“Scarlet…” he said, his tone a warning he prayed she would—wouldn’t—listen.
She answered his prayer. With her eyes still downcast, she wrapped her hand around his shaft, soap squeezing out of her fist, and rubbed up and down, slowly but firmly. Fredrick nearly bit his tongue. A few other strokes would unmake him. Closing his eyes and holding on to the bath’s rim with the strength of a drowning man, he heaved a deep sigh. Unrelenting, Scarlet pumped. His seed exploded out of him and into the washcloth. This woman could achieve in moments what others in the past had worked very hard to do. Two years chained in one’s own tower probably helped too.
Opening his eyes, he sighed harder than he would’ve liked as Scarlet folded the washcloth and placed it in the wooden crate.
“There,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Good as new.”
That mouth. God, he wanted so much more than her hands on him. He wanted that mouth, as well, everywhere. He forgot himself. Before she could step away, he snatched her wrist and pulled her down to him.
Scarlet’s mouth tightened into a line. Her gaze grew cold. Cursing his stupidity, he released her. She backed away several paces.
“Forgive me,” he said, his words no lie. “I haven’t…it’s been a while since a woman was this gentle with me.”
Then he made his biggest and worst mistake. He looked up into her eyes.
Loneliness. Hurt. Years of distrust and hardships. It was all there in her coal-colored eyes.
The jolt hit him right in the chest, as acutely as if someone had struck him. Fredrick averted his eyes right away. Too late. His heart had recognized the feeling, although it’d never manifested itself in such a strong way.
Bury it, he told himself. For you sanity, bury it.
Chapter Five
And to say she’d let him touch her. And she’d touched him. Yet the pain in his eyes after he’d let her wrist go wasn’t faked. She could spot faked a league away.
She wondered how well-behaved she’d be after two years in a tower, chained to the wall, with nothing but a lowly servant for company. And the occasional visit from a…cousin.
Scarlet sat on the last step at the base of the stairwell. Bringing all that water up then down was hard. And she’d have to do it all again next week. She should ask Ute for help. At least have the lads bring the water up and leave it at the door.
Scarlet shivered in her wet dress, still quivered as a just-fired arrow with the slew of emotions pressing against her heart. Though she knew it’d been a mistake on her part, she’d enjoyed rubbing the master all over his pale, hard body. Her heart had beaten a wild arrhythmic tempo the whole while. Such a beautiful, strange man. And dangerous. There was something predatory about him. Not the overtly malevolent aura of men she’d come too close to, never that. No, Master Fredrick was, all in all, a goodhearted man. She’d no doubt. But deep underneath the stoic exterior, the alabaster mask, was something else. Something restless. Feral. Like a prowling beast.
Scarlet snorted a quick laugh. Where’d she gotten this silly notion? A beast indeed. He was no more a beast than she was.
Yawning with fatigue and spent adrenaline, Scarlet stretched and was about to push the door open when hurried steps stopped her. For some unexplainable reason, she froze in alarm. The steps went by the door, slowed. She held her breath. When the steps resumed, Scarlet let out a tiny slip of air through her nose.
Keeping the door tight against its hinges so it wouldn’t creak—she was already learning the ways of this old castle—she chanced a quick peek in the corridor. A muscled back clad in a jade green doublet. Master Lothar was rounding the corner to the right, his ponytail briskly swinging between his shoulder blades.
Closing the door and locking it, Scarlet fought the urge to follow him. But contrary to what her instincts were telling her—screaming at her—she left the buckets where they were and silently crept down the corridor where she’d seen Lothar disappear. Across a square hall, a door she hadn’t noticed before gaped wide.
Scarlet padded closer and looked inside. Darkness. Used to the darkness in more ways than she cared to explore right then, Scarlet quieted her mind and stepped inside the landing. Stairs going down. Nothing else. She followed these, keeping a hand against the wall for safeguard, and was about to turn around and curse her foolishness when a small sound caught her ears. Laughter?
Bolstered, she stepped down a couple more steps and stumbled when her foot came down even at the base of the staircase. A faint line of light filtered out from under a cleated door. Just like Master Fredrick’s door. It must have been part of the old castle as well. A quick peek at the lock made Scarlet shake her head. Why did people bothered with such silly things? It’d never stop anyone worth stopping. It sure wouldn’t stop her!
A man laughed again. Lothar. She recognized his deep voice. Knowing curiosity had killed many cats she knew of, Scarlet put her eye to the square keyhole.
A naked young woman Scarlet recognized as one of the milkmaids sat astride a strange contraption. It resembled a cross between the body of a horse and a barrel on its side with thick legs for support while thick-looking black leather covered the entire thing. An intricate mesh of ropes bound her hands behind her back, her ankles close to her buttocks and was looped around her neck. A large candelabrum cast golden light in the small room.
Scarlet put her hand to her mouth, instantly thinking the maid in distress. But a crooked grin spread on the young woman’s face, which considerably lowered Scarlet’s heartbeat. Out of sight, Lothar said something, and the maid giggled the way only young women could.
Scarlet couldn’t remember ever giggling. She’d never had much reason to.
Somehow, the young woman managed to twist her bound body into a complete half circle so she faced the door behind which Scarlet hid. Scarlet shut her eyes hard. She should leave. But she knelt by the door and instead changed eyes.
Angry red lines under the black ropes slashed her skin. The maid leaned over and let her chin rest against the barrel, her behind sticking up in the air in a pair of half-moons separated by twin lengths of rope.
From somewhere to her right, Lothar appeared in Scarlet’s thin line of sight. His torso was naked. A bottle glistened in his bejeweled hand. As much as Master Fredrick was athletic and sinewy, Lothar’s body was all thick muscles.
Should Master Fredrick see her now, spying in on a private scene…
Scarlet felt her cheeks flushing. She was about to leave her post when Lothar reached out and caressed the maid’s hair gently, slowly, as though he were appraising her for some future project only he knew.
A shiver raced up Scarlet’s back. She’d never trust a man so completely as to let him bind her this way.
Circling the contraption, Lothar stopped behind the maid, leaned in between her cheeks, strands of his ponytail spilling over his shoulder. He licked her. A moan escaped the young woman. She twisted, despite the ropes hindering her movements, so she could look back at the man but gave up after a while. She closed her eyes.
While Lothar was giving the maid what appeared to be very satisfying attention, Scarlet clenched her teeth hard. Her sex ached as she watched, her mind quickly replacing Lothar with another man whose tongue she’d tasted and was hurting to taste again. Would Master Fredrick do this, tie her so he could pleasure her this way? Scarlet pressed her palms on either side of the keyhole. Sweat moistened her upper lip.
After a while of licking his partner, who writhed in obvious pleasure, Lothar grabbed the contraption’s sides and spun it completely around. Scarlet hadn’t noticed the wheels. Feeling guilty, thrilled, Scarlet had a full view of the woman’s glistening cleft. A length of rope went down on either side of her lips, bound her tightly around the waist then came back up her lower back to secure her hands. Each of her large breasts were trapped independently with crisscrossing rope. Scarlet could only guess at the time required to do such intricate roping. The maid must have been there before Lothar. There was no way
he’d had time to tie the maid so intricately before Scarlet arrived.
Murmuring something in the young woman’s ear, Lothar brought the bottle neck to her lips and helped her take a few sips. He took a few as well, though his eyes never left the maid’s face.
A sense of dread washed over Scarlet. She should leave. Now.
With one hand, Lothar undid his trouser flap and let it hang down over his thighs. His impressive member bobbed into view. Scarlet put her hand to her mouth.
Giggling again, the maid strained against her bonds toward the glistening member and flicked her tongue at it. A grin on his handsome face, Lothar approached and supported her chin while the young woman kissed and licked him. He played with the knot on her back. A look of euphoria spread over her face. Her eyes blinked a couple of times. She said something.
Then, as if she were suddenly very drunk, the young woman began to mumble incoherently, her mouth spread in a wide, confused grin. With a sheen of sweat now covering his muscled torso, Lothar took another long gulp from the bottle then walked out of Scarlet’s sight.
Meanwhile, the young woman continued blabbering, at one time letting her head rest sideways against the “horse”. Lothar came back. Still smiling, he grabbed the corner of the contraption and spun it a few times to the delight of its rider. The maid faced Scarlet again, for which she was glad. But as much as she told herself to leave, her forehead remained pressed against the door.
Raising his hand high above his shoulder, which corded his thick muscles, he brought it down hard and fast. The young woman’s cry ended with a hiccupping laugh.
Scarlet put both hands to her mouth. What was he doing?
Lothar slapped the maid’s backside several times. She could see redness on the exposed skin, yet the maid only seemed more aroused by the rough treatment.
A broad grin on his face, Lothar grabbed the maid by the ropes and slid her to him. Scarlet bit her lip when he caressed the round bottom offered him, the pair of half-moons bound with black silk thrust up in the air for his taking. He looked jubilant when he parted the young woman’s cheeks wider with his thumbs, and looked even more so when he sank into the inviting flesh.
Heat seeped to Scarlet’s own as she watched him slide all the way in then all the way out. A gasp of pleasure erupted from the maid. Lothar repeated the process, quicker, harder. Sweat slicked his chest, beaded on his skin. Though the handsome man proved enjoyable to watch, Scarlet closed her eyes and imagined someone else in his place. Someone gentler, taller, leaner. Someone with red eyes.
Throbbing pulled at her sex, and Scarlet had to squeeze her thighs together to keep from trying to rub herself. By God, she wanted to. Fredrick’s pale member inside her was the most exciting, impious thought she’d ever had. And why not? She was a woman. She had needs. Many men had used her to fulfill theirs, leaving her yearning for the touch of a man such as Fredrick. But it was wrong. And it was dangerous.
Another cry of pleasure tore from the maid’s throat. Lothar reached down and bunched a fist in the girl’s long, dark hair. Scarlet cringed when he pulled his partner’s head back sharply. She hissed a long “yes”. Scarlet could tell the ropes were digging tighter in the girl’s throat. A deep red line spread right under her jaw. How she would hide these, Scarlet could only guess.
While he kept his fist in her hair, Lothar guided his member back in the young woman. Only this time he stabbed so hard his ponytail dissolved around his muscled shoulders, and the young woman’s knees left the pad. Then he pounded again. And again.
Scarlet could only watch in mute fascination and horror as he pounded and pounded an increasing tempo, which matched the girl’s strangled cries. The “horse” creaked and groaned under the assault, but Lothar held it securely with his knees jammed against it. The young woman’s face had turned an angry shade of red with veins clearly visible along her throat and temples.
Scarlet gasped in shock.
Lothar’s sweaty face snapped up, and through tousled hair his gaze went directly to the door. He kissed the air in her direction.
Horrified, Scarlet jumped back, landed on her backside and scooted away against the far wall. Panting, with bile rising up her throat, she floundered to her feet and took the stairs two by two. Her heart beat a mad cadence as she ran back to the tower. And to say she’d imagined Fredrick…
Shame flushed her cheeks. Scarlet grabbed the nearest buckets, spilling water everywhere, and ran-walked as fast as she could.
Think of the coins, she told her swirling mind. Think of the new life you’ll be able to afford. Though the price of her new life seemed to be climbing steadily. Scarlet shuddered at the thought.
How far would she be willing to go for those coins? How low could she sink?
As she made her way to her room, Scarlet fought the urge to check behind her every two steps. And to her shock, she realized she’d tiptoed the whole time.
Chapter Six
Scarlet sighed as she counted her coins. She’d been working at Castle Innsbruck for a little over three weeks. Yet she hadn’t near enough to leave, though Lady Katrina paid her well.
She stuffed them back in the old napkin and slid the tiny bundle inside the mattress. After making sure the puncture didn’t show, Scarlet donned her uniform, slid her feet in the leather slippers Ute had given her and made her way to the kitchen.
After that bizarre day, back when she’d given the master his bath then watched Lothar brutalize a maid, Scarlet had made sure to revert to her old, guarded self. No more friendly overtures to the man in the chains, and she avoided the other the best she could. It’d worked for the last three weeks. For her sanity, she hoped it’d last.
The day was spent in a frenzy of chores, and since Lady Katrina had insisted on bringing the master his supper, it’d given Scarlet one less thing to do. Even if this one thing was both joy and torture. She shook her head to clear the carnal thoughts. He wasn’t meant for her. She wasn’t meant…well, she wasn’t meant for anyone if she could have her say in it. Better to live alone than at the employ of others.
Scarlet realized night had fallen. Through a window, she spotted a clear full moon illuminating the rose garden below. Despite knowing she wasn’t supposed to be out at night, Scarlet slipped out of a narrow door leading to the interior courtyard—a door she’d discovered quite by accident and which looked abandoned for several years—and emerged in the rose garden. Wind whistled a forlorn tune. Scarlet shivered in her uniform.
In the dim light, some of the roses seemed to glow pale blue and silver. Their scent wafted to Scarlet as she meandered along the narrow path of irregular slate tiles and soon she’d reached the corner where an old, dried fountain disappeared under a thick rosebush. She narrowed her eyes, trying to discern what color these could be. They looked too pale to be red but definitely too dark to be pink.
Melancholy stabbed at her heart. Sitting on a stone bench against the fountain’s decrepit edge, Scarlet couldn’t help but notice the mix of neglect and care that fought against one another in this garden. With a sigh, she lay along the bench with her arm bent under her head. Stars twinkled between strips of brown and purple clouds. Sounds from the kitchen wafted to her, discordant on air currents, and soon her eyelids began to drop. She fought at first, as she always did. Then she let go.
The wind had changed. It no longer blew dried leaves and twigs in twisters and instead had all but died. The clouds were gone as well. Scarlet sat on the bench and rubbed her hair back. She should cut it.
Looking up, she saw a crescent moon and thought it looked like a lopsided grin. Master Fredrick smiled this way—the one time she’d seen him do it. A sudden gust blew across the walled garden, shook the rosebushes enough some lost petals, which floated to the ground like blood-colored snowflakes.
A grating sound made Scarlet jump to her feet. Her gaze went to the gate where stood a tall, dark form. It entered the garden without sound, gliding, shrouded in darkness deeper than the night.
Scarlet wa
nted to say something but couldn’t for the steel grip squeezing her throat. She backed a step, right into one of the orange rosebushes. Tiny thorns hooked in her uniform. Without looking back, she pulled the hem of her skirts free.
Pebbles crunched under the visitor’s feet. As he drew nearer, pale hair and skin emerged into the bluish light. She recognized him at once, and her heart began to palpitate arrhythmically and her lips to ache for his.
“Master Fredrick? How did you…?”
His strange glowing eyes narrowed when he smiled. Such a beautiful thing. Scarlet smiled in return.
He stopped a few paces from her. The deep V of his parted tunic revealed his firm and fit figure and a thin, downward strip of platinum hair below his navel. The black velvet garment hid the rest. Desire for the eerily beautiful man flared in Scarlet. Sweet Mary, give me strength.
“Are you afraid of me?” Fredrick asked, taking one step toward her. He moved with the loose, restrained power of a predator at ease.
She’d never noticed before just how much taller than her he was. She barely reached his collarbone. But it was hard to judge a man’s height when fifteen feet of chain weighed him down by the ankle. Guilt lowered her gaze. She backed into the bench. “Nothing frightens me anymore.”
Her whisper barely passed her lips. Heat suffused her belly and breasts and thighs. She yearned for him with such intensity it scared her. Scarlet looked up into his angular face, at the straight and narrow nose, slightly flaring nostrils, the perfection of his slim mouth, and marveled that such beauty could also be so menacing.
Fredrick raised his long, pale hand and beckoned.
Scarlet was walking before her brain registered movement. With a sigh she pressed her forehead against his chest. His heart beat hard against her temple. A frisson fluttered along her spine when Fredrick, light fingers enlaced in her curls, leaned into her and kissed the base of her neck. She turned slightly, searched his mouth with hers and found it.
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