To Reap and to Sow (9 page)

Clint's arm was wrapped in a shred of material that had been ripped from the tail of his own shirt. Although some blood had soaked through the makeshift bandage, Clint didn't seem to take much notice of it. He sat on the edge of the bed wearing nothing but the scrap of ripped shirt. Lynn sat on his lap, facing him and straddling him with her long legs wrapped around his waist.

Lynn's arms were wrapped around Clint as well, as she rubbed his back and sifted her fingers through his hair. All the while, she squirmed and wriggled on him. Every now and then, she let out a stifled little moan.

Her skirts were hiked up around her waist and held there by Clint as he cupped her buttocks in both hands. They'd fallen into a steady rhythm that consisted of him pumping into her while she thrust her hips back and forth.

As much as Clint wanted to get her undressed all the way, he wasn't about to take his hands from where they were. Lynn's muscles tensed and tightened around him. Her taut little backside fit perfectly in his grasp, and he never got tired of the powerful way her legs locked around him.

Leaning back a bit, Lynn ground her hips into Clint and held onto him with one hand around the back of his neck. She wriggled and slid along his hard cock while using her other hand to pull open the front of her dress. The material didn't have much slack, but she managed to open it just enough for Clint to see the erect nipples on her pert breasts.

“You like that, don't you?” she whispered.

Clint nodded and ran his tongue from the exposed skin of her chest up to her neck. “It's like you can read my mind.”

Pumping her hips a bit quicker, she rode his cock and said, “I don't need to read your mind. I can feel everything I need to know right here.”

Sure enough, Clint was growing harder by the second. Every so often, both of them glanced toward the door, as if expecting to be interrupted at any moment. Although that wasn't a pleasant notion, the possibility got Lynn wetter every time she turned to the door.

“We don't have much time,” she whispered.

Clint wrapped his arms around her and thrust all the way inside her. That caused Lynn's eyes to widen and a surprised smile to appear on her face. From there, Clint stood up and carried her right along with him.

As he lifted her off the bed, Clint could feel her entire body trembling against him. Lynn dropped her head so she could moan directly into his shoulder. She made just enough noise for him to hear, but the way her body trembled and her muscles tensed was almost enough to make Clint let out some noise of his own.

Clint walked her to the closest wall, but didn't get there before he felt Lynn grind against him. Cupping her bottom in his hands, Clint helped her ride his cock back and forth while thrusting her hips every so often to get him completely inside.

Lynn locked her hands behind Clint's neck and leaned back as much as she could. Her eyes were clenched shut and her expression was a mix of intense pleasure and concentration. She shifted until she found the exact spot she wanted. Once there, it only took a few more wriggles of her hips to get her trembling again.

For a little while, Clint enjoyed just watching her as Lynn was engulfed by a powerful orgasm. But he couldn't hold himself off too long before pumping in and out of her again. Soon, his knees were turning weak and Lynn was holding onto him so tightly that he didn't even need to support her.

As Clint lowered himself back onto the edge of the bed, Lynn thrust her hips a few more times to push him close to the finish. It was a good thing he was sitting down by the time his climax hit him, because Clint would have been knocked off his feet.

Slowly, Lynn loosened her legs from around Clint's waist and lowered one to the floor. She moved away from him and took a staggering step back from the bed. “I wasn't expecting that,” she gasped.

Clint laughed as he stood up and pulled his clothes back on. “That's funny, considering I was about to say the same thing.”

She used her hands to straighten her hair and pulled her clothes back into line as best she could. “Actually, I wasn't expecting how I would feel seeing you like that.”

“Like what? Bloody and covered in dirt?”

“No,” she replied while tracing her fingertips along Clint's chest. “Standing up for me even as a gun's being fired at you.”

“In all honesty, your old flame and his friend aren't very good shots.”

“Mark wasn't any sort of a flame. At least, not like you mean. And don't make me explain myself too much. It's embarrassing.”

Clint moved toward her and placed his hands upon her hips. “You don't have to explain anything,” he said. “I think we've been doing just fine as it is.”

“Me too.”

They kissed once more, but without the fire that had already taken them so far. It wasn't as if the fire was gone, only that neither of them had enough steam left to rekindle it at the moment.

Just then, someone started to turn the doorknob. Whoever it was stopped halfway through and pulled the door shut again. A second later, there was a quick knock.

Lynn smirked as if she was getting away with something and said, “Come on in.”

The door was pushed open just enough for Wes to take a look inside. Even so, the farmer kept his eyes aimed more toward the floor than anything else.

“Didn't know if you were decent in there, Lynn,” Wes said. “I was just wonderin' if you knew where Clint was.”

“I'm right here,” Clint replied.

That brought Wes's eyes up, and he glared at Clint as if he was about to skin him alive right then and there. After a few seconds, he shrugged and nodded. “You wanna step outside? We got some things that need to be discussed.”

Wes didn't say a word as he led Clint through the house.

They passed Tina along the way, but she simply waved and gave Clint a concerned smile as he passed by the sitting room. She didn't try to get up, and she looked away before Wes pulled open the side door leading out from the kitchen.

As they stepped outside, the cold night air slapped Clint in the face. After all he'd been through, good and bad, the cool breeze felt awfully good. As Wes paced a bit and then turned to look at him, Clint simply stood and looked up at the clear, starry sky.

Finally, Wes cleared his throat and said, “I knew that girl since she was small.”

“You mentioned that.”

Wes started to jab his finger at Clint and then let out the breath that had been drawn up inside him. His fist relaxed and he just gave Clint a tired wave. “Ah, don't mind me. I'm just some old dog who's used to baring his teeth at strangers.”

“Especially when those strangers come sniffing around your pups, huh?”

Wes smirked and tried not to laugh, but couldn't help himself. “Yeah, I suppose you're right. No hard feelings, though. I suppose there's no reason why you and Lynn can't do what you please. I think she's sweet on you, so she probably wants to spend more time with you than with me.”

Judging by the innocence in Wes's words, Clint figured the walls and door of that room were thicker than he'd thought. After what Wes had just said, however, Clint didn't see any reason why he shouldn't just let that sleeping dog lie.

“You wanted to talk about something?” Clint asked.

Wes stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked over to an old stump. He propped one foot up on the stump and leaned forward so he could gaze out at his land. Clint walked over to stand beside him. The old stump was slanted on one side as if the old man's boots had been there enough times to wear down the wood.

“This here place used to be a mess,” Wes said. “Over yonder, there used to be a lake. Before that, the lake used to hook up to the river. It wasn't anything big enough to float a boat, but it was enough to water a couple of fields or turn a mill wheel or two. Leastways, it was until the water was all used up.”

“Must not have been much of a river,” Clint said.

“No, it sure wasn't. Fact is, it made this whole town stink to high heaven. I bought this farm for a steal, 'cause the old riverbed used to take up a good section of it. More'n half of my property was either mud, rocks or something close to a damned swamp. There was some green to work with, so I bought it up, rolled up my sleeves and got to work.”

While he listened to Wes, Clint found himself putting his foot up on the old stump as well. Looking out at the field, he could almost picture the muddy remnants that a dried up pond would have left behind. Because the pond had been connected to a river, there was only that many more things that could have drifted to the bottom for Wes to find.

“How long ago was that?” Clint asked.

“Let's just say I was freshly married and my girl wasn't even a twitch in my trousers.” Judging by the guilty look Wes shot back toward the house, he would never have said that if Tina had been within earshot. “It was a hell of a lot of work, Clint. Every farmer worth his salt needs to break his back every day, but this was more work than most anyone else around here wanted to do. But I got this place for a song and I built it up to what you see here.”

Clint took a look around, but didn't need to see much to admire what Wes had done. “You did a hell of a good job,” he told the farmer.

“Thanks, Clint. I appreciate it.”

“Let me hazard a guess about something. You bought this land from a prospector who'd panned the river for years and probably kept panning even when it dried up to a pond.”

The smirk was still on Wes's face as he looked over to Clint and nodded. “You're real close. It was a couple prospectors who got into the game way before I decided to settle in these parts. They pulled a fair amount of gold out of the river, but they always thought there'd be more. Hell, I even tried my hand at tin panning, but I never saw the sense in it.”

“That's probably because you didn't find anything,” Clint pointed out.

“The hell I didn't! I pulled a few nuggets and some dust out of there. How do you think I got started in saving up for this land?” Wes shifted his eyes back to the field and even let them drift up to the sky every so often. “It wasn't much, to be certain, but enough to get me started. The rest of the money I put together with hard work and my own two hands.”

“Sounds like prospecting to me.”

“Maybe, but the land is sure less fickle than the river. Farming may be hard, but it's steady. It took a long time for me to pull it together, but I got what I needed. All the while, them prospectors said I was foolish. When the river dried up and the time came for them to sell, they approached me first with their hats in hand. I probably could've talked them down on the price, but I didn't have it in me to gouge them any more.”

Clint gave Wes a pat on the back. “Good thing you're a farmer. You've got too much of a conscience to be a good businessman.”

According to the way Wes laughed, he took that exactly as Clint had intended. “Knowing them fellas, they probably made a fortune somewheres else.”

Wes pulled in a deep breath and let it out. It seemed to be an effort, but eventually he said, “I found the first chunk in my pumpkin patch. It was a spot I never planned on doing anything with because the girls used to play there. I had plenty of land, so I left it alone. I was digging there not long ago, hit a rock, pulled it up and damn near threw it into a ditch. When I saw what it was, I about keeled over.”

Reflexively, Wes looked over both shoulders. Even though there was nobody else in sight, the farmer still leaned closer to Clint and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I worked with them prospectors. It wasn't for long, but I know how men get when they see that much gold. I didn't want to sell it right away, so I thought I'd break it up and sell it in a few different spots.

“I thought about hauling it into town right here and explaining what happened, but the man who'd do the transaction is new to town. He's from Montana, I think, and I don't trust them folks. Even if the man was honest, there's still a chance of me bein' robbed by someone else who saw what I brought in or how much money I got for it.”

Clint would have liked to tell the farmer that he was being too suspicious, but he knew better than that. The sad truth was that it was always the safest bet to assume the worst from your fellow man. That only went double when there was money involved. Considering the amount of gold Clint had seen, maybe triple.

“I thought about getting rid of it, but that's just silly. I could use that money and it's legally mine. I found the gold on my property!”

Clint held his hands up as if he was surrendering. “No need to convince me. I agree.”

The fire in the old man's eyes tapered off. “I thought about giving it to Tina, but she'd probably be robbed quicker than I would. Robbed or…or worse. Then I found the second chunk a few yards from where I got the first…”

“Wait a minute,” Clint said. “The second one? Oh, so there's two piled up under those rags.”

Wes shook his head. “That's just one. The third one.”

“Good Lord,” Clint said.

“Yeah. Now you see my predicament. If I wanted to leave here, I could sell it and move on. I'd have to watch my back for a little while, but I could manage. But I'm too old to just pull up stakes. Besides, I've sunk everything I am into this place. This farm's the blood in my veins and the sweat off my brow. I ain't about to just sell it.”

Wincing a bit, Clint said, “Still, you could afford to live in a pretty fancy place. You'd never have to work again.”

Wes seemed to consider that for almost an entire second before scowling as if he'd bitten into a rotten apple. “I couldn't live without workin'. It just don't suit me.”

“No,” Clint replied even though he'd only known Wes for a short time. “It sure doesn't.”

“So what the hell am I supposed to do with that gold? Give it away? Sell it off? Either way, I can see the wrong man gettin' wind of it and coming after me for more. I don't want to put my girls into that sort of danger. That is…unless they had someone else around to help protect them.”

Clint smirked and said, “That's all I needed to hear.”