Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

LIZZIE

H e had found me.

No surprise. Through the trees, I could just make out the halo from the gaslights of the house in the far distance. Despite my earlier sewing efforts, the heavy weight of the dress had still slowed me down. Once I headed for the open field, thick fog quickly wrapped around me. Closer to the house, it had just seemed like wispy ribbons of smoke but the further I got into the field the denser and more impenetrable it had become.

Then I heard the dogs.

Feeling like a helpless fox in a hunt, I sprinted across the field and headed for the dark outline to my left, hoping that perhaps I would find shelter in the tangled branches and brambles of the trees and underbrush.

Crashing through the forest like the Hounds of the Baskerville, they relentlessly pursued me. Great hulking beasts with shaggy gray manes and snarling teeth. Petrified, I dug my nails into the tree trunk behind me, actually praying Richard would find me in time.

Something large was pushing its way toward me. Eventually I could just make out the shape of a man on a horse.

"Richard? Is that you?" I cried out, my voice high and pitched with alarm.

Whoever it was didn't respond, only continued their slow pace forward until he loomed over me. Finally, I could see the harsh planes of Richard's face. Even in the dimness of the moonlight that filtered down through the trees and bounced off the gray fog, I could see the cold, flinty look in his eyes.

Once more his tone was carefully controlled. "You have disappointed me, Elizabeth."

"Please, just call off your dogs!"

With his approach they had stopped their dreadful howling, but both beasts still had me pinned against the tree trunk with their aggressive stance and sharp bared teeth.

Instead of listening to me, he dismounted and reached into his saddlebag for something, I couldn't see what. As if I hadn't spoken, he continued to talk. "I have afforded you a great deal of patience because of your fragile mind but now I see I have been too lenient with you."

Too lenient?

My stomach twisted into a knot, the magnitude of my precipitate flight starting to settle onto my shoulders like a cold shroud of impending doom. I knew if caught I would pay, I just hadn't allowed myself to truly consider how dearly before attempting to escape, knowing if I had, I never would have dared it.

"Cerberus. Hades. Heel."

Of course, he would name these two hellhounds of his after, well… hellhounds!

Immediately both dogs retreated to sit on either side of Richard, looking no more menacing than a pair of beagles.

"Richard, we need to talk. This has all gone far enough. You must know that people will be looking for me by now," I pleaded, trying to reason with him.

"As you are an orphan with no family or connections to speak of, and I am your legal guardian, I cannot know of anyone who would question your whereabouts. As my ward, it is to be expected you would be under my roof… under my protection."

God, I hated that even, matter-of-fact tone of his. As if any disobedience or disagreement were a matter of my own folly, not his. If he said the sky were purple, he would just expect everyone around him to toe the line and agree. Why was I not surprised? It took a special level of psychotic arrogance to literally recreate a world that was over a hundred years past.

"I am not yours!" I screamed. My voice bounced off the trees like an echo, sending the sound of several birds at rest since dusk scattering high into the trees with their own screeches of alarm. I was losing all patience as hysteria took hold over my perilous position.

I was alone in the woods with a madman.

His arm whipped out to grab me by the back of the neck and pull me against his chest. As I opened my mouth to scream, he swooped down to claim it in a punishing kiss. The damp chill of the foggy night vanished as he pressed his body against my own. As he took a step toward me, I could feel the hard scrape of the tree trunk along my back and the even harder press of his cock against my stomach. He tasted like coffee and tobacco as his tongue swept in to swirl about my own. He consumed me. I fought against the power of his assault even as I clung to his shoulders. This was what it felt like to be the object of someone's obsession. A constant battle between desire and fear. I warred with my mind even as my body surrendered to his touch.

Pulling away, his heavy breath fell in chilled mists over my face. "Say that again. Say that you're not mine. I dare you," he growled.

"Richard, I…"

Swiftly placing his hand beneath my jaw to keep my head still, he then placed a folded piece of fabric over my lips and nose. My eyes widened in alarm as I unwillingly inhaled the sickeningly sweet scent. Using my nails, I clawed at his wrists and forearms, but could not loosen his grasp.

I could feel my body slacken as I was slowly pulled under. My knees weakened as my head lolled against his shoulder.

I heard him whisper against my forehead, "You are mine and mine alone, my love," before the sweet waves of darkness overtook me.