The Lawman (Montana Men Book 1)

by Vanessa Vale

  "So you fled."

  Her shoulders went up in a careless shrug. "By definition, yes. My life was being shaped for me, instead of by me."

  Her silky hair tickled my chin. I maneuvered the horse down the path that led to the river, cut out as it was from the prairie in a deep wash. "Then we are of similar nature. I spoke briefly of Myrna Flanders." I could hear the grumbling tone of my voice just mentioning her. "She had a similar notion. Unfortunately for women here, there are many men, but little option. Her mother first set her sights on me, then trained her daughter to be equally bold in her attentions."

  "Is there something not quite right about her?"

  I couldn't help but smile at her carefully worded question.

  "No, she's quite lovely, in fact. I just don't want her."

  Ellie lifted her head to look at me, but she bumped my chin instead. I leaned back so I could see her green eyes. "I've...I've been quite bold with you as well. Do you find me appealing?" Her gaze flicked away to stare at the river that had just come into view.

  Shifting my hips, I prodded my hard cock against her plush ass. When I heard her slight intake of breath, I knew she felt it, knew the little plug nudged deeper. "Clearly, I find you vastly appealing. You don't have to question that." I clucked the horse down a twist in the path. "You've only shown me pleasure when I fuck you. I've heard tell virgins are fearful, cold and even hysterical the first time. Your boldness does you well."

  I pulled the reins gently, the horse stopping. I lowered Ellie to the ground, then followed suit. Giving the horse a gentle smack on his flank, he walked off for water from the river.

  Ellie faced me now, boldly. "Why?"

  I grinned. "If you can handle what I've done to you so far, then you're going to love what I will do."

  She gulped and licked her bottom lip. Her delicate skin was a warm pink from the sun. The only way I wanted her flesh that color was by my hand. "Come, let's find some shade and eat our meal."

  Ellen

  I nibbled at a chicken leg as I watched my husband. He was in repose, lying on the blanket, propped up on one elbow. He'd rolled his shirtsleeves up due to the heat and his hat sat beside him. His long legs stretched out to reach past the edge of the blanket. He was so tall, so...big. Just thinking about how he felt atop me, his weight ensuring I could not escape his advances… not that I'd wanted to. On the contrary. Other than the spanking, I'd enjoyed every bit of his attentions. Even when he put that...plug in my ass. Could feel it now. If I wasn't deceiving myself, I would admit that the feel of the spanking had morphed from indignation and embarrassment into heat and arousal. Why did I like him striking me so? Why had I found pleasure in the pain?

  "Do you know the men Emily and Caroline have wed?"

  He glanced my way then took a roll from the saddlebag and tore it in half. "Just one. We are long time friends."

  "You planned for two brides together?" It seemed odd to me that a man as virile and handsome as Ryder would need to send for a bride, but his tale of entrapment seemed reasonable. If his friend was as appealing as he, I could only hope Emily was pleased as well as I. As for Caroline, I hoped the stranger who'd wanted her was just as acceptable.

  "I hear depth to that question." He stuffed a portion of roll into his mouth.

  I smoothed out my skirts, sitting carefully so as not to press against the plug. "Weren't you worried I might have been a hideous shrew?"

  He threw his head back and laughed. "Hideous shrew? Mrs. Bidwell was tasked with finding ladies who met very distinct requirements. The fee we paid for her services was large enough that we felt ensured of success."

  "Distinct requirements?"

  "A bride needed to be a virgin."

  "Of course," I replied. This was not a surprise.

  "Appealing to the eyes." He ticked off his list on his fingers. "Without ties for her to leave behind and miss."

  I felt I was fairly attractive, yet my hair color had always been a deterrent for most men. There was no family to hold me, nor would I be missed. Of course, the Simmons' were probably searching for me for completely different reasons.

  "The propensity for more in the bedroom."

  The last he said with his gaze focused directly upon me. I could tell that this was his most important requirement. The extent of more needed to be defined, although I had a good estimation based on the stretching of my ass.

  "How was Mrs. Bidwell to determine the last?"

  I placed the half eaten chicken leg down upon a cloth napkin. Ryder reached out and grabbed it, ate from it. "She has an eye for these things."

  "Oh?"

  "Besides arranging marriages, she's also a madame." He paused. "You know what that is?"

  My mouth fell open. I'd had my marriage arranged by a woman who ran a brothel? I could only nod.

  "Awhile ago, Wyatt and I went to Minneapolis to arrange for the purchase of our cattle and met the woman, and took ample use of her services."

  I did not need clarification on what he meant. From his prowess the night before, he'd certainly profited from the experiences. And so had I.

  "Wyatt had mentioned in passing that she should find us brides, but she took his comment seriously and offered such services when the time came." He tossed the bone over his shoulder and into the grass. "A few months ago, it became apparent that the time had come. Now, here you are."

  It was a tidy tale and I had to admit, very flattering that I was chosen. "You're a lawman, not a rancher."

  "Both, actually. My family has a ranch north of town. My parents are gone now, but my brothers run it. I used to work it with them. Even volunteered to travel east to handle some beef negotiations, like the trip to Minneapolis. But, I've always had a keen sense of right and wrong and the job as sheriff suits me better."

  The thought of him discovering my truth soured the moment. What would happen when he discovered my sins? If his delineation of right and wrong were so exact, would he put me in jail and hold me for the circuit judge just like Baxter? Or would he shoot me just as precisely? The entire train of thought needed to be redirected.

  "Tell me about these propensities of yours."

  His eyes were half lidded, the icy blue darker. A slight breeze ruffled his sandy hair, letting a thick lock fall over his brow. He looked almost...predatory. "There is a plug in your ass so you've got some indication."

  I flushed, yet persevered. "What else?"

  "Have you ever touched yourself before, Ellie?"

  I bit my lip. "Touched...where?"

  His gaze drifted down my body. "Your pussy. Have you put your fingers there? Found your clit?"

  I could feel my cheeks heat even more hotly at his direct questions. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide from answering. So I decided to meet him headlong. "Yes."

  One brow arched. "Did you make yourself come?"

  "I...I didn't know what it was at the time, but yes."

  "Did it feel good?"

  That place I touched pulsed with renewed need. My body clenched down on the plug. "Yes," I admitted.

  "Show me."

  My eyes widened. "What?"

  He tilted his chin. "Show me how you touched yourself."

  If he had been seeking a woman who'd do things that most wouldn't and I'd fit his specifications, then I didn't want to provide him with any kind of doubt to Mrs. Bidwell's selection. I certainly didn't want to give him cause to send me back. Clearly he wanted me to be brazen, to touch myself, and more. If I didn't...well, I didn't want to consider disappointing him. So I uncurled my legs and placed my feet out in front of me shoulder width apart, then pulled my knees up. Tugging at the hem of my dress, I lifted it up over my knees so that it bunched in my lap. From his vantage point, he could look directly between my spread legs.

  He shook his head and tsked me. "One of my propensities is for easy and direct access to my pussy. And yes, it's between your legs, but it's mine." He said the last almost fiercely. "No more drawers. Take them off."

  I co
mplied readily, undoing the ties, lifting my hips and sliding the fabric down and off my legs. He held up a hand and I tossed them to him. "That's better. From now on, you will wear nothing beneath your dress. If I want to reach under and feel how wet you are, I can. If I want to bend you over the kitchen table again and fuck you, there will be no impediment."

  "Yes, Ryder." I could feel the air on my exposed flesh. I was so heated that the breeze felt cool.

  His gaze narrowed, looked upon me...there. "Widen your legs, let your knees fall open. Yes, like that."

  I couldn't help but follow his instructions, knowing what it felt like when I came. If this was going to take me there, I was more than eager. Touching myself had always been done under the cover of darkness, when everyone was asleep when no one was the wiser. But now, I not only had a very intent audience, but I was exposed; bright daylight and open expanses. I felt...decadent, wanton. But this wasn't my doing, it was Ryder's bidding.

  "Lie back and touch yourself. Show me what feels good."

  I lowered myself to the blanket, the grass beneath making a soft cushion and stared up at the pillowy clouds. Slowly, I lowered my right hand to the juncture of my thighs and slid my fingers over the flesh between. Swollen, steamy flesh was slick and very sensitive to the touch. I opened the petals of my sex so that I could slip one finger within, mimicking - albeit very poorly - how Ryder's cock had filled me.

  Turning my head, I watched Ryder watch my fingers through a half lidded gaze. Bright color flagged his cheeks, his jaw clenched tightly. One hand bunched the blanket within a tight grasp. Every line of his body, every muscle was taut, as if he was holding back. He was aroused by what I was doing and this made me, in turn, aroused. I became instantly wetter and I could hear that fact as my fingers moved. Bringing my other hand down, I started to move the tips of two fingers over the hard little nub that had my back arching, my legs falling impossibly wider. I knew he could see the top of the plug in my ass.

  "Ryder," I called out.

  He lifted his gaze to mine. "Come, baby."

  I did. His words set me off, my eyes slipping closed, and I cried out at the waves of pleasure that washed over me. My nipples tightened beneath my corset, my muscles clenched tightly. My inner walls clamped down on the finger within, but it wasn't enough. Ryder had ruined me for touching myself. I wanted his cock filling me.

  After a fashion, I lay wilted and sated. I was too far gone to close my legs, to move my fingers from the dripping wet flesh. Tingles of desire there had me still on edge. I'd come, but it hadn't satisfied me the way Ryder had the night before.

  "I've got to taste you." Before I had a chance to wonder as to his words, he lowered himself so that his shoulders kept my thighs spread wide, his tongue running the full length of my pussy, licking at my essence. He lifted his head and looked at me, his mouth and chin glistening. "Definitely peaches." With that, he was very diligent in his attentions, a single mindedness that had me coming at once. I was still so sensitive from the first time that my body had been ready, almost eager for more.

  "Ryder, it's...it's not enough."

  Sitting back on his haunches, he ran the back of his hand over his wet chin. "Oh? Do you need my cock, baby?"

  I bit my lip and nodded.

  He undid the placket of his pants, and his cock sprang free. Yes, that was what I wanted. My pussy spasmed at the sight of his long, thick erection. Bulging veins ran up the length to the large, plum colored head. Clear fluid seeped from the tip. Grabbing my hips, he tugged me up his muscular thighs, lined up his cock and shoved deep. With my back bowed as it was, I couldn't move, couldn't shift my hips. I was completely at his mercy.

  "Ah, baby, I love looking at you like this." He moved in and out as he spoke. "Your creamy thighs spread so wide, I can see your pussy stretched open for my cock, so unbelievably wet. And that plug, it's making you impossibly tighter."

  I moaned my pleasure in time with his metered thrusts. He slipped a thumb around where we were joined and then over that pleasure spot. "Your clit is so hard, so swollen. Come, baby. You come before me. If you don't, I'll flip you over, spank your ass and watch my cum slide out of your pussy as I do so. Only after your ass is nice and red will you get to come."

  "Oh God," I gasped at his carnal threat. The vision he painted had me on edge, so close. Shifting his hips ever so slightly, he bottomed out within me, and with it, I came.

  Grabbing hold of fistfuls of blanket, I thrashed about, overcome with the most intense, fierce sensations, all the while Ryder continued to pump and fill me. So lost was I that his own release was but a blur, except for the feel of a hot flood of his seed deep inside.

  I watched as he came - jaw tight, skin coated with a sheen of sweat, flushed cheeks, brow furrowed in a look akin to pain. His grip was tight on my hips, ensuring marks of his domination there for days to come.

  Ryder caught his breath, slid my body off his thighs. His cock was coated in a sheen of his seed and my wetness, still turgid and hard. In one quick motion, he had me flipped onto my stomach, pulled my hips back so my knees were tucked up and under me, just as he'd positioned me for the plug. Before I could even question his actions, his hand came down upon my bottom. Hard.

  I jumped and cried out. "Ryder! What are you doing?"

  Another strike, this time to the other cheek.

  "Spanking you."

  A series of spanks followed.

  I cried out, crinkled my eyes closed at the stinging. "But why?"

  "Because I can. Because you're mine. Because I'm going to fuck you again." Smack. Smack. Smack. "Right now."

  Lifting my hips with one hand, he pushed into me. There was no finesse, no gentleness. This was what he called fucking, pure and simple. "You're so slick with my seed, baby. I can take you for hours."

  Grabbing hold of the blanket once more, I clenched my fists tightly and held on. I was quickly recognizing the propensities he was looking for now.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  We returned to town as the sun set low on the horizon. Ryder lowered me from the horse in front of the livery and I met the first resident of August Point. Mr. Leudke was in his sixties, squat and solid. His hair was turning to grey and thinning. His smile was broad and kind. He tipped his hat to me as Ryder made introductions. I felt a slight immodesty at being without any drawers and a plug inside me while speaking to a stranger, especially with the dried seed sticky on my pussy and thighs and my bottom sore from Ryder's impromptu spanking. My husband did not seem to have any of such concerns. In fact, he had the air of a well-satisfied male. The fact that it was because of me that he had such a look made me satisfied as well.

  "Ma'am. I heard you had quite the welcome to our town."

  Ryder's lips formed a thin line at the mention of Baxter. I envisioned the gruesome scene and would have wished for an alternate welcome. "Yes, well. I certainly got a glimpse of my husband's profession firsthand." I brushed down the front of my dress.

  "You did that, for sure."

  "Anything come up while we were gone?" Ryder obviously wanted to alter the topic of conversation.

  The older man ran his hand over raspy whiskers. "Your marriage is a secret no longer, however the how, when and why are still unanswered. I think you'll have much to convey."

  Ryder removed his saddlebag, which I knew held my drawers. Was he intending to carry them with him all the time?

  "I imagine nothing less," he murmured, seemingly not thrilled with the idea of sharing the details of our marriage.

  "Perhaps you'd like my help in disseminating the information?"

  I bit back a grin. The man was a busybody!

  "Ellie and I met two years ago when I went to Minneapolis with Wyatt. We conversed via letter and our...love grew. I proposed and she accepted."

  Both Mr. Leudke and I stared at Ryder during this explanation. The older man was gobbling up the details to share with the town; no doubt he'd be the center of attention as he did so. I, on the other hand, wanted to absorb his st
ory so that I could be in complete alignment. It was only a matter of time before we were separated and I would be part of a ladies circle and bombarded with questions.

  "That sounds mighty romantic, if you ask me."

  "Thank you, Mr. Leudke," I said, smiling at the man.

  "Little Robert Dray was caught outside the Mercantile with a pilfered stick candy," Mr. Leudke added, switching topics.

  Handing the bridle off, Ryder replied, "I'll take care of him. Have a good evening."

  The man tipped his hat once again and Ryder led me by a gentle hold on my elbow in the direction of our house. "How old is Robert Dray?"

  "Eight or nine, I suppose," Ryder commented.

  "What will you do with him?"

  "I'll take him to jail--"

  I stopped walking. "Jail? He's nine!"

  Ryder sighed. "Ellie, you didn't let me finish." I pinched my lips together. "I'll take him to jail and let him sit in the cell, get a feel for what it's like to be on the wrong side of the law. If he doesn't wet himself or start to cry, I'll watch him like a hawk as he grows up. Those are the ones that have little conscience."

  "You won't keep him there?" I let him lead me down the hard packed thoroughfare, our pace brisk.

  "No need. A few minutes usually does the trick."

  Every time we spoke of any type of illegal activity, it had my insides churning with worry. If he wanted to scare the daylights out of a nine year old, then I could only imagine his plans once he found out I was a murderer. The marriage was most likely doomed, as I doubted he'd bend when it came to his fervent morals. I respected him for them, believed in them myself, yet within the briefest moments, I'd crossed to the other side. With one strike of the rock, I'd become wanted.

  "Is there a reason we are walking so quickly?" I asked, my breaths becoming labored. My short strides were no match for his long legs.