Chapter 2

Chapter Two

W oodburn Hall loomed over Ash as he stood outside the front door. It was a monstrosity of a house. He breathed in deeply, steeling himself for what had to be done. Everyone here needed to believe him to be the same tyrant as his father if he wanted his plan to work. Giving a last look at Fogg, he nodded and wrenched open the heavy door.

Ash strode into the large entry hall. A footman gasped at his sudden intrusion, nearly dropping the silver candelabra he was carrying. Ash hadn’t given any warning that he was coming.

After a few seconds, the footman sank into a deep bow, eventually recognizing who Ash must be. “My lord.”

Ash closed his eyes, centering himself. No one addressed him by his title and hearing it after all this time made his skin crawl. In Ash’s mind, his father was still Lord Ashdown, despite the fact he’d been dead seventeen years. He let out a long sigh. He needed to play the role to perfection in order to set expectations for his visit. He straightened himself to his full height, drawing his shoulders back.

“Where is Moulton?” he barked.

The butler appeared from an adjoining hallway. Tall, perfectly starched, and not a single dark hair out of place, just as Ash remembered, except for the grey creeping in at his temples.

“Sam, go to the—” Moulton stopped mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide as they landed on Ash. “My lord!” He hurried over, holding out a hand for Ash’s hat and coat, but Ash didn’t remove them.

“Moulton, this is my man, Fogg. He is to have unfettered access to every room in Woodburn Hall.”

“Y… yes, my lord.” Moulton tried to hide his confusion, but it showed on his round face nonetheless.

“And I mean, unfettered access, Moulton. If he chooses to go through the nightstand of a housemaid, he is to be left to his business. If he requires keys or access to anything, including in my private chambers or study, you will provide it without question. Any orders he may give are to be followed as if they were my own. Do I make myself clear?”

The butler straightened his spine and nodded. “Yes, my lord.” He hadn’t had anyone to answer to in a very long time. Ash desperately wanted to put the older man at ease and assure him he wasn’t the overlord his father had been, but he needed him to believe otherwise for the time being.

“Right,” Ash said, tapping his cane, the sound muffled by the thick carpet. He was glad to see everything at least appeared to be kept up as it should, even in his absence. He turned to Fogg. “I’m off before I lose all light.”

“Yes, my lord.” Ash cringed inwardly. It was even worse to hear those words from Fogg’s mouth. He only ever addressed him as Ash or boss, but he, too, needed to play a role here. “It looks like it may rain,” he warned.

“Not to worry, Fogg. I may have been away for a while, but I grew up here. I know this estate like the back of my hand. I’ll find shelter if need be.”

Ash managed to ride to the outer edge of his property before the clouds really began to thicken. This time of year, darkness came early anyway, but he had hoped for a couple of hours to check for any signs of recent repairs, or things just not as they should be. So far, there was nothing obvious, but he’d seen only a fraction of the sprawling property, so he kept going, even as an icy raindrop landed on his cheek.

He guided his horse into the trees, but when the sky opened up, even they provided almost no protection from the pounding rain. Fortunately, there was a small hunting cabin nearby. He’d take shelter there until it eased up a bit.

The disused, wooden structure still stood, if a little worse for wear. The cold made Ash’s leg ache as he climbed down from the saddle. The attached stable, if you could call it that, was every bit as run down as the cabin, and devoid of anything for his horse. At least it offered shelter from the elements, and they wouldn't be here long.

Ash pulled his gloves off as he made his way around to the front of the cabin. He opened the door and stumbled backwards as a horse bolted through, nearly trampling him, and knocking his hat right off his head. “What the blazes?” His heart pounded in rhythm with the horse’s hooves as it galloped away through the trees.

Before he could turn back to see what else might be inside the cabin, something hard landed against his shoulder, sending pain shooting down his arm.

“Ouch! What in the—” He grabbed hold of the fire poker, which was being wielded by a small, blonde, half-naked woman. What in God’s name was happening?

She gasped as he yanked the weapon from her hands and curled herself down at his feet, her arms covering her head for protection. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was tight with panic. “I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me.”

She thought he was going to hit her. “Christ,” he muttered, throwing the damned poker back into the cabin. He crouched beside her, trying to calm himself before speaking again. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Slowly, she lowered her arms and peeked up at him. He recognized that face. He’d never seen it laced with such fear, but he would know this woman anywhere.

“Gwen?”

Relief washed over her. “Ash?” A smile grew on her lips, and she threw herself at him, sending him tumbling onto his back. As she landed on top of him, his hands came to rest on her very bare, very lush backside. They squeezed the soft, cold flesh without him even giving them permission to do so, and arousal instantly stirred in his loins. She gave a soft moan, shoving him back into reality. Christ, what was he doing?

He tore his hands away from her body, holding them up by his head. “I’m so sorry, Gwen.”

“I’m not.” Thank God the fear was gone from her eyes, but the daring sparkle that had replaced it brought about its own terror.

“No. No, no, no. Get up. Off.” He seemed to have lost the ability to speak more than a single word at a time.

Pulling himself together, he reached for his cane and got to his feet, every inch of him soaked through. “Get back inside before you catch your death,” he ordered.

Try as he might, he couldn’t wrench his eyes away from her bottom as she turned and walked into the cabin. Her wet chemise clung to every curve. The water had also made the fabric mostly transparent, and lines striped the skin of her bottom. Having had similar marks across most of his body when he was young, he knew instantly what had caused them.

“Who hurt you?” His voice shook with barely contained fury. He would kill whoever had done it.

She whipped around, her eyes wide once more. She took a step back from him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her voice was high and breathy. Her eyes darted about the cabin.

“I saw the marks, Gwen.”

“It’s nothing, Ash.” She shook her head, her gaze fixed on the floor.

“Who was it?”

“Please, Ash, it’s nothing.”

“Is he here with you?”

She shook her head, but panic filled her eyes when they looked up at him. “I hope not.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, each one singeing his heart. In two strides, he had his arms wrapped around her. Her body trembled, probably from a combination of cold and fear. At least the cold he might be able to help with. She didn’t fight him as he steered her to a chair and encouraged her to sit. Fetching some towels, he shook the dust out of them as best he could before handing them to her.

“Take that wet clothing off and I’ll get a fire going.”

“No!” She shot out of the chair. “You can’t start a fire. He might find me.”

Ash placed his hands on her shoulders. “You’re safe now, Gwen. I promise you, whoever this person is, they won’t make it through that door alive now that I’m here. All you need to worry about is getting warm and dry.” He pointed back to the chair where she’d left the towel. With a hesitant nod, she returned and picked it up. Ash turned his back and peeled off his wet coat before setting to work on the fire. After seeing the fear on Gwen’s face, he’d happily pummel the man to death.

“Are you covered?” Ash asked over his shoulder.

“Yes,” she said quietly.

He dragged a chair in front of the fire. “Good. Have a seat.”

She did as she was told and Ash hung their clothes near the fire to dry. Her dress and corset were easy enough to find, but something was missing. “I’m sorry to be indelicate, Gwen, but where are your drawers?”

Her cheeks immediately flushed. “I don’t— He doesn’t—” She paused before settling for, “There aren’t any.”

A blaze of fury nearly choked him. She didn’t have to finish the statement for him to understand. Somehow, there was a monster in her life, controlling her, and he didn’t allow her to wear them because they would restrict quick access if he chose to dole out punishment. He pressed his shaking fingers over his lips, his teeth in danger of shattering from his tightly clenched jaw. What had happened to her since she’d left Raven House? It couldn’t have been more than eighteen months ago now.

“Is it your employer, Gwen? Did I send you into the care of someone who abuses you?”

Her head whipped around. “No.” Her brow furrowed and she shivered. Drawing one side of her bottom lip between her teeth, she looked into his eyes. “It’s my husband.” She ducked her head. “Or at least, I think he’s my husband.”

Before Ash could even formulate his next question in this mess, she looked up at him again. “What are you doing here, Ash?”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the mantle. “This is my cabin.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ash hated crossing these two parts of his life. “I expect you don’t.” He crossed one foot over the other, giving his sore leg a break, and let out a long sigh. “This is my estate, Gwen.”

“All of it?” She dragged the words out slowly, still not fully understanding.

“Yes.” He nodded, dreading the next words out of his mouth. Speaking them somehow made him feel pompous and dissolute at the same time. “I’m the Earl of Ashdown.”

Gwen’s mouth slowly fell open. She eventually closed it and blinked three times before taking a breath. “Since when?”

Ash chuckled. He hadn’t been sure what she was going to ask next, but that wasn’t it. “Since my father died. Seventeen years ago.”

“But that means…” Her lips turned up in a slow smile. “That means, when I was working as a Lady Raven, I was working for an earl.”

A laugh startled from Ash. “Yes, I suppose you were.”

“With all due respect, you’re not really what I would have imagined an earl to be.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

She continued to stare at him, seemingly in awe. That was why he didn’t like telling people. Nothing had changed. He was still the same person he’d always been to her, and yet, in her mind, he was different.

“Now, Gwen, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I need to know how you came to be here, which means, you’re going to have to start at the beginning. How did you end up with this husband of yours?” The words left a bad taste in his mouth. “Last I knew, you were working as a kitchen assistant in a household a very long way from here.”

That seemed to break something loose so she was able to talk about it. “I was, but after a few months, I met Greg. He approached me at the market while I was picking up an order of lamb. After that, I seemed to bump into him every time I went to the market. He was all smiles and kindness, always complimenting me and bringing me small gifts. It wasn’t long before I was smitten.” Her shoulders fell slightly, and exhaustion seemed to settle over her. “So when he proposed marriage, I didn’t even hesitate to say yes. He didn’t want a big, proper wedding, so we eloped to Gretna Green.”

She went quiet for a long moment, staring down at the hands in her lap. “That night, everything changed.” She didn’t look up, but Ash could see the quivering of her chin. God, what had he done to her? Sobs suddenly broke over her and she covered her face with her hands.

“Gwen.” He knelt down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. His heart broke for her. He would hunt the bastard down and kill him, slowly and painfully, just as soon as she was somewhere safe.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to wipe the tears away.

“Shhhh. You never have to apologize to me, Gwen.”

Slowly, she began to calm. She rested her head on his shoulder and he breathed in her sweet scent. If only he could stay like that forever. That was the thought that made him pull away from her. Keeping her safe meant he needed to adhere to his rules.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here tonight, Gwen. What happened to send you out into this storm, with no coat and only one boot?”

She shrugged. “Greg was going to punish me. I panicked. I knocked him unconscious with a candlestick and stole his horse.”

That was the Gwen he knew. She’d always been headstrong and courageous. “Are you sure he’s still alive?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “That’s why I’m missing a boot. He tried to pull me off the horse.”

Ice crept up Ash's spine at the thought of what would have happened to her if he had succeeded.

“Then I just rode, pushing the horse as fast as it would go. The rain started, and I needed shelter.” She looked up at him. “And here I am.”

“And here you are,” Ash repeated, sadness filling his heart. “You’re safe now, Gwen. I promise you.” But then he remembered something else. “You said earlier that you think he’s your husband. What did you mean by that?”

“I found some letters in his study.” She pointed to a pile of papers on a small table near the bed. “That’s why I was in trouble, actually.”

Ash flattened the pages and read. It was clear this man was not legally married to Gwen. These letters were from his wife asking if he had managed to get ‘the maid’ with child yet. As horrific as it was, it would seem the wife was barren and had sent her husband to create a child with someone else to claim as their own. Nausea roiled in Ash’s stomach. That someone was Gwen. In addition to beating her, how many times had he forced himself on her in his crusade to get her pregnant?

“Christ,” he muttered, spearing his fingers into his damp hair.

“He’s not— We’re not?—?”

Ash shook his head to confirm what she was asking. Neither of them had the strength to say it aloud.

“What am I going to do? I ran away from a good position. I believed he loved me. And now I have no husband, no employment, and nowhere to go.” A hiss of cynical laughter made its way between her lips. “I don’t even have a full pair of boots or drawers.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re going to be alright, Gwen. You’ll come with me. I’ll make sure you’re safe and have everything you need.”

She scrunched her brow. “But why? Why would you do all of that for me? Again?”

Ash shrugged. “Because I can.” Because it wasn’t possible for him not to. He would never leave her without knowing she was safe and cared for. “When I finish my business here, I’ll be returning to Raven House, and you will come with me.”

“We can see how well I did with that the first time around.” She huffed another laugh. “How many times are you going to save me, Ash?”

He lifted her chin gently. “As many times as it takes.”

She stood then and pressed her lips to his, reaching one hand down and rubbing her fingers over his manhood, which greedily sprang to life inside his damp trousers. With the other hand, she pulled open the towel she was wrapped in and let it fall to the floor. Desire like he’d never known crashed over him, and it terrified him.

Gently, he placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her still while he stepped back from her. She was only behaving this way because she was in a state of shock.

“No, Gwen. I can’t do this.”

“Am I not to your liking?”

Before he could stop it, his gaze roved over her body from head to toe and back up to her face. “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes upon.”

“Then why won’t you let me give myself to you? My body is the only thing I have to give in return for your kindness. And I know you want it.” She reached for his trousers again, but he quickly stepped back out of reach.

He shrugged one shoulder. “You know why, Gwen. It’s against my rules.” He would never again allow himself to take advantage of a woman because of his position.

She chuckled cynically. “It’s not as if I’ll be ruined.”

It was time to head her off before his resolve gave out completely. “Before you cover yourself again, turn around so I can see the marks and make sure they don’t need any kind of medical attention.”

That did knock her off course. “It’s nothing, Ash.”

“Then allow me to look. I’ll do nothing untoward.”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

“Please?”

With a huff, she spun around and bent over, placing her hands on the chair. The anger sparked by the marks was the only thing that allowed him to keep his wits about him with her in that position. There were a couple that were red, and swollen, and can’t have been more than a day or two old. And so many others in various stages of healing. How many times had she endured his beatings?

He touched a fingertip to the edge of one and she sucked in a breath. God how he wished he could take the pain from her and suffer with it himself, instead.

“I’m so sorry, Gwen. A few of these look quite painful, but I don’t think there’s much to be done to help, aside from time.”

She stood, wrapped herself in the towel once more, and sat down.

“How often did he beat you?”

She shrugged. “Not very often in the beginning, but it became more frequent as the months passed. I think he was angry that I hadn’t yet conceived a child. Those efforts became more frequent too, as they always immediately followed the punishment, but I was never successful.” His heart broke for her as he once again vowed to hunt the man down and end him.

“Why don’t you come and lie on the bed? That way you can at least avoid sitting on the wounds.”

She shrugged again, her agitation growing. “Perhaps I deserve the pain.”

Ash closed his eyes. How often had he said those same words?

Rather than arguing, he simply pulled back the blanket. “Come. Climb in.”

With a huff, she eventually acquiesced. She dropped the towel before lying on her side in the bed. He pulled the cover over her shoulder and tucked her in.

“Will you hold me, Ash? I promise I won’t try to seduce you again.”

Ash chuckled. “Just this once.” How could he possibly say no to those sad eyes? She looked so defeated. He climbed over her and squeezed his large frame between her and the wall, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her tightly against him. Even through the blanket, he could feel her curves. This was going to be one of the longest nights of his life.

“Get some sleep, Gwen.” To his surprise, she did. He didn’t know what he was going to do with her, but he would track down the bastard who had hurt her, and skin him alive for what he’d done.