Jack Lafayette just stood there wide-eyed and appalled. I could see it in his eyes. I recall that the other men in the room stood there in wonder of why he stood there this way. Looking at me as if he had just seen a ghost or something.
“Why is this name so appalling to hear?” Matthew asked, placing his hand on my wrists. “I curious.”
“We knew each other fairly well when we were quite younger,” he answered anxiously.
“That still does not explain anything, Jack,” another man commented.
“Frank, be quiet.”
My first love was becoming more and more anxious with every passing moment. It was quite fascinating in my opinion. There he was moments before coming in with all this bravado and the next he looked faint. I almost laughed at the sight of him.
“Mary Jane, if you tell us I will gladly untie you,” my captor said with a note of kindness in his voice.
“May I take your word on that, sir?” I challenged.
“On my honor of a captor, you tell and I will release you from the binding ropes.”
“Well….”
Why was I doing this? My mind was screaming. Why was I being so nice to Matthew after he had taken me by force to this horrid manor where he killed men and being cruel to my first love? I could not decide and wanted to get out of those ropes badly. So I did the only thing I knew of to do. I told him.
“It was approximately four years ago that we became what you could say more than just casual companions,” I informed him.
“You mean to say that the two of you were lovers?”
He was now loosening the rope around my wrists. I had planned to try to escape as soon as the ropes were off. But that did not happen for as soon as the ropes were loose, he clutched my arm tightly. Looks like I am going to have to try harder.
“Yes, we were. Jack how is the baby?”
I wanted to be cruel. I wanted to hurt him like he had me by not trying to help me escape after learning my name. It was working too. I could see his eyes flashing with anger, his face flushing red from the hate that was forming. I wanted him to hate me for I no longer loved him. The love had left as soon as he had just stood there looking at me.
“Fine,” he answered quietly. “My mother is raising him.”
“That is splendid.”
What happened next cannot be explained. The truth cannot be found for it is unknown. I do not know how it happened or why…neither can Matthew, but it happened. Jack pulled out a sword and brought it down towards me. I gasped with fright, shutting my eyes tightly. But the pain did not come. Instead I heard the sound of a sword clinging upon another. I opened my eyes ever so slowly and found my captor holding a sword over me, keeping the other sword from stabbing my heart.
“Do not you dare think about killing her,” he snarled, glaring at him. “If I wanted her dead I would have already killed her myself.”
“She should be killed for finding out that we stole the Leroux fortune,” Jack stated.
“All she knew was that I murdered James. Now, she knows the whole thing.”
Frank brought out his sword saying, “Well, maybe it is you Jack that should be killed for spilling the information.”
“Yes, he should be killed,” another man declared. “Am I correct, Rolf?”
“Indeed, Hawk,” Rolf, agreed hastily.
“Men, silence,” Matthew, boomed. “I am the one in charge here so it will be I who gives the orders.”
And they were all silent. The room was so silent that I was afraid to breathe. No one else seemed to be either.
“Mary Jane, what do you suggest we do with him?” he questioned, turning to me.
“I do not see how my opinion matters,” I said, looking at the floor.
“Mary Jane, answer the question. What do you suggest we do with him?”
“Punish him?”
“Indeed I shall. Well, let us go find something to eat.”
The others left the room without looking back at me. My captor made no attempt to move out of the room. Instead, he gazed at me for a moment in silence.
“If you do make it out of here breathing your identity will be changed to someone other than yourself,” he stated, finally breaking the silence.
“Whatever for?” My identity changed? That is bull! If that were to happen then I would be so much unhappier.
“So you will not be recognized…and you will be one of us.”
“Who will I be then?” I asked quietly, hoping he would not be angered by my curiosity.
“That depends on what happens while we are here in this manor.”
I was afraid to say anything more about the subject or of the events that had occurred before I was brought here. So Jack was now some sort of thief or whatever they called themselves. So I remained silent.
* * *
“Mary Jane, I am talking to you,” Hawk snarled. “So answer me.”
Ignoring the man, I remained silent in the corner of the master bedroom of the manor; the room I had been tied up in hours before. I did not want anything to do with these men for they were thieves and disgraceful. So I did not speak to any of them but Matthew. The only reason I did what he asked and responded to his questions was for the reason that my life was in his hands.
“Mary Jane!” He was becoming even angrier.
I really did not care how angry he became. Actually, I wanted him to be angry. At least maybe that way the men would turn on each other and departure. That would mean I might have a bigger chance of survival. I had been sitting in the corner for a few hours, planning on an escape or a way to change my captor’s mind into releasing me from this place.
“Girl, if you do not listen to me I will be forced to harm you!”
“You will not harm her,” a masculine voice I knew fairly well stated. He stood in the doorway, his legs astride, peering down at me. “Mary Jane, is this man bothering you?”
“Very much,” I said shortly, looking away from him to the window.
“Hawk, leave the lady alone. She is very stressed.”
Out of the corner of my right eye, I saw him walk out of the room with a look of annoyance. I knew he was dying to hear the answer to his nauseating questions. Would I be his lover? And did he look to be pleasurable? I wanted badly to throw up at the thought of actually sharing a moment such as that with him. I also caught sight of Matthew closing and locking the door behind him. I was now locked in a room alone with him. Oh no! This cannot be good.
“Well, Miss Pendleton,” he said softly. “Let us see how much you really want to live.”
The tone of his voice was a bit alarming; seeing as the message behind it was that my captor desired to be with me… if you catch my drift. A crack of lightning interrupted my thoughts, bringing the murder to mind. A roll of thunder and a downpour of rain followed it. That made me very frightened.
He began walking towards me with a wicked smile on his face. I wanted badly to move out of reach but there was nowhere for me to go; I was trapped in the corner; he had cornered me.
“Well, Miss Pendleton, do I have to do everything myself?” he asked mischievously.
“Stay away from me, Matthew,” I said, standing to my feet.
“But I find this considered necessary.”
“Sorry I cannot return the compliment.”
“You will change your mind.”
“I doubt it. So this is what you spared my life for?”
“Yes.”
“You are inconceivable.”
“I do not think so.”
He was standing within arms reach of me, peering at me in a way that made my skin crawl. It made me sick.
“Please, Matthew, do not do this to me,” I begged.
“Why not?” he asked as if he were a child.
“Because we do not know each other.”
“Yes we do. You are Mary Jane Pendleton and I am Matthew Bromley. What more do we need to know?”
Then without prior notice, he reached out and took me into his arms with such a force that I winced in pain. He was holding me tightly against him as he stated, “I could force you very easily, you know…now… this precise moment in this very spot. You could scream. But who would care? Actually, the others might run in wanting to join in on the excitement. Then you could fight me, but of course, I would win. So what do you say? Force or surrender?”
“Either way you are going to win are you not?” I sneered, now angry.
“True, but I am allowing you the chance to join in on the pleasurable night ahead.”
“I hate you, you waste of human flesh!”
“Not exactly the answer I was looking for…oh, well.”
Matthew scooped me up in his arms and threw me onto the canopy bed with green velvet curtains so violently that I almost went over onto the floor. I went to run to the door when he grabbed my ankle.
“Where do you think you are going? Huh?”
“Release me,” I snarled.
“Hmm, let me think about this…no.”
He pulled me back towards him.
“NO!” I slapped him as hard as I could. Bad idea. He angrily grabbed my wrists and held them down.
“No,” I sneered, trying to fight him. “Matthew stop doing this.”
“Think carefully before you decide because next time I will not ask,” he threatened.
“Like there will be a next time.”
“You surprise me, Mary Jane…it comes with the deal.” His voice was filled with amusement. “Why else do you suppose I let you live?”
My captor then imprisoned between his arms. Irritated, I began to fight him, but my strength was nothing compared to his own. Holding me down, his lips traced the curve of my cheek until he got to my mouth, molding it with his hard demand. When he raised his head, I laid motionless in his arms, saying, “Some how I knew this would happen.”
“Considering the circumstances,” he said with a chuckle.
“Well, you have proven that you can force me to your will, and care nothing for my feelings…I wish you pleasure then of your prize.”
“Thank you, but it is more fun to take than be given.”
He lowered his head back down to mine as he took hold of my dress. There was a ripping sound as his lips met mine once more. I began to fight him again, when an idea popped into my head.
Instead of returning his kiss, I bit his bottom lip. Startled, Matthew jerked my head back, and pushed me away from him roughly.
I landed hard on the wood floor, sending pain through my entire body. Ignoring the pain, I looked up at him in time to see blood beginning to trickle down his chin. He put his hand to his mouth, and let out a curse when he saw the warm liquid on his fingertips. It was then that he began to walk towards me.
“Why you little, vagrant,” he sneered, slapping me hard across the face. “I ought to give you a sound slashing, but you know what? I am not…I have something even better in mind.”
“With death at the end?”
“Perhaps.”
I watched in horror as he ripped the dress off of me and threw it aside.
“I know one thing is for sure, Miss Pendleton. That is if you walk out of here alive, this will be a night you will never forget.”
“With a shudder perhaps? Yes, that is how I will remember.”
“No, perhaps otherwise. I intend to make sure that you remember me for the rest of your life.”
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