"Well, you definitely didn't beat around the bush, did you?" Mercy said. "I might like children someday, but for right now, I want to just keep my family's business going."
"Are you still planning on the monthly stipend to my mother?" Vincent asked her.
"Of course." Mercy said, looking offended. "You'll be providing me with a service; I intend to honor my part of the deal."
"I will expect discretion," Vincent told her. "In both the mention of the funds and any love affairs you may have while being married."
"Oh, Tom didn't tell you? If we choose to make this marriage a real one, there will be no love affairs. I won't tolerate cheating, and I'm not interested in sharing. I'm very possessive." Mercy said, giving him a look that said heads would roll.
Mercy walked up to him and poked him in the chest while Tom face palmed, hoping she didn't blow it by acting like herself with Vincent.
"If you cheat on me, I will kill you." Mercy told him, giving him a firm look, staring him down, refusing to blink first.
Vincent stared right back at her. Finally, he blinked and grinned, slapping his leg as if someone had just told the world's funniest joke. Then he turned to Tom.
"Get the contract drawn up, and the marriage license, I see no reason to wait if Mercy wants to just move forward." He told Tom.
"It's your funeral," Tom muttered under his breath, earning him a dirty look from Mercy.
Chapter 4
Mercy stood feeling like a complete fraud in a white wedding dress that had belonged to her mother. The wedding dress had to be altered to fit her, as Mercy was almost half a foot shorter than her mother had been.
Mercy's mother and father had been a love match. A match that her grandfather had initially been against their union, but her mother had won him over eventually. Her mother had been the daughter of one of her grandfathers' maids and had grown up with her dad. They'd fallen in love as teenagers, and just knew they were meant to be together.
It was moments like this that Mercy wished she still had a mom. No girl should be alone on her wedding day, and she was utterly alone. Her lawyer, Tom, was the one walking her down the aisle, and the church was packed.
Everyone was whispering about the man brave enough to take on the 'crazy horse girl' as they called her. They called her other names too; Mercy had heard them talking about her all her life when people thought she wasn't listening.
Her grandfather hadn't tolerated people to badmouth her bloodlines when she was young. But since he wasn't here anymore, and it was up to Mercy to hold her head high and pretend like words didn't hurt.
Mercy walked out of the dressing room at the church and met up with Tom in the hallway.
"You ready Mercy?" Tom asked her as he offered her his arm.
"I suppose as ready as I'll ever be." She said, nervous.
"You look beautiful, your grandfather would be very proud right now," Tom told her gently. He could tell she was nervous and tried to reassure her. "You're doing the right thing; you'll be able to focus on your business after this."
"The business is going fine. I have a bunch of new foals due soon, and I need to start working with the yearlings." Mercy muttered, trying to make herself feel better.
They came through the double doors and the wedding march started loud and echoed through the church.
Mercy held her head high and stomped down the aisle, holding onto Tom's arm. She hadn't even realized she'd left fingernail marks on his skin until he had to pry her hand off him and put her hand into Vincent's.
"You ready to do this?" He asked her. "You look beautiful by the way."
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She turned towards the priest to face him, and the rest of the wedding past in a blur.
"You may now kiss your bride." The priest announced, smiling at the two of them.
Mercy panicked when Vincent cupped her face with his hand and leaned down, claiming her as his wife.
When their lips met, she forgot she had an audience. The gentle pressure turned into a full force assault on her lips and tongue as he took control of the kiss, putting his hand on the back of her head to hold her in place.
Wrapping her arms around his waist Mercy squeezed him tight as he showed her his expert kissing skills. Making her finally understand and acknowledge the appeal of physical intimacy.
The loud clapping finally sunk in through her haze and she turned to blink at the crowd. She blushed, realizing she'd let herself get carried away. This wasn't supposed to be a real marriage, at least not right now.
She gave Vincent a look and saw an expression on his face she couldn't decipher.
"We will talk about this later." He whispered to her, grabbing her arm and escorting her to the carriage that waited outside of the church to take them home for their wedding night.
Mercy wasn't ready for her wedding night, she knew he'd be patient with her, as he promised to let her come to him when she was ready, but she knew it was only a matter of time. The way he looked at her made it clear he desired her.
Having told him not to bother with a honeymoon trip, that all she wanted to do was get back to her horses. Vincent had agreed that it was fine with him, as he'd traveled enough in the military and was happy to get to stay in one place for a while.
The carriage took them home and Mercy escaped to her room to get out of her dress. Her maid helped her and had a white lace nightgown set out on the bed for her, but Mercy didn't put it on.
Instead she put on a white blouse and her leather breeches, lacing up her riding boots.
She was going out for a good ride. She needed time to think, and she wasn't ready to face Vincent.
Chapter 5
Mercy was hiding out in the barn; she'd been carefully avoiding Vincent for weeks. She was petting a newborn colt and was attempting to slip a halter on the baby horse's head. She liked to be here for as many of the births as she could and imprint on them within hours of the birth. She felt it allowed them to bond with her.
If the mother horse showed it trusted her, the babies usually would trust her too.
Mercy finished tightening the strap on the head of the foal, then stepped back to look at it. She cooed at it gently as she stroked its muzzle, telling it that it was a sweet baby.
"If only you'd stroke me like that," Vincent said, shocking her.
Mercy flipped around, startling the baby horse and it kicked her in the leg.
"Damn, that hurts." Mercy said, limping out of the stall and then hit Vincent in the chest with a fist. "You idiot. Don't you know not to scare horses? I'm lucky it was a baby and not a full grown horse or it could have broken a bone."
"Let me see it. Sorry, I startled you, I had medic training when I was in the military, that's mostly what I did." Vincent told her.
Mercy allowed him to feel her thigh and winced when he pushed on the bruise, but she didn't really think it needed to be examined.
"You'll live. Thankfully." He said with a toothy grin.
"You just wanted an excuse to touch my legs." She accused him.
Vincent shrugged, and then straightened looking at her, his expression going serious.
"Mercy, we need to talk--" He started to say.
She turned to leave, feeling the need to avoid this conversation and would have run away from him if he hadn't caught her arm.
He backed her up until she hit the wall, her spine pressing hard against the wood.
Vincent put a hand on either side of her so she couldn't escape him.
"Mercy..." He growled at her. "Stop this. Running away isn't going to help. We need to talk about our marriage, if you keep avoiding me; I'm going to make you sit still."
"Vincent, stop this. We have a marriage based on a business opportunity." Mercy told him, then stuttered when he put his head an inch from hers, looking her in the eyes.
"Mercy, we never agreed to avoid each other for our entire marriage, we got along so well before the wedding, what are you afraid of?" Vincent asked her.
Mercy wasn't entirely sure what she was saying was true, but she wasn't going to admit it to him.
Vincent kissed her, pinning her to the wall of the barn with the weight of his body to shut her up, looking like he didn't believe her at all.
Apparently trying to get her to talk wasn't working, so he decided to take a different approach.
Mercy froze, unsure of what was happening, and then instinctively kissed him back. She didn't dislike him, and she definitely found him attractive, she was just afraid of getting involved with him.
The more Mercy got to know him, the more she'd realized she couldn't control him, and she was scared of him taking over her life and her business. She wanted to keep him at arm's length, but whenever she was around him, she thought about his lips, his hands, and his tongue.
And kissing.
A lot of kissing.
Kissing that lead to other things. Intimate, private, hot things.
Vincent reached his head up to curve his hand around the side of Mercy's face and gentled the kiss, going slow, stroking his tongue against her top lip.
Mercy melted into him, unable to stop herself and grabbed his hips with both hands; she was pushing into him, on her tiptoes now, to reach his mouth.
She kissed him back more aggressively, Mercy didn't do gentle. She didn't do soft. She took charge.
Vincent pulled back and gave her a look.
"Mercy, I'm willing to let you keep control over every other area of your life and the business, but when it comes to intimacy, I get to be in control. You'll surrender to me. When we are alone, I'm in charge; you'll respect me on this because it's not up for debate." He told her.
"But I--" Mercy started to say when he interrupted her.
"No. This is not negotiable for me. We will have a real marriage. We are supposed to be partners; you need to learn to trust me." Vincent growled at her. "I didn't agree to a loveless marriage, I want companionship, you promised me that when we made this agreement and you aren't allowed to take it back. You will stop avoiding me."
Mercy would have stepped back, but there was nowhere to go, she was stuck against the wall.
"I don't let a man control me in any area of my life." She whispered, her voice coming out far huskier than she intended. "I'm not about to start now. Go away
"Maybe not, but you need a strong man to support you. I'll have your back, but you have to throw me a bone somewhere. I don't mind letting you control the bigger picture, but when it comes to just me and you alone in a room, I don't take orders either." He gave her a stern look. "You are hot-headed, impulsive, and sometimes completely irrational, I'm not going to stand by and let you make mistakes, but I won't embarrass you in front of others. Try to give me the same respect."
Mercy snorted. "No, you're too worried that I'll embarrass you."
Vincent chuckled. "Actually I'm more worried about you stabbing someone."
Mercy blushed. She had a reputation for violence if pushed too far, but in her defense, the boy had grabbed her budding breasts and she had beaten him with a riding crop until he had apologized. The offender and her had both been thirteen at a time. Unfortunately, the rumor of her beating men had never quite been forgotten.
"Yeah, exactly." He said, and then pressed another hard kiss to her mouth before letting her go from the wall. "We need to talk, don't make me come find you again, do you understand what I'm asking?"
"I hear you." Mercy mumbled.
"Mercy, I want you to actually show up for dinner on time instead of eating in the kitchen after everyone's already put the food away, do you think you can do that tonight?" He asked her.
"Fine." Mercy said, shrugging.
"See you tonight, don't be late this time, or there will be a consequence this time." He warned her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, like what?" Mercy said, taunting him.
"You'll just have to find out." Vincent's voice sent a shiver up her spine, and then he gave her one final look and turned and left. Leaving her alone in the barn.
Mercy didn't move but brought her hands up over her heart in a reflexive gesture. It was pounding in her chest, and her lips still tingled from his kisses.
She was tempted to not show up for dinner, just to find out what he would do.
Chapter 6
Mercy hesitated. She was torn between not showing up to see how he'd react, and showing up because he asked her too.
No, he didn't ask her too.
He told her too and promised consequences if she didn't.
That irritated her. No one had bossed her around since her grandfather died, and she rarely even listened to him.
That settled it.
She backed away from the dining room door and moved to the kitchen. She grabbed an apple and some bread and cheese along with a bottle of wine and went to her room to eat by herself.
She'd barely bitten into the apple when she heard a knock on her door. She hesitated, debating on answering it. She bit into her apple again and the knock came louder this time, then the door opened.
Mercy was startled and fumbled with her apple, dropping it onto the floor at her feet.
Dang it, it was a good apple too.
She turned to glare at the person in the doorway and saw Vincent shutting the door and turn to look at her with his arms crossed.
He looked mad.
"Why?" He growled at her. "You deliberately didn't show up. Why did you do that?"
"Well, I told you I don't take kindly to being ordered around." Mercy said, shrugging.
Vincent walked over to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her off her chair. He dragged her over to the twin bed and put her over his knee.
Vincent swatted her on the ass, hard enough to sting through her pants.
He calmly spanked her a multiple times, until she was wiggling all over his lap trying to get away.
Mercy let out a strangled cry when he finally let go of her and she fell to the floor, with hostility she looked up at him.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" She asked him when he stared down at her.
Mercy stood up rubbing her butt cheek. It hurt her pride more than her rear end. Her ass felt warm and she didn't understand her physical reaction to it. That made Mercy angry and she lashed out at him.
Mercy had never been spanked before that she could remember, and the sensation was shocking. No one before had ever dared spank her before, let alone threaten her.
She glared at him.
"You are what's wrong with me." He growled.
"Vincent, you can't pretend you didn't know what I was when you married me." She reminded him. "I'm not a meek, obedient girl who does whatever her husband orders her to do. I make my own decisions."
"And you promised we'd have a real marriage. I had expectations that you promised you'd provide you are failing your part of the agreement. Companionship being one of them. Intimacy being another." He pointed a finger at her. "Are you really so childish you can't handle a grown up relationship?"
She stuck her tongue out at him, proving his point. Then backed up when she his gaze harden, not giving him a chance for a repeat performance.
"Next time, I'll use something worse than my hand." He warned her.
"You are rude, inconsiderate and don't care about anyone else. Someone needs to teach you some manners; I'm not going suffer my entire life, being married to a woman who can't even take the time to have a meal with me."
"I just wanted to see what you would do." Mercy said, glaring at him, the urge to kick him in the shins overwhelming.
"Why do you have to try to challenge me always? Can't you live with another human being and coexist peacefully?" He asked her, sounding frustrated. "Are you satisfied with the reaction you got? I'm nicer than most men would be to you, and I'm already letting you run a business, which is unheard of for a woman, without any interference. All I want is for you to show me a little respect in th
e privacy of our own home."
"Make me." Mercy said, not sure where it came from, but taunting him after he just spanked her definitely seemed stupid.
She did it anyways.
He stood up and Mercy turned to run from the room. He grabbed her arm and picked her up throwing her over his shoulder as she pounding on his back with her small fists.
Pulling open her door, Vincent took her down the hall to the room he'd been staying in. When they were married, Vincent had agreed to remain in a separate room until they'd gotten to know each other better, but Mercy avoiding him had made that impossible.
He'd expected her to move into the Master bedroom with him at some point.
He had a king sized bed with a frame of four posts that almost reached the ceiling.
He saw one of the maids in the hallway, and he nodded at her. The maids' eyes got large in her face and then she started to laugh.
Mercy froze, feeling humiliated.
Vincent opened the door to the master bedroom and shut the door before Mercy could react.
With her still over his shoulder, he walked over to one of his saddle bags and pulled out some rope. Carrying her of to his bed he dumped her on the middle of it. Then he grabbed her wrists together and tied them with the rope before she could even think of struggling. He fastened it to the bed post.
He stood back and looked at her.
"There, now you can't get away, you can't ignore me, and you have to spend time with me." He told her, raising a brow. "Do you still feel like sticking your tongue out at me now?"
"Bite me." She told him without thinking.
For a moment, she wondered if this game they played was something she could stop if she really wanted it too. He'd never acted like he'd truly hurt her, but she didn't really know him that well. A slight shiver of fear went up her spine as she stared at him and wondered if taunting him was a good idea.
It seemed like fun and games until someone got hurt. She wondered how far he'd take it. She wondered how far she could handle it. This was a game she didn't understand. Verbal sparring and words she could handle, but this bordered on something else.
Something dark.
The Highlander's Mail Order Bride (Scottish Highlander Romance) Page 34
