Their Tempting Bride by Lacey Davis
1
Daniel Hamilton walked out of the big city's telegraph office, staring at the words on the page with a frown on his face.
Time was running out.
“What’s wrong?” Martin Perkins, his best friend from when they served in the army in the country of Mohamir, called out to him on Main Street in the bustling area of Butte, Montana.
“My father,” he said, “he’s coming to visit next week.”
“Damn,” Martin said. “Do you think it’s about the woman he wants you to marry?”
Of course, it was. His father wanted him to marry a rich debutante and had one picked out for him. A woman he’d detested since grade school.
“I’m certain he’s coming to convince me to return with him to Philadelphia and marry Elizabeth Wister.”
His family back in Philadelphia were well known socialites. His father owned one of the largest banks in the city and wanted his eldest son to follow in his footsteps, though he had six brothers and two sisters who were more than capable of carrying on the family name.
“You know what would settle this?”
“No, what?” Daniel said, stamping down the wooden sidewalk. He slowed his steps to match Martin’s limping ones.
“If you were to marry, he couldn't force you into marrying Miss Wister.”
The thought of marriage wasn’t a bad idea. But he didn’t want a normal wedded life like everyone else. No, he wanted the Bridgewater way.
Going to Mohamir for military service and then seeing the happiness of the couples at Bridgewater, he knew exactly what he wanted. And it wasn’t a marriage like his parents.
One woman between him and Martin. The two of them making certain she received everything they had to offer, sharing her between them, creating a happy family just like their friends had.
No, it wasn’t the normal way, but it was the Mohamir way being lived right there in Bridgewater, Montana. Martin and he had been talking about it for years but had yet to find the right woman. Martin wasn’t certain a woman would want him with his injury.
“Are you ready to commit to a woman?”
It wasn’t that his friend was ugly. In fact, of the two of them, he’d say that Martin was the more handsome with his dark hair, bushy dark brows, and big brown eyes. Before his injury, the whores at a bar would flock to him, and his goofy sense of humor would have them soon laughing.
Many women did not like Daniel’s auburn hair and the freckles across his nose until they learned who his family was and then they became his best friend. It was one reason he didn’t want to return to Philadelphia.
In Butte, and even in Bridgewater, his business was growing, and not because of his father’s wealth, but rather his own attention to detail and his fairness with the local miners—the small guys, not the big outfits like the Bartlett mine.
And no one took advantage of him because of his name. No one here knew his father owned one of the largest banks in Philadelphia.
A wagon full of lumber rolled down the street and Martin waited until it passed.
“Yes, I’m ready as long as we can find someone who is not disgusted by the sight of my leg. Or me wearing a stump.”
“I understand,” Daniel said, knowing his friend worried too much. A bullet lodged in his best friend's calf muscle, and gangrene set in. In order to save his life, they amputated his leg from the knee down. Three years had passed, and still, Martin was not the same. Maybe he never would be. But the man refused to let it get him down, and though he wasn’t the jokester he once was, he was alive.
Maybe a woman who could accept his damage and be their wife would bring back his old friend.
“Finding a wife would put an end to my father’s insistence that I return to Philadelphia. And just think, sweet pussy every night.”
A woman walking the other way turned and glared at him. He couldn’t help but grin at her. As they crossed a side road and continued down the sidewalk, Martin smiled at him.
“A woman to sleep between us. Have a family with. I’d like to have a couple of little ones. This wound made me realize I’m not going to live forever. It would be nice to leave the ranch to our sons.”
It would be. But where would they find such a woman?
“There’s no way we could find a mail-order bride before my father arrives. I wonder if there is anyone here in town?”
Daniel’s boots made a rhythmic clunk on the wooden sidewalk while Martin’s leg made an odd thump. A crowd was gathered at the corner and slowly Daniel made his way through.
“What’s going on?”
“A dust cloud headed our way,” a man said.
Suddenly the man at the front of the crowd turned and yelled. “Stampede. Get off the streets. Stampede.”
A spear of terror gripped Daniel’s chest. “Get in the nearest building.”
Fear for his friend had him shoving him toward a mercantile. The sound of hooves pounding on the ground growing closer and closer.
In front of them, a young woman with long Brunnette hair with natural streaks of red, fell to the ground, her heel hung up on a board. Daniel hollered, “Martin, go on.”
There was no way he was going to let her be trampled to death. Leaning down, he scooped her into his arms, snapping the shoe, and began to run. She didn’t weigh much, but it was awkward with a stranger as he hurried down the sidewalk.
“Mama,” she cried.
“She’s ahead of us. She keeps turning back and looking." They were the last ones in the store as the out-of-control cattle ran through the streets. The building shook from the pounding of the heavy hooves on the ground.
It was a terrifying scene, and as he set the woman down, he could feel her shaking. People stood near the windows, staring out at the wild animals running panicked.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing up with the most gorgeous emerald eyes he’d ever seen. “I’ve never seen a stampede.”
“It’s not something you ever want to witness again.”
Just then, Martin came up to him. “You all right?” he asked the young woman.
“Yes, thanks to this man,” she said.
“Daniel Hamilton, and this is my good friend Martin Perkins,” he said, gazing at the beauty, mesmerized by her full lips. The urge to kiss her was strong, to thread his fingers through her long gorgeous curls, but he knew that would be inappropriate.
She smiled and dimples appeared on her cheeks. “Georgia Carroll.”
His arms were still partially around her and she felt like she fit right where she belonged and he didn’t want to let her go.
Just then her mother found her and ran to her.
“Oh, Georgia, I was so afraid. The crowd carried me away and I couldn’t get back to you.”
“It’s all right, Mama. This nice young man scooped me up and carried me into the building. I think I lost a shoe, but that’s all right.”
Daniel felt the woman slip from his arms and he wanted her back. The woman’s curves were well rounded, her long dark hair was past her shoulders, and she had a pert little nose he wanted to kiss the tip of.
But more than anything, he longed to raise her skirts and slid his hard cock between her legs, sinking into her depths. There was something about her that reached into his soul and connected with him. Was it just relief from surviving the stampede or something else?
“Thank you, young man,” her mother said. “I was so afraid.”
If her mother knew his thoughts, she would slap him.
“Glad I could help, ma’am,” he said, and hoped that in the crowded space, she could not see his rock-hard cock pressing against his pants.
The door opened and the sheriff stepped in. “Everyone all right?”
There were shouts of yes, but Daniel couldn’t keep his eyes off Miss Georgia Carroll. He gave a quick glance at Martin and the two men’s eyes connected and Martin nodded. They were thinking the same thing.
“Good to know," the sheriff finished. "Stampede is over.”
“What caused the cattle to run like that?” Georgia asked.
“We’ll never know. It could have happened miles back,” he told her.
Her mother moved between him and her daughter, and tipping his hat, he smiled at her. “You ladies have a wonderful day.”
“Thank you again, sir,” she said to him. For a moment, he thought she was going to say something else, but she didn’t.
Georgia gave him a little wave as they walked out the door.
He turned to Martin. “Georgia Carroll. I think we need to learn all we can about that beautiful young woman.”
“Agreed,” Martin said.
