Once everything was carried inside and put away in its proper place, Courtney took the time to familiarize herself with the kitchen and where things were. Then she pulled out a couple of pots and pans and started cooking. Paul asked her if she needed any help with anything, but she only waved him away. “Go make sure your brother doesn’t kill anyone out there and let them know they’ll hear the cowbell outside when supper’s done.”
He nodded and disappeared out of the kitchen before she could ask anything more of him. Looking about, Courtney brushed her hair back out of her face, rolled up her sleeves and set to work.
Supper was a success. The men gathered outside at a row of tables where Courtney served them tin bowls full of soup. She hadn’t known how much to make and knew that if she made too much the soup would keep overnight better than anything else she made if there happened to be extra. She served all the hired men first, learning names as she placed bowls before them all. She warned them she may not remember all their names, to which they assured her they didn’t mind.
Brandon held back, watching her from the edge of the crowd, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes shielded. She knew he watched her though, knew it like she knew the sky was blue.
When she served him his meal, he thanked her, a small smile crossing his face the first time. She stepped back and waited, wondering what he would think of it. It really had been a long time since she’d cooked for anyone and she worried that the other men were being nice because they thought it in her power to fire them. No need to tell them she wouldn’t even if she did. Somehow though, she knew Brandon wouldn’t mince words with her. If her cooking was bad, he’d tell her it was.
He ate in silence, taking several bites before he seemed to realize she was watching. Then he glanced at her where she stood with her hands behind her back, awaiting his assessment. He nodded his approval. She beamed at him, turning away and practically skipping back to the kitchen. He liked it. He liked her cooking. Maybe there was hope that this would work after all.
As she passed the table, some of the men asked if there was enough for second helpings. She assured them there was and told them they could come get themselves more if they liked.
Inside the house once more, Courtney dished herself a bowl of soup and sat at the table there, relishing in the silence inside the house even as she heard the night noises outside. That would take some getting used to: the crickets and the frogs singing. In the distance, a coyote howled, but it didn’t bother Courtney. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself.
Every once in a while one of the men would come help themselves to another scoop of soup. Beyond a smile in their direction, Courtney didn’t interact with them, choosing to eat in silence so that she could explore the house afterwards. She asked that the dirty dishes be stacked on the table and assured the men she could handle them herself. She set to work after eating, filling a bucket with water and scrubbing the dishes with water and scouring food off with sand. Then she set them out to dry and explored the house.
Outside, the men grew loud with the sounds of song and conversations. Laughter filled the air and there was an overall sense of companionship amongst the men. She was glad. That would mean few fights in the long run.
Upstairs, Courtney paused in front of the closed doors and looked around. A feeling that she was being watched nagged at her, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. A shiver passed through her body and she returned her attention to the task at hand.
“That room’s off limits,” a steel voice said behind her just as she turned the knob and started inside.
She slammed the door shut, spinning around and flattening her back against the wood, her hand pressed over her heart. She stared up at Brandon, who stood at the head of the stairs, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her through narrowed eyes. Even angry, he made her heart pound in her chest.
That wasn’t something she had expected. She’d known what marriage would mean and had accepted it. She hadn’t counted on being attracted to the man she’d marry. It was nice. Unexpected, but nice.
“I… I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I wasn’t trying to be nosy. I’m just tired. I want to sleep.”
He didn’t say anything right away. He simply watched her, as if trying to consider something.
“So you’re my wife?” he said after several moments.
“That is what I’ve been told,” she countered.
Brandon nodded, the barest movement she wouldn’t have seen if she hadn’t seen the bob of his hat atop his head. Then he strode toward her, his gaze hot as he came closer and closer until he had her pinned against the door.
“And do you know everything that entails?” he asked. There was heat in his gaze, but it was the gruff tone in his words that left her breathless. Her eyes moved down to his mouth and she swallowed hard.
“I think I’ve figured it out,” she whispered, closing her eyes and taking a shattering breath.
It was that moment he chose to capture her mouth with his. He demanded her attention, drawing her lips to his. She melted into him as he commanded she relinquish herself to him. His tongue swept across her bottom lip, seeking entrance to her mouth. With a moan, she surrendered completely, and their tongues danced with one another.
His hands slid up her sides, cupping her breasts through the fabric of her gown and she moaned again. Her stomach felt tight and heat pooled between her legs. He was promising a release she didn’t even know she needed until that moment.
“Fuck it,” he growled against her mouth, pulling her tight against him as he reached around her and opened the door. He shoved her inside, slamming the door shut behind him. Then he grabbed her and pushed her up against it, his hands sliding down her sides to the edge of her skirt and up under them.
His mouth assaulted her mouth, her neck, her shoulders, every bare piece of flesh he could reach. All the while, his hands roamed over her heated flesh, touching her and sending spirals of heat through her. She gasped for air, desperate for something she didn’t understand.
“Brandon,” she moaned. She closed her eyes and groaned. Her hands tangled into his hair as she tried to pull him back up to her mouth. He had other ideas though.
He flattened himself against her, tugging at her earlobe. His breath was heavy and hot in her ear and a shiver passed through her.
His hands navigated past all her garments then and she realized his intentions just before he succeeded in executing them. His fingers slide inside her warmth and her eyes widened in shock. She cried out in pure pleasure as he started moving his fingers, drawing mewling calls from her throat. He chuckled in her ear. “Do I please you, baby?”
There was no words to describe the feeling swimming through her. Her hips bucked toward his hand, wanting, needing, more. She could only nod as she held onto him for dear life. An ache started in her belly. She needed more from him, more than he was giving her. She just wasn’t sure what it was she needed though.
“Come on, baby,” he growled. “Give me what I want.”
“What do you want?” she asked, breathless. Pleasure rippled throughout her body, and with two more strokes of his fingers, her body undulated at his touch and she came with a loud cry.
“That’s it, baby. That’s it.” He chuckled. His beard scratched her neck as he pulled away and looked at her, a grin on his face. “Turn around,” he told her.
Her body trembled with the aftermath of her orgasm, but she did as he told her, unsure of what was going to happen.
He tugged at the laces that held her gown closed and let it pool at her feet. He spun her around and striped her of her undergarments until she stood before him naked as the day she’d been born, satisfaction pasted to his face as he looked her over. His mouth was hot on her skin as he kissed her once more.
Then he lifted her into the air, his hands under her ass, spreading her for him. When he had lowered his pants, she couldn’t remember. Everything was happening in a haze. What was he doing to her? She knew what they
were doing, understood what was going on, but she hadn’t expected the flood of emotions that would go along with it. She could barely think. She only knew that she needed something only he could give her.
Understanding came to her as his cock sank deep inside her. She cried out, pain mingling with pleasure, and he froze.
He pulled back his head, where he’d been kissing the curve where her neck and shoulder met, and stared at her. “You’re a virgin?” he asked.
A smirk of satisfaction crossed her face. “Not anymore,” she said, and she leaned forward to kiss him. “Don’t stop, please,” she whispered against his mouth. She needed this. If he stopped, it was all over. Somehow, she knew that, understood it like the back of her hand.
A growl erupted from his throat. “Fine,” he snarled. She could feel his anger, but whether it was toward her or himself, she didn’t know. It didn’t matter.
His hips thrust toward her again, burying himself deeper inside her. She moaned, throwing her head back as a new wave of pleasure rippled through her. This was what she needed. This man. This moment.
Her hands tangled in his hair as his mouth lowered over her breast. His hips bucked, his teeth teased her nipple. Nothing existed but the connection between her and Brandon, the way he pumped himself inside her, her ass in his hands, her legs wrapped around his waist. She arched her back, another orgasm washing through her. She moaned, the sound loud and only an echo of the loud groan that exited his throat as he came inside her.
She could feel his cock pulsing as jets of cum erupted inside her. Her cheeks heated for a moment. She’d brought him pleasure. She’d brought out this reaction in him. It was a powerful knowledge to have, she knew. It was something almost magical, in her opinion.
He withdrew from her, placing her feet back on the ground. They both stood panting and breathing heavily. He planted his hands against the door on either side of her head, looking down at her.
Then something in his expression changed. His face changed in the blink of an eye, going from satisfied to angry in a moment’s notice. “This was not the proper way to take a virgin,” he said.
She chuckled, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear. His anger held no sway over him. “What do we care about proper?”
“I care!” he snarled. “This is not how I would have done this. It should have been slow and in a bed, dammit!”
Courtney pursed her lips together and her brows knit as one. “Why does it matter?” She leaned into him, noting how he trembled at her touch and loving that. Was it possible he felt an attraction toward her as she did him? Was it possible they might one day love one another? Was there a possibility that this marriage hadn’t been a mistake?
Her thoughts were dashed away with his next words. “At the end of the week, when Paul visits again, you will leave. I don’t want or need a wife. Understand?”
She pulled away from him as if he’d slapped her, her hands falling to her sides, her eyes drifting to the floor and her shoulders sagging in defeat. “Yes,” she whispered in a broken voice. “I understand.”
“Good.” He nodded, a movement she only saw out of the corner of her eye. “Get dressed and follow me. I’ll show you where you’ll sleep the rest of this week.”
Courtney le Brush had never been one to cry over a man, but that night, as she lay in the bed Brandon had shown her to, tears fell from her eyes. She had wanted so much for this to work out. It wasn’t going to though. In her heart, she knew that was true.
For the first time in her life, she felt her heart break in a million tiny pieces.
Part 2 – Saving The Bride
It always happened when she saw Paul in town. Of course it did. Courtney hated the feeling that washed through her, the enormous wave of sadness that swept through her. It didn’t help that he gave her a look of pity before turning away.
Like her, Paul had thought things would work out between her and his brother, Brandon. Courtney had married Brandon after answering an ad Paul had placed in the town paper. She was no longer married to the man though. After a single night of sex, he’d pushed her away, telling her to leave his place as soon as Paul returned.
That had been over a month ago. She’d counted the days since she’d left the ranch. In the week she’d remained at the ranch, she had cooked and cleaned for Brandon and his hired hands, but she hadn’t spoken much. She’d done her duties and left it at that. Looking at Brandon had been the hardest part, for the more she watched him working with his men, his horse, the cattle, the more she fell in love with him.
He was a kind-hearted person, she knew. It was just that she was here after he’d had his heart crushed before. She was a sore reminder of what he’d lost, she knew. She would never be to him what he’d become to her.
She shook her head. That was the past. She had her father to think about. He was the reason she’d agreed to the marriage in the first place. Her father had informed her that they were broke. Even though he had no suspicions against the man, Courtney was pretty certain it was the doing of Talbert, the accountant her father insisted on working with.
According to her father, Talbert was a respectable man with only the best intentions. According to Courtney, Talbert was a sleaze of a man who looked at her like she was something to eat.
She hated the man. He disgusted her, repulsed her. Every time he touched her, she felt like bugs were crawling across her skin.
It was nothing to the way Brandon had made her feel. He had looked at her like she was something to be claimed, with heat in his eyes, passion, desire. It drove her wild. Then, when he’d touched her, it had burned with the same intensity, but at the same time, she felt protected, cherished, and—to be honest—loved. He’d possessed her, but he’d thrown her away as if she disgusted him, or he disgusted himself. She had never known which it was.
In the end, it didn’t matter. He didn’t want her, had sent her away the first moment he could. While she’d been willing to make things work between them, he hadn’t. He just wanted her gone, so when Paul returned to the ranch to visit, she’d packed her bags and left.
It had been a miserable ride, spent with her face in her hands, crying as soon as the ranch was behind them. She’d felt sorry for Paul, who’d driven the wagon, as he sat looking uncomfortable and just as miserable. She’d apologized profusely when he dropped her off at her father’s house.
“It’s alright Miss le Brush. You love him.” He smiled at her. “You didn’t have to, but you did. He’s a fool not to have seen it.”
He was right, of course. She had fallen in love with his brother. She hadn’t expected it, and now she wished she could drive the memory of the man from her mind. Life at home had returned to pretty much normal.
Her father had never even noticed she was gone. According to their butler, Gerald, he’d spent most of his time in his own room, wallowing in self-pity. When he had come out, it had been to sit in the library and read the paper while drinking a scotch or to eat a meal in the kitchen. Either time, his gaze was vacant. He was only a fourth of the man he had been.
Seeing him herself, Courtney had to admit Gerald was right. His only joy seemed to come in the form of Simon Talbert, the very man who Courtney was sure had sent him into the state he was in.
Courtney noted that Talbert appeared more often than he had in the past, visiting her ill father and going over facts and figures to “make up the money they were down” as he put it. She sneered at the thought, a trait she’d picked up in Brandon’s presence. It was unladylike, but she didn’t care. She honestly couldn’t stand Talbert and wanted him out of her home and away from her father.
Of course, her father didn’t agree with her, so when Talbert was visiting, she retired to her room, stating she had other matters to care for. Most of the time, it worked. Other times, her father forced her to stay and entertain Talbert while he retired.
Those were the moments she hated the most, being alone with Talbert. When he touched her, it was hard to hold back the
sneer of contempt she had for him, and she didn’t bother trying to repress the shiver of disgust that rippled through her body.
Despite her thoughts of him, he wasn’t a repulsive-looking man. He was rather a handsome man with his blond hair cut close to his head and his cool blue eyes. He always dressed rather smartly in a suit complete with a tie, but his looks did nothing for her. Behind the cool blue of his eyes, Courtney always suspected was a conniving man, waiting for his moment to strike, waiting for his moment to reveal his actual plan. She always got the feeling he only said a third of what he thought and that the words he said weren’t based on the real thoughts swirling in his mind.
A snake in the grass. That’s what he was. Something to be shot as soon as it was seen, lest one might feel its bite. Courtney had no intention of his biting her, but the more time passed, the more she realized it might happen anyway.
That seemed to be what her father was pushing for anyway with his wanting to leave her and Talbert alone for a bit each time he visited like now.
She sat in her favorite chair in the library, pretending to read her book—Shakespeare, of course—even though she was really watching Talbert, who stood next to the window, his hands tucked neatly behind his back, which faced her. He seemed to be ignoring her, but she knew he was thinking of several things while pondering his words. It was his ability to stay silent and process his thoughts that made her father love him and her distrust him.
In her opinion, the longer he stayed silent, the longer he had to plot and plan. Her father just saw it as a sign of intelligence. He thought things through and didn’t do anything without first considering all aspects of the problem.
Brandon was the complete opposite. He thought on his feet and always responded with a brashness that Courtney had come to admire. She sighed, thinking of the man, wishing she were back at the ranch, cooking the luncheon meal and tidying the kitchen. Life had been good at the ranch. No one held her to standards she was afraid to fail. All they cared about was a good, hot meal twice a day and a decent breakfast in the morning paired with a good, strong coffee.
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 25
