“You can’t be serious.”

Ruby dug her heels in as Corbin pulled on her arm.

“I am. You made a deal with us. If you break the deal, you get spanked.”

“That’s hogwash! I made a deal for a week. That week is now over. You can’t do this. Stop it!” She tried to twist out of his grasp but it didn’t work.

“You told Vanessa and Dawn you’d stay until after the Fourth. You haven’t stayed that long.”

“So, you’re going to spank me because I decided to leave. That’s unfair.”

They were in the backroom now. Corbin shook his head at her, then put his hands on his hips.

“Tell me why.”

“Because I want to.”

“No, that’s not a good enough reason. I want to know why. Exactly why.”

“Because if I stay here, there’s too much of a chance my father might find me!”

“No! Not good enough. I told you I’d protect you from him.”

“Then I just…”

Ruby’s words died out as Corbin propelled her toward the couch. He sat down and pulled her across his lap. Before she could protest, her skirts were above her waist and her bloomers were cleared of her bottom.

The first slap was harsh and she cried out. He slapped her bottom again and again and again as she struggled against him.

“Tell me why. Tell me the truth.”

“Because I hate you!”

He continued to spank her, his hand moving from one cheek to the other, the stings turning into sharp burns.

“Stop, please, Corbin, please!” She kicked her feet and sobbed.

“I want to know the truth.” His hand came down over and over and as Ruby struggled against him. He stopped abruptly, his hand caressing her bottom.

“Talk to me. Tell me why you want to leave.”

“Because you spanked me!”

He slapped her ass again. “You wanted to leave before that.”

She sobbed back a few words, then started to cry.

She couldn’t tell him the truth; that she really didn’t want to leave. That she loved being with him, and talking with him. When she was in Texas, all she would think about was Corbin.

He slapped her ass a few more times, then stopped again. This time, he lifted her to her feet and stood up next to her. He captured her face in his hands, and brought his lips down on hers. His touch was tentative at first, soft and gentle. When she didn’t pull away, he deepened the kiss, meshing their lips together until they became one.

When she moaned softly, he slid his tongue along her lips, probing for entrance.

She granted it, her hands going to his shoulders and massaging him softly. Once inside her mouth, his tongue danced upon her own, sending shock waves of sensation through Ruby’s body. She’d never felt anything so perfect, so absolutely delightful.

“Is that why you want to leave?” His breath was hot against her face as he held her close.

“Yes.”

“Are you frightened of me, of the fact that we’ve become close?”

“Yes. I’m frightened of the fact that when I saw you playing with Jacob I thought about you playing with our child.”

He gently stroked her hair. “He’ll have dark hair, and your beautiful smile.”

He captured her lips again in a soft, sensuous kiss.

“Or she will.”

“Our daughter will be as beautiful as her mother.”

“This is crazy. My father will never allow it.”

“You are over twenty-one and can do as you please. If I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?”

She gazed into his eyes and felt as if she would melt.

“I don’t know. I’m just so, scared.”

“Don’t be frightened of me. Ever.”

“But you spanked me on the first night that we met.”

“Discipline is good for you. We’ve gotten along fine since then, haven’t we?”

“Yes, but I just don’t know. Corbin, I…”

“Then let’s do it right now, just the two of us. We can run and get Win and Vanessa for witnesses.”

“Your other brothers would kill us.”

“I don’t care. I want to marry you. Right now.”

“So you can spank me whenever you want?” She wiped away her tears, and when he laughed, she slapped him playfully. He sat and pulled her into his lap and hugged her close.

“No. I can do that that anytime. I want to wed you because I want you as my wife. I want you to live with me. I want to go to sleep and wake up with you in my arms. I want to see you heavy with my child, and then holding that child to your breast.”

Her tears started to fall again. He wiped them gently from her face, then kissed the tip of her nose.

“Don’t be so nice to me. If you are, it will make leaving harder.”

“You’re not leaving. If I have to do the hogtie idea, then I will. We’ll have the only shotgun wedding where the person under the gun is the bride.”

Ruby snuggled into his chest. With his arms wrapped around her she felt warm and safe.

“Marry me.”

“No.”

“Now, today.”

“No.”

“Tomorrow then.”

“Oh, Corbin. We’ll see.”

He lifted her face to his gaze. “I’m going to keep bugging you. You will be my wife before the Fourth, or right afterwards.”

“Well, we have to talk about this spanking thing. I don’t think I want to be spanked too many more times.”

“Spanking is good for you. As your husband, I will have the authority to give out discipline. And that will include spankings.”

“Would seem to me your hand would get tired.”

“There are lots of things I can use besides my hand,” Corbin said. “A hairbrush works wonders, as does a belt, and I’m thinking that wonderful ruler I use to measure lines for type would work perfectly.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m very serious, and if you think I’m not, just do something wrong.”

She shook her head. “And you want me to marry you, when you just admitted that you would spank me whenever you want?”

“You didn’t mind it so much. If you did, you would have run from me right now instead of sitting on my lap. Instead, you’re sitting here talking with me, and putting your head on my shoulder. What does that tell you?”

Ruby pulled back, but she didn’t get off his lap. His words ran through her mind, then ran through it again. He was right. If she hated what he’d just done to her, she would have run the minute it was over. Instead, she stayed on his lap, stayed close to him.

“I’m going to ask you again tomorrow. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll walk you back to the hotel. After dinner, I want you to think, think about spending the rest of your life with me, here in Mac’s Crossing. Think about the wonderful children we could have. Think about wonderful nights in each other’s arms.”

“Think about you spanking me.” She pouted and he laughed.

“Spankings don’t have to be for punishment. Some of them can lead to wonderful lovemaking.”

“And how would you know that? You’ve never been married.”

“True, but I’m not lily white, either.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I want a husband with a past.”

He laughed. “Sorry, but there’s no going back on things. Will you promise me you’ll think about those things tonight?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Good. Then I’ll want an answer, tomorrow. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

He kissed her again, then sat her on her feet.

“Until tomorrow, then.”

At ten o’clock that night, Ruby put on her softest shoes and quietly slipped out of the hotel. Miss O’Brien had already gone to sleep, so she tried as hard as she could to walk quietly. When she got to the front door, she opened and shut it quickly, then waited on the front porch to see if Miss O’Brien would come running.

When she didn’t, Ruby picked up her skirts and made her way across the deserted streets. She knew that Corbin never locked the store’s front door, despite the fact that he used the term often. She pushed the door of the office open and walked toward the counter. In seconds, he was coming out of the back room. There was a frown on his face, but no weapon in his hand.

His chest was bare, and it looked as if he’d pulled his pants on quickly. The sight of him made her heart quicken. She’d never thought he would be so handsome, so virile.

“What are you doing here?” His voice was deep, and the desire in his eyes was evident.

“I wanted to give you my answer. It’s yes. I’ll marry you.” She smiled at him. She’d thought about it long and hard before deciding that becoming his wife would be the right thing to do.

She cared about him a great deal, and he had protected her when she needed it, taken her into his life, even if he had taken her over his knee first.

Now, she watched a huge smile appear on his face. “Tomorrow?”

“No, not that fast. I want a real wedding, with guests and a cake make by Miss O’Brien. We can get married right after the Fourth of July, say a week after?”

“That long?” She loved the way his face dropped in disappointment.

“It’s only a few weeks. Besides, I didn’t say you had to wait that long to make love to me.”

“Why you naughty little girl.” His face lit up, despite the words that he’d just uttered. He crossed to her quickly, pulled her close and kissed her tenderly.

“Are you a virgin, Ruby?”

“Yes.” She nodded, her eyes large. “If I wasn’t, would it change your mind?”

“Would it change the way I feel about you? No. I just wanted to know so I can take you gently the first time, and harder the second, and the third, and the fourth. I wish I had a softer bed to lay you in. Maybe we should wait until we can go to Denver, stay in the Brown Palace.”

“No. I want you to make love to me now.”

“You mean before you change your mind?”

“No. Because I don’t want to wait.”

“This afternoon, you weren’t sure. What changed your mind?”

Ruby kissed him gently. “You did. I got to thinking about what you said. When I went to bed tonight, I thought about spending my nights with you.”

“Well then, let me show you to the bedroom.” He took her hand and they started toward the back end of the house. Ruby’s stomach was nervous, but her heart was soaring. Was it really just a week ago when she’d run from her house, knowing that she’d never be happy again?

And here she was, about to make love with the most wonderful man in the world. When they were in the bedroom, he closed the door behind her and hurried to the bed where he lowered the wick on the lamp. The room was now bathed in soft light, and he pulled back the covers on the bed, then held out his hand.

“Come to me, Ruby.”

“If anyone knew I was here, they would brand me a wicked woman.” She went to stand beside him, shivering when he pulled her into his naked chest and kissed her passionately.

He worked his hands gently up her back, and then went down and back up. She trembled in response, and he kissed her lips, then moved his lips down to her neck.

“So very beautiful,” he whispered against her skin. “The first time I saw you, when you came into the dining room, do you remember?”

“Yes.” She shivered again.

“I thought to myself, that is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I could hardly concentrate on what you were saying because my lower regions were thinking for themselves.”

“What?” she whispered, and then blushed when she realized what he was saying. “Oh.”

“And after I spanked you, it was even worse. Being in that close of contact with you almost made me lose all self-control. It’s really the reason that I asked you to stay. I couldn’t stand for you to be away from me.”

He pulled away from her and began to undo the buttons that held her bodice together. Their gazes locked as his fingers worked. Ruby thought she would lose her mind at the slowness of his fingers. Finally, he stepped back and shook his head with laughter.

“Help me.”

“Gladly.”

They worked together to remove her clothing, until she was down to her shift. She’d never been so naked in front of a man before, and she couldn’t decide if she was more nervous, or more excited.

He pulled her close and kissed her again.

“Are you ready to be my wife? Because once I take you, that’s what you’ll be, in body and in mind.”

“Yes.”

He gently lifted the shift from her body. When she was standing naked in front of him, he kissed her again, then gently laid her down on the bed, running his hands up and down her sides, stopping just below her breasts.

When she shivered and moaned, he dropped his mouth to her breast, capturing the firm bud in his mouth.

“Oh, Corbin. That feels so wonderful.”

“You have no idea, my love, no idea. Just wait. This is just the beginning.”

Ruby shivered and moaned as he moved to the other breast.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“You need to just lie there and be the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth. Trust me on that.”

When his hands slipped down below her waist, Ruby thought she would lose her mind. He gently pushed her thighs apart, his tender words about her soft skin making her love him all the more.

Because that’s what she was feeling, right? It was definitely love? But since it was the first time she’d ever felt it, she wasn’t sure what it felt like exactly. Was it the delicious feeling that was running through her stomach as Corbin was touching her?

“Oh my, Corbin.”

“Mine, all mine.” He stroked her tender flesh as Ruby clutched the bedding beneath her. She’d never, ever felt anything so fantastic, so wonderfully perfect in her entire life. His fingers were going where no one had ever gone before, and instead of feeling ashamed of it, or dreading it as she had been when her father had told her she must marry, she felt absolutely incredible.

“Corbin. Thank you so much for rescuing me. For giving me a place in your life.”

He rose up above her and her eyes widened as she felt the hard length of him probe at her wetness.

“You’re welcome, my love.” He pushed inside her gently.

She gasped at the fullness of him, the incredible feel of his manhood inside her.

“You’re the most beautiful, most delightful thing I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting in my entire life. I can’t believe that you actually want to be mine.”

He pushed again, then stopped. She lifted her hips toward him, to encourage him to continue. Instead, he gently stroked her hair.

“It’s all right,” she said softly. “I know it’s going to hurt.”

“I don’t want you to hurt anymore than what’s necessary. Are you sure you’re ready for me?”

“Yes, Corbin, yes. Make me your wife.”

He kissed her gently, then rained kisses around her neck and shoulders. She relaxed into the soft bed, then her eyes flew open as he pushed past her barrier and buried himself deep inside her. Tears formed in her eyes and leaked onto her cheeks, onto the sides of her head.

“Corbin.”

“Hush, my Ruby, that was it. The pain is over. The pain is over.” He kissed her again, then moved his lips up and kissed the tears away from her cheek.

She sniffled and smiled at him.

“Is the pain going away, my Ruby delight?”

“Yes.” And amazingly, it was. The pain was subsiding, and her body was quivering. She felt full, and she felt like she belonged with Corbin.

He began to move inside her, his hips setting up a slow rhythm that made her ache with need. She wrapped her legs around him and gathered him in her arms.

“More, Corbin, more.”

Soon, she felt no pain. She only felt the absolutely incredible length of Corbin, moving in and out of her. If she’d known that he was waiting for her here, not that far from Denver, she would have run away from home long ago.

He lifted from her, pulling out of her body and she cried out in need. Her cries of anguish turned into cries of pleasure when his fingers began to tease her. They found the most incredible spot, teasing her until she thought she would go crazy.

“Corbin, what are you… oh… oh… oh…” Her body exploded in pleasure. She’d never felt anything so incredible in her life. Corbin stayed above her, gently working his fingers back and forth through her flesh.

“Did you like that, my love?”

“Yes.”

He moved his fingers and replaced his hardness inside her warmth. He began to move and within moments she heard him utter her name in her ear. She wrapped her arms around him, knowing that he was spilling his seed inside her, wondering if even now they were creating a life together, a life they could love and cherish and raise together.

“I love you,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re my wife now. Maybe not by law, but in my heart, and I hope, in yours.”

“Yes, my darling. I’m your wife now. And, soon after the Fourth, the whole world will know.”

The next morning, Ruby felt wonderfully sore. The warm feeling in her body and heart stayed with her through the entire night. At four that morning, Corbin had lifted her from his bed, helped her to dress and walked her back to the hotel.

She’s snuck upstairs and fallen asleep within minutes. Now, she was walking back downstairs, the wonderful smell of Miss O’Brien’s coffee wafting up the stairs to greet her.

She went into the dining room and found Vanessa enjoying a cup of coffee.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. I had begun to wonder if you would sleep the day away.”

“Hello, Vanessa. What are you doing here?”

Vanessa laughed. “Well, I went to see Corbin, and he said you’d be sleeping late. So, I decided to come and see you, so we could make wedding plans.”

“Wedding plans? How did you… You’re amazing.”

Vanessa laughed. “I’d like to think so. Corbin was happier than I’d ever seen him. That meant that the two of you had finally come to your senses. And, when he said you were sleeping late, I knew that meant that you’d spent most of the night with him. Am I right?”

Ruby put her head in her hands and shook her head, then she looked around for Miss O’Brien.

“Don’t worry, there’s no one here but the two of us. She had to go to the store for some things and asked me to wait, so that you weren’t here on your own.”

Ruby sat down and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“You must think I’m a very loose woman.”

“No, I think you’re a woman who has fallen for a MacAllister brother. They can be very, very persuasive. I never wanted to fall in love with Win, but I just couldn’t help myself. I’m sure it was the same with Dawn and Rob, and with you, too.”

“How often does he spank you?” She rushed the words out of her mouth, afraid that if she thought about it too much, she’d be too afraid to ask the question.

“That depends. He spanks me when I’ve done something that he thinks is bad, and sometimes, well…”

Ruby laughed. “Yes, Corbin told me there was a difference. It does make me wonder.”

“You’re going to love it. Now, are we planning a large wedding, or a smaller wedding? Corbin said you wanted to wait until after the Fourth of July. I could see that, but he doesn’t want to wait too long. What date did you have in mind?”

Ruby laughed, and said maybe the sixth.

“Then we should see if Josh could order a dress fairly quick. Either that or we need to go into Denver, and I know that you don’t really want to do that.”

Ruby nodded. “I have to tell everyone the truth at some point. I can’t go on living a lie my entire life. I need to talk to Corbin and see what he says.”

Vanessa nodded. “We’re baking pies in two days. So today, I think we need to go and look through Josh’s store, see what he has.”

Ruby nodded. When Miss O’Brien came in about an hour later, Ruby realized that it was close to noon. The ladies ate lunch, and then Vanessa and Ruby headed out toward Josh’s general store.

Josh was very happy to see them, especially Ruby.

“Welcome, future sister.” He pulled her into a hug.

“Does everyone know?”

“Sure,” Josh replied. “Corbin’s terrible about keeping secrets. He’s already told all of us, so yes, we know. I’m sure you want to look for a dress, right? Come back this way and we’ll see what I have. If you don’t like it, I can always order something from Denver.”

Ruby and Vanessa looked through the dresses, discussing the pros and cons of each one that she found, trying to decide which one would be the best, and which ones didn’t fit at all.

They were so busy that they didn’t hear the stage arrive. Ruby was sitting in a chair, giggling when a voice from the doorway stopped her laughter short.

“You.”

She looked up at the stagecoach driver.

“You’re still here? I told the men who asked me that I’d dropped you off here and then you’d gone down to Texas. I guess I told them wrong.”

“Told who?” Josh said, his eyes widening.

“Her fiancé. He was looking for her, which I thought was weird. I told him the woman I dropped off was a widow, because the facts didn’t fit, but the photo looked just like her. That’s just so strange.”

“Well, they say there’s a twin for every person in the world,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “I’m sure you have her confused with someone else.”

Hank shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The name he gave me was Ruby, Ruby Parsons.”

Josh shook his head at Hank, but the look he gave Ruby was anything but friendly.

“I’m sure it’s a mistake,” Josh said to Hank. “You need to be going, Hank, or you’re going to be late.”

“True, true. Sorry, I just thought I had it right. Sorry for the confusion.”

He left through the door, helping the passengers into the stage that were heading back to Denver. When they were gone, Josh wheeled on Ruby.

“Who are you? Are you lying to my brother?”

“No,” Ruby said softly. “He knows everything, I promise.”

Vanessa stood. “I think it’s time for a family meeting. We’ll meet at my house tonight, around seven. And Josh, wipe that look off your face. Ruby’s right, Corbin knows everything about her, and he loves her. So just relax and enjoy the fact that you’re getting a new sister.”

Ruby thought for a minute or two that Josh would disagree with her, that he would stop Hank and throw her onto the stage to Denver.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“If Corbin trusts you, then I do, too. I’ll defend you with my life if my brother loves you. But if you’re messing with him, if you’ve lied to him, I’ll hogtie you and take you to Denver myself.”