A Fall From Grace. Mail Order Bride Western Read online

  She hadn’t meant to be sour. Merla finished her formative years in a horrible home her uncle placed her in after her mother died. Her mother who never much liked her and let her know with a broomstick.

  Mac took hold of her arm as she exited the outhouse.

  “Hey Jake,” he called. “Look who’s up and around.”

  “Well good deal,” said Jake who looked just like his brother.

  He had the same glad smile on his face and in his step. He bounded out of the barn on his way to do something. He stopped to say hello.

  “You gave us a scare,” said Jake. “Glad to see you’re better. If anyone can nurse a body through a fright it’s ma.”

  “She’s restin’ now,” said Mac.

  “Well you just might be the first person ever to wear ma out,” laughed Jake.

  “That’s what he said,” smiled Merla.

  Already she was in the best place that she had ever been in her life. In the best company that she had been in her life.

  “I don’t want to keep you from your work,” said Merla. She turned to Mac whose eyes were glued to her.

  “Neither of you,” she said apologetically. “I don’t want to be in anyone’s way. I just need to get a little better so I can figure things out.”

  “Well how about we go have a sit down and figure out what happened, and then we can go from there?” said Mac. “I am thinking we need to get some dinner on.”

  Merla took slow steps, following the lead of the men into the house. They both looked at her with sympathy. Merla thought she must look really pathetic.

  “Here lemme help you there,” said Mac.

  And with that, he turned her towards him, drawing him against him like he was hugging her and lifted her off her feet. It wasn’t anything for him to carry her, bracing her with one powerful arm as they hurried inside. He set her down as soon as they were inside the house.

  “That didn’t unsettle you none, did it?” he asked.

  Merla was too surprised to complain, not that she would. She just didn’t quite know what to make of it.

  “I am fine, I think,” she said.

  “Here now, have a seat,” he said. “I’ve been cooking while ma has been resting.”

  He set a biscuit and a cup of coffee with a splash of cream in it before her. On the side of the biscuit dish was fresh butter, soft, mixed with honey.

  “You snack on that while I go and fetch Rafe and Donny,” said Mac. “I’ll be right back and we’ll have our supper together.”

  Jake was just outside off of the porch, pumping water into a pitcher. While Mac was off, Jake set the rest of the table.

  “Oh delicious,” remarked Jake. “Slumgullion. Tasty, tasty.”

  Fiona emerged from her room, smoothing her hair. She and Merla nodded at each other. Merla’s mind wandered outside and connected with Mac who now walked with his two other brothers. From all the way outside, they found each other. Somewhere in his features was a smile as he gazed at her.

  Merla’s insides warmed. Mac was so handsome. All the McElroy brothers were handsome but Mac, particularly so. Abruptly across the scenery, a rider cut into their path. She recognized that horse and the rider. Baxter Wallace. Merla rose to her feet.

  Jake touched her hand and ordered her to stay put.

  “We’ll handle this,” he said.

  But Merla didn’t listen. She walked slowly to the doorway and watched.

  “I’m come for my woman,” Baxter said.

  “I didn’t know you had one,” replied Mac.

  “You know damn well I do. You rode off with her. I want her back,” he said harshly.

  “Simmer, simmer,” said Donny. “Are you and she married?”

  “We are betrothed,” said Baxter.

  “But not married,” Donny countered.

  Baxter was agitated and the horse danced, threatening to buck.

  “She stays,” said Mac plainly. “And if I ever catch you hit a woman, hear of you hitting a woman, I will find you and show you clearly how it feels.”

  “I paid her transportation out here. She and I had a deal,” roared Baxter.

  Merla noted that while he was raising his voice, pitching a fit, he was not so bold and brave with the McElroy brothers as he had been with her. She still didn’t remember that actual event that caused them to act in her defense and to take her away from him. She did remember he had been hitting her.

  “How much?” asked Mac.

  “How much what?” replied Baxter.

  “How much did you shell out for her to come here?” he asked.

  “A thousand dollars,” Baxter blurted.

  Merla could be quiet no longer. She stormed out on the porch.

  “That’s a lie!” she shouted. “You sent me a single ticket on the stage.”

  Baxter looked Merla’s direction and flashed a wicked grin. He was a good looking man himself but compared to the McElroy brothers, he looked sort of homely.

  “He’s not talking about buying your ticket back, darlin’. He’s talking about buying you,” he said with delight.

  Merla looked to Mac for verification.

  “I don’t believe and never thought the lady was for sale, Baxter. I am willing to pay her fare so you’re not out anything. Me and the boys would be happy rig up a feed bag in the location of your choosing so you can use it as a punching bag. You get the stage fare or you get nothing,” said Mac.

  Something in his tone, let Merla know what kind of foe Mac could be. As good natured as all the brothers seemed to be, at that moment, she could feel it that he was a force to be reckoned with.

  In the little time that she knew Baxter, she could see that he was not going to push it, even though he didn’t like it.

  “Keep your money,” Baxter said drawing in on the reins of his horse. “I’ll get what’s mine one way or the other.”

  “Nothing or no one here is yours,” said Mac. “But to speak in terms you understand, possession is nine-tenths of the law. So that makes her mine.”

  Mac’s words made Merla shiver. For a split second she thought of what it would be like to be his.

  Baxter beat the horse and made him rear. He made a gun with his fingers and cocked it at her before making the horse run away fast. Merla pitied the horse.

  “Did you see that?” Mac demanded, completely incensed.

  Donny and Rafe embraced him.

  “Ease up brother,” Rafe said. “He’s just trying to rile you. Let’s eat.”

  “Donovan, Rafe wash before you sit at my table,” said Fiona.

  “Yes ma’am,” they said.

  It took Merla a moment to catch on that Donny and Rafe were twins.

  “I guess she don’t like the smell of cow at her meal,” teased Donny.

  Mac leapt the stairs in two strides and eased next to Merla.

  “I hope all that talk back there didn’t upset you,” he said dreamily.

  She gazed at him. She guessed that she and he were close in age.

  “Thanks for defending me,” she said.

  Her voice was all quivery. He did that to her. Gave her butterflies. Only they were not in her stomach. They were in her throat and in her head. She could hardly think or speak. But then a horrible fear gripped her. If they weren’t going to let Baxter have her, where was she to go?

  Merla’s stomach rumbled. Rafe and Donny were up on the porch now with Mac and her. She was surrounded by handsome men. Everyone went into the house and joined Fiona.

  “Ma’am, I can’t thank you enough for what you done for me,” said Merla. “I am much obliged.”

  “It’s my duty as a Christian and a mother,” replied Fiona.

  “Why by the way,” said Mac with the flash of a smile, “is just about her answer for everything.”

  “Sit all of you. I have something to say,” she said as she dished the last plate with food.

  Fiona had the huge, hulking brood cowed. Sit, stand, whatever she said, they did and right away.

 
“Baxter Wallace will be back. That is a smarmy so and so. He does not fight his battles like a man,” said Fiona.

  “Not if he goes about beating women, that much is plain,” said Mac.

  Fiona glared.

  “Sorry for interrupting ma,” said Mac.

  “Where are you folks, lass?” asked Fiona.

  “They passed,” Merla said tightly.

  “All of them?” asked Fiona.

  Merla felt herself drift into a daze.

  “Yes ma’am. Pa died about ten years ago and ma passed about three,”answered Merla. “I did have an uncle of a sort. Not sure who or how he was related. He placed my sister and me in a home for orphans. My sister was adopted out. They kept me on to do chores and care for the little ‘uns but then they asked me to leave.”

  “I see,” said Fiona gravely.

  “I figure it was time I was married,” said Merla. “I never heard of the Matrimonial News until this girl at the home told me about it. And well, here I am.”

  “How old are you, child?” said Fiona.

  “As near as I know, I am nineteen or twenty,” said Merla.

  “Did you ever celebrate your birthday?” asked Mac as though that was the strangest thing he had ever heard.

  “Ma wasn’t big on such things,” she said.

  Out of nowhere a rush of emotion collected in her face and made her lip quiver. She could not stop it. Fiona placed her hand on hers. Then she placed other hand on Mac’s.

  “He’s going to be back,” said Fiona. “He’s mad. And unless we have a plan, he’s likely to take this one with him.”

  “What if one of us was to marry her?” asked Jake.

  Mac looked over his shoulder at his brother.

  “I mean what if Mac here was to marry her?” Jake rephrased.

  “Marriage is not something to be toyed with. It is a holy sacrament. And even if you were to do it keep Baxter Wallace from harming her again, you would be stuck with it. You don’t know a thing about each other,” counseled Fiona.

  Mac studied Merla.

  “I can’t explain it, ma,” said Mac. “I think I can take that chance. Sometimes you just know.”

  Fiona nodded. “Sometimes you do just know.”

  “Would that be okay with you?” asked Mac of Merla. “Would you be my wife?”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing, John McElroy,” she said. “But yes I would be your wife.”

  The two were of one mind when they leaned in together and sealed the proposal with a kiss.

  Chapter Four

  After it was decided that they were to be married, the notion took on a lot of energy. It took over dinner. Mac and Merla could hardly eat.

  “I think we’re going to ride into town and find us a preacher,” said Mac. “Ma you coming with?”

  “We could go bring the preacher back and do this up tomorrow,” said Jake. “If you want to see them get hitched.”

  “If we all go in, we’ll just attract trouble,” said Fiona clearly disappointed.

  “We can always repeat our vows,” said Mac, taking Merla’s hand. “Once we are safely married. I kind of like that. Plan a real big wedding. Maybe with a dress and all.”

  Fiona nodded again.

  “I like that idea. How about you, daughter?” Fiona asked Merla.

  Without knowing she would, Merla threw her arms around Fiona and hugged her tight.

  “I think that’s a fine idea,” she said.

  The boisterous activity made her head spin. She faltered on her feet.

  “Easy there,” Mac said steadying her. “Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow. I think we’ve tired her out. I know what we’ll do. We’ll go hide out in the barn tonight. Jake you go into town and fetch the preacher. Rafe and Donny stay here with mama. If they come looking for us, tell them we went into town to get hitched. This one has to go get rest.”

  After many different ideas, the plan was settled. After the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Mac took Merla out to the barn where he had slept the night before. She realized he had given up his bed for him.

  He carefully spread soft flannel blankets over the hay. He readied a sole lantern for when the light of day finally dimmed, just in case.

  “We really can’t have the lights on in case they come back,” explained Mac.

  He spoke to her with such tenderness. His voice had the quality of song in it. He tilted his head and smiled. He caught her staring at him. He leaned in and kissed her softly. It was a gentle cautious kiss. At first.

  Then he braced her, cupping the back of her head ever so gently. She felt the tip of his tongue snake between her lips gingerly. The touch of his tongue electrified her. Her body was flooded with tingles and goose bumps. She was warm and pliant and her spine arched towards him.

  He took her into his arms, cradling now, kissing her fully. His fingers raked through her hair. She dare extend her arms around his wonderfully massive shoulders and felt his rock hard, muscled back. He was such a big man, hewn from hard labor. His fingers dipped into the neckline of her calico dress and then stopped.

  “I better wait,” he said as though it pained him. “We aren’t married yet.”

  He stroked her.

  “This is awful fast,” he explained. “Are you sure you’re okay with the weddin’ and all?”

  “Are you?” asked Merla.

  “I am. I think I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said. “It’s just that you came out to marry one fella --”

  “The fella I thought I was marrying did not meet me at the stage,” she said. “But I think he’s holding me in his arms right now. You are more like the man who wrote me a few letters and proposed.”

  Merla took Mac’s large, calloused hand and put it on her hip.

  “And as far as I am concerned, we are promised. And we made that promise as our true selves. I am not going anywhere, if you’ll have me,” she said.

  With only instinct to guide her, Merla pressed her lips to his and boldly plundered his mouth with her tongue. She let her reaction steer her, sweeping his mouth with slow, torturous deliberation.

  “Where did you learn to kiss like that?” he murmured.

  “You just taught me,” she whispered.

  Mac unfastened her dress and pushed it from her shoulder. His lips were like a brand on the smooth soft skin there. She was discovering -- and he was teaching her -- all the spots on her body that were ticklish. That came alive with his light touch.

  He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Even his breath, which was coming harder now, made her insides clutch. She drew together, squeezing almost, in response to the waves of heightened arousal.

  A guttural moan scraped her throat. She had to release, the pressure of pleasure was so pent up. He had her yearning for what exactly she did not know. She knew what happened between a man and a woman. She had it graphically described to her by another girl in the orphanage. But at no point did anyone tell her the act included a feeling that made her feel like she had drunk whisky.

  Mac unbuttoned his shirt with rapid speed. He pulled back and shed his shirt. He revealed a ripped body the sight of which made her belly turn to molten liquid. There was heat coursing through her center. She was aching. She felt empty. She needed.

  The vision of Mac’s spectacular body made Merla part her knees. She lay back on the flannel, letting the tufts of hay cradle her comfortably. He let his fingers trail over the scape of her body. His finger tips eased over a breast to touch the petal-soft nipple.

  Merla lurched with pleasure. It was overwhelming. Her sweet reaction was beyond her wildest dreams. She had no idea. His hand landed lightly on the inside of her thigh and climbed towards her center. She knew where he was going. She drew in a deep breath, summoning boldness to let him.

  His fingers found her wetness. Mac eased into her, slipping one finger. She arched. It was a strange and wondrous sensation to have something inside of her. She didn’t quite know what she should d
o for him.

  He basically read her mind. He took her hand and placed it on him. He guided her touch, schooling her on the level of tension to use, how to move on him. She tried to control her trembling. She was eager to learn but she was nervous at the same time.

  “I don’t know - I’ve never - ” she said apologetically.

  “Shhh,” he whispered. “Don’t apologize. Just do what comes naturally.”

  “I want to please you,” she said.

  “You do,” he laughed softly.

  He covered her mouth with his petal soft, hot lips. The passion behind this kiss was stronger. He was not ginger, like in their introductory kisses. He took possession of her mouth, tasting ever bit of her. He filled her head.

  And while he was sweeping her mouth with his masterful tongue, his hands were working her. He pressed her above her opening, making little circles, causing a sweet pressure in her belly. Mac had her mind and body spinning.

  He nestled between her legs. His large erection nudged the soft inside of her leg. It seemed to find the entrance of her body all by itself. Mac took her face into his hands, gently and firmly. He looked into her eyes. She could see him clearly but the light in the barn was fading.

  He had a hypnotic effect on her. She gazed into his huge blue eyes and saw nothing but adoration. Slowly he lowered his mouth onto hers and kissed her lazily Then he pushed, a little at first. He was inside of her.

  She remembered what the girl in the orphanage had said to her. It was not as bad as all that. The sensation of him inside of her drove her to rock her hips against his. Merla’s eyes flew open. The pain was unbearable.

  “Baby,” he said with empathy. “Shhh.”

  She tried to cry out but the noise was stuck in her throat. Her breathing was labored. She tried to think. He was so large. He strummed her with the very tip of his fingers so that his fingernails tickled her skinned. That had an amazing effect on the tension in her body.

  He waited and kissed and stroked until she relaxed. He moved. Mac arched down to suckle her nipple. Pleasure twirled through to her core as though there were a wire from his hot mouth to the center of her body.