She scooted her chair closer to the table and leaned forward even more so she could speak so only I could hear. If she leaned forward any more her breasts would be in her breakfast plate.
"I will go in once again looking for a job." She glanced left and right to ensure no one overheard. "My nerves got the best of me last night and returning will only show I'm eager but fearful. It will be much more realistic."
"Realistic?" The idea of Piper becoming a whore, even just pretending to do so, made my food taste like sawdust. I put my fork down on my plate. "Realistic would be for you to stay out of this like a good girl."
"Do you just live like this, going from town to town searching for bad people?" she asked, eyeing me speculatively. "Is this what our marriage is going to be, hotels and hunting?"
I frowned. "No, of course not. I have a ranch, The Crossings. It's a few days ride from here. It was my plan to capture the men who did the robberies, killed those people from the train, take the reward money and be a rancher. It was my last job. This is to be my last job, finding Miss Carter."
She smiled. "I think I will enjoy being the wife of a rancher."
For some reason, the pleasure on her face, the satisfied tone of her voice settled something inside me. She wanted to go to The Crossings, wanted to live as a rancher's wife. She wanted what I wanted. Then she continued to speak and ruined it.
"The sooner we find this woman, the sooner you can leave the life of a bounty hunter behind. If I can already be in the brothel, you can choose me and we can search for her together."
While her idea had merit, I didn't like the idea of her being in a place such as that, with the off chance she might have to...service someone else, let alone being near a woman and potentially others, who were dangerous enough to rob stages and kill people.
"You're going to what, go to the back door, get this job and then deflect men's advances until I arrive?"
She nodded. "Yes!"
I leaned forward so our noses practically touched. "If I don't agree to this, you're going to show up there anyway, aren't you?"
"Do you have a choice?"
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my ankles. "Hell, yes. I can take you upstairs and tie you to the bed to keep you right where I want you. Safe and sound and naked."
Her eyes flared with desire at my words.
"We have all day, sweetheart, before the brothel opens for business. Whatever shall we do?"
She looked down at the table and I enjoyed seeing her innocence, pleased to know I hadn't taken it completely by the way I'd taken her. My cock hardened, thankfully hidden beneath the breakfast table. I shifted to a more comfortable position in my chair.
She'd sat a horse after losing her virginity and being well fucked and then I'd taken her roughly against the door. Surely her pussy needed a break.
"Sore, sweetheart?" I whispered.
She frowned at my question, and then her cheeks flushed. "A...a little," she replied.
"Come." I stood and held out my hand. I could spend the day tending to my wife. I ordered a bath as we walked past the front desk and once the tub and hot water was delivered, I undressed Piper myself and helped her into the steaming water. I didn't hesitate, but slipped a finger over her tender folds to assess how sore a little really was.
She winced slightly.
"Poor baby. The hot water will soothe all your aches away."
As I washed her hair, she sighed. "Why are you doing this? I thought you would spend the day arguing with me about my idea."
My hands paused in her soapy tresses. I could do that. I wanted to rail against the plan, but it had some merit. She didn't need to know that and while I had her naked in a tub, her nipples just above the surface of the hot water, I wasn't going to talk about it. "I'm tending to my wife," I said simply.
A smile tipped up the corner of her mouth. "You tended to me quite effectively last night."
"Mmm," I replied. "And I will tend to you again later."
"Really? I did not realize it could be done so often."
I took a glass and filled it with water from the tub. "Tilt your head back." I rinsed the soap from her hair as I spoke. "As many times as we want. When this is all over and we get to The Crossings, I may not let you out of bed for a week."
"A week? What can we do in a week? Haven't we done it all the possible ways?"