Barefoot Bride for Three Read Online Free Page B

coat and roll up his shirt sleeves to work.” He glanced toward the door, then back to her. She saw a hint of a devilish grin. “How about I show you what you’re getting. Do you want to see what’s under my shirt, Beth?”
    Beth .
    He branded her with that one word, whispered with desire. She’d come to Tanner’s Ford as Elizabeth Katherine James. It was a proper name for the daughter of an important man. That life was gone. Soon, she’d be Mrs. Trace Elliott, his Beth.
    Before she said her vows to this stranger, she would see the flesh she’d clung to. After spending three days and two nights in jail her virtue was long gone. She could flout society’s rules without falling further in disgrace. If the man who would be her husband wanted to show off his muscles, she would not deny him. She nodded.
    He flashed a smile, stepped away and tossed his hat onto the sheriff’s desk. Dark hair, pressed tight against his big head from his hat, curled to his shoulders. Watching her closely, he took his dusty bandana from around his neck. A raised white scar ran around his neck from collar to chin, as if he’d been hanged or dragged with a rope. That’s what happened with horse thieves or murderers. Had he escaped a noose?
    He slowly unbuttoned his worn shirt. Arm and chest muscles shifted as he moved. He took it off and tossed it to the desk. Tiny imitations of her own nipples peeked out from his chest hair. His arms certainly looked strong enough to work all day. A few scars here and there showed he’d not spent his time as a clerk in an office. The dark curls on his chest looked soft. A matching line led down to…a bulge.
    She gasped when he stepped close and took her waist in both large hands. Heat flared, a heat that shot down to her private place. She automatically set her hands on his thick forearms for balance. He raised her off the ground until they were eye to eye, her toes dangling. He lifted her as if she was petite, like her pretty, popular younger sisters.
    “You’ll live on the Rocking E with me and two of my brothers. Me, Jack, and Simon will take care of you. We’ll do what a man does for his wife.”
    Share a small cabin with three men? But it was still better than her other choices. He waited for her answering nod. Both of them panting, he held her to his chest so her body dragged against his. Under her dirty dress her hard nipples, protruding from swollen breasts, scraped against his naked chest. When she touched down, the gritty wood floor felt cool against the soles of her feet. He leaned close. His naked chest waited mere inches from her nose. Raw strength and power oozed from every pore. He held himself as if he needed no gun to prove he was a man. Secure in himself, he didn’t depend on money, clothing, or society to know who he was.
    “In return, you’ll take care of us.”
    He rubbed his hard stomach against her chest, rasping her nipples through the fabric. A bolt of desire shot between her legs. This was what she’d been warned about, the wicked attraction a decent woman had to fight. They said only low women allowed a man’s touch without shuddering in revulsion.
    She shuddered, but in desire.
    He moved her matted hair behind her shoulders with long fingers. He bent and nuzzled her neck. She quivered even more when he brought his lips to her ear.
    “You’ll do everything a wife does for her husband,” he whispered. “Everything.” He gently bit the lobe of her ear. A shaft of white-hot desire set her on fire. “In my bed and anywhere else I want you.”
    Without the rasping croak, his sultry whisper shivered down her spine like ice water. The warm air from his breath teased her neck for a moment. He panted as hard as she. He lifted his lips and nibbled his way to her jaw. Her body arched toward him before she knew it, hard nipples scraping against his naked chest. Only a few thin layers of fabric separated them. He wrapped his arms around her and nipped her earlobe. She grabbed