Their Conquered Bride (Bridgewater Ménage 9) (Grace Goodwin)

s, I’d like you to meet my friends. You’ve met Evan and Daniel. The other two are Garrett and Thompson. Lizzie, they will escort your sisters to the ranch and make sure they’re safe.”

The ranch just so happened to be Bridgewater, but for the moment, the vagueness of the response was important. I needed the sisters to go off with the men knowing they’d be protected and arrive safely before us. The fact that none of us had been there before was the portion Logan and I would tell her about later. I had no doubt the men would inform Judith and Rebekah once they were away from town.

Judith’s blue eyes flared wide and she turned to Lizzie with a fearful expression on her face. Lizzie, in turn, looked up into my face with a question in her lovely brown eyes. “I’m not sure about this, Ford. We are in a strange place, with new people. Why can’t they go with us?”

I leaned down to whisper in her ear, sure she wouldn’t want the others to hear. “I plan on making you mine tonight. I assumed you wouldn’t want an audience to hear your cries of pleasure.”

Her eyes widened and I watched as her cheeks turned pink. Grinning, I happily watched the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she digested my words. She pasted a bright smile on her face and turned to her sisters. “It’s all right. Go with them. I trust my new husband to see you are well taken care of.”

Evan stepped forward and looked down into Judith’s shocked features. He bowed his head and held out his hand to the petite woman. “You have my word of honor, Judith, nothing will harm you while you are with us.”

Judith looked at up him for a moment, leaned around him to inspect Daniel, who nodded. “On my honor, you will be safe and protected, Judith.”

She turned back to Lizzie with a sigh. “All right. I suppose it is your wedding night.”

Lizzie stepped back as if seeking my strength and I was only too happy to provide. I positioned myself at her back, placing my hand around her curvy waist. “Rebekah. You’ll be escorted by Garrett and Thompson.”

Garrett lifted Rebekah’s bag and held out his hand to her. “You will be protected as well, love. I, too, give you my word.”

I noticed her hand shaking as she placed it in Garrett’s much larger one and allowed him to lead her farther up the boardwalk, with a silent and brooding Thompson falling into step behind them.

Evan led a tearful Judith toward their horses and she waved, a watery smile pasted on her face as Lizzie leaned into me. “When will I see them again?” she asked.

“Two or three days, depending on the weather.” I leaned down and kissed her temple. “Trust me. They’ll be well taken care of. Safe. I promise you.”

She nodded and didn’t fight me as I led her toward our waiting horses. Logan carried her bag and I was grateful she didn’t question his presence. Soon, she would know the truth of our ways, would be spread like a goddess between us. I could only hope she didn’t hate us both when she learned the truth.

***

Logan

I allowed Ford to take the lead with our bride, kissing her, touching her, making her feel safe since she believed he was her husband. I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, not if we wanted to get our wife out of town without violence. We couldn’t afford questions, not now, when she still believed she’d kept her word to one Samuel Jenkins. The bloody sod.

That didn’t mean I had to like watching him get to feel all that soft skin, to breathe in her scent, to feel how silky her hair was, to feel her lips against his own. The bastard had what was also mine. If my cock were making the decisions, she’d be beneath me and no longer a virgin, but my brain was still working. Barely.

We rode for several hours, Lizzie draped across Ford’s lap like a queen. I was in the lead, not wishing to see what I couldn’t yet have. I took us on a circuitous route to get to the ranch, for I knew if we rode too quickly, we would meet up with the rest of our party with the wagon.

I didn’t want to see them, not tonight. Tonight, we needed our bride between us, naked and wet. Tonight, we would seduce her into accepting both of us and we didn’t need a damn audience. We needed privacy.

Two nights ago, the group had camped at a small creek nestled amongst the trees. The spot was well protected on three sides by canyon walls. While we weren’t in Mohamir, at war or even in any kind of danger, our instincts would not allow us to sleep unprotected. I’d lain on my back, counting the stars, thick as a blanket in the sky, and imagined a new life of work and boredom on the ranch. A ranch! In England, there was no such bloody thing.

I missed the call of battle, the thrill of it, the rush of feelings it brought about. It was the only way I could release the aggression that seemed to build like a storm in my blood. Now that storm was focused entirely on one woman and a nearly desperate need to make her scream and writhe with pleasure. My new outlet for this energy would be with Lizzie. In Lizzie. She would obey me, she would ride my cock like a wild thing, and she would bear us children. I’d never wanted anything so badly in my life.

One day and my life, our lives, had changed completely. Life on a ranch didn’t seem so bloody awful anymore, not with the prospect of a willing bride between us. We were going to a place that accepted my need—with Ford—to claim Lizzie. We were going to a place to join other men who we trusted with our lives. We were going to a place where all the evil we saw in Mohamir didn’t exist. We were going… home.

Lizzie’s soft voice drifted on the wind and my cock stiffened at her whispered words. “Why is Logan riding with us? Why did he not go with the others?”

I pretended not to hear as Ford answered her. “He’s my brother-in-arms. We served many years together, fought together, nearly died together. I trust him with my life, and with yours. I share everything with him, sweetheart. He is yours now, as well. He will cherish you as I do and will protect you with his life.”

“Oh.” The simple sound made me smile as I led the way into a spot I decided was perfect to camp for the night. She still didn’t understand, but she would. “I guess that’s nice, to have such a close friend. Like a brother.”

“Yes, but he is more than a brother to me.”

Ford didn’t say more, for he knew, as I did, that it wasn’t the right moment. I didn’t want to her to learn the full truth yet, not until I was ready to fight her shock, her fear, and help Ford seduce her to our ways.

The flat grassy area was beside a slow-moving creek. A deep section with still water called to me and I longed to wash the sweat and dust away, eager to be clean for our bride. I stopped my horse and quickly took care of the gelding as Ford did the same with his own animal. Lizzie wandered the small area, sneaking into a grove of cottonwood trees to relieve herself as Ford and I both pretended not to notice.

Boots off, I waited until I knew she would return. A skittish virgin was like a mare, needing time to assess the stallion to determine him worthy. While I’d been witness to her passion when Ford had kissed her, it didn’t hurt for her to begin to accustom herself to both of her men. Naked. As I caught a glimpse of her coming through the trees, I turned and pulled my shirt off over my head and dropped my pants to the ground.