Tanner gauged his brother’s reaction. He could see the wall that went up and the quick shift of emotions as Trevor prepared to put on an act. Clearly, his younger brother still thought that would work.
Five years ago, it had been easy for Trevor to control Tanner. It had been easy for him to put on an act and get Tanner to do anything he wanted, times had changed.
Spending three years fighting tooth and nail in a prison camp after serving two years in a war had a way of changing a person. Tanner wasn’t the same man that had left here. He no longer feared anything, least of all his bully of a brother.
“Temperance is a handful, Tanner. Had I known the lack of morals the woman possessed I never would have married her.”
Tanner nodded as he sat back down, but kept that knife in his hand. He didn’t trust Trevor. He knew that his younger brother had sent him away in hopes he’d be killed. He knew that he had only wanted one thing and that was this plantation. He had no doubts in his mind that Trevor was an evil husband because Trevor had always been evil in everything he did.
“What happened in here today was not a lack of morals on her part, brother. What happened in here today was a lack of common sense on the part of this man here. Just who is this man, anyhow?” Tanner could tell the man was a gunslinger based on that gun belt he’d been wearing. It was low slung and just right for grabbing his irons quickly.
Trevor walked to the armchair and sat down, looking relaxed as could be as if there was a dead body in a pool of blood on the floor between them. “I have a staff of able bodied men here…”
“Hired guns?” Tanner frowned. “Why do you need hired guns?”
“Because the war took a large toll on the south,” Trevor snapped. “There are those who are struggling to keep food in their mouths now and they are eager to take what they can from the richer man.”
Tanner nodded. “So instead of helping them, you shoot them.” He rubbed at his neck. “That seems reasonable.”
Trevor’s eyes narrowed, “If you had won the war it wouldn’t be necessary.”
“I wasn’t exactly the only man out there fighting it,” Tanner countered. “Maybe if you’d have gotten off your lazy ass and come fought beside me we’d have been able to make a difference.”
The surprise in Trevor’s eyes was easy enough to spot. Tanner knew the man was shocked because it was the first time that Trevor had ever had his brother stand up to him.
Trevor carefully schooled his expression and Tanner found himself able to pick up on all the nuance’s and acting that he had once been blind to. “Where have you been, Tanner? The war has been over for a year and I haven’t heard from you. I assumed you were dead.”
Wished I was, is more like it. “I was captured by Union forces three years ago and tossed in a prison camp. It took me a while to get out.”
“That’s terrible,” Trevor pushed himself to his feet. “Come on and I’ll take you to a clean room so you can rest.”
Tanner stood slowly, cursing the weakness in his body. He grabbed the breakfast that Temperance had entered his room with and followed Trevor into the hall and to the room that had once been Tanner’s when he’d lived here so long ago.
Once Tanner was settled into the room and Trevor had left, Tanner attacked the plate of food with a vengeance. It was his first true meal in a long, long time and Tanner knew he needed to eat and build his strength. Something told him he was going to be fighting a whole new war soon, this one against his brother.
Tanner had been dead inside for a long, long time… The war had killed a big part of him and the prison camp had done away with the rest, but seeing the mistreatment of those people outside when he’d arrived. Seeing that beautifully haunted woman this morning, seeing the evilness with which Trevor had looked at his wife, and the fear in her eyes as she had looked upon his brother had something inside of Tanner sparking back to life.
Tanner was going to focus on building back his strength and then he was going to figure out what the hell was going on at this plantation and fix and right whatever wrongs his good for nothing brother had committed in his absence.
Chapter Sixteen
Time seemed to drag on as Temperance sat in her room awaiting her punishment. She knew it would be a bad one.
Emerson was dead because she had fought against him. She had overstepped her bounds and forgotten her place. She had allowed Tanner to touch her arm and had made the mistake of looking at the man a few too many times with Trevor watching…
She hadn’t looked intentionally; her eyes were simply drawn to Tanner. He was the first true help that she had had--the first person to truly stand up for her in over a year and Temperance had been too shocked to focus on anything other than that.
Now she was going to pay the price for that.
Two hours passed before she heard footsteps outside her door. She took a deep breath to steady herself as the door opened and Trevor stepped in.
“Come here,” he ordered.
Temperance was quick to jump to her feet and go to him, not wanting to anger him any further by keeping him waiting. She stood before him and stared down at his feet. Trevor’s breathing was slow and calculated and she could feel his eyes boring holes into the top of her head.
“The punishment you deserve is a severe one, dear wife.”
“Should I have let him force me then?” Temperance whispered, not quite knowing what had come over her to cause her to speak out of turn. “Would that not have gone against your rules if I allowed another man to lay with me?”
“Do not speak in such an insolent tone to me!” Trevor hissed as his hand closed around her upper arm and squeezed painfully. “Something is different about my brother and until I decide what to do about it, you are to behave yourself. I will get one of the other women to serve him meals; you are to stay away from him. We are a loving husband and wife and you will take to sleeping in my room as to not arouse suspicions.”
“No, I won’t,” Temperance shook her head and met his gaze. “I’m tired of being forced, Trevor…”
His hand fell sharply across her face and the burning sting silenced her. “You will do as I say and I will take what I want. You breathe a word to my brother and I will kill him and then you, do you understand?”
Temperance nodded quickly. Trevor pointed to the bed. “You’ll stay in this room for the rest of the day and tonight I’ll come for you and you’ll spend your first night in my bed. As my wife that’s where you should be.”
Temperance watched him walk out the door and close it quietly behind him. She bit her lip to stop tears from falling. She was tired of crying over that man and the hell he put her through. Now the rape would be nightly and she would be forced to sleep with him curled up beside her… She wasn’t sure she could!
Trevor seemed genuinely worried about Tanner… could Tanner be her way out of here? Could he be the one to help bring down Trevor and save herself and all the others on this ranch from the other man and his thugs? Temperance wasn’t sure how the man could in his current state but she had to find a way to talk to him. She had to know if he was truly friend or foe. If he was foe and he told Trevor about their conversation the worst Trevor could do was kill her… And honestly death didn’t sound so terribly bad.
***
Temperance was not given the chance to speak to or even see Tanner over the next week. She was a virtual prisoner of Trevor’s bedroom. She was only permitted to leave twice a day to relieve herself and that was only with Trevor as an escort.
Her meals were brought to the bedroom, but at least she was given three a day. It was a nice change from only having one, and the laziness of being cooped in a room once putting weight back on her bony frame. She was starting to once again resemble the well-proportioned shapely woman she’d once shown promise of being.
Temperance was beginning to slowly lose her mind. She had gotten accustomed to human contact while living out among the slaves and she missed that. Staring at walls and talking to dust m
otes simply was not the same.
Trevor’s rough forcefulness each and every night and again every morning was taking a toll on her body. She was covered in bruises and bite marks, all in places that would be hidden by her dresses should she venture out and be seen by Tanner. Her core was so raw, sore, and tender and it hurt to walk and she was certain that she had seen blood the last few times that Trevor had taken her.
He didn’t care.
Temperance looked out the window, cursing the lock he kept on the French doors leading out to the veranda. She would love the chance to simply sit with the wind blowing against her face.
Temperance knew that even if she picked the lock and left the room there was a guard always posted in the hall. She would not make it far and the punishment would surely not be worth the small taste of freedom.
Her spirit had been quieted. She was at Trevor’s mercy and she had once again run out of strength to fight him.
***
The night lay heavy outside. Crickets and frogs could be heard through the closed window. Temperance’s body ached and throbbed painfully from the torment that Trevor had put it through just a few short hours before.
He was snoring now, sleeping peacefully with the help of nearly an entire decanter of scotch. Temperance wasn’t sure what had him drinking so heavily, but it had made him even more violent than usual.
She gingerly laid her finger against her split and swollen upper lip and winced. She knew that while she could not see them because of the lack of light, her arms were covered up and down with bruises as was her neck. He had seemed to take pleasure in choking her until she was on the verge of unconsciousness repeatedly tonight.
Temperance prayed that there was no liquor left in the house. She would not make it through another night of that, she simply couldn’t.
Her bladder tightened once again, reminding her of one of the reasons sleep was still eluding her other than pain.
She bit her lip, unhappy that she would have to wake Trevor to escort her to the outhouse. Surely, he would be angry and there was always a chance he’d be ready to take her again… Temperance shivered at the thought. But, if she didn’t wake him and she went alone and he awoke while she was gone… Temperance shivered at that thought as well.
Temperance sat up and nudged Trevor’s shoulder, “Master? Master, wake up.”
Trevor merely grunted and pulled the covers tighter around himself as he continued to snore. Temperance rolled her eyes and knew that if she didn’t get to the outhouse soon she was going to soil the sheets. “Master, I have to use the outhouse…”
“Then go,” Trevor mumbled.
Temperance bit her lip. She knew the man was in a drunken stupor, a scotch induced coma, but then again she had promised to obey him. If he said to go…
Temperance rose from the bed, pulled her robe over her bruised bare body and went to the door. If Trevor caught her gone from the room…
His snores were the only sound filling the air and Temperance knew that he wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon. The man was out. If she didn’t relieve herself he would beat her senseless for soiling his bed or his rug.
Her every movement ached, burned, and caused tears to gather behind her eyes as she reached out and opened the door. Temperance stepped out into the hall and closed the door silently behind her.
There was so much pain in her body that she found herself unable to enjoy her momentary freedom.
The house was silent as Temperance made her way down the hall and out the back door. Everything was eerily calm and everyone was sound asleep.
Temperance contemplated going to the barn, saddling a horse, and riding out of here, but knew that her body would never allow it. Just walking to the outhouse was proving to be a challenge. She stood holding onto the porch banister for several long moments, breathing hard against the agony in her body.
After making her way to the outhouse and then returning to the porch, Temperance remained there for a long while. She simply took in the feel of the warm breeze against her skin and listened to the sounds of crickets in the night. This plantation was beautiful and deceptively peaceful during the night. A person would have no idea as to the terror the place truly held.
With a sigh, Temperance decided it was time to get back to Trevor. She would rather not, but her body could not stand the beating that would come if he woke up alone and angry.
Temperance slowly made her way back into the house and up the stairs. She was about to climb to the third floor where Trevor’s bedroom was located when she heard a strangled cry come from a bedroom down the hall.
Listening intently, Temperance heard nothing and was about to chalk the sound up to her imagination when suddenly it reached her ears again. It sounded as if someone was being hurt and begging for mercy.
Temperance frowned and walked to the door that was between her and the noise. She heard the cry again. She was fairly certain that this was the room Tanner had been using.
Was he in trouble? Should she help him? This would give her the chance to finally speak to the man, but then again if she was caught in his room… It didn’t matter. If Trevor caught her out of bed, she was going to pay for it either way. She might as well go see if she could help Tanner and have that talk with him she’d been wanting to have.
Taking a deep breath, Temperance reached out and turned the handle. How could she have known that by entering that room that night everything would change forever?
Chapter Seventeen
Temperance stepped into the room and thankfully, her eyes were already adjusted to the darkness so she could see her way as she walked to the bed. Tanner was laying upon it as he tossed and turned fitfully upon the sheets. He was moaning and whimpering in the darkness and sweat slicked his dark blond hair to his brow.
“Tanner?” she whispered, recognizing the signs of a nightmare. She had them often enough to know them when she saw them.
The man didn’t respond to her voice. His head thrashed more violently and he yelled out once again, the sound coming out strangled and full of pain. His hands gripped the sheet below him and his legs kicked.
Tanner had thrown off the covers and his bare torso was slicked with sweat. The sight of a half-naked man was not enough to shock her, she had seen quite a few in the last year and the innocent young girl she had been before her family died had long since been forgotten.
Temperance noticed that Tanner’s body seemed to have filled out some in the past week, while not enough to hide his ribs and hip bones, it was enough to take some of the look of death away. A glance at his face told her his cheeks were not nearly as sunken as they’d been the last time she had seen him.
Temperance moved a bit closer to the bed and reached out a hand. She remembered what had happened the last time she’d awaken him from a nightmare and so this time she stayed closer to his legs and simply shook him below the knee. “Tanner, wake up.”
Temperance jumped back when Tanner sat bolt upright and his wide blue gray eyes were bright a she scanned the room and they fell upon her.
“You…” he whispered. Quickly, he swiped the sweat from his brow and licked his lips. “What are you doing here?”
Temperance moved out of the shadows and stepped to his bedside once again. “You sounded as if you were struggling. I was coming in to help.”
“It was just a bad dream,” he assured her quietly. Then his eyes narrowed as they scanned her up and down.
Temperance shifted uncomfortably with his eyes looking at her so. It was different from the way she’d been looked at before… he wasn’t looking at her appraisingly and there was no lust… his eyes held anger. Anger that would have had her fleeing had her abused body been capable of such fast movement.
“What happened to you?” Tanner all but growled.
“Nothing…” Temperance replied quickly. Her resolve was failing her. Could she trust this man? Could she tell him the truth about his brother? Would he believe her, and, if he did believe her, would he car
e?
No.
Temperance had learned her lesson in trusting. Why was she even in this room? Why had she let herself foolishly fall for that hopeful voice that still lived inside her? Temperance backed away toward the door but Tanner moved more quickly than she had thought him capable. He was out of the bed and between her and the door before she could blink. Temperance took several quick steps backward, instantly fearing the worst…
Their eyes locked and something sparked deep down in Temperance. There was such a familiarity in his eyes, a deep down sorrow and blankness that she recognized. She had no idea what the man had seen, done or had done to him, to have given him such a sadness, but it caused her heart to cry out for the companionship of someone who would understand her.
“I won’t hurt you,” he promised. Temperance was frightened to believe his words when there was a chance they were nothing, but pretty lies to lure her closer. Tanner shook his head “Temperance,” he whispered, his voice pained and confused. “…why are you here with him?”
Temperance swallowed hard. She had no choice. She had to speak and had to believe that he would care. She forced herself to hold his gaze. “He bought me…”
“Bought you?”
“Yes. From the man who kidnapped me after my family died.”
Temperance froze as Tanner reached out his hand and traced his finger across her welted mouth. His hand then went to her bruised and battered neck before falling down to his side. Tanner’s eyes locked on hers and his body tensed.
Temperance felt her knees shake and, while she didn’t understand what she was feeling, she knew that something about Tanner was different. He was brother to her husband. He was blood kin to a monster. He had fought alongside the people who had killed her father and brothers and yet she found herself unable to care about any of those things…
Against Her Will Page 8