“No!”
“Gianna, Gianna.” Strong hands held her steady as she struggled. “Baby, it’s me, Anthony. You’re safe.”
“Anthony?”
Gianna opened her eyes. She was no longer in the alley. She was lying on a bed in a stark white room that smelled of iodine and bleach. Anthony sat right next to her, his face tight with concern.
“Are you feeling alright, Gianna?”
“Oh, Anthony!” Gianna burst into tears. “I was so afraid,” she gasped. “I thought that I’d never see you again.”
“I’m here.” Anthony held her hand tightly. “And I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
Gianna looked at him questioningly. “I thought you wanted a divorce.”
Anthony laughed wearily. “Oh, Gianna. After spending hours thinking that I might actually lose you, there is no force on Earth that can ever part me from you again.”
He leaned over and touched her lips with his: a sweet, chaste kiss that melted her heart.
“I never meant it, you know,” he admitted. “I would have come crawling after you on my knees before I would have allowed you to leave me.”
Gianna tensed, “But the baby—”
“The baby’s fine, Gianna,” Anthony said quickly. “Richmond checked things out. Our baby is safe.”
“Our baby …?”
“Gianna,” Anthony caressed her cheek. “When you were under, you kept going on and on about how you had betrayed me, and how much you feared that this baby wouldn’t be mine.
“Well, I promise you this. I’m going to put everything behind me. We’re starting afresh for real this time, and no matter what that baby looks like, I’m going to love him or her with every fiber of my being. I don’t care if he has brown hair or black hair, blue eyes or black eyes. He could have purple hair and orange eyes for all I care.”
Gianna felt her heart soar as tears of joy rolled down her face. Anthony stroked her hair tenderly, and kissed her on the forehead.
“There’s just one thing,” he told her cautiously. “We can’t stay here anymore. Drake is dead, and his friends are currently on the search for the culprit. Sheriff Forbes is helping us to send them on a false trail, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
“But where would we go?” Gianna’s eyes widened in concern.
“I was thinking that we could go to Markleeville for a while. We’d stay with Annie and her husband for a bit, just until you’ve had the baby. They have wonderful doctors in California.”
“California sounds amazing,” Gianna said without hesitation. “Let’s go there.”
Anthony laughed. “What, you didn’t even have to think about it? We’d be like paupers, you know. God knows where I’d be able to find a job at my age.”
“You’ll figure it out. Those white hairs on your head have got to count for something.”
Anthony’s eyes shone as he looked down upon her with love. “I’ve missed you.”
Gianna smiled up at him. “And now, you’re stuck with me forever.”
“And ever.” He kissed her. Gianna’s heartbeat began to quicken. She darted her tongue into his mouth and deepened the kiss. Anthony laughed and she pouted as he drew back. “What? Here? This is a clinic, little wildcat.”
“We’ve got a bed,” she protested. “That’s got to count for something.”
“No,” Anthony’s voice was firm. “You’ve got stitches in you.”
Sinking back on the bed in resignation, Gianna sighed. “Oh well. I guess I could hold out until the train ride. They have private cabins, right?”
Anthony’s face lit up with amusement. “So, you’re really okay with California.”
“Of course,” Gianna breathed. “I’d go anywhere with you. As long as I’m with you, I’m home.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow. “You know, that’s exactly what I think.”
“What can I say? I have excellent taste in men. Hey, wait!”
Gianna looked at Anthony with concerned eyes. How could she have forgotten something so important?
“What are you going to do with the hotel?”
“I’m signing the deeds over to Mrs. Beauchamp.”
“Oh,” Gianna looked at Anthony sadly. “I’m so sorry that you have to lose your hotel.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not?” She looked at him incredulously. Anthony laughed as he gave her a deep, smoldering kiss that set her entire soul on fire.
“Who needs the Chinese Lantern Hotel? I’ve got my Chinese Lantern Bride.”
Epilogue
“Annie, grab her bags, will you?”
“I got them, Daddy. You just get her to the car.”
“Gianna,” Anthony reached for his pregnant wife. “Come on, babe, it’s time to go.”
Gianna hissed as she wobbled to her feet. “Mio Dio, this hurts. This baby had better be worth it.”
Anthony snorted with laughter. “It’ll be fine.”
“Oh no,” Gianna retorted as she walked to the car, wincing with every step. “If you think I’m ever going to have sex with you again, think again. I’m not ever letting you near me ever again. Nuh uh, that horse has ridden, cowboy.”
“Right on, Mama, I mean, Gianna!” Annie giggled at the withering look Gianna shot her as she opened the car door. “Come on, I’ll drive.”
“Don’t you have to stay home with Denver?”
“No way, I’m not missing the birth of my baby brother or sister. David will stay with him.”
Annie’s eyes gleamed with determination as she settled into the car next to her stepmother. Taking her arms, she told her, “Breathe, Gianna. Remember what we said? Just focus on every breath.”
Shaking his head, Anthony hopped into the driver’s seat.
“Everyone ready? Alright then, let’s go birth a baby.”
++++++++
Anthony paced the corridors of the hospital incessantly, running his fingers through his hair. “What’s taking them so long?” he muttered.
“Daddy, sit down.” Annie patted the seat next to her. “This isn’t a cattle birth. Labor can go on for hours and hours.”
Anthony shook his head. “No, no, I’m fine where I am.”
Annie shrugged and picked up a newspaper. “So, have you decided on any names yet?”
“We’ve been … talking about it. Well, more like arguing.”
Annie raised her eyebrows. “Ooh, do tell.”
“Well, for some reason, she’s being vetoing all the names that I’ve suggested.”
“Well, what are they?”
“Oh you know,” Anthony waved his hand as illustration. “Clover, Betsy, Daisy …”
“Dad,” Annie’s voice dripped with patience, as though she was speaking to Denver. “You do realize that those are names you give to cows, not human children.”
Anthony laughed. “So, she keeps telling me.”
“On a serious note, we were thinking of Richmond for a boy.”
“Ooh, I like that,” Annie enthused.
“Yeah, that one was her idea.”
“I guessed as much,” Annie giggled as her father poked her in the ribs. “And for a girl?” Anthony eyed his daughter carefully.
“We were thinking of naming her Esther.”
“Esther,” Annie’s eyes glistened with tears. “Yes, Daddy, I love that.”
He wrapped an arm around her.
“So, will you and Gianna be settling down in Markleeville right away?”
“Well, we were thinking about it,” Anthony told her. “But I’ve been considering another possibility. I haven’t run it by her yet, but I think it could work out.”
“Oh?” Annie looked interested. “And what’s that?”
“I was thinking of going with her to Italy. I know she misses her parents. The good Mrs. Beauchamp just wired me a portion of the weekly profits from the hotel. I’ve been saving up secretly, so I think I’ve got enough for us to spend a couple of months there.”
; “That sounds amazing, Daddy,” Annie beamed at him. “I’m sure Gianna would love that.”
“Excuse me?” A nurse in a white uniform was standing in front of them. “Are you the husband of Gianna Davies?”
“Yes, that’s me,” Anthony jumped up.
“Congratulations, Mr. Davies. Your wife has given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Both mother and daughter are healthy. They’re resting in the ward now, so if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to them.”
Anthony turned to Annie with tears in his eyes. “A baby girl.”
“Congratulations, Daddy.” Annie wrapped her arms around him. “Now go say hi to my baby sister.”
++++++++
Anthony entered the room and his heart swelled as he saw Gianna lying on the bed. In her arms, she cradled a little sleeping infant with dark, curly hair and an olive complexion.
“There are my girls,” Anthony leaned down and kissed Gianna on the lips. “Thank you so much, my love. She’s beautiful.”
Gianna smiled up at him. “I love you, Anthony.”
“Hello, little Esther,” he cooed as he tickled the baby’s tiny pink cheek. The baby tilted her head to the side, and nipped at his finger with her toothless mouth. Anthony laughed. “She’s quite the little wildcat. I wonder who she got that from.”
Gianna laughed, and the baby roused at the sound of her mother’s voice. “I see that she’s got her father’s eyes.” Gianna laughed, squeezing Anthony’s hand in hers, as a tear of relief rolled down her cheek.
Anthony smiled. “Yes, she does.”
The baby’s eyes were the deepest shade of blue.
***
FREE FOR YOU! Spanked: Mail Order Bride Western Romance
Receive a FREE copy of Spanked!
The hottest Mail Order Bride Western Romance!
Click here and have the book in your inbox in seconds
He's a wealthy southern gentleman that any women would go through hell and high water to marry. So why has he secured a bride through a mail order bride service?
Madeline doesn't know, and she's concerned by rumors of his dominant personality - but rumors are just rumors after all, and she knows he's one of the few eligible bachelors left.
A letter in the mail, a hurried goodbye, and a long train ride later she meets her new husband - Robert Cortege. Tall and handsome, she begins to think that everything will work out after all.
Little does Madeline know her life is about to spiral out of her control, and there's only one man who will have the power to put her life back together - Mr. Cortege. That is, if he doesn't push her to the breaking point first.
There will be no mistake as to what is expected of her - total submission. She'll spend a lot of time bent over his knee with a bare bottom, and torn between pleasure and pain as the charming millionaire wastes no opportunity to make her moan shamelessly, no matter who's in earshot.
With a sick mother in another city, and multiple harlots chasing her husband and threatening to end her marriage soon after it begins, she doesn't know whether to fight tooth and nail or hope everything works out.
After all, if there's one thing Mr. Cortege teaches her, it's just how good surrender can feel.
This is a full length, stand-alone novella with a satisfying ending. No cliffhangers.
This historical western romance involves adult themes of spanking, sexual submission, alpha male domination, first time lovemaking, and domestic discipline.
Unlimited Pleasure
Lolita London
Copyright © 2015 by Lolita London
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Part I
I was scared. Well, terrified was more like it. I sat, smoothing my dress as my parents excitedly told me that I had been selected to marry. I had been hesitant to agree to be signed up for this mail-order bride nonsense. But, let’s be honest, I didn’t really have much of a choice. I didn’t want to become some struggling farmer’s wife, to spend the rest of my days waking up before the sun to perform back breaking labor and slave over a hot stove all day. I didn’t want to end up a miner’s wife, living in poverty with a perpetually coal stained man. I didn’t want to depend on any man at all, really. I just wanted to learn. I had dreams and ambitions. My mother didn’t seem to understand this at all. She repeatedly asked me why I couldn’t just be happy being a wife. My father laughed at me when I asked for books. “You don’t have any business worrying about men’s matters. Now, get on in there with your mama and learn to cook something.” When I expressed that I wanted to go to a university, my father would call me foolish. “Only wealthy women with good connections and nothing better to do go to college. They don’t need to cook and clean. You are a poor woman, do you think you have time to waste sitting on your butt reading books? I don’t think so, missy.”
My mother would wave off my dreams as childish fantasies. “You should be dreaming of all the beautiful babies you will have one day. You need to learn how to be a good wife, and no university will teach you that,” she would say. It was frustrating to no end. So, when she had approached me with this idea, it felt like my only chance. She had pulled me into my room one afternoon, and pitched the idea. “You’re 19, and you don’t even have any prospects yet. You haven’t even been on a date! I know what you want, and even though I don’t understand it, I suppose my thinking is a bit old-fashioned. We can’t afford to send you to university, you know that. This service sets up girls with wealthy men. I can’t promise that you’ll get a chance to live your dreams, but at least I know you’ll be well cared for.”
While the idea of basically being sold to some man I didn’t know was horrifying, it was also a chance to get away from this poverty stricken hole of a town I was raised in. I was tired of the same old uneducated idiots that my father was always trying to set me up with, the lack of excitement, of any new stimuli, period. Maybe I would get lucky, maybe I could worm my way into college. Maybe I’d move up north, where women had a bit more freedom, just a bit. Hell, maybe he would have a library. My parents only owned 2 books, and one of them was the bible. I needed a shot, I needed to get away from here. I agreed, although it was pretty apparent that my father had already made the decision. My mother was simply trying to soften the blow. They had been talking about nothing but marrying me off since I was a child, but it was always assumed that I would marry one of the boys from town. They were tired of my insolence on the matter, so they found an alternative.
So, as they sat, chattering about the arrangement, acting like it was Christmas morning, I tried not to throw up. Sure, it was a chance at a better life, but I had never so much as stepped foot outside this small town, and now they were telling me I was getting on a train the next day to marry a man I had never met, never seen a picture of, knew nothing about. My voice was soft and shaky as I interrupted them. “What- what’s his name?”
A huge smile crossed my father’s face. “Why, it’s the one and only Jack Hudson! You hit it big, little girl!”
Jack Hudson. I knew that name. He was rich- very rich. He was revered as almost a celebrity, untouchable, even his local politicians kissed his butt. He owned a bunch of mines. I didn’t know a lot about him, just that he had a bit of a reputation for being a lady’s man. He was also rumored to be very dominating. So, I didn’t really know what to think. I would now be a “Wealthy woman”, which could possibly give me the means to get the education I wanted, but only if he allowed it, and I didn’t know if he was inclined to such a thing. He was a good ol’ southern boy, I wasn’t even leaving my home state, which was both comforting and disappointing at the same time. And, if he was a lady’s man, did that mean I would now have to deal with a bun
ch of infidelity, or that he had changed his tune and decided to settle down? Questions swirled around and around in my head. My parents stopped talking amongst themselves like I wasn’t there, and turned their attention to me. “I’m going to read you this letter, and you need to pay attention. It’s important you give this man what he wants, because I’m not going to see you shipped back home for talking to him the way you talk around here. So get out of that brain of yours, and listen,” her father said with a stern face.
“Dear Sir and Ma’am, below are the qualities I will require in a wife. I expect to be sent a girl that can fulfill her obligations.
She is to understand that I am the leader of our home.
She will know how to behave in polite company.
She will understand that catering to me should be her first priority.
She will keep up her appearance at all times, even if she should become pregnant. She should always be attractive.
She will be expected to behave as a proper southern lady.
She will refer to me as “Sir”
All these things may seem common sense, but I do not want any misunderstandings. She will also not be required to bring any clothing, as I will want to see her dressed to my satisfaction.
Above all, she is to understand that she is always to do what she is told.”
My heart sank. That sounded horrible. However, it wasn’t much different than what I had always been taught, I had just always been one to speak my mind in my house. I didn’t suppose that would go over too well with my future husband. Neither of my parents seemed concerned about his demands. My father even said he sounded like a reasonable man that didn’t require too much. Honestly, it sounded like I had just taken a maid position. I felt hopeless. This didn’t sound like the kind of man who would give a damn about my dreams. But, what else was I to do? My parents were obviously itching to get rid of me, I didn’t have any money to run away with, no boy that I was secretly in love with to save me, not even a best friend to console me. I had no choice but to, as the letter so eloquently stated, do as I was told.
Bent Over A Barrel Bundle: Western Cowboy Romance (Full Length Novels) Page 32
