Thea Devine - Captivated

She couldn't bear to look at him. Or to think what came next.

No, she knew what came next: the discharge of her father's debt, her body, her will, her future as the payoff.

She suppressed a shudder.

Gerard… oh, Gerard The ache almost consumed her.

Ican't think about Gerard, if I think about Gerard, I'll I'llnever be able to…

… to

oh, my God… to…

Her body went cold. The carriage quivered to a stop in front of the broad front steps.

Immediately the butler emerged from the house through the etched glass double doors, followed by a half dozen servants who lined up on the veranda and down the steps in order of precedence.

Isaac came around and put a cushioned step under her foot, and Court gravely helped her down.

"This is Joseph," he said, indicating the butler. "Mary. Evie. Lucy. Charles. Louisa."

She nodded in turn to each of them, and then, lifting her skirts, she mounted the steps and he guided her into the reception hall.

Grand. Too grand for her. It was overwhelming, with ceilings that had to be fifteen feet high at least and a swooping staircase rising up to her right, all the way to heaven. There were sofas and console tables lining the walls and gilt-framed paintings that glowed in the soft light of the chandelier that was lit for the occasion.

She stepped hesitantly onto the first of three Oriental rugs that were scattered on the parquet floor, noting the beautifully molded arches that led off to the downstairs rooms, the doors of which were just tantalizingly ajar.

Home.

My home. Now.

… oh, God

She was aware of everything: the weight of her dress as she walked farther into the hallway and it tailed out behind her. The silence. The scent. A different scent than at Oak Bluffs. The grandeur.

The sound of footsteps retreating to other parts of the house.

She felt the train being lifted off the floor. The thickness of the carpet beneath her feet. Court, beside her, watching her intensely.

It was all too much. And she couldn't love it. Dear God, she couldn't love anything except Gerard.

And she had better stop thinking about that…about him or she would never be able to fulfill the bargain and Court would take Oak Bluffs away from her father as surely as he planned to take her.

Best to get it over with, she thought. Best to just let it happen, and then it would be done and maybe Court would just leave her alone.

Apart from the introductions, he hadn't said a word since they left the church. And neither had she.

He was struck by how much he wanted this moment to be more than it was. But then, he was not bringing to this house the woman he had chosen, the woman he loved.

Rather, she was the pawn in a game to enlarge his empire. And pawns didn't have feelings or preferences. They were just moved where they were the most expedient and, in the end, they were expendable.

But the fawn had feelings. The fawn could bite the hand that was about to shroud her in luxury the likes of which she had never seen at Oak Bluffs. The fawn could run away.

No! He made that decision instantly. However they had started in matrimony, she was stillhis, and he felt as possessive as if he had loved her all his life. The bargain, suddenly, did not enter into it.

He wanted Drue Caledon. Right then. Right there. Wanted to pull off her virginal gown, expose her naked body and sink himself deep inside her. Wanted, wanted, wanted…

The force of his arousal shocked him. He wanted… he conjured up a dozen things he wanted to do to her, all of which were as explosive as fire.

"Get her upstairs," he said roughly. He had to plan this. He couldn't just force her. He couldn't just take her. He clamped down on the heat that raced through his blood.

"Yes sir."

Evie, behind her, helping with her train. "Missus…"

Drue reached blindly for the banister.Oh, God, she was going to have to do this. She heard it in his voice.

"Get her ready."

"Yes sir." Evie, like a little shadow, trailing behind her as she climbed the steps. A mountain. A thousand steps to meet her fate. Why didn't he just attack her there? So much easier. Over quickly. She'd get an heir, and then it would be done.

"Evie!" His voice, ragged and raw. Evie halted, waiting until he took the steps two at a time to reach her and whisper something in her ear.

"Yes sir." Evie shifted the heavy train. "Missus…"

She swallowed hard, blinking back her tears, and continued up the steps. And finally, the landing, decorated with the same rich furnishings as the hallway below. Muted light here, and a half dozen doors leading to the bedrooms.

"First door, missus, to your right."

"Of course," she murmured. That would be to the front of the house, the biggest, most luxurious rooms.

The door opened readily into a sumptuous room that was as large as the parlor at Oak Bluffs, and swathed in satin and lace.

"Master say undress you, missus, and make you comfortable."

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes."Comfortable… that didn't nearly describe this beautiful room. And all for her.

She stood still as a mannequin as Evie positioned her in front of the armoire mirror and pulled forward a cushioned stool.

"Missus is tall, pleasing to the master," she murmured as she stepped up and began pulling out the pins that held Drue's wedding veil. It fell in a drift of tulle onto the thick Persian carpet.

"We gonna fold him up and store him away, save him for missus's daughter someday," Evie said, as she retrieved the fragile material and laid it on the bed.

"You hold still now, missus. We gonna be real careful with this beautiful gown."

Drue could just see her over her shoulder in the mirror.If I could just disappear into the mirror… She watched in fascination as Evie carefully unfastened the intricate hooks and slipped the dress off her, inch by inch; first the shoulders, then the bodice, then down over the hooped petticoat until it lay in a puddle of ivory silk at her feet.

And like a little bird, Evie hopped down, lifted the dress up and draped it on the bed. "Louisa gonna take care of that for you, missus. Not to worry. Now, that old cage petticoat" She untied the strings and it was gone. "And them drawers and stockings. And that corset. Should be burned, it so tight. You feel better when we get it off. Then we get you a nice bath and dinner, and you be ready for the master."

She was chattering, Drue thought, to keepher calm, and to keep her mind off what was to come. But she was thinking of nothing else, and when Evie helped her into a satin wrapper, she was terribly aware of the feel of the creamy material against her hot, bare skin.

"Come."

This was luxury: Evie led her to an alcove between the bedrooms, a bathing room with an iron tub set on a marble platform, which Charles was in the process of filling with steaming water. And Louisa waited, with a tray of soaps, oils, and towels.

"In you go, missus."

Drue sank into the heat like it was her lover's arms.Gerard…

NO!

The water lapped against her skin, hot, welcome, reassuring.

Focus on Court. Think about Court. Let Court into your thoughts. Just tonight. Just once. Court's not an animal. Court won't hurt you.

Soft… everything soft…

She sank into the water, closing her eyes against reality as Louisa began washing her hair. This was the dream: a life of unutterable wealth as the wife of one of the most prominent men in the state.

What was a moment of surrender compared to that?

Soft… his hands would be soft, like Gerard when he petted her and coaxed her into giving him a kiss…

No!

She moved restively in the water, sending waves over the side of the tub.

"Shhh, missus, shhhh…" Louisa crooned as she poured a vial of oil into the bath water. "Master not gonna hurt you no how. Don't you worry none… shhhh…"

How did she know? How did she know?

Drue leaned back into those gentle hands that were massaging her head so firmly, so competently, into the rich oily water that soaked into her skin.

"Shhh, missus, shhhh…" Louisa soaping her body, singing under her breath now, lulling, soothing, comforting.

She could stay there forever, she thought, just give herself over to Louisa's kind hands, and float away to oblivion.

"Missus…" Evie's voice intruding on the silence. "It's time."

Time? Time? The water was cold now, her hair drenched, her body dripping as she reluctantly took Louisa's hand and stepped out of the tub and into the towel Evie held out for her.

"There you go, there you go, missus," Evie murmured, wrapping her tightly in the towel and then leading her back into the bedroom and seating her on the bed, from which the dress and veil had been removed. "Sit you down, missus. There you go. I make you ready for the master."

Ominous words. Drue cringed.Make you ready…

Evie at her feet, rubbing them, and her legs, and then wrapping them in another towel. At her hair next, briskly drying it.

She felt sapped, suddenly. Bereft.

Make you ready…

Evie took her brush and began combing through her tangled hair. Slow, calming strokes, sliding the brush through the thick strands. She was the ideal ladies' maid, properly deferential, experienced in all the ways of handling her mistress.

Just what you would expect from the master of Wildwood…

Her breath caught.Master of Wildwoodmaster of her…

"We ready now, missus." Evie's soft voice in her ear. "Stand you up now so I can take these wet towels."

She stood, limp as a rag doll, and let Evie remove the towels.

"Master come to you soon, missus."

Evie turned away, leaving her standing naked in the middle of the room.

"Eviemy robe…"

Evie turned at the door. "Master give the word, missus. You wait for him there, like so. No robe. No towel. No clothes. Nothing. Nothing to keep you from the master's desire."

And then, before Drue could react, before she could move, Evie exited the room and locked the door emphatically behind her.

"Evie?" She pounded frantically on the door."Evie…! Evie…!"

Nothing. No one. She wheeled and darted into the bathing alcove, but Louisa was gone as well, silent as a ghost; the connecting door was bolted.

Locked in! Like an animal confined for mating…

She felt murderous, vulnerable. She grabbed the bedspread and wrapped it around her shaking body. She would never be naked for him.Never!

She wanted every just impediment to their union.

She wanted Gerard. Furiously, she pulled open the armoire doors.

Empty! But what did she expect; they werehis servants, they had no loyalty to her, they would dohis bidding, not hers. And obviously, they had had strict instructions to remove her clothes.

Mistress of Wildwood… she thought bitterly, pulling the bedspread tighter around her body as she paced around the room…In name only. In reality she was nothing more than his slave, as much at his beck and call as anyone else in the house.

And he had set it up so well she had nowhere to run… and no place to hide.

How could her father have let this happen? How could Gerard?

And thenthe waiting; how long would he make her wait? And when he camethen what?

He's entitledto a hundred thousand dollars worth of my body…Alifetime of servicing him in the name of filial love and daughterly devotion…

A brood mare…

She stopped her furious pacing by the satin-draped window and she pulled back the filmy under curtain. There was peace and beauty outside that windowthe bright midday sun softened by the shadows of the oaks that lined the drive, the rolling green lawn stretching to the road, and the levee and the flowing river beyond.

There was no one in sight. In a house like Wildwood, all of the work was done subtly, behind the scenes, so that all a visitor or a passerby saw was a picture of calm and serenity.

But she was neither calm nor serene. A moment from now, or an hour, Court would unlock that door and demand his marital rights.

It was unimaginable. She was so used to Gerard's gentlemanly way of courting her. Of respect and reverence. Of kisses lighter than a soufflé.

She knew already that Court was a man of intensity and passion, and a temper that was under laid by a very short fuse. He had a low tolerance for fools, and no store of patience at all. When Court wanted something, he got it, and she knew that her body was no exception. He would not have agreed to the bargain if he hadn't, for some reason, wantedher.