by Anna Edwards
“You’ll get pregnant one day, and I’ll be there reminding you of this moment.” She heaves again and then sits with her back against the clawfoot bath. “I feel like shit.”
I can’t help but laugh at the way her face screws up. She’s not looking like the elegant Duchess she likes to portray in public, at the moment.
“Hate to say it, but you look it as well,” I respond, handing her a glass of water with lemon in it.
“Some friend you are.” She throws the towel she’s been holding at me. “I want it to stop.”
“Just remember it means that there’s a healthy little baby in your tummy, taking all the good stuff from its mummy and leaving her exhausted.”
She snorts.
“Sounds just like Nicholas after a mammoth sex session.”
I put my fingers in my ears.
“La, la, la.”
“I should’ve done that the other night.” Victoria responds and raises an eyebrow at me.
Lowering my hands, I push up onto my feet from the crouching position I was in and reach out to help her to stand.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I play dumb as we go back into her room, and I pass her a dressing gown to cover her pajamas.
“Oh come on, the entire household heard you when you climaxed. Damn, Tammy, you’re a screamer.”
“Ria.” I use my nickname for her and scold her with a scowl.
“It’s not a problem. I’m happy about it. Are you a couple now?”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” I tell her and wrap my own dressing gown around my shoulders.
“It must have been hard seeing him have a meltdown last night. I’ve seen it a couple of times before. Nicholas hates using the sedative, but William has hurt himself previously, and he’ll do anything to prevent that.”
“Ria, not now!” I snap and walk out of the room and down the stairs toward the kitchen with Victoria following close behind me. In silence, I prepare myself an americano and a ginger tea for her to settle her stomach.
“I’m sorry,” she says when I hand it to her.
“So am I,” I respond as I add a little milk to my coffee and stir it. “It was hard to see him like that last night. I’m worried what happened between us has made him believe things, which aren’t true.”
“What do you mean?” Victoria asks, taking her tea and sitting down at a little table in the corner of the vast kitchen. It’s normally a hive of activity with meals being prepared for the Cavendish family, but at this early hour, it’s empty.
“The sex. It was good, really good, but a little rough.” I join her at the table and swirl my coffee around in the cup, hoping for it to cool quicker, so I can get some caffeine goodness in me to calm my nerves.
“How rough?”
Last night when we slept together, I made sure I wore a high-necked top with extra-long sleeves to hide my bruises. I lower my dressing gown and roll up the sleeves of my top. Victoria’s eyes go wide on seeing the red marks marring my arms. Biting my lip, I next bring my fingers up to the neck of my t-shirt and pull it down. This time she gasps.
“Tammy! What did he do?”
“I was tied to the bed, and when we orgasmed, he choked me.”
“Shit!” she exclaims at the same moment the chef comes into the kitchen. I quickly let go of my t-shirt, covering the contusions around my neck once again.
“Sorry, my lady, I wasn’t aware you were in here.” The chef bows. “Is there something you need? Breakfast?”
“No, it’s fine. We’ll get out of your way. I’m sure you don’t need me with my non-existent cooking skills in your kitchen.”
“It’s not a problem. If you and Miss Bennett need to talk, I can prepare ingredients in the pantry for now,” the chef replies as he backs out toward the kitchen door.
“Thank you,” Victoria tells him, and he disappears. She turns to me again, and it’s all I can do to hold back the tears I’ve been wanting to let flow for the last twenty-four hours.
“Was it consensual? The sex…and the choking?”
“I pleaded with him to do whatever he needed to me.”
“That doesn’t mean it was right. Did you ask him to stop?”
“No, that’s the thing,” I say and finally take a sip of my coffee, which is now cool enough. “I enjoyed it. It scared the hell out of me, but it was the best orgasm I’ve ever had.”
“Wow.” Victoria stares at me with her mouth wide open.
“Can I ask you something?” I inquire hesitantly.
“You can. It’s not a guarantee I’ll answer, though.”
“Is Nicholas rough?”
Victoria lets out a long exhale. “The thing you have to understand about the Cavendish boys is that virtually all the maternal figures in their life have been abused women. It’s the norm to them. For a long time, Nicholas knew what he was doing was wrong, but the pressure he was under and the lack of maternal love meant he couldn’t stop what was happening. That doesn’t mean he’s ever left me as bruised as William has you.”
My eyes narrow at Victoria, knowing exactly what Nicholas did to her when they first met.
“Ok, yeah he branded me and led me around in a scold’s bridle while his band of merry men whipped me. That’s what I mean, though. No matter how much they care for a woman, it’s hard for them after so many years of abuse to initially behave appropriately. Many people would say it should be instantaneous and they are monsters for not immediately protecting us, but their father’s way of life is so ingrained into them they struggle to see past it. Unable to believe in a potential normality until they’ve worked through everything else. Their father skewed their moral compass and for all the brashness Nicholas, especially, likes to portray, underneath he’s just a man trying to find his way in a fucked-up world.”
“Their father really did a number on them both,” I say woefully and finish my coffee while Victoria swallows the last mouthful of her tea.
“He did. Nicholas still struggles some days, but I’ve no worries about him being a good father despite his own father’s influence. Of course, William has had to adjust to so much more. He’s had to deal with his autism, and the fact he was locked away for so long, as well as coping with the violence he himself experienced and saw his father expend at every turn. His heart is good, though. He saved me when he could have so easily treated me like the others did. He had plenty of opportunities to rape me if he’d truly been the monster he now thinks he is, but he didn't. That shows the real truth of him. He just needs some time to come to terms with all the changes around him.”
“So, I’ve not set him back by sleeping with him.”
“No. You’ve given him food for thought.”
“I hope so.” I reach forward and squeeze her hand.
“Thanks, Ria.”
“You’re my best friend. I’m always going to help you.”
Victoria winks at me and gets to her feet. “Speaking of food for thought, I had an idea in the night and wanted to run it by your legal brain. Come with me.”
I follow my best friend as she meanders through the seemingly endless corridors of Oakfield Hall. It’s lovely to see her in her element as the mistress of this place. It must be hard for her to love the building after all the history the four walls have seen, but somehow, she seems to soften the harsh exterior. She finally stops in front of a door marked as the ‘Duke’s Office’. She pushes it open, and I see two desks facing each other in the middle of the room. The one to the left of me has a pile of papers with a half-empty brandy glass placed on top. It’s the more masculine of the two desks. The other one has a white folder covered in roses on it as well as a small vase with a single, fresh red rose. This is obviously Victoria’s desk. Nobody else would have rose stationery. She’s obsessed with the flower. Picking up the folder, she flicks through it.
“Nicholas has managed to get most of the members of the society to sign up to the new rules. Many of them were thankful for the change. Abusing women didn’t sit
well with them. However, a few have been a bit more hesitant. Nicholas has barred them from all meetings, but he’s been following their actions closely, and it looks like they are going to try to start causing trouble. We could have all the assets they want to use frozen by illegal means, but that gives them fuel against us. We want to try to do everything as legally as possible, and that is where you come in.” Victoria pauses and hands me a piece of paper. “Can you figure out a legal way to suspend any funds these people have?”
I look down at the list. It consists of a few names, but two stand out to me, in particular. Lord West and Viscount Hamilton. I know Lord West from stories about one of the girls who disappeared, and Viscount Hamilton is Victoria’s father, of course.
“You want me to go against your father?” I look up from the list to Victoria.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” she says matter of factly, but I can tell it’s hurting her. He’s still her father, no matter what he did to her. She does have some good memories of him being a caring parent toward her. In fact, we both do while growing up together.
“This could harm Theo in the end.”
“I know. When Nicholas eventually allows me to visit my father’s estate, I want to try and talk to my brother. See if I can explain to him everything that’s happened.”
“It might not be that easy.”
“We have to do this, Tamara. We have to put a stop to what they are doing. Not just for the sake of the women involved, but for Nicholas and William too. They’re out from under their father’s shadow and can finally be their own men, but if my father has his way, he’ll destroy them, so he can hold all the power and be able to do whatever he wants with women, again. I know his true colors now.”
I look down at the names on the paper and back up to my friend. Ideas start to form in my head about what can be done to ruin the names and freeze the assets of these powerful, evil men.
“I’ll do it.”
Chapter Eleven
William
“William. You awake?” The deep timbre of a masculine voice draws me from my slumber, and I open my eyes. Looking over to my alarm clock, it tells me it’s the early hours of the morning.
“Nicholas?” I question.
“No, it’s me,” the voice replies, and in my sleep induced haze, I have to open my eyes to see who’s in my room. When I open them, I see my friend Lord West, and he’s accompanied by a vivacious blonde who’s waving enthusiastically at me.
“Hello.” I sit up, rubbing my eyes and yawning. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve brought you a present.” West leers at me and pushes the girl on his arm forward.
“It’s not really the sort of present I want at three am. I’d rather another couple of hours sleep.” I grunt and slide back down in the bed.
“Jesus, William. You really are strange. If I was to bring a willing woman to most blokes, they’d get their dick out and say, ‘which hole is mine?’. But you would rather sleep.”
“Fuck you, West,” I retort. “If she wants my dick, she can get it out and bounce on it.”
My friend laughs. “You heard him, love. Time to go all cowboy on his dick.”
“That’s not something you have to ask me to do twice, not if he’s as good with it as you are,” the woman sing-songs, and I try to ignore them even though I know it will be futile.
“He’s not as good as me, babe, but he knows what to do with it. He’s learned from the master after all. He’s the Duke’s son.”
“Nicholas?” she exclaims.
“No, William,” West replies, and I can hear them getting nearer to the bed.
“But I didn’t think anyone ever saw him. There are rumors he’s disfigured and can’t speak because he’s got the brain of a baby.”
“Well, you’ve heard him speak, so I think that dispels that theory.” Before I have a chance to grab the sheets, my friend pulls them off leaving me naked in front of him and the girl.
“Fucking hell, West!” I try to grab them back from him, but he’s thrown them across the room, and the girl is crawling up the bed toward me before I have a chance to do anything about it.
“I don’t see any disfigurements either. Why does the Duke hide him away?” She stares at me as she speaks, cocking her head from side to side as if she’s examining me. I shut my eyes to try and block it all out while my hands go to my junk to cover it, so I’m not on display for them both.
“He’s got something called autism. His brain is wired funny, or some shit like that. The Duke says he acts strange in polite society, and he’s worried about him embarrassing him, so it’s best to keep him hidden away.”
“That’s a shame,” the girl laments woefully. “He’s pretty handsome. He’d be a catch in our circles.”
“The Duke allows you in here to play, but William’s not allowed out.”
The girl giggles, sending an eerie shiver down my spine.
“As long as I get to play, that’s all I want.”
“You do realize I’m lying here, trying to sleep,” I snap.
“Babe, suck his dick. We need to wake him up a bit more.”
I hold on tighter to my junk, but it’s to no avail. The woman slides herself over my body, tasting it as she works her way down to where my traitorous dick hardens. I let go of it, and she wraps her mouth around the length, causing it to stiffen further. By the time she finishes licking up the sides of my shaft and sucking on my balls, I’m hard enough to pound nails. I push her off before she makes me come because there’s no point in wasting an orgasm if it’s going to be unsatisfactory. No, I need more stimulation to persuade me to give up my cum. West comes behind her, and I can see him removing her clothes. He’s giving me a display, knowing that this is the way we work best together. He lets me watch as he unwraps the present and takes her first before giving me what is left to fuck into complete oblivion. His clothes fall to the floor as he orders her to lie down on the bed, and I slide over to the side, so she has enough room to get on. Her hand reaches out for my dick, and she pumps it a few times before I grab her wrist and stop it. I don’t need to tell her – the tight grip of my fingers around her delicate skin is enough. As she’s one of West’s girls, she’ll be trained for what is about to happen to her. He wouldn’t use her if she wasn’t. I’m too dangerous to be left with a novice in our dark world. My father decreed, after the events surrounding the loss of my virginity, that he didn’t want to have to deal with any dead bodies covered in my DNA. It would be too much of an inconvenience for him, especially when he’s got better things to do like fuck his own slut into a hospital or worse.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” West tells the girl who’s still holding my dick but no longer moving her hand. She turns her attention to the other man in the room. “I’m in the mood for something a little different tonight. Something daring. Something dark,” West announces.
“Sounds exciting,” the girl purrs, and I take a moment to examine her body. She’s not what I’d call pretty although I’m sure most people would. She’s too thin with not enough to grab hold of except for her chest, which is more than a handful, but I’m fairly certain they’re not real. Her hair is a brilliant blonde, and with a face full of make-up there’s nothing natural about her. Even her protruding ribs are fake – the result of her starving herself to give her appearance the catwalk look. I push her hand off my dick and shift so I’m standing. I take my own dick in hand, giving it a couple of hard pumps just to take the edge off the tension I feel building in my balls. I may not find this woman sexy, but what is about to happen will be all I need to get me off, when the time is right.
“It’s very exciting.” West says, drawing my attention back to him as he pulls a small knife from his pocket. “It’s been a while since you’ve bled for me, beautiful. I think it’s about time we painted the bed crimson, don’t you?”
“Yes, please,” the woman hisses with excitement, and I have to wonder about the mentality of someone who’d let a man
do this to her. She must trust West implicitly not to harm her. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but then I’ve seen some of the things this man has done to women. I’ll never forget the night I heard pained screaming coming from my father’s room. I used the secret passageway to investigate what was happening. My father and West were sharing a girl with one in her ass and the other in her pussy. She was covered in blood and bruises where they’d obviously beaten her. She was crying and pleading for them to stop, but neither did. They continued to assault her for the next few hours before West put a gun to her head and blew her brains out. I may lose myself during the moment, but I would never deliberately do that to a woman. She has to consent to what I do, and even though sending that poor girl to heaven may have been a blessing, it’s not something I could ever do. Maybe that’s why I’m the monster. I don’t have the guts to finish the job properly and put them out of their misery after I’ve destroyed them.
“Hey, William. You going to concentrate on the job in hand, or are you just going to stand there and play with your dick like the pussy you are.” West brings me out of my reflection with his harsh words, and I watch as he swirls his tongue around a line of blood on the girl’s breast.
“So good,” she moans, and he flicks the knife over her other tit. The crimson essence floods to the surface and trickles down over her nipple. “You want some?” the girl asks me, and I shake my head. Blood play is West’s thing, not mine. I just need a hole to stick my dick in at the end.
“I’ll watch, for now.”
West takes his knife lower, making a few small cuts on the girl’s stomach as he goes. When he gets to her pussy, he pulls the folds apart and swipes the knife over the delicate flesh. The girl screams in pain this time, not pleasure.
“Fuck, that hurt.” She tries to shut her legs, but West pulls them apart and licks the length of her slit. He has blood round his mouth when he brings his head back up. “Don’t do that again,” the girl demands, but West doesn’t listen to her. He cuts the other side of her folds, and I know in that instant this has turned darker and into something the girl wasn’t expecting.