Chapter 11

The last dance ended. Millie smiled at Harvey. She had saved the last dance for him intentionally, and told him so. Now, having stepped on her toes twice, he grinned and backed away, bobbing his head at her, looking just a little embarrassed. He said he hoped there was another dance real soon, and then turned away.

People began to slowly make their way out of the Silver Dollar. Sheriff Miller had posted himself by the entrance when Black left, to make sure the man didn't try to come back in and cause trouble. As Dusty walked Boots out of the building, he stopped them.

"You two keep a sharp eye out," he suggested. "Jim Black's an ornery cuss, and may take it into his head to get some kind of revenge. You prob'ly shouldn't have got involved."

"Well, if you'd have been there, doin' your job, I wouldn't have had to get involved," said Boots.

"Maybe I should just make you my deputy," sighed the sheriff. "At least then I'd know where you were and what you were doing."

"Folks around here wouldn't stand for that," said Boots, staring at the man in amazement.

"I was just foolin' around, Boots," said Miller. "I know it'll be a cold day in Hell before a woman wears a badge."

Outside, Millie took in a deep breath of fresh air. She nodded and spoke to people as good nights were said and folks started for home. Bob did the same, though fewer people spoke to him. She felt flushed, and the cool night air felt good on her exposed skin. She turned to Bob.

"Walk me home?"

"Gladly," he said.

They hadn't gone far when she reached for his hand and linked her little finger in his.

"What if I really am a mail order bride?" she asked.

Bob wasn't sure if she was joking or not. He decided not to take the chance.

"I think Boots had it right. You're just the wrong kind of person to fit in that mold. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that there's a man out there desperate to marry you, but I suspect it's a man of your choosing, someone you know, who has courted you and such."

"Oh?" she said, almost idly. "Why do you say that?"

He held up his free hand and counted on his fingers. "First, you're a woman of breeding and education. Second, you're fun to be around. Just about everybody you meet likes you. The children in this town love you. Think about that. What child loves his school teacher? And that doesn't even take into account how beautiful you are." He had warmed to his topic so much that he wasn't paying close attention to separating what he was thinking from what he was saying. "I can't even count the times you've made me want to..." He trailed off as his brain finally warned him not to go on.

She stopped, and pulled her finger from his. "Want to what?"

"Never mind. It wouldn't be seemly to speak of it," he said, uncomfortably.

"Why not?" she asked.

He looked at her in the near dark. She looked so fresh, and young, and trusting. She was a dozen rungs above him on the social ladder, even if she couldn't remember that.

"Come on, Millie. You know what men think about, so I don't need to say it. It wouldn't be gentlemanly. You're a lady."

"How do you know I'm a lady?" she asked. "What makes you so sure I'm not like one of Minerva's girls? I don't need to remind you we don't know who I am, Doctor Fisk."

Bob thought about his examination of her when she was unconscious. She was a virgin. That was just scientific fact. But if he told her that, he'd have to tell her how he knew.

"I can just tell," he said stubbornly. "You carry yourself like a lady. You speak like a lady."

"So does Minerva. When I first met her and she offered me a place to stay, I had no idea she ran a brothel."

"Minerva offered you a job?" Bob groaned. Then he blinked. "Of course she would. She couldn't possibly lose if you became one of her women."

"I think I've just been paid a compliment," said Millie wryly, "but at the same time I suspect it was an ungentlemanly compliment."

"That's what I mean," said Bob. "You can detect the nuances in common speech, a talent rarely found in an uneducated woman. But it was a compliment, however roughly delivered. That's why I feel sure you've had some kind of experience with men. If you could remember the man, it might help us find him."

She approached him. "Kiss me," she said.

"What?" His voice rose.

"Kiss me," she said. "Perhaps I have kissed a man before, and I'll remember something about that while I'm being kissed."

"I can't just kiss you! It wouldn't be gentlemanly," he protested.

"Would you please stop being such a dad-blamed gentleman for a moment or two, Bob? How am I to remember anything if no one will assist me in trying?"

"Millie," he pleaded. "Please understand. There's nothing I'd like to do more than kiss you, but I fear this is a bad idea. It would be like trying to climb a hill in a driving rain. I feel sure I'd be swept away."

"Then I shall plant my heels and help you avoid sliding down the slippery slope," she said. "I trust you, Bob. Please ... kiss me. Let me see if it shakes any memories loose."

Boots stood beside Dusty's horse. Her own was tied up over at Millie's house.

"You stayin' in town somewhere tonight?" she asked, idly.

"Naw, I figure to ride on back to the ranch," he said.

"In the dark?"

"Well, I'm not sleepy, and the ground is pretty flat 'tween here and there," he said.

"After all that stompin' and dancin' you're not tired?" She had exhibited no signs of fatigue herself, but seemed to expect him to be tired.

"I couldn't sleep now if I tried," he said.

"What? How come?" she asked.

"Am I really the first feller you danced with?" he asked.

"Well, Doc danced with me a couple of times tonight, just to be nice to me. But other than that, you are," she said.

"Well, you ain't the first girl I danced with," he said. "And to be honest, you kind of got me all fired up."

"What's that mean?" she asked.

"It means I'm still thinkin' about what my kisser was made fer," he said. He seemed to realize that he was being more serious than the situation called for, and grinned. "Thanks fer not pastin' me there, by the way."

"All you done to get pasted for was touch my -" Suddenly she couldn't say the word. She was shaken by how shy she suddenly felt. She'd never felt shy in front of a man before.

"Oh, I surely wasn't thinkin' about doin' that again," he said anxiously. "I was just dreamin' a little about tryin' to steal a kiss. "'Ceptin' when I think about that, I remember you, with that knife pressed into that bastard's pants." He shuddered.

"I ain't done so well with men ... on the romance side of things," said Boots in the understatement of the century.

"Maybe you met the wrong men," said Dusty.

"There was only one, and it didn't go so good." She frowned in the dark. "I might as well tell you. You'll likely hear about it anyway. He had his way with me, an' when I got the chance, I killed him."

"As was only proper," said Dusty without pause. "I'd have did the same thing if I knew he done it."

"So ... what I done to him ... that don't make you nervous?" she asked.

"I ain't gonna try to have my way with you," he answered.

"That's good," she said, unhappy because somehow it didn't feel good. It confused her that some part of her wanted him to at least try something.

"Leastways not unless you said I could," he added. He sucked in air, as if he hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Not that I'm askin'," he added quickly.

And that made Boots feel a lot better. His attitude communicated that while he was interested, she was still in charge. He agreed that she was calling the shots, and her fear evaporated. Suddenly, looking at his mouth, she remembered Millie's lips against hers, in that copper tub. That had made her feel wild and unsettled. When she'd gone home that night, she'd rubbed her joy spot like crazy. It had felt good, and it had lessened the tension in her, but for days after that she kept thinking about how warm and soft and sweet Millie's lips were. She wondered what Dusty's lips would be like. Jasper had never tried to kiss her. He'd bitten her a few times, but that was about it. Jasper's routine had been limited to hurting her until she cried, and then fucking her while she cried.

"I'll let you know when you can ask fer somethin'," she said, feeling powerful.

He smiled, and looked relieved. "Thanks. I had a hell of a good time tonight, Miss Boots. An' that includes watching you take that feller down."

"Really?" Boots was used to people disapproving of her most of the time.

"Well shore," he said, sounding amazed. "What man wouldn't want a woman who can take care of herself? And such a pretty one too."

Boots reached up with one hand and removed Dusty's hat. She rubbed her hand across the front of his forehead and hair.

"Nope, no horns. I'd sure swear you was trouble, talkin' sweet like that," she said.

He laughed. Then his face got serious. "Mebbe just one little kiss?" he asked quietly.

Bob took her hand and pulled Mille toward her house. He seemed to be in a hurry.

"Don't be angry, Bob," she said. "It was just an idea ... just a kiss."

"I'm certainly not going to kiss you right out in the open, in front of everybody," he said. "What would people say?"

Her voice took on a teasing note and she over-emphasized a drawl. "I imagine they'd say 'Well lookee there. Doc's kissin' the new schoolmarm!'"

He didn't take her inside her house. Instead, he took her around the corner, away from the noise of people still drifting away from the saloon. He stood her against the wall, and then put a hand on either side of her shoulders.

"There's nothing funny about this," he said, his voice low.

"Not even just a tiny bit funny?" she asked, quietly.

"Don't you get it?" he growled. "I like you. I like you a lot. I've wanted to kiss you for weeks. And I can't!"

"Why not?" she asked. "If it's all right with me ... why can't you do that?"

"Why would you want me to kiss you?" he asked. "And don't give me that bull about hoping it will make you remember."

"You said you wanted to kiss me. What if I just want to kiss you too?" she asked.

It was frustration that made his head move. He wasn't quite brutal, but the back of her head banged against the side of the house as his lips landed hard on hers. Almost instantly, though, he lessened the pressure, as his brain told him he might have hurt her - the last thing on earth he wanted to do. Then instinct, and previous experience made him try to get the very most out of this kiss, and his lips moved against hers.

Suddenly he felt her hands on his shoulder blades, and then her arms tightened, pulling herself toward him and away from the building. His hands went to her back, and the kiss went on and on and on as their bodies pressed together and then rubbed.

The kiss broke, with both of them gasping for air. Her arms were still tight.

"Again!" she gasped.

He didn't argue this time. Instead he simply feasted on her lips, ending up nipping at them. Somehow, their tongues touched. That had never happened to Bob before, but it was electric, and soon their mouths were open as each pressed his or her tongue forward, to get a little more of that delightful, slippery feel. Her hands slid to his backside and pulled his groin against hers.

This time, when they broke apart, she pushed at him, gasping.

"I can't!" she sobbed.

"I know!" he groaned.

"You must leave," she panted.

"Yes!" he moaned.

He started away, only to be jerked to a stop by her hand, gripping his shirt. Her lips sought his for one last, quick kiss, and then she pushed him and darted around the corner of the building. He heard her door open and slam shut.

Then he stumbled off through the dark towards his surgery, wondering what in the world had just happened.

Dusty had some experience kissing women. Boots, for all the sexual bondage she'd been through, had never been kissed. At least not by a man. Jasper hadn't been interested in anything that even bordered on tender, and he'd thought of kisses as tenderness.

So when Dusty took Boots in a tender embrace, and brushed his lips across hers a couple of times before pressing them and letting the tip of his tongue tease her lips open, she was in a world where she'd never been. It was almost devastating to her, leaving her so weak that she was terrified. And yet, it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever felt. Millie's kisses had been soft and sweet and comforting in an exciting way. But this ... this made her want to howl at the moon. She didn't want it to end, and the fact that she felt that way scared her half to death.

His grip loosened and he lifted his lips from hers.

"Damn," he whispered. "She can ride, fight, shoot and kiss."

"I got to go!" she gasped.

And without another word, she pushed her way loose from him and, lifting her skirt, she ran as hard as she could.

It was a good two or three minutes before she stopped to figure out where she was.

Her horse nickered at her as she approached Millie's house. Her range clothes were inside, and she could see a light through the window, so she opened the door and walked right in. Millie was sitting on a keg by the stove, her hands in her lap, staring at nothing. She looked up.

"Oh, it's you," she said.

"What's wrong?" asked Boots.

"I'm not sure," said Millie.

"You look like you lost your last friend. I thought you was having a good time."

"I did." She blinked. "Have a good time I mean. Maybe I had too good a time."

"Why would you say that?"

"Bob kissed me," said Millie softly.

"Well damn!" said Boots, explosively.

Millie looked at her again. "Don't be angry. I asked him to."

"Me too!" said Boots. "Well, sort of, I guess."

"You let Doc kiss you?" Millie's voice rose a full octave.

"No," snorted Boots. "Dusty. He's the one who kissed me."

"Oh Boots," said Millie, brightening. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Well how come iffen you're so happy I got kissed, you ain't happy about you gettin' kissed?"

"Because I liked it," sighed Millie. "I liked it a lot."

"Damn!" said Boots, as explosively as the last time. "Me too!"

"But I shouldn't like it," said Millie.'

"Why not?"

"Because I don't belong here," moaned Millie. "I don't know where I do belong, but it's not here. Nobody says it, but they might as well."

"Well I sure want you to stay here," said Boots. "Especially now."

"Why now?" asked Millie.

"Because Dusty's got me feelin' all different, and I don't understand it, and it's kind of scary. I'm awful unsettled, and I need somebody to talk to about it."

"You have the same problem I do," sighed Millie. "You're in love."

"No way in hell!" laughed Boots.

"Let me tell you what you're feeling," said Millie. "When you danced with Dusty, he felt good pressing against you. And you liked hearing the things he said. You got excited. Am I right?"

"Well ... yeah," said Boots, no longer laughing.

"And when he kissed you, you didn't want him to stop. In fact, maybe you wanted him to do even more than just kiss you."

"That's the part I don't get," said Boots. "Jasper done all kinds of things to me, but I hated it. I hated him. But sometimes I felt stuff too. And bein' with Dusty like that made me feel all agitated, like when I need to let off some pressure. In fact, I feel the all-powerful urge to let off some pressure right now!"

"Yes!" said Millie. "It feels like there's something inside you that wants to tear its way out of your body and be free!"

"That's it," said Boots. "That's when I need to release the pressure. The last time it happened was after we took that bath and you kissed me. I had to rub for half an hour to get the itch gone."