as the most of other guests´ - attention. It seemed that some drunkard behaved inappropriately towards one of the present saloon girls and it didn´t take long for their bodyguard to interfere. It took a few moments of angry yelling and shoving, but in the end, Jin escorted the man out of the taproom without any bigger problems.
Sometimes, Kame wondered what was supposed to be the difference between a saloon girl and a harlot. Since Cora´s girls usually did both, such differentiation seemed unnecessary, but it was apparently a big deal.
Upon the handy bodyguard´s return, all disturbed guests were occupied with their beers and cards again and Cora´s girls flooded their hero with praise and wide smiles. Dana - the very one being abused before - was apparently the most grateful to him. The beer got somewhat too bitter in Kame´s mouth as she forced herself in Jin´s lap and circled her long white arms around his neck.
Kame hid his face in the tankard and took a few long gulps, hoping the beer would help to wash away that aggrieved feeling from seeing Jin quite content with the harlot´s closeness.
“Kame? Are you all right?”
He looked up and moved away in front of Lena´s curious eyes.
“Yeah… Why?”
“You seem upset… Is it really so annoying to be here with me?” she asked quietly, observing his face carefully.
“Of course not, how did you come up with…” without intending it, Kame´s eyes flinched toward the bar counter again and he stuttered. “With… this…”
Dana was kissing Jin. No - more precisely, she was devouring him. It was not any short, provocative kiss on the cheek, which he could have expected and accepted, but a long deep kissing right on the lips. And worst of all, Jin did not seem to mind it at all, more like the opposite.
Kame froze. A part of him realized that this was exactly what they had agreed upon, that their change of behavior might prevent Reverend Kapner from poking his long nose into their relationship. Yet, it didn´t help him to take such a scene calmly and with detachment. Jin was supposed to kiss only his lips like this.
Choking on pointless jealousy, Kame stared at that cheeky girl, who finally pulled away from his boyfriend with blushed cheeks and flirty smile. Jin smiled back at her and then, shaking his head at something she said, he gently pushed her down from his lap.
The blonde harlot danced off to the table of gamblers and Jin´s smile disappeared. He looked around and found Kame´s eyes with certainty of someone who was well aware of where the younger one was sitting. Kame hastily averted his gaze, focusing it inside the half-empty tankard instead. He didn´t want Jin to notice how hurt he was.
A soft, friendly hand patted his arm. Kame returned his attention to Lena, whose eyes were focused on him with unusual, burning urgency.
“So, it´s true,” she said.
A little confused by her words, Kame finally collected himself and remembered he was there in Lena´s company.
“What? What do you mean?”
Lena´s fingers squeezed around his elbow hard, almost hurting him. She leant forward even closer to him; their faces were only inches apart now. Kame was so dumbfounded by his friend´s serious expression that he didn´t even think about backing off this time.
“You two are together,” Lena stated quietly, so that only Kame could hear her words.
He stared at her speechless, shocked for the second time in a row. Was he so distracted with that damn kiss that he couldn´t conceal his reaction?
Kame took a deep, slow breath to buy some time: “Lena, what are you talking…?”
“Don´t even try to deny it,” the girl dismissed his question a bit harshly. “Should I bring a mirror so that you could see yourself?”
He fell silent, trying to comprehend what just happened. Lena sighed, her stiffened expression softened a little and her grip around him loosened. She supported her chin with one hand, not letting her eyes of him: “You´ve always been such a secretive and withdrawn guy, but I got to know you already,” she told him in an emotionally strained voice.
Kame had no idea what to say. Lena turned out to be an unexpected reminder of the fact that there were people apart from his blood brother Liwan, who could see through his pretense. Especially, when he foolishly gave them the time and opportunity.
Surprisingly fast, Lena finished her beer and let the tankard thud on the table. Harada, who still seemed to enjoy the fact that the young girl dared to visit his establishment, shoot them a quick glance. In a short while, he put the next round of beers in front of them. Kame remained silent until the man left to serve another table.
“I´m sorry, Lena,” he apologized then earnestly.
She looked at him surprised: “What for?”
“For that I cannot give you what you´ve been seeking from me,” Kame replied seriously.
Lena chuckled bitterly: “You as my boyfriend was always only my secret wish. You never promised me anything,” she reacted surprisingly self-critically.
“That´s true, but I still hate that you went through this…”
“Just drop it, okay?” Lena pleaded and grabbed the new tankard, taking a long gulp from it. “Huh, I think I´m finally getting a taste for it.”
Kame frowned: “And I think you shouldn´t drink so much.”
“Why? Do you mind it?” Lena smirked in a way, which didn´t suit her at all. “I´m evidently more honest when I do.”
He didn´t exactly agree with such a statement, but neither could he deny it: “I just don´t want you to be sick.”
The girl rolled her eyes: “Oh, please. I´m not sick imagining you two together in bed, what could some beer do?”
Kame´s shoulders subconsciously twitched and he glanced around the taproom, to make sure no one caught the upset girl´s words.
Lena glanced at him with a hint of malice: “What are you so afraid of? That I´ll spill the beans on you two?”
Kame looked her in the eye without a word, which made Lena hunch in her chair.
“I thought you know me better than this,” she accused him.
“Well, since you´re throwing around easygoing statements about my private life, I wonder if I do know you,” he stated harshly, already quite upset.
Lena finally realized that her attitude was not the best she could take and lowered her voice: “I didn´t mean it like that…”
“I really hope you didn´t. You may not realize it, but this is quite a sensitive matter and…”
“I get it! Really,” she interrupted him hastily. “Don´t worry, Kame, I won´t utter a word.”
The tense silence fell upon their table.
Kame observed Lena´s expression and pondered about what to say for a while, before he decided: “If you want to go home, I…”
“No!” she grabbed his hand again. “I want to stay. It´s not like I won´t talk to you because of this...”
“All right,” Kame pulled his chair a bit closer to the girl. Since she didn´t seem to be angry or indignant, he needed to grab the opportunity. “I want to ask - how did you… You know...”
“Figured the two of you out?” Lena completed him with a sad smile. “Well… First, it´s the way you look at him. Second, the way Jin looks at me.”
Kame sent a glance toward the bar counter, but Jin was just talking about something with Harada.
“You mean he´s staring at you or something?” he asked confused.
“Don´t tell me you didn´t notice. Jin doesn´t like me ever since you two got to know each other,” Lena complained with shocking honesty. “He keeps killing me with his eyes since the moment we walked through the door together.”
Kame gaped at her: “I didn´t notice it at all…”
“Naturally,” Lena shrugged. “He´s careful about you not seeing him.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” she confirmed and drank some beer again. “And then there´s also the third point. And you won´t be happy to hear it…”
Kame sighed with a gloomy hunch: “It´s the reverend, right?”
Lena nodded: “His words made me ponder you two more than before. And when I saw you today… You know the rest.”
“Oh, my…” Kame half covered his face with his palm. “This man… He doesn´t know anything about us, yet he keeps pestering us.”
“I´ve noticed you don´t like him,” Lena assumed calmly.
Kame gave her an alarmed look and she raised a hand stopping him from reacting: “For your information - I don´t like him at all either. He´s… I don’t even know how to say it… slimy?”
“I cannot agree more,” he murmured.
“He´s the reason why you started to visit the Sunday Masses, right?” Lena figured.
“Well, yes… You can imagine that we don´t need his attention. I figured he might stop bothering us with it every other day, if we go there from time to time.”
“I see…” Lena murmured in understanding.
They both looked to the bar, where Jin was in the middle of pulling apart the two drunks. They had apparently started to quarrel over the same woman. Jin´s employer - Cora - was involved as well, persuading the two along with her bouncer. It seemed they succeeded since the situation calmed down quickly and those men went to dance with two other girls.
Jin and Cora remained standing at the bar and the woman squeezed Jin´s shoulder gratefully, leaning close to him. She was very pretty, much prettier than Dana was, as Kame realized with the freshly awakened jealousy.
Lena spoke again suddenly: “Why is Jin flirting like this with them if he´s… you know - with you?”
Not seeing the reason for explaining Lena their complicated situation, Kame wanted to dismiss her first, but then he reconsidered. After all, there was nobody else to whom he could confide.
“I know it seems strange, but we agreed that we need some cover to escape Reverend´s attention and figured this might be the way.”
“Ah, I see...” Lena seemed to ponder it a bit. “But… it hurts you,” she said then.
Kame did not react to that and rather raised the tankard to his lips again.
“Do you love him?” Lena asked then, only to reply to herself right away, even before startled Kame could stop coughing the beer out from his lungs. “Who am I kidding? Of course, you do. After everything, why should I be surprised?”
“Lena, I…”
“I´ve got an idea,” she didn´t let him continue and winked at him conspiratorially. “What about I would help you with that cover-up you two need?”
Kame´s eyes widened: “That… I cannot ask you for something like that, Lena!”
“In case you haven´t noticed - you´re not asking, I´m offering.”
“I don´t want to drag you into this,” upset Kame insisted.
“Really? Since I´m probably the only one in the city who knows about you two, I´m kind of dragged in already, don’t you think?”
Kame stared at her, then at the table.
“Am I or not?” Lena repeated stubbornly.
“You wouldn´t talk like this if you were sober,” he brushed her off.
“You´re afraid I might change my mind and tell on you?”
“No. I just don´t want to hurt you, Lena.”
The girl shook her head in disbelief: “Too late to worry about that,” and then she rose from her chair and kissed surprised Kame on the lips.
*
Jin spat out the first gulp from the new tankard of beer, which earned him a resentful stare from Harada. He coughed, trying to get rid of the unwanted liquid in his lungs. It was not because the alcohol would be so disgusting; he just looked in the specific direction at the wrong moment.
He had been a bit worried how his boyfriend would react on his behavior in the saloon, but it was also kind of fun seeing Kame getting jealous because of Dana. Nevertheless, it was much less amusing to see him kissing someone else. Then Jin realized that jealousy was not funny at all.
Frowning, he glanced toward their table again. The blonde girl´s hand was on Kame´s face and she was smiling, whispering something in his ear. Kame seemed surprised and pleased at the same time, obviously not perceiving anything or anyone else apart from that girl.
Damn it, how dare she? Jin cursed in his mind.
Kame had always claimed that Lena Brice was nothing more than his friend and something like a younger sister and now he´s drinking and kissing with her in the saloon in front of everyone? What in the hell happened between those two?
“Whoa, what´s the scary face for?”
Jin turned to his side, finally remembering that he was supposed to continue in the conversation with Cora.
“Nothing, it´s just a bit warm,” he murmured and quickly buried his nose in the tankard again.
“Hey, don´t lie to me,” his employer complained. “I haven´t noticed anyone else causing troubles… Is it something I said?”
Jin hesitated what to say.
“I´m not upset because of Dana, if that´s the case,” Cora leant closer to him with a meaningful smile. “Just a bit surprised. You seemed to take my girls as off limits up until now.”
“And I still do! It´s just…”
“She´s quite persistent, isn´t she?” she finished instead of him.
“Well, yeah…” he admitted, actually relieved he didn´t have to make up any other excuse.
“She has always had a soft spot for you. Not that I´d be surprised.”
“Because you´ve got it as well?” Jin asked before he could think better.
Cora flinched a little.
Jin, you idiot that was quite tactless…
“Sorry. I didn´t mean to…” he rather shut up.
“No, it´s fine,” Cora looked away from him. “You´re right, anyway…” she added quietly and grabbed the glass with her drink.
Great, Jin groaned wordlessly. Their conversation just went from bad to worse. Not that he wouldn´t be pleased by her attention, but he didn´t want to complicate things even more. And Cora´s signs were telling him that she would not be against certain kind of complications between them. Fortunately, before he could think of what to say, Dana appeared at his side.
“Jin, come with me, please! There´s a jerk who insists on taking Jess outside.”
“Ah, yeah, of course…” he took one more gulp from his beer before standing up.
“Should I come with you?” Cora eyed him with unreadable expression.
“I´ll handle it,” he assured her and followed Dana out of the taproom.
*
“So, where is he?” Jin looked around the dark corridor, not seeing any suspicious figure nearby.
“No one like that is here,” Dana behind him admitted.
“What?” confused, he turned to the girl to find her blushing.
“Well, I figured I might save you… It seemed to me that your talk with Cora was kind of unpleasant?”
Jin sighed and only now relaxed: “Maybe a little.”
“See? And… I also wanted to be with you alone for a while.”
Suddenly, Dana pressed against him with her whole body, her lips caressing his chin. Surprised Jin had to lean over the wall to keep them steady.
“Dana, I…”
“Do you want to come with me?” she whispered. “We can enjoy some fun,” her hand slipped down and pressed against Jin´s crotch longingly. “I´ve had enough of those stinking drunks for tonight.”
Jin held his breath and pushed the girl further from him, escaping her teasing touch: “Haven´t you been drinking quite a bit?” he asked with emphasis.
“Only a little,” the girl winked. “Come on…”
Jin shook his head, already fully realizing that Dana wasn´t herself: “Thanks, but not tonight, Dana.”
“Nah, always so polite,” she pursed her lips. “You didn´t seem to mind my company at the bar…”
“And I didn´t, but…”
“So, what´s the problem?” her sneaky fingers grasped his manhood skillfully through the fabric of his trousers. “It´s not here, I can tell,” she grinned.
“Dana, stop it!” he took a couple of steps away from her this time, to create some safer distance between them.
“So grumpy suddenly, huh? What´s up with you?”
“I´m in love, okay?” Jin blurted out before he could think of anything better. “I don´t need this kind of satisfaction.”
“Wow…” Dana´s eyes widened. “That´s… You should have told me! I had no idea!”
“Hey, that´s not mandatory. Why should I…”
However, the tipsy girl ignored him: “Who is it? Do I know her? Wait… Is it Cora? I won´t tell on you, really!”
“Sorry, Dana, but keep out of this,” he requested sharply. “I´d rather keep it to myself.”
“Jeez, you´re no fun…”
“I didn´t take you for such a nosy person.”
Dana staggered a little from one side of the corridor to another: “Shut up,” she murmured insulted.
“Come… I´ll take you to bed.”
“But I don´t wanna…”
“You do. You are drunk and sleepy.”
“And you are annoying! I can go alone.”
“Be quiet and come. This is my job as well.”
Dana started to hiccup: “What… job?”
“To take care of you if you girls are not able to.”
*
“Kame? Are you angry with me?” Lena dared to ask, when they reached the house of her parents and stopped under the small veranda.
Kame´s unreadable, serious look made her even more nervous.
“No and yes,” he replied then.
Gulping the bitter lump in her throat, she stepped back a little, pulling her hand out from under his arm. She didn´t regret kissing him in the saloon. Even though she was aware, that it would not have happened if it wasn´t for beer. However, Kame´s silence was making her anxious.
“Will you tell me why?”
He looked around the street first, which was empty as far as the light of those few lanterns could go and the only audible sounds were coming from the direction of the saloon. He was careful as always.
“I admit that it would help us a lot if you pretended to be my girlfriend, Lena,” he spoke then in a quiet, but the more stern tone.
Us, she repeated to herself bitterly. Even if she knew now what was going on between her Kame and Jin Akanishi and somehow accepted it, it did not hurt any less.
“But I hate the idea of you being dragged into such a comedy. What would your parents think? Actually, I quite wonder what they will say once they hear about what you did in the saloon.”
She frowned and crossed arms on her chest: “I can handle my parents, you don´t need to worry about that.”
Kame sighed in a half tired, half miserable way, which pinched her chest.
“I want to help you,” she tried to persuade him, before he could start discouraging her from it again. “You are my friend, and friends help each other, don´t they?”
He was looking at her wordlessly for a while, before his lips spread in a sad smile: “Of course, you´re right. And I´m glad to have you, Lena.”
Her heart fluttered a little, even though she knew how he meant it.
“I know,” she winked at him. “So?”
“Okay… I agree - on one condition. We let people think whatever they want, but do not actually tell anyone we´re dating.”
“What will be the meaning of it then?” she opposed.
“Once it won´t be necessary for us to pretend anymore, you won´t suffer from gossip and judgment of others. We can say we´ve always been only friends.”
“But…”
“Lena, I don’t want you to have any problems because of me, do you understand?” Kame emphasized.
“Yes…”
“Agreed then?”
She sighed surrendered: “Agreed.”
“Good,” only now, Kame smiled at her. “May I invite my girlfriend to a horseback riding then? Let´s say on Wednesday?”
Lena couldn´t help but laugh, happy just from the idea that she would be spending more time with Kame now: “Well, your girlfriend gladly accepts.”
*
In the end, it didn´t take much persuasion to take Dana to her room and put her to sleep. She really overdid it with alcohol that evening. Otherwise, she would not behaved as she did.
Jin went out from the brothel, intending to have a much-needed drink back at the saloon. But then he spotted a familiar figure at the far end of the street, heading the same way and he reconsidered.
*
Kame was returning to the saloon building far less happy than Lena was after their agreement. It was a great idea how to get Reverend off their back, but he feared what price his dear friend might pay for such a charade.
He didn´t want to deal with any more curious stares and questions and intended to ride home right away. Lost in thoughts, he noticed only in the last moment there was someone lurking in the shadow next to the stables. A hand emerged from the dark, grabbed Kame under the shoulder and pressed him against the nearest wall.
“I can´t believe you wanted to go home without saying anything,” a well-known, hoarse voice, smelling like beer and whiskey blew on his face.
Kame remained still, ignoring the hand, which slipped under his coat.
“Well, I figured you´d be working for the rest of the night,” he replied stiffly.
“I have a break now,” Jin informed him as his cold fingers reached his skin and made Kame shiver.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And I plan to use it properly...”
Kame sighed, when he felt Jin´s lips brushing the skin on his neck and then going up across his cheek, before they reached his mouth and demanded the access inside. A hot wave flooded him, making him excited instead of upset. Jin´s conquering mood was making his knees weak.
“And how is that?” he breathed out a question, when Jin´s tongue finally slipped out from his heated mouth.
“Guess,” Jin encouraged him, while his hand already found the way under his trousers.
“Jin… Don´t you think we should do this at home?” he tried to talk some sense into his horny boyfriend.
“No. Here. Now,” Jin insisted greedily.
Only then, Kame realized where that sudden urge of his came from. He pushed against Jin´s chest in protest, staring at his blurred face.
“Now I get it… It seems the girls aroused you quite a bit, didn´t they?” he assumed agitated.
“So? You´ve got a problem with that?” Jin asked, with a clear challenge in his voice.
Kame tried to release his suddenly tight throat with no success.
“It can be said that I have, yes,” he replied shakily. “With the girls. Not so much with the fact you´re hard…”
“See?” Jin pressed Kame between himself and the wall harshly and he started placing hot, lusty kisses all over his neck.
“At least… Let´s go up to the hayloft as the last time,” Kame suggested feebly, holding onto the remains of clear thinking. “Anyone leaving the saloon might see us here…”
“That´s what makes me even harder,” he received an immediate answer, along with a teasing grope in his crotch.
Kame gasped for a breath, “Don´t be like this, damn it…”
Jin straightened up, his smile flashing in the dark: “Always so responsible… Come,” holding his hand, he led Kame behind him to the small shed for tools adjacent to Harada´s stables.
“Satisfied?” he asked, dragging Kame inside.
Giving up any more resistance, he started to unbutton Jin´s trousers: “This will do…”
***
The two riders stopped their horses within sight of the city spreading on the northwest bank of Yellowstone River.
So this is it, Augusta thought gloomily. This means the end of our journey together.
She had been missing her son dearly and she could not wait to see her grandchild, which was probably born already, but in this moment, she genuinely wished for travelling further than just to Billings.
She could not help but look at the man in a horse saddle beside her and swallowed hard. A month ago, she could not even imagine how much the things would change between her and Captain Walker. With him, she felt so calm and content like never before in her life. The time spent with Horace in bed was never as good as with John on the hard ground in the middle of wasteland. What it would have been like if they could spend the time together from now on?
Augusta tightened her grip on the reins. It was incredible what this man could do with her. John was able to awake the desires and dreams she had buried deep and such a long time ago, she completely forgot about them.
“Augusta? Everything all right?”
John´s worried voice pulled her out of drowning in self-reflection.
She hardly suppressed a sigh: “Not really…” she admitted, not wanting to lie to him.
He studied her face for a short moment: “Aren´t you looking forward to seeing your son?”
“Of course I am. I´m glad we´re finally here, but…” she tried to find the best words to describe what she had in mind. “It feels like this has been a long and at the same time a very short trip. Do you understand what I mean?”
Seeming to be a little sheepish, John ran his fingers through the thick stubble on his chin.
“Yes. And I can only agree,” he said then hoarsely, avoiding her eyes.
Her lips spread in an amused smile. She already saw right through this hard-man mask of his. Suddenly, a terrifying thought came upon her.
“Oh, now I wonder… What about you? Where exactly your family resides? Do you need to travel much further?” she asked tensely.
“They live in Huntley. It´s about two hours away from here. Though, I fear that I won´t be able to stay there with them for long…”
“How comes?”
“I´ve already spent more time than was planned on our journey and I must report to my superiors soon,” John replied a bit depressed. “I assume they´ll call me back to duty soon.”
“Oh… I´m sorry.”
Only now, John turned and looked directly at her with warm tenderness in his eyes: “Don´t be. It was more than worth it.”
- To be continued -