Bonds of Matrimony

by Carrigan Fox

  She could hardly sit still that afternoon. She bustled around the house finishing Elisa’s chores before she even thought to ask for help. Even Reese noticed that something was amiss.

  “Have you got a bug up your apron?” she asked with a small smile. Her liquid eyes held concern, in spite of her light tone. “What’s on your mind today, Chastity?”

  “I’m doing perfectly well. And I don’t have anything special on my mind. Just chores, Reese. I simply feel like we’ve fallen behind since we spent the entire afternoon in Cloverdale yesterday,” she explained.

  Even after all of the exertion throughout the day, Chase still found herself restless near bedtime. Reese sat at the dressing table brushing her rapidly growing wavy hair, and Chase hastily dragged a brush through her own.

  “Aren’t you going to change into your nightgown?” Reese asked.

  Chase caught her reflection in the mirror behind her, noting the flush in her cheeks and the work clothes she still wore.

  “I suppose,” she answered quietly.

  “What is the matter with you? You seem to be in your own little world.”

  “I’m just distracted. It’s nothing.”

  “Was it your dance with Colton Webb last night?” she guessed accurately.

  Chase couldn’t keep from smiling. “When did you become so observant?” she asked. “It’s actually something Grandmother said to me…about Mr. Webb,” she added.

  “Perhaps a warm bath would help relax you,” she suggested. “I’ll help you draw one. And perhaps we could add some of your scented bath oil. It seems like as good a night as any to feel feminine again.”

  She was too preoccupied to argue. She removed her clothes mechanically and sank into the warm water her sister had drawn. Chase was disappointed that Webb was clearly avoiding her after her proposition, but the warm scented water helped soothe her raw nerves. She soaked and allowed her sister to shampoo her hair.

  “I’m going into the city tomorrow with Marcus,” she told her sister, trying to break the silence. “Can I get you anything?”

  “I don’t need anything, but thank you. Are you going to tell me what Grandmother said to you?” she asked after Chase had dried off and slipped into her nightgown.

  She sighed and began brushing her hair more gently. “She told me that if I wasn’t in love with him, I needed to let him go.”

  “And if you are in love with him?”

  “I’m not,” she answered shortly.

  “But you don’t want to dismiss him,” she finished for her.

  “He’s attractive and amusing. He’s not like any other man I’ve ever known.”

  “So what are you going to do?” she asked softly.

  “I don’t know.” Chase stood up and placed her hairbrush on the dressing table. “It’s not only up to me,” she reminded her truthfully. She wasn’t prepared to tell her sister what she hoped to do. Reese would be scandalized and would try to change her mind. She might even tell their grandmother.

  Reese climbed into bed, pushing the blankets down to the foot of the bed. “Are you coming to bed?”

  Chase lowered herself onto the window seat. “Go ahead and turn out the light. I’m going to sit here for a little while.”

  “Don’t stay up too late.”

  “I won’t.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and straightened the thin white linen nightgown around her knees. She leaned her head against the glass window, eventually making out the shadow of the barn in the darkness.

  The moon was nearly full overhead, casting a soft light across the ranch. A soft breeze rustled the treetops, moving shadows across the ground. And from the shadows, the dark figure of a man walked toward the barn. Marcus? Tom? One of the other ranch hands? Rather than going into the barn, the man stood outside the door and seemed to be watching the house. Chase remained unmoving in the darkness, wondering if he could see the bright whiteness of her nightgown. And then she noticed the faint orange glow.

  Her heart began pounding with fear and exhilaration. She was certain that it was Webb and his cigar standing in front of the barn, but what if she was wrong? What if she ran down there and found one of the other cowboys waiting in the dark? What if it was Marcus, and he questioned why she was not in bed? But Marcus didn’t smoke cigars.

  “Reese?” she whispered softly, turning her head to watch for movement in the bed. She did not get an answer. Silently, she crept across the room, pulling the door closed behind her. She tiptoed through the house, gaining some confidence at the sound of Marcus’s snoring coming from the room he shared with Elisa. When she reached the back door, Chase opened it slowly, peeking out and straining to find his silhouette again. He hadn’t moved from his position in front of the barn door.

  As she slipped outside, she saw him move and open the barn door. Then he disappeared. She walked quickly, nearly jogged, across the yard, hoping that nobody would happen to glance outside the windows. Between the moonlight and her white nightgown, it would not be difficult to see her. She rushed into the open doorway and pushed the door closed behind her.

  “Webb?” she whispered into the darkness. Above her, she heard a soft thump. He was in the hayloft.

  The hatch overhead darkened with his shadow. “I’m up here,” he whispered back.

  Chills ran down her body, raising goosebumps on her arms. Her heartbeat accelerated, somewhere between terrified and giddy. She hesitated only a moment to ask herself if she was certain about this decision. Then she continued forward in the darkened barn. Her hands were moist as she climbed the ladder into the hayloft. He met Chase at the top of the ladder and took her hands to pull her to her feet.

  “Hello,” he greeted softly.

  She only smiled nervously in response. He had pushed open the mow door in the upper level of the barn, letting in the soft moonlight.

  “I didn’t dare turn on a lamp,” he explained.

  “Of course,” she answered simply.

  “I just came to finish that conversation we had started,” he assured her gently. “I want to make sure that you know what you’re doing. This isn’t a decision to be made lightly.”

  “It’s not one I made lightly.”

  “If anyone found out—”

  There was no need to finish his thought. They both knew what could happen. “Then we must be discreet,” she answered.

  “If this has anything to do with me going upstairs with Virginia, I—”

  She moved quickly, bringing her body against his and standing on tiptoe, pulling his head down to bring his mouth to her own. He did not hesitate to return the kiss. Their tongues tangled hungrily as he pulled her body tighter to his. He was already aroused, and it was more evident with only the light linen of her nightgown and his trousers between them. Still keeping one arm around her waist, his other hand cupped her breast possessively. Chase pulled back and ran her own hands down over his chest, feeling the warmth and muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt.

  He reached up and undid the first two buttons before she nudged his hands out of the way and finished the job herself. She pushed the shirt off of his shoulders and trailed her fingertips over his shoulders, down his arms, and then up his stomach and chest.

  “My God, you’re exquisite,” he breathed.

  “I was just thinking the same thing of you.”

  “We have to stop, Chase.”

  “Stop?”

  “I didn’t come here for this. Not tonight. Not here. You’re a lady, and…” he trailed off. “I only came to talk.”

  She looked at his mouth, made red from their hungry kisses. “And we did talk,” she reminded him. “Now kiss me.”

  “Are you sure about this?” He couldn’t disguise the note of hope in his voice. He was afraid that she would change my mind.

  “I’m certain,” Chase answered simply.

  “There are things I can do to make this easier on you, but it’s still going to hurt this first time,” he warned gently.

  “I trust you.”<
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  That being said, he pulled her against his body again, moving against her erotically while kissing her mouth and neck thoroughly. His tongue left a moist trail up her neck, and he nipped her earlobe. She shivered in his arms and moved closer to share his warmth. Then his hands were between them, removing his trousers and boots. She untied the lace at the throat of her nightgown and began to pull it over her head.

  “Wait,” he ordered. “Let me.” And then he was gently lifting the hem of her nightgown up to her waist and then over her head. She lifted her arms to accommodate him and then rushed back against his body. She became immediately self-conscious and unsure of herself. He didn’t insist on staring at her body. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and lowered her to the puddle of their clothing placed on top of the straw-covered ground. He lay next to her on his side, still kissing her and exploring her body with his hands. He gently pinched her breasts and then soothed them with a kiss. He ran his strong hands lightly down her stomach until his fingertips teased the hair that covered her most intimate places.

  “You are so beautiful, Chase. So beautiful.”

  She was unable to answer. His hands were caressing her legs, and then moving higher. She gasped to feel his touch.

  “So warm and wet,” he whispered.

  She could barely groan in response.

  He leaned over and kissed her, sucking gently on her lower lip. She felt the pressure beginning to build inside of her. And when she thought that she could take no more, the pressure exploded, sending extraordinary tremors through her body. She gasped in surprise and delight.

  “That’s my girl,” he crooned. And then his mouth was following the same path has hands had just taken, beginning by flicking her nipples with the tip of his tongue and then moving lower.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, suddenly unsure.

  “Trust me,” he answered gruffly. When he put his mouth on her and teased her, she writhed beneath him in sweet agony and pleasure. She had never felt anything so incredible in her life. This time, her climax was more intense, and she called out his name in a soft moan. He held himself up over her, pausing a moment to smile down at her. “How are you doing?” he asked with his slow sexy drawl.

  “I’m positively humming,” she mumbled with a small grin of her own.

  His eyes glittered in the moonlight as his body and mouth came down on top of her own. He took her tongue gently between his teeth and then pulled back. “I hate that this is going to hurt you,” he whispered apologetically.

  “I’ll be fine,” she answered, silently hoping that the pain she would experience would be more physical than emotional. And as he moved slowly and watched her face closely to guage her reaction, the knowledge that it was too late for her to turn back only entered her mind for a moment. He lay still, allowing her body to grow accustomed to the pain. And only when the pain became a faintly dull ache did he move inside of her. He grit his teeth together with each slow long stroke. And slowly, the ache turned into an exquisite sensation that began to build inside of her again, chasing away any doubts she might have had. Recognizing now that her body was reaching toward a climax, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips.

  He groaned above her and gasped, “So incredible!” He began moving faster inside of her, and she crossed her ankles behind his back, locking his body against her own. They moved together, and she closed her eyes against the intensity. And then her body exploded more abruptly and completely than before. This time, she cried out with him. They lay beside each other, both of them gasping for breath, unable to speak about what they had just done.

  And it was in that moment that she finally realized that the day she walked into that saloon in Liverpool, Colton Webb had shattered her world.

  CHAPTER 14

  “Chase, it’s time to wake up. Chase?”

  The soft voice and a gentle touch on her arm dragged her out of a deep sleep.

  “Gracious! What time did you come to bed last night? I’ve been trying to get you to open your eyes for nearly ten minutes!” Reese exclaimed, sitting on her knees beside her sister on the bed they shared.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Chase answered drowsily. For a moment, she remembered her meeting by moonlight with Colton Webb. In the early morning sunlight, it seemed only a dream. Were it not for the soreness between her legs, she might have not believed it had happened.

  “I was going to let you sleep this morning, but Marcus needs your help in the stables. And you’re supposed to go with him to Midland later this morning. He told me to drag your carcass out of bed, if necessary. It seems that Marcus is in quite a sour mood this morning,” she warned.

  It didn’t matter. Nothing could sour her mood. She stretched lazily and smiled at the memory of the evening before.

  “Are you okay?” he had asked quietly as he lay down beside her.

  “Hmm,” she had answered groggily.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “Not terribly,” she had smiled to ease his mind.

  “I’m told that it doesn’t hurt after the first time. It can actually be quite pleasurable.”

  She had laughed at the apologetic look in his velvet eyes. “I imagine that it can be. But ‘after the first time?’ Wasn’t this just a matter of relieving some tension? Getting it out of our systems?” she reminded.

  He’d grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It may take a few more times to fully purge ourselves.”

  “Pity,” Chase grinned in return.

  He leaned over her and kissed her slowly. When he pulled back, he reached for her nightgown. “You should probably get back before someone misses you,” he suggested.

  “I wish we could stay here all night.”

  “Oh yes,” he agreed. “To wake up with Marcus looking down the barrel of his gun at me? That would be lovely.”

  She giggled and cut off the girlish sound shortly. “Okay. I’ll leave.” She took the nightgown and stood up, pulling the thin fabric over her head. “When shall we…?” She didn’t finish the question, suddenly worried about sounding too needy or too eager.

  He lay on his back at her feet, grinning smugly up at her.

  “You’re looking very satisfied with yourself,” she observed wryly.

  He moved abruptly, sitting up and wrapping his hands around her waist. He pulled her down on top of him so that she straddled his still naked body. “Satisfied? Not nearly,” he growled, capturing her mouth in another kiss. “I don’t think I could ever get enough of you,” he breathed between kisses.

  And then Chase’s nightgown was over her head, and he was lifting her body and lowering her again, impaling her. She shuddered in anticipation and allowed him to show her how to bring them both closer to satisfaction.

  “Do you think you’ll be getting out of bed some time this morning? Or do we need to call the doctor?” Reese asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

  The doctor was the last person she wanted to see. Chase climbed out of bed and reached for her working trousers and shirt. As she slipped out of her nightgown, Reese gasped.

  “What happened to your hip?” she asked.

  Chase looked down at her left hip and saw four neat purple bruises. Finger prints. As Colton neared climax, he had squeezed her hips painfully and then quickly lifted her off of him. He had explained that he could not climax inside of her without risk of getting her with child. She was both disappointed and grateful. “I probably bumped it in the stables,” Chase lied. “Don’t mention it to Marcus, or he’ll put me back in the house with the rest of the women. As it is, he thinks I’m too soft to help with the ranch.”

  “It looks sore,” she observed sympathetically.

  She pulled her pants on quickly so that her sister wouldn’t see the matching marks on the other side of her hip. “It doesn’t hurt at all,” Chase assured her. “Now, not another word about it.”

  Reese nodded without showing any signs of disbelief. Chase doubted that her brother or g
randmother would be so naïve.

  Throughout the morning, the soreness from her night with Webb disappeared as she began taxing other muscles in her body. She was saddling up Artemis and Goliath, Marcus’s horse, shortly before lunch when Marcus approached her.

  “Are you sure you’re feeling well today?” he asked her. “I am capable of taking the train to Midland by myself. Perhaps you should stay home and rest for a bit.”

  “I’m feeling fine, Marcus. Why are you so concerned?”

  “You have dark circles under your eyes. And you have been in your own world all morning. Distracted.”

  Chase laughed, knowing full well that she had replayed the night’s events at least two dozen times in her mind while she had worked. Distracted indeed. “I didn’t sleep well last night. That’s all. I’ll sleep like a baby tonight. And tomorrow will be a new day.”

  “What are you worrying about that has got you up all night?” he asked suspiciously.

  Chase wondered if he wasn’t as oblivious as Elisa had thought. Perhaps he had noticed the looks his sister had been trading with Colton Webb. Perhaps he suspected that she was lying awake all night thinking of him. He wouldn’t be entirely wrong. “It’s nothing. But I’ve been looking forward to riding into the city with you since you invited me yesterday. Please don’t make me stay behind.”

  He studied her eyes and nodded reluctantly. “Okay. But if you aren’t feeling better tomorrow, I think we should consider calling Dr. Burns.”

  “I’m fine, Marcus,” she laughed. She finished saddling up Artemis and patted the side of her head fondly. Chase looked into her eyes and knew that they shared a beautiful secret. Chase kissed her nose and led her out of the stall.

  During their ride to the train station, she ignored Marcus’s repeated glances in her direction. She imagined he half-expected her to fall asleep in her saddle and fall under Artemis’ feet. Chase smiled to herself, but hurriedly wiped the expression away when she noticed Marcus looking her way again. If she hadn’t been in such a pleasant mood, it probably would have been bloody irritating.