Claimed

by Clarissa Cartharn

  “Tara?” a soft refined female voice interrupted them.

  Tara spun around in shock. “Miss Ellie… um… Miss Callum,” she stammered.

  Jared raised his eyes to meet those of the warm brown beautiful ones of the woman standing across them in the distance. She was nothing like he’d ever seen or imagined. Her fringes were strewn about her face and her long dark hair was twisted into a messy bun at her nape. It seemed to be loose and was beginning to unravel, leaving stray long strands on her shoulders. There was something unfamiliar that did to his body and he didn’t like it. But so did the violet silk robe she was wearing.

  In her haste to follow Tara, she had apparently forgotten that her sash had slackened to reveal a generous proportion of her creamy flesh at her bosom. They were laced with an exquisite matching camisole, hiding its treasures beneath it.

  Her eyes followed his and she reddened. Her fingers clutched at the two parts of her robe and she swiftly tightened her sash, veiling her semi-nakedness from him. Her little attempt at cloaking her body suddenly made it even more enticing and forbidding and he was acutely aware of the throbbing ache in his groin warning him that he was delving into dangerous territories.

  She was a Callum, he reminded himself.

  He moved his eyes away from her, trying to get back to the matter at hand- his sister.

  “Let’s go, Tara,” he said in a low growl.

  “At least, let me get my wages from Sam,” Tara bit back sharply.

  “What’s going on, Tara?” Ellie asked curiously.

  “Nothing, Miss,” Tara replied, glaring at Jared.

  Ellie moved closer. Her scent drifted to his nose and his body tingled with a new sensation. He didn’t like what she was doing to him at all.

  “It doesn’t look like nothing,” Ellie said, her eyes wandering between the two people. “I heard you arguing with him. Clearly, you don’t want to leave your job. Why do you let him treat you that way?”

  A muscle tensed in his jaw. Finally, he’d found back his bearings of hate for the family she’d spurted from. “This is none of your business.”

  She leveled up to him, daring him. “If you treat a woman like you’ve just done your wife, I have every reason to make it my business. I will not allow you to drag her away only because she happens to be a working mother, trying to make ends meet in her family. You…”

  “Wife?!” he cut her short severely and let out a mocking laugh. “You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about! Well, of course, because like I said this is none of your business.”

  “Jared!” Tara pled, trying to pull him away from her employer’s daughter.

  “I have no idea of what I’m talking about?!” she huffed with disbelief. “You’re the one who has no idea of the crap falling out of his mouth. Look at you, being all egotistical and full of pride, daring to show up at your wife’s work and dragging her out as if she was your slave.” She turned to the terrified woman beside Jared. “I’ll tell you what, Tara, you leave him right this minute and I’ll talk to Dad about giving you a staff quarters on the property. You don’t deserve a man like him. You’re a beautiful, wonderful woman who can do much, much better than this …this despicable thing called a man!”

  Jared flared at her. Tara threw herself between them in a panic.

  “Please, Miss Callum,” she begged. “We’ll resolve it between us.”

  “Tara, honey,” Ellie shook her head. “I know how you feel. It’s called battered woman syndrome. Women often blame themselves for the domestic violence they endure, making them difficult to leave their abusive relationships. The only way out of it is to leave him now.”

  “Miss Ellie,” Tara bit her lips. “Jared is my brother.”

  Ellie froze, stunned by the revelation. She stared at them, suddenly becoming aware of their physical resemblance. She flushed with embarrassment. “Well,” she stammered. “That makes it all the more worse then, doesn’t it? Brother or husband, a man can’t just drag a woman out of her workplace. It’s undignified and certainly heartlessly shameful to her.”

  Jared stepped around Tara and moved closer to Ellie. He was only a breath’s away from her and the temptation was too great for him to simply tug her into his arms and possess the lips that berated him with such daring rage. “My sister will never work for a Callum. And I will see to it she never does again from now on.”

  She stepped back, horrified by the hatred with which he spoke. “Mr… Jared, my family has done a favor to your sister-”

  “Your family-” he minced, his animosity surfacing into his voice.

  The door opened and Sam stepped into the hallway. He looked at them with a raised eyebrow and then turned to Tara. “Your wages, Tara.”

  “Thank you, Mr Glover,” Tara said, graciously accepting the envelope he was handing over to her and even more grateful that his presence had quieted the raging couple.

  The elderly butler cleared his throat. “Miss Ellie,” he addressed. “Mr. Edmund would be arriving soon to pick you up for tonight’s dinner with the Lintons. You have only a couple hours left before he would be here.”

  Ellie closed her eyes, biting her lower lip to stifle her temper. The butler’s disguised cue for her to leave this infuriating young man before her, did not fail her sharp senses.

  She opened her eyes and suddenly grew riveted to her spot. He was looking down at her, his molten brown eyes impaling her soul, affecting her in ways she could not describe. She pulled away from him before he could mesmerize her any further.

  “Tara,” she stammered. “Your basket of fruit.” It was all she could manage to say with him standing so close to her; she felt he would burn her.

  “Thank you, Miss,” Tara muttered, willingly accepting the basket. She’d deal with the consequences of her gift later. At the moment, she wanted to leave as soon as she could without any further furor.

  Ellie though, kept standing frozen to her spot, writhing her fingers and unable to move away from him.

  “Miss Ellie,” the butler reminded.

  Ellie staggered back, trying to break free from the spellbinding gaze of the man. Her heel caught into the hem of her robe and she slipped. She let out a small cry as her legs gave way. She closed her eyes, waiting to hit against the cold hard floor of the hallway. She felt his muscular arms catching her waist instead and the heat of his body as he tugged her against his hard chest.

  Her hands involuntary wound around his nape, his breath rasped against her face as he held her, continuing to captivate her with his eyes.

  “Miss Ellie… Miss Callum!” Tara fumbled carelessly between the names, utterly worried if her mistress was hurt at all. Could this day get any more worse?

  Jared reluctantly loosened his grasp on her, his hands now resting at her waist.

  She withdrew her hand slowly from his nape, dragging it against his flesh, feeling the softness of it.

  He let out a sharp breath, his fingers clutching onto the sides of her gown.

  “Miss Ellie, are you okay?” Tara peered at her.

  Sam coughed. “Miss Ellie?”

  “I… yes,” she stuttered, withdrawing quickly. She felt the loss of his heat almost immediately. She dared not look at him again, fearing she would be entranced by him once more. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened there,” she gave a nervous chuckle. “I think it was my shoe… my heel… in my skirt….” She was rambling. She held her breath and then started again. “I have to go.”

  She turned around and hurried out of the hallway, her long robe fluttering behind her.

  *****

  Tara marched into the house, grumbling to herself. She threw her cardigan onto the couch with frustration.

  “Mom!” shouted out Mae, running to cling at her skirt.

  “Hello, Pumpkin,” she said, lifting her up to kiss her. “How was your day?”

  “Good. What’s that?” Mae asked, pointing to the basket of fruit.

  “It’s grapes and lychees and strawberries
and papaya,” she held up a strawberry for her.

  The young girl took it eagerly and ran out with it.

  “You shouldn’t have brought that home,” Jared grumbled.

  Tara flared. “You know what shouldn’t have been done? You shouldn’t have come to Callum’s Hill. You shouldn’t have embarrassed me at my job! If you hate the Callums so much, then why don’t you just stay the hell away from them?!”

  “I can’t stay away from them if you keep crawling back to them for their money!” he shouted back.

  “We need the money, Jared! When are you going to get that in your head?!”

  “What’s wrong with what we have? You have a roof above you, food on your table and most of all you’re safe.”

  She snorted. “Who is ever safe, Jared? No one is safe.”

  “And you won’t be if you keep running up to those people.”

  “Those people? Those people are the ones who have showed me some concern if any for my family. Those are the one s who keep calling back to offer me work regardless of the so many times you’ve embarrassed me.” She picked up a fruit harshly and held it up to him. “And this is from one of those people who you think doesn’t give a crap about how we live. And you know what, I’m gonna eat it and I will enjoy it without feeling guilty about it; because I’ve never tasted a lychee before, nor has my kids. I don’t care what your reasons are any longer, Jared, but I do know one thing- everything can’t be about you. Your resentment for the Callums is unreasonable. It’s unreasonable because it doesn’t make sense anymore!”

  “Tara,” her mother growled softly. Their argument had caught her attention as she was preparing dinner. She had been expecting a squabble between her two children. They stood poles apart on their perception of the Callums. But seeing Jared now, she knew something was different. He was far more affected than he usually was. He sat quietly at the table thinking, his fingers playing thoughtfully with a glass bottle filled with wild flowers Mae had collected on her day out with her friends.

  “No, Ma. I’ve had enough,” Tara continued. “I’m a single mother and yes, I am dependent on you and Jared. But that doesn’t give him any right to embarrass me like this. This is my life and I will do what I want with it. It’s time Jared understands that he is not Da! He can’t run our lives!”

  Jared stood up abruptly and walked into his room.

  “Jared,” his mother pled, following after him. “Where are you going?”

  He collected his hunting gear and stormed out.

  “Yes, run,” cried Tara. “Run like you always do. You’ve created this mess. You! You shouldn’t have come to Callum House. But you’re stubborn, Jared. You always are! I know you’ll never admit that you were wrong! You pretend you’re a man but you’re nothing. Nothing but a boy! Because a man will never run from his problems!”

  “Stop it, Tara!” his mother shouted at her. “Jared, honey,” she ran after him. “She doesn’t mean it, son. She’s just hurt and angry. Come back.”

  He stopped and turned to her slowly, gathering her in his arms. “I’ll be back soon.”

  She sobbed against his chest, clutching onto his shirt. “Where are you going to go at this time of the night? It’s too dangerous. Come back inside, son.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said softly, and gave her a kiss on her head.

  He let her go, marching into the darkness with Wolf at his feet.

  *****

  Stella Ryder stumbled back into her house. She looked up sadly at her daughter crying on the sofa.

  “Is he gone?”Tara blubbered.

  “You shouldn’t have said all that, Tara,” Stella said quietly as she sat down tiredly beside her.

  “I didn’t mean to. But he makes me so mad, Ma. Do you know how embarrassed I feel when he just pulls me out of my job? I am the joke amongst the staff. I hate to think what Sam feels about me. And today, Miss Ellie witnessed it too.”

  “I know how you feel, honey. But Jared isn’t like us. He doesn’t think like we do.”

  “Of course he doesn’t think like us, Ma. You’re always protecting him. Defending him. I get that he’s your only son. I get that he’s your youngest. I have kids too and I understand that. But Ma, seriously, you can’t let him get away with this any longer.”

  “Get away with what?” Stella lifted up her chin stubbornly at her daughter, daring her.

  “I don’t believe this, Mother,” Tara stared back at her with complete annoyance. “You’re still protecting him. After what he did to me.”

  “He doesn’t want you working for the Callums. Is that so hard to understand?”

  “Mother!” Tara sputtered in shock.

  “How much do you remember of your dad’s disappearance, Tara?” Stella continued.

  “Ma?” Tara asked confusedly. “What has that got to do with anything today?”

  “Well, do you remember or not?”

  “Wasn’t he arrested for possessing a weapon?”

  “Is that what you were told?” Stella cocked her head to the side as she stared at her with impatience.

  “It was what you told me.”

  “Right,” her mother nodded. “It was what I told you- when you returned with Fern and pregnant with Mae; after running off with that scum. You weren’t here when your Da was taken away.”

  “Ma…,” Tara started with frustration.

  “But Jared saw it all. Governor Callum was there when they arrested your Da and he did nothing about it.”

  “Da was carrying his bow, Ma,” Tara insisted.

  “Your father wasn’t an idiot!” Stella shouted at her. “He was an intelligent man who knew exactly what he was doing. Your Da carried nothing when they arrested him! He was arrested on suspicion. Suspicion for carrying a weapon.” She wrung her hands, trying to calm herself down. “They dragged him mercilessly into their vehicle and took him up to Callum’s Hill. Jared ran after it, pleading for them to let him go. But once they entered that gate; that was the last anyone ever saw of your father.” She dabbed at her tears with her apron. “Jared never understood his father’s resentment of the Callums before but he sure shared it after that day. Can you blame him?”

  “Ma, I never knew,” Tara sniffled. “You should have told me.”

  Stella shook her head. “Jared wanted to but I didn’t let him.”

  “Why?”

  “There was no need for you to know. You had children and you wanted to do something for the kids. Sweetheart, you were so depressed when Fred left you, I was scared you’d lose your mind. But then you became determined to make something of yourself and the children, I didn’t want to take that away from you.”

  “But the Callums…?” Tara shook her head, disbelievingly. “The very people who killed Da?”

  Stella took her hand tenderly into hers. “No, not the Callums. Only Governor Callum. Miss Ellie- didn’t you say she was nice?”

  Tara grew quiet. Ellie Callum was certainly different. She had run after her with that basket of fruit and then defended her in the mistaken belief that Jared was her husband. But then something happened between her and Jared. She thought she had felt something spark between them when Jared had caught her from slipping. Perhaps… or was she imagining it all? And even if it were so, it could never be possible. Governor Callum would make sure that it didn’t. For Jared’s sake, she could never return to Callum’s Hill again.

  CHAPTER 5

  She had staggered into her room that afternoon, her palm cupping her forehead. Ellie tried to shake the disbelief out of her head. Had she fallen for the very man she had been berating?

  She fell on her back and onto her bed, looking straight up at the ceiling above her. Her eyes caught hold of the crystal chandelier dangling from it and she unconsciously began counting the silver replicate candles on it. Her mind was drifting back and forth from her absurdity in the hallway with that man and to rationality.

  He was attractive, she reasoned. No, he was far more than that. Almost dangerously gorgeous wit
h deep brown eyes that could bore into her soul, unearthing her deep dark desires. Time had stilled in her wake the instant he had caught her. Her hands had tingled at the touch of his flesh. She blushed at the mere thought of how she had longed for him to wantonly possess her.

  She covered her face with her hands. “Focus, Ellie,” she meditated, trying to remind herself of his lesser qualities. “He was boorish, rude and terribly crude.” She tried to get mad at him. Wasn’t he trying to drag his sister out of her job? What man could behave so uncouthly and uncivilly in this day and age? “No, you couldn’t get a finer man than Edmund Farriss.”

  The luxurious silver car drove up the Callum House driveway.

  “You were awfully quiet tonight, Ellie,” Edmund said. “Is something bothering you?”

  Ellie braced her elbow on her window, unconsciously tracing her lips with her fingers. Her eyes were absently gazing at everything that passed by her window- at everything but the man beside her.

  “Ellie? Ellie,” Edmund called out a little loudly.

  She breathed in deeply and then glanced at him. “Hmmm?” was all she could utter.

  He looked at her concernedly. “Is something the matter, Ellie?”

  She smiled. “No. I’m just… I’m just tired.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

  She nodded. “Edmund,” she asked slowly. “Have you been to Sector 8 Central?”

  He glanced at her with surprise. “What brought that on?”

  She shrugged. “I’m just curious.”

  “Of course, I’ve been to Sector 8 Central. Everyone’s been to Sector 8 Central.”

  “I haven’t,” she mumbled.

  “You haven’t?” he asked with slight puzzlement but he brushed it aside as quickly. “There isn’t much to see in Sector 8 Central. It probably is for the best that you haven’t been there. It isn’t pleasant.”

  “Don’t you want to run for Governor after Daddy retires?” she looked up at him in bafflement.

  “What has that got to do with anything?”