A Fall From Grace. Mail Order Bride Western Page 19

  “I wrote you letters?” he asked.

  He wasn’t trying to be loud, but Faye felt as though he was broadcasting their personal business to the entire town.

  “Will you please lower your voice,” she pleaded.

  “Is this better?” he asked, his tone becoming sweet as honey.

  It was indeed better. If things had gone differently, she might given into the urge to cuddle with him.

  “Now,” he said. “You said I wrote you letters?”

  “You did,” she replied, clenching her eyes. “I have them upstairs with my things.”

  “Well okay now,” he said positively. “How about I take a look at them and go from there?”

  “No,” she said. “If you don’t know anything about this, what is the point?”

  “I would very much appreciate it if I could see them,” he said softly.

  But the thought of climbing the spiral stairs up to her room to fetch the letters bundled together with a blue satin ribbon was overwhelming. She wanted to crawl into a whole and hide.

  “They are in my satchel,” she said.

  She sat up straight. She pulled herself together and rose with as much grace as she could summon. As she walked she wiped her eyes and slowly, she put one foot in front of the other towards her room. Jake was up and behind her, supporting her.

  He waited at the door of her room as she fetched the letters that she believed had been from him. She found them, handed them to him and slumped in a chair.

  “Take them. I probably want them back. Even if they weren’t from you, they’re a huge part of me. I can’t explain why I want them back when you are through with them, but I do.”

  “You don’t want to read them with me?” he asked.

  “Mr. McElroy,” she began.

  “Jake,” he corrected gently.

  “Mr. McElroy,” she said anyway. “I know them by heart. You have a day to read them. I will be heading back to Hays to my house as soon as I can book passage back.”

  “Now hold on a minute,” he said apologetically.

  But she stopped him.

  “Do not feel sorry for me,” she warned him. “This was a mistake or a cruel, cruel joke. It would not be the first time someone has played me for a fool. If you don’t mind, I would like to lie down.”

  Chapter Three

  Faye was completely worn out. She said good day to Jake McElroy and laid down on her bed to rest. She sank immediately into a deep nap. She dreamt she was looking down on her hotel room, watching herself.

  Jake knocked on the door. She rose from the bed, in a trance, with the look of adoration on her face as she greeted him. He bore the same expression as looked lovingly into her eyes.

  She had such an intense hunger for him. It was an all-consuming need. She was completely fixed on him. He silently took her face in his hands, focusing on her lips, he brushed his lips against hers, devouring her.

  Stars burst in her mind as she experienced passion for the first time. His tongue penetrated her, snaking through her mouth, tasting her. Faye went limp against him, overwhelmed with arousal.

  Her nipples were hard and pointed, pressing against the cups of her corset. In her dream, his fingers found the pins in her hair and pulled each one under her silken locks were liberated. Faye had taken to wear her hair in a somewhat of a matronly style. She noted that as the years in her marriage continued and she went untouched, she took on the habits of an old woman.

  She did not feel that way in the least. At least not as she was being kissed so thoroughly by Jake McElroy, even though it was just the sweetest dream. He made her feel so alive, so young and sweet and so much the woman.

  She had been primed for her wedding night about what transpired between a man and a woman. There were nights when she lay in her bed aching for her husband to join her. In the arms of Jake McElroy, Faye knew that this was what she was longing for.

  Her breath rose so fiercely she could hardly breathe. Instinct made her want to lay back and take her clothes off for him. To be naked. To offer herself up. But a sudden crack of thunder distracted them.

  Faye awoke.

  Chapter Four

  For the second time that day someone knocked on Faye’s hotel room door. She stirred from her delicious slumber with the turn of events temporarily slipped her mind. It was Jake McElroy with her letters in his hand. He had a small crowd of people with him.

  “You should warn a lady if you’re going to come to call,” Faye said feebly.

  In fact she was awfully glad to see him and he had no idea. He had no idea that she and he had just spent the very best part of the day together.

  “I apologize Miss Furlong. But this is urgent. Will you kindly join me in the lobby once again?” he asked.

  “I think I have some answers as to how you received letters from me,” he said softly.

  “I appreciate your coming all this way to continue our discussion,” Faye replied as the humiliation was revived.

  Without thinking, she began to close the door on them.

  “No please,” he said. “You’ll want to hear this.”

  “I don’t,” she said. “If you could just return my letters.”

  “You’ve come all this way,” he said. “Won’t you please down?”

  Suddenly Faye found herself charmed by Jake McElroy. He literally made a pouty face and batted his lashes and it made her insides flutter. She wanted more. She was so low, so vulnerable and she had no more dignity to lose by listening to what he had to say. She nodded slightly to the cluster of women and men who accompanied him as she followed Jake downstairs.

  Once they were seated in the lobby, he spoke very softly, almost in a whisper.

  “I would have rather taken care of this business in the privacy of home but I figured calling on you to ride out to McElroy’s Bend was a might too much to ask,” he began.

  Faye could not help but study him. He had a flawless complexion. His peerless skin coursed over symmetry cheek bones and handsome square jaw. When he spoke, his dimples appeared. He had lovely even white teeth. And just about the bluest eyes she could ever hope to see.

  “Miss Faye Furlong, I would like you to meet my well-meaning sisters in law. We have Merla, Gretchen and Maybelle McElroy. These fine women are married to my brothers. As their letters correctly stated, I am the last of the McElroy brothers to marry.”

  “Their letters?” noted Faye.

  She knew it. The letters did bear a woman’s touch.

  “Yes ma’am, their letters,” he said.

  It could not be more humiliating that on top of having to listen to the facts of how she was made a fool of, that she could not control the tears. It sickened her that she might cry in front of these people.

  Jake softly covered her hand with his. It was rough and tough from work but warm. His touch grounded her insides.

  “What I come to say, Miss Furlong, is that while I don’t abide by the trickery my sisters perpetrated, I think what they had was a pretty darn good idea,” he said softly.

  Faye’s eyebrow arched. She was listening.

  “I know we have not had to many words together but if you’re a mind, if you are willing to say here and let me court you proper,” he said, going down on one knee.

  Faye pressed her hand against her chest as the room teetered. The surprises kept on coming and she was going into overload.

  “I am asking for your hand in marriage,” he said. “I’ll marry you right now if you let me. But I’d be honored if you let me do the courtin’, if you let me do the letter writin’.”

  Faye drew in a deep breath and collected herself.

  “Yes Mr. McElroy,” she replied. “I will let you court me.”

  Without any warning, Jake scooped Faye up and twirled her around. It was a fun move. A delicious move. But it was also a sneaky move. It allowed him to separate the two of them from the crowd and gain some privacy.

  “Well that’s fine,” he whispered with a wink.

  H
is lips were so close to hers. He did not kiss her but he brushed them against hers sending shivers throughout her body.

  “And I truly appreciate your consent. But ma’am, my family here, that there is my brother Mac, my brother Rafe, my brother Donovan, and those here are their wives the ones who wrote the letters, we’re all in town at the moment. My ma is fetching the Marshall. Any chance you let me marry you now and court you afterwards?”

  If Jake McElroy were less handsome and less charming the answer might have been no. But Faye did consider she had traveled to Dodge to marry him. In some ways what she knew about him now was better than what she thought she knew about him before. She took another deep breath.

  “Court me huh?” she teased. “After we’re married, huh?”

  “Oh yes ma’am,” he said slipping his arm around the small of her back. “It’s called honeymooning. And I am aim to do a lot of it with you.”

  He traced an X across his chest.

  “Cross my heart,” he said.

  Faye was rushed from head to toe with passion for him. She could barely open her eyes to look at him. To think.

  “Yes, Mr. McElroy,” she said. “I will marry you today.”

  “It’s on!” he shouted.

  Chapter Five

  Jake’s declaration was like lightening that split the sky. For at the moment he shouted, in walked the Marshall and Fiona McElroy. She was a tiny, mighty woman. The family resemblance was clear. Though she was the mother of a brood of boys raised in the Kansas prairie, Fiona McElroy was still a beautiful woman.

  And one who was not given to smile. But after the drama that Faye had endured, she was not about to be shaken by her soon-to-be mother in law. They locked eyes immediately, assessing one another.

  “Is this she?” asked Fiona to Jake.

  “Yes ma,” he replied.

  All eyes were on Fiona hoping for a blessing.

  “She might be closer to my age than yours,” Fiona muttered.

  Faye gasped. A woman was the last place she expected to find criticism about her age, though she was not yet thirty. It was soul breaking. Faye caved in to impulse.

  “It’s off,” she declared.

  Faye gathered her skirts and marched towards the stairs.

  “Oh no you don’t,” said Jake.

  He hustled, heading her off at the foot of the stairs. He stooped and scooped her up over his shoulder.

  “Mama,” he ordered. “This here is the mother of your future grandchildren. You take that back.”

  Faye kicked and hollered to no good while Fiona was reluctant to answer.

  “Fiona,” scolded the Marshall in a steely tone.

  “Alright,” she said finally. “I regret my words.”

  It was not a convincing apology but one none the less.

  “Donny and or Rafe. Run ahead and alert preacher there’s a wedding a coming,” said Jake.

  With Faye over his shoulder he walked out to Main Street. The church was just at the town proper, a few blocks over.

  “Jake McElroy you are not hauling me down to the alter this way!” Faye protested.

  Though in truth, Faye was relishing every second. She had been years without physical contact from another human being. She had been forever without man’s love. Her husband who preferred the company of her brother, was unable to consummate their marriage.

  To be draped over Jake McElroy’s magnificent form was like dessert to her body. It warmed and delighted her.

  “I do in deed intend to haul you to the alter this way. And I will haul you to Dodge House for our honeymoon as well. That is unless you are of a mind to walk hand in hand to the church?”

  It was hard to give up her sweet position over his shoulder, but Faye agreed. He lowered her gently to her feet. The two gazed into one another’s eyes, entranced by the intoxicating effect they had on one another.

  Jake offered her his arm and she took it. Together they led the rest of his family towards the church.

  Chapter Five

  The preacher had not risen. The family situated themselves in the pews of the chapel waiting for him to dress. He looked sorely hung-over as he approached the pulpit. Jake and Faye stood before it. Mac was Jake’s best man and Merla, his wife was a witness for Faye.

  After the ceremony, the family went en masse to Delmonico’s for a wedding meal before departing back home to McElroy’s Bend. All but Jake and Faye. When they were alone at last in Faye’s hotel room – their hotel room- they sat on the bed, holding hands. It was lovely and thrilling holding his hand.

  “Well Mrs. McElroy,” he began. “I know from your letters you were married before and so you know, well.”

  It was so sweet to see him be so shy and bashful with her.

  “I know we only just met and under topsy turvy circumstances but I meant every word of my vows. I aim to love and honor you. I meant that from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

  “That is the best wedding gift a wife hope to have,” Faye replied. “It is true I was a married woman. And I was true to my vows in that marriage as I will be in this. Alas, this will be my first true wedding night.”

  A fierce blush overtook Faye. She could not lift her head to look at him.

  “I don’t take your meaning sweet,” he said.

  A sudden rush of emotion overtook Faye as she did not want to lie to her new mate. That her first husband had ditched her to make a life with her own brother.

  “I feel I must tell you something that I should have maybe told you before we did say our vows,” she began, tears dropping from her eyes.

  His body tensed like he didn’t like the sound of what she was saying.

  “Lorkan Furlong referred the company of gentlemen,” she said. “He courted me and endeared himself to me. But he played me false. It was only to be close to my brother, Patrick. He and I never lay together as man and wife. I waited him for years and that part of our marriage was never to come to be. He and my brother disappeared. They were legally declared dead and I a widow.”

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks as fast as she could. Humiliation and fear that he might think she lied to him in some way filled her chest.

  “Well you have just had about enough of folks not being straight with you,” he said sympathetically.

  Faye could not read the smile that washed his face. She was confused.

  Jake kissed the top of her forehead. Then the bridge of her nose, graduating to her lips. His mouth was so warm, his kiss so powerful. While her dream paled in comparison, it did wonderfully foretell how delicious their chemistry would be.

  Faye was drunk on the effect of him. He was so tall, so rugged and masculine. She felt so secure and safe in his arms. He made her feel like such a woman. He helped her off with his dress, his mouth trailing the side of her neck as he did.

  Her neck was so sensitive to his lips that her cries burst out of her. She touched her fingers to her mouth, self-conscious.

  “That’s okay sweetheart,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”

  He took her mouth as he laid her back. This sweet man that Faye married was gentle and slow. His hands traced over her skin with the lightest touch. She shivered as they glided over the soft curve of her breast. His fingers were as rough as she was delicate. It was an erotic contrast.

  Jake buried his face in the base of her neck. His kissed her breast bone and sought the pointed tip of her nipple. Faye arched off of the bed, gasping with sheer pleasure. He growled with satisfaction.

  With the tip of his hot, wet, tongue, he flicked her captured flesh, punishing it with sugared torture. She clenched her legs together, she suddenly ached for him so. While his lips searched her body, finding the soft, pliant flesh of her belly, his hands parted her thighs.

  His tongue circled her navel and magically her legs spread for him. She clutched his thick, tousled hair, bracing herself as she realized where his mouth was to go next. With warm, large hands, he cupped her buttocks and lowered himself between her legs.


  The feel of his tongue her spread liquid heat throughout her belly. Her channel clutched involuntarily as he delved into her. With fingers and mouth, Jake brought her to life. Faye’s hips lifted, rocking back and forth as though they were begging, seeking.

  “Oh my goodness,” she gasped.

  Wetness flowed from her body as his tongue slipped into her. She was half out of her mind, pumping her hips and moaning. Finally he rose above her, a faint smile bending his mouth.

  He sat back on his knees and peeled off his clothing. The reveal was spectacular. Jake McElroy’s body was like that of a god’s. He was smooth and hard at the same time. There was not an ounce of fat on his perfectly proportionate frame. His arms rippled with power.

  He dropped to a push up position over her, suspending his upper body and leaning down to kiss her. Of all the naughty exploring he did, kissing melted her the most.

  Instinctively, Faye raised her legs up and around his hips, pulling him towards him. As soon as she felt the soft head of his erection against her thigh, she halted. She was nervous.

  “Shh, shh,” he assured intuitively.

  He reached between them and entered her, just some. Faye’s body stiffened. Jake waited so patiently. But at one point he dropped his head like he was in agony. Faye closed her eyes and pushed upward with her hips. He was inside of her fully. The pain was nothing like she thought it would be. When she was told “it hurt” it did not prepare her for the shooting pain that filled her now.

  But they both waited and it passed. The more he kissed her, it went further away. In no time, they were back to where they were, swimming in passion. Jake moved.

  He pumped in and out of her in a slow motion while locked on her in a never ending kiss. Faye made soft kitten-like noises against his lips. Her breasts softly bobbed with the action of his motion.

  After some time, Jake turned her to the side, pumping into her not quite from behind. Faye quickly learned that the shift pressure and angles added pleasure for her. Probably for him too.

  Finally, he lifted her thigh and reached in between. Even as her knees levered, the sweetness increased. He pressed his thumb where their bodies joined. Combined with his stroking motion, pressure built up in her belly. She thought she would come undone.