Their Tempting Bride by Lacey Davis
7
When they walked out of the diner, the wind kicked up the dust in the street, and Georgia grabbed her hat. Her mother sat waiting in the wagon, gazing at them expectedly. She glanced at the two men and then at her daughter. Daniel could not withhold the smile that spread across his face.
“And?”
“We’re going to the courthouse,” Daniel told her. “I’m marrying Georgia.”
He glanced down at their soon-to-be wife and she smiled at him. Happiness shone from her emerald eyes and he knew she wasn't marrying them just to get away from Bartlett, but because she wanted to be their wife.
Tears welled in her mother’s eyes. “I’m so relieved. May I please go with you. For years, I had dreamed of a big wedding for Georgia, but now, I’ll accept just seeing her say I do.”
“Of course,” Martin said. “But first let’s load her trunks and all into our wagon, in case we have to get out of town in a hurry.”
Until after the wedding ceremony, they had to be cautious. If Mr. Bartlett or her father learned of the wedding, they would intervene, and Daniel didn’t want to have to hurt her father. But right now, he would lay down his life to protect his future wife.
Georgia belonged to him and Martin. No one else.
From the moment he laid eyes on her helpless on that sidewalk, she had ensnared his heart. And now he was about to make her his, and tonight, they would both claim her.
In a matter of minutes, he had loaded her things into their wagon. Then they all walked down to the courthouse.
To say the clerk was shocked to see them would have been an understatement.
“But I thought…”
“No,” her mother said, “she’s marrying Daniel Hamilton.”
The clerk glanced at Georgia and she smiled at him. “Daniel won my heart. He’s the man I’m marrying.”
Warmth spread through Daniel and he smiled at Georgia and took her hands in his.
Quickly, they repeated the wedding vows, staring into each other's eyes. A shy smile crossed her face as she pledged to love him until death did they part. In a matter of minutes, it was over and now she belonged to Daniel and Martin.
At the end, the clerk smiled at them. “You may kiss your bride.”
Knowing this was their first kiss and wanting so much more, he kissed her gently on the lips. For a moment, he felt bad that Martin didn’t get to kiss her but knew they would make up for it later. And he could hardly wait.
Her mother and Martin signed the paperwork saying they witnessed the marriage. It was all done.
Awkwardly, the men stood in the room with her mother as the two women said their goodbyes.
“Georgia, it’s my prayer that you’ve made the right decision and that these men will treat you with the utmost respect and honor. Be happy, my daughter.”
Tears welled in Georgia’s eyes. “Oh, Mama, I’m going to miss you.”
“And me, you, my daughter,” her mother said squeezing. “Now go before your father and Mr. Bartlett find out what happened here today. I’m afraid for you and your husband.”
The four walked out of the courthouse and down the bustling street. When they reached the stable where they had left their wagons, Daniel helped Georgia onto the bench seat, ready to take her home.
As Martin climbed in, he glanced at Daniel. “We’ve got company.”
Mr. Bartlett and her father came rushing up in his buggy. Her father jumped out and came running over to her. “Get out of there right this moment. You’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m married, Papa. I’m going to live with my husband.”
“What?”
“You can’t be. I did not authorize you to marry him.”
“I did,” her mother said. “Go back to work, Henry. Our daughter is married. You’re too late to stop the ceremony. It’s over.”
She nodded to Daniel and the wagon begin to roll away.
Mrs. Carroll did not want her daughter to know of her father’s perfidy. They had agreed to keep it from her if possible, though Daniel didn’t know how they could. This morning, he and Martin had paid her father’s gambling debts. If she ever learned of what they had done, he feared she would be angry, but he couldn’t let her father be harmed.
As the wagon rolled past Mr. Bartlett, he glared at them. “We’re not finished. I’ll get even with you for what you’ve done. And, Georgia, you will be mine.”
Like hell, he thought. If the man came after Georgia, he’d meet a wall of resistance unlike anything he’d met before. The men of Bridgewater protected their women and they would help them protect Georgia as well.
Daniel smiled at the old man. Martin picked up the rifle they kept in the wagon for emergency and laid it across his lap. If he wanted to cause trouble, they were prepared.
The horses gathered speed as they hurried out of Butte, headed home to Bridgewater where they couldn’t wait to introduce their new wife.
When they were far enough out of town that Daniel no longer feared being attacked by her father or Mr. Bartlett, he pulled the wagon to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” Georgia asked.
“Remove your pantaloons,” Daniel said.
“What?”
“Our wife will have no need for pantaloons. Remove yours now,” he said.
“But—"
“Georgia, if you don’t remove them, you are disobeying, and I will not hesitate to paddle your ass right here out in the open.”
Confusion filled her eyes as she reached under her skirt and slowly removed her drawers. When she pulled them over her shoes, she laid them in her lap.
Martin reached from the back of the wagon and grabbed them. He took a deep breath. “Hmmm, that smell is so sweet. Let’s get home, so we can enjoy our new bride.”
“You said you were going to take it slowly,” she said, her emerald eyes widening with fright.
“And we will, but, honey, we intend to make you ours tonight.”
