by Vanessa Vale
He kissed along my jaw to my ear, nipping at the lobe, then kissing the soft spot beneath it.
"Wiley, I...I need—"
He kissed along the length of my neck and whispered, "What do you need, sweetheart, besides a stern spanking?"
What did I need? "I need...I need you to want me. I need you to take me because you ache for me just as much as I ache for you, not just because I'm your wife. I need you to—"
His brow went up as his hand wrapped around my nape to hold me in place. "Need me to what?"
"Take me."
His eyes narrowed, but the green darkened, his jaw clenched. "You want me to fuck you, sweetheart?"
I nodded.
"I should spank your ass red, but I'm going to fuck you instead. I can't be gentle this time."
I shook my head. "No. No, I don't want you to be gentle. I want to get lost in you."
I didn't say more. I didn't need to. Wiley lowered his head and kissed me. It wasn't gentle, but an all-out assault. His mouth ravaged mine, his tongue plundering. Just kissing him was wild and decadent and my body instantly responded. My nipples pebbled beneath my corset and my thighs grew slick with my arousal. In less than a day, my body had recognized Wiley's mastery and willingly submitted.
I wanted what only he could give me and I wanted it now.
"Wiley, please," I begged against his lips.
He lifted his head and brought his hands to the front of my dress. Gripping both sides of the bodice, he ripped it open, off my shoulders and down my arms so they were trapped by my sides. Now I knew what he meant about not being so careful. It was...exhilarating! I could do nothing as he worked the stays of my corset free until the sides opened and my breasts spilled free. He kicked the door shut then pushed me against it, my back pressed into the hard wood. Lowering his head, he took one nipple into his mouth. Instead of the sweet, gentle exploration he'd done earlier, this was...oh. He sucked and licked and tugged at it while his hand worked my other breast. His fingers plucked and tugged at the nipple just shy of being painful. I cried out and winced. The sharpness of his actions morphed into heat and I felt my inner walls clenching.
Somehow my nipples were in direct connection with my woman's core and it wanted to be filled, for I felt empty without Wiley's cock within. He didn't stop his ardent attentions on my breasts, not until my knees became weak and I began to slump. He reached down and pulled up the long hem of my dress, pushing it up and securing it by wrapping his arm about my waist. With his free hand, he yanked at my drawers and they tore and fell to the floor.
"Take my cock out," he breathed.
I hastily worked at the placket of his pants, tugging and fighting with the material until his cock sprang free. It was a dark, ruddy red, a pulsing vein running up the thick length. The wide head had clear fluid seeping from the tip. I didn't have time to ogle, for Wiley closed the small distance between us and pressed his torso into mine. Hooking one of my knees with his hand, he lifted my leg to spread me wide as I felt him nudge against my opening. In one shift of his hips he filled me, trapped as I was between his strong body and the hard door. He didn't go slowly, didn't ease me into being filled so completely. Instead, he pulled back and thrust into me once again.
"Wiley!" I cried out. The sheer intensity of his claiming stole my breath. Wiley did not stop his motions, only began to move faster, deeper. Harder.
I lifted up, wrapping my free leg about his waist that enabled him to shift my hips and go even deeper. How, I didn't know. I just knew that the way he stroked over me, the way his body rubbed against that small place between my thighs that ached and heated had me almost to the brink of my pleasure. I recognized it now, recognized how my pleasure grew and grew, overwhelming me to the point where there was no sight, no sound, only feeling. This time, it was coming upon me so quickly that I didn't have time to do anything but tilt my head back against the door and let go.
"Yes!" I cried. "Oh, it feels so good," I crooned as Wiley's hips pounded me. I was caught upon his cock; there was nothing I could do but let the feelings of being impaled by such a wicked instrument rush over me.
"Good girl, Piper," he breathed. "It's my turn now."
He pushed deep, held still as he groaned. I felt his seed scalding hot within my depths, filling me to overflowing. This was what I'd needed. I'd needed him taking me without measure, using me, yet forcing me to succumb to the pleasure only Wiley could find within me.
Slowly, Wiley lowered my legs to the ground, yet held me in place. The lower part of my dress slipped back down over my legs. I felt his seed trickle out, drip down my thighs and most likely onto the floor at my feet. My arms were still pinned to my sides, my breasts exposed. I saw that my nipples were tightly furled and a bright cherry red. Wiley had not been gentle.
"Are you all right?" he asked, adjusting himself back into his pants, buttoning the placket. He watched me carefully. "I wasn't too rough?"
"Too rough?" I laughed. "That was...incredible."
He looked me over as he grinned. This was the smile of a well-satisfied man. "I like to see you this way as if I've just captured you and had my way."
"You did," I countered.
"Mmm," he replied noncommittally. "You seem to enjoy a little rough play."
"If that was rough play, then yes."
"Good to know." Instead of pulling the dress back up over my shoulders, he tugged it down and off my body. "It appears this dress is no longer serviceable. Neither are your drawers."
With my hands free, my corset also fell to the floor. I was naked except for my boots and thigh length stockings.
"Thank you, Wiley."
"For fucking you?" His gaze raked over my body. "I assure you, no thanks is needed."
I shook my head. "For taking me as you would one of those women."
He didn't look happy by my answer. "Piper, listen to me. I took you that way because I want you. You, Piper Easton. Not some whore. You are my wife, don't you understand that?"
I swallowed the tears that clogged my throat. "But you didn't want to marry me. My family killed your father."
"Do I seem uninterested? Unaffected?" His dark eyes bored into me.
I shook my head. "No, but how do I know you won't leave me for a woman like Ethel? My brother was infatuated with Miss Carter enough to die for her."
He hooked a hand behind my neck and gently pulled me into his chest. "I'm not your brothers or your father. I don't intend to use you."
"But you thought I had left you."
He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up in places. "My mother left us when I was small. A traveling preacher. I have a very jaded view on women. Now that I know a woman was among the band of criminals that killed my father, an innocent on a train, it is skewed even more."
"So I'm supposed to trust you not to be like my family when you think I'm just like your mother?"
That gave him pause.
"I take my vows to you seriously. I know you're taking our vows seriously as well."
I looked at him, confused.
"Piper, you went to a brothel, again, against my wishes because you are one possessive woman. If you didn't care about me, about our marriage, you wouldn't have done it."
I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it. He was right, which meant I would fight for him all the more.
WILEY
"There's been another robbery."
I sat down at the table across from Piper. We were in the hotel restaurant having breakfast and the news of the latest stage robbery was spreading through the room like wildfire.
She put down her coffee cup and leaned toward me. "Was it...her?"
I had that angry, tense feeling I always had when I was on the search for a criminal and couldn't find them in time before they committed another crime. It was frustrating and a little helpless and I hated that. We were getting closer to finding the woman, but now that there had been another robbery, I knew it wasn't just Miss Carter who needed to be caught. One woman coul
dn't hold up a stage on her own.
"It appears so, but she had help. It was just outside of town yesterday."
"Was anyone hurt?"
I shook my head. "Not this time."
"Then we must act in haste." Her words were so vehement, so strong.
"We?" I asked.
"You went to the brothel last night...after, well after. I don't think you can go snooping around again without raising suspicion."
I cut off a piece of steak and swiped it through my egg. "What are you suggesting?"
She scooted her chair closer to the table and leaned forward even more so she could speak so only I could hear. If she leaned forward any more her breasts would be in her breakfast plate.
"I will go in once again looking for a job." She glanced left and right to ensure no one overheard. "My nerves got the best of me last night and returning will only show I'm eager but fearful. It will be much more realistic."
"Realistic?" The idea of Piper becoming a whore, even just pretending to do so, made my food taste like sawdust. I put my fork down on my plate. "Realistic would be for you to stay out of this like a good girl."
"Do you just live like this, going from town to town searching for bad people?" she asked, eyeing me speculatively. "Is this what our marriage is going to be, hotels and hunting?"
I frowned. "No, of course not. I have a ranch, The Crossings. It's a few days ride from here. It was my plan to capture the men who did the robberies, killed those people from the train, take the reward money and be a rancher. It was my last job. This is to be my last job, finding Miss Carter."
She smiled. "I think I will enjoy being the wife of a rancher."
For some reason, the pleasure on her face, the satisfied tone of her voice settled something inside me. She wanted to go to The Crossings, wanted to live as a rancher's wife. She wanted what I wanted. Then she continued to speak and ruined it.
"The sooner we find this woman, the sooner you can leave the life of a bounty hunter behind. If I can already be in the brothel, you can choose me and we can search for her together."
While her idea had merit, I didn't like the idea of her being in a place such as that, with the off chance she might have to...service someone else, let alone being near a woman and potentially others, who were dangerous enough to rob stages and kill people.
"You're going to what, go to the back door, get this job and then deflect men's advances until I arrive?"
She nodded. "Yes!"
I leaned forward so our noses practically touched. "If I don't agree to this, you're going to show up there anyway, aren't you?"
"Do you have a choice?"
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my ankles. "Hell, yes. I can take you upstairs and tie you to the bed to keep you right where I want you. Safe and sound and naked."
Her eyes flared with desire at my words.
"We have all day, sweetheart, before the brothel opens for business. Whatever shall we do?"
She looked down at the table and I enjoyed seeing her innocence, pleased to know I hadn't taken it completely by the way I'd taken her. My cock hardened, thankfully hidden beneath the breakfast table. I shifted to a more comfortable position in my chair.
She'd sat a horse after losing her virginity and being well fucked and then I'd taken her roughly against the door. Surely her pussy needed a break.
"Sore, sweetheart?" I whispered.
She frowned at my question, and then her cheeks flushed. "A...a little," she replied.
"Come." I stood and held out my hand. I could spend the day tending to my wife. I ordered a bath as we walked past the front desk and once the tub and hot water was delivered, I undressed Piper myself and helped her into the steaming water. I didn't hesitate, but slipped a finger over her tender folds to assess how sore a little really was.
She winced slightly.
"Poor baby. The hot water will soothe all your aches away."
As I washed her hair, she sighed. "Why are you doing this? I thought you would spend the day arguing with me about my idea."
My hands paused in her soapy tresses. I could do that. I wanted to rail against the plan, but it had some merit. She didn't need to know that and while I had her naked in a tub, her nipples just above the surface of the hot water, I wasn't going to talk about it. "I'm tending to my wife," I said simply.
A smile tipped up the corner of her mouth. "You tended to me quite effectively last night."
"Mmm," I replied. "And I will tend to you again later."
"Really? I did not realize it could be done so often."
I took a glass and filled it with water from the tub. "Tilt your head back." I rinsed the soap from her hair as I spoke. "As many times as we want. When this is all over and we get to The Crossings, I may not let you out of bed for a week."
"A week? What can we do in a week? Haven't we done it all the possible ways?"
I rinsed her hair, and then refilled the glass. "You've learned only two of the ways so far."
"You mean gentle one time and rough another."
"Yes," I agreed. "Also, one time you were on your back, the next up against a wall. There are many ways to fuck, many levels of intensity."
"Will you show them all to me?"
"Show them?" I put the glass down. "We'll do them all. Together."
I didn't let Piper leave the room until the sun had set; I even had our meals delivered to us instead of making our way to the restaurant. There was nothing outside the four walls of the room that I desired, my focus being solely on my new wife. I knew that keeping the door closed kept all of our marital challenges at bay for having her beneath me, above me, all around me we were in complete accord.
I had not wanted a wife but had been forced to wed. Piper was married to the man who'd killed one of her brothers and brought her family to justice. She, too, had married under duress. But instead of considering these things, I'd taken her to bed and showed her ways to fuck while allowing her sore pussy to heal. While my cock certainly liked being deep inside her, it had been assuaged by a myriad other carnal activities.
When she stirred from a nap after I'd made her come by my tongue and gentle fingers, I agreed to her plan.
"You may go to the brothel." The words came out bitter and with much effort.
She sat up in bed so surprised she forgot to cover herself with the sheet. I groaned at the sight of her pert breasts.
"I have rules, however."
She nodded her head in agreement. I assumed she would agree to anything I had to say at the moment considering.
"You may not go into a room alone with any man but me. I don't care if you run out of there screaming."
"Yes, Wiley."
"You will not flaunt yourself at any time, to anyone."
"Flaunt myself?" she placed her hand on my chest and swirled her finger through the smattering of hair. I stilled her hand.
"You will see. Lastly, and most importantly, when I claim you, you will do whatever I say, do you understand?"
"Yes, Wiley."
I didn't like this, but I didn't have much choice. If I wanted to capture not only Miss Carter, but also her new cohorts in crime, I needed Piper's help. She could assist me in ways another man could not. I doubted anyone would imagine a woman infiltrating a brothel to capture a criminal had ever been done before. If Piper wasn't my wife, I'd have to consider this tactic to be smart.
Instead, I gritted my teeth the entire way to the brothel. We walked in silence in the warm night until we stopped just down the block. I pulled her in for a kiss before releasing her. She was warm and pliant and her scent swirled around us.
I should just skip finding Miss Carter and whisk Piper back to the ranch, leave all the danger behind. I loosened my grip and let her go. It was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do and as I watched her slip in through the back door, I knew I'd have to ensure her safety.
Walking around to the front of the establishment, I went in and ordered a whiskey, then waited. I'd be the fi
rst to claim her; there was no question.
CHAPTER SIX
PIPER
This was the third time I walked in the backdoor of a brothel. It was getting easier each time, perhaps because I knew that Wiley was around...somewhere to protect me. Perhaps it was because I was much more bold and daring than I'd ever been in my life. I'd been so sheltered on the ranch. Even with my family off doing terrible crimes, I had remained unaware and safe. Now, I was very aware and possibly not safe. I had to do this for Wiley, to let him have the revenge he deserved and the closure he so desperately sought. Only then could we get on with our lives, settle into his ranch and just...be.
The cook stood in the same place before the stove and looked at me, again with no expression or surprise. "Back, are you?"
I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'm...I'm desperate."
She looked me over in an assessing way again, then nodded.
She went to a swinging door, pushed it open. "Regina!"
A moment later, a small woman with brown hair came into the room. She wore a corset so snug her breasts practically touched her chin. She had gaudy red lips and black kohl lined her eyes. "Got a new one for you. It'll be a busy night, so Sheila's too busy to talk to you now."
Sheila. My heart leapt at the sound of her name.
"You'll get a dollar a lay, an extra dollar for anything beyond a pussy fuck. You make that clear up front. Have any questions, Regina will help you tonight. Come sunrise, we'll get you all squared away."
She looked me over. "Have you eaten?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said again.
"Good. Regina, get her something to wear and get her out on the floor. You ever fucked before?"
The woman was brash and crude, but she was going to have me ready for my first customer quickly enough. She didn't seem like one to dawdle.
I felt my cheeks heat, but nodded.
"Not much, I would guess, and the men will see that. By the end of the night I'd guess you'll be innocent no longer."
She turned back to the stove and Regina led me upstairs. It was only when the woman held up a corset with frilly edges did the full impact of my situation settle upon me. I had to hope that Wiley was below.
