Innocent Immigrant: Mail Order Bride: Ménage Marriage (Colonial New Zealand Romance Book 2)

by Jax Lusty

  “Once the marriage has taken place in a few hours, the contract is no longer necessary. But first, I will conduct the purification ceremony. You are welcome to stay and witness, Mr. Tucker; after all, it is your misdeeds that have made the ceremony necessary. Not him, though.” He pointed to Ari. “He must leave.”

  For the moment, I ignored the slur against Ari. We both knew the history that drove it, and it had nothing to do with Ari’s Māori blood. However, it was our immediate task to retrieve Katie and get her home safely. “I have a marriage license, Pastor. One that says Miss Masefield and I are registered to wed. That is all I need to bring the constabulary up here and have Miss Masefield removed to my home.”

  I was sure I had him. As a celebrant, he would be fully aware of the legality of a licence over the sham wedding ceremonies he performed.

  “You’re bluffing,” Pastor Mackay said, his voice raising an octave with his temper.

  I withdrew the papers from my coat pocket. “I am most certainly not; now hand her over.”

  A sly smile crept across the Pastor’s face as he shook his head. “I wouldn’t be too hasty about calling in the constabulary given the immoral acts that take place in your household, Mr. Tucker. I think you will discover the police to be more interested in the unnatural behaviour in which you and your Māori friend indulge rather than a small discrepancy over paperwork.”

  “I would be very careful before I made a threat like that, Mackay.”

  Ari had spoken his voice dangerously low, and I recognised his stillness to be that of him close to losing control. I had to settle him for he would endanger his own freedom should he be driven to assaulting the Pastor or any of his men. The courts would look poorly upon a Māori attack on a clergyman under any circumstances.

  “It’s okay, Ari.” I placed a warning hand on his arm, but he wrenched it away.

  “Nothing is okay when Katie’s safety is at stake,” he hissed.

  I took hold of his shirtsleeve. “Let me deal—”

  Ari pushed me aside. “You, Pastor Mackay, have yourself committed immoral acts and are guilty of the crime of carnal knowledge.”

  “You don’t have to talk of this, Ari,” I pleaded, for I knew how much it pained him. When I had caught Pastor Mackay assaulting Ari as a young lad, my parents had Ari removed from the Mission. He came to live with us but asked that we never speak again of what happened there. Although he was blameless, he took much shame from what I’d seen. It was an act of violence in direct opposition to the act of love we had committed many times together.

  To this day, Ari continued to wrestle with the shame of the Pastor’s frequent assaults when he lived under his care. The hypocrisy he now witnessed was obviously too much for him to bear.

  Ari pulled from my grasp and made a lunge for the Pastor. “He can come to hell with me,” he bellowed, knocking the Pastor to the ground.

  I managed to haul him off before he did the man any damage, and before Mackay’s followers joined the fray. As I pulled him to his feet, I was relieved to find Katie had broken free during the scuffle and run to us. I didn’t know who to hold first, so I pushed Ari towards Katie. “Take her to the buggy, and wait for me.”

  Ari gave the Pastor a final hateful look before uttering in his native tongue what I could only presume was some sort of curse, and then escorted Katie outside.

  “Just us now, Mackay. Either you or Herbert can prove to me the amount Sid Watson paid to have Katie brought to New Zealand, and I’ll reimburse the Watson estate. Unlike yourself, I don’t have debts in this town—money or moral. If you wish to vanquish your moral debt, Pastor, I’ll happily unleash Ari. He keeps himself in check for my sake, and for Katie now, too. But he’s reckless when it comes to his loyalty and content to sacrifice everything to make sure Katie and I are happy. Let me know anytime you want to pursue that.”

  I tucked the marriage licence back inside my coat pocket. “I will expect details of the financial transaction between the Mission and Sid Watson to be delivered to me at the warehouse. Good day.”

  With that, I turned on my heel and left the chapel annex.

  CHAPTER 8

  KATIE

  I was not prone to fainting, but I have to admit the shock of seeing Ari attack the Pastor was almost the last straw for my nerves. Thankfully, I kept my head and during the distraction managed to pull free from the men guarding me and run to Griff. At last I felt safe, knowing that he and Ari would not leave me in the hands of the Mission or Mr Watson.

  Later, the wait with Ari in the buggy for Griff to finish his negotiations with Pastor Mackay ensured I remained unnerved, and I stayed in a state of agitation until we were well down the road that led from the Mission into Kotuku lower township.

  Finally, we turned onto the dirt track that would take us to the house. As I looked upon the pretty villa the warmth in my chest made me understand for the first time in my life what it must mean to have a home.

  I felt safe.

  Poor Maraea was in the kitchen polishing the floors which, despite their perfectly clean state, she’d begun scrubbing when the men had set off to rescue me. She clung to me when I entered the house, and when we finally parted my dress at the shoulder was damp from her tears. I promised her I was unharmed but knew she would blame herself for what happened for some time.

  Griff and Ari stayed out the back, and I could hear their low voices earnestly discussing things that obviously weren’t for my ears. I prayed Ari was not in trouble for letting me go into town when Griff had expressly said I was to remain at the farm until he returned from Auckland. I had badgered Ari about accompanying Maraea when she went to meet Griff’s boat, and in the finish he’d given in and allowed me to go. Everything that had occurred had been through my own fault.

  We ate a light supper that Maraea had prepared for us though she’d refused to stay and eat. I truly hoped my friend’s smile would return once she’d had a good night’s sleep. My appetite was low, and I picked at my food, the mood in the room sombre.

  With supper finished, we retired to the drawing room. I was nervous, prepared to be punished for disobeying Griff. I sat on the edge of the settee picking at a thread caught in my skirt.

  “You know you should be punished, Katie. Ari, too, for giving in to your begging instead of following my request that you remain at the farm during my absence. But I think all of us have been punished enough by today’s events, and what we need now is some time to recover. That doesn’t mean I’ve gone soft, Katie, and I want you to reflect on the consequences of your actions today. Sometimes when I make a request of you, it may seem unfair, but it is made with your best interests at heart. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Griff. I’m very sorry for the trouble I’ve put everyone through. And, Ari, I’m sorry to have worn you down with my pleadings until I made you give in to my request to accompany Maraea in town.” There was more I wanted to say to Ari about what I’d gleaned today at the Mission, but I was uncertain how to give voice to my thoughts.

  “You’re forgiven, Katie,” Griff continued. “Now, we shall each retire tonight to our own beds. I suggest we spend some time before sleep reflecting on the vows we will make tomorrow and the new life we are about to embark on; a trinity where each of us are equal and one that should enrich us all.”

  CHAPTER 9

  KATIE

  I had lain awake for some time listening first to the cry of the seabirds, and then later a morepork. Even though Ari had shown me the little owl in the daytime, it was hard not to be unsettled when alone in your bed listening to its mournful cry drifted through the darkness. But I must have finally slept well because I woke refreshed by the melodious dawn choir of tui and the bell-like chimes of the korimako. Their bird-song was like nothing I’d ever heard in England and was the perfect wake-up for a bride on her wedding day.

  It felt as though noon would never arrive. Maraea came to the house around ten to help me bathe and prepare myself for the ceremony. I was so pleased to have her
with me because I couldn’t even take my hairbrush without dropping it.

  “Are you nervous, Keiti?”

  “Very much so. You’ve been married, Maraea. What’s it like...the first time with your husband?”

  Maraea was pinning my hair, and she paused, her hands still. “If a man cares properly for his wife, the way Griff cares for you, it should be wonderful. Maybe a little uncomfortable at first, but nothing to be frightened off. Don’t be worrying yourself; Griff will take care of you.”

  “Is that how it was for you?”

  Maraea shook her head and went back to fixing my hair though I noticed her hands weren’t as steady as they usually were. “My husband was brutal and did not care for me. We won’t talk of it on your special day.”

  Dawn had been obscured by a sea mist hiding the eastern horizon and sunrise, but this lifted through the morning revealing a warm spring day filled with promise. The native trees seemed filled with more birds than usual, including Huhu, Ari’s pet tui who chatted and sang throughout the short ceremony.

  Maraea had fixed my hair so that it flowed in long red ringlets down my back and had surprised me with a veil she’d made prettier with wildflowers from her garden. Maraea and I walked together across the lawn to where Griff and Ari waited with the celebrant, Doctor Blandford. The way Griff and Ari looked at me with such adoration made me physically weak, yet strengthened me emotionally. We’d only known each other a short time, but we had a base of kindness and caring that would be a foundation upon which to build our lives.

  Doctor Blandford was a good friend of the men and knew of our unique situation. Although legally Griff would be on the register as my husband, Ari was included in our vows. My hand trembled as Griff slipped the gold ring that used to belong to his beloved mother, on my finger. The tremor in my voice confirmed my nerves as I vowed to love, honour and obey both Griff and Ari. When it came time to seal the union with a kiss, both men took my mouth with restrained passion.

  After the ceremony, we had afternoon tea prepared by Maraea, who in the short time frame had cleverly managed to gather together the ingredients and bake us a fine rich wedding cake. Doctor Blandford joked that we could save some of it to use as a christening cake for our first baby which did little to settle my nerves about the second part of celebrating a marriage: the consummation.

  The Doctor departed shortly after the meal, and Maraea cleared away the room and left us in private. The time had come, and I looked to the two strong men with trepidation. Somehow, entrusting them with my future wellbeing had been much easier than trusting them to care for me physically through what was about to occur.

  Griff stood and reached out his hand to me. “Come, Katie, it’s time to make you our wife.”

  BOOK TWO ENDS

  Read on about Katie, Griff and Ari in Book 3 available here.

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  Doctors Mason & Stanley’s Clinic for Inner Health is a four-part historical medical erotica series. Each book is a #1 Amazon best seller in the Victorian Erotica category and all four are available now.

  EXCERPT

  “What do you think? Would you like to touch it?”

  I shook my head. “I want to watch.”

  “Oh, but you will touch it, dear, and soon. Imagine what that will be like...the heat...” When his hand reached the head, he squeezed it hard. “How it throbs for you, Edith. It’s almost painful. Come, give me your hand.”

  He took my wrist in a tight grip, lifting it from his thigh. “Point your finger, Edith. Any one will do.”

  I did as he asked, watching with gross fascination as he rubbed it across the head of his prick. A small amount of moisture had gathered in the slit and he used the pad of my finger like a butter knife to spread the moisture back and forwards across the dome. When my finger was quite slippery, he lifted it to my mouth.

  “Precum, Edith. Taste it.”

  He painted my lips and asked me to lick them before he pushed my finger into my mouth, adding one of his alongside, and told me to suck. The taste was salty, the smell of the marsh, but the most remarkable thing was the way this depraved act accentuated the deep throb between my legs.

  “Suck harder my dear. Show me how well you can do it.”

  I worked my mouth on the fingers and he groaned and thrust them in and out between my lips.

  “Yes, good girl...that’s nice...Use your tongue now. Imagine it’s my prick in there, sliding across it...pressing back into your throat so that you almost choke, and slipping out until my cock-head stays just inside your lips.”

  Available now on Amazon