Western Widows

Seth's eyes narrowed. "Compromising position? Of course he should have married you. What did he do to you?"

I laughed, although without any mirth. "What did he do to me? Nothing. I kissed him."

Seth rolled back on his heels as if I punched him, eyebrows disappearing beneath his hat. "You married him, all because of a kiss?"

I felt my cheeks heat remembering. "Just as you said, of course. I'm surprised you didn't hear about the fiasco my wild behavior brought about." I swallowed down tears that had lodged in my throat. I'd cried enough tears over the doomed marriage, the husband who longed for another, his untimely death. "I ruined one man's life. You should be careful, for I could easily ruin yours as well."

A wagon went by, the wheels loud as it passed, distracting Seth for a moment and I stepped back from his touch. I took a steadying breath in an attempt to even out my varying emotions.

Seth studied me, from the hem of my dress to my simple hat upon my head. "You're avoiding me to protect me."

"Yes." I couldn't deny it. He was too smart, too intuitive for me to do otherwise.

He shook his head in disbelief. "You can't hurt me."

It was my turn to arch a brow. "Oh really? I hurt Aaron. Julia Lanesport in the process."

"How on God's green earth did you hurt Aaron? He kissed you, too, no doubt. Any man who kisses you wouldn't just stand there."

I shook my head and held up my hands in front of me. "You don't understand."

"Why, Rachel? What are you protecting me from?" Exasperation filled his voice.

"Me! I'm protecting you from my whorish ways." I covered my mouth with my hand and darted a glance left and right to make sure no one overheard.

Seth stepped in close, forcing me to look up at him. His blue eyes took on a deep blue cast. "Whorish ways? Who said that about you?" His voice had a definitive bite to it.

"No one. I say it about myself. I wanted to kiss Aaron. I wanted to know what it felt like and I grabbed him and kissed him. That's how those old biddies found us. It wasn't Aaron's fault at all."

A couple passed on the boardwalk and Seth tipped his hat to them, but barely afforded them a glance.

Once they moved on, he spoke. "You're protecting my virtue?" He grinned, his face shifting from anger to happiness from one second to the next. He leaned in close and murmured, "Rachel, should I be worried about your intentions toward me?"

I turned my face away knowing my cheeks were bright red. "If you're with me, I could somehow compromise you. Then you'd be forced into a marriage you did not want."

He was quiet for a moment and I felt his gaze on me, studying me intently. The sounds from the main road filled the silence between us. Horses hooves, people talking, the faint strains of piano from the saloon.

"Just answer one more question."

I looked at him expectantly.

"All this time you've crossed the street to avoid me, ducked into the mercantile, greeted me then fled, you've done it all because you worried for me? For my honor?"

"Yes," I replied, my voice a soft whisper.

He rolled his shoulders back, nodded his head. It appeared as if he'd come to some sort of internal resolution. "Thank you. I understand now."

I thought that would be it, that he would let me continue on my way to pick out the needed thread for my dress. That he would leave me alone now, keeping himself well free of me and my wanton ways. My control weakened with each day I saw him, but now, if he heeded my warning and gave up his attentions, that control would be easier to maintain. I'd ache, oh, I'd ache with the longing for him. Instead of tipping his hat and offering me a good day, he grabbed me and pulled me into his chest, lifting me off the ground so my feet dangled.

"Seth, what are you—"

He walked out of the quiet spot from where we'd been conversing and onto the boardwalk. He turned and pressed me into the side of a building, lowered his head and kissed me. Not a peck on the cheek. Not even a chaste brushing of lips. He molded his mouth to mine and touched his tongue to the seam of my lips. I gasped in surprise at his action and he took the opportunity to plunge his tongue deep to tangle with mine. His hand was at my nape holding me in place. He tasted of cinnamon and something primitive and exotic that woke up every carnal part of my body. My nipples tightened, I was wet between my thighs and my inner walls clenched.

I vaguely heard whistles from men that passed, but I felt nothing but Seth, pressed against him the full length of my body. His mouth worked mine for a duration of time I could not tell. But when he lifted his head and our lips parted, I looked up at him in confusion with a very foggy gaze.

"There," he said triumphantly as the world returned. Words of disdain and shock from passerby permeated my confusion and surprise. "I've compromised you and good. Now you have to marry me."

CHAPTER TWO