She smiled at him. “As much as any woman trying to choose the right color of dress.”
He took a step toward her and Leah backed away. “I don’t want to stay married to you,” she said. “I don’t want your big farm and I especially don’t want your children. You may have decided you like me but I do not like you. I will not build my future with a man who may run out on me at any moment. I don’t want a husband who bases everything on a fun wallow in the mud. What if you and some other woman fall in a river? No! I cannot live with someone as fickle as you. Now I’m going to announce to everyone our intention to obtain a divorce.” She turned on her heel, but Wes clamped a hand down on her shoulder.
“You will not make any such announcement,” he said under his breath. “I’ve made my decision and I didn’t do it lightly. I thought about this for a long time.”
“And I don’t make my decision lightly. I’ve known about our divorce always and I’ve come to accept it. We’ll do the procedure in your town of Sweetbriar and after it’s over I’ll leave, maybe even leave Kentucky altogether.”
His hand tightened on her shoulder. “You’d rather go through that than stay married to me?” he asked, astonished.
“I don’t really have much choice. Maybe I can get away from my reputation as a loose woman but I’d never be able to live with a man who was so…so dishonest and changeable. I’d spend my whole life wondering from day to day if the kids and I would have a man to provide for us.”
Wesley looked shocked. “No one,” he said, “no one, man or woman, has ever hinted that I might not be trustworthy. I’ve never taken my responsibilities lightly.”
“Tell that to Kim,” she said, turning away again.
“Damn you!” he half yelled, grabbing both her shoulders and making her face him. “If you were a man I’d call you out for what you’ve said to me. But for you…you will remain married to me. You understand that? And furthermore, tomorrow we’re going on a hunting trip, just the two of us, and we’re going to act married. We’re going to travel together, eat together—and sleep together.”
She tried to twist away from him. “Get your hands off of me!”
“I’m going to put my hands all over that pretty little body of yours and you can damn well get used to it. You’re my wife and you’re going to start acting like a wife.”
“I hate you,” she said, seething.
“I don’t bear you any great love at the moment either.”
“I will not submit to you. I will never be your wife.”
He dropped his hands from her shoulders and his eyes were steely hard. “I don’t believe you have any choice in the matter. As my wife you’re my property. Tomorrow morning at dawn you’ll leave with me even if I have to tie you to the saddle. Is that clear, you stubborn little cat?”
“I’ll do what you say because you have the legal right and the muscle to force me, but I’ll fight you every step of the way. What you get from me you’ll have to take and I guarantee you’ll find no pleasure in the taking. Is that clear, you stubborn oaf?”
He tipped his head back and gave her a nasty little smile. “You’ll give to me, Leah,” he said seductively. “By the time we leave the forest you’ll be begging for me to touch you.”
She returned his smile. “You think more highly of yourself than anyone else does. I don’t beg.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Let’s put it this way: We’ll stay in the cold, wet, scary forest until you do slip into my arms—and my bed—with a smile on your lips and an eager, warm, little body. So if you ever want to see a house or a soft bed again you’ll give in to me.”
She looked up at him in astonishment. “Do you forget how I grew up? Only recently have I even seen the comforts you’ve known all your life. I can hold out much longer than you can.”
Wesley took her chin in his hand, forced her to keep facing him, then slowly he brought his mouth down on hers and kissed her sweetly. His lips were warm and moist and in spite of herself Leah leaned into him. He pulled away abruptly. “Can you hold out against me, Leah? Can you resist me while camped on some lonely mountainside when the cats howl and the bears come close to the fire? Just remember that I’ll always welcome you to my bed.”
She met his eyes with hostility, but his hand on her face felt good. She jerked away.
“Go and get ready for tomorrow’s journey, wife,” he commanded as he turned and left her.
“Of all the most ridiculous…” Leah muttered when she was alone. Virginal Kim wouldn’t give him what he wanted, but he was sure a Simmons would. Maybe he’d begun to realize that Kim was never going to be a great bed partner, and since his upbringing as a gentleman wouldn’t allow him to divorce merely because he wanted to try other women, he had decided to stay with Leah. She was a swamp rat and there was no need to treat her with any respect, no need to consider what she wanted as he would have with a lady like Kim.
“Men!” she said aloud. Wesley thought he could change women as he did clothes. Well, this woman was going to change his mind. He thought she’d seduced him the first time so he’d have to marry her. Even after all she’d told him, he still believed that. But maybe that was better than his knowing the real reason she’d walked into his arms. How could she have ever thought she loved him?
She straightened her shoulders because now she faced the ordeal of confronting the others. Both Justin and Kim were going to be very angry with her.
Slowly, reluctantly, she walked back toward the wagons.
The first sight that greeted her was Justin’s fist plowing into Wesley’s jaw. Quickly John Hammond and Oliver grabbed Wesley’s arms.
“You could have told me from the beginning,” Justin said loudly. “And putting Leah through hell! She doesn’t deserve that. She was your wife, but she had to watch you paw Kimberly for months.”
Pausing just below them on the hillside, Leah smiled to herself. It was good to hear someone defend her.