And then, in a quiet but very angry tone, he said, “The next time you try to see yourself raped, Elise, please pick someone who isn’t bigger than I am byfivestone.”
Raped?
He thought she had encouraged what had happened?
For one long second, Elise couldn’t breathe.
Simon’s treachery and Tommy’s assault mingledwith years of being thought of as nothing more than the “pretty” Lanscarr sister. Men doted on her without a care to her opinions or even her dreams. The most boorish of them thought she should be honored by their attention. And she was not fooled—if not for Society’s “rules” many of her aristocratic suitors would have acted like Tommy.
And Kit believed her at fault?
Her hand went to the water, and she scooped it right up into his face. “You contemptible, self-centered,low, no account,English—” Words failed as her mind scrambled to express exactly what she thought of his statement. Instead, she splashed another handful of water in his face just as he was recovering from the last one.
Elise leaped to her feet. “You aredespicable,” she hissed, and marched away. He called her name but she kept going. She had never been so insulted. Hertryingto beraped? He was mad.Insensitive—
His hand grabbed her arm.“Elise.”
She snatched it back, turning as she did so. “That was thevilest, mosthorridthing anyone has ever said—”
“You are right. You’re right,” Kit interjected, holding his hands out as if wishing to keep the peace. “I was wrong.Wrong,” he repeated. “It was an irrational thing to say.”
“Especially since my being in those circumstances was allyourfault.” She was not going to let this go.
“How was this my fault? You took off without me—”
“Because you weren’t there.You were walking in the woods naked—”
“I was bathing. You told me I reeked.”
“Youleftme,” she answered. “Just left. Not a word.Nothing.And there were these rude farm workers and—”
“Farm workers?”
“Yes, and they made me uncomfortable because of how they acted, so I thought I would find you, and Tamsyn growled at them—”
“Elise, I’m sorry,” he said, cutting her off. “I didn’t know. I thought you were fine for the moment.”
“Fine—?” She shook her head in disbelief. There were no words. She wanted nothing to do with him. She charged off.
“Elise?Elise.”
She kept going and would have walked her way to the coast except his arms came around her waist. Lifting her off her feet, he swung her back, planting her on the ground in front of him—and she exploded in fury.
How dare he manhandle her as if she was his to direct—and a low simmering anger that had been building long before Dara and Michael’s marriage exploded into unabashed rage.
Elise slapped out at him, her palm hitting his chest, the first place she could reach. He was solid muscle. Her blow had no impact on him so she gave him a hard shove.
Kit stepped back as if catching his balance and she launched herself at him, pushing and hitting, her hands curling into fists.
“Youleftme,” she said through the onslaught. “You didn’t say anything about where you were going or what you were doing. But isn’t that the way men are? Always blaming women for whatever happens? Treating us as ifwe don’t matter. Then stealing our inheritance and robbing us ofwhat is ours. And thinking you can get away with it—”
Kit kept backing away, trying to protect himself from her flying fists. Did she hurt him? She didn’t know, but she was sobloodyangry she had to try. Men had everything, didn’t they? They ruled the world.
“And thescurviestof you think that you have the right to any woman’s person. That just because my looks catch your eye you can grab me andbasely use me?”
“Elise,” he tried again, almost falling into the stream until he shifted to stay on the bank. “Stop this. Please.”
She ignored him—because months, evenyearsof pent-up anger had finally found release, and release it she did. “You left me, you left me, you left me,” she repeated over and over until she realized she didn’t know if she was talking to Kit—or her father?
