Deadly Secrets by M J Marlow (good short books .txt) 📖

Who was this man, that he could be threatening and then harmless so easily. “Elissa,” Patricia smiled over at her. “You didn’t tell us you had an engagement with Baron Everley today.” “Did I?” Elis asked as she looked at the man. “Your brother must have forgotten to mention it to you, Lady Elissa,” Martin smiled at her warmly, sending a strange chill up her spine. “His practice is running late, so he asked me to come for you. We are joining him at the museum.” He saw her frowning and wondered what excuse she would come up with. As she opened her mouth, her own aunt shot her down. “You are dressed suitably for an outing to the museum, Elissa,” Edwina smiled and patted her hand. “You children run along. We’ll see you tomorrow for dinner?” “I’ll remind Alexei,” Elis nodded and felt as if she had been abandoned. When had her aunts decided Martin was a suitable companion for her. She sighed and put her hand on his arm. They went out to the waiting carriage and she sat as far from him as she could manage. He came to sit next to her. “If you touch me,” Elis said stiffly, “I will hurt you!” “I am looking forward to seeing that,” Martin laughed at her. He took her hand in his and she slapped him with her free hand. He caught that hand before it landed and he now hand her by the wrists. “You chose to do this, little lady. It’s time for you to understand just what you are getting into.” He yanked her close and kissed her. All the air went out of her lungs with her shock. She tried to pull free and he merely followed her until she was pressed against the wall of the carriage, trying to make him stop. When he was through with his kiss, he pulled away and saw the shock on her face. But it didn’t last long. Before he could react, she had her hand free and his face was stinging from her blow. If he were any of the others, she would be on her knees now, having her clothing ripped off of her. “You bastard!” Elis hissed. “How dare you force yourself on me like that! You have no right!” “I have every right,” Martin told her. “You gave it to me.” Elis shook her head in denial and he laughed. “Are you ready to run yet?” “Run?” Elis shoved him away and moved to the other bench. “You really think I am going to be scared off by a kiss?” He came towards her then and she could see something in his eyes that warned her a kiss was the least of her worries. She tried to open the door and he yanked her back and pressed her down on the floor, his body straddling hers and she kicked and struggled beneath him. “Let me go!” she shrieked as he began to trail kisses along her throat. He did not stop and terror blossomed within her. “Please let me go!” “This is nothing, Elissa,” Martin said as he leaned his cheek against hers. “If you continue what you’re doing, you could find yourself ruined by these bastards. Is that what you want?” His eyes went warm as they met the anger in hers. He wanted her so badly now he could taste it. “Do you realize how beautiful you are when your eyes snap with anger?” He stroked her cheek and smiled at her gently. “Please listen to me, child. This is not a world you want to get involved with. Go home while you’re still whole.” He pulled away with intense regret and watched as she scrambled back to the bench and pulled herself together. She was such an innocent, he thought as she glared at him. Marston and his friends would destroy her. He could not let that happen, so he made a decision he knew would probably end up with the loss of his friendship with Philip Stanley. He could live with that if it meant Elis would be safe from Marston and his bastard friends. “I have decided something, child,” he said and watched her eye him warily. “I can’t let the others get close to you, so you and I are going to be engaged.” Elis looked at him as though he had just told her he was going to strip and run naked through the streets. She shook her head in refusal. “If you do not agree,” he said as he leaned towards her and she backed away; “I will have you shipped to your cousin, Everett, with instructions to lock you in a cell under sedation until this is over. Is that what you want?” “You bastard!” Elis snapped at him. She tried to leave and he pulled her back and held her as he knocked on the roof. His man looked in and nodded. “Take us to Anton’s, Evans,” he said as he clamped his hand over her mouth and held her to his side tight as she struggled. “Lady Elissa and I have an appointment with him to look at engagement rings.” “Congratulations, sir,” Evans smiled and closed the hatch. “It will be all over London in two hours,” Martin smiled as he released her. He caught her hand as she started to slap him. “Thank me, Elissa. I have just had you declared off limits to Marston and his friends. They will not bother you again as long as you are mine.” “I don’t want to be yours,” Elis sobbed. He shrugged and went to sit across from her. “You’re really serious, aren’t you?” Weeks passed and Elis attended all the social functions her brother arranged for her with Martin at her side. News of their engagement was all over England by the end of the first week. Her family was quiet about how they felt about her decision but she could see them watching her and Martin closely whenever their paths crossed. Martin took her all over town, and she felt as if she were on display. Marston and his friends were now polite and mannered around her. Every once in a while, however; she would catch one of them watching her with that frightening hunger in their eyes and she would move closer to her brother or Martin and do her best to ignore them. She saw her other family on the periphery of the circle she now traveled in. From time to time one of her cousins or their friends would manage to get her alone at a dance and she would share what was happening with them so they knew how to act. Alexei insisted she become his pianist of choice and she found some peace in those moments when the music was something they could share. His friends were every bit as vile and pushy as she had been told they would be. Alexei and Martin managed to keep them off of her more or less and she was too determined to bring them down to argue that their definition of harm and hers were completely different. She was alone in the house her inheritance was paying for when Thomas Marston came to call. “Lady Elissa,” the butler, Peters, said as he came into the sitting room where she was enjoying a moment of solitude; “Lord Marston is here.” “I was not aware that he was calling,” Elis frowned. She sighed as he came into the room and she rose to curtsy briefly. “Lord Marston. My brother is not home.” “I know,” Marston smiled nastily. “I arranged that so we could have a private conversation.” “There is nothing we have to say to each other,” Elis said stiffly. She saw him closing and locking the door. “This is not your home, Lord Marston. Unlock that door immediately.” “Or you’ll scream?” Marston laughed. “Go ahead, you pretty thing. Your butler is even now being distracted by a crisis in your kitchen. Everyone is on the other side of the house now or out on errands. We are quite alone and there is no one to interfere now.” Elis turned to run for the doors out into the gardens and he yanked her back. He rammed his fist into her abdomen and she collapsed to her knees. “I want you, Elissa. Now!” He clamped his lips on hers and Elis stomped on his foot. He pulled back and she slapped him. “You little bitch!” He slugged her in the ribs and she quit breathing for a split second. “I’ll make you pay for that, Elissa.” He pulled a length of silk out of his pocket and bound her wrists behind her back with it. He shoved her into her chair and another length of silk was used to secure her ankles. He ran his hand up her leg and she kicked him and sent him flying. He slugged her in the abdomen again and the pain caused her to black out. When she came to, he had her in her cloak and was carrying her to his carriage. “Your brother and Everley are far too protective of you, sweet Elissa.” Marston said as he pulled her between his legs. “That ends tonight!” “He is going to kill you if you hurt me,” Elis snapped at him. She sobbed as Marston drove his fist into her ribs again. “Among our circle,” Marston said as he used his legs to keep her in place; “there are five of us who want you. We do not appreciate Everley monopolizing you as he is, so we have decided that whoever wins at cards tonight will take you as his mistress.” “You would not dare!” Elissa hissed at him. Again he slugged her in the side and she was sobbing from the pain. “My uncle is a Duke, my adopted uncle is Prince Edward himself! You can’t use me like a common whore and not face retribution for it! You can’t!” “We are taking you, Elissa,” Marston replied. “Even now we are on our way to the others. Your family is receiving a little note in your hand, forged of course, saying that you are too eager to be a bride to wait and are eloping. By the time any of them find us, you will be a bride!” He ran his fingers along her jaw line and she bit him. He laughed. “It was that fire of yours that sealed your fate, sweet lady.” “Let me go!” Elis sobbed, horrified by what this man was telling her. He had no right to force her into such a life. It was not right. He slugged her in the side again and she moaned and collapsed to the floor. He yanked her up and used his handkerchief to gag her. Then he left her where she had collapsed and sat back to enjoy his triumph. Alexei Milosevic was an upstart; he deserved to see what his uppity ways led to. His sister was being given a singular honor and she was acting like she was being soiled. She was going to be a wife, but she was also going to belong to all of them. She would spend the rest of her life playing bedroom roulette. He looked down at the gorgeous creature lying at his feet and could not wait to see who won her. Alexei crumpled the note in his hand and cursed. He had trusted those bastards and they had abducted his sister. His little innocent bear of a sister! He went to Stanley Hall and stormed into the lounge where they were all gathered. He looked so broken and enraged at the same time: they knew he had received a similar note. He told them what he knew of their plans and Daniel ran for the authorities. Alexei broke then and he was practically wailing with the grief over his wasted life