2
Ultima lay on her stomach, her chin propped on one arm while in the warm, dark room she lightly ran her fingers through Adam's chest hair. Her pale skin glowed like the moon. Then, as Adam sighed in contentment at her attentions, she lightly ran one finger around a nipple and then pinched it; he made a slight move but kept his eyes closed. Her husband's chest hair was so dense that Ultima once referred to him as a wolf that she longed to have devour her. Adam had warned her that he could be ravenous and that she may regret his voracious attentions once having invited them.
"So, Mrs. Cartwright," Adam said as he lay sated from their lovemaking, "As I understand it, if my mind is still clear after having enjoyed you, Forsyth sent his henchmen to broach the subject of our selling him some of our shares in the mine. You are supposed to convince me. Is that the reason for such an exuberant bounce tonight?"
"Now, husband, you know me better than that. I don't need to be bribed." Ultima moved over him and Adam opened his dark eyes to look into hers. She pushed her hair behind one ear, letting the other side fall like a curtain around them and kissed him softly. "But for some reason, people believe that I can make you do my bidding."
"Now what would make them think that? Just because you have the sweetest snatch I've ever met?" He grinned up at her and she laughed softly. He sat up and kissed her again. "That gold nugget is quite the bribe, though."
Adam gently pushed his wife onto her back and stood up. Ultima stretched and then yawning, she pulled the sheets up to her neck rolling over onto her side to watch Adam put on his robe. He whispered goodnight and then left her alone, closing the door behind him and walked barefooted to his room. He was tired and wanted to sleep but as much as he tried to make himself comfortable in his own bed, the talk with his wife kept him awake. Adam didn't trust Matthew Forsyth or the fact that he had sent the nugget to Ultima; it worried him. For one, what made Forsyth think that Ultima could be convinced in any way to do his bidding?
The other mining investors treated Mrs. Ultima Lafferty Cartwright with utmost respect; they had no choice. Although she may have been a silent partner in the Croesus mine with her first husband, Adam Cartwright made it obvious that she was a viable majority holder with more voting shares than the other minor shareholders. Ultima was present at all the business meetings and the dinners, sitting silently beside her husband, cool and unapproachable, her gloved hand often resting on his arm. Adam wanted Ultima there as he trusted her judgment and her observations—he recognized her shrewd mind and understood why Thomas Lafferty had confided all business matters in her.
But Adam also enjoyed seeing the other men at the business meetings or the elegant, expensive dinners given in Virginia City and San Francisco and Sacramento sweat a bit as they gazed upon Ultima's white bosom and her elegant arms as the jeweled bracelets glistened against her long, white gloves. They spoke among themselves about Cartwright's intention to distract them from business with his seductive wife with the blue-gray eyes and the kittenish face and the low-cut bodice. They could think of nothing else but wonder what kind of bed partner she would be.
And afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright would discuss what had passed as they lay in the dark, completely open to one another and Adam would listen to Ultima's summations and observations and then he would ask her opinion. And he always weighed what she said; she was a good partner for him, he had decided long ago.
But the events of today were a first; no one had first approached Ultima before, tried to get to him through her unless she had not been open with him in the past but he doubted that. Ultima was clever but up to that point, she had never been devious. So Adam was kept awake considering whether or not Ultima could be bribed to betray him. If anyone could convince her to do so, it would be Forsyth. True, Adam thought, they had laughed over the gold nugget and she had even playfully threatened to slide it up him so he could toss it out with the other excrement in the morning. But Adam knew that his wife was well aware that the shiny piece of ore was valuable, far too valuable for any man to give it away without expecting something in return. Therefore, Adam had ordered her to return the nugget in the morning and if she chose to blame him for its return in the accompanying note of regret, all the better. He also told her to deny Forsyth's men access to her if they visited again—even to Forsyth should he choose to visit. Ultima had pouted slightly and said that she had hoped to have it put on a chain to wear around her neck and she placed it between her bare breasts as she lay on her back.
"Wouldn't it look lovely?" she had asked him. The piece did glow in the light cast about the room by the flames dancing in the fireplace; the evenings were still cool and Ultima preferred heat despite her icy demeanor. Looking at the nugget, Adam well-understood how men had been driven mad with gold lust—the tantalizing color and the promise that lay within its possession-just as he was always driven a bit mad with his lust for Ultima and what was promised by possessing her.
"A piece of cow shit would look delectable between your luscious tits," he had said grinning, "but I don't recommend you wear one."
"Oh, you," she had said and petulantly threw the gold nugget at him. It hit his shoulder and bounced off and Adam roughly pulled her to him.
"Be careful, my dear," he had said deep in his throat, "I don't suffer open aggression. I will put down any insurrection quickly and completely." And to make his point, he stopped her response with his mouth on hers and she moaned in surrender.