Blood Lust (2 page)

Damien made no response to the comment. William had changed in the past few years. The man he used to know had been eaten away with anger. Where he had been sentenced to hang, a turn of fortune made him almost inhuman.

The years had hardened him, changed him into a man Damien barely knew. His eyes held none of the warmth of his youth, but had turned into those of a predator, distant and hard. What had happened to him William never spoke of.

Damien wondered if it accounted for the obscurity that stole over his friend’s features whenever he thought he was alone.

Chapter Two

Katherine Stoddard fidgeted on the leather seat of the black carriage, the last of the dozen her family once owned.

“How much longer, Thomas? It seems as though we’ve been traveling forever.”

“We have been traveling for hours and it’s nearly dark outside. Usually you barely notice the time. Now you plague me ceaselessly to travel about. Now that we’re actually on the road, you’ve done nothing but fuss and fidget.”

“I suppose you’re right Thomas. Part of me wants to hurry up and get this over with and another part of me wishes we’d never arrive,” Katherine said, sighing.

“Don’t worry my dear, once you are married, things will fall into place.”

It was just the two of them riding inside the carriage. Her chamber maid, Mary Ann rode on the top of the carriage even though there was a chill in the air. Actually Katherine suspected her maid might have a thing for the coachy.

Sighing, she rested her hand against the side of the carriage. What would it have been like to have fallen in love? Though she valued her independence, marriage meant giving it up. A husband would govern her every move.

“Katherine?”

“Yes, Thomas?”

“It seems to have slipped my mind, where did you say we are going?”

“Sussex Manor,” she replied, reaching over and squeezing his hand. “I’m to marry the duke, remember?”

“The wedding. Yes, yes, of course. I remember now. You’ll be a beautiful bride,” he said, nodding and smiling at her.

Katherine didn’t answer him. Instead she fussed with a lock of her hair, smoothed the front of her green silk gown beneath her lap robe. She wondered what Benjamin Spencer would say when she told him her dowry was all that was left of her family’s fortune. Benjamin Spencer appeared to be a reasonable man. He was wealthy and he truly seemed fond of her. He would understand.

Katherine leaned her head back once more and closed her eyes, hoping to close out her thoughts. She did so until she heard the sound of hoof beats. They grew louder, thundering even faster than the carriage horses’ hooves. All of a sudden the sound of a pistol brought the carriage to a sliding halt.

“What on earth?” Thomas frowned as he regained his seat, and Katherine leaned forward, sticking her head out the window.

“Good evening, my lady,” said a rather tall man astride a big bay horse. A spent pistol smoked in one hand, another cocked and pointed toward the driver. Katherine took in a deep breath at the fearsome sight the rider made in the moonlight cutting through the clouds.

“It’s the highway man!” Mary Ann cried from atop the carriage.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, my lady,” the outlaw said in a quiet voice that carried an edge. Leaning down from his horse, he turned the latch on the door and pulled it open. “Just hand over your valuables and you can be on your way.”

He was a big man, tall, muscular and well built. She glanced at her brother, who looked totally confused, then back to the man on the horse.

“Believe it or not, we are traveling with very little money and very little jewelry. You would have been better off to have robbed someone else.”

He studied her for a moment, then said, “Perhaps. Hand over everything.”

She quickly did as she was asked, her hands shaking as she handed him two pouches. She had told him the truth. There wasn’t much in them. He frowned as he stuffed them into the waistband of his breeches.

“Now your jewels.”

It galled her to give them up. She unfastened the brooch with an inward smile. The diamond pin was paste. The original, her mother’s, had long been sold to pay off debts. She handed it and her brother’s emerald ring over to the bandit.

“That’s all there is. I told you there wasn’t much.”

A corner of his mouth curved up in a smile that really wasn’t one at all. His lips were nicely formed, but there was a hardness about them. His nose was straight, a thin scar ran along the edge of his jaw.

“As you said, there isn’t all that much.” He stared again at the crest and she wondered if he knew whose it was. “Since that is the case, I suppose I shall have to make the best of a bad situation.” The smile left his face. “Now, get out of the carriage, Lady Katherine.”

He knew her name! “What do you want?”

“I want you to do as I say.”

“No, not until I know your intention.”

He surveyed the situation for a moment. A hard look came over his face. “What I intend, my lady, is to ransom you to your bridegroom. You must be worth a fortune. Now get down from the carriage.”

“What is happening?” Thomas asked as she bent and started toward the door. “Where are you going?”

“It’s all right Thomas.” She tried to keep her voice calm. “This gentleman simply wishes a word with me. I’m sure he means no harm. Do not worry yourself.”

“I will not harm you my lady. I give you my word on that,” the stranger replied.

“Your word? You expect me to accept the word of a bandit? You’re telling me a highwayman has honor?”

“This one does.”

Why she believed him she did not know, yet some of her fear receded. He simply wanted money, nothing more. She understood the lengths to which a person might go in order to get it. She stepped down from the carriage, wishing her bodice wasn’t so low. The highway man took in her fashionable attire and she caught the hint of a frown.

He swung his gaze to the driver. “It is time you were on your way. The lady will come to no harm as long as you do as I say.” He brought out his pistol once more, leveling it right at the coachman. “Stop once between here and Sussex Manor and I cannot promise the outcome of her fate.”

Katherine watched as the carriage disappeared around the bend in the road. Slowly she lifted her eyes to her captor’s face.

“Take off that cage you’re wearing!”

“What?”

“Your undergarment, that blasted cage beneath your skirts. Take it off.”

Katherine started to feel sick to her stomach. He did mean to do her personal harm. How could she have been so foolish to think he would not harm her.

“Here?” She stared at the road that disappeared into the forest.

“Just do it.”

“Then turn around, please.”

“What?”

“I said turn around. I’m not going to disrobe in front of you.”

“Good God woman! I’m not asking you to disrobe, just take off that infernal contraption so you can ride in front of me.” When Katherine didn’t move, he turned his horse the other way and stared off toward the woods.

Perhaps he was telling the truth, maybe he wasn’t. Katherine was not willing to find out. Looking at her captor once more, she lifted her skirts and started running. She wasn’t going to just submit, not when she might be able to escape.

Night was well upon them. The strip of moon had disappeared behind a cloud, leaving it dark, so she could barely see the ground in front of her feet. She only got a few paces away from him before she heard him cussing and the sound of his heavy boots hitting the dirt. She couldn’t let him catch her.

Running wildly ahead, pebbles cutting into the bottoms of her slippers, Katherine raced on. She dodged a tree to the right, darted into the darkness off to the left, came into a clearing and ran even faster. Her side was aching, her heart pounding through her ribs.

As fast as she ran, his thundering footsteps closed the distance. In seconds he was on her, knocking her to the ground, both of them rolling in the dirt. Katherine shrieked as he grabbed her.

Flat on her stomach beneath his weight, but unhurt.

“Get off of me!”

“Damn, hold still woman!” His hands encircled her middle, slid between the waistband of her skirt and the tightly fitting bodice.

“Let me go!”

Before she knew it he was off her. She was still fully clothed, and still somewhat dazed as he helped her to her feet, only her bulky whalebone petticoat was gone.

“It’s time we were away,” he said, “for your friends sake as well as your own. It would be better if we aren’t here when they return.”

Staring into the fierce dark eyes, Katherine shivered. He might be a man of his word, but an edge of danger surrounded him like a dark cloud. His threats might be subtle, but she didn’t doubt for a moment his ability to carry them out.

Ignoring the dust that still clung to her clothes and the pins that had fallen from her hair, she walked in front of him back to his horse. Lifting her up on the gelding’s back, he positioned her in front of him, then swung himself up behind her. Against her back, rock hard muscle across his chest, and hardened arms surrounded her to gather the reins.

A shiver of fear slid through her. The man was even bigger than he had first appeared and she was out here alone with him. Trying not to think of what he might yet have in store for her, Katherine gathered a handful of the geldings course black mane and desperately clung to the saddle.

In a matter of minutes they had disappeared into the forest, moving faster than seemed possible, the bandit unerringly finding his way in the black, inky darkness. He was a remarkable horseman, she realized, sitting the animal with an easy grace, moving with all the bearing of a nobleman. For the first time, it occurred to her that his speech was that of a gentleman. Katherine wondered where he might have come from, what might have led him down the path of a criminal.

She wondered what her own fate would be, and if he would remain true to his pledge that he would not harm her.

Whatever happened, one thing was certain, her wedding was only a few days away. She had no idea what the duke would say to a ransom, or if he would be willing to pay. She had to go through with this marriage. The first chance she had, she would have to escape.

The tall gelding stumbled and William tightened his hold on the girl he held in front of him. She was petite, but not frail. Her lips were full, her cheeks the color of a ripe peach. Her lush breasts nearly spilled from the top of her gown, the underside brushing against his arm occasionally where he held on to the reins. In their struggle in the dirt, her hair had come loose from its pins and long locks hung past her shoulders.

The horse eased down a hill, forcing Katherine more firmly against his chest, and his body tightened in response. Damien had warmed him, but his description of the lady hardly did her any justice. Katherine was as tempting as he had ever seen, fiery yet feminine, and he had been trying to easy the hardness that had risen inside his breeches, and inwardly he cursed.

It had never occurred to him that he would find his brother’s intended so attractive. It was the furthest thought from his mind. Now he found himself thinking what it might be like to bed her.

He wouldn’t of course. He had done a lot of things in the years since he left England, despicable things just to keep himself alive. He had never harmed a woman through all of it, never taken one against her will. He didn’t mean to start now.

Beside, easing his lust was hardly important. What mattered was regaining his heritage, taking the first step that would see justice done. The long journey that he hoped would clear his name.

He felt the girl shiver and reined up long enough to untie his cloak from the back of his saddle and wrap it around her shoulders, then he started off again. At first she held herself away from him, determined to avoid his touch. But the hours made her weary and now she slumped against his chest, her head tucked into his shoulders.

A pang of guilt slid through him, but it didn’t last long. He would do what he had to. The girl was safe, as he had promised. He was the one who would suffer. She stirred a little and wisps of her long hair brushed his cheek. He could smell her soft perfume. The week would be hellish, but then it would be done. Over the years he had suffered for worse than an unwelcome measure of lust.

They rode a little further and Damien’s hunting lodge finally appeared. He welcomed its sight. He was ready to get this sleeping woman out of his arms. He reined up in the front of a small two story structure that sat on the edge of a meadow. There was a single bedroom upstairs and an opened-beamed great room with a big rock fireplace which also served as a kitchen.

The stable boy waited in front. As Damien had promised the boy was capable and loyal to a fault. He would do whatever William asked.

“Evenin’, my lord.” The boy was perhaps thirteen years old, a sturdy young man. Damien had introduced him to the boy as a duke.

“See to the horse. I’ll take care of the lady.”

“Aye,, sir.”

She awakened when he lifted her down off the horse, stiffened in his arms as he set her on her feet. “Where are we?”