THE
OBEDIENT SERVANT
Going for the Gold 6
KAREN MERCURY
Copyright © 2012
Chapter
One
To speak of California was
like mentioning the end of the world.
—The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience, J.S. Holliday
Near
Sutter’s Fort
June
1846
When Milo
returned down the hill from pissing behind a rock, Stuttering Zeke was talking
to a stunningly handsome soldier.
Every nerve
in Milo’s skin became alert—tense, tingly, on fire. He went to stand next to
the luscious soldier. He put his hands on his hips and cocked his head, just
vaguely listening to their palaver. But really, he was studying the craggy face
and bowed lips of this reprobate corporal.
Milo knew
Corporal Vargas was a reprobate mainly because he was from Spain. They were all
deviant buggers in Spain. But this deviant bugger’s demeanor was entirely
sensual. His lush lips curled up arrogantly at the corners, and his thick
tousled head of hair was hidden under the ratty cloth turban he’d fashioned.
Some tendrils that escaped at his neck gave him an erotic, almost girlish look.
The lashes
fringing his malachite-green eyes were also girlishly long. Those were the only
feminine features of this devilishly delicious soldier. He was obviously
powerfully muscular under his fringed leggings and the navy shirt with stars on
the collar. The naval supplies issued to Frémont’s California Battalion,
however, hadn’t lasted long. Most battalion men wore a mishmash of clothing,
handmade or stolen, and this fine specimen of manhood was no exception, with
his Digger moccasins. A brace of pistols in his gun belt, the requisite bowie
knife, a sword, and a rifle slung across his back, and Corporal Vargas was
bristling like a porcupine with armament.