In a moment of clarity, she knew she was not helpless.
The monster thrust his tongue past her lips, and instead of pushing back on it with her own, she clamped down with her teeth. Feeling like a vicious animal, she only released him when the blood trailing down her throat stirred a gagging sensation.
He pulled away. “You bitch!” he spat contemptuously. But all she could think was to escape. With the coppery taste of his blood in her mouth, she again tried evading his roving hands.
But he was strong. So much stronger than her.
Frantic, but knowing she couldn’t panic, she made a fist with one hand and shot it forward at the tip of his nose. He grunted and loosened his hold somewhat.
And then she pushed one of her thumbs into his eye. “Damn you!”
The next moment, she landed painfully on the dirt. Not taking even a second to consider if she’d injured him, she was only aware that he’d lost his hold. He could not be allowed to capture her again.
On all fours, she crawled away, scrambled to her feet, and then took off running.
That delicate cloud had covered the moon completely, extinguishing its earlier light. With tears blurring her vision, she could hardly make out where she stepped. She only knew to keep running. Toward the manor. Down. Away from him. Away from him.
Into the trees. She was halfway to her freedom. She needed to keep moving.
And then…
Whoosh! The air left her body when she collided with another person. A man. And again, she fought. How had he caught up with her?
“Olivia. Stop, Love.” Hands pinned her hands to her side, but they were gentle. Familiar. He was not the baron! It was Gabriel!
“Where is he? What did he do?” Gabriel demanded.
“Lockley,” she gasped into his shirtfront. Knowing she was safe, she suddenly felt ice-cold, so cold. “He didn’t. I didn’t. I fought him and I g-g-got away b-b-before...”
* * *
She was shaking so badlythat he could hardly understand her words. But he understood enough. Her dress was smeared with dirt and torn nearly halfway up from the hem. Her hair had come undone and hung wildly around her face. Blood dripped from her mouth.
And she practically climbed him in her panic.
“You’re safe, love. I’m here. I’ll take care of it. That’s it, let it out.” He held her trembling body against his and spoke soothing nonsensical words into the top of her head.
All the while, white-hot anger built in every fiber of his being.
“I shouldn’t have gone out. I wasn’t supposed to go alone. But I didn’t want him to follow me. I swear! I never asked him to follow me.” She cried the words into his jacket between a few gulping sobs.
I’ll kill him.
“I’m sorry, Gabriel.” She tried swiping at her eyes, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry to be so much trouble.”
What on earth?
He held her away from him, meeting her gaze. “You need not be sorry. This is not your fault. It’s Lockley’s fault. And my own. You ought to have been safe on my property.”
She ought to have been.
She deserved to be safe everywhere.
“Is this wench making up stories?”
Gabriel straightened his spine as a grating male voice dared utter such bile in his presence.
Without addressing the baron’s question, Gabriel leaned down to address Olivia. “Go back to the house now. Enter through the library and go directly to your chamber.” He couldn’t take the chance that one of his mother’s stickler guests witness her circumstances. “Lock the door. Mary is awaiting you? You will not be alone?”
