His pumping took on a strength, it came much more quickly. Her gripped her buttocks and pounded into her with quick strokes. Gretchen felt herself getting lost again until that pent up pressure of before, built up into her again.
Donny was insane, with a fury, driving into her body. His breath and his half utterances escaped his lips as he seemed to be suffering. Now Gretchen was suffering too. The pleasure built up until the two of them came undone. They both released, letting go a torrent of ecstasy. They swam in it as their bodies seized on one another.
The tendrils of her sweet husband’s hair were damp with sweat. He sunk his head in the pillow next to her face. He rolled off of her. They lay beside on another, holding hands and staring at the ceiling.
“My word,” she said eventually. “My word.”
Chapter Six
Riding back to McElroy’s Bend, Gretchen and Donny were plagued by a bit of guilt for not marrying in front their family. But all that was about to be cured it was obvious because they pulled up their home completely prepared for a wedding.
The entrance to the modest home was draped with a little bit of ribbon. The common areas were raked neatly. A table was set outside to accommodate a meal. Donny pointed out the preacher’s horse and the marshal’s horse. The marshal appeared at the doorway of the home, with an easy smile. Fiona joined him, not smiling.
“Uh oh,” said Donny, helping Gretchen from the horse. “Well if anyone can smooth things over with ma, it’s Ben Dolan.”
“Who?” asked Gretchen.
“Marshal,” said Donny.
“I explained to your mother here the new way of getting married. But I promised her that we would make sure you two were good and married,” said the marshal.
“Obliged,” Donny said as he and his bride cautiously approached his mother. “Do we have your blessings?”
“Of course you do,” she answered still not smiling. “I am sure Rafe will get over it. He’s took off but he promises me it just to cool off. He also promises me that he will not get married without me witnessing.”
It was a little jab that Gretchen felt but she figured that was to be expected. Fiona braced her and kissed her on the cheek.
“Let’s get you washed and ready for your wedding,” she said.
Fiona and Merla took Gretchen into their clutches. In the biggest bedroom of the home was a tub of cooling bath water. They stripped her down and helped over the tub’s high sides. Gretchen squatted, meeting with an initial sting until she was immersed at the waist down.
Gretchen let her body slip all the way up to her shoulders. It felt so delicious.
“All the way under,” said Merla. “We’re washing your hair.”
She did as she was told and when she emerged, Fiona was sparingly snowing the water with rose scented soap flakes.
“Ma made these,” said Merla. “Aren’t they wonderful?”
They were indeed. Her skin softened under the oily film that the soap created. She smelled so good. She felt so good. Tingles spread throughout her as Merla scrubbed her scalp and massaged the ends of her hair with the soap.
Fiona worked the soles of Gretchen’s face with a soft bristled brush. Gretchen struggled to suppress her ticklishness. Fiona was quick, working her legs. She draped a leg over the tub and greased Gretchen’s leg with goo.
“Hold still,” she said.
She took out a razor and removed the hair. She did the same to the hair under arms. Gretchen had never heard of such a thing. Next Fiona pressed cream on her arms. She made Gretchen raise to her feet. She massaged the cream all over. Her back. Her buttocks. The backs of her legs. Gretchen felt like a pampered princess.
Merla and Fiona helped her onto a towel and the two of them worked to powder her from head to toe. Fiona fetched a wedding dress. Gretchen put on her underwear and stepped into the wedding dress. It was a little on short side but otherwise it fit her perfectly.
Merla squeezed the water out of her hair before combing it out. They plaited and wrapped her hair around her head so it was tight against her skull. They fitted her veil. Merla carefully arranged it and applied the slightest bit of lip rouge to her mouth.
“You look so beautiful,” Merla declared.
Gretchen looked at the woman who was supposed to be her sister. Even though the facts seemed to confirm that they were related, deep down, Gretchen wasn’t. Merla was a lovely person but Gretchen didn’t feel that connection. She was grateful nonetheless for all the trouble she took.
Fiona and Merla presented Gretchen outside. There waiting for her was Donny who had been scrubbed as she had been. He was in a suit and tie and flanked by two of his brothers and the marshal.
Gretchen called to the marshal.
“I don’t remember my pa,” she said. “But I’d be honored if you gave me away?”
The marshal didn’t hesitate. He left the wedding party to take Gretchen by the arm. Fiona and Merla took their places and all eyes watched as the bride and the Marshall approached.
Once their vows were said and the preacher officiated, Fiona finally smiled. The party boisterously broke and they all took their places around the table. Fiona was anxious to feed them. Marshal helped her. Gretchen leaned against her very married husband.
“Is Ben sweet on your ma?” asked Gretchen.
“Ah, yes ma’am,” said Donny. “Me and my brothers have duly noted. We’re thinking of rustling him and setting the two of them before the preacher. Just like he did us.”
“Donovan McElroy,” she gave him a playful sock. “Are you saying you were rustled?”
“Oh yes ma’am,” he replied dreamily. “You kidnaped my heart the moment I saw you.”
Chapter Seven
The family cleared out of the main house and bunked in with Merla and Mac in the house that the brothers built for them as a wedding present. The big house was so empty. Gretchen had never experienced it quite this way. She hadn’t realized until it was just the two of them how noisy and busy the house had always been.
Donny set Gretchen on the end of the bed. He kissed her forehead as he covertly pulled the pins from her hair. The action on her scalp unleashed the most amazing, doping tingles throughout her. She could hardly keep her eyes opened. He knew what he was doing.
Donny’s large hands roamed her body as he nuzzled the sensitive dip in her neck. She stomped her feet trying to withstand the luscious torture. She panted. He captured her lips, nibbling them with just enough bite to make her arousal grow.
Gretchen was brave. Her hands explored clumsily. Her fingers found his erection. Donny quickly lowered his pants and placed her hand around him. He showed her how to touch him. She was unsure. She had no clue but the connection of her palm to the soft skin covered hardness set her on fire. She wanted more.
He placed his hand on hers and moved it up and down. Gretchen had the strongest urge to put him in her mouth but she wasn’t sure if that was done. Instead she kissed him. She plunged her tongue to tangle with his, eagerly.
Donny was even harder in her hands as she kissed him. She was learning. He pushed her backwards on the bed, dragging her hips to the edge. He tossed up her skirts and drew down her bloomers. Gretchen was bare and dressed at the same time.
The pressure of the mattress edge and the frame sweetened the friction as Donny entered her. His body covered hers as they were half on and off of the bed. His powerful arm snaked beneath her back and the bed holding her firmly as he drove into her.
He was not as easy going as he had been the very first time. He let his passion animate him. Gretchen thought of him as a majestic stallion with his shaggy flowing around his wondrous face. The way he stood up now as he pumped into her, in and out, hungrily chasing pleasure.
He leaned down momentarily to place her fingers on herself. He showed her how to move them. Gretchen immediately recognized the desired effect and continued. She had never done such a thing but now she knew that she could.
She learned that as before, when she mo
ved not only did she give him pleasure but herself as well. She lifted her feet up and down from the floor as she was half off of the bed, creating lovely tightness and tingles for herself.
Then she shifted to that climb of the ultimate, explosive pleasure. Once she locked onto it if she kept moving, she knew she would reap the reward. And age-old instinct drove her to find it. She did not let up until she felt the tremors roll through her.
“That’s my girl,” praised Donny.
It was if her pleasure gave him permission to let go. His body tensed. His movements jerked, were less fluid. His breathing rose like the beginnings of a tornado. He canted over her moving until the last as his cries filled the main house. He sputtered atop of her.
Gretchen filled with warmth, perhaps taking the deepest satisfaction in pleasing him so.
Later as they lay in bed, a properly married man and wife, Gretchen was plagued by a worry.
“Donovan,” she began.
He took her hand.
“Yes love,” he answered groggily.
“I am not sure,” she said.
That got him up and awake. Donny propped himself on his elbow and demanded an explanation.
“What?” he asked.
“I am not if I am her sister,” she said. “I don’t want to be untrue.”
He stroked her hair.
“Aw,” he began. “Has that got you worried?”
“I don’t feel what a sister should feel towards her. She’s a wonderful woman. I know that. I could not have asked for a better friend to help me get all fixed for my wedding.”
Tears rolled across her cheeks.
“But I just don’t know. I don’t want to be false,” she said.
Donny took her hand and held it to his lips.
“Sweet, you’re married to me. Merla’s married to Mac. So you are sisters. There’s nothing false about it. It takes time sometimes for two people who are related to feel something for one another,” he said.
But his words had another meaning for Gretchen entirely. She thought he might be speaking about them. She was devastated for she was pretty clear. She had already fallen in love with him.
“It does?!” she demanded.
“No,” he laughed gently.
His hands crept around her middle and pulled him closer to him.
“Not always. Sometimes, I believe I said. You and me is man and wife. We got a whole lot of forces on our side making us close. You and Merla will be fond friends. That does take some time. Plus you got history that makes a body want to forget, not remember. Just be patient,” he said.
“But what I am confused about is how can she have known about the things in my treasure box? I did know someone named Merla. I did have a man who was not my uncle, make us call him uncle. I did live in Wichita. I worked as a nanny and Merla worked at the orphanage,” she said.
“Leave it for now,” her husband said wisely. “We can talk to marshal in the next few days to see what he thinks.”
Chapter Eight
After McElroy’s Bend was restored to things as usual after the whirlwind wedding, Donny and Gretchen rode into Dodge to consult with Marshal Ben about the puzzle that was Gretchen and Merla’s past.
“I don’t want her to know this,” said Gretchen. “I don’t think she’s my sister.”
“You do favor each other, you know that,” said the marshal.
“I realize that. It’s a feeling I can’t shake. I don’t want to come to this family a liar,” she said.
“Well no one thinks that of you,” said marshal. “I can inquire. I am not sure what will come of it. But I can inquire.”
“Can we buy you dinner, marshal? I realize you don’t take pay but it would be our way of showing you our appreciation for all you done for us,” said Donny.
The Marshall accepted and along with the newlyweds strolled down towards Delmonico’s for a meal. Timing was once again incredible. For as they passed the first saloon, they side-stepped a drunk getting evicted. The poor fellow landed hard and reeled with the pain.
“Rafe?” called Donny with alarm.
The marshal and Donny dashed down to fetch him. He was such a huge man, it took the two of them to hoist him.
“He’s busted up,” said the marshal. “Let’s take him to the jail.”
“Is he under arrest?” asked Donny.
“We’re going to let him sleep it off,” winked the marshal.
Gretchen thought the marshal was a handsome man. As she looked on to her husband and he helping up Rafe, she hoped like anything that Fiona did end up marrying him. She was very surprised to see the marshal and Donny return to quickly from depositing Rafe.
They ate their dinner.
“Don’t get too used to coming in to Dodge for dining, wife,” said Donny with a smile. “This might just be the last of this part of our honeymoon.”
“Honeymoon is in the heart, Donny,” said the marshal.
“Yes sir,” said Donny.
Before they left they stopped back by the jail to check on Rafe. He left before the wedding and had not been seen since. He was sitting on his jail cot when they arrived.
“I wasn’t that drunk,” he said remarkably sober. “I was just a jerk.”
“I don’t blame you,” said Donny.
“For what it’s worth,” Gretchen confessed. “I am pretty sure I am not the girl you were looking for.”
“But you said. You and Merla said,” said Rafe with confusion.
“I have been putting together some pieces. They aren’t quite clear. But near as I can figure, Merla and I were probably living with the same ‘uncle’ for a piece and that might have been it. Marshal here is going to help us figure it out,” said Gretchen.
“I got busted up for nothing?” he remarked. “Hmm.”
“Well that might mean your dream girl is still out there,” said Gretchen with a faint smile.
Rafe stood up with a new enthusiasm.
“Hey Ben, can you let me out of here?” he asked.
“You gonna behave?” asked the marshal.
“I am. I going to put an ad and get me a bride of my own,” he said.
“You’re not going back to Wichita to look for Merla’s sister?” asked Donny.
“Na, Jake can if he wants. I am fine now,” he said nodding to Gretchen.
Donny and Gretchen left Rafe in the care of the marshal. There was something incredibly strengthening riding in the arms of her husband amid the prairie to a place she knew was her home.
“I like riding this way,” she whispered as arousal rose in her.
The faint tickles of his breath on her neck and in her ear stoked the fire she seemed to always have burning for him.
“And why is that?” he asked with a smile in voice.
“Because I like your arms around me,” she said in a gruff voice.
“Is that so?” he asked.
“Yes. I like leaning against you,” she continued.
“We do fit nicely together,” he remarked.
“Donovan,” she said.
“Yes Gretchen,” he replied patiently.
“Whether I know if I am Merla’s sister or not,” she began.
“Yes?” he prodded.
“I know for true, I am your wife,” she said.
They didn’t say much in words for the remainder of the trip but rode lazily and peacefully home.
The End
Scandalous
A Mail Order Bride Historical Romance
By
Brittany Dreams
Copyright 2015 by Brittany Dreams
Brides of Deadwood
Scandalous
Description: Sarah and Josh have been writing one another for months. Josh finally popped the question and Sarah accepted. Unfortunately, a rival for her hand rears his gorgeous head and follows her to Deadwood, creating quite the uneasy scene for the newlyweds. Add in the younger sister of Josh’s best friend, Beth, who has a massive crush on Josh and the scene is set for high ten
sion. When a fire destroys the home Josh had nearly completed for him and Sarah to live happily ever after in, the couple has to decide how to handle the young arsonist. A fortunate birthday dinner finds the couple with uninvited guests, but they find it works out better than they could’ve ever planned. Secrets stain the couple’s pasts, but together they figure out how to live in the present, and find sexy ways to make it all work out for the best.
Deadwood, South Dakota
1876
SARAH
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the preacher says. “Joshua, you may kiss your bride.”
The words ring in my ears as the tall, blonde-haired, green-eyed man moves his handsome face towards mine. His full lips pucker and his eyes close, I find myself gazing at him. I close my eyes too and let him press his lips to mine.
His arms wrap around me and he pulls me into him as people hoot and holler. Our first kiss and he’s making sure it lasts. Finally, he pulls away and I’m left breathless. My cheeks flush and I bat my eyelashes as I look down.
“Whew! I’m married!” Josh shouts and tosses his black, cowboy hat into the air.
I giggle as he picks me up into his strong arms and carries me out of the little, white church. It seems most of the rowdy townspeople have come to see us get married. One person after another offers us congratulations as he carries me through the street to the apartment at the top of the Sheriff’s office.
A young woman in a black dress stands at a corner and stares at us. No wave, no expression at all. She just looks at us. Josh’s body tenses up and he turns quickly.
I look over his shoulder and see she’s still looking at us. “Who is she?” I ask.
“Just a lonely girl. Don’t worry about her, Sarah,” he tells me as he takes me up the stairs to the apartment.
He opens the door, revealing a small place. Everything in one room. “Wow! This has to be the smallest home I’ve ever seen,” I say as I look around.
MC Romance: Gravel A Motorcycle Bad Boy Obsession (Untamed Rider Forbidden Temptation Book 1) Page 34
