The Trail Master's Bride Read online

  “I know it seems that way, Wes, but it wasn’t me. Something isn’t right. And, as I told you after each mysterious mishap, I didn’t do any of those things, I swear.”

  His brows drew together in a dark frown at her answer, his disappointment in her apparent in his eyes. “Lying only makes the situation worse, darlin’.”

  She bristled. He hadn’t believed her before either. “I’m not lying, husband.”

  “Do you have a more reasonable explanation, a culprit behind these mysteries, perhaps?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  Sighing heavily, he drew her closer. “Then I think it’s time I give you another little lesson that will help remind you to be careful with your chores in the future.”

  “The last time you gave me a little lesson, you spanked me.”

  “Which is what I intend to do now.” He gave her wrist a tug and pulled her forward and across his lap.

  Like the last time, his hard thighs supported her belly and a solid arm wrapped around her waist. Despite his steadying hand, she instinctively reached forward, her fingertips in the dirt, which was all that she could reach from her precarious perch over his long legs.

  “But, Wes,” she protested urgently as his hand swept down her legs to her skirt hem. “I swear, none of it was me. I don’t know how it happened—”

  With one quick movement, which startled her silent, even though she’d been expecting it, he flipped her skirt up onto her back. Clearly, he was unconvinced by her weak excuse and was intent on proceeding without delay.

  She couldn’t figure out what was going on, although she’d tried to all week. She would swear on a stack of the bibles as tall as she was that she’d taken the lid off the barrel that night. Furthermore, she knew she’d tied the square knot like he’d shown her because she recalled double-checking it. She also specifically remembered washing the coffeepot and skillet, then storing them in the wagon as she did every evening. The wagon brake, well, she’d been known to forget that several times and Wes had scolded her about it. Had she done it again? Uncertainty swamped her as she struggled to remember. Was it possible that she’d been reckless and done all of those things while unaware?

  Air across her backside brought her out of her ruminations. She became aware of her husband untying and separating the split in her drawers, baring her bottom to the warm night air. Her hand flew back to cover herself. “What are you doing?”

  “You’re a wife now, Mina. Wives get spanked on their bare backsides.”

  She began to struggle. “No. This isn’t fair. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “And that, right there, is why you’ve earned this spanking. If you’d have owned up to these oversights, I would have been more forgiving, but for you to continue to deny them day after day, until one lie builds upon another, when there is no other explanation except your own carelessness, isn’t something I can let slide.”

  She heard the crack of his palm first. It echoed in the valley like a gunshot. An instant later, a sting like that of a thousand bees flared across the surface of her bottom. It was followed by another, and another. Then a barrage of searing fire rained down over both her hind cheeks and her upper thighs. Her hand, which had flown back out of self-preservation, had long since been pinned to her lower back by one of his own, all while he kept up a blistering pace of intense swats. She kicked, twisted, and even bent her head and tried to bite him.

  Only then did the spanks stop falling. In their place came his angry voice. “Mina Carr!” he growled. “You will stop all this fussing and take the spanking that you earned or you’ll feel the snap of my belt on your willful behind.”

  She stiffened, appalled that he would even think to use his heavy, wide leather belt on her tender skin. That’s when the tears came, not from the pain in her backside, but the ache in her heart. He didn’t believe her, which meant he didn’t trust her. Crushed, she sobbed out her sorrow.

  Unmoved by her tears, evidently, his spanking continued. Another ten swats or so fell before he moved lower and delivered a half dozen to her upper thighs. Once done, while she was swearing she hated him and vowing to never speak to him again, he calmly held her in place, rubbing his big hand soothingly over her burning skin. The disparity of swatting her until her behind was on fire, and then attempting to extinguish it with a gentle touch, was not lost on her. Although, it helped soothe the sting somewhat, it didn’t stop the tears from falling.

  “There, there, darlin’. Such a fuss over a little spanking.”

  That broke through her emotional pain. His anger seemed appeased by the punishment. On the other hand, she was only getting started.

  “Little,” she all but shrieked in outrage, her voice resonating in the night more so than his spanks. “I’d like to see how little you’d think it, if a huge brute took his giant paw to you.” She dissolved into sobs of frustration, much to her dismay, as soon as she’d said her piece.

  “Mina, I spent the better part of my youth in my pa’s smokehouse with a strap blistering my butt. By comparison, this is nothing. I didn’t appreciate it at the time; still, I learned right from wrong as a result of my father’s discipline and I’m hoping you will too. He loved me, but when I messed up, he didn’t spare the strap. I shudder to think how I would have turned out if he hadn’t.”

  “Were you guilty of all the misdeeds that earned you that strap?”

  “I was,” he admitted, chuckling softly, as if lost in memory.

  She pushed up from his thighs and twisted, looking back at him over her shoulder. “Therein lies the difference.” She couldn’t mask the hurt in her voice. “I am innocent. Except for the brake.” This she disclosed honestly as she looked away. “I can’t be completely certain about that.”

  “Mina.”

  She set her mouth in a mulish frown, not sparing him a glance. “Are you finished?”

  “Not quite.” He pulled her into a sitting position on his lap. “Look at me.”

  It took sheer determination to meet his midnight gaze, shrewd as it ever was. When she did, she didn’t say a word, glaring at him while waiting for him to say whatever he needed to say.

  “Are you going to hold to your story? That these things happened unbeknownst to you?”

  “I am. And darn you for not believing me.”

  Their eyes locked in a war of wills. Unblinking, dark eyes met ones as light as a clear noontime sky. She was first to look away.

  “Am I excused?” she asked with a sniffle.

  His frustrated sigh spoke volumes, although he let her go. “You are.”

  As she stood, her drawers, which were still undone, drooped. Catching them, she fussed with the ties in back, finding it difficult to do with her hands full of her wadded-up skirt and at the same time keep her fiery behind covered and away from him.

  “Let me help,” he offered.

  “That’s unnecessary.” When she struggled for a moment more, he pulled her back between his legs, turned her about, and brushed her hands aside. In no time he had her back to rights.

  “You’re all set,” he murmured low, as he rose to stand beside her. “Let’s head on back and get ready for bed.”

  “I’d rather spend some time alone, if you don’t mind.”

  “As a matter of fact, I do mind. Wash up, change into your nightgown, and climb under the wagon. I’ll be right there.”

  “I don’t want you right there, husband.”

  “That’s too damn bad, wife. You go where I go, as I’ve told you before.”

  “Then I hope the reverse is true and you go to the devil, Weston Carr, because that’s what this marriage is to me, hell.”

  “Mina.”

  She didn’t wait to hear what he had to say next or if she’d dug herself a deeper hole with her words, which she didn’t mean and rather than better made her feel ten times worse. Instead, she whirled and stomped off, wishing him to perdition as she went.

  * * *

  Weston watched her go, his heart aching as much as his hand for what he had just done. However, her carelessness was going to get her or someone else hurt. She seemed so firm in her convictions, though. Yet, as he’d said, there was no reasonable explanation other than her being inattentive to her tasks.

  With a heavy heart, he slowly made his way back to camp, stopping short when a voice came to him from the dark. The red glow of a pipe drew his focus to Ben Jacobs, who was seated not one hundred yards away from where he’d spanked Mina. He had a perfect view from the stump where he lounged as he smoked.

  “A good husband’s lot doesn’t come easy at times, son.”

  “You witnessed it all?”

  “I did. I thought to leave you some privacy, but I was curious to see who would win the battle between you two. She sounded convinced that she was in the right.”

  “A gentleman would have given her that privacy.”

  “So noted. Mina reminds me so much of my eldest daughter, full of sass and fire. I nearly lost it when she told you to go to the devil. Melissa received her share of paddlings in her youth for the same thing. Not on the bare, mind you; that was reserved for my dear wife, Minerva, rest her beautiful soul. I miss her.”

  “Did you ever take them to task for something they so adamantly denied?”

  “Heavens, yes,” he laughed exuberantly. “My girl denied culpability for every misdeed to the bitter end.”

  “Was she guilty?”

  “Of every single one. She had red hair and flashing blue eyes like Mina. I supposed that’s why I’m so taken with the gal. She’s helped me through my grief with her easy smile and quick wit. It’s made me even more anxious to see my Melissa and her youngsters once we reach Oregon. She’s all I have left now.”

  “Your losses were great, Ben. I’m so very sorry.”

  “Yes. Minnie was by my side nearly every day for thirty years. I miss that the most. Watching you and Mina just now reminds me of the time I spanked her for spending more from the coffee jar than was allotted for yard goods. She had two brand-new dresses hanging up behind her, stitched as pretty as you please, which proved to me without a doubt she was guilty. I blistered her butt good while she denied it at the top of her lungs.”

  “She made you pay for that, I’m sure. Same as Mina will me.”

  “Yes, I was the recipient of a week’s worth of the cold shoulder treatment. It took me that long to figure out Melissa had taken the money and bought chocolates for her friends at school. I was so disappointed that she let her mother take the blame and the punishment for her misdeeds, I took my belt to the girl. It taught her a lesson against stealing and about loyalty, but it didn’t assuage my guilt over Minnie nary a bit.”

  “She forgave you?”

  “Yes, after I groveled at her feet and begged her pardon until I was hoarse. It also cost me another new dress and the chocolates that Melissa went on about.”

  “Did you ever spank her again?”

  “Certainly. Minnie was as full of as much spit and vinegar as your Mina is. Where do you think Melissa got it from? Although, after that, if my wife didn’t readily admit to the offense, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Fortunately, she was honest to the core, a good Christian woman. We puzzled until our brains hurt over where Melissa got her forked tongue.” He chuckled, tapping out his pipe on the heel of his boot before he stood. Then he clapped Weston on the shoulder. “She’ll forgive you, son. I’ve seen the way your gal looks at you. Despite your rocky beginnings, she’s smitten. I’m sure you’ll find a way around her ire and get her all moon-eyed over you once again.” As he walked away, Weston swore he heard him say, “Newlyweds. I’d give my left testicle to have that again with my Minnie.”

  Watching until he disappeared in the dark, he felt for his friend and his grief, at a loss over how to help him. Getting him safely to his daughter’s home in Oregon seemed his best option. With dread, as if a criminal facing that long walk to the gallows, he made his way to his wagon and Mina, wondering if he’d face the cold shoulder as Ben had, or the loving woman he’d come to cherish in the past few months.

  * * *

  Mina’s tears had dried on her cheeks by the time she did as her husband had ordered, the whole while wanting nothing more than to run off and nurse her hurt. But she’d learned her lesson the first time he’d spanked her and it had been ingrained along the trail when others, all of which were children, wandered off after dark to get lost, step in a gopher hole, or get hurt in some other way. The fact that her behavior was similar to those half her age was not lost on her, either. Thankfully, there had been no run-ins with Indians or outlaws thus far, but Mina had decided the risk was simply not worth it. So, here she was, waiting for the man who’d just set her bare bottom on fire to come lay with her for the night.

  “If he tries to get amorous, I’m sleeping in the wagon,” she whispered determinedly, saying nothing further as she heard the scuff of his boots.

  Listening to him move around the wagon, checking this or that before settling in for the night, she closed her eyes, faking sleep when he crawled in beside her.

  Steeling herself against stiffening, she remained still, concentrating on keeping her breathing even, but actually held it instead. She didn’t fool him.

  “I know you’re not asleep, Mina.” He reached for her, but she shrugged off his hand from her shoulder.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  “I just want to hold you, darlin’.”

  “No, thank you. I’m too mad at you. If you can’t keep your hands to yourself, I’ll go sleep in the wagon.”

  “That’s not happening, Mina. Like I told you earlier, you go where I go and sleep where I sleep.”

  She kept her back to him even as his hand trailed down her arm. He had moved closer and she could feel his breath stir her hair, the heat of him at her back. Despite the burning in her bottom an hour after the fact, she felt her body reacting, heating in other places. If he didn’t stop, she’d give in, she knew she would.

  “Darlin’, come here.”

  Her pent-up breath released in a shuddering exhale as she did exactly as she feared she would under the onslaught of all that was her husband. She yielded, her resolve vanishing like a feather in the wind as he gently rolled her over and pulled her on top of him. Still upset and unable to look at him, she rested her cheek on his chest as his hands moved over her back. It made matters worse that she could hear his heart beating steadily beneath her ear and smell the scent of leather and soap on his skin. He silently lulled the tension from her body and she relaxed into his soothing hands. That was until his fingers gathered her skirt and slipped under the hem. Her head came up sharply.

  “Weston!”

  “I’m only teasing you, darlin’. I’ll just rub for a bit, nothing more, unless you want it.”

  Stiffly, she pushed up from his chest, glaring down at him. But he wasn’t deterred. One hand came up to the back of her head and gently pressed her head back to his chest. “Relax, Mina,” he urged softly.

  His hand on her bottom pulled apart the back of her drawers and slipped inside, tracing over her skin with his fingertips. At first it was a light back and forth along the lower curves of her cheeks and the tops of her thighs, his long arms putting all of her tender spots well within his reach.

  She made another attempt at a protest, but he quashed that easily. With his lips by her ear murmuring softly, like butter in the heat of the wagon she melted, cursing herself silently for her weakness. But it felt so good.

  After a while, the soft strokes became more of a massage, both hands flexing and gently kneading her flesh, easing away the ache. His prolonged attention on such intimate areas was responsible for the aches and tingling that began unfurling inside her, sending a rush of liquid heat to pool between her thighs.

  Unable to remain still, she arched her back, pressing her bottom into his palms, at the same time rubbing her mound and that oh-so-sensitive bud against the hard ridge in the front of his breeches. Unable to resist him as she’d planned, her legs fell open, lustfully straddling his hips. Immediately, his hand sought the seam of her lips, work-roughened fingers delving inside and finding the pulsing nub, isolating the very source of her aching need as she writhed against him.

  “Wes,” she whispered, just shy of a groan. “Please.”

  Twisting to his side, he brought her leg up high on his hip. His mouth claimed hers as he rubbed and swirled along the peak that brought her so much torment and pleasure simultaneously. When she thrust her hips forward seeking more, his fingers slipped down through her slickness and found her center. Two broad fingers glided easily inside as his thumb took their place at the top of her slit.

  Panting, his name left her lips on a broken groan as her fingers curled into the muscles of his bare shoulders. She hadn’t even noticed him taking off his shirt. Needful, she rocked against him, pushing her breasts against his hard, bare chest, the hard points of her nipples practically erasing the thin linen barrier of her gown. It was glorious, but she craved more, to feel the surge of his length inside her, driving her to a state of pure bliss as he had before, a state so intense she lost control and shattered in his arms. Frantic to have that again, Mina’s hands boldly fell to his buttons and began pulling at them feverishly.

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