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Her face fell as she realized the man who held her in his grip was not her beloved guardian. Nor was he a stranger. No, Lord Julius Banyon glared down at her. The man, who had until now never looked at her with anything other than benign civility, clutched her arm painfully and moved his face to within inches of hers. “No, I am not your precious Zander.” His breath was hot against her skin and the faint odor of alcohol wafted around them.
Blinking rapidly to try to make sense of what was happening, Tallie scrambled to comprehend the situation. Where had Lord Banyon come from? What did he want? What was he doing in this part of the city? She had no idea of the answer to any of those questions; the only thing she knew for certain was that his fingers were digging into her upper arm in a most painful manner and the wild look in his eye frightened her to her very core.
“J-julius,” she said, trying to keep her voice friendly, “wh-what a nice surprise to see you.”
“A nice surprise to see me? That is hardly the way you described your feelings yesterday when you shamed me in public,” he replied, dragging her into a dark corner behind some crates waiting to be loaded onto the ships.
“W-well, I m-might not have behaved as well as I should have.” Panic rose in Tallie’s chest and squeezed her lungs until she could scarcely breathe, but she continued in her attempts to appease Lord Banyon who had somehow gone from a mild-mannered milquetoast sort of gentleman to a raving lunatic.
“Are you not curious about how I found you here, at the dock, after dark? Like the whore you no doubt are?”
“Y-yes, I am quite curious about that, J-julius. Will you please tell me?” She ignored his comment about her being a whore, hoping a change of subject would calm him. Get him talking and see if she could distract him enough to get away, though to where she would run, she had no idea. Suddenly, the calm of the waterfront had become terrifying.
“I know you, you are just like all the others. You think I am boring and stupid, but I am not.”
“Of course not, Julius, I would never think such things of you.” What she would not give for boring Julius to replace raving mad Julius.
“Shut up!” He shoved her roughly against a stack of crates, her back slamming into the rough wood and sending a shudder of pain down her spine. “You called me a boor just yesterday, in broad daylight. Do not insult me by now pretending that did not happen.”
“T-truly, Julius, I am s-sorry to have offended you, but can you not see that being married to me would not have been pleasant for you? I am sure there are many other young ladies who would be better suited to you. I-I did not mean to cause such a scene, I simply did not know what else to do and so you ought to be glad not to have the burden of a wife like me, someone who cannot control her temper.”
“I have been watching you with him, the one who is supposed to be your guardian. I have seen the way you look at him, like the whole world revolves around him. You never looked at me that way.”
“Well, J-julius, I am s-sure there is a young lady out there who will look at you in that manner.”
“I said, shut up.” His palm cracked across her cheek and Tallie tasted blood in her mouth. “I went to Slattery Hall to find you. I planned to tell you just what I thought of you and your insults. And after that, I was going to give you a taste of what you were going to be missing out on, by not marrying me.” He yanked on her cloak until it fell away, the cool evening air pricked the exposed flesh of her arms and throat. His eyes roamed over her hungrily. But that was nothing to the import of Lord Banyon’s words. He had planned to assault her? Her knees buckled beneath her, but he yanked her upward and pushed her against the crates, this time harder than before, pinning her arms behind her.
“Do not look like such an innocent. I know you have not got a farthing to your name. You planned to marry me and not even tell me you were broke. You act like such an innocent, but you are nothing but a whore.”
“Ho-how dare you say such a thing.” She managed to free one arm and took a wild swing at his face but, despite his intoxication, his reflexes were fast and he caught her hand in midair.
“I dare because it is true.” He rubbed his body against hers to hold her in place and then grabbed at the layers of her skirts, working his hand between their bodies until he had a firm hold of her thigh. Tallie gasped and tried to shove him off of her, but he was bigger and stronger. His fingers delved into the flesh of her womanhood, his intention clear and Tallie nearly collapsed.
“Tell me, my whore former fiancée, did he touch you like this?”
“Pl-please, Julius, let me go.”
Chapter Twelve
“Ihave no plans ofletting you go, not until I get my chance at what you say I cannot have. It was promised to me, and I plan to have it.”
With a shove from him, she landed on her back on the ground and Julius, despite his inebriation, moved quickly to straddle her, yanking on her skirts once again.
“No,” she shouted. Writhing from side to side, she prayed for help to intervene. She saw two men nearby and called out to them. “Please, help me.” For a hopeful moment they looked in her direction and one even took a step toward her, but the other stopped him. She called out again. “Please!”
