Deep aching pain greeted Emma when she returned to consciousness. Each breath was agonizing and her body felt raw, her face swollen.

Slowly, Emma opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She recognized where she was immediately. Liam's cabin.

But how? The last thing she remembered was her father's angry fist colliding with her face and Liam's angry yell. Why was she here? Had Liam killed her father? Was Liam alright?

Turning her head to the right, Emma nearly cried out in surprise when she saw a chair pulled close to the bed and Liam sprawled out upon it, his chin on his chest, sleeping soundly.

He was still wearing the trousers and shirt he'd worn to the dance. They were dirty and tattered in places. Her eyes dropped to his hands and she winced when she saw his bloody and battered knuckles.

Emma shifted under the fur she was covered in and froze. Where were her clothes? For the second time she was waking up unclothed in Liam's cabin with no idea how she had gotten to be there.

"Liam?" she whispered, finding that it hurt to even move her lips to speak. She could only imagine what she looked like thanks to her father's fists.

Instantly, Liam's brown eyes opened and he closed the distance between them, his fingertips tracing the line of her jaw tenderly. "It's good to see your eyes, Emma."

Emma flushed and nibbled at her lip. "H...how did I get here? Where are my clothes?"

It was Liam's turn to redden as he pulled away, rubbed his hands on his thighs and pushed himself to his feet. "I uh.. I went up on the mountain and got you," he replied. "And the doctor took your clothes off so he could tend to your ribs and bruises. Aunt Anita and the girls came out this morning to bring you some things."

Quickly, Liam turned away and strode to the kitchen. Emma took a moment to look beneath the blanket and realized she was wrapped tight around the middle with white cloth. Her ribs were hurting terribly. She wondered if her father had broken them.

Laying the blanket back down, Emma watched Liam fill a bowl with stew that smelled delicious. He came back to the bed and returned to the chair. "Can you sit up at all?" he asked.

Emma nodded. Liam sat the bowl on the small nightstand and helped her up so she was leaning against the headboard. She took steadying, painful breaths. "It hurts to move—and breathe."

She saw Liam's eyes flash and his jaw jumped. His nostrils flared as he took the bowl in his hands. "Yeah. The doc said you've got some cracked ribs and a few bruised ones."

Emma chewed her lip and smiled shyly as Liam brought the spoon to her mouth. She quickly swallowed the bite and her stomach roared to life.

"How long have I been here?" she asked.

"It's afternoon and I brought you here last night. The doc assured me you'd wake up after a good rest. I was getting worried though." Liam nudged the refilled spoon closer to her mouth. "Eat. You need food."

Emma rolled her eyes at his bossiness but did as he said because she was hungry. "Liam? How did ya get me here?"

"On horseback," he muttered, shifting uncomfortably as his eyes left hers.

Uneasiness filled her. "Is he.... Did ya kill him?" She hoped not. Not because she cared about the life of the man who had murdered her mother, but because Liam would have a bounty on his head from those mountain men if he had.

Liam shook his head and fed her another spoonful. "No. He's not dead. Kyle stopped me before I could beat him lifeless."

Her gaze dropped to his knuckles. That explained those.

"What..." She bit her lip and dropped her gaze. "What did ya do then? He'll come for ya with men for stealing me, Liam.... He'll...."

"You don't belong to him, Emma," Liam grumbled.

"I do," she insisted, wincing at the pain in her chest. "According to mountain laws I do belong to him."

Liam refilled the spoon and fed her another bite before responding. "Not anymore."

Emma frowned. What was he talking about?

"Liam.....What did ya do?"

Liam stared into the bowl in his hands. He cleared his throat once...twice... cracked his neck and shrugged one shoulder. "I did what I had to do, Emma. I couldn't let him kill you and I couldn't kill him or steal you without putting a bounty on both our heads...."

"Liam?"

Emma was surprised to realize his hands was shaking as he held up a spoonful of stew. "I took Ben with me...the new preacher in town...."

Emma knew of him but why would Liam had taken Ben?

Liam let out a shaking breath. "I'm your husband, Emma.... And I'm gonna do all I can to be a good one."

The breath left Emma's lungs in a rush. Husband? She was a wife? She hadn't agreed to that! She hadn't agreed to be a slave to a man... a cook and a breeding factory!

She didn't want her mother's life!

"How could you!?" she yelled, surprising even herself with the volume of her voice and regretting it immediately as pain radiated through her.

The spoon in Liam's hand stopped on its journey to her mouth. His dark eyes seemed confused. "I had to," he reminded her. "It was the only way."

"No.... No, I don't... I...How could ya

do that to me?"

Liam dropped the spoon back into the bowl as his face paled and he stood up. "Hell, lady. I didn't... I didn't think...."

"Ya didn't think what?" Emma demanded.

Liam shook his head. "Hell, I didn't think you'd be so damn bothered by the thought of being my wife."

Emma pulled the blanket tighter around her. "And what of my marital duties? Did ya already see to that while I was sleepin'?"

Emma regretted the words instantly. Why had she said such a thing?!

Hurt and anger contorted Liam's features. But instead of storming toward her, he headed for the door. "If you could think something like that about me then perhaps I did make a mistake."

Without giving Emma time to respond, Liam tossed the bowl on the table and stormed from the cabin, slamming the door behind him.

Emma simply sat there in shock for several long moments and then the tears began to fall.

Tears of confusion, of hurt, of guilt, of pain.....

More had happened than she could process. She'd been truly enjoying herself at the dance and then Liam's father had shown up with her father and everything had changed. She'd been taken, beaten and certain that she would die.

Until Liam had arrived.

He had saved her life—but he had also trapped her. She was now a wife. She was once again a possession. Liam had taken ownership of her without ever asking if she wished him to.

As Emma sat there, swiping at her tears, she thought back on the dance and on the times she'd spent with Liam. He had saved her life when he'd found her in his barn. He'd fed her, taken her to town, put her in good hands with Anita and the girls—and he had shown true care and concern for her since.

He made her smile and laugh. He was warm and thoughtful. Strong but kind and peaceful.

She loved him.

But marriage.... Marriage had always been a nightmare in her mind. She'd seen her mother's marriage and had met some of the men that her father had been thinking of marrying her off to. Emma had decided that she never wanted a marriage of her own.

But Liam wasn't those men. Liam wasn't her father.

Marriage to Liam might not be the nightmare she'd grown up believing marriage to be.

Marriage to Liam could be good...

Why had she been such a monster to him?! How could she accuse him of such a thing? Emma could only pray she hadn't hurt him so badly that he decided he no longer wished to be with her.

She had to speak to him... she needed to go find him. But first she needed clothes.

Liam had mentioned Anita and the girls bringing her clothes. It was then that Emma noticed a small wardrobe against the wall beside the fireplace. That hadn't been there the last time Emma had been in the cabin.

Very gingerly, Emma got to her feet, focusing on breathing through the pain in her body. Honestly, she had had worse before—but that never made it seem easier.

Emma wrapped the blanket tight around her, went to the wardrobe and pulled open the door. An envelope with her name written on it was tacked to the inside of the door. The wardrobe was also full of more dresses, skirts and blouses than Emma had ever seen altogether except in a shop.

Was it all hers?

She took down the envelope and pulled it open, recognizing Liam's handwriting scrawled across the paper inside. Knowing there was no one to read the letter for her, Emma called hard on all she'd learned in the last few weeks.

It took a long while and a lot of stumbling over words and sounding things out, but Emma finally read Liam's letter and, when she finished, her heart ached to feel him holding he so she could apologize for her own foolish fear.

Emma had to talk to him. She had to apologize. She loved Liam. And she knew he loved her as well. Things might not have gone the way she'd have liked them to but when in life did things ever go just so?

She had a good husband—one who would be good to her. It wasn't fair that she had been so cruel to him.

Laying the letter down, Emma went back to the clothes and picked out a blue blouse and brown skirt. She slid into clean underclothes, got dressed and slowly headed out the door, hoping the pain wouldn't overwhelm her.

Emma walked to the barn but instead of finding Liam, she found herself face to face with his father—Patrick.

"Miss Emma..." He seemed surprised to see her and Emma was uncomfortable. She wrapped her arms carefully around herself and glanced outside, wondering if she was safe with him.

"Please, don't be afraid of me. I reckon I probably need to talk with you."

Emma nodded slowly and stared down at her feet. "Okay."

Patrick leaned against the rake in his hands and sighed. "First, I owe you an apology. I swear to you I didn't know Silas was that kind of man. We hadn't seen each other since we were boys."

Emma merely shrugged. She didn't know what else to say or do.

Patrick rapped the end of the rake on the floor several times and cleared his throat. "I thought I was protecting my son..."

Emma looked at him with a frown. "Protectin' him from what?"

"A woman who would break his heart," Patrick replied as if that much would be obvious.

Emma shook her head. "I wouldn't do that to Liam."

Patrick rubbed at his neck in a motion that reminded Emma of his son. He blew out a long breath. "I should explain... I reckon I owe you that much."

Emma winced as she adjusted her weight and Patrick was quick to take her arm. "Are you okay?"

She stared at his hand on her arm and quickly pulled away. "I've had worse," she whispered.

Patrick grunted. "I wasn't a good husband to Liam's mother.. and I wasn't a good father. I tended to do what I wanted and I rode the trails instead of being with them when they needed me. But I loved my wife and I was never unfaithful to her. I never touched another woman. I honored my vows."

Emma looked at him, taking in the pain etched deep in the lines of his face. "And your wife?"

"Wasn't as honorable," Patrick mumbled. "She died after giving birth to Liam's brother. The babe died first and moments later, my wife took her last breath as well. But not before letting me know the dead babe swaddled in my arms wasn't truly mine."

Immediately pity for Patrick roared to life inside Emma's heart. She tried to remind herself that Patrick was the man who had nearly caused her death the night before, but the pain in the old man's eyes made that easy to forget.

"I'm sorry that happened to ya," Emma whispered. "But I won't be that wife to yer son."

Patrick appeared unconvinced but he smiled and tipped his head. "I hope you're right."

Emma attempted to turn around, intent on leaving the barn and finding Liam, but the twisting motion caused pain to radiate throughout her chest and she cried out.

Emma would have fallen had Patrick not caught her gently in his arms and supported her weight. "You shouldn't be up moving around," he scolded.

"What's going on?" Liam's voice came from the doorway.

Patrick turned so they were facing him. Emma felt herself flush with shame when she looked at his face, still so angry and filled with hurt. She truly had been a fool.

"She shouldn't be out here, Liam," Patrick told his son. "She's not nearly well enough to be walking around."

"I didn't realize she'd get out of bed," Liam assured him. He took Emma's arm and she felt her heart beating faster as her body was pressed against his. She felt safe, warm and protected pulled to his side this way.

"I'm sorry," she quietly spoke up. "I wanted to talk with ya."

Liam nodded but his gaze remained on Patrick. "I should beat the life out of you for what you did to Emma," he stated bluntly.

Emma opened her mouth to speak but Liam spoke again before she could utter a word. "But I'm not going to. Partly because you really seem sorry for what you did and partly because Silas already knocked you around pretty good. I'm leaving to go on a job with Nathan Black. He wants my help running some cattle up to fill an army contract. I'll be gone a good solid month. While I'm gone, I'll want you to keep an eye on this place and Emma. I'll also have Anita checking in and Kyle and Chase will keep an eye on things."

"I won't let you down, Liam," Patrick promised, seeming surprised by his son's words.

Emma was even more surprised. Liam was leaving? After last night? After they had just become husband and wife? He was going to leave her and be gone for a month with no warning?

"I know you won't," Liam replied to his father, the threat clear to be heard in his voice.

Emma remained silent as he led her to the house. She didn't say a word as he closed the door behind them and helped her back to the bed. "You need to take it easy while I'm gone, Emma. Let yourself heal," he warned, not meeting her gaze.

Emma cleared her throat. "I got yer letter."

Liam simply nodded as he began to toss things into a leather satchel. "I wrote it before I knew how you felt."

Chewing her lip, Emma looked down at her fidgeting hands. "Do ya have to leave?"

"Yes." His coldness froze Emma clear to the bone. She'd never heard that tone in his voice before—not when speaking to her. "I promised a friend I'd help with a job and I keep my word."

"But.. I just thought.. with everything that happened...."

Liam tossed the satchel over his shoulder and grabbed his rifle from beside the door. "I have to go, Emma. You can either stay here or go back into town. Just don't travel alone."

Emma's heart broke as Liam reached for the door handle. She was hurt and angry and confused. Why was Liam acting this way? He needed to stay so they could talk and get to know one another better.. they were husband and wife now!

"Is this how it's going to be, Liam? Are ya going to be like him? Will ya come and go as ya wish and leave me alone our whole lives together?"

Liam's back was to her but Emma saw his shoulders stiffen. Once again she was left regretting her words. Never had Emma been one to speak so bluntly or be cruel.

Liam's voice was little more than a low growl when he responded. "I don't know. Are you going to be a whore that dies giving birth to another man's child?"

With that, Liam walked out of the cabin and slammed the door so forcefully behind him, Emma was sure the walls rattled.

She curled into herself upon the bed and sobbed, despite the pain that sobbing caused in her chest. What had happened to them? They had gone from sharing kisses, laughs and gentle touches to sharing cold glances, angry spats and hurtful words. Most of which were her fault.

Liam had gone from loving her to hating her and Emma had no idea what she would do to earn his affection back.

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