STORY EXCERPT

Emmett watched the doctor cut away the shoulder of her dress, bracing himself for what came next.

As he’d expected, the doctor turned to meet his gaze. “I need you to hold her. If she doesn’t move, I can do this quickly. If she moves, it could cause even more damage.”

Emmett inclined his head and met Leonora’s gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“Just do it. Don’t let me move.”

“I won’t.” Emmett held her firmly, clenching her jaw through her cries and struggles as the doctor removed the bullet. “Come on, Doc. Get it out.”

The doctor lifted the forceps from her wound, the bullet clasped in them. “It’s out.”

Emmett grabbed the cloth again and wiped the tears and sweat from Leonora’s face and neck. “You’re so brave. Just a little more for Doc to stitch it up.”

“Can I hold on to you?”

Emmett smiled. “Dynamite couldn’t tear me away.”

Leonora nodded, her smile tense. “Thank you. How’s Pa?”

“Pa!”

Leonora grimaced when her brothers, Stan and Henry, burst into the doctor’s office. “Lord have mercy. Doc, please hurry.”

“Pa! What happened?” Stan rushed to his father’s side, paling when his father didn’t answer.

Eb stopped Henry from shaking him. “He’s resting. It’s his heart. He needs rest and quiet.”

Henry rushed over to stand at the foot of the cot, glaring down at Leonora. “We heard he was shot. What the hell are you doin’, lyin’ down instead of sittin’ with Pa?”

Emmett didn’t often lose his temper, but he came perilously close. “Do you see the doctor workin’ on her? The blood?”

Leonora gripped his hand tighter and winced when the doctor pierced her skin with the needle. “Shootout. I got shot.”

Eb seemed to recognize Emmett’s mood and moved to stand between him and Henry. “There was a shootout in the street. A stray bullet shattered the store window and hit your sister.”

Emmett held Leonora’s gaze. “Almost done. Right, Doc?”

Doc smiled, not appearing at all intimidated by his tone. “One more stitch. Henry, Stan, if you can’t be quiet, get out.”

“What the hell were you doin’ in the store? I told you to sew my shirt!” Stan’s anger toward Leonora frayed the edges of the control Emmett fought for. “I’ll bet you didn’t fix supper either! Doc, finish fixin’ her up so we can take her home to make supper.”

“Stop talkin’ to your sister that way.”

Eb rushed back to Tillman’s bed. “Easy, Tillman. Don’t get worked up.”

“If I die—”

“You’re not gonna die. Just lie back and relax.” Eb’s low tone contrasted sharply with the anger glittering in his eyes.

“If I die, they’re gonna make her their slave.”

Emmett turned back to Leonora, breathing a sigh of relief when the doctor tied off the last stitch. “Can she have a little more laudanum?”

Leonora shook her head, wincing. “No. Pa needs it. I have to go back to the shop and board up the window.”

Emmett turned to glare at Stan and Henry. “No. You’re not. I think Stan and Henry can handle that.”

Eb bent low and spoke to Tillman. “We took our order, and I went to the bank and gave them the money. They’re puttin’ it in your account.”

“Thank you.”

Henry turned. “You coulda given it to me.”

Tillman took a deep breath and winced. “You woulda spent it at the saloon. Lee, you need to get married. If I die, your brothers ain’t gonna ever let you get married.”

Leonora released Emmett and used her good arm to try to sit up, but Emmett caught her, flattening a hand on her back to hold her up.

“Easy.”

Leonora had paled even more. “Pa, I’m not marrying Charlie Mason.”

The doctor bandaged her shoulder and glanced at Emmett. “Hold her arm here so I can put the sling on.”

Keeping a hand at her back to support her, Emmett held her arm in place, furious at her brothers. “Calm down, darlin’.”

Stan leapt forward, clearly enraged, but he stopped abruptly when he saw Eb’s and Emmett’s faces. “She’s our sister. You can leave now. We’ll take care of her. Come on, Lee. Let’s go home. We’re hungry.”

Emmett waited until the doctor had finished securing the sling before rising to his feet, enraged. “She’s not going home with you.”

Stan placed his hands on his hips, probably in the hopes of making himself look bigger, when both of Lenora’s brothers were the same height as her and barely came up to his shoulder and were so thin that a strong gust of wind could blow them over. “This is none of your business. Henry and I will take care of everything until Pa’s better.”

Eb shifted slightly, placing himself between Emmett and Leonora’s brothers. “Emmett, we—”

Emmett strode past Eb. “She’s not going home and cooking dinner for you.”

“She’s our sister, and as long as Pa is under the weather, we’re in charge of her.”

Emmett’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. “In charge? Not that you’re responsible for taking care of her, but that you’re in charge of her? She’s a woman, and she’s been shot!”

Henry shrugged. “It’s not like she’s a dainty little thing. She’s as tall as we are and strong as a horse.”

Eb chuckled. “She’s as small and dainty as you both are.” He lowered his voice. “So what are we doin’ here, Emmett?”

Emmett scraped a hand over his jaw, watching Leonora leaning back against a pillow and apparently sleeping. “I can’t leave her here with them. Tillman’s gonna be out of commission for weeks. If he survives.”

“So what do you want to do?”

Emmett looked back at Leonora again. “I’m gonna marry her and take her back to the ranch.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Excited at the thought of it, Emmett leaned over her, his face inches from hers. “While you’re relaxed and the laudanum is easing your pain, I’m going to use my finger to break through your virginity. The water will soothe you, and it’ll make it easier.”

Leonora blinked several times, appearing confused. “I don’t understand.”

Lowering his head, Emmett smiled faintly. “I’m sure you don’t. My cock is much bigger than my finger, Lee. It’ll hurt less, and the laudanum will help.”

Flushing even more, Leonora sucked in a breath when he ran the cloth over her breast. “You’re my husband.”

“That’s right.” He focused his attention on her nipple, brushing his lips lightly over hers before lifting his head again to watch her face. “Your virginity belongs to me as well as the rest of you. Taking it this way will cause less pain, and you can heal there while your shoulder’s healin’.”

“Is it gonna hurt a lot?”

He moved his attention to her other breast, careful not to get the towel on her shoulder wet. “It’s going to hurt some, but the way I want to do this will hurt less. That’s why I’m gonna do it. I want you to spread your legs. Press them against the sides of the bathtub.”

Leonora once again obeyed him, disoriented by the awareness that made her nipples ache. Missing his attention to them when he slid the soapy cloth lower to her belly, Leonora moved restlessly in the tub, the ache in her nipples and at her slit unsettling.

Crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to relieve the ache there, she leaned forward, only to have Emmett’s large hand flatten on the middle of her chest and gently push her back.

“No. I want you to lie back, and I want you to keep your hands at your sides. Don’t cover yourself from me.”

He slid a hand over her breast and, to her surprise, bent to close his lips over it. “You’ve got the most beautiful breasts.”

Leonora fisted her hands at her sides, moaning at the pleasure. “Emmett!”

Rising to his knees again, he bent over her, cupping the back of her head while caressing her breast, focusing most of his attention on her nipple. “Yes, little one. You’re very responsive. That feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Is it supposed to be this way?”

“For us it is. I’m gonna make it feel even better. I want to give you pleasure.”

“You are! I thought only men were supposed to get pleasure.”

“No man worth his salt leaves a woman unsatisfied. This is a different kind of pleasure. It’s going to make it easier for both of us when I take your virginity.”

Leonora’s breathing became harsher when Emmett slid his hand between her legs, the intimacy of being touched there almost overwhelming. “Emmett!”

A harsh cry escaped when he slid a fingertip inside her. “Please! I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.”

Emmett touched his lips to hers and lifted his head to stare down at her again. “This is mine, now. You’re mine now. You’re gonna have to trust me on this.”

“I don’t seem to have any choice.”

Emmett’s eyes narrowed. “No. You don’t.”

Her breathing became even harsher and faster when he slid his finger deeper. Crying out at the sudden stinging sensation inside her, she gripped his forearm. “Please! It hurts.”

“That’s your virginity. Fuck this. I’ll please you afterward.”

Leonora cried out at the sharp stinging sensation, tears burning her eyes. “Oh! It hurts.”

Emmett’s features softened. “Pain’s over. That’s it.”

Leonora breathed a sigh of relief when he slid his finger free. “Oh. It won’t hurt anymore?”

“It’s gonna be tight when I take you, but you won’t ever feel that pain again.”

Lifting his head, he smiled down at her. “You did good, honey. Now, I’m gonna give you that pleasure.”

“No. Please! It still hurts there.”

He brushed his fingertip back and forth over a place between her legs that was so sensitive that it made her jolt. “I’m not gonna touch you there anymore tonight. I’m gonna touch you here. It’s gonna feel real good.”

Cry after cry escaped, the pleasure almost too sharp to bear. “Please! I can’t.”

“You can, little one. You don’t have to do anything except feel good while I stroke your clit.”

“My…?”

“Clit.” Emmett smiled and brushed his lips over hers again. “I’m gonna spend a lot of time strokin’ this clit. I’m gonna use my mouth on it sometimes, too.”

Leonora pressed her legs together against the overwhelming pleasure. “You can’t.”

Emmett nipped at her bottom lip, just hard enough to be a warning but not hard enough to hurt. “I can do whatever I want to do to you…with you. Yes, you like that, don’t you?”

“It’s so wicked!”

Leonora wondered what it said about her that she liked something so decadent. “I can’t like this! Please, Emmett! Oh God. What’s happening?”

Her clit burned, and then suddenly she found her body suffused in a warm pleasure unlike anything she could have ever imagined.

Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, so intense that she cried out over and over, gripping his arm to steady herself while her world spun out of control.

Slipping his hand from between her legs, he bent to kiss her, a kiss that made her even dizzier.

When he lifted his head again, he settled her back against the edge of the bathtub again. “That’s my good girl.”