Emma shivered upon the dirt floor of her father's shack. Fear, pain and cold had her body wracking as she wrapped her arms tight around herself and watched the angry giant pace.

"All these years, I've provided fer ya, cared fer ya, made sure ya had food and clothes and how do ya repay me?" he snarled. He walked close and stooped low, the scent of liquor thick on his breath. "By turnin' into a whore! A jezebel! Runnin' away from me when I needed ya most and spreadin' yer legs for a valley man!"

Emma knew that nothing she said would ease his temper. There was no way to reason with Silas Hawke when he was in a drunken rage.

Her father let out another angry growl and swung his hand, catching her sharply on the jaw.

Emma let out a whimpering cry as her body was tossed sideways. She curled into herself upon the floor and sobbed into the dirt. There was not a place on her body that did not hurt. Her father's angry fists and feet had shown her no mercy.

Her gaze kept returning to the exact spot on the shack floor where her mother had died. Was that to be her fate as well?

As her father moved away and resumed his agitated pacing, Emma closed her eyes and tried to block out the pain. An image of Liam flashed through her mind.

No doubt the man was frantic with worry but Emma doubted he would find her in time. She was almost certain her father had killed Chase and so there would be no one to tell Liam who had taken her.

Feeling despair threatening to overtake her, Emma forced her mind to other things. She thought of the life she'd been building. Anita, Lauren and Sally. She thought about the reading lessons she would never finish. The pies she would never bake.

She thought of Liam and wondered what could have happened for them. What would their future have been had her father not found her?

A faint smile curved her lips as Emma thought about the dance. The way Liam had seemed so proud and happy to be holding her close and spinning her around. She thought of the way he had looked at her—she'd felt truly special and cherished all evening.

And she hadn't been nearly as afraid as she thought she would be. Chase and Kyle had been good men, just as Liam had said, and everyone at the dance had been cordial and polite. No one had judged her or hated her simply because she was an outsider—no one, that is, except Bethany.

Anger began to fill her.

Emma did not want to die.

She wanted to go back to the life she'd been building. Back to her friends and back to Liam.

What right did her drunk of a father have to take that away from her?

Slowly, achingly, Emma pushed herself to her feet, using the rough wall behind her to take pressure from her trembling legs. She edged toward the door. Emma had no doubt that she was not strong enough to make it off the mountain.... She would die out there in her attempt to escape.

But at least she would die fighting for her freedom. She would not simply allow this man—or any man—to take her life without a fight.

Emma was barely able to take more than three wobbly steps before her father turned and snarled. "Where do ya think yer goin'?"

"Back....." Emma voice trembled and she took a deep breath, certain her heart was going to pound clear out of her chest. "I'm...g...goin' back to town."

Silas strode toward her, his hot breath stale and foul against her face. "Why? So ya can be his whore some more? Yer pa needs ya here!"

Emma was shivering so violently her teeth clicked together—but she couldn't back down. She was dead if she stayed here... sadly, she was dead if she left as well.

"I... I'm goin' back to Liam, pa..."

"Liam!"

Silas raised his fist and Emma prepared herself for the pain of his strike, but, it never came.

Before his angry hand could fall, a voice called out from the darkness outside. "Silas Hawke! Come on out and have a talk with me!"

Liam!

Hope blossomed inside Emma, but, at the same time, so did fear. What if her father hurt him? Emma wasn't worth that! She wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to Liam because of her!

Her father's face paled beneath his dark beard. He backed away from her and his eyes darted around the one room shack, obviously hoping for an escape.

"Open the door, Silas," Liam called, his voice even and calm. "Don't make me open it myself."

Emma could tell her father was afraid. It was something she had never seen her father be before. She hadn't known he was capable of fear. It made her feel somehow less powerless to know that Silas Hawke was not as indestructible as she'd thought he was.

"Why are ya here, Liam?" Silas bellowed from behind the closed door.

"You know why I'm here, Silas," Liam replied, his voice still as calm as a mountain pond. "Give Emma back to me."

Emma's heart stuttered inside her chest. He was here for her... she'd known it but to hear him say it—it caused a thrill to shoot through her like she'd never known. But she couldn't stand to see him hurt—not for her.

"Pa... pa, just let me go..." Emma whispered.

Silas snarled, spat on the dirt floor and grabbed her by the arm. Emma let out a painful yelp and felt herself being dragged to the door.

Her pa threw it open and there was Liam, sitting atop his horse about ten feet away. Emma also saw Kyle and a man who she believed was a preacher in town. Also there, though appearing quite weak and bloody in the saddle was an older man—probably fifties—who featured Liam a great deal. The man who had given her to her father—and then attempted to get her away from the man when he realized Silas was violent and crazy. She knew the man was Liam's father.

"Let her go, Silas," Liam growled, his voice lowering to little more than a harsh whisper as he stiffened upon Honey.

"She belongs to me, Liam. Ya have no rights up here on this mountain! Ya ride in here and try to take my daughter and I'll kill ya—then I'll kill her fer causing me so much damn trouble."

Liam slid from the saddle and stood with his hand hovering above his gun. "Are ya gonna shoot me, boy?" Silas sneered, though Emma could hear the tremor in his voice and she could see the way his lip shook beneath his mustache.

Emma couldn't allow that... if Liam shot Silas then the entire mountain would swoop down and end his life. Folks settled their own disputes around here. There was no law to turn to and no one would be able to save Liam. He would die.

"Don't Liam..." Emma whispered, meeting his gaze through the tangled brown hair hanging over her face, stuck to the blood. "He's not worth killin'."

"Is that right, ya little whore?" Silas demanded.

Emma wasn't sure where her bravery came from. She lifted her head to look her father in the eye despite the pain in her aching body. "Yeah, that's right. Ya murdered my mama... I won't let ya or any of the men on this mountain, murder Liam too."

Then she spat.

On her father's face.

What was she thinking?

Instantly the man roared with rage.

Cries of alarm rang out from the men on horseback.

Emma was faintly aware of Liam calling her name.

And then her father's fist slammed into her face and the world went black.

The moment Silas' fist sent Emma's head snapping back and the woman fell to the cold, hard ground, Liam's rage overwhelmed him.

He leapt forward, surprising Silas and slamming into the man with so much force, both of them were propelled backward into the cabin and crashed to the floor.

Liam swung his fists like hammers, intent on driving Silas Hawke six feet under the ground.

Only when hands closed on his arm and yanked him off of Silas did Liam fully realize what he'd been doing. He'd been killing the man.

He couldn't murder Silas Hawke—no matter how badly that son of a bitch deserved to die. Liam had never been the violent type or the kind that used violence to solve disputes.

If he murdered Silas now, the men on this mountain would find him and they would hang him. There was no doubt about that. His only option was to do something he wasn't sure that Emma wouldn't hate him for tomorrow.

He had to marry her... even if he couldn't fully wake her up. He had to become her husband so the mountain men would see her as his property instead of Silas'. Only then could he take her off this mountain. Patrick and Ben would go door to door tonight and announce the marriage, serving as witness so that Silas would not be able to lie tomorrow.

Everyone on the mountain would take the word of a fellow mountain man and a holy man. Silas would not be believed if he attempted to call the wedding a sham.

But that's exactly what it was.. it wasn't what Liam had wanted for Emma at all.

He couldn't worry about that now.

Glancing around at the dirty, ramshackle cabin with broken furniture and cracked walls, Liam cursed under his breath. This is what Emma had grown up in. He vowed that she would always have everything she ever needed and all she wanted as well.

Liam saw his father leaning over Emma's still form and he quickly rushed over to her. Dropping to his knees, Liam lifted her into his lap and pushed her tangled hair from her blood and dirt streaked face. The bruises, welts and swelling were enough to turn his stomach.

What kind of man did that to his daughter?

"Emma?" Liam whispered.

She moaned but did not awaken.

"Dear God....." Ben gasped as he too stepped into the cabin and glanced around. "That poor poor woman..."

"Liam, I think you damn near killed old Silas," Kyle informed him.

Liam merely grunted.

"Liam...." Patrick began as he wrung his hat in his hands. "I'm sorry... I didn't know. I swear that to you."

"I'll deal with you later," Liam promised, causing his father to pale beneath his bruises and back up slightly.

"I had my doubts about doing this for you," Ben admitted with a tip of his head. "I don't normally condone performing weddings without exact permission or willfulness from both parties, however....." Ben's eyes went to Silas and then back to Emma. "I've heard about you and this woman. I've heard the whispers that you're in love and she loves you just as much. And to save her from that man...." Ben let out a sigh and nodded, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "Let's begin the ceremony."

Kyle clicked his tongue. "The big man's starting to come around. Let's tie him up real good before we start. We don't want him objecting with violence."

hu#!