Their Harlot Bride (Bridgewater Brides) Read online

  “But what?” I barked out harshly, demanding an answer. “I don’t like this game you’re playing.”

  “No game.” He shook his head. “But the story they’re telling is very different. The woman they’re looking for was a man’s mistress. She stole from him and assaulted him before fleeing, scarring him, and will likely be hanged when she’s returned to London for her crimes.”

  “His mistress?” I asked, my lips and tongue feeling strangely swollen as I repeated his words. My thoughts were galloping away. It would explain… a lot. William and I had talked about what a quick learner she was, how eager, how sensual. Experience would explain that.

  “They said she was a whore before that, in a brothel.” The Sheriff sounded almost apologetic. “They were looking for her in the saloon at first. No one has seen a woman meeting that description, though, so they’ve had no luck.”

  She’d lied.

  Lied about everything.

  “And she’s a thief, too?” I asked. “She assaulted him?”

  “If it’s the same woman,” the Sheriff said, looking at me worriedly. “Son, I’m not sure that it is, or she might have had good reason. I don’t know that I trust these men—”

  I’d heard enough.

  I was sure it was the same woman.

  It all made so much sense now.

  What she’d been hiding. Why she was really so afraid. Why she knew exactly how to touch us… please us… manipulate us. Lies. So many lies she’d woven, and we’d fallen for every one. I’d had my suspicions but pushed them away, instead of listening to my gut. I’d wanted to believe in her.

  And she’d made William so damn happy.

  I should have never let her sink her claws into him. I should have questioned her more that first day, should have trusted my instincts. I should have pushed her last night when she hadn’t wanted to talk about Lord Carmichael. Ha! No wonder.

  I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. She was going to answer every last one of my questions.

  “Careful, Clive!” The Sheriff had followed me out of the jail. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

  I barked a laugh. It was a little too late for that. I’d let the little liar marry us without even properly questioning her.

  Fury wrapped around me as I thundered out of town, galloping back to the ranch. This time, Sassy was going to tell me the truth.

  William

  * * *

  I was on my horse when I saw Clive galloping down the road to the ranch, and worry rose up inside me. He wouldn’t be rushing back like that unless something was wrong.

  “I’ve got to go back to the house,” I shouted to Jed, who’d been helping me repair the fence. “I’ll be back.”

  Jed sent me a wave before going back to the fence, but I was already running for Blaze. Swinging myself into the saddle, I gave him a kick, and we leapt into action. Angling myself across the field, I let Blaze run flat out, giving him his head as he raced toward the house.

  Clive’s Thunder was bigger and slower, and the road wasn’t as straight a shot as my path through the fields, so I managed to beat him by just a hair. Blaze danced in place, all worked up and happy after his little run.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, breathless, jumping from Blaze’s back. Clive’s face was a thundercloud.

  “She’s a liar.”

  He spat the words, and it took me a moment to understand what he was saying, what he could mean.

  “Hey!” I caught his arm when he made to move past me, spinning him back around. “Sassy? Our Sassy?”

  Clive snorted. His dark eyes were burning with anger. Whatever he’d learned in town, he’d built up a full head of steam on his way back, and I wasn’t going to let him approach Sassy when he was like this. She hadn’t any experience dealing with an angry Clive, but I had plenty.

  “She’s not ours.” He tried to shrug me off, but I held on tight and used his movement to push him back, setting myself protectively between him and the house.

  “The hell, she isn’t. What the hell happened in town?”

  “There are men looking for her, but not for the reason she said,” Clive said flatly. The lack of emotion in his voice wasn’t good, not at all. It meant he barely had control of his temper and was right on the verge of erupting. “Get out of my way, William, I have some questions for our wife.” He sneered at me on the final word.

  Hell.

  I stood my ground, clenching my fists. Even if Sassy had lied to us, even if not a word out of her mouth was true, that didn’t mean she deserved Clive at his worst. Besides, we’d seen the kind of woman she was. Caring. Sensual. Eager for affection. Eager to bestow affection.

  “You’re not going in there ‘til you tell me what’s going on.”

  Maybe that would help shave off some of his anger. I didn’t think he’d hurt her, not physically, but sometimes, Clive didn’t realize how much damage he could do with his words.

  “There’s a man looking for her all right, her former lover. She was his mistress. And before that, she was a whore. She stole from him, assaulted him, and ran.”

  I stared at Clive.

  Shit.

  That… explained a lot, actually. At least about how she did things like easily suck our whole cocks down her throat, and why she didn’t want to talk about her past. Had she been scared we’d reject her if we’d known? Clive and I weren’t virgins, far from it, but there were different standards for men. It wouldn’t have bothered me.

  Was it bothering Clive?

  “I don’t care what she did before she came to us, she’s our wife now.” I wasn’t going back on that. If Clive intended to, we might have to part ways. The thought made me sick to my stomach, but I wasn’t going to leave Sassy unprotected because of her past. Staying with Clive because he had some puritanical notion lodged in his head and leaving her in danger wouldn’t just make me sick, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

  “You don’t care that she lied?” Clive stared at me, flabbergasted.

  “What does it matter what she did in the past? She’s ours now, and she’s a damn good wife,” I shot back at him.

  “But she lied. We don’t know a thing about her, not really. She could be setting us up, just like she did him.”

  “Setting us up for what, Clive?” I swept my arm out, gesturing at the ranch. We had cows, horses she couldn’t ride, a vegetable garden, chickens... “What do we have that she can physically steal? And where would she go with it? You aren’t making a lick of sense.”

  He was starting to turn red in the face. Jabbing a finger at me, he scowled.

  “No, you aren’t making a lick of sense. She lied to us, and you don’t even care. Or is it that you don’t want to admit you were wrong about that damn ad?”

  “I wasn’t wrong!” Damnit. I shook my head. “That’s not why, though, Clive. The ad doesn’t matter. Her past doesn’t matter. You aren’t thinking straight.”

  “No, you aren’t thinking straight. You’ve got her built up in your head to be something she’s not, and you aren’t willing to admit she’s not perfect because that would ruin the happy little dream you’ve concocted. I knew something was wrong from the start, but I kept stepping back, trying to give you what you wanted—”

  “Oh, sure, giving me what I wanted,” I cut off his tirade, shaking my head. My fists flexed. That was pure Clive. Now that he thought marrying Sassy was a mistake, it was all my fault. Not that I agreed with him about it being a mistake, but my temper was soaring. “Because sharing a wife was some great sacrifice on your part, you’ve been suffering terribly—”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He slashed his hand through the air as if that would be the end of the argument. “I’m going in to ask her some questions, and this time, she is going to answer.” He stepped forward, but I didn’t move. I braced myself, feet apart, muscles tensed, and head lowered.

  “Like hell. You want to question our wife, you’ll have to go through me first.”

  �
��Don’t do this, William,” Clive warned, taking another step toward me, his dark eyes glinting with barely repressed violence. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Arrogant bastard. Of course, he assumed he’d win in a fight.

  “Then turn around and walk away until you come to your senses,” I snapped back.

  “Why the hell are you still defending that lying whore?” he snarled.

  That did it. Lunging forward, I slammed my fist into his chin.

  11

  Sassy

  * * *

  Why the hell are you still defending that lying whore?

  I stood frozen on the side of the house, heart pounding and tears welling, Clive’s vicious question echoing in my head. I’d been in the garden and had come back to the house when I’d heard raised voices. When I got to the back of the house, I’d recognized Clive’s and William’s voices and heard what they were saying.

  Knew they knew.

  Knew William either didn’t care or was hiding it from himself that he did.

  Knew Clive cared deeply. That he felt betrayed. Lied to. And he should. I had done both, hadn’t I? Now, I’d set them against each other, without even meaning to, and I could hear them fighting. Hear the grunts of pain, fists slamming against flesh.

  I should have run out there and tried to stop them. I should have accepted whatever castigation Clive wanted to heap on me. I should have told them I wasn’t worth fighting over, and Clive was right.

  But I couldn’t face them.

  Couldn’t bear to see Clive turn away from me.

  Couldn’t bear to see if William looked at me differently, despite his words.

  Couldn’t bear to see them fighting because of me.

  So, I did what came naturally—I turned tail and ran. Ran past the henhouse and the vegetable garden, past the well, and over the hill, until I couldn’t hear them anymore, then fell to my knees, sobbing as though my heart was breaking… because it was.

  Had I really thought I would be able to hide my past from them forever?

  Had I really thought they would accept my past?

  William didn’t seem bothered, a little voice whispered in my head. It didn’t matter, though. It clearly bothered Clive, and he and William were partners. They’d been partners for far longer than they’d known me. I would never expect William to choose me over Clive, wouldn’t even want him to. The two of them needed each other, balanced each other.

  I had just hoped I could be part of that balance, had thought maybe they would come to love me the way I already loved them.

  But it was too soon, far too soon to hope any feelings they did have for me could last in the face of my past.

  Thief.

  Whore.

  I could not deny the charges. I was both.

  I was also a woman who had fallen in love. It didn’t matter I had not known them long, I’d fallen in love with both of them. Had thought I might have even found happiness with them.

  I should have known better.

  Since when had any part of my life ended happily?

  Slowly, my tears ran out, leaving me drained. Empty. Hopeless.

  My knees were beginning to hurt, the ground hard and rocky under my skirts, but I had not noticed until now. I slowly got to my feet, staring off into the distance, the endless fields…

  I could keep running.

  It wasn’t Lord Carmichael I wanted to run from, though, it was my husbands. My husbands who deserved an apology from me, at the very least, even if they were unlikely to remain my husbands for much longer. They should know I was sorry for deceiving them.

  Sorry for coming between them.

  I did not expect it to change how Clive felt about me, but he still deserved to hear it. And William… my sweet, gentle William, my defender, even when he shouldn’t have. I didn’t know how to make it up to him, but I could at least try to explain. They deserved to hear the truth from me.

  What happened after that… well, it didn’t matter. Nothing felt like it mattered now. I would do whatever they wished of me.

  Weary but resolute, I turned around.

  A man was standing there, one I had never seen before, and my eyes widened when he grinned at me. It was not a nice grin.

  “There ye are,” he said, his accent clearly British.

  I screamed and turned to run, but it was too late. Something slammed into the back of my head, and everything went dark.

  Clive

  * * *

  When had William become so brawny?

  I’d wanted to be careful not to hurt him, but within seconds, I was fighting in earnest, the only way to keep him from walloping me.

  My jaw was aching from his first punch, my gut from his second, but I’d managed to dodge the third and give him a good one in his side. He was faster, though, and I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be able to lay him out the way I’d thought. My best chance was to take him to the ground and use my heavier bulk to keep him there.

  Launching myself at him, I slammed my shoulder into his middle, tackling him to the ground. William shouted his outrage as he went down, twisting and taking me with him. We rolled along the ground, kicking up dust as we grappled for supremacy.

  “Stay down!” I growled, bracing my arm across his chest, but he didn’t listen.

  He threw me off and dove for me, then we rolled again, dangerously close to the horses, who started to dance, hooves flashing. That brought us both back to our senses. It was one thing to wrestle with each other, but if we spooked the horses, we were both liable to be trampled, then where would we be?

  Panting, we broke apart, scrambling back from Blaze and Thunder, who eyed us nervously, still shifting their weight. We eyed each other. I rubbed my jaw, wincing when I hit a sore spot. William probed his ribs, hissing when he touched where I’d landed a punch.

  A lot of the anger I’d carried with me all the way home was gone. Instead of being a ball of rage, it had dropped to a low simmer, and I was already starting to feel ashamed of some of the things I said. I had a temper and knew it, but it always ran hot and was over with just as quickly.

  I was grateful Sassy hadn’t been around to hear it. I glanced at the house, which wasn’t that far away from us. At least, I hoped she hadn’t heard me. I wasn’t sure how loud I’d been. I’d been so worked up…

  “Feeling better now?” William asked, rolling his head around his neck and clapping his hands against his chaps to get some of the dust off.

  “A bit,” I admitted. “I still want to know why she lied to us, though.” I didn’t like lies. Once someone started lying about little things, it was easier to lie about big things. That was one of the reasons I’d partnered up with William—the man was honest as the day was long and utterly incapable of subterfuge.

  “If you call her a lying whore again, we’re going to do this all over,” he warned, sending a flinty look my way, his blue eyes hard.

  I winced. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Not really.

  “Good. I don’t care if she was a whore. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been reaping the benefits of her experience.” A little smile kicked up on the side of his face.

  That was one way of looking at it.

  “What if she’s been faking her pleasure?” I didn’t like the insecurities now niggling at me, and that one was at the top of the heap. William and I had both been strutting around like roosters with our erotic prowess. What if it had all been false?

  “Then she is the greatest actress in the world,” William said with a snort, not bothering to hide his contempt for the idea. “What does your gut tell you?”

  That her body’s responses were honest, even if she hadn’t been. I sighed, getting to my feet and dusting myself off.

  “She still lied.” I clung stubbornly to the fact that bothered me the most.

  “We’ll spank her ass and tell her she’s not to do it again,” William said, following me to his feet. “I don’t think she’s lied about anything else.
She’s avoided talking about it. I don’t think she likes lying to us.”

  As usual, I thought William was taking a rosy view of the situation, but for the first time, my cynical self wanted to believe. I didn’t want everything we’d been building with Sassy to have been false. I wanted her…

  I wanted her to care as much about us as we did about her.

  I wanted her to love us—to love me, the same way I loved her.

  That’s why I’d been so damn angry. I’d gone and fallen in love with my wife and couldn’t be sure she felt the same way. Couldn’t be sure she should be trusted, even if she said she did, and the uncertainty made my stomach churn.

  It was easier to be angry than hurt.

  “We should find her and ask some questions,” I said firmly. “Then she’s definitely getting a spanking.” William nodded his agreement, but before we could move, we heard the whinny of a horse, and movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.

  Both of our heads whipped around to see a man on horseback, galloping away through the fields, something big draped over his lap.

  William

  * * *

  “Sassy!” I called out her name before I could think, taking a step forward as if I could somehow bring her back to us with just her name.

  The horseman was riding away with her over his lap—I recognized the fabric of her dress—and I doubted either of them could hear us if she was even conscious. From the way her body was flopping, I doubted it. Fear seized my heart, freezing my chest.

  “Damn!” Clive spat out the curse, but unlike me, he didn’t freeze, leaping into motion. I followed him, only a moment behind. It took us precious seconds to free Thunder and Blaze from where we’d hitched them to the fence post and get them turned in the right direction.