Read The Marshal's Rebellious Bride for Free Online Page B

too
frustrated.
    Morgan strode straight to her, reached in to snag her,
but was handed a ball of black-and-white fur that promptly unballed to hiss up at him and raise a tail.
    Thank the good Lord, the
usual offensive spray didn’t come at him. It appeared the critter couldn’t let
her rip. Again, thank the good Lord.
    He tossed the squirming skunk at Taos, who caught it
and gaped at his sister.
    She looked amused and said calmly, “Don’t worry,
Morgan can’t spray you.” She narrowed her eyes. “But don’t even think of
throwing him over the side of the building. He’s my pet.”
    “ Morgan ? You
named a damn skunk ‘Morgan’?” Morgan pinned her with an irritated glower. She
really was going to be a handful.
    “Seemed fitting.” She glared right back at him.
    Unable to say another word, he reached into the basket
and hauled her out.
    She wiggled to get free the second her feet neared the
ground, but he refused to let her go. The soft curves he felt as she squirmed
against him made him wish he’d never touched her. His body hardened. Lord a’mighty !
His jaw tensed. He was in a hell of a lot of trouble.
    She bristled like a wet cat the instant he set her
down and released her. A blush covered her cheeks. “I suppose I should thank
you.”
    “I suppose you should.”
    She pursed her lips and stretched to her full height,
a good foot shorter than him. She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Thank
you.” There was no sense of sincerity in her tone.
    Taos struggled to hold the wriggling skunk well away
from his body. “What were you thinking? Where the hell did you get a balloon?”
    “Aunt Mae.” Whiskey glanced back at the pile behind
her. “I had everything under control until… Well, until that last gust of
wind.”
    Morgan was almost shaking with fury now. She’d scared
him and he hated that. He was pretty darn upset at Taos, too, for not dealing
immediately with this bout of craziness. By damn, if she was going to be his
wife, then he was going to start out showing her what to expect from him when
she pulled stupid stunts in the future…and he knew in his gut she would.
    “Take that skunk away,” he bit out. “I’m going to have
a few words with your sister.”
    They shared a look of understanding. Taos hesitated
and then gave a curt nod.
    “Hey!” she called out as her brother moved back toward
the window. “Where are you going?”
    She tried to move by Morgan, but he latched onto her
arm.
    Taos wisely didn’t even glance back.
    Morgan tugged her close, swept his gaze down the
length of her. “ Britches. You’re
wearing boy’s britches,” he said in disgust, even if she did look kind of cute
in them.
    She attempted to pull her arm free. “It’s none of your
business what I wear.”
    “You’re wrong about that.”
    She went rigid. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She
pulled on her arm again. “Let. Me. Go.”
    Instead he tugged her even closer, bent her forward
under one arm and pinned her at his hip. She’d barely managed to gasp when he
started peppering her bottom with fierce smacks. He wouldn’t bare her bottom
because it wouldn’t be proper until they got married. But she would certainly
feel this even through the layers of britches and pantaloons.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” she protested,
dancing on her toes, trying to get away.
    He soundly spanked every inch of her bottom. “I’m
making sure you think twice before you ever pull a dumb stunt like that again.”
    He thought about how she could have crashed into the
side of the building. About how she could have fallen out of
the basket while somewhere up in the sky. About…
    He spanked even harder, steadily.
    Her small feet pounded the rooftop. “Stop! Stop right
now!”
    He couldn’t stop, not yet. She was just mad, probably
embarrassed, but not really sorry for what she’d done. He went right on
spanking her wriggling bottom. “I won’t have you behaving so irresponsibly. I
won’t put up