Page 49 of A Fortune for the Outlaw's Daughter

He slid all the way in and she gasped. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, and he deepened the kiss until her hips, which had stiffened, relaxed. Then, slowly, gently, he began to move, in and out, over and over, until her hips were moving in time with his.

Maddie took to lovemaking like she did everything else, and he cherished her all the more for it. She accelerated with him. Her flawless, glorious body met his every thrust with generosity, taking as it gave, and she expressed her pleasure with lusty, rumbling moans that kept his passion at a piercing intensity.

During those moments of pure, heated passion, an unknown clarity flashed inside Cole, like a blinding lightning bolt. He tore his eyes open, and his gaze locked on Maddie. Beautiful, brave Maddie. She was rolling her head from side to side, and repeating his name over and over again, like a sweet, never-ending song, all the while smiling up at him with glowing eyes.

“Tarnation, Lucky,” she said all raspy and breathless as her body bucked.

He grasped her hips, keeping their bodies locked tight as hers convulsed and her elation filled the air with sultry whimpers and gasps. It took tremendous willpower, for his pinnacle was near. Miraculously he held it off until, exhausted, she sagged beneath him, still repeating his name harmoniously.

With a somewhat frantic shift, Cole withdrew, and his splendid anguish ended with a shuddering greatness as his body released. Senseless and sluggish, he rested against her briefly and then rolled onto the mattress.

They lay there, winded and spent, until a few minutes later, when she asked, “Why did you do that?”

Cole flipped his legs over the bed, hoping they’d regained the strength to work. Testing one, then the other, he stood and walked to the water bucket she’d used earlier. There he gathered the washrag and walked back to the bed to wash her stomach.

“Because,” he said, “this would be no place to bring a baby into the world.”

“Oh.”

Her response was soft and quiet, yet it kicked him internally hard. She’d given him everything, all without the security of marriage.

Once done with the rag, he tossed it at the bucket and watched as it plopped into the water before he crawled back onto the bed. “Come here,” he whispered, pulling her close.

Chapter Nine

The little boat was once again so full Maddie could barely make out Lucky sitting in the middle, rowing the oars that were making the craft glide closer. The past few weeks had opened up a whole new world.

A grin overtook her face at the thought and she waved. Lucky held an arm up in return, making her heart skip several beats. The sigh that escaped her lips was full of splendor. Land sakes, some days she looked more forward to going to bed than she did getting up.

She’d changed in other ways, too. Lucky’s attitude had rubbed off on her. Miners now lined the river on both sides, and she was no longer wary or suspicious of them all. She no longer looked over her shoulder continuously, either. There was no need. Mad Dog was thousands of miles away.

Jack had said they were all in this together, and she now understood what that meant. It was as if the camps up and down the river had formed a community, a town, with folks looking out for one another. She’d never experienced anything like it, and with Lucky’s coaxing had become a participant, to the point she considered the Fenstermacher brothers friends. Real friends. The kind she’d never had. They often shared meals—which she appreciated as much as Lucky did, though he’d never admit it.

Maddie grinned again. Lucky never said a word about her cooking, but now that she’d tasted good food, she knew how bad hers was. All the more reason she needed to gather as much gold as possible, in order to hire a cook. Then Lucky would enjoy every meal as much as he did those that Albert brought over.

Slowing the water flowing into the Long Tom with her usual flat rock, she stood and wiped her hands on her skirt. The only part of her better-than-ever life that wasn’t panning out so well was finding gold. The first few weeks their daily cleanouts were good—some days better than good, harvesting more than a hundred dollars—but lately, they couldn’t seem to scrounge up five bucks worth of dust and flakes.

Lucky rowed closer and she wondered what he’d bought this time. Her list of other things she’d acquire had grown recently, but unlike him, she was waiting. Buying things now, when they wouldn’t be staying here permanently, seemed useless and frivolous. They were here to find riches, not spend them.

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