“Why is he still alive?” Dave busted into the bedroom.
“Dave, have you lost your mind?” She closed the bedroom door behind them. “Someone will see you!”
“Nice new bedroom. I see you moved out of yours and into his.” Dave plopped down onto the bed and put his shoes on top of the blankets. “Very comfortable life you’ve got her, sister.”
“Get out, you need to get out before Tom gets home.”
“Where is your new husband, oh yes, alone with your beloved son.” Dave shook his head. “You let a killer take your boy to fish at a dangerous river. You, dear sister, are the one who had lost her mind.”
“Tom is not a killer. You misunderstood.” She pushed his feet off the bed. “You were wrong about everything.”
“No, no I was not.” He shoved his feet back up onto the bed and smirked. “You are a fool for not believing me.”
“You are wrong about this, brother.” She checked the window to make sure no one was coming and then turned back to Dave. “But you can drop all this murder business and join our family here at the ranch. We can forget about it all and move on. There is an extra guest house by the barn and Tom said he has work for you.”
“Never.” He shook his head. “He may have you fooled, but not me. You are going to be killed. This is your last chance.” He sat a bottle down on the night stand. “This will kill him immediately. Give it to him at supper. If he is not dead by midnight, I will kill him myself, and it won’t be as quick as poison.”
“Dave, no. There has been a mistake, Tom is not a killer.” She pleaded with her brother. “Don’t make me do this. Do not make me kill the man I love.”
“Love?” Dave laughed. “Now you love this man? Your late husband is probably rolling in his grave as we speak. You love a murderer you just met. Silly girl. You will poison him this evening, or I will end his life slowly and painfully. Do you understand me?”
Dave disappeared from the room, leaving Ruth helpless with a glass bottle of poison.
Chapter Nine
“Supper was delicious.” Tom kissed Ruth’s cheek. She felt disconnected from reality as she barely felt his lips on her skin. “Is everything alright? Are you not feeling well?”
“I am fine.” She lied. “I am just tired, that is all.”
“Well, you head to bed while I put Billy to sleep.” He picked up her smiling son his arms. “I promised him a story before bed anyway.”
The two of them slipped out of the kitchen and up the stairs. When William died, Ruth imagined life would never be anything other than sad for her. Everyday felt worse, and pain become numbness in her heart. Now that she had Tom, she began to feel again. Her heart had reawakened. Her life had been reborn. How could she take the man’s life? How could she take that from herself?
Ruth headed to their bedroom and changed to her night gown. Retrieving the bottle of poison from the makeup box she had hidden it in, she stared at it as though it may suddenly give an alternative answer. Dave would hurt Tom, he would kill him ruthlessly and merciless. Perhaps poisoning her husband would be an end to the suffering he would certainly endure.
“He fell right to sleep.” Tom came into the room. “This ranch can surely exhaust a man.”
She hurried up and put the poison back into the makeup box and tucked it among her other items. Standing to her feet, she went to her husband and hugged him tighter than she ever had before.
“Tom.” Her voice was soft and weakened. “Please, make love to me as though there is no tomorrow.”
“Ruth.” He put his hand on her cheek. “That is how I make love to you every time.”
Wishing to never part with this man, she took him to the bed and laid him down upon it. She quickly threw her gown to the floor and pulled his clothes off as well. Taking him in her mouth, she showed got him ready with her lips. His size grew longer and longer as she took him deeper into her throat.
“Come here.” He told her. “I want to see your face.”
Ruth took him out of her mouth and went on top of him on the bed. Stranding him, she stared into his dazzling blue eyes as he entered her slowly. Grinding slowly with a beautiful rhythm, she rode his erection with the beat of her heart. This man was everything she hoped and more. Tom reached up and caressed her breast, playfully squeezing her nipples as she took him deep inside of her.
After riding him for a few minutes, Ruth gasped as Tom flipped her over and drove harder into her. She sucked on his neck as she pressed in and out of her.
“You are all I have ever wanted.” She whispered into his ear. “More than I ever imagined.”
Her words excited him, causing him to pound harder into her as she dug her nails deep into his back.
“More!” She cried out. “Give me more!”
Tom flipped her over onto her stomach and entered her from behind. His erection was larger than ever, bringing screams of pleasure from Ruth’s mouth.
“Is that what you want?” He asked as he hammered into her.
“Yes!” She bucked back into him, wanting all he had to give. “Oh, yes, Tom!”
He slammed into her one more powerful time, the plunge was enough to make Ruth climax around him. Throbbing and shaking, she cried out in bliss as the orgasm rippled through her body.
Upon feeling her explode around him, Tom rammed into her one more time and them poured passionately inside of her. This was the man she now loved. This was her second chance at happiness. How could she kill someone attached to her own heart, it would kill her as well.
“I love you.” Ruth said to him. “I will never love another.”
The emotions overwhelmed her so much that tears filled her eyes. She jumped out of bed and to her feet. Wrapping a sheet around her naked body, she rushed out of the room and to the bedroom Tom had originally made for her.
“Wait, Ruth!” Tom followed her. “What is wrong? Did I do something?”
“I have to tell you something.” Ruth could not take the secrets any longer.
“Anything, tell me anything.” Tom sat her down at her bed.
“You may hate me. You may never want to speak to me again.” She cried.
“Nothing could make me hate you. Please, tell me what is wrong, love.” He held her hands as she got the courage to speak.
“There are many lies that you have been told.” She took a deep breath. “I am not rich, nor do I have a fortune to give you. My brother lied to you in his letters. I did not know about his plans, but he has many.”
“Ruth, I knew that you were not rich.” He smiled. “I sent Mary to Kansas to check out your brother’s story, she found out that part was a lie, but she also found out from everyone in town that you were a kind, caring, beautiful woman that would make a great wife. Money did not matter. I have my own, you know.”
“But my brother, he sent me here and then came to tell me that you only married me to kill me and take my fortunes. He said that you killed your first two wives and took their inheritance.” She shook her head. “I did not want to believe it, but he swore it true. My heart knows otherwise though.”
“Your brother is mistaken. My wives died naturally. Furthermore, they did not have inheritance since their parents and siblings are still alive and well.” He let go of her hands, making her feel alone and broken. “Why would believe such a thing? Why would your brother want you to believe that I am a killer?”
“Please, do not hate me.” She cried. “It gets worse.”
“How could it possibly get worse?”
“My brother wants me to kill you.” Ruth watched as Tom’s face covered in horror and disgust.
“Kill me?” Tom’s nose flared as he grew angry. “Do you want to kill me, Ruth? Are you going to kill me now?”
“No!” She stood up and went to him, but he backed away. “I could never kill you, I love you.”
“Stop.” He pushed her hands aside. “Do not touch me right now.”
“Here, follow me.” She led him back to his room and retrieved the
makeup box. “My brother gave me this poison to kill you, but I did not. I am telling you to save your life. Dave plans on returning at midnight and killing you himself if I don’t do the deed.”
She opened the box, but was shocked to find the bottle of poison gone.
“It was right here.” Ruth panicked. “The bottle was in here.”
As she looked up, the box fell from her hands. A gunshot rang through the room and Tom dropped to the floor. Blood came from his chest as he lay helpless on the floor.
“Tom!” Ruth went to the floor beside him. “Oh, God no! Tom, please hang on.”
“Hang on for what?” Dave said from above her. “I told you he was a dead man.”
“Why?” She jumped up and smacked her brother. “How could you do this? You lied about everything! He is not a killer, you are!”
“Oh, relax. You are so dramatic, sister.” Dave smirked. “If it makes you feel better, you will be joining him in death as well.”
“What?” She backed away from her brother.
“With you both gone, Billy will get everything. He will inherit the ranch, the home, the money. And I will get guardianship of my dear nephew, so in turn, it will all be mine.” Her brother smugly told her. “Until I see it fit to get rid of him as well.”
“Billy!” She started to run to her son, but Dave pointed the gun at her.
“Don’t worry. I locked him safely in his room.” He shrugged. “I can’t have him seeing me here. That is the beauty of this plan, no one knows I am even in Texas. As far as very one is concerned, your dear brother is at home in Kansas packing up your old house.”
“You bastard!” She slapped him across the face. “How could you do this to me? I am your sister.”
“Money.” He laughed. “Is it ever about anything other money?”
“Love.” She told him. “For me, love meant more than the money.”
“I wish I could say the same.” Dave held up the gun and was about to pull the trigger when Tom miraculously came from behind and tackled him. The gun fell to the floor and slid across the room.
The men wrestled around on the ground, each fighting for their life as they punched and shoved the other one. Tom was getting the best of Dave, when her brother pulled a knife from his boot and stabbed the man in his chest. Wounded for a second time, Tom fell over and moaned in pain.
Dave got on top of the man and was about to stab him once more, when Ruth pulled the trigger. The bullet hit his heart and knocked him onto his back.
“Tom!” She ran to her husband. “Tom, please tell me you are okay.”
“I will be fine.” He assured her. “I will be alright.”
Ruth leaned down and kissed him and she happy to find that he kissed her back. She went over to her dying brother and looked down at him with sorrow. The brother she knew had not been a murderer, but then again, neither had she. Maybe everyone had it in them to kill, for money or love, the reasoning was lost in the moment as she sadly watched Dave take his last breaths.
“Never goodbye.” He weakly whispered to his sister.
A tear fell as she crossed her heart. And he was gone.
Hearts healed quickly, when you had love to mend the wounds. Ruth found that out with Tom as they became a family and moved on from the horrible past. She had been sent there to end his life, yet he had saved hers.
Spread Wide by the Well Endowed Cowboy
By: Emily Sharpe
Spread Wide by the Well Endowed Cowboy
©Emily Sharpe, 2015 – All rights reserved
Published by Steamy Reads4U
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Published: Steamyreads4u @September 2015
Warning
This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
Chapter One
If Addie never rode another horse, it would be too soon for her. The only trouble was, she was in the wrong part of the world to be making that resolution. Big sky country. Wrong. She had no idea how Lewis and Clark made their way some seventy years before but if they could do it, she could do it.
At least she hoped and prayed she could. She had gotten herself in more fixes than moving half way across the universe was going to fix. But, if moving was her only option, so be it. By train, coaches and horses, Addie had to get as far away from a world of trouble as she possibly could.
When Addie’s daddy was lynched for selling the same farm twice – and the only home generations of her family had ever known – she knew she had to think fast. When the magistrate came to collect from her the amount of money that her father took from one of his victims (mercifully, at least one of the parties got to keep the farm so she only owed once), Addie had to find a way to come up with the cash.
She had never worked a day outside of the farm, in her life. And with her family once consisting only of her father and her – now just her – that was more than a full time occupation. But it seemed like the cause of her problem offered her a great solution. If her daddy could sell a farm twice, what said Addie couldn’t promise herself as a wife to two, or even more, unsuspecting cowboys hard up for a woman?
She saw more than one newspaper advertisement calling all available women. She didn’t know much about the mail order bride business, but this much she did know: the ads said men would send women cash to come West. That was all she had to read to know here problems would soon be solved. Solved by cold hard cash. Or cold hearted cash.
Addie quickly put herself up on the mail order bride auction block once, eager to put her plan to the test. And it worked. She chummed the mail order bride waters with dozens of responses. In no time, some unsuspecting romantic chap by the name of Emory Calhoun wrote her beautiful letters, putting his heart on the line.
His letters were so heart-felt, Addie was not sure how tough she could be. Emory said all the right things. His words were solace as she navigated the brutal reality that the magistrate posed. And she had just lost her father in the worst possible way.
While her romantic pen pal didn’t come right out and say that he was a handsome man, she could tell by his technical description he offered in lieu of a likeness, he was very handsome. Addie was more than tempted by Emory’s courting by correspondence but she had to draw a hard line. She entered the mail order bride business for just that -- business. While she was moved -- stirred -- by Emory’s love notes, love was not in her cards.
Emory lived outside of the city of Great Falls, Montana which he promised was an up-and-coming city like Chicago. Addie laughed; Mr. Calhoun had a sense of humor. Great Falls predicted to be connected to the railroad within the next few years!
Emory sent her tickets to take the Northern Pacific to Mullan Pass and from there, Mullan Road all the way into Great Falls. It was his plan to meet her at the train station himself and ride the road together. He sent her fare to travel the road anyway. And she kept every penny.
Addie could not afford to be sentimental. Having her heart broken over the loss of her father she had no intention of marry. She kept sweet Emory on the hook until he sent her enough m
oney to keep a rope from around her neck. But pretty soon she figured out that the magistrate was just milking her for money. She more than paid the swindled sum back. Finally, she stood up to the magistrate.
“I’m done,” she said. “I’m leaving. But I’m done.”
“You leave, you’re a wanted woman,” he said coolly.
“That’ll be a first,” she laughed. “'Cause no one ever wanted me before.”
“I’m warning you Adaline,” he said, butting up his doughy body to her doughy body.
“Give me some time to come up with another payment. I’ll revisit the situation then,” said Addie.
And before he could catch on to the fact that she had no intention of giving him another dime, Adaline Filcher was a ghost. She left for Great Falls which seemed like the furthest place from Chicago as she could afford to go. Even there she couldn’t say she never looked back; Addie was constantly looking over her shoulder.
Chapter Two
Adaline Filcher stepped off of the stage and nearly into the brawny arms of a great wall of a man named Galen Allen. He had not made any reference to his rugged good looks in their brief correspondence. Addie was more than pleasantly surprised. And then she had a moment of regret. She thought of Emory.
Addie herself was more than a handful. At twenty years old, she was a pleasantly plump woman, with pale blond hair. She had bright blue eyes and lips on the rosy side. Her face was round and fair. But next to the broad bull of a man who was her intended, Addie was almost diminutive. He was as hard and angular as she was soft and round.
“I hope your travel was tolerable,” said Galen evenly.
He did not exhibit too much emotion. He took her hand daintily but that was it. No kiss or embrace. He did take command of the few belongings she brought. Living on the run meant Addie packed light.
Romance: Yes, Stepbrother! Page 34