“As exquisite as ever,” he said on a long breath. “God is a jester to give this much beauty to such a worthless creature.”
She willed herself to regain her calm. Somehow, she must outwit him and get away.
“I have a bone to pick with you, my dear,” he said. “You might,” she agreed in a tight voice. Then she let her anger get the better of her and added, “But I am sorry for nothing.”
He gripped her chin tighter, and she flinched in spite of herself.
“I believe you are sorry—sorry you failed to steal my inheritance,” he said, his spittle hitting her face.
“If I had wanted to take it, I could have.”
His eye twitched. “What are you saying?”
When she did not answer, he spun her around, twisting her arm behind her back.
“Tell me.”
When she shook her head, he twisted her arm until sweat broke out on her forehead.
“I took herbs so I would not get pregnant,” she gasped. He turned her back around to face him. Her arm tingled and ached as the blood flowed back into it.
“And all this time, I thought my uncle was too feeble to raise his banner,” he said in a mocking tone. “Still, you must have had to work hard to get it up.”
“Don’t be disgusting.”
“You’ve no notion what I am capable of,” he said, his dark eyes snapping. “Take off your headdress. Now.”
“I will not. Ouch!” She held on to it as he tugged at it with one hand, ripping her hair out by the roots and making her scalp burn. “Ouch! Ouch!”
When he wrenched it off her head, hairpins flew across the room and bounced on the floor. He gave her a hard shove in the middle of her back, causing her to stumble and fall forward on her hands and knees. Then he grabbed her by the hair and roped it around his hand. Tears burned the back of her eyes as he jerked her up to her knees.
The musty smell of his private parts in front of her face made her nauseous. She clawed at his hand—but stopped when the edge of his blade touched her cheek.
“I know how to tame a demon harlot.”
The blade stung, and she felt a drop of blood slide down her cheek. She started to shake uncontrollably.
“Now you are going to do for me what you did for my uncle.” He nudged her with his knee. “Untie the laces of my chausses.”
Chapter Five
Jamie opened the door, and his heart dropped to his feet. Pomeroy had Linnet on her knees before him, her hair twisted like a rope around his fist. The edge of his blade lay against the perfect alabaster skin of her cheek. It was not difficult to discern what the devil’s spawn was trying to make her do.
Jamie drew his sword but put his arm out in front of Martin. “Steady,” he said in a low voice. “If we startle him, he might cut her.”
Pomeroy had not heard them come in over the pounding rain outside the window. Jamie stepped a few feet forward and cleared his throat loudly.
Without moving his blade from Linnet’s cheek, Pomeroy turned. His eyes widened when he saw Jamie. After a pause, he said, “You are always where you should not be, Rayburn.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow. “I assume the lady’s answer was nay.”
“She is no lady, as you well know,” Rayburn spat out. “But you will have to wait your turn.”
Jamie wanted to slice out Pomeroy’s tongue and feed it to the dogs for that remark. Instead, he said with deliberate casualness, “You are a braver man than I.”
As Pomeroy watched, Jamie drew a coin from the pouch at his belt and flipped it into the air. “I’ll wager a gold florin she will bite that tiny cock of yours right off.”
For a moment, it looked as if his taunt had worked and Pomeroy would come after him. Linnet’s shriek was like broken glass against his nerves as Pomeroy jerked her to her feet by her hair. Rage throbbed at Jamie’s temples. If Pomeroy did not have a blade against her throat, he would be a dead man now.
