The Farmer's Reluctant Bride

by Dina Chapel

  Taking care of his new wife this way was stirring up mighty powerful feelings in him that he knew he couldn’t act on right now. Mandy wasn’t ready. But this act of caring for her and seeing to her safety, warmth and comfort was what Hank felt he was born to do. He was grateful that he once again had someone to care for.

  Of course, he always took very good care of his animals, but that still couldn’t compare to being the person his wife relied upon. It brought out a primal need in Hank. He wanted nothing more than to finish his task of stocking the indoor woodpile and then join her in the bed—their bed, really—possessing her in the way he felt would let her know she was his.

  He looked over at her as he placed logs on the pile by the hearth and smiled at her. She smiled back at him, then looked down at her hands. Hank could see the blush creeping up her cheeks from across the room. He looked away and chuckled to himself. She was getting there.

  Hank finished stocking wood and decided to set up the ropes. Whenever there was a bad snowstorm, he ran a sturdy rope from the front door of the cabin to the barn and another from the back door to the outhouse. Snowstorms such as this could easily turn to whiteouts and as simple a task as going from the barn to the cabin could cause a body to lose direction and wander off course, getting immediately disoriented in the blinding snow and lost forever, overtaken by the snow and cold.

  Once he had accomplished that task, Hank headed indoors to thaw out and get to sleep. Time alone would tell how bad this storm would turn out to be.

  * * *

  Mandy awoke in the middle of the night with a desperate need to use to the outhouse. She was sure that she couldn’t wait.

  She rose quietly from the bed and peeked over at Hank, who was asleep on his bedroll by the hearth. She felt a pang of guilt at the sight; even though it had been his idea to let Mandy have the bed from that very first night, she still felt badly that he slept on the floor. She was pretty sure he hadn’t intended that she would take this long to be ready for him. Maybe she could suggest they share the bed before she was ready. Just for sleeping, of course. The idea made her feel better as she slipped on her coat and stepped into her boots by the back door.

  Hank had told her she shouldn’t venture out on her own, but Mandy just couldn’t bear to wake him. He was sleeping so soundly and he worked so hard. The cabin was toasty warm, too. Hank must have been waking every few hours to feed the fire. Mandy didn’t think it necessary to wake him for what would simply be a quick trip to the outhouse and back. He’d never even know she’d gone.

  She opened the back door to pure white. Everything was covered with snow and it continued to fall, blocking view of all that lay beyond the frame of the cabin’s back door. Mandy had never seen anything like it in her life. They certainly didn’t have snow like this in the city. She figured she’d better move fast if she wanted to get out and get back before Hank woke up to feed the fire.

  Grabbing the rope close to where it was attached to the cabin’s wall, Mandy stepped out into the blinding snow and pulled the door closed behind her. She moved carefully yet as quickly as possible, holding tight to the rope as she went. It didn’t take long to get to the outhouse and take care of her business.

  But getting back was a different story. How could it have gotten so much worse in the minute or two she had been in the outhouse? Mandy wondered. And it had been bad enough going from the cabin to the outhouse. Mandy began to question her decision to not wake Hank.

  But it wasn’t that far, she reminded herself. The thing that worried her was that, when she had closed the outhouse door, she was still able to see the cabin through the snowfall. When she opened the door again, all Mandy could see was white.

  Nothing but white.

  She couldn’t stay here in the outhouse. It was too cold. Also, she knew when Hank woke up to find her gone, he would come looking for her. What if something happened to him? It would be her fault. She really should have woken him up. Mandy knew that standing in the cold dark outhouse wasn’t going to solve anything. And the snow wasn’t getting any lighter. She had to just move.

  Mandy opened the door and reached for the spot where the rope was tied. Grabbing tight to it with both hands, she put one foot in front of the other.

  Three steps away from the outhouse door, the wind, so strong now that Mandy could hardly keep from being blown down, took that door right off its hinges.

  Mandy screamed as the door flew right past her head, missing her by inches. Her scream was swallowed by the snow and she screamed again when the wind whipped the rope she held onto for dear life right out of her hands.

  Mandy felt the wind gusts push her down into the snow. She was powerless against the storm. The last thing she recalled was feeling cold, so very cold.

  * * *

  Hank was dreaming that Mandy was lost in the corn rows, like she had been on that first night when he brought her home. He heard her scream. She wouldn’t stop screaming.

  He woke with a start and sat upright. Something was wrong.

  A quick look around him and Hank knew right away what it was. The bed was empty, the covers pulled back as if the occupant was coming right back. Mandy!

  Hank’s mind was working faster than his feet would carry him as he pulled his boots and coat on and reached for the back doorknob. It wasn’t very far from the cabin to the outhouse, which is exactly where he figured her to have gone, but she could be anywhere. In a whiteout, a body couldn’t see even one foot in front of itself.

  Hank opened the back door and quickly located the rope. It hadn’t snapped so at least he could make use of it. Hank moved as quickly as he could through the blinding snow. If Mandy had gone down for any reason, she wouldn’t last long in this. He had to find her fast or he knew he would lose her.

  Hank had nearly reached the outhouse, which he could just make out through the white, when he felt his left foot bump up against something. He dropped down to his knees and dug through the snow that covered the large lump on the ground. It was Mandy.

  Hank managed to pick her up and drape her over his shoulders. It was the most efficient way to carry her since he still need to hold fast to the rope. He quickly made his way back to the cabin and secured the door behind him.

  Working quickly, Hank placed her gently down on the bed. He took a deep breath to steel himself, then placed two of his fingers on her neck. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he felt her heartbeat. It was weak but it was there. He proceeded then to remove every frozen snow covered pieced of clothing from her body.

  Hank threw the sodden clothing to the floor and then covered Mandy’s naked body with every blanket and quilt that they had in the cabin. He moved the bed close to the fire and added firewood until it was blazing. She still hadn’t come to.

  He knew of only one other thing to do. Hank stripped off his clothes and climbed under the covers. He pulled Mandy’s cold body up against his in an attempt to warm her with his own body heat. He wrapped himself around her and covered her naked flesh with as much of his own as he could manage.

  They lie together on the bed for awhile, Hank rubbing her wherever his skin wasn’t actually pressed against her. After a bit, he felt her begin to warm. She even began to move a little. It almost seemed that she was snuggling up against him, enjoying the warmth of his body.

  Hank very reluctantly rose from the bed to add wood to the fire, which had gone down quite a bit. Mandy had warmed up some and Hank knew she was out of the woods now and would be alright. He checked her over quickly for frostbite. She seemed okay, but he would do a more thorough check first thing in the morning, along with taking her over his knee and giving her a sound spanking for disobeying him. That one act of disobedience could very well have cost her her life.

  He climbed back under the covers, anxious to enjoy every last bit of this contact with Mandy. Even if he couldn’t do anything more than hold her close, Hank was still grateful to do that and grateful that she was alright.

  He pulled her close and she tu
rned over in her sleep so that her front faced Hank’s. When Hank felt the hard tips of Mandy’s peaked nipples rub against his chest, he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist her. He immediately bent his head down and caught one in his mouth, sucking and licking as if it was the first breast he had ever had. Mandy moaned. Hank lifted his mouth off her nipple for only a moment in order to soothe her.

  “It’s all right, Sweetheart.” Hank kept his voice low and gentle. “Let me love you, Mandy. It’s all right.” Then he went right back to suckling.

  God, he had been too long without a woman! Hank felt himself get hard as a rock in record time. He had already been hard but had kept it under control in case Mandy stopped him. If she really wasn’t ready, he had no intention of forcing himself on her. But now he was painfully hard. And she seemed receptive. She seemed to be enjoying the attention her breasts were getting.

  Mandy moaned and writhed beneath him and Hank didn’t know how long he would last. He didn’t want to rush this first time either. He wanted Mandy to have a good experience even though he knew it was going to hurt her, no matter what he did or how gentle he did it.

  But at the very least, Hank could make sure that she was ready for him. He reached a hand down between them and slipped one finger inside Mandy. She was hot and tight and slippery wet. Hank smiled to himself. The sucking and playing on her nipples must have been doing the trick.

  She was responsive. He was grateful for that. He would have hated to have to deal with a frigid wife, always wanting and never getting. Always having to force himself on her instead of having her meet him halfway and enjoy herself too. It made all the difference. The difference between just a marriage and a happy marriage.

  “Mandy? Sweetheart?” Hank wanted her awake and aware of what was happening. “I want to make love to you, Mandy. Is that what you want too?”

  Mandy opened her eyes and stared into Hank’s. She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did at that moment. She slowly nodded her head.

  “Yes, Hank. I want that too.” Her voice was no more than a whisper.

  Hank stroked the side of her face as he leaned over her. “It will hurt this first time. I’m sorry, Mandy. That’s just how it is.” He kissed her gently then. “But just the one time, then it won’t hurt again.”

  * * *

  Mandy nodded, even though she wasn’t sure she believed Hank. She had been told different by every married woman she had ever known. But she didn’t want to argue right now. She just wanted to feel close to him. As close as she could feel. And it felt so good to be lying in the bed with him like this, to have his body so close and warm.

  It made her feel good in a way she had never felt before and she didn’t want it to end. He kissed her then, a lot less gently than the first time. His tongue was in her mouth and his hands roamed her body. Mandy moved beneath him, unable to control her reaction to his attentions.

  Hank’s mouth moved from her mouth to her breast again, his teeth gently tugging at her nipple while his fingers tugged at the nipple of the other breast. It was almost more than Mandy could stand. Mandy ran both hands up Hank’s arms and gripped his shoulders tight, throwing her head back and moaning.

  She wanted something, wanted more.

  She wanted more of him. She tried to pull him closer from where her hands gripped his shoulders, but Hank was pulling back a bit.

  “Open for me, sweetheart.” He coaxed, using one hand to gently push her knees apart and slip his own between her legs. Hank kneeled on that one knee between Mandy’s legs and slipped each of his arms under Mandy’s legs, hooking each one of her legs over the crook of each of his arms.

  As he leaned onto the bed with one hand on each side of her, Mandy’s legs were spread and her knees pulled back almost near her head. Before she even had a chance to protest—Mandy wasn’t sure that she liked being spread apart this way, she felt like she couldn’t move—she felt something down near her woman parts. The next instant Hank entered her in one swift hard thrust.

  Mandy screamed. She felt a sharp pain inside and an incredible fullness. He had forced his manhood inside her and it hurt!

  “It hurts.” Mandy cried and looked at him imploringly.

  “Sh, sh, sh,” Hank soothed. But he didn’t move. “Just give it a minute and the pain should ease. I’m big and it’s your first time. You’ll stretch a bit and it won’t hurt so much.”

  Mandy tried to move but couldn’t in the position he had her in. Hank pulled out just a bit and slowly reentered. He did that a few more times and it began to feel good.

  Hank smiled down at her. “Better?” he asked.

  Mandy was surprised at how the pain at eased and almost completely disappeared already. “Yes.” Mandy smiled back at him and he kissed her. “Better.”

  Hank started into rocking in and out of her and Mandy could feel every inch of him on every thrust. She watched his face as he made love to her and thought he had never looked more handsome to her than he did when he was working his manhood in and out of her.

  She didn’t recall ever seeing the look on his face she was seeing right now. Maybe this was what love looked like. She still really couldn’t be sure.

  Hank started picking up speed, going faster and faster, until he let out a loud groan, slammed hard into Mandy and then collapsed on top of her. She immediately put her arms around him and held him tight. She didn’t even let go when he rolled to the side, moving with him as he held her tight too. The snow was still falling hard outside the cabin and the wind still whipping about.

  Hank and Mandy both fell fast asleep in each other’s arms, in bed together for the first time since their marriage.

  Chapter 4

  The silence at the table was deafening. Hank ate silently while Mandy tried to focus on her plate. The tears were already gathering in her eyes and making it hard to see. Hank was more than halfway through his supper when he looked up to see that Mandy hadn’t touched a bite.

  “If you’re not going to eat, then you can go stand in the corner until I’m finished.”

  Mandy rose slowly at Hank’s command, swiping quickly at both eyes with the back of her hand, and picked up her plate to put in the wash bucket.

  “Leave it be—I’ll clean up.”

  Mandy put her plate down without meeting Hank’s eyes.

  “Corner. Now.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mandy’s voice was no more than a whisper, but even with that weak response it was all she could do not to burst into tears. She walked slowly over to the corner and pressed her nose into it, trying to keep hold of herself until the actual punishment began.

  It wasn’t the spanking itself that Mandy was crying over. She pretty much knew what to expect as far as that went, since Hank had been pretty consistent to this point in their marriage. He hadn’t ever punished her more harshly than she was able to bear.

  Oh, it hurt. Hank had a very hard and large hand, calloused from all the work he did. He was a lean man, but his trim physique was deceptive. He was powerfully strong. And his spankings hurt. She usually couldn’t sit for any length of time for at least a day or two.

  No, if he decided that a spanking was in order then he did it right and proper every time. And so far Hank had never used anything other than his hand to hit her. No belt, or hairbrush, or switch, even though he had threatened those things a few times. Nope, only his big hard hand. That was more than enough for Mandy.

  Mandy was crying over the fact that she needed to be punished in the first place. She had let him down and his disappointment was unbearable to her. She wished he would punish her a bit more harshly this time. Maybe it would wash away the guilt that she felt.

  She hadn’t meant to lose her temper. And at a church function to boot. She had embarrassed Hank, she knew he was ashamed of her and she had truly started out the day with every intention of doing him proud.

  When Hank had first mentioned going to church the previous Sunday, Mandy had been apprehensive. Her experiences with the church and thos
e who attended with fervor had been negative. Mandy had never failed to feel that she was being judged whenever she attended church by those whose circumstances in life were much more fortunate. In the eyes of the church, Mandy had always been a “lost soul.” She resented the label put on her by those people and turned away from the church and its teachings.

  When she expressed doubt at attending services, Hank had explained to her that he didn’t expect her to share in his beliefs. She was allowed her own. But it was something he enjoyed and wanted his wife to experience it with him. She liked the sound of that, and felt flattered rather than forced or offended.

  Plus, Hank had explained that there was a potluck dinner after every Sunday service so that folks could socialize. It was a chance to talk to other families in the area, especially at a time of year when most folks hadn’t gotten out much due to the weather. It had been a long cold winter and the idea of going somewhere, anywhere, was mighty appealing. They both had cabin fever and needed to get out. And so Mandy had actually been looking forward to services and the chance to meet some folks afterward.

  She had planned to prepare her best dish, Hank’s favorite, a shepherd’s pie. She rose early that morning so that it would be done in plenty of time. Mandy had made an apple pie to go with it the night before. Hank teasingly complained that morning when he came in from his chores for breakfast.

  “Doesn’t seem right that a man’s got to eat plain biscuits from last night’s supper for his morning meal while smelling all that good cooking that isn’t even meant for him!”

  Mandy laughed at him. “You’ll survive. Besides, Hank, it is meant for you. I’m making your favorite!”

  “Well, I’d best get some then. You’ve never seen Hermann Johansson eat. If I don’t get mine before he gets to it, they’ll be none left.”

  Mandy laughed again.