GoldLust (4 page)

The sun just started its rise into the morning sky as Emma
hiked along the narrow trail back toward her claim. The fresh scent of spruce
trees hung in the air and sweet silence surrounded her.

She was on her way back to work for the next couple weeks
and excited to get away from her house. Having the two women living there was
fine, but way more socialization than she was used to. Emma needed her alone
time.

The girls were nice enough, and she almost felt guilty
leaving Kate there with a prostitute as her only companion. The girl was young
and scared, but she didn’t need someone holding her hand. That wouldn’t force
her to grow, and it wouldn’t help her to learn to take care of herself.
Hopefully Kate would find something to keep herself occupied, and find her own way.
The girl had an untapped strength. Emma could see the fire in Kate’s eyes. She
just had to learn to believe in herself.

Alone in the wilderness again. This was where Emma was
normally most at peace, but for some reason she didn’t feel the peace today. There
was a feeling of unease that she just couldn’t shake.

A branch cracked behind her and Emma froze in her tracks.
What the hell was that? She didn’t move, didn’t breathe for a minute as she
listened, waited for another sound.

And it happened again. Nothing loud or obvious, but the soft
crack of another branch signaled something was out there.

With a shaky hand, Emma took her pistol from its holster at
her waist. She held it solidly, looped her finger around the trigger like she
was taught, and pointed it at the ground until she had something to aim at. The
deadly capabilities of the weapon made her a little nervous, but not as nervous
as creatures of the forest that could be hunting her.

Slowly and silently she turned, scanning the shadows of the
trees for any movement.

There was another cracking sound from the trail just behind
her. Emma aimed her pistol in the direction of the sound and waited.

Her heart pounded, her knees wanted to shake, but she held
them perfectly still. She had to be ready to shoot, ready to run, ready to do
whatever it took to defend herself. Emma held her breath and waited for another
sound, waited to see movement in the trees. She was expecting to see something
big, brown and hairy, but nothing emerged.

The spruce and hemlock were thick, casting shadows all
around her, keeping Emma from being able to see very far, but there was
definitely something there.

Was it a bear? This was close to the spot where her husband
was killed, but James took care of that bear.

She heard nothing, saw nothing. It could be her mind playing
tricks on her. This wouldn’t be the first time she relived the horror of what
happened that day, and it felt real when she woke up covered in sweat. But that
only happened at night, in her dreams.

No. The sounds she heard were real.

There was movement under the trees down the trail. Emma
aimed her pistol and let out a long, slow breath. Steady.

Down the line of her gun something moved again, and then she
could see him.

Damn.

It was James. She pointed her gun at the ground, let out a
long breath and tried to get her nerves under control.

Facing James in the woods might be worse than facing a bear.
At least you knew exactly what the bear wanted, could see the risks plainly.
With James, the risks were there, but not so easy to see.

Emma took another deep breath and James kept walking in her
direction.

“Don’t shoot.” He put his hands in the air, but his voice
was teasing.

“Don’t tempt me.” Emma slid her pistol back into its holster
and turned her back to him. One foot in front of the other, she started moving
up the trail again, needing to get away from James—even though there was that
little part of her that wanted to be near him, that wanted to be touched by
James again. She was going to ignore that part and do her best to stay away
from him.

Not that there was a good chance he would allow her to
ignore him today. He wasn’t the type of person who let things slide. The only
hope she had was that he would be too embarrassed about the things he said to
her last night…if he even remembered them.

A few seconds later, James was right behind her. She could
hear his footsteps, his breathing. She could feel his masculine presence.

“Care if I walk with you?” he asked.

“I don’t own the trail.” Emma didn’t turn around when she
answered. Just kept moving forward.

“I wanted to apologize for last night.” He paused and she
didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t come there with the intention of offending you.”
He came with the intention of finishing what they had started the week before,
or at least to have a civil conversation about what happened in the mine. But
in his drunken stupidity he’d completely screwed that one up. Not surprising.
He wasn’t good with women, never had been.

“Oh yeah?” Her words were gruff, but at least she was still
talking to him.

“I just wanted to…”
See you again, make you scream out my
name in pleasure
. He couldn’t say that without sounding like a complete
ass, which would keep him about even with last night. “I wanted to check on
you…and apologize.”

“You mean apologize for calling me a prostitute? And I don’t
need anyone checking on me. I do just fine on my own.” Her words were sharp,
and not surprising.

He knew she was independent, capable and smart. It was what
attracted him to her, and the reason he should stay away. And he knew she
wasn’t a prostitute. Hell, part of him had hoped she was, at least that way he
could get her off his mind. He could touch her the way he’d wanted to for the
past goddamn week.

“Yeah, I know you’re not a prostitute and I know you can
take care of yourself. I’m sorry.” This wasn’t going nearly as well as James
had hoped. “I was just wondering if we could forget all that and be…friends.”
Just being friends wasn’t what he wanted from her, but it was a start, and
after the way he spoke to her last night, he’d be lucky to get that.

She stopped and turned around to look at him. She didn’t say
anything, but narrowed her eyes as she stared him down. “You want to be
friends?”

“Yeah.” He looked at the ground for a moment, couldn’t take
the intensity of her stare. She had every right to be angry with him, but that
didn’t make seeing that anger any easier.

“Then tell me, friend. Why have you always been so rude to
me? What have I ever done to you?” Emma put her hands on her hips, but her
expression softened.

Rude? He never thought of his actions toward her as rude,
not until last night anyway. Standoffish maybe, but not rude.

Keeping his distance from Emma, both physically and
emotionally, must have come off as rudeness to her. But James had to do
something to deny his attraction to her. She was a married woman when he first
met her, and she was too much like his mother. He couldn’t let himself end up
like his dad.

Men didn’t know how to raise children. His father did the
best he could, but it wasn’t like when his mother was around. His father drank
and spent his time wondering when the woman he loved was coming back. James
couldn’t let that happen to him.

“I didn’t mean to be rude.” She didn’t deserve that. She
hadn’t done anything wrong. “I guess that’s just how I am.” That was as
apologetic as he was going to get. He had good reason to guard himself from
Emma.

She let out a long breath and let her hands drop from her
hips down to her sides. “Well, you better start being more pleasant if you want
to be friends.”

“I can work on that.” He didn’t have to be rude to protect
his heart. He just had to remember the importance of keeping his emotions under
control.

James wouldn’t repeat his father’s mistakes—he wouldn’t lose
his heart to Emma. She didn’t have to be so damn good-looking though, tempting
him, making him wish things were different.

He could have relations with her. Men fucked women they
didn’t love in whorehouses all over the country. It was probably where he came
up with the stupid idea of offering her money last night, hoping that it could
be his easy way out of this situation. But he knew better. There wasn’t going
to be an easy way out.

James bent down to pull a log off the trail.

He couldn’t fall for Emma, but they could be friends,
hopefully friends that fucked.

He had needs, and she had needs. It was as simple as that.
He had seen her needs clearly while they were in his mine together, but for
some reason she denied herself, denied him. He just needed to convince her that
they could work out a compromise, and being friends was the first step.

“Okay then.” She held out her hand to him. “Friends.”

“Friends.” He shook her hand and could feel the attraction
zap straight to his cock with the simple touch. He looked into her eyes and
could see that she felt it too. This being friends business wasn’t going to
last for long.

Emma rolled over and stared up at the stars in the endless
night sky. She was trying to find a comfortable position on the cot so she
could get some sleep, but it wasn’t exactly the lack of comfort that was
keeping her awake. She’d gotten used to sleeping on the firm, narrow cot. That
wasn’t new, wasn’t difficult anymore.

It was the howling of wolves someplace near that was most
disconcerting.

Wolves were sneaky, hunted in packs and left even an armed
person in danger. You can’t shoot what you can’t see coming, and if there were
too many of them, she could be in some serious trouble.

Emma searched the darkness, listening to the yipping and the
snapping of twigs moving uncomfortably close. There was really no reason to
even pretend sleeping was an option, so she pushed the blanket off and stood to
throw another log onto the fire. Sparks flew into the black night air and the
circle of light increased its diameter a little, but not enough for any
comfort.

She had no shelter tonight. Her tent was being repaired and
even with the new rent money Emma didn’t want to spend enough to buy another
one. The mine shaft should have been deep enough to at least hide in by now,
but she hit solid rock only two feet down and had to start over in a new spot
this afternoon.

Crawling into a dirty hole and piling some logs in front of
it would be a very desirable option compared to sleeping under the stars
tonight. It would at least keep the wolves out. Bears could get into just about
anything, but they traveled alone and could be taken out with a shot or two.
They weren’t nearly as smart, or nearly as dangerous, as a pack of wolves.

Emma hated wasting wood, but she grabbed two more pieces and
threw them in. The wolves were out there and coming closer.

Emma took her pistol from its holster and aimed it into the
darkness, in the direction of a loud snap.

“You’ve got to stop pointing that thing at me.” James’ deep
voice came through the darkness.

“What are you doing here? You scared me half to death.” She
pointed her pistol at the ground and relief flooded through her. Emma never
thought she would be this happy to see James, but his presence was definitely
welcome tonight.

“I heard the wolves up here and thought I would come and
check on you. That’s what friends do, right?”

Her pride wanted to rebuff his offer of protection, but the
howling started up again. She definitely felt safer with him there. “Thank
you.”

Emma sat on one end of her cot. “Would you like to sit?” She
motioned to the section of cot to the left of her.

“Sure.” He sauntered over in her direction, not seeming at
all worried about the wolf pack. Then again not much scared James.

His eyes focused on hers and held an intensity Emma found
unnerving. Almost as unnerving as the wolves.

“I don’t have any coffee made right now, but if you’re
thirsty I can put some on.” Emma suddenly became the domesticated hostess when
he appeared. What the hell was wrong with her? She didn’t even have extra
coffee to share.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” He stared out into the
dark night, listening, his rifle resting across his legs, his hand on the
barrel. There was a casual, relaxed look about him, but Emma knew there was
nothing casual or relaxed about James.

Something snarled. Straight ahead. Close.

The hairs on the back of Emma’s neck stood on end and every
muscle in her body tensed.

James got up and moved toward the sound of the growl. “Stay
behind me,” he ordered.

Emma wasn’t in a position to question anything. She moved
toward James as a huge wolf jumped from the darkness right at them. Emma
dropped to her knees in the dirt and screamed as James fired a single deafening
shot.

The animal howled, limped a couple steps and fell onto the
dirt. That was close, too close. If James hadn’t come to protect her, if he
wouldn’t have been here, Emma would probably be dead right now. Instead the
big, furry body of the wolf lay lifeless just a few feet away. Blood streaked
down his gray chest and he didn’t move. Emma didn’t like to see death, but it
was better the wolf than her.

“Don’t scream.” James growled the words. “They can smell
fear. Just point your pistol and get ready to shoot. Stand up and put your back
against mine. Watch your area and shoot anything that comes close.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay.” This was no time to panic,
she had to be ready to defend herself, to at least do her part in defending
them.

James’ back was hot against hers even through the layers of
clothing, but the solidness of his muscles against hers gave her some
confidence. Emma’s finger rested on the cold metal of the trigger, ready for
when another wolf came. And one did, from her side this time. She pointed her
pistol at the huge ball of fur and fangs that came flying in her direction,
pulled the trigger once, and then again.

The sound was deafening, and her aim was good. Not as good
as James’, but good enough to send the wolf limping in the other direction.
Emma let out a breath, but it wasn’t time to relax yet.

The growling and yipping continued. How many more would come
after them? She held her breath and waited.

Instead of another direct invasion into their space, the
howling and yipping got quieter. It sounded as if the wolves were moving away.

Maybe they scared them off. Emma’s heart pounded, her hands
ached from gripping her pistol so tightly.

Neither Emma or James moved. They held their position, back
to back. Still. Steady. Waiting.

“Are they leaving?” she asked in a shaky voice when it
seemed obvious that they were.

“They’re definitely moving away,” James replied quietly, his
focus still on listening for signs of danger.

Emma waited a minute before she spoke again. The sounds of
the wolves now echoed eerily in the distance. “Will they stay away?”

“Probably.” James took his rifle from his shoulder and let
the barrel point toward the ground. “We won tonight.”

Her entire body started to shake now that the danger was no
longer imminent. The adrenaline disappeared and emotion took over. Emma could
have died. Most of the time this adventure of searching for gold in the
wilderness was invigorating, enlivening, but times like this weren’t much fun
at all. She swallowed hard and let out a long breath, trying to force her body
to relax again.

“Will you…stay here with me?” She shouldn’t ask it of him,
but Emma didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight.

“Will you tell me why you walked away from me in the mine?”
His eyes searched hers.

She didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to have to
explain herself to James. Hell, she wasn’t sure she understood it all herself,
but she wanted him to stay even more than she needed to hide her feelings for
him.

“Yes.” She would do just about anything to not be alone
tonight. If she had to explain herself to James, that was a small price to pay
for her safety through the night. Tomorrow she would make sure she dug a mine
out at least big enough that she could sleep in it to make sure she could keep
herself safe, make sure she didn’t need anyone’s help.

James moved over to sit on the cot again. He kept his rifle
close, propping it against a sapling right beside him.

“Why did you walk away from me?” He looked her in the eye,
gave Emma a glimpse of how hurt he really was by her actions. Guilt settled in
the bottom of her gut.

“I knew it was a bad idea. You and I getting together like
that. We’re too different. You’re too traditional for a woman like me.” She
stood near the dancing flame, but kept her distance from James, kept from
making too much eye contact.

“What do you mean too traditional?” His eyes narrowed and
his voice took a defensive tone.

“Let’s lie down.” Emma spread a blanket on the dirt, close
to the fire. She lay down on the edge of the blanket closest to the fire and
faced the flames. She couldn’t look James in the eye while they had this conversation.
She didn’t want to see the intensity of his stare any longer, and she hoped he
would just drop the subject.

He lay down beside her, not touching, but she could feel his
presence. His strong muscles were close enough to protect her, his breath warmed
the top of her head, and just being near James started the warm, tingling
sensations between her legs.

“So, what’s too traditional about me?” His words were low
and soft and, thank God, the subject was one that would keep her thoughts
somewhat on the right track. It was suddenly the lesser of two evils.

“You think a woman should stay inside and cook and clean and
stay away from the adventurous things in life.” He held tight to all the things
Emma disliked about being a woman.

“Yeah, well those things are a hell of a lot safer than
coming out here and playing with the bears and the wolves.”

He had a point there. She had been attacked by animals twice
now. The first one was her husband’s fault, trying to get closer to get a photo
of the bear cubs for an article he was working on.

The stories had it that wolves seemed to be attracted to
women and children, so if that was true she was always going to be in more
danger from them. This wasn’t a safe place, but safe was not very interesting.
She wanted to feel as if she was really living, and being in the wilderness of
Alaska was the only place she found that.

Emma blew out a long breath. “I can’t be the woman you want,
so why waste our time?”

“You got something better to do?” James reasoned.

She didn’t have anything to do right now. She could enjoy
James’ body, satisfy her own, but that wasn’t smart. Emma couldn’t have
anything to do with James. “Yeah. I’d like to find some gold.”

James grunted at her last response, but didn’t say anything.
She could feel that he rolled over onto his back, further away from her, but
she didn’t turn to look at him. Instead she watched the mesmerizing dancing
flames and tried to forget about the feelings James brought out in her.

She was right. They were not a good match.

* * * * *

When James woke up it was still dark. The dim glow of
morning made it so he could see the outline of trees and mountains. He had Emma
curled up in his arms and a goddamn hard-on. She was still sleeping, but as she
did, she wiggled and moaned his name.

Emma wanted him. It was perfectly clear. But her sensible
nature kept her from taking what she wanted. He would give her time, wait until
she came to realize she could just take what she wanted from him and not worry
about the rest of the stuff that rattled around in her head.

But right now he had to get out of there. Had to get away
from her before he did something else stupid. Something that would ruin his
chances to be with Emma even more than he already had.

James walked into the trees. Away from the temptation of the
soft sexy Emma, but his cock still pressed uncomfortably against his pants. He
had to do something about it.

He could go into town and pay a woman to fuck him, but he
wasn’t interested in that, and he didn’t have the time.

Instead, he undid his pants, released his cock from the
clothing. The morning air was cool against his exposed skin, but not enough to
cool the blood surging with need for one damn woman. James wrapped his hand
around his cock. He leaned his forehead against a tall tree and closed his
eyes, letting images of Emma flood his mind.

His hand worked up and down his cock slow and easy, the way
he would fuck her. She was so damn good looking. Perfect breasts, long legs and
that round ass tempting him every damn day. Yeah, he’d fuck her good, make sure
she had to come back for more.

He moved his hand faster, rubbing himself out, getting
closer and closer to the end, and James couldn’t help but let out a deep groan.
It wasn’t going to take long to get Emma out of his system. His hand was rough
compared to the soft wetness Emma’s pussy would hold, but that didn’t matter
today. Her soft cunt wasn’t an option.

Blood rushed to his dick, his balls tightened, so close to
release. James gripped tighter, moved faster, stroked himself hard. His whole
body tensed and the tingling started up his back as he worked his cock.

“Aaggghhh.” He hoped she couldn’t hear his groan, but it
didn’t matter when every muscle in his body strained. Release, finally, and the
white seed shot through the air, spurt after spurt until he finished.

Soon enough he would be shooting it into Emma’s sweet
wetness. He would convince her that they could be good together, at least in
that way.

His body relaxed, but it didn’t cure the need for Emma. He
knew it wouldn’t. It never did.