Their Harlot Bride (Bridgewater Brides 7)
Definitely dead.
The sight both unnerved and reassured me. I buried my face in William’s chest, almost wishing I hadn’t looked. Guilt welled at being reassured by a man’s death, even though I knew he wouldn’t have felt an ounce, causing mine or my husbands’ death, had the tables been turned. I didn’t like knowing I was the reason anyone had died.
Muttering a curse low, under his breath, William shifted around, his arms tightening around me as he got to his feet, easily lifting me.
“Clive, stop playing with him,” William barked out the command. “We need to get the Sheriff here.”
A new fear gripped my heart, and I lifted my head again.
“The Sheriff?” The question came out in a worried whisper, my throat too tight to speak any louder. “Aren’t you going to be in trouble for… for…”
Three dead men and one beaten into submission. Clive stood over the man he’d just been brawling with, tying his hands behind his back. If he and William faced any consequences, that would be my fault as well.
Why couldn’t I do anything right?
I was breathing faster, yet couldn’t get enough air, as if an iron band was squeezing my chest so tightly, I couldn’t really get a full breath. William gave me a little shake.
“Breathe, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against his shoulder and whimpered. The pounding in my head returned with a vengeance as if someone was hammering on the inside of my skull.
“Sassy? Sassy, what’s wrong?” William sounded panicked.
“My head hurts.” I whimpered again, then everything went dark.
Clive
* * *
“Looks like he hit her good on the back of the head, but she should be fine after a couple day’s rest,” Doc said, packing up his kit. “All her other injuries are minor.”
William and I both breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing for the first time since Sassy had passed out in William’s arms. I’d taken her back home while William had raced to fetch the doc and the sheriff.
She looked so pale and small, lying in the middle of our big bed, lips tightened with pain.
“If the pain gets to be too much, give her a couple drops of this with some water.” Doc handed me a small glass bottle with a stopper. I curled my fingers around it, holding onto it as though it was precious. It kind of was, wasn’t it? I couldn’t stand the idea of Sassy in pain.
“Thanks, Doc,” William said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “We appreciate you checking her over.”
“Of course.” Doc glanced at her again and shook his head. “I hate to see one of our women laid low, but I can tell she’s a fighter.”
I chuckled. “You should see the other guys.”
If Sassy hadn’t started screaming and fighting, things wouldn’t have gone quite as easily. She’d distracted Carmichael and his last hired hand, making it a lot easier for William and me to take them down when we could have easily been shot instead.
Doc snorted. “So, I heard. I believe I have an appointment to see one of them in the jail when I’m done here.” He gave me a look.
I shrugged. I had no regrets. I’d had a lot of anger to work out. The man was still alive, wasn’t he? That was more than the others could say. We’d had to even the odds.
“When will she wake up?” William asked, still worried.
“Oh, anytime now, I’d say.” Doc nodded reassuringly. “It could be five minutes, it could be an hour. She’s had quite a day.”
Yes, she had. She was battered and bruised all over. My lips tightened, and I wished Carmichael’s death hadn’t been so quick. He’d deserved to suffer more. If I could have given him a bruise to match every one of Sassy’s…
But he was gone, and she wouldn’t have to be afraid, no threat hanging over her head.
We still needed to deal with her dishonesty, but not until she was fully recovered. My cock tried to rise when I thought about spanking her perfectly rounded ass until she was very sorry, she’d ever lied, but I pushed back the thought. That was days away.