Chapter Twenty-Two
Trick’s Treasure
We rode back to The Angel with lighter hearts, hoping that Cal and the children would be all right for the next few days and that maybe we’d get through to her on our next visit.
“You know, I reckon she almost told us the truth. But then the baby started fussin’,” I said, glancing at Miss June as we rode back to Telegraph Creek.
“I think you’re right. I’m hoping we’ll find out everything when we go back to see her and the children on Sunday.”
“You sure you wanna go Sunday?” Trick said. “Ain’t we gonna miss the service?”
She was so deadpan, I almost thought she was serious. But Miss June laughed and rolled her eyes.
“I suppose you’re right. Perhaps we’d better go another day.”
Oscar pulled Onyx up sharp and gaped at Trick and Miss June like they’d plum lost their minds.
“You ain’t serious. Church service ?” he said, with a look on his face like he had a mouthful of lemons.
Trick collapsed o’er her horse’s neck, laughing and pointing at Oscar like she couldn’t believe he’d fallen for it. Oscar narrowed his eyes.
“All right, all right. You have your fun. When we get back, I’m goin’ upstairs with Jimmy, and you better not bother us.”
My ears perked up, and I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. Trick’s laughter increased.
“Oh, hell,” she sputtered. “Jimmy looks like he plum won the lottery or somethin’.”
“Hell, I feel like I did. My injury’s healin’ up, so maybe I can take care of my good boy proper now.”
Oscar grinned, Miss June laughed and Trick nodded.
“Well, well, well. Maybe I got some tools in my bag of tricks you can use,” she said, with a glint in her eye.
“Uh-uh,” Oscar said. “We don’t want company.”
“I don’t mean that,” she said, making a face. “I mean, I got some things up in my room that you might find…useful and entertainin’.”
“Oh yes,” Miss June said. “Trick is a bit of a collector, you see. She has some very…interesting devices and tools you might find rather intriguing.”
“Oh shit,” Oscar said, his gaze flashing to mine. “I cannot even imagine. Though I’m sure I could if you give me some time…”
Trick grinned. “You ain’t gotta imagine anythin’. You can come have a look at what all I got—then pick and choose what you want to try.”
Miss June and Trick exchanged a knowing glance.
“Well,” I said and cleared my throat. “I suppose we can have a gander.”
* * * *
Once we’d given the horses into William’s care, we followed Trick upstairs. I’d never been in Trick’s room—or any of the other girls’ rooms, neither—and I was surprised by the way ’twas decorated.
There were fancy red silk cloths everywhere—draped from the ceiling and on the walls—combined with black ones, to give the space a unique and a, frankly, sensual appearance.
Her bed was covered with a red silk spread and piled with black cushions of all shapes and sizes.
She had a wardrobe at one end of the room and a wood chest below the window, where the black drapes were pulled aside to let in the daylight.
Trick lifted the corner of her mattress and pulled a small key from under it. She used the key to unlock the iron padlock on the chest.
“If I don’t keep the damn thing locked, things start to disappear,” she said. “I don’t mind the other girls borrowin’ things now and then, but they need to ask me first and bring them back when they’re done.”
“Seems reasonable,” Oscar said, licking his lips and chomping at the bit to see what might be in there. He elbowed me. “See, Jimmy? There’s the treasure.”
Trick took off the lock and lifted the top of the chest. It creaked as it opened, and I could see ’twas full of all sorts of things that I couldn’t identify just yet.
Oscar lunged forward, reaching inside and pulling out a long piece of polished wood about three feet wide, with buckled leather straps at each end.
“Oooh. I don’t know what this is for, but my mind is spinnin’!” He turned it o’er in his hands, touching the buckles and flashing me a mischievous glance.
“What on earth?” I said, completely flummoxed.
Trick sat on the edge of the mattress, folding her arms across her chest. “That there is a spreader bar.”
“Hell,” Oscar said, his cheeks flushed and his eyes sparkling. “What?”
“Uh,” I said, “so what do you do with a spreader bar?”
I was almost scared to ask, except I was awful curious, and by the reaction the device had gotten from Oscar, well, I needed to know how to use it.
Trick held her hand out and Oscar passed her the device.
“Get on the bed,” she said to him, and Oscar’s eyes flew wide.
“You best do as she says,” I muttered.
Trick shrugged. “I’m gonna show you. Don’t worry. You can keep your clothes on.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said, sitting down on the side of Trick’s bed. “Ooh, this is soft!” he said, gliding his fingertips o’er the bedspread.
“Now move your ass back so you’re sitting in the middle of the bed with your knees bent.”
“Fine,” Oscar said, glancing at me slyly as he got into position.
Trick put the bar between his legs and fastened one cuff to Oscar’s left ankle, and the other to his right one, as I watched with increasing interest.
“Hmm,” Oscar said, gazing down at his legs. “Seems a bit strange. What on earth—?”
Trick smiled, reached down and grabbed the stick, then hauled it up so Oscar’s splayed legs went in the air, and he slid down onto his back.
Desire rose in me as Oscar lay there, completely helpless, his eyes wide with shock and dawning understanding.
“Oh, I see .”
Trick grinned and lowered the bar so that Oscar’s legs lay flat on the bed, then wrapped both hands around it and, in one quick movement, flipped Oscar onto his belly.
Oscar made a sound that went right to my cock as he landed, his arms spread out on the sheets, completely vulnerable and overtaken, his back moving up and down with his surprised breaths.
Trick looked at me. “See? Now you got him at your mercy for whate’er fun you wanna get up to.”
“Huh,” was all I managed to get out.
Oscar gathered his elbows under him and swiveled his head around to look at me.
“I reckon we need to borrow this here spreader bar,” he said, voice breathless and shaky.
Trick laughed as I nodded.
“I reckon so,” I said, my voice unsteady.
“You’ll need a special word for Oscar to say if it gets to be too much. That’s standard practice when one partner’s made so vulnerable,” Trick pointed out.
Oscar grinned, using his elbows to rock himself into the mattress and sighing. “Oh, we already got a stop word.”
Trick gave me a wicked smile.
“Oh, I see.” She laughed. “You’re already gettin’ up to adventures. Well, maybe this here spreader bar will give you somethin’ new to try.”
“I reckon it will,” I said.
All I wanted at that moment was to get Oscar upstairs so we could test it out.
“Wait,” Oscar said, before I had a chance to speak. “I wanna see what else you got in that trunk.”
“Sure,” Trick said, unbuckling the bar and passing it to me.
I took it in hands that weren’t exactly steady and examined it. The workmanship looked pretty good.
“Where on earth did you get this?” I asked, as Oscar slipped off the bed and went o’er to the trunk.
“Well, Jimmy,” Trick said, quirking her lip. “You see, you meet all kinds of people in this line of work.”
“I can quite imagine.”
“Fella said he could get me one shipped all the way from London, England.”
“Good Lord. What did that cost you?”
Trick gave me a slow smile as she drew her gaze down, then up, my body.
“Less than you might think,” she admitted. “Some a these poor fellas are so darn lonely and aching for touch they’ll do just about anything for a few quick spanks and a wank.”
Oscar cackled. He was kneeling on the wood floor and peering into the trunk, like a child on Christmas morning.
“Oh, Jimmy, we’re gonna take this here ridin’ crop, too,” he said, lifting out a black braided leather instrument. His gaze drifted o’er it like ’twas a holy relic. “I reckon it’s got a nasty snap to’t.”
“Oh, you’ll like that,” Trick said. “If you like a spankin’, that’s the next best thing.”