Surviving Seduction (17 page)

She was about thirty feet from the door when she heard Amy’s voice. There was light coming from the window and Loraine crossed it, but Amy’s voice sounded closer. Selena spotted her shadowed outline on the front steps that ran up to the door. Cal stood before her. It looked as though she had intercepted him.

“You don’t want her,” the girl’s voice said playful y.

“I don’t?” Cal chuckled, incredulous.

“Trust me. She’s not what you’re after. If she wanted you, she’d make you miserable. Count yourself lucky,” Amy laughed, her voice like a bel .

“Wel , thanks for clearing that up,” Cal said, sounding suspicious.

“You’re welcome. It’s not like you don’t have other choices, Cal,” she told him, in a way that was both coy and bold. “Why don’t you pick someone better suited to you?”

“Okay. Sure. Fine,” Cal answered, throwing up his hands. “How about you?” he chal enged.

Selena covered her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh. He was saying this to prove that these things weren’t as easy as Amy made them sound.

Feeling guilty for eavesdropping, Selena changed her course for Jack’s cabin.

“That’s the most sensible thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Amy answered, and it sounded like she was smiling.

Selena heard nothing more as she walked away.

When she reached Jack’s cabin, she had to force herself to drop the grin that she wore. It was mostly gone when he opened the door.

“Wel ,” he drawled, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms with a roguish smile. “Never thought I’d see something this pretty on my doorstep.”

“It’s not your doorstep,” Selena reminded him before tossing the pants at his face.

He caught them with a chuckle. “Wel , come in while I find that thing.” Taking in her dubious expression, he raised a placating hand. “I promise I’l be good. I swear neither to harass nor molest Selena as long as she is under this roof, unless she wants me to, my hand to God. No promises for after, though,” he added with a wink.

“Fine,” Selena sighed, stepping just inside the doorway.

He closed it behind her and handed her a bottle of the stuff they’d been drinking earlier. There was a quarter of it left. He favored her with a seductive, dimpled smile as he stepped around her to the living area.

“Where’s that man of yours?” he asked, looking through the things he’d brought with him from the wagon.

“Riding,” Selena answered shortly, taking a drink from the bottle. “Showing Josie around, I guess.”

“He’s pretty hel -bent on this notion of his,” he mused, glancing her way.

“Do you think it’l work?” Selena asked, drinking again.

Jack paused, studying her with a frown. “You want to know what
I
think?”

“Yes, I would like to know what you think,” she sighed impatiently.

After considering for a moment, he answered, “I think this deal wil wind up getting … complicated.”

“Why?” Selena asked, watching him careful y.

His playful smile returned. “Wil you make me a shirt if I tel you?” he asked, nodding at the pants she’d brought him.

“Sure, if you want one with ruffles,” she answered flatly, taking another drink. “Oh. I sort of finished this,” she said, setting it down on a side table.

Jack smiled before squatting down to rifle through another bag. “Josie’s not one to take risks without a payoff.

She’l take advantage of her leverage, even if the plan is already in the best interests of her people and herself. It al depends on what she thinks would benefit her, and she’s an impressive haggler too.”

Selena wondered how negotiations would work when voting was the standard method for decision making here. Was Dan simply planning on going over their heads again? She found herself feeling fuzzy and it was hard to think. When her eyes returned to Jack she saw that he’d been watching her for some time.

“Found it,” he said quietly, holding the ornate magnifying glass in his hand.

Selena groaned. “The magnifying glass? That’s what Shane wanted.”

He turned the glass over in his hands and admired it as he sauntered over. “Is there something wrong?” he asked, stopping only when he was a little too close.

“You know I wanted the compass,” she said, looking up at him as she leaned back against the wal . Her light-headedness was fast becoming dizziness. Somehow, she realized that she wasn’t real y as worried about anything as she had been earlier.

Jack tilted his head down to study her face. “You want me to go rifling through al those bags again? Seems like you want an excuse to stay here longer,” he said quietly.

“Hey,” she said, drawing the word out longer than necessary. “You said you’d be good.”

He fixed her with his most flirtatious smile yet, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t hit on you. Now
that’s
a promise I know I couldn’t keep!”

Selena sighed, tilting her head back against the wal . “I’m feeling al messed up. I thought I was getting over this thing.”

He frowned, studying her curiously again.

“And I’m not dumb,” she went on. “
You
didn’t give me the compass on purpose because
you
are the one who wants me to stay here longer, because
you
think that once I have what I want …
you’ll
see less of me which is just what
you
would do if
you
got what
you
wanted.” She took another long breath and blinked hard.

“So you’re only completely ignorant about certain things. At least you’re not naïve. That would just make things unfair,” he said as though he didn’t expect her to understand.

“I’m not feeling good. I’m not feeling bad, though, but I should go,” she said, putting a hand to her forehead.

“Is that what you
want
?” he asked quietly, reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you
want
to go?”

Selena thought about it, watching him unsteadily. His sad song bubbled up in her mind and she wondered how much more there was to him than met the eye. Part of her was curious, but her thoughts vaulted back to Dan and a wash of worries fol owed.

“Yes, I want to go,” she closed her eyes and enunciated careful y.

As she turned to leave, his hand caught her waist. “I don’t buy it,” he told her. “You’re stil doing what you think you should do and not what you want to do.”

“I
want
to go,” she insisted.

“I’l let you go if you tel me the truth. You can tel me that you want to stay, and I’l let you go,” he said seriously.

“Be honest.”

“Jack, you promised you wouldn’t do this,” she said, glaring. “Remember?”

“Say it,” he insisted, releasing his hold.

“No!” she barked.

A movement in the shadows near the door made Selena jump back and gasp. She heard it click shut as she saw that Dan had joined them. Her heart hammered in her chest as she took in his threatening posture and the dark look he’d fixed upon Jack. Dan was imposing enough when he wasn’t trying to be. Now that he was, Selena was shocked to feel her own intimidation creep back up.

“Don’t hurt him!” she shouted, jumping in front of Jack reflexively.

Dan’s eyes fel to her and his tense expression went slack. He blinked slowly with eyes that looked suddenly tired, then opened the door and walked out.

Selena stared at the space where he’d just been and tried to focus her thoughts. She took a couple of steady breaths, then rushed out after him.

If the moon weren’t nearly ful , she might not have spotted him as he walked away beneath the darkness of the oak trees. Catching up with him was more difficult than normal, but she blamed the il ness.

“Dan!” she cal ed.

He stopped immediately, turning to face her as she stumbled to his side.

“I’m not interested in him,” she said, aware that her speech was sounding a little slurred. “I just went to drop off the pants I made and I wasn’t even going to go there. I was going to leave them with Amy and Loraine but there was this whole thing going on and it would have been impolite.”

She shook her head, knowing that this wouldn’t make sense. “I’m sorry, I stil feel sick. And I only told you not to hurt him because I know you can. He’s not afraid of you because he underestimates you,” she finished, stumbling over her words.

Dan frowned deeply at her in the darkness.

“And you underestimate
him
,” he murmured quietly, as if to himself. He placed his hands on her shoulders, scrutinizing her face.

She sighed, thankful for his calm. He leaned down and for a moment it seemed like he would kiss her, but instead, he took in a short breath through his nose.

Selena stared in confusion as he straightened and held her at arm’s length to watch her again.

“You’ve been drinking,” he realized aloud.

“Drinking?” she asked blankly.

Dan turned slowly to Jack’s cabin as though something else was pul ing him there. He was already several steps away before her mind caught up with his intention. Another spike of fear stabbed her chest as she ran after him.

She only managed to catch up when he opened the door and walked inside.

“Welcome back,” Jack said with a bemused smirk, watching Dan careful y.

Selena’s frightened eyes darted between them as they stood staring each other down. Dan was very stil , but she couldn’t help but try to hold him, in case he made a violent move. She knew this was completely futile if he made up his mind, but she hoped he would be mental y aware that she didn’t want him to engage Jack in a fight.

In truth, she didn’t understand why he had come charging back here, or what he’d said about her drinking.

Jack did not look afraid, and that made everything vastly scarier. Selena studied him. It seemed like he’d expected Dan to come back, and he stood sideways, not facing Dan directly. His right arm was hidden. Selena wondered if he held a weapon and her heart rate skyrocketed.

“So. Alcohol, Jack?” Dan asked rhetorical y in a low, menacing tone.

“Just about everyone had some, Dan,” he answered unapologetical y.

“Alcohol?” Selena echoed. “Oh my God,” she whispered, wanting to throw herself out a window for her stupidity. She knew what alcohol was. She’d been told about it, but mostly for its medicinal purposes. She’d never actual y had any before. Her parents never drank it, and she’d been only eighteen when she became an orphan.

She knew how rare it had become, which explained everyone’s surprise when Jack produced it. But no one had ever said it was alcohol.

Dan’s accusatory stare must have grown stronger with her reaction because now Jack defended himself.

“I assume everyone knows what wine is.”

A tense moment passed before Dan answered.

“I don’t think so.”

Jack shrugged, wearing a daring half-smile as he answered, “Either way, al ’s fair in love and war.”

“I disagree,” Dan said thickly. After a few moments, he went on, “I’m not afraid of a bit of competition, Jack. You can play al these little games of yours, but the second I smel the stink of you cheating … I wil end it.”

“Are you threatening me?” Jack asked, looking calm and amused more than afraid. “Because I’m gonna warn you not to assume I’m an easy take-down. Right now, for example,” he turned and the knife in his right hand was visible. “You couldn’t take a single step before this was in you at a place of my choosing.”

Selena was starting to grow dizzy again, but this time, she didn’t think it was the alcohol. Her il ness had left her weak and this stress was draining her fast.

“There’s nowhere you could land it that would stop me,”

Dan informed him as though he were speaking to a child.

Jack’s eyes narrowed at his tone.

It was fast becoming clear to Selena that their tension was escalating far more than the situation warranted.

“Please,” she whispered to both of them, closing her eyes and holding onto Dan for support now more than anything else. “It’s not worth al this.”

With a final glare in Jack’s direction Dan wrapped an arm around her and turned. They headed for the door and Dan ushered her through it ahead of him. “I think it’s about time you moved on,” he paused to say before stepping out and closing the door.

Selena’s thoughts spun as he guided her down the stairs. “He might not have done it on purpose,” she muttered. “He wasn’t lying. Everyone did drink. This was my fault. I didn’t realize what it was.”

Dan didn’t answer.

“I’m so
tired
,” she said, leaning heavily against him as they walked.

as they walked.

To her surprise, he reached down and lifted her, cradling her against him. It felt as though she were dreaming. No one had picked her up this way since she was a young child. She couldn’t bring herself to protest, and wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders, hoping that he would forgive her crushing ignorance.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, resting her head against his chest.

“You shouldn’t be,” he answered simply. “The wine wasn’t your fault.”

He walked along the path with ease. It seemed that carrying her took no work at al .

“I’m sorry I was there,” she clarified. “I didn’t plan to be there. I was restless and I was going to see Loraine and Amy.”

“Why were you restless?”

“I don’t know,” she said softly. This was not true, but she couldn’t tel him the real reason. She didn’t want him to know that she felt threatened by Josie and the time they spent together.

He didn’t set her down until they were inside and he could lay her gently on the bed. She’d never seen him treat anything this careful y, and yet it seemed natural. It almost made her want to cry. She suddenly felt like she didn’t deserve him and wondered fervently if she was taking equal y good care of him. This was not the time for such thoughts, she reminded herself. She wouldn’t know if it were the alcohol talking, or the exhaustion from the night and the weakness from her il ness.

She grateful y got herself under the covers while Dan lit the lanterns. When he was through, he stepped out of the room and returned a few minutes later with their jug of water, handing it to her.

“Drink as much as you can,” he instructed.