((Contains material of an adult nature.))
The long ride back to the homestead from the Dugan farm had given the eldest of the newly-wedded Mullen couples time to think. And for Dale, those thoughts kept returning, over and again, to the prospect of the night ahead of them. Eli had been adamant that there would be a wedding night, and she had no doubt that he would follow through on that promise. What she wasn't quite prepared for was how excited she was to get to that moment. It certainly made the last chores of the day difficult to concentrate on. Trying to corral chickens in a skirt while your mind keeps wandering to the handsome man dealing with the horses and cattle is not the easiest job in the world, and by the time she was done, she was down to her shirt-sleeves, her high collar unbuttoned to let her skin breathe.
Maybe they weren't exactly in love yet, but there was definitely a flame smoldering between them. Eli, too, was having trouble focusing on his chores, rushing through them in eager anticipation of what lay ahead. Neither of them were virgins, and though they knew what awaited them, all of it would be brand new, like the first time all over again. No, not the first time, Eli decided. The first time had been awkward and rushed and strange. This first time would be different; he would make sure of it. He wasn't sure what it was about Dale that made him agree to marry her, but he was looking forward to finding out.
When, finally, the last of the chickens was in the henhouse and secured safely for the night, Dale made her way to the house. She wasn't expecting mutants to pass by tonight, which meant that there was no need to secure everyone and everything in the basement beneath the house. It meant that Eli had free rein to explore the house itself while she cobbled together something fairly simple for supper - nothing but bread and cold cuts for them tonight. That left on the table, she called for him to come in as the sun began to set, pumping cool water into a bowl to wipe her face and neck clean after the afternoon's exertions.
It was difficult getting his chores done knowing Dale was nearby, knowing what presumably awaited them later that night, though he didn't want to make any assumptions. Did she want him the way he wanted her, or was this really just a marriage of convenience" She seemed to want him, but was he only imagining it' Still, there was dinner to eat and dishes to wash before they could turn in for the night, and chores would begin again bright and early the next day. It had been a long time since he'd lived this sort of life, since he'd felt his life had purpose and meaning, and he owed all that to her. He joined her inside once the animals were settled for the night, rolling his sleeves up so he could wash up for dinner.
Her reaction to his presence in the kitchen with her was not exactly designed to convince him of her coolness toward him. Away from the sight of others, Dale quite brazenly let her eyes wander over her new husband as he washed up, a half-smile curving her seductively full lips. "Nothing sexier than a handsome fella good and sweaty from a hard ride," she heard herself say, flashing him a sparkling-eyed grin as she turned away. And there was nothing innocent about the fact that when she bent over the table to pour out a couple of cups of freshly brewed coffee, her shirt was now open enough to show a hint of the corset that presented her girls virtually on a plate. After all, there was no need to pretend she was a virtuous widow now she was a wife again.
"Nothing smellier, either," he countered with a grin, knowing he needed a good bath. Now, there was an idea. Why not save water and bathe together" Was there a tub big enough for both of them' He would have to find out. He scrubbed as much dirt and muck from his hands as he could, unable to avoid the eyeful she was purposely teasing him with. "You want it on the kitchen table, or you willing to wait 'til after supper?" he asked, quite bluntly.
She straightened, laughing at the blunt response to her teasing. "You saying I only get it once?" she countered innocently. "And here's me thinking you're a strong man. Weak at the knees already, Mr. Mullen?" She knew she was playing with fire; this wasn't Bart, with his gentle clumsiness and misplaced sense of his own attractiveness. Eli was young, strong, and handsome, not to mention a match for her in temperament. She had a feeling he could only be teased so far before he took matters into his own hands.
"You can have it as many times as you want, Mrs. Mullen," he replied, with an emphasis on the Mrs. "But if we don't eat first, we might pass out from exhaustion before we're finished," he warned, as he dried his hands on a piece of linen. He was content for now to wait until after they ate something, but if she pushed him too hard, he just might rise to the bait.
"Promises, promises," she teased, her voice far warmer toward him here in the privacy of their own home than it had seemed in company. "You'd better sit and eat then, before you keel over in anticipatory exhaustion."
"Hmm, that answers my question about the table, then," he teased back, eyes dancing with uncharacteristic mischief. There was just something about Dale that brought out the best in Eli, despite his own surly nature.
She laughed at his mischief, truly surprised and delighted by this difference in him. When they'd met, he'd been terse, almost surly, but had come out of himself to make her feel safe. Now she was his, he seemed to be coming out of his shell again, and this time, he was warm and teasing. "Honey, you could have had me on the side of the road," she informed him sweetly, batting her lashes at him as she moved to the table.
"I doubt you'd have said that a few days ago," he reminded her, a slightly amused smile on his face as he pulled a chair out for her before claiming his own seat at the table. A few days ago, she had pointed a shotgun at him, which was hardly conducive to romance, and yet, here he was.
The show of good manners made her full lips curve in a smile as she sat down. "Thank you," she murmured, trying not to laugh at the memory of the look on his face when he'd seen her in all her glory, armed and ready to shoot him. "A couple of days ago, you weren't my husband," she pointed out. "Although ....I probably wouldn't have argued too long about it if you had decided to take it out in trade."
"It's too bad I didn't know that then," he countered, though it was hard to say if he'd have taken her up on that offer or not. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd enjoyed a roll in the hay with a woman he barely knew, but for some reason, it seemed important that he do things right with Dale. Maybe it was because his brothers were settling in the village, and he was trying to become a respectable citizen again. Maybe it was more than that. Either way, he had agreed to marry her, despite his initial uncertainty.
"I would've blacked your other eye for it afterward," she added in an absent tone, spreading butter on her bread as her gaze flickered back to him. She wasn't sure quite what was going on. She liked him, that much was obvious, but she'd liked Bart too. Just not in the same way - there was something about Eli had made her feel incredibly feminine in a way Bart had never managed to, and Bart had been the one who'd made her a woman, so to speak. Yet Bart had not raised even a fraction of the heat in her that a single glance from Eli could muster. "Can't take advantage of a chaste widow without consequences."
"In case you haven't noticed, I've already got the black eye, darlin'," he reminded her further, indicating said blackened eye with a wave of one hand, that smirk still in place on his handsome face. He wasn't sure what it was about her either. He'd met plenty of women before, but not a single one of them compared to her. He made no comment about whether she was or was not chaste, though he knew she was no virgin.
"Having seen the both of you in one place, I daresay you both earned your war wounds," she informed him cheerfully. It didn't take a genius to see how Mahon and Eli could easily rile each other to the point of violence. She squirmed a little in her seat; that smirk was not making it easy to concentrate.
The long ride back to the homestead from the Dugan farm had given the eldest of the newly-wedded Mullen couples time to think. And for Dale, those thoughts kept returning, over and again, to the prospect of the night ahead of them. Eli had been adamant that there would be a wedding night, and she had no doubt that he would follow through on that promise. What she wasn't quite prepared for was how excited she was to get to that moment. It certainly made the last chores of the day difficult to concentrate on. Trying to corral chickens in a skirt while your mind keeps wandering to the handsome man dealing with the horses and cattle is not the easiest job in the world, and by the time she was done, she was down to her shirt-sleeves, her high collar unbuttoned to let her skin breathe.
Maybe they weren't exactly in love yet, but there was definitely a flame smoldering between them. Eli, too, was having trouble focusing on his chores, rushing through them in eager anticipation of what lay ahead. Neither of them were virgins, and though they knew what awaited them, all of it would be brand new, like the first time all over again. No, not the first time, Eli decided. The first time had been awkward and rushed and strange. This first time would be different; he would make sure of it. He wasn't sure what it was about Dale that made him agree to marry her, but he was looking forward to finding out.
When, finally, the last of the chickens was in the henhouse and secured safely for the night, Dale made her way to the house. She wasn't expecting mutants to pass by tonight, which meant that there was no need to secure everyone and everything in the basement beneath the house. It meant that Eli had free rein to explore the house itself while she cobbled together something fairly simple for supper - nothing but bread and cold cuts for them tonight. That left on the table, she called for him to come in as the sun began to set, pumping cool water into a bowl to wipe her face and neck clean after the afternoon's exertions.
It was difficult getting his chores done knowing Dale was nearby, knowing what presumably awaited them later that night, though he didn't want to make any assumptions. Did she want him the way he wanted her, or was this really just a marriage of convenience" She seemed to want him, but was he only imagining it' Still, there was dinner to eat and dishes to wash before they could turn in for the night, and chores would begin again bright and early the next day. It had been a long time since he'd lived this sort of life, since he'd felt his life had purpose and meaning, and he owed all that to her. He joined her inside once the animals were settled for the night, rolling his sleeves up so he could wash up for dinner.
Her reaction to his presence in the kitchen with her was not exactly designed to convince him of her coolness toward him. Away from the sight of others, Dale quite brazenly let her eyes wander over her new husband as he washed up, a half-smile curving her seductively full lips. "Nothing sexier than a handsome fella good and sweaty from a hard ride," she heard herself say, flashing him a sparkling-eyed grin as she turned away. And there was nothing innocent about the fact that when she bent over the table to pour out a couple of cups of freshly brewed coffee, her shirt was now open enough to show a hint of the corset that presented her girls virtually on a plate. After all, there was no need to pretend she was a virtuous widow now she was a wife again.
"Nothing smellier, either," he countered with a grin, knowing he needed a good bath. Now, there was an idea. Why not save water and bathe together" Was there a tub big enough for both of them' He would have to find out. He scrubbed as much dirt and muck from his hands as he could, unable to avoid the eyeful she was purposely teasing him with. "You want it on the kitchen table, or you willing to wait 'til after supper?" he asked, quite bluntly.
She straightened, laughing at the blunt response to her teasing. "You saying I only get it once?" she countered innocently. "And here's me thinking you're a strong man. Weak at the knees already, Mr. Mullen?" She knew she was playing with fire; this wasn't Bart, with his gentle clumsiness and misplaced sense of his own attractiveness. Eli was young, strong, and handsome, not to mention a match for her in temperament. She had a feeling he could only be teased so far before he took matters into his own hands.
"You can have it as many times as you want, Mrs. Mullen," he replied, with an emphasis on the Mrs. "But if we don't eat first, we might pass out from exhaustion before we're finished," he warned, as he dried his hands on a piece of linen. He was content for now to wait until after they ate something, but if she pushed him too hard, he just might rise to the bait.
"Promises, promises," she teased, her voice far warmer toward him here in the privacy of their own home than it had seemed in company. "You'd better sit and eat then, before you keel over in anticipatory exhaustion."
"Hmm, that answers my question about the table, then," he teased back, eyes dancing with uncharacteristic mischief. There was just something about Dale that brought out the best in Eli, despite his own surly nature.
She laughed at his mischief, truly surprised and delighted by this difference in him. When they'd met, he'd been terse, almost surly, but had come out of himself to make her feel safe. Now she was his, he seemed to be coming out of his shell again, and this time, he was warm and teasing. "Honey, you could have had me on the side of the road," she informed him sweetly, batting her lashes at him as she moved to the table.
"I doubt you'd have said that a few days ago," he reminded her, a slightly amused smile on his face as he pulled a chair out for her before claiming his own seat at the table. A few days ago, she had pointed a shotgun at him, which was hardly conducive to romance, and yet, here he was.
The show of good manners made her full lips curve in a smile as she sat down. "Thank you," she murmured, trying not to laugh at the memory of the look on his face when he'd seen her in all her glory, armed and ready to shoot him. "A couple of days ago, you weren't my husband," she pointed out. "Although ....I probably wouldn't have argued too long about it if you had decided to take it out in trade."
"It's too bad I didn't know that then," he countered, though it was hard to say if he'd have taken her up on that offer or not. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd enjoyed a roll in the hay with a woman he barely knew, but for some reason, it seemed important that he do things right with Dale. Maybe it was because his brothers were settling in the village, and he was trying to become a respectable citizen again. Maybe it was more than that. Either way, he had agreed to marry her, despite his initial uncertainty.
"I would've blacked your other eye for it afterward," she added in an absent tone, spreading butter on her bread as her gaze flickered back to him. She wasn't sure quite what was going on. She liked him, that much was obvious, but she'd liked Bart too. Just not in the same way - there was something about Eli had made her feel incredibly feminine in a way Bart had never managed to, and Bart had been the one who'd made her a woman, so to speak. Yet Bart had not raised even a fraction of the heat in her that a single glance from Eli could muster. "Can't take advantage of a chaste widow without consequences."
"In case you haven't noticed, I've already got the black eye, darlin'," he reminded her further, indicating said blackened eye with a wave of one hand, that smirk still in place on his handsome face. He wasn't sure what it was about her either. He'd met plenty of women before, but not a single one of them compared to her. He made no comment about whether she was or was not chaste, though he knew she was no virgin.
"Having seen the both of you in one place, I daresay you both earned your war wounds," she informed him cheerfully. It didn't take a genius to see how Mahon and Eli could easily rile each other to the point of violence. She squirmed a little in her seat; that smirk was not making it easy to concentrate.