Chapter 22

The soft knock on the door was followed by Emma's voice, asking permission to enter. Permission was immediate. Emma, in her loose silk wrap, was carrying a silver tray with a champagne bottle and glasses.

Jan stood up, taking the tray from Emma. Emma stripped, then entered the tank, claiming my unoccupied lap. She sat facing me in silence, studying me. She kissed me; then, as she leaned back slightly, making eye contact, she softly said, "Welcome back, my hero. I do not tell you often enough how important you are to me, and to this house. You go away, and I realize how much you mean to me."

She paused, shaking her head. Making eye contact again, she continued, "Gabrielle told me you were magnificent. You fought fearlessly, and coming home, you risked your life for their safety. You brought Gabrielle and Jacinthe to me. Thank you."

Now she was uncomfortable, fidgeting as she looked at me. "I must ask your forgiveness. Gabrielle told me of your anger about the gold -- the mine's, preacher's, and ours. I should have told you. She said you strapped her. I ask for the same punishment. Can you possibly forgive me? I am so sorry."

She put her head on my shoulder, and I could feel warm tears. I looked at my companions, seeing only surprise. K shrugged. I lifted Emma's chin, gently kissing away a tear on each cheek, saying, "Emma, I was mad. I will be frank; I felt that Gaby and you took advantage. I was very unhappy, because I had a better way planned to move the gold. Losing it to the robbers seemed a waste!"

I kissed her again then, softly. "It is not irreparable, Emma. Next time we will do better. I still have the strap I used to discipline Gaby. Twenty four strokes on your bare butt would reduce my anger greatly."

Emma shook her head with a knuckle in her eye, rubbing at the tears. She looked at me skeptically, saying, "Gaby told me twelve with an extra that she would not explain."

Now my companions laughed as I replied, "Emma, love. You are in charge. Shouldn't you get more punishment?"

Emma giggled softly, saying, "You are a cruel master."

Then she looked pensive. "William, you must trust me again knowing that I truly love you. Twenty four, one hundred twenty four, one thousand twenty four. Beat me until your arm is tired. Only your forgiveness is important."

Her face pressed hard into the space where my neck joined my shoulder. I was chastened by her declaration. The gold was delivered and we were safe. Time to move on. Lifting her chin I kissed her, then said, "Emma, it's time to move past this. Next time you have gold to move... ask. Now dry your tears, and give me a kiss."

Emma kissed me with those sweet soft lips. As she continued kissing me, I was willing to forgive her for all of her past offenses. More kisses -- I was willing to forgive in advance for any offenses she was going to commit far in the future.

Emma moved now, leaning back against me. She pulled my two hands tightly around her. She laughed, as if at a private joke. Finally, she said, 'What if I have gold to move NOW?"

I shifted her to the side. Turning her so I could look in her eyes, I asked, "Emma, what do you exactly mean when you say, gold to move now?"

Emma said, "I promised to tell you the truth, just as I should have confided in you before."

I nodded as I said, "I'm not angry, my love, truly. Just a bit surprised."

Emma continued, "We often take in far more gold than cash. The carpetbag Gabrielle carried was a tiny part of our stored gold. We always worried about the toughs stealing it."

I nodded, saying, "Reasonable. Go on."

Emma smiled as she continued, "I am still holding much gold for all of my employees, in addition to my own stockpile of gold. I have a large amount of unrefined gold ore that I have purchased or bartered services for, that must somehow go to the smelter in Nemo."

Krista asked, "Unrefined ore, meaning prospector finds it? Or meaning a highgrader sneaks it out of one of the mines?"

Emma laughed as she simply said, "Both."

I asked, "Ore has a specific chemistry based in impurities that varies by location. Isn't each mine known?"

Emma nodded as she said, "Yes. My very smart hero, some of my ore would be a problem, for that very reason. That's why it must be the smelter in Nemo."

Dan asked, "And Nemo is?"

Emma giggled, "About thirty miles south east. The roads aren't very good through deep forest."

The four of us laughed heartily, as Emma looked puzzled. Jan finally calmed to say, "Nothing personal, Emma, we were just picturing how bad they must be for you to mention it."

Now Emma did laugh. Nodding, she said, "They're barely passable even in good weather."

I asked, "Are we better off waiting for winter and taking a sleigh?"

Emma said, "No one ever thought of that. Snow drifts deep among the trees. I don't think it would be better. I'm not sure."

I gave her a kiss as I said, "Okay, Emma, my love. We need to plan another trip to Cheyenne with plenty of room for carpetbags."

Emma giggled, nodding as I kissed her again. I said, "This discussing stuff is fun!"

I kissed her one more time, saying, "Before that long trip to Cheyenne, we need a shorter trip to Nemo with room for many rocks. We go to a crooked smelter who will try to cheat us. This smelter will, of course, tell one of his other 'customers' to rob us on our return trip, earning him a finder's fee. Oh yeah, if Halliday and the miners committee find out you're trafficking with highgraders they'll lynch us all and burn this place to the ground. Did I miss anything, love?"

Emma just sat for a moment with her mouth open. She looked astonished as she said, "You did not miss a thing. That is EXACTLY why the massive cache of gold ore still sits below us, hidden in a chamber under this barn."

Now it was OUR turn to look at each other in shock at her revelation. Emma sat up on my lap saying, "That is not why I came out here."

She swam to the table, holding her tray with the champagne and glasses. She knelt in the water near the side of the tank as she poured the champagne. Still on her knees, she moved around in the water, serving us from her tray. Kneeling in the center of the tank holding her glass, Emma said, "The discussion at breakfast reminded me that I have been derelict. You four have served bravely, protecting us from the first moment. You have not asked for and I have quite failed to offer you fair compensation. I came here to remedy my failure."

We were surprised into silence as she continued, "The usual compensation for the type of protection service you are providing is five hundred dollars each per month and forty per cent of the house's income. I hope you find this agreeable. The champagne is for us to celebrate our new partnership."

We sat in shocked silence. K finally managed, "Emma, forty?"

Emma looked at us with visible distress as she wailed, "OH I'm So sorry. I knew this was not enough. Now you're mad! It's ALL I can afford. Please forgive me. Please don't leave us."

She continued her babble as I moved to her. I pulled her in my arms, shushing her. Krista continued softly, "Emma, calm down. It's OK. Actually I thought forty seemed like a impressive number."

We all nodded at her words. Emma looked at each of us, as we smiled in agreement with K. She smiled tentatively as she asked, "Then you will agree to forty?"

I guess it was up to me again, "Yes, Emma. We agree. Now hold your glass up. You spilled your bubbly."

I refilled our glasses. We came together in the center of the pool for our toast, touching glasses and sipping champagne.

Again I was struck by the sweet taste. I liked this champagne. Krista, the oenophile of the group, made a face as she swallowed hers.

My arm was around Emma as I sat in the water. She settled on my lap. Emma explained that our protection had made her sporting house one of the safest establishments in Deadwood. The dramatic increase in patronage and income was a reflection of that reputation and ours.

I brought up our visiting the Cheyenne Crossing land, to pick out a building site. Emma enthusiastically agreed. She was ready to go when we were!

Emma gripped my shoulders lightly as she knelt in the tank next to me. She kissed me on the lips; then, drawing back slightly, she said, "I must get ready for tonight. Remember you have only to ask..."

With that, she rose to her feet. She gently rubbed her water slick leg along my chest. Then she giggled. Turning, she stepped out of the tank, leaving the room still naked.

As she stepped outside I looked back at my companions. Tiny, exquisite Jan was approaching me, looking sensual and dangerous at the same time as she navigated water up to her shining eyes.

This time she stood up next to me, pulling me to my feet. She backed me up, until I was sitting on the edge of the tank. She pushed my legs apart; stepping between them, she kissed me, her tongue quickly pushing past my lips.

She moved down, licking my left nipple. When she sucked on my nipple it was an electric current directly to my dick. She moved to my right, licking it then sucking. Moving down my torso, she licked and sucked up the tiny drops of water. My hard cock was bobbing in front of her face. She opened her mouth, taking in the head, while she reached up to pinch my nipple, sending another jolt through my body. I groaned as I reached for her slicked-down hair, cradling her head.

I looked up, to see Dan similarly situated sitting on the tank edge across from me, with Krista kneeling in front of him. As I watched, she sucked his cock deeply in her mouth while she was massaging his ball sac. He had his fingers in her golden curls as her head bobbed over his groin.

Jan's mouth, engulfing my balls, drew my attention back. She smiled up at me when our eyes met. With my hands back in her hair, Jan again sucked the head of my cock. She began to take more and more of my dick in her mouth. Soon, each travel of her head ended with her nose in my belly.

Every time I looked up, I saw K with her mouth on Dan's cock, and every time I looked down, Jan's mouth was on mine! I was more turned on than I had ever been in my life. I began pulling Jan's head, gently urging her to a faster pace.

She held my balls in her left palm as she used her right hand to massage my perineum. As my balls drew up, she stopped with just my cockhead in her mouth, lashing it with the tip of her tongue. I yelled as I came, pumping cum into her mouth until it leaked around my cock, dripping down her chin and on her chest.

As I started to recover, I looked over to see Krista's face streaked with Dan's cum as he stood over her, stroking his hard cock, shooting cum, aiming at her open mouth and extended tongue.

When we both finished our spending, K and J moved to the middle of the pool, where they kissed, sharing the come already in their mouths, then licked up the remainder, pushing it into their mouths. Giggling happily, they finally ducked in the water, cleaning off the last of their 'pearl necklaces'.

I looked over, grinning, at Dan as we settled back in the water. Now Krista joined me, while Jan joined Dan. K settled on my lap, pulling me into an open-mouthed kiss. When I looked up, J and D were doing the same thing. K said, "This is a big change for you. Are you all right with this?"

I answered softly, but with a big smile, "Yes. This felt just fine. I'm looking forward to more."