“Who have you got here,” she said, eyeing her up and down.
“Well we ain’t exactly sure,” said Rafe.
“What do you mean you aren’t sure?” asked Fiona with a start.
“Ma,” said Rafe. “This here is Gretchen.”
Donny was silent. He wasn’t paying attention to the exchange between his mother or brother. Gretchen could feel him. He was looking at her. At the back of her head. She glanced over her shoulder slowly at him. He lifted the end of her heavy braid and winked at her. Rafe and Fiona were oblivious.
But Gretchen sure wasn’t. She was faint. She was thirsty again and she could enough another meal like the one she had on the coach. But something clear or revived in her and her insides were alive with heat. It was one of the best feelings she had experienced in a while. It was one of the best feelings she had experienced ever. Being really attracted to a handsome man.
“Why don’t you fetch Merla and let her figure it out for herself? They can both see whether they’re each other’s siblings,” said Fiona.
“That’s a fine idea,” said Rafe.
Rafe pushed passed Donny and Gretchen, out to one of the side buildings on the property. Fiona noted the connected between her other son and Gretchen.
“You not going with him?” she asked, like she was diagnosing something.
“Would you like for me to?” asked Donny. “I’ll go.”
“No why do you and Gretchen set her at the table. I have something on the stove I can feed you.”
She brought out a wheel of bread sliced like in eighths and through the middle. It was dry as tumbleweed but buttered where it had been sliced and just about the best tasting thing Gretchen could imagine. Fiona poured her a tin of tea. It wasn’t hot and it wasn’t cold but it sure was tasty.
“That will revive you some,” she said.
But she wasn’t done. She ladled out bowls of stew for each of them. Donny crumbled his bread in his stew and ate it that way. When Rafe returned with yet another McElroy and Merla, Gretchen had her mouth full.
It was tough to swallow the delicacy because it was that good. She wanted so badly to savor it. But she stood and waited to be introduced.
“You’re saying you’re Merla’s sister?” asked Mac McElroy.
“I am not sure if I am. I know the name Merla from when I was a young-in,” she said. “I am a little confused as to why.”
“Forgive me for saying,” said Fiona. “That sounds a might peculiar.”
Merla was stunned. She stared at the woman. She walked around her like a slow moving planet. Gretchen watched the expression on her face as though something was slowly dawning on her.
“I think it’s you,” said Merla. “I don’t know why I am having such a hard time knowing why it’s you for sure.”
A wall of pain erupted from deep within Gretchen’s belly. She put one hand to her mouth and extended the other outward, as if to invited Merla to come to. The two women embraced.
“Now wait a minute,” Donny protested. “We don’t know this is for sure. I say we do some more investigating.”
Rafe smiled a slow easy smile.
“Well yeah,” he said. “Because she’s mine if she’s the real deal.”
“I say she has a say in it,” said Donny.
“I say now is not the time,” said Fiona.
“But ma,” protested Donny.
“But nothing. You boys go out and get to your chores, “ she ordered. “Let these two be. They have sorting to do.”
And they did.
Merla and Gretchen sat around the dinner table, and sorted out Gretchen’s treasure box. In it contained things people who had shared experience would recognize. It was beyond incredible but it was true. Gretchen was Merla’s estranged sister, they truly believed.
Chapter Three
No one in the McElroy house could quite get over the fact that Rafe and Donny traveled to Wichita only to ran smack dab into the person they were looking for. It was the tale of a life time.
But grateful as she was, Gretchen had some healing to do. Sewell Finaker beat her soundly and she was fairly under nourished. It took a solid week but Fiona and Merla nursed her back to pretty good strength. For after all, she was family.
And as wild as Gretchen and Merla’s story was, something else was on Gretchen’s mind. Or rather someone. All she could think about was Donny. Her head was filled with him, like his soul was calling to hers. She heard the tale about Rafe road off to find her but it was Donny she wished to give her heart to.
One night, after a nice big meal, Rafe and Jake and Mac built a bon fire. It was a simple thing that gave Fiona pleasure, most of all. From stolen glances, Gretchen spied on the incredibly gorgeous McElroy clan.
The four McElroy men, muscle-bound from constant ranch work and plain-hard from prairie living, laughed softly over their own stories as the hearty fire gilded their ruggedly handsome faces.
But Gretchen kept coming back to Donny. He caught her checking him out. Through the flames of the fire, she connected to his deep, dark, sensual eyes as they smoldered across the way at her.
He had the same pulling desire for her that she had for him. Their yearning crawled through the heat of the fire to each other. As the family’s moment around the bon fire went on, Donny and Gretchen connected again and again. Their dance was one of stalking, stealing glances while they tried so hard to keep their family from finding out. They didn’t want to hurt Rafe’s pride.
Rafe was excited more than anything that it was determined, Gretchen was Merla’s long-lost sister. That she was his mail-order bride. But the more Rafe assumed she was “his”, the less Gretchen wanted to be near him.
Gretchen thought that Rafe was a sweet, nice man. He was handsome as all the McElroy’s were. He had the same good values that were apparent in all of them. And if he had come alone to Wichita, it might have very well turned out that she promised herself to Rafe.
But as for now, he was getting ahead of himself. Gretchen hadn’t spoken her mind about the proposition before now but she was about to. The less she wanted Rafe the more she wanted Donny. It was Donny not Rafe that she felt something for.
It appeared that Donny felt the same way. For he had the look of a man who made up his mind. He cut his eyes to her. They were dark and seductive. It was a look that was just for her. His look made her shiver and want him.
Donny turned and headed straight for the barn. His behavior stopped his family cold. A laughing bewilderment stirred the pleasant family.
“What’s he doing?” Jake smiled and shook his head.
“I’m saddling up my horse,” replied Donny sternly as he marched forward.
It sounded like to Gretchen that he was making a declaration.
“What for?” they each asked in their own way.
“Donovan McElroy,” called Fiona. “You’re being spoken to!”
He didn’t answer.
“Should I go after him?” asked Jake.
“If he don’t come back,” said Fiona.
But he did come back. In twenty minutes he reappeared, on horse-back. His tall form looking majestic and romantic on his mount. Donovan McElroy had Gretchen’s heart. Her crush on him was unleashed in full force. She thought he was the most gallant looking man she could imagine.
“What in tarnation are you doing?” asked Mac.
“I’m getting married,” he replied adamantly. “If Gretchen will have me.”
He extended his hand towards her, waiting for his answer.
“Now wait a dang minute,” Rafe demanded, his body stiffened with defiance.
“I figure I’d ask her since no one else has,” Donny scolded.
“I asked her,” replied Rafe.
“No you didn’t,” said Donny. “You’ve been a fiancé to a fiction girl in your mind since you heard of her. This here’s a real woman with a mind and a heart of her own. I’m letting her decide.”
Gretchen was filled with a burst of courage. She gat
hered her skirts and dashed to him. It was an unbelievable feeling to have this man defy his family so because he wanted her. No one had ever wanted her that much. No one. And she was not fool enough to turn him down.
“Yes,” she said. “Oh yes.”
She took Donny’s arm and by his incredible strength, lifted to the horse. She was seated snuggly behind him. The curse of the saddle and the curve of his hard muscled legs and buttocks, Gretchen was securely comfortable.
“I am sorry,” Gretchen called to Rafe.
Rafe hung his head. The once pleasant family moment around the bon fire had transformed in great part because of her. She looked over her shoulder every so often for as long as she could see them as she and Donny rode away.
Chapter Four
They didn’t really have a plan as they rode into Dodge except to find the preacher and to make him marry them on the spot. They didn’t have a room at the Dodge House. There was a chance that after they were married -- if they were married -- they would have to ride back home in the dark.
It was looking like that would be the case for the preacher wasn’t in the church just on the edge of town. If a preacher wasn’t home at this late hour, where could he be? Donny inquired of people as they passed where he might be.
And they got their answer. At the Longbranch.
The right reverend was about thirty dollars deep in a game of cards when Donny and Gretchen located him. She didn’t have much in the way of experience when it came to saloons but she could tell with one look, the preacher was sauced. He had been playing cards for most of the day and most of the night. He had been winning until his fellow poker player graced him with whisky.
According to lookers on, the drink was the secret to the preacher’s decline. He was now drunk and broke. It was a very frustrating moment in the face of Donny and Gretchen’s impatience. If the preacher had been right, they would be married in no time. The marshal took note of the young couple.
“What can I do for you, Donovan?” he asked.
The marshal was an enormous, handsome fellow perhaps old enough to be Donny’s father.
“Howdy there Ben. I didn’t notice you there. How have you been?” asked Donny.
“Why I am fine, son. How’s your ma?” he asked.
“She’s good, marshal,” replied Donny.
“What’s the trouble here? I can tell by the look on your face, something ain’t working for you?” said the Marshall.
“We want to get married. We didn’t want to wait. We were figuring on honeymooning at the Dodge House,” said Donny.
“Without your ma and brothers here?” asked the marshal. “Does Fiona know about this?”
“Well marshal, I am a grown man,” Donny said with a smile. “But she knows.”
“I think the preacher is of no use to you,” said the marshal. “But I can help you out.”
“You can?” asked Donny.
“Sure. I am can marry you in a civil ceremony,” he said.
“You can do that?” asked Donny.
“I sure can. I can jail, hang and officiate weddings,” he laughed.
“I only need you for the latter,” said Donny. “But ma will never cotton to us not getting married by the church,” said Donny.
“Precisely what I was thinking. So I’ll marry you now. And he’ll marry you tomorrow or the next day, whenever he’s sober next in front of your ma and family. I’ll see to it that he dries out.”
Donny looked to Gretchen. She trusted him and she just wanted to be married no matter how they got it done.
“Donny you going to introduce me to your intended?” asked the marshal.
“Marshal Ben Dolan, this here is Gretchen Mollie. Soon to be Gretchen McElroy. From Wichita,” said Donny.
Gretchen extended her hand with all the politeness she knew how. She was not school in such things and moments like these made her feel a little unsure.
“Wichita?” asked the marshal.
“I was an au pair for the Finaker family,” she responded.
The mention of that name made her stomach twist.
“Au pair?” said Donny. “Thought you said you was a nanny.”
“That’s the same thing,” said Gretchen. “It’s what rich people call a nanny.”
“Finaker? Rich. Hmm. Can’t say I am familiar,” said Marshal.
“Rich in money. Not in kindness,” said Gretchen. “I am much better off than they will ever be.”
She tightened her hold on Donny’s arm with affection.
“I see,” said marshal with a twinkle. “We better get you folks married. It’s almost tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
And so it was done. Sometime about two hours before midnight, Gretchen and Donny were Mr. and Mrs. Donovan McElroy. They were both a little nervous that the civil ceremony was legit but the marshal assured him, it was. Donny kissed the bride.
When his lips met hers, she was slammed with a force of passion that frightened her. It rushed her heart and her head. She could not think at all. If it were not for Donny holding her steady, she would have fallen over for sure.
His kisses were slight nibbles at first. More and more he opened his mouth. Gretchen had never ever been kissed before though Sewell Finaker grabbed her and made like he was going to.
But Gretchen wanted Donny to. And wherever it came from, she knew how to kiss him back. She opened her mouth for him and when his tongue slipped in past her lips, it was like she had anticipated it.
She hungered for it and had been impatiently waiting for it. Her arms around him tightened and she held on to him for dear life. Donny lifted her up off of her feet.
“Okay now, I think we’re done,” announced the marshal jokingly.
All the way to the Dodge House from their ceremony, the couple stopped and tried out more kissing, completely entranced by the effect they had on one another. The trip to their honeymoon lasted longer than the trip in to Dodge. The hotel clerk was still awake to sell them a room. Gretchen settled in while Donny stabled his horse.
She wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do or to expect. The hotel clerk brought her a basin of water. She splashed her face and freshened. She had no comb or brush but she did her best to smooth her hair, running her fingers through her long tresses.
Donny returned. She remained still at the vanity as he came up behind her, washing his face as well, ensconcing her in his arms. Gretchen dared relaxed against his generous warm form. He was so tall compared to her. So broad. Like a slab of mountain formed into a spectacular man.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered.
He pressed against her backside. Gretchen hummed with reaction. She felt all ticklish and warm. The feeling seemed to gather in the nest of her belly. She clenched up inside. Donny nuzzled the base of her neck. She could not help but cry out, the effect was so erotic.
He braced her soft shoulders and walked her backward towards the bed. He sat first, the she on his lap. Donny scooted them against the foot board. He spread her legs with his while they were fully clothed.
His broad hand skimmed up her billows of skirts. He fished beneath the layers of fabric to finally find her bare skin. It was foreign feeling to have skin on skin on the soft insides of her legs. He strummed her a bit, sending waves of melting, exhilarating vibrations throughout her body.
Gretchen was throbbing between her legs and Donny knew it. Her found her, gently introducing touch to her there. He pressed where she most needed pressure, wagging his feelings back and forth, making her ache even more.
Wetness flowed from her body. She pressed against him, craning her neck like she was begging him to do something. He pressed his lips to the curve of her neck, flaring her feelings till they burned out of control.
Donny worked his mouth and his fingers in tandem till the pressure in her belly built up and up. Gretchen was drowning in her arousal. The waves were up all around her until Donny made them give way to ripples and rolls of endless sugared seizures.
She burst and was consumed by untold ecstasy. Her belly undulated from within, clenching endlessly. Her nipples were electric daggered pressing against the merciless tightness of her bodice.
“Oh God,” she called.
Donny spun her around, gently situating her body so he could undress her. He knew his way around a woman’s dress. He pushed away the sides of her dress which was more like armor than anything. The blood flow through her body elevated her sexual pleasure. Gretchen shivered with delight.
He kissed her, working off his own clothing until she felt the flex of his erection against the softness of her thigh. She was a mix of anticipation and nerves. She knew and she didn’t know what was to happen next.
Donny lifted her thighs. He levered himself into the opening of her body. He was soft and hard and hot in her wetness. He took her mouth, his tongue owning her in dominating sweeps as he pushed firmly into her body.
Gretchen’s face spread with such surprise at the pain. It made no sense to integrate blinding pain into such sweetness. Her husband stroked her face.
“Dear sweet lady, it will pass,” he murmured.
And he waited until it did. He suckled an erect nipple, lathing it with wetness and heat until her body relaxed. Finally he moved. Her pleasure sensitive channel welcomed the pressure and the stroking of his manhood.
Momentarily, Gretchen was caught up in not knowing what to do. But then she was once again overwhelmed with the flood of senses that she was carried. Instinct took over and she moved against Donny’s body.
He groaned. That was Gretchen’s first real clue that she was doing things right. So she moved a little more. His eyelids flutters and his lips were washed with a slight smile. Her breasts bobbed with her motion and she was self-conscious.
“Oh don’t stop,” he pleaded.
So she began again. She noted that his eyes were fixed on her wobbling breasts. She cupped them, toyed with them and saw his smoky gaze that she was working magic. Donny clamped his mouth to hers and devoured her.
MC Romance: Gravel A Motorcycle Bad Boy Obsession (Untamed Rider Forbidden Temptation Book 1) Page 33
