Tainted Reasoning (Dark Sovereignty Book 2)
Page 18
“Thank you.”
William starts to stride off to our seats but then pauses, and I can only just suppress the laugh threatening to escape because I know what’s coming next.
“How many years of flight practice has the captain had?”
“I’m sorry, sir?” the lady at the door responds.
“Flight hours?”
“A lot. He’s one of the most decorated in the company.”
She gives him her well-worn smile.
“And the co-pilot?” William continues, standing there next to me.
“I believe roughly two thousand. Miss Lewis is a fantastic pilot, as well.”
“A woman?” William questions, and I know it’s not a sexist remark. It’s because all the information he’s been frantically researching on the journey to Heathrow airport has been related to male pilots. “Do they have the same training?”
“Yes, sir.”
The footsteps of the other passengers start to echo down the corridor as they approach.
“Right. It didn’t say anything about that?”
“What didn’t, sir?”
“Female pilots. The internet.”
The attendant looks at me and I mouth, ‘first time’. She nods with understanding.
“I can assure you women pilots are as safe as men. It’s proven.”
“But I didn’t read that.”
The other passengers arrive, and the attendant tries to turn away to greet them.
“One more thing.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The fuel. Has the pilot used the standard calculation for it? We need to make sure we’ve got enough to get to the Caribbean.”
The eyes of a little boy waiting with the other passengers go wide, and he tugs on his mother’s jacket with worry.
“I can assure you the pilot has had all her calculations checked, and the plane is full enough.”
“Good, I know it’s seventy thousand kilograms of fuel to get to New York, so she’ll need more than that.”
“William”–I tap his arm– “can we go start our honeymoon, now, please?”
He looks between me and the flight attendant.
“Of course. Thank you.”
To a relieved exhale from both the flight staff and the passengers, my new husband finally decides to take his seat.
“You’re suddenly very bossy,” he tells me.
“You can talk!” I roll my eyes at him and put my bag down to pull out my Kindle for the flight. “Wasn’t it little more than seven hours ago you picked me up out of bed, threw me over your shoulder, and carried me to the family church where you demanded―in front of Victoria, Nicholas, and a vicar―that we marry then and there.”
“You didn’t like my proposal?”
I laugh at him and pop my new Marc Jacobs bag into the overhead locker.
“It was a little unorthodox. Put it that way.”
“I thought there was less chance of you saying no, doing it like that.”
“That’s true.” I slide into the seat next to him.
“Are you happy?”
“To be Lady William Cavendish?”
“Yes.” He turns to me with a look of worry in his eyes.
“I couldn’t be happier.”
“Good, because we’re going to spend the next two weeks putting a baby in your belly.”
I roll my eyes at him.
“You’re not joking, are you?”
He shrugs his shoulders and then does his seat belt up.
“When have you known me to joke?”
“Never. It’s one of the things I like about you along with the fact you find it impossible to lie.”
“What else do you like about me?” he asks while he pulls a thick blanket out and places it over my lap. I’m wearing a summer dress, having left my thick coat with Nicholas and Victoria when they dropped us at the airport. Victoria was moaning she was the size of a house and wished she could go to the Caribbean. Nicholas promised it would be the first place they would go to as soon as the baby was old enough to be left with Auntie Tamara and Uncle William. William and I laughed at that because we both know Nicholas would never let his child out of his sight for more than a few minutes. Victoria and I have bodyguards with us constantly. The threats may have died down, for now, but Viscount Hamilton is out there somewhere, and there’s also another missing girl still to be found.
“Do you think Joanna’s still alive?” I change the conversation abruptly.
William sucks air into his mouth.
“After this much time, I doubt it. If she is, you saw the condition Daphne was in. I guess we have to hope that somewhere, deep down, Viscount Hamilton does have a heart. He saved you from West before I could, and I’ll owe him forever for that. It took you long enough to heal from the injuries West inflicted on you, and he only had you for a short time.”
I shift in my seat still thinking of the pain of that day, and the scarring to my left nipple. It will never heal properly, and it’s unlikely I’ll be able to use it to feed my babies (How many had William threatened to have with me?). But I’ll deal with that when the time comes. My ribs still give me a bit of pain, but that’s to be expected in England with the damp weather even in the summer. The main thing is Lord West didn’t break me. William and I still have the same sex life we did before I was taken. We both have a passion for the darker side of things, and I trust William with how far he’ll go.
Before we left Lord West’s property to burn down, that night, I’ll always remember his words as he removed the dead deviant’s brain from his skull and threw it on the fire. ‘People say my brain is wired wrong, but I think his was. Woman are not creatures to be destroyed. They are to be worshiped and loved. Treated with kindness and devotion. Lord West was the wrong one. Not me.’
When all this is finally over, whether we are alive or dead, that will be William’s epitaph forever because he’s not wrong. He’s unique, my husband, and I love him.
“I love you too,” he whispers into my ear.
“Did I say that out loud?”
“No, I can just read the goofy look on your face.”
“I did not have a goofy look.”
“Oh, you did. It was something like this.”
He pulls a funny face, and I can’t help but pull him into a kiss.
“Do you think the monster wants to come out and play for a bit?”
“On the plane?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Maybe only a little bit of the monster until we reach our destination.”
He licks his lips, and we both sit back in our seats. William slides his hand under my blanket as the plane starts to taxi down the runway. As we thunder into the air twisting and turning until we’re level, he brings me to an orgasm with three of his fingers inside me. Reminding me just who owns my pussy.
Epilogue
Joanna
“Is anyone there?” I sit up in my bed when I hear the bang of a heavy door in the darkness I’ve become so accustomed to. “Hello?” I shout again, but there’s no answer. It’s my mind playing tricks on me, again. It often does that. The worst times are when it imagines I’m no longer in this place. That I’ve been whisked away to a different life, in a different country with a new identity, and I’m a new person living somewhere where the Oakfield Society doesn’t exist. A place where I can make decisions for myself. One where he doesn’t come in the night and abuse me because he can’t have her.
The door opens, and I jump from my bed to stand beside it as I’ve been taught. My hands clenched behind my back, my head bowed, and my legs slightly parted in the ill-fitting nightdress I wear. I don’t look up. No, that would be wrong. I did once, and I couldn’t get out of bed for a week because the bruising was so bad. I must wait…wait for him…my father.
“Good evening, Joanna,” Viscount Hamilton addresses me.
“Good evening, Daddy,” I reply in the only manner I know, now.
“I have a present for you.”
�
��Thank you,” I reply, still not raising my head. I’ve not been told I can, yet.
“I’ll give it to you soon. I need to vent my anger first.”
He shifts a chair and takes a seat in it. I stand painfully still. My leg muscles are weak, and my eyes are unable to adjust easily to the light in the room. I wonder how long I’ve been here? It feels like an eternity. It could be weeks, months or years – everything has blurred into one. Day and night merged into a perpetual darkness.
The door opens and closes again. I know it’s Camilla, the lady who looks after me.
“Your drink.” I hear her place the glass down on a table.
“Thank you,” the Viscount replies. “Joanna. Come sit on my lap.”
I do as I’m ordered. I don’t even question it anymore.
“I hope she behaves for you tonight,” Camilla tells the Viscount, but I know that’s a warning for me. She doesn’t need to worry, though. Her training has all been received and understood. I’m the perfect woman, now, and I’m ready for my future.
Camilla leaves, and I take my place on the Viscount’s lap. He instantly bunches my skirt up and rubs his hand over my pussy. I used to protest and scream when he did this. I’d curse him and try to escape, but I’m so broken, now, I don’t even flinch when he sticks a finger inside me.
“My daughter had her baby, today? A girl, which I knew it would be. It’s fitting that Oakfield finally has a female. All we need now is for you to marry Theodore and conceive a male, and our family can rule again.”
He pushes another finger in, and my body tightens with the need to expel him.
“That’s not behaving like the good wife I’ve taught you to be. He won’t want that.”
“Please.” I let the little whimper fall from my lips with regret.
“Too late.” He withdraws his hand and pushes me to the floor. “Tonight, will have to be our last time. I can’t take any more risks with you. On the bed. Clothes off, and legs apart.”
I know what comes next: the degradation, the pain, and the feelings of disgust. There is still a tiny part of me that wants to protest and tell him to go fuck himself in the ass with a sharp knife. Inform him I’m never opening my legs for him again. But I don’t. I get to my feet. I strip out of my nightgown, and I lie back on the bed and part my legs to give him a view of what he will abuse shortly.
Viscount Hamilton removes his clothes. He’s not a handsome man. His physique is aged and not well looked after. He strides to the bed, and I try to will my body to relax because it hurts less that way. It refuses to listen, though, knowing too well the suffering it’s preparing for. He leans down over me then pops up again. I hope for a moment he’s changed his mind.
“I almost forgot. Your present.” He reaches for a box he must have placed on the table when he entered the room. He opens the lid and pulls out a black wig. “This is your special present to me.”
He comes to the side of the bed and rearranges the wig over my hair. The hair is long and styled just like hers is in all the pictures he’s shown me of her.
“Perfect.” He stands back. “And to think the man who took it from her head thought he would get to keep it. My men soon destroyed those illusions when they put a bullet in his brain.”
The Viscount strokes himself a few times.
“First it’s time to see whether Tamara lives up to her mother’s standards. Then it’s time for you to get married and for me to become the ruler of Oakfield. With you married to my son, I’ll be able to manipulate him into working against the Cavendish brothers and my daughters. They will all be destroyed, and a new leader will be chosen for the society, and I’m next in line.
THE END
The Dark Sovereignty Series continues with
A FATHER’S INSISTENCE
https://amzn.to/2Ff6p7M
Coming 12 March 2019
Joanna and Theo’s story.
Afterword
William’s autism is not the cause of his darkness, however, throughout the book he’s worried it is. He needs Tamara to show him he’s been tainted by his father’s treatment of him. For anyone to be locked away in a room alone for most of their life would leave them with issues, not only that but also William’s father introduced him to sex, and his version of what it should be – abusive in the Duke’s case. William has seen murder, he’s seen violence, and it’s all he’s been taught until he meets Tamara and discovers a love different from the affection he holds for his brother, Nicholas. What he and Tamara engage in is consensual, and they are hopelessly devoted to each other. William and his brother are striving to rid the world of the evil of the Oakfield Society. They are the good guys, just having to do bad things to make everything right.
Autism DOES NOT make William a monster. He’s a hot, alpha male with a taste for the dark side. My kind of guy!
Thank you for reading.
Anna xx
Coming Soon
A FATHER’S INSISTENCE
Coming March 2019.
Joanna and Theodore’s story.
One of five women who endured horrific trials to win the hand of Nicholas Cavendish, Lady Joanna Nethercutt suffered greatly throughout the ordeal, ultimately losing to Victoria Hamilton. She swiftly finds herself sold by her own father, who’s determined she’ll be of use to him yet. For a year, she’s “trained” in preparation for marriage to Victoria’s brother, with whom she’ll be expected to produce heirs that will one day strengthen and continue the very society responsible for all of Joanna’s torment.
In the space of a breath, Theodore Hamilton is thrust into a secret society he knew nothing about, and married to a woman who seems terrified of his very existence. Suddenly, his carefree yet honorable life is filled with secrets and shadows, allies and enemies, leaving Theodore unsure who to trust…starting with his broken bride. His lure to the delicate beauty is tempered by external influence, lies and manipulation from all sides.
In this breathless conclusion to the Dark Sovereignty series, Theodore must decide where his loyalties lie, and race to destroy the evil men responsible for the immeasurable suffering of everyone he holds dear—including the wife he never wanted, but can’t possibly live without.
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Ff6p7M
Goodreads TBR: http://bit.ly/GR-AFI
And don’t forget…..
Legacy of Succession, Dark Sovereignty, Book 1:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2FRo3fi
Bookbub: https://bit.ly/2vqksD5
Let's build a better world together
rather than just extinguish the fires of hate.
~ Dark Sovereignty Series by Anna Edwards
Acknowledgments
First and always to my great friend, Charity Hendry, for always being there for me. For entertaining my crazy ideas and helping me bring them to fruition. Love you to bits.
To my editor, Tracy Roelle, and proofreader, Sheena Taylor, you polish my books so that they shine brightly. I’m lucky to have such a good team.
To my street team, thank you so much for all you that you do to get my books out in the reader world.
To Yvonne, for not only beta reading and offering me advice but for organizing so much when it comes to conventions. I’d be lost without you.
To my family, thank you for all the support that you give me.
Finally, to all the readers who have embraced me as an author. I’m so glad that you enjoy the stories my mind creates. I hope I’m able to give you many more years of pleasure.
The Control Series
The Control Series: A dramatic, witty, and sensual suspense romance set predominantly in London.
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