Daisy Read online

  While she was the quieter of the two mothers, I had no doubt Miss Trudy would be the one to shoot me and feed my body to the pigs if the situation warranted.

  “I learned quite a bit from your family.”

  She turned her head so she could look up at me. “Oh?”

  “Your interest in me. I did not realize the extent of it.”

  “They made me sound insane,” she muttered.

  “When there is attraction, people often lose their heads a bit.” I doubted Daisy was in love with me, but smitten was certainly apt. Many a man had taken a bride because of less.

  “And you?” she asked.

  We rode into town. Soft light glowed from the house windows, the scent of smoke came from the chimneys.

  “Me?”

  “What is the depth of your interest?” Her voice was softer and she sounded a little vulnerable. I couldn’t blame her.

  I pulled her into me as I shifted my hips. “Do you feel that, darlin’? That’s my cock and it is very hard.” I spoke close to her ear. “It’s hard for you. While my mind has to become used to having a bride—I’ve been a bachelor for quite some time—my body is very pleased with the idea. As to the depth of my interest? You’ll find out soon enough. I’m going to bury my cock so deep in that virgin pussy of yours you won’t question again.”

  Perhaps it was the feel of my cock or the crudeness of my words, but Daisy’s body stiffened in front of me. As we rode up to the house, I looked forward to fucking the starch right out of her.

  DAISY

  Doctor James—Ethan—lit a fire in the cooking stove in the kitchen and the cast-iron stove in the parlor, then left me to tend to the horse. The house was quite cold, for it had been untended for several days, so I remained in my outerwear until it warmed up. I’d been into his office before, but never in his residence. It was small and fairly Spartan, although the man was—had been—a bachelor and had moved recently to town.

  I sat on the chair in the corner and stared at the bed. The quiet afforded me time to think, for at home—no, not home any longer—everyone had hugged me and cried over me and was equally thrilled and stunned that I’d married the doctor. I hadn’t had a moment to think. I bit my lip in worry that Ethan would regret his decision, that his honor would make for a cold bedmate, but when he told me about his… cock and what he planned to do to me, I hoped that perhaps I was wrong.

  While it was cold in the bedroom, I unbuttoned my coat. Thoughts of Ethan’s cock had me overheated. My nipples tightened beneath my corset and that telltale wetness between my legs returned. I wasn’t even being scolded or spanked.

  I heard Ethan come in the house. After a moment, he entered into the bedroom and placed the bag I’d packed just inside the doorway. “Why are you sitting in the dark?”

  He turned and lit the lamp beside the bed. The soft yellow glow made the room seem less stark, less forbidding. Perhaps it was Ethan’s size and how he filled up the space. He’d taken off his coat and boots. I didn’t answer, for I didn’t think he was expecting one.

  He indicated to my bag. “Your things; however, you won’t need them right away.”

  “Oh?” I asked, looking at the meager bag, all that I had here of my own. The immensity of what had occurred was like a heavy weight upon me. I was married. I was Mrs. Ethan James. I was in a bedroom with him and no one was going to question anything we did together.

  He turned his head and I saw the dark intensity in his eyes.

  “You will be naked.”

  I gulped. I’d been naked with him before and he’d even spanked me. Then, it had been unexpected. Now, I knew—mostly—what was coming. Well, partially. Miss Trudy had shared what happened between a man and a woman when I was much younger, but at the time I hadn’t believed her. Ethan’s graphic phrasing of what he was going to do with his cock confirmed her words, but it did not provide the details that were most assuredly lacking.

  I licked my lips. “Ethan, I… I am afraid.”

  “I did not believe you had a fearful bone in your body.” He sat down on the side of the bed, the mattress dipping beneath his weight. “Come here,” he murmured. While his tone was gentle, it had that edge of steel that I recognized. I stood and moved to stand before him.

  One hand hooked about my waist and pulled me between his parted knees.

  “Are you cold?” he asked. Our eyes were level and I saw concern there.

  I shook my head.

  “The house warms quickly.” He pushed my coat from my shoulders and hooked it over the corner of the iron footboard. “Do you know what happens when a marriage is consummated?”

  I licked my lips again. His eyes dropped to watch the action but returned to hold my gaze.

  “You will take my virginity.”

  “How?”

  My eyes widened. “You want me to say?”

  “Yes.”

  “You will put your… your—”

  “Cock.”

  I closed my eyes. “You will put your cock inside of me.”

  “I will put my cock inside your pussy. Say it.”

  I scrunched up my face, embarrassed at the crude words. “You will put your cock inside my pussy,” I said in a rush.

  “Open your eyes. Good girl. I’d like to try something.”

  His hands moved to the buttons at my neck and I sucked in a breath and tried to step away. It was one thing to already be completely bare to him, but quite another to stand still and allow him to do it.

  “Ethan!” I cried, covering his hands with mine.

  “Put your hands at your sides.” His voice lost that gentle edge and I did as he commanded without thought. Ethan lowered his hands and placed them on his thighs. “You are going to undo the buttons of your dress, Daisy, and I am going to watch. Do not tarry or I might punish you.”

  His accent grew thicker when he was stern. A shiver ran down my spine at the dark look in his eye, the brook-no-argument stiffness to his spine.

  I lifted my hands slowly, waiting for him to rebuke me, but he didn’t. Instead, he watched as I undid one button after another until the long line was complete.

  “Take off your dress.”

  I didn’t think, just obeyed, until the material was in a pool around my ankles.

  The corner of his lip turned up and it was the closest thing to a smile I’d seen. His knuckles stroked down my cheek. “Good girl. Now I know how to proceed.”

  “You… you do?” I felt my nipples tighten beneath my corset and I crossed my arms over my chest, but an arch of Ethan’s dark brow had me dropping them back to my sides. His praise and simple caress had all my fears abated. I’d pleased him.

  “You want me to take control.”

  Did I? I was an assertive woman, bold even, and yet when Ethan guided me, instructed me, praised me, I felt… whole. When I frowned, he explained.

  “When I began to undo the buttons of your dress, you were ashamed and fearful. It was because you knew you could say no, and you did. But when I told you what to do, when I took your opportunity to decline away, you did as I said. Eagerly.”

  “I wouldn’t say eagerly,” I countered, frowning.

  He tapped a finger on the tip of my nose. “You didn’t take off your dress eagerly, you did as I commanded eagerly. There is a difference.”

  My fingers fiddled the bottom of my shift. “I don’t understand.”

  “While you wanted to keep on your dress, you did as I wanted anyway because you knew it would please me.”

  “You said I would be punished if I didn’t do it!” I replied, frustrated.

  He angled his head to meet my eyes. “How would I punish you?”

  I looked down at the floor. “Spank me.”

  He nodded. “Yes, and other ways, too.”

  My eyes flicked to his and my mouth fell open. Other ways?

  “After your last spanking you were wet. Your body liked it. When your body finds pleasure in the act, it is hardly a punishment.”

  I looked away,
ashamed, but not before I saw the corner of his mouth tilt up.

  “I shouldn’t like it,” I murmured.

  “There is no shame in the desires of your body.” I didn’t feel any less shameful. “Would it make you feel better that I was aroused by the spanking as well?”

  “You were?” I asked. I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice. “You’re so… controlled.”

  “Mmm. I am aroused by being very controlling over you, Daisy Lenox James. Does that make sense?”

  “You’re saying I need to have someone take charge and you need someone to obey?”

  He nodded. “To submit to me. Yes.”

  While I still felt embarrassed by liking a spanking, it wasn’t so terrible to know that Ethan enjoyed it as well. He wanted to give me one as much as I wanted to get one. I craved the attention, the focus he put just on me. If he was correcting me, that meant he had me in the forefront of his mind.

  “Enough about this for tonight. I think actions will have you agreeing with me much better than anything else I can say.”

  “But—”

  “Give me your foot.”

  I did as he said, lifting it up into his hand. He placed it upon his thigh and undid the laces of my boot, then removed it. After placing it on the floor, he said, “The other, please.”

  He removed the second boot as well but kept a hold of my ankle. I gripped his shoulders with my hands to maintain my balance. I couldn’t miss the feel of his hard muscles through his suit jacket.

  His hand crept up my calf and to the pink ribbon at the top of my thick wool stocking. I sucked in a breath as his thumb caressed over my bare thigh just above the edge.

  “These will remain on.”

  Onward his hand moved until it reached the edge of my drawers, then further still until he found the tie for them at my waist. “These, however, will come off.”

  After a quick tug, I felt the cotton droop before Ethan pulled them down. With my legs as they were, the drawers didn’t move very far. Two big hands on the delicate material rent it down the seams. “It will please me if you no longer wear drawers.” Another tug, then one more and Ethan had stripped them from my person. When I felt air on my woman’s core, I tried to put my leg back down. “No.”

  I stilled at that one word, but my fingers held firmly to his shoulders. My shift covered me to mid-thigh and while I felt exposed, he could not see the most intimate part of me.

  As he worked the stays open on my corset, he said, “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

  My eyes widened at his admission and a thrill shot through me. I felt as if I were on a swing, pushed high into the air.

  “I saw you at a distance a time or two, but when Red Bear was sick at the mercantile, it was the first time I was able to see the freckles across your nose.”

  I put a hand up to the offending marks.

  He shook his head, his heated gaze holding mine.

  “Your eyes are so dark,” he murmured, his eyes almost transfixed. “I swear I’ve never seen lashes so long before. The other ladies, they were in a right kerfuffle over Red Bear. Afraid of him, perhaps even bothered by the inconvenience of his falling ill before them. You, however, were as calm as can be. Courteous. Smart. You gave him the cool compress and a cup of water.”

  “I thought it would be cooling for him and that he might be overly thirsty from the heat.”

  “You thought correctly, darlin’. I knew then you were more than just a pretty girl.”

  “I am a bluestocking and you know it. I couldn’t hide the books in my room.”

  “Beautiful and smart. You… intrigued me from the first.”

  I exhaled when the last stay was released and Ethan dropped the corset to the floor. The room was quite warm now, even almost bare as I was, the fire banked heavily to withstand the overnight hours.

  “I did?”

  “You intrigued me all the more when you came to town with Hyacinth. I got hard when I prompted you about your hat.”

  “Hard?” I asked, crinkling my forehead.

  “My cock got hard. I was aroused by the expression on your face. It wasn’t anger or contrition. It was awe.”

  I tilted my head. “Awe?”

  His gaze lowered to my body. I knew my nipples were hard and they were no longer shielded by my corset. Ethan couldn’t help but see them. His hands gripped my waist, his thumbs stroking over my belly through the thin shift.

  “I see it clearly now, that I filled some empty place inside of you right then, didn’t I? That’s why you began to watch me, to follow me.”

  I bit my lip, then nodded. He’d offered me the attention I’d craved. How, in a houseful of women, had I felt lost and unassuming? Just a few moments of Ethan’s time and I’d felt special.

  “I should have recognized this need you had even sooner. I surmised it, but did not know the depths of it until now. If I had, perhaps I would have done something differently and then you wouldn’t have ended up in the river. For that, I am sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, Ethan. You were right, you do fill this… need in me.” If I were to be stripped bare, perhaps it was time to do the same with my emotions as well.

  “Good. Now I am going to fill another spot inside you. Right now.”

  Before I could even think of his words, he grabbed the hem of my shift and lifted it over my head, my braid getting caught in the fabric, then falling down against my back.

  “Ethan!” I began to pant and my eyes widened. I was naked!

  He gripped my wrists firmly. “Daisy.”

  That tight hold shifted my thoughts. I struggled against the grip and I couldn’t escape. Ethan was in control. That thought alone settled my slight panic and I met his steady gaze.

  “You belong to me now. Your body belongs to me.” He paused and I stilled. “I will never hurt you, never let anyone hurt you. Hell, I won’t let anyone else touch you. I will be the only man to ever see you this way. While you will do as I bid, I guarantee I will please you. You do exactly what I want and I swear, darlin’, I’ll give you exactly what you need.”

  I heard the sincerity in his voice. I also heard the harsh edge, felt his tight grip. Instead of feeling trapped, I felt protected. It was as if in his hold, beneath the command of his voice, I could release every thought or concern and Ethan would take over, take control. I had no idea why my wetness was slipping down my legs, but Ethan did. I didn’t know why I had followed him around like a puppy, eager for his praise. Ethan did.

  I had to trust in that, so I whispered, “All right.”

  “Good girl.”

  He released me and I took a step back, my breasts swaying and my nipples tightening even further.

  When he stood, I took another step, for he was so large I felt crowded. Even his scent enveloped me. “On the bed.”

  I moved around him and placed one knee upon the blanket, then crawled into the center, but when I realized he could see my bottom, and perhaps my woman’s core, I sat down quickly, tucking my legs underneath me. Placing my hand on my opposite thigh, I shielded my breasts somewhat.

  Ethan watched me move as he took off his shirt, then began to undo the buckle of his belt and the placket of his pants. He sighed when he reached in and pulled out his… oh my!

  My mouth fell open and I stared at his… appendage with wide eyes.

  It was darker than his already tan complexion, more of a ruddy red. Thick veins pulsed up the long length and it had a wide-brimmed crown to it. There was a small hole in the center and before my eyes a hint of clear fluid seeped from it and down over the side.

  “By the look on your face I could guess you’ve never seen a cock before.”

  His hand gripped the base of it, then stroked up the length. Did it just grow even bigger?

  I shook my head, even as my inner walls clenched at the possibility. “I doubt that will fit.”

  He grinned and his face transformed. Gone were the harsh lines. In their place were laugh lines at the corner
s of his eyes and an actual dimple in his right cheek. “Darlin’, you’re already in my bed and my hand’s on my cock. There’s no need for flattery now.”

  Flattery? It wasn’t flattery that brought about my words, but fear. Surely it would split me in two.

  “Don’t worry, you will be begging me to put my cock in you. I won’t do it until then, all right?”

  I just continued to look at him warily.

  “Come to the side of the bed.” He crooked his finger and I scooted closer to the edge. “Good, now lie down on your back. Yes, like that.”

  The blanket was cool, but soft against my bare skin. He loomed over me, his chest broad, his waist narrow and his cock stood erect from the opening of his pants to curve up toward his navel. He seemed so potent and powerful as I lay before him.

  Leaning forward, he took my ankles in his hands and placed them on the very edge of the bed. It was when he moved them wider and wider still did I close my eyes. I knew what he could see clearly for the first time. While I grew up in a household of ten women, I had seen other women’s bodies countless times. It still didn’t diminish the worry that Ethan would find me lacking. Was I normal down there? Did other women get slippery wet when thinking of an intriguing man? What if I didn’t please Ethan?

  He didn’t release my ankles as I’d hoped. Instead, he dropped down so he knelt on the floor between them. I glanced down the length of my body and he was looking at me… there. His eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened and he took a deep breath.

  Slowly, he raised his eyes to mine and I gasped. I’d never seen such a dark and predatory look before.

  “Pretty as a picture, darlin’.” His words reassured me and I relaxed, marginally. But when he said, “Let’s see how you taste,” I stiffened again.

  “Ethan!” I cried, but I could do nothing with his firm grip keeping me open and in place.

  He licked over the seam of my sex, gently and slowly, again and again and my hips jerked. I’d never felt anything like it before. It was hot and intense and very, very soft. It felt as if my blood had been heated and flowed warm and thick through my veins.

  “Shh,” he crooned. Releasing his hold on my ankles, he placed his hands on the inside of my thighs and lifted his head to look at me. His touch was gentle in contrast to his words.