Trailing Home: Liam's Bride (The McKenzie Series #3)

by Lynn Coppersmith

  Marcia and Gerald joined them, along with Natasha and Susan. Selena noticed that Natasha did everything possible to attract the attention of the handsomely dressed soldiers. She cast many coquettish glances in their direction, and she received many leering smiles in return. Had her parents not been with her, Selena was left to wonder how far Natasha might have gone to win the soldiers’ interest.

  Late in the afternoon, the men were anxious to hurry their wives along. Liam and Gerald needed to go in search of feed for the animals, and the ladies wanted to look through some bolts of fabric they had found in a small shop.

  “Go on,” Selena told Liam. “We’ll be fine.”

  Liam looked around the shop, seeing no leering soldiers lurking about, but his uncertainty was palpable. “Are you sure? I don’t like leaving you ladies here on your own.”

  Marcia scoffed and pushed at Gerald’s arm. “Go on with both of you, stop being silly. We want to take our time.”

  “We’ll wait right here until you get back,” Selena promised.

  The men left and Selena, Marcia and the girls looked through the fabrics. Natasha begged to buy some.

  “Please Mama! This blue would be perfect on me.” Natasha held up a bolt of light blue muslin. Selena hated to admit it, but the cloth did look divine against Natasha’s fair complexion.

  “Natasha, I said no,” Marcia whispered. “These prices are outrageous. I just wanted to look for fun. Besides, you already have two other dresses in that same color.”

  “But not in muslin,” Natasha whined. “This would be perfect for the summer.”

  Selena wandered to the other side of the store to look at some other fabrics and give Marcia privacy to deal with her spoiled daughter. Selena was stroking a bolt of soft calico when she heard a dreadfully familiar voice from behind her.

  “Well, well, well. If it ain’t little miss prissy pants herself.”

  Selena whirled to face her stepfather, and she felt the blood draining out of her face. It seemed as if the months that had passed since she last saw him just faded away, and she was filled with all the terror she had experienced that day beside the creek. Her lungs locked, feeling like someone had punched her in the gut with a hard fist, and she couldn’t draw a breath.

  “Jeb! What are you doing here?” Her voice came out as a trembling whisper.

  Jeb’s leering gaze made her skin crawl. The light in his eyes told her that he clearly remembered what she looked like without her clothes. “Probably the same as you, just passing through.” He glanced around, not seeing anyone nearby. “Are you all alone, Selena?”

  Selena shot a glance toward Marcia, but the other woman was busy arguing with Natasha. Selena tried to quell her panic. “No, I’m not.” She jerked her head to indicate the other women. “Those are my friends. Just go away and leave me alone.”

  Jeb took a step toward her, cornering her against another table of fabric. He was close enough for Selena to smell the sour whiskey on his breath.

  “Don’t go getting all uppity now, missy. I just want to talk with you.”

  His eyes said something entirely different as they settled on her breasts. Selena couldn’t suppress a shudder of revulsion.

  “Leave me alone or I’ll scream,” Selena warned, although her voice was so soft and shaky that he could barely hear her.

  Jeb laughed, and the sound sent shivers of dread down her spine. “I don’t think you’ve got enough strength to scream, missy. But don’t worry. I’ll be on my way. Just remember what I said.” Jeb leaned forward to whisper in her ear. His foul breath fanned the side of her face making her nauseous. “You and I still have some unfinished business to take care of, missy. I’ll be seeing you around.”

  He raked her with one more lecherous stare and then left the shop. Selena collapsed back against the table, her knees nearly buckling beneath her. She struggled to draw a deep enough breath, and her heart was thudding painfully in her chest. Marcia turned to ask her something, and when she saw the look on Selena’s face, she came running.

  “Selena, what’s the matter? Are you alright?” When Selena didn’t answer, Marcia tried again. “Selena! What is it?”

  Selena finally looked at Marcia, and her eyes swam with tears. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Marcia rubbed her trembling hand.

  “Whatever happened? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost and your hands are as cold as death.”

  Just then Liam and Gerald came back, and when Liam glanced over at them, he came at a run. He hugged Selena against him, noticing her colorless cheeks.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” When he got no response, he looked at Marcia. “What happened?”

  Marcia could only shrug helplessly. “I don’t know. One minute we were looking at fabrics and the next minute, she was like this.”

  Selena clutched at Liam’s shirt front and buried her face against the base of his neck. “Take me back to camp, please,” she whispered, her teeth chattering in her head.

  Liam was quick to comply, lending her his support as they made their way through the crowded fort. The Boyds followed, but when they got back to their camp, Liam waved away their assistance, sensing that Selena needed to be alone. He led her to their tent, and she collapsed on their pallet. She was clearly in shock, not responding to his anxious questions.

  “Selena,” he said, giving her shoulders a shake. “Tell me what happened.”

  Selena started to cry, and she gripped his shirt as if she were holding on for life. “He’s here,” she whispered miserably.

  “Who’s here?”

  “Jeb. He was there in the store. He spoke to me and . . . looked at me.”

  She shuddered violently and began to sob against Liam’s chest. All her buried fears and painful memories rose up to haunt her again.

  “It’s alright, sweetheart,” he soothed, stroking her hair. “He can’t hurt you anymore. I’ll kill him if he comes near you again.” Liam was tormented by guilt for leaving her alone in the store.

  Selena finally calmed, but she remained snuggled against Liam’s chest, her fingers clutching convulsively against his shirt front. His steady heartbeat was comforting, and she stroked his chest. When she looked up at him, her chin was still trembling.

  “Can we leave here? I know you wanted to stay for a couple of days, but can we please just go? I don’t want to stay here.”

  “Yes, sweetheart. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.” Liam kissed her gently and was gratified to see a small smile on her face. “I love you.”

  His words comforted her like nothing else could have, and Selena’s smile grew stronger. “I love you too.”

  Liam held her that night, listening to her soft breathing in the darkness. He hadn’t made love to her, afraid that it might scare her again, but he felt closer to her than ever before. He wanted to protect her from everything and everyone that might hurt her, but he was only a man, after all. His inability to foresee the future gnawed at him, but he was going to do everything within his power to protect her. She was his life. She was his entire world.

  Liam awoke during the night with a start. Selena was in the throes of a nightmare, and she was whimpering and pushing against him. He rose on one elbow and gently shook her to wake her up.

  “It’s alright, Selena. It’s just a dream.”

  “No! Get off me. Get your filthy hands off me,” she moaned.

  “Selena, wake up.”

  Liam shook her harder, but Selena was still caught up in the dream. She struggled against him.

  "No! I won't let you hurt her! Mama, no!"

  "Selena, wake up!"

  She came awake with a gasp. She continued to fight Liam for a moment before she realized it was him. Then, she threw her arms around him with a cry of relief.

  “Oh, Liam! Hold me.”

  She clung to him, and her sobs wracked her whole body. Liam held Selena and stroked her hair, kissing her brow and murmuring words of love and reassurance until she calmed. He could feel her racing
heart gradually slow, and her breathing became more even.

  Just when he was starting to relax, she surprised him with a hungry kiss. Her lips were passionate and needy, coaxing him to deepen the kiss.

  “Make love to me,” she whispered, her brow against his.

  “Selena, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “Shh,” she said, placing a finger over his lips to stifle his words. “I need to feel you inside me. I can’t explain it, but I need you. Please, Liam.”

  Her plea went straight to Liam’s heart. He pulled her against him and kissed her, letting his lips tell her how much he loved her. For once, she was a greedy lover and she let him lavish love on her. He gave and she took, and he gloried in his ability to comfort her. He pressed her down on the pallet, stroking her breasts and hips, as his kisses wandered down over the swelling curves of her bosom.

  Liam let his adoration wash over her as he paid homage to her breasts. He coaxed tiny gasps of pleasure from her as she arched her back, giving him better access to the tender flesh. He wandered further, along the undersides of her breasts and over the sleek planes of her waist and belly. His tongue delved into her naval, licking and suckling as she writhed beneath him.

  Selena opened her thighs, and she stifled a moan as he explored her softness. His clever fingers found the tiny bud of her arousal, and they lingered there, stroking until she was desperate and needy. When Liam slipped his shoulders between her thighs, Selena frowned and would have sat up, but he gently pressed her back with an outstretched arm across her midriff.

  “Relax, my love. Let me love you.”

  His voice was a heady caress, and Selena surrendered to his direction. Still, she gasped with shock when he kissed her womanly flesh. She would have snapped her thighs shut, but his broad shoulders held them wedged apart.

  “Liam, what are you doing?” she moaned.

  “Let me love you,” he whispered again, in those same soothing tones.

  Liam tasted her, using his tongue to trace her sensitive folds. His teeth nipped at her, sending hot shards of need into the pit of her belly, then his lips followed to suckle and soothe. Step by step, he pushed her up the mountain of pleasure, nudging her to the brink but always bringing her back. Selena lost all sense of connection to the world, and his lips, teeth and tongue became her sole focus. All she could think about was what he was doing to her body, and her hips tilted toward him of their own volition, begging for more. She grasped his head, clutching at his skull and biting her lip to keep from screaming with sheer delight.

  “Liam, please,” she gasped, not really sure what she was asking for.

  Liam knew, and he pushed her over the edge with one sharp suckle. The sweet sound of her fulfillment washed over him, and he rose on his elbows to watch her beautiful face as spasms of pleasure wracked her body.

  He waited until her breath returned to normal, then he stole it again with one hard thrust, not stopping until he was buried fully inside her. Selena’s eyes came open and locked with his. She answered his thrusts eagerly, wrapping her legs around him and clutching his buttocks in her hands.

  Selena watched Liam’s face, etched with devotion as he made love to her. She knew that every kiss, every caress, every stroke of his body into hers was his way of erasing her painful memories. She traced the ridges of his abdomen and chest, threading her fingers through the sprinkling of coarse hairs and tweaking his flat nipples. Her fingers skimmed over his rippling arms and shoulders, and she drank in the sight of his masculine beauty.

  Their faces were inches apart and their breaths mingled as they climbed the last stretch together. Liam snared her gaze and compelled her to stay with him, as they reached the summit and plunged over the top.

  Selena felt Liam’s seed spilling deep into her womb, and her eyes filled with joyful tears. She was his and he was hers, and nothing else mattered in that moment. She clung to him, reluctant to have him part from her as she kissed his sweaty brow, feeling his ragged breath against her neck.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, stroking his hair back from his forehead.

  Liam rose up on his elbows, and his hazel eyes were glowing as he gave her a lopsided grin. “It was most definitely my pleasure, madam.” He gave her a tender kiss. “I love you.”

  “I know,” she said simply.

  She slept peacefully for the rest of the night, snuggled in the arms of her husband.

  They got an early start the next morning. Liam warned Selena that in most ways, the easiest part of their journey was behind them. Ahead of them lay the formidable Rocky Mountains.

  Every mile they traveled helped Selena leave her fears and pain further behind. Thoughts of Jeb faded once more into her murky past. She and her mother had never talked about Oregon in front of her stepfather, and Selena hoped that Jeb didn’t know where she was headed.

  She remembered him talking about wanting to go to California some day. Although the height of the gold rush was over, there were still plenty of men like Jeb who thought they could make a quick buck by panning for gold. With any luck at all, Jeb was headed for California and she would never have to set eyes on him again. She felt helpless fury that he had murdered her mother and would never be punished, but there was nothing she could do to bring about justice.

  Bouncing along next to her husband, Selena felt her fears and anger gradually recede. It was hard to stay depressed and angry when she had Liam beside her. As the day aged, she felt a renewed sense of hope and happiness, and she once again began to focus on their future together.

  One night, a violent thunderstorm descended on them. Rain came down so fast and hard that it threatened to wash them away, and lightning flashed all around them. Selena and Liam huddled in the tent . . . cold, wet and nervous. To protect against the chill, they donned their clothes, and it proved to be lucky that they had. Tiny chunks of hail started falling and Liam jumped up and grabbed Selena’s hand.

  “Come on,” he yelled. “We have to get under the wagon.”

  He towed her behind him as they raced toward the wagon, groping in the darkness. They managed to get underneath the wagon just as the skies seemed to open up above them. Hail as large as grapefruits pounded down all around them, and the noise was deafening. Selena clung to Liam, his arms wrapped protectively around her as the chunks of ice careened off the wagon. The hail seemed to last forever, but it finally gave way to rain once more. The fire had long since been doused, and they huddled together in the pitch blackness. The sky was lit by occasional flashes of lightning, but otherwise, they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces. The downpour was so strong that water washed around them like a river, flowing up to their calves.

  “Come on,” Liam said again. “Let’s climb in the wagon. At least we’ll be above this water.”

  He clutched her hand and they groped their way to the back of the wagon. Liam lifted her up, and Selena crawled inside, being as careful as possible not to damage anything. She heard Liam grunting as he climbed in to join her. They fumbled to find dry blankets and huddled together to share their warmth. It was a long miserable night. Trickles of water came in through tiny holes in the canvass bonnet, and there was no way to stay dry.

  The heavy rain finally ended just before dawn, but a steady drizzle continued to fall. When the sky had lightened enough to see, Liam climbed out of the wagon and went to check on the Boyds. Gerald had a nasty gash on his head from a piece of hail, but otherwise, they were unhurt. Although both families had sustained damage to their possessions, they were thankful that none of them had been seriously injured.

  The animals had fared the worst. The mule had run off, and the oxen and cow were battered, bruised and skittish. Two of their chickens had been crushed by the pounding hail. The canvass bonnet on the wagon was only minimally damaged, but their tent had collapsed and had several large tears from the hail. All their bedding was thoroughly soaked, and some of it had been washed away. In all, their campsite was a mess.

  “It will take
us at least a day or two to get everything repaired,” Liam said, surveying the damage. “Let’s eat breakfast and then I’ll see if I can help Gerald find that blasted mule.”

  Breakfast was a miserable affair. The drizzle continued to fall, and everyone was cold and wet. Getting a fire to burn was out of the question, even though they had a few dry buffalo chips in the wagon. The ground was too wet and the drizzle would put the flame out before it got started properly. Selena and Liam huddled in the wagon and ate stale bread and raw bacon.

  “I’ll work on fixing the bonnet and the tent,” Selena said, as she nibbled on her bread. “I’ll try to spread out the bedding as much as I can, but I don’t think there’s any way it’s going to dry with all this humidity.”

  Liam nodded. “We’ll be alright.” He squinted up at the sky, but there was not a single break in the thick grey clouds. “Doesn’t look like it’s going to clear up any time soon, so we might as well do the best we can. Come here,” he said, pulling Selena down onto his lap.

  He gave her a lengthy kiss that managed to warm her even though she was soaked. When he raised his head, his eyes were shining with love.

  “I don’t think I said good morning to you,” he whispered huskily.

  Selena leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled up at him. “Good morning.” Even though their circumstances were miserable, being in Liam’s arms made her wonderfully happy. “Come on. Let’s get to work.”

  Liam and Gerald went in search of the mule. The heavy rains had washed away any tracks they might have followed, so they decided to do a wide sweep around the camp and see if they could spot the animal. In the meantime, Selena tended to the oxen, cow and remaining chickens. She rubbed ointment into their scratches and nicks, talking to the animals to soothe their nerves. She fed them and milked the cow, although the poor thing was so upset from the storm that she had very little milk.

  Selena gathered up the sopping blankets that were strewn over the ground. One blanket had washed away, but she found it a short distance from the camp. She wrung as much water as possible out of the muddy blankets, but there was no place to wash them and not much room to spread them out in the wagon. She did the best she could, hoping that they wouldn’t mildew.