One of a Kind by Susie Burton

Disclaimer: The ‘Magnificent Seven’ and other characters from the series are the property of MGM, Trilogy, and the Mirisch Company. I just borrowed them, played with them for a while, and then very regretfully gave them back! Sadly, no money will be made from this work of fan fiction.

Genre: OW, angst, ADULT het.

Character focus: Buck/Kate Stokes

Rating: NC17. WARNING – this story contains explicit, heterosexual content.

Summary: I had been writing a genfic series of ‘missing scenes’ from ‘Lady Killers’ and, as I watched the episode for reference, I noticed the powerful chemistry between Buck and Kate Stokes - which fired up my adult genre muse. This piece is set close to the end of ‘Lady Killers’, shortly after Del Spivak kills Maddie Stokes at the jailhouse. It’s not exactly a missing scene, but more an exploration of something that I could see (or would liked to have seen!) happening in the episode. There are a few lines of dialogue from the original episode included within this piece.

I’m primarily a ‘Vixen’, and this is the first Buck-centric story I’ve written – so if I’ve got our lovable rogue’s character slightly off, then I apologise most humbly to the many ‘Babes’ out there!

Heartfelt thanks to my husband, Mike, for his patience and understanding, whilst I spent hours at the PC writing this work of fan fiction.

As with each of my previous stories, the themes, convoluted ideas and writing are, in their entirety, all of my own work. Apart from the episode concepts as credited above, no one else has had any input into this work of fiction.

If you enjoy this short piece, please let me know – feedback would be wonderful, flames will be deleted!

January 2005

Buck Wilmington gave a tired, but contented sigh, as he quietly closed the door to Nathan’s clinic. He’d spent the past hour sitting with the sleeping JD Dunne, watching his friend – no - guarding his little brother as the younger man slowly recovered from the effects of Maddie Stokes’ bullet.

The ladies’ man had felt torn by what had happened earlier in the jailhouse with the Stokes sisters and the murderous Del Spivak but, despite his ambivalence, he’d gained a certain amount of satisfaction by fatally shooting the ruthless outlaw. However, Buck knew that his actions and emotions had more to do with his sympathy for Kate Stokes, then gaining retribution against Spivak for killing the convicted and sentenced Maddie in cold blood.

After his very first conversation with Kate in the General Store, the moustached peacekeeper had guessed how little trust the young woman had for any man. So when Buck discovered how badly Spivak had treated Kate, he’d vowed to make the man pay for his cruel and abusive attitude to the older of the two female bounty hunters. The brutal womaniser had paid the ultimate penalty for his crimes, and Buck was pleased that justice had been more than served on this night of betrayal and death.

The rest of the gang had been easily captured, and then jailed, so Judge Travis plus the remainder of the peacekeepers were satisfied with the successful conclusion to the case. However, Buck felt that things had not yet been fully resolved, and he was convinced that his feelings were connected to the disillusioned and guilt-wracked Kate. He wanted to talk to her, to try and offer her some comfort for the loss of Maddie but, more importantly, he needed to tell her that he’d forgiven her dead sister for her unprovoked attack on JD.

After leaving the clinic, it was with some surprise that Buck suddenly found himself outside Kate’s bedroom at the boarding house. He hadn’t intended to seek her out tonight, not after the harrowing trauma of that evening, but his feet had led him to her room almost of their own accord.

The door was ajar, and the ladies’ man was about to tap on the door when he heard a muffled sob come from within.

“Kate?”

The young woman looked at the tall peacekeeper standing in the doorway, her hand scrubbing guiltily at her cheeks as she hastily wiped away the tears. This was ridiculous. She was a grown woman, a hardened bounty hunter who had on numerous occasions demonstrated her strength and ability by bringing in dangerous, wanted criminals. So why was she crying?

Giving an exasperated sniff, Kate got to her feet and went to stand in front of the concerned-looking man. “What do you want?” she demanded, her voice cool and hostile.

Buck smiled gently, touching his hat courteously to the grieving young woman. It was clear that Kate had started to ready herself for bed and, not wanting to intrude, the peacekeeper briefly wondered whether he should just turn around and leave. Kate’s blonde hair was loose from its clips, her boots were standing by the closet and a small travelling bag plus a hairbrush sat on the washstand. But evidently the girl’s anguished and sorrowful state wouldn’t allow her to relax or rest properly. “I wanted to make sure you were alright… but… I can see that you’re not,” he replied in a soft voice.

“I’m fine!” she snapped out. “I ain’t no weak lady that’s likely gonna go into a swoon, jes’ cause she saw a killin’!”

There was an angry, defensive note to the girl’s rejoinder, but Buck wasn’t going to be deterred. However, he knew he would have to tread lightly. “I know you’re not weak, Kate. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met a stronger and more courageous woman than you. Showing your true feelings ain’t a sign of weakness though, it just means you care inside. Part of that is acknowledging the passing of someone you loved,” he murmured.

Kate turned away, pointedly ignoring the other. That action alone made up the man’s mind and, taking off his hat, he entered the bedroom and quietly closed the door. When he’d first spoken to Kate, Buck had sensed the aura of sadness and despair in her, and the big-hearted man had wanted to offer what comfort he could to the beleaguered bounty hunter. There was something about her that brought his protective instincts to the surface, but he also wanted to show her that there could be happiness and light amongst all the killing and hatred.

Leaning with his back against the closed door and unconsciously fiddling with the brim of his hat, Buck studied the woman for several seconds as he debated what to say. “Kate,” he began in a gentle voice. “I’ve seen folks I care for get killed, or die from sickness, and I’m not ashamed to tell you that I shed tears for their passing. The death of your sister, the violent killing right in front of you, of the last member of your family… well, that must have hurt like Hell.”

“She knew the risks we took. Maddie was her own person, a woman growed, and I don’t reckon she would’ve lost no sleep if it were me lying cold in a casket. So why should I give a damn?” Kate asked harshly, although her voice quivered slightly as she said the last word.

“Now I think you’ve got that wrong, ‘cause you do give a damn. She was your kin, your little sister, an’ that counts for a lot. You looked out for her, taught her everything she knew, and that’s a whole pile of lovin’ and responsibility that you took on. We all need to mourn those we care for, and that’s the truth. Kate, there’s no shame in crying for Maddie.”

“You like seein’ that, don’t ya? I bet it makes y’feel like a real important man to see a woman cry. Pa allus said that to ma. He liked to use his fists, and he’d laugh when he beat her, even though she begged him t’stop. But he’d jes’ keep right on doin’ it. He’d kick her and whup her again an’ again ‘til she was sobbin’ fit t’burst. It was awful, ‘cause he’d roar with laughter, an’ then start all over ag’in just so’s he could say he was right. That laugh was cold – a real icy sound that froze ya up inside. I’ve never forgotten his evil laugh, an’ I don’t suppose I ever will.”

Buck’s face crumpled in sympathy for what this woman had seen and endured as a child. No wonder Kate was so bitter. Her life had been a constant struggle, a fight to survive an abusive father, and then a battle to stay one jump ahead of a brutal and possessive lover. Lover? The term was contradictory when applied to a callous woman beater like Spivak.

It didn’t seem fair that Kate had lost the only person in her life who’d not wanted her to submit to physical aggression. For all of Maddie’s crazed fits and violent personality, the younger of the Stokes sisters had held a deep loyalty and commitment to her older sibling. They had forged a strong partnership together as bounty hunters, an equal meshing of abilities that gave them an edge against the dangerous men they’d brought to justice. The pair had trusted each other implicitly, and had relied on no one else in the tough line of work they’d chosen to enter.

“I’m sorry for what you went through as a kid,” the ladies’ man replied, his voice hushed and sincere. “Your pa was vicious, a mean bully, and Spivak warn’t much better from what little you’ve said. But not all men are like them. It cuts me up to see a lady hurt, ‘cause it’s wives, mothers an’ sisters that bring life an’ love to this world, an’ soothe a man’s heart and mind.”

The woman said nothing, but Buck wasn’t going to give up and leave her alone in such a distressed state. “Kate,” the ladies’ man continued, “I hate to see someone cry - and I ain’t just speaking of women. Sometimes things go wrong in life, or a person you love suffers through illness or injury, and that’s when you need to let those tears fall. It helps to let it all go, else you just get all twisted up inside, and you become bitter and hard. No, ma’am, it don’t make me feel like a real man when I see a lady cry, it just makes me want to reach out and hold her close so she’ll never be hurt or sad again.”

Kate padded over to the window, and stared down at the dark, deserted street. “That figures,” she whispered without turning around. “Del wanted to hold me an’ get… real close an’ cozy… straight after he’d hit me wit’ his belt. Guess he thought he could make the hurts go away if he treated me nice fer awhile.”

The man strode across the room, and came to stand behind the girl. “Oh, dear Lord! That ain’t what I meant, Kate,” he began, putting a comforting hand on her rigid shoulder. “I was trying to tell you that most men respect women, and want to make them happy, love them and revere them. I know I do, and I think I can speak for the majority of men in this town too.”

“Your Judge Travis didn’t seem to be that caring,” Kate replied acidly. “Buck, he was gonna…. hang Maddie. No one deserves to die like that…. especially after what she went through as a kid.”

“He had a job to do, a tough choice to make, but he was still willing to give her leniency and make an allowance ‘cause she was a woman. Some judges wouldn’t have been as compassionate as Travis.”

Kate spun around to confront the peacekeeper. “I know what she did was wrong, but she was so young, an’….” The words ended as her shoulders sagged, and she dropped her head in grief. No matter how hard Kate tried to stop them, the tears spilt from her eyes again.

Buck felt a sudden wave of protectiveness suffuse him and, pulling the woman closer to him, he bent down and placed a gentle, feather-light kiss on Kate’s tear-streaked cheek. It was an almost fatherly kiss, a soothing gesture intended to help restore a sorely wounded soul.

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise for a few seconds, but then she raised her head and laced her arms around Buck’s neck. Clinging onto and leaning into the peacekeeper, her mouth tentatively sought his, and their lips met. The sweet kiss was shy, hesitant at first, but as Kate relaxed into the other’s tightening embrace, the chaste enjoining became more sexually charged.

+ + + + + + +

Buck carefully played his tongue along the woman’s lips, as his hands continually stroked up and down her back. As he heard Kate let out a quiet sighing moan, he slowly thrust his tongue into her mouth, and gently swirled it around the delightfully warm cavern. The peacekeeper felt a quiver of satisfaction lance through him when the girl instantly responded by sucking on his exploratory tongue, and Buck was further encouraged by Kate’s soft whimper as he returned the sensual kiss. Breaking the gentle but demanding embrace, he started to lightly nibble at the woman’s ear lobe, before rimming the soft shell-like inner with the tip of his questing tongue.

Kate gasped in pleasure, tilting her head so he could get better access to the sensitive area around her ear. The man’s wondrous mouth nibbled and licked at her neck, and the whispery spikiness of his moustache tickled her skin, igniting a wanton heat in her stomach. As she shivered with need, the girl captured the peacekeeper’s hand, guiding it to her breast and holding it there.

The ladies’ man required no second bidding. His fingers immediately found the hard bud of a nipple beneath the woman’s clothing, and he stroked and lightly squeezed the swelling breast. “Oh, darlin’, you are such a beautiful woman, like a perfect jewel shining in the spring sunshine. You deserve to be loved and cherished for all time,” Buck whispered, as his mouth dropped tender kisses across her throat.

This was a new experience for the lady bounty hunter. Spivak had been violently forceful and selfish in his lovemaking, and had only cared about relieving his own sexual appetites. Kate had never been kissed this passionately, nor had she ever heard any words of endearment or received any tenderness from the first and only man she’d shared a bed with. Now she was desperate to know what it was like to be loved by a considerate and generous bed partner. She also needed to feel someone close to her, and craved companionship on this night of tragedy to help her forget her sadness.

Sensing the woman’s need, and also her mounting desire, Buck lifted Kate up until her eyes were level with his. He smiled when he felt her legs encircle his hips, and kissed her gently on the mouth as he made his way over to the bed.

“Are you sure about this?” the peacekeeper asked, searching her eyes and seeing the longing in their blue depths.

“Oh, yes,” she breathed. “I cain’t be alone… not tonight. Buck, I want to be held close in your arms, loved, an’ comforted until I can sleep without seeing the pain an’ terror on her face.”

“That ain’t a problem. Ole Buck can take ya up to the brightest stars in the sky, an’ those dark clouds will part as we ride through our own little bit of Heaven together. There ain’t no sadness where we’re going, sweetheart, only blessed joy and contentment.”

As he spoke, the man carefully lowered his partner onto the large bed, and quickly crawled up beside her. Buck yanked off his boots and tossed them across the room and, as he started to unbuckle his gun belt, he felt Kate’s hands roam across his chest.

“Now we got us all night, darlin’, so we can take this real slow an’ easy,” the man murmured, as he gently took the girl’s hand and brushed it against his lips. “I want to worship you with my body, and give you everythin’ a man can. All you’re gonna do tonight is take and, knowing that you’re happy and completely satisfied, that gives me the greatest pleasure of all.”

Kate gazed at her companion as he hung his belt on the headboard, awed by his loving and unselfish manner. Relaxing against the man’s shoulder, she moaned again as Buck kissed her deeply and slowly ran his hand down the length of her body. There was nothing hurried about him as his fingers worked at the buttons on the girl’s shirt, and he was still taking things slow as his hand slipped inside to cup a vest-covered breast.

Buck supported the pert mammary in his palm, as his thumb rubbed a lazy circle around the erect nipple. The gentle sensation was amplified through the thin cotton material, and he could feel the woman’s breathing quicken as her excitement climbed. Without releasing his hold or ending the searing kiss, Buck began to manoeuvre the shirt off Kate’s shoulder. The peacekeeper pulled the outer garment off with practised ease and dropped it to the floor, and then started to unfasten the cord ties at the waistband of her pants. It didn’t take Buck long to divest Kate of her pants and socks, and shifting his position on the bed, he hastily shucked off his own clothes.

“Let’s get ourselves more comfortable, sweet thing,” the ladies’ man murmured, as he settled them beneath the bed’s top sheet.

Now completely naked, Buck turned on his side and spooned up against Kate, his rampant cock pressing into her hip, although he was still keeping his lovemaking deliberately slow. He knew she had been badly hurt by Spivak, and didn’t want to scare her or cause her any distress. It would be like taking a virgin bride to bed on her wedding night, and he knew he had the skill and capacity to make their loving extra special.

“You smell wonderful,” he said, inhaling the scent of her hair as he nuzzled at her neck. Buck sucked and nipped at his partner’s silky skin, whilst his hand slowly undid the buttons on the front of her vest. Pushing the final one through its buttonhole, the man expertly worked the underwear off his lover.

Propping himself up on his elbow, Buck gazed adoringly at Kate for a few seconds, before lowering his mouth to hers. The kiss was still romantic, but harder, more insistent now, and he captured a bare breast in his hand, carefully rolling the rigid nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Gently squeezing the puckered rosebud, he was rewarded by Kate’s rapturous gasp, and the ladies’ man’s cock jerked in response to the girl’s burgeoning ardour. He was further heartened when he felt Kate’s hand grope tentatively around under the sheet, until it finally found his upright shaft.

The sensation was lightning charged, as the girl cocooned the six inches of firm flesh in her hand, and Buck shuddered when his companion’s fingertip discovered the precious droplet of pre-cum welling at his flared slit. As Kate slowly rubbed the sticky moisture around the purpled head of his cock, the ladies’ man could feel the heat steadily building low in his belly. Desire was bombarding him, and he felt the taut hardness in his swollen balls and straining penis, but he was determined to make the experience as wondrous as possible for this ill-treated girl.

Breaking the kiss, the peacekeeper’s lips ambled down Kate’s chin, suckling at the hollow of her throat before his mouth travelled down to a straining breast. His lover whimpered as he licked at the dimpled areola, and Kate groaned loudly as Buck flicked his rough, hot tongue again and again over the protruding nipple. His hand had slipped past the waistband of her plain, cotton drawers, and discovered the v-shaped thatch of curly hair below. As his finger stroked at Kate’s moist hole and played with her labia, he felt the girl tug at the drawers and squirm out of her final piece of underwear. With an inward sigh of satisfaction, Buck increased the pressure on his lover’s nipple, lightly grazing the engorged nub with his teeth, as he matched the rhythm with the two fingers he’d now slid into her.

Kate arched her back, thrusting her hips upwards to meet her lover’s delectable touch, and her legs splayed wide to get as much pleasure as she could from his stimulating foreplay. Her stomach clenched in anticipation, and she shook, feeling the raging fire about to erupt from her. “Oh, God! Buck… I want you…. Please… love me…. I need…. Aah! Ooh! Buuuuccck!”

Kate’s orgasm flooded onto his fingers, and Buck increased the pace as she cried out her release. The girl was panting, and her hands reached out to clutch at her lover. Changing his position on the bed, Buck slowly lowered himself onto the woman’s writhing body, her scream of delight as he penetrated her glutinous channel, almost sending him over the edge.

“Ah, Kate, you are such a pretty lady, and you’re honest and open with your lovin’,” Buck whispered, as he picked up the tempo and drove his manhood deeper into the woman.

With her legs locked tightly around the man’s thighs, the blonde moved in unison with her lover, grinding her hips upwards as he impaled her with swift, decisive strokes downwards. Kate was moaning and whimpering with passion, as multiple orgasms crashed into her in successive waves; she was drowning in a fiery river of love, and wanted the dizzying lust to go on forever. Bare flesh slapped on bare flesh, and the strong musky smell of sex, intermingled with their perspiration, filled the air. It was like an aphrodisiac to both man and woman, spurring them onwards to their ultimate completion.

Finally the ladies’ man couldn’t hold back any longer and, moving closer into Kate, his mouth latched onto hers and he crushed his lips possessively against her. As her mouth frantically parted and she drank the erotic kiss, her lover’s climax exploded with tumultuous force into her. The heat of his ejaculation flowing into her needy body fuelled another orgasm in the girl, and she could only cling onto the man as the power of her sexual recuperation overwhelmed her.

Buck pumped his seed into his enrapt lover, closing his eyes and relishing the almost painful tingle in the stretched and over-sensitised head of his disgorging cock. Slowing down the movement, he experienced a pang of regret that the moment had passed too quickly, although as he rolled off Kate and pulled her on top of him, he was pleased to see that she hadn’t pulled herself from him. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her hair, and continued to savour the heady emotions and feeling of well-being he always had after making love.

With a contented sigh, Kate rested her head on Buck’s broad, hairy chest and listened to the comforting sound of his heartbeat. They were still as one entity, melded together by their shared love juices and, with an astonished start, the girl realised that her lover’s cock was still quite hard inside her.

“Are you alright, Kate?”

There was warm concern in Buck’s quiet question, and the girl nodded wordlessly. Was she alright? Words couldn’t explain how she felt at this precise moment in time. Their equally shared pleasure had set new standards for her, and she suddenly wondered whether any man would come even close to the selfless goodness she’d felt in Buck Wilmington.

“Yeah, but I think ya may have spoiled me for other men,” she murmured, gazing up at him with eyes that echoed the truth of her words.

“Waal, sweetheart, that’s all part of my animal magnetism. I have a lot of loving to spread around, an’ I always aim to please.”

As he spoke, Buck began to slowly move his hips, enjoying the quiet slurping sound as his cock slipped easily back and forth in the seed still coating her warm passage. Feeling Kate’s inner muscles contract and sheath his stiffening manhood, he shifted the woman into a more manageable position, and started anew with his lovemaking. Now he’d had his initial release, he would be able to give his partner a lingering and more protracted loving, and show her some artful delights of the flesh.

“Then I think you need to please me some more,” Kate replied, as she braced her body against the peacekeeper.

Buck gently enfolded the blonde in his arms, and kissed her with increasing passion. This night was theirs for sharing, giving and taking.

+ + + + + + +

Four days had passed since Maddie’s funeral, and the former lady bounty hunter had decided it was time to move on. She’d readied and secured her horse outside the boarding house, before going to the town’s churchyard to say her final goodbye to her sister. Kneeling down beside Maddie’s grave and saying a last farewell to her tragic kinswoman hadn’t been as difficult as she’d thought it would be. The sorrow was still there, along with a little guilt, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as she had imagined it would be. Perhaps the healing period had finally arrived for her.

Returning to her mount, Kate started to secure her belongings to the saddle, when a movement up the street caught her eye. Sitting in a chair on wheels with a blanket covering his legs, was JD Dunne, and walking next to him and laughing and chatting away happily was Casey Wells. But it was the third person who captured Kate’s attention and, as she looked away and glanced back again, she saw him striding towards her. Alone. Her hand dropped down to her sides, her stomach gave a flutter, and her mouth suddenly went dry. She hoped he wasn’t going to ask her to stay, because if he did, Kate knew she wouldn’t be able to resist his many charms.

Buck gazed at the woman, aware that she was leaving, but glad that Kate seemed to be in control of her grief. The pair had spent a wonderfully passionate night together, making love throughout the early hours of the morning, until they had collapsed in sated exhaustion just before dawn. They had woken some time later, and had immediately taken their pleasure of one another again, before hunger for food had replaced their sexual appetite. Once he’d parted from his one night lover, Buck hadn’t made any further advances to the girl, nor had she sought him out. Kate’s need had passed, and life would revert to a new normality, which suited both perfectly. Neither man nor woman was ready to settle down, and there had been no regrets about what had occurred.

The peacekeeper smiled as Kate’s blue eyes met his. “Figure I owe ya for not telling the judge I was trying to break her out,” she said.

Buck shrugged lightly. “Yeah, well, think he knew anyway. He probably figured you’d already paid enough for it. So… where to now?”

“Pa left us a farm. More like a shack in a weed patch. Guess it's mine alone now.”

“Kate, you fought hard for your sister. You can do the same for yourself,” the ladies’ man murmured in a gentle tone.

“Boy, I was wrong about you. You’re not like the others.”

“Buck grinned. “Yep. Been told I’m one of a kind.”

“Sure hope not.”

Buck touched his hat and watched as the woman rode away. There was a look of determination and purpose about her bearing, and the ladies’ man felt sure that Kate would have no trouble in making a new life for herself.

FINI

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