She never expected anyone to see beyond her exterior. He didn’t know her before she was fifteen and had come west. He knew her as she was today, and he loved her. She didn’t have to hide who she was. He loved her because of who she was. It was a wonder.
Kenneth was a good man who wanted to court her because she was a tough Western woman. He didn’t know her or love her. Eli did, on both counts.
She let herself relax into his kisses. He was pressed against her, hot and hard. Coiled strength under control. He could easily overwhelm her, but he didn’t. Instead he cradled her and kissed her as though she would break.
He moved from one side of her mouth to the other, planting the seeds of sensuality. Tingles raced down her skin, raising goose bumps and bringing pleasure. It surprised her, that pleasure. She had experienced nothing like it before. Her ignorance was biased by what she’d been forced to watch. This was nothing like that.
He kissed her jaw, her neck, her ear, sweet, soft touches from his incredibly warm lips. He was careful to avoid her sore cheek and bruised eye. His touch was gentle but insistent.
She wasn’t prepared for her body’s reaction. Languidness invaded her arms and legs, molten heat followed by intense need. She arched into his mouth, wanting more of what he gave her. She ignored the soreness from her injuries and focused on the new sensations brought by Eli.
“You need to tell me what you like.” He stopped and looked in her eyes. His were dark in the lamplight.
“I don’t know what I like.” She touched his lips with one finger. “Your kisses I like. I haven’t done this before, so we just gotta figure it out.”
He smiled slowly. “I can do that.”
“Good, because I want more of what you did so far.”
He reached for the buttons on her nightgown. She watched as he released each one, planting a kiss on the exposed skin. When he reached her breasts, the cool air washed over them. Charlie didn’t wear any girly, frilly underthings. She did wear a chemise and drawers in the winter, but in the warmer months, she skipped the chemise. And she never wore anything under a nightgown.
“Damn, Charlie.” His eyes feasted on her nakedness. Charlie resisted the urge to cover herself. This was Eli. He loved her. “I knew you were beautiful all over. So damn beautiful.”
At that moment, she felt beautiful for the first time. Eli breathed life into the sleeping woman inside Charlie. She took a deep breath of passion. It was a lovely sensation.
Her nipples budded into hard points as he continued to stare. He reached out one hand and cupped her left breast, then pinched the nipple between fingers. A lightning bolt traveled through her body.
“Holy shit. Do that again.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he murmured as his mouth closed around the right nipple. She’d died and gone to heaven. Surely no other sensation would be sweeter than this.
He laved, nibbled, suckled and caressed her until she thought she’d lose all her senses except touch. Her pussy throbbed between her legs and pure need echoed from head to toe. She needed more than his touch on her breasts. She grabbed his arm.
“Take off the rest. And yours. Show me more, Eli. I need you.”
He moved quickly and had them both stark naked in less than a minute. As they lay on the bed, she watched him, remembering how beautiful he was when she’d first seen him naked a month ago. She should be afraid of this, but she wasn’t. She trusted Eli with everything, including her life. He was as beautiful as she remembered. Long limbs covered with lean muscle and honey-colored skin.
“I like to look at you naked.” She smiled when his cheeks colored. “You’re mighty fine to gaze on, Eli.”
“I could say the same thing.” He ran his hand down her thigh. “Like an angel in front of me, with a fiery halo.”
She patted the bed beside her. “Then join me in the clouds.”
His body was so warm against hers. Hot, even. And he was so hard, harder than the trees they used to climb. His hands were long with callused fingers. He touched her calf, caressing and feeling her as though he was memorizing the texture of her flesh. Every small hair on her body stood at attention as tingles raced from head to foot.
Eli made his way up her body with a gentle manner that made her feel cherished. By the time he reached her breasts, his hand had settled between her legs. He parted her folds and she rejoiced in his long fingers as they played her like an instrument, plucking notes of pleasure from deep within her.
He latched onto her breast again and she moaned in delight, “Oh, that’s good.” Then he nibbled on the turgid peak and she arched into his mouth. Her body wound tighter and tighter, the desire echoing through her like a bell ringing.
He moved to the other breast and she let herself go. The sweet pleasure washed through her, in her, over her. She shouted his name, pulling at his arm and shoulders, needing more. He rose over her, settling between her legs. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. He waited, perhaps for permission to continue.
“I want you,” was all she managed to get out, her voice as husky as it had ever been.
He entered her inch by inch, pulling out and then moving forward, a little more each time. By the time he had penetrated her completely, she was writhing with need. This was so much more than a simple physical act. She was freeing herself from the prison she’d existed in. Charlie fought her way out of the cocoon of fear she’d lived in and burst forth into the sweet spring air.
Charlie spread her wings and flew.
When her second release came, Eli kissed her, his tongue twining with hers, dancing, tangling until he’d wrung every lost drop of ecstasy from her body. Only then did he whisper her name into her ear and find his own orgasm, his body hard as steel in her arms.
Charlie could hardly catch her breath. Her world had changed completely. Forever. Irrevocably. She could no longer return to her cocoon.
Later on she would decide whether she was afraid or joyous. For now, she kissed Eli’s shoulder and snuggled beside him. While her jaw throbbed from her injury, the rest of her fell into a dreamless sleep, content and satiated in the arms of the man who loved her.
Chapter Nine
Whispers flitted across the fort throughout the morning. Charlie walked to the mercantile with a few pelts she had to sell. She saw three groups of people talking with waving arms and wide eyes just outside her cabin, then another group, and yet another.
She’d been lost in the memory of being intimate with Eli, and her brain was fuzzy until she realized something was afoot. Charlie slowed her pace and tried to pick up some words from the folks who were talking. After scowls and frowns from every person she walked near, her curiosity danced on her shoulders, desperate for information.
No one seemed to want to tell her what was going on, so it was up to her to find out. She changed course and marched toward Kenneth’s office. If he was there, he would know what had the fort aflutter. Hopefully it had nothing to do with Indians. There had already been too much blood spilled and her gut told her there would be more. The idea that people were killed because they were different was abhorrent. She had gotten into more than one scuffle with people who disagreed with her.
It was part of the reason the women in the fort generally didn’t speak to her. They thought she was trying to be above her station as a mere female. Ridiculous nonsense. She stopped arguing with the fools years ago, but sometimes they got her riled up anyway.
Ignoring the pockets of whispering folks, Charlie pushed the door to the commander’s office open and entered without knocking or asking permission. Kenneth stood over a table reviewing a map or some such with six of his officers. The blue coats all looked up at her with mixed expressions of annoyance, interest and surprise.
“Miss Chastain, I hadn’t expected to see you today.” Kenneth was always so damn polite.
“I need to talk to you.” She frowned at the other men. �
�Alone.”
He gestured to the map in front of him. “I’m working at the moment. Can we meet later today?”
“I don’t want to wait until later.” She would if he said no, but Charlie pushed anyway. They had become close in the last several weeks; at a minimum, they were friends. And friends helped each other when they needed it.
Kenneth pursed his lips. “Ten minutes, men. Use your time wisely.”
The officers filed out, some smiling, others scowling—at Charlie. She waited until they closed the door behind them.
“What’s going on at the fort?” She dropped the pile of furs on the floor. “No one is talking to me, but they sure as hell are talking. Does this have to do with the map you’re gazing at?”
He opened his mouth and closed it again before shaking his head. “You are a force of nature, aren’t you?”
Her cheeks heated, much to her dismay. Kenneth had no idea what had happened between her and Eli, nor that her entire world had changed because of it. The brief courtship with this kind, red-haired soldier was over before it had a chance to truly begin. The thought made her sad and embarrassed. She had to tell him. Very, very soon. Just not now.
“Something is happening and I need to know what.” She ignored her feelings, which wasn’t unusual.
“That’s what sent you in here to chase my men out?” He frowned. “What happened to your face? Did someone hurt you?”
She reached up and touched her cheek. It had only been a day, but she’d succeeded in forgetting what had occurred in the woods. “Nothing for you to worry about. I have it under control.”
A lie, but she didn’t know what Kenneth would do to one of his soldiers, if anything. That told her she didn’t trust him as much as she hoped. Gunther had been the one to save her, a fact that galled her. He wouldn’t have had to perform such a feat if she’d only been able to take care of herself.
“Who hurt you?” He started to reach out toward her chin, then dropped his hand. “Was it Mr. Sylvester?”
Charlie snorted. “Eli? Never. He’d cut off his right arm before he hurt me.”
“I cannot help you if you don’t confide in me.” Kenneth appeared genuinely concerned about her. She wouldn’t, however, tell him anything. She was embarrassed and angry. If anyone meted out punishment to the men who hurt her, it would be Charlie.
“Enough about my face. It wasn’t pretty to begin with, so it doesn’t really matter.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “Now tell me about what is going on at the fort.” She waited a moment before speaking again. “Please.”
Kenneth blew out a breath, but didn’t push her any further about her injuries. “There’s been gold found down in the Cherry Creek area.”
Gold. The very thing that had sent Mason west so many years earlier. The glittering metal turned men to crazed madmen who would kill for a few ounces.
“Cherry Creek? That’s about two hundred miles south of here. Why the fuss at the fort?” She had to admit knowing gold was close, riding distance, sent a tingle down her spine.
“The Army needs to keep the peace, Charlotte, whether that’s at the fort or at Cherry Creek.” He crossed his arms. “We aren’t dispatching troops now, but we may need to. A good portion of my position as captain is to be prepared.”
She appreciated that about him. He didn’t let surprises happen. Of course, she’d discovered the more she tried to plan for the unexpected, the more things happened she didn’t expect. It was foolish to plan to control anything beyond her own person. Kenneth apparently hadn’t learned that lesson yet.
“Are you sending some scouts there?” She wanted to be part of this discovery. She’d been looking for something to pull her from her aimless life. This gold rush was it. Her belly tightened, and she knew no matter what Kenneth told her, she was leaving for Cherry Creek. This tied into her plan to go off on her own and get away from the memories that haunted her.
“I can’t share all of my plans with you, Charlotte. I have an obligation to the Army.” He looked so serious, she had to hide a smile. His auburn mustache turned down at the corners.
“All right, I’ll go.” She turned to leave when he touched her arm. It wasn’t a grab or even firm, but she jumped a foot in the air and yanked the knife from her back. Kenneth held up his hands, eyes wide, still as can be. “Shit, I’m sorry.” She put the knife back with shaking hands. He likely thought she was crazy. It bothered her because she genuinely liked him.
“I didn’t mean to startle or scare you.” Kenneth’s tone had changed. He sounded more like a man trying to gentle a fractious animal.
Perhaps that’s what she was—an animal. Her world had been torn asunder ten years earlier and she had yet to get all the pieces back together in the right order. She was glued together all wrong and no matter what she did, she could not find where everything fit. Nothing at the fort was right except the time she’d spent in Eli’s arms. Hell, the cabin her sister lived in was partially built from the wagon they’d traveled west in.
The wagon of her deepest nightmares, where she was shattered into those uneven pieces.
How could she tell anyone that walking in the door gave her nightmares for a week? She knew it hurt Isabelle when Charlie insisted on living in her own space and she had only relented when it was built directly next to the existing cabin. Truth be told, Charlie hadn’t slept well at the fort. Ever.
Now she’d revealed some of the tumult that existed within her heart and soul. Kenneth recognized the wildness in her. The question now was, what would he do about it?
“Sorry if I did the same. I don’t like people touching me.” Except Eli. He was the one person whose hands brought her peace, much to her surprise.
“I understand that now. I apologize.” Kenneth slowly lowered his hands. “If I decide to send a scouting party to Cherry Creek, I will inform you.”
Charlie nodded her thanks and left, her throat too tight to speak anymore. She had to escape—and soon—or the pieces of her soul would never come back together.
Eli heard the talk about the gold discovery. He couldn’t help but hear. Every time he went anywhere or even when he stayed in one place, it was all anyone talked about. He finished up the repair to the porch outside the officers’ quarters and picked up his tools. If he was lucky, Charlie would have supper with him and he could forget about the damn gold discovery.
He’d heard the story from Mason a few times. The professor from North Carolina chased a golden dream west only to end up half-dead on the side of the trail. Nobody but a fool would pursue the fantasy of striking it rich. No doubt many men with stars in their eyes ended up dead in the dirt. Eli pitied anyone that followed the lure of gold.
As he walked toward his cabin, he spotted Charlie emerging from the captain’s office. She strode with some pelts in one arm, the other swinging, her head down. She didn’t look to the left or right as she marched on. To his delight, she was headed for her cabin. He picked up his pace with a hidden smile.
His mind raced back to last night, when he’d kissed her, held her, tasted her natural passion. She’d been exquisite in his arms. He’d dreamed of touching her again from the second he’d left her. Now perhaps he’d have the chance.
Eli loped toward her only to have a big boot thrust in his path. He headed for the ground, his tools spilling from the canvas bag he held. He landed on his left arm, shouting when something cracked. The same wrist his father had broken when he was a child, still weak from that long-ago injury. His face slammed into the dirt, pebbles scraping his skin like a thousand tiny knives. Dust filled his mouth as he skidded to a stop.
The sound of laughter broke the afternoon air. “You and that crazy female need to leave this fort before I kill both of you, Fixit.”
Eli spat out a mouthful of dirt in time to see Volner disappearing around the corner of a building. The sergeant glanced back, and Eli saw a smear of black
across the other man’s cheek.
That was a gunpowder burn.
White-hot rage slammed through him and he jumped to his feet. His wrist screamed in protest, but he ignored it, grabbed his hammer and took off running after Volner. The bastard had tried to kill Charlie, and who knew what else he had planned to do before Gunther stopped him? It didn’t matter if Volner was a soldier and Eli had no legal reason to chase him.
He would kill Volner.
Eli picked up speed, his long legs finally an advantage. The bigger man scooted around the corner of the mercantile, nearly out of the fort through the side gate.
“Sylvester!” The captain’s shout barely registered through Eli’s anger. “Stop!”
Ignoring the captain, Eli skidded as he chased his quarry. The door was shut and Volner was nowhere in sight.
“Fucking hell.” He yanked the door handle, but it didn’t budge. Son of a bitch must have put something through the handle on the other side. “Volner, I’ll find you. You can’t hide.”
Eli’s wrist throbbed, along with his face. He knew if he went through the main gate of the fort, he’d never catch the sergeant. Aside from that, he didn’t have a horse, which wouldn’t be saddled anyway. Frustrated and furious, he turned to find Captain Hamilton, his fists on his hips.
“I think you need to tell me what happened to Miss Chastain and why two of my soldiers are missing.” The captain was far smarter than the average blue coat.
Eli cupped his injured wrist. “Let’s go see Isabelle first. I think I broke something.” He would have to trust Hamilton with information. There wasn’t anyone else at the fort in authority he could trust.
Bolts of energy zipped around inside Charlie as she stepped into her cabin. Finally she had made a decision that would allow her to escape the fort. For ten years she’d been trapped by her age, and then her own lack of action. She had been paralyzed by too many outside forces.
The Gem: The Malloy Family, Book 12 Page 8
