All the Sweet Tomorrows (22 page)

He seemed not to notice her resistance. Instead he moaned with open desire, pushing her nightgown up to her neck and fumbling with her breasts again. “Beautiful, beautiful,” he murmured, “such beautiful little tits!” He lowered his head and sucked each one in turn, then rolled the tight nipples between his thumb and his forefinger, pinching them gently again and again
until she thought she would scream. His hand roamed over her belly, fondling it, murmuring of the babes she would give him, and then, despite her protests, he was pushing himself into her. He thrust deeply, moving rhythmically as he muttered, “Fuck! You were made to be fucked, Skye! Ah, God! You were born to be fucked!”

She stared at him with horror. She could have been a dead body for all he cared! It made no difference to him whether she was conscious or unconscious as long as he could feel, and touch, and fuck her. What was worse for her was the terrible realization that she felt nothing herself. She, the most passionate and sensuous of women, felt nothing except an awful invasion of her mind and her soul and her body.

The man atop her shuddered with his own release, and then fell over to one side. Within minutes he was snoring and she lay next to him, numb with shock and with shame. Even with Dom, God assoil his black soul, it had never been so dreadful. Dom, for all of his crudity, had loved her in his own fashion, had been proud of her, and jealous of her. This man wanted nothing but to break her, to possess her very soul, to make her a mindless creature fit for nothing more than bearing babies until she finally died of too many children in too few years. She had seen it happen to other women. It might even have happened to her with Dom had she not had her sister, Eibhlin, to help her.

He had not taken the time to unbind her arms before he had fallen asleep, and so she lay uncomfortable and chilled as the night slowly progressed. Her bottom and the tender backs of her thighs ached with the beating that he had given her. She could feel the welts that had been raised on her skin burning like hot embers. Never before had she been subjected to such treatment. Her mind rebelled at the words that he had thrown at her this night. So he believed his warped pastor. He believed that women were nothing but mindless softness. Her bridegroom was in for a shock when he learned that
this
woman was rock-hard!

She wondered if he would eventually untie her, or if he intended to keep her bound to the bed for the entire month. Was Fabron de Beaumont truly mad, or was he simply a crazed fanatic? Had he been like this with his other wives? No. It was not possible. She did not think that Edmond had lied to her, and he had always spoken of his uncle with genuine affection. No. The duc was obviously not a strong man, and had somehow come under the influence of this terrible creature, Pastor Lichault. Perhaps he felt guilt for the deaths of his two previous wives. Or
perhaps he had secretly wanted to be a priest, as Edmond had suggested, and he could not because of his family obligations. The Huguenot had seen the duc’s weaknesses and wielded his evil influence upon Fabron when he was bereft of all his family. But it could not,
must
not continue! Skye knew she could not stand many more beatings like the one the duc had administered to her this night.

God’s foot, but he was a cold man! Her genuine, piteous cries should have wrung his heart, but instead they had only driven him to apply his switch harder. She shuddered, remembering how terribly it had hurt. Then afterward, when she lay barely conscious, to have taken her body, uncaring of how she felt, of whether he gave her pleasure as well as took it! Suddenly a picture of women in war came to her mind, and she realized for all that the duc was her husband, she had been raped. She shuddered again. The man was a monster!

“Are you cold?” His voice, calm now, asked her.

“You have not untied me, monseigneur.”

“Forgive me, madame.” He was solicitous, and reaching up, he loosened her bonds. Then he drew her into his arms and began stroking her breasts through her nightgown. “I find that I cannot get enough of you.” He pushed up her nightgown again and mounted her. Skye stiffened and he noticed. “You do not like it when I fuck you?” he asked.

“No,” she answered, honestly not caring if she hurt him. Men were vain about such things.

“Good,” he said. “It is not meant that a woman gain pleasure from a man’s labor. It is the man’s pleasure that is paramount.” He thrust into her again and again until he once more spilled his seed. Then the duc slept again.

Thank God, thought Skye, that I have taken Eibhlin’s potion. I’ll not give this beast children! I am not certain that this family
should
be perpetuated. They produce dwarfs, idiots, and madmen. Better the French come and take the duchy.

I will write to the Queen, she vowed. No, I will write to Lord Burghley! I will explain to him how it is. This marriage is not valid in the eyes of my own Church, and I suspect it is also invalid in the eyes of the Church of England. I must lull the duc into thinking that I am becoming more biddable so that I can speak with Robbie. Bess Tudor has asked many hard things of me, but even she will be shocked to learn of my plight, I know. She will not make me stay here. She cannot!

Skye turned onto her side, away from her new husband who
was snoring once again, and gingerly felt the weals he had raised on her skin. She would be revenged for each welt that he had marked on her flesh. That she promised herself. She had no intention of allowing him to further abuse her, even if she had to slit his throat. She could do it, too. Right now he lay helpless next to her, convinced of his own superiority, unbelieving that a woman could wield the power of life and death over any man. She smiled softly in the darkness. Fabron de Beaumont would very shortly learn, much to his distress, what it was like to have Skye O’Malley for an enemy. She didn’t think that he was going to like it. Smiling, Skye fell asleep.

Part 2
BEAUMONT
DE JASPRE

F
ABRON
de Beaumont awoke with a start and stared into the blue-green eyes of his bride of less than a day. She was nude and sat comfortably upon his chest, pressing a small but lethal fruit knife against the hollow of his throat. His heart began to pump frantically.

“Do not move, monseigneur,” Skye said pleasantly, “else my hand slip; and do not make the mistake of thinking I will not kill you, for if you move I will.”

He swallowed hard, and she saw with a certain grim satisfaction the pulse leaping erratically in his throat. “
Why?
” he said.

“You asked the Queen of England for a wife, monseigneur, and she graciously supplied you with one. I must assume that you knew the women of my region are proud and independent ladies. Even the women of France are enlightened in this day and age.

“I am not a creature to be beaten into obedience. I am a woman, monseigneur. I am a woman of intelligence, and wealth, and family. If you should ever raise your hand to me again without just cause I will kill you without hesitation. I will be a good wife to you, and if God wills it I will bear you children. I will not, however, convert to your Huguenot faith. I am not the best of Catholics, but I prefer my faith over others, and I have always granted that others have a right to their own beliefs.”

She looked piercingly at him. “Do you understand me, monseigneur?
There will be no more beatings!
”

“And if I refuse to agree, you arrogant bitch, what then?” he demanded, his own dark eyes blazing with outrage and anger.

“I will kill you now where you lie, monseigneur,” she said coldly. “My body is scarred with your marks. I have but to show them to your nephew, and to Père Henri.

“I will claim that as a good daughter of the Church I knew your pastor had no real authority to wed us, and that although I begged and pleaded with you to call back Père Henri to marry us in the only true faith,
you
would not have it.” She smiled sweetly down at him. “Then I will claim that I could not live in sin with you, having always been a respectable married woman—and monseigneur, my reputation
has
always been spotless. But you forced yourself upon me, and when I tried to protect my virtue you beat me mercilessly. Having been subjected to a night of your carnal lust and unnatural desires, I did the only thing a good daughter of the Church could have done when you came at me again, threatening my very soul with your wicked perversions. I killed you.” She looked down on him dispassionately. “Do you really think that the Church, or your good nephew, will hold me responsible for an act committed in a moment of terror?”

Skye had the upper hand now, and she knew it. She had quickly ascertained the duc was no fool. He would therefore not want a scandal. “The choice as to whether you live or die is up to you, monseigneur. Make it now!” she said, her gaze icy.

“How do you know that you can trust me, madame?” he asked her, unable to keep his eyes from her beautiful breasts. “I could agree, and then when you are off my chest, your knife put away, renege on our agreement. An agreement made under such duress can scarcely be legal.”

“You are, so your nephew claims, an honorable man. I must assume that honor extends to a mere woman as well as to your fellow man.”

He nodded, rather surprised by her logic. “Very well, madame, I agree. I will not beat you again, but understand that any children you give me will be brought up in my faith, and not yours. I will not allow you to taint my sons with the great harlot Rome.”

“I agree,” she said without hesitation, knowing that if she decided to bear his children she would be able to teach them love despite Pastor Lichault. She swung lightly off him and lay the
fruit knife upon the candlestand. Then, sitting back against the pillows, she drew the finely embroidered linen sheets up to cover her bosom. The simple show of modesty rather intrigued him.

He sat up and looked at her. “You are a formidable woman, madame.”

“My name is Skye,” she said quietly. “You have said it but once since we first met yesterday. Can you not call me by my name in the privacy of our chambers at least?”

“You have only used my name once also, Skye.”

“It is an unusual name, Fabron,” she answered him.

“It is peculiar to this region,” he said. “It is a family name. From the beginning of time there have always been Fabrons in the de Beaumont family.”

There was a long silence between them, and then she asked, “Why do you dislike women so much?”

He thought a moment, then said, “I didn’t realize that I did until just now.” He sighed. “I suppose I resent the fact that I could not become a priest in my youth, as I wanted to. I was my father’s eldest legitimate son. Edmond’s father was my only full brother, although my father populated the region with his bastards. One of those bastards was even the son of a young noblewoman. He had few scruples, my father. He was a very carnal man. He was also a very strong-willed one. Eldest sons inherited, and only death was an accepted excuse for shirking one’s responsibilities.

“My first wife suffered many years trying to give me a child. Poor Marie. With each miscarriage or stillbirth she became more determined to give me a live son. Such a sweet woman. She died trying, and I believed that God was punishing me for not having followed my conscience. When my second wife, Blanche, finally gave birth to that drooling idiot who is called my son, and then died also, I was certain that God was punishing me.

“When I met Pastor Lichault and confided in him he assured me that the loss of these two women had satisfied God’s anger. He says that you are a healthy, vigorous woman who will easily give me children if I can but curb your wicked spirit, which is an affront to God.”

“I cannot agree with the pastor,” Skye said quietly. “A woman is best handled with love and kindness. Like a flower, she will grow and flourish with a man’s love. Unkindness will only make her vengeful and bitter. Besides, if you expect the kind of son who can rule this duchy, it is a strong woman who must bear him for you.”