The Farmer's Reluctant Bride Read online

  The Farmer’s Reluctant Bride

  By

  Dina Chapel

  Copyright © 2015 by Dina Chapel

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  Chapel, Dina

  The Farmer’s Reluctant Bride

  Cover Design by THE KILLION GROUP, INC.

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 1

  “Glad you made it, son.”

  The pastor’s welcome didn’t make Hank feel any better about being so late. Were there any left for the choosing? He’d find out soon enough, he supposed.

  Pastor Karlson waited patiently while Hank hitched his team to the nearest post and walked over, taking the Pastor’s hand in his own for a firm shake.

  “How have things gone so far?” Hank needed to ask, but wasn’t so sure that he wanted to hear the answer. “Good turnout?” If he had come all this way just to have to turn around and leave without...well, he would be sorely disappointed, to say the least. Plus, with winter coming on, it would be some time before he’d get another chance for something like this.

  When Hank had first heard about this “bride train,” during the church announcements a few months ago, he thought it might be too good to be true. A wagon train with at least seven single women in tow, traveling from the east coast, would arrive toward the end of summer. All marriageable men from the area were welcome to meet the train. If any one of the women appealed to any one of the men and vice versa, the pastor would wed them on the spot.

  Hank had been widowed right before winter set in last fall, when his childhood sweetheart, Susannah, had taken with the fever and passed within days. He had spent a long, lonely winter grieving his wife. He had no desire to spend another winter alone.

  “As it happens, we’ve had an excellent turnout today.” Hank felt his stomach drop at the pastor’s words. “And we have one young lady left. Since I’m guessing you’re probably our last arrival for the day, that works out quite well.”

  Hank looked around. A few of the newly-hitched couples were still milling about, preparing to depart. Some of the young women had formed friendships during the long trip out west and were saying their tearful farewells to each other. They likely wouldn’t see each other again, but the goal of marriage and a home and family of their own had been realized today. Hank hoped it would be for him also. He wanted a wife and children with whom he could share his life and farm.

  “Could you point her out to me, Pastor?” Hank was growing anxious. He felt the need to lay eyes on her. The pastor placed a fatherly hand on Hank’s back and led him toward the makeshift tent set up for this day. The pastor had performed more than few marriages under this tent today.

  “She’s just inside the tent here, with Mrs. Karlson.” The pastor stopped walking and paused. “There is a small problem though.” Hank stepped through the flap of the tent from the bright sunlight, into the cool shade inside. On the far side of the tent, he could make out the pastor’s wife sitting with a young woman, speaking to her in a low voice.

  Hank blinked a few times, willing his eyes to adjust more quickly to the darkness of the tent so he could make out the woman sitting with Mrs. Karlson. He started toward the pair when the pastor put a hand on his arm to stop him.

  “A word first, young man.”

  Hank looked to the pastor to explain why he needed to speak to him, just when he was about to introduce himself to the woman he’d be taking as his bride.

  Pastor Karlson moved so that he stood between Hank and his view of the women. “Like I said, there is a small problem. Amanda Rose Danielson, the young lady sitting with Mrs. Karlson, did not come here willingly, it seems. She was forced on this trip by her guardians, who no longer wished to care for her. They were anxious to have her married off, and marriageable men are scarce back east these days, as you well know. Before that, she resided in the homes of various relatives and friends of the family, shuttled from one to the other apparently, and never staying at any one home for very long. She won’t give me any other information. Nothing other than the fact that she does not want to marry and wishes to be left alone.”

  “What does she plan on doing, out here on her own in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Well, the reality of her situation is what Mrs. Karlson and I have been trying to impress upon her since her arrival. No other men were interested in her, mainly due to the fact that she has made no effort to make herself pleasing to any of the gentlemen here today. In fact, she has barely spoken. Most of the information I have on her came from one of the other girls who knew her from back home.”

  The pastor paused as he and Hank both looked over to where the two women sat. Hank’s eyes had finally adjusted and he could make her out, somewhat. She looked a might thin, but otherwise healthy. He needed someone who could bear him children. Hank had to be practical. The pastor turned back to him.

  “It’s really no wonder she’s withdrawn and disagreeable, given her history, but if you aren’t interested, I understand of course. The missus and I will take her home with us and perhaps we can arrange for her to travel back east with a family that’s heading that way. Not really sure what we’ll be able to manage for her, but with God’s help we’ll figure something out.”

  “I didn’t say I wasn’t interested, Pastor. I didn’t come all this way just to turn around and go home empty handed, so to speak. I’d like to talk to her for a minute if I may. Get a closer look. If she’s pleasing to me, I can handle any amount of obstinance she is willing to dish up.”

  That made the older man smile. “That’s the spirit, young man. I will say that she is in dire need of a bath. I think her lack of bathing is on purpose to keep people at arm’s length.”

  * * *

  Hank just couldn’t figure what to make of her. They rode side by side on the buckboard; she was silent and kept her head down. Any attempts at conversation had been met with stony silence. The only words he had heard her speak so far were her vows when the pastor had married them, something she had reluctantly agreed to only after Mrs. Karlson had convinced her it was her only option. Hank supposed he could make her answer him, but he didn’t want to start off like that. He’d reserve punishment for those things that he felt she had no choice about—like bathing, for instance. It was going to be an awful long ride with that smell.

  Hank supposed he could just talk, without asking her anything, and that way if she felt like saying something she could, but she didn’t have to. It was just nice to have another body alongside him. He didn’t regret her at all.

  “It’ll take us most of the day to get home, should be arriving just about suppertime.” Silence.

  “I don’t like to make stops, but I will stop about halfway through the trip so we can stretch our legs and see to our business.” Silence.

  “I have a little food with me that we can eat when we do stop for a break.” Silence. “And some cold tea. Hope that’ll be to your liking, Amanda.”

  “It’s Mandy.”

  Hank nearly stopped the wagon. He tried to act casual though. She had spoken so softly he had almost missed it. Looking straight ahead, Hank continued talking.

  “You prefer Mandy?” He looked sideways at her when she didn’t respond and s
aw her nodding her head.

  “Mandy it is then.”

  * * *

  Mandy couldn’t help stealing shy glances at her new husband when she thought he wasn’t looking. Husband. Mandy herself didn’t really believe it yet. The last thing she thought she would do was agree to be married.

  She had decided even before the long trip out here that she wasn’t going to marry anyone. The very idea terrified her. She had been trying to figure ways to get away from the group and set off on her own the entire trip, but nothing that was very feasible had presented itself. Mandy didn’t want to be on that trip and she didn’t want to marry, but she wasn’t stupid either. She didn’t want to end up in a whorehouse or a jail cell. She did realize that marriage to a stranger might actually turn out better than either of those two options.

  And she was pretty tough. She hadn’t survived this long growing up pretty much on her own, in assorted homes, without some survival skills and smarts. She was shy and quiet, but she knew how to protect herself. The question on her mind now, of course, was exactly how was she to protect herself from a man who was legally allowed to do anything he wanted to her?

  Mandy recalled a time when she was 15 years old and the man of the house where she was living had tried to take advantage of her when his wife was out one day. Mandy had given him a very hard kick in a very sensitive place and then had run and run until she was back at her cousin’s house—clear across town. They had taken her right back in and didn’t make her return. Mandy was always checking over her shoulder after that day, thinking the man would be angry and come looking for her.

  But Mandy was fairly certain that if her legally wedded husband wanted to do that same thing to her, she would have to let him. She decided then and there that she would need to run again. If she could get away from him, then he wouldn’t be able to take her to his bed. She knew that, once he did that, she would have a hard time getting away and staying away. But if the marriage wasn’t consummated, then she had a better chance at getting her freedom back.

  * * *

  She was going to fight him every step of the way, of that he was certain.

  Even thrown over his shoulder like she was, the little hellcat was kicking and pounding on his back and thrashing herself about like a wild thing. And, boy oh boy, did she stink! Hank figured it must’ve been quite a spell since her body had seen any soap and water. She needed a bath first thing.

  Mandy had been so quiet and agreeable on the first half of the trip back to his farm that she actually had Hank believing that she had accepted her situation and the marriage. He even thought that maybe she was thinking she liked him. He was sure starting to like her, even though he barely knew her yet.

  But that had been too good to be true and he should have known so. The minute that they had pulled over to rest, Mandy asked Hank for some privacy to do her business. He walked the horses down to the small creek that ran alongside the road they were traveling on, just so she wouldn’t feel embarrassed. He thought she might appreciate the thoughtful gesture.

  She appreciated it all right. So much so that she wasn’t anywhere to be found when he came back to the wagon with the horses. Hank had quickly mounted one of the horses bareback and headed for the small stand of trees opposite the creek. And it didn’t take him long to find that city girl. She was making more noise that a wild boar, working her way through the brush, headed who knew where.

  When Hank had caught up alongside her, all he had to do was reach down and grab her and throw her over the horse, face down. Mandy had screamed then, which frightened the horse.

  “Hush, now!” Hank silenced her with a firm slap of his hand to her backside, which was conveniently right in front of him. It worked, and she was silent and still, but only for a moment. Back at the wagon, Mandy had tried to wriggle from his grasp when he pulled her off the horse’s back.

  Hank had just put one foot up onto a spoke on the wagon wheel and pulled Mandy right over his raised leg. She screamed again.

  “Settle down, Amanda Rose!” Hank planted a few fast hard wallops on her backside. Then he made short work of lifting her skirt and petticoats and separating her drawers so that nothing would come between her bare behind and his firm hand. Hank set right in to spanking her, anxious to get his message across.

  “I’ve had just about enough of this nonsense, young lady.” Hank lectured as he spanked. “Like it or not, I’m your husband now. You will do as I tell you.” Hank heard Mandy crying from the walloping he was giving her. He really didn’t believe in doing anything halfway, and this spanking was no exception to that rule.

  Hank had Mandy balanced over his leg and she was dangling in the air on both ends. Even though she was kicking her legs and holding onto Hank’s leg for support, he had made sure that she couldn’t fight him in this position. Hank held her firmly at her waist to be sure she wouldn’t fall.

  “We are going home, both of us, together, to your new home. “ Hank could have sworn she cried harder at his words, which pained him. He wished she could be even a little bit happy about their union. Maybe she just needed some time.

  “I want you to stop trying to run from me. There’s nowhere for you to go out here, and you’ll only come to harm on your own. Especially at night.” Hank stopped spanking for a moment to let his words sink in. “I can’t protect you if I can’t find you, Mandy.” His voice had softened a little at these last words. He already felt completely protective of her. She was his now, his wife.

  Hank looked down to where his hand rested possessively on her bare behind. Her skin was bright red and hot to the touch. He supposed that should do the trick for now. Mandy hung limp and sniffling over his leg.

  But when Hank lifted her off his leg and lowered her carefully until her feet touched the ground, she immediately pulled back and looked up at him with a scowl on her face. Hank still held her upper arms and Mandy tried to pull herself from his grasp. Hank sighed.

  “Seems you haven’t learned your lesson yet,” he said, shaking his head at her. “I’d put you back over my knee right now, but we’ve wasted enough time already. I have animals at home to tend to.”

  Hank wound up having to bind her hands with his kerchief and then tie them to a slat in the wagon with some rope that he always kept handy. The remainder of the trip consisted of him checking over his shoulder on her as she desperately tried to untie her binds. When he had finally untied her when they got home, she nearly got away from him again when she had kicked him hard in the shin of his leg. That’s when he had picked her up and thrown her right over his shoulder. Hank had imagined carrying her over the threshold, but not quite like this.

  He dipped down going through the front door to his cabin so she wouldn’t knock herself out on the doorframe, then he dumped her, none-too-gently, right down on the floor on her butt. He turned quickly and closed the door, and set the bar across so she wouldn’t be able to open it easily.

  Hank heard a scuffling and turned just in time to see Mandy heading toward the back door. She was moving fast but Hank had longer legs. He caught her around her waist just as she opened the door. Mandy let out a frustrated screech.

  Hank held tight to her with one arm and closed the back door with the other. He barred that door too, thankful that he had the extra security of the bars. With that done, Hank turned to deal with his new bride.

  “What the—,” Hank started, then burst out laughing. He had let go of Mandy when he was securing the back door and she had taken that opportunity to try to find another way out. She had pulled a chair over under one of the small windows in the cabin and was at the moment stuck trying to climb through it.

  “Seems you’re in a bit of a predicament, little missy.” Hank watched her struggle for a moment, then walked to the side of her and proceeded to plant three hard wallops to her backside. She cried out. “Now that I have your attention, you listen to me, young lady, and you listen good.”

  “I am going to get you out from this window and then you are going
to settle down. The first order of business is a bath. I’ll get that set for you and you’re going to get cleaned up. Is that clear so far?” Hank’s question was met with silence. He delivered one solid swat to her seat.

  “Say ‘Yes sir’,” Hank prompted.

  “Yes sir.” Mandy’s reply was soft and whispery, but Hank heard it. Good enough for a start, he thought.

  Hank gave one hard yank and Mandy tumbled down from the window into his arms. Even with the smell, Hank couldn’t help but enjoy the feel of holding her. It had been some time since he had been with a woman. He couldn’t wait to take her to his bed and fully make her his wife. But he would have to wait.

  He had to tame her first.

  * * *

  Hank planted her firmly in one of the chairs at the table and, taking both her hands in one of his, he used his free hand to lift her chin until her eyes met his. He saw both anger and fear in those eyes. He wished she didn’t feel either. This was going to take some time. Good thing they had a long cold winter ahead of them. Hank would have all the time he needed to teach her how to be a good wife. And all the time he needed to show her that he would be a good husband to her. Strict, yes—he wouldn’t put up with any shenanigans or misbehavior or disrespect from her—but loving and fair and kind.

  “I’m going to set up the tub and ready a hot bath for you. I have to go out to the barn and tend to some chores, which will give you time to bathe and have a little privacy. I expect you to be done and in your nightclothes by the time I come back in.” Hank noticed that she was looking everywhere but at him.

  “I’ll fix us something to eat and take care of the tub. I want you in your nightclothes because I expect you to get straight to bed after supper. It’s been a very long day.” She still wasn’t making eye contact. “Mandy. Look at me.” Mandy met his gaze, but she did so reluctantly, a fact that was not lost on Hank. Boy, she was a stubborn one!

  “If I come back in and you haven’t bathed, I will take off all your clothes and put you in that tub and scrub you from head to toe myself.” That got her attention, Hank noticed.