“This is where we’re sleeping?” Scarlett asked as she looked at the rocks behind them and the wide open space on every other side. The wind was cold and she knew that once the sun went down it was only going to get colder.

This hadn’t exactly been what she’d been hoping for on the trip to Barbadine. She knew Harmon was probably snug and safe in the covered wagon with all kinds of blankets to keep him warm. Knowing her husband he also had a woman or two keeping him warm as well.

At least Scarlett would have Jonah to warm her body tonight, that is if the man would allow himself to give in to her with so many other people around.

His friends were coarse, rude and very unpleasant to be around. Reb liked to belch and tell wild tall tales about the whores he had met. Scarlett highly doubted he had done half the things with them that he claimed to have done and she wondered why on earth the man would think it okay to talk that way in front of a lady such as herself.

Bart was a little quieter and kept fixing her with evil glares throughout the afternoon. It was clear that he did not like or trust her though she had no idea why. It wasn’t because he knew her or anything about her because Scarlett was quite sure she had never met the man before.

And then there was Joe. According to Jonah he didn’t know the woman and had only met her just that morning, though Reb and Bart both knew her.

Scarlett wasn’t sure what to think about that woman and of course the term woman was used very loosely. She was dirty, she smelled like a man. All sweat, horse, dirt and the outdoors. She had a bad mouth, cursed worse than any other person Scarlett had met before and she never seemed to have anything nice to say to or about anyone or anything.

“I’m afraid so. But don’t worry, the rocks will help block a lot of the wind and once we get a good fire going they’ll reflect the heat. You won’t freeze, I promise.” Jonah assured her.

“What about animals?”

“Don’t worry.” Joe stated as she jumped from her horse, her knee high boots landing with a thud on the ground below. “They don’t eat things like you.”

“And what kinds of things are that exactly?” Scarlett asked, batting her lashes and forcing a sweet smile. “Clean things?”

“Trussed up, hoity toity things with sticks up their….”

“Alright, Joe, that’s enough.” Bart warned as he stepped between the two women. “Jonah take the lady over there and get her all set up before something bad happens to her.”

Scarlett sent a glare at Joe and then when she realized that Jonah was looking at her she batted her lashes once again and placed that smile on her face that always turned all the men to spineless, mindless servants.

Jonah began to lead her toward the rocks with a bedroll tucked under his arm and her suitcase held in his hand.

“I do not think she is very fond of me.” Scarlett stated, lacing her words with sadness and confusion.

She felt Jonah’s free hand fall on the small of her back.

“She doesn’t seem like she’s very fond of anything.” he agreed. Scarlett wrung her hands and looked at the open expanse of ground at the base of the rocks.

“Jonah….?” she whispered hesitantly and he turned to look at her with a frown.

“Yes?”

“I do not know if I can sleep so out in the open like this.” Scarlett admitted.

Then she was shocked when she was sure she saw irritation in Jonah’s gray eyes. He had the nerve to be irritated with her?! Scarlett found herself both angered and confused by this. Men were never irritated with her. And Jonah was supposed to be under her spell.

She had to fix this.

Scarlett stepped toward him, swinging her hips as she did so. So laid her hand against his cold reddened cheek and saw Jonah’s nostrils flare.

“I simply believe that a little privacy would be nice.” she added, bringing her body close to his and giving him an alluring smile.

Jonah cleared his throat and nodded, his hands circling around her hips.

“I’ll uh.. I’ll see what I can do to get you some privacy.” he assured her and she smiled brightly, her hand trailing down his chest, and her fingertips dipping into the waistband of his trousers.

“That would be nice, Mr. Winchester.”

***

“What the hell is that damned man a’doin?” Reb demanded with confusion as he stood with Bart and Joe beside the cart and watched Jonah gathering tall sticks and standing them up on the frozen ground, using rocks to brace the bottoms and hold them upright since digging a hole would have been a very difficult task.

“It looks like the man is making a shelter.” Bart replied.

“So them rocks weren’t good enough for the lady?” Joe spat and Bart and Reb each spit into the dirt. Joe pulled a cigarette from her pocket and put it between her lips before searching for a match.

“Guess not. You know I’m worried ‘bout Jonah.” Reb admitted. “Now he’s always had a soft spot for them pretty ‘uns but this woman just oozes trouble.”

“All men get stupid ‘round a pretty woman that says she’ll tend to their pecker.” Joe informed them both just before striking her match and bringing it to her cigarette.

Reb and Bart both scoffed at her statement.

“Not me.” Reb insisted. “I reckon I’ve made it good and clear that the only woman I have uses for are the ones that are bought and paid for.”

“That’s all fine and dandy.” Joe replied, blowing out a puff of smoke. “And those women are usin’ your needs just the same as Scarlett is using Jonah’s. She’s getting a protector, safe and free passage to Barbadine and a nice warm bed with walls ‘round it in return for tendin’ to his pecker.” Joe glanced over at Reb and Bart who were frowning as they stared at Jonah and contemplated what Joe had just said.

Joe laughed lightly and shook her head.

“A whore’s a whore.” she added as she began to walk off in search of her own privacy to meet natures needs. “It don’t matter how pretty you dress her up.”

“Something just isn’t right about that one.” Bart stated as he tipped his head in Scarlett’s direction. “She seems nice enough most of the time but more than a time or two today I’ve caught a different look on her face when she looks at all of us and Jonah. Damn near predatory and haughty.”

“Jonah is one of my best friends.” Reb agreed. “But even I have to ask what a woman like that sees in a man like him. Hell Jonah is the son of a whore and an outlaw. He’s lived damn near his entire life on horseback. He ain’t never got more than a couple o’dollars on him at any given time. He’s wild and rugged just the same as you and me. It’s clear she don’t like us none so why like him? She’s too fancy a woman for a man like him.”

The two friends shared a look of concern and continued to watch their friend who was currently stringing some rope between the tops of the sticks while Scarlett stood there with her arms crossed over her more than ample chest and watched him with what had to be smugness on her face. There wasn’t any way it could be mistaken for anything else.

***

“This meal is….delicious.” Scarlett said with a curl of her nose as she sniffed at the hard tack biscuit in her hand.

“You’re probably the first person to ever say so.” Jonah countered before taking a bite of his own biscuit.

Joe rolled her eyes and bit off a chunk of her biscuit causing crumbs to tumble down her chin and stick to the front of her coat.

“Food is food.” she grumbled. “If ya want gourmet ya shoulda stayed in the city. Why didn’t ya stay in the city?”

“Why the hell didn’t you stay on the mountain?” Jonah shot back. “All you ever seem to do is grumble and curse. You seem to hate every person and thing you come across.”

Joe glared at the man as she shoved herself to her feet. Darkness was all around them and the air was cold, though the large fire put off enough heat to ward off the worst of it.

“I don’t hate everyone.” she countered. “Just brain dead men trippin’ over their own boots and caterin’ to damn ladies who ain’t got no business comin’ ’round here in the first place.”

Joe stormed off into the night before giving anyone time to reply to her.

She hated women like Scarlett. All soft and silky with creamy skin and fancy clothes. Joe had good reason to hate them.

Her mother had been one. Joe had been one until she’d been eight years old and her mother had gotten herself killed by some men who thought that women were alive only to serve their needs.

Joe had hidden in the wardrobe in the corner of her mothers room while those men had brutalized the woman. A woman who had had no business living out in this world but who had been determined to prove that she could. Joe hadn’t understood exactly what had happened to tear her mothers clothes from her body and bloody her thighs but her father, when he had shown up three days later, had been sure to make her understand.

He hadn’t wanted the same thing to happen to his daughter.

And the day her father had shown up, Joe’s life had completely changed. Gone was Emily’s daughter, Josephine, and in her place was Gideon ‘the Hawk’ Redding’s daughter, Joe.

Gone was the girl being groomed and trained to be a lady. Being taught proper etiquette and grammar. Being educated to make a gentleman a suitable wife.

Her father had taught her the true way that a woman should be. Tough as nails. More able than any man with any weapon.

And now Joe hated any woman that reminded her of her mother and the woman that Joe herself had been born to be.

And she hated men like Jonah. Men with real potential to be great but who were blinded by the sweet words and batting lashes of ladies. Joe knew from experience that every lady had an agenda. Land a rich husband. Or further her social status. Ladies didn’t love men. No, they simply saw men as a way to get what they wanted.

Joe didn’t think Jonah had much in the way of money or influence but if Scarlett was paying attention to him it meant he had something that the woman wanted; she was using him to reach some kind of end though Joe had no idea what that end could be.

And she didn’t care. Jonah certainly wasn’t her problem and what he did wasn’t any of her business. All she was worried about was getting to Barbadine and selling her furs so she could stock back up on supplies.

***

Jonah lay on his bedroll with his hands behind his head and tried to focus on something other than the warm, soft body he knew was laying on the other side of the curtain.

He had spent a good hour and a half putting up those sticks and stringing blankets so that Scarlett could have her privacy and Lord help him but all he wanted to do was slip behind them with her and really explore her body, learn what she felt like. He hadn’t had a chance to do that yet.

His hears picked up a sound, it was soft and quiet but he heard it just the same. A sniffle. A feminine sniffle.

Instantly he rose to his feet, moving silently through the firelight as he went to the ’room’ he had made for Scarlett.

He didn’t understand the woman. One minute she was crying, then she was acting coy, then she was batting her lashes and giggling like a lady, and then in yet another turn around of moods she was glaring at his friends and looking down her nose at them as if he wouldn’t notice…. But that nose was awfully damn pretty.

He knew Bart and Reb were worried about him but they really had no reason to be. He wasn’t falling in love with Scarlett, not even close to it, he just wanted to bed her and she certainly seemed more than willing.

He knew damn well a lady such as her wasn’t going to want to settle down with somebody like him, Penny had taught him that lesson well. Jonah was just looking for some rutting. Just an ease to this constant throbbing in his cock, and Scarlett seemed more than willing to provide that.

He slipped beneath the curtains and realized that she was sound asleep, her long lashes resting on her cheeks and her lips parted slightly.

If she hadn’t been crying than who had???

Before Jonah could think any further about that Scarlett’s eyes flew open and she looked scared to death before realizing it was him. A smile pulled at her full lips and Jonah liked the way the glow of the fire shone through the fabric of the thin blankets he had hung up.

“Well hello there, Mr. Winchester. I wondered if you’d come.”

“Here I am, ma’am.” he replied with a wink and Scarlett laughed lightly. She sat up slightly and her loose raven hair fell across her shoulders, stealing his breath.

“Come on over here then, sir.” she ordered and Jonah nodded and laid his body over hers before crushing her lips with his own.

***

Joe was thoroughly irritated as she lay on her bedroll. Tears again. More of those worthless feminine tears that didn’t solve a damn thing and yet were strong enough to come out no matter how hard she fought against them.

Thoughts of her mother, her father, the loss of them both and the fear that she felt deep down each and every day because of their deaths was weighing on her heart heavier and heavier every single day and today they had caused tears twice. Twice!

She heard movement to her left and glanced to see Jonah rising up in the firelight. Now Joe had no more interest in taking a man than she did in buying a silky dress but she had to admit that Jonah was a fine specimen of what a man should be.

Tall and broad with long arms and big hands. He moved with a fluid grace, a lethalness that any outlaw would recognize. There was silence in his movements and it was clear that he was very tuned in to his body. He was comfortable in his own skin.

Then Joe saw him slip into the shelter he had built for Scarlett and her temper rose.

What a fool. What an idiotic fool with one hell of a brain ailment.

Joe heard Scarlett giggle and had had enough.

She stood and saw the centipede crawling around the fire. It was a good six inches long, fat, and had a good couple of thousand legs.

A smile curved Joe’s lips. She’d always been a bit too mischievous for her own good and she and her father had always enjoyed a good prank.

Joe scooped up the centipede and walked to the shelter. The wind blowing her hair around her face and causing the wolf fur around her neck to tickle her skin.

The sight of the two shadows lost in each others arms caused a strange tingling ache to form low in Joe’s stomach and she found herself watching them through the fabric for several long minutes.

What was that ache she was feeling? She felt moisture collecting between her legs and her nipples began to throb.

No. No. No. She wouldn’t start feeling such foolish things as desire! She wouldn’t start thinking of what it would feel like to have a man touching her that way. She was Joe Redding and she didn’t give in to such foolish fantasies.

Shaking off the momentary lapse of her brain Joe pulled back one corner of the blanket and tossed the centipede inside, making sure to land it directly on Scarlett’s face before jumping back all but running to her bedroll.

She no sooner jumped to the ground when a horrible screeching filled the night air.

Jeb and Bart were on their feet instantly with their guns drawn.

Joe was laughing loudly as the shelter that poor Jonah had worked so hard on was torn to pieces by Scarlett who came out of it swinging and swatting.

“That’s it!” she cried out. “I’m not sleeping on that ground anymore! I told you there were animals!”

Jonah disentangled himself from the blankets and ropes, still fully clothed, and tried to comfort her by laying his hand on her shoulder.

“It was just a centipede.” he assured her and Reb and Bart began laughing right along with Joe.

“I don’t care!” Scarlett exclaimed with a stomp. “I won’t sleep there any longer!”

“What’s the matter, miss Reign?” Joe asked as she stuck her hands on her hips and rocked back on her heels feeling quite amused. “You ain’t afraid of a little ol’ creepy crawly are ya?”

“Jonah, do something.” Scarlett hissed. Jonah fixed Joe with a look that told her he knew damn well where that centipede had come from and Joe’s smile only grew bigger.

“You can sleep in the cart.” he said to Scarlett, without looking away from Joe.

“Not on my furs.” Joe cut in and Jonah nodded.

“Yes on your furs. Maybe you should have thought of that before you acted like a five year old and tossed a centipede on an unsuspecting lady.”

Reb and Bart looked back and forth between the two of them as they faced off. Thirty feet separated their bodies and yet the air practically crackled with fire between them. Connecting them.

“It was funny.” Joe replied with a shrug. “Only reason you don’t think it was is cuz it interrupted all of your pecker’s fun.”

Scarlett gasped and covered her mouth with her hand and Jonah glared at Joe. She wondered what he was thinking and then he surprised everyone when he threw his head back and laughed.

“Jonah!” Scarlett exclaimed and Jonah stopped laughing, though his face was still lit with amusement.

“Come on now, it was pretty funny.” he stated and Scarlett glared at him, clearly not finding the humor in the situation. Joe shook her head when Jonah put his arm around Scarlett’s shoulders and led her to the cart. “Let’s get you settled back down now, Scarlett. I’m sure there won’t be no more flying centipedes.”

Joe grumbled under her breath and flopped back down on her bedroll. There might just be some more flying critters coming at Miss Scarlett Reign but Joe would make sure it was something that was plenty mad with teeth and venom to spare. Then when the twit screamed and acted like a fool, she would have a bit of a better reason.