Aiden was lost in the bliss of Pauline’s supple body. His mind could think of nothing more than what it would be like to have her completely. He wrestled with the idea of taking her right there on the bank. After all, she was destined to be his wife. Why not taste her charms a little early?
Her willingness to have him was both exciting and disconcerting. Her kisses were fairly expert for an untouched socialite. This led to the next question. Was she untouched? Her father claimed so in his proposal of marriage, but her actions led him to believe differently. The need to know the answer was all overwhelming.
With his lips still consuming her breast, he slid his hand into the pants that her slender hips barely filled until they found her most private area. Her gasp of encouragement drove him on as he slid his long, recently manicured fingers into her soft depths to feel for her virginity. It was intact.
Scowling, he lifted his head to look at her face. She wore a satisfied smirk that hinted of craftiness. Just what was she up to? It suddenly dawned on him that she wanted him to take her virginity in hopes of trapping him into marriage to spare her from the arranged marriage her parents set up for her. The irony of it was just too rich.
When she arched her hips toward him, he shifted his attention to her sensitive spot. He wasn’t about to play into her hands and deflower her, but he also wasn’t ready to stop enjoying her body. He decided to bring her to the heights of ecstasy while his eyes feasted on her beauty.
Her screams of passion were so profound, he was forced to relinquish the pleasure of watching her beautiful face respond to his ministrations so that he could muffle her cries with a deep, sensual kiss.
When she lay limp and satiated, he rolled on his back while he forced his own body to quiet its need for sexual satisfaction.
She nuzzled close in the crook of his arm and smiled, “When will we marry?”
He sat up with a scowl. It didn’t matter that he was actually her fiancé and would be married to her soon. What mattered was that she thought she’d entrapped him into a shot gun marriage. “What makes you think I would marry you?”
“We just…” she stammered. “You had your way with me.”
“You encouraged me when you kissed me,” he said emphatically.
“You’re a cad,” she hissed as she stood up.
The sight of her heavy breasts being tucked back into her shirt made his mouth go dry. Only minutes ago, he’d tasted their sweetness. He longed to do it again.
“How do you figure?” he asked as he lazily watched her adjust her clothes.
“You had your way with me and now you’re refusing to marry me,” she practically cried.
“You are promised to another,” he said quietly.
“He’s a toad. A Texas toad! I won’t marry him,” she wailed.
“So, you figured you’d seduce me into deflowering you so that I’d have to marry you?” Aiden said.
Pauline studied him for a moment before saying, “Yes.”
Aiden was furious. He didn’t know whether he should spank her himself -since he was her future husband and therefore had that right- or if he should drag her before her parents to suffer the consequences of her behavior. Of course, that would mean he’d have to admit to his willing participation in her little plan. He seethed inside while she proceeded to toss insults at him while finishing adjusting her attire.
He could finally stand no more. He had to do something to teach her a lesson.
“Fine,” he said as he stood before her.
She had to bend her head back to see his face. Was he actually agreeing to marry her? She was shocked into silence.
“First, I want to see what I’m getting,” he continued.
“I beg your pardon?” she gasped.
“It’s a little late for modesty, isn’t it, princess?” he snarled. “Do you want me to seriously consider marrying you, or don’t you?”
“Well… I” she said through dry lips.
He tapped the hilt of his pistol and said, “I could always make you show me…”
“You wouldn’t,” she said as she stepped back.
“If you want me to seriously consider marrying you, it’s only fair that I see what I’m being asked to relinquish my freedom for,” he said with an exasperated sigh. “I’d hurry if you’re going to show me. The sun’s coming up and people will be about soon.”
When she didn’t move, he shrugged and started to walk toward his horse.
“Okay, okay,” she called to him. “I’ll show you.”
Aiden did his best to keep a straight face while she slowly disrobed. He wondered if it was really the wisest thing he could have done. In his effort to punish her for her behavior, he was also punishing himself. His manhood was screaming in agony with only her breasts bared, and there was more to come.
“All of it,” he said with a stoic face and a firm voice.
It was clear she was feeling the humiliation of her situation. He was about to tell her to stop, when she dropped her pants around her slender ankles and exposed her womanhood. She was breathtaking.
Something came over him. It was a type of uncontrollable lust that he had no idea how to deal with. He’d seen plenty of naked whores in his day, but never had he seen a woman as lovely as his bride to be. He moved toward her like a cat stalking his prey. She folded her arms across her abundant breasts in a feeble attempt to hide them. He took both of her hands and pulled her arms away so that he could have a clearer view of their beauty. These were what he’d been so passionately suckling? He’d been so wrapped up in the moment that he’d been robbed of the opportunity to see and appreciate their beauty. He wanted to rectify that fact. He pulled her toward him, forcing her to step out of the pants she’d dropped around her ankles. With her body completely naked, he feasted on her like a patron would an artist’s sculpture.
He dropped to his knees and buried his face in her soft, abundant breasts. She smiled with satisfaction as she stroked his hair while verbally encouraging him to enjoy her. It surprised her how uninhibited she was with him. It just showed how desperate she was to be free of the obligation of marrying the Texas toad.
Aiden’s mind scowled at her wanton behavior, yet his lips couldn’t resist the overwhelming temptation of uniting with her rosebuds once again. As he kneaded and sucked her softness, his mind worried over the way she was encouraging him to take her fully. Was she truly that desperate to be free of marrying him that she’d give herself to a perfect stranger?
He was about to stop his ministrations and tell her to get dressed when she reached forward, and slid her hand over his swollen manhood. Her gasp of surprise was the final straw. He pushed her to the ground and took her with a fury that was far too aggressive for a virgin’s first time. He battled with lust for her beauty, anger for her behavior, frustration over the fact that he was taking her on the bank like an animal instead of in a bed on their wedding night, doubt that he could spend the rest of his life with such a spoiled female, and guilt over what he was doing to her.
After he finally peaked and was less of an animal and more of a man, he realized that her cries weren’t cries of joy, but real tears.
“You hurt me,” she whimpered.
“It always hurts the first time,” he said as he began to move inside her again. “It won’t this time.”
“No more,” she wailed as she pushed against his chest.
Aiden found himself in a predicament. He knew that it wouldn’t hurt her as much the second time, if at all. He also knew that he’d built up so much sexual tension in his loins that he needed to peak at least one more time in order to release it all. Yet, she was saying no more. He was truly at a loss at what to do. She was his wife to be. As her husband, it was his right to have her, but he also wasn’t the type of man to force himself on a woman. It was just that he needed to release just a little more of the frustrations she’d aroused in him or he couldn’t guarantee who would suffer his ill-temper while encountering him later in the day. He could always head to a brothel, but he didn’t want to. He was deep inside the woman he’d be spending the rest of his life with. It only made sense to complete his release with her. If he could just get her to try one more time, he was sure she’d find it more pleasurable.
He also considered her personality. If he stopped right now, she would have the discomfort of the experience embedded within her memories and he doubted she’d willingly go to his bed again. He needed to replace that memory with something more pleasurable or suffer a horrific wedding night after they married.
“Relax,” he whispered as he coaxed her into submission with his lips.
He slowly and deliberately moved in and out of her while he continued to woo her with kisses. Soon, she was responding to his thrusts with her own. An urgency built between them as he took her again. His mouth muffled her cries of passion as she eased into the rhythm of love making.
When they were finally ready to part, he led her into the creek and helped her wash away the evidence of their love making. Once satisfied that she was fresh enough to return home, he cleansed himself and then joined her on the bank.
He was just about to kiss her and ask her when she’d like to get married when she gleefully announced that she was finally free of that Texas toad. There was something in her elated, spoiled tone that set him on his heels. It didn’t matter that she had no idea that he was the Texas toad she kept speaking of. What mattered was that she was gloating about an action that should have been beautiful and sacred between them. Could she possibly be that shallow?
Well, he could be just as shallow.
He watched her dress in silence while he seethed inside. He needed to be away from this spoiled socialite before he did something foolish, like take her over his knee. It was clear she would require special handling in order to undo the years of excessive pampering from her parents. He had no problem with a woman being well cared for and nurtured, but he had a major issue with a grown woman behaving like a spoiled little girl who expected her own way in all matters of life or a temper tantrum would ensue. Pauline clearly needed to be cured of that tendency. He just had to figure the best way to do it.
When he fetched his horse and climbed into the saddle, she looked at him with surprise and said, “Are you going to go speak with my father now?”
“I’ll consider it,” he said as he kicked his horse and took off at a slow trot.
Pauline stood on the bank in stunned silence while she stared at Aiden’s broad shoulders as he sat with erect casualness in the saddle while riding away. It was clear he was just as much at home in the saddle as he was out of it; if not more so.What just happened? She didn’t know whether she should chase after him and demand he go with her to the house to face her parents or turn her back on him like he had done to her.She wasn’t used to men not giving in to her desires and wishes. She certainly never imagined a man would love her and leave her. Yet, that’s exactly what it looked like Aiden Kennedy was doing.She bit her lip nervously. Had she been a fool? Had she given up her virginity to a gun slinging cad who had no intention of making an honest woman of her? Would she be sent off to marry the Texas toad as a soiled woman?What made matters worse was that, despite the fact that h
Aiden leaned his elbows on the bar at the gentleman’s club while he fondled his glass of whiskey. The amber liquid swirled around the inside the intricately cut crystal while thoughts, simultaneously, swirled around the inside of his head. How could he have been so foolish? He should have grabbed that little vixen at the creek side, tossed her onto his horse in front of him, and paraded her back to her parents’ house to face the consequences of their actions. Instead, he had to one-up her with insults and leave her hanging as to what he’d do when she asked him about their getting married.Now, it looked like the game was on. He should have guessed she’d want to get back at him. Spoiled little rich girls were all alike. He’d been around plenty of them back in Ireland, and a few since he’d come to America. Why should she be any different? Hadn’t she tried to trick him into deflowering her
Pauline was nervous. She was so devastated by Aiden’s rejection that she didn’t take the time to really plan her escape. Upon Mary Anne’s suggestion, they were headed for St. Martin Parish. What neither woman considered was the fact that the train didn’t go to St. Martin Parish. They were forced to de-board at Lafayette and take a stage coach the rest of the way.The fact that, although they were relatives of Mary Anne, she’d never set eyes on them -nor did she have their exact address- was also a factor she hadn’t considered until she’d suffered the uncomfortable seats in the crowded smoke-filled railcar for a few hours.She found being ogled by the two unkempt and smelly men that were ogling her from the opposite seat in the stage coach unsettling. She did her best to look relaxed and unaware of their stares, but it was difficult. When one of them pulled out a whiskey flask and offered her a drin
Aiden opened the note the desk clerk handed him as he and Angus entered the lobby. It was from Dennis O’Malley.My dear Mr. Kennedy,It is with deep regret that I write this.When Pauline did not return home from her hat shopping excursion, we assumed she went to visit a friend as she has been known to do on more than one occasion. Since her maid was accompanying her, we did not worry. It was not until her phaeton was returned to us by a hired man in the dark of night that we realized something was amiss. After making inquiries as discreetly as possible at the homes of all of her friends and our acquaintances, we can only conclude that our Pauline has met with misfortune. We can think of no one better to turn to for assistance in finding our Pauline and pray you will see your way clear to coming to our aid.Respectfully,
Pauline couldn’t remember ever being as hot as she was at that moment. If she thought her senses were being assaulted during the stagecoach ride, it was nothing compared to what she had to endure while being trussed up in the back of a covered wagon with twenty other women. A few roamed freely, while making snide and taunting remarks to the ones that were tied up. They were the professional prostitutes who willingly signed on with Jessie. The majority of the young women were there against their will and from a background that didn’t include prostitution.Pauline’s leg and hip pained her. She’d been so outraged by Jessie’s very bold and very public forced inspection of her womanhood that she kicked out just as soon as Harold and Tom loosened their grip enough for her strong legs to break free. The heel of her traveling boot caught Jesse in the left breast, knocking the wind from her. Her toe assailed Tom’s manho
Aiden was exhausted. He could only imagine how tired Angus must be. He’d caught a few hours of sleep on the train to Lafayette, but that was almost twenty hours ago. He was too wound up to follow Angus’ example and get a little sleep on the train, although he tried. His mind wouldn’t stop going over scenarios of what could have happened to Pauline. He’d hoped she was safely tucked away in Mary Anne’s family’s home, but something in his gut told him that she wasn’t.When they finally found Mary Anne’s family and asked to speak to Mary Anne alone, she confessed that she and Pauline were separated at the way station between Lafayette and St. Martin Parish. She claimed the station master was in on the ruse that separated vulnerable, pretty girls from their companions so that they could be taken and sold to brothels out west.Mary Anne claimed she wanted to return to New Orleans and warn the O’Mal
Eliza couldn’t believe her good fortune. It was years since she’d seen her boarding house filled to capacity. Her only hope was that it remained so for as long as possible. She was almost done paying off her late husband’s gambling debt to that scum of humanity, Ed Stark. Just a few hundred dollars more and her boarding house would no longer be at risk of becoming Ed Stark’s bordello. Of course, he’d offered to let her stay on as proprietress to give the place a better ambiance, but she wouldn’t hear of it. It was bad enough that his gunslinger brought one of his girls here for the doctor to tend to. At least he had the decency to keep her hidden in his room instead of parading her in front of her other guests. The prostitute broke her hip when her horse threw her and required bed rest. This meant that the room would be occupied for at least another month. She could overlook the unsavory
Ed Stark leaned back in the chair and put his feet on the top of Sheriff Thompkins desk. The white-haired sheriff scowled, but said nothing. Ed owned most of Brightonville and was working on obtaining the little he didn’t own. Ed was also responsible for his salary. He was far too old to go looking for a new job. If it meant overlooking disrespectful habits such as the arrogant ass putting his filthy boots on his desk to keep his job then, so be it.“We haven’t seen you over at Julie’s lately,” Ed said as he picked at his fingernails with a pocket knife.“You need to send doc over there to check out Savannah,” the sheriff grumbled. “I think she gave me the clap.”“My girls are clean,” Ed snarled.“I got puss coming out of me and it hurts when I piss,” the sheriff complained.“Did you see the doc?” Ed asked.“He’s treating m