Staking Their Claim (14 page)
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Authors: Ava Sinclair
The Doctor’s Little Ward
After the death of her deeply indebted father, nineteen-year-old Abigail Barrow faces a hard future in the workhouses of nineteenth-century London. Her only hope lies in a marriage to Dr. Simon Abbott, a man whose life her father once saved while they both served in Her Majesty’s Navy. But with no education and no dowry, she can hardly expect the esteemed doctor to agree to the match, especially when her sharp tongue earns her a trip over his knee for a humiliating bare-bottom spanking during their very first meeting.
The reserved Dr. Abbott has long avoided marriage, knowing that what he seeks in a wife is not easy to find. Abigail’s response to his firm chastisement convinces him that she is just the woman he needs, but she will require training to be a properly submissive wife, and thus before he makes her his bride he decides to bring her into his home as his ward.
On her first day in Simon’s home, Abigail finds herself stripped naked, bathed like a child, and then dressed in clothing befitting a little girl. Worse still, her failure to obey her new guardian promptly results in a swift and painful punishment applied to her bare backside. Yet Simon’s strict discipline is accompanied by gentle, loving care, and as the days pass his intimate attentions awaken a powerful need within her. When she lies on the doctor’s exam table, exposed, vulnerable, and blushing crimson, Abigail cannot help aching for him to claim her. But can there be a permanent place for her in Simon’s life as both his wife and his little ward?
Her Highland Guardian
As a modern-minded woman in the year 2657, Dr. Mary Malone is less than thrilled with the task of documenting the domestic life of a married couple in the eighteenth-century Scottish highlands. But though she is appalled by the fact that men in that barely civilized era were known to take it upon themselves to discipline their wives—with a firm hand or a leather strap applied to the bare bottom, no less—she is a historian who takes her duties seriously, even when they involve travelling through time to a bygone age.
Unfortunately for her, something goes horribly wrong on what was to be her final visit, and Mary is left stranded in the highlands with no way to return home. Worse still, she is no longer merely an invisible, untouchable observer of this world. She is there in the flesh, helpless and alone, and to top it all off, she is accosted and accused of witchcraft almost instantly upon being seen.
Clan chieftain Alastair McDonald is pretty sure the mysterious, beautiful woman who makes an unexplained appearance in his village isn’t a witch, though the way she captures his heart from the moment he sets eyes on her does seem like magic. When he learns the truth, he realizes that if she is to be kept safe Mary will have to get used to doing as she is told. He is more than ready to teach her obedience, but what she truly needs is a guardian to love, guide, and care for her.
Alastair is not a man to be trifled with, and when she persists in defying him Mary quickly discovers that a bare-bottom spanking is not the only way to punish a naughty little lass. But though she blushes to admit it, his dominance excites her more than she ever could have imagined and she soon finds herself yearning for more. Yet even as she grows to love her life at his side, she knows that one day she may face a fateful choice. If given the chance to return home, would she leave her highland guardian behind?
Ava Sinclair Links
You can keep up with Ava Sinclair via her blog, her Facebook page, and her Goodreads profile, using the following links:
http://www.anaccomplishedlady.com/
https://www.facebook.com/people/Elsa-Black/100009201447313
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7223083.Ava_Sinclair
Table of Contents
Chapter Two: The Cowboy and the Englishman
Chapter Three: An Imposter’s Punishment
Chapter Four: The Miners’ Ward
Chapter Five: A Taste of English Discipline
Chapter Six: Twice the Confusion
Chapter Seven: Double the Conflict
Chapter Ten: Promises and Vows
Chapter Eleven: Nurse Mab’s Remedy
Chapter Twelve: Stolen Treasure
Chapter Thirteen: The Final Claim