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Chapter 31
After hugging and greeting Eliza upon her return, Pauline twirled with delight upon seeing the pack horse and her luggage tied to the back of the wagon.
Aiden pulled her bags from the pack horse himself and proudly set them down on the porch in front of her. “I’m still sending for the seamstress. You need a wedding dress,” he said softly.
“I was sick all morning,” she admitted in a voice that was just above a whisper. “I’m beginning to think you’re right about what might be going on with me.”
“I’m also sending for the doctor. We’ve got a good day’s work for him between us all,” Aiden chuckled.
Aiden’s back was to the long drive leading to the ranch and everyone else was pre-occupied with settling the captive ladies in until the sheriff arrived. Only Pauline saw the slumped figure on the horse that was slowly wandering along as if it hadn
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April 1865Cannons roared and gunshots echoed off the distant hills. They blended with the cries of men as they were taken down in droves. He looked into the eyes of his neighbor. There was fear mixed with something else? Regret? It was probably regret. He knew he wasn’t the only one who wished he’d reconsidered joining up with his confederate brethren to fight for something he didn’t even believe in.Aiden Kennedy owned no slaves. Having immigrated from Ireland with his mother and two brothers, he was all too familiar with the concept of one person owning another. They called it indentured servitude in his homeland, but it was nothing more than slavery with a time stamp on it.He’d only been in Virginia for a week before war was declared. He’d started out in New York, but the reception for Irish immigrants was poor and they were forced to live in conditions they wouldn’t
Love at Wolf Creek Chapter 1
May 1875“Pauline, ma’s going to skin you alive if she sees you still haven’t gotten dressed for dinner.”“I plan on begging off with a headache,” Pauline O’Malley said as she clambered up the bank of the creek with her fishing pole in one hand and four good-sized trout in the other.Her brother, Jimmie, looked at the fish and smiled, “You always did know where to catch the biggin’s.”“I thought I could use the fishing as an excuse to beg out of dinner,” Pauline explained. “The sun was pretty hot today. I can say I’m suffering from heat exposure.”“While standing, mid-calf, in a creek of cool, running water?” Jimmie laughed. “Ma wasn’t born yesterday. Besides, she invited this fella especially to meet you.”“She and da still don’t intend to go ahead with their plans to marry me off to t
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Aiden was deep in thought as he rested his head on the pillow and stared at the hotel room ceiling. His plan was going well so far. Even though Dennis O’Malley claimed to have investigated him, he’d managed to keep his true identity from them.It was fortunate that he’d operated his business with Angus McCann as his front man. Sometime during their years of doing business together, Dennis got it into his head that Angus was the owner of the Bar J&K ranch. Neither Angus nor Aiden felt the need to set him straight. When the offer for a union of families -and businesses- through marriage to his daughter, Pauline, was extended to Angus, the cantankerous old cowboy took pleasure in joking about what kind of a husband he’d make for a pampered New Orleans society princess as he handed the proposal to the true owner of the ranch.Since Aiden was an unknown, he could travel to New Orleans and get to know the daughter of his bu
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Pauline fidgeted in her seat while Mary Anne struggled to tame her wild locks enough to braid her hair for bed. Her mother agitatedly paced the room behind her.“There’s something that man is not telling us,” Josephine said with knitted brows. “I can feel it.”“Then, call off the wedding,” Pauline said as she shrunk away from Mary Anne’s ministrations and placed her hand on her head where her hair had been pulled too hard.“Good try,” Josephine said as she unceremoniously yanked the brush from Mary Anne and tackled the tangled mop on Pauline’s head with gusto. “Have you been using the coconut rinse I purchased for your hair?”“I hate the smell of coconut,” Pauline whined.“I should think you’d prefer it to going through this every single night,” Josephine spat.“Ouch! Mother, please give the brush ba
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Pauline struggled to clear the fog from her head when Mary Anne shook her awake at the pre-dawn hour. Sleep eluded her for most of the night. Images of Aiden Kennedy haunted her. Her body was hot with desire before she succeeded in pushing him far enough out of her head for sleep to take over. She had no idea how much sleep she got, but she knew it wasn’t much.The temptation to roll over and stay in bed was great, but she knew that, once she was up and maneuvering through the day, she’d regret not taking time to be alone at her favorite thinking spot.She kept a special outfit set aside for whenever she would sneak out during the wee hours of the morning. Since it consisted of men’s attire, she had to wear it during a time that she knew she wouldn’t be seen by her parents - or anyone else, for that matter. Pants and lack of a corset made for a much more comfortable fishing experience.As she donned her coat and ac
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Aiden was lost in the bliss of Pauline’s supple body. His mind could think of nothing more than what it would be like to have her completely. He wrestled with the idea of taking her right there on the bank. After all, she was destined to be his wife. Why not taste her charms a little early?Her willingness to have him was both exciting and disconcerting. Her kisses were fairly expert for an untouched socialite. This led to the next question. Was she untouched? Her father claimed so in his proposal of marriage, but her actions led him to believe differently. The need to know the answer was all overwhelming.With his lips still consuming her breast, he slid his hand into the pants that her slender hips barely filled until they found her most private area. Her gasp of encouragement drove him on as he slid his long, recently manicured fingers into her soft depths to feel for her virginity. It was intact.Scowling
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Pauline stood on the bank in stunned silence while she stared at Aiden’s broad shoulders as he sat with erect casualness in the saddle while riding away. It was clear he was just as much at home in the saddle as he was out of it; if not more so.What just happened? She didn’t know whether she should chase after him and demand he go with her to the house to face her parents or turn her back on him like he had done to her.She wasn’t used to men not giving in to her desires and wishes. She certainly never imagined a man would love her and leave her. Yet, that’s exactly what it looked like Aiden Kennedy was doing.She bit her lip nervously. Had she been a fool? Had she given up her virginity to a gun slinging cad who had no intention of making an honest woman of her? Would she be sent off to marry the Texas toad as a soiled woman?What made matters worse was that, despite the fact that h
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Aiden leaned his elbows on the bar at the gentleman’s club while he fondled his glass of whiskey. The amber liquid swirled around the inside the intricately cut crystal while thoughts, simultaneously, swirled around the inside of his head. How could he have been so foolish? He should have grabbed that little vixen at the creek side, tossed her onto his horse in front of him, and paraded her back to her parents’ house to face the consequences of their actions. Instead, he had to one-up her with insults and leave her hanging as to what he’d do when she asked him about their getting married.Now, it looked like the game was on. He should have guessed she’d want to get back at him. Spoiled little rich girls were all alike. He’d been around plenty of them back in Ireland, and a few since he’d come to America. Why should she be any different? Hadn’t she tried to trick him into deflowering her
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