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I felt the muscles in his thighs tense beneath me. "Do you think I'd do that?" he asked, his voice calm, but with a sharp edge to it.
I shrugged my shoulders. Would he hit me? He didn't seem the type, and I'd know as I'd watched him for years. I'd seen him with his brothers, with other townsfolk, with the horses. He appeared strict, yet kind. "I...I hope not."
"I will never hit you in anger. Spank you, perhaps. That depends upon you."
Spank?
"I'm a strict man, Tessa. I will make demands of you that you may question, that you may not like, but you will obey. I promise, I will always see to you, cherish you, give you pleasure. I will never hurt you."
I heard the vehemence of his words. I knew him to be honorable; he hadn't even kissed me until we were wed. Therefore, I was inclined to believe him. A worry I didn't even know I carried was alleviated.
Cole remained quiet for a moment. "You need not fear them any longer."
I questioned who he spoke of for a moment. "My parents?"
"Yes. You're stronger than they are, Tessa. They can't hurt you anymore."
The words soothed me in a way I'd never known before.
***
"You knew, the other night at dinner, that we were going to marry," I said to my husband when we entered his large house. It was set on a bluff, overlooking the vast land held by the Bridger family. Built from hewn logs, it was graced with a large front porch. For a bachelor, the home was excessive, but it was my home too, now. There was no question to Cole's virility so it would most likely be filled with children soon enough.
Cole placed his hat on the table where we'd eaten with my parents, Sam, Jake and Catherine and the foreman and his wife just the other night. "Yes. I decided then that it was time."
"Time?" I ran my hand over wildflowers that filled a vase near the window.
"Ever since you touched my hand at the church picnic, you were mine." Cole looked at me steadily, his dark gaze clear and calm.
My mouth fell open. “Since the ... that was years ago!"
My heart hammered in my chest. He'd wanted me all this time? Oh my.
He moved closer, bearing down on me and I wanted to retreat out of instinct, afraid he might hurt me, but refused to be cowed by reactions wrought by others' actions. His body was so close to mine, if I breathed deeply my breasts would bump his chest. I felt heat radiate from him, smelled his clean male scent - like woods and sky and dark, sinister acts rolled together.
"You've been mine since then, Tessa," Cole murmured, his voice husky. One big hand brushed over my hair, pushing it back from my face.
I swallowed down the lump of nervousness in my throat. "I...I had no idea."
His hand moved lower, over my cheek, down my neck and to the little buttons at the top of my blouse. "You did everything you could to gain my attention."
Licking my lips, I took a deep breath. I shivered at the brush of his knuckles against my skin. "I...I wanted you to notice me."
The corner of his mouth ticked up. "I noticed you, but it wasn't yet time. It is now."
My heartbeat quickened, my palms became damp and I felt my cheeks flush at his insinuation. "Now?"
This time I did retreat. Just because I'd done everything I could to get him to want me, I was still nervous, still unsure of what he had in mind. I had a general idea, but he was so big, so present, he made me very nervous. He had solely been part of my dreams before, but now...he was flesh and blood and he was looming over me. I only made it a step as his fingers latched onto the modest opening of my bodice and pulled me back. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Now I'm going to do all the things I've wanted to do since you began taunting me. Now I’m going to take what you've been offering me all these years." His breath was hot against my nape.
I heard a sound and realized I'd moaned.
"Now be a good girl and take off your clothes."
"My...my clothes? All of them?"
The hand that held onto my blouse gave a harsh tug. I heard the rend in the material before I understood what he was doing. Buttons flew and skittered across the hard wood floor and my blouse was off one shoulder and dangling about my wrist. I only had time to gasp as Cole swiftly, and none too gently, stripped me. I held up my hands to cover my corset; no man had seen me dressed so. This vanity allowed Cole to yank at my skirt, opening the waist and letting it fall to the floor. My drawers...oh! My drawers were still on the altar floor. My cheeks burned at the idea of Reverend Abernathy finding them.
"So beautiful, darlin'. I'm a generous man. Some even say I'm nice. Gentle, even. But my patience can only endure so much." He brushed my hands out of the way and worked the stays of my corset open until the last of my coverings fell to the floor. There I stood, naked, with a thing in my bottom. If I turned around, would he be able to see it?
