Set in "The Blood of Others" after Jimmy and Lou have made camp, were attacked by the disgraced marshal and Elias Mills ran away.
It was a simple assignment. Prisoner transport from Rock Creek to Fort Kearney, taking convicted murderer Elias Mills to be hanged. What happened after the kiss "seen 'round the world" shared by Jimmy and Lou? Elias Mills escaped, and the ousted marshal was out cold. First in a three, maybe four part Trilogy. Gap fillers.
"Jimmy?" Lou's lips were still throbbing where the gunfighter's lips had been exploring. His fist was still throbbing as the would-be assassin lay on the ground where Jimmy had knocked him out cold. Lou touched Jimmy's face gently. He reached up and held the back of her head where she had fallen on a rock.
"Jimmy," she whispered closer to his ear. He shivered as her breath caressed his ear. He turned his head back to her and saw her lick her lower lip. Hunger pangs that had nothing to do with food shot through him, settling at a point below his belly.
His arm she had been holding on to stopped its usual after-fight trembling. It didn't normally calm down that quickly and he looked in her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her waist.
Her hand was still on his cheek, her fingers softly stroking his face, their eyes locked in a silent battle of searching, of wills, of desires.
Did she want him or not?
'She belongs to Kid, James,' his brain reminded him sternly.
'But she ain't his no more,' his heart cajoled.
Ever lower, he felt the undeniable yearning for her warmth. It took every fiber of his being to not pull her closer to him. He bent to retrieve his gun belts.
He let out a shuddered breath, blinked and asked,
"Are you alright?" It came out as a harsh whisper.
He buckled his gun belts on, feeling foolish for having taken them off in preparation for bed. They were transporting a prisoner, for God's sake. What the hell had he been thinking?
He searched Lou's face for any signs of pain.
The raw hunger in Jimmy's eyes created an answering flush all over Lou's body as her heartbeat increased its rhythm. He moved closer to her. She retreated, unconsciously, bumping her back against the trunk of the large tree behind her.
She felt her stomach twist as the thought of loyalty to Kid threw water on her internal fire.
'Didn't he move on?' her heart inquired, pointedly. Maybe she should do the same. The thought stoked the dying embers, and her need for Jimmy's arms flared up stronger inside her.
"Lou, are you alright?" He hid the hunger in his eyes quickly and well, she thought, but his voice was still raspy with raw emotion.
She whispered, "Jimmy," but didn't know what else to say. Her hand came back to his face, her fingers traced his cheek, jaw line and eyebrows.
He leaned closer and reached around her with both arms. He tried to distract himself from her eyes, running his hands up and down her back, looking for any sign of injury. She wasn't talking very loudly. Maybe she got hit somewhere else when he wasn't looking. Did that gunshot he heard hit her somewhere?
He'd never forgive himself if he wasn't able to protect her because of his damned need for her body. His ever present desire to touch her, feel her, hold her in his arms always distracted him. He wanted to press her ear to his chest and let her hear what she did to his heartbeat every time she was near. Shit! He
still
wasn't focusing. Was she hurt? She wasn't answering.
"Lou!" he said loudly. She flinched from the sudden sound. Ah, damn, she
was
hurt! Without thought, he pulled her shirt from her waistband. Her scream of surprise was quickly muffled by her clothes shoved up into her face. Before she knew it, her shirt was over her head, off her body, and Jimmy's hands were all over her back and sides, looking for the familiar wet stickiness of blood.
"Damnit, Jimmy! What the hell?" He froze, his hands on her bare sides as he realized two things in the same instant. First, she was intact, and second, she was probably pretty upset. She quickly covered her bare breasts with her arms and glared at him. His hands on her bare skin were as warm as the concern she saw in his eyes. Looking down at her, he opened his mouth to apologize, but his breath caught.
Her skin seemed to shimmer in the moonlight and gleam gold where the firelight reflected. The sight entranced him, inviting him to touch, to taste. His mouth watered.
"I was just..." he trailed off trying to catch a thought in his blank mind.
He tried again, "Gunshot..."
He couldn't breathe.
Lou shivered in the cool night air, as she realized how vulnerable she felt and how quickly the hungry look had not only returned to Jimmy's eyes, but had rapidly escalated to ravenous. The knots in her stomach were back, triggering an aching in her loins, accompanied by a warmth between her thighs.
Jimmy's hands on her waist tightened. She looked at his face, but his heavy lidded eyes weren't on hers anymore.
Unsure if she wanted him closer or to back away, she whispered, "Jimmy, please."
The yearning in her breathy plea sent him closer to the edge. He looked her in the eyes and she knew he would not be able to stop if she didn't stop him now. She was not sure she wanted to.
Jimmy raised his hand and traced his finger down her cheek, her jaw, over the exposed softness of her neck, to the hollow of her throat. Lou's breath caught seeing the glazed intensity of Jimmy's eyes.
He was teetering on the brink of his control. He needed to rein himself back in.
"Lou," he rasped out, pleadingly, hopeful that she could stop him if it was her wish.
"Lou, I-I can't-" Jimmy licked his lips, slowly shook his head and tried again. "If you want me to stop..."
The sides of her mouth twitched. She let go of herself and reached up to unbutton his shirt.
"Yes," she murmured. "Just this once."
He groaned and sank his head to her neck. His lips touched her neck below her ear. He heard her soft intake of breath in his ear and he felt her lips on his neck. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and sucked his earlobe as he trailed kisses from her ear down her neck.
