Her Match, Her Mate, Her Master

by Vanessa Brooks

  She frowned. “No, John. How can I relax when you threatened my,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “bottom?” she hissed.

  He pinched her cheek. “I am not like to do so in daylight, and if I recall correctly, you quite enjoyed the experience. Methinks the lady complains too much? Relax and try to enjoy the rest of today.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

  She scowled. “I-I need to talk.”

  John saw that she was serious. He held up his hands. “Okay, if you need to talk, we shall. I think you need to forget the hanging and the heinous events aboard the ship. It does you no good to dwell upon these things.”

  She shook her head. “I am not going to dwell upon them!” she snapped. “I just want us to talk quietly about the awful things that have happened to us, and about how we now feel about each other.”

  He took her arm and turned her to face him. “I know how I feel about you!” He planted a soft kiss on her lips. “I love you, Mistress Foster,” he whispered into her ear.

  Linnet drew away, looking searchingly into his eyes. “Do you, John, truly?” she asked earnestly.

  He studied her face for a moment. “You’re serious. We do need to talk. Come along.”

  He grasped her arm and lifted her down, carrying her around to the front seat of the wagon. He climbed up beside her. “This is as good a place as any to talk; we cannot be overheard if we talk quietly.” He turned to face her, taking both her hands in his. “All right, sweetheart, tell me what it is that troubles you.”

  She dipped her head and chewed her lip, gathering her thoughts. “After we were safe ashore, I felt guilty about the gentlemen who died on the ship, Captain Pettigrew and D-Duncan Snow.” Her voice broke. He squeezed her hand and she took a deep breath before continuing. “I couldn’t stop thinking about how we were sitting safe in our cabin while our friends above were fighting for their lives! We might have helped them but we didn’t even t-try.”

  “But in all probability, darling, had we been there, we would have perished alongside them,” he reasoned.

  Linnet wrenched her hands from his. “But you can’t be sure of that! Anyway, I have other concerns.” She wondered how best to explain to him how she felt. “You see, when I asked you to go alone to Boston, it was because I couldn’t face seeing you every day. I felt such guilt that we’d survived and they had not. I prayed when you were unconscious, begged that you would live. Yet, when you did, I resented you for actually still being alive when they were all dead. It made me feel so guilty that we were saved. I hated you for not helping them. I hated you for not protecting me from the pirates! Oh, John, I was so confused!

  “Then, afterward, I thought you had left me behind and gone on ahead to Boston and I realised how much I actually did love you. I regretted sending you away. That’s why I took off to find you, so that I could make everything right between us.” She dipped her head. A tear trickled down her face.

  John realised how very young and vulnerable she still was. He was determined to put this matter right. “Sweetheart, don’t you realise that I feel terrible guilt for not joining the crew and fighting alongside my friends? Instead I chose to stay below and protect you, who have become the most precious thing in my life! I am also guilty of putting you in terrible danger by bringing you so far away across the sea. When I think of what might have happened to you on board the ship... how close you came to drowning and afterward, when you rode off, the danger you faced from wild animals and that trapper, Ned. Dammit, I still get mad when I think about the fact you were very nearly raped!”

  He caressed her cheek. “Sweet girl, you have no need to feel any guilt. It is I who feel guilty because I didn’t fight, and even though I know it wouldn’t have changed the outcome, I shall live with the guilt gladly because the alternative was to leave you alone and unprotected in the cabin and I just couldn’t do that to you.”

  “I didn’t realise that you felt that way,” she whispered, her eyes welling with fresh tears.

  He gathered her close, allowing her to weep. “Why do you think I was so harsh with you after you wandered off? It was because I love you very, very much. I cannot stand the thought of losing you. I had to make sure you would never risk your life again.”

  She sniffed and gave him a watery smile. “Really, and here I was thinking it was only because you enjoyed spanking me!”

  John chuckled. “Well, since you mention it, I do. You have such a cute butt!”

  She pinched his arm. “Swine.” She giggled. “What on earth is a ‘butt’?”

  It was his turn to smile. “A bum,” he said, pinching hers lightly.

  She wriggled. “Honestly? I was glad you punished me. I felt exonerated somehow for what had happened aboard the ship.”

  John was shocked. “Darling, no, that’s dreadful! What happened between us has nothing whatsoever to do with The Tempest. If I’d known that was how you felt—”

  She interrupted him. “What difference would it have made? You were furious because I’d disobeyed you. You would have punished me anyway.”

  He frowned. “No, Linnet, had I realised the amount of guilt you were carrying, I would have talked to you about it. You should have spoken to me about this instead of foolishly trying to send me off into the wilds to Boston.”

  Her temper flared. “Well, I might have done if I had been given half a chance to speak!”

  He sighed. “Look, that spanking wasn’t just about obeying. It was about keeping you and others around you safe. Your repeated defiance endangered yourself and young Peter. A valuable horse died because of your ill-considered action.”

  Her eyes flashed. “Really? What about at Lavenstock Hall then, after the ball, inside the coach? I was in no danger then, except from you!” she retaliated.

  “This is absolutely ridiculous; you are behaving like a spoilt child. You bit me and, come to think of it, you bit me again in the barn. You darn well deserved everything you got!” he replied brusquely.

  Incensed, she twisted, attempting to slap his face but he caught her wrist and yanked her forward. Crushing her to him, he kissed her grindingly upon her mouth. He kept a firm grip of her hands. “That’s enough, unless you want another spanking and in public! Stop! We’re supposed to be talking, not arguing. I’ve explained how I feel and why I took the actions that I did. I think perhaps I understand how you were feeling. However, I will not apologise for punishing you, however resentful you feel about it. Darn it, you’re my wife, and should you defy me, I will punish you. Mark my words, that’s the way it is, without discussion. Now, do you wish to talk about anything else?”

  She nodded vigorously. “Just this: you’re wrong if you think I’m resentful about the other night. The coach, yes, that was high-handed of you.” She took a deep breath. “But after everything that has happened, I am relieved that you have placed limitations on my behaviour. In the past, I did everything I wanted, no matter how dangerous or stupid it was, no one stopped me and no one interfered. They certainly never disciplined me, not until you came along. At first I was livid that I couldn’t bend your will to mine but after a while, I rather enjoyed the fact that you would put a stop to my wilder behaviour. Am I making any sense at all?”

  John’s eyes twinkled, his lip twitched. “I think I follow you perfectly. Your father spared the rod and spoilt the child. I knew you needed a strong man for your husband, one who would stand up to your stubborn wilfulness. Had you married that poor boy Charles, you would have run rings around him! The marriage would have been a complete disaster. You would have had little or no respect for him and he would have had no idea how to deal with a reckless little minx such as you!”

  She flushed scarlet and muttered under her breath.

  He grinned at her. “What was that, my love?”

  She glowered at him. “I said, Charles was far too much of a gentleman to behave the way you do!”

  John threw back his head, laughing delightedly. “I think it’s just as well you married me then!”


  She suddenly gurgled with laughter. “Actually, I happen to agree! Poor dear Charlie, I would have made his life utterly miserable, although I hate to admit that you are right and swell your arrogant head further! Seriously, though, John, I do love you. I am beginning to understand what you need from me as your wife. I promise not to knowingly put myself in danger, but only if you will promise me the same. I should be utterly helpless should something happen to you.”

  He nodded. “I hope you mean your promise, Linnet, because, in return, I promise to protect you however I can. If occasionally that means risking danger, then so be it. I also promise to blister your sassy butt whenever I think you require a reminder!”

  She pouted prettily, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

  He scooped her to him and held her tight, kissing her soundly before he released her. “Now, can we find this eating house that Hans mentioned? Because I am absolutely starving and my ribs are sticking to my vitals.”

  ‘Aunt Bessie’s’ eating house was glass fronted; very few establishments could boast such refinement in such a small backwoods town. The glass was the thick green variety, unlike the fine thin glass to be found in the more sophisticated buildings of New York and Boston. Nevertheless, the presence of glass at all gave the eating house a prestige that owners of the other premises within the town envied, and business was booming.

  Inside, there were a series of long wooden benches and trestle tables set in lines across the width of the room. When someone vacated a space, the next man in line sat down and was served. There was no varied menu; the meal always consisted of soup, fried chicken or stew and a hunk of bread, followed by a cup of strong black coffee. Pie was optional when fruit was in season.

  Linnet was surprised at how tasty the meal was. The girl who served them smiled too much. She simpered at John and asked him if they were there for the hanging and whereabouts they were from.

  He sat back in his chair, stretched his long legs and told her they were staying with Hans Lammers. The girl, a pretty fair-haired, freckled-faced young miss, with wide blue eyes and an overdeveloped bosom, pressed herself far too close to John for Linnet’s liking. She then proceeded to gush with verbal enthusiasm about Hans’s size and good looks, asking John whether Hans would be joining them for lunch, batting her pale eyelashes at John as she spoke. Just like a demented house fly hovering over something sweet, Linnet thought, bitterly jealous.

  She rolled her eyes as her husband puffed out his chest and told the girl the tale of the shipwreck that had landed them there. She kicked his leg under the table, giving him a sharp shake of her head. John glanced up at her in surprise. He raised an eyebrow at her and then turned away to listen to some flippant comment the flirt made about the hanging.

  It seemed that the lad who had been hanged was one Tom O’Cleary, who had come upon a half-caste girl who’d rejected his advances. In a fit of drunken rage, he’d raped and murdered the poor girl before being caught red-handed by her father who had been looking for his daughter, concerned that she’d not appeared for her supper. The town had been in uproar ever since. Half the town’s folk thought that the lad should be hanged; the other half did not, based on grounds that the girl was half Indian. In the end, a trial was held, and Tom was sentenced to hang by a jury of twelve men.

  As they were finishing their meal, Hans strolled in to join them. He greeted the red-head with a big hug and she squealed with delight, kissing his cheek and pulling his whiskers. Linnet glared at them both and pushed up, ready to leave. “Are you coming, John?” she asked regally.

  He regarded her with surprise. “Of course I’ll come with you,” he said, immediately standing.

  He followed her retreating back, shrugging at Hans, who laughed, calling after him, “I will see you back at the wagon, my friend, just as soon as I have eaten my fill.”

  John caught up with her. Catching her by the upper arm, he stopped her in her tracks. “Whoa, what’s got into you all of a sudden?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Into me? By Gad, that girl couldn’t keep her hands off you or Hans and you just adored flirting, didn’t you?”

  He looked incredulous. “So that is what this hissy fit is all about? You’re mad just because I talked to a pretty serving wench?”

  She flushed, sneering scornfully. “Talked?” Her voice dropped an octave, copying John’s deep drawl. “Let me take those heavy plates for you there, missy,” she mimicked before she spun away, marching off at a brisk pace.

  John grinned, watching her shapely form appreciatively for a second or two before he strode after her. Catching her by the arm, he guided her down the narrow opening between two buildings. Once screened from the street, he pushed her roughly up against the wall, intending to kiss her.

  Her hand flew up and slapped him hard across the cheek, leaving a livid palm impression. John’s eyes smarted but, ignoring the sharp pain, he spun Linnet around and landed two heavy swats to her already burning bottom. He spun her back to face him and, placing his hands on either side of her furious face, he forced her head up, kissing her thoroughly. Linnet hit the back of his shoulders with her fists. She tried to bring her knee up between his legs but John forestalled her by quickly pushing his own leg between hers. Breaking the kiss slightly, he grinned down at her. “Uh-uh, naughty,” he murmured before resuming the kiss. His lips moved in a sensuous slow rhythm that spoke of a passion shared. Her legs turned weak, her body wanting. He drew slightly away, whispering huskily into her ear, “Don’t you know yet, you impossible woman, that you are the only one for me?” He lowered his lips to hers, kissing her searingly. His hand roved up over the slope of her hip, moving inexorably upward until he cupped her breast.

  Anxiously, she broke the kiss, twisting her head aside. “Stop, John, someone might see us! Halt, please!”

  His hand whipped up to grasp her chin. “Let them stare, you are my wife and if I choose to kiss you then, dammit, I shall.” He lowered his head, his fingers twined in her silky hair. To his surprise, her arms wound themselves sinuously about the thick column of his neck, her hands stroked the thick dark hair, her lips parted under his, her tongue darted teasingly between his lips.

  He crushed her hard against his length; they stood locked together in a passionate embrace. When at last he broke away, he gazed down into her unfocused, sea green eyes, turned misty as they did whenever she was aroused. He smiled at her dreamy sensual expression and kissed her small nose. “We shall finish this conversation later, my love, in private. Now come, for I have a gift for you.”

  She began tidying her mussed hair. “A gift, for me?” She looked astonished. Reaching out, she patted his pockets.

  He laughed. “Stop that, you minx, I don’t have the gift on me! Come, follow me.”

  Taking her hand in his, he towed her back along the way they had come, eventually stopping outside the livery stable. He hailed the hostler and the man appeared, leading out a pretty russet mare with a jet black mane and tail. John took the reins from the man and led the horse over to where Linnet stood. “Yours,” he said simply, handing over the horse’s reins.

  Linnet lifted her palm to allow the horse to sniff her hand before turning shining eyes to him. “I can’t believe it!” She flung her arms about her husband’s neck, pressing her lips to his. Spinning back to look at the horse, she shook her head in disbelief. “She’s absolutely beautiful! Thank you, my darling, thank you!”

  John looked more than a little embarrassed. “She hasn’t the pedigree that Pango had but she is the best I could find at short notice.”

  Linnet lifted her glowing face to his. “John, she is perfect. I love her, look at her colouring and her beautiful intelligent eyes.” She admired her new horse, lifting her hooves, running her hands over her fetlocks, all the while talking soothingly to the gentle creature that stood obediently by her side. The horse followed Linnet’s progress with a tolerant eye, blowing softly through her velvety nose.

  John helped her to mount the mare and she ro
de up the street with him walking alongside until they came to the now fully laden wagon.

  “So what are you going to name her?” Sarah asked her as the two women walked back to the house after stabling and settling Linnet’s new mare for the night.

  “Oh, that’s easy, Amber, because of her colouring,” Linnet replied chirpily.

  “My, but you’re a happier soul than left here this morning!” Sarah noted.

  “I am, but it isn’t just receiving Amber, although I just cannot get over John buying her for me. It’s just, well wonderful! We actually spoke about everything that still lay between us. I believe we have reached an understanding.”

  Sarah patted her friend’s arm “I’m so glad, he is a lovely man, your husband. We are lucky women to have found such gentlemen as your John and my Hans.” She linked her arm cosily through Linnet’s.

  “You’re right. We are lucky ladies,” Linnet confirmed happily. They smiled warmly at each other and walked on in companionable silence back to the house to make supper.

  Later that evening, Sarah and Linnet spread dress patterns and material across the table in order to make a start on the warm clothing they would need for the cold winter ahead.

  John and Hans sat in front of the fire across the room, talking of the political news they had gleaned from Mr. Penman that day. It seemed that various skirmishes had broken out between the colonists and British troops based in Boston; ill feeling was flourishing amongst local people, who were fast turning against the British.

  As they worked together, Linnet answered Sarah’s questions about her trip into town.

  Sarah shook her head sadly when she told her about the hanging. “That poor, poor girl, it is so very sad. What a savage place the world can be.”