Bonds of Matrimony (19 page)

           
“You
were so angry,” he whispered.
 

           
“
You
were angry,” she corrected.
 

           
“I
had no business speaking to you that way.”
 
He looked past her out the darkened window and
hesitated.
 
“Someone threatened you
before.”
 
It wasn’t a question.

           
She
stared coldly at the back of the chair in front of her.
 
“Someone
tried
,” she answered.
 
A lady in English society could be ruined by that kind of physical
attack.
 
Never mind the emotional
and psychological destruction, she is also considered soiled, and no
respectable gentleman would dare offer to marry her.
 
Chase surprised herself by admitting to Webb what Stockton
had tried to do to her.
 
Granted,
he had not succeeded, but most men would probably not look favorably upon her
if they knew what had nearly happened.
 
But she was counting on the fact that Webb was neither a part of English
society, nor like most men.

           
“I’d
have you cut my throat before I ever hurt you like that, Chase,” he swore
gently.
 
“You know that, don’t
you?”

           
She
met his cocoa colored eyes and wondered what it would feel like to swim in
them.
 
Warm and thick and
safe.
 
“Webb,
I’d
cut your throat before I ever
let
you hurt me like that,” she answered with a smile.
 

           
He
reached out and gently took her hands in his own.
 
“I just wanted you to know that you should never be afraid
of me.”

           
“I’m
not afraid of you, Webb.
 
You just
made me bloody furious.
 
That’s
all,” she answered with an easy shrug, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.
 
It suddenly seemed uncomfortably
serious.
 

           
He
grinned at her and released her hands.
 
“Are you still ‘bloody furious?’”

           
“I’ve
forgotten that it ever happened,” she told him.
 

           
“It
will never happen again,” he promised.

           
 
She only nodded.
 
They sat side-by-side for a few
moments, both staring straight ahead.
 
“Webb,” she whispered, barely breaking the silence.

           
“Yes?”

           
“Don’t
try to control me.”

           
He
turned suddenly in his seat, clearly unsure of how he should respond.
 
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he finally
answered.

She grinned at the seat in
front of her before rising and moving down the aisle.
 
She headed for the sleeping car ahead of them.
 
On one hand, she was suddenly feeling
flushed and felt like lying down might do her good.
 
On the other hand, she was secretly hoping the Webb would
follow her.

***

           
She
had him reeling.
 
She was full of
surprises.
 
She was supposed to be
an English lady, eldest daughter of the Earl of Colchester.
 
She was supposed to be proper and
prissy and stuffy and mindless.
 
Instead, she was clever and witty and passionate…and strong.
 
And irresistible.
 

           
He
smiled to himself, remembering the first time he’d collided with her because he
had been so enthralled with her sister.
 
Reese was beautiful, that was undeniable.
 
But Chase was exquisite.
 
Webb had never wanted a woman as badly as he wanted her
right at that moment.
 
He closed his
eyes and tried to picture her at the poker table with a cigar and a glass of
ale.
 
He had first known her as a
young man, and yet she now seemed purely feminine to him.
 

           
Webb
stuck his head into the aisle and watched her departing hips swing beneath that
long, slim, blue skirt and wished he had paid more attention to her hips and
legs when he had seen her in trousers.
 
He wondered where she was going, and thought for a moment about
following her.
 
He glanced back
toward the door that would open into the dining car.
 
He couldn’t be sure that her brother and grandmother wouldn’t
leave that car to join her at any moment.
 

           
He
let himself re-live the kiss in the hotel room.
 
The feel of her soft body, the taste of her full lips, the
silkiness of her willing tongue.
 
She had pressed her body against his that night.
 
Oh yes, Miss Chastity Fairfax was a
woman of passion.
 
And Webb had no
business taking advantage of that.
 
She was not his to enjoy.
 
And enjoy her he would, without a doubt.
 
But she deserved better than that.
 
She deserved to marry a gentleman.
 
She was raised to marry a gentleman.
 
And Webb prided himself on his
strength.
 
She may be damned
appealing, but he had the strength to resist her.
 
She may think that she wants him, but she’s naïve.
 
Some day, she will meet a man more
suited to her.
 
A gentleman with
education and money.
 
And he will
take her to bed and enjoy her passion.
 
It was not Webb’s to enjoy.

           
And
with that decision made, he scowled out the window at the tall prairie grass
that waved tauntingly at him.

CHAPTER 9

           
Chastity
didn’t catch any more secret looks from Colton Webb.
 
In fact, he seemed to be making a very deliberate attempt to
avoid looking at her at all.
 
Now
what was wrong with him?
 
Was he
disgusted with her admission of Stockton’s attack?
 
While she had walked away from him and partly hoped he would
follow her, she found herself relieved that he hadn’t when Marcus, Reese, her grandmother,
and Elisabeth joined her a few minutes later.
 
If he had followed her, they certainly would have been
caught.
 
Marcus probably would have
killed him on the spot.
 
At the
very least, he would have thrown him from the train.
 

           
That
evening, Lady Colchester seemed to have something on her mind.
 
She asked Chastity to join her for a
cup of tea in the dining car.
 
When
Reese volunteered to join them, their grandmother patted her hand and told her
she needed a moment alone with Chase.
 
Reese looked relieved.
 

           
She’d
practically been connected to their grandmother since they had left England,
and Chase thought she was eager to get some time to herself.
 
That was a good sign.
 
She was feeling safer and more
comfortable in this new country of theirs.

           
“I’m
concerned about you, Chastity,” her grandmother started frankly as she stirred
some sugar into her tea.

           
“There’s
no reason to be concerned, Grandmother,” she assured her, not bothering to
pretend that she didn’t know where she was taking this conversation.

           
“I’ve
seen the two of you.
 
And if Marcus
had any idea…” she allowed the chilling thought to hang.

           
“I
know.
 
But nothing has happened.”

           
She
frowned at her granddaughter.
 
“Chastity, you’ve never treated me like a fool before,” she scolded.

           
“It’s
a harmless attraction, Grandmother.
 
That’s all.”
 

           
Her
grandmother stared hard at her, waiting.

           
“So
perhaps we’ve shared a kiss or two, but it is nothing.”

           
She
still said nothing, watching with her big blue eyes.
 
She didn’t blink and didn’t take her eyes off of Chastity as
she sipped her tea.
 

           
“Okay,
so maybe it’s a little more than nothing.
 
But…Marcus is not my father.
 
And this is not England.
 
He
cannot tell me who I will spend time with.
 
He cannot dictate my life.”

           
“He
will try,” she answered finally.

           
“Let
him try,” she challenged.

           
“You
must be careful, Chastity.
 
I know
that you believe that America means freedom.
 
But people are people, no matter which country you are
in.”
 
She paused, trying to choose
her words carefully.
 
“If he was
proposing marriage, that would be a different story, but—”

           
“Marriage?!”
she gasped with revulsion.
 
The
thought of marrying Colton Webb was certainly more appealing than marrying Jett
Stockton; but that wasn’t saying much.
 
Marriage, in general, still held no appeal for her.
 
“Marriage is a contract of property, no
matter who the bridegroom is, Grandmother.
 
And marriage is something that holds no interest for me.”

           
Again,
Lady Colchester sipped her tea in silence, studying her face.
 
Chase sipped her own tea and stared out
at the high grass and open fields.
 
America looked endless as it flew by the window.

           
“Chastity,
I’m going to recommend that you think very hard about something.
 
You are heading into extremely
dangerous waters with Mr. Webb.
 
Extremely,” she emphasized.
 
“Innocent kisses are never as innocent as they seem.
 
And they cannot lead to anything good,
particularly if you are as opposed to marriage as you seem to be.
 
Your brother is a businessman in
Slaughter.
 
Your reputation will
reflect on him.
 
And America or
England, your reputation will be destroyed if you continue this affair with Mr.
Webb.
 
Surely, he is aware of
this.
 
But he is a man; and he is
your brother’s competitor.
 
He only
stands to gain by continuing this relationship.
 
Think of that the next time he coerces you into sharing some
innocent kisses.”

           
“I
never took you for a prude, Grandmother,” she whispered angrily.
 

           
Lady
Colchester tipped her head at her granddaughter and then smiled.
 
“Chastity, I’ve known passion in my
life.
 
The kind of passion that
weakens your knees and turns your insides to pudding.
 
The kind that brings a warm flush to your cheeks first,
followed by the rest of your body, waking every square inch of your body
bit-by-bit until you feel your very soul is on fire.
 
It is delicious.
 
It is tantalizing.
 
I can
sympathize with your passion.
 
But
it is not always a blessing.
 
Your
grandfather was a controlling man, and there were days when I cursed him and
prayed he would suffer a fatal fall from his horse.
 
My life with him was not easy, nor was it ideal.
 
But I was happy more often than
not.
 
I was headed down this same
road you’re on now, before my own father arranged for me to be married to your
grandfather.
 
My parents knew
nothing of it.
 
But I consider
myself fortunate for their timing.
 
I was this close,” she held her thumb and index finger an inch apart,
“to giving my body to another.
 
And
it would have destroyed my life, as well as my family’s.
 
America is different than England, I am
certain of that.
 
But don’t be so
naïve to think that society doesn’t have rules here.
 
And don’t you dare think that you are above those rules and
the consequences for breaking them.
 
You must be strong and resist the feelings you have for Mr. Webb.
 
Focus your energies on more productive
things, like helping around the ranch.”