Gabe closed his eyes against the disturbing image of Lady Kerr licking his blood from her lips. And he thought of Mary.HisMary, with long, curling auburn hair and warm, kind, shining grey eyes. Mary, with laughter that echoed gaily through a room and lightly lilting on the air, over hills and on the breeze to seep deep into his heart like a soothing balm.
Rip!Lady Kerr tore his shirt noisily from his person, a gasp of delight on her lips.
“Ooh, sweaty, bloody, and half nude. Precisely how I like to conduct my littleexperiments.”
Mary, Gabe kept his eyes shut and thought of her. Mary, who played with him as a child, shared his secrets, commiserated with his pitiful woes, and always waited for him when he was away at school.
He felt Lady Kerr drift away from him, but he kept his eyes shut.
Mary, who always looked so pretty in the dresses her mother would make for her but Gabe was too afraid to compliment.
Snap! Gabe’s eyes squeezed tighter and he released a roar of pain as the tip of Lady Kerr’s bullwhip connected with his bared chest, slicing through the thick skin there.
Mary!His mind cried. Mary, who danced like a siren calling to sailors and kissed like a goddess personified. Mary, who made him feel things that he had never before experienced and had not the faintest idea how to put into words.
“Who are you?” Lady Kerr shouted at him.
He opened his eyes to gaze at Lady Kerr. How could any man find her even mildly attractive? Her dark eyes were filled only with malice, her brow marred with deep scowl lines…and her heart was shrivelled and blackened from the hellfire burning inside her. How long had she been dead inside, he wondered? And how had he not noticed it before?
“My name is Anthony Spencer, my la—”
He broke off as she swung her arm up, the bullwhip arching high into the air, and the expression of pure evil etched on her features.
Gabriel shut his eyes as thecrackrent the air and the tip of the bullwhip made yet another slice through the flesh of his chest. Gabe roared.
Mary, he repeated the litany in his mind. Mary who had put her trust in him, who had offered him her body, which he had so foolishly refused.Bloody hellwas he ever a fool! When he found a way to escape the vile Evelyn, Lady Kerr, Gabe would make it his duty to beg Mary’s forgiveness and take her… Take her, tup her, make love to her,God, he would make her moan and scream with delight and beg for more. And he would delight in giving her precisely what she asked for. Repeatedly. For countless nights and eternal days for the rest of their lives if necessary.
Thud. Gabe grunted as the lady’s small fist connected with his cheek.When had she abandoned the whip?His eyes snapped open. He could feel his face swell from each hit, each slap as her merciless attack continued.
Gabe groaned and cried out with each hit, though his reactions were mostly exaggerated. While the woman was persistent and eager, she lacked the strength and imagination to do him lasting harm—unless she decided to put her weaponry to use once again. Her attack was still painful, however, and with continued hits, Gabe could be in great danger of serious injury…or losing his life.
Finally, she stepped back to gaze at the result of her fine, ruthless progress of mauling him. She smiled foully, apparently pleased. Gabe felt ill.
The door scraped open on creaky hinges, garnering his and Lady Kerr’s attention, and in strode Mary, as though jumping from his thoughts and into flesh and blood. His heart leapt. Mary’s hair hung loosely around her shoulders and waist and she wore—bloody, bloody hell, what is she wearing?
Gabe nearly swallowed his tongue. Mary wore virtually nothing on her upper body; only a thin layer of sheer material stretched from her shoulders to just under her nearly nude, pert breasts. Each dusky nipple strained against the transparent gauzy fabric. Her arms were draped with the same material to tighten at the cuffs at her wrists. Her midriff was entirely bare; the soft skin of her pale belly veritably calling out to be licked. Her layered skirts flowed to the floor, but—good God!—they had a slit going from bottom to high on her thigh, just begging to be spread wide so one might sample what lay beneath.
Mary’s lips curled back in an aroused grin as she placed her hands on her waist, deliberately displaying her flagrantly exposed figure. She cocked one hip, allowing her belt of shining coins and bells to jingle.
Despite himself, Gabe’s cock twitched.
“Oh yes,” she lowered her voice to a husky thrum. “Please tell me I can join in this erotic game.”
What the devil?
Mary walked toward him, her hips swaying deliciously with each step.
Apparently, Lady Kerr was stunned into silence, for she simply stood back and watched as Mary halted before Gabe. He looked up into her bright, grey eyes, wishing he could tell her just how sorry he was for what he had done and how he had treated her.
Lady Kerr, having suddenly realized the dangers of having the two of them so close, called out, “Guard!”
Crack! Gabe grunted in shock.
He blinked his swelling eyelids rapidly to clear the stars from his vision, then stared disbelievingly at Mary’s impassioned features. “You struck me!”
Her eyes rolled back as she shut them in an aroused expression that entirely confused Gabe. What was she doing?
“Oh yes,” Mary moaned, earning another twitch for his still-eager member.
