DangerousPassion (15 page)

Chapter Ten

Edgar didn’t like the way his father was looking at him. He even considered saying something about it before wisely keeping any comments to himself. The elder Patterson’s attitude had been more aggressive than usual after Derek Jordan had balked at the employment offer.

“So, if this gunman you had your hopes set on doesn’t take the job, who are you going to get?” Jerome asked, standing once again in front of the map on the office wall at the bank.

“His isn’t the only gun available for hire.”

Jerome cast a sideways glance at his son, and Edgar wondered if he’d said something foolish. Deadwood was crawling with men willing to rent out their muscle and gun, so the comment seemed safe enough. But his father had seemed particularly tense lately, even more churlish than usual.

“Let’s do a worst case scenario, just to see how well you’re seeing the big picture,” Jerome continued. There was a distinct undercurrent of contempt in his tone as he spoke. “What are you going to do if Derek Jordan not only turns down your offer to get these folks here”—he put his finger on the map—“to sell their land to the bank, he decides to work against us?”

Edgar blanched at the thought. “Why would he do that?” His voice was low, his tone lacking in self-confidence when he added, “He wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t touch his gun unless there’s gold in it for him.”

“You hope he wouldn’t. That’s not the same thing as being sure he wouldn’t.” Jerome drew an imaginary circle in the map with his fingertip. “I want this land here. Every last bit of it. And I’m getting goddamned tired of waiting around for you to get it for me. And what about that girl of yours? If you can’t get her to marry you, get her to sell that land of hers. I don’t give a damn how you do it.” He tapped the map indicating where Sarah’s homestead was. “Everything I’ve planned hinges on owning this land right here.” He turned to look directly at his son. “Get the legal deed to that land. I want it, and I want it now. And you’d better get yourself some hired guns, too. There was something in Derek’s eyes that I didn’t like, something that said he could be real trouble to us. I’ve got to tell you, Edgar, that I’m really beginning to wonder whether you’re smart enough to inherit this bank.”

“I’m smart enough,” Edgar replied, his gaze narrowing hatefully. “Don’t you think otherwise.”

Jerome headed out of his son’s office, saying, “It’s not your place to tell me what to think.”

* * * *

Sarah’s heart was racing, and though she tried to remain calm, her palms felt clammy and her stomach jittery. What Derek was doing to her—giving her commands as though he somehow had authority over her—would be infuriating under any circumstance, but it was doubly infuriating to have him behaving with such an autocratic airs when Ellie Mae was right there as a witness. But then, she had been witness to much more than just airs.

“Derek, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’m…” She looked into his dark eyes and a shiver worked its way up her spine. Her words just drifted away. She licked her lips to moisten them and nervously tugged at the bottom hem of her chemise. “I’m not going to let you…”

Derek smiled and raised his right foot. In a casual tone, he stated, “Do be a dear and help me off with my boots. I think it’s high time I get comfortable.” When Sarah did not immediately act upon Derek’s request, his face slowly transformed, losing its warmth as he added, “I shouldn’t have to remind you that you’ve had me down on my knees more than once, Sarah. Now please, help me with my boots.” The right side of his mouth inched upward slightly. The gleam returned to his eyes. “And with the rest of my clothes, for that matter.”

Sarah looked at the swollen bulge of Derek’s trapped erection, then glanced furtively over at Ellie Mae. In a whisper she asked Derek, “But don’t you want some privacy?”

“It’s a little late to get shy around Ellie Mae, don’t you think? Late and hypocritical.”

Sarah knew that she had just been called a hypocrite, and it felt like she’d been slapped across the face. But what was equally true was that Derek’s commanding, authoritarian presence and bearing touched within Sarah excitable nerves that had never before known anyone quite like the tall man dressed in black. He was a man who simply took whatever he wanted, and as much as Sarah could find fault with this mindset, she was also aroused by his naturally commanding presence. His dominance made her clitoris tingle softly, made her nipples tighten and become visibly erect through the thin cotton of her well-washed camisole.

Feeling the eyes of both Ellie Mae and Derek on her, Sarah leaned forward slowly at the waist, cupping the heel of Derek’s boot in her palm and grabbed the toe with the opposite hand. She eased the boot off his foot, set it aside, and then removed the other. Next she removed his white socks and set them on his boots.

“Very good,” Derek said, his eyes warm and glowing as he studied Sarah’s voluptuous figure. “Now remove my neckerchief and jacket, then my shirt.”

Sarah stepped around Derek until she stood at his side. She wanted desperately to be alone with him so that she could explore his body, as she had done when they were alone in her home and she had bathed his magnificent body. She didn’t want Ellie Mae to see her behaving so brazenly, so lewdly…and yet, in her soul Sarah knew that part of the reason why her clitoris was tingling with increasing intensity and the lips of her pussy had become swollen and moist was because she was being watched by her friend. With hands that trembled more than just a little, Sarah unknotted Derek’s black neckerchief and slowly removed it from around his throat.

“And now my jacket,” Derek instructed, leaning forward so that Sarah could slip the garment down his back and arms.

As Sarah eased the jacket down Derek’s back and arms, she let her fingertips caress his sinewy body through his shirt, and a soft, instinctive sigh escaped her lips. Sarah had never realized that touching a man could be so erotic—not until Derek entered her life.

Derek held a glass of whiskey in his right hand. With his left he nonchalantly brought his fingertips to the inside of Sarah’s knee and began caressing the inside of her thigh, sliding up nearly to the hem of her chemise. Sarah gasped softly when Derek touched her, her body responding instantly and with far greater force than she had though was possible by such a casual caress.

“Do you like taking my clothes off, Sarah?” It was a question she didn’t want to answer. “Don’t lie to me now. I’ll know if you’re not telling the truth.”

“Please don’t…don’t ask that of me.” Sarah shivered as Derek’s fingertips traced swirls up the inside of her thigh. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down briefly to stop herself from moaning passionately. Orgasmic relief was always close whenever Derek was near. “You’re so…wicked!”

“Answer me, Sarah. Does it excite you to undress me?” He turned his hand until the palm was upward, and pressed his fingers against Sarah’s pussy. Her lips were moist, slick with the nectar of her lust. Derek said, “Your body tells the truth, but your tongue cannot find the words. Such a shame. Such a pity to be so at odds with yourself.” Derek pulled the Colt from the holster under his left arm, set it on the table, then removed the holster and handed it to Sarah. “Put this somewhere close, then hurry on back. My shirt is next, then my trousers and underwear. Your dawdling is making me impatient.”

Sarah followed Derek’s commands to the letter, part of her raging at being ordered about by such a despotic man, part of her responding sexually to his authoritarian demeanor. She couldn’t look at Ellie Mae, though she felt her presence, felt her eyes following every move that was made. When she had removed Derek’s shirt and properly set it aside, Sarah paused a moment to look at the masculine perfection now revealed to her. It was a hard body, sinewy lean with solid muscles the moved beneath pale skin. Along his ribs on the left side was a white scar that ran for several inches, a reminder of a hard life lived not always on the proper side of the law.

“Y-You’ll have to get up for me to…” Sarah said before her words once again died away before she could complete the sentence.

Derek took a sip of whiskey before slowly rising to his feet, his actions lazy and deliberate, his demeanor one of kingly confidence. He gave the appearance of a man who was not in any hurry at all to be pleasured, and his self-assurance rankled Sarah’s nerves because she was only too aware of her own insecurities.

“Before you get down on your knees,” Derek said, his tone warm as it caressed Sarah’s soul, “please take off your camisole.”

Sarah caught the bottom hem of the garment with hands that trembled slightly. Though she was terribly frightened of what Ellie Mae was thinking, she could not resist looking toward her friend. Ellie Mae was standing barely ten feet away, her face ashen white, her expression one of shocked disbelief doing battle with escalating passion.

Turning back toward Derek, Sarah whispered, “Why am I so powerless against you?” Then she pulled the camisole over her head and tossed it aside. Completely naked, literally aching to feel Derek’s erection thrusting deeply inside her, she whispered, “I’ll do anything you ask.”

“Get down on your knees.”

A soft sight of rapidly escalating passion came from Sarah’s throat as she dropped quickly to her bare knees on the wooden floor. Without preamble, she pulled at Derek’s belt, unbuckling it quickly before hastily unbuttoning the fly of his trousers. As she pulled down his trousers and then helped him step out of them, Sarah kept her gaze lowered, not wanting to see just yet exactly what it was she ached for. Delay had a way of heightening fulfillment. Struggling to appear as calm as Derek, she folded the trousers and set them aside on the floor.

Dressed now only in his underwear, Derek stood quietly, a faint half-smile touching his lips, the front of the cotton garment bulging outward as it struggled to contain his solid erection.

Very slowly, Sarah let her eyes move slowly upward over Derek’s body, taking in the fine line of his legs, the crisscrossing muscles of his lower thighs, and finally the white cotton drawers. The breath caught in her throat for a moment. With both hands, she unknotted the drawstring. The moment she tugged the cotton down, Derek’s erection sprang out, prompting a gasp from both Sarah and Ellie Mae.

“He’s even bigger than I remembered,” Ellie Mae remarked in a breathy whisper, a hand to her mouth as she stared at Derek’s arousal with wide-eyed wonder.

Sarah took Derek in her hand, wrapping her fingers around the thick shaft. With her left hand she cupped his testicles, giving them a firm squeeze and prompting Derek to groan softly. Sarah stroked her hand along Derek’s length, and though he was pretending to be aloof, she heard his sudden intake of breath, and saw the muscles in his thighs become tense. Though unsure of herself because of her nearby audience, Sarah’s confidence was building.

For several seconds, Sarah closed her eyes and searched within herself for mental clarity, trying to find reasons that made sense to her as to why she was completely naked, on her knees in front of Derek, while her best friend stood a scant two yards away, watching glassy-eyed and mute. Sarah felt her heart hammering against her ribs, and felt the heat of Derek’s body going through her palms and into her blood.

Opening her eyes, Sarah leaned toward Derek and, after only a few more seconds of hesitation, snaked her tongue out to lick the crown of his arousal. She heard simultaneous moans from both Derek and Ellie Mae. After moistening the crown, Sarah pushed her soft lips over it, not stopping until her mouth was filled with Derek, her lips a snug pink ring around the cock’s pulsing shaft.

In a tremulous whisper, Ellie Mae confessed, “I’ve never…never done that.”

With Derek’s cock still filling her mouth, Sarah turned her head slightly to look at Ellie Mae, her lips pulled outward lewdly, her features distorted with her lover’s enormity. For several seconds she and Ellie Mae simply looked at each other, a thousand unspoken questions, doubts, and fears remaining unspoken.

Sarah squared up with Derek and began swanning her head and shoulders, dragging her soft lips back and forth over the throbbing, manly flesh. She was distinctly aware of Ellie Mae being nearby, and feeling her friend’s eyes upon her added a surprising new element of taboo ecstasy that Sarah hadn’t counted on. She was performing for Derek and for Ellie Mae.