Debutantes Don’t Date (23 page)

“Don’t worry, Bingham, you will never be in the same situation. Even your great, great,
great grandchildren won’t be able to spend all of your money.” Neal sat down in the
one and only chair in the room.

“I don’t know. Wester seemed to go through his inheritance quite quickly. I heard
that his mother’s father left him £200,000. He’s got nothing left.” Jasper sprawled
across the bed, his boots hanging over the edge. “I think he expected to make his
way through my fortune as well. I’m extremely glad I didn’t marry his sister, no offence
to Lady Anne of course.”

“Of course.” Neal pulled off his boots. “She’s a nice girl. It’s amazing how she turned
out so well considering her family.”

“Damn this night! I don’t like leaving Grace out there alone. Who knows what he is
doing to her right now.”

“I know, but our horses can’t go any farther, not with the ice on the road. It would
be suicide to attempt it. We have to wait until daybreak.”

Jasper opened his mouth to reply but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Neal heaved himself from his chair, unlocked the door and opened it slightly. They
had locked it on entering as they weren’t sure of the level of safety they had here.

“Eaglestone! What are you doing here?”

“Lady Anne informed me where you were headed and I was hoping to find you here. I’m
a friend of the owner and I thought I might be of some assistance.” Philip came into
the room and looked around. “You’re sharing?”

“There are no more rooms apparently.” Jasper raised his brows to Philip.

“Nonsense, Charlie says you have the only room tonight. He is never busy on a Wednesday.”
Philip headed out of the room. “Come on, let’s see if we can find out any information
about Wester and get you another room.”

Both men followed Philip onto the landing, Jasper in his boots and Neal in his stockings.

Grace woke with a warm hand on her breast. Her eyes flew open. It wasn’t the right
hand. This one didn’t belong to the man whom she was having the most erotic dream
about, but to the man who had her wrist tied to his. She screamed. As loud as she
could, right in his ear. It wasn’t until then that she realised he wasn’t yet awake
and seemed to be having a dream of his own.

His hand covered her mouth cutting her off mid-scream. His other hand squeezed her
breast and he nuzzled her neck. “I am going to enjoy raping you. I can see why Bingham
wants you so badly. You are so full of passion aren’t you?” He wedged his knee in
between her legs and lowered his body fully onto hers.

She sank deeper in the hay. Her mind frantically trying to find an escape. She struggled
and bucked against him until he groaned in pleasure and nipped her ear with his teeth.

“Oh, yes…full of passion.” He chuckled as he thrust his hips against hers, his erection
evident through the layers of clothing.

His hand worked its way up under her skirt to the exposed skin above her stocking.
Utter panic consumed her as she tried to free herself.

“You can’t escape, whore. You are tied to me, remember?” He held up his hand that
was bound to hers. “You might as well stop pretending and enjoy the next few moments.”
He finally lifted his hand from her mouth, only to place it on her breast.

“Is that all it will take? Just a few moments?” It wasn’t much but it was the only
way she could think of to stop him. He was far stronger than she was so she had to
use something other than physical strength to beat him. She was far more intelligent
than him. She needed to outwit him at his own game.

“What do you mean?” He stopped for a moment.

“Well, I didn’t want to say, but you feel quite small.” This could backfire terribly,
but it was the only chance she had. “But I always thought size didn’t matter. I thought
it was what you can do with it that counts…
but
you said it would be over in only a few moments, and I wondered…maybe size does matter.”
She managed to get her shoulder to give a careless shrug. She deliberately made her
breathing slow and calm, despite the butterflies spinning around in her belly.

“I feel small?”

Trust a man to pick up on that. “Well…maybe it is all the clothing?” she asked with
a hopeful note in her voice.

“I will show you the best time you ever had. Bingham has nothing on me!” He kissed
her lips, first quickly and hard but then seemed to remember his words and started
to kiss her gently and with tenderness.

This was worse. She thought nothing could be worse than being raped but being made
love to by the man who abducted her was far worse than being taken by force. Luckily
her body reacted the only way it knew how and she bit down hard on his tongue, flooding
her mouth with his blood.

Where her scream went unnoticed, one bellow from him brought the owners of the property
running. The door of the barn banged open and a cold gust of air accompanied the two
figures inside. Their feet skidded to a stop when they saw the blood pouring from
Robin’s mouth. They only looked at her when she sent a stream of blood into the hay
as she spat it from her mouth.

“What is going on in here?” the man said from the doorway in disgust.

“See sukin bip me,” Robin mumbled through the blood and his swollen tongue.

“It’s time for you to leave, mister. You and your piece of fluff can get out of my
barn. Find somewhere else to scratch your itch, you’re disturbing my horses!” The
old farmer wielded his pitchfork at them.

Grace tried to explain. The old woman who stood behind the man would help, she was
sure of it. “Please, I’ve been kidnapped. I need your help.”

“Don’t listen to the hussy, Arthur, they’s just trying to get out of paying for the
privilege of staying the night,” the woman assured her husband.

Grace stared dumbfounded at them. They weren’t going to do anything! “Please,” she
begged, “I need help.”

Lord Wester recovered enough by then to talk, unfortunately. He patted her on the
ass and said, “Don’t bother, love, we’ve been found out. There’s no need to pretend
any more. Come on, help me saddle the horse and we will be out of this lovely couple’s
way.” He jerked her tied arm and turned to the couple still standing at the door.
“So sorry we disturbed you. We’ll be out of here in no time.”

They left five minutes later. Grace was forced to ride behind him on his horse. At
least he untied her rope; he claimed he couldn’t control the horse with it on. Her
belly rumbled partly from terror of riding further and further from civilisation and
help, and partly from hunger.

“We’ll be there shortly. I imagine you will be tired from our long trip…besides, you
and I have some unfinished business to deal with.” Lord Wester’s hand reached around
and squeezed her thigh as he chuckled.

A lump formed in her throat making it impossible for her to respond, even if she could
have thought of any reply.

She could see a bridge up ahead on the road with a forest on both sides of the stream.
If she could somehow get off the horse she might be able to hide long enough to get
away from him. She shimmied back towards the horse’s rear, but Robin seemed to read
her mind.

“I don’t think so,” he said as he grabbed hold of her leg again. “You’re not going
anywhere. Besides, I spent summers here as a kid and know these woods like the back
of my hand, you can’t hide from me.”

Around the next bend she saw a cabin set back into the trees. “We’re here.” The joy
in his voice was evident.

As they approached the cabin she knew she was well and truly trapped.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The cabin was surprisingly comfortable. She was expecting dirt floors and rough furniture
but instead the place was fitted with beautifully shining wood floors and plush furnishings.
Heavy drapes hung at the windows, keeping the cold air at bay.

Robin crouched down and quickly lit a fire, sending a warm glow about the room. The
cool afternoon air slowly warmed with its heat. The light from the fire illuminated
more of the cabin and Grace could see a bed in the far corner behind a screen, shielding
it from view. Only the end of the bed was visible but it looked like warm blankets
topped the mattress. As inviting as it looked she was determined to stay away from
that area of the room.

Lord Wester rose from before the fire and turned towards her. “Now you will pay for
what you did this morning.” He leered at her and a shiver run up her spine as he gave
her a slow bright smile.

She watched in horror as he came towards her. His eyes were wild with a crazed look
in them. He looked desperate. His hands clenched at his sides as he stalked closer.
Grace backed up with each of his steps until she felt the wall against her palms.
He grinned, knowing she was trapped.

She choked on the scream rising in her throat. She would not scream. She would not
scream! She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, no matter how close he came.

***

Riding hell for leather, Jasper hoped Lady Anne was right. He had a sickening feeling
if she wasn’t, he would be too late to save Grace. He spurred his horse, urging him
faster still, and as his mount’s sweat flew into his eyes, Jasper knew he couldn’t
continue this pace much longer.

Neal and Philip kept pace. Their horses were blowing hard but not once did they complain.
The grim look on their faces said it all; they were not giving up either.

They rounded a corner and at last they could see the woodsman’s cabin set amongst
the trees. It was exactly as Lady Anne had described it to them.

They all reined their horses in. “What do you think?” Jasper asked Neal. “What is
the best way in?”

“Well, we could always storm the door, but that might put Grace in danger.” Neal sat
and studied the layout for a moment. “Our best bet is to go around the back and see
if there is another way in. We could both take an entrance. That way Wester won’t
be able to concentrate on both of us at the same time. Philip, you can cover us. We
should be able to get Grace free.”
I hope
was left unsaid, but they all heard it nevertheless.

“Very well, let’s go then.” Jasper dismounted and led his horse closer to the cabin
before tying it to a tree. He might need it in a hurry, but he didn’t want to alert
Wester to their presence. Wester’s horse might call out in greeting if they got too
close. Neal tied his own horse to the tree next to his and together they set off to
scope out the cabin. Philip moved into the woods but stayed mounted in case he was
needed quickly.

It didn’t take them long to get to the rear of the cabin but to Jasper it seemed like
years. There wasn’t a door at the back, but there was a window. He sent Neal back
around the front to the door while he peered through the glass.

***

“I’m going to have fun with you before I am finished.” Lord Wester’s hand was bruising
her jaw. His knife was at her throat. He leaned in to kiss her roughly, forcing her
lips open and thrusting his hot tongue into her mouth. She tried to bite down but
his hand kept her mouth forced open and there was nothing she could do to get away
from him. He had his knee pushed hard between her legs and she was trapped against
the wall. His body was plastered against hers so closely she was having trouble breathing.

He forced her legs wider apart and thrust his knee up against her groin, grinding
it into her. “Has he had you already?” he whispered in her ear as his wet lips slid
along her jaw. The knife slipped from her throat and ran down her body, cutting away
her dress. “Have you moaned his name against his lips?” He pressed the blade against
her bare breast. “You will moan for me too.”

She felt the blade cut into her tender flesh and she bit back a moan of pain. He will
not win. Her brain was fogged by fear, but she forced herself to think. If she could
get him to grab her from behind she might stand a chance. She could remember the steps
to S.I.N.G. from the movie
Miss Congeniality
. She moistened her lips and tried to take the fear from her voice and whispered in
Robin’s ear, “I like it from behind.” She gave a small moan for good measure and prayed
her plan would work. Hopefully he would fall for the ruse a second time.

Robin jerked in surprise and grinned. “Well then, we won’t disappoint you will we?”

Before she could react to the small space he gave her when he jerked back, he spun
her around and pulled her hard up against his erection so it fit tightly in the crevice
of her buttocks. He placed wet sloppy kisses down her neck to her shoulder and she
had a hard time suppressing the shudder of revulsion rippling through her body. He
dropped the knife so he could undo the fall of his trousers. The clatter of it hitting
the wood floor startled her into action. It was now or never.

She caught a movement at the window as she swung her elbow as violently as she could
into his solar plexus. The window exploded, sending a million little shards of glass
raining down on them as she stomped her foot as hard as she could onto his instep.
She wished she had on a pair of stilettos as shockwaves ran up her leg from the impact.
The door burst open as she smashed her fist into Lord Wester’s nose. Blood mixed with
the broken glass. The two men who burst into the room stared in astonishment as she
finished off her attacker with a hit to his groin. Lord Wester dropped to the floor
like a rock. Who said watching TV was bad for you?

Chapter Twenty-Six

The aftermath of the kidnapping and the ensuing rescue took its toll on Grace. She
sat on the window seat in her room at Victoria’s house, gazing out onto the street
into the moonlit night. What would she have done if Jasper and Neal hadn’t shown up
when they had? She knew all too well what Lord Wester had planned for her. He certainly
hadn’t had any qualms about letting her know in detail what he was going to do to
her. Even though she managed to break away from her captor, she was under no illusions
she would have been able to make it back to London on her own.