Harmony (Journey's End Book 3) Read online

  “No, Matt,” she protested. “That will never fit. That can’t be right.”

  “Men and woman were made for this, Harmony. Trust me, darlin’. I love you, and I want to love you. Now, I have to be honest. This might hurt a bit this first time, but never after that.”

  She knitted her brow into a frown and glanced again at his erect member.

  “Trust me?” he asked.

  Her pale blue eyes met his gray ones in a solemn gaze, and she gave a timid nod.

  He settled between her thighs and placed his rod at her entrance. She was tense as a deer ready for flight. That would not do. He leaned over and reclaimed her nipple, first one and then the other. Harmony arched her back, offering her breasts. She lifted her arms over her head and Matt took it as a sign of surrender. He sat back on his heels and pressed her legs wider hoping to open her further.

  He pushed into her and paused. It took every ounce of self-control he’d ever possessed and possibly ever would, but he pushed forward only a bit more. He paused when he met the resistance of her virgin membrane. He leaned in and took her hands into his own. Holding them to the mattress over her head, he thrust through and surged until he was fully seated.

  Harmony gave a cry, and her eyes flew open.

  “I love you, darlin’,” Matt crooned into her ear. “Are you all right?”

  He held himself still and waited for her to accept him into her body. Long seconds ticked by until she gave a tentative lift with her hips. Matt pulled back and pushed forward again. She met his motion, and he began his work in earnest. He took her to the peak again, and they fell over together.

  He rolled to the side taking her with him and pulling her close. “I don’t want to crush you,” he said. Harmony snuggled to his side. “Are you all right?”

  “More than all right,” she replied. “I love you, Matt.”

  “If I die tonight, I’ll go a happy man,” he said. “But I don’t intend to do any such thing because I’m already fixing on making love with you again in the morning if I can wait that long.”

  He turned to his side and pulled her into the shelter of his body.

  “I’ve been waiting on you, Harmony. I just didn’t know it.” He settled her head under his chin, took possession of an available breast, and drifted into satisfied sleep.

  Chapter 9

  Harmony patted the bed with searching fingers. No Matt. She sat up and surveyed the cabin. The fire sent a merry blaze into the room, and the aroma of fresh coffee tantalized her nose. The scraping of a shovel solved the mystery. He was clearing the path to the door.

  She sat up and stretched. Her muscles were a little sore. Matt had woken her in the night twice and stretched her limbs in unfamiliar, exciting ways. Stretched her womanly parts, too, which throbbed deliciously. She felt initiated, introduced, instructed in the ways of men and women. Oh, Grandmama must be twirling in her grave. The thought brought a smile to her lips.

  “Hope that smile is for me,” Matt said as he entered the cabin. He shut the door as quickly as he could, but a rush of cold, stinging air followed him inside anyway.

  He hung up his coat and came to sit on the bed next to her.

  “Morning, darlin’,” he murmured. He leaned down and kissed her. His lips lingered like a promise. He laid a gentle hand on the side of her face. “Let me look at those bruises.” He turned her head this way and that. He took her jaw in hand and moved it right and left. “Is your leg still bothering you?”

  “No, I’m fine,” she assured him.

  Relief flooded his face and lit a light behind those steely eyes. She could study his face forever and never grow tired. Well, that was what she’d sworn to yesterday after all.

  “Your bruises are fading, and your jaw isn’t damaged.” He pulled his eyebrows together and pulled his lips in tight. “We were damned lucky, Harmony. The memory of that man sends bolts of lightning up and down my spine, and it hurts. It hurts me that you disobeyed and put yourself in danger. Some injury in life just can’t be helped. A person has got to expect it. Like the stove breaking loose and hitting your leg. Accidents. We all have them.” He pinned her to the bed with the heat of his words. “But climbing down out of that tree was not an accident. It was intentional.”

  “I’m sorry, Matt.” Her voice shook and tears hovered in her eyes.

  “I know, and things turned out all right. We’ve been safe and warm in this cabin while that storm raged and thundered. I’m not sure we would have survived outside, but I’d have tried my best.” He picked up her hand and rubbed a large thumb over her knuckles.

  “I know you would have.” She lifted his hand and held it to her cheek. “I trust you.”

  “I’m mighty glad to hear that.” He placed his hands under her arms and pulled her to his lap. “I can’t have my wife risking her life. I can’t have her ignore my orders. You deserve a spanking, Harmony. I aim to give you one, but I want you to understand. I love you. I need to protect you. I’m not a bully. I won’t boss you about or spank because you don’t agree with me. Your health and safety are too important to risk.”

  She sat quiet in his lap, but her nerves were jumping like water on a hot skillet. “Any other reasons?” she asked.

  It was several minutes before he answered. “I don’t mind sassy, but disrespect I can’t abide. Harming our marriage through word or deed. That’s all.”

  “I don’t want to be spanked, Matt. Can’t we have a fresh start?” Her voice was shrill.

  “Spanking clears the air, darlin’. It will give us a fresh start. If we let this go unpunished, it will hang in the air like a poisonous cloud and eat away at us.” He patted her back with comforting thumps. “I’ll spank you, and we’ll move forward. I believe you’ve felt some guilt over what happened. You know you did wrong, don’t you?”

  She gave an unhappy nod.

  “Punishment eases the conscience. You will have paid the piper so to speak.” He lifted her from his lap and stood her between his muscular thighs. “Use the chamber pot,” he instructed. “And we’ll get it behind us.”

  “But…” she began.

  “Don’t argue with me.” His tone was stern, and his jaw was clenched tight. “Do as you are told. I’ll turn my back.”

  Harmony took the chamber pot to the far corner. The sound of her stream hitting the bottom of the porcelain jar humiliated and embarrassed her, but Matt didn’t seem to even notice. She arranged her chemise over her bottom, and another idea came to her. Bloomers. She’d put on her bloomers. She scurried to her pile of discarded clothes and tied them snugly around her waist.

  Matt stood, back turned, and sipped on a cup of coffee. Broad shoulders tapered into a slim waist. Muscles rolled beneath the surface of his skin as he lifted the cup to his lips. Thoughts of the night they’d spent together swirled through her body and sparked sensations of lust and longing.

  This man would want a true marriage. A union of body and spirit. They wouldn’t simply live side by side in the same house meeting for breakfast after sleeping in separate rooms. It was what she had expected in Chicago. Jerome knocking politely on her door and asking if he was welcome. This man would demand intimacy, trust, and respect and would give the same.

  She squared her shoulders. “I’m ready,” she said.

  Matt turned from the stove. “You look like a prisoner awaiting execution. It’s only a spanking, darlin’. No one ever died from having their bottom warmed.” He placed his cup on the counter. When he reached the table, he turned a chair to face the room and extended his hand. “Come here,” he demanded.

  Her resolution fled like birds migrating south, and she shrunk away from him. He shook an impatient hand in her direction and fixed her with a determined look.

  “I don’t aim to chase you.” He set his hands on slender hips and waited.

  One timid step after the other brought her within his reach. He pulled her close to his chest and kissed the top of her head. Held tight against his chest, the beat of his heart brough
t comfort and peace.

  He lowered his body to the chair and positioned her between his thighs. His hands grasped the bottom of her chemise, and he raised it over her bottom.

  “What’s this?” His laugh was half choke. He patted her bloomer clad behind. “Did you really think I’d leave these on? Spanking is on the bare bottom. Best have that understood from the start.” He pulled the ribbon and the garment fell to the floor.

  “Over you go.” Strong hands lifted her and laid her over hard thighs.

  Her chemise lay high on her back, and she blushed with the knowledge that he stared at her bare derriere.

  He gave another of those strangled chuckles. “Even your bottom is blushing, darlin’,” he said. Gentle strokes up and down her back eased her, and she relaxed a tiny bit.

  “That’s better,” he approved of the change.

  When his hand left her back, it left a cool, aching spot behind. She loved his touch. Where did that hand go?

  In a sudden burst of pain, she knew. Her spanking had begun. A fire bloomed on her right cheek and then her left. The spanking was a rhythm of pain as Matt rained a series of swats on her bottom and upper thighs. When he paused, she breathed a sigh. Perhaps it was over, but he positioned her so her bottom rose and her head dropped. The space between bottom and thigh drew his undivided attention.

  Harmony shrieked and sobbed. She wailed and wiggled. Tears fell into a puddle on the floor, and she struggled not to drool.

  “Stop,” she cried. “I’m sorry. I’ll listen.”

  The spanking continued, and she fought. She pounded on his leg. She tried to bite his thigh, but several strong swats dissuaded her from that endeavor.

  When she grew weary, she lay over his knees in exhausted submission and let understanding, physical and mental, come. Matt was in charge and would deliver the punishment she had earned. His love for her demanded her obedience and brooked no nonsense. He would keep her safe. He would see to her health. He would protect, honor, and cherish her.

  The spanking slowed to a stop. Slow, soothing circles replaced the rain of pain.

  “This is what my ma meant when she talked about spanking me into next Sunday. When I’d done something seriously wrong, she always ended a spanking with a few licks from a wooden spoon or a switch or a belt. I reckon she knew her business.”

  Harmony lifted her body and swiveled her head. Matt held a large wooden spoon in his hand. “No, Matt, no,” she pleaded.

  He placed a big hand on her back and pushed down with gentle care until she lay draped over his thighs once more.

  With the first crack of the spoon on her bottom, she rose from his thighs like a bird driven from the safety of the brush. Matt had been ready and held her safe from falling.

  “Four more,” he whispered.

  He dispensed them with quick mercy.

  She lay limp and sobbing over his legs. Her head dangling above the floor while he rubbed her back and bottom. His gentle hand so different from the punishing one. She loved them both.

  Firm hands surrounded her waist and lifted her to cuddle on his lap. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. He went to mop her face, but she turned away like a petulant child.

  “Now stop that, Harmony,” he said. “I only aim to help.” He gave her thigh a soft tap that felt like a warning. She turned her face to him.

  With gentle strokes, he dried her tears and wiped her mouth.

  “Blow,” he held the cloth over her nose.

  She gave her head a vigorous shake.

  “Sassy,” he said. “Good for you.” He set the wet cloth on the table.

  She lay cradled in his arms. He rose and laid her face down on the bed.

  “Sleep for a bit, darlin’,” he whispered. “You’re plumb tuckered out.”

  “I’m not tired,” she insisted, but the weight of slumber had her eyes drooping.

  “Your sassy spirit is waking up,” he laughed. “Your grandmama did her best to squelch it, but its blooming like a spring flower. You and Melody will be quite the pair. I imagine there will be hell to pay when you two get together. I hope Mitch and I can foot the bill.” He laughed, low and lusty. “I believe we can. I believe we can,” he repeated.

  Before sleep claimed her, she wondered. Did he say that twice to convince himself?

  Or her?

  Chapter 10

  Matt sprawled in a chair at the table and considered the hand of solitaire spread before him. No moves, he decided before gathering the deck together and giving the cards a firm tap on the table. He dealt another hand.

  He paused. Harmony was awake. Matt watched as she stretched one arm and then the other over the covers.

  “Hello, darlin’,” Matt greeted her. “You’ve been asleep for quite some time. I think you’re still catching up from your ordeal.”

  “Which ordeal?” she queried. “The mountain man or the spanking?”

  “Both, I reckon,” he said.

  “What smells so good?”

  “I’ve got chicken soup cooking for supper. He had rice and I put in carrots, onion, and potatoes.” He raised a single eyebrow. “Aren’t you hungry now? I know I am.” He rubbed a hand over his stomach and strolled to the bed. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Get up, and we’ll fix us some dinner.”

  “All right. Turn your back. I need to use the chamber pot,” she instructed.

  “I’ll be over in the kitchen frying some bacon. Join me when you’re dressed.”

  Matt placed generous slices of bacon in the hot skillet. While they sizzled, he fetched eggs from the shed.

  “What can I do to help?” Harmony joined him. She was dressed except her little bare feet poked from beneath the flowered skirt.

  “Set the table, darlin’, and slice some cornbread. There’s butter back in the shed.” Matt watched as her little bottom switched this way and that as she left the room. Lordy, but that was a fine backside.

  “The storm is mostly blown over,” he said. “I’d like to stay here with you forever. It feels like the Garden of Eden, but your sister and Mitch must be worried half sick by now. I think we should head out day after tomorrow.”

  “Melody knows I’m not dead,” Harmony declared.

  “She does?” Matt set his fork down and surveyed her calm face.

  “Yes. She’d know if I was just like I’d know if she was gone.” Harmony shrugged. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve always felt her presence. I didn’t know who she was, or where she was, but I knew she was,” she hesitated, “somewhere. When I was little, I’d talk to her. When I was older, Grandmama said I was too old for imaginary friends, and I should quit being childish. It’s the only thing I blame her for. Keeping my sister from me, and my father.” Harmony’s face was a thunder cloud of anger. “She shouldn’t have done it. All the rest of it – the schools, the etiquette, the fancy clothes – she meant for my betterment.”

  “You don’t want to go to her?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes, I do. I thought you might like to know that she’s not worried, is all. She’s waiting for me,” she explained. “I’ll be sorry to leave our little cabin behind, too. It’s where we got married, after all.”

  “As soon as we get to Franklin, we’ll get hitched in the eyes of God and the law,” he said. “I want you to be my lawfully wedded wife as well as the wife of my heart.”

  Harmony beamed a smile that left him so dazzled he had to look away. It was a mighty powerful weapon. She could knock a man off his feet at fifty paces.

  “I found these cards while you were asleep. Want to play a few hands?” He shuffled the cards and then bent them so they leapt from one hand to the other in a steady arc.

  “Grandmama only allowed bridge and whist,” she said. “They need four people, though.”

  “How about I teach you how to play poker?” he suggested. “We need something to bet.” Matt went to the shed and returned with a tin filled with corn kernels. “We each get twenty.” He counted out two piles and push
ed one in front of Harmony. “To begin we have to anti-up. That means we put one kernel in the pot just to show we’re in the game.” He threw a kernel into the center of the table and waited until she had done the same. “We’ll start with five card stud.”

  They played, and Matt explained the ins and outs of the game. When she could play on her own and understood how to bet, he fanned the cards in front of him on the table. “It’s customary to sip a little whiskey while you play. It’s a tradition.”

  He fetched the bottle from the kitchen shelf and poured the fiery liquid into two cups.

  Harmony giggled. “Seems to me there are any number of traditions that call for whiskey.”

  “That’s a fact, darlin’. That’s a fact,” Matt agreed.

  He dealt a few more hands. He won some, and Harmony did the same. Matt swallowed his whiskey. Harmony sipped.

  “What do you say we make the game more interesting?” He smiled and leaned back in his chair.

  “How?”

  “Let’s play strip poker. When you lose, you have to remove a piece of clothing. Whoever is naked first, loses.” He raised his eyebrows high in question.

  Harmony looked at her pile of corn and his. They’d been wagering for a good while, and the piles were still nearly equal.

  “All right,” she agreed.

  Matt sat up straight in his chair and shuffled with speed and confidence. When he lost the first hand, he removed a boot. He lost the second hand and removed the other.

  They played a third hand, and Harmony lost. She gave her bare feet a forlorn frown. “I don’t have any shoes,” she complained.

  “Well, darlin’, you got your own self dressed today.” He shrugged. “You have to take something off.”

  Harmony scowled before turning her back to lift her skirt and untie the ribbon on her bloomers. She dropped them next to Matt’s boots.

  Matt lifted his cup in a salute. Harmony returned the gesture, and they drank.