Their Wayward Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

father's
control. If they worked for my father, or with my father,
they'd have me thrown over a horse and hauled to church to marry Mr.
Palmer in a man's shirt. No. I couldn't risk it. It was safer to lie,
at least in part, to protect myself. I could maintain most of the
tale, but couldn't risk a connection with my father. I was not known
in Simms, or anywhere in the area, by sight. Nolan Turner had a
daughter, but the last time anyone in the Montana Territory had seen
her was almost fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, I'd told them my
real name in bed, but only my first name. The men looked at me,
waiting, so I kept as close to the truth as possible, while staying
safe.
    "I...I was to marry a man I did not wish."
    "You are affianced?" Brody questioned.
    "Not officially. I learned my father arranged the marriage as
part of a business contract. He gained a long term alliance and the
other man gained a wife."
    "What was so lacking in this man?"
    "Youth, agility and kindness," I replied succinctly. "You
find it odd I have qualifications for a husband?"
    Brody shook his head. "Some women don't."
    I pursed my lips. "He's well over twice my age, is rotund and
has jowls from overindulgence and shared some less than pleasant
plans for me."
    "What kinds of plans did he share with you?" Brody asked,
his jaw clenched tight. He ran his hand over the shadow of pale
whiskers.
    I blanched at the memory. Mr. Palmer had leaned in close enough for
me to smell his foul breath and whispered tawdry things in my ear.
"He...he intended to tie me to the bed and take me until his
seed took root." I kept my gaze pinned to my hands folded in my
lap.
    "That idea repulses you?" Mason asked.
    I whipped my head up and narrowed my eyes, shocked. "Yes!
Everything about that man is repulsive."
    "It isn't the idea of being tied up and fucked that bothers you.
You've thought about his words, being fucked hard and long, over and
over, filling you with seed until your belly is ripe. You're
squirming in your chair so it's obvious to me—"
    "Me, as well," Brody cut in.
    "—that it is something that interests you. But not with this
man."
    I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it. Was this the case? Were
the man's words so awful just because he would do those things
to me? I glanced at Brody and Mason who were awaiting my answer. If
these men had me tied to a bed, the idea held...appeal. I did squirm,
my...pussy awakening once again at the very idea. I refused to admit
the truth, although they seemed to recognize it before I.
    "When was this marriage to occur?" Mason asked.
    "Today."
    "You went out into a blizzard, risking death, because of your
impending wedding?" He looked at me with a combination of
surprise and anger.
    Folding my hands in my lap, I straightened my posture. "I did
not know it was to be a blizzard. It was barely flurrying when I rode
out, so do not think me insane. Would you wish to be married to a man
who was cruel, unappealing and old? I assure you, his actions would
be akin to rape."
    "He will not touch you," Mason growled. He stood, the feet
of his chair scraping across the wood floor. The adamance of his
words sounded possessive. "You almost died out there. The man
almost drove you to suicide." He waved his hand toward the
window where the snow still fell. It had lessened over the course of
our meal, but it was still a winter wonderland.
    "Your father will search for you. Without you, there is no
deal." He gripped the back of his chair, his knuckles white.
    "Both men will search for her," Brody added.
    "Yes, I do not know who has more at stake." Mr. Palmer's
interest was greater than avarice. He saw something in me that set me
apart, a condition in a contract unlike any other. When he discovered
I was tainted goods, my father would become irate. There was no
chance I could make either man happy.
    "Who is your father? Surely if you're from Simms he is familiar
to us." Brody set his forearms on the table. " You should
be familiar to us."
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