Tim leaned back in his chair, folded his arms in front of his chest, and glowered at Max.
“I believe I already told you about the note,” Charlotte said tersely, matching Tim’s defiant attitude. “Simon said he would kill you if we brought the marshal.”
“Goddamn it, Charlie. You think he would’ve not killed me as a way to say thanks for being so obedient? If you wanted to pay mind to Simon’s note and not bring the marshal, you could have at least brought a man. Blazes! A woman and a boy, rescuing me. Of all the nonsense. I would never have forgiven myself if…” Max rubbed his forehead, growing more agitated. “My god, the things he said he would do, I can’t remember if they were part of my nightmares when I was passed out or if he really did say them.”
Charlotte touched his arm. “Max, my love?” she said gently.
“What, darlin’?” he responded, his voice fraught with anxiety and frustration.
She waited a few moments before speaking, and the only noise they heard in that time was the ticking of the clock. When she answered, she spoke softly. “I did bring a man—a brave one. And Tim brought a capable woman. We’re brave and capable partly because of you, because you’ve always believed in the both of us.”
Max frowned at her, then shifted his gaze to Tim, who regarded him with narrowed eyes that dared him to disagree. Max groaned and ran his hand around the beard growing on his face. “I hear you, Charlie,” he said finally.
Tim’s glower turned into a smug smile at Max’s subtle admission. He stood. “Speaking of, I have brave, manly things to do. Like goin’ on a picnic with the seamstress and her daughter that I was invited to when I delivered the hangers. I’ll be off unless you have anything else to yell at me about, Max, in addition to saving your life.”
Max got the sheepish look on his face that Charlotte secretly found adorable.
“I reckon anything else can wait until after your picnic,” Max said gruffly. “And if you bring me one of Marta’s sweet rolls, I’ll forget the whole thing.”
Tim grinned. He said goodbye and left the cabin. Charlotte and Max ate their lunch in silence. When they finished, Charlotte cleared the dishes off the table and washed them in the basin. She stopped scrubbing when she felt Max’s arms wrap around her. He held her gently against his chest and kissed the side of her neck.
“So,” he said in a deep voice close to her ear. “My wife thinks it’s acceptable to put herself in danger on my behalf, does she?” He peppered her neck and ear with soft kisses.
“Yes,” she squeaked.
He nipped her earlobe. “I disagree. You must be punished for that.”
“Max, that’s not fair. I don’t think—”
“It doesn’t matter what you think.” His kisses became more demanding as they traveled over her shoulder. “I decide what’s acceptable and what isn’t,” he said in between nips and kisses.
Charlotte whimpered with desire. He released her all at once, and she whimpered again when her body lost contact with his.
“Meet me in the bedroom for your punishment, young lady,” he said before he left the room.
A wave of arousal washed over her body at the same time her mind protested the injustice of being punished for helping her husband. She slowly dried her hands. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the bedroom to find Max seated on the edge of the bed. He regarded her with his fierce eyes. “Over my lap, wife.”
“But Max, you shouldn’t exert yourself. You’ve been injured. Your wrists—”
“My wrists are fine enough to tan your hide.”
Charlotte proceeded to provide him with her next excuse. “I didn’t do anything wrong by coming for you. I don’t deserve punishment.”
“Are you going to make me come get you?”
Charlotte’s temper flared at his refusal to reason. “Something happened to your head when it got hit, Max. You’re addled.”
“One.”
She stomped her foot. “You’re intolerable!”
“Two.”
“Just how high are you going to count to?”
“Three.”
“Very good, Max. You should teach math to my students.”
He let out a growl and pounced. She squealed as he dragged her to the bed and dropped her on top of it. He straddled her. “Just for that, you’re going to be fully naked when I redden your disobedient, impertinent bottom,” he informed her with a mischievous glint in his eye. He proceeded to tear the dress off her body.
Charlotte watched his face with no small amount of awe as he stripped her with deft hands. When she lay naked on the bed, her clothes in a heap in a corner of the room, he captured a nipple in his mouth and flicked it with his tongue. He fondled her other breast, squeezing and pinching until she arched into his touch.
He removed his mouth from her breast to say, “My wife has a hard time obeying, doesn’t she?”