For as young as he was, he was adroit in removing her underwear. Though she kept on her dress, he had access to her breasts and pussy and played with them as they laughed on the shore.
Wade, who hadn’t healed enough to have any sex save being sucked and sucking her, found them entwined at the water’s edge. “That’s my wife, you know.”
Andre sat stiffly upright, still holding Hannah in his arms. “Mon dieu, I am sorry, sir. We seem to have been carried away by the lovely morning.”
Hannah laughed. “Go back to my tent, Wade, and we’ll join you there to talk about this. I believe we may need another husband.”
In the tent, as the three of them sat on the mattress, Andre was contrite but did not back down. “Hannah is the first woman I have felt affection for since leaving France. I have wanted her since the day I arrived. I did not do anything until today, I swear.”
Hannah cuddled onto Andre’s lap. “Wade, all my husbands have been so busy, I’ve felt neglected. Andre is a sweet boy. I will do whatever you say. If you want me to resist him, I will, though I’d rather not.”
“You are my one and only love, and you are the same to Brady. We never quite understood about Rocco, but your happiness is our happiness. If this is what you wish, go ahead and explain to him what we have here. He may not want you under those terms.”
He did want her under any terms. Wade gave him some condoms and lay next to them. “I want to be here just in case.”
Hannah loved knowing he was watching her and Andre undress each other. She posed, arms behind her head, holding up her hair to give Wade a clear view as Andre sucked her nipples. Andre surprised her by taking a long, long time caressing and nipping at every part of her body before putting his cock into her. Even then, he went slowly, slithering in and out of her like a drugged, sinuous cobra. He felt hard and smooth and managed to scrape against every nerve ending in her pussy as he wriggled into her and slid out again.
Again and again the cobra struck, sometimes pausing a second or two at the entrance to make her wait in anticipation for the next strike, anxious in fear it would not come. Finally, he moved with great thrusts and she was ready. Immediately, she pulsed around him with gushes of viscous liquid. He drained himself into the condom, pushing each drop out with gusto.
By this time Wade was moaning. Hannah took pity and got on her knees to suck him, but as soon as she struck up a rhythm, Andre was into her from behind holding his hand over her pussy to stroke it as he thrust into her ass. Wade nipped and sucked her breasts, and she came violently. Wade spewed into her mouth when he realized she came, but Andre’s assault lasted several minutes and brought her satisfaction again. The ass fucking she loved, and his hand massaging her pussy at the same time was ambrosia. As soon as she recovered from the aftershocks her body pulsed with, she wanted more of the same.
Hannah had many sessions like this with Wade and Andre before the others caught on. They’d been consumed with the gold and hadn’t noticed the missing trio each afternoon. The discussion was heated, but ultimately it was Hannah’s choice. “I love all of you and can’t imagine giving any one of you up, unless, of course, you wanted to go.”
No one wanted to go. Cade had found his niche in Gus and Sam’s tent at night.
For weeks and then months they pulled gold out of the mine with no signs of depleting the lode. With the arrival of more hired guards and safety ensured, Brady took Sam back to Plantsville to check on the ranch and to deposit a great deal of the money in the banks there. Hannah had more trust in the banks there than those in San Francisco. She also gave instructions to purchase from her shares anything in new equipment that would make Rocco’s parents’ jobs easier, including updating the kitchen and installing the new flush toilets popular in England.
Hannah cajoled Wade into taking her for a buggy ride through all of San Francisco and the environs. She was silent for most of the trip because she was making mental notes. “Somehow, Wade, I don’t feel right about having all this money.
“I don’t feel right about spending it as easily and recklessly as Sam and Gus do. Sure, the mine looks good so far, but it could run out tomorrow.”
“They’re young with no responsibilities to anyone but themselves.”
“What are we, shriveled up old prunes?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Wade jerked the reins, and the buggy pulled up short and nearly flung them both out of the carriage. “Hannah! I can’t believe it. What should I do? Do you need to go to a hospital?”
“Of course not. Kiss me and tell me if you want a boy or a girl.”
They kissed until the horses started pawing the ground, eager to be off. “Wade, you’d better pick up the reins before we have some runaway horses.”
They started up again, and Hannah continued, “What I want to do with some of the money is build a house, a big house on a big hill.”
“Will it have land for crops?”
“Most definitely. We’ll need lots of land, and what crops we don’t need for ourselves, we’ll use to sell and to feed the poor.”
She didn’t go into more detail, although in her mind she knew she wouldn’t stop at one house. She intended to buy as much land as possible for as long as the mine gave up its gold.
She didn’t tell Wade about the house she would build for them, but she knew exactly what she wanted, a mansion on Nob Hill. They needed ballrooms and dining rooms for entertaining. She intended to make a place for family in whatever society developed in this town. And she wanted a wing for children sealed off from the bedrooms she and her husbands would use. Hannah wanted a family that would survive for generations. Since, so far, she had attained everything she desired, she had no reason to think this would not happen according to her plan.
She was certain San Francisco would one day grow into a law-abiding town where people would want to live. The rash of fires and shootings and occasional quakes didn’t deter her. Her project was to build houses made of brick with steel underpinnings to withstand whatever nature had in store for San Francisco.
She would eventually buy waterfront property in anticipation of starting restaurants and hotels where people would actually be safe one day. These plans would wait. For now, all her attention centered on the hilltop residence she would have built for herself. In her mind, it had seven bedrooms, two ballrooms, several bathrooms, two kitchens, two fancy parlors, a fancy dining room for large gatherings and a smaller one for the family, and a cozy room for family gatherings. She’d get advice for the most important wing of the house, the nursery.
Epilogue
Present day: Golden Touch Mine, San Francisco foothills.
“So this was where your family dug up all its wealth.” Bolt Carmody slapped his hat against his thigh.
“Yep, lots of ghosts lurking around here.”
“Right, Hannah, darlin’, if you say so.”
“You don’t believe in ghosts?”
“Of course not and neither do you.”
“Don’t be too sure about that or about me.”
Bolt took her arm and stopped her forward progress into the cave. “Hannah Tolliver Janes, for twelve years, since you were a fifteen-year-old squirt, I’ve known everything about you.” Although she was five seven, in tennis shoes, she was nine inches shorter than his six four and couldn’t reach his lips. He raised her off her feet to pull her into a kiss.
When he set her back on solid ground, Hannah shot him an enigmatic smile. “I know, cowboy. You were my first and only love when you were seventeen and now when you’re pushing thirty. But your scientific bent sometimes makes you closed-minded. Let’s go inside and see if a ghost or two can make believers of both of us.”
“Your father said under no circumstances was I to let you prowl around in there. It’s not stable.”
“He’s a worrywart. They’ve put up steel braces. It’s perfectly safe.”
“Then why is it closed off with barbed wire?”
“Very loose barbed wire if
you know how to nudge it a bit, like this.” She unattached a strand from its mooring and opened it as if it were a gate. “I’m going in. Come or don’t come. I don’t care, cowboy.”
“Wait, Hannah, finish telling me the story. I know your great, great granny and great, great grandpa, Wade, became rich and famous and built the house on Nob Hill, but what of the others? What happened to Sam and Gus? It couldn’t have been easy for them the way the world felt about gay men in those days. What happened to Rocco and Andre and Brady?”
“Actually I only know what’s on the Internet with a few family lore details kept from the public all these years. Those stories will have to wait until another day. I’m going into the mine while I have the chance.” She took off.
Bolt chose not to follow and encourage her. “Damn, that girl is headstrong.” He doubted her cell would get reception inside the mine, but he texted her anyway. Take Care. Luv U. He went in search of Hannah’s dad. He was the only one who could make the headstrong woman behave.
Hannah was a bit disappointed in Bolt. For a cowboy and a veterinarian who wrestled animals three times his size, he could wimp out in the face of her father. She wound her way into the darkness and shined her flashlight on the damp walls of the mine. After it had been played out for years it still sparkled with glints of gold dust.
She sat on a stump someone had left here years ago. Her mind was swimming with all the stories of the mine’s owners told to her over the years.
“Howdy, sweetheart. You sure do favor my Hannah. But she would never have worn pants that tight or a skimpy shirt where her nipples poked through. Though she did love to be poked herself. Gads, that woman loved to fuck. Uh, excuse me. Who are you and why are you disturbing my peace?”
Strangely, Hannah was not at all afraid of the apparition. She’d hoped to see the ghost reported by so many of the men who’d explored this cave, but hadn’t actually expected to see him.
“Who might you be, sir?”
“I asked you first, woman.”
“I am Hannah Brown Tolliver Janes.”
“Ah, one of her descendents.” He came close and drew a finger down her cheek. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
“Not at all. You’re quite handsome for a ghost. Were you one of my great, great granny’s lovers?”
“I was fortunate to have loved Hannah.”
“Were you one of her husbands?”
“You know a lot about those long-ago days.”
“The gossip has been handed down through the family. I’d love to hear about it from your perspective. Can you stay and talk awhile or are you given time limits to your ectoplasm or whatever lets me see you?”
“No limits and certainly, I can stay. I have nothing but time. Though I suspect you might be searched for soon. I sense a presence at the mouth of the cave.”
“Oh, worst luck. I’d better go, but will you be here tomorrow if I come back?”
“I can always sense a pretty woman near me. The sparkling gold of your hair is different from Hannah Brown’s, yet the likeness is uncanny. Please come back.”
“If I do, will you tell me about my ancestors?” Hannah stood and brushed the seat of her jeans.
“I have known most of the Hannahs down through the years, and I will tell you intimate details if you want to hear them.”
“I do.”
“You must be a very curious woman.”
“Oh, I am, extremely so.”
“Are you this curious, I wonder?” The wispy figure solidified and took her in his arms. His kiss was burning and arousing and left her breathless. She staggered toward the entrance of the cave, dizzy with his touch. Before she met up with her father and Bolt, she turned back. No one was there. “But I didn’t get your name.”
Silence. Then, her father’s harsh words. “Hannah, you scared the life out of me.”
“Sorry, Dad, I’m perfectly fine.”
Bolt looked helplessly on, and she blew him a kiss as her father all but dragged her out of the mine. Tomorrow her dad was off on a business trip. She would come alone tomorrow. At last, she would learn about the first Hannah Brown and if the stories about her many lovers were true.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tish Domenick is first generation Italian-American. She has earned two University degrees, a BS (no, not that BS, Bachelor of Science—really) and an MA, and has many years experience in the health care field. Give her a bowl of pasta, a good red wine, a romantic novel, and life is good. She lives in Florida with her husband, who cooks the pasta and pours the wine and wonders how she researched those erotic scenes. She’ll never tell.
For all titles by Tish Domenick, please visit
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His Golden Touch [Gold Rush 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 10