Rebellious Bride by Lizbeth Dusseau Read Free Book Online Page A

little brat!” Aaron declared, his temper returning in an instant.
“I’m glad I’m going to whip your bottom again. You obviously have no
appreciation for the ter-ror you struck in my
heart.”
    “Terror?”
She looked dumbfound.
    “Terror,
yes. Walking into my home to find you gone, vanished into thin air, no note, no
message, not a single clue as to your where- abouts ,
except that Biscuit had disappeared too. I was sure at the outset you were off
to a neigh- bor’s , but when you weren’t home for
dinner, I was in a panic. Not only was your response to my announcement about
our move completely out of line, your reckless flight was foolhardy and dangerous
both. If you don’t realize that fact, then perhaps I’ll just have to wail on your behind until you appreciate the worry you
caused.”
    Surprised by
Aaron’s litany of com-plaints, Abigail could think of little to say, though she
tried hard.
    “Isn’t there
some other way I could make this up to you?” she asked meekly.
    “No,”
he said without reservation. “You’ll finish your chores and meet me in the
barn. And if I hear anything that even approach es that nasty tongue you displayed yesterday, I’ll not only strap you, I’ll find a
birch as well.”
    “So,
you’re not going to the mill?” she inquired.
    “Not
until we have this settled,” he said. And saying nothing more, Aaron rose
from his chair and left the kitchen, and his wife. The pouting young woman was
so filled with both fury and arousal, she was trembling all the way to her
toes. She realized the extent of her hus -band’s
reproach was beyond anything she expected of him.
    Abigail
stalled as long as she could, doing her chores more perfectly than she’d ever
done them - the kitchen in particular was spot less. Though stall as she would,
she knew she had no choice but to get the horrible thing over with. While she’d
worked, she fumed, all the anger she’d felt the day before was as fresh and
vivid as ever.
    The idea of
the man to control her this way. It was just like her father!
    And yet,
unlike her father, Aaron held something over her that she couldn’t deny, though
it only made her angrier feeling the way his stern command seemed to arouse
her. Aaron loved her and she loved him, and try as she might to hate the very
ground that he walked on, there was no way she could accomplish that. Just the
previous night’s love making reminded her of the deep feeling of need to have
him close and caring for her, and yes, even exerting his authority over her.
    Try as she
might to settle the angry brew inside her, however, she was forced to face the
inevitable, forced to appear for her punishment as Aaron had commanded.
    From the house
to the barn, Abigail tip-toed just inside the door looking for her husband,
finding him working in one far corner of the building. Approaching him
cautiously, she had concocted a plan, that if it worked, just might prevent the
next hour from becoming as painful as her previous evening had been.
    “Aaron,
love, I’m here,” she said, cock- ing her head
slightly to one side and delivering her message sweetly.
    Her husband
turned to her with none too sweet an expression.
    “I’m
sorry, I really am. You made me think, I mean really think how silly, how
terribly unwise it was to make that trip yesterday. I know I wasn’t very
contrite before, but you’ve made me understand.”
    Aaron eyed her
suspiciously. “Is this a ploy to get me to change my mind?”
    “Of
course not,” Abigail assured him. She moved closer to him, her chest heaving
as she breathed. She thought of the day some weeks before, when their passions
had hastily brewed while a thunderstorm raged outside the barn, and there,
right there in the clean straw, Aaron had made love to her, pouring all his
manly affections into her wild and willing body. Taking his hand in hers now,
she caressed it gen- tly . “I just wanted you to
know how terrible I really feel. Sometimes I’m horribly