Oh my stars, a second update in a week! Are you shockled to the core yet? Thanks for all the reviews since the last update. Just so you know, if you come straight to this chapter instead of reading the Authors Notes and Disclaimer page, this story has now been up-rated from an T to an M/MA. So if you're easily offended by writings of a sexual nature then now's the time to run away screaming.

I just quickly want to say that if you got confused with the last chapter, then don't be. Everything will be made crystal clear a bit later on in the story and I don't want to give too much away but some of you might just be heading in the right direction if you can recall previous reviews or pms that I've exchanged with you in the past. Sooooo yeeeeaaaahhhhh!

Enjoy x

Chapter 9

Emmeline Whittingstall stretched lazily and burrowed further underneath the quilt, cocooning the thick material around her petite body, preventing the remaining warmth from the bed escaping into the ether. Outside her cosy little den for one, she could hear the rustle of clothing and the soft pitter patter of bare feet on the boards of the wooden floor as their owner went about attending to their business. It was raining heavily outside, the sound of the raindrops waging war on the wooden buildings in the street outside and the hard rapping against the small window of the bedroom sent a shiver down her spine making the thought of emerging from underneath the blankets anytime soon an unwelcome thought. A few minutes longer would be all she allowed herself to linger otherwise she wouldn't make it back to the ranch before dawn and her absence would be noticed.

Over the past two months or so, the young girl had become rather good at sneaking back into the ranch and had only been caught once – luckily though it had been Betsy who had foiled her but Emmeline's quick thinking had conjured up the excuse of taking an early morning stroll through the gardens after a restless night. The free woman had accepted her explanation, but sometimes, she gave the young woman a suspicious look to say that she knew more than she was willing to say, still Emmeline had been sure never to be in that position again because the next time she might not be so lucky with who she bumped into.

She hated having to leave him, knowing that she couldn't touch him whenever she wanted to and having to put on airs and graces whenever she saw him in the street or after Church, not that it completely stopped either of them. There were stolen kisses under the old Oak at the picnics on Sundays and they'd even managed to make love down by the creek a few times, albeit in some positions that she was sure were sins to even be thought of let alone put into practice. It was strange how much she now loved and wanted the man that she had been determined to hate so at the start.

The young woman stretched her legs under the covers and sighed softly as she cast her mind back to the first night they'd spent together, the first night that she had become a woman and his woman at that. It had been the night of the Church picnic, the event in which she had practically begged the mysterious gunslinger who had captured her heart to take her, right there in front of the towns people and it was the day that she discovered that he was one Caleb Black, the very man who had sent her father home from a rendezvous bloodied and beaten.

/

The ride home from the picnic had been a quiet one for Emmeline, she was in shock at having not only discovered that her father was still on pleasant terms with this man, but also that he was the one who she had been fantasising about for weeks. Her father hadn't said much on the journey back to the ranch either and it had been an awkward to say the least. On the one hand she wanted to ask her father why he was still doing business with the man, but she bit her tongue, knowing that he wouldn't discuss it with her and fearing the back of his hand if she forced the matter. On the other, she was furious at being deceived by this man; this Caleb Black person who had partially stolen her innocence, knowing who she was all along and playing a twisted game with her heart and mind. It was a game that she would no longer play, she would not be taken for a fool any longer and it was with a steely determination that she decided that she would not even think of the man ever again, let alone keep her promise to meet with him at midnight.

The rest of Sunday passed without event; Emmeline visited her mother's gardens, did a little sewing work and ate a quiet supper with her father before retiring to bed early, feigning feeling ill from the heat of the day's sun. She softly cried herself to sleep, her covers over her head so that she could not be heard by Betsy or her father. Although she didn't know how long she had slept for, there was a full moon which shone brightly through her bedroom window, despite the thickness of the drapes and it hampered her sleep, waking her several times from strange dreams about a man that looked like Black, yet was different at the same time. Each time she awoke, she couldn't help but think of him and her ire burned through her like a full body fever.

'How dare he,' she thought bitterly as she tossed and turned one last time before sitting up in her bed, 'How dare he make me want him so and then humiliate me?'

Emmeline pounded her fists on her on bed clothes, part of her now so incensed that she wanted to keep their arrangement so she could give him a piece of her mind and the other part of her telling her that she should forget about him and hold her head high. Eventually, her anger won out and the blonde girl dressed quickly in a simple dress of white cotton that didn't require being laced up, grabbed a crocheted shawl and hurriedly pushed her tiny feet into to a pair of lace-up boots before putting into practice her forgotten years of tree climbing and exited her room though her bedroom window.

Quickly and quietly, Emmeline deftly climbed down the trellising outside and landed with a small thud on the ground outside of her father's study. There were no lights on inside the house, which indicated that all inside were asleep, but she couldn't be too careful and keeping low, she stealthily hurried around the house and out towards the stable and bunkhouse where the horses were kept and the workers often slept. Fortunately for her, the bunkhouse was in darkness also, which made it easy for her to get inside the stable and tack up her horse and lead him a little way away from the ranch before mounting the stallion and riding into town.

With a fierce anger that burned even hotter inside of her, Emmeline rode as if she were flying on the wind, determined to say her piece to Caleb Black as soon as possible and return home to bed. As she entered the town, she slowed the horse and quietly trotted through the few back streets that led onto the main store fronts of Angel Creek. There was seemingly a disturbance out front of the Saloon, which didn't wholeheartedly surprise her as its reputation for trouble was well known through the township and was the reason for many of the Preachers Sunday sermons on sinning and temptation.

Leaving the safe confines of the streets, she entered the tree line that bordered the meadow behind the school house. In spite of the moonlight, the trees were in near complete darkness and she was wary of who or what was lurking in the cover of them, although she was almost certain that the tales of Savages hiding out in them was just an excuse for all the mothers in the town to keep their children near at all times. Emmeline dismounted her steed and tethered him at the edge of the meadow, a short way away from the place where she had agreed to meet Caleb Black.

She had no idea of the time, although judging by the kerfuffle near the Saloon which she knew closed at Midnight, she gathered that it was probably a quarter after, and she fancied that the man would have become tired of waiting for her and left. The night breeze was cool and she was thankful for bringing the shawl as she pulled it tightly around her frame as she made her way towards the old Oak. She was surprised to find that Caleb was cockily leant against its ancient trunk, his hat pulled low over his face, holding what seemingly looked like a bouquet of wild flowers. She had hoped that she would find him already gone from the place, so that she wouldn't have to confront him at all, but clearly he had other ideas.

Caleb pushed himself off the tree and gazed upon her lithe form as if he hadn't seen her in months, and suddenly that feeling of wantonness was stirring inside of her. She forced it back down and let her anger continue to simmer, even when he handed her the flowers, rather than admire them as he probably expected her to do, she gave him a wry smile and grasped them in her hand, letting her arm hang limply at her side.

'Miss Emmeline,' Caleb drawled as he pushed his Stetson up with a single finger, the moonlight illuminating his face and making his eyes glow a strange violet colour, 'you look as pretty as a picture.'

The young blonde girl glared with all her might at the man in front of her, determined to not be pleasant and demure as she expected. 'Mr. Black,' she said curtly, 'I do not wish for your compliments or your attention. I have only come tonight to ask you to leave my father and I alone.'

Caleb took a step towards her, closing the small gap between them both, he was close enough that she could a hint of whisky and tobacco mixed with peppermint on his breath. He was close to her that she could feel the heat from his body radiating out towards her, warming the bare skin that her dress and shawl didn't cover. It took all that was in her not to flinch when he reached out and captured a stray lock of hair within the grasp of his right hand, gently caressing it as it slid between his fingers before moving his hand to stroke the side of her face.

'Why should I do that?,' he said, his voice husky and barely above a whisper, his eyes roving all over her face, willing her to look at him. 'You're the Goddess Aphrodite in the moonlight, you have ensnared me Miss Emmeline and you're my woman, mine always.''

Right then and there, Emmeline almost lost all of her resolve as the wantonness that she was trying hard to surpress within rose to the surface and near enough begged her to leap into his arms. Her mind momentarily forgetting why she was so mad with the man before her, but then he said something that she didn't quite catch in her lusty haze, but it sounded as if he'd said something along the lines of 'You're my woman,' and that made her blood boil and her anger rise to the surface, forcing her desire back down, 'You're mine always.'

Suddenly it was if a volcano was erupting inside of her, like the red hot lava bubbling to the surface of the crater as did Emmeline's ire and before she could restrain herself, her hand struck out and hit Caleb Black full force in the side of his face. It had been like striking a slab of granite with a piece of chalk, and the shockwave jolted up her arm with satisfaction, especially as she noted that he was rubbing the left side of his jaw.

'Damn it Emmeline,' he groused with a slight chuckle in his voice, 'what in the name of the Lord did I do to deserve that?'

The woman stared at him incredulously. How could he not know what he'd done to deserve the blow that she had dealt? Did his arrogance know no bounds? Could he not see that she hadn't been playing a game with him as he was clearly doing with her? If he didn't understand the she wasn't going to stand there and explain it to him. She turned on her heel and began to stalk away back in the direction of which she'd come.

Emmeline hadn't gotten much further than a few feet away before she felt Caleb grab her elbow and spin her around. The momentum of her turn brought her almost nose to nose with him, their bodies only an inch or so apart, forgetting that she had the flowers in her free hand, she raised her arm again and walloped him with the bouquet, sending a shower of petals and leaves over them both, and collecting on the rim of Caleb's black hat. When he didn't relinquish his grasp on her arm and instead used his free hand to capture the arm she was battering him with, causing her to drop the ruined posy to the ground.

'Let me go,' the blonde girl grimaced, struggling to find a way to free herself from her bonds. 'Mr. Black, you are a rogue and a scallywag and I demand that you let me go or I will scream so loud that half of Angel Creek will awaken.'

'And if ya did, I think you'd have a hard time explainin' why you're outta bed at this hour, with a man, me no less.' Caleb lessened his grip, but did not let go of her arm.

She had to admit that he had her there, if she did cry for help, it would bring her illicit encounters with him to the surface and she would be scandalised and branded a Jezebel and her reputation as a lady would be in tatters, not to mention what the scandal would do to her father. No, she couldn't bring further shame to her family, he had done that already and he had worked so hard to change that over the past few weeks.

'Regardless, I do wish you would let go of me,' Emmeline sighed, 'I will return home and forget about this whole sorry affair and you can do the same.'

'Why would I wanna do that? You still haven't explained yaself to me and until you do, I ain't lettin' you go no where.' Caleb's voice softened a little and despite her constant struggling, he managed to nuzzle his head into the crook of her shoulder and began to nibble her ear.

'You have been playing a wicked game with me Caleb Black,' she all but moaned, her body on the verge of betraying her as it relaxed slightly and began to mould against his, 'Did you really think that I would not come to realise that you are the man who beat my father weeks ago? I was part of your game was I not? To take the last decent thing of his seeing as you already took his dignity.'

Caleb chuckled against her ear before pulling his head back to look her in the eyes. 'Do you know how I earn my livin'?' He paused as Emmeline shook her head. 'I might own the Saloon but I get my real money from brokering. Your father owed me money for some land he purchased from me out near the creek. That's what that meeting was about. I told him that I wanted what was owed otherwise I was gonna take the ranch as collateral, but I assure you I ain't never laid a hand on him.'

'Then who,' she questioned, a million and one things running through her head including a small voice that told her he was telling her the truth.

The man shook his head. 'I ain't sure darlin', your father owe's a lotta men who come in my place, it could be any one of 'em. I might be as mean as a snake sometimes, but ya stole my heart that night in the garden and I ain't never gonna do anythin' to hurt ya.'

Emmeline nodded, her anger turning from a rapid boil to a steady simmer. 'Why didn't you tell me the truth about who you were this afternoon when we were alone? I have never felt as humiliated as I did today.'

Caleb released his grip on Emmeline, snaking a free arm around her waist and using the other, he stroked her face lovingly, with a feather-light touch taking in her features. 'I am sorry about that; I had intended to tell you. But, oh Lord, your sweet mouth on mine makes me forget my senses. Forgive me?'

Before she could answer, he pressed his lips to her own, chastely at first, then more hungrily as his desire built within him. She reciprocated almost immediately, her arms reaching up behind his neck and knocking his hat off his head so that she could rake her hands through his chestnut-coloured hair. She didn't have to say another word, he knew as well as she did that he was forgiven.

Emmeline had not lost her innocence to Caleb Black that night nor the next, but she had given him her heart and a promise that she would be his forever, come what may.

/

The young woman turned on her side intending to snuggle deeper down but she felt a weight on the vacant side of the bed and a pair of strong hands snaked themselves underneath the covers, one stoking her blond tousled hair and the other leaving a red hot burn on her creamy skin as it trailed along her thigh to her waist, pulling her ever so slightly backwards, the bunched up blankets providing a barrier against herself and her tormentor.

'Hummmpppfffff,' Emmeline mumbled, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips, 'You wouldn't kick a lady out bed would you?'

The hand on her waist was abruptly removed and pulled away, shortly followed by the bed clothes, the cool air chilled her bare naked skin slightly but not for long as it was with lightening precision that she was wrestled from her position to a new one where she was crushed beneath the weight of her lover, her legs locked into position by his and her arms pinned above her head, staring up into a pair of intensely sapphire-blue eyes. Emmeline smiled wickedly as she saw the lust in those eyes and had she had a spare hand free she would have shown her lover just how much she was lusting after him right then and there.

'Damn right I would,' he growled lowering his face to hers and briefly pressing his lips to her own, 'Because ya ain't no lady.'

'Why Sir, where do you hear such things?' the young woman scoffed, pretending to look hurt at his words.

The man lowered his head once again so that his mouth was against the young woman's ear and chuckled softly. 'When ya do the thing's you do to me Emme, I know you ain't no lady but you are mine. Don't let anyone tell ya any different.' Emmeline nodded solemnly.

'Mine,' he said as he gently nibbled her ear lobe, 'Mine,' he said again as he kissed his way along her jaw, before crushing his mouth against her lips.

It lasted only seconds but let the young woman breathless. 'Yours,' Emmeline whispered, 'always yours Caleb Black, no matter what.'

Caleb grinned a lazy grin of satisfaction, knowing he had won the answer that he wanted to hear. With his free hand, he pushed a stray blonde lock of hair away from her face, so that he could see her better, allowing his fingers to gently touch her skin. It sent a shudder straight to the very heart of her and made her wanton with desire, a familiar heat rising in the depths of her stomach, begging to be sated and it didn't help that she could feel his hard lean length through the thick material of his black pants as it pressed against her most intimate of places.

Emmeline wriggled underneath him, hoping that he would take her silent suggestion, but he refused to play her game, instead, he sighed softly and rested his forehead against her own. 'You must go Emme, the sun will be up soon and we've lingered long enough.'

'I know,' she sighed, 'I expect your sister will be growing impatient.'

At the mention of his sister, Caleb nodded as he knew she would be indeed growing impatient waiting to escort his lover back to the ranch, as she did each and every morning, but as sisters do, she didn't complain much about the situation, in fact his sister fancied it romantic and would often tell them that they should hurry up and get married already.

'I'm sure Caroline'll wait a lil' longer,' he whispered wickedly as he slid a hand long the curvature of her breast, down to the plains of her stomach and lower still until he found her heat and he began to pleasure her.

Caleb's fingers brushed across her sensitive nub and dipped lower finding the place in her folds where he could enter her with his fingers, first one, then two, moving them in and out with an easy and even rhythm. Emmeline whimpered in pleasure as the fire in her belly began to build and she came close to orgasm quickly, but it wasn't enough for her, she wanted him inside of her, wanted to feel him explode at the same time that she did. She begged him with her eyes until the man nodded once and retracted his hand from between her legs. Quickly, he unbuttoned his black pants, pushing them down as far as he could get them as he freed his hard long length. The blonde woman let out a gasp; it still amazed her to see his manhood, so ready and willing to give her and him both pleasure and she couldn't deny that she anticipated that feeling of fullness within, welcomed it even.

She spread her legs wider; ready and eager for him to enter her but instead he prolonged her desire by kissing her mouth, neck and then each of her breasts, teasing her more by taking her nipples in his mouth, sucking them hard and grazing his teeth over them. His hand found her heat once again and she thought that she might lose all control then and there as his fingers entered her, a little more rougher than they had earlier. She didn't mind, she liked the feeling for she knew that soon, he would replace them with his shaft and continue the pace. Emmeline wasn't disappointed, he entered her quickly, filling her up and stretching her sideways with his girth. He waited for her to get used to the feeling for a few moments before he began to move in and out of her heat slowly at first with a gentle thrusting motion and then he was building up a familiar rhytym, one stroke, two strokes, harder and faster. She was climbing higher and higher, getting ever closer to the edge of the precipice, she knew Caleb was close too. She could feel him harden inside of her and then suddenly they were falling, down, down, down, calling each others names aloud as they climaxed together.

Breathless and spent, Caleb kissed her before falling on the bed beside her and pulling her close. This was where she wanted to be forever; this was her home, right here in his loving embrace. However, she knew that she had to leave him now to return to the ranch and with that in mind, she left Caleb sated on the bed, dressed quickly and hurried to the door.

'I love you Caleb Black,' she whispered as she opened the door and hurried on to the landing above the empty Saloon.

'I love you too, Emme,' he called back, 'I always have and I always will.'