Given (13 page)

Mary Katherine grew quiet. She loved being in his arms, loved his scent, loved his male bigness,
loved him
, but she didn't think that would be enough to sustain a marriage. She snuggled closer, thinking to herself that she'd have more time later to try to convince him that marriage was not an option.

When she felt his fingers begin to fondle her nipple through her nightgown, she drowsily placed an openmouthed kiss on his neck in response. Idly they played with each other. His hand traveled down to her buttocks; her fingers made their way into his shirt to play with his nipples.

Soon they were kissing wildly, and Mary Katherine was squirming in his lap and rubbing her ass against his cock. She pulled back in his arms. “It's been hours since you…you
know
.”

She didn't have to say anything more. “Can you take me? You're not too sore, are you?”

Quickly she shook her head in the negative and began to rise from his lap. “But we have to hurry back upstairs if we want to finish before dawn.”

The smile that broke across his face was pure wickedness. “You're new at this,” he said as he lifted her and turned her so she was sitting astride his lap, “so you don't know that we can do this just about anywhere.” He finished speaking and pushed her gown up until it was around her waist.

“Sweetheart, I want you to hold on to the back of the chair and lift yourself up for a minute,” he told her, and when she did, he undid his pants. “Hold on tight now.” He placed one hand on her hip, and using the other to hold his cock in place, he slowly began to lower her until she was taking him in.

Mary Katherine winced but gamely lowered herself until his penis was completely inside her.

“That's it, sweetheart,” he encouraged. “Feel good?” When she nodded, he tightened his grip on her hip. “Wonderful. Now ride.”

Her fingernails digging into the wood of the chair, Mary Katherine slowly began to undulate until she found a comfortable rhythm.

Dawn was just streaking across the sky by the time she completed her first-ever—and extremely enjoyable—riding lesson in a chair.

* * *

And two days later Mary Katherine Day took Jacob Michael Adams for her lawfully wedded husband in a brief ceremony after church services.

“You be good while I'm gone,” Jacob teased Mary Katherine as he held her in the circle of his arms.

Mary Katherine rolled her eyes and plucked at a loose thread in his shirt. “Just what kind of trouble do you think I'm going to get into while you're away, Mr. Adams?”

“I don't know, Mrs. Adams,” he said playfully. “But a stubborn woman like you can always think of something.”

As usual, Mary Katherine felt giddy when he or anyone else called her “Mrs. Adams.” They'd been man and wife for little more than a week, but she found herself adjusting surprisingly well to her new status. Jacob had moved himself and his things into her house immediately following the ceremony. She'd thought it would be difficult to adjust to living with someone, particularly a man, but Jacob had proved himself quite easy to live with.

He was undemanding, and twice he'd even cooked dinner. He didn't try to take over her life, and for that she was grateful. They'd quickly fallen into a routine of sorts. He'd wake her with a round of early-morning lovemaking, after which they'd wash and dress for the day. Following breakfast together, he'd walk her next door to the general store, and after making sure everything was in order, he'd head off to work with his father and brother. Lunch was usually spent apart: she worked through it with occasional bites of food squeezed in, while he ate with his father and Matthew. Twice he'd come to the store for what he called his afternoon treat, and they'd sneaked home to make love. The first time he'd come home for it she'd been scandalized. The second time she beat him to the door.

Their days were mostly spent apart, but their nights were spent together in unadulterated pleasure. Mary Katherine had discovered that she'd married an insatiable man who didn't see anything wrong with teaching her how to be the same. And she was quickly learning and catching up to him.

“What are you thinking about?” he whispered. “I can tell it's something naughty, because your nipples are hard. They're pokin' at me.”

Automatically Mary Katherine looked down before she realized what she was doing. Her head snapped up, and her lips twitched when she saw his mischievous grin. “You stop teasing me, Jacob Adams, or—”

“Or what?” he said seductively and bent his head to rub his lips against hers. “What are you going to do to me?” He teased her mouth with his until she was on her toes to initiate a deeper kiss.

“Now I'm only going over to Ripley to see Doc Quinn,” he said when they broke apart. “So I'll be back tonight, but I want you to tell me you'll miss me while I'm gone.”

“I'll miss you while you're gone,” she replied obediently and watched as a pleased smile practically split his face in two. She gave him a light pinch on his side. “Does the sentiment go both ways?”

“Of course, my sweet Kate.
I'll miss you too.” He kissed her nose and let his arms drop from around her, but took her hand. “Now let's go over and get you set up for work.”

* * *

Mary Katherine nervously straightened a bolt of calico that needed no straightening. From the corner of her eye, she watched the two white men stalk her store. The men were dirty and insolent, and they smelled…unclean. They hadn't said one word in the five minutes they'd been inside, but with every fiber of her being, she knew they were going to do their best to destroy her store. Malevolence shimmered off them in waves.

When she saw one of them raise his arm and aim it toward her display counter, she rushed over and stood in front of it, holding her arms out to protect the glassware and other things that were showcased there. “Uh. May I help you, gentlemen?” she asked and winced at the quaking she heard in her voice.

The man stepped forward, deliberately brushing his body against hers and causing Mary Katherine to cringe in revulsion. He stuck his face in hers. “You'll do whatever I want you to do, nigger, whether you want to or not.”

Mary Katherine swallowed and took a step sideways in an effort to get away from him. “I don't know what you mean,” she said with dignity, knowing that no matter what she said or how she acted this confrontation was going to end badly for her. She wished she'd followed her instinct and run out the back door when she saw them come in. Over the first man's shoulder, she watched the other man stick his filthy hand in a jar of peppermints and put a fistful of them in his pocket.

“Oh, you know what I mean, all right, girly,” her bully said and clamped his hand on her upper arm.

Mary Katherine jerked her arm and said between clenched teeth, “Let go of me.”

The man laughed and pulled her close enough that she smelled his foul breath. “Not on your life, nigger.”

* * *

“Papa,” Grace called urgently as she ran into the family's shop. “Do you smell it? Don't you smell it?” she cried desperately when he only looked blankly at her. “It's that sulfur-and-brimstone combination Jacob described a few weeks ago. I was outside watering the roses, when the smell was suddenly there. It's almost suffocating.” She grabbed his arm and started tugging him toward the door. “Come on. We've got to go!”

“What's going on?” Matthew demanded as he came from the back room. “Where are you going?”

“We don't know yet,” Caleb said over his shoulder as he followed Grace out the door, “but someone's in trouble. Come on!”

* * *

Heart pounding, breath panting, Mary Katherine struggled to get out of the man's tight hold as, behind her, she felt blindly along the shelf of the display case for something to defend herself with. She knew she wouldn't be able to take care of both men, but she was determined that she was going to take one of them down with her. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about Jacob and the life they'd just begun together. Her fingers closed around a heavy object, and she gripped it gratefully when she recognized that it was a paperweight.

“I said let go of me,” she shouted as she swung her arm in a wide arc. The force of the blow she made to the side of his head sent vibrations down her arm. Mary Katherine barely took notice of them as she fell back from the man's suddenly loose grip. She watched as he fell to his knees, holding his head and screaming in pain.

His cohort yelled angrily and ran over to see to his friend. Mary Katherine took refuge behind the display counter, intending to continue running and escape through the back door. Her hair was grabbed from behind, and her neck snapped back, making her grunt in pain. Her neck was bent back so far that she could see the man's angry, ferocious face as he threatened her.

“Oh no, you don't nigger! I'm going to kill you!”

The ringing bell signaled that someone else had come into the store, and Mary Katherine would have sank to her knees in relief if she'd been able to.

“Let her go!” she heard Caleb Adams demand.

In the process of turning around, the man had to let her go, and Mary Katherine quickly scrambled out of his reach. She turned around and jerked in surprise to see Caleb, Matthew,
and
Grace standing in her store. She frowned. For some reason they didn't look like this was just a happenstance rescue. The thought was fleeting and soon left her mind when her assailant spoke.

“Who the hell do you think you're talking to, nigger?”

A terrible smile spread slowly across Caleb's face, and Mary Katherine shivered. “Oh, I know exactly who I'm talking to, Thakathi demon,” Caleb said softly with confidence.

The store was suddenly filled with a strange sense of anticipation that Mary Katherine had never experienced before, and her assailant seemed to cower right before her eyes. All the Adamses seemed prepared to battle, if necessary. Something was not right. She frowned again. And what was it Mr. Adams had said?
Tha-what?

“Come out from over there, Mary Katherine!”

The command was hard and forceful, and she looked over at Matthew, who had his arm stretched out in welcome, but had not taken his eyes off the two men. It didn't occur to her to disobey, and she rushed over to his side. He grabbed her arm and shoved her behind him, and soon she was behind the protective barricade of Matthew and Grace. She hadn't even seen Grace move.

Mary Katherine could no longer see anything, but she heard running footsteps and then her back door slam, so she assumed at least one of the white men had run out. At the slam of the door, she felt her body deflate of tension. Covering her mouth with one hand, she bent over and began to sob.

She felt someone stroking her hair and, over her sobs, heard Grace say soothingly, “It's all right, Mary. Come on. Come with me to my house. You're going to be all right. Don't worry about the store; Matthew will stay.”

She let herself be led from her store and over to the Adamses, unthinking even about the fate of the man who hadn't gotten away.

* * *

The family sat around the kitchen table later that night.

“Is Mary Katherine all right, Jacob?” Caleb asked.

Jacob nodded. “Yes, she was finally able to sleep. But we must hurry because I want to get back to her.”