Sixes Wild: Manifest Destiny (9 page)

I fumble out of my clothes. Nobody in the vicinity, nobody for miles, just the jagged buttes of the desert and the sway of brittle grass. My claw catches on a buttonhole— I snarl and shred the shirt to tatters. As the strips of ragged cloth fall away, so too does all the tommyrot cowshit we call polite society.

She gets down on all fours. Beside her, I dig my paws into the hot earth. I don’t get too close— a fine lady’s got to be respected, particularly since I’ve seen her claws at work.

I shiver in anticipation. The wind plays over my naked fur, carrying the first hint of our quarry. I dash off on all fours, and she follows with a growl. My pulse gallops.

The hunt begins.

Predators.

Prey.

Not a shred of propriety to get between the two.

Snapping and snarling, we sprint off together. Today it’s one of the man-sized lizards of the wastes. Doesn’t matter. It was just the nearest critter big enough to provide a mouthful. No words are needed. We just know.

We lope along for about a half mile, then come upon it. The scaly beast is near on six feet long. It sees us and lights up a shuck, but we soon catch the fat waddling thing. Mei Xiu dashes through the rocks to trap it.

The great lizard hisses, cornered against a stone face. We have it. We close in. Mei Xiu comes in from the flank, but gets snapped at. Powerful jaws crack together, spraying spit and perhaps venom at her.

Now!

I leap down between the rocks. My fangs sink deep into the flesh of its neck.

The lizard squawks in terror as it realizes its life will soon end, must soon end. Sometimes, you just need to crush the life out of something to feel yourself again.

Mei Xiu joins me now. Together we bathe in the gore of the beast, ripping its pulsing entrails out and gutting them down like pure animals. Our vivid pelts dye to a gristly rust, a perfect match. In this moment, I can almost forget about that rabbit fouling up my plans again. Again.

I tear into the lizard’s flesh, picturing that rabbit in its place.

You’re gonna lick it?!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wind whips my coat. Night air chills clear through my fur. Loose steps clatter under my boots.

I knock hard, giving the street the old up-down. I reckon nobody should be out to see me at this hour. But then, two months back I never reckoned I’d be back in this burg neither.

I find myself fingering my iron out of habit. Makes me feel better, touching them, these last three days in particular. I’m not easy to rattle, but I’ve been feeling eyes on my back ever since I snuck back off Hayes’ property.

I start to think better of showing up here, but my guns get to whispering again. The echo mutters under every gust of wind, tugging me back whenever I step away.

I knock again. Some minor clamoring, then I hear footsteps inside. Soft, like the fella isn’t wearing boots.

Door swings open and who do I see but Sheriff Jordan Blake, wearing long johns, a gunbelt, and not a thread more. Seeing him makes my heart beat a whole different kind of anxious. I let my ears drop and he jumps like he’s been struck by lightning.

“Six?”

“Howdy, Sheriff.” My eyes trace around the room, then down those long johns. “You alone?”

“Y-yes. What are you doin’ here?”

“This.” Before I can think better of it, my paws seize on his chest fur. I pull him into a kiss, one leg kicking the door shut after myself. No sense in making this a public event. Folk might start to talk if the good sheriff was seen associating with bunnies unknown, especially ones looking to be of the coarser sex. Before he knows what’s what, I’ve got him pressed against the wall again. My little heart is racing, just like no time passed at all. My guns hum. We knock a few wanted posters down before I pull back.

Once he can breathe again, he manages to say: “Well, I…umm… Nice to see you too, ma’am.” I’ve got him so flustered he reaches up to tip a hat that isn’t there.

My paws smooth the thin fabric over his chest. “Don’t you go callin’ me ‘ma’am.’” I look up at him all playful-like, but he’s already looking at me. Got a real heart-melter of a look to him too. This balls me up inside and I look back down, blushing. Standing beside the window, his eyes are right lovely in the starlight. Almost make me forget the trouble that drove me here. For the moment, though, I’ve got another sort of trouble in mind.

“What brings you through these parts?”

My muzzle brushes along his long, funny one. The short fuzz there tickles me something fierce. I do my damnedest not to think about the mine, but my whole body feels tight as a whip, frozen, and not from the night air. “I don’t care to speak on that just now.”

His wings wrap around me like two soft, living blankets. I am a touch surprised he is willing to let me so close to them. I can’t help but glance at that scar I gave him, though I resist the urge to pester him about it further.

For a spell, we just stand there in the hall, breathing in the night. The hallway is narrow and a dying lantern on a nail is the only light. Now that I am inside, I can smell the sour tang of my own fear. I’m sure he can smell it too because he brushes one of his fancy wing thumbs down my arm and asks all soothing: “You aren’t gonna bolt on me again?”

“Don’t know what I can promise.” My little fluff of tail bounces unbidden against his wings, rascal that it is. “’Side from the fact that I like where I’m at.”

“Just so long as you don’t lock me in that cell again.”

I laugh just a little in his embrace. “I’ll do my best.”

We stand a while longer. He shifts, sleep making him a little unsteady. “My legs are getting tired.”

My body is stiff and sore from worry and travel. Not being too clear on the particulars, I trace my paw down his chest in what I hope is a seductive manner. “Just what are ya suggestin’ we do about that?”

“Well, sitting down would be the reasonable thing.”

“Do ah strike you as the reasonable type?”

“Not sure. You haven’t struck me since I chased you down in the desert.”

I chuckle, knocking a paw to his shoulder. “You just watch it, lawbat. I’m of a fightin’ sort.” One little look, then I have just got to kiss him on the muzzle.

“And what was that for?”

“You’re blushin’.”

He squirms just a little under me. “Ah… Umm… I’m not exactly accustomed to being in this sort of position with a lady.”

“You mind who you’re callin’ a lady, lawbat. With a pretty little muzzle like yours, I ain’t convinced ah am the more womanly one in the room.” I run a finger under his chin, then pull back, ears dropping at how forward I’m being. I’m suddenly real glad that Mama is five states away. Then again, that might not be far enough.

Blake snickers soft-like. “I’ve never had anybody go complimenting my muzzle before either.” He nuzzles in against me. His fur brushes through mine, all light and warm.

Our muzzles dance with feathery affection across each other’s fur. I haven’t been nuzzled since I came back to the West, and never like this. This ain’t no ‘howdy-do’ between you and your mama; this is the entire length of his narrow fox-like muzzle running on mine. I am stunned for a spell, but then figure I’d better get to returning the favor or he might think me ungrateful. I rub my nose into the fur of his cheek, and low and behold if his fur ain’t about the softest thing ever. I’ve got no prior experience in this area, so I start imitating his movements. I drag my shorter muzzle back along his, sort of see-sawing a bit like he’d done, until our nose pads touch.

He strokes one of those big, velvety wings up my back, brushing my neck. I can’t help but smile. He smiles too and it sets off fireworks in my bunny brain. I giggle like a swooning schoolgirl, but say nothing.

“Come on in and sit down.” He laughs just a little as I sway in his wings, my nose never leavin’ his. “You seem inclined to topple over.”

“You’d make a lady sit on the floor?” I give him a teasing look. It feels nice, freeing in a way, to be this easy with him. Damned if it doesn’t feel right somehow too.

“So now you’re a lady?”

My head rests against his wing. My paw reaches up to touch his chest, then jerks back at the last instant like it’s been burned. Come to think of it, it has, though that fine badger James never knew how much I wanted to reach for him… But then a part of me clamps down like an iron lock, and I reply sharper than I mean to: “Finding it has its advantages, time and again.”

Blake just gives me a level glance, keeping his wings around me. Brave little fruit bat. “Well, I was thinking the chairs in my office, seeing as how they are a little more comfy.”

I glance down the hall. My heart’s chugging along like a freight train, and my mind’s gotta jump onboard or be left behind. “That bed comfy?”

This bat’s a thoroughbred gent, so he stammers a while at my suggestion, but he doesn’t protest much as I lead him back there. All in all, he’s taking even strides down this bumpy road.

We are inside his little room before he manages to speak again: “Well, now…if you’d asked me two months back, I couldn’t have told you about that bed. ‘Course that bullet you lent me convinced the doc sleeping upside down would be a bad choice.” He sweeps a wing up at the rafters. The wing I didn’t shoot.

I look up, wondering for an instant what the devil he’s on about, then I see it. One of the beams is covered in scratches. I may be unschooled, but I ain’t slow: those are from him hanging by his hind claws, as bats do when they sleep. A smile runs across my muzzle as I wonder if he would ever take me up there with him.

My paws slide down the insides of his wings, tracing over the membranes to the tips of his wing bones. He shivers, then watches as I slide these paws a’ mine up the edge of his left wing, finding the thumb and leading me to the bed. Not sure what I really plan to do with him; a girl like me don’t get much play. Well, any. But it feels so nice to have his body against mine. I’ve got a touch of the nerves by now and I fear if I stop I’ll freeze up and not be able to start again.

I sit down and he follows suit beside me. He’s got his wings curled across his lap, his ears perked, and looks darling. I lean down and kiss him again, then rest my cheek against his, breathing soft. “Aww, see? Beds ain’t so bad.”

“No, I guess not.” His breath stirs the hair of my ear as he talks. I’m not one to get all namby-pamby over some blowhard beefer, but this pretty little fruit bat is just so sweet. Helps too that he’s half-wise competent with his iron. At present, though, his gun is digging under my ribs, so I slip my paw under his wings to undo the belt. I’ve got it off before I feel the reason he was covering his lap.

“Hey, now!” He sounds a trifle unsteady, wiggling back from me a bit. “You’re disarming a lawman!”

“Feels to me like ya got plenty of iron left down there, Sheriff.” I set his gunbelt on the nightstand, respectfully pointing the grip toward the bed.

Through the dark I see his ears drop, but he gives a little laugh. His wings come up and touch my face on either side. He moves up to kiss me, again all tender and slow. I lean down, kissing back. After a second, his tongue flicks against my lips.

At first I flinch, then I can’t help but chuckle at the feeling. Feeling the need to go a-wandering, my paws rub over his thighs. “Ah do declare, sir, just what kind of lady do you take me for?”