Discovering Daisy Read online

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  Discovering Daisy

  ISBN # 978-0-85715-159-9

  ©Copyright Lacey Thorn 2010

  Cover Art by Natalie Winters ©Copyright June 2010

  Edited by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

  Total-e-bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-e-bound eBooks.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-e-bound eBooks. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork

  Published in 2010 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way

  , Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom

  .

  Warning:

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.

  Lottery Brides

  DISCOVERING DAISY

  Lacey Thorn

  Chapter One

  Daisy sat on the cot in the tiny jail and watched the redhead pace. She recalled the sheriff had called the girl Sarah. A pretty name for the girl. She hoped that the young woman would get a decent husband in the lottery drawing. She struck Daisy as a woman who would endure what she had to, the type of woman Daisy had once been. But every woman had her limits and Daisy had finally reached hers. And reaching them had landed her in this cell and in the bride lottery.

  She’d come west to Texas with her sister and brother-in-law when their parents had died. She hadn’t wanted to be alone in the big house. So when Clancy, her sister’s husband, had made the decision to sell everything and start afresh out west she had offered no complaints and gone along with them. She could have stayed with her spinster aunt, could have accepted any of the numerous offers of marriage, but had hoped for adventure and instead… Well, she’d found her sister’s life wasn’t the fairy tale it seemed.

  They’d bought a farm just outside of this sleepy little town and it had been up to her and Amelia to run it. Clancy had business in town and was gone often for weeks at a time. But Daisy preferred those times to when he would come back to the farm with mean-looking men in his company. She didn’t like the way they eyed her and her sister, nor the way that Clancy didn’t seem to care. She was almost certain that they were all up to no good but her sister didn’t want to hear about it.

  Daisy usually escaped for the few days when Clancy and his friends showed up, at her sister’s insistence. She wanted Amelia to come with her to the little shack in the woods that they had discovered. But Amelia said that if they were both gone Clancy would just come to find them. She felt that it was her responsibility as his wife to stay. But Daisy noticed that her sister seemed to die a little more each time the men came and left. However, when she asked her what happened Amelia would just clam up and move to a different topic.

  Daisy noticed the bruises, the haunted look in her sister’s eyes and the way she showed real fear when Clancy could be seen returning. So the last time Daisy had snuck back late in the evening and watched through the window. She’d been sick at what she saw. While Clancy sat and watched, each of the men who were with him took turns raping her sister. They were rough and violent and Daisy no longer had to wonder at the bruises that marred her sister’s fair skin. She had been violently ill and wanted to barge in and save Amelia. But a hand had clamped around her mouth and strong arms had carried her away.

  When she was released she turned to see what she was facing and was surprised at the old man who stood before her. He was an Indian, and she’d heard horrid stories of how they raped and took the scalps of their victims.

  But he’d calmed her and using his hands to communicate had made her see that he wouldn’t hurt her. A friendship had been born and she learned that he had been watching over her for some time. Or, sometimes she wondered if maybe he had just been following Clancy or one of his men? Either way she was glad that she had a friend. Over the next weeks she’d met him here as often as she could and he had taught her how to defend herself. The old man was quick and wiry and amazing. Clancy was gone for several months this time and as she watched her sister grow large with child she continued to meet the man she had dubbed Saviour and learned all that she could from him.

  She now knew how to fight if she needed to. She could use her hands, her feet, a knife, and had proved amazingly adept. She had strength she never knew she had. He taught her other things as well, how to trap small game like rabbits and how to cook the most amazing things from the meat. She knew how to skin and clean and even how to make a fire in the open. She was no longer a city girl. She was a true frontier woman now. And all thanks to Saviour. Now they could even communicate better with each other. He was picking up some of the English from her and she had learned a few words from him as well. She still didn’t know his given name as he seemed to like the name she’d given him.

  But nothing lasts forever and soon Clancy was on the horizon again, with more friends. And this time she was not leaving. Her sister was almost six months pregnant and would never be able to stand the abuse these men would dish out. So Daisy made her stand. She thought nothing of the way she looked. But the men did. She had long blonde hair that was braided to the small of her back and big brown eyes. Her skin was no longer fair but had taken on a soft golden glow from her time outdoors. She was tall for a woman, five feet seven inches, most of it legs. But there was nothing she could do to hide the fullness of her breasts beneath the calico of her dress.

  She felt their gazes, felt their hunger and shuddered. She hoped that she could take them, hoped that they left her sister alone. And she hoped and prayed that Saviour, who she knew watched over her, would stay away and not get hurt. He was like family to her and she didn’t want to lose another member of her family.

  The men settled in and Daisy laced their food with the powder Saviour had given her. It was supposed to make the men sleep. Then she could get her sister out of there, if only for the night. But Clancy didn’t touch his food. He sat and drank and watched Daisy with a fiery lust in his eyes. Though he was only a few inches taller, the look in his eyes intimidated her. His arms were muscular and whatever he was doing for months at a time was keeping him fit.

  “We need more water,” he yelled and Daisy grabbed the bucket and headed out to the well. She noticed a few of the men yawning and hoped that soon they’d be asleep. But luck didn’t seem to be with Daisy and Amelia tonight. A piercing scream sounded and Daisy dropped the bucket and ran at her sister’s distress. When she reached the door it was to see two of the men tearing at her sister’s clothes saying they had never fucked a pregnant woman. Her sister screamed and struggled between them but she was no match for the men who held her.

  Daisy moved to help her but strong arms caught her from behind and she was jerked against the aroused body of her brother-in-law.

  “No disappearing to help the neighbours this time Daisy girl. This time I’m going to fuck you like I’ve been wanting to since the day I married your sister.” He began carrying her towards the bedroom and she lay still, saving her energy for when he released her. She kept her eyes on her sister
trying to will Amelia some of her strength but her sister didn’t see her.

  The bedroom door slammed and Amelia’s scream stopped. A cold chill washed over Daisy and she knew that her sister’s life might depend on her getting to Amelia in time. She was thrown to the bed, knocking the air out of her and before she could catch her breath Clancy was over her ripping at her dress with one hand while he worked on releasing his pants with the other.

  She lay stunned for only a moment before she went into action. Her knee came up and nailed him in the area he planned to use on her and her hands reached for his eyes. She clawed at them and must have reached her mark as he howled in pain and tried to roll away. But years of hatred were bottled inside her and she kept attacking. He groped blindly for his boot and she noticed the sheathed knife that he was reaching for. Lost in the rage she took it before he could and felt cold satisfaction as the blade buried in his chest, a perfect stab into the heart, if he had one. He looked at her with surprise. His mouth opened and shut without uttering a sound and blood began to trickle from the corner.

  And Daisy felt nothing. No joy, no pain, no shame for having taken his life. She was empty. There was noise behind her but she was too numb to care. She’d taken a life, had his blood staining her hands. And she felt nothing. She should feel something.

  The pounding of footsteps broke her from her reverie and she realised someone was running from the house. She slowly left the bedroom and walked back into the other room to find her sister. She vaguely took note of the bodies of the other men around her. The two who had been attacking her sister were dead, and she knew without looking that Saviour had indeed come to try and save them. The other two men were gone and she didn’t care if it was of their own free will or not.

  Her gaze locked on the still form of her sister. Too still. Her dress was shredded and Daisy could already see the bruises forming on her sister’s breasts, belly and thighs. And around her neck. Amelia’s eyes were open, but sightless. And with a wailing cry Daisy embraced the still warm body of her dead sister. She felt Saviour behind her, trying to pull her away but she couldn’t move and the old man seemed to understand.

  She was still there when the sheriff came, still cradling her sister’s body. Saviour must have left at some point and she was glad that he wasn’t here to be blamed, glad that her friend would not suffer for trying to protect her.

  Sheriff Duckett walked through the door with one of the boys from the ranch down the road behind him, the boy’s eyes wide at the carnage that lay in the house.

  “What in God’s name happened here?” the sheriff demanded.

  And with a deep breath Daisy answered. “I killed them. I killed them all.”

  And now here she sat on a cot in the local jail waiting to be given to the man whose name was pulled for her in the bride lottery. The sheriff hadn’t believed her capable of killing but when she refused to say differently he’d had no choice but to bring her in. He’d talked to her about the wife lottery, explained it to her. Women were few and far between in the west and so many small towns had begun what was known as the bride lotteries.

  Women who were accused of a crime where basically given to a man in marriage instead of prosecuted and sent to jail or hung. Honestly she didn’t care, was still too numb to care. So she sat and she waited. She stood when the sheriff came for her, let him guide her to stand before the minister. She heard the mutterings of “half-breed” but paid little attention. When she was nudged she said the right words. Then she was led to a chair to sit while her new husband spoke quietly with the sheriff. She had no idea how much time passed before her husband came for her, led her out into the fresh air and over to two horses that were saddled and waiting.

  “Do you ride?” her husband asked her and she finally looked up at him. He was a big man, towering over her. His skin was a dark tan, his hair a long glossy black that hung over his shoulders. But his eyes were a brilliant blue. Except for the eyes, he looked a lot like Saviour and she seemed to relax and breathe for the first time since that night.

  “Yes,” she breathed. “I can ride.” And she softly smiled at him.

  He seemed startled by her smile, almost alarmed by it. But whatever he was thinking he kept it to himself and lifted her easily into the saddle of one of the horses before mounting the other.

  “Let’s hope you can keep up,” was all he said before leading her out of town.

  And Daisy wondered if she would ever get the chance to see Saviour again and tell him thank you. Somehow she figured he would know even if she never saw him again.

  It was a long ride and though she had become accustomed to the saddle, she hadn’t slept well while in jail and was having trouble staying awake while they rode. Luckily she caught herself every time she went to fall off the horse. Had she known her new husband better, or, well, at all, she would have told him how tired she was. But though she had felt comfortable around him immediately, she’d learned through watching her sister that it paid to be a little leery of the people around you. So she struggled to keep her eyes open and her bottom firmly in the seat.

  Jacob Donavan couldn’t believe the position he’d found himself in. A bride! Who the fuck would have thought he would be heading back to the ranch with a bride? A woman who, according to the sheriff, had confessed to killing several men. He glanced back at the horse behind him and the woman who was falling asleep in the saddle. He just didn’t think that she was capable of killing a man. She didn’t look like she would have the strength to do much at all. Which made him even angrier, since his dick had been hard since he’d first seen her.

  She was beautiful to him, like a prairie flower. Her hair was as bright as the sun and hung in a braid down to the small of her back. Jacob wanted to see it loose around her, flowing around them both. Her skin wasn’t the pale white of most women who had travelled this far west with their families but a soft golden shade that he longed to taste. She wasn’t afraid of the sun at least.

  But it was her eyes that called to him, that pulled at his soul. They were filled with a wisdom that didn’t fit with her youthful figure. She had seen a lot, probably experienced more than anyone knew and it had left its mark on her. Her eyes were sad. And he wanted to erase whatever had put that emotion there and see happiness instead. He wanted to hear her laugh, to see her smile. And that scared the hell out of him. His life wasn’t easy. Not his or his brothers’. That’s what came with being the son of a Texas Ranger and his Indian wife. A half-breed. No life for a woman.

  He had spent his years as a Ranger, following in his father’s footsteps. And now he was done, returning home to help on the ranch that his dad had worked so hard to obtain. It was his younger brother’s turn now and his turn to head home and take over. Dad’s health was bad and their mom was a worrier. Plus with both of their grandfathers living there now it was sure to be stressful. At least the two men got along which was funny to see. The big Irishman with his black hair and blue eyes and the Indian with his long braid and weathered skin. It was the only family Jacob had ever known, though, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  He glanced back as his new bride wavered in the saddle again. The silly woman was going to hurt herself if she fell, but so far was too stubborn to admit she was tired. He’d push them just over the river and to the clearing on his father’s land. They would be safe there to spend the night before travelling the rest of the way to the ranch in the morning. He wondered if he would be sleeping alone tonight or if his wife knew what to expect as a bride. He didn’t think his body would wait much longer for the release it was in need of.

  He turned his horse to cross at the shallowest part which would still have the horses swimming for just a few paces before they found solid ground again. It couldn’t be helped and she seemed to be okay on the horse as long as she stayed awake.

  He’d no sooner thought of that than a splash pulled his attention to the woman behind him again. She must have fallen asleep and fell. Thankfully the fall didn’t seem to h
urt her and she was swimming towards him. The current was with them so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. She grabbed the arm he held down to her and he easily lifted her into his lap.

  She was laughing. Her face lit with the joy of her unplanned swim. And he felt his heart do a flip in his chest before settling back into a steady rhythm again. Her wet dress clung to her revealing the turgid points of her nipples. Water dripped down her face and where her dress rested on his legs he was quickly becoming wet as well. The weather was typically unpredictable. He could be scalding hot in the day and still feel a chill in the air in the evening. He would need to stop and build a fire so that they could both dry out.

  But first he was going to do something that every bride should experience on her wedding day. Jacob leant down and captured her soft lips with his. He flicked his tongue and when she gasped slipped it inside her mouth to taste and explore. She was sweet and hot and he didn’t want to pull away even when he knew they both needed air. Reluctantly he did and wasn’t surprised to see the look of nervousness in her eyes. But he was surprised to take in the flush of desire on her face, the way her breasts rose and fell and the way her nipples were even more prominently displayed against the wet fabric of her dress. His little wife appeared to want him as much as he wanted her.

  “Let’s get settled in and get out of these wet clothes,” he rasped out in a husky voice.

  Her eyes flared and only when she wiggled on his lap did he realise that she probably felt how much he wanted her as well.

  As soon as they were out of the water and on solid ground she slid from his lap. “I may be your wife but for right now that is in name only. You’re bigger and stronger and if you decide to take what you want I might not be able to stop you. But I’ll do my best to try.”