"Me? You were the dead man, Mr. Alexander." She lifted her heavy lashes to study his face. Slowly she reached out to stroke his red-bearded chin. "What's all of this fuzz?" She laughed tiredly, letting him take off her parka and tuck it around her.
His hand went to his growing beard. "I've been a little too busy to shave these last few days." He gave her a smile. "Now you go to sleep while we get rid of him"—he gestured to Lawrence's body—"and fix Beans up."
"Beans? He's here?" She sat up, but Alex pushed her back down.
"Didn't you hear Jack? Beans Magee is going to be fine. Just a flesh wound."
"Taylor got away did he?" She closed her eyes, succumbing to the overwhelming exhaustion that washed over her.
"Sorry. We meant to kill him, but maybe we scared him off."
Gabrielle exhaled slowly, entwining her fingers in Alex's. "I hope so . . . dear God, I hope so."
Alex sat with her until she fell asleep and then went to look for Jack and Beans. He found them outside; Beans was leaning against the woodpile while Jack was dragging Lawrence's body through the snow.
"You all right?" Alex grasped Beans Magee's arm.
The blond woodsman gave him a crooked grin. "That son-of-a-bitch Taylor caught me in the arm. Just grazed me, but I fell back and hit my head on a stump." He rubbed the back of his head gingerly. "It's a wonder I didn't kill myself."
Alex laughed. "Well, when we get inside I'll take a look just the same . . . at your arm and your head." Giving him a pat on the back, he walked through the knee-deep snowdrift toward Jack. "Need some help?"
Jack dropped Lawrence's hands, straightening up to catch his breath. "Big as moose, he is, and that one, too." He pointed to Gaddy, dead in the snow.
"What are we going to do with the bodies?"
"Not much we can do. If it was up to me, I'd leave 'em for the wolves." Jack grinned, extracting a cigar from inside his parka.
Alex eyed him in shocked disbelief. "You're not kidding are you?"
Jack turned his back to the wind and struck a match. "It's what they deserve."
"True." Alex peered into the snowy forest. "But it's not right. I know we can't bury them, but we can at least cover their bodies with brush to keep the animals off them."
"That Parsons fellow left you along the river to die. It wouldn't have been long before the wolves would have been nibblin' at your toes." Jack puffed on his cigar, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Just the same, they'll get what decent burial we can give them." With finality, Alex grasped one of Lawrence's arms and began to drag the body to the edge of the woods.
It was near midnight by the time the men buried the three bodies in brush and fetched the dogs from upriver where they left them. Deciding to spend the night in the cabin and mush home in the morning, they lit a fire in the fireplace and settled in for the night. They had thought of going after Taylor, surmising he couldn't get far, but decided against it. Gabrielle was too weak to travel far and needed to get home. Besides, Alex had assured Jack that from now on he'd be there to protect her.
Waving good-bye to Jack and Beans Magee, Gabrielle pushed open the door to her cabin. "Oh, Alex," she sighed. "Look what they've done!"
He came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "It's not that bad, I'll help you clean it up. Between the fishing and hunting and the flour we can rescue, we'll have plenty to eat until spring." Plenty to eat until we leave this place, he thought to himself. He had decided on the trip back to Gabrielle's cabin that when he left for Richmond, with or without the gold, she was going with him. When the right time came, after she'd recovered from her ordeal, he would make her understand why she'd never be safe there again, why she would have to come with him and become his wife.
"It's not just the food for us; this is my livelihood!"
She stood dejected in the doorway, staring at the chaos her kidnappers had created. Although Beans, Alex and Jack had righted the furniture, returned her cooking pots to their crates and swept the ashes off her table, there were still flour, sugar, salt and other precious dry goods dumped on the floor. Crates had been knocked over and ripped apart, glasses had been broken against the walls and her clothes had been cut into shreds and strewn everywhere.
Alex stood in silence, not knowing what to say to comfort her. He lit a lantern on the mantel and one on the table and got to his knees to start a fire in the woodstove.
Gabrielle closed the cabin door and slipped off her parka, ignoring the teeth-chattering cold. Spotting her rag doll beneath the bed, she retrieved her, hugging her tightly. "You poor girl, Laura, been through hell haven't you? First Papa rips you open, sews a map inside you and sends you off to Jack's, then a dog eats you up and then you get knocked around by a bunch of no-gooders!"
Alex came up behind Gabrielle, wrapping his arms around her. "You've been through hell yourself, little lady."
She shrugged, leaning against him. "I was so afraid I'd lost you, Alex. I thought I'd be all right. I thought I could let you go, but I couldn't." She stared at the fire blazing in the stove.
Alex turned her around, pulling her to him and crushing the doll between them. "I thought I could do it, too, Gabrielle. But I couldn't." He stroked her bruised cheek, a mark left by Lawrence.
She lifted her chin and raised up on her toes to brush her lips against his. "I don't know what we're going to do, Alex."
"Hush," he crooned. "Let's not worry about it tonight." He kissed her mouth, her bruised cheek, her feathered brows. They were soft, fleeting kisses that soothed and healed.
Letting the doll slip to the floor, Gabrielle raised her arms to snake them around his neck. She moaned softly as he caressed one breast, his thumb teasing through the material of her layers of shirts and sweaters. Parting her lips, she accepted his mouth hungrily, exploring the cool cavern of his mouth with her tongue. "Sure glad you let me bathe last night, even if it was in a basin," she murmured. "You'd not have dared get near me as bad as I smelled."
He nuzzled her neck. "It would take more than that to ward me off."
"Ah, Alex, I missed you so much. I couldn't think straight for wanting you. Sitting tied to that chair, I should have been trying to figure a way to escape. Instead, all I could think about was you."
He laughed, deep in his throat, showering her with kisses. "It wasn't my affection you wanted," he told her huskily, "you just didn't want theirs."
She laughed with him, nipping at his lower lip as she lowered her hand to caress the evidence of his rising ardor through the material of his woolen pants.
"Witch," he accused, "minx. . . woods nymph—"
"What happened to wharf rat?" She ran her hand over his buttocks, pressing her hips to his and moving seductively against him.
Sweeping her up in his arms, Alex carried her to the bed and laid her down gently. She reached out, beckoning him, then welcoming the strength of his body pressed full length against hers. She took his mouth hungrily, threading her fingers through his thick auburn hair. Relieving him of his sweater and shirt, her fingers teased at the waistband of his thick woolen pants. "Take them off," she ordered with a giggle.
Alex held her smoldering gaze as he sat up to shed his remaining layers of clothing. "And what of you?" he whispered.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she allowed him to remove her clothes. When both of them were free from the burdensome things, he laid down beside her, letting his gaze range her full length.
"You're so beautiful," he murmured, tracing the fullness of one breast with his finger. Sighing, he lowered his mouth to take a pert nipple, teasing it with the tip of his tongue until she cried out with pleasure.
Arching her back, Gabrielle writhed beneath the caress of Alex's practiced hands. He took her mouth with his, deepening the kiss as his fingers played the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. Moaning softly, she moved her hips to the rhythm of his hand, loosing herself in the sheer pleasure of his caress. "Alex," she cried breathlessly.
; "Gabrielle," he whispered in her ear.
Her eyelids flew open, and she smiled as his gaze met hers. "You don't play the game very fairly," she teased, stroking the broad expanse of his chest. Now that his hand was still, her thoughts came more clearly.
"No?" He pressed his mouth to hers, his tongue darting out to taste the honey of her lips.
"No." Lifting her head to rest it on his chest, she began a slow, deliberate assault on Alex's senses. Reveling in the sighs and throaty moans that escaped his lips, she stroked his body, bringing to him the pleasures he evoked in her. Sliding her leg seductively between his, she moved against him, covering his chest with soft kisses. Taking a hard male nipple in her mouth, she licked and suckled, her own breath coming faster.
Tracing intricate patterns with her tongue, she moved downward, a smile crossing her lips when Alex groaned, threading his fingers through her hair. Pressing hot, wet kisses to his burgeoning flesh, she taunted him until he thought he would go mad with wanting.
"Gabrielle," he called huskily. "Come to me, love." Half-sitting up, he rested his hands on her hips, guiding her as she straddled his powerful legs.
Gabrielle's breath caught in her throat as his rigid manhood met her soft femininity, and she moaned softly. Gripping his shoulders, she leaned into him, picking up a rhythm as ancient as time itself. Alex held her against him, stroking her shapely back, burying his head in her chestnut hair as they climbed higher in insatiable ecstasy.
Higher and higher they moved as one, Gabrielle lifting her hips faster as Alex's breath became ragged in her ear. Their lips met, and they kissed deeply, savagely, as she felt her entire body tense with urgency. Crying out Alex's name, her entire being shuddered with pleasure, and she clung to him, tears of joy staining her cheeks.
When Gabrielle had relaxed, Alex eased her onto her back, showering her dewy face with feather-light kisses. He crooned unintelligible words of love as he took her with one hard stroke, pushing her past the brink of all reason. Gabrielle lifted her hips to meet his demanding thrust, and she was caught in the tide of love again. Clinging to him, she crested the mountain of all-consuming pleasure again and again until with a final thrust and groan of euphoric pleasure, Alex's body became still.
For a moment, Gabrielle didn't have the energy to lift her heavy lashes, but finally she opened her eyes to study the sea of blue above her. "I love you," she mouthed silently.
"I love you," he returned, his voice throaty with spent passion. Rolling onto his side, Alex kissed the tears from her cheeks, stroking her damp, quivering flesh. Gabrielle sighed contentedly, moving to rest her head on his chest as her eyes drifted shut.
Smiling in the darkness, he pulled a blanket up over them both, enveloping her in his arms. "Sleep tight," he murmured against her chestnut hair as he closed his own eyes.
Sometime in the night, a loud clatter and a crash of metal jolted Gabrielle and Alex out of pleasant dreams. Gabrielle's eyes flew open as she scrambled out of bed. "Fire! Fire!" she shouted, pulling on her pants that lay on the floor.
Alex jumped up, reaching for his own clothes. Red-hot sparks leaped in the corner of the room where the stove sat, igniting the paper in the dish crate. Flames had already begun crawling up the wall of the cabin by the time Gabrielle reached the fire to beat at it with the blanket she'd pulled off the bed.
"It's spreading too fast," Alex shouted above the roar of the flames and the howl of the wind. By the light of the orange flames, he gathered blankets, clothing, shoes—anything he could find—and began throwing them out the door into the snow. "Come on," he ordered. "Get back, you'll be burned."
Gabrielle beat at the flames with the blanket, smothering first one small fire, then another, but she seemed to make no headway as she tripped over pieces of stove pipe that littered the floor. Backing up, she raised her hands against the intense heat of the flames, tears running down her cheeks as she realized the fire was getting out of hand fast.
"Gabrielle," Alex shouted grasping her by the shoulders. He yanked the blanket from her hands and threw it over her shoulders, lifting her into his arms. "It's going to blow, the powder!"
"Put me down," she ordered, struggling. "The harnesses. The dog harnesses."
Driven by the heat at his back, Alex ran out of the cabin, dumping Gabrielle into the snow. Turning back, he entered the cabin through a wall of flames to retrieve the dog harnesses and gun that hung on pegs near the door. Just as he turned to go, by the light of the fire he spotted Gabrielle's rag doll lying on the floor, flames surrounding it as the floor became engulfed. Throwing the gun and harnesses out the door he made a running leap over the rising flames and snatched up the doll.
Gabrielle stood frozen in terror, knee-deep in snow, watching as her cabin crumbled before her. "Alex!" she screamed. "Alex!" She coughed and choked, craning her neck to see him.
Suddenly, Alex appeared through the wall of flames, falling out the door and into the snow. Scrambling to his feet he ran for Gabrielle, forcing her into the snow. "It's going to blow," he shouted as he covered her body with his.
An instant later a resounding boom filled the air as Gabrielle's cache of black powder exploded. The hand-hewn walls of the cabin splintered under the impact of the explosion, and flames rose to engulf the entire wooden structure.
Gabrielle lifted her face from the snow, struggling to get out from under Alex. "My cabin," she sobbed. "Do something, for God's sake. It's all I have."
Alex rolled off her into the snow, keeping a tight grip on her arm "Gabrielle, it's too late. It's gone." He wiped a smudge of soot from her cheek. "I saved the guns, the harnesses, some blankets and other stuff." He lifted her doll from the snow. "And I saved this."
Gabrielle took the battered doll from him, crushing it in her arms as she got to her knees. She broke into sobs, rocking to and fro as the front wall of the cabin gave way, crumbling to the ground. The fire popped and sizzled, extinguishing as the flaming rafters fell deep in the snow. "It's all I have in the world," she moaned. "All I have."
He crawled through the snow to her, pushing aside one of the dogs that leaped and barked in circles around them. Gripping her shoulders, he forced her to look at his fire-blackened face. "It's not true. You have me, and you have your life."
Chapter Seventeen
The first rays of dawn streaked the sky, reflecting off the new-fallen snow. The trees glimmered like spun glass, hanging low beneath their burden, groaning as the wind shifted. Heavy heartedly Gabrielle dug through the pile of clothing and assorted necessities Alex had managed to save from the fire.
The entire cabin had burned to the ground in the hours just before dawn. In the place where her father had laid the foundation more than twenty-five years ago lay a pile of charred remains. Here and there a piece of wood glowed red, but for the most part the fire had died. It had been contained to the cabin, not spreading to the surrounding forest because of the deep snowdrifts that surrounded it.
Alex came up behind Gabrielle, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I rounded up all of the dogs that ran into the woods when the fire started. They're all safe."
She gave a nod, lifting her boot out of the snow. "Where's the other boot, Alex?" She dangled it on the end of her finger by the lace.
He glanced about. "I don't know; it's got to be here somewhere."
"It's not here. I've looked everywhere." Her voice was strained. "What am I supposed to wear, Alex?" She gestured at her feet wrapped in two layers of socks and strips of leather he'd cut for her earlier. "I can't walk around in bare feet."
"I don't know, keep looking." He picked up a blanket and folded it with stiff, jaunty movements.
"I said I've looked, damn it," she snapped, throwing the boot to the ground.
He watched it hit the snow, then glanced up at her, his lips tightly compressed. "I didn't set your cabin on fire, Gabrielle. It was an accident. The wind shifted the stove pipe, the pipe separated at its joints and the sparks from the stove set the house on fire."
Her gaze fell to the snow. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's just that I don't know what I'm going to do now." She picked up her boot out of the snow and added it to the pile she was making on a cured moosehide. "Everything I owned was in that cabin. My supplies are gone, my money . . . everything that was ever my father's . . . gone."
"You've got one thing left of his," Alex ventured.
She looked up. "What's that?"
"The map," he said with insinuation.
She shook her head. "Oh no, I told you I wasn't going after that gold. I don't want anything to do with it." She took a step backward, raising her hands to him.
"It's the only thing you can do." He approached her slowly. "Come with me and we'll find the gold together. If the strike is as big as Jack says your father thought it was, there'll be plenty for both of us."
For a moment Gabrielle stood frozen, staring at Alex. Her face was ashen with the cold reality of his words. "So you get what you want after all, don't you?"
"Don't be silly. You think I planned this?" He ran a hand through his tousled auburn hair. That's absurd. I had nothing to do with the fire and you know it. It just happened."
"And now I'll have to use the map—"
"Gabrielle, I wanted it for you. Your father wanted it for you. Why are you being so unreasonable?" He reached to touch her, but she drew back.
Her jaw was set, her hands clenched at her sides. "All right. You win. I'll go with you, but I'm warning you, Jefferson Alexander the fourth—" she shook a finger at him—"we're through, you and I, you understand me?"
He looked at her, a blank stare on his face. "What do you mean? I don't understand. I can't believe you could blame me for this." He raised his arms in exasperation.
She turned her back to him, jerking a sweater out of the snow. "I'm not blaming you. I'm just telling you I . . . I . . ." she stuttered, not knowing what it was she wanted to say. "I'm just telling you we're through!" she blurted. "I've had enough. I never had any problems until you came along. My life was just dandy without you. You're the one who wrecked everything. You made it all a mess. I want you to get your gold and get out." She was talking more to herself than to him now. "If we strike gold, I want you to take your share and go. I don't ever want to see you on the Tanana again. You got that?"
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