Sarah climbs over me, straddling me. Her sweet lips touch mine. “Don’t worry, we can figure out anything, together.” Soft hands roam over my chest and I feel myself growing hard with need for her.
“Christ, baby!” I pull her down and kiss her hard as my dick grows hard, and she pulls her ass up.
My erection springs up, and she slides her body down its length. A moan escapes her mouth into mine and I join her as it feels incredible. The fact she actually initiates our love making is a pleasant surprise. Many men told me their wives hate this and try to get out of it every chance they get.
Seems my wife likes it and that bodes well for our future. Up and down she goes, sending little shivers through me. I place my hands on her small waist, lifting her and letting her slide back down. Her kiss deepens as she explores every part of my mouth.
Her hands tangle in my hair as she tugs at it. Unable to stand not being in control any longer, I flip her over and look down at her. “You are mine!” I take a breast in my mouth and nibble it as I push into her hot, soft, wet heat.
She arches up to me and runs her nails over my back. “Harder,” she moans.
With a smile, I do as she’s asked, ramming into her. One arm I wrap around the back of her knee, lifting her leg up, her ankle near her ear and I slip in deeper.
Hard thrusts I make, sending bursts of air from her lungs with each one. I suck on her breast while she grabs my ass cheeks in her hands and pushes me even harder to fill her. Little spasms her body starts to make and I know she’s about to lose it, so I slow my pace to make it last.
Releasing her leg, I move in a slow motion and trail kisses from her breast to her mouth where I kiss her gently. She writhes beneath me, wanting the hard strokes back, but I tease her with the gentleness.
Her hands move over my back and she tries hard to deepen the kiss, but I keep her tongue at bay by stroking it with mine, keeping the pace slow and steady. I pull my mouth from hers and kiss her neck with little pecks.
Suddenly I fell her teeth on my neck and her fingernails rake across my back as she bucks under me. A hard bite then she sucks at my neck, sending shock waves through me. She wants it bad and now I’ll give it to her. It’s not like I can stop myself anyway.
“You want it hard?” I ask though I know she does.
“Yes, hard, now, please,” she says with hardly any breath.
I smile at her and watch her as I ram into her. She closes her eyes and groans as she arches up to meet my thrusts. “Yes,” she murmurs.
With more force than I thought I had, I pound into her, faster and faster. She continues whimpering yes’s at me. Until she’s nearly screaming them and although I love the sound, I don’t want the deputies downstairs to hear her.
I kiss her to keep her a bit quieter. Her nails scrape over my back, sending chills through me and I quiver as I feel it starting and I can’t hold back any longer. I pull my mouth from hers. “Come now! Come with me,” I command and am pleased to feel her body tensing with the orgasm she’s going into.
She moans loudly, “God! Josh!”
I kiss her again to silence her and burst inside her as her tight tunnel squeezes every last drop of my juices from me. I slow my strokes until neither of us pulse anymore. Her body softens beneath mine and I pull my mouth from hers, finally feeling she may be able to control her loud love sounds.
Her blue eyes sparkle and I find a home in them. “I love you, Sarah.”
My heart explodes with joy as she says, “I love you too, Josh.” Her hand softly strokes my cheek and I feel a way I never knew I could.
SARAH
Josh takes me into a small café to eat breakfast before we ride out to see just what all is damaged at the place he’s been building. My hand in his, we walk inside the little wooden building and my eyes scan the little place.
My breath catches in my throat as I see him, the man who led me on for two years. Once he found out I had agreed to marry Josh then he suddenly decided he wanted me. He even went to the train station to try to talk me into forgetting about Josh and marrying him.
Seems he must’ve been on a train right behind me, if not on the same damn train I was, just in another car. His eyes look straight into mine and a sly grin lifts the corners of his mouth. I run my arm around Josh’s waist, and he pulls me into him, kissing the top of my head and running his arm around my shoulders.
Josh walks us right by his table and I flinch as he reaches out for me. “Sarah, fancy seeing you here,” he says.
Josh stops and looks at the man then at me. “Are you going to introduce us?”
A deep breath I take in as I gesture to the man who is now standing up. “This is Richard, from Pittsburgh.”
Josh runs his eyes over the tall man. Richard is very good looking, and he’s more than aware of that fact. Blonde curls with hints of gold flow to his broad shoulders. Sky blue eyes seem soft and friendly, but they can change to the color of storm clouds with his insensitive nature in the snap of a finger.
Josh takes his arm off my shoulders and extends his hand towards Richard. “Nice to meet you, Richard. How is it you know my wife exactly?”
With a smile, Richard ignores my husband’s attempt to shake his hand. He reaches out and takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “She was mine once upon a time and I’m afraid I waited a few days too late to ask her to marry me. Seems you beat me to it, Joshua. Though she never mentioned to me she was writing to you. The news of her impending marriage to you took me by surprise. A most unpleasant surprise.”
Josh looks at me and runs his arm back around my shoulders, pulling me back so Richard’s fingers leave my face. “Sorry to hear that, I guess,” Josh says. “Um, we’re about to eat some breakfast and have a few things to take care of today. Nice meeting you.”
Josh takes a couple of steps away but stops as Richard asks, “Did she tell you about us, Joshua?”
Josh looks down at me and answers, “No, she did not.” A frown covers his handsome face and a little sadness seeps in, making me feel terrible.
In a whisper I say, “I will. As soon as we get out of here.”
“You bet you will,” he whispers back.
JOSH
The house is completely destroyed. Sarah and I walk around the ruins and can find nothing to save. I had a hunch it was Beth who burned it, but a mystery man from my wife’s secret past showed up, so it could’ve been him instead.
“Do you think that man has it in him to do this?” I ask her.
Her eyes dart up to mine. “Do you think it might have been him, Josh?”
I have my own secrets. Although it ignited more than a spark of jealousy that Richard decided to come all this way, I’ve yet to question Sarah about why he’d do such a thing. It seems unfair to ask her things about her past when I’m not willing to share mine.
With our home being destroyed it’s important we come clean about everything to find out who did this. So I ask, “Want to tell me about Richard and why he’s here?”
Her eyes look everywhere but at me. “I don’t know why he’s here. We’re married now, so what does he think he can accomplish by being here?”
I pick up a stick that looks a little like it might have been used to start the fire. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“Before I got on the train,” she says and looks at me, finally. “You see, Richard and I were a bit of a thing. But he always lost interest in me and would stop coming around. The reason he didn’t know you and I were writing to each other is because he hadn’t been around. He saw my sister at some party and she told him about my impending marriage to you and he showed up at my house again.”
“Didn’t want you until someone else did, huh?” I ask as I look a lot harder at the stick in my hand.
“Seems so. Anyway, he asked me to marry him and I told him I had accepted your proposal and would be leaving. He came the day I got on the train and I suppose he got a ticket himself and now he’s here.” She walks up next to me
and points to the stick. “Only the tip is burnt.”
“Yeah, that’s what made me pick it up. It may have been what started the fire.” I scan the area for any other clues and my eyes stop on a black piece of cloth stuck to a tree branch, roughly four feet off the ground. My heart sinks as I walk towards it.
Sarah follows along. Pulling the cloth from the branch, I look at Sarah. She points at another branch. “There’s blood.”
“So our culprit was wearing black and should have a scratch most likely on their arm.” The way Sarah’s eyes darken let me know she’s thinking much the same as I am.
“You know,” she says. “One thing I can tell you about Richard is that he never wears black. He wears almost exclusively the color blue. He’s extremely vain and thinks the color makes his blue eyes pop. It wasn’t him.” Her eyes dart to mine and I have a hard time not looking away. “Wanna tell me a little more about that girl in the black dress yesterday?”
The wind has left my sails as I know the time has come to open that can of worms. I take her hand in mine and search her eyes for understanding. Only confusion I see and maybe a bit of uneasiness.
“She and I, well, one time a year ago,” I stammer and suddenly feel like I need to walk or I’ll fall down. Never have I been more afraid to tell anyone anything.
Her finger touches my lips. “Shh. You don’t have to say it out loud. I can tell. So do you think she’s dangerous?”
My heart nearly bursts with love for this woman. She’s not going to judge me for what I did. “You aren’t disappointed? You aren’t going to leave me?”
She shakes her head and smiles. “Leave you? Never!”
I pick her up in my arms and twirl her around. “I love you, Mrs. Boerm!”
A crackling sound comes from the woods and I put her down as we both try to see what made the sound. A shriek fills the air and Beth runs through the brush at us.
Pushing Sarah behind me, I hold my other hand out to stop Beth. Her face is beat red, and she’s quite a mess. “Stop!” I shout.
Tears stream down her cheeks. “I hate you, Josh Boerm! I hate you! How could you do this to me? You told her! You swore you’d never tell anyone!”
“I had to.” I take her by the wrists and hold her as she squirms. “Why did you do this, Beth?”
“This should’ve been our home, not hers, never hers!” she shouts and tries hard to pull out of my grasp.
“I told you we were never going to be what you wanted,” I tell her and she begins to laugh.
“But that day by the creek. That day you took me, you made me yours and that can never be changed. In the eyes of God, you and I are married. Way before you married her.” Beth looks around me at Sarah. “He took my innocence. Did you know that part?”
“It’s the past, it doesn’t matter,” Sarah says and puts her hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry for what you went through. I’m sorry he doesn’t want you the way you want him. You shouldn’t have burned down what he worked so hard for though. It was wrong of you to do that.”
Beth slumps as she begins to sob. “What are you going to do to me, Josh?”
Sarah and I look at each other as Beth cries. Sarah touches her shoulder. “Beth, you’ve broken the law. Do you understand that?”
Beth looks at me with fear in her eyes. “Please, Josh! Please, don’t arrest me! I swear, I’ll do everything I can to make this right. I was mad, furious, and crazy with jealousy! I wasn’t thinking.”
“Go home, Beth,” I say as I let her go. “I’ll decide what to do about this. But for now, go home. Don’t tell anyone what you did. Don’t tell anyone anything. No one else needs to know about any of this. The time by the creek nor this thing you’ve done. It would ruin you. And I’m sorry, Beth. That was my mistake. I was wrong for doing that to you.”
Shame fills me like it has so damn many times since I took the poor girl’s virginity. Her sad eyes will haunt me forever it seems. “I’ll leave you too alone. But I’ll never stop loving you, Josh,” Beth says then turns away and walks slowly back into the woods.
SARAH
Orange streaks the sky as the sunsets and Josh walks me to the steak house for my birthday supper. I told him he shouldn’t be wasting money like this as we have to figure out how to find the money to rebuild the cabin, but he insisted.
Though the happenings of the day were terrible, I try to brush off the bad feelings and enjoy the nice thing Josh is doing for me. As he opens the door I can see many people sitting at small tables as young women bustle around delivering meals to the patrons.
Josh sets us near a window and soon our order is taken and we sit and wait for the food. His hand runs over my knee under the table and he leans in close. “You look gorgeous in the dress I bought you. The deep blue brings out your eyes.”
I smile and run my hand over his cheek. “Thank you for that. It was such a nice thing to do. You’re spoiling me already.”
He smiles and kisses my cheek. “I plan to do that for the rest of our lives, sweetheart.”
The door opens and his eyes flash to it. His brow furrows, and he curses under his breath. I look too and see a tall, dark haired man making his way to Josh, his eyes full of sorrow.
Josh stands and shakes the man’s hand. “Hey, Jason. This is Sarah, my wife.”
Jason takes my hand, leaving a kiss on top. “It’s nice to meet you. Josh has told me so much about you. And I’m deeply sorry for what my little sister did.”
Josh goes pale. “I told her not to tell anyone.” He sits back down and gestures for Jason to join us.
“Always protecting her,” Jason says as he pulls an envelope from his pocket. “My father said to give you this” He pushes it across the table to Josh.
Josh picks it up and opens it. His eyebrows dart up to the top of his head. He looks at Jason. “Where did you get this?”
“It’s money that our grandmother left for Beth. Pa wants you to have it to help you rebuild. Also, you have his help as well as mine and John’s to get it built. We’re all sorry as hell about what Beth did, and thankful as hell if you won’t let this get out.”
Josh pushes the envelope back towards Jason who puts his hand out, stopping him. “I can’t take her money, Jason. I’ll figure this out on my own. And never worry about me saying a thing about her doing that. The words will never pass my lips, nor my wife’s.”
Jason looks at me with a smile. “Tell him to take the money, will ya?”
I don’t know what to say. Jason has no idea of what Josh did to his sister to make her so crazy. “I’ll have to stand by whatever it is my husband wants.”
Jason shrugs. “I see. That’s okay.” He takes the envelope back and puts it in his pocket again. “My family will make this right, Josh.” He gets up and leaves as we sit in silence.
“Too bad you can’t tell him what you did,” I say. “Then they wouldn’t feel so obligated to fix things.”
Josh nods and the door opens again. We both look up to find Richard coming in the door and scanning the room until he finds us. Straight over he comes and now it’s me who’s cursing quietly.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he says and sits down as if invited. A small box wrapped in pink paper he places before me. “Happy birthday, darling.”
Josh takes in a deep breath and leans forward. “What is it you think you’re doing, Richard?”
“Giving my dear friend a birthday present. Is there anything wrong with that, Joshua?” Richard asks as if he’s very sincere, which he isn’t.
I shake my head. “You’ve never managed to give me one before. It always seemed we were broken up during gift-giving holidays and my birthday. Odd you should feel it necessary to give me one now.”
“Just open it, dear friend,” he says with a smile.
The man is devastatingly handsome and I notice several women openly gawking at him. I push the little box back to him. “I have all I need, Richard. Thank you for the sentiment, but my husband has given me all I could ever want or
dream of.”
Josh smiles and looks at Richard. “You snoozed, Richard, and you lost. Sorry, old boy.”
The door opens again. Josh and I look to see who’s coming in and both of us gasp as Beth walks in and right towards us. Her blonde hair is in tight ringlets and she has on a light blue dress. She looks pretty and I’m suddenly feeling a ton of jealousy. “What’s she doing here?” I ask.
Richard turns to see who has us both in such a state and I see the desire fill his eyes the minute he sees her. “Who is this little tasty morsel?” he mumbles.
Beth stumbles as Richard turns to look at her. Her eyes go from Josh to Richard and she slows her pace. “Hi,” she says to Richard. Her eyes go to Josh’s. “Who’s your new friend, Josh?”
Josh squeezes my knee under the table. “This is a friend of my wife’s. Beth this is Richard.”
Richard stands and takes her hand in his, leaving a long kiss on top of it. “Beth, the pleasure is all mine. Please sit.” He pulls out the only chair left at the small table and it seems my birthday dinner has been taken over by unwanted guests.
Josh and I watch as Beth can’t take her eyes off the gorgeous man. Sure, I know he’s an arrogant ass, but he’s a thing of beauty and he seems smitten with her in an instant. I also notice that he takes the little box I pushed back to him and puts it in his pocket.
The young waitress comes back with our drinks, Josh ordered us Champagne. “Oh, you have added to your table,” she says as she places the small, glasses down in front of Josh and I.
Richard looks at the waitress with a devastating smile. “I’ll be paying for this little gathering on my friend’s birthday. Please bring the bottle and maybe a few more.” He looks at Beth. “You will stay, won’t you?”
Her eyes light up and a smile flows over her entire body. Then she looks at Josh. “Can I?”
He looks at me and I nod. They seem to be enthralled with one another, it’ll get them off our backs. “Please do stay, Beth. It would be an honor to have you dine with us on my birthday.”
Adored By The Rancher: Mail Order Brides Box Set Page 52