Faith woke up in a cold sweat and groped helplessly at the empty space beside her in bed. She could remember very clearly the dream that pulled her from her slumber. She had been in town and standing along the boardwalk. It was dark and she had strained her eyes to see the shape of a man standing in the street. It wasn't just any man she saw. She couldn't see his face clearly but the shape of him, his posture, the hair hitting past his shoulders and even the shape of his hat told her it was Jimmy. Though she supposed at that moment that it wasn't Jimmy but Wild Bill. As she sat in her bed in the dark of her room hugging her pillow tight to her it seemed odd to Faith that she would finally gain understanding of the distinction between the two through a dream. It truly was as if two completely different men occupied the same body. In the dream she'd called to him. She was afraid and longed for his arms which, even in the short time she'd known him, had come to equal comfort and safety. He turned to look for her when the night erupted in thunder. No, it wasn't thunder but gunshots she heard echoing through the street. She saw Jimmy crumble and ran to him with no thought of her own safety. If she was to lose every love she had then she decided she'd rather not live anyway. He was expiring in her arms as she saw a shadow run away. There was something familiar about the shadow but she couldn't place it and she didn't want to waste what precious little time she lad left with him wondering about that shadowy figure. She looked back to the man in her arms and saw the visible change from Wild Bill to Jimmy. She felt the blood flow over her arms and knew that nothing she could do would stop it. Faith watched helplessly as the last of his breath left his body.
That was the image still frozen in her mind when she started awake. Her hand still groped for him even though she was now awake to remember he wasn't there. He'd gone into town at the behest of one of his deputies to see to a problem. For a moment she relaxed and then the fear gripped her all the tighter as she realized that something terrible could indeed have happened. He could be dead right now for all she knew.
There would be no more sleep for Faith that night so she got up and pulled her robe over her nightgown and then wrapped a blanket around her to further ward off the chill of the night air. Faith carefully made her way through the darkened house and out to the front porch. He had said he'd be back in the morning and from the position of the moon that wasn't that far off. Of course he might not come even if he was fine. Sure he said he had feelings for her and even said he loved her but there were no doubt women in town throwing themselves at him and any one of them must be more appealing than a sad and lonely widow. Still, he had yet to ever break his word to her. If he said he would come, he always seemed to show up. So Faith sat on the swing and wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. There was nothing to do but wait. She prayed he would come but secretly feared the worst.
Jimmy woke before dawn grateful that he'd not actually finished off the bottle of whiskey at his bedside. He looked around the dismal room and fought off the urge to make a breakfast out of what remained in the bottle. It was early with the sun only hinting at its imminent appearance at the horizon but he knew he couldn't stay in that room a moment longer. He got up, dressed quickly and then walked down to the stables to collect his horse so that he could head out to Faith.
Dawn was just beginning to create the first tiny glimmers of pink where the sky met the earth in the distance when the little farm came into his view. As he drew closer a shape was visible to him on the porch. He quickened the horse's pace ready to draw one of his Colts should this shape be that of a foe. A little bit closer to the farm and he saw the shape jump up and heard his own name called causing him to flinch toward his holster but then he quickly noted the higher pitch of the voice and the female shape that was now running toward him. He spurred the horse to a full run pulling up hard on the reins when he was within just a few yards of her. He jumped from the saddle and closed the gap on foot.
Faith nearly flew into his arms when he reached her. She was smiling through the tears streaming down her face. Those tears looked to have been flowing for quite some time.
"What are you doing running around outside barefoot and in your nightgown?" he asked knowing he sounded more like a scolding father than a concerned lover.
He didn't ask why she was crying. With everything she'd been through tears just sometimes came to her. They started toward the house together and it seemed Faith was having a bit of difficulty answering him as she trembled against his side.
"Really," he said, "Whatever's wrong, you can tell me."
"It's silly," she whispered.
"I doubt it," he told her, "From the looks of you; you don't really think it is."
"It was a dream I had," she said sheepishly. Having Jimmy close was finally making the panic of her dream fade.
"Must have been a bad one," he said, "Tell me about it."
She shook her head and the tears started to once again form in her eyes.
They had made their way to the house and Jimmy quickly tethered the horse to the porch before climbing the steps to her. She was already on the swing with her knees tight to her chest. Jimmy sat next to her and pulled her feet onto his lap and inspected the scratches incurred from her run to him.
"Faith, you shouldn't be running out there in your bare feet," he chastised, "You're lucky you didn't really hurt yourself."
"I wasn't planning on running when I came out here," she said, "I couldn't sleep and I was scared for you and I thought I'd just sit and wait but then I saw you riding toward me and I just couldn't help myself. I guess I had to make sure you were really real."
"You were scared for me?" he asked in disbelief. No one had worried for him or his safety in longer than he could remember. It used to unnerve him to be the cause of someone's worry but suddenly being worried for was like an old friend or maybe it just made him think of old friends. They were the last who had ever concerned themselves too much with his well-being. He thought he might even like the notion that someone would care one way or the other if he lived or died. But what he didn't like was how frail and frightened Faith looked right then. She hadn't answered him at all and seemed lost somewhere beyond the horizon.
Jimmy stood and cradled Faith in his arms. He carried her inside and to her bed. Once the quilt was tucked up around her he turned to leave the room but was stopped by her whimper. He knelt next to the bed.
"I have one thing I have to do. I won't be far and I'll hurry back," he assured her, "I love you."
He kissed her lightly before ducking out of the room. He didn't want to leave her for even a moment but his poor horse was still tethered to the porch. Once that detail was taken care of he crept back through the house hoping to find Faith asleep but instead found her eyes wide open and trained on the bedroom door. She seemed to relax a little once she saw him.
Jimmy peeled off his clothes down to his undergarments and climbed into the bed next to her. Pulling her close he rubbed her back and held her tight until he felt her melt into his arms and heard her breathing become deep and even. It was then he realized how little sleep he had gotten and allowed slumber to overtake him as well.
Jimmy wasn't sure how long he had slept before he was pulled from his sleep. It took him a second to orient himself and identify the nude body pressed to him. She hadn't been naked when she fell asleep in his arms.
Of course when he fell asleep, his long johns had been securely in place and there hadn't been a hand roving around inside of them. It didn't take long for Jimmy to wriggle free of the garments and feel the satisfying heat of his flesh pressed to hers.
In another time or place—one where he'd not just been brought to consciousness by the groping hands of a naked woman—he might have questioned things. He might have wondered about her motives, her thoughts. Jimmy might have suspected her fears more than her love or desire of him. But this was not a calm time or place he found himself in. There was no thought in him or in anything either of them did.
Their mouths desperately sought each other and met in a near battle for dominance. His hand found its way between her legs and she ground her hips into him. I wasn't long before her back arched and she cried out his name. Her cry only made him hunger to hear it again. He thought nothing could sound so sweet until her head lowered so that her mouth was nearly touching the side of his head. He could feel her breath warm and ragged stirring his hair and then she whispered full of vulnerability, "I love you Jimmy. Take me now."
He'd had plenty of invitations and even outright demands for him to have his way with women but never in his life had one followed a profession of love. What that did to his body was something so intense as to nearly be painful. He was aware that she had rolled away from him and when he looked she was on her back with her legs slightly spread and one arm resting across her stomach. The other hand was wrapped firmly around his erection. If he didn't pull up on the reins just a little this would be over before it started and he really didn't want that, not as she was just giving herself to him. Besides, he was also worried that he wouldn't be able to control himself. He might not care if some of the women he had been with left his room with a slight limp but this one needed some gentle treatment yet and he truly liked that tenderness that could pass between people who can wrap themselves up in experiencing pleasure and not in racing to the finish line.
He removed her hand and brought it to his lips as he rose to sitting next to her. He kissed each fingertip and then pulled her index finger into his mouth and sucked lightly letting his tongue twirl around the digit. She gave a soft sigh which in and of itself threatened to be his undoing. He moved her hand away from his mouth and brought it between her legs feeling for the right spot himself before moving her finger to the place that caused the involuntary raise of her hips. In her eyes he could see doubt so, leaving his hand over hers he leaned down and covered her mouth with his. Then he brought his other hand to trace circles around the nipple of one of her breasts. She moaned against his mouth and he no longer had to move her hand for her. Faith's fingers moved over and around the hardened spot as her other hand tangled its way into his hair. He soon had a hand on each of her breasts. Jimmy kissed his way to where his mouth could take over for first one hand and then the other. The hand in his hair tightened to a fist as the one between her legs increased its pace until she cried out for him. He lifted his head from her breasts and took in the sight of her body glossy with sweat and trembling as the effects of her bliss washed over her.
Jimmy dragged his fingertips across her belly barely touching her soft, damp skin while he kissed lightly at her jaw line.
"I love you," he said before moving between her legs. He entered her slowly feeling every muscle that twitched against him, savoring every sigh, every moan, every tiny noise he elicited from her. Once completely encased within her he paused to look down at her. Faith's eyes were half closed and her mouth hung open a bit in a partial smile. Jimmy rolled his hips into her and saw her lower lip sucked between her teeth. He pulled his hips back and then pushed forward again causing her to release her lip and allowing him to see the redness where the blood rushed to the surface. He kept up the slow pace delighting in every sensation until he felt the waves begin to course within his body. He tried for slow and even movements and yet each thrust was emphasized by a jerking motion harder into her that was beyond his control yet every one of those sudden deep pushes garnered him a pleasured sound from this woman he loved. Her fingers gripped his shoulders and her lower muscles gripped his cock and held it tight fighting against him every time he withdrew slightly for the next thrust. Her hips rose to meet his and were not controlled but bucking as a horse that's yet to be tamed.
"Please, now," she begged and from then on his body worked of its own accord as his thrusts became nearly violent and their bodies found a rhythm that sped them toward the release they needed.
Jimmy barely felt her nails dig into his flesh so overwhelmed was he by the sight of her breasts bouncing, the sound of her cries of building pleasure, the smell of passion and of raw sex and the feeling of being inside her, moving inside her. He knew he was close and hoped to all that was good and right in the world that she was too because he wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer. He needn't have worried as the next thrust brought a vice like grip around his man hood as her back arched up off the bed high enough to press her hardened nipples into his chest.
Somewhere between the sudden change in angle, her body more fully pressed to his, the hold her wall had around him and her cries of his name and God's he didn't even try to hold out any longer. A deep cry came from him that more closely resembled a roll of thunder than a scream the likes of which she had just uttered and he could feel his release leave his body more with each thrust until he was completely played out. He collapsed onto her keeping his arms braced to avoid crushing her. Faith wrapped her arms tightly around him holding him close to her and allowed on hand to twist absently in his long hair. He could still feel her small spasms around him as slowly he slid from her body. It was then that he rolled to one side and pulled her with him so that she came to rest half on top of him. He held her close and stroked his fingers down her back feeling the goose bumps rise and the slight shudder that passed through her.
He almost spoke but then realized there was nothing to say in that moment and nothing that needed saying.
Um...yeah...so that's what happened there...hope you enjoyed? Um, Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukkah and all that.-J