by Lucy Wild
“Get back?”
“To Laura.”
“She is not here?”
Lord Rothsfield blinked in surprise. “Here? Of course she is not here. She is with you.”
Edward reacted quickly, doing his best to keep his expression under control. “Of course she is. Well thank you my Lord for your consent in this matter. I will let you know once her treatment is finished.”
“Good man.”
Edward shook the outstretched hand of Lord Rothsfield before walking out of the house, passing by the butler who still appeared to be recovering from being pushed out of the way. Once the horse was untied, Edward climbed on and rode away, thinking hard. If Laura was not at the house then where on earth was she? Lady Rothsfield had given him to believe she was going home. Where else would she go?
Turning his horse out into the countryside, he rode back home, arriving shortly after nightfall. He walked into the house and called for Mrs Flanders, asking if she had seen Laura.
“No Mr Westall, I assumed she had returned home.”
“As did I. I must go look for her. Tell the littles there will be no bedtime story from me tonight.”
“Of course.”
As he left the house it began to rain, his horse grumbling as it was pulled away from its evening meal. “Where to go?” he said out loud as he rode out of the grounds. Where would Lady Rothsfield have gone?
He spent half the night searching the surrounding villages, calling into each tavern he passed to see if any had seen her or the carriage. It was all to no avail. The rain grew steadily heavier as he travelled further into the countryside until not a single pinprick of light could be seen.
He was slumping down in his seat, the rain running down the back of his neck, when his horse stopped dead. He flicked the reins and nudged its sides with his feet but still it did not move. “What is it girl?” he asked, looking around him. “Come on, get moving.”
The horse whinnied but made no attempt at motion. Cursing it, Edward stepped down and glanced at its feet. Was it injured?
“You are the most stubborn of creatures,” he snapped as he saw no sign of any injury.
At the sound of his voice a moan rose up behind him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he turned, wondering if the ghost stories about the moors were true after all. The moan came again and he sought out its source. “Who’s there?” he called out.
“Papa?” a weak voice replied. “Is that you?”
He ran to the side of the road and there in the mud was Laura laid on her side. He knelt beside her as she lifted her head. Touching her cheek he exhaled heavily. “You are like ice,” he cried, pulling off his coat and wrapping it round her.
“Is it really you?” she replied, her voice weak.
“It is,” he said, lifting her onto the horse, no easy task as she was coated in mud. “What happened? No, do not speak. Let us get you home first. You will freeze to death if we remain here any longer.”
He held her in place in front of him as he turned the horse and headed home. He shook in head in wonder. His horse had known. Lord only knew how but the beast had known she was there.
When they reached the house, he carried her inside, yelling for Mrs Flanders. “Prepare my bath,” he said. “She needs heat at once.”
“I have your bath ready. I thought you would want it when you returned. The maids have kept it topped up with hot water.”
“Well done.” He walked towards the stairs, carrying Laura’s prone figure in his arms.
“What happened to her? Is she all right?”
“We will discuss it later Mrs Flanders. For now I must warm her.”
Chapter 15
Laura had given up any chance of rescue when Edward found her. She had walked along the road for as long as she could, the view never seeming to change. All the while the rain continued to fall and she grew colder. Her entire body felt numb as she stumbled and slid through the thick mud.
When she fell the first time she was able to get up after some effort but the second time she tripped, she remained down for some time, weeping at the injustice of it all. To think that Maria would do all this just for money. Leave her to die in the middle of nowhere.
It was fury that got Laura up again, kept her moving forwards long after she should have succumbed. But even fury cannot overpower the elements. Eventually she stumbled for a final time, her eyes closing. She lay barely conscious in the mud, rolling onto her side and letting out a low moan of despair. Go to sleep, her mind whispered to her. It will all be well after you have had a little nap. You will be warm if you sleep.
She did her best to ignore that whispering voice but her eyes slowly closed nonetheless. She did not hear the horse approaching until it stopped and whinnied loudly. Blinking mud from her eyes she lifted her head and glanced towards it just in time to hear a voice cursing it for stopping.
“Papa?” she asked, seeing only a dark shadow against the even darker night.
When Edward had swept her up into his arms, she was certain it was the last dream of her tortured mind, a fantasy to bring warmth to her heart even as she froze to death. It was long after the journey home had begun that she realised she was alive. Not only that but he had saved her.
When they reached the house, she was still as cold as ice and the sight of the bath was like manna from heaven to her eyes. She barely noticed she was in Edward’s bedroom, caring only to thaw her frozen body.
Slowly Edward lifted her into the tub, watching her closely as she sank under the surface of the water. To think how close she came to death terrified her and she made herself focus on Edward to distract herself. He seemed a different person. Gone was the anger and fury that seemed ever present in his eyes. It had been replaced by concern, as if his emotional barriers had fallen in the face of the peril she had faced.
At first the water seemed to burn her skin, the heat being barely above lukewarm but to her freezing limbs almost intolerable. She groaned as Edward knelt beside her, a cloth in his hand.
“Do not attempt to speak,” he said, “just lie still.”
She did as he asked, wondering again if this might be a dream. The cloth was dipped in the water and then he lovingly stroked her face with it, teasing the mud from her hair with infinite patience, smiling warmly at her all the while.
“You cannot be Edward,” she whispered whilst he continued to remove the thick mud from her cheeks.
“Oh?” he replied. “And why not?”
“You are smiling.”
“I am smiling because you are alive.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to my horse. He would not let me ride on though Lord knows how he could see you in that darkness.”
Laura closed her eyes. “I owe her a carrot,” she whispered before falling silent again, the effort of speaking exhausting her.
Edward dipped the cloth in the water again, moving it down to Laura’s chest, stroking it over her breasts until not a trace of mud remained. She glanced up to see him looking at her nipples as he moved lower still.
“I will stand for you,” she said, getting slowly to her feet and allowing the water to drip down her, the heat from the nearby fire to further warm her skin, her fingers and toes thawing rapidly.
Edward moved the cloth to her legs, cleaning each in turn before turning his attention to her posterior. He worked downwards as she shuffled her knees apart, rubbing his way between her thighs as she held her breath, feeling her heart begin to pound. She found herself wishing he would remain there, rubbing that very spot for all time. But to her disappointment, he travelled down her legs once more before setting the cloth down. “Let me get you dry,” he said, wrapping a towel around her shoulders.
He helped her step out of the tub and over to his bed where thick blankets lay waiting. He caressed every inch of her with the towel whilst she stood breathing heavily, unable to ask for the one thing she wanted more than anything, a kiss from her saviour. She trembled again as he poi
nted towards his bed. “You will sleep in here tonight, not in the nursery. The others would have you up all night with their questions.
“I could not sleep in your bed,” she replied, shaking her head. “What would the littles say?”
“I care not for what they say,” he replied, pushing her under the covers and tucking her in. “Tonight you sleep by the fire and keep warm.”
“Very well,” she replied, smiling as he kissed her forehead. The feel of his lips on her skin made her tingle deep inside.
“What happened out there?” he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Briefly, she told him what Maria had done and as she finished, he stood up and walked over to the bedroom door.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her eyes already closing as exhaustion took over her body.
“I wish to have a word with your stepmother.”
Chapter 16
The next morning Edward was waiting for Laura to awaken. He wanted her to see this. He had not slept but tiredness had not yet taken over his body. He had found Maria back at Rothsfield House, fast asleep.
Making use of the skills he had learned in his childhood, he had sneaked into the house and tiptoed upstairs, finding her in her own bedroom, the furthest one from that of Lord Rothsfield. It was easy to tell where he slumbered by the sound of his snoring.
Into Maria’s room, Edward had gone, waiting by her bed for the perfect moment. It came a minute later. She rolled towards him, the covers sliding away. As she did so, he slipped the gag over her head, yanking the knot tightly before she was able to scream. As she blinked awake, he got hold of her left wrist, tying it to her right in a second and knotting it in such a way that she could do nothing to free herself.
Pressing himself against her as she fought to rise, he got her ankles tied and had her body over his shoulder seconds later. Less than a minute after she had awoken, she was outside with him and being loaded into his carriage. He tapped on the ceiling and the driver set off, leaving him to sit at the scowling figure of Maria as she sat bound and furious on the seat opposite him.
“I suppose I should be grateful,” he said as she glared at him. “Without your endeavours I might not have asked Lord Rothsfield for her hand for some time.”
“Mmmmm mmmm,” came the response.
“Oh dear. You should know that you must keep quiet when I am talking.” He reached across and grabbed her wrists, pulling her towards him. Draping her over his lap, he pulled up the back of her nightdress and rained smacks on her naked posterior, landing one blow after another as she screamed into the gag. He did not stop until her bottom was as crimson as her nightdress. At last he pushed her back to the other side of the carriage.
“That was for speaking out of turn,” he said coldly. “When we arrive home you will undergo the punishment for attempting to kill my beloved.”
When they arrived he carried her inside and up to the playroom, walking through it in the darkness until he reached the doctor’s examination room.
It was the work of but a few brief moments to bind her to the table and only then did he relax, stepping back and looking at her prone figure. “Well good night,” he said, walking out and closing the door behind him, ignoring the muffled moans which echoed through the playroom.
He found Laura fast asleep in his bed and did his best to undress quietly. Slipping under the covers, he remained a discreet distance from her, not sure, even after everything that had happened, whether he would be able to resist taking her. Just knowing she was naked in his bed was enough to make it a long time before he slept.
He awoke first nonetheless, getting up and dressing before visiting the playroom. Maria was also asleep, still bound in place. He checked the bonds were tight enough before returning to Laura, waiting for her to awaken.
She did so shortly afterwards and as she sat up he passed her a dress. “Put this on and come with me,” he said. “I have something for you.”
“What is it?” she yawned, taking the dress from him as she did so.
“Just come with me.”
He led her across to the playroom, unlocking the door to the doctor’s surgery to reveal Maria’s prone form. “That is Maria,” Laura said in a voice loud enough to wake the tied down woman.
Maria immediately shouted through her gag but Edward ignored her. “What should I do with her?” he asked.
“I know the perfect punishment,” Laura replied, a smile flickering across her lips. “When I arrived here, a little wanted to examine a patient.”
“Oh yes?” Edward replied, raising his eyebrows.
“Here is the perfect patient for her.”
They left Maria in the playroom and made their way downstairs, finding the other littles already drinking their bottles in the dining room. “I have a treat for you today,” Edward said, as he took his seat. “No lessons this morning.”
The littles all grinned but none spoke, knowing the consequences if they were to do so.
“In the playroom there is a new toy for you all to use. After you have finished breakfast you may go and play.”
Laura picked up the bottle from her place and sat sucking the milk from it as one by one the other littles left. Finally only she and Edward remained. “Will they hurt her?” she asked as she put her empty bottle down.
“I doubt it,” he replied. “Though by the time they are finished I suspect she may regret her voyage into criminality.”
He recognised the discomfort in her eyes and continued after a brief pause to sip at his coffee. “Do not be alarmed Laura. I have spoken to Mrs Flanders. Mara will be given a choice, something she was not good enough to give you.”
“A choice? A choice of what?”
“She can join in with their playtime or take her chances with the law. I suspect she will choose the life of a little.”
“But what of my father? He must be told what she is like?”
“Did I not tell you that you need not worry? By the time she leaves her she will be the perfect submissive little for him. He will have no fear of her nefarious schemes and neither will you. My methods are foolproof.”
“They have not worked on me.”
“Have they not? You are still here. You are taking part in a conversation like a decent human being. You have not whined over your ordeal, you have not stamped your feet, nor demanded punishment for Maria. In fact, your first thought was compassion towards her. I think my methods are working better than you realise.”
Laura blinked and then got to her feet. “I wish to check on Maria.”
“Very well,” Edward replied. “Though only once for then you will return to your little life.”
They walked upstairs and then entered the playroom together. To his right Edward could hear loud moaning and it only took the briefest of glances through the door for Laura to realise what Maria had decided. He pulled the door closed and turned to Laura. “Well?”
She returned his gaze without blinking, looking more beautiful than she ever had before. “You were right, papa,” she said.
Chapter 17
It was a strange sight for Laura to see Maria amongst the other littles. It had been three days since her return and in that time she had not seen Maria since spying on her in the doctor’s surgery, watching as three littles in white coats treated her every imaginary ailment. All Edward would tell her when she asked was that Maria was in the intensive one on one nursery, kept locked in a portion of the house she was forbidden to enter.
She never did find out what happened in there but Maria emerged wearing a nappy and a babydoll dress with a dummy in her mouth and a placid look in her eyes. She joined the others in the playroom and when Laura saw her, it took some time for her to accept who it was playing with the dolls in the corner.
The rest of the day was spent in lessons but as the evening drew on Mrs Flanders told her she had been summoned by Mr Westall.
She found him in his study and he looked as if he had been waiting for her to arrive. He held up
a letter as she entered. “This is from your father,” he said. “He has agreed to the marriage and as such you are mine to do with as I will.”
Laura expected to feel fear at the thought of someone else being in charge of her life. To her surprise she felt a deep relaxation. To know that Edward would make the decisions for her took a huge pressure off her mind. All she would need to do was obey him. It was all she had ever wanted to do. She knew that now. She sank into the chair opposite his desk and beamed at him. “I am glad,” she said.
“You will not be,” he frowned in response. “Sitting without my command. Speaking out of turn. You will bend over the desk this instant for such transgressions. Who do you think you are? You think you will receive preferential treatment now we are engaged?”
As he stood up, she saw the look in his eyes and at once she bent over the desk, feeling her dress ride up to expose her knickers. She had been glad to be allowed to leave the life of nappies behind but now she found herself wishing the thick cloth remained in place, knowing how well it would absorb the smacks she was about to endure.
“You are to be my bride,” Edward continued, pacing up and down behind her. “You will submit to me fully. Is that clear?”
“Yes papa.”
His hand slapped down on her rear and she jolted forwards into the desk, sending his inkwell onto its side. Thick black liquid ran across his papers and began dripping onto the floor.
“You bad girl!” he snapped, spanking her again. “You did that on purpose.”
“No papa,” she gasped, pausing between each word as he smacked her without pause. “I swear it was an accident.”
“You must do better,” he said, his hand moving down to her upper thighs, landing as firmly as before even as the pain grew more intense, Laura’s skin burning with heat.