Selena bristled under his scorn, and she raised her chin to a lofty angle. “Well I was just concerned. How was I supposed to know you are used to getting into fights all the time?”
Liam stopped and glared down at her. “I’m not used to . . .” realizing that he had been speaking loudly, he lowered his voice. “I am not used to getting into fights. I wouldn’t have gotten into that one if not for you. I’m already beginning to wonder why I allowed you to come along.”
“Are you blaming me for what happened?” Selena asked incredulously. “It certainly wasn’t my fault that those men accosted me. I was minding my own business.”
Liam’s brows drew together in a disapproving frown as he scanned her face. “It looked to me like you were putting yourself on display, standing up on those crates like you were. It was only natural that you would draw men’s attention, looking like that.” He tried but couldn’t keep his eyes from dropping to the generous curves of her bosom as he continued. “They probably thought you were a prostitute trying to drum up business.”
Selena gasped with outrage. “How dare you! I don’t look anything like a prostitute, and I wasn’t putting myself on display!” She ran her hand down the front of her dress self-consciously. “My dress is perfectly respectable.”
As she spoke, his eyes took in her appearance, and he realized that the dress she was wearing today was a vast improvement over the previous evening’s apparel. It was respectable. In fact, it was downright modest. It was sewn from light blue cotton, and the high collar and long sleeves were trimmed at the edges with a delicate white lace.
The dress was fitted superbly over Selena’s bosom, waist and hips, and Liam was gratified to know that he hadn’t been mistaken. She had a very shapely figure. It wasn’t the cut of the gown that made it so alluring, it was what it contained. Selena’s curves were ample but sleek. She had the body of a temptress, and a face that stopped men in their tracks. Irritated with himself for letting her beauty distract him from his topic, Liam frowned even harder.
“From now on, don’t flaunt yourself, and maybe I won’t be forced to do battle with every man from here to Oregon to defend you.” Liam turned and led her toward where his trunks were sitting on the dock.
“Flaunt myself? How dare you!” Selena had to trot to keep up with Liam’s long strides. “I was merely trying to find you in this mob. I couldn’t see you from where I was standing.”
They reached his trunks, and Liam set her suitcase on top of the largest one. “Fine. Now that you have found me, please try your best to be inconspicuous from now on, alright?”
“Fine,” Selena muttered.
Her anger mixed with self-reproach, and she looked away so that Liam wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She had worn this dress hoping to make a better impression on him than she had the day before. She had taken special care to braid her long hair and swirl it into an attractive bun at the crown of her head, and for once she had let a few wisps escape to curl around her face and neck.
The dress was her best, and she had hoped he would find her attractive in it. Judging by his reaction, Liam wasn’t impressed. In fact, he frowned with displeasure whenever he looked at her, and it stung her pride. She stood in tense silence, looking everywhere but at Liam. A few minutes later, they heard the call to load passengers onto the steamship, and Liam turned to Selena.
“That’s us.”
He handed her suitcase to Selena and hefted the largest trunk onto his back. He lifted the smaller trunk into the crook of one arm, and without looking at Selena, he started toward the steamship.
“Come on,” he said gruffly.
Selena followed at his heels, noticing that he toted the two trunks seemingly without effort. They climbed the ramp to board, and Liam had to pause to show their tickets to the steward. He didn’t realize that Selena stood so close beside him, and he nearly set the trunk on her feet. When she skittered back a step, he frowned at her.
“Well, watch yourself,” he grumbled. “I don’t want to have to coddle you if one of these trunks lands on your feet and breaks your toes.”
Selena gave him a narrow eyed glare. “Don’t worry Mr. McKenzie. I told you I won’t be a burden, and I meant it. Now that I know you don’t pay attention to where you put those chests, I’ll be more cautious. I know how to take care of myself.”
“Liam,” he whispered sharply, glancing toward the steward who stood nearby to make sure he hadn’t overheard.
“What?” she hissed.
“You’re supposed to call me Liam, remember?” he said impatiently.
Selena took a deep breath to cool her temper. “Fine . . . Liam. As I said, I can take care of myself.”
“That remains doubtful, but I would appreciate it if you would try.”
Without setting the other trunk down, Liam fished their papers out of his shirt pocket and held them ready. When the steward reached them, he examined the documents briefly and then directed Liam to the area where he could stow their trunks. Liam lifted the smaller trunk and headed in that direction without a backward glance.
Selena silently seethed as she watched him walking away. She hefted her suitcase and followed in his wake, silently contemplating several unpleasant scenarios that she wished would descend on her escort at that moment. She doubted he would be so condescending if he were dealing with oozing boils, itchy underpants or a rapidly swelling nose, and had she been a sorceress, she would have been tempted to conjure such tortures just to gratify her sense of outrage.
What had made her think that this man was charming? He was arrogant, egotistical, haughty, conceited and rude, and she didn’t appreciate him treating her like a child. She was beginning to feel that she had made a grievous mistake.
They stowed the two trunks, and Liam paused only long enough to remove a small suitcase from the smaller chest. He refastened the lid and turned to take her suitcase.
“Come on,” he grumbled.
“Where are we going now,” Selena asked, struggling once again to keep up with his long strides.
“We’re going to find our room. I booked a cabin for the journey to Kansas City so I’d have a private place to sleep. You can share it with me.”
Selena stopped dead in her tracks. Her voice came out as a nervous squeak. “No, that’s alright. Perhaps I could book a separate room.”
Liam rolled his eyes upward and gave a long-suffering sigh before coming back to glare down at his charge. “Selena, there are no other rooms available. The ship is fully booked, and I’m certainly not going to allow you to sleep out on deck.”
“I wasn’t asking your permission,” Selena stated. She wasn’t about to let on that the idea of sharing a private cabin with this man made her stomach flutter. “I’ll sleep wherever I see fit, and you don’t have any say in the matter.”
As she said the last, she reached to pull her suitcase from his hand, but Liam refused to let it go. Liam was normally a mild-tempered man, but this slip of a girl had a way of making him angry. He leaned closer, using his height to tower over her as he glared down his nose at her.
“Let’s get one thing straight. If I’m going to let you come along with me, you have to agree that I am in charge. I refuse to be saddled with a harebrained female who doesn’t even know how to look after herself and refuses to follow the simplest of instructions. Now is that clear?”
“Harebrained? Why of all the nerve! Give me that,” Selena yanked furiously on her suitcase, but was unable to pry it loose from Liam’s strong fingers, and she stamped her foot with impotent rage. “Give me my suitcase this instant! I’ve changed my mind.”
Liam looked amused, and he needled her harshly. “Oh, and just where were you intending to go, back to your job? You didn’t get enough of your lecherous boss yet?”
“Any place is better than here with you!”
Liam grabbed her arm none too gently and began towing her along, ignoring her struggles of protest. When several other passengers stopped to gape at them, Liam pu
lled her between some tall stacks of wooden crates and dropped the suitcases to take hold of both her shoulders. He gave her a light shake.
“Stop it now. You’re making a spectacle of yourself,” he whispered.
Selena was too furious to listen to reason, and she pummeled him with her fists. Her frustration mounted when she saw she was having no effect at all.
“Let go of me! I don’t need you. I want to get off this boat.”
Liam yanked her against his chest to subdue her flailing fists, and they both stilled instantly. Their bodies were in contact from knee to chest, and everywhere they touched was infused with heat. Their stunned gazes met, and Selena’s breath froze in her throat.
Slowly, almost hesitantly, Liam bent to kiss her. At first, Selena stood stiffly in his arms, but as Liam’s warm lips explored hers with gentle coercion, she began to relax against him.
Selena held her breath as she waited for the familiar panic to start, but all she felt was warmth beginning to grow in the pit of her belly. His lips were firm and insistent on hers, and when his tongue flicked across her lips, it felt only natural to open her lips to welcome him.
He surged in, letting his tongue explore the warm recesses of her mouth, and Selena sighed as she slid her arms up to wind them around his neck. The sensation of having her breasts pressed intimately against his solid chest made her gasp in shock, but she released the breath on a sigh.
Liam felt a surge of possessive hunger when he heard her, and without conscious thought, he pressed her back against the crates as his mouth became even more demanding on hers. He was gratified by her eager response and he deepened the kiss. He could feel the blood pounding through his loins when a nearby whisper broke through his awareness.
“I thought he said she was his sister!”
“I’ve never seen anybody kiss his sister like that!”
Liam looked up to see two of the young men they had encountered earlier standing on the dock and gawking at them from between the crates. When they saw Liam’s heated glare, they took off at a run, disappearing from sight.
“Damn!”
Selena’s eyes were just fluttering open, and she looked up at him with a dazed frown. Angered by the realization of how completely she had forgotten herself, she shoved against Liam’s chest.
“Let me go! I said I want to get off this boat.”
No sooner had she said the words than they heard a shrill whistle, and the boat broke free from its moorings. There was a shudder as the paddle wheel began to turn, and they were in motion, bound for Kansas City and beyond. Liam raised a tawny brow and consented to release her from his arms.
“Well, it looks like it’s too late for you to leave. We seem to be stuck with each other, so come on.”
He snatched up their suitcases and stalked away, leaving Selena to catch up. What the hell was the matter with him? If those two hadn’t interrupted, he might have ravished the wench right there on deck. There was no way this charade was going to work, and it would soon be clear to everyone that they were not siblings, at least not normal siblings.
Liam knew it would be impossible to travel two thousand miles with a beautiful woman and not steal an occasional kiss. He didn’t want to risk other people thinking they were an incestuous couple. He was going to have to think of some other way they could travel together and still protect her reputation.
Selena trotted behind him, blinking back tears of frustration. What was the matter with her? She had thrown herself at Liam like some cheap strumpet, and while the experience of his kiss had left her feeling warm and giddy, it obviously had not had the same effect on him. He had dismissed her without a second glance, and her cheeks flushed with shame.
Liam led the way down a narrow corridor and located their cabin. It was little bigger than a closet, with barely enough room for the two of them to stand side by side next to the narrow bed. There was a tiny window that let in enough light to see through the gloom and a shelf above the bed where suitcases could be stored.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Liam felt desperate to get out of the cabin. He needed to put some distance between him and Selena. The thought of sleeping in this enclosed space with her while the memory of kissing her was so fresh in his mind put a strain on his already weakened self-restraint.
“You can sleep here, and I will sleep on deck,” he muttered, trying to squeeze past her without touching her.
“But I’m not going to accept your cabin,” Selena protested. “You are the one who wanted to sleep in here, not me. I’ll sleep outside.”
Liam growled his impatience. “Selena, how long do you think it would be before somebody insisted on sharing your bed, if you were to sleep outside by yourself?” He saw her discomfort and forged on. “Now, I insist. You take the cabin.”
The stubborn set of Selena’s jaw was becoming a familiar sight. “I will not sleep in your cabin while you sleep outside. Why don’t you sleep on the bed, and I’ll make a pallet here on the floor?”
“What kind of a cad do you take me for?” he asked, giving her an injured look. “You take the bed, and I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Selena rubbed her forehead and sighed. Dealing with this man had already sapped most of her patience, and it was only their first day together.
“Fine. We’ll take turns sleeping in the bed.”
“Fine,” he ground out, realizing that he had to compromise or he would never get out of the cabin, and he desperately needed to put some space between them so he could think clearly. “Now, I’m going to look around for a bit. You stay here.”
Before she had a chance to reply, Liam stalked out of the room and closed the door with a solid click. Selena released another sigh.
“I hope every decision is not going to require so much effort,” she muttered crossly.
She stowed the suitcases on the shelf and then slumped onto the bed. There was nothing to occupy her, so she stared out through the tiny window, watching the passing scenery but not really registering any of the things she was seeing. Her thoughts returned to that kiss.
Selena closed her eyes, and brushed her fingertips over her lips, remembering the feel of his mouth against hers. Liam embodied every girlish fantasy she had ever had, with his handsome face, broad shoulders, narrow hips and well-muscled thighs. For the first time, she wondered what it might feel like to claim a man like Liam as her own, and Selena smiled. She would be with him for the next several months. Only time would tell whether she had a chance to win his heart, but for the first time in eight months, she would allow herself to dream.
*****
Liam stood clenching the rail and took several deep breaths to relieve his tension. How was he going to get Selena to Oregon while protecting her reputation? He had already discarded the notion of trying to claim her as his sister. Liam knew that while they traveled, they would come in contact with other families, and folks tended to fall into small groups as they moved along the trail.
Once they got to Oregon, most of them would be traveling to the Willamette Valley. If Liam said she was his sister and then betrayed himself with so much as a sensual look in her direction while in the presence of others, folks would assume the very worst about both of them.
Willamette Valley was a small community, and women were greatly outnumbered by men. Therefore, the women had forged a very tight knit society. Provided that a woman had a reputation as an honorable lady, she would be welcomed into the fold. Acceptance meant that Selena would have a network of support from other ladies and, even more important, she would have the opportunity to marry.
However, if a woman’s reputation was tarnished, those same doors would be closed to her. Unless she wanted to live as a pariah, her only alternative would be to move on to a place where she wasn’t known.
Even then, a person’s reputation tended to follow them, especially out west. If Selena were to be branded as a fallen woman, her future would be ruined. Almost invariably, women who found themselves in that position ended
up working as whores. For some reason, the thought of Selena becoming a whore made Liam’s gut clench into a painful knot.
“Damn,” he growled.
How had he gotten himself into this mess? If only he had kept his mouth shut and hadn’t flirted with her, Liam would have been able to merrily go on his way. He would have never known how desperate she was to get to Oregon, and he wouldn’t have felt compelled to help her. Of course, he wouldn't have had the chance to get to know her better either.
Liam heaved a resigned sigh. There was only one solution that he could think of, and he could barely stomach the idea. It went against every instinct, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t escape the inevitable conclusion that the only way to get Selena to Oregon while protecting her reputation would be to marry her.
He grimaced at the thought. He wasn’t keen to tie himself to a girl he barely knew. But the marriage didn't have to be permanent. What was to stop them from marrying so they could travel together? As long as they didn’t consummate the vows, they could eventually get the marriage annulled.
If they were married and he showed a normal amount of interest in his fetching bride, no one would think anything of it. While an annulment wasn’t exactly great for a lady’s reputation, it was immensely better than having people think she had been his mistress.
He grudgingly admitted to himself that marrying Selena would only increase the temptation to bed her. As it was, he was having trouble keeping his hands off her. Liam couldn’t dismiss the fear that, in a moment of weakness, he might make love to Selena and then he would be stuck with her for life. He didn’t know anything about her, and he certainly wasn’t ready to commit to a lifetime of her irritating company.
So far, she had shown herself to be willful, stubborn, rebellious and argumentative. Those certainly were not the qualities he wanted in a wife. He would have to make it clear to her that the vows were temporary. Theirs would be a marriage in name only, nothing more.
With his resolution to resist her firmly in mind, Liam made his way to their cabin once again. He didn’t think to knock, but simply entered the small space and closed the door behind him. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of a very shapely thigh before Selena yanked her chemise down and turned her back to him. She was dressed in only a chemise and pantalets, and judging by the transparency of the fabric, they were well worn.
Trailing Home: Liam's Bride (The McKenzie Series #3) Page 4
