Heloise had demonstrated from the beginning that she disliked her young stepdaughter and barely tolerated her presence at Castle Neige. Though Heloise had pretended differently around her new husband, young Bianca had received the brunt of her stepmother’s aversion. She eventually became a stranger in her own home, losing her father’s attention to the new wife he had taken. It had been Bianca’s intention to accept one of the offers for marriage from the beginning, but she had not wanted Heloise to think that she had any say in the matter. But then she had seen the great Black Dragon of Normandy and she had become infatuated beyond the point of all else. She knew from the beginning that he was the only one she wanted and she had done her best to seduce him. It puzzled her when Heloise had objected to her choice after pushing every other man at her, even the odious Russian prince. Bianca frowned in the darkness as she contemplated the matter.
A gasp escaped Bianca as understanding found her! Like an epiphany, she saw her stepmother for what she really was.
An evil witch lying in wait to cast her black spells.
Heloise schemed to do away with not only her stepdaughter by marrying her off but she also planned to do away with her husband, the Duke de Neige. How had Bianca not surmised this? Everything pointed straight to it. And now this.
Bianca glanced at the two shadowy figures at the entrance of the cave and knew that they had orders to do away with her. It was obviously part of a larger scheme to rid Castle Neige of not only the duke, but his heir as well. It would not do to poison both the duke and Bianca. It would raise suspicion. Instead, Bianca would simply disappear and then the Duke de Neige would die of natural causes.
The woman was completely mad.
Fighting waves of nausea, Bianca slowly rose to her feet. She stood for several moments while the throbbing in her head receded. It left her shaking and unsteady but she was determined. Glancing at the ground around her, Bianca looked for a weapon with which to defend herself. She noticed the saddlebags and pouches lying on the ground around her. She glanced toward the opening of the cave to see if anyone paid the captive any attention and she wasted no time. Quickly, she fell on the bags, searching for a weapon.
After some moments and coming up with nothing, Bianca muttered a very unladylike curse she had heard Draco use once in the company of his brother. For a moment she thought about flinging one of the saddlebags across the cave.
Bianca slapped her hands over her mouth to keep back the scream of frustration that welled up as she fought back the tears of anger that threatened to fall. She did not have time for silly female emotions. She refused to show this monster any weakness. When the time came, she would need all her strength for the confrontation to come. She hoped with all her heart that succor would arrive in time to aid her in her purpose.
To her mind, these outlaws displayed an overabundance of confidence building a campfire that could be seen for some distance in the dark. It would seem that they had no fear of discovery. More fool they!
If she knew anything about her Black Dragon, he, even now, tracked them. She only prayed that he had thought to bring an army of his loyal warriors with him. Then they would easily outnumber this band of outlaws.
The spirit of the battle rose in Bianca as she saw the whole confrontation and the resulting rescue in her mind’s eye. Her knight in shining armor would ride his great black stallion into the middle of these villains and trounce them thoroughly. Then Draco would fly to her side, taking her in his arms and kiss her senseless.
The whole scene was so clear she could almost believe it. Yet in reality, this outlaw band sat there before their warm campfire seemingly thumbing their noses at the possibility of discovery. And the campfire was a beacon. Draco would come. Bianca had no doubt about that, she only hoped that it would be sooner rather than later. In the meantime, she knew that she must come up with some sort of plan as a last recourse.
Listening for a long moment, Bianca tried to determine just how many men were in the camp. She determined that there must be guards out in the forest watching the trail as well. The acoustics of the cave made it impossible to tell just how many were out there. The only men within sight stood in the warmth of the glowing fire.
Bianca turned away from the welcome sight of the fire. Carefully she moved on silent feet farther into the cave, following the sound of the dripping water. She found a small pool of cool water at the side of the cave. Thirst was one discomfort she could vanquish and she knelt beside the pool and scooped cool water into her dry mouth with her cupped hand. The cold water was deliciously refreshing.
A sudden rush of the night air dug its claws into her flesh reminding Bianca just how desperate her situation was. Shivering, she made her way back to her foul pallet and sat down, her back purposely to the opening. As cold as she was, the fire was just too tempting. Instead, she watched the firelight flicker across the uneven walls around her.
The shadows wavered and grew, moving and changing over the juts and crevices of the rock in a mesmerizing manner. Bianca sat with her arms wrapped about her as much for warmth as for as the feeling of security. A shift in the way the shadows moved stalled her breath. As the chilling breeze that had been wafting from the cave entrance stilled, Bianca watched with dread as a large, menacing shadow blocked the play of the firelight on the far wall.
Bianca knew she was no longer alone.
She looked up to find Prince Evgenii Sokolov standing next to her and she was speechless. For a long moment, she watched the flickering firelight dance across the planes and hollows of his sculpted face, playing tricks with his features giving his handsome countenance an animalistic look.
Instinctively, Bianca raised her hand to him but before she could express her gratitude to her rescuer, her assumption was shattered. A demonic smile slashed white across his feral features as he spoke her name. The smile of relief froze on her lips as the nobleman gave an exaggerated bow.
“My lady, I am pleased to see that you have somewhat recovered.” Before her brain could respond to this unexpected threat, his hand moved with lightning speed, grasping her delicate wrist in a bruising grip that threatened to break the bone.
“I have waited for this moment for a long time, sweetheart.” His tone was gentle, contradicting the hold he had on her wrist.
One look into his cold, soulless eyes and Bianca knew his intent. She fought valiantly to hide her fear. She refused to let him win this battle. It took great restraint on her part, because from the moment Evgenii touched her, all Bianca wanted to do was scream.
Opening her mouth to protest his rudeness, her words were cut short, coming out as a gasp of pain. Evgenii wrenched her around, twisting her arm cruelly behind her back, pulling her soft body flush against his hard one. He gazed down into her upturned face and chuckled heartlessly at her pain. The pain he had purposely inflicted. Holding her thus, he maneuvered her a few steps until her back pressed against the uneven, cold rock wall. He pinned her small body there with his much larger one, heedless of the pain that it caused her, forcing her to his will.
With his free hand, Evgenii fumbled his way up her body, touching every inch with rough fingers until he reached her throat and encircled its soft delicate whiteness. With unfaltering precision, he slowly applied enough pressure to cut off any speech but still allowing just the barest amount of air to breathe so she would not pass out.
“So soft, so white. Like snow.” His lips lowered to her bare shoulder and he bit her sharply before his tongue swirled over the offended flesh. His mouth moved over the satiny skin of her neck and over her cheek. When he tried to capture her lips, she was ready for his assault. She opened her mouth and bit his searching lips, drawing blood and a snarled curse from the villain. He cuffed her sharply across the face drawing a cry from her as she slumped against the cave wall. He touched his bleeding lip, his heated glare promising retribution. Before Bianca could evade his hands, he had her crushed against his hard body.
“So you like it rough, do you?” He graspe
d her chin in a cruel hold and forced her face up as his mouth covered hers in a savage brutal assault, leaving her own mouth bruised and bleeding.
Bianca pushed against his chest with all her might, trying to free herself, but the brute was too strong. She trembled and shuddered against his assault, and prayed she could find a way to escape before it was too late. She fought his hold, twisting and kicking him with all the strength she could muster. When she finally broke free by cuffing him hard on the side of his head, he retaliated in kind by clouting her back and when she would have sank to the ground, he held her up.
“It will do you no good to fight, my beauty. There is no one to save you from your fate.” A harsh laugh tore from his throat as he looked down at her. “Where is your Black Dragon to protect you now, Snow White? He will not come, you know. He has no notion of where you are. I planned this well. I even outwitted that stepmother of yours.”
Bianca hated that her suspicions were made fact by this revelation.
At her look of astonishment, Evgenii grinned and continued, “Yea. She wanted you dead. If I had followed her instructions, you would be dead even now. You are in her way, my lady. She even now poisons your sire, feeding him tainted cider. Heloise wants his fortune and you are just a small obstacle in her way.
“Did you know that she killed her first husband because he was a penniless peer with no future? When your father came to court after your mother’s death, she decided to marry him for his fortune. But she had not reckoned with one small problem. You. She could not have the duke settling all that money and property on you when you married, now could she? At first, she thought to marry you off to a weak-willed suitor whom she could manipulate, but you did not accept any of them. Instead, you chose the mighty Black Dragon. Her fury was a sight to see. I thought she might swallow her tongue in her ravings. That was why she hired me to kill you and leave you for the vultures.
“But I want you for myself, my lady.” He drew her ever closer and loomed over her like the great vulture that he was. “After we spend a week together, I will return you to your father and demand that he gives you to me in marriage. If he still lives, he will be too weak to protest, and there will be little else he can do, for your reputation will be ruined. Marrying me will be your only choice.”
Bianca shook her head in denial. Everything he said to her she knew to be true. She was completely helpless, and this monster would do whatever he wanted to her and she could do nothing to prevent it. Bianca closed her eyes and fought to keep her mind from shutting down from fear. Even if this man raped her over and over again, she would never give in without a fight. With this vow in mind, she readied herself for the first opportunity to escape his clutches.
Evgenii held the Beauty de Neige close as he raised his hand to caress her face.
“You can scream all you want, my Beauty, but I warn you—the rabble out there,” he nodded to the mouth of the cave, “would like nothing better than to swarm in here and take you for themselves. But worry naught, sweetheart, there are two reasons why that will not happen. First, I would never let another man touch you, and secondly, we have no time. We are on the run at the moment and I can take no chance of being found by that bastard, D’Ensoleille, if he by chance happened to slip past my men.”
Evgenii was nose to nose with her and Bianca smelled the ale on his hot breath as he laughed at his own wit. She kicked at him, trying to dislodge him so she could better defend herself, but her foot missed its intended target and lashed out at thin air. Evgenii slammed her head back against the wall stunning her with the force. Bianca saw stars as she struggled to stay conscious. She gasped for breath as his heavy body crushed her into the cold rock wall. His calloused hand tightened around her neck. Bianca clawed at his fingers wildly trying to get loose. She could not make a sound as she fought for her life. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes as she struggled between consciousness and unconsciousness. Her senses dulled and her struggles stopped altogether as she gave into the blessed blackness that welcomed her.
Evgenii grinned wolfishly as he felt the fight leave Bianca and she went limp in his arms. He waited until the last possible moment. Then he released his hold and life-giving air rushed back into her lungs. He lowered his head to her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “What difference does it make which warrior is in your bed? I would have preferred not to be the second. But I am inclined to overlook your lack of chastity under the circumstances. But know this, my Beauty, willing or not, I will have you.”
Evgenii let go of her arm as he determined that Bianca was totally under his control. He moved his open palm over her breasts, kneading and squeezing them painfully. He wanted her badly and he was not going to wait to take her. The grip he had on her throat tightened a degree when she moaned in protest. It was a lesson for her to learn that he was in charge and she was to keep silent or suffer the consequences.
Bianca closed her eyes tight to block out his terrible guise as he again released his grip on her throat to let her take in much needed air. Still she struggled against his cruel touch, shuddering with repulsion at his nearness.
“Did that bastard give you this much pleasure?” he asked, his breath hot against her ear, as he grasped the front of her bodice and tore it open, leaving her full, ripe breasts to spill out for his hungry gaze to feast on. “I saw you. I saw him with you day after day…walking with you…touching you…kissing you. Yea, I watched from the shadows as you threw yourself at him. And he devoured you like the dragon that he is.”
“Na…ay,” was all Bianca could gasp out through her injured throat.
“Always he watched you with those hungry eyes of his.” In his mounting fury, Evgenii squeezed her breast bruising the tender flesh. The hand he held around her throat closed again in his agitation and he waited until she was nearly blue in the face before he relented.
Bianca coughed and wheezed as she fought for air. She nearly fell to the floor gasping when Evgenii took a step back to frown down at her. But before she could think to scramble away, he grabbed her to him and savaged her exposed neck and breasts with his mouth and teeth. Bianca tried to scream but it came out as a strangled croak because of the damage done to her throat. With renewed determination, she fought like a wild thing to get free and, in her struggles, she brought up her knee striking him hard in his groin. A bellow of pain tore from his lips as he stumbled back away, clutching himself gasping deeply for breath.
Wasting no time, Bianca lunged past him. Her goal was to reach the mouth of the cave. She had no other thought but to get away. The blaze of the campfire was her guiding light. She stumbled several times but she forced her shaking legs to carry her on.
But it was not to be. Bianca had not taken into consideration the unevenness of the ground in the cave. In the flickering shadows, she missed seeing the jagged rock in her path and she tripped over it. She fell to the ground, a cry ripped from her throat at the agony as the sharp edge of the rock ripped open the skin of her lower leg. Even as the pain swept through her, Bianca scrambled to her feet as fast as she could. She had a monster at her back and she feared for her life. Unfortunately, as she regained her feet she swayed uncontrollably and stumbled backward into the shallow pool of cold water.
Before Bianca could regain her feet, Evgenii was there looming ominously over her and her blood ran cold, colder than the pool of water into which she had fallen.
“Ah, my fallen angel, how foolish you are. Do you really believe that I would let you escape me, especially after knowing what you have to offer a man like me?” His eyes were focused on her exposed breasts as he reached down and grasped his crotch, gently caressing his offended manhood. The action repulsed Bianca as she watched the sadistic villain in wide-eyed apprehension. She quickly arranged her bodice as best she could.
“Apparently I need instruct you on how to behave toward your future husband. I will, of course, punish you for the pain you deliberately caused me.” His tone turned cold matching the ice in his pale blue gaze.
“You will soon learn that I am a hard man to cross. Still, I do not want you broken and bleeding, not yet anyway.”
The vision that his brutal words brought to Bianca’s mind caused her to bite her tongue painfully to keep herself from gasping aloud. She had no doubt that Evgenii would kill her under the right circumstances. A shiver of dread tickled up her spine and neck as she listened to him.
“I look forward to the enjoyment of breaking you, my little filly, but that will come later. I would not want your father to think that he has married off his precious daughter to an unkind man.” The smile he gave her was not pleasant. If anything, it was triumphantly satanic.
“Perhaps it would be to your best interest, Bianca, to humor me. I could just as well take you here and now.” Evgenii watched the look of horror that flickered across her face before she gained control of her emotions. It pleased him that he had such power over this silly little woman. “But I am not an unreasonable man. I will in fact make a bargain with you.” He almost smiled at the spark of hope that lit her eyes. The little chit was so obvious in her emotions. It made his cruel teasing more entertaining. His next words dashed that spark of hope as well as if he had blown the flame of a candle out with a puff of breath.
“You come to me willingly, holding nothing back, and I will not kill the mighty Black Dragon when next I see him.”
Bianca had never been more terrified in her life. Her fear was not for herself, but for the man she loved with her whole being. Her heart beat frantically as she glanced between Evgenii’s legs to determine the distance to the cave entrance. It was too far and she knew without a doubt that she would not be leaving this place alive. She was trapped and helpless, but she would fight this demon with every breath she had left in her body before she would give in to him.
Evgenii took a step toward her and Bianca’s gaze flew up to his face, her hand clutching at her torn clothing. She found him smiling almost pleasantly. Had he guessed her intent? That she would not be used as a pawn to draw Draco to his death no matter the cost. Slowly, painfully, Bianca regained her feet and carefully stepped out of the cold water never taking her eyes off Evgenii. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and spoke coldly to the villain.
Kiss of the Dragon Page 37