Newlywed Christmas (Brides of Juniper Junction Book 4) Read online

  She'd already racked up several hand spankings and one with her hairbrush.

  The dread of what was to come was nearly worse than the actual punishment.

  Matt mumbled something in his sleep and then rolled to the other side of the bed. She could see the shape of his manhood outlined beneath his long johns. All thoughts of Lizzie's Naughty Book disappeared to be replaced by lewd images and sensations.

  "Matt?" she whispered. No response. "Matt?" she tried a bit louder. Still nothing.

  Feeling bold and desperate, she wiggled around until her nightgown rose above her hips, exposing her nether region while her hands reached down to explore. Oh lord it felt good. It seemed like ages since Matt had even touched her down there. A furtive glance told her he was still sound asleep and she grew bolder, tracing her fingers around the perimeter of her wet lips, then plunging two fingers deep into her pussy.

  Ohh. She stifled a moan of pleasure. She dared not get caught and she dared not stop. Silence was required.

  She continued stroking in and out, biting her lips to keep from moaning with pleasure. Her nipples felt hard and heavy, so with her other hand, she reached inside her gown and tweaked the sensitive nubs. Oh, oh, oh. She ground her teeth into her lips. Heavenly, even with the pain of keeping her mouth shut, the sensations coursing through her were sheer hedonistic pleasure and she wished more than anything that she could feel Matt's hard cock inside her.

  Another look toward his side of the bed where he lay immobile. She fought the urge to buck her hips against the mattress, knowing that would wake Matt for sure. She pinched her nipple tighter and tighter while brushing her thumb over her clitty.

  Her entire body stiffened up, clenched several times in rapid succession and then she shattered into a million pieces. Oh the relief. The ecstasy. Forcing herself to breath slowly as she regained her composure, her entire body alight with tingles of pleasure, she laid her head back on the pillow with a satisfied smile.

  That was just what she needed. She'd be able to sleep soundly now. And maybe tomorrow while Matt was at work, she'd do the same again, but without being forced to stay quiet. Oh yes, that would be fantastic.

  With a sigh she snuggled down into the bed.

  The following morning Lizzie had an extra spring in her step. She'd slept better than she had in weeks and though a bit of guilt pricked at her brain for breaking one of Matt's rules, she justified it by telling herself that she needed her sleep and besides, she'd taken care of it without waking him either, so he got to sleep too. Didn't Dr. Granger tell her that sleep was critical during pregnancy? Well, she made sure they both got plenty of rest.

  "Good morning, Lizzie," Matt said as he came into the kitchen.

  She turned to greet him with a smile, but it soon faded when she saw the large book beneath his arm. Lizzie's Naughty Book. Her heart sank. But she told herself not to give anything away. He'd slept through all of her shenanigans and she wasn't about to admit to anything. If she'd learned anything from her father who had been a cutthroat businessman, it was that you never admit to any wrongdoing. Even when confronted with fact, continue to deny.

  She had no desire to imitate her father in any way, but if it meant avoiding any more infractions recorded in the naughty book, she'd do whatever she could.

  Putting on a bright face, she returned his greeting. "Good morning to you, Matt. You slept well."

  He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table and opened the book. She tried to act like nothing was amiss, but the flutters in her tummy told her otherwise.

  "Yes, I did sleep well. For most of the night, at least." He looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow.

  "Oh, I didn't hear you wake up," she said, turning back to the stove, glad to have her face away from his probing eyes.

  "I was very quiet. So quiet you didn't even notice. Though you did seem to be rather focused on what you were doing." Shocked, Lizzie spun around to look at him and her eyes met his. He gave her a pointed look and then began scratching away on one of the pages of the book with a pencil.

  "Wh-what are you talking about, Matt?" She was more than tempting fate by asking him. And of course, he'd toy with her like a cat with a mouse.

  "I thought I heard you whisper my name last night, but when I woke up, you had your hand inside your nightgown and you were touching yourself."

  "Matt!" she squealed, her face hot with embarrassment, though whether being called out for her naughty deeds or because she'd been caught, she didn't know. In any case, she had trouble breathing.

  "Why didn't you stop me if you were awake?"

  "The most important part of teaching someone to obey the rules is to see if they do so when they think no one will know the difference. If you knew I'd woken up, would you have been pleasuring yourself?"

  "Well... what... who said I was pleasuring myself?"

  "Don't try to pretend you weren't, Elizabeth Foreman. Do you think I'm such a fool that I don't know my own wife's pleasure noises?"

  "But I didn't make any noises!" she protested. "I bit my lip. See?" She rolled her bottom lip down so he could see the persistent red mark where her teeth had been.

  "Ah, so you admit you were pleasuring yourself?"

  "Matt! You tricked me into admitting it."

  "You can't trick an honest person into making an admission, can you?"

  She stomped her foot and glared at him, then took the bacon off the stove in a huff.

  "If you'd get over this silly notion that you can't touch me or it will harm the baby, I wouldn't have to resort to doing it myself."

  Matt raked his hand through his hair. “All I know is that it’s what my mother told my father. I overheard them arguing about it one night when I was a child."

  "I've never heard of such a thing. I think you just think I'm unattractive now that I don't have a waistline and my ankles look like potatoes."

  Matt rose from his chair and went to her, folding her into his arms. "Darlin', this is hard on me too."

  "I'd like it if you had something hard for me," she interjected.

  "My goodness, you're getting to be quite demanding."

  "Matt, I don't know what's come over me, but expecting a baby has made me more randy than a hog in rut and on top of that, you say it's dangerous. I'm going to lose my mind. I had to do something. Besides, why didn't you join in? That's not dangerous to the baby, is it?"

  He kissed the top of her head. "Darlin', I'm afraid that if I start touching you, I won't be able to stop myself. I don't know if you realize just how beautiful you are and knowing that you're carrying my child just makes you all that much more beautiful."

  "Please, Matt," she begged. "It's killing me."

  “Rules are rules, Lizzie." He kissed her again and then sat to write in the naughty book. Pleasuring herself without permission.

  Matt slammed the door behind him and went directly to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a stiff drink. It was a bold move considering that Mr. Conners was his employer and hadn't invited him to help himself to the whiskey and scotch he kept on hand, but Matt's mood was such that he'd rather incur Mr. Conners' wrath than deal with the turmoil in his own brain.

  He downed one drink and poured himself another.

  "Are you going to join us?" Cal asked from the poker table set up in the center of the room. Dr. Granger, Jake and Mr. Blake from the general store were all in attendance, as well as their host, Mr. Conners. "Or just scowl and imbibe? Either one is fine with me, but if you're going to ante up, you need to get over here."

  Matt sipped more politely on the second drink, then sat down and pulled some money from his pocket. Reverend Ellis, who played banker for these manly get togethers, exchanged chips for the cash.

  "I'm in. My luck's got to get better."

  "What are you talking about?" Dr. Granger looked at him, concerned. "Is everything all right with Lizzie? I saw her the other day and she seemed to be doing very well."

  "Yes, she's as fine as ever." Matt tossed a
chip into the center of the table and watched Cal deal the cards. He held them to the table until all the cards had been distributed, then peeked at just the corners. Though in theory this was a friendly game of poker, that was real hard-earned money in the center of the table and Matt wasn't too keen on losing any more than necessary. He had a baby on the way.

  But, he also had to get out of the house before he did something he'd regret. His cock stirred in his pants at the recollection of the way Lizzie had attempted to seduce him. It had taken all his will power to walk away and not succumb. He hated disappointing her and leaving her frustrated. He felt the same way himself.

  How many more months would this go on?

  Matt glanced at his cards and fought against a smile. Maybe his luck was turning around. When the bet came to him, he raised.

  Jake and Mr. Conners dropped out, leaving Dr. Granger, Mr. Blake, Cal and Matt to play the hand to the end. Matt took another look at his cards to be certain he'd seen correctly. He was in such a state, his mind could be playing tricks on him and he didn't want to take any chances.

  "What's got you so irritable?" Jake asked, giving Matt a close look.

  "I'm concentrating on the game, don't distract me."

  "Looks like he's frustrated," Cal said.

  "Shut up, I'm playing cards. Besides, I’d think you’d understand about frustration.”

  “What’re you talking about?” Cal asked, giving Matt a curious look.

  Dr. Granger tossed his cards into the middle of the table. "Getting too rich for me, gentlemen."

  “What I mean,” Matt said, tossing another chip onto the pile and then looking at Matt, then Jake, “is that I’m frustrated… you know…” he glanced at Mr. Conners and wondered if this was the sort of thing to talk about in front of his boss, but Matt was too agitated to care, “about not getting any… well, no marital relations until after the baby.”

  Momentary silence fell over the room.

  "Whoa." Dr. Granger held his hands up, palms out, as if in surrender. “Is Lizzie having problems? If so, she needs to come and see me.”

  “No,” Matt answered. “Not a darn thing wrong with Lizzie. In fact, her hormones seem to be more amped up than ever. But, everyone knows you can’t have marital relations with a pregnant woman.”

  The others exchanged glances and Cal and Jake looked a bit concerned. Everyone turned to Dr. Granger.

  "What?" Mr. Conners leaned forward, eyes wide.

  "That's not correct, is it, Doc?" Pastor Ellis joined the discussion.

  "Oh," Dr. Granger said, biting back a laugh. "You know that's not true, right?"

  “Of course, it’s true. I heard my own mama say so to my pa.”

  Dr. Granger shifted a bit in his seat. “Matt, I’m sure there are plenty of women, especially if they are fatigued from pregnancy along with all their own chores, who have used that excuse to avoid marital relations, but that’s an old wives’ tale. No truth to it whatsoever.”

  “No!” Matt said. “My mama wouldn't lie.”

  “Look, I’m not trying to cast aspersions on your mother, I’m sure she was a wonderful woman. But sometimes you do what you have to do in order to get through a difficult situation. And for all we know, she believed it when she’d said it.”

  Matt paused for a moment then sighed. “She wasn’t a wonderful woman. My ma took off when I was eight, so it’s not like she was a saint or anything. Far from it. I guess I just hate thinking that everything she ever said was a lie.”

  “Well,” Jake spoke up slowly, “at least now you know the truth. And can do something about it.”

  "How long's it been, Matt?" Cal asked.

  "Too damned long." He stood and turned toward Dr. Granger. "You're sure it's not dangerous?"

  "Not at all. As long as it's not uncomfortable for Lizzie, you have my blessing."

  "I think it's time for me to go." Matt grabbed his hat and headed for the door.

  He was on the front porch of his house when he remembered that he'd left before the hand was over.

  He shook his head. A straight flush. Wasted.

  But when Lizzie rushed to the door to greet him, he knew it was well worth it.

  It was killing her. Could someone die from not having enough sexual relations? If so, that's what would happen to Lizzie. Would they write that on her tombstone? Elizabeth Corwin Pendleton Foreman, She died from a lack of love.

  Any other time, she'd giggle over the idea, but currently she was in a state of near frenzy, her entire body abuzz with need. On fire with desire. All she could think about was Matt's cock. He wouldn't even let her suck it. Or look at it. He'd taken to changing his clothes in the hallway and wearing his long johns to bed, like it was some barrier to her knowing what he was hiding.

  Madness. Utter madness.

  Her skin prickled with need. It had been weeks since they'd found out the baby was on the way— and Matt had decreed no intimacy until after the baby arrived. And weeks to go before that happened.

  Argh! Why hadn't anyone told her about this part of being pregnant?

  Well, who would have done that? It's not as though her father would have sat her down for a long heart to heart about what happens in a marriage. And her mother had died before they could have any of those sorts of talks. Though the idea of her prim and proper mother talking about such a topic was possibly more ridiculous than her father.

  Basically, she was on her own. Fortunately her friends, Posey and Tassie were also expecting babies around the same time, so they were some source of help. But neither of them had brought up the dearth of intimacy, which made Lizzie wonder if maybe she was just too highly sensual. Possibly wanton and whorish. She didn't dare mention it to the others, though if one of them had even hinted at it, she'd have jumped in with both feet. She was desperate. Desperate for some loving and desperate to find out why she felt this way.

  Some of the other ladies, the more experienced ones, at the quilting society meeting had talked about how pregnancy had affected them. It seemed no two pregnancies, even for the same woman, were identical.

  But how were they able to go without their husbands for so long? She knew darn well Posey and Tassie had virile and eager husbands. She'd seen the looks between them and at Mr. Conners' St. Patrick's Day party they both had the look of someone who'd snuck off for a quickie...just like she had.

  If only she could relieve this ache, then she'd be able to concentrate and then she'd make it through the rest of her pregnancy without being so distracted and absentminded.

  Her fingers twitched and she gave serious thought to taking matters into her own hands, but she'd done that and now had yet another entry in the hideous Lizzie's Naughty Book. If she couldn't get her needs met, maybe she could at least burn that book while Matt was out of the house.

  That sounded nearly as satisfying as her other plans.

  She found the book and ran her fingers over the cover, then opened it and read some of the entries.

  Gossiping. Corner time and writing lines.

  At least that entry had a check mark next to it, indicating it had been completed. She flipped to the back of the book where she’d written Gossip is wrong and I will not do it again a hundred times. Her hand ached a bit at the recollection.

  Swearing. Five swats with hairbrush.

  She remembered that one. What else was she supposed to do when she dropped a bowl of stew all over the floor? Especially after she’d just mopped.

  Oh how she hated this book.

  And then there was the most recent entry.

  Pleasuring herself without permission. Twenty swats by hand.

  Ouch. Matt’s hand stung.

  Oh, she really had been behaving badly.

  She closed the hated book and gripped it in both hands, heading for the fireplace. It was a chilly fall night and the fire felt good. Though it was nothing compared to the fire burning in her nether region.

  She had to stop thinking about it. Burning the damned book would be just the di
straction she needed. She stared into the fire for a moment, enjoying the flicker of the flames. She held the book close.

  But what would Matt say when he found out?

  He didn't have to know she'd burned it. She could simply say he'd lost it. It's not like there'd be anything left of it by the time he got home from his poker game.

  Gathering up her nerve, she held the book over the flames, a slow satisfied smile spreading over her lips.

  But a noise on the porch startled her and she put the book aside to investigate the sound.

  "Matt!" she said, opening the door for him. "What are you doing home so early?"

  The intense look in his eyes made her wonder if he'd somehow intuited that she was about to burn the naughty book. But that was ridiculous, right? Then why did she feel so guilty?

  He took hold of her shoulders and walked her backward into the house, kicking the door shut so hard the windows rattled.

  "M-Matt? What is it?

  “My mama was wrong.” He pushed her against the wall and started kissing her throat.

  “Your mama? What’s she got to do with this?” Much as she’d craved this kind of attention from Matt, he was acting strange—coming home early from poker night and then rambling about his mother. She needed to find out what he was talking about.

  “Doc says it’s an old wive’s tale.” He worked the buttons on her clothes. “I’m so sorry.”

  Much as she hated to stop him, Lizzie put her hand on Matt’s shoulders and drew away from him. “Matthew Foreman. Explain yourself right now. What’s an old wive’s tale? Why did you leave the poker game?”

  He gave her a sheepish smile. “The thing I heard my mama say about no sex during pregnancy. Doc says it’s not true. So I left the poker game.” His smile turned to a wolfish grin.

  “I guess you’ve got some poking to do around here, then,” she said going into his arms.

  “Damn right.”

  Chapter 6

  "I'm having a baby. That doesn't mean I am a baby." Tassie glared at Cal indignantly as he pointed to the bed.