“You just don’t learn do ya?” Bart asked as he watched Jonah run a comb through his ear length dark blond hair.

“What the hell you talking about?” Jonah asked and Reb came to stand behind him.

“You just got done bein’ Penny’s Clown not too long ago and now you’re hunting for a new woman.”

“The only kind of women you need to worry about are the kind that you pay a bit of money to and they see to your needs. Foolin with any other kind is just asking for trouble!” Bart exclaimed.

“I ain’t foolin with her.” Jonah informed them with irritation. “I’m just getting a free dinner since I saved her virtue earlier today. It don’t mean nothing more than that. Just free food.”

Reb and Bart shared a look. With Jonah and women it was never that simple. Never had been, never would be.

Reb rolled his eye and stepped back.

“You know we’ve got your back, Jonah, but just remember that we warned you.”

“It’s just dinner, Reb. Just dinner.” Jonah stated a bit more patiently as he placed his worn brown leather hat on his head.

He kind of wished he owned fancier clothes or had the money to buy some seeing as how Scarlett seemed to be a high class lady and her brother no doubt was high class as well.

Oh well, he was a wandering, drifting ranch hand and they’d just have to accept him at dinner the way he was. Stained shirt, frayed vest, sweaty hat and all.

“Well you go ahead and have your dinner. Just make sure your pecker knows that‘s all it is.” Bart warned. Jonah just grunted and strode to the door. He grabbed his gun belt off the coat rack and strapped it silently around his hips before walking out the door and shutting it rather loudly behind him.

‘Penny’s Clown’ had been his nickname for a while and now apparently it was going to become ‘Anybody’s Clown’. It seemed even his closest friends had completely lost faith in his ability to handle relationships with women.

Jonah shook his head to clear his thoughts. He could handle his own pecker just fine and didn’t need their input or two cents about things. This was about a free dinner and nothing else.

Jonah was still telling himself that as he stepped into the diner and looked around the candle and lantern lit interior. It was six o’clock and darkness was already falling.

The diner was full since all the hotel patrons seemed to have chosen the same moment for their dinner.

Jonah wondered how he was going to find Scarlett and her brother in this swarm of people but then he heard a soft feminine voice calling his name.

“Mr. Winchester, I’m over here.” Jonah’s eyes turned toward the sound and his throat and mouth went dry.

If ever a raven haired beauty existed, Scarlett Reign was it. Her dark hair hung down her back, pulled away from her face by some sort of fancy braid. The flame light filling the room caused her long locks to sparkle and shine and her pale skin seemed to glow against the maroon dress she was wearing.

The dress was tight on top with long sleeves, hugging her delicate arms. Her full breasts were clearly outlined and the neckline of the dress awarded him a view of the smooth skin of her chest and a small line of cleavage before the dress hid the rest from his view.

She stood as he forced his boots to approach the table and he saw that the dress pulled away at her full hips and the skirt was long and full. The firelight shimmered off the soft fabric.

She looked like a right proper lady, right down to the gold and ruby necklace dangling around her delicate neck.

“Evening, ma’am.” Jonah said politely as he removed his hat and ran a hand through his messy blond hair. Right now he wished he had taken the time to grease it down the way all the high class men did. Instead it was wild and out of control thanks to his hat.

. “Good evening, Mr. Winchester. I am sorry to say that my brother fell ill this evening and is in bed. I trust you won’t mind if it is just you and I eating dinner tonight?”

Jonah shook his head, his mind filling with all the different things he would like for he and she to do together.

“That’ll be just fine, ma’am.”

Scarlett waved her hand and flashed him a sparkling smile as she took her seat and he pushed her in to the table.

“Please, Mr. Winchester, none of that ‘ma’am’ business. That type of address is meant for little old ladies you are helping to cross the street. Certainly you don’t think I am old?” There was a teasing look in her doe brown eyes as Jonah sat down across from her.

“Of course not, Miss Reign.” he replied with a smile and a tip of his head. Then a server appeared, placing a plate of steak and potatoes in front of him and some bread and soup in front of her.

“I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of ordering your dinner while I was waiting.” Scarlett stated guiltily. “I assumed from our first encounter that you were probably a meat and potatoes kind of man.”

“You assumed right.” Jonah said reassuringly. “This’ll be just fine.”

Jonah was impressed by her ability to keep a conversation light and flowing as they ate their meal. Jonah had never been much of a talker but Scarlett had a way of prying words out of him with just a bat of her long dark lashes.

“So you see, my brother is very interested in buying up land out west because he knows that the railroad will be extending to this land within the next decade or so and this land will make him a very rich man.”

“And that’s what brings you all out here then?” Jonah asked.

“Yes and we’re not going to be in town for very long. As a matter of fact we’ll be leaving tomorrow afternoon.” she replied sadly.

“I’m passing through as well.” Jonah said. “Me and a couple friends of mine are just kinda driftin’ around ‘til I find a place I want to settle.”

“Well then it is lucky we both happened to be driftin’ through the same town at the same time, isn’t it, Mr. Winchester.”

“Yes it is, Miss Reign.”

“It is truly a shame that dinner is over so soon.” Scarlett sighed as she pushed her plate away and traced her finger along the golden chain of her necklace.

Jonah found his eyes following the movement of the dainty finger, slipping along the line of her cleavage. He forced his eyes back to her face and saw her tongue dart across her full, red bottom lip.

“Yes, a shame.” Jonah replied, his voice gruffer than it had been just minutes ago. This woman made him want to forget about trying to be a gentleman. She made him want to take her upstairs, lay her down and ride her hard…..

Jonah hadn’t had a woman in a long time. Not since the last time with Penny and that had been a good year before. Now he was realizing that that had been a mistake and his cock was in serious need of female attention.

But not from this woman. Surely after what she’d been through just that morning she wouldn’t be interested in sharing a bed with him… plus she was a lady. They didn’t just lay with poor ranch hands. But then again….

Scarlett reached across the table and laid her hand over his, her fingertips dancing and skimming across his skin.

“I’m afraid I left your coat up in my room. Would you accompany me up there to go and retrieve it?”

Somehow Jonah found the sense of mind to nod. How long had it been since he’d been so aroused, so tangled up in knots because of a woman?

Jonah had always tried to be good and decent. No sleeping around with different women. He was a one woman man… But what had that gotten him? The name ‘Penny’s Clown’ that’s what it had gotten him.

He was turning over a new leaf, here and now. No more denying himself what he wanted just for the sake of ‘being good’. From now he was going to take what he wanted and what he wanted was Scarlett, and judging by the way he could feel her foot caressing his calf beneath the table, she wanted him too.

“I’d be happy to walk you upstairs, Miss Reign.” She smiled and he stood when she rose. She looped her arm through the crook of his and he let her lead him up the stairs.

He, Bart and Reb had rooms on the second floor but Scarlett and her brother were on the third. The hallway was empty and dimly lit by oil lamps and when they came to a stop at a door toward the end, Jonah’s heart was thundering behind his ribs.

“I’ll be just a moment, Mr. Wnchester.” Scarlett removed a key from her pocket and opened the door. When she slipped past him and inside Jonah caught her perfume on the air just before she closed the door and the floral scent of it intoxicated him.

Yep, she was a lady alright. Ladies always smelled good. It was another thing that he found irresistible about them.

Jonah stood in the hall, wishing he’d been invited in and it seemed to take hours before the door finally opened and she appeared, holding out his dirty dark brown duster coat.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Jonah said and then he smiled at her raised brow. “Miss Reign.” he amended. He looked at the door with longing, realizing she probably wasn’t going to let him in and she laughed lightly.

“Really now, Mr. Winchester, what kind of lady would I be if I let you in my room?” she asked and Jonah sighed.

“I understand, miss. Thank you for dinner. You and your brother have a safe journey to wherever it is you’re going next.”

Jonah was turning to walk away, the brothel was just down the road and while he had never been much for brothels he knew he’d have to have a woman tonight.

He was stopped in his tracks when her small hand closed on his lower arm.

“I was hoping, Mr. Winchester, that perhaps I could get a goodnight kiss?”

Jonah nodded and then pulled her close to him and tipped her head back. Her lips were full, red and moist and Jonah couldn’t wait to get a taste.

He slid his hand into her hair and then covered her mouth with his own. Her arms wrapped around him and her hands gripped his back.

This kiss was intoxicating. Jonah had never felt a kiss like this. Scarlett seemed to know just how to do this….. She moaned his name and pressed her body long against his own as her scent seemed to envelop him.

She purred and wiggled herself against his throbbing arousal that was pressed tight against her stomach. She pulled away, a smile gracing her kiss swollen lips.

“Why, Mr. Winchester, I do believe you enjoyed that kiss.” she teased.

“Yes’m.” Jonah replied, staring at her with shock. He had thought that she was an innocent young woman, a lady, but innocent young women didn’t know how to kiss like that… How to use their entire bodies to tease and arouse a man so that every ounce of his self control went out the window.

She had been using her body, using her alluring nature ever since he’d walked into that diner this evening to rope him in and make him forget about anything other than his lust….

“I know what you are thinking.” she stated as she folded her hands in front of her and studied him. “You are thinking that I must be a terrible woman. A whore perhaps? Well I am not, though I am not innocent. I live a life of freedom. I do not let society dictate to me what is right and wrong. I go after what I want, Mr. Winchester.”

“And what do you want, Miss?” Jonah asked. Scarlett licked her lips and stepped toward him. Tipping forward just enough so that the line of cleavage at her neckline became more pronounced and her dark hair fell across her shoulders.

“Breakfast. I want to meet you for breakfast in the morning. Does nine work for you, Mr. Winchester?”

It took Jonah’s lust clouded mind a moment to comprehend her words. Dear God! The woman had him so heated up he knew he’d have to jump in the town watering trough in order to cool back off.

“Breakfast?” he managed to whisper and she nodded, her fingertips dancing across the neckline of her dress.

“Yes. Breakfast. Nine o’clock. Be there, Mr. Winchester. You won’t regret it.” Without giving him time to reply, Scarlett turned and sashayed her way back into her room, her hips swinging deliciously in time with her steps.

Jonah was aching all over… He literally felt as if fire was running through his veins. Scarlett Reign was everything that was his weakness. Everything he should know better than to trust and want and yet want her he did.

He turned on his boot heels and headed for his room, hoping that Reb and Bart would still be gone so he’d have time to be asleep before they got back. He was sure to hear enough of an earful come morning when they found out about breakfast.

***

Scarlett smiled with satisfaction as she closed the door tightly and looked at her husband sitting in the arm chair beside the fire watching her expectantly.

“So?” he questioned. “How did it go?”

“It went wonderfully.” she replied as she walked across the room and perched herself on his lap. She trembled as his hands closed around her waist and his lips teased the sensitive skin of her neck.

“He’ll do then?”

“Yes, Harmon, I believe he will.” Scarlett pushed his face away from her neck and frowned as she ran her thumb along the welt that Jonah Winchester had put there just that morning.

“Would you like some ice for your face?” Harmon grunted and shoved her hand away.

“Hell no. That bastard should be grateful that we need him or else I would have never let him lay hands on me like that this morning.”

“I know it was hard on you, dear heart.” Scarlett sighed as she stood and breezed her way across the room to the decanter of whiskey on the bedside table. She poured some into a crystal glass and then walked back to her husband. “But it was necessary. We had to ensure that the man we chose would be roped in by a damsel in distress. Now he’ll be protective of me and I already know he desires me.” She smiled as Harmon grabbed her arm and yanked her down onto his lap.

“Of course he does. Tell me, how did it feel to kiss him?” Scarlett moaned and leaned forward, teasing Harmon’s lips with her own.

“It was amazing.” she whispered breathlessly. “He is all heat and strength.” She felt Harmon growing hard beneath her and his grip on her waist tightened.

“Too bad I couldn’t see you kiss him.” Scarlett put her lips to his ear and felt him shivering with pleasure.

“If breakfast goes well tomorrow I have every intention of kissing him again, perhaps more. You know if the curtains are drawn and the lights are out, this room is fairly dark. Perhaps you can come in and he will be so blinded by dark and passion that he will not recognize you and he will let you watch.” she teased.

Harmon just grinned hungrily in response and then stood quickly, lifting her in his arms. Scarlett laughed lightly and wrapped her arms tight around his neck as he carried her to the bed and then tossed her down before covering her body with his own and kissing her hungrily.