Page 17 of Their Wanted Bride (Bridgewater Brides 1)

Imagining my husbands doing just that made me smile and I risked a peek up at them. “I’m sorry I told a fib.”

“Aw, honey.” Caleb embraced me from the other side and both my husbands cocooned me in their comforting warmth.

Although my bottom ached, my husbands hadn’t done me any real harm. Celeste had done much more damage with that stupid rattan cane of hers, and she hadn’t stroked my flesh to ease the sting. Not that I would have accepted comfort from that horrible woman.

The news about my bequest was on the tip of my tongue and it needed to come out, but I couldn’t let anything else spoil our wedding night. I resolved to wait and tell them when we had plenty of time to talk about it, and after I’d fed them a good meal to sweeten their dispositions.

Justin tightened his arm around me and wiped at a few tears with the pad of his thumb. “We aren’t mad that you did it, honey, but we’re not going to let you lie about it. Are you gonna tell any more lies?”

They held my hands too tightly for me to cross my fingers behind my back, so I crossed my toes instead. “No, sir.”

“That’s our good girl,” Caleb murmured. “We’re proud of you.”

His words nearly made me lose control of my emotions. I hadn’t heard anything like them in months, and it made me feel even worse about not telling them my secret. I wiped away a few fresh tears and laughed softly. “I have no idea why I even said such a ridiculous thing. You’re a grown man and had to know how much money you had in your pocket.”

“I know it was less than two dollars, and I didn’t have anything larger than a nickel.”

I nodded and bit my lip. “I didn’t want you to lose face in front of the preacher and I thought if I pretended it was your money, it would have all been forgotten.” I squirmed, trying to figure out why my bottom was still warm when the spanking was over. I wanted to rub at it, but judging by the way it felt when I shifted my weight, it would make things worse instead of better. It was a most discomfiting sensation. “I just wanted everyone to be happy,” I added.

Justin grunted in acknowledgement and nodded. “That’s a fine thing to wish for, sweetheart, but you don’t need to lie to get it.” He tipped my chin up with a gentle finger. “Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

He smiled, straight white teeth gleaming in the dim light, and pulled me into his lap. “That’s my good girl,” he crooned. Lowering his lips to mine, he kissed me softly.

I sure did like it when my husbands kissed me. I couldn’t believe I had to come all the way out to Montana to find a man who would kiss me the way I liked. Caleb and Justin were both so gentle and careful with me. I truly did feel like I was the most important thing in their world.

Of course, I’d never been kissed by anyone before, but that didn’t seem to matter overmuch when Justin moved to the spot under my ear I hadn’t realized was so sensitive. His lips were warm and so damned soft as he brushed my skin with sucking little kisses that made me quiver under his touch. Delicious tingles coursed down my spine as I shifted restlessly on his lap. The fabric of his trousers abraded my tender backside, making me achy and restless and I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck to drag him closer.

Chuckling softly, he pulled away and I whimpered in disappointment. Helping me to my feet, he stood and stroked my shoulders, his fingers falling to the buttons of my dress. His brown eyes met mine, so warm and soft, and he said, “Are you ready to be our wife in truth, Maddy?”

My throat closed and I swallowed the growing lump, then nodded.

“We are too,” Caleb said. He helped Justin with my dress, and added, “We sure are glad you came out west, sweetheart.”

“Me too.” I shivered as my bodice fell open, revealing my body to their avid gazes. Part of me thought I should be scared, but I wasn’t. Their looks of longing made me feel cherished. Caleb unfastened my skirt, allowing it to fall to the floor while Justin untied my drawers. I winced when my money pouch made a soft tinkling sound against the floorboards.

“Your nest egg, I presume,” Caleb said, picking it up.

“Yes. I—”

Without a word, he nodded and dropped it into my boot. “Whatever you have left after traveling

here is still your nest egg. We’ll provide for your needs from now on.”

I blinked and nodded dumbly. He hadn’t even opened it. Did he truly care so little about money? That was…almost incomprehensible. Yet it meant he and Justin wanted me for me, and not for what I could bring them. Suddenly, I didn’t give a tinker’s damn about my bequest. I’d arrange with Daddy’s attorney, Mr. Fuller, to have it sold because I wasn’t going back to Kentucky.

My heart nearly burst with adoration for them. I reached up to undo the buttons on Caleb’s shirt. Bulging muscles appeared under my fingers and I held back a gasp as I pushed the heavy cotton off his shoulders. Lightly furred, his chest was a mass of muscle, matched only by his heavy arms. Crisp dark blond hair narrowed to a trail leading into his trousers, and I traced it with a wondering finger as the ridges of his abdomen rippled under my touch.

Turning to face Justin, I did the same, each button I released allowing a tantalizing glimpse of his smooth bare skin. He was every bit as muscular as Caleb, perhaps even more so, for he was quite a bit larger in stature. My breath caught as they laid gentle hands on me, petting my shoulders soothingly.

“You haven’t had a man before, have you?” Caleb asked, his hands stilling on my arms. “We don’t care overmuch if you have, but we want to know if we need to be especially gentle.”

I arched a brow and grabbed my dress from the floor, suddenly too shy to speak with them while I wasn’t dressed. “I’d likely have married him if I had.” Remembering my shift and corset had been left behind with my sidesaddle, I asked, “Do I seem like a fallen woman to you?”

He kissed my forehead and gave me a wry grin. “No, but you do seem like a woman who goes after what she wants.”

“I suppose that’s true enough,” I agreed. “But that’s one thing I’ve never wanted, until now.” I let the dress fall to my feet.

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