Rocky Mountain Romp (Rocky Mountain Bride Series Book 4) Read online

  Rocky Mountain Romp

  Rocky Mountain Bride Series, Book Four

  By

  Lee Savino

  ©2015 by Blushing Books® and Lee Savino

  All rights reserved.

  No part of the 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 publisher.

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  Savino, Lee

  Rocky Mountain Romp

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-68259-226-7

  Cover Design by ABCD Graphics & Design

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the Author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

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  Table of Contents:

  Author’s Note

  Author Bio

  Rocky Mountain Rogue Teaser

  Ebook Offer

  Blushing Books Newsletter

  Blushing Books

  *

  “What do you think? She’s perfect for him.” Esther stood in the center of her parlor, holding up a newspaper, her green eyes sparkling with mischief.

  “Let me see it.” Carrie held out one hand for the newspaper, while her other cradled her baby daughter.

  “Read it aloud,” Rose said. The tall redhead lounged on Esther’s chaise, swinging her feet. Her pale face held its usual bored expression, but even that was slipping in the face of Esther’s excitement.

  “Here is the lady’s advertisement.” Carrie cleared her throat and read. “‘I am fat, fair, and forty-eight. Five feet high. Am a number one lady, well fixed with no encumbrance. Am in business in city, but want a partner who lives in the West. Want an energetic man that has some means, not under forty years of age and weight not less than 180. Of good habits. A Christian gentleman preferred.’” Carrie looked up, a little wrinkle forming between her eyebrows. “You think Mr. Martin will suit?”

  “Why not?” Esther’s eyes danced with the thought. She had gathered the women in her parlor while the men were working on a barn raising and shared her plan to find a wife for Lawrence Martin, the owner of the general store in town.

  “Is he over forty? His gut alone puts him over one hundred and eighty pounds,” Rose drawled, twirling a finger in her flame-colored hair. “I wouldn’t call him energetic. Although, last time I entered the shop, he hustled to the back to hide so quickly, you’d think I’d come to rob him.”

  “He’s shy,” Carrie defended the bald shopkeeper.

  “He needs a wife,” Esther said.

  “Who does?” A voiced boomed in the doorway, and the women all jumped. Esther’s husband, the Reverend Johnathan Shepherd, stood in the doorway. He was so tall he had to duck under the mantel to enter, and his thick brows and lean face would make a lesser man look homely, but Johnathan wore an air of authority that compelled the eye.

  Esther stood with a smile on her face; in normal moments she was ravishingly beautiful, but whenever her tall husband was in the room, she seemed to glow.

  “Hello, husband. We were just speaking of Mr. Martin,” the blonde said sweetly.

  The Reverend shook his head. His stern glance was directed at his wife, but in her corner, Carrie flushed and stuffed the newspaper away. Fortunately, Johnathan’s back was to the young mother, so he couldn’t see her guilty movements.

  “Reverend Shepherd.” Rose sat up. A former saloon girl and dancer, she had no fear of the tall, imposing man, as if she sensed the gentleness in the Reverend. “How old is Mr. Martin?”

  “I believe he turned forty this past August.” Shepherd frowned. “Why?”

  “No reason.” Esther smiled at her husband with as much charm as she could muster. Rose joined in with a grin of her own and the Reverend finally shook his head.

  “Whatever trouble you’re planning, I’ll warn you to stop.” He tilted his head at his wife, and she raised her own chin to meet his stare. “I came to tell you the men will break for lunch within the hour. If you ladies aren’t too busy.”

  “Of course.” Esther sprang to her feet. The women retreated to the kitchen, Rose and Esther hurrying to start the meal as Carrie sat to feed her daughter.

  “It’s decided then,” Esther said. “Now we must find a way to send the telegram.”

  “I’ll do it,” Rose said. “Lyle and I ride to Canon City to look for his brother Jesse. I can slip away and send it. What if she writes back?”

  “We’ll handle it at that time,” Esther said and clapped her h
ands with excitement, her beautiful face lighting up. “This is a wonderful plan.”

  * * *

  After making lunch, the women walked it out to the men. The new building sat behind the Shepherds’ house, a little more than a bare frame. Once it was built, the large, barnlike structure would serve double duty as a sanctuary on Sundays and a hospital the rest of the week.

  The men looked up as the women started to skirt the first pile of lumber.

  “Carrie!” Miles called to his wife and frowned and shook his head. Carrie stopped in her tracks. “Miles doesn’t want me any closer. He doesn’t think it’s safe.”

  The broad shouldered man trotted out of the building area, still wearing a stern expression.

  “Why don’t you eat under the tree? Stay out of the sun,” Esther suggested and handed off a lunch pail to Miles as he passed.

  He strode to his wife’s side and then, hand on her back, escorted her away.

  “I love how he dotes on her,” Rose said. “She’s the only one of us who can make him smile.”

  “That and his daughter,” Esther said wistfully.

  “Do you and Johnathan want children?” Rose took her friend’s arm and kept walking towards the wooden frame.

  “Yes, very much.” Esther’s voice sounded pained. Rose waited, but the blonde woman didn’t elaborate further.

  “Well, I’m not sure if I do. Lyle asked me if I was pregnant the other day, and I nearly choked on my coffee. The thought is frightening.”

  “That’s understandable,” Esther said gently. Rose had told the minister’s wife all about her childhood, raised by her sister working in a brothel and saloon. Living in a home, with a loving family, was something Rose was still getting used to. “Still, if it happens, you needn’t fear. The child will be blessed beyond compare to have you and Lyle as parents.”

  Rose blinked sharply, feeling tears rising to her eyes. “Thank you,” she said after a pause. “I suppose that is part of my worry—whether I’d be a suitable mother.”

  Esther scoffed. “More than suitable. You’ll be wonderful.”

  “I suppose we’ll have to wait and see,” Rose said, but her cheeks glowed. “You must promise me you’ll teach my children their letters.”

  “I would love that,” Esther said. “I helped my mother teach my brothers and sisters at home the year the schoolmaster died, and the town had trouble getting a replacement.”

  “I’m sure it was a lively classroom,” Rose remarked drily, and Esther laughed.

  “It was lively. Just as things ought to be.” The women reached the build site, and Esther waved to her husband then took her leave. Rose watched her friend go, feeling satisfied with the return of Esther’s cheerfulness.

  “What are you smirking about, darlin’?” Lyle strode up to his wife, long legs eating up the ground. The dark-haired man was tall and fine, with striking blue eyes; his beauty never failed to send a tingle through Rose. As soon as Lyle was close enough, he pulled his wife close and kissed her pale forehead.

  “I’m just happy to be walking about with my friends. And now I’m glad to see you.”

  “You sure you’re happy to see me and not some other man here?” Lyle pretended to survey the building, and Rose poked him.

  “No, Mr. Wilder. It’s definitely you, and only you. I’m all yours.”

  “For always.” Lyle tugged her behind one finished wall that also bordered the finished stables. Once they were out of sight, he slid his arms around her and kissed her.

  “Lyle,” Rose said, breathless when he let her up for air. “Not here.”

  “Here, there, anywhere.” His hands were fiddling with her skirts. Rolling her eyes, she let him pull her deeper into the shadows.

  * * *

  Inside the building, Esther danced up to her husband. “Hello, Mr. Shepherd,” she said playfully.

  “Hello, beautiful wife.” The tall man smiled down at the green-eyed woman, almost a foot shorter than him.

  With a grin, she found a pile of lumber and stepped up onto it to face him at his height.

  “Esther, no.” Johnathan grabbed her waist and set her down. “Take care; that pile may be unstable.

  “All right, husband. Will you give me a tour?”

  Offering his arm, the tall minister obliged, strolling through the framed structure and pointing out the great room and the boards that marked where the rooms would lie. “In the center will be a great fireplace, made from mountain stone. Larder to the right, and there’s a door to the stables.”

  “A very fine building for our own backyard. Can we move in here?”

  “I’m glad you can imagine its charm, Esther, but I think we’ll need this space for patients.”

  “But usually we travel to them.”

  “For now, though as the town grows, people may come to us more often. And we’ll need all the rooms if there’s an outbreak of cholera or pneumonia.”

  They finished their walk and sat together to eat their lunch, looking up at the big empty structure and envisioning the future.

  “Five years, my dear,” Johnathan said.

  “Next spring it will be six—for our marriage.”

  He caught her hand and kissed it. “I was speaking of our life here, but yes, I cannot forget the day I met you. I can still see you peering at me through the apple blossoms.”

  Her cheeks flushed at his warm look. “I remember.”

  “I would say the best day of my life was when you agreed to be my wife, but the days have only gotten better since.”

  “You have no regrets then?” Esther asked, a wistful turn to her voice.

  “None.” Pulling her hand, he drew her closer and kissed her.

  Laughter rang out from nearby, and the Shepherds broke away from each other just in time to see the Wilders come strolling out of the stables. Rose ran ahead, her face alight with joy. Lyle caught up and tugged her hand, turning her so he could pull a piece of straw from her hair.

  Johnathan and Esther shared a knowing look.

  “Not long before those two have a baby of their own,” Johnathan said. He stood and missed the shadow that passed over his wife’s face.

  “Enjoy your lunch?” he called to the Wilders and offered a hand to lift Esther up.

  “We haven’t had it yet,” Rose admitted.

  “I was showing Rose the stables.” Lyle grinned and plucked another piece of hay from his wife’s red hair.

  “Is that all? It looked like you were rolling in the hay,” Johnathan teased, and Esther’s mouth fell open. Her husband never spoke so forward about such things.

  “Can’t lie to a minister.” Lyle shrugged, catching Rose in his arms. “You ready to catch another baby in a few months?”

  “Really, Rose?” Johnathan’s eyes lit as he turned to the redhead. “You’re—”

  “Not yet,” Rose said, pushing at her husband’s chest. “Lyle speaks what he wishes were true.”

  “Only a matter of time,” Lyle said, reaffirming his hold around his wife’s fighting body. “I want a troupe of redheaded boys, all ready to work the land and settle up and down the river.” His hand slid down over Rose’s front. “Take heed, darlin’. If I don’t have one by next Christmas, I’ll tie you to the headboard until I’m sure one’s planted in your belly.”

  Swatting at his hand, Rose blushed, and Esther looked away for a moment.

  “If you’re done with the stables, would you like a tour of the building?” Johnathan asked, noticing his wife’s sudden quiet.

  “After lunch. Must eat to keep up our strength.” Lyle let his wife go, and she shot away to get the lunch pail. The handsome Wilder watched her departure with a huge grin on his face.

  Johnathan cleared his throat. “You think we can finish this build by first snowfall?”

  “If we keep to schedule. Rose and I are paupers this winter, leaning on other’s charity and my savings. Miles has hired me to help with his cattle, and been more than generous with his stores, but a man likes to pay
his own way.”

  “We can pay for your labor, whether in foodstuffs or money,” Johnathan assured him.

  “I know you will, preacher.” Lyle didn’t seem overly worried about the state of his affairs. Then his face darkened. “Of course, if my ne’er-do-well brother would keep his promises, we wouldn’t be in such straits.”

  “Isn’t he in Texas?” Esther asked. She’d met the young Wilder once, and had been surprised at how alike, yet how different he was from his brother. Lyle Wilder had a face as proud and well-formed as a Greek god’s, and while Jesse’s face had the same strong structure, it had a rough-hewn quality that gave him a more rough appearance. Add to this a few scars, an unruly thatch of black hair and cocky demeanor, and Jesse Wilder looked the part of the wild drifter he was wont to be.

  “He was in Texas, and California before that, and then in the Pony Express for a few months in between.” Lyle blew out a breath in exasperation. “Last time I saw him he said he’d be here for the winter, but that could mean anything from December to May, or he could be back tomorrow.”

  “Are we talking about your good-for-nothing brother?” Rose returned with the lunch pail.

  Lyle sighed. “Yes, my love. But I’m the only one who can call him that.”

  “A good thrashing would set him straight,” the redhead huffed.

  “Believe me, I give him one a year.” Lyle bent to help his wife lay out the food, and the Shepherds excused themselves.

  “I promised Miles a cask of cider for his effort today,” Johnathan said. He offered his arm to Esther and started for the house. “Are you all right, my dear? You seem rather reserved this afternoon.”

  “I’m fine. Perhaps just tired from all the excitement.” Esther forced a smile, but Johnathan could tell she wasn’t feeling any cheer. He also knew she came alive around people; most of the time he had to play a calming influence on her loud enthusiasm. Stopping halfway to the house, he patted her arm. “Why don’t you go see the stone the men are bringing for the fireplace. It’ll be a huge hearth, with two sides just as you requested.”