MAIL ORDER BRIDE: ARISTOCRAT: The Duke’s Engagement (Historical Victorian Duke Romance) (New Adult Romance Short Stories) (65 page)

              Of course, he wished he could have all of her.  He wished he could push her husband away and take her all for himself, but he knew that wasn’t possible.  He thought she loved her family and he didn’t want to take that away from her.  All he wanted was to spend some time with her, to make her happy, to take some of her stress away. 

              However, there were times when being with Stephen just made her even more stressed.  Marta always feared that something would give her away.  That something would be out of place and that Cole would find out that she was cheating.  She feared what would happen when he found out.  She knew he would be violent, but she didn’t know if he would contain that violence to just her. Cole was an unpredictable man and he could just as easily go after Linda or Stephen.  Marta was scared for the safety of her loved ones but at the same time she wanted to be with Stephen.  There was something about him that turned her on.  She couldn’t control herself when he was around.  She needed to have him and it seemed like no amount of danger could turn off that need. 

              Plus, all this time with Stephen had reminded her how much she truly loved him.  She didn’t love Cole.  She loved Stephen.  She had always loved Stephen.  Marta thought about this one day when she was home alone with her daughter.  Her daughter had the day off from school and was spending some time with her mother. 

              Marta smiled at her little girl before saying, “Hey sweetie do you want to go to the park with me?”  Linda looked up at her mother and smiled before nodding.  She loved the park.  “Do you mind if I bring one of my friend along?”  Linda shook her head but looked a little confused.  She had never heard of her mother having any friends, but she assumed it was okay. 

***

              At the park, the three of them played around like a happy little family.  Stephen was amazing with Linda and Linda loved him.  Marta was surprised at how well Stephen was handling her daughter.  Cole had never bothered to come to the park with them.  He thought it was a waste of time. 

              Stephen, however, thought it was a lot of fun.  Marta looked happy as she watched her daughter and lover play on the swings together.  This was what a family should be like.  In that moment, she considered leaving Cole.  So what if she lost everything?  She would be happy. But as Marta looked at her daughter, she knew she couldn’t afford the risk of losing custody over her. 

              Suddenly, someone tapped on Marta’s shoulder.  She turned around to see her worst nightmare coming to life.  Cole was standing there, anger seeping from his face as he looked at her and then at his daughter playing with some an unknown man on the swings. 

              “What the hell is the meaning of this?”  He asked.  His voice was calm, but the kind of scary calm that sent shivers down Marta’s spine.  She knew he was beyond reason and that anything she said would only anger him further. 

              “Tell me!”  Cole yelled before grabbing both of her arms.  Marta flinched in pain as she felt his nails dig into her skin.  The yell had attracted the attention of Stephen who looked over at Marta and rushed over holding Linda’s hand. 

              When Cole saw Stephen holding his daughter's hand he suddenly punched Stephen square in the face.  Stephen was not expecting this and he went down.  “Stephen!”  Marta screamed.  Linda started to cry as she saw her new friend hitting the ground. 

              Cole then grabbed his daughter’s hand making her cry out in pain as he squeezed it too hard.  He pulled his wife and daughter away from the scene of the fallen man.  By the time, Stephen’s world stopped spinning and he was able to get up the three of them were already gone.  He rubbed his jaw and cursed himself for being so weak.  How had he let that man knock him out like that? 

              Cole may have won the battle, but Stephen would win this war.  Marta’s husband wasn’t the man that she deserved.  He was violent and cruel and one way or another Stephen would give him his just desserts.  He was done being the nice guy, he was done being the man in the sidelines.  He no longer cared what happened to Marta’s husband.  This meant war.

Chapter 5

              After getting caught in the park, Marta avoided Stephen.  She couldn’t take the risk of being with him anymore.  She had endured a great amount of suffering that night as Cole took out all of his anger out on her, accusing her of being an unfaithful wife.  She didn’t need to go through that sort of pain again. 

              She didn’t need to worry her daughter who had cried the whole night hearing her mother scream through the walls.  She didn’t need to make her life any more miserable than it already was.  Besides, now she had a real reason for staying away from Stephen. 

              On the night of the park incident Cole had brought her into the bedroom and had his way with her.  When he was done he looked her dead in the eye and said, “If I see that guy around you one more time, I will take it all out on Linda.”  Marta’s eyes had started to water at that point.  She couldn’t be with Stephen.  No matter how much she wanted to be with him she couldn’t.  She couldn’t put her daughter in danger like that.  She needed to take care of her daughter and make sure she was safe.  If that meant being miserable then she would be miserable.  Her daughter was more important. 

              So she ignored her lover.  It was hard for Marta.  All she wanted to do was pick up her phone and tell Stephen everything.  All she wanted to do was crawl into his arms and have him make everything better, but she knew he couldn’t do that.  She felt trapped. 

              Why had she been such a fool?  Why had she married Cole without knowing the kind of man he truly was?  Marta felt like a fool as she thought about her life choices.  If she had just waited for Stephen the same way he had waited for her, then none of this would have happened.  Marta felt like a fool.  She wanted to go back and rewrite history, but that was impossible.  All she could do was go through the motions and pretend like everything was okay.  All she could do was put on makeup to try to cover up the bruises on her skin as she came up with pitiful excuses as to why she seemed to have a new bruise adorning her body every day. 

              Marta continued to live her life alone, with no one to turn to, with her phone turned off so she couldn’t accept any of Stephen’s messages for a couple of months.  Eventually, Stephen couldn’t handle it anymore.  He needed to be with her.  He needed to make sure she was okay and if she didn’t want to pick up her phone, if she didn’t want to answer his texts, then he would have no other option but to go to her house and knock on the door. 

              This was exactly what he did.  He knocked on her door loudly.  He was sure she was home.  Her car was in the driveway and her bedroom light was one.  Still, no one answered the door.  Stephen knocked again, hopeful that she would open up the door.  Marta, however, knew it was him and stayed away from the door.  She couldn’t answer it.  If Cole found out it would mean putting her daughter in jeopardy and she just couldn’t do that. 

              As much as it broke her heart to leave him outside the door she could not answer it.  She needed to stay away from him in order to ensure the safety of her daughter.  Stephen, however, would not take no for an answer.  He moved to the back of the house and climbed onto the fire escape and before Marta knew what was going on he had climbed through her bedroom window.  He had reentered her life.

              She stared at him as he stood in her bedroom.  No, he couldn’t be there.  He needed to get out of the room.  “Stephen… please…, please… get out or I will call the cops…”  Her hands were shaking as she grabbed her cell phone.  It seemed like she was really going to go through with her threat.  She stared at him with burning eyes.  She loved this man, but she loved her daughter more. 

              Stephen saw her shaking hands and he frowned.  He moved forward and even though she moved back she wasn’t quick enough.  Before she knew what was going on, he had his arms wrapped around her.  He held her close and she broke down.  She didn’t know how much longer she could live like this and the tears streamed down her face as she cried into her lover’s chest.  Why couldn’t she just be brave enough to grab Linda and leave Cole forever?  Why was she letting the fear of her husband keep her trapped in a marriage that only made her miserable?

              “Hey… look at me.”  Stephen said softly as he looked down at the shaking woman.  He knew she felt trapped.  He knew she felt defenseless but one way or another he would be with her.  He would find a way to get her away from her husband.  She didn’t deserve to live like this. 

              Marta eventually looked up at him, her eyes red with tears.  He leaned down and gently kissed the top of her head.  “Everything will be okay.  I promise.” 

              For some reason, Marta believed him. 

Chapter 6

              Marta felt some of her fears dissipate when Stephen said those words.  She felt relieved that he would stay by her side and she felt better about the whole thing.  There were still fears hovering around her, but they seemed more bearable with Stephen in the same room as her. 

              He leaned down and kissed her gently before the kiss turned into something more.  Marta pressed her lips hard into his and wrapped her arms around his neck as all her emotions came back to the surface.  There was something about this man that made her so wild.  All she wanted to do was be with him, to feel every inch of him, up against her body, to feel him closer to her, to wrap herself around him. 

              She bit his lip playfully and he picked her up and pressed her up against the wall.  She moaned as she felt herself being pressed against the wall and she ran her hands up his shirt, feeling his muscles ripple under his skin and he leaned down to kiss her neck.  He nibbled her skin softly before kissing her collarbone.  He wanted this woman.  He wanted her bad. 

              He couldn’t help himself, but she couldn’t help herself either.  He tossed her onto the bed and collapsed onto of her but before he could react she was on top of him.  She was eagerly peeling off his clothing and kissing his neck as she straddled him.  She threw caution to the wind and allowed her instincts and emotions to run free.  Stephen had vowed to make everything better and for some reason she had believed him. 

              She no longer felt afraid of her husband and all she wanted to do was make love with Stephen.  She wanted to feel him inside of her, making her feel good.  She wanted to give him the time of his life, to make him moan her name, to make him shudder in pleasure.  And so she moved her wet lips against him and smirked as she felt his member throb in anticipation. 

              It seemed like his member was just as eager to play as she was.  He grinned at her and then started to fondle her chest.  Marta moaned out when he did and shuddered in pleasure as he flicked one of her nipples with his finger before leaning forward and taking one of them into his mouth.  He sucked on them hard and Marta continued to moan as he sent shivers of pleasure through her spine.

              While he was occupied with her breasts Marta took her opportunity to push him inside of her.  She held his member in her hand as she guided him inside of her.  Slowly she lowered herself inch by inch onto his throbbing penis until she was fully impaled by his member.  She moaned out loudly before she started bouncing on him.

              Their moans started to dance together in the air filling the bedroom, lacing the air with their sweet melody of love.  They moaned louder and went at it harder. 

              Through their passion, they were oblivious to the sound of Cole coming home.  He was already in the house and following the sound of their moans to the bedroom.  The door was still open and he looked inside his bedroom to see his own wife riding another man, the same man from the park. 

              Instead of lashing out, Cole calmly left the doorway and made his way to his daughter’s room.  He found her there coloring in one of her favorite coloring books and quickly picked her up by the arm and pulled her into his study.  She tried to protest, but he quickly shut her up with a slap.  She whimpered and started to cry, but she stayed quiet. 

              In his study, he opened up one of the drawers to find his handgun.  Linda whimpered even more when she saw it.  She didn’t exactly know what it was, but the look of the cold metal gave her the shivers.  Cole then picked up his daughter and walked to his bedroom. 

              He cleared his throat loudly and the two lovers stopped mid-act to look at the man holding a little girl in one hand and pointing a gun at the same girl with the other.  Marta’s whole world froze.

Chapter 7

              “Cole… put… put… her down… please…”  Marta stammered as Linda continued to cry.  She didn’t know what was going on, but she was scared.  She wanted her mother.  She wanted her mother and she wanted to hide away from her father with the scary metal thing. 

              Stephen looked at him with big eyes.  Was this man really threatening his own daughter?  He pulled Marta off of him and said, “Look think about what you are doing… don’t throw your life away like this…”  Stephen said, trying to reason with the man.  He didn’t know that this man was not a man of reason.  Cole, upon hearing the voice of his enemy pointed the barrel of the gun at Stephen. 

              Stephen put his hands up.