Romance: Seducing The Quarterback (26 page)

“We should leave soon.” I say as John picks up another pint
of beer and begins to chug it. He eyes me over the top of his glass. His
tenderness hadn’t lasted long, and yet I couldn’t help but love him. He was,
after all, the other half of my future husband. If there were a way to save
them both I would. But even were I to come up with a harebrained scheme my
father would never fall for it. So I must settle for trading one brother for
the other.

“We will leave when I’m ready to go.” He says gruffly,
slamming the empty pint glass on the table. The rest of the saloon turns and
looks at us and then realizing it’s John making the noise, they quickly look
away. John takes a deep breath and pushes his chair back from the table.
Shifting his gaze to one of the men at the poker table, he opens his mouth.

“Shorty, you put this with the rest of the stash. I’ll be
back for it.” Then he turns his gaze to everyone else at the table. “And if I
find a single penny missing, I will hunt you all down like dogs!” They all nod
hurriedly. John turns to me and nods. “Let’s go.”

I let John take the lead, sitting behind him I wrap my arms
around his waist. The rhythm of the horse rocks me against him and I’m reminded
of our indiscretion.

“John?” I try to take my mind off what I have done.

“Mmm?” He answers in a gruff voice.

“Why did you agree?” I ask.

“I’ve always wanted to bang a sheriff’s daughter.” He
laughs. I feel the color rising in my cheeks. I’ve only ever heard that word
once before, but at least then I had no personal knowledge of what it meant.

“Oh.” I had somehow fooled myself in to believing that there
was a heroic reason behind his choice. That perhaps he had wanted to make love
to me as his last act before going to jail where he would almost certainly die
for his crimes. I had wanted to believe that somewhere inside John there was a
good man. But most of all, I wanted to believe that I hadn’t just been a notch
in his bedpost. I regret ever offering myself to him now, to know that all I
was, was a piece of meat to him. But then, without such sacrifice Jim would
surely hang.

The ride back home seemed to last forever. At the half way
point, I was sure that we were going in the wrong direction.

“John?” I asked.

“Hmm?” He said.

“Why are you turning yourself in?” I hear him laugh. “What’s
so funny?”

“You. You ask too many questions. You as why I’m turning
myself in. Why does it matter? If I’m doing it, why does it matter why? You get
what you wanted, don’t you?” He asks derisively. I nod my head silently.

“I was just…wondering, I suppose.” I loosen my grip around
his waist, barely wanting to touch him at all now. How can he be so detached?
It’s almost as though he’s not even human.

“Wonderin’ about things never gets you anywhere.” He says.

It’s already dark as the town appears over the horizon. I
can make out the bright lights still on in Main Street. I point out ahead.

“It’s just up there. That’s Main Street. At the end of the
street, that’s where the jail is. That’s where Jim is.” I say. John nods his
head.

“Sheriff!” John brings our horse to a halt outside the jail.
“Sheriff, I’m callin’ you out!”

I want to get down from the horse, to run for cover, but I
daren’t. I remain seated behind John, my hands still wrapped loosely around his
waist.

“Sheriff, do ya hear me?” John shouts again. This time I
hear footsteps coming to the door of the jail. I peek around John’s broad
shoulders and catch a glimpse of my father’s boots.

“Who’s callin’ me out?” He shouts back.

“Well you better come on out and see, I reckon’!” John says.

My father pushes open the door and steps out on to the front
step of the jail. When he sees me on the horse along with a man who looks just
like Jim, his face turns pale.

“Father! I found Jim’s brother!” I shout triumphantly. But
my father’s face remains pale and drawn and then I notice it. John is holding a
revolver in his hand. It’s pointed straight at my father.

“Now, sheriff…you’re gonna let my brother go ‘cause he
didn’t do any bank robbin’. Do you understand me?” John pulls back the hammer
and squints one eye as he aims the revolver at my father. My father stares at
me and I can feel him willing me to get off the horse, to save myself. But I
can’t. I can’t move. My legs are frozen with fear and I couldn’t even throw
myself from the horse if I tried.

“You let my daughter down off that horse first.” My father
demands. John cocks his head.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re in any place to be making
demands, sheriff.” John says. “You let my brother go and then we’ll talk about
your daughter here.” I watch my father nod his head submissively and step back
in to the jail. Moments later he reappears with Jim who is staring at the whole
scene in disbelief.

“Here’s your brother. He’s free to go when you release my
daughter.” My father is holding Jim’s hands behind his back. Keeping him there.
For a second I can’t help but wonder, if it came to me or John, which one of us
would Jim choose?

“Get off the horse.” John says to me without turning around.
I release my shaking hands from around his waist. I try gracefully to slide off
the massive creature, but fall slightly sideways and land in a pool on the
floor. Jim pulls free from my father’s grasp and runs to my side.

“Sara-May! Are you alright?!” He lifts me to my feet and
taking my face in his hand he looks in to my eyes with a smile. “Are you okay,
my love?” I nod sleepily.

“I think so.” I say. My father takes a step towards us, but
John reminds him of the gun by retraining it on him.

“You stay right where you are sheriff. I got no plans of
coming with you, guilty or not. I know what your folk do to outlaws in these
parts, and I don’t intend on spending my eternity hangin’ from my neck by a
noose.” I see my father’s face fall at the turn of events. “Just you remember,
you can’t win ‘em all.” John nudges the horse forward and turns around, his gun
still trained on my father.

“John!” Jim shouts. “John, do the right thing!” But John
shakes his head.

“Sorry little brother. You’re the good one, remember? Me?
Well, I got my own life to live and I prefer the rough ridin’ running from the
law kind of life I lead.” He nudges his horse forward and with a jerk of his
heels he races off down Main Street.

“Sara-May? Are you alright?” My father comes rushing to my
side.

“I’m fine, father, really.” I say. Upon seeing that I mean
it, he steps back and hardens his expression.

“You could have been seriously hurt, young lady! Do you have
any idea what men like that are capable of?” He says. I want to tell him yes,
that I had seen exactly what John Carson was capable of. Instead, I nodded
obediently.

“Sorry, father. I was only trying to help. I didn’t know how
else to clear Jim’s name. I knew it couldn’t have been him and…” My father
holds up his hand.

“About that…” He looks at Jim. “I’m very sorry for the
misunderstanding. I do hope that under the circumstances…” Jim nods.

“Of course.” He says. I can’t help but bite my tongue
because almost all of the things I’d like to say would get me much more than a
look of disapproval.

“Right…well, with that settled, shall we try to get things
back to normal around here?” My father says.

“I don’t know if that’s possible.” I tell him. He gives me a
look of concern and I smirk back at him. “John stole your horse.”

By: Erin Walsh

Spread Wide
by the Two Rival Cowboy Brothers

© Erin Walsh 2016 – All rights reserved

Published by Steamy Reads4U

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
or reviews.

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, businesses,
places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s
imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.  This book is
licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

This book may not be resold or given away to other people. 
If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional
copy.  If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not
purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a
copy.  Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Warning

This book contains explicit content intended for readers 18+
years old.

If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with
adult content, please close this book now.

Sarah wrung her hands anxiously as the wagon finally pulled
up to a small town after weeks of hard travel. It was a long voyage from rural
South Carolina to Wyoming. She was glad to be close to their destination, but
she was becoming ever more nervous about meeting her new husband and his
brother. There were just not very many eligible men in their community. And
just as unfortunate was the fact that Sarah’s family was by no means wealthy,
and they spent most of their time tending their small farm just to feed
themselves. So, it was not often that Sarah was able to go out and mingle with
men in the town.

Sarah would have been content to spend the rest of her life
on the farm with her father and mother and younger siblings, but it seemed that
was not to be her fate. One day, months ago, her uncle had come to visit from
out west. Her father’s brother was a strong, strapping man, who had taken his
family out on the frontier to try and build a better life.

Once there, he built up a ranch and started to raise cattle.
This put him in communications with other ranchers out in the rest, and that
was how he had heard of a common practice among men to seek wives from back
east. Her uncle explained that there was a scarcity of women in the west, and
that men were willing to pay money to bring up women from their homes so that
they could have wives.

Of course, Sarah hadn’t been too keen on the idea, but her
father seriously considered it. Her uncle proceeded to mention that he knew of
a couple of men who were looking for women, and that he had mentioned Sarah.
Her father had nodded, and agreed with her uncle to allow the men to contact
him.

For the next several months, Sarah’s father was in constant
contact with these men via letters. Finally, they seemed to come to an
agreement, and Sarah’s father told her that she was to be sent to those men.
They had offered a considerable amount of money for her, and it would be
foolish of him to refuse. Sarah was deeply saddened to be leaving her home and
her family, but she knew very well that they needed the money.

So, she said her farewells and gathered all her meager
possessions, and her uncle came to fetch her and deliver her to the men who had
ordered her. They traveled for long days, and sometimes even into the night.
Over the time, Sarah grew to like her uncle a great deal, and she partially wished
that she was going to live with him and his family, rather than into the home
of two strangers.

“Now you wait here,” her uncle said as they stopped the
wagon on the road in town. “I just need to pick up a few things, and then we’ll
be on our way.”

Sarah smiled and nodded. She allowed herself to look around.
People milled around, and some children ran up and down the street. She
wondered if she would come into town often, or if she would be largely kept
holed up in her new home. Sarah took a few deep, shuddering breaths. She
couldn’t help the deep, sick feeling of nervousness that had built up inside
her.

Sarah knew that her life was going to be changed forever.
She did not know anything about this lifestyle, and she certainly knew nothing
of these men. She had never even seen any of the letters they had written to
her father. She wished he had let her read them. At least then she might be
able to detect from their writing a hint of a personality, or at least whether
or not they would be cruel or kind.

Sarah had the urge to run into the town and away from her
situation, but she knew that would ultimately end badly. She had no idea what
kind of people lived here, and she could only guess that they were not all good
and kind. And a woman alone was certainly an easy target for those who wished
to do harm. Besides, she could see her uncle returning to the wagon, and she
knew he would quickly catch her if she ran. So, she resolved to stay put, in
spite of her overwhelming anxiety.

“Alright then,” her uncle huffed as he got back in the seat
next to her. “Off we go.”

The rest of the journey seemed like an eternity to Sarah.
Her mind was racing with all sorts of possibilities and fears. She buried her
hands in her skirts and wrung them back and forth, and her entire body shook
violently. She must have looked bad, for her uncle reached over and placed his
hand on her knee.

“Don’t you worry Sarah,” he gave her a smile. “These are
good, hardworking, God-fearing men. They’ll do you no harm.”

Sarah gave him a weak smile. His words did comfort her, but
they did not completely dissolve the anxiety she was feeling.

When Sarah was able see a small cottage and a large barn
coming up in front of them, she bit her lip. She felt that her heart was going
to beat out of her chest. She shook harder than ever when her uncle finally
stopped the wagon just in front of the small home. He got out of his seat and
moved to help her down just as three men walked out of the cottage.

Sarah lowered her eyes, afraid to look at them.

“Hey there Jonathan,” one of the men said to her uncle.

“Good to see you,” her uncle replied. “Here’s our Sarah.”

“Thank you very much for delivering her safely,” Sarah heard
another voice.

“Her things are just in the back,” her uncle explained.

“Caleb will bring them inside,” the first man said, and she
heard the third man head to the back, where he proceeded to take down her
single trunk.

“Well, I trust you to take care of my brother’s daughter,”
her uncle said, and Sarah heard the hint of a warning in his voice.

“Of course,” one of the men said.

“Alright, I’ll be off then,” her uncle sighed, then turned
to Sarah, and lifted up her face. “You be a good girl Sarah.”

“I will,” Sarah said meekly.

“Good,” he said softly, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“I’ll write you when I get settled.”

Sarah nodded, and watched as he got back into his seat. She
waved at him, and watched as he set off back down the road. Now, she was
finally alone with two strange men, and she shook with nerves.

“Hello Sarah,” one of the men addressed her. “I’m Peter, and
this is my brother Paul.”

Sarah looked at Peter. He was tall, with a kind smile and a
strong, clean shaven jaw. His hair was dark brown, and fell around his ears in
short, messy curls. Sarah already felt at ease with him. His eyes were a warm,
dark brown, and he looked very welcoming.

Paul, however, did not look quite so kind. He maintained his
distance, and merely nodded a greeting, his expression stern. He was just as
tall as his brother, though he seemed to carry himself more rigidly. His hair
was closer cut to his head, and it was combed off to the side. His jaw was
outlined by a light layer of stubble, and his brow was strong. His eyes were a
gold-flecked green. Sarah couldn’t help but feel unnerved by him.

“Come on now,” Peter said cheerily from beside her. “Let’s
show you inside.”

Peter led her up a small path that led to the entrance of
the house. The place was small, but it had multiple rooms, which was a rarity.
She couldn’t help but be incredibly impressed.

“We built it ourselves,” Peter explained, and she could hear
the pride in his voice. “It took us good long time. But, there’s plenty of wood
around here, and we wanted to have the best. So I hope you like it.”

“It’s very impressive,” Sarah commented with a small smile.

“I’m glad you like it,” Peter said. “And over here is your
room.”

Peter led her over to an entryway and showed her into a
small room. It was very quaint, and Sarah had no qualms about staying there,
but she could not help the nervous confusion that was building up inside her.
She had been brought here to be a wife. And here there were two brothers- but
which one was she to marry?

“Is something wrong?” Peter looked down at her, concerned.

“Oh no,” Sarah shook her head, turning to look at him. “But,
wouldn’t it make sense for me to share a room with my… husband?”

“Ah,” Peter nodded. “I understand. My apologies, I didn’t
know you were unaware of our unique situation.”

“Which is?” Sarah prompted.

“Well you see,” Peter explained, moving back into the first
room. “My brother and I have seen the need for a woman around here. It’s just
convenient for our purposes to have someone else doing the cooking, the
cleaning, and minding things closer to home. We have to go out and mind the
cattle, and we don’t like the idea of leaving the house unattended.”

Sarah nodded her understanding.

“We looked for women here of course,” Peter explained. “But
most of the women in town were already taken, or unsuitable to our needs. So of
course we were thrilled when your uncle mentioned you.”

Sarah nodded once more, but glanced over to Paul. His stoic
expression made her doubt that he had ever been thrilled about anything in his
life.

“So we both used our money to get you here,” Peter
continued. “We really only need one woman around here- for now at least. You’ll
be more than capable of handling what needs to be taken care of.”

“So…” Sarah began, still very confused. “Am I not to marry
either of you?”

“Well, not immediately of course,” Peter chuckled. “You will
marry one of us in time. The decision will be yours. You’ll have time to get
settled down, and get used to our routine here. And you’ll get to know each of
us better. Then, as time passes, we’ll all likely help to build another little
place, maybe a little farther off on our property, so that you can raise your
own family, but still live with us.”

Sarah felt a heap of nerves at having to eventually make
such a decision.

“Rest assured,” Peter spoke yet again. “There’s plenty of
time for that. For now, you just have to do your own set of chores and figure
out how things work around here. You’re already a part of our family now.”

Sarah relaxed slightly. She felt very welcomed by Peter.
Paul, on the other hand, had yet to say anything to her. He had merely leaned
against the wall as his brother spoke. He seemed disinterested- his mind was
obviously elsewhere. Sarah made up her mind to stick very closely to Peter.

“Alright, you’ve seen the house,” Peter clapped his hands
together. “Let’s show you the animals.”

From the corner of her eye, Sarah watched Paul leave the
house ahead of them. She wondered vaguely where he was going, but did not worry
much. She was much more interested in the large building that rose up not far
from the house. Peter led her inside, and she came face to face with various
stalls for different animals. Most of them were horses.

Sarah was taken aback by their immense size and beauty. She
reached out to touch the one nearest her, a dark bay, but Peter quickly seized
her hand.

“Watch out for him,” Peter warned her. “He’s not very
friendly. The only one of us he gets along with is Paul. He has a special way
with the horses.”

Sarah eyed the bay warily. It was little surprise to her
that the unfriendly horse belonged to Paul.

“This girl belongs to Caleb,” Peter explained, moving her
over to a gray horse with a white mane. “And this fellow belongs to me.”

Peter stopped her before a stall that held a beautiful
yellow horse with a white star on its forehead. She tentatively reached up her
hand to pet it, looking up at Peter for permission. He smiled and nodded, and
Sarah then pet a line down its nose. She smiled broadly.

“His name is Ben,” Peter told her. “He’s the sweetest of the
bunch.”

Sarah smiled as she stroked his nose. He released a puff of
air at the contact, and caused her to giggle.

“Now there’s just one more for you to see,” Sarah allowed
Peter to turn her so that she was facing further down into the barn.

Paul stood there, holding the reins of a beautiful horse.
Its coat was largely white, with mottled gray on the nose and going down the
legs. Paul ran long strokes down its powerful neck. Sarah thought it was the
most elegant animal she had ever seen.

“She’s yours,” Peter said, and Sarah smiled broadly.

“Really?” Sarah nearly jumped up and down in her excitement.

“Of course,” Peter laughed, and Sarah approached the animal.
She immediately made to go pet the horse, but stopped short as she became wary
of Paul’s proximity.

“Come on,” Paul spoke to her for the first time, though his
expression was still stern. Sarah slowly made her way over to the horse,
petting it gingerly on the nose. Close by, Paul watched her, his eyes intense.

“Here,” he spoke again, and moved back, gesturing for her to
follow. Sarah moved to stand closer to him, coming to a stop by the horse’s
shoulder.

“Like this,” he said softly, and ran his hand over the
horse’s neck and shoulders in a smooth line. Sarah looked up at Paul, and then
back down at the horse as she mimicked his motions.

“That’s it,” Paul said softly, though Sarah couldn’t tell if
he was talking to her or the horse. Sarah looked her horse up and down,
marveling at its magnificence. All the while, she felt Paul’s eyes on her, and
she felt an anxiety welling up inside her.

“Well, now that we all have horses,” Peter spoke, and Sarah
was relieved to be reminded of his presence with them. “I thought we could all
go for a ride, and show you the property.”

Sarah flushed, and said nothing as Peter moved to take his
horse out of its stall.

“What’s the matter?” Peter cocked his head in confusion.

Sarah opened her mouth to answer, but shut it again from
embarrassment.

“She’s never ridden before,” Paul said from beside her, his
tone clipped. Sarah blushed, embarrassed by her lack of skill, and embarrassed
that Paul had called her out on it.

“Oh,” Peter nodded. “That’s alright; you’ll have plenty of
time to learn here. For now, you can ride with me.”

Peter set to work saddling up his horse, and Sarah waited
for him to be ready. Paul put her horse back in its stall, and then moved over
to the large bay at the other end of the barn. Paul glanced over at her, and
waved her over. Sarah blushed, and moved over to where he stood in front of his
horse’s stall.