Authors: Aisha Brooks
Chapter 5: The Marriage
The week went by quickly, and she was walking down the aisle in the small church in the lace and pearl wedding gown. It covered her from her neck to the bottom of her toes, and she almost tripped on the train, she was having to walk carefully.
There were a few people in the pews, people who knew Marshal, but she didn't recognize anyone but Bettina. Julie made it down to the priest who was there to wed them, and had expected to feel more nervous than she did. She got there and put her small hand in Marshal's and looked up at him and smiled.
He gave her a wink and then turned towards the priest. The vows and wedding went quickly. There wasn't a lot of fanfare, but it would be a day she always remembered. Marshal pressed a kiss to her lips when the priest announced he could kiss the bride, and it was chaster than Julie would have liked.
She'd decided she wanted to see what being married was actually like, and the first goal was to get him home and get out of their wedding clothes. They had a small reception with food in the other room. It went by in a quick blur, the multiple glasses of wine made everything kind of blur together, and in the end, when he finally helped her out to the horse and buggy, she was giggling.
“Everything okay?” He asked her looking concerned when he saw how tipsy she was.
“Perfect,” She grinned at him and hung on his arm.
Marshal gave Julie a once over and then pulled the glass of alcohol out of her hand that she was still holding that he hadn't seen at first.
“I think you've had enough of that, let's get you back to my house and you're going to have a killer hangover in the morning.” He gave a small chuckle as he urged the horses on and they started the ride back to their home together.
Julie leaned against him and put her hand on his leg, having grown accustomed to spending time with him the last week, being near him, his smell. She wanted to be closer and was actually looking forward to tonight.
They pulled down the long drive to his house as the sun was setting. He pulled around the back and unhitched the horses and took them into the barn. When he got back to the front, he saw Julie standing there just staring at the horizon, looking at the mountains, her face aimed at the sunset. The last of the sun with the red tint reflected off her blond hair and shadowed her face, giving her an innocent, sweet look.
Walking up behind her, Marshal wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“This is beautiful,” she told him, in awe as the sky changed colors from pink and red to purple and dark blue as the moon and stars started to come out in the sky.
“Not as beautiful as you are,” Marshal turned her in his arms and kissed her, pressing his lips against hers and then picked her up and carried her into the house.
He took her to the bedroom and set her down, sliding her against his body and started working on the hundreds of small buttons down the back of her wedding dress, to help her out of it. Inch by inch he revealed her under garments until the dress was off and she stood in front of him in her corset and silk shift.
He unlaced the corset and helped her out of it and touched her arms softly, rubbing them up and down as he pressed gently ticklish kisses to her neck and cheeks, his beard rubbing against her tender skin.
“I'm ready for this Marshal, you don't need to be scared or hold back, I want you too,” Julie told him, urging him, working on the buttons and suspenders on his clothes, trying to get him naked.
When she got his shirt off, she saw the hair matted across his chest and ran her fingers over it and through it playfully, enjoying the texture of it. She pulled on his pants, trying to get them off, and then realized he was working her shift down her body until she stood before him completely naked.
Subconsciously, she went to cover herself.
“Don't do that Julie, you are beautiful, there's no reason to be shy between us. We are man and wife before God, let's enjoy our wedding night.” He grabbed her hand and guided her over to his bed. He'd bought new sheets and a new mattress for tonight to make the bed more comfortable for her, to make tonight better.
Julie sat on the edge of the bed and watched him strip off the rest of his clothes before pulling back the covers of the bed and climbed into the bed, he patted the spot next to him and Julie scooted over and let him put the covers over her.
His hands started to wander under the covers as Julie snuggled up to him. Her fingers tangled in his chest hair, and she pressed gentle kisses to his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his skin against her lips.
When one of his large hands found her breast and cupped it, squeezing it, Julie let out a little giggle and then a moan as he started to play with her nipples and rubbing the rough palm over her skin.
She put her leg over his leg and rubbed it back and forth, his hairy legs were a contrast to her silky smooth legs and when his hands crawled down her belly to touch the hair between her legs, she pushed herself against his hand. She liked the way he touched her, stroking her, his fingers brushing back the hair and spreading the skin to touch her moist heat and sensitive nub hidden by the dark blond curls.
Marshal stroked Julie until she was panting and moaning over and over against his mouth and her hips were grinding up against him, wanting more. When he brought her to the first shuddering release with his fingers, he captured the cry of her release out against his mouth, his tongue stroking between her lips.
“I'm going to take you now, I need you to relax to keep it from hurting, I'll try to be careful,” he whispered as he climbed between her legs and position his hard cock against her slippery opening.
“Okay, I trust you,” Julie told him, wrapping her arms around him, and spread her legs wide, liking the way his weight felt when he pressed her against the bed, supporting most of it on his hands to keep from squishing her completely.
He kissed her hard, his chest hair rubbing roughly against her nipples, making her stomach tighten in arousal. When she was rubbing her hips up and against him, he took her fast, burying himself to the hilt, and then held still.
Julie gasped, the stinging burn of his cock ripping through her hymen left her breathless and in shock for a moment, but as he slowly started to move himself inside of her, the pain quickly relaxed and turned into a intense pleasure that had her fingers digging into his shoulders. Thrusting her hips up against him, she met him thrust for thrust, enjoying the way he made her feel.
Marshal's groin rubbed against her clit as he pumped himself into her tight hole, and he nibbled his lips and teeth gently against her neck and shoulder, moaning against her as her nails left little red marks in his shoulders.
Julie cried out in surprise when another orgasm had her entire body shaking underneath of him and she let out a squeal as he shuddered inside of her, his own release causing him to spew his hot seed inside of her. When he pulled out, he got up and got a wash cloth and got it wet and delicately cleaned up between her thighs and legs.
“Thank you,” Julie murmured, humbled by him taking the time to wash her up after their first encounter.
Marshal nodded, and then got back into bed with her, wrapping his large arms around her small frame and held her close until she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder and her leg over his.
Chapter 6: More to Love
Julie had been helping Marshal with all his invoices, but Marshal took trades for much of the work he did as a doctor and the newest gift was a half side of dried pig that had been turned into jerky and needed to be stored. The smell was making her nauseous but she put it in the cellar with the rest of the stored goods. Then she stomped back to his house feeling grumpy with him. All the new stuff she'd been learning about him after she'd married him made her wonder if they'd rushed into things.
Don't get her wrong, she loved the sex, and intimacy, and anything that felt that good shouldn't be wrong, but the temptation and sin of sex made total sense why they wanted you to wait for marriage. But Marshal upset her. They'd argued this morning before he left to help deliver another baby.
Marshal had more money than he knew what to do with, he owned more than one working gold mine, and she still felt upset that he'd hid that from her when they first got married. Money didn't matter to her, but knowing that he was richer than he'd told her, and his being a doctor was because he wanted to donate back to humanity. She could respect that, and as a god-fearing woman she felt it was important to support him as his wife.
But the lie of omission hurt her more than she wanted to admit. She started to cry as she slammed the door and went back into the house. She'd promised to make him bread, and angrily started throwing the ingredients into a bowl and got it ready to let it rise before baking it.
She was angry through, logically, she could understand why he didn't tell her before he married her. Many women would jump at the chance to marry a man with money just for the money sake, and she picked him because he seemed nice and hard working and she admired those traits.
Not knowing why it hurt her feelings so bad, she beat on the dough until it was almost ruined. Finally sighing, she stuck the bowl on the windowsill and covered it with a towel to leave it for a while.
Feeling tired, she went to the sitting area and sat down on the love seat and promised herself she'd just shut her eyes for a moment. She was awoken to Marshal slamming the door open as he pushed it with his foot and carried in a baby goat.
“I delivered a healthy baby, they gave me a healthy baby in return,” Marshal announced as the young goat made a strangled cry and struggled in his arms. But he had a death grip on it.
Julie almost fell off the couch as she startled awake and watched the gigantic bear of a man subdue a cute baby goat. If she hadn't been half asleep and grumpy with him, she might have almost laughed at the comedy of watching him try to calm the goat.
“What do you plan on doing with that?” she asked him raising an eyebrow in curiosity as she straightened her dress and stood up.
“Sleeping in the middle of the day were ye?” he asked her and gave her a funny look.
“You keep me up at night, I don't get enough sleep with all your attentions,” Julie muttered and then walked over to see the baby goat and barely caught it when he dumped it into her arms.
“Julie, you don't seem to mind my attentions when I'm giving them to you,” Marshal said as he followed Julie as she took the goat outside to the barn and put it in a stall.
“Did you have to bring the goat into the house, you couldn't put it into the barn yourself?” She snipped at him and put it in the stall and shut the door.
“What is wrong with you Julie?” Marshal grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms in the barn and tried to kiss her.
Julie turned her head away from him and burst into tears, shocking them both.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, I didn't mean, I'm sorry, I can't...” She trailed off and sniffled and then buried her face into his arms and let him stand there comforting her.
“All of this over a goat?” he asked her gently and stroked her back, trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
Julie shook her head, “No, I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not really mad at you I don't think.”
“Talk to me Julie, a relationship cannot work if we don't talk to each other or communicate, and sex isn't enough, it's the glue, or a band aid, but we need to have a good solid foundation if our marriage is going to be a lasting, happy one,” Marshal told her and kept patting her back, as she sniffled and the tears slowly stopped coming.
“Why didn't you tell me about the gold mines?” she asked him, looking up at him with her big eyes.
Marshal felt a moment of guilt and then hugged her tighter before answering her.
“Because the gold mines weren't something I deal with on a daily basis. I can provide for you, but I was worried if I talked about it while I was seeking a wife, the wrong type of women would apply for the position. You were different. I picked you for a reason, but it had nothing to do with money,” he tried to reassure her.
“I can understand that, but you didn't trust me enough to tell me before the wedding, nor did you tell me right after we were married. I had to find out because you left your papers out where I could find them when I was cleaning. Don't you think I'd have rather heard it from you first hand?” Julie sniffed and looked up at him, wiping at her eyes, feeling stupid for crying.
“Yes, you deserved to know the truth. I'm sorry I didn't tell you personally, but I really don't even think about it that much. Having money, not having money, I can afford to give you anything you want, but being a doctor is what I love doing,” he said sounding slightly defensive. “I think I worried that the wrong woman would insist I quit being a doctor because of the money, I didn't want to give it up.”
“I'd never ask you to give up being a doctor. That is one of the things I loved about your letters, it's why I picked you to begin with. I admire what you do, just please, no more secrets, I want to hear from you,” Julie told him and then kissed him, showing him that she was over her anger at him and forgave him for not telling her first hand.
“Julie,” Marshal said as her hand started to wander over his chest and touch him intimately. He grabbed her breasts through her dress and then gave her a funny look.
“What's wrong?” Julie asked him when he froze and just looked down at her.
“When did you bleed last?” he asked her gently, the look on his face one of shock.
“I don't remember, right before I came here I think,” Julie said thinking back.
“It's been four months and your breasts are significantly larger. I think you may be with child,” Marshal said, and sounded like he was in awe as the realization of their child sunk in.
“But, how is that possible?” Julie asked him, confused. “We weren't trying for a baby, right now, were we?”
“That's not how it works. You become fertile sometime in the middle between your bleeds, and then you get pregnant and you stop bleeding until your fertility returns after the baby,” Marshal explained.
Julie started to laugh, “I know all that, I've been around enough pregnant cows and my mom to get the gist without the graphic details, but thank you. I think.”
“Will this be a problem?” Julie asked him, nervous that their life and relationship would change if they added a child.
“Only in good ways, I assume. I would love to see your belly swell with child, and hold our baby in my arms. I'll be here for you Julie, I'm not going anywhere. Having sex leads to children, this was a possibility anytime we copulate,” Marshal told her sounding matter of fact.
“I know,” Julie said, shaking her head, realizing that he never quite lost his doctor mode, even with her. “A baby...”
Julie placed a hand over her belly and realized that being pregnant definitely explained her mood swings, upset belly, and why she got upset over things that normally wouldn't bug her. Feeling better that she wasn't just going crazy and there was a logical reason for her behaviors, she kissed him passionately, in the barn.
Marshal pushed her up against the wall and kissed her back, taking care not to put any pressure on her belly as his hands started hiking up her skirt and he touched her between her legs. His lips molded over hers and he pushed his tongue between her tender lips as he kissed her demanding and rough.
He was gentle in most of his touches, but aggressive kissing turned him on and Julie enjoyed it. His hand found the sweet spot between her legs and his expert hands quickly worked her into a frenzy and a quick orgasm against the wall. Pulling her skirt up so he could push it against the wall out of the way, he picked up one of her legs and pulled himself out of his pants and took her right there against the barn wall.
Julie could feel the way the hard wall felt ridged as her back slid against it as he thrust into her. He enjoyed their moments alone and the sexual heat that seemed to drive their behavior if they were alone together for more than a few moments. Lack of chemistry had never been an issue between the two of them.
Feeling his body strain and tense up as his hips grinded against her thighs until he reached his own climax, she kissed him back and nibbled on his lip, her little mews and moans egging him on to go faster.
When he was done, he helped her straighten her skirt down and kissed her one more time hard on the mouth for good measure before placing his hand over her belly delicately.
“If you are pregnant, the belly will get in the way at some point, so if there's any positions you like that a belly might interfere with...” he whispered suggestively to her.
“You sure you're okay with having a baby this soon after being married?” she asked him, feeling a little nervous about the whole situation. Babies and children weren't new to her. She'd helped out plenty with her younger siblings and got the gist on what to do with children, she pictured holding a boy that looked like Marshal in her arms and it made her smile.
She could do this, as long as he had her back and would support her. She felt a moment of insecurity while she waited for him to answer her.
“Julie, that's one of the reasons I wanted to get married. Not just because I was lonely, but because I wanted children, and I wanted a woman who enjoyed being a wife and a mother. You are the kind of woman a man dreams of marrying. I have no regrets. I know this will be a new adventure for both of us, but like the marriage and your travels to get here, we'll enjoy the ride,” he told her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“No more lies of omission? And no goats in the house, right?” She asked him and then laughed when he hugged her.
“I promise I won't intentionally fail to tell you something. I'm not perfect, but I'll do my best to be honest and give you all the information, and I will try to keep the goats in the barn and not in the house,” Marshal told her and cupped her cheek.
“Okay, I can live with that,” she said smiling up at him.
A few months later
, a healthy baby boy was born. Marshal delivered him and then held them both together while the new mother nursed her baby and leaned against his chest, feeling content.
“This is what love is supposed to feel like, isn't it?” she asked him and realized she'd never told him she loved him. "I love you, Marshal.” Realizing that he deserved to know.
“I love you too, Julie. I told you we could get through this, now we just need to do this a few more times and we’re all set,” he teased her and then kissed the top of his newborn son's head gently.