by Jenny Penn
Unfortunately, it led into the ‘kiss the bride’ moment, and for the first time since meeting him, Mary Anne really didn’t want to kiss Malcolm’s swollen lips. Thankfully, Richard saved her from that experience by simply jerking her out from under Malcolm’s lowering head.
“You’ve had all the kisses you gonna get, Tanner.” And just like that Mike broke into a wide grin while Malcolm’s damaged features twisted into a scowl.
“She’s my wife,” Malcolm snapped.
“She’s my sister first, and you ain’t going to touch her as long as I’m around. Got that, boy?”
“What did you call me?” Despite all the bruises, Malcolm stepped right into Richard, more than willing to go a second round.
Mary Anne had enough. Men could be so damn annoying. Throwing down the wilted clump of flowers, she screamed at the top of her voice. “Just stop it! This is my wedding day. It’s bad enough that I don’t have a decent dress or even live flowers. I got to stand here with my brothers growling down my back and my damn idiot of a husband grinning and bleeding all over the place. Given that all of you have successfully worked to trash what is supposed to be a very special day for me, it would be nice if all of you could tether your more barbaric and pig-headed ways until after my wedding day.”
“Now, Mary Anne,” Malcolm began in the already fine-tuned plaintive voice of husbands facing irrational wives everywhere. It was the very last straw.
“Don’t ‘Mary Anne’ me,” she snapped back. “I will not be patted on the head and sent to the corner like a good dog would. I am your wife, and when I tell you that come spring, I expect a proper ceremony with flowers and my husband dressed in something other than torn, dirty, bloody clothes. I want it in a church, and you better plan on buying me a nice dress too. Do you hear me, Malcolm?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Good. Now, Richard, I expect you to behave yourself around my husband and his family. Otherwise, I’ll tell Marty about that thing.” She nodded as if that meant something. It didn’t, but Marty jumped immediately to the bait.
“What thing?”
“She is bullshitting you,” Richard grunted. “Don’t even fall for it, Marty.”
Marty caught her eye, and she gave him a little smile. He couldn’t tell if she lied or if Richard had. Either could be possible given their history, and now it would bother Marty. Marty would bother Richard. That would keep them entertained enough not to bother Malcolm, hopefully.
“I’m just saying, Richard, we both know there are some things better kept quiet, right?”
“Damnit, Mary Anne,” Richard growled, not the least bit amused. He could be pissed all he wanted. They both knew as a distraction it would work.
“Now, I’m going in.” Mary Anne drew herself up to stand as straight as she could before she laid down the law. “Just remember that’s my house now, and I won’t be tolerating any fighting or bickering in it.”
As Mary Anne made a regal sweep up the stairs, she caught Malcolm’s grumble, “I told you she was a bossy bit of goods.”
That’s just the way he liked her, too, Mary Anne smiled.
As big a scene as she’d thrown, she actually considered today to be just about perfect. Even with the arguing and the fighting, one fact outshined all the drama. She was now Mrs. Tanner, and this really was her life.
It didn’t turn out to be the life she envisioned over the next several days. Despite her attempts to divert Marty and Richard, they remained united on several fronts. One, unfortunately, being to ensure Malcolm didn’t get any closer than a foot of her.
Her brothers went so far as to pile in on the floor around her bed as large mass of sentries protecting a virtue that had long been lost. Finally, as the third morning dawned clear and crisp, it was the preacher Richard lugged up to the ranch who said they better get moving before the weather decided to worsen.
The old man might have been thinking of his own ends, but there hadn’t been a single Tanner that hadn’t jumped on his comment and put the pressure on the three Carol brothers to get a move on. Mike and Malcolm had more than graciously gone off to ready the horses and made sure her brothers had proper supplies.
As the rest of the men got their gears together, Mary Anne wrapped herself up in the oversized coat Mike produced weeks ago from one of the stored trunks, one of his brother’s. It swallowed her whole, but kept her that much warmer for it.
Braving the cold to go find her brother in the barn with her husbands, Mary Anne knew the time had come for her and Richard to talk. He’d been sullen and cranky, barely speaking to her the past couple of days. He might have had a right to his surly attitude, but Mary Anne didn’t want him to leave with that in his heart, just in case this was the last time they saw each other.
With the door to the corral wide open so the cows could enjoy the daylight, she could see clearly through the barn doors out to the other side of the massive building. She ran into Malcolm as he lead two horses into the pasture. As he approached, he nodded and gave her a look that told her just what he planned for her the second her brothers rode out of sight. Her charmer almost looked giddy with anticipation, and she couldn’t help but grin as the horses passed by.
Without bothering to call out or even pause, Mary Anne continued into the barn to find her brother in a quiet conversation with Mike. They looked up as she approached, and Mike gave her a gentle smile as he pulled the reins of one horse free of the corral post.
“I’ll give you two a moment. Mary Anne.” He nodded in a gesture of gentlemanly respect, but as his gaze lifted she could see the heat brimming in his gaze. Mike may have hidden it better, but he had just as wicked thoughts in that head of his as his brother’s.
She didn’t have time to focus on that with Richard standing stiff before her. The past three days hadn’t been near enough time for him to heal his injured pride. Even though they both knew this would be how the story ended, she also knew Richard always hoped he was wrong.
Giving him a smile, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a strong hug. After a moment’s hesitation, he returned the gesture, relaxing just a little. With a sigh, he spoke the first words he had to her since the day he caught her in bed with Malcolm.
“I did you wrong, Mary Anne.”
That made her smile. The way he said it in such a grave voice had her leaning back to shake her head at him. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Richard. I love Malcolm Tanner. I belong here with him. I never would have found my home if you hadn’t brought me to it, and for that I thank you.”
That didn’t ease the frown on his brow. Instead, he stiffened back up. “Mary Anne, you should know—”
She stopped him with a finger to his lips. “No, I shouldn’t. I know what I need to, Richard. I know sometimes when you think you’re doing right, you do wrong. Then when you think you did wrong, it turns out right. That’s the way it is here, Richard. You thought you did right by making Reggie marry me, but it went wrong. Now you’re thinking what you did here is wrong, but I know it’s going to turn out right.”
His lips folded in and he remained obviously unconvinced despite his words. “I hope you’re right.”
“But you don’t believe I am.” Mary Anne sighed and stepped back. “It doesn’t matter. However things may go, I know you did what you thought was right. You did it because you love me. You never mean to see me hurt, so don’t start blaming yourself if I end up that way, ‘cause I won’t.”
“But I will,” Richard stated with final authority. “Listen, I buried some gold for you. If you ever need it, if things here don’t go right, it’s your freedom, do you understand me?”
“Richard—”
“No. You aren’t going to argue with this, Mary Anne. There are other things in this world that you need to worry about than just your husband, like Nate Willis. We got most of them, Mary Anne, but we didn’t get him. You know what I’d do if somebody killed one of my kin. Don’t doubt that he’ll do the same but with no honor to the fact that you�
�re a woman.
“Nate’s just one of many men running free and wild out here. There ain’t no telling what the future holds for any of us. If it comes to it, that money is there for you. I just hope you never need it and it stays in the earth where it belongs.”
Just like Eric, she knew Richard had set his mind to this and there would be no changing it. “Fine. Where did you bury it?”
“Remember the night you put that beheaded fish in the pan and it jumped back up at you and you screamed that it was alive?”
Then all her brothers had laughed at her. Why do brothers always remember the most embarrassing moments? She didn’t respond but gave him that annoyed ‘but of course’ look that she perfected as a child.
“It’s buried right there where we camped. I drew a map and put it in the locker with your clothes, just in case you forgot how to get there. It’s close enough and on the way into South Pass. I’ll be back in the spring if you need to find me. Okay?”
“Okay, but you’re worrying for nothing.”
“Not for nothing,” Richard corrected. “For my angel.”
Mary Anne gave him a kiss for that. A quick one on his cheek that made him blushed and became all stern again. She didn’t mind. That’s just the way Richard was, like another man she knew. It dawned on her as she walked with her brother to the rest of the men waiting at the front of the cabin that he and Mike really were a lot alike.
They both liked to worry. They both got flustered when she showed them affection. They both had to be in control of everything, including her. With her being married to Malcolm would be hard on both of them. Mary Anne smiled as she accepted the hand Malcolm held out to her as they approached. Malcolm knew it, too, and that rascal intended to rub it in both Mike and Richard’s faces.
That became obvious as he looped his arm over her shoulder instead of respectfully settling for her hand. Possessively tucking her into his side, Malcolm met her brother’s narrowed-eyed gaze. Her husband just claimed authority from her brother.
“It was nice seeing you again, Richard.” Malcolm didn’t even try to make that lie sound sincere. “I hope you come back again real soon.”
“You can count on it,” Richard growled.
Fortunately, the goodbyes got more pleasant thanks to Malcolm keeping his mouth shut. Maybe it dawned on Malcolm that having her brother kick his ass would only mean he’d be in bed alone, recovering while she passed her time with Mike. Either way, she was grateful he kept the rest of his pithy comments to himself as she kissed her brothers goodbye and watched them ride slowly out of sight.
When they faded to nothing more than silhouettes against the horizon, Mary Anne felt Malcolm’s head shift in her direction and smiled, slowly turning to meet what she knew awaited for her in his gaze. Dark, heated promises greeted her as his lips parted. Whatever perverse thing he intended to say didn’t get a chance to greet the air.
Before Mary Anne could even understand what was happening, Malcolm went flying backward as Mike laid him out with a punch. In a flash, he turned on her. The whole world spun as she found herself suddenly thrown over his shoulder. Mary Anne didn’t even fight the laughter as he took off with her like some stolen bounty.
Epilogue
The snow glowed with a heavenly reflection of the violent strokes of color leaching out of the horizon. The sun would rise shortly, and it sent triumphant rays into the sky to ignite the day it would rule over. As Mary Anne lassoed her oversized, handed-down jacket with the makeshift rope belt Malcolm fashioned, she just prayed this time the sun would actually warm something instead of hovering there, impotent, over the frozen world.
The only positive thing Mary Anne saw in so much snow was that it meant they all had to stay inside and entertain each other. She didn’t have to be told to know that when it warmed up, her men would spend dawn to dusk working. They’d come in tired and in need of a good night’s sleep to be able to handle the next day’s chores.
Even now, they all still had chores, like feeding the dogs. Mary Anne lifted the skillet full of the previous evening’s dinner remains. Mike and Malcolm insisted that she get over her fear of the smelly beasts. They worked the land and the cattle with the men and would be free roaming come spring. That meant if she wanted to go outside, she might actually encounter one unattended sharp-toothed monsters.
Locking the dogs up at night, they made her carry out the morning treat. For now, they kept the hounds contained in one stall, so all she had to do was lob the food over the edge. Still, she had to get close to the stall’s wooden door and simple latch.
That became more and more unnerving as the days went by and the ritual began to take effect on the pack. They began to get more and more riled when they hear her opening the door. As she approached the stall, they’d bang and head butt the gate in an attempt to get free.
What would happen then, she feared to wonder?
It scared her enough that last week she ‘forgot’ to feed the dogs for a couple of days before Malcolm took note. The brothers hadn’t been pleased, nor did they believe her excuses. Just as he warned he’ll do, Malcolm paddled her ass. It just hadn’t turned out to be the punishment he meant for it to be.
The spanking aroused her, made her all excited with need. When Malcolm asked if she learned her lesson, she smiled in response. Sliding down between his legs, she showed him there at the table just how much she appreciated his discipline. Malcolm managed a few grunted denials, but then they turned to moans.
Mike didn’t take as light a hand to her punishments. She might have mastered Malcolm in that moment, but Mike stepped up to command her. Walking up behind her to flip her skirt up, he impaled her on his cock. Giving her no warning and no chance to escape, he rode her hard, keeping a hand buried in her hair to make sure she took care of Malcolm. Mary Anne’s breath caught as her loins warmed anew over the memory of being caught between them.
Of course the fact that she loved every minute of it gave Mike the key to what she really considered punishment. He decided that until she did all her chores, she’d be sleeping alone. She thought he’d been kidding. She certainly hadn’t expected them to hold true to that decree.
It was like they were made of stone. It didn’t matter how hard they got, they weren’t budging. That’s why she woke up early and trudged through the snow to go feed the damn dogs because after she finished, she would be ravishing her men and there would be no disagreements about that.
Her men cleared the path every day down to the barn and around the doors. Still, with the morning wind blowing hard and brisk, it fought her over the door as she pried it open. The gusts of air won as it snapped the wood back into place, eclipsing what little light the morning sun started to shed over the land.
Locked in the large, drafty barn with all the scents and sounds of livestock around her, Mary Anne hesitated, shoring up her nerve for the final step. The dogs must have been sleeping because they didn’t rouse instantly, but it didn’t take them long to pick up the scent of meat and grease. Even from the distance separating them, she could hear them growling and beginning to paw and bang on the gate.
The noises sounded ominous and threatening coming out of the shadows. Her ears strained as she mentally stretched to listen for the sounds of the gate coming undone. What came back were the tinkle of metal and the distant thumping of a heavy animal. Instead of drawing her attention to the dogs, it drew it back to the door.
With another struggle, she managed to crack it open enough to peek out and see the two riders bringing their horses up along the back porch. Men, two very large men, dismounted in a whirl of white as the snow lifted into the air under the impact. Mary Anne’s eyes widened on the giant wearing a long leather duster. Even from a distance, he looked mean and hardened.
Nate Willis!
The horror of the possibilities of what these men intended had her flinching back, and the wind snapped the barn door closed with a bang that echoed the pounding of her heart. Surely they would have heard that, woul
d hear the racket the dogs made, and would come to investigate. They would come here instead of going into the house and…Malcolm and Mike!
They were still asleep in bed, vulnerable. Mary Anne couldn’t let anything happen to them. Dumping the contents of the frying pan on the floor, she began climbing the bags of feed stockpiled next to the door. She made it up high enough that she could bring down the pan full force on the raider’s head.
The dogs were going wild now, banging the gate with such force she could feel the vibrations through the walls. The creaking of the door being pulled open echoed with a much more threatening sound from within the barn. A black hat floated under her nose as a man stepped into the food.
“What the—”
With a snap, the stall doors splintered and the man’s got cut off by the full scale frenzy bearing down on him. The hounds charged for the food and the man standing in it. Mary Anne seized her moment to whack him on top of the head with her pan.
He crumpled to his knees as she slid down the bags of feed to a lower perch. Smacking the pan above his eye as he turned into the hit, she sent him all the way down to the dogs. They instantly began licking all over his face. Not interested in seeing him get mauled, Mary Anne leapt over him.
Stumbling through the landing, she managed to snatch up the gun that flew from his hand when she attacked him. The cool wood handle secured in her hand, she went running full blast for the cabin. Hearing the dogs give chase behind her had her feet pounding even faster over the ground. Not fast enough, though, and she felt the tug of a set of jaws latch onto the back of her coat.
Mary Anne didn’t even pause as she shrugged free of the garment, the rope belt giving under the powerful force pulling on her from behind. Screaming like she was about to die, she cleared the back steps in two leaps and banged into the kitchen. With a slam, she rested for a second against the door as the dogs hit its hard surface with growls and barks. A blink of the eye showed her men, bare-chested and unarmed, standing before the stranger.
