Their Wayward Bride (10 page)

"Laurel, would you like to introduce yourself?" Brody
asked.

I glanced at him and then at everyone else. Although they weren't
outwardly hostile, they certainly weren't happy. Swallowing, I knew I
had no choice but to tell the truth. All of it. "I'm...I'm
Laurel Turner."

"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Mason asked, his
mouth a thin line.

"I was afraid, afraid if you knew who my father was you'd send
me back."

"Send you back, to that bloody bastard?"

"I...I didn't know you. He has power and reach in this community
and didn't know if you were friends."

"You brought danger to my door, to my family." Andrew
frowned.

"Our wife as well," Ian added, his voice deep.

"For that alone, you will be punished," Mason said.

MASON

"Punished?" Laurel asked.

I nodded and led her to the same chair I sat in the night before.
"You lied, Laurel, which put us all in danger. If you'd told us
the truth from the start, we would have protected you."

I pulled her between my wide knees and held onto her thighs.

"I thought you would return me!"

"Have we given you any indication we are in any way similar to
Nolan Turner?" Brody asked.

She shook her head.

"Over my knee, sweetheart." I patted my thigh.

"Why?"

"You're going to get a spanking."

"No!" she cried, trying to step back.

"You endangered everyone at Bridgewater and you must face the
consequences."

If I let her, she'd stand in front of me and argue all day long.
Instead, I easily maneuvered her into position. Brody knelt down and
worked the length of her dress up over her hips. With her drawers
dropped on our front porch, she was bare beneath.

"Everyone's watching!" she cried, shifting and squirming on
my lap.

"They are."

Spank.

"They need to know you've learned how one person's actions can
affect everyone else here on the ranch. They need to be reassured you
will not do something like this again," Brody replied.

Spank.

"You put women and a baby in harm's way, Laurel."

Spank.

"I'm sorry!" she cried.

I looked up at the others, each giving us a reassuring nod before
leaving the room. Robert, Ann and Andrew went into their kitchen with
the baby. The others left out the front door.

They were content that the consequences were meted out appropriately,
but neither Brody nor I were done. I continued to spank her in
earnest for she needed to learn her place.

"We will protect you, Laurel. You will tell us if there's ever
any sign of danger, whether it be a severe storm or a bastard
father."

"My turn," Brody said.

I put a hand on her lower back as Brody spanked her next. "No
lying, sweetheart."

By now, Laurel was crying, her body slumped over my thighs.

"We wouldn't give you back to Turner. Don't you see? We're never
giving you back. You're ours."

Brody's hand soothed over her red arse.

"I thought you were using me," she sniffed.

Carefully, I righted her so she sat on my lap. She hissed out a
breath as her punished flesh made contact. "Using you?" I
wiped the tear stains from her cheeks.

"You...we've done things...and now I'm used goods. My virtue is
in tatters. No one will want me."

Brody turned her chin so she looked at him. "Used goods? You
belong to us, Laurel. No one else. You
gave
us your virtue, no
one else's, just like you will give us your virginity. Not just your
pussy, but your arse as well."

"But...you said you'd save...filling my pussy for when I
married. That you'd pl...play with me and then give me back."
She looked so lost and confused.

"I should spank you further for thinking us less than honorable.
We didn't fill your pussy because you weren't married to us. Yet. Now
that we know the truth, there's only one way to truly save you from
your father and Palmer."

Brody nodded his agreement.

"How?" she asked, her voice hopeful.

"We're getting married."

"Married?" she gasped. "You're going to marry me just
to save me from Mr. Palmer?"

"Hell, no," Brody added. "We're marrying because we
knew you belonged to us the first moment we saw you, unconscious on
our kitchen table
.
But first, you're going to tell us
everything." When she remained silent, he added, "Now."

She took a deep breath. "My father is Nolan Turner. Obviously,
you've heard of him."

"We've had run-ins with him in the past. He wants to dam up the
creek that runs through his property, which means all the ranches and
farms downstream will not have water." Brody stood, went over to
the window, looked out, then returned. "We're not affected here
as we're on the river and our water rights trump his, but I know many
other landowners who are fighting him."

Laurel nodded. "I have learned he is not well liked in the
community, which means I am not either. Being his daughter eliminated
a number of prospective suitors which only helped Mr. Palmer's—and
my father's—case toward marriage."

"We've heard he had a daughter, but she was sent away to school
in—"

"—Denver," Laurel said, confirming the rumors. "Since
my mother died birthing me, Father placed the blame on me. A nanny
raised me until I was old enough to be sent away to school. Thus my
poor lack of knowledge of the area and a terrible sense of direction.
I have only just returned a month ago."

Brody looked her over carefully. "You are well past the
schoolroom."

"Quite." She sniffed. "My father paid handsomely for
my continued stay. Out of sight, out of mind."

"Until he needed you," I commented.

Laurel looked wounded at my words. They weren't meant to be hurtful,
but they
were
the truth and she already knew them to be true.

"I'd thought—assumed—my father had sent for me to return
because he'd had a change of heart. That he wanted me. He'd wanted me
all right, for all the wrong reasons." She looked down at her
hands folded in her lap. "I have not seen my father since I was
seven. I do not feel closeness with the man. I'd had hope, brief
hope, that he wanted me." She shook her head and I could see the
sadness and shame on her face. Sadness for the false hope he'd given
her, shame at believing she was wanted. "I was silly to even
consider."

I pulled her into my arms, tucked her head beneath my chin. "We
want you, sweetheart."

"Hell, yes," Brody affirmed.

LAUREL

"But....but why?" I asked. I felt lightheaded from
everything that had happened in the past ten minutes. Everyone had
been so upset with me, and now that I think on it, rightly so. I
should have let them know who my father was, but I was protecting
myself. I wasn't used to considering others, nor did I think there
actually
were
others on the ranch when I'd originally lied,
especially a baby. "Marrying me will only make an enemy out of
my father. He'll know you were fooling him today and will make him
angry. Besides, you've met Mr. Palmer. He's not one to trifle with
either. Marrying me might keep him from doing the same, but he'll
exact revenge somehow."

Brody placed his hands on his hips. "Your father already is an
enemy, sweetheart, and that started long before your return."

"Oh?"

"He approached me to try to squeeze out the smaller ranches
between ours."

My eyes widened as I thought about the distance. "That's miles
and miles of land!"

Mason nodded and I looked to him. "Those families in between are
friends of ours. We stand behind them, help protect them from Turner
now."

"They're both very powerful," I warned.

"Mr. Palmer is no match for us. You don't think we can defend
what's ours?" Mason asked.

I considered his words, took in both of their very large bodies, the
way they were dominant and commanding. With them, I felt safe and
protected. Did I think they could shelter me from my father's wrath?
Yes.

"Why would you want to protect me? I've lied to you and you can
have any woman you want."

"Do you want me to turn you over my knee again?" Mason
asked, his voice deep. His dark eyes narrowed.

I bit my lip. "For what reason?"

"You think we would have touched you as we didn't consider you
ours, if we hadn't intended to marry you?"

I paused. "Well, yes."

Brody exhaled and shook his head slowly. "You either have never
come across honorable men before or have been cloistered away from
all of them."

"Perhaps both, Brody," Mason said, keeping his eyes on me.

"We're going to town," Brody replied. Mason lifted me off
his lap and led me to the door and helped me into my coat.

"Why?" I seemed to continue to ask the same question over
and over.

"To prove that we truly are honorable."

Two hours later, standing before the minister at the altar of the
town's small church, I married Mason. Brody and the minister's wife
stood as witnesses. How they decided which man I would legally wed
was not shared with me. The kiss had been brief and chaste, but
Mason's eyes held unspoken promises I knew he—as well as
Brody—would fulfill later.

I wore no wedding dress, but my ripped dress, my coat remaining on
and buttoned to prevent any questions. We didn't linger in town, for
the men seemed eager to return to the ranch before nightfall, which
came early this time of year. Making our way out of town, I rode with
Mason, but once we were a fair distance away, Brody came beside us
and pulled me onto his lap. "You may have married Mason, but you
are mine as well," he said, his breath warm on my ear. "I'll
prove it to you once we are home."

The journey went quickly, for I spent the time wondering exactly
how
he planned to prove it.

***

Mason helped me off with my coat and he hooked it on the peg by the
door.

"Perhaps I might have some other clothes?" I looked down at
my ripped dress. "This dress is beyond repair and I don't have
any drawers."

"Mmm," Brody said, hanging up his own coat.

"Dress, yes. Drawers, no," Mason said. "I'm sure Emma
or Ann will be happy to select some new dresses for you at the
mercantile. For the next week or so, however, you won't need any
clothes at all."

The look in his eye as he came toward me had me believing him. He
bent at the waist and before I wondered his intent, I was over his
shoulder and being carried upstairs. "Mason!"

His hands firmly held my thighs in place and I lifted my head to look
at Brody as he followed behind. The corner of his mouth was tipped up
and knew he would offer me no assistance.

"It is time to make you ours, wife," Brody said.

Wife.
That one word was daunting and devastating and nerve
wracking all at the same time. I was married to two men! It had been
one thing to consider them a blizzard dalliance, but this was
something else entirely. The way Brody was looking at me I knew this
was so much more.

Mason didn't place me back on my feet, but instead dropped me onto my
back upon the bed in his room. I bounced once, but didn't have time
to even come up on my elbows before he was upon me, kissing me. This
wasn't the chaste peck from the ceremony, but a real kiss. Mason's
lips were soft yet intent, his tongue delving into my mouth to tangle
and play with mine. With his hand at my nape, he angled me as he
wished, plundering. His beard was soft against my skin, scratchy yet
silky at the same time. I felt the bed dip on my side.

"My turn," Brody murmured.

Mason lifted his head and I met his dark eyes.
Oh.
He'd looked
at me before, but this was different. Deeper, darker, powerful. It
was as if he'd held a part of himself back and now that we were wed,
he'd unleashed it. He sat back and let Brody turn my head toward him.
He kissed me as well, but he kissed entirely different. His mouth was
more insistent, rougher and definitely more demanding. He even tasted
different.

My fingers tangled in the silky strands of his hair and every time I
breathed, my breasts bumped into his chest. All the worry and fear
ebbed from me, my body relaxing and softening beneath him. My blood
heated, my nipples tightened and my thighs became damp. My body
recognized both of these men and readied itself for them.

"Brody....I...more," I whispered against his mouth. Kissing
wasn't enough anymore. They'd been preparing me for days for this,
whether by touch or by word, they'd promised me...more.

I wasn't sure when, but Mason had stood by the bed. He took my hand
and tugged me up to stand beside him. He easily stripped the dress
from me as Brody removed my boots with the new laces.

"Should we allow her to wear a corset or let her be bare beneath
her dresses?" Mason asked as he undid the stays on the stiff
fabric.

"The idea of her being completely bare beneath a prim and proper
dress is very appealing," Brody replied. "I haven't had
much opportunity to play with her nipples, but I will rectify that
now."

Mason dropped the corset to the floor as Brody turned me to face him.
As he sat on the side of the bed, my breasts were directly at eye
level. He cupped a breast in each of his hands, the rough callouses
brushing against my sensitive flesh. "They're perfect,
sweetheart."

His thumbs ran over the tips and I cried out as the feel of it spread
all over my body. My pussy was wet, the juices of arousal coating my
thighs as my inner walls involuntarily clenched in anticipation. He
didn't stop there, for he began to pull and tug and pinch.

I couldn't balance and had to place my hands on his shoulders for
support. "Brody!"

"Do you need my mouth on you?" He didn't wait for me to
answer, just lowered his head and took one nipple into his mouth,
laving at it, letting the flat of his tongue lick over the tightened
peak before sucking on it.