Indiana Wild (Spirit Pass Book 1) (9 page)

“
Damnation, that hurt! Will you stop?” Jonathan bellowed out.

“
Never!” Indy panted, struggling to break free. “I’ll fight you all the way to hell and back if I have to!”

With all the commotion going on between the dogs barking, the horses fighting the men, and Jonathan and Indy yelling no one heard the riders coming in until Jacob yelled above all the noise. He pulled his horse up and stared in disbelief
as his older brother by two minutes fought with a woman. This was not what he expected to see when he rode in.

“
What the hell is going on?” Jacob yelled loudly, looking at the chaos with disbelief.

Ed Rawlings looked down with amusement as the little filly under Jonathan took advantage of his distraction to head butt him again, this time hitting him in the mout
h. Jacob had told him a little about what was going on but he never expected to come back to the ranch house to find the boss getting his butt kicked by someone half his size.

“
Damn it! Will you stop that? I think you’ve busted both my nose and my lip now,” Jonathan growled down at Indy.

“
Yeah, well move half an inch to the right and I’ll include your balls with that!” Indy snarled, still fighting.

The sound of laughter echoed around the yard as the other men who had ridden in heard Indy’s reply. This was the best entertainment they’d had in the last six weeks. They watched in amusement as Jonathan tried to keep a grip on the female who was just as determined to get away from him. This was something none of them had ever seen as it was usually the other way around.

“Jacob, will you get your ass down here with some rope and help me? Ed, help Jake with the horses and someone shut those damn dogs up!” Jonathan snarled out.

“
You leave my horses and dogs alone, you asshole. I’ll skin your scrawny ass if you hurt them! Do you hear me? I’ll…,” Indy yelled out as she struggled to break free from Jonathan’s determined grip.

Jonathan didn’t wait to hear what else Indy was going to do to him. He shut her up the only way he could think of - by kissing her. He held her firmly against him
, refusing to let her get away. Her arms were stretched high over her head and his body pinned her to the ground under him.

Jacob chuckled as he got down off his horse and pulled out some rope. He knew life was going to be interesting.
He just hadn’t expected it to be quite this entertaining. Coughing lightly, he leaned down looking at his brother who was kissing the very feisty, furious female.

“
The rope?” Jacob said.

Jonathan pulled back just far enough to mutter swift instructions out to his brother.
“Tie her damn hands, then her feet. If I get off her…. Damn it! Stop that…. She’ll run,” he bit out, nursing another bruise on his jaw when Indy head butted him again. He grabbed her forehead holding it to the ground as Jacob took over her arms.

“
Jacob, I’ll castrate you for this!” Indy threatened, her voice thick with tears of frustration, anger and hurt. “I’ll use the rustiest knife I have to cut your balls off and I’ll hang them on the trailer hitch of my pickup truck so everyone will know. You’ll never have kids by the time I get done with either of you,” she promised hoarsely as she felt the tug on her wrists when Jacob tightened the rope.

Jacob winced.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing, brother. You might want to tie her to your bed tonight while you sleep,” he advised trying not to laugh.

“
I’ll be long gone by tonight. I don’t work for you anymore. You can’t hold me against my will. This is kidnapping!” Indy said kicking as much as she could when Jacob moved down to tie her feet.

“
No you won’t,” Jonathan said, sitting up and straddling Indy who was tied up again. “Where’s the knife?”

“
Go to hell,” Indy snarled out savagely.

Jonathan was just about to search Indy when the sound of the buckboard returning drew his attention. It was Carl with the preacher and his wife. He would have to give Carl a bonus, he had made
the trip in record time. The preacher and his wife were staring at him in horror, taking in Jonathan’s rumpled figure, Indy’s tied one, and the men still fighting with the horses and dogs.

Jonathan glared at Ed.
“Will you get those damn horses out of here? I told Jake where to put them.” Ed grinned and called out to several of the men, telling them to get the horses moved out.

“
Indy, tell the dogs to stand down now. If they attack any of the men, I’ll put a bullet in them,” Jonathan demanded coldly.

Indy looked up at Jonathan with pure hatred in her gaze. Tightening her lips, she let out a sharp whistle followed by a movement of her hands. Both dogs immediately calmed down. They were panting and their eyes never left Indy but they were at least finally quiet.

“Mr. Tucker, may I inquire as to what is going on? I was under the impression you wanted me to perform a marriage?” The preacher asked, helping his wife down off the wagon.

Indy’s eyes widened as she stared up startled at Jonathan. Marriage? This was a hell of
a time for someone to get married.

“
Yes I do, Mr. Blackburn,” Jonathan said sitting on a now quiet Indy.

“
And who may I ask is getting married?” Mr. Blackburn asked, looking at Jonathan’s bloody nose and lip then down on a dust covered Indy lying tied up under him.

“
I am,” Jonathan said slowly getting up and pulling Indy up with him as he stood. Tossing her over his shoulder, he started moving toward the front porch of the ranch house.

“
And who will you be marrying?” Mr. Blackburn asked trying to keep the twitch of laughter from escaping.

“
Why, this here filly I’ve caught,” Jonathan replied calmly as he moved up the stairs and into the house.

Indy had
had enough of the jokes. She looked up at the preacher and his wife ready to scream for help when she stopped and stared in disbelief at what the woman was wearing. She had never seen a dress like what the woman had on except in an old western movie. Shaking her head, she tried to prop herself up far enough to glare at Jacob and the preacher.

“
I’m not marrying anyone! I told you I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth! Mister, you’ve got to help me. I just came for my paycheck. Tell him he’s making a mistake and needs to let me go. I’ll be gone so fast…” Indy’s voice faded off as she saw the preacher shaking his head. His wife looked horrified at her appearance.

Moving into the office, Jonathan sat Indy down on the sofa holding her there with a hand to her shoulder.

“Wally!” Jonathan yelled out.

“
Yes, Mr. Jonathan?” Wally scuttled into the office.

“
Get a hot bath set up in my room upstairs,” Jonathan said. “Also, get the trunk that belonged to my mother out and moved into it,” he ordered briskly.

Jacob walked in grinning as he looked at Indy’s determined face set in mute defiance. He had a feeling fireworks were going to fly before the night was over. For a moment he felt a wave of envy wash through him. If Indy was as passionate in bed as she was out of it
, she would drive a man to distraction. He hoped he could find a girl like her one day.

“
Mr. Blackburn, please begin,” Jonathan said tightening his hold on Indy’s shoulder when she started to move.

“
Now?” Mr. Blackburn stammered out looking at the two of them. He had attended a number of shotgun weddings where the men were tied up. He had never been in the position where the woman was the one fighting the wedding.

“
Yes, now. Miss…” Jonathan stopped suddenly as he realized he didn’t even know Indy’s full name. “What is your name?”

“
You don’t even know her name?” Mrs. Blackburn gasped, her eyes huge in her otherwise plain face.

“
It’s go-to-hell,” Indy said through clenched teeth. “That’s Ms. to you,” she added with a hiss, staring daggers at Jonathan.

Jonathan looked at Indy for a moment before kneeling in front of her. He grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her deeply ignoring the outraged gasp from Mrs. Blackburn and the discrete cough Mr. Blackburn tried to give at such improprieties.

Pulling back slightly, Jonathan stared into Indy’s darkened eyes. “What is your name? I plan to marry you with or without it,” he asked softly.

Indy stared deeply into Jonathan’s soft, concerned eyes.
“Indy…. Indiana Wild,” she whispered suddenly feeling very, very confused by what was happening.

Her eyes darted around taking in the strangely dressed couple, Jacob’s sympathetic smile, Jonathan’s determined face and the antique furniture in the room. She hadn’t paid attention to it when she had came in earlier but now everything seemed to be overwhelming her. Something was off and she couldn’t figure it out. She looked back into Jonathan’s soft eyes again.

Gently running his hand down her cheek, he leaned in and kissed her tenderly again before standing. Turning to the preacher and his wife, Jonathan nodded for him to continue. Indy sat in a daze as the preacher began the wedding. She vaguely heard Jonathan say, “I, Jonathan Ryan Tucker, do take…”

Indy didn’t even remember saying ‘I do’ when the preacher asked but she must have because the last thing she heard was him saying ‘You may kiss the bride’ and Jonathan bending and kissing her again.

I really do have such a hard time thinking straight when he kisses me,
Indy thought vaguely.

Jonathan and the preacher walked over to the desk so the preacher could fill out the paperwork proving he had married them.
She could hear them talking quietly but everything seemed surreal. She focused on the preacher’s wife as she walked over to sit next to her on the long couch.

Patting Indy on the knee, Mrs. Blackburn spoke sternly.
“I must say, Mrs. Tucker, this has to be one of the most unusual weddings I’ve ever attended. I hope you realize it was extremely nice of Mr. Tucker to marry you to save your reputation. I can’t imagine living alone for over a month with nothing but men. My, but if he hadn’t married you I can’t imagine any man wanting you. You know many women are going to be very upset you took one of the Tucker men out of the marriage pool. Why women for over a hundred miles have been trying to catch one of those boys,” Mrs. Blackburn continued to rattle on.

Indy finally looked at her and said the first thing she could think of.
“Why are you dressed so funny?” She asked quietly.

Mrs. Blackburn gasped
, putting her hand to her throat. “Why this is the latest fashion,” she said wth a huff of her breath.

“
Yeah, if you live in the 1800’s maybe,” Indy muttered looking up as the preacher approached her.

The preacher cleared his throat as he stood in front of her.
“Mrs. Tucker, can you sign this with your hands tied?” He asked hesitantly.

Indy looked down at her hands then at the paper, nodding slowly. When the preacher handed her an old fashion
ed quill,  looked at it with a puzzled expression. They wanted her to sign her wedding certificate with a quill?

“
If you can’t spell, you can put an X on the line and I’ll write your name in,” the preacher said gently.

Indy looked up with a frown.
“Of course I can write. I have a college education. I’ve just never used a quill before. Don’t you have a regular pen?” Indy asked, confused.

“
Just sign the paper, Indy,” Jonathan said impatiently.

He wanted to get this done and over with so there could be no doubt that she belonged to him. Once she signed, there would be no going back. She would be his and he already had plans to make sure there was no denying she
belonged to him once he got her upstairs.

Indy signed the paper
, pausing at the date. Her eyes widened when she saw Jonathan and the preacher had both dated the paper May 3, 1867. What the hell? Indy’s eyes flew up to the top of the marriage certificate. It also said in the year of our Lord, May 3, 1867.

Indy’s eyes searched Jonathan’s face to see if this was all a joke. It must be, the way the preacher’s wife was dressed, the
wagon they had ridden in on, and the marriage certificate. It was just a fake. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out why but she felt a sense of relief that this was just some weird joke. Shrugging her shoulders, she signed it the same date as the others had. As far as she was concerned, she wasn’t really married. As soon as Jonathan untied her, she would wish him happiness for the future and head for the mountains as fast as she could once she got Midnight, Kahlua, and the dogs.

Jonathan let out a sigh of relief as Indy handed the paper back to the preacher who said he would file a copy of it with the local territorial courts. Pulling a few coins out, he thanked the preacher and his wife for their assistance and told them he would have Carl return them to town. The preacher’s wife
leaned toward Indy and awkwardly gave her a brief peck on the cheek, wishing her congratulations on her marriage.