Honeymoon from Hell IV

Other titles by R.L. Mathewson:

The Pyte/Sentinel Series:

Tall, Dark & Lonely

Without Regret

Tall, Dark & Heartless

Tall, Silent & Lethal

The Hollywood Hearts Series:

A Humble Heart

A Reclusive Heart

The Neighbor from Hell Series:

Playing for Keeps

Perfection

Checkmate

Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell

The Game Plan

The Neighbor from Hell Collection I

Double Dare

Double Feature: The Game Plan/Double Dare

Honeymoon From Hell, I-IV

Dear Reader,

I’d like to start off by saying thank you for all your support and kind words over the
years. It’s because of you that I am able to do be there and take care of my children by
doing what I love. So, on behalf on my children, I wanted to say thank you.

Now, moving onto to this mini-series. I never planned on writing the Honeymoon from
Hell series. It started off as a Chronicle or two on my website, which is how I continue
giving life to the characters that I’ve created and fallen in love with. When I wrote a
teaser about Jason and Haley’s honeymoon I was hooked and immediately wanted to
write the whole story out as well as the honeymoons for the rest of the Bradfords, but
I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or if it was even something that you would be
interested in reading about.

So, I decided that I would write the series and release it in December 2015 after I was
able  to  get  out  the  books  that  I  promised  you.  At  the  same  time  iBooks  was  doing
what iBooks does best, helping self-published authors like myself get a chance to show
readers  what  they  could  do.  iBooks  helped  me  out,  gave  me  my  real  break  and
honored  me  with  the  first  title  of  Breakout  Author,  so  I  decided  to  make  my  already
busy schedule even busier and write this series early so that I could say thank you to
iBooks  for  everything  that  they  did  to  me  and  release  this  mini-series  early  through
them.

Some  readers  are  upset  about  the  wait,  and  I  am  sorry  about  that,  but  I  wouldn’t  be
who  I  am  if  I  didn’t  step  up  and  show  my  appreciation  and  gratitude  to  those  who
have  helped  me  and  my  children  when  we  needed  help.  With  or  without  this  early
release  through  iBooks,  this  series  would  not  have  been  released  at  Amazon.com  or
anywhere else before December because of my workload, so please don’t feel slighted,
because that was not my intention.

Now, as for this HFH, you will notice that the prologue is one of the last chapters of
Truce. That was done so that you wouldn’t need to go back and re-read the end of the
book to figure out where we left off. It also leaves you with the choice to skip it and
move on to the rest of the story.

With that being said….

I hope you enjoy the Honeymoon from Hell mini-series.

Yours,

R.L. Mathewson

Prologue

(Just in case you forgot where we left off…)

Three months later…..

“You spoil him,” Mrs. Brown pointed out with a smile as she carefully placed another
apple pie on the table to cool.

“He deserves to be spoiled,” Elizabeth said, easily returning the older woman’s smile
as she looked over the pies she’d made to surprise her husband.

For the past four months Robert had been working day and night, taking any job that
he  could  get  his  hands  on  to  make  sure  that  they  were  well  prepared  for  the  coming
winter.  They’d  heard  that  winters  in  New  England  could  be  especially  harsh,  so  he
was  making  sure  that  they  were  well  prepared.  When  he  wasn’t  working  on  a  job
trying  to  earn  more  money  for  the  coming  winter,  he  was  chopping  wood,  building  a
shed,  fixing  the  barn  for  their  horses,  checking  the  roof,  windows  and  fireplaces  to
make sure that they were properly secured, building shelves in the root cellar to make
sure that they had plenty of space for their food. He was making sure that she and the
baby had everything they were going to need.

He  was  working  himself  into  exhaustion.  Every  time  she  pointed  that  out,  he  smiled
and  gave  her  a  kiss  as  he  told  her  that  she  was  well  worth  it.  He  promised  her  that
things  would  slow  down  in  the  winter  and  he  would  rest  then,  but  she  knew  that  he
was  lying.  He  already  had  enough  orders  for  furniture,  chests  and  a  hundred  other
things to keep him busy during the winter.

“He’s going to be upset when he finds out that you were working,” Mrs. Brown said as
she pulled another pie out of the oven.

“He’s not going to be upset,” Elizabeth said, knowing that was true.

Robert  wouldn’t  be  upset  when  he  found  out  that  she  hadn’t  stayed  in  bed  like  the
doctor  had  ordered,  he  would  be  furious,  which  was  why  she  also  made  him  some
apple  pastries  so  that  he  would  be  too  busy  eating  to  yell  at  her.  He  was  such  a
hypocrite,  she  thought  as  she  loaded  a  small  tray  with  the  pastries  with  the  hopes
that they would be enough to soften him up enough to take her for a walk.

It was okay for him to work himself to death, but it wasn’t okay for her to do anything
more strenuous than to turn over in bed. She appreciated that he was concerned for
her, really she did, but if she had to stay in that bed for one more day she was pretty
sure that she was going to scream. She needed to move around, to work, to go for
walks, anything that would take her mind off her huge stomach, the cramps that had
started yesterday and wouldn’t leave her alone and the fact that she was bored out of

her mind.

Taking  a  deep  breath  and  praying  that  the  walk  would  help  ease  her  cramps,  she
picked up the tray and, unfortunately for her, waddled to the doors. It took her longer
than  she  would  have  liked,  but  she  eventually  made  it  to  the  door  and  with  Mrs.
Brown’s  help,  managed  to  step  outside.  Murmuring  her  thanks  to  the  older  woman,
Elizabeth started the long process of walking to the barn where her husband was hard
at work building a chest for the Fairchild family.

It really was a beautiful day. The weather had cooled considerably over the past
couple of weeks, making it the perfect weather for enjoying the outdoors. She hoped to
be able to enjoy it before the baby came, along with the snow that was sure to keep
them trapped inside for most of the winter.

A  few  steps  later  she  was  forced  to  stop  as  a  cramp  tore  through  her  back  and
stomach,  proving  her  point  that  lying  around  for  the  past  month  had  done  her
absolutely  no  good.  She  needed  fresh  air,  sunshine  and  a  bit  of  exercise.  Once  the
cramp had dulled down enough for her to move, she took a deep breath and continued
towards the barn, but she didn’t make it five steps before another cramp tore through
her back and stomach, robbing her of the ability to breathe.

“Elizabeth?” a familiar voice said, drawing her attention to the very handsome man
walking towards her, appearing surprised and pleased to see her. “Is that really you?”
James asked, placing his satchel on a bench by the rose bushes as he walked past it on
his way to her.

She opened her mouth to answer him, but a choked sob escaped her as she lost her
grip on the tray. She bit back a cry as she cradled her arms around her stomach and
leaned forward, praying that she wasn’t about to lose the baby. It was too early for
the baby.

“Elizabeth?” James asked, sounding worried as he rushed over to her and wrapped his
arms around her as best as he could, but she was rather large now, making the job
nearly impossible. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t get a chance to answer him before she felt a rush of liquid pour down her
legs. It was quickly followed by another one of those vicious cramps that left her
barely able to breathe. She reached up and grabbed onto James’ arms as cramp after
cramp tore through her body until all she could do was scream the one thing that she
knew would make it all better.

“Robert!”

*-*-*-*

“It’s beautiful,” Mr. Fairchild said in a reverent whisper as he ran his fingertips over

the intricate design of the bassinet. “How much do you want for it?”

Robert chuckled as he placed the sheet back over the bassinet to keep it protected.
“Thank you, but it’s not for sale.”

Mr. Fairchild smiled. “Fair enough. For your child?”

“Yes,” Robert said proudly as his gaze shifted to the other covered furniture that he’d
built for their baby.

“The baby will be here soon enough,” Mr, Fairfield said with a chuckle as he moved to
kneel in front of the chest that Robert made for the man’s future daughter-in-law.

“Not soon enough,” Robert said, leaning back to give the man some space to look over
the chest.

Only a month more to go before he was holding their baby in his arms, their miracle
child and he couldn’t wait. There were no words to describe how he felt about this
child. They were getting a second chance to be parents to this child and he wasn’t
going to waste it. He was going to-

“Robert!”

-have  a  heart  attack,  he  realized  as  Elizabeth’s  blood-curdling  scream  reached  his
ears.  Before  he  realized  what  he  was  doing,  he  was  running  out  the  door,  barely
aware  of  Mr.  Fairchild  following  him  or  demanding  to  know  what  was  wrong.  The
only  thing  that  he  cared  about  at  that  moment  was  getting  to  Elizabeth  and  killing
whoever was hurting her.

When he ran out of the barn and into the yard, terror shot through him as he watched
a man hover over Elizabeth as she curled up on her side as she screamed his name
over and over until he found himself running towards her and tackling the bastard.

“What the hell did you do to my wife?” he demanded as he shoved the smaller man to
the ground and raised his fist, ready to kill him with his bare hands when recognition
hit hard. “James? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Besides getting my ass kicked and having your wife scare the living hell out of me?”
James demanded as he shoved Robert away and got to his feet. “I came to talk to
you.”

Elizabeth’s screams brought his attention back to where it belonged. As happy as he
was to see his brother again and that he was speaking to him again, James was going
to have to wait.

“Minx?” Robert asked as he crawled over to where his wife lay, curled up into a ball

and panting. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering him, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

“Is it the baby?” he asked, praying that the answer was no. It was too soon for the
baby. They had another month before the baby was supposed to be born.

Reluctantly, she nodded as a sob escaped her.

Please don’t let us lose the baby, he prayed as he carefully picked her up and carried
her into the house, because he didn’t think that either one of them would be able to
survive the loss this time.

*-*-*-*

“He’s coming to,” he vaguely heard James say.

“Huh?” was his only response as he struggled to figure out how he’d ended up lying
face down on his bedroom floor.

“I did tell him not to come in here,” James said, sounding amused as he helped roll
Robert over onto his back.

“This is why men don’t belong in the labor room,” Mrs. Brown said, sounding putout
as she tossed a wet cloth at him. It hit him in the face before falling off and landing on
the floor, leaving Robert even more confused.

“What happened?” he asked numbly as he struggled to sit up, but a wave of dizziness
had him lying right back down.

His answer was the beautiful cry of a baby. Actually, it sounded more like-

“Twins,” James said with a huge grin as he helped Robert sit up.

“Twins?” Robert repeated, not understanding what James was saying.

“Twin boys,” James said, chuckling as he reached down and dragged Robert to his
feet. “That’s why your wife was so huge.”

“I was not huge!” Elizabeth said, not sounding very mad at all as she drew his
attention towards the bed where she was curled up on her side, smiling down at two
wiggling, but healthy looking, babies.

“W-what happened?” he asked, struggling to remember what the hell happened.

“What do you remember?” James asked, dragging him over to the bed where his
family was waiting for him and helping him carefully lie down next to the most

beautiful babies that he’d ever seen.

“Not much,” he admitted, trying to shake his head clear.

“Well, after you carried Elizabeth in here and sent for the doctor, your formidable
maid Mrs. Brown kicked us both out. While we waited for the doctor, you and I had a
long overdue discussion where you apologized profusely for being a selfish bastard and
begged my forgiveness,” James said, sounding amused and drawing Robert’s glare.

With a roll of his eyes and a few muttered words, James carefully sat down at the end
of the bed and reached over so that the baby nearest him could grab onto his finger.
“Fine. I apologized for being a bastard and not saying goodbye to you.”

“That’s all?” Robert asked with a frown as he reached down and softly caressed his
son’s head.

“Well, you did apologize for everything,” James said, sending him a smile.

“I’m sorry for not realizing that you were in love with her, Robert. Our parents are
sorry as well. They should be here in a few weeks to tell you themselves. I should have
realized that something was going on.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Robert said, giving him a reassuring smile before he
returned his attention to the baby who was pulling his finger to his mouth.

“Oh, yes there is!” Mrs. Brown said, stepping up the side of the bed to smile down at
the babies. “You gave the doctor and me heart failure when you came running in here
like that!”

“I ran in here?” Robert asked, wracking his brain, trying to remember, but it was all a
bit fuzzy.

James chuckled. “As soon as Elizabeth started screaming you broke free, ran into the
room, caught one look at your wife giving birth and promptly passed out.”

“I don’t remember any of that.”

“And I doubt that any of us will ever forget,” James said with a wink that had
Elizabeth laughing softly as she leaned down and pressed a kiss against the squirming
baby’s foot that kept lightly kicking at her.

He looked at Elizabeth, noting the exhaustion and pure joy in her eyes as she looked
down at their boys. She looked so damn beautiful, and he couldn’t help losing his heart
to her all over again.

“Twins, minx,” he said, gently pulling his hand away from his son so that he could
push a damp strand of hair behind Elizabeth’s ear.

The Start of Their Happily Ever After Before We Rewind Just a Bit and Get

to Where Things Went Wrong...

Four and a half years later…..

“Did you bring it?” Robert demanded as soon as the coach door opened.

James chuckled as he stepped out, his eyes dancing with amusement as he held up a
dark grey rock. “You mean this rock that you so kindly asked for? The one that I had
to travel to London for in the middle of the night and search the park for six hours in
the freezing rain, because it was a matter of life and death?” he asked dryly as he
tossed the rock to Robert.

“Thank God,” Robert sighed, catching the rock and barely sparing his brother a glance
as he headed for his shop.

“What? No, thank you, James? I missed you, James?” James asked, veering off to go
greet Elizabeth and the children, who were playing by the garden.

“Keep Elizabeth busy for an hour or two,” was all he said as he pulled his shop door
closed behind him, praying that he didn’t accidentally break this one as well.

*-*-*-*

Elizabeth released a sigh as she leaned against the tree and watched as James played
with her babies. He was such a wonderful uncle and from what she’d heard from the
rest of the family, a wonderful father as well.

He  was  so  kind  and  sweet,  she  thought,  laughing  when  the  twins  tackled  him  to  the
ground so that they could show him how to give a proper bear hug. Her lips twitched
with  amusement  when  James  pretended  to  turn  into  a  bear  and  chased  the  twins  all
while  cradling  her  youngest  giggling  son  carefully  in  his  arms.  Her  smile  turned
watery as she looked down at the folded parchment in her hands.

James had turned her dreams into a reality.

About a year ago, he’d been looking through the estates old ledgers and had come
across her plans. Not sure what to make of them at first, he’d questioned Mary and
Anthony who were only too happy to finally tell him what they thought about Heather
burning through the fortune that was meant to help the poor.

Shocked,  he’d  taken  another  look  at  her  plans.  Then  he  took  a  look  at  his  wife’s
outrageous  spending  and  what  he  saw  had  him  finally  putting  his  foot  down  and
limiting  her  spending  to  a  modest  monthly  allowance.  As  a  result,  Heather  was  no
longer  speaking  to  him,  but  he  didn’t  seem  to  care.  Elizabeth  suspected  that  when
Heather  discovered  that  James  had  taken  half  of  her  inheritance  and  created  a
charity  with  it,  that  Heather  would  probably  never  speak  to  him  again.  Then  again,
that would probably make James the happiest man alive.

She wished that he’d reconsider and move to America. She knew that he would love it
here. He probably would have made the move years ago if it hadn’t been for Heather.
Her  sister  refused  to  even  consider  it,  never  mind  visit,  which  meant  that  James
visited  once  a  year  just  to  get  a  break  from  her.  Next  year  James  was  bringing  his
girls  along  with  their  parents  for  a  visit  whether  Heather  liked  it  or  not.  Elizabeth
suspected that she probably wouldn’t like it.

“It’s good to see him,” the deep voice that she adored said as a strong arm was
carefully wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back against the man that she
loved more than anything.

“It is,” she murmured her agreement as she turned herself in his arms so that she
could wrap her arms around his shoulders, “but it’s even better to see you.”

“Missed me?” he teased as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

“Terribly,” she said, smiling against his lips. “When I came back from feeding the baby
you were already gone.”

“I’m sorry, minx. I had some work that I needed to finish so that I could spend tonight
focusing on you,” he said, kissing her again.

“I have you for the whole night?”

“The whole night,” he promised as he leaned in to kiss her.

“What about James?” she asked, feeling bad that he’d traveled all the way from
England to visit and they were abandoning him on his first night.

“Can entertain himself for one night,” he said, brushing his lips against hers one last
time before he stepped away.

“This is for you,” Robert said as he held out a small beautifully carved box.

She didn’t have to ask him to know that he’d made the box himself. It was absolutely
beautiful and something that he would no doubt be able to get some of the merchants
in town to buy. He could probably have a very lucrative business if he focused on
making furniture and trinkets, but that would mean spending long hours away from

her and the children and she knew that he didn’t want that. Instead, he settled for
making the things that he loved in his spare time and focused on supporting them by
building and fixing homes. He was very good at what he did and was in high demand.

They would never be rich, but as long as they were able to keep their children safe
and happy then neither one of them cared.

“Happy anniversary, minx,” he said as she opened the box and saw…

A necklace made out of stones?

Whatever it was, it was beautiful and she loved it because he’d made it for her. With a
smile, she leaned up to kiss him, but he stepped back and focused his attention on the
necklace.

“This white bead is from the old barn where you covered me in honey and feathers,”
he said, drawing her attention back to the necklace. “This bead,” he said, pointing out
a grey stone bead next, “is from the tree where I cut your hair off. This bead is
from…”

He went on explaining where every stone had come from, pausing every now and then
to  smile,  laugh  or  to  reminisce  about  tales  from  their  childhood.  She  listened  as  he
went  through  each  bead,  growing  more  amazed  by  the  minute.  When  he  pointed  out
the  bead  from  the  orangery,  she  felt  her  bottom  lip  tremble.  As  he  finished  with  the
stone that he’d picked up outside their bedroom window on the night that she’d given
birth to Jonathan, she found herself falling in love with her husband all over again.

“I love it,” she said, an understatement. It was the most beautiful, thoughtful gift that
anyone had ever given her. It also made her realize just how much she meant to him.

“I’m glad,” he said, leaning in to kiss her, only this time she didn’t let him go.

“It’s my turn to give you your anniversary gift, Mr. Bradford.”

*-*-*-*

He was dying. There was no other explanation for it. His limbs weakly trembled as he
dragged himself across the room. He couldn’t think of a time when he’d been so thirsty
or hungry in his life. Several times over the last twenty-four hours he’d considered
yelling for help, but he was beyond help. He knew that.

The cause of his destruction stirred behind him. He picked up the pitcher of water and
chugged the lukewarm liquid. It did nothing to quench his thirst or ease his empty
stomach.

“I think I’m dying,” he mumbled.

A weak laugh came from the bed. “I

know I am,” Elizabeth said. “We have to stop…we

have to…I need food…and water…..the baby, Robert,….think of the baby,” she
implored weakly.

He took a deep breath. The baby needed food. His baby. He couldn’t help grinning. His
minx was making him a father again, hopefully giving him a little girl to spoil this
time. He hugged the pitcher to his chest and brought it over to her.

“Here. Drink this and I’ll get dressed and have Mrs. Brown send some food up.” He
frowned as he looked at the door. “I wonder why they haven’t checked on us by now.”

“Probably  because  we  scared  them  away,”  she  said  as  she  took  the  pitcher  from  him.
She almost dropped it. Her arms were so weak, but she couldn’t drink lying back this
way. She got up on her knees with great difficulty. The only thing that mattered was
the  water.  She  didn’t  care  about  being  ladylike  or  anything  else.  She  drank  greedily,
not  caring  about  the  water  that  spilled  down  her  chin  and  down  her  chest  and
stomach. She was so thirsty. When she had her fill, she placed the now empty pitcher
on the bed. Her eyes met Robert’s intense gaze and she knew that things were about
to take a turn for the worse.

“Oh no,” she whimpered.

Robert stared at the water dripping down his wife’s breasts. He licked his lips. Every
part of him save one was protesting the sight. He followed her frightened eyes
downward. He was more than ready to go again. It felt like he hadn’t had her in years
instead of minutes.

Elizabeth threw a pillow at him so she could scramble off the bed, desperate to make
an escape. It was like that piece of his anatomy was in charge. He crawled after her.
She didn’t bother with a nightgown or a wrap as she ran to the door and started
pounding on it.

“Mrs. Brown!”

“Oh, thank the lord!” came Mrs. Brown’s worried voice from behind the door. “We
were afraid you’d both perished.”

She looked back to see her husband trying to escape from the tangled sheets his foot
got caught on.

“Mrs. Brown, listen I haven’t much time. Can you arrange for a large tray of food and
drink to be delivered,” she looked over her shoulder to discover that Robert was close
to getting free, “and water for a bath as well. Please!”

“Certainly,” Mrs. Brown said, sounding amused.

“Robert?” James suddenly said as he joined Mrs. Brown in the hall.

A soft growl behind her was the only answer he could manage. Elizabeth slowly
turned around, plastering her back against the door. James knocked on the door.
“Robert? Come down with me to the tavern, I’m bored. Robert?”

“I’m busy,” Robert answered in what sounded mostly like a snarl.

James’ answer was a pained sigh. “Come on, you’ve done your duty. Let’s go.”

A loud whimper escaped Elizabeth as he pounced on her. He was handsome, wicked
and all hers. No matter how tired or weak she was at the moment he still had this
strange affect on her body after all these years and in that moment, she wanted him
more than anything.

“Robert?” James asked, sounding unsure.

Robert couldn’t answer at the moment. He was busy licking the water from
Elizabeth’s skin. She was pinned tightly against the wall, her arms wrapped around
his shoulders and her legs around his waist.

In one quick move, he was sheathed inside her. He wrapped his arms around her,
protecting her from the door as he thrust inside her. The door groaned its protests as
its hinges and frame were put to the test. If the position hurt Elizabeth, she wasn’t
saying.

Just the opposite, in fact.

She demanded him to move harder and faster. At that moment, Robert didn’t care
that his brother and Mrs. Brown were standing outside the door or that he was on the
verge of starvation. He only cared about her, about his minx. He slammed into her,
once, twice, three times and then she began screaming his name and doing her best to
milk him dry.

“Lucky bastard,” he thought he heard his brother mutter, but he didn’t really care as
he lost himself in the woman that he loved.

“Happy anniversary, Mr. Bradford,” his minx said minutes later as she pushed him to
the floor to give him his gift all over again, making him wonder if he should call
another truce before they ended up killing each other.

Chapter 1

Present Day

“Oh, my God! Why won’t you leave?” Marybeth demanded, close to crying and not
really caring as she pulled the pillow over her head, wondering why he wouldn’t just
leave them alone.

“Are you hungry?” Uncle Jared asked from where he sat…

Between them.

On their bed.

At two in the morning.

“I’m hungry,” Uncle Jared muttered and she didn’t need to look up to know that he
was pouting.

“Then go home and raid your own fucking kitchen!” Darrin snapped from the other
side of the bed, sounding just as aggravated as she was.

Actually, he sounded kind of pissed. Not that she could actually blame him since Uncle
Jared had chosen the perfect moment to saunter into their room, unannounced and
apparently on a mission. Personally, she was just thankful that he’d chosen to show
up after she’d stopped screaming Darrin’s name and begging him to fuck her harder.

“Not until after we have this talk,” Uncle Jared said, sounding determined and letting
her know that this night from hell wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

Well, it really hadn’t been all that bad considering that Darrin had managed to make
her scream his name at least three times before Uncle Jared had managed to barge in
and  put  an  end  to  their  night.  Darrin  on  the  other  hand  probably  wasn’t  as
understanding  as  she  was  since  that  she  may  have  teased  and  tormented  him  to  the
brink  of  orgasm  for  over  an  hour.  She’d  just  been  on  the  verge  of  finally  giving  him
what he wanted when Uncle Jared strolled into the room and threw a pair of shorts at
Darrin’s head and tossed her one of Darrin’s shirts and a pair of his boxers before he
granted them exactly thirty seconds to get dressed.

Knowing better than to argue and waste precious seconds, she’d quickly got dressed
and dove under the covers, deciding that it was for the best that she pretend that the
man that had always stepped up, prepared to kick her ass when she screwed up and
was there for her when her father wasn’t hadn’t just walked in on her while she was
on her hands and knees giving her husband a-

“So, why don’t we take this downstairs and get a bite to eat while we talk, hmm?”

Uncle Jared suggested, sounding hopeful and making her cringe as she pulled the
pillow tighter over her head and prayed that her burning cheeks didn’t set the bed on
fire.

She was just about to see if it was humanly possible to burrow into the mattress when
she heard the unmistakable sound of a pair of handcuffs clicking shut and a heavy
sigh that she was all too familiar with. It was followed by a brief silence and another
familiar sigh before Uncle Jared asked, “Really?”

“Really,” she heard Darrin say firmly as she felt the bed shift seconds before her
pillow was taken from her and tossed aside.

Without  a  word,  mostly  because  she  was  trying  to  avoid  making  eye  contact  with
Uncle  Jared,  she  wrapped  her  arms  around  Darrin’s  shoulders  as  he  picked  her  up,
buried  her  face  against  his  bare  shoulder  and  tried  to  pretend  that  she  was  in  her
happy place.

“You can’t avoid this conversation forever,” Uncle Jared said, not really sounding all
that angry that for someone that had just been handcuffed to the bed by his nephew.

“I’m willing to give it a shot,” Darrin drawled, tightening his hold around her as he
headed for their bedroom door.

She  kept  her  face  buried  against  his  chest  as  he  carried  her  downstairs  and  into  the
living room, carefully avoiding the boxes that took up most of the space and made his
way  to  the  only  available  seat  since  the  couch  had  been  the  first  thing  that  they’d
brought  in.  She  had  been  the  second.  Darrin  had  carried  her  inside  their  new  house,
laid her down on the couch and told her to keep her ass there as the men in his family
unloaded the boxes and stacked them around the house. That was two months ago and
they were still unpacking the damn boxes and trying to get the house ready for their
babies.

Their babies…

She still couldn’t believe that in a few months they were going to be parents. She
thought this day would never come, but thanks to Zoe and Trevor, they were going to
have a family of their own very soon.

Darrin chuckled as he sat down. “Thinking about the babies?”

“How did you know?” she asked, not bothering to lift her head, but instead simply
closed her eyes as she relaxed in his arms.

“Because,” he said, pausing to kiss the top of her head with a smile of his own, “I can
feel you smiling.”

“I can’t help it,” she admitted, turning her head so that she could press a kiss against
his shoulder as she hugged him tighter, so unbelievably happy that she was actually
tearing up.

That is, until she heard the long-suffering sigh.

“He’s down here, isn’t he?” she asked, closing her eyes in defeat as she pressed her
forehead against his shoulder and accepted the inevitable.

They weren’t getting rid of Uncle Jared until he did what he’d come to do and
unfortunately for her, she’d already heard this tale of Bradford bullshit a million times
before thanks to the fact that she’d grown up with them.

“How’d you get the handcuffs off?” Darrin asked as he began to caress her arm and
shoulder with his fingertips.

“Picked the lock,” Uncle Jared answered casually as though they were talking about
the weather as she did her best to pretend that she was invisible.

“We already know the story,” Darrin for some reason decided to remind him when
they both knew that there was nothing on this earth that was going to stop Uncle
Jared from retelling this story.

“Then you’re not going on a honeymoon?” Uncle Jared asked in a challenging tone,
practically daring Darrin to try and bullshit him.

“Once the babies arrive we won’t have a chance to go on a honeymoon,” Darrin said
evenly, deciding that arguing with Uncle Jared was the way to go.

She sighed heavily as she settled in for the long haul, because if there was one thing
that she knew about Bradfords, it was that they were all stubborn, especially the
males.

But especially Uncle Jared.

“You’ll have plenty of volunteers to watch them when the time comes,” Uncle Jared
shot back.

Darrin was quiet for a moment before he said, “The stories are bullshit.”

“You really think so?” Uncle Jared asked, sounding amused, which was not a good
thing, because that meant that he would do everything he could to prolong the torture
now just for shits and giggles.

“Yes,” Darrin said with absolutely no hesitation as she tried, and failed, to resist the
urge to pinch the bastard to stop him from making this worse.

“Ow! What the hell?” the big baby snapped as she shifted on his lap, careful to keep
her face averted since she’d decided that she’d probably die or mortification if she
made eye contact with Uncle Jared ever again.

“You know what!”

she hissed softly for his ears only, trying to get the stubborn

bastard to stop before things got worse.

“It’s bullshit!” her husband snapped, obviously deciding that continuing arguing with
his uncle at three in the morning when he had to be at work in three hours was an
excellent idea.

“Is it really?” Uncle Jared asked with a hint of challenge in his voice, which of course
prompted Darrin to snap, “It is!”

By this point she knew that it was a losing battle. So it was with a heavy heart, and
her gaze shifted away from Uncle Jared, that she climbed off Darrin’s lap,
“accidentally” stepping on his foot in the process, multiple times, and headed towards
the kitchen, deciding that she might as well make breakfast.

She’d just decided to make pancakes when Uncle Jared said, “Once upon a time,”
which was cut off with, “Oh, give me a fucking break,” from her husband.

“I’m trying to tell you a goddamn story here!”

“Then tell it and drop the bullshit!” Darrin said, finally accepting the fact that they
weren’t getting rid of his uncle anytime soon.

“I will if you’d shut the hell up and let me get to it!”

“Then get to it!”

“Fine!”

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head and sighed heavily as she reached for a large
mixing bowl while she heard Uncle Jared theatrically clear his throat from the other
room.

“As I was saying, Once upon a time…”

Chapter 2

The Start of Yet Another Bradford Tradition…

The First Honeymoon from Hell

Eleven months after the start of the first Bradford tradition:

The Bradford Wedding

“Shut up.”

“I’m bored,” James said with a long-suffering sigh as he picked up a wood shaving and
began peeling layers off it.

“You could always help me,” Robert pointed out, chuckling when his brother leveled a
horrified glare on him.

“And you could always finish this tomorrow and go with me into town for a drink
tonight,” James suggested, which was the same suggestion that he’d made every night
for the past six months even though he already knew that it was pointless.

“I can’t,” Robert said, leaning over and tilting his head to the side to make sure that
the initials he’d carved on the top of the trunk were perfect.

“You really could,” James pointed out absently as he gazed around the candle lit
workroom.

“I could,” Robert admitted with a smile as he stood up.

“But,  you’re  not  going  to,”  James  finished  for  him,  shaking  his  head  in  disgust,
because  he  really  couldn’t  understand  why  Robert  would  rather  spend  the  night  with
his  wife  and  children  instead  of  in  town,  drinking,  playing  cards  and  flirting  with
every woman that looked his way.

“No,” he said, tilting his head to the other side as he ran his hand over the top of the
trunk, making sure that the finish was smooth, “I’m not.”

“I’m only going to be here for another two weeks,” James reminded him with a pout
that had him chuckling as he tossed the rag he’d used to apply an oil finish to the
trunk aside and finally deemed the project finished.

“And you’re going to be very busy for at least one of those weeks,” Robert decided to
remind his brother as he reached over and turned off the lantern on his workstation.

“I knew that I should have left for England last month when I had the chance,” James
said with a pathetic groan that Robert wasn’t buying as he rubbed the back of his
neck and tossed the wood shaving aside.

They both knew what was waiting for James back home and he wasn’t in any rush to
return to his wife. He’d married her for the inheritance and had instantly regretted it.
Since they’d said their, “I do’s,” Heather had taken residence in one of the luxurious
town houses that had originally been left to Elizabeth in a fit of rage and had refused
to talk to James since. Not that James really seemed to care.

If  anything,  he  seemed  happy  to  get  away  from  her,  which  Robert  really  couldn’t
blame him for, but what he could blame his brother for were the looks of regret that
he  sometimes  caught  him  sending  Elizabeth.  He  knew  that  his  brother  would  never
touch her, but that didn’t hide the fact that James was more than a little in love with
Elizabeth.  He  hated  to  see  his  brother  in  this  much  pain,  but  then  again,  if  James
ever  acted  on  those  fingers,  Robert  would  tear  him  apart  with  his  bare  hands.  But
since  his  brother  was  kind  enough  to  keep  his  feelings,  and  his  hands,  to  himself,
Robert would pretend not to notice.

“You would have missed me,” Robert said with a chuckle as he decided to call it a
night.

James’  lips  twitched.  “Perhaps,”  he  lied  his  ass  off  when  they  both  knew  that  James
would  have  been  miserable  without  him  in  England,  but  soon  he  wouldn’t  have  a
choice  and  they  both  knew  it.  James  was  the  first  in  line  to  inherit  and  as  much  as
James  would  like  to  turn  his  back  on  his  responsibilities  and  the  unwanted  wife  that
he  now  found  himself  with,  he’d  also  been  raised  to  believe  that  the  future  of  their
family  depended  on  him.  He  could  never  turn  his  back  on  that,  no  matter  how  much
he wanted to pretend that life back in England wasn’t waiting for him, he couldn’t.

Too may lives depended on James to pick up with their father would one day leave off,
tenants, farmers, merchants, thousands of them. So, as much as James would like to
start over in New England and pretend that he had a choice in his future, they both
knew that he didn’t, because if he turned his back on his responsibilities then it would
fall on Robert’s shoulders to do the right thing for their family.

And they both knew that he couldn’t do that.

Robert  couldn’t  go  back,  he  couldn’t  turn  his  back  on  the  future  that  he’d  created  for
his  family,  on  the  life  that  he’d  made  for  them,  he  just  couldn’t  return  to  a  life  that
had  meant  absolutely  nothing  to  him  and  they  both  knew  it.  So,  to  make  sure  that
Robert was never forced to take on a role that was never meant for him, James would
do  whatever  it  took  to  continue  the  line  even  if  it  meant  going  back  to  his  wife  in
England and starting a family with her.

The fact that James was going to do whatever it took to ensure their families survival
as well as the life that Robert had created for his family here in New England told him
just  how  much  he  meant  to  his  brother.  They  didn’t  say  anything,  because  nothing
had  to  be  said.  They  were  brothers  after  all  and  this  is  what  they  did  for  each  other.
No  thanks  was  necessary,  but  they  both  knew  that  whenever  James  needed  an
escape, there would always a place here for him when he needed it.

With that being said…

“You agreed,” Robert pointed out, deciding to cut through all the bullshit and get to
the heart of the matter.

“I know,” James groaned with a mock glare, but they both knew that he was looking
forward to having the run of the house and the boys all to himself. With Mrs. Brown’s
help of course, which meant that he would probably end up spending the entire week
teaching the boys how to blow spit bubbles and con Mrs. Brown into cooking all of his
favorite foods and spoiling him rotten before he had to head back home to the harpy
that was doing her best to go through their fortune before he got back, not that she
really cared that he’d left, but because she just couldn’t seem to help herself.

Elizabeth  still  had  never  forgiven  herself  for  losing  the  inheritance  to  her  sister,  but
he knew that she had no regrets. She could have done a great deal of good with that
money,  but  in  the  end  he  knew  that  she  couldn’t  bring  herself  to  regret  what
happened  between  them  and  especially  their  boys.  He  was  too  much  of  a  selfish
bastard  to  regret  what  happened,  but  it  damn  near  killed  him  that  no  matter  how
hard he worked, he would never be able to give her the life that she deserved.

He’d  robbed  her  of  a  life  of  luxury  and  he  could  never  forgive  himself  for  that.  She’d
gone  from  being  a  pampered  daughter  of  a  Peer  to  the  wife  of  the  town  carpenter.
She’d deserved better than that and although he would never be able to give her what
she  deserved,  he  was  going  to  do  his  best  to  make  her  happy,  which  was  why  he’d
been busting his ass for the past few months, scrimping and saving every extra penny
that he could so that he could finally take her on a honeymoon.

“You could always take me up on my offer and take her on a tour of Europe,” James
suggested with a shrug even as he took a step back and put some space between them
before Robert could get a chance to properly thank him for the offer.

“Thank you, but no,” he said through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing to slits as he
sent his brother one last warning, but the stubborn bastard ignored the warning and
kept going.

“Think of it as a wedding gift. You could take her to Paris and Venice. Treat her to the
best hotels across Europe, and dine at the finest-Ow, you son of a bitch! Stop punching
me!”

“Let it drop and I will,” Robert explained with a tired sigh as he walked past his
brother, in absolutely no mood to argue with him tonight.

With a heavy sigh that was going to get his jaw broken, James followed after him.
“Consider it a gift.”

“No.”

“It would be from all of us,” James added as Robert shoved the heavy barn door open
and strolled out, seriously tempted to lock his brother in for the night, but decided
against it since the tattletaling bastard would just tell Mrs. Brown on him in the
morning and the old woman would make his life a living hell out of spite.

“No,” he said, forcing himself to walk down the well-worn path that he’d created over
the last few months with the help of Elizabeth, who liked to visit him throughout the
day with a baby on her hip and a plate of goodies to keep him going.

He loved her visits and looked forward to them everyday. If he had to work at
someone’s house or in town, he would get up an hour early and get the team ready for
her, making sure to put the baby bassinets that he’d made specifically for the carriage
in the back to make it easy for her to visit him. While most husbands usually bitched
about their wives and took whatever excuse they could find to get out of the house, he
couldn’t stand going even a few hours without seeing his wife and sons.

If Elizabeth wasn’t able to get the boys outside to see him, then he made sure to take
breaks during the day so that he could check on them, see if she needed anything and
mostly just so that he could take her in his arms, close his eyes as he tried to accept
that she was finally his. No matter how many times he touched her or held her at
night, he still couldn’t believe that this was real, that his minx was his forever.

It was funny that once upon a time just hearing her name could ruin his day, but now
he couldn’t imagine going a day without hearing her beautiful name whispered from
his lips as he pulled her into his arms at the end of the day and thanked god from
bringing the vicious little minx into his life.

“You can take her on a trip that she’ll never forget,” James said offhandedly as he
caught up with him.

“That’s what I plan on doing,” he said evenly, knowing that his brother was trying to
do something nice for them, but it was still fucking insulting.

“You  can  take  her  anywhere  in  the  world,  Robert.  You  don’t  have  to  live  like  this,”
James  said,  sighing  heavily  as  he  gestured  lazily  towards  the  large  farm  house  and
surrounding  property,  trying  to  sound  like  he  was  offering  to  save  him  from  a  life  of
hell, but he didn’t miss the envious tone as he brother dutifully repeated the offer that
their  parents  had  tried  to  shove  down  his  throat  before  they’d  finally  conceded  and

boarded  the  ship  to  return  to  England.  They’d  left  it  on  James’  shoulders  to  convince
Robert to accept their offer to pay for a European tour, wet nurse, carriage and a full
line  of  servants  to  follow  them  as  they  dined  at  the  finest  restaurants  in  Europe  all
while their every need was met. It was the type of trip that either one of them could
have  rightfully  expected  thanks  to  the  station  that  they’d  been  born  to,  but  that
wasn’t the world that they belonged to anymore.

The  world  that  they  belonged  to  had  bills,  limited  resources,  obligations,  and  the
knowledge  that  if  he  couldn’t  work  then  his  family  would  starve.  It  wasn’t  a
comfortable  existence,  but  it  was  the  one  that  he’d  chosen.  He’d  come  to  America  to
make  a  new  life  for  his  family  and  to  get  a  fresh  start  and  he  couldn’t  do  that  if  he
allowed  himself  to  depend  on  his  family  for  support.  He  loved  his  family,  more  than
anything,  but  if  he  was  going  to  make  it,  if  his  family  had  any  chance  at  all  of
surviving and making a life for themselves, then they needed to do this on their own.

needed to do this on his own.

He needed to know that no matter what life threw at them that he could not only
handle it, but that he could come out on top, keeping his family safe while making
something of himself here. He needed to do this on his own and that meant that he did
this completely on his own, without his family’s purse strings or influence.

He sure as hell didn’t need them paying for his honeymoon.

“I don’t want your money, James,” he bit out, insulted that everyone in his family and
in hers kept offering to throw money at them, terrified that they were going to die in
the streets.

“You know the money really belongs to Elizabeth,” James said quietly, saying the one
thing that was guaranteed to make him stop walking and turn around so that he
could face his brother.

For a moment he considered breaking his brother’s nose for bringing up something
that was better left unsaid, but the tormented expression on James’ face stopped him.

“We don’t want the money, James,” he said, suddenly feeling every single one of those
long hours that he’d worked to make sure that they had extra money in the bank so
that they could survive another year without having to beg their family for help.

“It should have been yours,” James said tightly, a muscle clenching in his jaw as he
stood there, forcing himself to look Robert in the eye.

He met his brother’s gaze and shook his head, “I got what I wanted.”

His brother’s lips twitched as he nodded in understanding. “Elizabeth.”

Chapter 3

“Dear, it will be fine,” Mrs. Brown said even as the normally stoic woman shot the two
young women cowering in the corner a pleading look, praying that they understood
the silent message that she was sending them, but of course they were still ignoring
her and fixated on the young woman in her arms crying.

“I-I  don’t  un-understand  what  went  wrong,”  Elizabeth  sobbed,  somewhat  hysterically
as  she  hugged  the  basket  filled  with  burnt  biscuits,  which  really  looked  like  discs  of
charcoal, to her chest as she continued to sit there, in the corner, on the floor, finally
having  the  breakdown  that  Mrs.  Brown  had  been  waiting  for  since  the  twins  were
born.

“They just got a little brown, that’s all,” Mrs. Brown said, trying to not to glance down
at  the  basket  full  of  charcoal  as  she  told  Elizabeth  yet  another  lie  just  to  make  it
through  the  day.  “I’m  sure  Robert  will  love  them,”  she  said,  this  time  forcing  a  smile
that unfortunately probably resembled a grimace, because just the thought of that boy
eating  these  things  turned  her  stomach  and  she  was  a  woman  known  for  having  a
strong stomach.

“T-the boys,” Elizabeth mumbled absently, looking a little lost. “I’ve gotta make the
boys something to eat.”

“They’ve already eaten,” Mrs. Brown pointed out soothingly even as she did her best
not to think about exactly how much food the babies had gone through or the fact that
they would probably require a second dinner in another hour or two.

She’d raised a lot of children in her lifetime, but none of them had been anything like
the  Bradford  twins.  Not  that  she  didn’t  love  them,  because  she  did,  probably  more
than  she  should  since  one  day  they  would  grow  up  and  wouldn’t  need  her,  but  until
that  day  came  she  was  going  to  allow  herself  to  foolishly  love  those  baby  boys  more
than anything else on this earth.

It  was  probably  the  reason  why  she  pretended  that  some  of  the  things  that  they  did
didn’t  terrify  her,  like  the  silent  way  they  communicated  when  they  planned
something  out,  the  look  they  shared  just  before  they  did  something  that  had  run  off
more  than  a  few  of  the  village  girls  that  she’d  been  able  to  convince  to  ignore  the
rumors  that  had  spread  through  town  like  wildfire  about  the  twins  and  Robert’s
insatiable appetite and work for the Bradfords for a few hours a week, just to lighten
the workload on Elizabeth, who was determined to be the perfect mother and wife.

It wasn’t possible, not with a husband like Robert and babies that could eat more than
most men. A shiver tore through her just at the thought of how much those boys could
put away. While most babies their age were just learning to sit up, crawl and starting
to make the switch to solid foods like porridge and mashed vegetables, the Bradford

boys were already the size of two year olds and could put away more food in one
sitting than all her sons and nephews combined.

Sometimes at night when she was in bed and the house was quiet and the only thing
that she had to keep her company were her thoughts, it was a struggle not to grab her
bag and make a run for it, but the reminder that the twins were sweet boys that
adored her, and probably wouldn’t resort to eating her if they had a really bad winter
and ran out of food, kept her there. She couldn’t imagine spending her days without
the Bradfords.

With that being said…

She  really  couldn’t  imagine  how  Elizabeth  had  lasted  this  long  before  she’d  finally
cracked  under  the  pressure  of  keeping  up  with  the  twins.  They  were  cute,  but  very
demanding.  Every  hour,  sometimes  twice  an  hour  those  boys  were  hunting  their
mother down, demanding to be fed and snuggled while Elizabeth did her best to be the
perfect wife, something that she knew damn well that Robert didn’t expect or want.

He only wanted Elizabeth…

She  would  love  to  say  that  her  own  husband  had  loved  and  adored  her  the  way  that
Robert cherished Elizabeth, but she couldn’t. Never once had Roger looked at her the
way that Robert looked at Elizabeth. She knew that he had grown to care for her and
had  adored  their  children,  but  he  never  loved  her,  not  the  way  that  Robert  loved
Elizabeth.  She’d  never  seen  a  man  look  at  a  woman  the  way  that  Robert  looked  at
Elizabeth, like every dream that he’d ever made had come true.

It was something that made her smile every time she saw it.

She only wished that Elizabeth realized just how much she meant to Robert and how
little he actually cared if things were perfect. As far as she could tell, the only thing
that he seemed to care about was that she was healthy and happy, which at the
moment was a problem…

“I can make fresh ones,” Elizabeth mumbled almost desperately, looking seconds away
from passing out, which again, was to be expected considering how hard she’d been
working over the last few month to make everything perfect.

“No, sweetie, that okay’s. I’m sure that-”

“Elizabeth?” Robert said brightly with that smile that belonged solely to Elizabeth as
he walked through the back door, making Mrs. Brown cringe and damn near made
her whimper, because any chance of stopping this before it got worse was gone now.

“Oh, God,” came the soft mumble, followed by a terrified gasp as Elizabeth, who was
probably surviving on less than an hour of sleep a night, jumped to her feet, dropped

the basket of burnt biscuits to the floor, shoved her messy hair back and in the process
ended up spreading ash over her beautiful tangled hair as she raced to the table,
grabbed a large dirty mixing bowl and with a panicked expression on her face, began
making more dough right around the time that the Robert spotted her and the smile
slowly slipped away from his face.

She  opened  her  mouth  to  make  another  excuse  for  Elizabeth,  to  distract  him  away
from the fact that his wife was beyond exhausted, covered in soot and ash, trembling
and  quietly  sobbing,  because  there  wasn’t  enough  lard  to  make  another  batch  of
biscuits,  when  she  saw  all  the  good  humor  evaporate  from  Robert’s  face  only  to  be
replaced seconds later by a look that she prayed that she never saw again, because it
was in that instant that she realized just how dangerous Robert Bradford was.

*-*-*-*

“It’s okay, Robert. Just let me-”

“Watch the boys,” Robert said firmly, shutting the bedroom door behind him and
cutting of Mrs. Brown before she could give him another bullshit excuse.

“I thought we agreed that there would be no more secrets,” he murmured softly,
kissing Elizabeth’s forehead as he carefully carried his trembling wife across the room,
berating himself for letting this go on for so long.

He’d known that she was overdoing it. Hell, it was the one thing that they were
always arguing about. He’d tell her that she was overdoing it and she’d tell him the
same thing. He’d threaten to spank her bottom raw if she didn’t slow down and she’d
threaten his balls.

No  matter  what  he  said  or  did,  she  wouldn’t  listen  to  him.  If  he  was  going  to  work
himself  into  exhaustion  to  take  care  of  their  family,  then  so  was  she.  She  didn’t
understand that he was doing this for them, that he had absolutely no fucking choice
but  to  take  every  single  job  that  came  his  way  no  matter  how  exhausted  he  was  or
how much he’d rather be able to sleep in with his wife in the morning, spend the day
playing with his sons and making them smile, but he couldn’t.

When  he’d  sold  his  investments,  he’d  expected  to  have  to  support  a  wife,  maybe  a
servant  or  two,  but  twins?  Christ,  he’d  never  expected  to  have  boys  that  could  eat
more than most grown men. Right now they were fine, he could afford to keep a roof
over their heads, clothes on their backs and their bellies comfortably full, but he knew
that  could  all  change  at  any  time.  If  he  got  hurt  or  sick,  then  he  wouldn’t  be  able  to
provide for his family and that absolutely terrified him.

So, he took as many jobs as he could, pretended that he wasn’t exhausted and saved
every penny that he to make sure that his family would be well taken care of if

anything ever happened to him. It was his job to provide for his family and to keep
them safe, not Elizabeth’s. He wasn’t working day and night so that she could do that
same. He wanted her well taken care of, happy and able to enjoy herself.

One of them should be able to, he thought with a resigned sigh as he gently placed her
on the edge of the bed. Ignoring her muttered protests that everything was fine, he
set about wiping her tears away, pressing a kiss to her trembling chin as he carefully
undressed her. He knew that she was exhausted when she couldn’t even come up with
the energy to argue with him as he finally slipped her chemise off and gently pulled on
one of his old cotton shirt over her head, her favorite shirt to sleep in. She did however
release an adorable little sniffle that had him biting back a smile as he pulled the
covers back and helped her crawl between the covers. Before her head hit the pillow,
her eyes were closed and she was softly snoring.

“Ah, minx,” he said with a small smile and a sigh as he leaned over and pressed a kiss
to the tip of her nose. “What the hell would I do without you?” he asked no one in
particular, not really expecting an answer because he already knew it.

He wouldn’t survive without her.

She meant everything to him, absolutely everything. She was his heart, his soul, the
reason why he pushed himself so hard to make a better life for their family. He loved
and adored his boys, but Elizabeth…

She was his everything.

And so far, he’d failed her. He’d taken her from everything she knew, gave her
absolutely no choice but to start a new life whether she wanted to or not and now she
was exhausting herself trying to prove that she could handle this new life. Tomorrow,
things were going to change, but for right now, he was going to make sure that his
wife got the rest that she desperately needed.

He pulled off his boots, shoved his pants down, and pulled off his shirt, tossing it on
the chair in the corner and crawled in bed behind her, determined to make sure that
she was well rested for their trip.

“You really are going to be the death of me, minx,” he whispered, half joking as he
pulled her in his arms, kissed her neck and gave in to the exhaustion that had been
plaguing him for months. He was just starting to fall asleep when the light scratching
at the door caught his attention.

“Sorry, Mr. Bradford, sir, but Mrs. Kinnley just sent a messenger. It seems that there
was  a  fire  in  her  kitchen  this  morning  and  she  has  no  way  to  heat  the  house  or  cook
for  the  children  until  it’s  fixed,”  one  of  timid  girls  that  Mrs.  Brown  had  hired  from
town hesitantly announced from the safety of the other  side  of  the  door,  making  him

Chapter 4

The Next Day…

“No!” Noah said firmly with a glare as he folded his little arms over his chest and
glared up at Robert, matching his brother Shaun’s glare exactly as Robert stood there,
wondering why he’d even bothered to try and reason with his sons.

“She stays,” Shaun bit out before his eyes narrowed dangerously on Robert, “you

can

go.”

Biting back a few words that would have his wife going for his balls, Robert pinched
the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the headache that exhaustion and the leftover
fumes from the Kinnley house had bombarded him with, and focused on the two little
boys standing in front of him, making the warning very clear.

If he tried to leave with their mother, they would kill him.

Or at the very least, do their best to beat the shit out of him and make him rethink
ever coming between them and their mother again. Robert took a slow, deep steadying
breath, praying for patience this morning, but by the time that he caught his boys
sharing one of their secret, and admittedly terrifying looks, it was too late.

“She stays,” Noah said with an evil little smile just as his brother’s lower chin began
to tremble and his big green eyes filled with unshed tears.

Sniffle, “She loves us more,” Noah mumbled, getting into character as he reached up
with his little tan hand and wiped away a single tear that rolled down his cheek while
Robert stood there, glaring down at his sons and silently daring them to push him too
far today.

“You don’t want to play this game with me today, boys,” he warned them quietly, but
since they were his sons, they ignored the warning and focused all of their attention
on the beautiful woman walking into the nursery.

The  pleased  smile  that  Elizabeth  wore  each  morning  when  she  greeted  their  sons
instantly  changed  to  panic  as  she  caught  sight  of  the  twins,  standing  there  in  their
nightshirts,  suddenly  looking  lost  and  a  little  terrified  as  both  the  boys  released
matching sniffles and sobs that would have even the most heartless of bastards feeling
bad for them. It just made him want to put them over his knee and spank the hell out
of them for trying to pull this shit on him.

He’d been the one who’d taught them that trick to manipulate Elizabeth into making
them extra apple tarts and they were trying to use it on him? Oh, they had so much to
learn…

“Good morning, minx,” he said, smiling and letting her know just how happy he was
to see her as he smoothly stepped in front of their sons and pulled her into his arms.

She looked better than she had last night, but he could still see exhaustion marring
her beautiful expression. She needed this week away now more than ever and he
wasn’t going to let anything, especially the boys that he’d trained a little too well, ruin
this for her. So, pretending that he couldn’t hear his sons sobbing quietly in a ploy to
gain their mother’s sympathy, he gave her a proper good morning kiss.

One of the boys, most likely Shaun, sobbed a little louder, trying to gain his mother’s
attention,  but  it  was  pointless  and  they  both  knew  it.  As  long  as  he  had  Elizabeth  in
his  arms,  nothing  else  mattered.  Besides,  she  trusted  him  and  knew  that  he  would
never  ignore  the  children  if  they  were  really  hurt.  So,  when  she  wrapped  her  arms
around  his  shoulders  and  pulled  him  down  and  returned  his  kiss  with  a  sweet  little
sigh  that  nearly  had  him  sweeping  her  off  her  feet  and  bringing  her  back  to  their
room, but just before he let his cock lead him around, he remembered that they had a
purpose.

“Are you ready?” he asked as he pulled back, pausing only long enough to tease her
lips with his.

When  he  caught  her  worrying  her  bottom  lip  between  her  teeth  and  shooting  the
manipulative  boys  standing  on  either  side  of  him  now  a  look,  he  knew  that  she  was
having  second  thoughts.  It  was  something  that  he  simply  couldn’t  allow.  So,  keeping
his  smile  easy,  he  reached  down,  grabbed  both  boys  by  the  back  of  their  shirts  and
picked them.

“Kiss your mother goodbye,” he said firmly, ignoring the murderous glares that they
were sending him as they crossed their arms stubbornly over their chests.

“She stays,” Noah said firmly as though his word was law.

Shaun  seconded  it  with  a  firm  nod  that  earned  them  both  a  subtle  shake  and  a
reminder  of  who  they  were  dealing  with.  He  might  love  his  children  more  than  his
own  life  and  do  whatever  it  took  to  keep  them  safe  and  happy,  but  not  at  their
mother’s  expense  and  they  knew  it.  She  needed  a  break  from  this  chaos  and  he  was
going to make sure that she got it.

“Fine!”

Noah growled even as he reached over, grabbed onto his mother’s shoulders,

used  his  hold  on  her  so  that  he  could  kiss  her  cheek.  With  that  done,  his  brother
followed  suit,  Robert  placed  them  both  on  their  feet,  ruffled  their  hair  and  just
because  he  had  a  soft  spot  for  his  boys,  he  slipped  them  each  a  penny  to  buy  sweets
while they were gone.

“We’ll be back in a week,” he told the boys as his eyes locked on his beautiful wife,

who was already starting to fret over leaving the boys.

“Yeah, see you in a week!” Noah yelled excitedly as he raced for the door, his brother
hot on his heels, apparently forgetting all about them as they raced towards the
sounds of Mrs. Brown in the kitchen, whom they would probably pester until she gave
in, stopped what she was doing and brought them to town so that they could buy their
fill of sweets.

As he watched his boys, who were technically still babies, run out of the room to hunt
down Mrs. Brown, he shoved the terror aside and told himself that the fact that they
looked closer to three years old and acted like they were ten years old didn’t frighten
him.

Nope, not at all.

“They’re fine,” Elizabeth said with a reassuring smile, no doubt reading the worry on
his face and knowing exactly what was bothering him.

“I know,” he said, smiling fondly down at his wife, deciding that it was easier to
believe that everything was going to be okay than to worry that there was something
wrong with his sons.

“According  to  your  mother,  you  were  a  big  boy,  too,”  Elizabeth  reminded  him  with  a
teasing  smile,  the  same  one  that  had  the  power  to  instantly  soothe  the  panic  that
threatened  to  take  over  and  knock  him  on  his  ass.  “They’re  fine,”  she  reassured  him
with  a  smile  as  she  reached  up  and  ran  her  fingers  through  his  hair,  gently  cupping
the  back  of  his  head  and  she  leaned  up  and  kissed  him.  “They’re  fine,”  she  repeated,
knowing exactly what he needed to hear.

Less than a year old and they could eat almost as much as him. Thank God he’d
managed to put extra food away this winter and as well as some extra money
otherwise they would have been in a lot of trouble. Next year he was going to have to
double the amount of food he-

Elizabeth ran her fingers through his hair as she smiled against his lips. “We’ll be
fine. Stop worrying so much.”

“It’s my job to worry,” he reminded her with a wink as he cupped her face in his hand
and brushed his lips against hers one last time, so temped to say the hell with Boston
and spend the next week in bed, finding new and interesting ways to make her moan
his name.

“No,” she said, brushing her lips against his, “it’s not.”

It was, but he wasn’t going to stand here, wasting time arguing about something that
didn’t matter. She was his responsibility, his heart, his soul and he would be

absolutely lost without her.

“We’re going to miss the coach,” he said, trying to pretend that it didn’t kill him that
he couldn’t afford to bring his wife up to Boston in a private coach and do this the
right way, the way that she deserved, but they couldn’t take the poor excuse that they
had for a coach, not when Mrs. Brown and the boys might need it while they were out
of town.

He’d make this up to her, he decided as he allowed himself one last kiss.

“Are you sure that we should be going?” she asked hesitantly, but he didn’t miss the
excited quiver in her voice or point out the fact that she’d clearly hit exhaustion
yesterday and needed to get out of the house almost as badly as he needed to show her
that she hadn’t made a mistake in choosing him.

“Absolutely,” he said firmly, eager to show her that she may not have married a rich
man, but she had married the right one.

Chapter 5

“Robert, are you okay?” she foolishly asked when it was clear that he wasn’t.

He  opened  his  mouth,  thought  better  of  it,  continued  to  squeeze  his  eyes  shut  and
nodded  his  head  as  the  back  of  his  knuckles  turned  pale  white  from  the  grip  that  he
had  on  the  rickety  old  bench  that  seemed  to  be  going  out  of  its  way  to  jostle  poor
Robert every other second as the stage coach slowed as it made its way north.

“Are you sure?” she asked quietly as she laid one of her hands over his, nearly yanking
it back seconds later when she realized how hot it was.

He felt like he was on fire and judging by the pained expression on his face and the
fact that his normally handsome tan face had leeched of color, she didn’t think that it
would be too long before the other passengers cowering in the corners away from him
would figure out that he was sick and-

“He’s sick! Pull over!” John, a large beefy farmer who’d been staring at her cleavage
for the past hour suddenly screeched, emphasizing his panic by pounding one meaty
fist against the wall of the coach until the coachman finally had enough and pulled the
coach to a stop.

The  coach  had  barely  had  a  chance  to  come  to  a  complete  stop  when  the  five  other
passengers  leapt  from  the  carriage  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  get  away  from  Robert
and whatever disease they feared he carried. She opened her mouth to chastise them
and  tell  them  that  they  were  acting  foolish  when  Robert  mumbled,  “Oh,  no,”  shoved
the small door on his side of the carriage open and stumbled out of the carriage where
he soon fell to his hands and knees and lost the blueberry turnovers that he’d bought
at the Inn while they’d waited for the coach to arrive.

Not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  she  followed  after  Robert  and  knelt  down  by  his  side
while  he  continued  to  cough  and  his  large  body  trembled.  She  put  her  hand  on  his
back to offer his some comfort and nearly swore when she realized that his jacket was
soaked  through  with  sweat  and  that  he  was  trembling.  So,  when  the  coach
unceremoniously continued its journey to Boston, she didn’t say anything, because she
knew  there  was  nothing  that  she  could  say  to  any  of  them  that  would  change  their
minds so she didn’t. She simply knelt by her husband, rubbing his sweat soaked back
while the carriage pulled away, rocking noisily while she knelt there, trying to figure
out what they should do.

“Kill. Me,” Robert groaned, apparently deciding on a course of action as he shoved
himself away from what had once been his breakfast and curled up on the rock
infested dirt road, closed his eyes and waited for death to come for him.

Ignoring his plea for a quick death, she contemplated their options as she asked,

“What did she make you?”

“Beef stew and some brown bread,” he muttered with a pathetic groan as he curled up
into a tighter ball, squeezed his eyes shut tightly as his handsome face took on a
rather frightening shade of gray.

“Beef stew?” she asked hollowly, because if there was one thing that everyone in town
knew about Mrs. Kinnley, besides the fact that she couldn’t cook to save her life, it
was that the only thing that she cooked was mutton and that was only if she could get
a good price for it, which meant that she usually waited to buy her meat when it was
mere minutes from being thrown away.

“Yeah,” Robert groaned in agreement as he rolled over onto his side with a grunt, dug
his fingers into the packed dirt marked by coach wheels, hooves and…

Well, she really didn’t want to think about what else the horses had left behind since
her husband was now rolling around in it. Rubbing her hands roughly down her face
as she tried not to think of a lot of things, but there was just one thing that she
couldn’t let go.

“Robert?” she said, trying to figure out the best way to ask this without getting an
answer that would terrify her.

“Hmm?” he managed to ask as he rolled over, groaning loudly and making a big show
out of dying.

“You do realize that Mrs. Kinnely only cooks mutton, right?”

A groan.

“And you know that she only cooks one pot of mutton stew, usually the first of the
month and she keeps it until it’s gone,” she slowly reminded him, something that he
really should have remembered this morning before he did the unthinkable.

Another groan.

“It’s the twenty-fifth,” she pointed out slowly, waiting for comprehension to hit and
when it did, Robert swore, rolled over and-

Made her wince as he finished getting sick and ridding his body of the rest of the
“stew” that he’d eaten this morning. Well, at least that explained the green, fuzzy
stuff, she thought, turning her head as she felt her stomach threaten to lurch.

“Shit,”  he  grumbled  as  he  rolled  back  over,  a  safe  distance  away  from  the  mess  he’d
just  made  and  commenced  with  mumbling  for  God  to  spare  him  so  that  his  children
wouldn’t  have  to  grow  up  without  him  and  that  his  wife  wouldn’t  be  forced  to  go  on

without him, probably never finding a man half as wonderful as him. She missed most
of it, but what she did catch had her rolling her eyes and taking another look around,
trying to figure out what she was going to do with him.

Since  trying  to  bring  him  to  Boston  was  probably  pointless  now,  that  only  left  her
with one option. She needed to find a way to drag her incredibly heavy husband back
the way they came and she needed to figure out a way to do it without any money, she
realized  as  she  slowly  turned  around  and  watched  the  mail  coach  finally  disappear
down  the  long  lane  and  through  the  woods  along  with  their  bags,  her  purse  and
Robert’s coat where he always kept his billfold.

At least she wouldn’t have to figure out how they were going to afford to feed Robert
on the trip home, she told herself, trying to find the bright side of things, but of course
that was the moment when Robert chose to roll over once again and leave another
puddle of-

Well,  it  wasn’t  important  what  was  coming  out  of  him  just  as  long  as  it  was  coming
out,  she  decided  as  she  waited  for  him  to  stop  dry  heaving.  Pulling  her  bottom  lip
between  her  teeth,  she  reached  down  to  run  her  fingers  over  the  familiar  metal  case
that she carried everywhere only to remember that she’d left her reticle in the coach,
the  same  coach  that  was  even  now  trying  to  put  as  much  distance  between  them
before nightfall as fast as their team of horses could take them.

“Oh, God,” she mumbled, swallowing hard as she felt her heart sink.

She started to take a step towards the coach, unable to help herself when the pained
groan stopped her. Biting back the tears, she clenched her jaw shut tightly, struggling
not to cry as she forced herself to stay there when all she wanted to do was grab her
skirts and run after that coach before it was too late and the most precious thing in
the world to her was gone forever.

But, she knew that no matter how fast she ran, how loud she screamed, that the
coach was never going to stop for her.

It was gone.

Two of the most precious moments of her life were gone forever and there was nothing
that she could do about it except stand there and let them go.

*-*-*-*

“Son  of  a  bitch,”  he  moaned  miserably,  closing  his  eyes  as  he  willed  the  damn
cramping to stop sending shooting pain throughout his stomach when he saw the look
on his wife’s face when she reached down to run her fingers over the silver case that
she  carried  everywhere  only  to  end  up  curling  her  fingers  into  a  fist  and  releasing  a
small  whimper  when  she  realized  that  the  portrait  case  that  matched  his  own  was

gone.

He couldn’t allow that to happen, he couldn’t allow her to lose something that brought
her peace and made her smile every time she brushed her fingers over the smooth
metal case that their families had commissioned as a belated wedding gift for them. It
was the one thing in the world that she cherished and couldn’t seem to go five minutes
without touching. It was something that he found sweet and endearing and he’d be
damned if he was going to lose seeing that every day.

“Shit,” he groaned, pressing his hand tightly to his stomach as he rolled over and
forced his trembling legs to work as he clumsily pushed himself up onto his feet and
stumbled past Elizabeth, who stood there looking absolutely devastated.

“Robert?” she asked, her voice breaking as she absently reached up with a shaky hand
and wiped away the tears rolling down her face, trying to pretend that her heart
wasn’t breaking and making him more determined than ever to do this.

“I’m fine,” he ground out, pressing his hand firmly against his stomach and
threatening to feed it only chicken broth for the rest of his life if it didn’t calm down
long enough so that he could go hunt that coach down and get the small portrait of the
boys that Elizabeth loved so much back for his wife.

With his free hand, he absently reached into the matching metal case that he carried
everywhere with him, needing the comfort that it normally gave him when he thought
he was too tired or sore to keep going. The metal case held everything dear to him in
this world and he’d be damned if he gave that up without a fight. Desperation and
fear that they would lose the precious trinkets forever, he gritted his teeth, pressed
his hand against his stomach harder and-

Promptly passed out.

Chapter 6

Several hours, a twisted ankle, sprained wrist, countless number of bruises

and abrasions and an incredibly sore back later…

“If he makes it through the night send someone to get me in the morning,” the pudgy
man that had been passed out in the corner of the tavern when they’d arrived earlier,
said with a slur as he reached for the mug of ale that he’d demanded as payment
before he would give her his professional opinion.

The three shots of whiskey that she had to buy only covered dragging poor Robert up
the stairs, dumping him on the ratty old mattress after making sure that he wasn’t
already dead so that they wouldn’t have to waste their time or risk throwing out their
backs for a corpse. Then again, that was only after she had to swear up and down that
Robert wasn’t contagious, which of course she did as soon as she’d managed to stumble
into town, chased off a group of boys who were ransacking through their things since
the coach driver and the passengers had apparently decided to dump their belongings
in the middle of the busy yard where several coaches, and at least one or two horses,
had trampled their things into the mud and… other things that she really didn’t want
to think about, along with word that they were carrying the plague.

After the warm welcome that they’d received, which involved threats to get the law if
they didn’t keep going and a few rocks being thrown in their direction, she’d had about
as  much  nonsense  as  she  could  take.  So,  once  she’d  rationally  explained  that  Robert
had  food  poisoning  and  that  neither  one  of  them  were  a  danger  to  the  town  and  had
accidentally  bloodied  the  lip  of  the  constable,  who’d  foolishly  grabbed  her  by  the  arm
and tried to force her out of town, she’d grabbed their things, salvaged what she could
and managed to find enough money to pay for a room for the night and booze to make
up  for  splitting  the  constable’s  lip  and  of  course  the  town’s  doctor’s  fee,  they’d  been
shown  to  a  room,  Robert  had  been  examined  by  the  man  who  smelled  like  he  slept
with the pigs and had been declared to be alive.

For the moment at least, but he didn’t hold out much hope that Robert would survive
the night.

Well,  that  was  the  town  drunk’s  opinion  and  since  Robert’s  color  was  looking  better,
he’d  stopped  trembling  and  was  now  curled  up  on  his  side,  lightly  snoring  and
snuggling with a stained, lumpy pillow, probably thinking it was her and sighing with
satisfaction  and  mumbling  about  her  biscuits  and  jam,  which  of  course  led  her  to
believe that he was going to be just fine.

She wasn’t exactly sure that she could say the same about herself…

The dress that she was wearing was ruined and the dresses that she’d packed
probably were too, except the two dresses the boys had managed to run off with those
along with her other pair of walking shoes, her best pair of stockings and of course her
purse. Most of Robert’s things had been ruined, but he still had one complete suit, one
of the small sketchpads that he liked to carry with him so that he could draw designs
before he forgot them, walking shoes, a couple of pencil stubs and the money that he
always kept hidden in a secret compartment of his bag for emergencies.

Everything  else  was  gone,  her  purse,  his  money  clip  and  most  importantly,  the
miniature  portraits  their  parents  had  commissioned  of  the  boys  and  of  them.  One  of
the boys or maybe even one of the men having one too many drinks downstairs in the
tavern  had  taken  them,  probably  hoping  to  get  something  for  the  silver  cases.  She
could  care  less  about  the  cases.  They  could  have  them  just  as  long  as  they  gave  her
back the portraits and the locks of hair that they’d taken from the boys.

Well,  that  and  the  man  currently  mumbling  about  apple  turnovers  as  he  hugged  the
old pillow tighter. At least he was fine for the moment, she told herself, deciding that
was  enough  for  right  now.  She’d  focus  on  taking  care  of  him  and  making  him  feel
better  and  then…then  she’d  try  to  find  a  way  to  pay  to  have  two  more  miniatures
made. It wouldn’t be cheap, but she’d find a way to have them done.

She’d take in extra sewing, work down at the tavern, the bakery, she’d give up her pin
money for sweets, make her dresses last a little longer, anything so that she could re-
capture those precious moments before they were lost forever.

But first…

She sighed heavily as she looked at her husband who was now murmuring sweet
nothings into his pillow as he snuggled it closer, and she would swear on this to her
dying day, giggled in his sleep a few seconds before the color once again leeched from
his face and he-

Rolled over and proved that his stomach really was a bottomless pit.

*-*-*-*

“Oh…God…,” Robert groaned manfully as he rolled over and cracked one eye open to
confirm that yes, yes he was in fact laying on a cold wood floor.

Fully  opening  his  eyes,  he  rolled  over  onto  his  back  with  a  pained  grunt  and  tried  to
figure out why he was sleeping on the floor instead of on a bed. He also wondered why
he was starving, sore and felt like every inch of his body had been scrubbed raw. Then
of  course  came  the  question  of  why  he  was  naked  with  only  a  sheet  wrapped  around
his  waist  and  a  very  angry  middle-aged  woman  standing  over  him  with  her  arms
crossed over her flat chest as she tapped her foot impatiently on the floor, by his head.

“Get out,” she snapped, that damn foot of her never ceasing in its tapping.

And he would love nothing more than to get the hell out of there, but there were just
a few things stopping him at the time, like…

“Where’s  my  wife?”  he  asked  pleasantly  even  as  he  shot  her  a  look  that  told  her
exactly what would happen if something had happened to Elizabeth. He grabbed hold
of  the  sheet  covering  his  manhood  to  make  sure  that  the  rather  angry  looking  didn’t
get a clear shot at it as he stood up, absently looking around the small plain room that
looked  like  it  had  recently  been  scrubbed  cleaned.  The  room  was  still  dingy,  but  at
least now it smelled like fresh lemons and wax.

“She’s downstairs working off the rest of your tab,” she said in a disapproving tone as
she flicked one of her hands towards the corner where his suit waited for him.

“What do you mean she’s working off my tab?” he snapped, grabbing his pants as he
felt the old anger that he’d worked so hard to destory trying to make its way back to
the surface, but he would never let resurface, not after Elizabeth came into his life
and changed everything.

Then again, if someone had hurt his wife…

“She  only  had  enough  money  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  doctor  and  the  room  for  one
night. She had to work off the rest,” the woman said firmly as she headed toward the
door,  pausing  only  long  enough  to  send  him  a  scathing  look  as  though  this  were
somehow  all  his  fault  and  as  much  as  he’d  like  to  scream  at  the  woman  and  tell  her
that it wasn’t, something told him that it was.

*-*-*-*

“They’re still waiting for their breakfast,” Miss Bridgett, the owner’s sister and
someone that was probably going to give her nightmares for years, said with a
contemptuous smile that pretty much said it all.

She’d  enjoyed  every  last  minute  of  misery  that  she’d  inflicted  upon  Elizabeth  in  the
last  seventy-two  hours.  Not  that  Elizabeth  had  ever  believed  that  Miss  Bridgett  had
offered  to  allow  her  to  work  off  most  of  the  bill  out  of  the  kindness  of  her  heart,
because she knew better. Well, that and the fact that Miss Bridgett got a creepy little
smile  of  satisfaction  on  her  face  whenever  she  asked  Elizabeth  to  do  something.  She
seemed  to  take  great  satisfaction  in  finding  something  wrong  with  her  work  and
ordering her to do it over again, but this time she had better do it right.

“I’m bringing them out now,” she said, using that same smile that she used to use on
her parents when she had to go along with something that she didn’t want to do just
to keep everyone happy as she grabbed two plates overflowing with eggs, ham and
biscuits and headed for the tavern where the same group of men that had stayed up

drinking whiskey and ale all night and offered her a few coins to sit on their laps,
were now nursing hangovers and demanding food.

God, she was tired, but she was trying not to think about that right now, because she
still  had  to  go  make  sure  that  Robert  was  okay  and  try  to  get  him  to  eat  something.
He was looking a lot better than he had the night before and she wanted him to keep
looking  that  way,  so  she  was  doing  every  single  demeaning  chore  thrown  her  way  so
that  her  husband  could  get  more  rest  and  she  had  a  little  more  time  to  figure  out
who’d stolen the rest of their things and come up with a plan to get them back.

“You  need  to  hurry  up  and  finish  the  dishes  before  you  leave,”  Miss  Bridgett  said,
deciding  to  push  it  and  see  just  how  much  free  labor  she  could  get  out  of  her  before
Elizabeth  finally  had  enough,  woke  Robert  up  and  start  the  long  walk  back  home
while she tried not to cry over how tired she was.

God, she was exhausted.

She’d thought she understood the word before, thanks to the babies and the schedule
she’d  made  for  herself,  but  working  for  three  days  straight  for  a  tyrant  like  Miss
Bridgett  had  helped  her  redefine  the  definition  of  the  word  exhaustion.  What  she
wouldn’t  give  for  a  nice  exhausting  day  at  home  where  she  was  at  least  guaranteed
three meals and a few minutes of sleep here and there while she waited for one of her
sons  to  start  screaming,  making  his  hunger  known,  and  seriously  terrifying  her
because  she’d  never  seen  children,  babies  really,  grow  that  fast  or  eat  that  much
before.

Sometimes  when  she  was  able  to  fall  asleep,  she’d  have  nightmares  about  how  they
were  going  to  keep  up  with  the  boys’  ferocious  appetites.  She  used  to  worry  about
Robert’s appetite sending them to the poor house, but his appetite had nothing on the
boys. It was terrifying and some days she wasn’t sure that they’d make it through the
day  without  the  boys  breaking  down  the  pantry  door  and  eating  everything  they  had
in  storage,  but  thankfully  Robert  was  an  excellent  carpenter  and  had  fortified  the
pantry door, ensuring that not even an army could break in there.

She was always so scared that she could never do enough to not only make up for the
past,  but  to  show  Robert  that  he  hadn’t  made  a  mistake  when  he’d  brought  her  with
him.  Even  though  American  had  come  a  long  way  since  it  had  broken  free  from
England  and  had  become  known  throughout  Europe  as  the  land  of  opportunity,
sometimes there was more opportunity for families if the women and children stayed
behind while the men started lives for them here.

Robert worked so hard to put food on their table and keep a roof over their head, she
felt like she wasn’t pulling her fair share if she wasn’t putting in just as many hours
as him and trying to find ways to earn her keep. She didn’t want to be another burden
for him, especially after everything that she’d put him through when they were

children. She just wanted to make him happy and she was terrified that she was
never going to be able to do that.

Maybe she should take the boys and return to England with James when it came time
so that Robert could have a real chance at building them a future here without her
getting in the way of his dreams. Leaving him would be the hardest thing that she’d
ever done, but if staying away for a year or two gave him the chance that he needed
to really establish himself here and make a life for them then maybe that’s what she
should do.

It was the right thing to do, she told herself, choking back the tears as she told herself
that she was just tired and that her heart wasn’t breaking in two.

She owed it to Robert to do this.

She owed him a real chance.

Chapter 7

“Should I call the magistrate?” Mr. Bridgett asked, shooting a nervous glance between
Robert and the large man that he had pressed up against the wall by his throat.

“Yes,” Robert said as the son of a bitch that wasn’t walking out of this tavern without
a beating, practically screamed, “No!”

Mr. Bridgett sent the mean old crone that was apparently his sister a nervous glance
only to find her looking down her nose at him with a haughty sniff, making it clear, at
least to her brother, what she thought of the whole mess.

“The bastard just attacked him for no reason!” the asshole’s buddy argued, but didn’t
dare come any closer, Robert noted as he tightened his hold around the piece of shit’s
neck and squeezed just enough to get his meaning across.

Struggling to take his next breath, the asshole fumbled inside his coat and grabbed
two-silver cases and hand them over to Robert without another word. He didn’t bother
to ask about the money that had been with the cases, because he already knew that
had been the first to go and probably the reason that this son of a bitch and his friends
smelled like cheap ale and even cheaper perfume. They’d spent his hard-earned money
living it up with booze and whores while his wife had worked her fingers to the bone
to make sure that he was cared for.

For that alone, Robert pulled back his fast and let it fly, breaking the asshole’s nose.
He dropped like a sack of potatoes at Robert’s feet and although his friends appeared
to want to help him, the way Robert simply stepped away and calmly placed the silver
cases in his coat pocket said it all. He wasn’t looking for a fight, but he wasn’t about to
turn one down either, not after finding out how truly fucked up this honeymoon was
turning out to be.

“G-get out,” Mr. Bridgett all but whispered as he took a healthy step away from
Robert until he had a small tavern table between them with his sister by his side.

“Just as soon as you tell me where my wife is,” he drawled, giving the man’s sister a
look that told her that she should count herself lucky that he didn’t hit women.

“She’s in the back doing the dishes,” she said in a stern voice that obviously expected
to be obeyed.

Giving the brother a pitying look, Robert walked past them and headed towards the
back hallway, and found his wife, perhaps one of the strongest woman that he’d ever
met, sobbing quietly as she stood there sadly scrubbing a cracked plate clean.

It was just….

The saddest thing that he’d ever seen.

She just looked so helpless and sweet standing there, silently sobbing as she continued
to try and wash the crack away, making him wonder just how long it had been since
she’d slept. When her bottom lip quivered as a tiny little sliver broke free from the
crack and hit the floor without a sound, he just couldn’t take it anymore.

It was just so damn sad….and so damn cute…

He knew that his wife’s near breakdown was serious and that he really shouldn’t
really find anything cute about this, but damn if that little lip quiver didn’t have him
biting back a smile and making him forget that he wanted to wring the neck of the
inn keeper and his greedy sister.

Almost.

Sighs, another sliver fell to the ground, earning another lip quiver and a little sniffle
that had him shaking his head and walking over to his wife, who was quietly sobbing
over an old cracked plate. Shaking his head, wondering why he hadn’t put a stop to
this sooner, he gently took the plate away from Elizabeth’s trembling hands and set it
on the counter. He pulled her into his arms.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her
head.

Although she did nod in agreement as she grabbed onto his coat and buried her face
against his chest, something told him that she had no clue what he’d just said. It was
just another sign that he should have put an end to this sooner.

Taking care of twin boys, cooking, cleaning, taking on sewing and other chores to help
make extra money for them as well as taking care of the gardening was too much for
any one person to handle. He’d pointed out that she was doing too much in the past,
but every time he voiced his concern it was met with a stubborn glare as she took his
words as a challenge to do more.

He’d  been  too  damn  exhausted  to  argue  with  her  and  to  be  honest,  he  hadn’t  wanted
to  fight  with  her.  Things  were  going  so  well  between  them  that  he  hated  risking
saying  or  doing  anything  that  would  destroy  this  beautiful  truce  between  them.  He
liked having his minx in his life and would do whatever it took to keep her there, even
keep his mouth shut when he knew that she was pushing herself too damn far.

That all ended today.

*-*-*-*

“Do you want to stop for a bit?” Robert asked softly even though he was already

leading her towards a copse of trees and gesturing for her to have a seat on one of the
rotted logs blocking what appeared to be a well-worn path.

“I-I’m fine,” she thought she may have mumbled, but to be honest, she was too tired to
know what she was saying or doing. The only thing that she was sure of was that her
hands hurt, her legs and feet were sore, she was starving and she was so tired that
just the thought of taking one more step made her want to cry.

God, she couldn’t keep doing this for much longer, but she knew that she didn’t have a
choice if they were going to make it home before midnight. She just needed a break,
just a small one, and she would be okay.

“Why don’t we just sit down here for a few minutes, hmm?” he asked in that tender
voice that he’d been using on her since he’d found her standing in the kitchen,
struggling to hold it together and wondering why she couldn’t wash the crack in that
poor plate away.

“Close your eyes, minx,” Robert said seconds later as she felt his large arm wrap
around her and pull her closer.

She wanted to argue with him, to remind him that they needed to start moving again,
but sometime between the time that they’d sat down and the time he’d put his arm
around her, her eyes had shut of their own accord and her head had somehow found
its way onto his shoulder where it was more than happy to stay.

“Relax, sweetheart,” he said in that damn soothing tone that she just couldn’t resist.

Well, she did try to resist, but he just felt so incredibly comfortable and she was so
tired that she really couldn’t help but take him up on his offer. Just for a few minutes,
she decided as she found herself curling up against him, savoring the irresistible
warmth that emanating from him.

He felt so good, she had to admit as she reached up and gently gripped the lapel of his
coat, promising herself that it was just for a few minutes. She just needed a few
minutes and she’d be good. Just a few minutes…

“Morning, minx,” that incredibly sexy voice that she loved said what felt like seconds
later. “It’s time to get going.”

Unable to give him the proper response that he deserved, she settled for grunting her
displeasure,  shoved  away  from  the  warm  body  that  she  normally  loved  to  curl  up
against,  and  rolled  over  onto  her  side,  taking  the  coat  that  smelled  like  Robert  with
her  and  snuggled  against  the  rotting  log,  uncaring  that  it  smelled  or  that  it  was
probably covered in bugs. She was just too tired to care.

Later, she would care, but for right now she was just going to enjoy Mother Nature to

its fullest and return to that wonderful dream where she never had to leave her bed.
It was the best dream she’d ever had and one that she hoped would one day come true.
Perhaps today? she hoped with a small sigh and a sleepy little smile as she prepared to
return to that beautiful dream.

The  warm  chuckle  was  not  appreciated  when  the  coat  that  she’d  been  snuggling  up
with was suddenly removed, leaving her at the tender mercy of the cold damp ground.
Refusing  to  accept  that  her  short  reprieve  was  really  over,  she  snuggled  in  closer  to
the  rotten  log,  pretending  that  the  small  pile  of  leaves  rotting  beneath  her  head  was
her favorite pillow and that she was back home in her warm, comfortable bed.

“Are you hungry?” Robert asked, for some reason sounding amused as he gently ran
his fingers through her hair, pausing every few seconds to carefully pull at something
and earning a groan of displeasure as she turned back over and tried to go back to
sleep, but Robert wasn’t having it.

“Are you hungry?” the persistent bastard asked, earning a growl of warning, but
unfortunately for her, it came out as more of a whimper and a pathetic moan more
than anything.

“No,” she groaned, pulling her arms up over her head to protect her poor eyes from the
early morning sunlight threatening to destroy her and her illusion of comfort even
though she probably was starving.

Actually,  there  was  no  probably  about  it.  She  was  starving  simply  because  she’d
refused  to  be  stuck  working  at  that  inn  until  the  end  of  time  paying  off  their  debt.
She’d made sure that Robert was fed and got what he needed, but she’d refused to be
worked  like  a  dog  over  a  bowl  of  porridge.  She  wasn’t  the  weak  English  woman  that
they’d  taunted  her  for  being.  She  was  strong,  independent  and  could  take  anything
that they’d dished out to her because-

“You have a spider in your hair,” Robert said, interrupting her inner monologue of
triumph and determination and reducing her to a hysterical woman, screaming like a
lunatic as she jumped to her feet and ran blindly through the woods, not really caring
about where she was going or that she kept running into branches, tripping over her
own two feet or the fact that Robert had fallen to his knees, barely able to breathe
because he was laughing so hard.

Oh, but once she’d made sure that the spider was dead and gone, she would care…

And so would her insensitive husband!

Chapter 8

“You’re going to catch pneumonia,” he absently pointed out with a chuckle when his
incredibly beautiful, and extremely angry, wife shot him a look that should have
rightfully killed him on the spot.

Then  again,  he  had  absolutely  no  doubt  that  the  little  minx  was  planning  on  beating
him  to  death  once  she  was  done  with  her  impromptu  dip  in  the  pond.  Not  that  she’d
consciously  made  the  decision  to  take  a  bath  after  her  mad  dash  through  the  woods
when he’d foolishly mentioned the tiny spider crawling on a strand of her hair.

He should have remembered that time when they were kids and a spider had fallen
from the ceiling during tea, landing on her arm, making her scream her little head off
and admittedly scaring the hell out of him…

That is until he realized what happened and started laughing and hadn’t been to stop
without  the  help  of  his  mother  shooting  him  a  glare  that  had  quickly  helped  him
regain  control.  Unfortunately  for  him,  his  mother  hadn’t  been  here  to  help  him  this
time and he’d wound up laughing his ass off at his wife. Now, in his defense he’d tried,
God,  how  he’d  tried,  to  stop  laughing,  but  every  single  time  he  thought  he  had  it
under  control,  she  would  scream  hysterically  when  a  leaf  brushed  her  hand,  or  when
she swatted blindly at her tangled hair, twigs, a squirrel that had made the mistake of
coming  down  a  tree  to  get  a  closer  look  at  the  mad  woman  screaming  and  running
blindly through the woods, tripping over her own two feet every few seconds until she
finally stumbled through the woods, slipped on a patch of mud, tripped over her skirts
and did a nose dive into the pond.

That’s when he’d stopped laughing and moved his ass to save his bride, but it was too
late by then. Not only had she’d seen him laugh, but she probably also blamed him for
the spider. Again, he considered pointing out that it was a very tiny spider, barely big
enough to hold on to a strand of her hair, but he knew better. She was exhausted,
hungry, humiliated and pissed and he was the reason why.

So,  to  make  sure  that  he  didn’t  make  this  any  worse,  he  planned  on  standing  here,
guarding  his  wife  and  waiting  for  her  to  calm  down.  It  also  didn’t  hurt  that  he  was
safely  out  of  her  reach  here  or  that  her  aim  was  off  when  she  was  pissed,  otherwise
he’d  probably  be  covered  in  mud  balls  and  have  welts  covering  him  from  head  to  toe
from  all  those  rocks  she  seemed  to  find  at  the  bottom  of  the  pond  every  few  seconds
and liked to throw in his direction with a murderous glare.

“We are not speaking,” she reminded him with that same frightening glare as she
stopped trying to clean her tangled hair in the dark murky water and returned her
attention to finding another rock to chuck at him.

“Why not?” he asked innocently, simply because seeing her this pissed off at him was

entertaining him.

It  probably  shouldn’t,  not  with  the  truce  they’d  agreed  on,  but  God,  it  just  made  his
day to see her this riled up and angry with him. She’d always entertained him and he
was  glad  to  see  that  would  probably  never  change,  especially  since  the  angrier  that
she  got  with  him,  the  worse  her  aim  became.  Christ,  he’d  lost  count  of  how  many
times that simple fact had saved his ass over the years.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed to slits as she reached down, grabbed another handful of
mud and rotten leaves and chucked it in his direction. It landed five feet away,
landing harmlessly between two trees and scaring the hell out of a couple of birds. A
little muscle beneath her eye ticked as she blindly reached for another handful of mud.

“I hate you!” she snapped, tightening her hold around the handful of mud and rotted
leaves she’d managed to scoop up.

He  opened  his  mouth,  admittedly  to  taunt  her  just  a  little  more,  when  something
about  that  handful  of  mud  caught  his  eye.  He  shut  his  mouth,  swallowed  hard  and
moved  to  go  to  her,  but  unfortunately  for  him,  at  that  same  moment,  his  beautiful,
brave wife realized what she was holding and promptly…

Passed out.

*-*-*-*

“Don’t open your eyes!” Robert, her normally levelheaded, calm and extremely rational
husband snapped, sounding somewhat hysterical and bringing up her level of terror to
a whole new level she’d never thought possible.

“Are they gone?” she whispered, almost too afraid to say it any louder, terrified that it
would either make her pass out again or vomit, because if she thought about what
she’d seen for even one second, she would probably lose it.

Kind of like the way that Robert was apparently losing it right now.

She’d known him since she was a baby and she’d never seen him like this, heard
terror in his voice before and considering everything that she’d done to him over the
years, that was-

Actually, not a very comforting thought, because she’d done some really disturbing
and mean things to him over the years. Never once had he reacted like this before and
honestly, she prayed that it never happened again.

“Yes?” he answered hesitantly, sounding more like a question and not really
reassuring her all that much while she laid there, face down in the mud in the middle
of the woods where anyone could stumble across them.

There was also the fact that she could feel his trembling hands moving over her skin,
plucking here and there and making her wince and squeeze her eyes shut as she
desperately tried to think about something else, anything else, but with every

pluck

and brush of his fingers against her goose-bumped skin, she was reminded of what he
was doing.

She slowly licked her lips, trying to find the courage that she needed to ask if he was
lying to her, but before she could manage to ask, she felt his two strong hands gently
grab hold of her hip and shoulder and slowly roll her over onto her back.

“Oh…fuck…me…no,” he said hoarsely.

She  knew  that  she  shouldn’t  have  opened  her  eyes.  She  did.  She  wasn’t  stupid.  She
knew  what  she  was  going  to  see,  but  more  importantly  she  knew  from  Robert’s  tone
that  it  was  definitely  something  that  she  didn’t  want  to  see.  Yet,  knowing  all  of  that
didn’t  stop  her  from  foolishly  opening  her  eyes,  raising  her  head  high  enough  so  that
she could look down at her body and-

Scream.

*-*-*-*

Oh, God…

“Oh…fuck…me…no,” he said before he could stop himself and God, how he wished
he’d stopped himself, because he knew exactly what would happen once the words
slipped out of his mouth, but he couldn’t help it.

He really couldn’t.

He’d  known  what  to  expect  after  seeing  her  back,  but  nothing  could  have  prepared
him  for  this.  Absolutely  nothing,  he  thought  numbly  as  he  stared  down  at  the
beautiful  body  that  he  loved  holding  at  night,  the  one  that  brought  him  joy  and
pleasure  as  well  as  the  one  that  created  his  children,  the  only  people  on  this  earth
could rival Elizabeth for his heart.

Swallowing hard, he reached out with a trembling hand, prepared to remove the first
one marring her skin when he realized that she was screaming. It took him a few
more seconds to realize that his still-screaming wife was now sitting up and slapping
somewhat hysterically at the black blobs covering her body, but it was useless.

The little bastards refused to give up their treat quite so easily.

“Get them off!” Elizabeth screamed, startling him enough to move his ass and grab
her hands before she could make it worse.

“Stop!” he snapped, pressing her hands down by her sides and holding them there
when all he wanted to do was to tear the little bloodsucking bastards marring her skin
off and throw them as far away from her as possible, but he couldn’t do that. One of
them needed to remain calm and unfortunately for her, it had to be him.

“Minx!” he snapped, giving her a little shake, just enough to get her to stop screaming
and trying to fight him. “You’re okay!”

Her scream ended on a gasp as she forced herself to stop fighting him. It was probably
one  of  the  hardest  things  that  she’d  done  in  her  life,  besides  taking  a  chance  on  him
that  is,  and  he  was  proud  of  her.  He  leaned  in  and  pressed  his  lips  against  her
forehead as he kept his hold on her arms, terrified that she would try to remove one of
the  leeches  and  end  up  tearing  her  skin  open  and  exposing  her  to  an  infection  that
could take her away from him.

“I’m going to get them off, sweetheart, but I need you to stay still,” he whispered,
praying that she wouldn’t argue with him for once and thanking God when she
actually listened to him.

With a little nod and a little sob that nearly killed him, his brave minx closed her eyes
and lay back down on the cold, muddy ground, completely trusting him to take care of
her,  to  do  his  job.  Closing  his  eyes,  he  slowly  exhaled,  praying  that  he  could  do  this
without  losing  his  fucking  mind.  Knowing  that  he  couldn’t  put  it  off  any  longer,  he
opened his eyes, picked up the small twig that he’d sharpened and set to work, using
the  trick  that  his  brother  had  taught  him  when  he  was  a  child  and  had  made  the
mistake  of  trying  to  use  a  leech  as  bait,  thinking  that  it  was  easier  to  use  than  a
worm.

It hadn’t been.

If  it  hadn’t  been  for  his  brother  he’d  probably  still  be  running  towards  Scotland,
screaming  and  trying  his  best  to  tear  the  large  black  leech  off  before  it  could  devour
his  arm.  Before  he  could  make  it  fifty  feet,  James  had  him  pinned  to  the  ground  and
was  calmly  using  the  tip  of  a  small  stick  to  remove  the  leech.  He  never  thought  that
trick  would  come  in  handy  and  he  sure  as  hell  hadn’t  thought  that  he  would  need  to
use it on his wife one day.

Then again, he never thought he’d be married and hopelessly in love with the little
girl that had once dubbed him Robert Lemonade, he mused with a sigh as he set to
work on removing the large leach attached to Elizabeth’s hip.

Chapter 9

“Elizabeth-”

“Don’t,” she said, pausing to lick her lips as she tightened her arms around herself,
taking a slow steadying breath as she turned her head away, not caring that her eyes
were already closed and that she couldn’t see him, she just needed to look away, “just
don’t.”

“Sweetheart, they’re gone,” he said softly as she felt his hand touch her arm, making
her flinch as the memory of what had covered that arm only moments ago flashed
through her mind.

They weren’t gone.

They would never be gone, but she couldn’t say that because he didn’t understand and
hopefully,  he  never  would.  She  just  needed  a  moment  to  forget  that  she’d  just  spent
the last three days scrubbing floors in a cockroach infested inn to make sure that her
husband, who really should have known better than to eat anything that Mrs. Kinnley
cooked,  recovered,  that  everything  they  owned  was  either  stolen  or  destroyed,  that
she  was  starving,  exhausted,  had  just  taken  a  bath  with  leeches,  was  now  sitting  on
the cold wet ground, covered in mud, naked and that her dress was now a mud-soaked
pile  of  shredded  rags,  or  that  this  was  easily  the  worst  trip  that  she’d  ever  been  on.
She  just  wanted  to  go  home,  scrub  every  inch  of  her  body,  pull  on  one  of  Robert’s
shirts, snuggle with her baby boys and pretend that this trip had never happened.

“I’m sorry,” Robert said softly as he carefully took her hand into his.

“It’s fine,” she lied, deciding that this trip had been bad enough and that they didn’t
need a fight on top of everything to make it worse.

She just wanted to go home and pretend that this had just been a horrible dream.

“I’ll make this up to you, minx,” Robert said, for the first time in their marriage
making her a promise that she knew that he would never be able to keep, but she
didn’t say anything, mostly because she was struggling not to cry.

She was exhausted, hungry, cold, wet, covered in mud, her skin stung and itched from
where the leeches had attached themselves and she was miserable, absolutely
miserable. All she wanted to do was to crawl on Robert’s lap, bury her face against his
chest and cry, but she would never do that to him, because she knew how hard he’d
worked so that he could take her on this trip.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, refusing to give in to the tears and make a bigger fool out of
herself. She just wanted…she just wanted…

“Oh, minx,” Robert said hoarsely as she suddenly found herself exactly where she
wanted to be.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled with a sniffle as she wrapped her arms around him and held
him tightly.

He sighed heavily as he wrapped his arms around her and stood up. “Sure you are,” he
said, gently placing her on her feet and stepped back away from her, but before she
could register the loss, he’d pulled his shirt and coat off and quickly wrapped her in it
before he leaned over and swept her off her feet and sat down. “I will make this up to
you,” he said as he leaned down pressed his lips against her forehead, “I swear to God
that I will make this up to you.”

Knowing just how hard he’d worked to save for this trip and what saving up for
another one would mean, she shook her head. She didn’t want him getting up before
the crack of dawn or working until he could barely see straight. She wanted to wake
up in his arms, already crying out his name as he made love to her and she wanted to
fall asleep in his arms every night like she used to, before he started accepting every
job and order that came his way. She wanted her husband back and if was determined
to make this up to her, it would probably be a long time before that happened.

“No,” she mumbled, putting her arms around him and held him tight, “I just want
you.”

“You already have me,” he said with a chuckle as he rewarded her with another kiss.

She closed her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his chest and held onto him,
letting go and just relaxing in his arms as he held her tighter.

“I love you, minx,” he said, kissing the top of her head, “so damn much.”

“I love you, too,” she said, well, more like mumbled since she was in the process of
falling asleep.

He chuckled as he kissed her again. “Go to sleep, minx.”

She  wanted  to  argue  with  him,  open  her  eyes,  get  off  his  lap  and  walk  the  final  ten
miles home, but opening her eyes or moving for that matter seemed impossible. Well,
if  she  was  going  to  be  completely  honest  she’d  admit  that  after  several  days  without
sleep and months surviving on just a few hours a night, she was exhausted. Plus being
in  his  arms  like  this  felt  so  good  that  she  couldn’t  make  herself  get  up  even  if  she’d
been able to.

There really was no better way to fall asleep than in the arms of the man that she
loved.

*-*-*-*

He’d seriously fucked up and now his wife was paying the price.

He never should have been so stubborn.

He never should have brought her on this trip.

He never should have turned down his brother’s generous offer to pay for a proper
honeymoon.

He should have known better than to eat anything Mrs. Kinnley cooked.

He should have…

Christ, there were just too many “should haves.”

He’d made too many mistakes, made too many bad decisions and now he just wanted
this nightmare to end. Unfortunately he had to wait to end this until nightfall,
because he refused to allow his wife to walk on the side of the road in broad daylight
wearing only his shirt and coat.

It just wasn’t happening.

So, that left him with no other choice but to stay here with her and wait until the sun
to set. That of course meant that he needed to at least get a fire going and see if he
could find some food for-

“Oh, hell,” he muttered when he should have jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he
could, getting Elizabeth away from this spot before the little bastard had a chance to
raise that goddamn tail and spray them.

Unfortunately by the time that he thought about getting the hell out of there, it was
too late. The skunk, who’d stumbled upon them had turned, raised its tail and sprayed
them. Even though it was too late, he tried to stand up and get Elizabeth away from
the stench, but unfortunately he could barely see. His eyes stung and his lungs
protested the stench that now surrounded them. As much as he would love to pick his
wife up and get her out of there, he couldn’t.

Thankfully,  he  didn’t  have  to  worry  about  waking  her  up  and  carrying  her  to  safety,
because  within  seconds  of  being  sprayed,  she  woke  up  coughing  and  gasping,  jumped
to  her  feet  and  stumbled  her  way  towards  fresh  air.  Then  again,  he  mused  as  he
watched his wife running to a different spot, trying desperately to get away from the
stench  that  now  clung  to  her  skin  and  clothes,  it  was  probably  pointless  at  this  point
to try and run away at this point.

He considered telling her that it was pointless to try to run away, but he just didn’t

have  the  heart  to  tell  her.  So,  instead  he  glared  at  the  little  bastard  as  he  walked
away  with  his  tail  still  sticking  up  in  the  air  as  Robert  leaned  back  against  the  tree,
trying  to  ignore  the  stench  surrounding  him.  When  the  skunk  stopped  just  before
ducking beneath a hedge to make his escape and turned his head and glare at Robert,
he considered killing the little bastard and roasting his ass over a fire, but that damn
tail  twitching  in  anticipation,  ready  to  spray  him  again  was  the  only  thing  that  kept
him from killing the little son of a bitch.

“Oh my God,” Elizabeth said, coughing as she turned around and ran the other way,
clearly not accepting the fact that there was outrunning this thing.

He shot one last glare at the hedge where the skunk had made its escape before he got
to his feet as he tried to rub his eyes without pushing the smelly spray clinging to his
skin into his eyes and failed.

“Son of a bitch!” he growled as his eyes stung and began to water.

He stumbled back as he tried to rub the oil out of his eyes, tripped over a root and fell
on his ass, his bare back slamming into the tree behind him as he fell, scraping his
back to shreds in the process. He ground his teeth and closed his eyes as he tried to
breathe through the pain, but it only made it worse.

“Robert?” Elizabeth said, sounding concerned as he struggled not to lose it and say
something that he was going to regret later.

“I’m fine,” he bit out, cursing softly as the stinging got worse and the uncontrollable
coughing began again.

“Oh, Robert,” she said, sighing softly as came closer and unfortunately for him,
doubled the stench that was currently choking the life out of him.

“I’m,” hoarse cough, “fine,” he managed to get out as Elizabeth cupped his face in her
small, warm hands.

“We need to wash your face,” she decided as he continued to cough so hard that his
chest was actually beginning to hurt from the strain.

Wash his face? In the leach infested muddy water? He’d rather go blind, but he
couldn’t say that to his wife since he knew that it wouldn’t end well for him.

“I’m fine,”

he said tightly through clench teeth as pain shot up and down his back.

A  heavy  sigh  followed,  the  very  one  that  she  used  when  one  of  their  sons  did
something to vex her, like tearing off their nappies so that they could pee in a corner,
distracting  her  while  the  other  one  snuck  into  the  kitchen  and  helped  himself  to
whatever  treat  she’d  cooked  for  that  day  or  simply  argued  with  her,  refusing  to  do

what they’re told as they glared at her. He really didn’t appreciate the fact that she
used that sigh on him.

Not. At. All.

He would have glared at her, given her the same glare that the boys gave her, but
unfortunately at the moment he couldn’t open his eyes so he settled for a small
disapproving grunt that she simply ignored.

“We need to find some fresh water,” she announced as she took his hand into her
much smaller one and gave it a slight tug that forced him to get up and stumble
forward.

“Just give me a minute, minx,” he said, using his free hand to try to rub his eyes
clean, but it was only making it worse.

“We don’t have a minute,” she said with that damn sigh again as she continued
dragging him through the woods, giving him no choice but to give up on trying to rub
the spray from his eyes and forcing him to try to keep up with the woman determined
to drag him to his death.

She really was a bossy little thing, he thought as he was forced to bite back a grunt of
pain  as  he  was  forced  to  walk  on  sticks,  stones  and  briars.  As  he  bit  back  another
pained  grunt  he  considered  asking  her  to  stop,  but  he  knew  his  wife  well  enough  to
know that there was no point in arguing with her. It didn’t matter that they weren’t
sure  where  they  were  or  that  she  was  only  wearing  his  shirt  and  jacket,  if  his  wife
was  determined  to  do  something,  and  apparently  she  was,  then  there  was  nothing
that he could say or do to stop-

“Oh, no,” Elizabeth said on a gasp.

“What?” he asked as she practically dragged through the woods.

“He’s back.”

“Who’s-oh, shit,” he said just as they were hit a second time by that little bastard that
he should have killed.

Chapter 10

Oh, thank God it was all over, she thought, struggling not to give into the need to run
to  the  house,  throw  open  the  door,  run  upstairs  and  dive  under  her  covers  and  stay
there  until  this  whole  trip  became  nothing  more  than  a  distant  memory.  But,  she
couldn’t that, not without hurting Robert’s feelings. There was also the small problem
of  Robert’s  death  grip  on  her  hand  that  was  stopping  her  from  achieving  her  dreams
and the fact that he was dragging her towards the woods and away from the one thing
that promised to end this nightmare.

“Where are we going?” she asked, even though she had a pretty good idea.

“To the lake,” was all he said as he continued to lead her across the backyard,
confirming her worst fears.

It really wasn’t over yet.

Then there was also the fact that it was well after midnight, it was dark out, cold and
she really wasn’t looking forward to a dip in the lake, knowing that it was ice cold and
would probably kill her or at the very least, lead to more misery. She thought about
arguing with him, but she knew that it was pointless. First off, he was determined to
do this so that meant more arguing and possibly resorting to kicking him in the shin,
which of course would lead to him throwing her over his shoulder, marching down to
the lake and throwing her in the lake. Then there was the fact that they both reeked
of skunk and that Mrs. Brown would probably throw them out of the house and ban
them from entering the house until the last lingering scent of skunk was long gone.

She really wished that they’d never gone on this trip, she thought, biting back a sigh
that  promised  to  start  another  argument  and  right  now,  she  really  didn’t  think  that
she couldn’t handle an argument. She was terrified that she would say something that
would make him hate her. She was also afraid that she would come off sounding like a
spoiled  brat,  something  that  most  of  the  people  in  town  thought  she  was  simply
because her father was a member of the Peer. She loved their new home and even the
town,  but  she  hated  the  fact  that  they  thought  so  poorly  of  her  simply  because  she
spoke  with  British  accent  and  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  have  been  born  into  a
wealthy family.

Not that she’d told anyone about her family, because she hadn’t. No, that information
had  been  shared  thanks  to  James  and  his  good  intentions.  A  few  weeks  after  she’d
given  birth  to  the  boys,  James  had  dragged  Robert  down  to  one  of  the  local  taverns
and had argued and begged Robert to return to England, because James had assumed
that  she  couldn’t  handle  living  in  New  England,  dealing  with  the  harsh  weather  and
running a household without a decent staff to help her.

She knew that he’d only been concerned about her wellbeing, but that knowledge

hadn’t saved him when she found out that he’d had a little too much to drink and had
shared his concerns loud enough for half the men in town to hear, who of course felt it
was necessary to share this information with their wives, families and friends. She
knew that most of the people didn’t care and hadn’t let James rantings affect their
opinion of her, but the ones who had seemed to go out of their way to remind her that
she didn’t belong did.

“Stay here,” Robert said, letting go of her hand, leaving her standing near the barn as
he quickly made his way inside.

Before she could ask him what he was doing, he was back with several blankets and a
lantern. He took her hand, continuing to lead her towards the woods that she had to
admit that she wasn’t looking forward to taking a stroll through in the middle of the
night.

“We need to get this scent off us before we go in the house,” he said as he lead her
through the woods on the familiar path that they’d taken so many times before.

“I know,” she said, not sounding too happy about it even to her own ears, which of
course made Robert’s jaw clench.

At least, she was pretty sure that his jaw clenched, but it was a little hard to see with
only the light from the lantern casting shadows on his face. She considered asking him
if he was angry, but quickly dismissed the idea since she knew damn well that he was
angry.

He’d worked hard to bring her on this trip and it had been a disaster from the start. It
was without question the worst trip that either one of them had ever been on, and it
wasn’t over yet. As soon as she got to bed she was planning on staying there for a
week or two. She really couldn’t remember ever being this exhausted before.

All  too  soon  they’d  arrived  at  the  lake.  Without  a  word,  Robert  placed  the  blankets
and  lantern  carefully  on  the  ground  and  removed  his  pants.  He  tossed  them  aside.
Before she could stop him, not that she really thought that she could stop him, he was
pulling  off  her  coat  and  shirt,  tossing  them  aside  and  leading  her  towards  the  water.
Too  exhausted  to  argue  and  wanting  to  just  get  this  over  with,  she  went  with  him,
deciding  that  it  was  best  to  get  this  over  with  so  that  she  could  put  this  trip  behind
her and finally get some sleep.

*-*-*-*

He was so fucking tired.

All he wanted to do was climb into bed and hold his wife, but unfortunately the dip in
the cold lake and the bar of soap that they’d scrubbed their skin raw with hadn’t
completely killed the odor. So, now they were stuck climbing up the ladder to the

hayloft above in the hopes that the scent of hay would help cover the disgusting odor
clinging to their skin.

He followed his wife up the ladder, careful not to drop the lantern or lose the blanket
wrapped around his waist. When she quietly unwrapped her blanket from around her
and placed it on the ground so that she could curl up on her side, he knew that he was
in deep shit. He’d brought her on this horrible trip that didn’t seem to want to end and
not once had she complained, yelled at him or even bitched about it.

She just simply took it in stride as it came, acting act like she was used to this kind of
bullshit and that seriously pissed him off. Had she’d expected such a horrible trip from
him? Was that how she saw him? Since the day that he’d married her, well after he’d
fucked up, he’d busted his ass to make sure that she had everything that she needed
and now he had to wonder if it hadn’t been enough for her.

Glaring  at  her  back,  because  he  was  too  exhausted  and  too  pissed  to  say  anything
without  starting  a  fight,  he  pulled  the  blanket  off,  laid  down  on  her  blanket,  well
away  from  his  wife,  and  threw  his  blanket  over  them.  Still  glaring  at  her  back,  he
narrowed  his  eyes  on  her,  ground  his  jaw  so  that  he  wouldn’t  say  anything  that  he
was going to regret and rolled over onto his side, facing away from her.

It was the first time since they’d made a truce that he hadn’t curled his body around
hers and held her. Hell, it was the first time that she was in bed naked with him and
he wasn’t trying to get between her legs. As much as he wanted her, and God did he
fucking want her, he was too pissed to try anything tonight.

His plan was to lie here, glaring into the darkness as he allowed his anger to fester.
He wasn’t going to say anything now, not when he was this angry, but tomorrow
morning he was going to-

Groan very loudly as he suddenly found himself pushed onto his back and his wife’s
very talented mouth wrapping around his cock. They shouldn’t be doing this, he told
himself as he reached down to pull her off his cock, but instead found himself cradling
the back of her head, enjoying the sensation of her tongue gliding down the underside
of his cock.

Christ,  he’d  never  met  a  woman  that  loved  sucking  on  his  cock  as  much  as  his  wife
did.  She  seemed  to  crave  it,  needing  it  more  than  him.  A  few  times  he’d  actually
thought  she  was  going  to  come  from  sucking  on  his  cock.  It  made  her  so  fucking  wet
and tight, nearly making him lose it on the first thrust.

She was angry at him, he tried to remind himself, but at that moment he could
honestly say that he didn’t give a damn. It felt too good to think about anything else.

“Mmmmm,” she moaned softly as she suckled on the tip of his cock.

“Oh, hell,” he groaned loudly as her mouth slid down his cock. which earned him
another moan that vibrated through his cock and down to his balls.

“I thought you were mad at me?” he suddenly, and very stupidly, found himself
asking. He silently cursed himself for ruining everything when her mouth slowly slid
off his cock, releasing it with a small moan that the tip of his cock really appreciated.

“Why would I be mad at you?” she asked with a coy little smile as she shifted so that
she was straddling his waist.

“The trip,” he said almost in a daze as he found himself staring at the thatch of hair
between her legs. God, she was already so fucking wet, he thought as he hungrily
licked his lips and reached for her.

She came willingly, casting him a coy smile as she shifted until she was straddling his
mouth, already knowing exactly what he wanted. He didn’t make her wait, simply
because he felt like he was going to die soon if he didn’t get a taste of her sweet pussy.

Groaning, he cupped her bottom and pulled her closer as he leaned up and licked her
slit. She tasted amazing, he thought as his cock jerked in approval and his tongue
went in for another taste, greedy for more. As he ran his tongue through her slit, she
rewarded him with another one of those moans that he liked so much.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, panting slightly as she shifted on top of him, desperate to feel
his tongue slide inside her, but he refused to rush this.

“Are you mad at me, minx?” he asked casually between licks.

“For what?” she asked, sounding a little distracted and confused as she reached up and
cupped her breasts for his enjoyment.

“The trip.”

“Why would I be mad at you for the trip?” she asked, panting loudly as she continued
to shift on top of him, desperately seeking his tongue.

“Because it was a nightmare,” he admitted, rewarding her with a swipe of his tongue
over her core.

“Wasn’t your fault,” she said, finishing with a moan as she stopped shifting so that he
could slide his tongue deep inside her.

“Yes, it was,” he said, when his tongue slid out of her wet, welcoming sheath.

“No,” panting, “it wasn’t.”

It really was, but at the moment he was too busy to argue with her. He slid his tongue

back inside her and stiffened it so that she could ride his mouth. She did with
absolutely no hesitation, damn near making him lose it.

“You feel so good, Robert,” she said, further testing his control.

He rewarded her with a flick of his tongue that-

“Oh, shit,” he groaned as her sheath suddenly tightened around his tongue and she
started screaming.

He needed to be inside her, would fucking die if he didn’t slide inside her soon, but he
didn’t move. He laid there and took it as he gripped her ass and forced her to ride his
tongue harder and faster. She tasted so fucking good.

“Oh, Robert,” she moaned, riding him harder, desperate for more. “Oh, Robert,
mmmm.”

Then she was screaming his name as she went still on top of him, her sheath
tightening around his tongue, threatening to break it off, but he didn’t give a damn at
the moment. Before she’d finished screaming his name, he had her on her stomach
and was sliding into her throbbing sheath.

“So fucking good,” he groaned as he enjoyed her wet sheath’s final contractions
squeezing his cock as he slowly thrust inside her.

“Oh, God,” she gasped just as a second orgasm hit her, completely destroying his
control. He reached down and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her up just
far enough so that he could freely fuck her.

He tightened his grip around her as he placed his free hand on the ground and used
his hold around her to keep her where she was so that he could continue fucking her
hard.

“Oh, God, Robert,” she said, moaning and whimpering as he slid inside her.

“Love you, minx,” he groaned long and loud as her sheath greedily held on to him and
her large breasts bounced against his arms with every thrust.

“I love you, too,” she managed to get out as he pulled back and slammed back inside
her before she was screaming his name again.

This time he happily joined her, panting and licking his lips as he came inside her.

When he was finished, he dropped on the blanket beside her and pulled her closer. He
kissed the back of her damp shoulder as he closed his eyes, more than ready to finally
fall asleep and put an end this horrible trip when she said something that instantly
woke him back up.

Epilogue

“I love you,” he whispered as he softly kissed her, savoring the taste of Mrs. Brown’s
famous blueberry pie as he slowly slid inside her.

With that devious little smile that he adored so much, she leaned up and returned his
kiss as she tightened her arms around his should and used the move to wrap her legs
around him.

“Do you want to go inside today?” he asked, praying that the answer was no as he
continued to thrust inside her.

“Not just yet,” she said, smiling against his lips as she added, “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Or the day after that,” he threw in, hoping that she would go for it, because he
wasn’t ready to leave this barn yet.

For the last week they’d stayed in the barn, sleeping, talking and making love all day
and most nights. It was crazy, but he just couldn’t seem to get enough of her. He was
definitely putting a proper bed up here for their “trip” next year, he’d decided the
other night when he’d rolled over and a had a hard piece of hay lodging itself in a
place that it definitely didn’t belong.

Christ, he really couldn’t wait to do this again.

For  the  first  time  since  they’d  married  he  could  finally  devote  himself  to  her  without
any  distractions.  He  could  make  love  to  her  whenever  he  wanted  without  worrying
about the boys walking in their room or Mrs.  Brown  catching  them  since  the  woman
seemed to go out of her way to drive him crazy.

In  his  opinion,  a  man  should  have  the  right  to  bend  his  wife  over  the  dinning  room
table  and  fuck  her  whenever  the  need  arouse,  but  Mrs.  Brown  felt  differently  and
made sure that he knew it. He’d lost count of how many times he’d been forced to pull
Elizabeth  into  a  closet,  their  room  and  the  barn  just  so  he  could  enjoy  her  body
without Mrs. Brown finding them, but not this past week.

He’d  been  free  to  make  love  to  his  wife  whenever  he  wanted  with  absolutely  no
worries  since  everyone  knew  better  than  to  step  foot  in  his  workshop  without
permission.  It  really  was  the  perfect  spot,  he  decided,  making  a  mental  note  to  find
more ways to get her up here in the future.

Definitely needed a bed though, he decided with a wince as another piece of hay poked
through the blanket and stuck him in the knee.

Elizabeth moaned softly as she began to kiss her way down his neck, making him lick
his lips as pumped inside her. She felt so damn good. He could happily live the rest of

his life inside her.

“I’m hungry,” she said as she teased his neck.

“I’ll go see what Mrs. Brown has cooked today,” he said, not mentioning that he
planned on helping himself to it since they both knew what he was doing, but he felt it
was important not to tell her too much since there was always a chance that Mrs.
Brown would catch him. He just couldn’t bring his wife down with him, especially now
that she was pregnant again, he thought with a smile.

Another baby…

He hoped this one was a girl with Elizabeth’s beautiful eyes and generous heart. Then
again,  he’d  probably  wind  up  in  jail  in  a  few  years  after  he  killed  every  man  that
dared  to  look  at  her  for  too  long.  He  already  knew  that  she  was  going  to  be  his  soft
spot  and  he  couldn’t  be  happier.  He’d  buy  her  pretty  dresses,  dolls  and  have  tea  with
her  every  day,  making  sure  that  she  knew  from  the  start  that  she  deserved  to  be
treated  like  a  queen  so  that  she  wouldn’t  settle  for  some  fucking  loser  that  he  would
be forced to kill.

Then again, if he sent her to a convent…

“Do you think she made bread and honey butter?” she asked, making him laugh,
because the cravings were already starting.

“I tell you what, if she hasn’t then I’ll sneak up to our room, get dressed and go into
town to get some for you. How does that sound?”

“Would you be willing to get me some stew from O’Malley’s to go along with it?” his
greedy little wife asked against his neck as she shifted her hips to pull him in further.

“If that’s what you-” he started to say when all his plans for the future were
shattered.

“Robert Bradford, you and I need to have a talk,” Mrs. Brown said, earning terrified
squeak from his minx as she shoved him off, grabbed a blanket and dove behind a pile
of hay.

“And you as well, young lady,” she said firmly, letting him know that they were both
in serious shit.

“It wasn’t Elizabeth’s fault. I-” he started to explain only to once again get cut off by
the woman who seemed hell-bent on driving him crazy.

“You need to have a talk with your sons,” she said, not sounding particularly happy
about it. Not that she ever sound happy, he reminded himself as he grabbed the

remaining blanket and wrapped it around his hips.

“What did they do?” he asked with a heavy sigh, wondering if he was going to have to
apologize to someone or fix something.

God, he really hoped not, because he needed to get back inside Elizabeth soon or he
was afraid that he would die tragically.

“Look down,” Mrs. Brown practically snarled, piquing his curiosity.

Holding the blanket in place, he walked closer to the and looked-

“Oh, hell,” he said when he saw them, his sons grinning up proudly at him while Mrs.
Brown, who was covered in what looked like the paint he’d left in the basement,
glared murderously at him.

“I suggest that you have a word with your sons,” she said tightly as she released the
boys’ hands and walked away, but not before she added, “And I know you’re pregnant,
young lady, so I expect you in your bed within the hour to rest.”

It didn’t surprise him when Elizabeth didn’t respond since she was probably trying to
convince herself that Mrs. Brown hadn’t just walked in on them with their boys no
less.

“What do you have to say for yourself, boys?” he asked, trying to suppress a grin when
the boys shot him a mischievous smile.

“We love you, daddy?” they said in unison, making him chuckle even as he shook his
head and sighed.

Yeah, he definitely wanted a girl this time.

*-*-*-*

Present Day…

“And there you have it,” Uncle Jared finished with flourish as he sat back in chair,
looking quite pleased with himself, she noted, biting back a sigh that would only make
him start all over again.

Darrin nodded firmly as he said, “We’ll wait,” earning a glare from her, because there
was no way that she was going to wait to go on their honeymoon, not with three
babies on the way. After they were born, it would be years before they got a chance to
go. As excited as she was about the babies, and oh God, was she excited, she also
wanted to have a little alone time with her husband before their lives were filled with
dirty diapers and mixing up formula.

Uncle Jared nodded, smiling as he stood up, “Glad to hear it.”

“Thanks for coming by,” Darrin said, getting to his feet so that he could walk his
Uncle out while she sat there, glaring at his back.

She continued to glare even when they disappeared around the corner. If he really
though that she was going to let Uncle Jared scare them off from doing something
that they’d been looking forward to over more Bradford bullshit. They were going and
that was-

“We leave for Boston in two days. Have your beautiful ass ready,” Darrin said as he
strolled by the living room and headed for the kitchen where a big plate of brownies
was waiting for him, making her smile.

She should have known that he’d handle Uncle Jared, she thought with a chuckle as
she grabbed the remote and turned the television on. She settled back and-

“That fucking bastard ate my brownies!”

About the Author

Writer, Facebook stalker, mother of two and hot cocoa addict, R.L. Mathewson lives
life to its fullest.

When she’s not chauffeuring her children to and from school or their various
activities, she runs a Lego Club for a bunch of chocolate addicted children, blasts
Sirius XM’s The Highway, writes, edits, cooks, cleans and oh yeah, she even watches
movies on Netflix.

It’s safe to say that she does it all…………..

Intrigued?

Of course you are.

If you would like to know more about this author, her latest books or information on
the latest methods to stalk people on Facebook, visit her site:

www.Rlmathewson.com

Or you can email her directly at,

Rlmathewson25@gmail.com

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