by Aisha Brooks
“I don't find you unappealing either. I also think what you do is an honorable profession. We need good men in this world, and helping others is a good thing,” she said and then placed her hand over his, smiling at him.
“So, tell me about your horse?” Marshal changed the subject, thinking about sex with her made it hard to sit here and stare at her across the small table and not reach out and touch her. He could smell her lavender scent and it was hard not to kiss her, but he promised he wouldn't rush her, and he knew that she was the type to wait for marriage.
She deserved to wait for marriage and be treated respectfully. He owed her that. Keeping it simple was the goal tonight.
“I'll miss her, I raised her from birth, taught her everything she knew. I loved working with the animals on my farm, especially baby animals. I want you to tell me more about you, we have our whole life ahead of us to learn intimate details, but what about the regular childhood ones?” Julie said, leaning forward, eager to get to know her new husband-to-be better.
“I'm the youngest of four children, all boys. My mom died in childbirth with our little sister when I was a few years old. If we'd have had a doctor around, she might have lived. It's what made me decide to be a doctor. I always wished I'd been able to save her, and because of that experience, I have saved many women and children since I've become a doctor,” he told her and finished his meal then leaned back to visit with her.
“What do your older brothers do?” she asked curiously, and didn't focus on the death part of what he shared. She appreciated that he shared it though, it gave her insight into his wiring.
“One's in the military, one's a priest, and the other is a cowboy and has his own ranch down in Texas. We aren't in contact much anymore, we're sort of spread all out and it's a little too far to get together for family reunions. We send letters sometimes,” he replied and then checked his pocket watch. It was getting late. He hadn't realized that spending time with her would make the time pass so quickly.
“I should be letting you rest. It's getting late, and we will have plenty of time after we are wed to talk about anything you want,” Marshal told her.
“I appreciate your honesty. I also appreciate that you'll let me assist you. I hate sitting idle, and I want to be useful. I appreciate that you can find a use for me besides just being your wife,” she told him and then walked him to the door.
Julie put her hand on his arm and stopped him before he left the room, leaning up on her tip toes, she pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth.
Freezing, Marshal wasn't prepared for her to kiss him and it shocked him. He crushed her in a bear hug and kissed her back, his beard tickling her cheeks and face as his warm lips pressed against her small delicate ones. Placing one large hand on the back of her head, the other held the small of her back as he kissed her.
Julie felt the tingles all the way to her toes, realizing that kissing felt pretty good, and she liked him. It was her first real kiss, and it had far surpassed her expectations. She'd been worried it would be sloppy and wet and gross, but he tasted like wine, and when his tongue plunged into her mouth and dominated her tongue, she melted against him.
After a few minutes, Marshal pushed her away, he was breathing hard and Julie brought her fingers up to her swollen lips. Her heart was beating in her chest, feeling like she'd just run a mile without stopping.
“I should leave,” Marshal told her as he stared down at her, trying to tear himself away and not let himself give in to temptation.
“Okay,” Julie nodded, understanding that he cared for her reputation and her honor, though at the same time she wished he would keep kissing her.
“We will be married soon enough. Bettina is going to help you get your wedding dress altered to fit you, let her know in the morning that you are ready,” Marshal leaned down and placed one smaller kiss to her forehead before leaving her for the night.
Julie watched him go and then went and laid down on her bed, the knot in her stomach leaving her feeling like something was missing, with an ache that wouldn't go away. She didn't know how to fix it.
Chapter 5: The Marriage
The week went by quickly, and she was walking down the aisle in the small church in the lace and pearl wedding gown. It covered her from her neck to the bottom of her toes, and she almost tripped on the train, she was having to walk carefully.
There were a few people in the pews, people who knew Marshal, but she didn't recognize anyone but Bettina. Julie made it down to the priest who was there to wed them, and had expected to feel more nervous than she did. She got there and put her small hand in Marshal's and looked up at him and smiled.
He gave her a wink and then turned towards the priest. The vows and wedding went quickly. There wasn't a lot of fanfare, but it would be a day she always remembered. Marshal pressed a kiss to her lips when the priest announced he could kiss the bride, and it was chaster than Julie would have liked.
She'd decided she wanted to see what being married was actually like, and the first goal was to get him home and get out of their wedding clothes. They had a small reception with food in the other room. It went by in a quick blur, the multiple glasses of wine made everything kind of blur together, and in the end, when he finally helped her out to the horse and buggy, she was giggling.
“Everything okay?” He asked her looking concerned when he saw how tipsy she was.
“Perfect,” She grinned at him and hung on his arm.
Marshal gave Julie a once over and then pulled the glass of alcohol out of her hand that she was still holding that he hadn't seen at first.
“I think you've had enough of that, let's get you back to my house and you're going to have a killer hangover in the morning.” He gave a small chuckle as he urged the horses on and they started the ride back to their home together.
Julie leaned against him and put her hand on his leg, having grown accustomed to spending time with him the last week, being near him, his smell. She wanted to be closer and was actually looking forward to tonight.
They pulled down the long drive to his house as the sun was setting. He pulled around the back and unhitched the horses and took them into the barn. When he got back to the front, he saw Julie standing there just staring at the horizon, looking at the mountains, her face aimed at the sunset. The last of the sun with the red tint reflected off her blond hair and shadowed her face, giving her an innocent, sweet look.
Walking up behind her, Marshal wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“This is beautiful,” she told him, in awe as the sky changed colors from pink and red to purple and dark blue as the moon and stars started to come out in the sky.
“Not as beautiful as you are,” Marshal turned her in his arms and kissed her, pressing his lips against hers and then picked her up and carried her into the house.
He took her to the bedroom and set her down, sliding her against his body and started working on the hundreds of small buttons down the back of her wedding dress, to help her out of it. Inch by inch he revealed her under garments until the dress was off and she stood in front of him in her corset and silk shift.
He unlaced the corset and helped her out of it and touched her arms softly, rubbing them up and down as he pressed gently ticklish kisses to her neck and cheeks, his beard rubbing against her tender skin.
“I'm ready for this Marshal, you don't need to be scared or hold back, I want you too,” Julie told him, urging him, working on the buttons and suspenders on his clothes, trying to get him naked.
When she got his shirt off, she saw the hair matted across his chest and ran her fingers over it and through it playfully, enjoying the texture of it. She pulled on his pants, trying to get them off, and then realized he was working her shift down her body until she stood before him completely naked.
Subconsciously, she went to cover herself.
“Don't do that Julie, you are beautiful, there's no reason to b
e shy between us. We are man and wife before God, let's enjoy our wedding night.” He grabbed her hand and guided her over to his bed. He'd bought new sheets and a new mattress for tonight to make the bed more comfortable for her, to make tonight better.
Julie sat on the edge of the bed and watched him strip off the rest of his clothes before pulling back the covers of the bed and climbed into the bed, he patted the spot next to him and Julie scooted over and let him put the covers over her.
His hands started to wander under the covers as Julie snuggled up to him. Her fingers tangled in his chest hair, and she pressed gentle kisses to his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his skin against her lips.
When one of his large hands found her breast and cupped it, squeezing it, Julie let out a little giggle and then a moan as he started to play with her nipples and rubbing the rough palm over her skin.
She put her leg over his leg and rubbed it back and forth, his hairy legs were a contrast to her silky smooth legs and when his hands crawled down her belly to touch the hair between her legs, she pushed herself against his hand. She liked the way he touched her, stroking her, his fingers brushing back the hair and spreading the skin to touch her moist heat and sensitive nub hidden by the dark blond curls.
Marshal stroked Julie until she was panting and moaning over and over against his mouth and her hips were grinding up against him, wanting more. When he brought her to the first shuddering release with his fingers, he captured the cry of her release out against his mouth, his tongue stroking between her lips.
“I'm going to take you now, I need you to relax to keep it from hurting, I'll try to be careful,” he whispered as he climbed between her legs and position his hard cock against her slippery opening.
“Okay, I trust you,” Julie told him, wrapping her arms around him, and spread her legs wide, liking the way his weight felt when he pressed her against the bed, supporting most of it on his hands to keep from squishing her completely.
He kissed her hard, his chest hair rubbing roughly against her nipples, making her stomach tighten in arousal. When she was rubbing her hips up and against him, he took her fast, burying himself to the hilt, and then held still.
Julie gasped, the stinging burn of his cock ripping through her hymen left her breathless and in shock for a moment, but as he slowly started to move himself inside of her, the pain quickly relaxed and turned into a intense pleasure that had her fingers digging into his shoulders. Thrusting her hips up against him, she met him thrust for thrust, enjoying the way he made her feel.
Marshal's groin rubbed against her clit as he pumped himself into her tight hole, and he nibbled his lips and teeth gently against her neck and shoulder, moaning against her as her nails left little red marks in his shoulders.
Julie cried out in surprise when another orgasm had her entire body shaking underneath of him and she let out a squeal as he shuddered inside of her, his own release causing him to spew his hot seed inside of her. When he pulled out, he got up and got a wash cloth and got it wet and delicately cleaned up between her thighs and legs.
“Thank you,” Julie murmured, humbled by him taking the time to wash her up after their first encounter.
Marshal nodded, and then got back into bed with her, wrapping his large arms around her small frame and held her close until she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder and her leg over his.
Chapter 6: More to Love
Julie had been helping Marshal with all his invoices, but Marshal took trades for much of the work he did as a doctor and the newest gift was a half side of dried pig that had been turned into jerky and needed to be stored. The smell was making her nauseous but she put it in the cellar with the rest of the stored goods. Then she stomped back to his house feeling grumpy with him. All the new stuff she'd been learning about him after she'd married him made her wonder if they'd rushed into things.
Don't get her wrong, she loved the sex, and intimacy, and anything that felt that good shouldn't be wrong, but the temptation and sin of sex made total sense why they wanted you to wait for marriage. But Marshal upset her. They'd argued this morning before he left to help deliver another baby.
Marshal had more money than he knew what to do with, he owned more than one working gold mine, and she still felt upset that he'd hid that from her when they first got married. Money didn't matter to her, but knowing that he was richer than he'd told her, and his being a doctor was because he wanted to donate back to humanity. She could respect that, and as a god-fearing woman she felt it was important to support him as his wife.
But the lie of omission hurt her more than she wanted to admit. She started to cry as she slammed the door and went back into the house. She'd promised to make him bread, and angrily started throwing the ingredients into a bowl and got it ready to let it rise before baking it.
She was angry through, logically, she could understand why he didn't tell her before he married her. Many women would jump at the chance to marry a man with money just for the money sake, and she picked him because he seemed nice and hard working and she admired those traits.
Not knowing why it hurt her feelings so bad, she beat on the dough until it was almost ruined. Finally sighing, she stuck the bowl on the windowsill and covered it with a towel to leave it for a while.
Feeling tired, she went to the sitting area and sat down on the love seat and promised herself she'd just shut her eyes for a moment. She was awoken to Marshal slamming the door open as he pushed it with his foot and carried in a baby goat.
“I delivered a healthy baby, they gave me a healthy baby in return,” Marshal announced as the young goat made a strangled cry and struggled in his arms. But he had a death grip on it.
Julie almost fell off the couch as she startled awake and watched the gigantic bear of a man subdue a cute baby goat. If she hadn't been half asleep and grumpy with him, she might have almost laughed at the comedy of watching him try to calm the goat.
“What do you plan on doing with that?” she asked him raising an eyebrow in curiosity as she straightened her dress and stood up.
“Sleeping in the middle of the day were ye?” he asked her and gave her a funny look.
“You keep me up at night, I don't get enough sleep with all your attentions,” Julie muttered and then walked over to see the baby goat and barely caught it when he dumped it into her arms.
“Julie, you don't seem to mind my attentions when I'm giving them to you,” Marshal said as he followed Julie as she took the goat outside to the barn and put it in a stall.
“Did you have to bring the goat into the house, you couldn't put it into the barn yourself?” She snipped at him and put it in the stall and shut the door.
“What is wrong with you Julie?” Marshal grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms in the barn and tried to kiss her.
Julie turned her head away from him and burst into tears, shocking them both.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, I didn't mean, I'm sorry, I can't...” She trailed off and sniffled and then buried her face into his arms and let him stand there comforting her.
“All of this over a goat?” he asked her gently and stroked her back, trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
Julie shook her head, “No, I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not really mad at you I don't think.”
“Talk to me Julie, a relationship cannot work if we don't talk to each other or communicate, and sex isn't enough, it's the glue, or a band aid, but we need to have a good solid foundation if our marriage is going to be a lasting, happy one,” Marshal told her and kept patting her back, as she sniffled and the tears slowly stopped coming.
“Why didn't you tell me about the gold mines?” she asked him, looking up at him with her big eyes.
Marshal felt a moment of guilt and then hugged her tighter before answering her.
“Because the gold mines weren't something I deal with on a daily basis. I can provide for you, but I was worried if I talked about it while I was seeking a wife, the wro
ng type of women would apply for the position. You were different. I picked you for a reason, but it had nothing to do with money,” he tried to reassure her.
“I can understand that, but you didn't trust me enough to tell me before the wedding, nor did you tell me right after we were married. I had to find out because you left your papers out where I could find them when I was cleaning. Don't you think I'd have rather heard it from you first hand?” Julie sniffed and looked up at him, wiping at her eyes, feeling stupid for crying.
“Yes, you deserved to know the truth. I'm sorry I didn't tell you personally, but I really don't even think about it that much. Having money, not having money, I can afford to give you anything you want, but being a doctor is what I love doing,” he said sounding slightly defensive. “I think I worried that the wrong woman would insist I quit being a doctor because of the money, I didn't want to give it up.”
