“Well, they weren’t wrong,” William said, shaking his head almost ruefully, his grip lessening.“Sorry, sweetheart, I shouldn’t have reacted that way.I didn’t expect you to know about such things, and it took me off guard.”
My heart was pounding in my chest, and I bit my lower lip, dropping my head, so they wouldn’t see the tears that sprang to my eyes.If I had wanted proof, I couldn’t reveal my past to them, I had it.They would surely think differently of me if they knew.Likely treat me differently, too.
Last night, they’d acted as though I was a treasured possession.I did not want to lose that.I did not want to lose them.They clearly thought I was a modest young lady.Would they want to remain married if they knew?
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, unsure of what else to say.
“It’s fine, sweetheart,” William said, stroking my hair.“You just startled me.I’m sorry I overreacted.”
Except he hadn’t.He’d been right to be shocked.Deep down, I knew that.
This might be harder than I thought.
“We’ll teach you how to use your mouth later,” Clive said.Unlike William, he wasn’t smiling, which made me nervous.A serious expression seemed to be his default, so it might not have meant anything… but I couldn’t be sure.“We should get back to the ranch now.”
Clive
Our wife was somewhat subdued as we packed up our things to head back to the ranch.I kept a close eye on her.
Something about her claim, she’d heard the other factory girls talking about oral pleasure didn’t sit right with me.Women gossiped, to be sure, but Sassy was so nervous, even after she’d explained herself.William had believed her story, but I kept watching her, suspicion niggling in the back of my mind.
I didn’t know what I was suspicious about, exactly.I just knew that something wasn’t quite right.Neither William nor I cared if she had gossiped with other women about sex, but that didn’t fit her prim and proper appearance – and I did care if she lied.I didn’t like lies.Some of my doubts from the previous day were seeping back in.After all, what did we really know about her?Only what she told us.And while her story had fit, why did she keep shooting us looks this morning as if she expected us to lash out at her?
While I wanted to trust her, something was amiss.I didn’t say anything, though.William was taking everything she said to heart, not a mistrusting bone in his body.He thought I was too cynical, and sometimes, I thought he was right, but something told me our new wife was keeping secrets, even if I couldn’t imagine what they would be.Of course, William would likely say it wasmemaking her nervous.
If she was lying, I knew of one sure way to make sure she didn’t do so again, but I wasn’t going to spank her without knowing for sure, no matter how my hand tingled, like a physical portent of things to come.
Getting her seated on the wagon bench between us, I picked up the reins and flicked them to get the horses moving.I let her look her fill of the town, but once we were on the road, I started in with the questions I probably should have asked before we got her in front of the altar.
“So, Sassy.Tell us about this man you’re running from.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoulders tense.I couldn’t see her expression because she’d insisted on putting on that ridiculous bonnet again before we’d even left the hotel.It made her feel safer, but it also completely hid her face.Still, if I’d been watching her face, I would have never noticed her shoulders.
William glared at me over her head, but not from my line of questioning.He wanted to know too, just thought I was too blunt.
“Yes, sweetheart, tell us about him,” he said more gently, picking up one of her hands to console her.For the first time ever, I was jealous he wasn’t holding the reins.Even if I was intent on questioning our new wife, that didn’t stop me from wanting to touch her.
“Is he from New York?”
“No, England,” she said, her voice soft and throaty.The bonnet twitched as though she’d shaken her head.“He’s a lord there.Lord Carmichael.But I know he was looking for me in New York.”
The fear was back in her voice and no wonder.A man who was willing to chase her across the ocean was certainly obsessed.
“Do you think knowing you’re already married would deter him?”William asked.
Her shoulders hunched in.“I-I don’t know… I worry I’ve brought danger to you.”
Despite myself, I was touched.William and I exchanged another look over her head, both of us bemused by her concern.
“That’s what we offered, sweetheart.Protection,” I drawled.I had full confidence in our ability to protect ourselvesandher.This Lord Carmichael might think himself powerful, and maybe in England he was, but here in the west, he would find nothing but a bullet between his teeth if he tried to come after our wife.
“That’s why I answered your ad,” she admitted.“But now that I’m here, I keep thinking how wrong it was to drag someone else into my troubles.”
“Ourtroubles,” William said, squeezing her hand while I was still groping for the proper words to reassure her.William was good at that.I was better at threats.“You’re our wife now, which makes your troubles our troubles.And make no mistake, missy, that’s how we want it.”
“That’s right,” I said and meant it.I might want to dig out whatever secrets she was hiding from us, but nothing would change my determination to protect her.I meant that for any woman, but even more so for her.She was our wife.If someone threatened her, he was going to regret it.
William
