by Thianna D
He turned and spotted Becca beaming up at him. His friends were as well.
“Come,” he said as he bounded back down the stairs. “We have people to inspire. Pull out your kinkiest selves and let’s have some fun.” When he reached Becca, he threaded his fingers in her curls, pulled her head back, and kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. When he pulled away, her lips were red and puffy and her eyes a little glassy with desire. “Follow me, wench. It’s time to whip your ass and fuck you until you can’t stand.”
He grasped her hand and pulled and they walked out of the stairwell into a mass of people just like them.
Sample Chapter from
Through the Library Door
A Markham Library novella
Lord Nicholas Waring was not in a good mood. The meeting had not gone well and due to his mother’s insistence, he had stayed too long at her London home as it was. He hungered for the quiet of home, the peace of his library, and a glass of scotch. But no. He had been in London for three weeks now, hurried on the guise that his mother was ill. Rushed to town with nary a thing to wear only to find out that the dire emergency was his single existence.
“You are thirty-two,” she reminded him. “It is time for a new heir. You certainly do not want your cousin Josh to inherit do you?”
It had been on the tip of his tongue to remind her that Josh had several little bastards around the hills of England that would inherit after he died, but he did not think she would take it well. Instead, he’d spent nineteen days, two getting outfitted as he had no clothing, and twelve being introduced to all the new girls who would be coming out this season.
“Insipid twits,” he snorted as his horse picked its way through the woods. His mother was a strong woman. Why she ever thought he would be interested in such simple girls was beyond him. Brainless halfwits, the lot of them.
But even they were not the worst of the problem. When the girls had done nothing to tempt him, his mother had called in the big guns. Lady Carina Carrington, the widow of the late Lord Daniel Carrington was twenty-five and still quite stunning. Added to that, she had no children so was still considered quite a match. At least for his mother.
For him? She was a good fuck. And often, an amazing screamer. But that was only when he was not at his mother’s townhouse. He would not whip or play with a woman under her roof. It was thoughtless, tacky, and beneath him. Which, he thought with an amused twist of his lips, was where Carina loved to be.
The first time he had her was two months after her husband’s death. He had recently ended things with his mistress and was looking for a new woman to whip to orgasm. She had been very willing. Her reaction to painful pleasure was so amazing that he stayed in town for four months. After that, they met up at least every month during the season. She was a lady outside the bedroom and almost a complete slut within it. If she were truly submissive in the bedroom, he would be happy to make her his wife.
But she was not. It was only an act. It took him five months to realize she was one hell of an actress.
Not that his mother understood any of that. All she knew was that they had been seen together at St. James and figured if she couldn’t get him a virgin, she could at least get him married off to a woman of high social standing. Which was why he was running for home.
Something was up. He had felt it for days. His mother was a wiry minx and was set on getting him married before the end of the season, which meant he would need to be engaged relatively quickly. As she had caught his father through less-than-noble means, he knew she would not be above doing the same to him. When his manservant came in with wide eyes earlier, he knew she was ready to unleash her plan.
“My Lord,” Greer said respectfully. “You asked me to keep my ears open for anything going on. And well… there is definitely something going on.”
“Explain,” Nicholas commanded as he tied his cravat. Some fops had their servants dress them. He could bloody well dress himself.
“Jessie said that her mistress is hell bent on getting you married off and that she has some sort of plan for tonight to bring it about.”
As his fingers froze, he looked over at Greer. “And?”
His manservant gulped. “Something about catching you in a compromising position with Lady Carrington. And, my Lord, she sent Druthers out to get laudanum.”
Laudanum. His mouth drawn into a fine line, he glared into the mirror. “So, my mother means to drug me and then plant a woman in my bed? Lovely. I leave for the house now. Pack and follow me as soon as you can.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Greer said in relief.
His mother was out paying her respects at the time, so he was able to leave a note explaining that he had been called away unexpectedly, without having to deal with her theatrics because her plan was blown.
Turning his new stallion onto the main road, he snapped his favorite riding crop, pleased when the horse broke into a gallop almost immediately. Home was only an hour away. It was good as the sun was going down and rain was beginning to fall. Soon the sky would be as black as his mood.
Once assured the new stable boy would take care of his horse correctly, he left and headed toward the house. He loved Waring Manor. Won in a game of chance from a man who never should have bet anything, let alone his residence, it became his home four years previous. Unfortunately, that had also made it a place his cousin could drop in at the worst of times.
He had a distrust/hate relationship with his bastard of a cousin, Josh Daring, a man who used to be one of his closest friends. An illegitimate son of his father’s brother, the man was reckless and without manners. He did tend to put on airs when he called upon Waring Manor, as if it was only a matter of time before he, himself, would own it.
Nicholas shook his head as he walked in the front door. This house was not entailed, so Josh had no hope for it. Not only that, but he agreed with his mother. Josh should never become the Earl of Stependen even if Nicholas did have to give up his bachelor life. Hell, he could marry and get his wife pregnant and leave her at the family home while he came here. Maybe that wouldn’t be too bad, he mused.
“My Lord!” Edward, his butler exclaimed, shuffling over to him. In his family for over four decades, Nicholas had brought Edward here the moment the manor became his. There was a lot less going on and the elderly man could rest his aching bones as often as he needed to. “We did not expect you.”
“No, I daresay not. I just came home to—” He broke off abruptly as a scream filled the air, a scream that made a shudder of dread slide down his back. “What the—?”
“My Lord, your cousin is here and insisted we leave him and his friends alone.”
“Like hell!” Nicholas yelled and ran up the stairs. He knew his cousin. A reprobate, he did not treat women well. Nicholas might love to whip a woman, but he only did it when it was something she wanted as well. Plus, any physical scars he planted on her body only lasted a day or two. Josh tended to leave ones that would last forever, if they didn’t kill the girl first. He regretted the day he showed him how to wield a whip.
As he ran, he followed the screams—or more to the point, the one long eerie scream. One flight of stairs. Two flights. As he reached the top of the third set, the scream abruptly stopped, making his gut clench. Knowing where his cousin must be, he ran to the end of the hallway, bursting into the library a minute later.
Tied to a bench on the floor was a young woman with long red hair and very fair skin. Her mouth was open in a scream, but no sound came out. Surrounding her were four men. One kneeling over her as though about to mount her, two more were watching and acting as though they were next, and his cousin stood watching, tapping a crop against his leg.
“What is going on?” he asked in a loud voice.
Everyone turned and stared at him, including the idiot who was preparing to fuck the poor girl. Josh’s head turned around and his eyes opened in shock. “Cousin! We weren’t expec—“
“Silence! And stop what you are d
oing,” he hissed at them. Nobody moved. To his distaste, the man without eyelids froze mid-thrust. In two strides, he knelt down by the girl. “Who is she?”
“Got her from Loden.”
A soft growl rumbled through his throat as he tried to fight back the desire to hurt every man in the room. “Loden?” he snapped, raising the girl’s left arm. “I do not see Loden’s mark, cousin. Her skin is fair, unblemished. Now where the hell did you get her?”
“Cousin!” Josh hissed, sounding slightly embarrassed to be shown up in front of his comrades. “We asked Loden for a girl tonight and she put her in your secret passageway.” He barked a laugh. “I didn’t even know you had one. She keeps acting as though this was not what she—“
“Get off her now,” Nicholas growled at the eyelidless man. He gulped and backed up quickly. “Unhook her.” The three men quickly obeyed. Pulling off his coat, he covered her while checking to make sure she was breathing. As he took note of each breath, he also could not help but notice that she had the loveliest eyes he had ever seen—a strange blue that was almost lavender—before her eyes closed. Once he was sure she was still alive, he stood up and turned to Josh. “She is not one of Loden’s girls. Once she recovers, I will find out who she is, but you will get rid of your friends as they do not belong in my house and then you will explain. Now,” he added in a steely voice when nobody moved.
Four men made a beeline for the door and Josh slowly followed them. “You are making a mistake, cousin,” he snapped before he left to follow them.
“A mistake,” Nicholas grunted, picking up the girl. She weighed almost nothing. Once she was on the couch with a blanket over her, he stoked the fireplace and rang the bell. A few minutes later, Edward appeared.
“My Lord?”
“Get my salves and some clothing. This girl needs assistance.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Once he had cleaned her up and put her in a nightgown loaned by one of the servants, he sat back. Her thighs wore crisscrossed welts and no doubt would be black and blue by the morning. Bruised, though not raped. “One thing to be grateful for,” he sighed, leaning back in his chair. Raising his hand, he massaged his temples, trying to get rid of his headache.
“You didn’t have to embarrass me,” Josh snapped, walking back into the room.
Dropping his hand down onto the arm of the chair, Nicholas raised an eyebrow. Josh had the honor to look a little abashed. “My friends needed somewhere to celebrate. We were in the area and I knew you were in London, so we came here. I promise, Nicholas, we ordered that girl from Loden. It ain’t my fault if she wasn’t broken in.”
Ain’t my fault. Josh never accepted fault for any action and Nicholas was beginning to think he never would. “You had to notice how young she was,” he pressed.
“I told Loden we wanted someone who would scream.”
As his stomach tensed, a low moan came from the girl. “We will get back to this.” Turning his head, he watched as the girl slowly blinked her eyes open. “Good evening.”
Her eyes snapped to him and then around the room. The moment they landed on Josh, she let out a shriek, jumped up, and looked as though she was going to throw herself into the fire. He grabbed her and held her fast. “No,” he said firmly. “Calm down, girl. Nobody will harm you now.”
She struggled, kicking him in the shin. Grunting, he grabbed her arms and held them behind her back even as he pushed her onto her knees. “Halt!”
Breathing hard, she stilled, but stared at him in terror. That was an expression he never wanted to see, especially on her lovely face. Kneeling slowly next to her, he gently asked, “What is your name?”
“Landria.”
“Josh says you are from Madam Loden’s. Are you?”
She stared at him oddly before turning her head and catching sight of his cousin. The moment she did, her eyes turned dark with anger “He,” she spat, “wouldn’t listen to me! He— They—” Her voice rose and she began to emit a shrill sound that made him wince.
“Calm, girl,” he said firmly and she stopped. “Where were you when they found you?”
“Over there,” she said nodding toward the bookshelves.
“And how did you get there?”
She opened her mouth and then slowly closed it. “I don’t know,” she finally whispered.
Josh snorted. “She’s just a whore, Nicholas.”
“I am not!” she snapped, turning to glare at him.
Nicholas, while angry, was rather amused by the little slip of a girl. She definitely had fire within her. “Well, I will have Josh take you back to…”
“No,” she moaned. “No. He’ll just hurt me again.”
Frowning, he turned to his cousin. “What did you do to her?”
“Fondled her a bit. Smacked her with your crop. That’s all. Didn’t have the chance to plug that pussy.”
Infuriated that Josh would use such a vulgar term around the young lady, Nicholas was about to admonish him for it when Landria turned into a wild animal. She ripped her hands out of his grasp and began to claw at anything she could get her hands on, which included his face. “Stop!” he hollered as her fingernails gouged into his cheek. As he tried to grab her arms again, she slipped out of his grasp and leapt to her feet, lunging toward the bookcase.
“Grab her!” Josh hollered, headed across the room.
Nicholas had two choices. He could take hold of the girl or he could grab his cousin who, if he got his hands on the girl, would not be nice about it. he chose the latter. To anyone who asked, he would never be able to adequately describe what happened next. It was all too strange. One moment he had his hand on Josh’s coat to restrain him, the next Josh had Landria’s legs in his arms and was yanking backward. As he jerked her back forcefully, she grasped for the books on the shelf. “Please!” she cried. “Please, get me out of here! Please, get me back to my aunt and uncle’s house. Please!” Her hands slipped and as she dropped, Nicholas lunged forward to catch her. She grasped his cravat as she fell.
It ripped and just before she hit the floor, she and the silk vanished.
Find Through the Library Door.
Author’s Note
I hope you have enjoyed Ye Olde Kinke Faire. There are more tales coming from Elan Isle.
Check out the books in the Elan Isle contemporary BDSM romance series.
If you enjoy paranormal, check out the books from my Wylde KingDom BDSM romance series.
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