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.”
“I had some money saved,” she said, and he could tell by the way she avoided his eyes that she was lying.
“Take it off.”
Her lower lip quivered. “You might at least say I look pretty in it, Trapper Jack, like any normal man would think to do.”
He raised his voice. “I am not a normal man, young lady, as you well know. Do as I say.”
She complied, unbuttoning the bodice slowly. As she pulled the dress over her head and shoulders, she said, “I was embarrassed to be seen in trousers. Can’t you understand?”
“Take off your petticoat.”
She let out a whimper and obeyed. Next he instructed her to remove her shoes and drawers. Soon she stood naked in the center of the room, hugging her arms in front of her chest and staring at him mournfully. He rose to his feet and walked toward her, watching her eyes widen as he did. He took both of her wrists and placed her hands against the back of her head.
“Fold your hands together and keep them there.”
She took in a shuddering breath and did as instructed, lacing her fingers together against the red hair that spilled around them. He walked behind her, and her gaze followed him. “Eyes straight ahead,” he growled.
She obeyed. He stayed behind her for a moment, taking in the beauty of her naked form. Her skin was creamy white. The small of her back delicately dipped in, accentuating her round bottom. She jumped and let out a squeak when he touched the nape of her neck lightly.
“Easy,” he said. His fingers trailed down her back. “You are pretty, darlin’,” he murmured. “Beautiful, in fact.” His hand cupped her bottom for a moment before he drew it back and landed a sharp swat. She squeaked again but remained in place.
“And it’s not the dress that makes you so,” he said, his voice returning to its commanding tone. “Now tell me how you got it.”
She hesitated, then replied, “I already said.”
He landed another firm smack. “You lied.”
She didn’t say anything else. He circled and stared hard into her shimmering eyes. “I’m actually less concerned about how you got that dress and more concerned about why you thought it fitting to leave without my permission.”
He saw rebellion flash in her eyes briefly, but it seemed she thought better than to sass him because she pursed her lips together and didn’t say a word, only stared back into his eyes with a slight tilt of her chin upward.
He shook his head and walked back to the bed, where he sat and patted his thigh. “If you don’t feel like talking, you can come take your punishment then, Nettie.”
Finally she spoke in a pleading way. “Why am I being punished?”
“For leaving without permission.”
She dropped her arms to her sides. “But Trapper Jack, I didn’t think I needed your permission. We’re in town, not the woods anymore.”
He scowled at her. “I expect you to follow my lead whether we’re in town or not. At the very least, it was impolite.”
She scoffed. “Like you should talk about being polite! You ordered me out of the inn like I was a dog. Worse! You kept your dog with you,” she said, waving her hand in the direction of Cager, who thumped his tail.
Jack glowered at her. “I ordered you out of the inn because I didn’t like how the innkeeper was looking at you,” he bellowed, “like you were a common whore. I needed to have a discussion with him, man to man. Now get over my lap, woman. Make me say it again and so help me, I’ll strap you every day for a month.”
She walked to him then. As she positioned herself over his lap, she said, “You defended me against the innkeeper?” She sounded surprised.
“Of course,” he said, landing a hard swat on her bottom. He watched his handprint appear on her creamy skin. He gave her one more swat on the other cheek before he rubbed her bottom in circles, soothing away the sting he’d just caused. The way she acted surprised over a small gesture that he cared about her troubled him. Hadn’t he cared for her all along? Could she really not know how he felt about her? He continued to caress her and marveled at the way she relaxed over his lap and let out soft moans of pleasure.
“You like having your bottom rubbed, don’t you, naughty Nettie?”
“Mm hmm, it feels so nice.”
“You deserve to be spanked, not pleasured, but it’s been a long day for both of us. I’ll skip the punishment.”
“Thank you,” she said in a whisper.
Jack continued to caress her from her shoulders to her thighs. He tried to form the right words in his head to let her know how much he cared about her, since it clearly had come as a shock to her that he cared enough to defend her.
What he said wasn’t exactly right, but it was all he could think of in the moment. He wanted to protect her from the townsfolk, so he said, “You’re not to go anywhere without me, and I want you in this room most of the time we’re here. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she said softly.
“And tomorrow you’re going to tell me where you got that dress. Is that also understood?”
She sighed. “Fine.”
His hand stopped its ministrations. “Fine? Is that what you just said?” He spanked her then, five times quite smartly, causing her to yelp.
“I meant ‘yes, sir’!”
“Right.” He gave her a final swat. “Slip of the tongue, I’m sure. Now get to bed.”
He helped her off his lap. Lifting the quilt, he motioned for her to get in. After she laid down on her back, he kissed her. A sigh escaped her lips when he pulled away. She looked at him sadly, and he wished he knew the words to say to make her happy.
Chapter Eleven: Trapped
The next morning, Nettie sat in discomfort in what she suspected was normally a comfortable chair with its plush cushion that covered the seat. She wore the green dress she’d borrowed from the madam at the saloon the previous day. Jack had given her a short but hard spanking for refusing to reveal where she’d obtained it and then left with strict instructions to stay in the room until he returned. He gave no indication of when that would be.
She would have been bored if her mind hadn’t been so occupied by sad thoughts. Today was
her last day with Trapper Jack, and then he would be gone from her life. She thought about how he’d defended her against the innkeeper, who unfortunately was one of her johns. Nettie hadn’t noticed how the innkeeper looked at her because she’d kept her head down in the vain hope that she wouldn’t be recognized. Jack defending her certainly didn’t make leaving him any easier.
“Your master is a confusing man,” Nettie informed Cager, who was licking his paws. He trotted up to her. Nettie scratched behind his ears for a bit, then stood and walked to the window.
She had a good view of the passersby in the street, some riding horses, some walking, and some traveling via buggy. Across the street was the bank, saloon, and blacksmith’s shop. She knew the people of this town, and the people knew her. It was better that Jack didn’t take her along with him to do his business, since doing so would no doubt lead to her identity being discovered. Only a couple more days during which to keep the secret from him, and then he could leave without knowing the kind of woman he’d been bedding.
Nettie walked to the table, ate the last few bites of the bread and cheese Jack had left her, and wrapped her shawl around her head. Her red hair was a dead giveaway, and she wanted to make it to the saloon without being recognized. The fewer people who knew she was in town the next couple of days, the better. She walked down the stairs and rushed outside while the innkeeper’s back was turned, then hurried to the saloon. The street was dusty and covered in horse dung, so she hoisted her skirts to keep them as clean as possible during her quick journey.
The saloon wasn’t yet open for business, but when she rapped on the door insistently for several minutes, the madam finally opened it and ushered her in.
“You were supposed to be here last night,” she admonished. “I didn’t give you that dress for nothing.”
Claimed by the Mountain Man Page 9
