“Never a better challenge have I heard,” Creve commented. “Thaddeus, you must show us your best. I’d almost demand it if it weren’t for the dark scowl shading your face with such a ghastly impression of distaste.”
“Yes, show us your facility with the musical language,” Daniel suggested. “I’d bet on the pretty one to be sure.”
“A grand plan.” The snidely intoned comment came from Johnson’s direction. Teddy didn’t spare him a glance.
Spreading one hand over his chest in contemplation and to straighten his vest, he replied, “And steal this darling’s thunder, I think not. She is deserving of all the praise and accolades you can bestow upon her. I’ll not match her in skill on the piano, perhaps another instrument, but this is her obviously her first instrument, which I cannot compete with. You would set me to a losing bet, Creve.”
“I think you’ve turned coward.” Johnson must have felt the need to prove himself to Rosa. Why else would he continue on with his taunting remarks?
Teddy sneered at the man. “You’ve no chance with her, even if this was the Underworld and you were Hades himself. Tuck in your tail or I’ll call you out, then we’ll see who the true coward is.”
The tune Rosa had expertly played for not more than a handful of minutes stopped. It was as though Teddy’s words had sucked any joy or merriment out of the room.
“Enough.” Rosa came around the bench and walked forward, her hands reaching out for anyone in her path. Johnson was there to catch her. His temper flared quickly and it was a struggle for Teddy to tamp it down and hold his stance instead of charging forward like a bull in rage.
“Vane,” Rosa said. “I’m sad to admit that it’s been a long day. I’m feeling rather tired and my head aches something fierce from the repressive behavior of some of your guests.”
Nathan stepped forward without missing a beat. “My dear, it was a pleasure to hear you play. I hope to hear you again and soon.”
Teddy expected her to curtsy and retreat alone. Instead she kissed Nathan’s cheeks in a decidedly French style—an all too familiar style—and called for her brother. “Please bring me to my room, Daniel.”
Teddy regretted every one of his actions immediately, but what else could he have done when Johnson stared after her as though she were the only bit of dessert after a feast.
Rosa had wormed her way into his heart so thoroughly that he’d allowed jealousy to get the better of him, despite knowing what had to be done tonight. The problem, though he didn’t really see it as a problem, was that she was his. And had he not been in a room full of people, too observant already of his insensitive behavior toward Rosa, he’d have called after her. He’d have apologized. He’d have done more than stare after the swish of her skirt as she left the parlor because she wanted nothing more than to escape him.
HOW HAD TONIGHT GONE SO terribly wrong? It hadn’t helped that Johnson acted his usual self, even with Daniel present. Tonight was not what she’d expected.
Rosa shut her bedroom door, closing off the rest of the world behind her. “Mary?”
When no answer came, she threw her cashmere shawl across the room, not caring where it landed. It did nothing to calm her fury.
And then there was the focus of her rage: Teddy. Teddy, who up until now was always the perfect gentleman with her. What had he thought to accomplish with his crude, unnecessary actions in front of the duke’s guests?
Reaching up and unclasping her sapphire-jeweled choker, she flung that across the room, too. Kicking off her slippers as she plucked out pins from her hair, she stormed through her room, giving a smarting to her hip when she bumped into the bedframe. She pressed her hand to the throb that radiated from her hip and walked to the bed, throwing herself down on the soft down mattress. She closed her eyes and counted to ten.
When ten came and she still wanted to throw something, she counted to one hundred.
And then she wanted to cry. But she didn’t. Instead, she sat up and released the ties at the back of her dress to pull it off. Untying the underskirts and hoops, she shimmied out of the extra material, letting it fall to the floor in a crumpled heap. She didn’t bother to remove her stays and undergarments. She just wanted to crawl under her multitude of blankets and hide from the world. She just wanted to forget everything about her trip here, about the duke, her brother, her life. She just wanted to forget the evening. And most of all, she wanted to forget Teddy.
“ROSIE ... WAKE UP, SWEET VIXEN. You were a dreadful tease over dinner. I couldn’t get here soon enough.”
A hand slid over her stomach to cup her breast on top of the sheet that covered her. Rosa pushed the offending hand away as she threw off the remnants of what had been a sound sleep. “Get off of me, you oaf.”
The intruder leaned over her, his breath smelling like he’d drunk a whole tankard of whisky. He probably had.
“You mean to tell me you didn’t ready yourself for bed to await me? I made it very clear I’d come to you tonight if you kept teasing me like you were.” His words were a little slurred. But there was no way he didn’t know what he was about.
“And I told you we wouldn’t suit. How many other ways do I need to say it!” Her shove against his chest was unsuccessful. “Get off!”
“Not till I’ve had my fill of you.” He tugged at the sleeve of her chemise, ripping it clean off her shoulder and exposing her breasts to the chill night air. “Well, now, those are some pretty bubbies you’ve got.”
She pressed harder with her fists at his chest, getting in a good punch before he gathered her hands and held them in a tight grip above her head. Leaning down, he sucked her nipple into his mouth with so much force she screamed and tried to buck him off her with stronger force.
“Stop, Johnson.” She twisted enough that her elbow met the side of his head, then he was pressing her hands above her head again, trapping her. “You’ll regret your actions come morning when your mind is clear of the whisky. Let me go.” There was no mistaking the fear in her trembling voice, and she knew fear made a man like Johnson hotter for his victory.
“I told you. You’d make me try harder to get you if you kept refusing me.”
“Be reasonable,” she pleaded.
“I am reasonable. Now spread your legs. I want to see if that slit of yours is as pretty as I think it is.”
She locked her ankles and squeezed her thighs together with as much might as she could. “You won’t like it if I do it for you,” he said, his breath hot against her face. “I want you to like this. You’ll like it like you liked it with Michael, just spread your legs for me.”
“No!” She bucked up against him, hoping to throw him off. She twisted and tried to roll; nothing seemed to remove his weight. “Get off or I’ll scream.”
“I don’t think so,” came his vile voice before he shoved a hank of material in her mouth. “Won’t matter anyway; what’s Vane going to do for a whore? You were asking for it, have been all evening. You invited me up here is what I’ll say. And after your actions at dinner, do you honestly think they’ll believe you?”
She did scream then, as loud as she could but to no avail when the sound was muffled with the dry cloth. Her screams turned into silent sobs.
When he released one of her hands, she reached to her right and tried to grab for something. Anything. A silver candlestick holder fell from her fingers and rang loudly as it hit the floor. She cried harder, tears seeping down her face as he grasped her free wrist so tight it forced her to drop the book she’d gotten her fingers around.
“Naughty minx. Now I’ll have to tie your hands.”
Yanking hard, she tried to tug her hands from his, but he held fast and cinched her hands so tightly with a strip of material that she thought the blood might stop flowing to her fingers. Next, he wrapped the material around the bedpost assuring them both she was helpless to defend herself.
“There. Now you won’t be going anywhere. I’d take the stocking from your mouth but I don’t trust you not to
call out. We didn’t have to do it this way,” he said, licking the tears on her cheek and temple like the cur he was.
She jerked her head away from him, then thought better and smacked the side of her head against his jaw. It stunned her and her assailant. The pain quickly waned, but only long enough for him to cuff her across the face with his open palm. Her lip split painfully at the side, warm liquid dribbling down over her chin and jaw.
“Now look what you’ve gone and made me do, you’re bleeding. Stop fighting me, Rosie. I’ll be good to you, you’ll see.”
Sliding down the length of her body, he wrenched her thighs apart. She managed a good solid kick to his knee and tugged against the material binding her hands to the bed. He got his torso between her legs and pressed heavily against her.
Leaning over her, he bit the skin on her thigh through her pantalets. Jerking away from him had her opening her legs wider to the dog and he started to tear at the material. When he was unsuccessful, his hand cupped her mound through the linen. Then he was pressing his nose there, smelling at her like she was an animal in heat.
Her arms strained against the material holding her hands above her head, and her fingers were growing numb. Wriggling her foot, she tried to slide her leg out from under his, but she was stuck beneath his weight. Pins and needles stretched down her forearms above her head. She felt numb all around and gave up her fight. Perhaps if he thought she was cooperating he’d let up. And if she had enough strength left in her, maybe she could give him a solid kick.
“Remove yourself, Johnson.” The boom of her rescuer’s voice had a fresh torrent of tears running down the side of her face.
“Get out of here, de Burgh. This is none of your concern.”
Johnson’s grip on her open thighs tightened before he suddenly lurched off her. Rosa locked her thighs together, and pushed herself up toward the head of the bed so she wasn’t lying there helplessly. Her arms were tied in such a position that she was forced to huddle in an uncomfortable ball, but she put herself in a better position to kick out at Johnson if he renewed his attack.
“Come on then, you fool, show me how much of a man you think you are.” The threat came from Teddy.
Rosa flinched when she heard a sharp smack of flesh on flesh and a resounding crack. Please let it not be Teddy, her mind chanted.
“You broke my bloody nose, you weasel,” cried Johnson and Rosa breathed a small sigh of relief.
“I’m going to break a lot more if you don’t get the hell out of my house.”
“She wants me here.”
She shook her head furiously. She didn’t want him, she only wanted to help her brother.
“You don’t honestly expect me to believe she welcomed your advances?”
“Why the hell wouldn’t she? You saw her over dinner. Jesus, de Burgh, you didn’t have to break my damn nose.” Johnson sniffled; it was a gurgling, bloody sound. “You’ll pay for this.”
“This is your last warning, Johnson. Leave.” Teddy’s voice was low and the threat very real.
“I don’t need any warning from you.”
She felt the weight of someone coming up on the bed before another sound of fists meeting flesh filled the room. A chair toppled over and she heard the sound of glass—probably her vanity mirror—crashing on the wood floor as the men made their way around the room.
TEDDY WAS GOING TO KILL Johnson. The bastard. What in hell did the man think he was doing, taking advantage of his woman? What in hell did he think he was doing forcing a woman to do anything? Johnson threw a chair between them, flicked the blood off his cheek and mouth with a swipe of his hand, and glanced around the room for a weapon. At least that was what Teddy thought he searched for. And he didn’t trust Johnson long enough to take stock of Rosa, so he dropped his fists to his side and waited to see what the blackguard would do next.
“I’ve done nothing to warrant such rash behavior from you.” Johnson pressed tenderly at his swollen cheek. “Bloody hell, de Burgh, you’ve buggered up my face good.”
“If you don’t leave I will see you with pistols at dawn. I’m sure my brother will second me.”
“You can’t call a challenge, the magistrate would come down on us.”
“I can and I will. You have about one minute. And if I ever see your face again, the challenge will stand and satisfaction will not be met until you are mortally wounded. You will leave this house without so much as a backward glance, and you’ll never return.”
“This is the ducal home, de Burgh. Last I remember, you were not the duke.”
Teddy took a deep breath. Johnson was too deep in his cups this evening to realize how deep the grave he dug truly was.
The door to the bedchamber smashed against the wall a second time.
“The duke is now voicing his opinion,” Nathan said. “I never want to set eyes on your swinish face again. Leave my home before I call the challenge myself.”
The fight finally left Johnson’s shoulders, he relaxed and came out from behind the chair he’d used to stop Teddy’s advances.
When Johnson left the room, Thaddeus relaxed his fists and went directly to Rosa.
“Do you need anything, Teddy?” his brother asked.
He didn’t even look at his brother as he answered, “Privacy, please.”
Nathan left without a word, shutting the door behind him.
“Rosa. Sweetheart, I should have come sooner.” He spoke as calmly as he could when the sight of her bleeding, swollen lip, and bruised cheek rekindled his anger toward Johnson.
“I’m going to remove the cloth from your mouth now. Try not to be frightened when I touch you.”
She was shaking beneath him as he pulled the cloth from her mouth and loosened the rope that bound her hands to the bed. Angry red welts and burn marks from the material marred her skin.
The moment the material fell, she flung herself at him, her arms going around his shoulders, her face burrowing into his neck. He caressed her back, hoping the action soothed her. When she pulled away, he carefully examined her face and lip. The cut wasn’t too deep, but had bled quite a bit.
He reached into the pocket of his vest and pressed a fresh handkerchief into her hands. “For your lip. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Thank you.” How civil of her. She must be frightened out of her wits.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”
She nodded and scooted slowly over to the edge of the bed. “Could you—” She motioned with her hand, as though not sure what she wanted to ask for.
“I have your robe.” He wrapped it around her shoulders, then gently wiped the tears that had been crushed against her cheeks. “Tell me where you’re hurt.”
“He bit my leg, but I think mostly it’s my head and wrists that hurt.”
“Let me bring you to the bathing chamber, Rosa. If you prefer your maid, I can rouse her from the servants’ quarters.”
“No. I don’t want Mary to see me like this. I don’t want you to either, but it’s too late for that.”
“I have a plunge bath in my chamber, do you mind if I carry you there?”
She nodded and gingerly touched her jaw where a bruise was blossoming in an ugly purple stain on the lower portion of her face. “I think I need something cold for my face. It’s throbbing, and my head is pounding something fierce.”
He slid one arm under her legs, another behind her back, and lifted her slight frame into his arms and held her tight against his chest. “Everyone went to bed an hour ago, so no one will see us. You can stay in my room tonight, I will take another guest room.”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
“Then I won’t leave your side.”
He left her room without meeting anyone in the hallway and quickly made his way to his chamber. He didn’t set her down until he reached his bathing room.
“You won’t leave me, will you?” Her voice wavered.
Lighting all the candles he had, he could see just how much of a mark Joh
nson had left.
“Let me retrieve a towel. I just need to get some supplies to clean you up.”
Pouring cold water into a bowl, he set a linen cloth in it, then took another cloth and held it under the spray of hot water in the plunge bath. Kneeling on the floor in front of her he lifted her hands. Her wrists were spotted with angry red dots and lines of purple. “You’ll have bruising around your wrists. But they’re not cut. Are they bothering you?”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. I had intended to come to you earlier, to apologize. I should have.”
Slipping one hand free from his hold, she touched his face with her fingertips. “Johnson would have found a way to do this another time. I’m thankful you were there to save me tonight.”
“I’ll make sure he knows he’s never to go near you again. Not without dire consequences for him.”
“Teddy,” she all but sighed, leaning her forehead against his. “Perhaps you are my knight in shining armor.”
“No knight, my lady.” He smiled under her fingertips, loving how she traced her fingers over the side of his cheek, then back down to his lips as though she liked how his smile felt. “But perhaps a little in love with you.”
She jerked her fingers away and took in a shaky breath. At least she kept her forehead pressed to his. Lifting the folded cloth in his hands, he pressed it to her swollen lip. She flinched and hissed in a breath. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. It’ll heal in time.”
“On the outside, but what about the inside?” Wiping away the blood from her chin, he pulled the cloth away, refolding it to use a clean part.
“I’m made of pretty stern stuff.”
“You were very nearly raped. As much as it pains me to remind you of that, I think I must. You shouldn’t have to be made of stern stuff, to be all right after what you went through.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know. And I’ll be here for you.”
Picking up her hand, he placed it against the cloth he held to her lip. “Hold this while I run you a bath.”
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