Free Longarm #396 : Longarm and the Castle of the Damned (9781101545249) by Tabor Evans

working,” she said. “Then after that I will answer any questions that I can.”

Chapter 21
    After a somewhat late supper Longarm gave his thanks and his good nights to Coon Morgan—the man did indeed have dark rings around his deeply sunken eyes, giving rise to the name—and to his two cowhands, then returned to the table, where Netty was clearing away the last of the dishes.
    â€œIt is becoming a little chilly, don’t you think?” she said. “Let me finish this and we can go into the cookhouse to talk some more. Then you can bed down in there. Nice as it is during the day, at this time of year the nights can be cold and you wouldn’t want to sleep outside unless you had to.”
    â€œIs there anything I can do? Bring some wood in or anything?”
    â€œGracious, what a gentleman.” She laughed, then said, “If you’re serious, yes. You might bring in an armload of wood. The pile is . . .”
    â€œI see it.” Someone, presumably the cowhands, had already split at least two cords of aspen and stacked it on the south side of the cookhouse where come winter it would be out of the prevailing north winds.
    He gathered as much as he could handle and carried it inside the dugout. There was a stone fireplace at the back, but then had there been a stove he was sure Netty would have cooked on that instead of outdoors. The floor had been dug deep, giving the dugout more space and headroom than was apparent from the outside. There was a large open area with no furnishings at all, where they probably moved the table in winter, and a blanket-covered bunk pegged into a side corner.
    Longarm dumped his load of wood into a box beside the fireplace and, while he was there, touched a match to the wood that had already been laid ready for lighting. The dry aspen tinder caught quickly, and just as quickly enveloped the larger chunks, until there was a good fire burning. Aspen burns well but does not give out as much heat as pine. On the other hand one tends to burn what one has, and Morgan’s outfit had aspen.
    Once the fire was well started, he went back out for more wood. By the time Netty joined him, the wood box was full and the fire had filled the dugout with a comforting heat and with the delicate fragrance of the wood smoke.
    The woman smiled and motioned Longarm toward the bunk. “Sit down there, Marshal. I’ll pull your boots off. Here, let me have your coat too. Make yourself comfortable.”
    Longarm sat. Netty knelt in front of him and tugged his boots off. Then, surprising him, she started unfastening the buttons of his fly.
    â€œListen, I, uh . . .”
    She looked up at him and smiled. “Do you mind?”
    â€œDo I mind, um, what exactly?”
    â€œMarshal Long, you are a lovely, lovely man. Very strong and handsome.” She glanced down toward what her busy fingers were encountering. “Oh, my.” Netty laughed again. “A very big , handsome man,” she said.
    â€œIn case you haven’t already guessed, Marshal, I am not a shy woman and I simply like sex. I like men. I like men’s dicks. I especially like for a man’s dick to be inside me. Does that make me a slut? Probably. Certainly it means I am not a respectable woman, but I am not a whore. I get as much as I give and I like what I get. If this bothers you . . . if you don’t want to be with a woman who is older than you or if you are being true to someone somewhere, well, just say so. You can go to sleep and I’ll not bother you.” She smiled. “But I can promise you a fine ride if you don’t mind me continuing here.” She released the last button and gave his cock a friendly squeeze.
    Longarm smiled and said, “Lemme get rid o’ this gunbelt and such whilst you shuck yourself outa those clothes”
    Before he knew it, Longarm was grabbing hold of both sides of the bunk and hanging on, and Netty was on top of him, bucking and