Tanners' Angel

by Jenny Penn

  The idea made her nervous. The thought of actually sleeping the night through surrounded by Malcolm and Mike’s strength sounded like a fantasy.

  A dream, that’s what it felt like she stumbled into, and at any moment she’d awake to find herself cold and stiff, sleeping on the hard ground. The men, this cabin, the life she could have here, she couldn’t let these go.

  Chapter 7

  That thought haunted Mary Anne as she blew out the candles and stoked up the fire. The last bit of light that didn’t come from the fireplace spilled out in a shallow pool of yellow across the floor came from Malcolm’s open door. Mary Anne didn’t bother turning into his room but scurried past to hers to change quickly into her night gown.

  The small act of tradition comforted the nerves that began to flutter in her stomach as it came time to finally go to bed. She’d be sleeping in Malcolm’s bed, naked, as that had been his first husbandly command. He wore that big rascal grin when he explained the rules to her.

  He hadn’t been fooling when he said he’d keep quiet for a price. She was convinced that once Mike knew Mary Anne had taken to Malcolm’s bed, he’d be moving in to join them. For now, he saw it as an indulgence to have her all to himself.

  An indulgence she’d better cater to if she wanted him to keep his mouth closed. Malcolm had proven that he did nothing in half measures. Determined to put on a show, he acted the part of a fevered patient for Mike tonight. Mary Anne just hoped he didn’t act the part of ferocious lover as well because that was a show Mary Anne didn’t think she was ready to announce to anyone.

  That worry had her hesitating, her gaze caught on the bed. The crisp white sheet glowed cold and barren in the limp moonlight. A lonely reflection of the life spread out behind her. The endless litany of nights past blurred into a singular memory of retiring to her empty bed alone.

  When she’d been very little, she slept in the same bed as several of her brothers. Their house hadn’t been big and it hadn’t been until she started to understand the difference between boys and girls that her daddy finally built a room just for her. It had been small, barely bigger than the cot she slept on. Small, dark, and quiet, she never slept well in that bedroom.

  When she finally married, she assumed her lot would change. It should have. She married a proper gentleman. He even had a title and a small estate back in England and an unfortunate desire for every other man’s wife but his own.

  The shadows from around the bed grew with the memory of the heartbreak and humiliation she suffered. Freezing tendrils of darkness crept like a vine up her ankles, trying to shackle her to that bed and her past, but Mary Anne wouldn’t be held prisoner.

  Not bothering with a robe, she rushed for the warmth of Malcolm’s room, needing his company to chase away the shadows. Not bothering to offer him a greeting, Mary Anne crowded in around the fire roaring in its place. The heated blast of smoldering timber beat back the loneliness that started to nip at her skin.

  She didn’t like this weather. That was for sure. Agitated by chill, she stoked the fireplace until the flame crackled all the way up and disappeared into the shoot. It worked for the moment to distract her from why she really came to this room. She wanted Malcolm to hold her again, to wrap his arms around her and keep her safe through the night. It scared her to want it as much as she did.

  That left her feeling very insecure as she turned to stare at the man who meant too much to her already. Propped up against the headboard, he watched her with the same curious gaze.

  “You see a ghost or something, angel?”

  “Shh.” She waved his voice down as she rushed back to shut the door. “Mike’s sleeping in the main room.”

  “I’m not death, Mary Anne,” Malcolm grunted at normal tone. “I figured that was him snoring up the place.”

  Malcolm’s mule-headed attitude crushed the last bit of nerves she had going. Replaced by annoyance at his stubbornness, she didn’t mind letting that emotion show as she began setting up rags to clean his wound.

  “Don’t be rude, Malcolm. Your brother worked very hard today, and he’s worn himself completely out.”

  “And I didn’t? Hell, woman, you made me pull my stitches three times today.”

  “I made you?” Mary Anne glared at his gall.

  “Well.” Malcolm shrugged. “You certainly didn’t stop me. Now did you, angel?”

  “That’s because of your rule, Mr. Tanner,” Mary Anne sassed back with ease. “If memory serves me right, I’m not allowed to say no in this room.”

  “You ain’t allowed to be dressed, neither,” Malcolm grunted. “’Course given I can see straight through that gown, I won’t complain.”

  “As well you shouldn’t and maybe you should remember that you don’t want Mike to hear.” Mary Anne couldn’t help but offer him a smile. “After all, you might find that I prefer your brother.”

  That had Malcolm’s gaze narrowing. “You playing it kind of dangerous here, angel. You don’t really want to issue me that kind of challenge, do you?”

  Not for all the sense she had in her head. Apparently, Mary Anne didn’t have any left. She blamed it on Malcolm for goading it all out of her.

  “Why don’t we just take a look at your injury and see how much of a challenge you have in you first?”

  That amused him, and Mary Anne learned early that an amused Malcolm meant he’d gone dangerous.

  “By all means, angel, come on over here and take a look, then tell me how much challenge I got in me.”

  He pushed the blankets all the way down, revealing not only his bandage, but a good twelve inches of hard cock. Mary Anne swallowed as she felt her cheeks burn up with her blush. Instantly, her gaze fled the embarrassing sight and lifted back up to the safety of his face.

  Smug bastard grinned. He knew he’d gotten to her with his crude behavior, and it just tickled him. That alone triggered her pride, demanding that she match his challenge, even if she knew she would be walking into a trap.

  Head held high, she picked up the wash bowl from its stand and carried it next to the bed. She could feel his gaze tracking her like a predator did its prey as she set the bowl down on the little night table and turned to consider his bandages.

  There would be no getting the cotton swaths off without leaning in dangerously close to the dick weeping up at her. Biting her lip and casting a glance at his, Mary Anne had no choice but to make that bend and risk his response.

  Her hair barely fell forward to brush along his chest when his hand whipped out. With the speed of a striking snake, it fisted in the front of her nightgown. With a rip, he tore the thing straight down the middle. Mary Anne gasped and wheeled back. The motion sent the tattered remains of her gown flapping backward to fall free from her shoulders. With a sigh, the thin cotton floated down to pool at her feet.

  “Damnit, Malcolm! That was my only night gown.”

  “One more than you need.”

  Mary Anne’s gaze narrowed on that instant retort. He didn’t notice. Unabashed and unconcerned if she caught him, Malcolm’s attention remained south of her face.

  “Stop staring.”

  “Give me a reason.”

  He joked, but Mary Anne deemed it worthy of an answer. “It’s rude and I’m trying to help you. Or don’t you care about keeping that injury clean of infection?”

  “Not really.” Malcolm’s chin lifted with that answer. “Besides, seems a waste of time to go checking it when you know that you’re going to be making me pull my stitches out right after, and then you’re going to have to check it again.”

  She scowled at him for that smart answer, and he scowled back. “One more thing, angel, that is going to cost you. I do believe we have a rule in this room.”

  Mary Anne growled, not in any frame of mind to play along with his silly games. Not that she had an option. She challenged him now at her own risk because his patience clearly started to wane.

  “I do believe you can take your rules and shove them up your—”
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br />   She didn’t get to finish that sentence because, just as she suspected, that had him coming off the bed. At least if she had to lose, she’d lose on her own terms. Matching his growl with her chuckle, Mary Anne didn’t even run.

  Instead, she stepped into the battle. Her hands went to his shoulders to push him back even as his arms locked tight around her waist and yanked her with him. As she toppled down on top of him, his mouth already found her breast.

  Mary Anne gasped and arched as pleasure whipped through her, leaving a stinging trail of heat from her womb to where his tongue tormented her nipple. Velvety soft, his tongue soothed before the hard ridge of his teeth scraped over for a nibble that rained pure euphoric chaos through her body.

  Mary Anne cried out under the intense pleasure and gave herself over to the pounding rush of need. Her legs parted over his thigh, letting him set fire to her intimate flesh when it pressed down on the hard bulge of muscle. The thick, coarse hairs teased her sensitive skin, and she couldn’t help but to grind herself against him, intensifying the sensation until it bubbled out of her in an endless moan.

  Malcolm’s head lifted with a growl, his fingers coming to bite into her thigh as he gripped her in his harsh hold. With a tug, he had her nether lips splayed wide over the long, solid ridge of his erection. Mary Anne gasped and wiggled, teasing her clit against his heat. She barely got a good tickle before a second growl preempted another rough motion as he rolled her beneath him.

  Before she guessed his intent, she felt the burn at the entrance of her pussy as his thick head burrowed in. The flared edge sent a riot of spasms through her tender flesh as it forced her muscles wide, and then with a pop he was in. Mary Anne barely managed to draw in a shaky breath before it ripped back out of her in a scream.

  With the full force of a stallion, he scorched through her channel in a relentless invasion that left her throbbing and moaning as liquid waves of pleasure poured over her. Braced and anticipating another deliciously hard ride, it took her a moment to blink open her eyes and meet his gaze.

  “I could have pleasured you for hours, angel, but we ain’t going to get back to having that kind of fun until you accept the law of this marriage. You’re mine. I command. You obey.”

  She didn’t even know how to respond to that. Any other time of the day, she’d have argued it. Right now, with him pumping ecstasy into her body with every hard stroke, she gloried in his domination. Silence as her surrender did not appease the man above her.

  His head dipped, and his lips closed over one of her nipples, teeth first. Mary Anne moaned as he began to ravish her tender tip as he tormented the other one trapped in his fingers. Back and forth, over and over, his hips picked up the rhythm as he began to ride her slow and steady. Like drums beating, the easy tempo he set rippled out until a rapturous sea of a million tiny quivers snaked out and rolled over her body making her muscles clench.

  Deep inside, her sheath clamped down on the cock filling it, racing hard for the release that teased just one step away. She couldn’t reach it, not on her own. Not at his pace.

  “Please...Mr. Tanner…I’ll obey.”

  The words tumbled out of her in gasps that shrieked into a strangled scream. With just the slightest shift of his hips, Malcolm made her explode. Instantly, the steel pole buried inside her began to pump its heated length up and down her convulsing walls in an endless caress that made her climax implode on itself, blossoming into a whole new layer of need.

  Malcolm reared up onto his knees, forcing himself that much deeper as she clawed at his arms. Her legs wind-milled until she managed to plant her feet on the bed and pushed up into each glorious oncoming thrust. His fingers returned to curl around her hips, and as he dragged her back down his length, she felt certain he’d slam her back down on it in a blow that would detonate her greatest release.

  When the slippery head of his cock popped free of her pussy and she suddenly found herself cold and empty, Mary Anne shrieked in outrage. He silenced her objections by turning them into a scream as he lifted her up and lodged his fat cock head right against her anus. With a single breath, he penetrated her with a single, hard stroke that had her entire body melting under impact.

  Above her, Malcolm grunted and snorted. She cracked her eyes to find him flushed and sweating, the veins in his neck bulging out as he held himself still. Their gazes met and locked, and she could see the wildness clearly in him. It made everything inside her tighten because she knew he held on to the last shreds of civilization just for her.

  He needn’t have bothered. To prove that point, Mary Anne lifted one hand and let it slide between her swollen folds. When his gaze dropped and his breathing halted, she intentionally used two fingers to hold her lips open and torment him with a perfect view of her middle finger rolling over her sensitive clit.

  With a pointed flex of her hips, she whispered, “Don’t stop now, Mr. Tanner.”

  His gaze snapped back up as a smile tugged on his lips. “I do love you, angel.”

  He showed it by giving her the fucking she asked for. Mary Anne’s entire world twisted around her, expanding in delightful ways she never imagined. Just because she knew he watched, she continued to drive herself closer and closer to insanity’s edge with her own hand, adding her second at her breast.

  It drove him harder, and he pumped every glorious inch of his slippery cock faster into her ass. So close, she could almost touch the climax as it beckoned brighter and brighter on the horizon. With a lift of her hand, she dipped her head and sucked her own tit.

  “Oh, shit, angel.”

  She snapped him with that last little tease, and he rammed her like a stallion at full gallop. The whole room thickened with the scent of their sex, filling with the sounds of their passion as the bed banged hard into the wall. Then, in a blinding second of pure glory, the world around her exploded as the inferno searing through her burned away all physical barriers. Consumed in the flames, her soul detonated with such pleasure the world went black.

  * * * *

  Malcolm gazed dreamily across the foot of the bed into the distant flames of the fire. His little angel had passed out. Sticky with sweat and still dripping with his seed, he’d fucked her right into oblivion. That made him very proud. A man didn’t deserve a woman he couldn’t take care of.

  Even if Malcolm hadn’t deserved Mary Anne, he still would have kept her because holding her like this was just perfection. Malcolm arranged his little angel so he could feel all her soft curves pressed into his side. She felt good any way he tried her.

  The soppy nature of his own thoughts had him grinning. He figured he’d forgive himself at the moment, given he’d never been loved like his angel loved him. Malcolm was pretty damn certain Mary Anne already started to develop tender feelings for him.

  His own appeared almost magically. Rock solid, he didn’t question his feelings. He just accepted that Mary Anne had been born to be his. A gift from God in his mind, Malcolm knew when to accept and be thankful. Thankful he certainly was.

  In his years in the war and traveling through the West to escape the war, he’d known many ladies intimately. Most cost him a good coin, but it never really sat well with him. It just irritated him that he had to pay for it. If a woman didn’t want to be with him, then he didn’t want to be with her. Sometimes a man had needs that had to be attended to, and that led to desperations.

  Well, that time had passed. Malcolm sighed and tightened his arm around his angel. No doubt his little Mary Anne wanted him and not just for the pleasures of the flesh. He helped her with some of her chores, sat and watched for most of them, but they’d talked for hours and Malcolm never had done that with a woman before.

  It hadn’t been weird, but right. He suspected Mike understood. He heard his brother talk more in one night than he ever did in a week. Malcolm knew Mike well enough to know that talking to Mary Anne wouldn’t be the only thing Mike wanted from the woman.

  He hadn’t heard Mike put one move on Mary Anne told him his
older brother had already gone stubborn. No doubt his worries over taking a wife too soon and his normal reaction to protect the weak had him convinced that touching Mary Anne was wrong.

  Stupid fool, Malcolm snorted to himself. Let Mike be stubborn. Malcolm intended to wallow in Mary Anne’s tender nature. He liked the way she tend to stroke over his hand or along his shoulder. When she settled him down for a nap, she even snuggled his head into her bosom while she lulled him to sleep with the soft sound of her reading. His angel had a voice meant to melt butter.

  As she read, he wrapped his arms around her and dreamed. Dreamed of the faint shadow of a crib that would soon be nestled in the corner with his son dreaming whatever babies dreamed about. Maybe the same thing his daddy dreamt about—sweet, plump tits.

  Instinctively, the hand curled around Mary Anne’s shoulders dipped and slipped to once again palm the soft fullness he dined on earlier. His angel moaned in her sleep, her already abused bud puckering in anticipation of another round as her back arched to offer her breast up to his touch. Malcolm smiled.

  Somehow, Malcolm had gotten lucky twice over because for the moment he had Mary Anne all to himself. He planned to take advantage of that. It would be years again before he had such a convenient excuse for doing nothing with his days but spend it with his woman.

  Chapter 8

  Mike stared out at the morning sky. It lightened into shades of gray as the sun rose, cloaked behind a dark wall of clouds. He knew enough to know the signs of the first winter storm breaking overhead. He just didn’t know how long he had before the snow started to fall, and he could only hope it wouldn’t be thick enough to block the pass.

  The Carols could still get through, Mike assured himself.

  It would take several storms in a row or a very big blizzard to block the pass this early in the season. They’d find a way. They had to because he couldn’t pass this entire winter locked in a cabin with Mary Anne and leave her innocence untouched.