A Promise of Tomorrow (23 page)

he
was willing to consider turning his life upside down for the man, it shouldn’t surprise himthat Weir might be willing to travel a little out of his way for a chance at him.
After a few minutes of quiet, Ellis said worriedly, “My lord?” and James realized he’d left the man standing there while he’d been buried inhis thoughts.
“I’msorry, Ellis. There’s no reply. Please see that the man has what he needs and let himbe on his way. I must get to the stables at once,” he said. He stood and made his way toward the door, and Ellis stepped back to make wayfor him.
“Of course, my lord. I hope it is nothing serious.” Ellis looked deeply troubled, and James took a moment to clasp the man on the shoulder in gratitude. He was indeed lucky to have such people around him, and he hadn’t had the decencyto show it oflate.
“I hope so too, Ellis. Will you tell the twins I had to go out and I won’t be back before dark? I will send word if I don’t return tomorrow. Tell them I have to go to Bury St. Edmunds on urgent business,”he said, releasingEllis’s shoulder and turningto go.
“Certainly, my lord,” Ellis replied as James made his way down the hall and out the front doors. Before he’d made it down the steps to the courtyard, he heard Ellis say behind him, “Good luck, my lord.”
When James looked up, startled, he barely caught a glimpse of Ellis’s smile before he closed the doors to the house. Wondering only for a moment at his enigmatic behavior, he shook his head and strode quicklytoward the stables, his mind fullyfocused onKyle.
There’s probably no need for such a fuss
, he reassured himself.
But it can’t hurt to warn the lad and make sure he’s all right… just this once.
He hadn’t managed to convince his gut of that by the time he took to the road, and Percy, sensitive to his body more than his wishes, took it at a gallop. He reined himself and the horse in before too long. They had nearly fifteen miles to go, and Percy would kill himselftryingto keep that pace.

“Excellent, Allen,” he said leaning close as he always did. Kyle was shaking so much from lack of food and sleep that he’d barely beenable to write at all, but it seemed he’d managed wellenough.

I’m so tired
, was all that he could think at the moment. He didn’t even care that the horrible man had put his hand on his shoulder, so close to his neck that his fingers brushed Kyle’s throat throughhis cravat.

Baxter leaned closer to him, and whenKyle didn’t resist, he put his other hand on Kyle’s left shoulder, mirroring the first. “Since you are doing so well with us, Mr. Allen, perhaps we should discuss an increase inyour wages,”the manwhispered inhis ear.

That
suggestion, and the bile rising in his throat, managed to rouse him out of his stupor enough that he could pull away from the man, stand, and take a few shaking steps around the desk. “Thank you, Mr. Baxter, but I believe it’s too soon for such marked favoritism. Surely the other clerks would take it amiss if I received an increase whentheyhave seniority,”he managed weakly.

“Don’t be silly, Allen. If the other clerks possessed your skills and attributes, then of course they would receive special regard. As they do not, it falls to you,” the man gritted out as he walked around the desk toward Kyle, a distinctly predatory gleam in his eye. “And, of course, there’s no need for them to know of it, either,” he whispered, holding Kyle’s stare and chuckling as Kyle backed a few more steps.

He was saved from any further discussion when Mr. Clarke came out of his office and moved toward them. “Still here, Allen? That’s what I like to see, a man who has enough pride in his work to stay until it’s done. Mr. Baxter and I have a few more things to discuss this evening, but you may go home now. We don’t want you to wear yourself out too soon. In fact, you are looking a little unwell. Youshould most definitelygo home and rest.”

Taking his words like a gift fromabove, Kyle picked up his hat and allbut ranfromthe offices, not evenlookinginBaxter’s direction. He threw a “Thank you, sir” on his way out the door and heard a chuckle fromMr. Clarke. Baxter said nothing, and Kyle was glad for that. He never wanted to hear the man’s voice again if he could help it.

What am I going to do? I need this position!
He felt sick and shaky and just wanted to get back to his rooms and crawl under his bedclothes and cry.

I know I have to pay for my mistakes, but I thought I had paid enough by now. Damn it all to hell! I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing, and I’m still being punished. Why?

He railed inside at God, everyone, and no one in particular. He was so caught up in his misery that he didn’t even notice a shadow break away fromthe alley he had passed and begin trailing himdown the street.

By the time he reached the boarding house, he was so exhausted he could barely put one foot in front of the other. His head was spinning, and he just couldn’t think anymore. He
had
to sleep.

He didn’t remember climbing the stairs, but he must have, because before he knew it, he found himself in front of his door. Pulling the key fromhis pocket, he unlocked the door and all but fell inside. He was just throwing the bolt on the door when someone knocked. Thinking it must be Mrs. Trumble, the widow who owned the house, he pulled back onthe bolt and opened the door.

“Hello, pretty,” Weir said with a smirk on his lips, then he pushed his wayinside the room, knockingKyle offbalance. He fellto the floor, landingonhis rump as allthe air left his lungs.

Weir threw the bolt on the door, then dropped to one knee in front of Kyle, slapping his palm over Kyle’s mouth and saying, “Not a word, you little whore. Not one word. You’ll do as you’re told or I’llhave to punishyou, is that understood?”

He stood then, dragging Kyle up by his armand propelling him toward the bed. “You’ve led me a merry little chase, little one. I have to be honest. I didn’t know you had it in you. It took much longer than I expected to find you. Of course, I had other, more important things on my mind,” Victor said as he calmly walked toward Kyle, removing his gloves and placing them on the small table where Kyle ate his meals.

“You have a great deal to make up for, my little whore,” he continued as he looked Kyle over appraisingly. “I was going to simplyhave youpack your things and accompanyme back to the inn. But now that I see you, I think you need a little lesson in obedience first. I think your time with the Ashtons may have given you too high an opinion of yourself, and I can’t have you causing trouble, now can I?”

Kyle was shaking in earnest now. Victor looked so cold and smug that Kyle wondered how he could have ever been attracted to the man.
Why didn’t I see how truly ugly he was before now?

Victor laughed, if something so chilling could be called such. “Money? Oh no, little one, such things are beneath us, don’t you think?” Victor stood over him now and slid his hand over Kyle’s cheek. When Kyle flinched, Victor clasped his chin in a painful grip and leaned in close, hissing, “You are mine. I
own
you. You gave yourself to me the moment you left Shropshire with me, and I keep what’s mine until
I
decide I’mdone withit.”

Victor released his chin and walked back to the small table, sitting down in one of the two plain wooden chairs. As he sat, Kyle noticed the knife hilt protruding fromthe top of his boot. “Now, take offyour clothes and come here,”he instructed.

Kyle tried to swallow around the knot of fear in his throat and began untying his cravat slowly, hoping his muddled brain would come up with some way to help him. His hands shook so much that he wouldn’t have beenable to do it quicklyevenifhe’d wanted to.

“Kyle.” The warning in Victor’s voice went straight to his already weakened knees. “I would not recommend trying my patience right now. At this moment, I’m willing to consider forgiving youwithonlya smallshow ofobedience onyour part. Ifyoucontinue to try my temper in this manner, it willbe a
very
long time before you earnthat honor.”

Kyle quickly removed his cravat and jacket before hurrying to unbutton his waistcoat. He rushed through the rest of his clothes in a panic, and his heart was racing so fast in his chest he feared he might faint.

“Better,”Victor said. “Now, come here.”
Kyle walked onwoodenlegs toward Victor.
“You haven’t been eating, little one,” Victor said with a feigned

concern that made himwant to retch. “We’ll have to fatten you back up againlest youfade awayto dust before I’ve had myfillofyou. Go washyourself. I want youcleanbefore I eventhink oftouchingyou.”

Victor waved his hand to the small dresser that held his basin and ewer, and Kyle moved to stand in front of it. With a shaking hand, he grasped the handle and froze. But it wasn’t panic that held himstill, not this time, not ever again.

NO! No, I won’t do this. I don’t care what he does to me. I won’t simply lie down and submit to him again! If he wants anything from me, he’s going to have to take it. I’ve already given myself to the only man in the world who means anything to me. Victor can’t have me.

“
You’re braver than you know.
” James’s words suddenly drifted through his mind, and he sobbed at the memory of the tenderness the manhad shownhim.

“Now, now, little one, no need to cry. Ifyou simply do as I say fromnow on, I willfind it inmyheart to forgive you. I assure you. No one willever care for you as I will, you’llsee. You belong to me, and I take care of what’s mine,” Victor said, coming up behind him and restinghis hands onKyle’s shoulders.

The touchreminded himofMr. Baxter’s advances, and a black rage welled up inside him so strong it left him nearly blind. Without even seeing what he was doing, he swung the ewer around and felt it shatter against something hard. Victor crumpled to the floor with a thud as Kyle stumbled back against the wall. For several long moments, he stood in shock, staring at the man lying on his floor, blood dripping from his head. Then his legs finally gave out and he slid to the floor, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

B
Y THE
time James and Percy trotted into Bury St. Edmunds, the sun was nearing the horizon, and he was beginning to feel a little foolish. What on earth would he say to Kyle when he saw him? “Sorry to bother you, but I heard a vague rumor that perhaps your ex-lover might be a murderer, is now desperate, and may come lookingfor youbefore he flees to the continent?”

James shook his head. Perhaps he had been a little silly to ride allthis waywhenhe might have simplysent a messenger to deliver the warning. And perhaps his desire to see the young man again had overriddenanycommonsense he had.

He rode through the streets of the town until he saw the inn he used when visiting in this part of the county. Handing his mount to the stable boy, he went into ask the innkeeper to board his horse and for directions to the boardinghouse named inKyle’s letter to Anna.

He decided not to take the innkeeper up on his offer of a bath and a room to refresh himself in. Though he was still feeling a little silly, he couldn’t help being pushed by that same sense of urgency that had brought himthis far, and he set offacross the town to Kyle’s rooms without further delay.

He found the house soon enough, and his knock was answered by a plump woman with graying brown hair dressed in black with a frillywhite apron.

She looked a bit distracted, but James plowed on with as much dignity as he could muster in his present travel-stained state. “Good evening, Mrs. Trumble. I amLord Warren, Viscount Sudbury, and I wish to pay a call on Mr. Kyle Allen, if he is receiving,” he said, handingher his card.

She looked startled for a moment before she blushed and bobbed a curtsy. “Of course, my lord, I was just going to go check on the lad meself. He seemed a mite ill last I saw him, and I heard a loud noise come fromhis roomjust a moment ago. I feared he might have hurt hisself.”

James’s stomach lurched at her words, and he made quick to offer, “Please, madam, may I go and check on him for you? He is a dear friend, and I amhere out ofconcernfor his welfare.”

“Oh, certainly, my lord. Please come in. He’s the last door on the right,”she said, pointingup the stairs.
James ran up the stairs two at a time, his anxiety increasing to the point where he didn’t care how unseemly his actions were. He rushed down the hall and knocked on the door she indicated. “Kyle! Mr. Allen, are youthere?”

When he didn’t hear anything, he pounded on the door again and tried the handle. The knob turned, but the door was bolted from the inside. He was set to knock again when he heard a muffled sob from beyond the door and panicked. Not bothering to knock again, he simply slammed himself against the door until the bolt gave way and let himinto the room.