The Sheriff's Bred Mail-Order Bride

I never expected the sight of Leona on that platform to hit me like a bullet to the chest. Dust on her hem, hope and fear warring in her gaze, she came to be my wife in name only until I fill her and the proof shows on the next census roll. My scar itches as I watch her, the same way it does before a fight I cannot afford to lose.

The clerk's departure leaves the back room too quiet, the stamped registry between us. Her hand rests near the ink bottle, and I see the small mark on her belly where my child will grow. One word from me and she will submit, but the door is not locked and the night is young with everything at stake if another man claims what I have not yet taken.