A thorough search of the room failed to produce anything thin enough to fit through the crack that might still be strong enough to lift the board.
She sat down again, considering it.
Finally, she got up and opened the trunk, pulling out the girdle. There was something stiff in it. She began picking at the seams, gnawing the thread with her teeth, then picking again. Finally, she managed to make a large enough opening to remove the ‘hard thing’. She looked it over and decided it looked like a piece of bone.
"Ugh!" She didn’t even want to think what kind of bone it might be.
It looked like it might be thin enough and strong enough, though. Returning to the door, she moved the door back and forth until she had the widest crack, slipped the piece through and began working at lifting the bar on the other side.
Chapter Twelve
Chloe had envisioned lifting the bar high enough to clear the catch, pushing the door open and tiptoeing away. It didn’t work out quite that way. As soon as the board cleared the bracket, it slipped off the piece of bone and hit the floor outside the room hard enough to wake the dead.
Chloe froze, hardly daring to breathe as she listened to see if someone would come to investigate. To her surprise and relief, no one did. Easing the door open, she looked up and down the corridor and stepped out. She’d already started down the hall when it occurred to her that leaving the door open would immediately alert anyone who found it.
Retracing her steps, she shut the door and carefully placed the brace back into its brackets.
She paused at the head of the stairs to listen before descending. Most of the torches used to light the place had burned out, leaving the castle gloomier than ever, and making it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead of her. The assortment of snores from the hall, however, were enough to assure her that there probably wasn’t a mouse stirring by now, the men having drunk themselves under the tables.
Smiling, she bundled the skirts up high enough she wouldn’t trip over the fabric and began her descent, pausing now and then to listen again. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears by the time she reached the bottom it sounded like Indian war drums, but she was more confident that she could make her way through the hall without being caught.
Dragging in a couple of slow, deep breaths to calm her nerves, Chloe stepped into the doorway of the great hall and peered around.
"Yer off then, lass?"
The blood froze in her veins even as her head whipped toward the voice. Sean was propped against the wall, a grim smile curling his lips.
Chloe made a dash for it. His arm came out, waist high, clothes lining her. She hit the ‘immovable’ object so hard the momentum slung her feet out from under her. He caught her, preventing her from hitting the floor by sweeping her into his arms, but she wasn’t so sure she’d have felt it anyway. The impact knocked the breath out of her. She was still struggling to drag a decent breath of air into her lungs to keep from passing out as he started back up the stairs with her.
The Clark Gable thing wasn’t nearly as romantic, she reflected, as it had looked in the movie, particularly since she was very much afraid screwing her brains out wasn’t what he had in mind.
He made a kind of growling noise when he saw the bar placed innocently across the door. Kicking it out of the way, he shoved the door open with his foot, strode across the room and dropped her on the bed.
It wasn’t a lot softer than it had been the first time he’d done it. The straw was fresher and ‘fluffed’ but it still wasn’t a hell of a lot better than being dropped on a padded floor. She hit the bed like a half cooked pancake slung against the wall. She’d just managed to struggle up onto her elbows and gape at him when he returned from slamming and bolting the door, grasped her by her ankles and dragged her toward the edge of the bed, peeling her skirts back along the way so that the fabric was bunched around her head by the time she reached the edge.
The moment he released his grip on her ankles, she rolled onto her stomach and scrambled across the bed again. He caught her ankles and dragged her back. She caught the fabric mattress in a both hands, pulling it with her.
When he released her ankles this time, her feet hit the floor. Before she could decide whether to run or try crawling across the bed again, he swatted her on the ass just hard enough to sting. Her eyes widened.
She twisted around to look at him just as he swatted her ass again.
She supposed she should have been outraged, but it didn’t actually hurt. Apparently, despite his grim determination to teach her a lesson, he wasn’t sure of his own strength and was fearful of striking her hard enough to actually cause her any pain.
She was never afterwards certain what goaded her--good old fashioned lust, or pure spitefulness and the determination not to allow him to think he’d gotten the best of her. It was certainly not because she had ever seriously considered spanking as a part of love play that held any interest for her. Whatever it was that motivated her, instead of glaring at him, she gave him the same sultry glance she had when he’d ‘promised’ before to reward her inventiveness with a spanking.
At the look on her face, the grim determination on his vanished. He froze. For several moments he merely stared at her while surprise warred with doubt on his features, but both vanished when he looked down at her upturned ass, replaced by pure lust.
The look on his face was enough by itself to get Chloe’s juices flowing. It had been days since he’d even come near her, more than long enough for her to recover her libido. Her mouth went dry as images of the night they’d spent together before bombarded her, making her heart race. She closed her eyes, savoring the heat rushing through her, feeling her pussy throb with remembered pleasure and renewed need that far exceeded the desire she’d felt for him before she’d known how good he made her feel. Suddenly feeling an urgency to feel his hard, distended flesh stretching her, delving deeply inside her, thrusting, she opened her eyes and very deliberately wiggled her ass at him enticingly.
He watched the movement with the look of someone under hypnosis. Lifting his hand slowly, he ran his palm over the buttock he’d spanked. Chloe bit her lip, closing her eyes once more as his shaking fingers found the opening in her shorts and delved into her cleft, tracing it, dipping into the creamy juices oozing from her sex in anticipation of his possession.
"Do me like this, Sean," she whispered urgently. "From behind."
She could hear his labored breathing even above her own. "It would nae be right," he said doubtfully, but she could see from the look on his face that he wanted to so badly he could think of nothing else once she’d put it into his mind.
She groaned, determined to goad him. "I’m so hot for you, Sean. I want to feel your cock inside of me. Fuck me, baby. Fuck me good."
She heard him swallow audibly. Knowing he was wavering, she pushed back against him, rubbing her buttocks against his erection. Groaning, he grasped her hip with one hand, digging his fingers into her flesh. She heard the rustle of clothing as he shoved his tartan out of the way. Then she felt the hard nudge of his cock between the cheeks of her ass, slipping along her cleft. Spreading her legs wider, she came up on her tiptoes, angling her hips until she felt the head of his cock pressing against her pussy, parting the folds of flesh, pushing inside.
He gripped her waist with both hands as she pushed slowly back toward him, impaling herself on his hard shaft. When she looked back at him again, she saw that he was watching her flesh engulf him, his face flushed with desire, his eyes burning with it. His expression sent an answering rush of passion through her, making her belly clench, and she felt him slipping out of her once more. He lifted his head, his gaze locking with hers as, gripping her tightly, he pushed inside of her until his pelvis was grinding against her buttocks.
She closed her eyes. "God! That feels so good."
He shuddered, fought for control and lost it. As if he couldn’t help himself, he gritted his teeth and buried his cock to the root inside of he
r again. Panting hoarsely, he leaned over her, struggled against his urges for perhaps a heartbeat and then began to thrust into her over and over again so hard and deep she had to struggle to keep her balance. Clutching the sheets, she buried her face against the bed, uttering little whimpering cries of excitement as she felt the pleasurable tension build rapidly inside her body, felt herself hovering on the edge of release.
He uttered a cry abruptly that was half groan, half gasp. His cock, convulsing with his climax, the sounds of his pleasure, the shudders ripping through his big body, sent her over the edge and her own climax thundered through her blindingly, mind numbingly.
Replete, Chloe lay limply against the bed, struggling for a decent breath of air as she felt his cock slip from her body and the warmth of his seed slide down her thigh.
It was an unpleasant reminder that her birth control patch had a very short shelf life … and she didn’t have another one.
She was suddenly sorry she and Sean had spent so much time fighting and so little time making love. She had no idea why he affected her the way he did, what it was about him that made her feel like a bitch in heat, and glory in it, but she did know this pleasure was bound to be fleeting and it wasn’t likely she’d ever in her life find another man who aroused her to such heights of passion.
"Ya’d test a saint, lass," Sean said, his voice still hoarse. "I should nae have used ya so, but I canna think when ya talk ta me like that, when ya look at me like that."
Chloe glanced at him over her shoulder and finally pushed herself upright. "I’d kill for a hot shower right now," she muttered, hoping he wasn’t going to pick another fight by commenting on her virginity, or rather her lack thereof, again.
The weird thing was, self-control had never been a problem for her before. She’d allowed herself to be coaxed into experimenting with sex a few times, with a couple of partners, but she’d figured the three time rule applied. She’d been hugely disappointed with her first time and even though she’d really felt like she could fall in love with the other two men she’d slept with, and she hadn’t had to deal with the discomfort of her virginity, the fact was she hadn’t been impressed enough to remain interested.
It figured that she’d finally find someone who made her melt only to discover he found her need for him shocking … and she feared, a complete turnoff.
"A what?"
Chloe sighed, moved across the room to the cold water in the tub and bathed herself off. When she’d finished she went to the trunk and flopped down on it. "I seriously want to go home," she said glumly. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself. She supposed it could be considered progress that he seemed to take her ‘lapse’ in stride, but it would’ve been nice to cuddle up … And maybe try another position.
One way or another, she was running out of time, and she wasn’t even close to being tired of Sean pawing at her and demanding sex … mostly, she supposed, because he hadn’t pawed at her and demanded sex.
If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought he was a damned virgin he was so squeamish about having fun in the sack.
He said nothing for several moments. "I expect we’ll have word from yer kin soon enough. Yer uncle left as soon as he’d talked with ya."
Chloe propped her chin in her hand. "What if they won’t pay the ransom?"
His lips tightened. "They’ll nae want to leave ya ta the Fraziers, lass. They’ll pay."
She sighed. What was the use? She supposed she could relate. If it hadn’t happened to her, she wouldn’t believe it either. "You don’t have to lock me in. I probably couldn’t find my way back to the damned fairy ring anyway, and even if I could, it probably wouldn’t work," she muttered irritably.
Sean frowned. "Truth is, it’s nae safe for ya ta be wanderin’ about, lass. I ken ya dinna have a hand in the deaths o’ them men--at least nae directly--but there’s some around here who think yer responsible."
Chloe gaped at him in disbelief. "You’re not serious!"
"Aye, lass. I am. It’s why I brought ya ta my room--ta make sure they were all aware ya were under my protection. I dinna plan ta take advantage of ya."
"Great! Now I’ve got to worry about that too?"
"Ya dinna have ta worry. I give ya my word I’ll nae allow harm ta come ta ya, lass. I only told ya because I dinna want ya tryin’ anything like ya did a bit ago."
Chloe looked him over a little doubtfully. It wasn’t that she didn’t think, under ordinary circumstances, that he’d be more than a match for most any man, but he seemed determined to ignore the fact that he would’ve been right in the middle of that massacre if he hadn’t stopped because of her. And, if he had been, they would probably have been burying him like they had the other men.
She frowned. "You’re still going to ransom me back to the Monroes, knowing they mean to make me marry that Kincaid guy? I mean, you’ll have two enemies then, won’t you?"
His lips tightened. "I’ve nae choice in the matter now. In point of fact the Monroe is as like ta send an army ta take ya back as he is ta pay ransom."
Chloe looked at him in alarm. "With me a hostage here?"
"He’d be takin’ a chance that I’d nae harm ya."
Uneasiness crept through Chloe. She’d tried very hard not to think about how savage this time and place was, but it was pretty hard to ignore the fact that they were like a bunch of wild rednecks … except worse, because they didn’t have to worry about being law caught. "You wouldn’t, would you?" she asked weakly.
He frowned. "Have I offered ya harm?"
Chloe thought it over. "You spanked me."
A gleam entered his eyes. "It dinna seem ta me ya disliked it tha’ much."
"Lucky for me," Chloe said wryly. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have liked it if it had been anyone but Sean, but he turned her on just by breathing. A smile curled her lips. "Actually, I’m not completely sure I did like it. Let’s try it again and see?"
He chuckled, but shook his head. "I’ve a fear I smell a bit more like goat than man. I’m thinkin’ I’ll make use of the bath now yer done with it."
Chloe glanced at the tub skeptically. It wasn’t exactly clean anymore, but then it was still far cleaner than most everything else around the place. "The water was almost cold when I bathed. You’ll freeze your pecker off."
He threw her a shocked look, but laughed. "It canna be colder than bathin’ in the loc."
She watched with interest as he removed his clothing and stepped into the tub. He really was a fine specimen of a man, she thought with a deep sigh. Everything on him was pretty.
He shivered when he’d settled, and then looked around. Getting up from the trunk, Chloe got the soap and the cloth she’d used to bathe with and, dipping the cloth in the water, lathered it and began scrubbing his back. It occurred to her after a moment, however, that his hair was in need of a good wash and she set the cloth aside and lathered his hair, scrubbing his scalp with her fingertips.
He’d looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and wariness at first, but he neither complained nor resisted. When she’d rinsed his hair as good as she could, she picked up the cloth again and finished scrubbing his back, then handed him the soap and washcloth and moved back to her seat on the trunk to watch him.
She giggled as he struggled to unfold his legs enough to wash them. "You look like a Great Dane in a wash pan."
He sent her a strange look. "You’ve ways about ya, lass, tha’ are downright strange, ta say nothin’ of the way ya talk."
Chloe shrugged. "I suppose that depends on the way you look at it. Nobody where I’m from ever seemed to think I was the least bit strange." She thought it over for a moment. "OK, well maybe a little. I guess it’s because my grandmother raised me. My friends thought I was a little weird and old fashioned about some things."
"In what way?" Sean asked absently, frowning as he concentrated on his bath.
"I can cook, for one thing. Not that I like to, but I can. My best friend can’t even boil water …
and that’s a lot more common than you’d think. Most of the girls I went to high school with couldn’t cook. I don’t know about the college, but I doubt there’s many. I mean, nobody seems to learn how anymore. If it wasn’t for microwaves and fast food restaurants, they’d probably starve.
"I guess it’s not the sort of skill that’s really necessary anymore … like sewing, and needle arts. Gram taught me a lot of those, too, when I was young. Not that I do anything like that anymore. I don’t have time and people look at me like I’m weird anyway."
"Ya’ve been educated?"
Chloe chuckled. "Until I’m sick of it! Actually, I didn’t think I’d make it through the twelve years it took to graduate from High School. College is different though, harder in some ways, but more fun, too."
"Ya can read?"
Chloe looked at him in surprise. "Since I was five! Gram taught me to read, and to write my alphabet before I even started school."
Sean frowned. Dropping the cloth in the water, he climbed from the tub, looked around until he found the cloth she’d dried off with and began rubbing himself briskly. Balling it up when he’d finished, he tossed it aside and turned to study her, his hands balled into fists and planted on his hips. "If yer nae the Chloe Monroe everyone seems ta think ya are, then who are ya? And why is it that a blood relative of the lass seems ta think yer his niece?"
Chapter Thirteen
Chloe’s exhilaration lasted about two seconds. She could tell by the look on his face that he thought she’d been making it all up. He might have believed her if her ‘uncle’ hadn’t shown up and claimed to know her. As it was, particularly since there was no reason to doubt the man was honest in that at least, nothing she could say was going to convince him otherwise.
She sighed. "I told you what happened. One minute I was out looking for mushrooms for class, and the next I was here … Without a single, solitary thing to prove I am who I say I am except…." Her eyes widened on a sudden thought. She leapt to her feet. "My birth control patch!"
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