Southern Discomfort by Rachel Burns Read Free Book Online

from
him.
    “Emily, please
come here.” He had put a lot of thought into this. He had made the
decision, that it was the right thing to do. Now he just had to do
it. If he waited too long then she wouldn't take him or his rules
seriously.
    She backed away
from him. “I'm sure I didn't do anything wrong. If I did then I'm
sorry. You can just tell me what it was and I'll never do it again.”
Her back hit the wall. There was nowhere to hide from him.
    Nathaniel smiled
at her confused face. Her mouth was formed into a shocked O.
    He closed the
distant between then and took both of her hands. He tried to pull her
with him but she stemmed her feet into the floor.
    Nathaniel tilted
his head a little to the side and looked at her. He had honestly
expected her to come along with him meekly. He had imagined that she
would hang her head and even nod, but her head was held high and she
had fire in her eyes.
    “This is going
to happen now. We can discuss it shortly in our bedroom. Either you
come with me, or I will pick you up and carry you upstairs.” His
tone told her that he wasn't kidding.
    The only problem
was that, she didn't feel she deserved to be hit. She was trying so
hard to fit in and he wanted to hit her for some unknown reason, when
she offered to change whatever had bothered him.
    She pretended to
step forward.
    Nathaniel let go
of her arms and she darted around the table away from him. He looked
surprised as she positioned herself across from him. He went to go
get her again.
    She moved
accordingly.
    “Emily, I won't
play games with you!” He tried to grab her but she was always gone
before he reached her.
    They were running
in circles around the table. He was getting more and more mad, as he
chased her. “Emily, you agreed to obey me. Come here, now!” He
stood by the staircase side of the table and waited.
    Emily let her
eyes dart to the door. She wanted him to think that she was going to
go for it but she wasn't about to give up her safe place across the
table from him.
    He looked like he
had figured out how to get her.
    Fool, she
thought. She faked running in that direction. He practically threw
himself at the door. She went and stood by the stove. She smiled at
herself until he turned back to her.
    “Emily, you are
going to pay for that.” He stepped back towards the table. He
looked ready to choke her.
    She positioned
herself to see which way she should run.
    He was very mad
now, but so was she. She had extra married him so she wouldn't get
hurt and now he wanted to beat on her, too, and for no reason. If she
had done something very wrong, then maybe she could understand his
way of thinking, but this was just unjust.
    He was feeling
livid. She had even purposely made him look like a fool. In the end
he would win and then she would learn not to play games with him
anymore.
    Nathaniel was
sure his sister-in-laws could hear them. Her behavior was
embarrassing him. He had even pointed out that she was breaking a
rule. “Wait until I get my hands on you.”
    “I'm not
planning on letting you.” She didn't take her eyes off his muscles.
She watched them to tell her in which direction he would be coming at
her.
    He charged at her
one more time. This time he knocked a chair down and kept coming. He
would have her now, he thought. Teach her to never pull anything like
this again, he grinned at his own thoughts.
    She jumped over
the chair and kept safely on the other side of the table. He stopped
and so did she. She even grinned at him. Her whole face said, huh.
    This had to stop.
He couldn't let her get away with something like that.
    Nathaniel jumped
up on the table and watched her face pale. He was the one grinning
now, as she really did run for the door.
    He had his arms
around her as she kicked at him and demanded he let her go. He
carried his fighting little bundle up the stairs and into their room.
    Nathaniel let go
of her and she ran to the wash basin.
    He locked the
door before he turned back to her. She