Mail Order Madness Read online

  His hands traced her hips and went straight down to the curls that shielded her innocence. He smiled at her surprised gasp, and moved his fingers down between her legs, which were clenched tightly together. “Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.”

  She moved her legs slightly apart and his fingers went immediately to her core, one of them slipping quickly inside her. She hadn’t expected him to touch her there with anything but his man-part, so she jerked in surprise. “What are you doing?”

  “Don’t worry. You’ll like it.” His finger slipped in and out of her slowly at first, but gathering speed. “I want you to be ready to accept me.”

  She swallowed hard, knowing what he was referring to. His fingers did feel good, and they seemed to be pushing her toward some unseen goal that she didn’t quite understand. She looked at his face in the darkness and saw an intense look in his eyes, almost as if he was in pain. Her hand reached up to stroke his cheek as his finger played inside her.

  After a moment David turned his head and brushed a kiss across the palm of her hand. He moved his finger out of her, and before she had a chance to protest, he had slipped it back in with another finger added. She moaned softly with surprise and pleasure. She’d had no idea this part of marriage would feel so good. She’d expected to simply lie back and submit to her husband, but she wanted so much more from him.

  She felt like she was getting close to something, and started to move her hips with his fingers, thrusting back against them. “That feels so good,” she whispered.

  David took that as his cue and removed his fingers and rolled over so he was resting between her thighs, but catching his weight on his elbows. “This should feel good too then.” He dropped his lips to hers and kissed her passionately just as his member pushed against her opening.

  She was startled to find him on top of her and pressing against her so quickly and his manhood felt nothing like his fingers had. She’d never seen a fully erect penis and was surprised at the size of the thing pressing against her. She moved her hips a little to give him better access, because she believed him. She’d loved everything he’d done to her so far, and she was looking forward to having him deep inside her.

  When he felt her move against him, he knew it was time, and pressed deep inside her, breaking her barrier on the way. He held still when she let out a startled cry and stared up at him in the dark.

  She wiggled her hips trying to get more comfortable, but it wasn’t working. It still hurt. “It doesn’t feel good. Your fingers were much nicer.” She knew she should just lie back and submit to him, but it hurt and he’d said it would feel good. Had he lied to her?

  He groaned as she wriggled beneath him. It was all he could do to hold still while she adjusted to his invasion of her body, but her movements were just adding flames to his already burning libido. “Stay still for a minute while the pain passes.”

  “I can’t. It hurts.” She kept moving under him, her hips driving against him and moving from side to side trying to escape the pain.

  After a moment, he gave in and started to thrust inside her driving them both toward their pleasure.

  He wasn’t able to hold out as long as he’d hoped, because it had been so long, and it was just moments before he let out a groan and collapsed on top of her.

  Susan lay beneath him disappointed. After the initial pleasure when he had used his fingers, she’d hoped for more. Toward the end it hadn’t hurt as badly, but there had been nothing spectacular at the end like she thought there would be.

  She sighed heavily, and he opened his eyes looking deep into hers. “You didn’t enjoy that very much, did you?”

  “Not really. Sorry.” And she was. She’d hoped to enjoy it. A friend of hers at church had whispered to her all about how much fun being a wife was, and she’d expected a lot more of the experience.

  He rolled to her side, stroking her cheek. “You’ll like it more next time.”

  “Okay.” She said no more, but it was obvious by her tone of voice that she didn’t think she would.

  He rolled to his back and pulled her against him, pillowing her head on his shoulder. “I promise. It’ll get a lot better.”

  She snuggled into his side already closing her eyes. She was surprised she was able to get so comfortable with a man in her bed, but she was so tired, she just needed to sleep. It had been an exhausting, emotional day, and she had a battle ahead of her training the boys to act the way she expected.

  He stared down at her wondering what to say, but realized she’d already fallen asleep. He smiled. His new wife was so much more than he’d expected her to be. Her spirit would keep him on his toes.

  Chapter Six

  The next morning after breakfast, Susan sent the twins off with Mrs. Hackenshleimer and sat down with the two older boys. “We need to talk for a few minutes before you start writing your sentences.” She’d set some paper and two sharpened pencils on the table for them to write with.

  Both boys looked at her with wary eyes as if they were expecting to hear something they didn’t want to. They were right. “We’re going to set some rules for the house, and you will follow them. If you don’t there will be consequences.”

  Albert sighed and glared at his brother as if it was his fault they were having this conversation.

  “The first rule,” she said pulling a piece of paper to her so she could write each rule as they discussed them, “is no fighting. Never for any reason should brothers fight each other. If someone hits you, you may hit them back to defend yourself, but you never hit your brother for any reason. Is that understood?” Her eyes darted back and forth between their faces as she waited for them to answer her.

  Both boys nodded. Lewis folded his arms across his chest. “He started it.”

  Susan sighed and shook her head at them. “I don’t care who starts it. If I see you two fighting again, I’ll tie your hands together for an entire day so you won’t be able to do anything without learning to work together.”

  Albert nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “The second rule is always display good manners. Last night at supper you two acted like ravenous wolves who hadn’t eaten in months. I know that wasn’t the case. You know how to eat correctly, and from now on, you will. I don’t care how hungry you are, you will eat with your mouths closed and you will say please and thank you at the table.”

  Lewis made a face. “What happens if we don’t?”

  She hadn’t thought of a consequence for that, so she sat and thought about it for a minute. “You’ll be limited to bread and water for the rest of the meal and your next meal. You’ll get to eat whatever the rest of the family is eating as long as you’ve shown good manners at the previous meal.” She thought that sounded like a fitting punishment for bad table manners.

  Albert’s jaw dropped. “There’s no way Pa would let you do that!”

  “Your pa told me to teach you to act right. He told me I can do anything I want.” She didn’t add that he’d told her not to spank them. She didn’t want them to know that wasn’t something in her arsenal. “The third rule is always obey the first time. If I tell you to get your brother a glass of water, I don’t want to be asked why you have to do it, or why he’s thirsty. I just want it done and done correctly. Do you understand?”

  Albert sank into his chair as if he’d been slapped. “What’s the punishment for that one?”

  “I’ll make you repeat the action ten times. So if you don’t get your brother water, or question why he needs it, you’ll make ten trips back and forth to the kitchen with glasses of water.” She watched their faces as she told them the punishment.

  Lewis put his head down onto the table. “Are we ever going to get to have fun again?”

  Susan laughed. “All the time. You’ll find following the rules makes life a lot more fun for you, because you won’t be in constant trouble.” She stood up. “I’ll be adding more rules as we go, but those are the three we’re starting with. Go ahead and write your sentences.”
She walked toward the kitchen, expecting them to obey her automatically after their talk.

  “I don’t know how to spell those words, remember?” Lewis made a face at her.

  Susan nodded. She walked back to the table and handed him the paper she’d already written the sentence on for him. “Forty times each.”

  She slipped into the kitchen and found Sadie cooking a large pot of beans for lunch. “Have they always been this way?”

  Sadie grinned at Susan. “They were good boys before their mother died, but having an endless stream of nannies here and no one to really take charge made them think they didn’t have to follow rules at all. I’m glad you’re taking charge the way you are.”

  “Why did the nannies leave?” Susan was almost afraid to ask, but as their new mother, she needed to know.

  “The last one left because the boys kept putting frogs in her bed. The one before that left because they threw eggs at her while she was playing with the twins outside. So it was for a lot of different things, but they all had very good reasons.” She paused and looked at Susan. “I think you’re doing the right thing by punishing them right away.”

  Susan fixed herself a glass of water from the pump in the kitchen and leaned against the work table. “I just hope it works. Not being able to spank them takes away a lot of my power.” She shook her head in disgust at the way her hands were tied.

  “Just stay strong. They’ll obey.”

  Susan pushed the door open a crack to see if the boys were working.

  “She can’t make us write the sentences, you know.” Albert’s voice came through loud and clear.

  “Are you sure?” Lewis asked.

  “Positive. I mean what’s she going to do if we just get up and go outside?”

  Susan walked into the dining room. “How are the sentences coming along?”

  Albert stood up. “I’ve decided I’m not going to write them.”

  Susan set her glass of water on the table and put her hands on Albert’s shoulders forcing him to sit. “You will write them, or you won’t play at all today.”

  “You’re not my mom! You can’t make me.”

  “I’m not your mom, but I am your step-mom and the only mother you’ll ever have. You’ll sit there and do the work, or you’ll never play again. I guarantee I can stand over you all day if I have to.”

  Lewis looked at her stubborn face and knew she meant business. He bent his head and immediately started to write the sentences. He wrote quickly and carefully made each letter.

  Albert, on the other hand, sat and stared at her as if he was sure she would just let him go if he continued to refuse. He stood up and she pushed him right back down in the chair. Lewis finished and went outside to play while she stood over Albert waiting for him. He still hadn’t picked up his pencil to write a single word.

  Susan spoke very quietly. “If you don’t pick up your pencil and start writing by the time I count to three, I’ll double the sentences. And you will spend the rest of the day in your room once you’re finished writing them.” She took a deep breath. “One.” She looked out the window and smiled as she saw Lewis running along the edge of the fence line as if he was racing the brown mare on the other side of the fence. “Two.” Albert picked up his pencil and started writing. He did it grudgingly, glaring at her the entire time, but he wrote. Within twenty minutes, he was finished.

  Once he was done, she sat next to him at the table. “I know you don’t want to obey me. I know you think I’m the enemy, but I’m your father’s wife, which makes me your new mother. I can be your best friend in the world, or you can make me your worst enemy. Either way, you’ll act the way I want you to act. I will not give in. Your behavior will improve if it kills both of us.” She stood and picked up her water glass walking back into the kitchen. “Have fun outside, Albert.”

  She was leaning against the counter in the kitchen when she heard the door slam. Her eyes met Sadie’s and Sadie began to laugh. “This is going to be fun to watch!”

  *****

  Saturday was Mrs. Hackenshleimer’s day off, and Susan braced herself for the onslaught when she woke up. She helped the twins eat their breakfast, and then went outside with all four boys to watch them as they played. She took some mending with her so she could sit in the shade of a tall oak tree while watching them.

  It wasn’t long before she started to hear squeals from the pig’s pen. As she rounded the corner, she saw that all four boys were in with the pigs chasing a small piglet who was running from them and squealing loudly. The twins were covered in mud. She could see it oozing out of their diapers as they ran. The two older boys had mud all over their faces and in their hair.

  Instead of going over to stop them immediately, she instead headed for the well, and pulled up a bucket of ice cold water. She carried the water over to the pig pen, but the boys were so involved with chasing the pig, they didn’t notice her. She took careful aim, and threw the entire bucket of freezing water at Albert and Lewis, knowing they were the ring leaders and the twins were just following suit.

  The boys sputtered and screamed. Albert glared at her. “Why did you do that?”

  Susan studied the belligerent boy for a moment before saying, “Well, since you were in the pigpen getting filthy, I knew you must want to take a bath, so I thought I’d help you out.” She set the bucket on the ground and then lifted Thomas and Walter over the fence and led them into the house. “You boys go ahead and keep splashing in the mud. Once I have the twins bathed, I’ll come for you and get you washed as well.”

  “You can’t give me a bath! I don’t want you seeing my privates!” Albert yelled after her.

  Susan shrugged still walking away. “You’d better be clean before I’m done with your little brothers then.” She didn’t care how much it upset Albert. He’d either clean himself with the water from the well, or he’d take a bath with her there. It was his choice.

  She took both little boys into the bathroom and stripped them down to their birthday suits. Even their little stomachs were completely covered with mud. She ran water into the bathtub for the first time, and put them both in. She knelt by the side of the tub washing their little bodies tenderly, talking to them the whole time. “Your big brothers are going to get you into trouble if you keep listening to everything they tell you to do. What were you trying to do anyway?”

  “Give piggy bath,” Walter told her.

  “Why would you want to give the piggy a bath? Piggies like to be dirty.” Susan was sure one of the older boys had told them to do it, but she wanted to hear them say it.

  “Bert said piggy needed bath,” Thomas said.

  “I see. It was Albert’s idea? Did he tell you to help?” Had he deliberately coerced his two year old brothers into the pigpen or had it been their idea?

  Walter gave her a very serious look. “Bert said we could play if we caught piggy.”

  “Of course he did. Let me give you two a little piece of advice. Your brother Albert is trying to get you two in trouble.” She soaped up their hair and washed them down. “You need to stop listening to him.”

  She lifted first Walter and then Thomas from the tub. She rubbed them both dry and led them up the stairs totally naked to their bedroom. She put clean diapers and shirts on them, but no pants. It was too hot for them wear pants anyway. Taking them back downstairs, she went into the kitchen to Sadie. “Can you feed these two while I chase down the other two and show them who’s boss?”

  Sadie nodded taking Walter and putting him in one of the high chairs they kept in the kitchen. Susan lifted Thomas into the other chair. “Wish me luck.”

  Sadie grinned. “Good luck. I wish I could see this one.”

  Susan went to the bathroom and refilled the bathtub before she left the house and walked back toward the pigpen. It only held pigs, and she noted the piglet the boys had been chasing was still there. She looked around for the older boys. Finally, she spotted Albert as dirty as ever, leaning against the corral. She walked slo
wly, hoping to have the element of surprise on her side. She grabbed Albert’s arm just as Lewis spotted her. “Lewis, follow me.” She half dragged Albert into the house, leading both boys into the bathroom. “Lewis get undressed and into the water. Albert? You do the same.”

  Albert folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. He made it very clear he wasn’t about to get undressed in front of his step-mother. She started counting very slowly. When she reached three, Lewis was sitting in the tub washing himself, but Albert was still glaring at her. She reached out and unbuttoned his shirt with him kicking and screaming and wiggling to get away from her. “Stop it! You can’t take my clothes off! You’re a girl!”

  “Take them off yourself then. You’re getting in that bathtub, and you’re getting in there now.” She folded her arms across her chest to give him a chance to do it himself. “One.” She looked down at Lewis who was staring slack jawed at her battle with his older brother. “Two.” Albert unbuttoned his pants and stepped out of them, turning his back to her before removing his drawers and jumping into the tub with his brother. He kept his hands covering his penis as he looked up at her and glared.

  “Get clean. You have ten minutes, and I’ll be standing outside the bathroom the entire time.” She left the bathroom, but stayed close enough she would be able to hear whatever they were doing. She did give them privacy, though.

  David came into the house and saw her standing in the hallway outside the bathroom. “What are you doing?” he asked as he dipped his head and gave her a quick kiss.

  “Having another battle of wills with our eldest son.” She looked at him to see how he’d react to the situation.

  “Who’s winning?”

  “The same person who will always win. Me.”

  David bit back a laugh. “What’s this one about?”

  “Albert convinced the others that catching a piglet and giving him a bath was a good idea. By the time I heard the pig squealing, the twins had mud oozing out of their diapers and the only things you could see of their faces were their eyes and mouths. I told Albert I’d bathe the twins and come back for him and Lewis.” She briefly explained how she’d caught Albert as he was leaning against the corral and forced him to undress. Her eyes were twinkling as she said, “He really didn’t want me to see his ‘privates’.”