Western Widows (5 page)

"Did you think to taunt me with your drawers, love?" he asked, his voice rasping by my ear as he grabbed me behind the knees and lifted me up. "It worked, but I'm not planning on waiting to fuck you. This is going to be quick and hard. Wrap your legs around me."

My dress was bunched up between us, but that was my last thought for he plunged into me in one quick shift of his hips. I was impaled on his cock with no give at my back. I had no way to shift or move my hips, nothing to do but let him use me. He fucked me hard, filling me over and over as his warm breath fanned my neck, his words rough and crude in my ear.
I love how your pussy squeezes me. My cock is always hard. Your pussy is so hot it's scalding my dick. Your nipples look perfect all tied and tight. I'm going to come so hard.

It didn't take long, for just as he'd said, it was quick and hard. He came with one last deep stroke, his seed hot filling me up inside. His breath came in pants and he held me up as he took a moment. Slowly, he lowered me to the ground and I just stared at him with passion-hazed eyes as he righted himself, tucking his still hard cock back in his pants. It was slick and shiny from our combined fluids. He grimaced as he did up the buttons.

"We should go. Seth will be waiting."

"But—" I ached, the need to come so great I had to hold onto his arm.

"What, love? You want to come?" He ran his knuckles down my cheek and I leaned into it. I nodded.

"See what happens when you taunt me?" He grinned widely. It was the look of a well satisfied male. "I taunt you. I didn't give you your pleasure intentionally."

"Why?" I asked, hurt that he'd been so cruel on purpose. I'd never once had an orgasm before Liam and now I was greedy for them.

"Because when I pull off those pretty little ribbons, you're going to come so hard."

He was right. I was on edge now, my breasts swelling with the need to be touched, the nipples desperate for his attention. My pussy dripped with Liam's seed which served as a reminder that I was his. Everything he did to me reminded me of that. It made me pleased to have the ribbons about my nipples. It made me proud to be filled with his seed, to know I'd made him so aroused that he'd taken me against the front door. It gave me power when I gave my control to him.

I smiled at him, finally understanding. "Yes, I will."

He smoothed down my dress so I didn't look rumpled and recently fucked, but between the smug look on his face and most likely the needy expression on mine, the dress wouldn't be what was so telling.

LIAM

I couldn't help but grin. There was nothing that could wipe it from my face. As we walked down the crowded boardwalk, I tipped my hat to those who greeted me, which was many. As the owner of the bank, I dealt with most people in town on a consistent basis. News of our marriage had spread quickly, the likely—and only—source being Reverend Pick. There was no reason for him to keep in a secret for there was nothing unseemly about the match. I was just the lucky one to have captured the beautiful Charlotte Anderson.

Seth opened the door to his house at our knock. He shook my hand and nodded his head at Charlotte, offering both of us felicitations. We followed him into the kitchen where his cook, Mrs. Paterson, turned from the stove and wiped her hands on her apron.

"There are the newlyweds!" she exclaimed. The older woman cooked and tended to Seth as he was a bachelor and couldn't fend for himself. Being such a big, burly man who could move rock and build supports for his mine's tunnels, he couldn't boil water without burning it. He was adept outside of the home. Within, he needed a woman's touch.

The grin hadn't faded, so it was easy to share in the woman's enthusiasm. I introduced Charlotte.

"Yes, we've met before at the mercantile," she said to the other woman as she took the proffered hand.

"I'm so glad Liam finally had the gumption to do the right thing." Mrs. Paterson eyed me as she gave Charlotte's hand a squeeze then let it go. "Who knows who could have snapped you up as pretty as you are."

"Thank you," Charlotte replied, her cheeks turning pink. The older woman's words were more of a compliment for Charlotte but I felt the not so subtle barb at my glacial pace at claiming my bride.

"I've offered my condolences before, but you have them again," Seth said. He out of anyone was earnest in his words. It wasn't his mine that had collapsed and killed Richard, but he knew the dangers of his profession. Richard was Seth's friend as well and felt the loss as keenly as I.

Charlotte only nodded.

"I thought we should meet here for lunch instead of at the boarding house. I doubt you'd get a bite in your mouth as everyone questioned the two of you and your lack of courtship."

"She was a widow, Seth. Courtship was not required," I countered.

"Didn't you see the way he followed her around? I consider him to be quite the romantic," Mrs. Paterson added as she began to ladle a thick stew into bowls. The scent of simmering meat and vegetables filled the air. Seth placed the bowls as she filled them at the set table.

"Thank you, Mrs. Paterson. I try my best."

The woman eyed me, then Charlotte. "Yes, it seems you have." She laughed to herself as she handed over the last bowl. I smirked and rolled my eyes at her none too subtle reference to our connubial bliss. Charlotte squirmed beside me and I wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or arousal. Just seeing the little ribbons peeking out from the edge of her bodice had me rethinking my idea. It was meant to keep her aroused, eager for my touch, but I was the one who was aroused and that state would show itself readily enough if I kept up the line of thought. I would be aroused by Charlotte just by her scent lingering in an empty room. I was the one in trouble here, although only briefly. I only had to survive a lunch with Seth and I could have her again.

If I was this eager for her and I'd just flooded her pussy with my seed, then I could only imagine how she was faring.

"Now I'll be off. Mr. Paterson is expecting his lunch as well."

Seth walked her to the door.

"That went as well as could be expected. I anticipate quite a bit more ribalding in the future," Seth said congenially as he returned. "Please, sit."

I held out Charlotte's chair for her and we sat after she did.

"We shouldn't be talking about our marriage, but yours." It was time to make Seth uncomfortable. I'd gotten the woman I wanted while keeping my commitment to Richard. It was time for Seth to keep his commitment to Aaron.

Seth paused, spoon halfway to his mouth. "Mine?"

"His? Seth's married?" Charlotte asked, clearly confused.

Seth put his spoon down. "You mean Rachel."

"Yes." I took a bite of the delicious stew.

He sighed. "She won't have me."

I shook my head at my friend and looked at him incredulously. "That slip of a woman?
She's
keeping you from what you want? I've seen you decimate a room full of men in a saloon brawl and one woman halts you in your tracks?"

The other man clenched his jaw, angry at my words, but his cheeks heated. Perhaps a little harsh words would prod him into action.

"Rachel Moore? The other woman whose husband was killed?"

"Yes," both Seth and I said at the same time.

"Did you make a pact with her husband as well?"

I placed my hand on top of hers. "We were all friends, love. One night, over a year ago, a mudslide wiped out the south end of town."

"I heard about it, but I wasn't here at the time, so only in passing," Charlotte said.

I nodded. "Several people were killed. While thankfully that was only a small number, it could have been worse. We, Seth, Richard, Aaron and I, were in the saloon that night."

"We worked through that bottle of whiskey," Seth added. "In our morose state, we pondered our own mortality and agreed we'd protect our families."

"We had none, which made our conversation even a bit more ridiculous. Halfway through the bottle we vowed that whenever we married, our wives would be the ones protected. So Aaron and I agreed and Liam and Richard agreed. If one of us died, the other would step in."

Charlotte turned to look at me. "Remember, love, we didn't say we would marry, only that we would protect. I ran my knuckles down her cheek. "I
chose
to marry you because I wanted...want...you."

Her eyes widened and she pushed her chair back, stood and ran from the room. In her haste, Seth and I barely made it out of our chairs. I glanced at my friend who tilted his chin in the direction she fled. Seth's house was bigger than any bachelor should have, especially in such a town the size of Collins, but I was thankful then to find Charlotte on the other side of the house, far enough away from the kitchen to offer us privacy.

"Charlotte, love, are you well?" I asked, breathing hard.

She faced away from me, looking out the window and onto the rolling hillside and the mountains in the distance. Turning, she looked at me, her eyes dry. She, too, was breathing hard, her cheeks flushed.

"No," she replied.

I closed the distance between us, worry hastening my steps. I took hold of her upper arms, raked my gaze over her. "What—"

"Now, please," she breathed.

I frowned. "Now?"

"Pull the ribbons."

Worry evaporated like morning dew in the sunshine. "You want to come, love?"

She nodded, licked her lips in anticipation.

"All right. You're not mad?"

"Mad?" she repeated. "No. I realized the depth of your want for me. I love that you have me aching for you because...because you're aching for me, too."

I let out a breath I hadn't known I held. The months of questioning whether Charlotte would accept my proposal, would understand the true reason for wanting to wed her had me wound tighter than a clock. I hadn't known if she'd think, somewhere deep down inside no matter how many times I told her or showed her, that I married her to save her. Like Richard had. I hadn't married her to save her, I'd married her to save
me.
I hadn't known what I'd been missing in my life until that day Richard introduced us. Until I saw the way they were in their marriage and had that first kernel of hope that someday she could be mine. Then a sad turn of events set her free, free for me to claim. Even then, I had to wait, had to ensure her heart was as free as she was.

Even after our night together and the different ways I'd shown her how much I wanted her, I still wondered. But with just a few words, she'd released that burden I'd carried.
I ached for her, too.

My smile, at first, was unsteady, but then spread wide and sure. "Do you know how hard I am for you? I've most likely disgraced myself in front of Seth."

Charlotte looked down my body. "I'm the one who hasn't come," she countered, pouting.

I raised my eyebrow and gazed into her pale eyes. "Are you wet for me?"

This time I asked, she knew the meaning of my words.

"How can I not be? I have your seed still deep within."

I growled at those words, my possessiveness coming to the fore.

"You're going to come. I know you will because you are so responsive, so incredibly aroused just by having your nipples played with," I told her with conviction. "Harder than you ever have before, then we're going to finish our lunch with Seth, somehow, then I'm going to take you back to bed. At my house. Our house, and I'm going to fill you up again."

I ran my hands up from her arms, over her shoulders, and then down the creamy expanse above her bodice. I took the end of each ribbon attached snugly to her nipples. "Ready?"

Her breasts rose and fell as she panted, her need obvious now. She hadn't been upset, she'd been aroused to the point of desperation and only I could help her. "Please," she begged.

Ever so gently, I pulled on the ribbon, feeling the ties loosen, then pull from her bodice to hang in my hands.

Her eyes slipped shut and her mouth opened as the blood rushed back to her sensitive tips. A shiver ran through her body and I knew she was about to come. I pulled her in to me and covered her mouth with mine to cover her cry of pleasure. I felt her skin turn hot, felt the tremor of pleasure. She softened like soft taffy candy in the sun in my hold. When I was sure she would remain quiet, I lifted my head, pulled her tightly into my embrace. I didn't want to let go, holding her as she recovered from her orgasm the most wonderful perk of being married.

"I feel your cock against my belly," she murmured into my chest.

"I know. I can't help it around you," I grumbled. "As I said, Seth is going to poke fun."

Charlotte pulled back enough to look up at me. "You said he's vowed to protect Rachel?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Then perhaps we need to see them wed as well."

I saw the gleam in her eye and knew she had a plan. I wanted to hear it, but first, I needed to get through lunch and then an afternoon of fucking. Then maybe my mind might be ready to play matchmaker. Maybe.