Gold Miner

Jo inhaled deeply. "Someone diddled with herself," she teased. "Shame, you know that will make you go blind."

"Yeah, then I'll just have to feel you all the time."

They lay across the bed. Jo pulled Mat's back against her, kissed the crook of Mat's neck, and fingered a nipple. It was all Mattie could do to sigh as the still fresh memories of the most resent orgasm flowed though her body. The new touches were turning those in to a tsunami and the moisture left her mound a dripping wet swamp. Mat's head fell back across Jo's shoulder as Jo began to kiss her way up towards the sharp ridge of Mat's jaw and over to the edge of her lips.

"Not going to let you forget this," Jo whispered into Mat's wide-open mouth with the tongue reaching for hers.

"Already past there. Just kiss me fool."

Their lips touched in an electric blaze as Mat twisted in Jo's arms. She straddled Jo's thigh and dragged herself along the smooth tanned flesh. Mat arched her back to try to maintain contact with Jo's lips and thigh. Her hot breath filled Jo's mouth. Partial words and sounds drifted back and forth. The moans became louder as Mat's head tossed back. Jo massaged Mat's breasts and twisted the nipples until the ripples from the orgasm began to subside though out Mat's body.

Limp, weak, and not remotely finished with each other, they lay rapped in each other's arms with their lips occasionally touching.

Mat slipped her short silk robe on without bothering to tie the strap and walked towards the great room. "Look at the sunset," she called back to Jo. Jo was lying on the bed with her head propped on a hand and watching Mat walk away. "Rather just watch this lovely view of your backside."

Jo gave in and followed. She stood behind Mat in the doorway and gave her a new sense of balance as she wrapped her arms around Mat's waist. Jo's chin rested on Mat's shoulder. Sometimes she gave Mat's neck a peck and others she just looked past her chin at the lake.

"I've not been here much, you know, with these feelings for someone. It scares me." Jo softly said between pecks near the back of the ear.

"Life and love have sucked for me."

"It's been three years. I like to think I'm over her. Some are harder than others to get over."

"There's no rush Jo. Take your time. Just know I enjoyed this."

"Thanks. Sometime I'd like to know more about you. There's no rush." Jo sighed and rubbed her palm over Mat's heart. "There's goodness in here. I can feel it."

It didn't matter to Mat that Jo did not spend the night. After all, things were proceeding quickly towards a place she had no experience.

The first rays of sunlight broke though the trees across the lake as Mat stepped into her wooden canoe. The green painted sides contrasted with the nicely varnished wood. The lake was glass smooth in front of the canoe. As she pulled her paddle though the water, small swirls formed and quickly disappeared. A fish jumped to the left leaving growing concentric circles that eventually echoed off the canoe. "Robert better get out here," she mouthed trying to not break the silence of the dawn.

Several hundred feet from shore, Mat slipped to the bottom of the canoe and rested her head on the woven rope seat. She watched the hawk overhead as the canoe drifted quietly though the water. Another fish jumped and a large bird screamed from its nest in the top of a tall pine tree.

For Mat, mornings like these were the salve for life's wounds.

Mat had been in the kitchen just long enough for the waffle to pop from the opening of the toaster when the phone rang.

"Hey Jo."

"Tried to go a whole day without talking to you, but failed. What a long twelve hours."

"Silly woman. I thought about you as I paddled my canoe this morning. You were the hawk circling over me."

"Can I talk you into driving to the coast with me today? Just a few hours drive. We can put the top down on the Miata. We could get a room overlooking the ocean."

"Are you trying to romance me?" Mat chuckled a few times as she listened to Jo's pleasing voice. "Sure. I'll be ready when you get here."

Mat wrapped the rubber band around her ponytail and pulled it though the opening in the back of her baseball cap. Jo pulled her cap down slightly. "Ready?" Jo asked with a huge smile spreading across her face. She leaned over and kissed Mat. "Thanks for filling that seat. It's been empty too long." Jo moved the shift lever to A and drove though the winding streets of the cove before turning right onto Highway 43 south. "Actually it's always been empty. I got this after her."

The landscape on either side of the two-lane road consisted of long rows of pine trees waiting for harvest to become paper. Endless lines of log trucks with the logs stacked neatly across the back passed them going in the opposite direction. Occasionally there were short stretches of used car lots or junkyards, gas stations or fast food places, sometimes even the intersection of a crossroad that seemed to go nowhere. The warm sun and cool wind filled the car as they held hands, talked, and laughed about nothing.

"Not quite three hours and we're to the bridge," Jo said as she tossed the four quarters into the basket. "I made reservations at the Sea Gull Resort. Hope it is as nice as the pictures." Mat's head jerked back as Jo accelerated quickly away from the tollbooth. Mat reached up to grab the bill of her cap just as the wind caught it. "Well the room will have you in it. I can't ask for anything better," Mat replied.

The tires squealed as the dark blue Miata turned suddenly right before heading down the road a few hundred yards and then left into the parking lot. "Moment of truth," Jo teased as she braked hard under the portico. Mat followed her into the lobby.

"Ocean view, king, no smoking for two. The name is Mattson. Jo Mattson."

"It's not accessible," the clerk said in a painfully slow drawl as she stared at Mat.

"It doesn't need to be. It just needs a REAL good view of the ocean," Jo replied. "It does have a REAL good view of the ocean doesn't it?"

"I can put you up on the third floor for the best view, and the elevator is just though the lobby. There is a boardwalk out to the ocean. And there's a pool."

Mat opened the door to the balcony as Jo clicked the lock shut on the room door. The sounds of the pounding surf filled the room as the drapes billowed inward. The surf was not the only thing pounding. Jo pulled Mat back against her. "I want to make you roar like that," she said. "That will be easy," Mat replied as she turned and kissed Jo. "I left my panties at home too." Mat took Jo's hand and pushed it inside her shorts. "Oh My!" Jo gasped with pleasure. "So wet already."

"Bed's big enough we'll need a map to get out," Jo said as she sprawled on the king sized bed with her arms to the side and her knees up. Mat sat next to Jo's hips and pulled her shorts slowly along her legs. As Jo's mound was finally exposed, Mat said, "There's my friend." With a hard flick, Jo's shorts and panties sailed across the room and landed together on the chair by window. "We won't need those."

Mat pressed the back of Jo's thighs forward letting the dark mound spread the petals of the flower exposing the lovely pink center. "Oh yes," Mat drawled and inhaled deeply. Her tongue traveled though the wet swamp and sucked the dewdrops from the edges of the labia. "Just like that," Jo moaned. First one, then two more fingers filled the sopping wet tunnel. "Ah-h-h," Jo groaned as her knees fell to the side and before her legs rested on Mat's shoulders. Jo's mound began to hump and ride against Mat's hand and Mat kept telling her, "Cum for me."

Mat and Jo weren't the only people casually dressed in the dark romantic restaurant for dinner. The flickering candlelight danced across Jo's face as Mat listened to her talk about how much she enjoyed her Miata and the fun drive today. Mat only cared that she was with Jo. Mat's hand held Jo's, their fingers made love as the music of Jo's words filled her ears.

The server placed the plates of food on the table. "These steaks look excellent," Jo said. To check the doneness, she cut into hers. "Perfect. About as pink as you Mat." Jo glanced at Mat, and then they both looked at the male server. The server blushed a deep dark red that was visible even in the darkness of the room and walked away. "Oops," Jo snickered.

Another server stopped and poured the remains of the bottle of wine into their glasses. "Another bottle?" she asked. "Yes please," Jo replied with a slight drunken slur to her speech. "Good thing we just have to walk across the parking lot."

The single slice of half eaten strawberry cheesecake rested on the plate between them and they each took a turn carving off another bite. "I'm having a great time," Mat said after she swallowed a bite. "I've never been in love. Is this what it feels like?"

"We've known each other three whole days. Don't rush. I'm not going away."

"Yeah. I know." Mat's brow wrinkled and a frown replaced her smile. "I must sound like an idiot."

Jo gripped Mat's hand again and gave it a light squeeze. "That's NOT what I meant. My feelings for you...well they are there right where yours probably are for me. It's a struggle not to just let them flood out of me. I've never known anyone like you, not that I have a lot of experience and very few successes."

"So...is there anything I need to know? Are you married? Are you an axe murder? Are you about to go to prison? There isn't anyone else in your life? Pregnant or have children?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Think that was the right number of no's. Can I ask about your leg?"

"The bridge abutment won. The driver was rich and drunk. I think you've seen I am pretty independent."

The salt filled breeze blew their hair as they crossed the parking lot of the resort and cut through the small cluster of palm trees.

"Let's walk along the water," Mat suggested.

"To the ends of the earth darling."

The full moon cast a slivery glow over the shells in the wet sand as the white suds of the waves pulled back from the shore. The trail of three footprints and two small circles lingered for a few moments until the next wave passed.

Jo touched Mat's arm and then pulled her to a stop with their bodies touching. Her lips caressed Mat's, their tongues touched. "I'm glad we came," Jo whispered in Mat's ear between nibbles.

"Breakfast for two," Jo said to the hostess. They followed her through the restaurant. A mother and her young son passed on their way to the front door. Jo slid across the bench of the booth first. As Mat placed her crutches on the floor, she heard the little boy yell, "Mommy, what happened to her..." Before he could finish, the mother jerked his arm hard and dragged him out the front door as he screamed and cried.

Mat sat next to Jo and wiped the tears from her face with her hand. "Darling, it's okay," Jo assured her. Jo rubbed Mat's back and tried to comfort her.

"Listen," Mat started as she struggled to speak though the sobs. A woman in the next booth said, "Sad that she's missing..." Another woman cut her short and said, "Yes, tragic woman." Jo's protective instincts kicked in as she firmly told the second woman, "Keep it to yourself." Mat took a deep breath before continuing. "I have to put up with this. You don't. You don't have to be with me. Let's just go back home." The sobs continued as Sara reached for her crutches.

Jo put a hand on each of Mat's shoulders and twisted Mat around so she was facing her. "I'm with you because I've found someone I am starting to care for, even love. Neither of us can make your leg reappear. In the few days I've known you, the number of legs has not mattered to me. It's all about the way you make me feel."

Mat leaned her head down and sniffed in an attempt to keep the wetness from running down her upper lip. She stabbed at it with a napkin. "You've got to know being with me will have some downsides. But I think I love you too."

The hot summer days had at last given way to the cool autumn mornings. The large doors to the deck framed Jo as she stood with a cup of coffee watching the thick fog resting on the lake. Mat wrote furiously on long yellow pages. Each time she finished one; she would make the 'Doink Doink' sound from Law & Order.

Ms Hattie Mae Fox was a big woman who entertained men - many men, and even a few women. Her pleasures were legendary. Everyone in Shelby County knew about room six at the Pine Tree Motel and probably many had been there at least once too. Just because Earl had a knife through his heart one morning when Hattie woke up next to him didn't mean she did it. Mat had decided yesterday in the courtroom that only the prosecutor probably believed Hattie had killed Earl. She had too many clients on the jury. Even the judge had visited Hattie. Mat knew it wouldn't take Clarence Darrow to get the homicide charge dropped even if Hattie did kill Earl, but she was going to have a fantastic summation just in case.

"Mat, you know my agent has lined up a speaking tour."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm going to be gone three, maybe four weeks."

"Un-huh."

"I'm going to run off with the Hells Angels."

"Un-huh."

"Can you help me tie this noose so I can hang myself?"

"Un-huh...What?"

Mat laid the pen gently at a 45-degree angle in the center of the page. She gave it a small nudge to position it better and looked up at Jo with her hand under the sweatshirt fondling a breast.

"Speaking tour? When?"

"Out though the California Gold Country. First stop is next Monday."

"Oh?" Mat questioned as her lips wrinkled into a frown. "That sounds wonderful."

"You never did bullshit well Mat. I want you to come with me. You'll be done with Hattie today. Let's just go have fun. I can show all the places I've written about and that you read about in history classes. You know, like the frog jumping contest Mark Twain wrote about, the American River and Sutter's Fort where they found gold, all that and more. And best of all we'll be together."

Mat leaned back with her hands interlocked behind her head and her foot on the edge of the desk. She watched Jo dance between feet like a little child needing to pee as she tried to convince her to come. There was no reason not to. Even though they still lived in their own houses, these days they were rarely apart.

The low rolling foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains were golden brown after the long hot summer and the scraggly oak trees were scattered sparsely across the hills amongst the dark brown rock outcroppings as they drove north along Highway 49 from Jamestown towards Sonora. Mat had never been 'out west' as she called it, but Jo had been all though these hills while working on her thesis. This was where Jo met Karen and Jo was concerned about seeing her again.

"Mat, Karen lives in Sonora."

"But she's out of your life isn't she?"

"I hope so. She was very volatile though. I only wanted you to be prepared. This is the one part of the gold country I fear."

"Why would we see her?"

"She owns the bookstore where the first lecture will be."

"Oh."

Jo pulled into a view area overlooking the old train station and steam excursion train at Jamestown. She turned the engine off and rolled her window down as she tried to gather her thoughts. Mat could tell there was much going on in her mind and she tried to brace herself.

"Darling...I care about you in ways I never thought were possible. That is important for you to know. What's in my past will remain in my past - I hope."

Jo stopped and watched Mat's expression evolve and change while she squeezed and massaged her shoulder and neck.

"I know Jo. We're together now. That's what is important."

"Karen is petty rough and tumble, loud and boisterous at times. She's a miner - overalls, picks, pans, mules, and all. That's how I met her. I needed a guide and I found her flyer at the bookstore she owned. She taught me a lot about being independent. We were out in rough backcountry for weeks at a time walking along side our pack animals. It didn't take long for us to be sleeping close, making wild love under the stars, you know. We returned to Sonora after the first trip out and I moved in with her and finished my thesis. I even started my first book. Money got tight a year later, she started missing her medications, and things got nasty, and not in a fun nasty kind of way either. She beat me several times a week. It took me a few more years to leave. I was so hooked on her, loving her was better than the beatings. Oh sure, when we had money and she could afford her pills, things would get better. That always helped smooth things over until the next time."

Jo stopped. A tear formed in the corner of her eye, and then started to dribble down her face. "I can't go though this again." Jo's head fell against the steering wheel and rocked side-to-side as the sobs grew louder than the wind blowing through the window.

Mat understood the power of the moment and that there was little if anything she could do to help ease the torment Jo was reliving. Mat knew from her own experience Jo would probably take this torment to her grave. If she were to be part of Jo's life, she would have to understand that and be as supportive as she could.

They walked along Washington Street from the Gunn House towards the bookstore. Jo ducked her head and walked quickly past the bookstore. "Later," she mumbled. "Let's eat first."

"Hey stranger," the deep voice bellowed as the heavy work boots clumped over the wooden steps.

Jo turned slowly as she braced herself for a firestorm of unknown proportions. Mat gulped as she surveyed Karen whose height and bulk made her look like someone that would win in most fights. The crew cut and large dragon tattoo that covered all of her left arm added to that impression.

"Quite a change for you baby," Karen roared, as she looked Mat over from head to foot. "Is this the best you could do?"

"Don't be such a bitch!"

"Hey, to each her own."

"Who you talkin' with Karen?" the tall chubby woman with the short fire engine red hair asked as she walked out of the bookstore. "Oh you must be Jo. I've seen your pictures. You look real-l-l good naked. I'm Fran. Karen's my woman. Now." Fran held a motorcycle helmet and began working it over her head. "Karen, you coming?" she asked as she swung her leg over the chopper.

"No hard feelings...right?" Karen yelled over the roar of the engine. "Glad you found someone." The sound of the motorcycle echoed off the buildings on either side of the street and the bike turned left at the intersection. The rumbling sound became fainter, but still echoed in their head.

Jo was ashen as Mat pushed her against the wall. "I'm glad I was with you." Mat kissed her firmly and deeply. "I'm glad I AM with you."

Kimberly opened the bookstore that night. Karen and Fran kindly choose not to be there. Twenty people sat in a small semicircle, a few others stood, as Jo sat on a table and read from her second book, 'Travels with a Gold Miner'.

"The raging waters from the melting snows of the Sierra Nevada would move rocks and the river silt exposing gold nuggets by the handful. Whither 1848 or today, the people were much the same. I traveled with several of them," Jo started causing everyone to move forward in their seats.

Prospectors, like mobsters, thieves, and pirates, seemed to have colorful names like Lonesome Jim and Whiskey Slim. The mines and claims sometimes had fanciful names like the Lost Dutchman Mine or the Glory Hole. Jo told story after story of men and women who lived by and dug in the cold waters looking for gold. The tales of half-pound nuggets, claim jumpers, gunfights, and people trapped by landslides for days, or forever, entranced the audience. The way Jo talked made them feel like they were out in the gold fields with the miners.