Page 91 of Return to Telegraph Creek

“Settle down,” I said.“Can’t you see we got company?”

Oscar let his shirt drop and grinned with a devilish air.

“I guess you’re lucky, then, else I would have stripped myself completely and laid on that bed there,” he pointed to it.“Then I would’ve taken my—”

“All right, all right, now.”I glanced at Miss June and Maggie.

Maggie had leaned forward, and now she was shaking her head.

“What would you have done, Oscar?Don’t be shy on our account.”

I put my head in my hands as Miss June grinned.I should have known ’twas no use trying to stop him.

“Well, I…” Oscar said, hesitating.

I glanced between my fingers to see him watching me with a fond, sympathetic look.

“I suppose I would have taken my—pillow—and turned in for the night.That’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” Maggie said.“Sure.”

“Well, I am feelin’ mighty tired all the sudden.”

I lowered my hands, and watched as Oscar gave a great, and probably fabricated, yawn.I reckoned he only wanted to be alone with me, and I couldn’t say I objected to that idea.

“Maggie, would you like to continue our celebration?”Miss June asked, as she forced herself upright.“I have some of that very good cannabis in my room—or we can share a cigar?”

“Well, that sounds like a mighty fine idea, Miss June.I ain’t ready for bed, yet, though I can see that these boys are.Although I don’t expect they’re gonna do any sleepin’.”

“Come on now.Let’s leave them be.Jimmy looks like he’s going to melt away with embarrassment.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, a half-drank glass of bourbon in my hand, while Miss June and Maggie picked up their chairs and took them along, closing the door on us.I stared at the brown liquid in my glass, enjoying the silence and the fact that we were alone.

Oscar came and stood before me, his arms crossed as he gazed down at my drink.

“You gonna finish that?”he asked.

I blinked up at him.I’d be damned if I was gonna contribute to his drunkenness.I held his gaze as I lifted it and drank the rest of the bourbon down in one gulp, then put the empty glass on the nearby dresser.The disappointment on Oscar’s face was comical.

“Well, that ain’t very nice,” he said, lowering his arms and preparing to step away.

“C’mere,” I said, reaching out and taking his wrist, so I could turn him and face him toward the hearth, where a low fire burned steadily.The patter of the evening rain and the crackle of the flames were the only sounds but for Oscar’s hitched breath.

I pushed the braces off his shoulders and let them fall, then with one hand I undid the front of his trousers and pulled them down.

“Jimmy.God.What’re you doin’?”

“You were awfully rude to me in front of our friends.You think that’s gonna go unpunished?”

I gave his bare ass a slap with the flat of my hand, holding him still, and Oscar yelped, then tried to break free.But I only tugged him around and pulled him o’er my lap.

He landed with a grunt and wriggled in protest, but I had a good hold of him.I didn’t think he was trying to get away.He pretended he didn’t want what I was giving him, when, in truth, ’twas exactly what he was craving.

“Be still, son,” I murmured, feeling my cock plump up underneath his writhing body.“And take what you got comin’.”

Then I remembered he’d had a lot to drink and loosened my hold.“Ah shit.I shouldn’t do this when you’re drunk.”

Oscar snorted a laugh.“I ain’t drunk.Not really.”