A dark chuckle leaves Wyatt's throat and I know whatever he's about to say won't be good.

I just wish I knew how bad it would make things.

-

"She'll leave you." Wyatt saying looking at Beau with a smirk- one I used to find charming but now it seems cruel and cynical. I gasp, the audacity of him to accuse me of such wretchedness. When I look to Beau, his jaw is clenched so tightly I fear his teeth may shatter. "She thinks you're taking her to freedom, she'll hate you for the life you're taking her to."

"I won-" A movement beside me stops my denial. Beau has grabbed his hunting rival from behind him, where it was attached to the canvas wagon cover. The barrel crosses over my lap, and I tense as the barrel focuses on Wyatt, sitting on his black stallion -Clemenza.

"I've asked nicely." Beau is able to say calming, at least he's calm as my heart feels it may race out of my chest. "My wife and I are trying to get home."

Wyatt's eyes squint just slightly. Then, he smiles down at me, tipping his hat, before looking back up at Beau.

"Mark my words, Locksley, she'll leave." Then he tugs Clemenza's reigns and he's gone.

Wordlessly, Beau snaps his own reigns and I wait for him to comment, but he doesn't. We pass five farms before I finally reach out and touch his tightly clenched hand.

"I'm won't leave." I promise, closely watching his expressionless face. What possessed Wyatt to say such a horrible thing, I'll never know, but it's seemed to have ruined the small willingness Beau had for taking me as a wife. I guess it's a good thing that Wyatt was too late. Beau certainly won't ask for an annulment.

"Time will tell." He mutters without a glance to me and I attempt to shove the hurt down as it threatens to claw through my throat.

We may have grown apart the pst two years, but we were friends once. I thought he knew me well enough to not leave.

"Momma raised me better." I quietly voice my thoughts, but they seem to fall on deaf years.

-

We travel in silence for the rest of the day, and my thoughts start to drift.

"What happens in the marriage bed-"

"Momma!" I gasp, pulling my hands from my mother. My cheeks feel as if they've been set aflame as my eyes widen. My mother is fading from consumption and she wants to talk about... "Momma, we've talked about this already, I know."

"Sweetheart," She grips my hands again, her cold ones wrapping around my own. "There are some things you must know. It will hurt at first," I frown, I had thought the marriage bed was a good thing. "But if you love your husband and he loves you, it will only be a few moments and then it will be something beautiful, that ties you together and creates beautiful life." She reaches up and cups my jaw gently, with a small smile. "Beautiful."

My thoughts now drift to what the marriage bed will be like with Beau. My mind tries to conjure images of simple having a man I bed next to me - I never even saw Papa in his night clothes. The night dresses a brought with me were my two nicest I had, but I know realize that Beau will have to see me in them.

"Are you okay? Beau's voice causes me to jump. "You look quite red."

Explaining my thoughts isn't an option, so I tell a partial truth. "The sun is warm." The April sun shines down on the both of us, and while its the perfect temperature at the moment, the sun is directly in my face. When I glance up at Beau, he's regarding me with a slight frown. Then he reaches for his own hat, silently offering it to me. I'm too distracted by the dark locks that have fallen into his eyes to accept it, the suddenly, its placed on my head.

"Thank-you." I can't help but grin, pulling the hat down, as Beau grunts a response. And then my mind spins back right where it was before.

-

The sky is turning orange due to the setting sun. We've entered a new town a few moments ago, and Beau mentioned its the town we'd be staying in.

He stops the wagon just outside a loud saloon. We didn't have one in Milton, but I've heard about what goes on inside of them. Alcohol, women, fights, sometimes even murder.

"We're staying here?" I find myself questioning slowly.

"Those" he points to the large upper floor of the building with widows all across the front. "are each rooms."

"Oh." He jumps out, walking around the horses to my side of the wagon and helping me down.

I follow him into the saloon. It's dark, smokey, and loud. The women serving the food are dressed like wenches, they breasts hanging from their dresses.

One in particular, stops the moment her eyes notice Beau. In an instant, she's bewitched. Her eyes follow Beau as he makes his way through the saloon to the serving counter.

I'm so busy watching her I don't realize Beau has stopped in his tracks; my nose smashed against his stiff spine.

"Stay close to me." He mutters, gripping me against the waist. Heat soaks my skin as his palm remains against me.

"Beau?" An elderly woman approaches us, her dress covering more than the others in the room. "I wasn't expecting you." She sets the empty glasses she was holding down onto counter. Her completely white hair is wrapped in a tight bun.

"Joy, I'm headed to my farm in Pierre." He looks down at me. "My wife and I were hoping for a room."

The woman smiles, showing her yellow teeth, obviously stained with a lifetime of pipe smoke.

"We've got one more, let me get the key." She looks at me, her grin growing. "Then I want to hear about this lovely wife of yours."

"I always stay here when I travel." Beau tells me once the woman, Joy, leaves. "He brother is a farmer, we should be able to store the wagon in his barn."

"Second room on the right." Joy returns, handing a key to Beau. "Have a good night." She kisses Beau's cheek, surprising me when she does the same to my own.

I suddenly missed my mother even more.

Wordlessly, I follow Beau, who, I just noticed, carries two bags. One is my own, with all my possessions, the other, much smaller one I assume is his.

The room itself is small, with simply a feather mattress on the log bed in the back corner, and a small changing screen with a small wooden tub behind it. The bed has two pillows, and a single green quilt.

Nothing else.

The single window doesn't even have a curtain.

"I'm going to put the horses away and speak to Joy, I'll let a housekeeper know you'd like water drawn up for for a bath." He puts his hat back on, tipping it slightly before leaving the room before I can mutter a 'thank-you'.

Minutes later, a handful of maids bring up steaming buckets of water. "Thank you." I smile at them, as they empty the buckets into the tub. Once they leave, I start to work the buttons of my dress. The hot water feels amazing against my skin, I have no idea where all the dirt came from, but I'm covered in it. The lavender soap that was in the room fills my senses, instantly relaxing me.

"Brianna?" Beau's questioning tone, causes me to jerk awake. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." I tell him, my voice trembling, he's so close and I'm completely bare, the bubbles have even disappeared. I hadn't realized I was so tired. "I fell asleep," I hear Beau's receding footsteps from the other side of the screen. "Just give me a few minutes." I quickly standing and reaching for the small towel. I'm putting on my sleeping gown when there's a knock on the door. I hear indiscernible murmuring before the door closes.

The candle, I notice as I tie up the front of the white cotton gown, has burned about halfway through.

I take deep calming breathes as I prepare
myself to step out of the privacy of the screen, and present myself to my husband. The sleeping gown is slightly see though and I now wish I had brought some of my older, worn gowns.

"I shall have a bath as well if you're alright with that." Beau tells me, when I finally do enter the main portion of the room. Convincing myself that Beau was my husband now, and I promised to do all the duties of a wife, including

"Alright." I whisper, watching as his green eyes remained glued to his feet as he refuses to look up and stiffly grabs a bucket a flesh steaming water.

"You should get to bed." He tips the wash tub, allowing the water I was in to run down the small pipe. "We have a long we'll ahead of us."

I nod, quickly running to the bed, pulling the quilt to my chin, as he disappears behind the screen and I watch as his silhouette removes his shirt. His taunt muscles are easily noticeable behind the candle-lit screen.

My heart stops. His silhouette from the candle being behind the screen.

The candle I had back when I was changing.

My face instantly flushes and I look away. I guess if I am to hope Beau didn't watch me change, I should give him the same courtesy.

I listen, though, as the water sloshes for a few minutes, stopping suddenly when Beau sighs.

I glance just in time to see his silhouette stand.

Oh my..

I quickly look away, pulling the quilt up to cover my face, until I hear the screen move.
Beau steps out from behind the screen and my heart starts to race as soon as starts to look around before pinning me with his stare.

My breath gets caught in my throat when he steps toward me, his dark hair dripping from his bath. When he steps up to the bed, I have to start forcing short breaths out of my nose to stop myself from passing out.

"It will hurt at first."

"Something beautiful."

I swallow thickly when he stops, his thighs, covered in cotton pants, are pressed against the bed. "Good night." He whispers, grabbing the pillow that's next to my own and tossing it on the floor. I'm too stunned to even respond, as he lies down on the floor next to the bed.

I remain in stunned silence until I drift into confused slumber.

***

Wyatt when I'm done with him.