ROMANCE: Badass Boss (Billionaire Alpha Bad Boy Romance) (Western Mail Order Bride Calendar Contemporary) (41 page)
Authors: Susan Fleming
Chapter 10
The Showdown
The next day, Jack and Lena left the house together, full of faith and resolve. When they arrived in town, there was a crowd gathered on both sides of the street. Jack walked through the crowd to the general store.
The clerk handed him a brand new pistol. “Denner has one just like it. They’ve been inspected by men on both of your sides and found to be in perfect order. I’ll take both guns back when it’s all over. Good luck, Nolan. This town is behind you.”
Jack picked up the pistol and loaded it with bullets. He looked at Lena. “Maybe you should wait in here.”
“I wouldn’t dream of missing what the Lord is going to do today,” Lena said. She patted his hand with confidence. “I’ll be watching.”
Jack kissed her one last time before the showdown. At eleven fifty-nine, he stood in the middle of the street, facing south. He waited for Denner.
At twelve o’clock sharp, Denner walked into the street and faced him.
Jack felt his heart beating so fast and loud, he could hardly think. He silently prayed for God’s protection. He watched Denner’s left hand hovering over his gun. He wiggled his right hand fingers, ready to take action.
Denner touched his gun. From the crowd, a voice yelled out, “Hey Denner, take this!” A man ran in between the two gunfighters just as Denner pulled out his gun and shot.
Jack grabbed his gun, but he heard two shots ring out before he managed to shoot his own gun. He looked down at his body, expecting to see blood, but there was none.
He looked forward and realized that Denner was down on the ground, and so was another man. He was stunned and confused. What happened?
He heard Lena yell out, “Papa!”
Jack ran toward the bodies. The man who ran between them was Albert. He had taken the shot for Jack to protect him, and to protect his daughter. He had also shot Raymond Denner.
Jack squatted beside Albert. He saw blood on his chest and Albert struggling to breathe. “Oh God!”
Albert grabbed Jack by the shirt. “It is as it should be. I’m going to be with my dear wife. Take care of our daughter.”
Albert gasped for breath a few times and then breathed his last.
Lena lay her head on her father’s chest and cried. “Papa, please don’t die. Papa…” Lena’s voice trailed off and turned into sobs.
Jack closed his father-in-law’s eyes and held on to his wife. “He saved my life. He did it for us.”
Lena cried more.
Reverend Whitley laid his hands on Lena and Jack and prayed. “Dear heavenly father, thank you for watching over Jack and for sparing his life. Welcome our brother, Albert, into your arms and please see that he is reunited with his beloved. Bless this loving couple who are devoted to you and see that their home is now only filled with peace and joy. Amen.”
Lena stopped crying and thanked the Reverend.
“What about Denner?” Jack asked the Reverend.
“He’s gone. It’s all over.” The reverend patted Jack on his back. “You’re free to love your wife without worry now. It was the gift Albert gave you.”
“I won’t waste it,” Jack said.
Jack and Lena cherished every moment they had together. They lived long, happy lives and raised three children. The Wild West was a rugged, harsh place to raise a family. But it was also filled with love, peace and beauty and Jack and Lena wouldn’t have it any other way.
This deliciously dirty story is a part of Susan Fleming’s super-charged, highly lewd collection of love and lust, written in 2015. Those who attempt to steal any part of this goldmine and take it as their own risk being a fiery, hot death from a hunk bearing copyright notices—and she’s not about to play with you.
This is a work of fiction—although we wish that people like this really existed, it’s nothing more than a figment of a very, very overactive imagination. Any resemblance to someone you know, a place you love or anything you hold dear to your heart is nothing more than a craving in your heart that these carnal desires and actions were true!
It goes without saying that this book oozes with erotic sex appeal, and is filled to the rafters with a smorgasbord of acts that you certainly wouldn’t tell your grandmother about. Bodice-ripping, panty-dropping and glasses-steaming, the scenes contained herein are wickedly naughty!
Although all the saucy characters are flirting with forbidden desires and sometimes taking the naughty fruit they really shouldn’t be, all are consenting adults over the age of 18 and not blood-related. What they are is passionate and eager to explore their carnal desires all day long.
In short, this book is going to get you very, very hot!
© Susan Fleming
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any many whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination. Please note that this work is intended only for adults age 18 and over. All characters represented are age 18 or over.
Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: Bodie
Chapter 2: A Model of Good Works
Chapter 3: Any Beast of the Field
Chapter 4: They Will Rest From Their Labor
Chapter 5: When They Drink Deadly Poison
Chapter 6: For the Lord Shall Renew Their Strength
Chapter 7: Two Are Better Than One
Chapter 8: Him Who Strengthens Me
Chapter 1
Bodie
A thick layer of sandy topsoil covered the wooden porch. The Indian summer had brought plenty of it and no matter how often Abigail Abbott swept it away, she would find another layer had settled upon her return. Dutifully she swept it clean again, the twig broom clutched firmly in her worn hands.
“G’mornin’ Miss Abigail.” Abigail looked up from the porch to see Nathaniel tipping his hat.
“Good morning Nathaniel.” She offered before getting back to sweeping the porch.
“It never seems to quit, does it?” He nodded at the porch.
“No, it just keeps on coming. But, you know what they say, idle hands are the devil’s playground.” Reaching up she wiped sweat from her brow with her forearm. Nathaniel nodded.
“Yes, ma’am. There’s nothin’ idle about your hands though, Miss Abigail, you always seem to be elbow deep in somethin’” He smiled at her fondly.
“That’s precisely the point, Nathaniel. ‘The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” Nathaniel nodded.
“Amen.” Abigail looked up from her sweeping.
“Was there something I could help you with this morning, Nathaniel?” He shook his head.
“No ma’am. I was just passin’ and wondered if there might be anything I could do for you. Since Mr. Abbott went to be with the Lord we sure do worry about you down in the village what with your bein’ up here all alone.” Abigail stood her broom up against the porch railing and walked down the two rickety steps. Wiping her hands on her apron she approached Nathaniel.
“While I appreciate your compassion, you may tell the village that I have taken my refuge in the Lord. He has soothed my grief for my father’s passing and given me the strength to tend our property with my own two hands.” Nathaniel nodded.
“Yes, ma’am. I am certain that no one was questioning that the good Lord would provide for you. I rather think, however, that they feared that you may be suffering in isolation up here all alone in the hills.” Abigail straightened her apron and stared directly in to Nathaniel’s cool blue eyes.
“There is little time for suffering, Nathaniel. Anyone who thinks that there is may well have too much time on their hands.” Nathaniel nodded obediently. He had known Abigail Abbott since she was twelve years old and she had never wavered in her dedication to hard work nor her devotion to her Christian faith.
“Yes, ma’am.” Abigail tucked a few flyaway hairs under her bonnet and then gave Nathaniel an exasperated smile.
“Now, was there anything else? I don’t wish to be rude, but I have a birdhouse to clean, traps to check and firewood to stock all before sundown.” Nathaniel shook his head.
“No ma’am. If you might need a hand with any of your duties I’d be happy to offer.” Abigail seemed to consider his offer for a moment.
“You have no work of your own to complete today, Nathaniel?” He shook his head.
“No ma’am, my father relieved me of my duties today.” Abigail frowned, she disapproved of a man who didn’t work every day but the Sabbath. “Dust lung.” He added when he saw Abigail’s look of disapproval. Abigail nodded.
“Follow me.” She led him up the porch steps and through the large wooden front door to her cabin. “Sit there.” She pointed at a carved wooden chair next to the small wooden table. Nathaniel did as she instructed and watched her as she poured water into a pot and set it on top of the wood burning stove.
“This should have you feeling well quite soon.” She said as she took a small cup from a shelf beside the stove. “It is my mother’s recipe.” She began opening different small pots and taking out various ingredients, stuffing them into the bottom of the cup.
Nathaniel had never met Abigail’s mother, she had died before the family had reached the town of Bodie. Abigail didn’t speak of her much, she had been six when her mother died while giving birth to her brother – neither had survived.
“Thank you.” Nathaniel watched her pour the boiling water over the ingredients. Instantaneously the scent of thyme permeated the small one room cabin. The thought of drinking such a pungent concoction made his stomach knot, but the thought of offending Abigail was worse.
“Here you are, drink it all down.” Abigail set the cup on the table in front of him and returned to the kitchen to put another piece of wood on the stove. Nathaniel leaned over the cup, the smell was overpowering and he choked back a cough. Abigail turned back to him.
“Drink it, don’t smell it. It’s not going to do you any good just by smelling it.” Nathaniel took a deep breath, picked up the cup and drained it of its contents. Gasping for breath, he put the empty cup back on the table. Abigail nodded. “That’ll set you right in no time.” Nathaniel wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and stood up from the table.
Abigail stood at five feet five inches. She had a slender frame and a thick head of dark brown hair which she kept swept under her bonnet. Nathaniel dwarfed her at six feet two inches and while he wasn’t overweight, his muscular body made Abigail look like a wisp. Atop his head was a disheveled mop of brown hair which he kept covered with a granite colored western hat. Despite the fact that most of the women in Brodie found Nathaniel to be one of the most eligible bachelors, Abigail had never had any such thought. Certainly, she could agree that he was a handsome man and his healthy respect for the Lord was a plus, but she had no interest in nor time for seeking out any man’s affections.
“Thank you, ma’am. I reckon it just might.” He coughed dryly into his hand.
Chapter 2
A Model of Good Works
Abigail reluctantly agreed to allow Nathaniel to chop wood for her in return for her medicinal concoction. Nathaniel wasn’t the type of man who expected anything for free and truth be told, he would have moved heaven and Earth just to spend a little time with Abigail Abbott.
“Make sure to cut to the length of this stump, Nathaniel. Any longer and the wood will not fit in to the stove.” Nathaniel nodded.
“Yes, ma’am.” As he retrieved a log from the woodpile, Abigail tended to the chicken coop. With the axe in hand, he turned to face her. He had never known a woman to work as hard as Abigail Abbott, she could rival any man for the time she spent at work. Although it seemed unnatural, Nathaniel found something appealing about her indomitable work ethic. Where most women in Bodie took jobs as teachers, clothes makers and housemaids, Abigail took on the true spirit of a pioneer woman – she feared no job, no matter how masculine.
As Abigail bent over the chicken coup Nathaniel found himself staring at her rounded bottom. His cheeks flushed. The pause in chopping of the wood caused Abigail concern however and she soon straightened up and faced him.
“Is the job too much for you Nathaniel?” He blinked and shook his head slowly.
“No ma’am, I was just…” He wasn’t quite sure what to tell her as she stared at him questioningly. “I was just thinking that perhaps I ought to check the traps for you before chopping the wood. It would be far easier to chop wood in the darkness than to check the traps.” He breathed a silent sigh of relief at his quick thinking. Abigail pondered this idea for a moment before nodding.
“Let me fetch these eggs indoors and I will come with you.” She bent back over the chicken coop and picked up the remaining eggs one by one, placing them in a basket.
“I don’t mind going for you, so you can take care of your chores here.” Nathaniel offered. Abigail didn’t answer until she had placed all of the eggs in her basket and stood up straight.
“That is a very kind gesture, Nathaniel, but I would rather be there to see that each of God’s creatures are dispatched under the word of God.” Nathaniel nodded as Abigail took her basket of eggs back in to the cabin.
Nathaniel was no stranger to trapping, he and his father had trapped their land since they moved to Brodie. He never had thought to give any type of prayer for the animals that they trapped however, and thinking upon it now made him feel incredibly guilty.
“Miss. Abigail?” He asked, as the two walked across the brown grass field that lay behind Abigail’s cabin.
“Yes?” She held her skirt up with her hands as she walked.
“Do you suppose that even if we do not dispatch a creature under the word of the Lord, that the Lord knows that we are thankful for His creatures?” Abigail looked at Nathaniel with a smile touching her lips. She nodded.
“I believe that God always knows what is in our hearts.” She said. She couldn’t help the joyful giggle that followed and Nathaniel looked at her in puzzlement.
“What is it?” He questioned. Abigail looked down at the ground and shook her head.
“It’s just that a man like you, a man who spends his time working in the dirt, tilling the land…I didn’t expect such a compassionate question.” She giggled again.
“My father always used to tell me that I was a peculiar child for insisting that we dispatch our trappings with prayer.” She shrugged.
“I don’t think that I have ever met anyone who understands.” Nathaniel smiled at her.
“I understand. We have always given thanks for God’s bounty before we eat, so why shouldn’t we give thanks to the creature itself before we take its life?” Abigail nodded.
Abigail took the lead as she and Nathaniel entered a thick woodland.
“Just follow me. There are plenty of traps out here, you must be careful to follow me precisely.” Nathaniel nodded and took his place behind her. “I have six traps out in total, but three were checked early this morning, so we only need check the remaining three.” Nathaniel watched as Abigail stepped over large bundles of dried twigs and kicked her way through the start of autumn’s leaves.
When they got to the first trap, Abigail waved Nathaniel over to her side. A rotund raccoon struggled against the metal jaws that had snapped closed around its hind leg.
“Shhh shhhh…” Abigail approached it while Nathaniel stood back. “Shhh little one.” The creature stared up at her with wide eyes. Abigail reached down into her boot, pulling out a long steel knife.
“Dear God, we thank you for this beautiful creature and for allowing us to take its life so that we may live. Amen.” As she spoke the word ‘Amen,’ she reached down, grabbed the raccoon by the scruff of the neck and quickly cut its throat. Nathaniel watched in amazement. He had never seen anyone dispatch a trapped animal in such a way. Abigail reached down an opened the trap, releasing the dead raccoon and carrying it over to Nathaniel. “The bag please, Nathaniel.” Suddenly realizing that she was talking to him, he nodded and pulled out the burlap sack.
Abigail’s traps yielded nothing more than the single raccoon, but she seemed happy enough with the catch. They began making their way back to the cabin when Abigail surprised Nathaniel with a dinner invitation.
“There is more than enough meat on this to feed us both, I would like if you would join me for dinner. Think of it as my thanks for your accompanying me today.” Nathaniel smiled, he was flattered. For as long as he had known Abigail, he had never known her to entertain any man who wasn’t her father.
“That is very kind of you, but I am quite sure that mother would have supper prepared for my father and me.” When he saw Abigail’s face fall, he amended his reply. “Still, I am sure that father won’t say no to seconds.” Abigail smiled. She wasn’t used to requesting company, but after spending the day with Nathaniel she realized just how lonely things had been since her father died.
“I will get to preparing it once we get home. You can finish chopping the wood while I do.” Nathaniel nodded. It would be just as though they were man and wife.