Kept by the Billionaire, page 25
She dropped the blanket and held it out to him as a peace offering. He swatted it away and lifted her in his arms to carry her to the bed. He sat down and pulled her across his knee. She whimpered. Her bottom showed no sign of his last night’s punishment. Perfect. He never wanted the evidence to last. Never wanted to mar her skin.
She lay still. “Nick,” she whispered, her voice filled with need.
He spanked her twice. She moaned and wriggled, inviting him. It was too much for him. He stroked her between her legs.
“You’re wet,” he growled.
“I’m not either,” she sassed him. “You just wish I was.”
He brought down his hand hard on her ass. She squealed and tried to cover her bottom with her hands. He swatted them away and tossed her to the bed. Lust made him want to fuck her more than spank her. He needed to sink into her, to claim her body. Again.
He pushed her legs apart and settled between her silken thighs. She gazed at him with desire.
She wanted him, too. Nothing prepared him for having Annie as his wife. Never before had he felt such hunger. He’d thought last night might take the edge off his need, but if anything, it made it stronger, more urgent.
Quickly he was inside her, her slick passage ready for him. He began his motions slowly, but soon thrust harder, with her softly mewling beneath him. She gripped him with her legs, offering herself to him.
“You’re so tight, baby,” he said, from between gritted teeth.
“I’m turning into some sort of wanton,” she whispered, clinging to his shoulders. “I like this. I need you to do this to me.”
He drove into her. A purely animalistic need raged inside him. Her soft sounds, moans of pleasure that grew with intensity, made him wild. Sweat gathered between his shoulder blades, a drop rolling down his spine. She gazed up at him, her eyelids heavy. He gripped her leg beneath the knee and pulled it up, deepening his thrusts.
Her eyes widened with surprise. She arched beneath him, digging her nails into his shoulder.
“No,” she whimpered. “It’s too much for me.”
He snarled in reply and watched her face as her climax built. He could feel her teetering on the edge. Her tight pussy clenched around his cock. Her response made his sanity slip precariously. The expression on her face was so beautiful, utterly sensuous as she submitted to his fierce lovemaking.
She closed her eyes and cried out. “It’s too much. I’ll scream, Nick.”
“You’re mine. If I want to fuck you hard, I’ll fuck you hard. Then I’ll spank your ass for sassing me in bed.”
She shook her head, drew a sharp breath and wailed as her pleasure made her claw the bedding. He pounded into her and followed her over the edge with a deep growl.
Collapsing to the bed, he rolled over, pulling her on top of him. He held her as their breathing slowed. She was limp in his arms, eyes closed, and her hand resting on his forearm.
“I could keep you in bed for a month.”
She draped herself across him and purred with contentment. “I had no idea, Nick.”
“About what?”
“That you could make me feel like this. I was always afraid.” She lifted her head to look into his eyes. A swath of hair fell across her face and he pushed it away. “Do I make you happy?”
“You do,” he said. “I knew you would. That’s why I carried you off.”
She frowned and nodded. “Like some sort of barbarian.”
“S’right. I wasn’t going to wait around on niceties like courting and such. I wanted you. You were in trouble, so I took you.”
Resting her head against his shoulder she closed her eyes. He felt her body relax and sink against his. Soon, her soft breaths told him she was asleep. It was scandalous to be in bed, naked and resting in the middle of the morning, but he figured a man was entitled to do just that the day after he got married. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as well.
Chapter Five
A week after the wedding Nick told Annie he wanted to take her into town. They took the wagon and he took her into the Mercantile so she could do her shopping. Beau had returned from the cattle drive and Nick offered the boy work at the Kendal Ranch. Beau jumped at the chance and took a ranch hand position, moving into one of the cabins. Annie wanted to buy him some blankets for winter, along with some material for curtains.
Nick wished he could find a few things to spoil his bride, some pretty lace for a gown, or maybe something shiny, but the Colter Canyon Mercantile wouldn’t have anything fine enough. For that, he would have to take her to a bigger city, something he might do in the next few weeks.
He glanced down at her. She wore a soft smile. This morning, in the pre-dawn darkness, they’d made love, and she’d told him she’d never felt more content, hadn’t ever expected such happiness from marriage. That Beau was safe and sound only made matrimony so much sweeter.
He kissed the top of her head, and left her at the counter to fill her order while he went to the back of the shop to select a few things for the ranch horses. Standing in front of a shelf of liniments, he glanced back to watch his bride speak to the lady shop keeper. Her face wore a slight flush and she smiled as she looked at the bolts of muslin, running her delicate hand over the material. Several men passed her and nodded or lifted their Stetsons.
She was lovely and had no idea the effect she had on men. Even older men regarded her with a glimmer in their eye, and the younger ones let their gaze linger on her delicate form. The hunger in their eyes galled him. He’d seen the look dozens of times in the saloon when she’d come home from the bakery. Even tired from her long day, heads turned and made conversation turn from ranch business or the weather to speculation on who might be lucky enough to finally claim her.
Never before had a mail order bride arrived in Colter Canyon and rejected her would-be groom. It was unheard of – hinted of scandal, even though hardly anyone blamed her for turning her back on Eustace Fontaine. No one knew what to make of the feisty girl who took a room in a whorehouse, but worked in a bakery.
As Nick watched the shop keeper treat her with deference, hurrying to fill her order, it gave him a feeling of satisfaction knowing that, as his wife, the people of Colter Canyon would treat her with new respect. Young bucks might steal a glance, and that couldn’t be helped, but not one of them would dare say a single untoward comment to his woman.
At the far end of the mercantile Nick spotted Eustace Fontaine. With his humiliating rejection back on the train platform, Eustace was the only person in town who might have something unpleasant to say to Annie.
Eustace narrowed his eyes and crossed the store with two brothers trailing behind. He was red-faced and disheveled, a stain of something grey tracking down the front of his shirt.
“So it’s true,” Eustace muttered.
“Eustace.” Nick drawled the man’s name and took a bar of saddle soap from the shelf. “Have you come to congratulate me?”
“You know damn well that’s not what I’ve come to say. You interfered in something that was none of your business.”
“Helping a damsel in distress isn’t interfering, Eustace. It’s being a gentleman.”
“Marrying is different than helping. I was trying to find out a way to make things right between me and Annie, and you had to step in and grab her.”
“That doesn’t sound very romantic. I like to think she wanted to be grabbed.” He let his words hang in the air, just to torment Eustace. “She kind of likes when I pull her into my arms, steal a kiss and all that.”
Eustace balled his hands into fists. His brothers glared at Nick.
Annie came to his side and tried to speak to him, but Nick ignored her, took a step closer and lowered his voice.
“You don’t deserve her. You never did. If you or any of the rest of your family even try to give her any trouble, I’ll come looking for you. She’s mine now. I like having her in my home, spoiling her every chance I can. I even like that I took her out from under your nose. Sorta makes me smile just thinking on it.”
Eustace’s eyes jerked to Annie. She looked like a frightened animal, panic etched in her features.
Nick drew her to his side. “Think you boys better keep moving.”
“I’m better off without that hussy,” Eustace sneered. “She lived above the saloon for a good week after I cast her off. Why don’t you ask how many men she spread her legs for-”
Nick lunged for him, cutting off his words. He threw him against the wall where he landed next to the back door.
Annie screamed. “Nick, please don’t.”
Nick growled in reply. He knew damn well she was innocent of the accusations, but he wasn’t going to let Eustace get away with talking about Annie. He picked up Eustace by the collar and jerked him to his feet, kicked open the back door and dragged him out. Horses tied to the hitching post snorted and shied, fearful of the sudden commotion. Nick lifted Eustace to his feet and the two men circled each other.
Annie hurried after them and stood on the back stoop of the Mercantile. She couldn’t tear her eyes from her husband’s face and the rage that darkened his features.
“You and me having it out has been a long time coming,” Nick snarled. “Way before Annie came to Colter Canyon.”
Shock hit Annie. These men had bad blood between them before she came to town.
Eustace’s brothers stood beside her, hands shoved in pockets, smiling like they were taking in a Saturday morning parade.
“How long’s it gonna take for Eustace to get stomped again?” one asked the other.
“The usual, I reckon. Bout a minute.”
Beau appeared in the doorway, eyes wide and panting after just having run through the store. “I was at the barbershop and heard you scream.”
“I’m fine.” She bit her lip and then gestured toward the fight. “It’s Nick and Eustace.”
“Eustace?” Beau said in bewilderment, gaping at the two men.
People gathered. A collective groan went up when Nick landed a punch on his foe’s jaw.
Eustace staggered but didn’t fall. Doubled over he turned his head and saw Annie. With a smirk he said, “How much for an hour, sugar?”
Beau bristled. “What the hell’s he talking about? An hour of what?”
She pursed her lips and shook her head, heat crawling up her neck and across her cheeks. Beside her, the Fontaine brothers both snickered.
“I’ll take part of that hour,” one of them said.
Understanding dawned on Beau’s face. He shook his head, stepped closer to the men and drove his fist into one of the brother’s jaw and then the struck the other with equal fury. Both groaned and crumpled to the ground. Annie yelped and darted away from the sprawled men, almost dropping her parcels. Beau glared at the rest of the onlookers, as if daring them to say a word. They scrambled away, giving him and Annie a wide berth. A few cast indifferent glances at the unconscious men.
“Not sure who’s worse news, the husband or the brother,” someone muttered.
Annie turned her gaze back to Eustace and Nick. Eustace’s lip bled and Nick looked more angered by the minute. How had a perfectly lovely morning turned into such a disaster?
Eustace kept his distance from Nick, circling and backing away. He sneered insults. Nick lunged twice, but Eustace managed to scramble back to avoid the blows.
His retreat only served to infuriate Nick. He charged towards Eustace and seized him by the shirt. Annie looked away, but heard the impact of Nick’s blows. The shock of seeing Nick so enraged and beating another man made her feel light-headed. The thud of Nick’s fists striking over and over frightened her. He would kill Eustace if he continued.
She pushed past the crowd and stopped several paces from the men. “Nick, stop. For God’s sake, don’t kill him.”
Nick’s eyes blazed with anger.
“Please, stop. I can’t stand the idea of you hurting anyone.”
He shoved Eustace away. “She’s mine now,” Nick growled. “You don’t deserve someone so fine. Insult her again and I’ll finish you. Apologize now.”
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly.
His words were grudging and she could see he meant none of it, but she was terrified that Nick would renew the fight if she didn’t accept. Whatever feud the men had couldn’t be mended with fists.
She nodded. “It’s fine.”
Nick took her hand and led her to the livery where the horse and buck board waited. Beau followed close behind. Nick seethed and Annie didn’t dare say a word for fear he’d turn back and take out the rest of his fury on Eustace. She yearned to ask what the trouble was all about. It seemed the argument over her was just a small part. Worry and confusion swirled inside her mind.
They rode home in quiet. When they arrived, Emily stood on the porch waiting. Somehow, she seemed to know that something had happened in town. Once she determined Nick was well, she turned her attention to Annie.
“You’re pale as a ghost,” Emily murmured.
She drew her down the path to the cabin. Inside, she had a dinner tray and a warm bath waiting. Emily helped her undress, listening to the details of the argument and ensuing fight.
Emily took Annie’s dress and hung it in the wardrobe. “You can’t fault them for fighting. They both wanted you, and Nick won.”
“I’m not upset about the fight so much as the hatred they have for each other. I have to wonder if Nick married me to get back at Eustace.”
Emily sank to a chair and let the shawl slip from her shoulders. “That’s not true. Don’t let that sort of doubt creep into your thoughts.”
Annie felt like a fool. That morning, when they’d made love, she’d rested in his arms as sleep tugged at her. Just as she’d drifted off, she opened her heart to him, telling him how much she cared for him. When she set out to marry Eustace, she hadn’t anticipated falling in love. At the train depot that had ended badly, and when Nick blackmailed her into marriage she held even less hope for a happy union. But in spite of that, she found herself utterly in love with Nick Kendal. If only she’d known that the marriage was a means of settling some old score.
Emily smiled. “Nick was smitten with you the first time he met you. He’d heard you rejected Eustace, and that you’d moved into the Magnolia, so he went to town to see what all the fuss was about. He came home that day and stormed into the house, growling at anyone and everyone who was nearby. I found out later he’d approached you to ask about your well-being and you ducked into your room and spoke to him through the closed door. After that, it only got worse. He was like a lion with a thorn in his paw. Poor Nick. He never knew what hit him.”
“I remember that day. Someone in the saloon had shouted out a proposition as I went up the stairs. Nick came up. I thought he was going to up the offer. He had a look in his eye. A sort of fierce look.”
Emily laughed. “Your husband has that look in his eye tonight. I’ll tell you that much. Fighting does that to a man.”
Annie frowned to see a smile play upon her sister-in-law’s lips.
Emily went on. “That was the main reason I came down here. To warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“After a man fights, he often has a lot of extra…” Emily flushed as she struggled to find the words. “Energy. He needs a woman’s attention.”
Annie frowned, trying to understand what it was her sister-in-law was trying to tell her. “Do you mean in the marriage bed?”
Emily nodded.
Annie’s heart thudded against her breastbone. Her wifely duties were already beyond what she could ever have imagined. When he came to her at night, he shocked her with his demands and wouldn’t allow himself his own pleasure until he’d made her wild with desire. Each night, she fell asleep, grateful that their cabin was so far away from the main house that no one heard their amorous activities.
“How would a fight make a man need more of his wife’s attention?” Annie asked.
“Because a man has a great deal more-“
The door opened. Nick’s stepped inside, filling the doorway. He frowned at Emily.
“I’m tired. You should go back to the house.”
A wash of alarm fell over Annie and she turned to look up at Emily. “Stay a while.”
Emily shook her head and set down the brush on the vanity. “I wouldn’t dream of staying. Seth doesn’t like to have to look for me in the evenings.”
Nick growled something indistinct and held open the door for her.
“Good night,” Emily said softly, before slipping into the velvety darkness.
Nick closed the door behind her and turned to Annie. “What’s wrong?”
Annie felt her lungs constrict. She coaxed air into them and tried to meet his stormy gaze. Whatever Emily was talking about, Annie could not for the life of her understand. Her husband looked like he wanted to fight Eustace, or anyone, all over again. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of amorous intention in his eyes.
“Why did you marry me?” she asked.
A smile curved his lips. He came forward and set his hands on the armrests of her chair. Looming over her, he held her gaze. Threat radiated from him. His eyes flashed. A pulse in his jaw ticked and when he leaned down to her ear, his voice was a low growl.
“Why don’t you get in bed and I’ll show you?”
“I want to hear your words,” she whispered.
The next instant she was in his arms as he carried her to the bed. He tossed her to the mattress. Looming over her, he took each hand and threaded his fingers through hers, then pinned her to the bed. Slowly, he lowered and captured her lips with his. Just to toy with her, he gave her a gentle and chaste kiss to start. He nibbled her lower lip, scattered sweet kisses along her jaw, and then returned to ravish her with a kiss that stole her breath. He devoured her. Slow drugging kisses where he stroked her boldly with his tongue, rendering her mindless beneath him.
He kissed her, sucking and biting the tender curve of her neck.
“A man has a great deal more…” Emily’s words whispered in her misted thoughts. She wished she’d had a moment more to prepare for her husband’s attention.
