Claimed by the Mountain Man (11 page)

Jack gave her right cheek in a stinging swat and then grabbed it. “You’re going to get my trousers wet, naughty girl.”

“I’m sorry,” she purred, her head dropping onto his shoulder. “I need to be punished.”

He growled and spanked her other cheek. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Nettie placed both of her hands on his shoulders and tilted her head back. She closed her eyes as swat after swat drove her clit against his leg. Even when he stopped spanking she still pressed into him, seeking the release she craved more with every movement.

He ripped off her shirt, and her breast, which hovered in front of his face, found its way inside his mouth. He sucked and swirled his tongue around her nipple until she thought she would go mad from the sweet torture.

With his hands still wrapped around her hips, he released her breast from his mouth. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her. He smiled and said, “My god, you’re beautiful, Nettie,” before he wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her to him for a kiss. The kiss was long and needy, as though he was trying to locate with his tongue the words in her mouth that she was keeping from him. They continued to kiss as he held her in his arms and carried her to the bed, where his body and arms melded with hers. She closed her eyes as his cock glided into her passage, stretching her and toying with her emotions. His cock claiming her gave her the feeling of being eternally linked to him.

She knew it was an illusion. He would leave her body and could easily claim another’s, but she was able to forget that when he made love to her, when he held her gently after, and when his lips dropped for the familiar kiss on her forehead when they both were spent.

Chapter Ten: Trouble in Town

Jack left to take a bath in the river the next morning, whistling as he walked away. Nettie couldn’t help but feel resentful at his lighthearted manner. He was perfectly willing to give her up when they arrived to town and would do nothing to try to keep her. All he had to say was that he wanted her to marry him, and she would forever be his. Instead, he made no suggestion at making an honest woman out of her. Nettie’s depression deepened until she was startled out of it by Jack’s return. She took in a sharp breath when she looked at him.

“Jack,” she exclaimed. “Your face! You shaved.” He looked incredibly handsome and something else—civilized. Her stomach clenched, and her attraction toward him grew, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted at that time.

Jack ran a hand along his smooth jaw to his chin and winked at her. “I always give my face a scrape before going to town. It’s good to do once a year, and the ladies prefer it.”

Nettie kept the same look on her face but felt like she’d been slapped. Was he really thinking about impressing other women? He’d just managed to add insult to injury. He never thought to impress her, and why would he? She’d so easily given him her body. Jealousy bloomed. She set her jaw angrily and focused on packing while Jack fetched the mule.

After Nettie handed Jack the last sack of pelts to tie to the mule, she walked back inside the cabin to look around. She would miss the shack and the memories that had formed inside it over the long winter, many of which made her blush just thinking about. She would miss the warmth they’d found in each other’s arms by the fire.

“What are you waiting for, Nettie?” she heard Jack’s voice call out. “Let’s get a wiggle on. I don’t want to waste daylight.” He sounded exasperated.

She sighed. She would miss the big bully most of all. She hurried out the door before she thought too hard on it and before she made the big bully mad.

Jack, Nettie, Cager, and the mule set out for Helena, which was nearly ten miles away and would take them a full two days to get to due to a poor travel path. Jack was attentive during the journey. Nettie never asked to rest, but Jack seemed to notice whenever she felt tired and would order her to sit down for a spell. The way he ordered her around still annoyed her sometimes, but it also brought forth another emotion, one that was entirely unwelcome at this point—the feeling of being loved. Nettie was convinced this wasn’t the case. He cared about her well-being, but whatever he felt toward her wasn’t strong enough to compel him to marry her.

During the last few hours of travel, Jack fell silent, more so than usual. When Nettie questioned him about it, he told her he didn’t look forward to doing the business required of him. It involved interacting with many people, all of whom believed him to be as mean as he looked. “I know I’m disliked. People act friendly, but then they spread lies behind my back.”

“I’m sorry, Trapper Jack,” Nettie said softly. “I wouldn’t have thought you would be affected by gossip.”

He shrugged. “I’m not, usually. Only when I am reminded of it. Every time I come to town, I can’t wait to get back to the woods, and I reckon most people can’t wait for me to leave.”

Nettie sidled up to where he walked to the left of the mule and linked her arm in his, wishing to offer him some comfort. “I know the truth about you. You’re a good man. A little ornery and overbearing, but good nonetheless.”

He smiled sadly. “No, Nettie. I’m not good like you think. There’s much you don’t know about me.”

“Like what?” she asked, furrowing her brow.

Jack took her hand in his as they continued walking. “I was married some years back, and I wasn’t good to my wife. I treated her poorly.”

Nettie felt shocked. “You had a wife? You never said.”

“Aye,” he said. “We were only married for a few short months before I went away to war. She was dead by the time I got back.”

Nettie squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry, Jack. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t see the need. It’s difficult for me to talk about anyway.”

Nettie looked over at him. Pain altered every feature on his face. She wanted to ask what he could have possibly done that was so bad in the few months that he was with his wife, but she thought it best to not inquire further.

He looked over at her, and his face softened. “You’ve helped me, Nettie. I don’t think about her as much ever since meeting you.”

Although Nettie was sure he meant it as a compliment, the words stung. She took them to mean that she’d been a nice distraction. She was used to being a distraction to most men at the saloon, but that wasn’t what she wanted with Jack. She wanted to be his main focus. She wanted to be his wife and fill his whole world. She sighed. “I’m glad I could help you in some way, Trapper Jack.” She spoke the truth. She loved him and wanted him to be happy. What hurt was knowing he didn’t feel the same love toward her.

* * *

Jack felt relieved when he spotted the first farm on the outskirts of the town. The smell of horses and hay reached him, which was the next sign they were nearing civilization. A few more miles and they would be to town. He gave Nettie a sidelong glance. She’d been acting strange for some time, and he didn’t like that she wouldn’t tell him what was on her mind. The woman confounded him. He wanted to praise her and let her know that he admired her, but he didn’t want her to get the impression that he thought she would be fine on her own. Because of this, he constantly warred with himself over whether to build her up or put her in her place.

Sometimes he would catch her looking at him with a wistful expression. He wished he could know what it was she really wanted. Half the time she seemed content, and the other half of the time she acted affronted that he insisted on her obedience. By then she knew it was impractical for her to live in the cave, especially during bad weather, but that didn’t seem to change the fact that she felt uncomfortable relying on him.

The town’s buildings came into sight. Jack looked forward to a long night of rest. “I should be able to finish everything I need to do in three days,” he told Nettie. “We’ll stay at the inn and rest the mule at the livery at the edge of town.”

“All right, Trapper Jack,” she said.

He smiled to himself. After all the months they’d been together, she still rarely called him Jack. It was always ‘sir’ or ‘Trapper Jack.’ It was one of the many things he found adorable about his naughty Nettie.

After they left the mule at the livery and ensured she had a good supply of fresh hay and grain, the two of them made their way to the inn together. Nettie kept her head bent and wrapped her hair tight under one of his shirts that she had fashioned into a bonnet of sorts, seeming to want to avoid being noticed. He didn’t blame her. The townspeople’s curious glances in their direction were less than friendly. People thought badly of him, and likely they recognized Nettie as the whore who had previously worked at the saloon.
We make for great gossip fodder
, Jack grumbled to himself. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as though to shield her from people’s unkind thoughts.

The innkeeper greeted him as they walked in the door. “Hello, Mr. Abrams,” he said. “That time again, eh?” He eyed the wolf that stood by his side but didn’t say anything.

“Yes, we’ll be here for three nights,” Jack said gruffly. He removed some money from a pouch in his vest and placed it on the counter. He noticed the innkeeper appraising Nettie with a lecherous eye, along with a healthy dose of contempt. Anger surged through Jack. If the innkeeper thought he had a right to stare at her that way, we was sorely mistaken.

“Go wait outside, Nettie,” Jack said, with a head toss to the door.

Nettie looked at him questioningly, to which he said, “Git!” sharply.

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed, then turned and walked out.

He waited until the door closed behind her before he addressed the innkeeper. “You’ll show only respect toward that woman,” he growled. “She’s with me now.”

Surprise crossed the innkeeper’s face. “I can’t say as I get your meaning.”

“Oh, I think you do,” Jack said, his voice lowering. “If you disrespect her, you disrespect me, and I don’t take too kindly to it.”

The man’s hand shook as he handed Jack the key to his room. “No disrespect intended,” he said nervously.

Jack gave him a curt nod and took the key. He felt a tad regretful over having yet another unpleasant exchange in town. That certainly wouldn’t help his reputation. It didn’t matter all that much to him, though. Soon he and Nettie would be back at the cabin, and they wouldn’t have to deal with any of the town’s nonsense.

He walked to the door, opened it, and was about to call for Nettie, but then he realized she wasn’t there. He looked left and right along the sidewalk. No sign of her. Alarmed, he walked a distance away from the inn to get a better look around. Shielding the sun from his eyes using his hand, he scanned his surroundings. Several women meandered along with children grasping their skirts as they made their way to their destinations, but nowhere did he see the little woman in trousers.

Jack climbed the stairs to their rented quarters two at a time, with the wolf quick at his heels. After locking Cager in the room, he returned to the front door of the inn and exited. His heart pounded as he walked along the sidewalk. What could have happened to her? Could someone have taken her? Surely she wouldn’t just walk off.

He made his way to the livery for no other reason other than he didn’t know where else to look. He asked the owner, who was pitching hay into the stalls, if he had seen the woman he’d arrived with.

“Slick Kitty? Nope, I haven’t seen her since you left the mule in my care.”

“Her name is Nettie,” Jack exclaimed, growing more on edge and furious with every passing minute he was in town. “Don’t refer to her as that again.”

The man held up a hand in surrender. “My apologies. No offense intended. That’s what we all know her as.”

Jack turned and walked out. He didn’t want to hear about other men and how they knew her. An hour went by before he saw Nettie again, by which time he was a ball of nerves. He finally spotted her on a bench outside the inn where he’d expected her to be an hour ago, wearing a pretty green dress with a shawl and holding a parasol over her head to shade the sun. Relief flooded through him, but it was quickly replaced by anger.

He strode to her, pulled her to her feet by her arm, and wrenched the parasol from her hands. “Just where the hell have you been?”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I could ask the same,” she countered. “I’ve been waiting here for ages!”

“When I came out, you were gone!” he bellowed.

She scowled. “I just went to get a dress, Trapper Jack. No need to make a fuss.”

He slowly released her arm, folded the parasol down, and smacked it across her backside—not very hard, just to get his point across at how displeased he was. She gasped and looked around at who might have witnessed the smack, then stared at him with wide eyes.

“Let’s go to our room,” he said evenly, his calm tone belying the anger he felt. He held the front door of the inn open for her and indicated with a wave of his hand that she was to walk inside. She rushed past him, likely afraid of another swat. He pointed to the stairs and she walked in front of him quickly while he followed behind.

He unlocked the room where they’d be staying and again motioned for her to pass. This time he landed a tremendous swat as she nervously stepped past him. She squealed and ran inside, then swung around to face him, clutching her bottom behind her. Jack closed the door firmly and locked it. He walked to the bed and sat down.

The room was comfortable. The bed was soft beneath him, and a maid had left a vase of daffodils on the small table against the wall. A pitcher of clean water sat on the table. Curtains—something he only saw for three days a year—parted over the window, allowing ample light into the cozy space. Cager curled up on a rug beside the table. His ears perked up upon their entrance, but he didn’t lift his head. He looked as tired as Jack felt.

Jack turned his attention to Nettie, who had a very worried look on her face. And well she should. “I thought something happened to you when I walked outside and didn’t see you. Where did you get that dress? I didn’t give you any money.”