(Author's Note: Thank you so much, everyone, for reading, this is the first romance I have written for such a large audience and your comments and reviews are very much appreciated! I apologize for my bad grammar as I am trying to get better but having those reading disabilities makes it tough! Please go back and reread my previous chapters as I have gone through and done massive edits to try and help it read smoothly. I plan to do more edits before I continue writing forward. Thank you so much again and enjoy.)
Arthur Morgan laid half naked on his back on a plush queen-sized bed draped with bear fur and dark brown wool blankets. The scantily clad blonde known as Rosalyn Bush straddling his waist with her hands petting his hairy chest. The dim light of the fire making the room glow. At the door to the room, Isabella Morningstar the gunslinger in red had a disgusted look on her face as she gazed upon the two canoodling in the bed. Arthur felt his heart stop and quickly made work of shoving Rosalyn off him forcefully. She tumbled onto the floor dropping her glass which smashed into pieces as she got buried in a mess of pillows and blankets. Arthur rolled off the bed to get to his feet to make a break for the window before Izzy would make good on her threat.
"Of all the men here why did you have to go for him?" Isabella whined with a calm tone to the surprise of the naughty cowboy.
"What can I say, I like him," Rosalyn said sitting up in the mess of blankets and spilt brandy. The innocent smile on her face as she held no regrets of her actions.
"This is not what it looks like." Arthur tried to explain realising the window was locked.
"You don't get to talk," Isabella said and removed her pistol from her holster and held it pointed down to the ground.
"Put that away! Besides, I have something to show you" Rosalyn ordered and stood up to dust herself off. She picked up the broken glass off the floor and tossed it into a bin. Arthur and Isabella at a standstill as Rosalyn took her time cleaning up the shattered glass. Once she cleared the floor, she walked up to the stack of trunks which she stored her belongings in. They were neatly stacked and had labels on them so, Rosalyn could quickly find her target and opened a massive case where multiple handwritten labelled jars sat neatly packed and arranged. Isabella had eyes on Arthur glaring him down like a wolf ready to pounce as Rosalyn took her sweet time doing whatever she was doing. With his back to the window, he glanced briefly outside to determine what kind of fall it would be if he jumped out of it.
"Well come on you two, I need some critical reviews on my new product," Rosalyn called to them and started setting up some snacks with slices of bread and cheese from the tray on the main table. Isabella silently holstered her pistol and crossed the room to sit with Rosalyn where she was setting up. Arthur confusedly stood still for the moment eyeing his gun laying on the chair near Isabella's seat.
"Come on Arthur. It's my homemade jam I cooked up this week. I need a man's tongue to narrow down which one I should send to New York. My brothers don't know good food from dog food." Rosalyn beckoned him as she tried to open one of the jars. She struggled for a moment before Izzy took it from her and easily popped it open.
"Thanks, babe." Rosalyn pinched her cheek and handed her the other ones to open before pouring each jam into a ramekin.
"Just fucking sit down." Isabella cursed in a huff as she popped the final lid. It was becoming a clear that Rosalyn was in charge and despite Isabella's threats downstairs she was complicit to the blondes instructions whether or not she agreed with them. Arthur crossed back over the room and sat down uncomfortably in the last free chair in the room, his gun between himself and Izzy.
"So, this is my new line of jams. I have Blueberry, Raspberry and Strawberry. Tony said I can only pick one to start the new launch, for now, so I have narrow it down between these three. As much as I love my orange Marmalade, I don't think it will sell."
"Orange Marmalade?" Arthur asked as he studied the jams cautiously keeping his eye on Izzy who has pulled a flask from her pocket and started drinking.
"Have you ever tried it?" Rosalyn asked him as Isabella helped herself to the first of the jam samples served on the bread.
"No, I haven't" Arthur replied as Rosalyn scurried off back to her trunk of goodies.
"Oh, you have to try it! Hold on I think I have a jar left." She said and started rummaging through the jars her back turned to them. Arthur looked back to Isabella who was munching on the toast with a rather displeased expression but eating like she hadn't seen food in days. Curious he grabbed a piece of toast with the blueberry jam on it and took a bit, immediately understanding why Izzy was overreacting on it. It was perfectly sweet but not so much so to mask the flavours of the blueberries, and it was tough to determine if this was the worst night or his life or the best since he was never spoiled like this before. The two ate silently, and Izzy had refused to look at him but instead kept her glance fixated on a painting on the wall.
"You know! I think I left a jar of it in the kitchen downstairs let me go get it." Rosalyn said and made off for the door.
"You can't leave me alone with him."
"You can't leave me alone with her." Both of them spoke up in unison.
"Yes, I can, wait here and don't kill each other okay," Rosalyn said and closed the door behind her as she escaped the room.
Isabella looked to Arthur for a split second and huffed loudly.
"Would you put a fucking shirt on?" She asked.
"It's not what it looks like." He said again.
"Oh really?" Isabella asked.
"She's coming onto me." Arthur defended himself and grabbed another slice of bread this one with the raspberry jelly on it. He took a bite and quietly looked around to find where he left his shirt. He saw it under Izzy's rear as she was currently sitting on it, so he stood up and approached her cautiously not bothering to attempt for his gun.
"Excuse me your sitting on it." He whispered as she glared at him for getting too close. He waited for her to hand it to him, standing in front of her he watched her eyes scan him, and he noticed the same hungry little look Rosalyn had been giving him on Izzy's face. Remembering what the Harlot had said before he took his shirt back and stepped closer to her.
"So, like what you see?"
"Excuse me! You don't get to talk to me like that." Isabella yelled and stood up from her chair.
"Look I get it, I hurt you. I'm trying to make it better so why won't you listen?" He asked. Whether it was the alcohol talking or his own will didn't matter he was going to make her listen, he couldn't leave this as it was.
"I don't want your apology," Izzy said and headed for the door of the room, which Arthur ran up to and blocked before she could get to it.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken your bag." Arthur started what would more than likely end up being a messy apology.
"I'm not listening to this," Izzy said and turned her back to him and walked away again.
"I shouldn't have ditched you on the boat the way I did, Dutch said you hadn't paid your share, and I was only trying to collect what you owed I shouldn't have tricked you like that," Arthur explained approaching her again.
"What I owed? I gave Dutch half of everything I earned as he asked!" She exclaimed turning back to look at him.
"What?"
"Is that what he told you? That I didn't pay him? How could you assume I would be that selfish!"
"I don't know what your motivations were to hold back your share."
"That's because I didn't have any! I paid, and you stole the rest of it!"
"I already know I shouldn't have done that, that I shouldn't have done any of it." Arthur finally caught her in the corner by the fireplace. She had her hand over her mouth shaking as she held her breath making her face go red.
"Izzy... breath." He walked up cautiously to her.
"I thought you loved me." Izzy's voice cracked, hugging herself refusing to turn and look at him. He knew he was going to make her cry again, but this time he wasn't going to leave her.
"I do... did." He corrected himself midsentence then stopped himself wondering why he said that. Izzy turned to him, her eyes red as tears started down her face.
"What did you say?" She asked. Arthur paused again, his head cloudy still he couldn't think past the ache in his chest.
"I said I do." He repeated this time not correcting himself.
"You do what?" She asked, and Arthur gave her a look.
"You sound like Rosalyn." He said as she started to calm down a bit.
"You do what?" Izzy asked again.
Arthur went quiet, this was a weird situation, and he was not in the proper mindset to handle it. Oh, what it was like to be young and in love. Their relationship which was more like a tornado of passion and heartbreak compared a classic storytime romance. That was a long time ago, things had changed, and he had changed, but right now, all he wanted was her. To have her in his arms again to go back to those youthful days where she loved him back. Isabella calmed herself as the redness of her cheeks faded while his silence gave her time to breath.
"Why didn't you ask?" She asked.
"Pardon?"
"You could have asked me for anything, and I would have done it. I would have done anything for you." Izzy hugged herself trying to avoid eye contact him.
"Because I am a fool." Overwhelmed by everything that had happened he approached her suddenly and kissed her passionately. Izzy stumbled back as Arthur rushed her into a kiss and she pushed him back by his chest. His half-lidded eyes were staring intensely into hers as his smell overtook her flooding back memories into her mind. Izzy paused as the strength behind her hands went soft while she investigated his face. Arthur was holding her by the hips trying to pull her closer to him.
"You stupid idiot." She said and this time kissed him.
Arthur pinned her against the wall and kissed her again, this time feeling Izzy push back into his lips as she encircled his neck with her arms. Rosalyn didn't matter anymore, and whether or not if she came back to the room, all he wanted was to keep this moment for as long as possible. His lips locked his hers as good memories came back to him. The taste of her lips giving him flashbacks to the sandy beach where they first were together. The mix of whiskey and cigarettes coupled with the Raspberry jam on his tongue as they got lost in each other.
Their heated kiss lasted for a long time until a knock came to the door.
"You two decent in there?" Rosalyn asked from the door as she popped her head in seeing them against the far wall. Arthur was pinning Izzy against the wall by the wrists as her legs had found themselves hooked around his hips.
"I'll come back later," Rosalyn said and closed the door once more with the most sinister of grins.
"Wait!" Izzy said in a pant, but Rosalyn had already left again.
There was an awkward pause between them, and Arthur was not ready to let go of her, and to his surprise, she wasn't resisting him.
"So what do we do now?" Arthur asked as he loosened his grip on her wrists letting her go slowly. Izzy looked conflicted, and she delicately pushed Arthur back to give her some breathing room as she adjusted her shirt. Izzy was quiet and barely looked at him as she processed the situation. Arthur was waiting to see if Izzy would kiss him again. As she continued to avoid speaking, he moved closer to her back and grabbed the buckle of her gun belt and pulled her into him.
"What are we doing?" She asked.
"I don't know, all I know is I miss you," Arthur explained slowly releasing the clasp of the gun belt. "and I don't need you sticking this is my heart again." He asked to disarm her.
Izzy bit her lip and grabbed his wrist stopping him.
"It's not that easy. You don't do everything you did and then get forgiven over a kiss." She protested with her words but did nothing to stop him as he removed the belt from her hips. Setting her gun down on the mantle of the fireplace.
"I have a lot to apologise for." He said and picked her up in which her legs wrapped around his hips out of instinct to hold on. He cradled her in his arms walked her over to the bed to lay her down with a heavy thud. He crawled on top of her as her hands slipped around his torso and she pulled him down to kiss her again. Complicit to his actions Izzy laid back as for the first time in a long time she let her guard down.
Arthur's hands started to aggressively explore her curves, grabbing handfuls of flesh at her waist and chest. Kneading the meat of her breasts as his lips made their way down her neck. Her breath began to quicken as little gasps escaped her when he pinched the tip of her nipple.
"Those sounds of yours are like music to my ears." He said softly into her ear as he nibbled the edge of her earlobe.
"Arthur." She mewled.
His heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name escaping her lips so sensually, setting his heart ablaze as he grabbed both of her thighs and propped open her legs so he could press his pelvis up into hers. He was pinning her to the bed with his erection grinding against her groin. Once their hips met a rhythm, Arthur continued to nibble down her neck as he unbuttoned her checkered shirt kissing each inch of skin revealed until he peeled it off her shoulders. Casting it aside as the bare skin of their bodies united on the bed.
(yeah i'm skipping the rest of this scene till I get some love in the comments)
Outside the door, Rosalyn sat with an open jar of Marmalade eating it with a spoon eavesdropping with her ear by the keyhole. Inside she could hear their moans and whispers before the bed started to creak aggressively. Isabella's voice high pitched and getting louder and louder as Arthur's growled in a low baritone. Finally, hearing enough she got up from the floor and dusted herself off.
"That's... hot." She said and closed the half-eaten jar and pulled a key from her pocket. It was the key to the last empty room in the hotel, and with Izzy's bags sitting at the door, Rosalyn picked them up and headed to the hotel room which was supposed to be where the Devil in Red would crash for the night. Once inside she put Izzy's thing away and climbed into the bed to go to sleep for the evening. Completely okay with the fact Arthur and Izzy would occupy her room. A little sad she wasn't involved with the party but happy to see Izzy, after so long finally got to enjoy herself.
Back in the Luxury hotel toom Arthur and Izzy laid in a mess of blankets, candy wrappers, cigar ash and smeared Strawberry jam. Isabella was on her back while smoking a cigarette as Arthur had passed out with his arms around her and his head on her shoulder. In her exhausted bliss, she ran her fingers over and over again through his blonde hair.
"What am I going to do with you." She asked herself out loud as the volume of his snoring proved he was deeply asleep.