Innocence and Carnality

by J. Alan Veerkamp

  Once back on the street, Alexandra and I reversed our course, in no hurry to return.

  “Don’t let Blythe’s behavior upset you.”

  I moved a step or two ahead of her. It was easier to speak if I didn’t have to face anyone. “It’s as much my behavior as his. I don’t have many people I can trust here. I need what few I have.”

  “Blythe’s wrestling with a few personal issues. He’ll be back to his old self soon enough. You’ll see.”

  “I certainly hope so. I’m not sure I can handle too many more exchanges like today’s. Do you know the cause?”

  No response.

  “Alexandra?”

  When Alexandra still didn’t answer, I looked over my shoulder. She was nowhere behind me. As much as I searched up and down the sidewalk, I couldn’t spot her vermillion hair. I took a few steps back toward the restaurant. Perhaps she went after Blythe.

  “Alexandra?”

  A heavy pair of hands clamped around my head and neck, covering my mouth. My muffled scream died as I was dragged into the alley.

  Chapter 19

  I TRIED to dig my heels into the unyielding cobblestones, but I was being hauled so quickly, I couldn’t keep my balance. The gloved hand holding my mouth closed made screaming futile. Panic and rage exploded out of me, but I wasn’t strong enough to get free.

  The street vanished as the alley swallowed me into its gullet. It wouldn’t be long before there would be no chance for anyone to find me.

  A somewhat familiar voice caught my attention. “Hold her already!”

  Mr. Avaston’s assistant, David, hurled orders at two other men holding Alexandra, one at her arms and one at her legs. Her tight hairstyle fell down in bright waves as she fought like a wet cat.

  “She’s fucking out of hand!”

  Alexandra freed one leg and kicked one thug in the face, spinning him off. The man at her arms managed to hold her until the second leapt to his feet and struck her hard in the stomach.

  The beast wheezed in pain. “Fucking bitch!”

  The fight rushed out of her, and I renewed my efforts against the man holding me. He squeezed tighter, so I bit his hand. With a scream, he loosened his grip, but David was on me before I could make use of the opportunity.

  The blade in his hand defused my escape plan.

  “Stop it! Now! Or I’ll gut her for fun.”

  I couldn’t hear the sounds over my deafening pulse, but the message came through clearly. Only one man restrained Alexandra’s slumped form, preventing her from collapsing to the ground. I could hear her struggling gasps.

  David placed the blade alongside my face, making sure he had my full attention. “Your husband has upset my boss. We made a nice offer and he shit all over us. So, an example has to be made to show Rother how serious we are. Mr. Avaston promised you to me.”

  My response was shaky yet furious. “Go to hell.”

  Rearing his fist back, David struck me hard across the face. The other man let go of me and I fell to the pavement. A brutal kick to my side pushed the air out of my lungs and flipped me over. My head rolled, lights flashing through my vision. David grabbed my bloody jaw, digging in his fingers to insure his control. Leaning in close, he dragged his wet tongue along my cheek until he reached my ear.

  “I’m going to do bad things to you, boy. Things that will make that brand seem like a day at the park.” He jerked my head so I could see Alexandra. “And you’re going to let me. Or I’ll do worse to her, and ship the pieces back to your husband.”

  A touch of mania burned in his eyes as he worked to frighten me. He was successful. It was the same kind of madness Rother gave off the night he marked me. I had no doubt David planned on going through with whatever sick agenda he’d devised.

  “So who’s going to be my playmate, Nathan? You or her?”

  David straddled me, preventing me from standing even if the pain in my face and body would have allowed it. I tried to overlook the growing erection he pressed into me. Tears filled my eyes. Alexandra had yet to regain her wits, hanging in the crook’s hands like a broken toy. The other two stood watching, chests heaving in excitement.

  “You don’t have much more time, Nathan.” David pressed his face and his knife along either side of my head and dropped to a whisper. “I’m only going to ask once more. Are you going to save her?”

  I crushed my eyes closed and nodded.

  “Oh, Nathan. That’s excellent. You are so brave and beautiful. I’m going to love ruining you so much.”

  The stroking of my head made me open my eyes. Insanity filled my view, licking its lips and promising violence I couldn’t conceive. My body quaked, and I froze.

  I didn’t know what to do.

  A fierce snarl drew me elsewhere. Alexandra found her feet and reached behind her, grabbing hold of her captor’s groin. The man’s shriek startled everyone present. With a hiss, Alexandra struck him in the throat with her elbow. His head slammed backward into the brick wall, ending his cries.

  She wasted no time, shouting at the top of her lungs.

  “Blythe!”

  The other two charged her, pinning her against the wall. Alexandra kicked and screamed, refusing to go down, but they overwhelmed her. The man she’d kicked cocked his fist, only to stop at a new sound.

  A bestial train barreled down the alley, roaring a challenge. In a murderous rage, Blythe pounced on the man and pummeled his face to a pulp in an instant. It happened so fast, I almost missed Blythe wrenching the man’s head until it faced the other direction. The jolting crunch would stay with me. Alexandra renewed her attack, distracting the last man until Blythe slammed him to the ground and kicked him until he stopped moving.

  With a fistful of my hair, David yanked me to my feet, positioning me between himself and everyone left standing. “That’s enough! Step back or I bleed him out right here, right now.” The knife point in my neck held everyone at bay.

  Alexandra stood behind Blythe, her dress torn and askew, but held her ground. The scar on Blythe’s face merged with the harsh creases reflecting his wrath. Shoulders rounded and heaving, the fearsome sight scared me almost as much as David.

  Using me as a shield, David aligned his body, making a point to grind his hard manhood against my backside. I didn’t know what horrified and nauseated me more, the danger or the fact David found the carnage arousing. He tugged me backward, farther from Blythe, and when I resisted, a sharp pain reminded me of his blade.

  Blythe took a tentative step forward at my cry, but David stopped him short. “No, no, no, pig fucker. Back away now. Or our pretty boy here gets a new smile.”

  “Let him go.” The temper Alexandra displayed with Mr. Lorings in the cupboard was far less intense than what I was seeing now. It chilled me.

  I winced when I felt David shake his head, fearing the blade might sink deeper. “I’m sorry. That’s not an option.”

  “If you hurt him, you know you’ll never leave the alley alive.”

  David stepped us backward again and Blythe snarled. My savior animal was reduced to nonverbal responses. I couldn’t move or protect myself. I didn’t know what to do or how to be brave. A pained exhale squeezed out of me at David’s rough shake. It stalled another of Blythe’s advances.

  “It didn’t have to be this way. Your boss could have just played nice.” David became more and more frantic the longer this impasse continued.

  Alexandra locked her vicious gaze on me. “It’s going to be all right, Nathan.”

  “Don’t lie to him, whore.”

  Blythe’s words twisted into an inhuman rumble, his jaw was so tight. “Son of a bitch. I’m gonna fucking kill you.”

  “This is a message for Rother. Be sure to tell him Mr. Avaston says hello.” Every muscle in David’s body went rigid. The bite of steel drilled into me and all my hope drained away.

  I promised myself I wouldn’t scream when I died.

  Blythe snapped his arm straight forward. With a clockwork whirr, a miniature re
volver spun out from his sleeve and into his open hand. Fire blazed from the weapon. Something hot buzzed past my ear and a wet explosion sprayed my head and neck. David spasmed, driving the blade into my flesh until his hands went limp and he fell back, sloughing off me like a snake’s skin.

  My feet gave way and I landed on my knees. Blythe swooped in and cradled my face, the rage in his eyes melting into something different.

  “Nathan, are you all right?”

  Holding me upright, he began examining me for, I assume, other injuries. Alexandra tore a strip of fabric off the cuff of Blythe’s sleeve, exposing the hidden mechanism strapped to his forearm. No wonder I’d never seen him without a long-sleeve shirt.

  She wadded the cloth and dabbed at my throat. “It’s not deep. You’re going to be fine.”

  Blythe continued to check me, and I looked down. Showered in red spots, I watched them grow as they soaked into my clothing. My damp face grew cooler. An unfamiliar pair of feet I couldn’t account for flopped on either side of me.

  I looked over my shoulder to find David sprawled in the dirt, gurgling and twitching. A gaping hole in his throat oozed a thick flow of glimmering scarlet, pooling beneath him. Air hissed out of him, and his body went slack. Ruby spatter covered his face and body in abundance.

  The blood of a dead man was all over me.

  Blythe turned my head back. “Don’t look at that.” Apprehension lined his face but he still kept reassuring me. “You’re gonna be all right. I promise.”

  I wanted to ease his horror, but mine struck me dumb.

  “We can’t stay here.” Alexandra blotted the cut, the makeshift bandage nowhere near as saturated as the gore covering me would suggest. “It’s not safe.”

  “I know,” Blythe said. “It may not be over.”

  “We need to get back to the house. Nathan, can you stand?”

  I saw and heard, yet did nothing. The blood of a dead man was all over me. Don’t swallow or wet your lips. Despite my efforts, I found the copper tang on my tongue.

  Blythe lifted me to my feet, but I was limp and impotent. I was grateful he leaned me against his granite chest so I wouldn’t fall.

  “We can’t go down the street like this. We’ll be spotted. Avaston may have more men around here.”

  “They came after Nathan.” With a hand on Blythe’s arm, she emphasized her point.

  “You can make a run for the carriage faster than I can with him. Get back and let Rother know.” He stripped the revolver off the harness and shoved it into her hand. “Take this, but be careful. It only has one shot left.”

  “Where are you taking him?”

  “Someplace safe no one will think of. Now go!”

  Tight-lipped, Alexandra hesitated, then placed a kiss to my forehead. “You both better make it home, Blythe, or I’ll haunt you.” Vermillion locks whirled through my vision and she sprinted away.

  The blood of a dead man was all over me.

  Cold tremors shook my unmoving body. Blythe hoisted me into his arms, the warmth staving off some of the numb wave sucking the life out of me. All of my senses gave me keen information, but my limbs betrayed me. Speech stayed locked inside my head. I pledged to hold back my screams like a brave soldier, and followed my own command so well, I couldn’t utter a sound.

  Hurried steps carried us through a maze of alleyways with Blythe making quick checks for strangers each time we took a new path. He hid us in shadowed doorways when anyone appeared, covering me with the expanse of his bulk until they were gone. I would’ve been lost, but Blythe’s paranoid course was determined, not random.

  My head rested against his breast, taking in the rushed inhales and strong heartbeat. It grounded me, holding me here in the present. The seductive urge to drift into nothing called to me.

  With all the covert ducking and running, Blythe pounding on a back door of a building I’d never seen alarmed me. I almost cried when the door lurched open. Harston stood in the entrance.

  “Blythe, what are you…. Nathan! What the bloody hell did you do to him?”

  “Shh… be quiet. I didn’t do nothing. Someone came after him. He’s not really hurt, just in shock. I need to hide him. Give us a room.”

  Harston shot a look over his shoulder, down the hall behind him, and waved us inside. “All right. Follow me. Get him in here.”

  It shamed me when my former valet dashed into the hallway, navigating us into a back corner suite. He was handling the situation, and I was little more than soiled baggage. Once he closed and locked the door, Harston led us into the adjoining bath.

  “Sit him down. We can clean him up in here.”

  Blythe sat me on the bathtub’s edge, keeping one hand on my back to prevent me faltering. Harston came forward, flustered at the condition of me and my clothing.

  “Nathan, are you all right?”

  “He hasn’t said much of anything since we ran this way.” Worry colored Blythe’s whispers.

  Horrified, Harston stopped short of touching my stained skin and garments, as if he feared harming me worse. “Heavens, what happened to him?”

  “It’s not his blood. Well, not most of it. He got jumped, and I had to put the guy down.”

  Harston’s eyes bulged and he gawked at Blythe. “You killed a man?”

  “It was him or Nathan.”

  Gathering himself for a moment, Harston nodded. “Then you made the right choice.”

  “We need to hide tonight. I made sure no one could follow us here.”

  “Of course, whatever you need.” Harston’s brow twisted as he assessed me. “This is awful. I can’t leave him like this. Go into the other room. I’ll bathe him and we can decide what to do after.”

  Blythe rocked in place, struggling with the choice. Finally he nodded, ready to give Harston room to perform his former duty. Panic lanced through me. Without conscious thought, I snatched a handful of Blythe’s vest, halting his exit.

  “Hey, hey, Nathan. It’s all right. I’ll stay if you want. I won’t go anywhere.”

  I found myself climbing into Blythe’s lap, wrapping my arms around him. The smallest risk of him leaving me behind was too much to bear. I started to settle when he returned the embrace, taking care not to crush me.

  Harston filled the tub with hot water, steaming the mirror in minutes. He couldn’t stop staring at us, not in revulsion or shock, but with some kind of revelation I didn’t share.

  I winced as Harston cleaned the knife wound and fashioned a snug bandage around my neck. “That will do for now. You’ll need to finish washing him. You can wrap him in these towels afterward.” Harston retrieved a pile from the shelf and placed them on the sink.

  “Can we get him some new clothes? I can’t make him wear these again.”

  “There’s a tailor down the street with ready-to-wear. I can get him something appropriate. He’ll want to burn those.”

  “Thanks. Get something plain so he won’t stand out. Can you get him something that fits?”

  Harston looked affronted. “I served him for years. I assure you I still remember all his measurements and sizes.” Only a moment passed before Harston composed himself. He placed a kind hand on my head with a sigh. “Blythe, please be good to him. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “You said the shop was just down the street.”

  “It is. I think he’ll do better in your care right now than mine.”

  Harston kissed Blythe’s cheek and left the room. Time froze until the outer door clicked shut. Blythe faced me, uncertain.

  “Okay. Let’s get you out of these.” He gave a hushed laugh. “Never thought I’d be saying that for real.”

  I didn’t fight as he separated the buttons of my shirt, making a point not to react as he skimmed away the garment. When he raised me up, I found the strength to stand. I watched transfixed as he did the same to my lower half.

  From an early age I’d been taught one never appeared undressed outside of one’s spouse or personal attendant, and although I was
embarrassed by this intimate disrobing, Blythe didn’t take advantage. Awkward was an inadequate description as Blythe craned his head at an odd angle, preventing a proper view as he helped me into the water. Once seated, I curled myself enough to maintain some dignity.

  Blythe found a washing cloth and soap. Instructing me to hold my breath, he dipped my head under the surface. I allowed it without the slightest refusal. I trusted him. Blythe scrubbed my head and shoulders, trying to be careful but determined to be thorough. I didn’t care. I needed to be clean, no matter how harsh the process. The knife mark proved to be as minor as Alexandra professed.

  The entire time he focused on my face, never once taking the opportunity to goggle at my naked body. His hands dipped beneath the water’s surface but never touched me below my waist. Knowing the man, he must have been tempted. The tight set of his jaw told the story of how he struggled during this honorable moment. I caught him licking his lips more than once.

  By the time he finished, I was moving but not speaking. Blythe unfurled a large towel and held it out like a screen to allow me to climb out discreetly. I tied it around my waist for a modicum of decency as he wrapped a second over my shoulders. The ensemble covered me from neck to toes.

  “I want you to stay warm.”

  I nodded as he guided me back into the bedroom. While not a luxury hotel, its furnishings were inviting. The bed dominated the space, its carved frame matching the writing desk and drawer-laden cabinet. Everything a traveler would need to rest. Charming and functional.

  Blythe drew back the duvet and patted the mattress. “Get in. Get some rest.”

  I climbed into the bed, still wearing my robe of towels, and sat up against the plush pillows lining the headboard.

  “You’re not leaving, are you?”

  The relieved smile on Blythe’s face when he heard my feeble whisper burned brighter than firelight. “No. I’ll be right here. I promise. I’ll sleep on the floor or in the chair later. Too wound up to sleep now.” He stripped the contraption off his forearm and sat close on the edge of the bed. “You sure you’re not injured? I didn’t look more than I had to.”