Her Personal Bodyguard

Victoria looked at Gary.

"I know how he got his truck here and I know how he got inside the fence. There's an old dirt road that runs along this fence, and Max put a gate back here in case he had to bring hay to the cows if it snowed too much to get here from the house."

When she left, I looked Gary in the eye.

"You asshole, I oughta finish what Victoria started, but I won't, not now, but I'll tell you what. If you don't tell the sheriff everything you know about Max and what you tried to do today, I will find you and after I'm done, nobody is going to find any trace of you, ever. Don't think I can't do that. I learned a few things in Iraq. If I were you, I wouldn't tell the sheriff about this little conversation either. Do we understand each other?"

Gary grimaced when he nodded, and then yelped when I stuffed my handkerchief in the bullet hole in his shoulder. I pushed it into the hole and then gave it an extra push, and laughed when Gary yelped again.

"Hurts like hell, doesn't it? Imagine how Max felt when you shot him."

It took the Sheriff and the EMT's half an hour to get there, and Gary had passed out by then. The EMT's stuck an IV in Gary's arm and then loaded him into their truck and left for the hospital. I explained to the Sheriff what had happened. He nodded as he wrote everything down, then looked up at me.

"Once the hospital gets done with him, we'll get his story. I'll let you and Victoria know what we find out, but what you just told me makes a lot of sense. Uh...I have to suspend your license until we get this all sorted out. Hope you understand."

I said I did and shook his hand. When he left with Gary's AK in his hand, I walked back to Diablo and found Victoria waiting on me.

"Is he still alive"

I grinned.

"Yeah. We'll have to do some target practice. You didn't hit anything vital."

Victoria just smiled.

"I didn't miss. I hit where I was aiming. I told you I could do that. Max taught me how to shoot."

"Well, Gary's on his way to the hospital and I think the Sheriff believes what I told him about Max and what happened today. I also sort of suggested to Gary that it would be a lot better if he came clean."

Victoria frowned.

"You think he will?"

"Well, I sort of told him I'd track him down and make him disappear if he didn't. Hope you don't mind."

Victoria grinned.

"Let's get back now. I need a drink to settle myself down and we can talk while we have one...or maybe two."

After we put the horses up for the night, Victoria and I went into the den. She opened the gun vault while I emptied the Winchester. When I put it in the rack, I pulled the magazine from the 1911 and then jacked the chambered round out onto the counter. I was taking off the holster when Victoria asked me what I was doing.

"Well, it's the law that if a private guard is involved in a shooting, his license is suspended until he's cleared. I'm just a regular guy now, so I can't carry a weapon."

Victoria frowned.

"You put it back on. You work for me and on my property, you do what I say you can do."

She smiled then.

"Besides, I feel safer seeing that pistol on your belt. I felt safe today even though I was sure Gary was going to try to kill me."

I laughed.

"Well, I didn't do anything but duck. You're the one who took Gary down. I was pretty useless."

Victoria smiled.

"Put the pistol back on and then let's have that drink. I drink bourbon straight. What about you?"

Victoria went to the bar, took a bottle off the shelf and poured two shot glasses half full, then brought them to the coffee table in front of the couch. She sat down and patted the seat beside her.

"Don't be shy, Mark. Have a seat."

I sat down, took the shot glass she handed me, and took a sip. It was bourbon, but it was as smooth as glass.

"I don't know what this is, but it's the best bourbon I ever tasted."

Victoria smiled.

"It's Four Roses Single Barrel". Max bought a case every Christmas. I probably won't have to buy another this Christmas. I still have eight bottles left. Be careful until you get used to it. It's a hundred proof and it'll put you on your butt quicker than you'd think. I know.

"So, about you doing something to Gary if he didn't tell the Sheriff what happened. Would you really have killed him?"

I shook my head.

"No, I wouldn't have killed him. I'm not that kind of guy. I'd have made him wish I had killed him though."

Victoria sipped her bourbon and then asked me why I'd have done that.

"Well, I saw three men in combat get killed like Gary was going to kill both of us. They were just standing there, and then wham, they got hit. There wasn't any warning, no chance to defend themselves, no nothing. I expected that in combat, but not in civilian life and for sure not to a woman. Only a coward would do that."

Victoria smiled.

"You're so much like Max. He'd have done anything to protect me, just like you did today. He loved that pistol almost as much as he loved me, I think, and you seem to really like it too. Diablo seemed to understand that you were his new rider. He wouldn't do that with any of the hired men. He's bucked them all off at one time or another. You even like the same bourbon Max liked."

Victoria sipped her bourbon again, and then scooted closer to me.

"Max was a Marine too. Maybe that's why I feel so safe with you around."

Victoria was sitting there with her full lips slightly parted, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. I'd never seen her look like that before. As I looked at her, her little pink tongue slipped out and licked the very center of her upper lip. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but I figured if I kept thinking what I was thinking, it would be the end of my job.

I tossed down the rest of my bourbon and almost choked in the process, then stood up.

"Well, I think you can feel safe again. I'm almost positive Gary killed your husband and was trying to kill you. I don't know why he wanted to do it, but the rest of it makes sense now. I think you can go to bed tonight and not worry about anything."

Victoria put her shot glass on the coffee table and then stood up and put her arms around my neck.

"Mark, there's one more thing Max used to do for me, and I miss it more than I can tell you. Do you understand what I mean?"

I did, and I wasn't sure it was a good idea.

"Victoria, I'm not Max, and I'm quite a bit younger than you. I don't know if this is something you really want, or if you just miss your husband."

Victoria smiled.

"I know you're not Max, and I know I'm older than you are. I do miss Max, but he wouldn't want me to stop living. He told me that a lot of times -- if anything ever happened to him, I should remember him but go on with my life. Doing what I want to do with you right now is something Max would agree with."

If Victoria hadn't pressed her lips to mine, I'd have tried to talk her out of it, but once she did, I sort of lost the will to do that. It was the way she opened her mouth slightly and slipped her tongue over my lips. It was the way her lips made love to mine when I opened my mouth a little too. It was the way she moaned into my mouth when our tongues touched.

She pulled gently away then and smiled.

"You wouldn't keep a woman from reliving what she once had, would you? I promise you won't regret it."

Victoria didn't give me a chance to answer that question, though I was past resisting by then. She pressed her breasts into my chest and kissed me again.

It was more instinct or some sub-conscious reaction that made me stroke her back and then slide my hands down to cup her ass cheeks. Victoria moaned when I squeezed them and then pulled her body close enough I felt her pressing her mound into my thigh.

When she broke the kiss that time, Victoria didn't say anything. She just took my hand and led me to her bedroom. Once we were there, she pulled the sheet and blankets down to the foot of the bed. She smiled sheepishly as she unbuttoned her blouse, shrugged it off her shoulders, and then slipped her bra straps off her shoulders. When they were down around her arms, she slipped her hands out of them and turned her bra around.

Her breasts were bigger than I'd thought, and when she unhooked the hooks, they fell a little further down on her chest. Her darker nipples seemed to invite me to kiss them, so I did. Victoria shuddered a little, then started unbuttoning my shirt. When she had all the buttons undone, Victoria lifted my head, pressed her bare breasts into my bare chest and whispered, "I can't wait any longer, Mark. Get undressed".

While I shucked boots, jeans and underwear, Victoria worked her snug jeans down over her hips, then sat on the bed and took off her running shoes and socks. She held up her legs then and smiled.

"Help me get these off, Mark."

When I pulled the jeans off her legs, Victoria pulled her legs up, hooked her thumbs in her red thong panty and pulled it off over her feet. Then, she stretched out on her back, parted her thighs a little, and held out her arms.

I'd often read the word "partner" used to describe the person you were having sex with, but I didn't understand until Victoria. I'd been with a few women and thought they were all alike. They'd let me stimulate them until they were ready and then whisper something like, "I'm ready", or "do me now", or "it's time". It was good that they did because it was hard to tell with them.

Victoria didn't just change that opinion, she burnt it to a crisp with her little moans, the way she stroked my back and then my cock, and the way she opened her thighs at my first touch. It was the way she wanted to be kissed, an open-mouth, tongue-tangling kiss that sent shivers down my spine all the way to my cock. It was the way she rocked her body when I entered her with a finger. Victoria was doing everything she could to increase both our arousal, and I don't think she was aware she was doing it. She just let herself go and her body did what it needed to do.

Her nipples weren't very big, but when I kissed them they still got stiff, and her nipple beds tightened into a mass of little ridges and bumps. She moaned with every kiss to her nipples and caught her breath when I gently sucked them. After a little of that, she threw her leg over mine and started rubbing her mound against my thigh. I quickly slipped my hand between us and cupped her soft, puffy lips, and Victoria breathed, "Oh God, yes" into my ear. As soon as my fingertip slipped between those hair fringed lips, Victoria gasped and then kissed me again.

It wasn't hard to tell that Victoria was aroused. It was just hard to tell how much because I'd never experienced a woman like her before. Was she ready for my cock? She was wet and slippery inside so I thought so, but she was still kissing me and nibbling my neck and stroking my cock enough I had to catch her hand once in a while or I'd have cum right then and there.

I was trying to figure all that out when Victoria rolled on top of me, got on her knees, and then started lowering herself over my cock. It didn't go in. Instead it slipped up through her lips and over her clit. Victoria gasped, then raised up and tried again. This time, my cock slipped inside her a little. Victoria closed her eyes, pulled my hands to her breasts, and then started pushing herself down over my cock.

She nearly drove me crazy at first. She'd ease down until my cock entered her a little, then catch her breath and hold it while she pushed herself down a little more. Then she'd raise back and start all over again.

Once she had my cock inside her, she started another thing that forced me to hold back. She'd raise up off my cock, then bend down and poke a nipple in my face. When I sucked that nipple, she'd tighten the little ring just inside her entrance and slowly sink back down. When my cock bottomed out, Victoria would shudder, pull her nipple out of my mouth, and then lean forward and lock her mouth to mine as she raised back up.

I was holding back for dear life when Victoria began riding me in earnest. I knew she had to be close because she was shuddering with every stroke she made. She started to pant and grind herself into the base of my cock a little after that. I heard a little cry that got louder and louder as Victoria stroked faster and faster. I couldn't hold out any longer. When Victoria stroked down over my cock, I pushed up as hard as I could and groaned as the first spurt raced up my shaft.

It was right then that Victoria held her breath, then gasped out another little cry, and started shaking all over the place. She dropped down on her hands to keep from falling over, but I still had to hold her up. She was shaking so hard she kept leaning to one side or the other.

When she stopped shaking, Victoria lowered herself onto my chest.

"Mmmm...I feel really safe now. I want you to keep making me feel safe."

She stayed on top of me until she fell asleep. By then, my cock had slipped out of her, so I gently rolled her onto her back and covered us both with the sheet.

Something happened that night. I didn't realize it until the next morning, but it happened the night before. I woke up and looked at Victoria lying beside me. Before, I'd thought she was a pretty woman if a little harsh for my taste. That morning, I watched her stir, then rub her nose, and finally open her eyes.

She saw me watching her and frowned.

"You aren't sorry about last night are you?"

I pulled the sheet down and cupped her right breast.

"No, I'm not sorry, not at all. I just don't know what to make of how I feel."

Victoria rolled to her side and propped her face on one elbow.

"How do you feel?"

"Well, how I feel isn't right. It isn't right for you."

Victoria grinned.

"It felt pretty right to me."

"No, that's not what I mean. It was fantastic for me, but it's more than that. Last night you were my boss and I thought you were a pretty hard woman but after last night I know you're not that way and I liked you before but I like you more now and I don't know what to do about it. Oh damnit, I'm just babbling and not even making sense."

Victoria stroked my chest.

"I think we're both thinking the same thing, at least I hope we are. I'm thinking I want you to sleep with me tonight and every other night from now on."

I shook my head.

"Victoria, I can't do that to you. I'd be keeping you from finding a man who's more on your level."

She stroked my cheek.

"And what's so wrong with what you see as your level? I don't see a problem here."

"Victoria, the problem with my level is I can't give you anything you don't already have."

She smiled then.

"Mark, you've already given me something I didn't think I'd ever have again. You make me feel safe and secure. You also helped me prove that Max didn't kill himself and that I wasn't going crazy. I can't thank you enough for that."

I frowned.

"That's a long way from giving you what a husband should be able to give his wife."

Victoria chuckled then.

"Did you just propose to me? If you did, my answer is yes."

I tried one last time.

"Victoria, I would love to marry you, but what would people think?"

She sat up then and stroked my cheek.

"Mark, I don't give a damn what other people think. If who I marry is their biggest problem in the world, I feel sorry for them. Well, actually, I don't feel sorry for them. They can take their ideas and go straight to hell. What people thought didn't bother me when I married Max, and it won't bother me now.

"Max was twenty years older than me. He loved me and I loved him, so we got married. It was great living here with Max, but we both felt there was something missing. I wanted children and so did Max. We tried for almost two years before we both got tested. It turned out that Max had some sort of problem as a young boy that made him sterile.

"Money wasn't an issue, so we had a lot of options. The only thing was, they all involved a different man as a donor or adoption. Max said either was fine with him, but it wasn't fine with me. I didn't want to tell my son or daughter that Max wasn't their real father or that I wasn't their real mother. We talked it over and decided having each other was enough.

"I won't ever forget about Max, and I don't regret that decision, but now that he's gone, maybe I have another chance. I'm thirty-four, so I'm not too old yet. What you can give me is something I thought I'd never have. You can give me a son and a daughter. If you don't want that though, I'll still love you and want you to stay with me."

"So, I'm replacing Max?"

Victoria smiled.

"No. Nobody can replace Max and I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for a man I trust, a man who will protect me, and a man who will love me for who I am. I think you're that man. I hope you do too."

Victoria didn't want an engagement ring. She said she was old enough she didn't need more than my promise to marry her. That was fine with me because she'd have had to pay for it anyway.

Mom and Dad didn't sound thrilled when I told them, but they agreed to come to the ranch for dinner and meet Victoria. I think they expected a snobby woman who only invited them out of courtesy. I think they were both surprised when Victoria asked Mom if she'd mind helping her out in the kitchen. I don't know what they talked about in there, but they were both smiling when they came out. After dinner, Victoria said I should take Dad in the den so she and Mom could talk some more.

When we walked into the den, Dad looked around and whistled.

"This is gonna be your den?"

"Well, yes, I suppose, but Victoria and I sometimes have a drink together here. It's her den too."

Dad put his hand on my shoulder then.

"Mark, I'm not going to try to talk you out of this. Victoria seems like a nice woman and it's obvious you two love each other. Just do me one thing. With all this money around you, don't forget where you came from. I don't want my grandkids growing up thinking they're better than Grandma and Grandpa."

Victoria was planning the wedding the day the Sheriff called and asked if he could come talk to us. Victoria said whenever he wanted to come out, he was welcome. An hour later the Sheriff knocked on the door. When I answered it, he said, "Mark, I got a lot to say to you and Victoria, so we should probably sit down somewhere."

After I showed him the living room couch and he'd turned down Victoria's offer of an iced tea, he told us what had happened with the investigation.

"Once we got Gary out of the operating room and conscious again, one of my deputies interviewed him in the hospital. My deputy told Gary that we had both your statements that he tried to kill you, so he was looking at attempted murder and probably at least twenty years. Then he said he'd heard that Gary might know something about Max's death, and if he were to come clean on both, the DA might give him a break."

The Sheriff looked at me then.

"Mark, did you say anything to Gary before we got there? He seemed to be afraid that if he didn't tell us everything you were going to do something to him."

I said I remembered telling him it would probably go easier on him if he told the truth. The Sheriff looked at me and smiled.

"Yeah, right. Well, whatever you said worked. The long version you'll hear if you go to his trial when he pleads guilty to killing Max and trying to kill you two. The short version is this.

"He told Max he'd seen a cow down out in that pasture and told him where. Then, he drove his truck around to that gate and let himself in. When Max rode up, he didn't see a cow because there wasn't one, so he got off his horse and started looking for one. Gary shot him in the chest with the rifle he had and then drug Max up against that tree, took the pistol out of Max's holster, fired one round into the ground, and put it in his hand. He was betting if nobody found Max for a couple of days, it would be hard to figure out what killed him and he was right. He went back five days later and then came back and told the ranch foreman he'd found a body he thought was Max.