Alicia's Misfortune (37 page)

Hailey awoke. He nudged her gently.

“Wake up,” he said. “This will only take a minute.”

She squinted. The daylight was going. The big hands lifted
her again, and she was on the ground. He took her hand and together they
entered a chapel where a minister as waiting for them. She knew. He was going
to get the marrying over with as soon as possible.

“Wait a minute,” she said.

“We have not been introduced and you expect me to marry
you?” she said.

“I was thinking I would take you to my home and it would not
be decent for an unmarried woman to share the roof of an unmarried man. I would
leave you here in Dodge but I don’t feel you would be safe. I am only thinking
of you,” he said. “Charlie Halverson.



“Charles,” she said.

“Charlie,” he corrected. “And you are?”

“Hailey Elise Blevins,” she replied.

“You don’t say?” he arched his brow. “Well now, Miss
Blevins. That will be the last time you’ll give that answer when someone asks
you your name,” he said softly.

He pulled a paper out of his shirt pocket and some silver
and handed them to the minister.
 
Hailey
and Charlie signed a book of the preacher’s. He read a brief script.
 
He and his wife witnessed their vows and that
was that. She was now Mrs. Charles Anthony Halverson.

“You may kiss the bride,” announced the preacher.

Hailey wasn’t really paying attention to details until the
preacher said those words.
 
She came back
to reality. Charlie took her face in his large, powerful hands.
 
He looked her in the eyes with a dreamy,
almost mournful look and slowly lowered his mouth to hers.
  

His lips were so soft. And when he pressed them slowly,
brushing them against hers, her nerves buzzed. Like a wildfire, she body was
rushed with heat. She shivered with his touch and her breath hitched in her
chest. Something told her he was just teasing her. Taking it easy on her. It
was a good thing. She could probably not handle it if he came on to her any
stronger.

She was glad that she married but part of her was sad. She
had hoped as a little girl that when she grew up to be married that the
ceremony would be filled with her family and friends. A ten-minute ceremony on
the fly was not what she had envisioned.
 
And it was her one and only chance at getting married.

She was also heart sick that she had married under a false
pretense. Her poor new husband was none the wiser. He had married the wrong
sister. The only sister.
 
But not the
sister he contracted to marry. She would make it up to her handsome new husband
by being the best, most dutiful and loving wife ever.

Once again the powerful hands on her waist swung her into
the buggy. Lifted her like she was a broom he put away. Charlie snapped the
reigns before wrapping his giant arm around her, encouraging her lean on him as
he drove off.
 
It wasn’t a very long ride
but it was just long enough to make her feel tortured. The blisters from the
long ride were unbearable.

She tried not to make complaining faces but the pain from
some of the bumps and grinds were impossible to mask. He caught on to her
discomfort.

“Almost there,” he assured her.

There. It was not the cowboy shanty she expected to have to
simply tolerate. From what she gathered after reading Charlie’s letters she
expected the house she would come to live in to be a dusty dirty rough
structure with dirt floors and glassless windows. It was what she envisioned.
She was willing to set her relatively comfortable life in Wichita for that
notion if it meant keeping the dreams and memory of her sister alive.

But as the road arched up the hill, now lined with
equestrian and cattle fences, she spied a beautiful home at the end of a long
drive. Set off to the side of it were other neatly built structures. A massive
barn. What looked to be a storehouse and what looked like a small house where
she guessed the cowboys lived. This must be where she and her new husband would
make their home.

But the buggy moved past the little cluster of structures
and the barn on to the main house.
 
Hailey was confused but she assumed he knew what he was doing.
 
She just followed his lead. He lifted her off
the buggy. She assumed that while she was married and still lithe, he would be
doing that. She would have to eventually do it for herself or lose the ability
to.

An older man and a woman came out of the house and greeted
them. They began unloaded the buggy.

“Evening Mr. Halverson,” said the older man.

“Evening Hale,” said Charlie.

“You’re a married man then sir?” asked Hale.

“I am indeed. This is Mrs. Halverson, Hale and Willa. This
is Hailey. Hailey these are two of the finest people you’ll meet just about
anywhere,” said Charlie.

“Thank you sir. Please to meet you missus,” said Hale. Willa
just smiled.

When the house servants carried their bags into the house
ahead of them, Hailey grabbed Charlie’s arm. His eyes were smoky as they
glanced her grip on him.

“They called you ‘sir’,” she said confusedly.

“Yes. They work for me,” he explained softly.

“But you’re a cowboy,” said Hailey.

He tilted his head. “Yes, I am. I’m a cattleman. A rancher.
This is my ranch.
 
Well, our ranch.”

Hailey was stunned. She paused, trying to sort it all out.

“Do you mean to say you didn’t understand that when you
agreed to marry me?” he asked.

“No I didn’t,” she replied. A sudden unexplainable surge of
emotion pushed against the back of her eyes.

He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her on top of her
head.
 

“There there. It will be alright,” he assured her.

Hale and Willa appeared again, the buggy now completely
empty.

“Wasn’t quite sure if the wedding was on or not,” said Hale.

“Apparently it is on,” remarked Charlie.

Hailey had no idea what that meant.
 
Maybe it was why Charlie was late in picking
her up.

“Hailey,” said Charlie, “Why don’t you go on with Willa
there. She has some food and a bath all ready for you.”

“A bath?” said Hailey with surprise.

“Yes,” said Charlie with a wink. “We have those here in
Dodge too.”

They also had indoor plumbing in Dodge. Well at least
Charlie’s house – their house – did. Hailey already felt positively spoiled.
She walked through the house behind the older woman, up a grand and winding
staircase. It was actually almost too much for her to climb the stairs, Hailey
was that worn out.
 

Willa helped her remove her travel-soiled clothes. Hailey
stepped into the full bathtub. As she crouched into the water, the
blisters smarted. She hissed with pain.

“What’s the matter?” asked Willa.

“I think I have sores from coach,” she replied. “In fact I
know I do.”

Willa handed her a plate with a biscuit and crispy side
bacon. Hailey ate in the bath.
 
Willa
disappeared and returned with a jar of goo. She set it aside. She pulled the
pins from Hailey’s hair and released the front sections piled atop her
head.
 
 

She took her plate and set it aside, then poured pitcher
after pitcher of warm water over her, soaking her tresses. She lathered her up
with lavender shampoo.  

Willa massaged her head. Hailey was paralyzed with the
relaxing pins and needles feeling she got whenever anyone played with her hair.
It was one of the most soothing sensations she had ever experienced. She needed
it after her journey.  

She nodded off in the bathtub. Willa nudged her, then pulled
the plug. The water glugged loudly as it drained. Hailey carefully climbed out
of the tub and walked right into a rich terry cloth that Willa held out for
her.

Willa guided her out into the bedroom, to sit at a
vanity. Willa toweled and brushed her hair for her. She made Hailey stand,
letting the towel drop and she dabbed each her blisters with the goo. They felt
so much better. Willa battered her gently with a powder puff and helped
into a nightgown laid out for her. She explained it was a present from Charlie.

Willa was about to slip on a pair of satin slippers when
Charlie knocked at the door. Willa scurried from the room. Hailey was seized
with nervousness. She had carefully planned the entire trip and to go
through with the marriage but now that she was alone with her new husband she
realized what was to come next. And she had no idea what to do now. She
clutched the vanity seat.

“Easy,” he laughed softly.

He crouched so that he could be face to face with her.

“Listen,” he said. He picked a damp strand of her hair and
twirled it in his finger. “I know this is our wedding night and all but you
have to be plum worn out.”

He took her by the hand and led her to bed. He drew
down the corner of the bedding.  He scooped her up and laid her down, drawing
the covers back up around.  

“Get some rest and we’ll work on a honeymoon tomorrow
night,” he hovered over her before kissing her lightly on the lips.

The touch of Charlie’s lips to hers transformed her. She had
feelings that were so powerful. His touch gave her acute insight as to what to
do on a wedding night for her body screamed for his. She slept a deep fast
sleep but then woke up tossing and turning. Her mind was filled with images of
his handsome face. Her body filled with need for him.

Hailey rose from her bed. Her room lit just enough from the
moon streaming in through the window. She opened her door and felt the walls of
the pitch-black hallway. She was going to find him.

The hallway opened up to a stairway that wound round to the
living room that was lit by the moon with several windows on each wall. Through
the window she could see a shadowy figure. The outline of a man. Charlie.

Hailey pushed out onto the porch though Charlie heard her
before he saw her.
 
He faced her as she
stepped out onto the porch. He was smoking a cherry scented cigar and drinking
a glass of whiskey. He smiled at her.

“What are you doing up?” he asked.

“I have the same question for you? Didn’t you sleep?” she
asked.

“No, I have not been to bed yet. It is a bit unusual for
me,” he said.

He took one more hit off of his cigar before he doused it.
He took the last sip of his whiskey before he set it down. He rose. He was so
wonderfully tall. He was broad-framed. His hair brushed his face in sweet
bending waves. His eyes were clear blue. His lips were rosy and full and just
the slight wash of a smile curl his mouth.

He was closing in on her. He took her face in his hands. She
was already looking up to him, waiting for him. She tiptoed to reach her mouth
to his. His tongue swept her mouth and she started. But he didn’t stop.

He penetrated her mouth tasting the insides of her cheek,
the roof of her mouth. He trailed the tip of his tongue with maddening
slowness. Hailey trembled as she stood and took it. She lightly braced her
hands on his, steading herself as she gave her mouth over to his.

His traced the length of her neck with the lightest pressure
of his fingertips. Trails of tingles traveled from his touch to her very core.
They spread throughout her body.
 
Her
nipples were hard and they pressed against the chaste neckline of her
nightgown.

He found them. In the dusk, his fingers went right to them.
He grazed their tips with his thumb. She was shocked. But then she was
thrilled. She had no idea that people did such things.
 

His kissing took on a new fierceness. He was no longer soft
or slow. He pert near mauled her. His hands traveled down her back and cupped
her buttocks. His powerful palm stroked behind her thigh and encouraged it
upward.
 
He gripped behind her knee that
was as high as it could go.

With a single move he had the other knee in his grip and she
was up, straddling him standing up. Her hands instinctively wrapped around his
massive shoulders. They were kissing endlessly. Her nightly rose up, exposing
her thighs. His hands were on her skin.

With her on him, he walked her into the house. She was too
aroused to be nervous or to give thought to what was to happen next. She was
too immersed in pure passion. It was a new wonder for her. She had never
experienced anything like it.

He climbed the winding staircase, with her wrapped around
his torso, with ease.
 
He could kiss and
walk at the same time. Finally she could tell by his footfall that he had
reached the second floor. He lightly kicked the door.
 

She had expected him to take them to the bedroom where she
had just awakened. It was grand bedroom. But it was not half as grand as the
one he took her took. This was sweeping and elegantly appointed, not that other
one was shabby. He laid her down on a bed that had draped canopy. Her body felt
as though she were sinking in a cloud.

Charlie stood up straight. He unbuttoned his shirt. Hailey
sat up with alarm.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a delicate fright.

Charlie bent over her, swept his fingers in her hair.

“It will be fine, sweetheart,” he whispered.
 

She looked into his eyes and her fear was grounded. She was
not so afraid at all.
  
He was about the
most handsome husband she could have wished for. Somehow the way he looked and
the way he made her feel when he touched her did much to cure any nervousness.

Charlie slid his shirt from his magnificent body. His
muscles were hard and defined. He rippled with definition, no doubt cut from
all of the work he did. His shoulders were broad and his waist was tapered. He
was so big and tall and wonderfully made that she was just not afraid.

He gently pressed her back so she lay flat against the
mattress. His hands found the hem of her nightgown. They trailed searing heat
as he slid them up her naked thigh. When he got so far, her hand found his and
she slowed him down. She would not allow his hand to go any higher

“No?” he asked in a gentle flirtatious voice.

He kissed her. It was her undoing. She melted from the
inside out, her innards hot and wet as he swirled his tongue in her mouth. In
this way he created a delicious distraction. The hem of her nightgown was up to
her waist. A jolt of shock and thrill rushed her when that happened. She gasped
against his lips.

Charlie was smooth. He worked his pants off and felt her at
the same time.
 
The only thing Hailey was
sure to do herself was the kissing part. She returned his kiss in her own
clumsy passionate was. The widowed Hailey had such experiences to be sure; but
this was an imposter Hailey. A younger maiden sister playing Hailey and as such
she had never had such contact with a man.

She didn’t mind it one bit though it was daunting. The fact
that she was married gave her a certain fearlessness. Until she spied from her
lowered lids that he was naked. His body was spectacular from head to toe but
he had a raging hardness that she knew he meant to put into her body and she
recoiled.

Charlie took firm but gentle hold of her hips so that she
could not scoot too far away from him. He now lay beside her and stroked her
patiently. His kisses now moved. They trailed to the very sensitive line of her
jaw, to just below her ear. A surge of powerful pleasure gripped and caused her
to clutch at her core. A ragged cry tore from deep within her. She liked it
when he kissed that spot a lot.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” he whispered as he stroked
her. “I am your husband. You are so safe with me.”