To Disappear (16 page)

‘Don’t you have something to say to me?’ Preston demanded, and Lydia’s fists clenched on the cotton dress, but she turned to look at him.

‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered.

‘Sorry for what?’

‘Sorry for extracting some pleasure from that without permission.’

‘As well you should be,’ Preston said with derision. ‘Honestly, Lydia, you’re just out of control, aren’t you?’

He rose to pull on his trousers, then yanked the dress from her grip and tossed it aside. ‘You won’t be needing that tonight,’ he informed her. ‘And I’m thinking that tomorrow morning I might just fuck your ass for a change. Won’t that be enjoyable?’

He chuckled at her expression of dismay, and then kissed her, forcing her luscious lips apart with his, thrusting his tongue into the warm haven of her mouth to taste the sweet freshness of her breath, then when she gave a little squeal of protest he closed his teeth painfully onto her lower lip before pulling away.

Smiling at the furious look in Lydia’s eyes, he took her by the wrist and led her naked up the stairs.

Just as they reached the second staircase the door to Gabriel’s room opened, and the younger man’s eyes were broody as he looked from Preston to Lydia, and back again.

Preston stopped, amused. ‘Good evening, Gabriel,’ he said congenially. ‘Lydia and I just had a delightful time downstairs. Remind me to tell you about it tomorrow. Now, if you’ll excuse us.’

‘Wait,’ Gabriel snapped, so curtly even Preston was taken by surprise. ‘You’ve been monopolizing Lydia’s time,’ he accused abruptly. ‘So she’ll be sleeping in her own room from now on.’

Preston blinked at the tone in Gabriel’s voice, while behind him Lydia drew in a sharp, anxious breath. His grip tightened on her wrist as jealousy and anger curdled in his gut.

‘Since when do you issue decrees like that to me?’ he demanded coldly, disliking the challenge of Gabriel. ‘Lydia belongs in my bed—’

‘She does not,’ Gabriel cut in. ‘She belongs in her own bed. Now let her go.’

‘How dare you talk to me like that?’ Preston growled, his rage simmering. ‘Do you think you can just…?’

His words dissipated when Gabriel took several determined steps towards them. For an instant Preston feared the younger man might actually strike him, but Gabriel merely reached to release Lydia’s wrist from his clutches.

He pulled her towards him, placing a hand on her lower back to guide her into her bedroom. ‘Go to bed, Preston,’ Gabriel suggested frostily. ‘You’re looking tired.’

He returned to his own room, while fury tightened Preston’s every sinew as he stared at the closed door for a few undecided moments, before stalking angrily upstairs.

Preston placed his teacup with such repressed control onto the saucer that the china didn’t even clink. His shoulders were taut with irritation, his eyes seething with blue fire as he turned to look at Gabriel.

‘Don’t ever talk to me like that again in front of Lydia,’ he insisted. ‘How dare you undermine my authority?’

‘I undermined nothing,’ Gabriel replied, his voice icy. He crossed his arms, his stance defiantly wide. If nothing else, he would not allow Preston to walk out of the room without acknowledging Lydia’s right to at least some semblance of privacy and independence. ‘You were doing that already by forcing her to sleep with you.’

‘She’s mine!’ Preston snapped, his hands clenched into fists. ‘If I want to sleep with her, I will sleep with her.’

‘She is not yours,’ Gabriel said rebelliously.

‘I found her!’ Preston bellowed.

‘That does not make her yours,’ Kruin interjected. He was sitting in an oak chair near the window, his features set hard as he looked from Preston to Gabriel. ‘And allowing her into your bed was not part of the agreement.’

‘What difference does it make?’ Preston retorted. ‘She loves it there.’

‘She does not,’ Gabriel countered.

Preston glowered at him furiously. ‘Since when do you know so much about her? Since she sucked your cock?’

Gabriel’s mouth compressed. ‘If that’s the best you can—’

‘She’s ours to do with as we please,’ Preston raged. ‘She knew that from the beginning. She’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. She came to me, remember, I didn’t seek her out.’

‘But you’ve been chasing her for years,’ Gabriel replied, feeling a rush of satisfaction when furious embarrassment flashed in the other man’s expression. ‘But it took you long enough to finally get her.’

A flush appeared on Preston’s countenance as his body tensed with passion. ‘She always wanted me,’ he blurted. ‘She just needed me to show her that.’

‘Yes, I can tell by the way she clearly hates you,’ Gabriel mocked, his confidence increasing.

‘She fears me, she doesn’t hate me,’ Preston spat. ‘How can she possibly hate me considering how turned on she gets when I touch her? I know I’ve given her far more pleasure than you have.’

‘Stop this,’ Kruin said in disgust, his voice booming around the room. ‘Childish arguing has no place here. We each have our own views of our “guest”. However, no one is to consider her his personal property.’ He leveled his fierce gaze meaningfully on Preston. ‘And no one is to believe he has more right to her than anyone else.’

Preston scowled. Gabriel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Although they had established certain roles within the household, both he and Preston were well aware that Kruin held the most compelling degree of control over Lydia. She always paled when he appeared, her large eyes darting to him as if she were waiting for him to bark out an order at her. For his part, Preston had the ability to shame her the most thoroughly, owing to their entwined histories and Lydia’s personal animosity towards him. With Preston, she frequently had an expression of suppressed anger and dislike.

But she didn’t look at Gabriel like that. No, she often looked at him with a mixture of gentleness, humor, and frequently an expression of expectation. Although he doubted Kruin or Preston knew it, Gabriel suspected that of the three of them, she sought to willingly give and receive both his physical and emotional pleasure.

And while he appreciated seeing her tremulous and helpless as much as the other two men, Gabriel was also beginning to enjoy the other aspects of her being. Perhaps more than he should have.

‘Leave Lydia to sleep in her own room,’ Kruin said, striding towards the door with a shake of his head. ‘She still requires discipline, but she also needs a regular decent night’s sleep.’

Gabriel almost smiled as his gaze met Preston’s again after Kruin had left.

‘All right,’ Preston said irritably. ‘I won’t make her sleep with me anymore.’

‘Good. And while you’re at it, I want to know when one of your little sessions with her is over.’

‘Why do you want to know that?’

‘Because I do.’

The two men locked angry stares for an instant before Preston turned away. He picked up his teacup with another scowl. ‘Fine,’ he muttered. ‘Go ahead and take care of her, Gabriel, but don’t let her forget her place.’

‘I won’t.’

‘You say you won’t, but she clearly likes you the best.’ Preston’s eyes flickered with undiluted jealousy as he said the words. ‘That kind of affection can manipulate you the wrong way before you even realize it.’

‘On the contrary,’ Gabriel retorted as he headed for the door, ‘it might be the only thing keeping both her and me sane.’

The watering can slipped from Lydia’s fingers as she stared at the lanky stranger crossing the lawn. Sickening fear suddenly gripped her, her heart lodging somewhere in her throat. She took a step backwards towards the mansion as the stranger started walking in her direction.

Lydia turned and fled, her sandals hitting the flagstones in a rhythm of panic as she headed for the house. Just as she reached the verandah the door opened and Kruin stepped out.

A wave of relief crashed over her as she hurried up the steps to him, wanting to throw herself into his protective arms. Kruin frowned at her flustered expression and reached out to steady her by the shoulders.

‘Lydia, what is it?’ he asked.

She took a deep breath, calmed slightly by the reassuring grip of his strong hands. She pressed her palm against her chest to soothe her racing heartbeat and stepped closer to him to feel the protectiveness of his overbearing physique.

‘I just…’ she panted, struggling for breath, ‘there’s a man out there… I don’t know who he is…’

Kruin’s frown deepened as he looked out from the verandah, and then his expression cleared. ‘Oh, that’s just one of the people Preston hired to decorate the gardens for the party,’ he informed her, with a joviality she’d not seen in him before.

Lydia blinked questioningly. ‘He hired people?’

‘Yes. Cleaning crews, cooks, gardeners and so on. They’ve all been checked out, but if you’re concerned you can remain in your room until they leave. They won’t go upstairs, and I’ll tell you when they’re gone.’

‘Yes…’ she said uneasily, the gravity of her situation once again hitting her after lying dormant in her thoughts for some time, I… I’d appreciate that.’ She was apprehensive enough about the imminent party guests, and she didn’t want to compound that by having to face a strange workforce if she didn’t have to.

‘All right, they should be gone by mid-afternoon,’ Kruin told her.

Lydia wanted to kiss him for being so unexpectedly understanding. ‘Thank you,’ she said gratefully. ‘I want… thank you.’

Kruin nodded and slipped an arm around her shoulder, urging her into the house. Lydia hurried inside and passed the kitchen, from which delicious smells were already wafting.

She spent the remainder of the morning reading in her room, pausing only once when Gabriel brought her a sandwich and glass of milk for lunch.

At around four in the afternoon, Kruin appeared to inform her that everyone had left save for the cooks, and they had been instructed not to leave the kitchen. Lydia realized that the time must be approaching for the guests to arrive, and nerves entwined in her tummy as her fingers tightened on her book.

‘Kruin, I really don’t want to attend tonight,’ she admitted, hoping he still possessed his earlier mood of empathy. But he frowned, dispelling her hopes like water down a drain.

‘You intend to be uncooperative?’ he snapped moodily.

‘No, of course not, but I…’ Lydia’s voice died when Preston entered the room with a large box in his arms. He gave her a broad smile and placed the box on her bed.

‘Hello, my dear,’ he said. ‘I have something for you to wear this evening. We thought you might enjoy dressing up.’

Deciding that her desire not to attend the party far outweighed her fear of another punishment, Lydia appealed to Preston instead. ‘I was just telling Kruin,’ she started carefully, ‘that I’d rather not be there tonight.’

Preston’s eyebrows rose in mild surprise, as if he had expected this very conversation. ‘Don’t be silly, Lydia,’ he scoffed. ‘I’ve been planning this for weeks. Of course you’ll be there. I chose your costume specially myself.’

Lydia rubbed her shoulder and the back of her neck, which were becoming increasingly knotted with anxiety. ‘Isn’t this dangerous?’ she asked.

‘Dear Lydia,’ he said with exaggerated, patronizing patience, ‘there’s really no need to worry. Didn’t Gabriel explain everything? We’re all entirely safe here. I promise. Ask Kruin.’

Kruin nodded at her reassuringly, but the sheer immediacy of the party had brought forth in Lydia a renewed rush of uneasiness. She started to protest again, but her attention was captured by the costume Preston was removing from the box. She had thought he would insist she wear something embarrassingly provocative, but the amount of material he was extracting looked enough to cover her completely.

Somewhat intrigued, Lydia placed her book on a table and rose to approach him. ‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘An eighteenth century
robe à la Française
,’ Preston replied grandly, spreading the gown onto the bed with a sweep of his arms. Two delicately embroidered panels decorated the front of the pale blue silk taffeta skirt and bodice, and heavy creamy lace edged the hem and cuffs. ‘Complete with corset, shoes and petticoat.’

‘It’s beautiful.’ Lydia touched the thick silk with admiration, thinking that perhaps the evening wouldn’t be so awful after all.

‘And your mask, of course.’ Preston removed a white eye mask decorated with yellow and blue feathers to match the flowers sprinkled over the panels. ‘Trust me, once you’re dressed you won’t worry one iota about our guests discovering anything. Not that they would anyway. Frankly, they should be more concerned about people discovering them. Have you showered?’

Lydia blinked with surprise. ‘Yes, of course.’

‘Good.’ Preston gestured to her dress. ‘Take that off, please,’ he said.

‘You want me to get dressed ready now?’ she asked, surprised.

‘Yes,’ he confirmed. ‘You’ll need a couple of hours to become accustomed to your new outfit, I think. Plus we’re all eager to see you in it.’

Lydia glanced apprehensively at Kruin, who settled into a chair near the door. She unbuttoned her dress, thinking she should probably be relieved that neither he nor Preston seemed incline to punish her for her reluctance.