Page 62 of Against the Wind

He walked slowly toward her as if approaching a wild animal. She felt like a caged one. Reaching out his hand, he ran the backs of his knuckles over her temple. She jerked her head away, repulsed by his touch, and he withdrew his hand.

“The bruise is unfortunate. I would not have marred you, but it seemed required at the time. It will, of course, heal. But then the mark you left on me was much more…evident,” he added coldly, touching briefly the scar on the left side of his face. “Perhaps we are even now.”

He stepped closer and took a strand of her hair in his hands. “Your hair has always fascinated me. Most unusual.”

“Don’t touch me!” Kit stepped to her right, pressing her back to the shutters. He stared at her as if perusing a piece of porcelain for his collection.

“Oh, I intend to touch you, Katherine. I most definitely intend to touch you.”

He reached toward her again. Kit recoiled, drawing as far away as she could. His hand stilled in midair and dropped to his side. “But unfortunately having my pleasure of you will have to await my return. I am needed elsewhere this evening.”

Relief washed over Kit like a wave, but her heart still pounded out a fast rhythm. She knew it was only a brief reprieve. She had to escape before he returned. Could Martin find her here?

“You cannot keep me imprisoned in this room,” she announced.

“Why, yes, m’dear, I can. Do not think to escape. There are guards. Of course you will be fed. I would not want you hungry for ought but me.”

“That will never happen!”

“I assure you, it will.”

“Why me? I belong to another,” she tried again.

“I do not recognize the Frenchman’s claim,” Rutledge said, waving his hand dismissively. “As I have mentioned, you have always belonged to me. It was not your sister I asked for. It was you.”

Kit stared, stung. Me?

Rutledge’s eyes narrowed, and his face froze in a scowl. “That bumbling guardian made a grave error when he drew up the papers to give you to the baron. You were intended for me, but they were signed before I discovered his mistake.”

Kit wondered if the baron hadn’t tried to save her from this man. Perhaps, if he had been fond of her, as the solicitor said, he might have done so. She owed him so much more than she’d realized.

A smug smile spread across Rutledge’s face. “You need not look so surprised. Why do you think I invited you into my home when the baron so conveniently died soon after you were wed? For charity’s sake? Hardly.”

“My sister suffered so—”

“Needlessly. Ah, but at least she had the good grace to die along with the baron.”

“You are insufferable and cruel. I only came to your house to help my sister—”

“Perhaps you did, no matter your motive. I intended you come to me and you did. I am not a patient man, Katherine. I have waited long to have what is mine. You shall be my wife.”

Then he turned, dismissing her, and as he closed the door behind him Kit heard a key turn in the lock.

Crushed by despair, she sank onto the edge of the bed. As much as she hated her brother-in-law, she would have become his wife if that had been the only way to spare her sister a horrible marriage. Anne was not as strong as she was. Perhaps that is why Anne grew ill, even content to die like their father. Kit would have survived.

Her mind raced for ideas to escape before he returned. Surely it could not end like this! And what of her husband? The words Rutledge had spoken earlier came back to her. Soon he will be a matter of the past. He planned to kill Martin! She must find a way to get to him, to warn him. He had been terrified for her, but he was the one truly in danger. She could not lose him, not now.