Her words were choked off by the sobs caught in her throat when she responded, “How did you expect me to act? You just had ten men killed in front of me. What did you think I would do?”
He snorted and an arrogant mask fell over his features, a sardonic look of concern and pity. “How about appreciating a husband who not only found, but ELIMINATED a threat against his wife. But instead, INSTEAD, you acted like a hysterical female!”
“That threat wouldn’t have existed in the first place if it wasn’t for you!”
Joseph seemed to flinch at the volume of her answer. His face twisted, multiple emotions rushing across the beauty of his features one after the other. When he stepped in her direction, she moved back, not sure how far her husband would go in his anger towards her. But he stopped short, his hand reaching up to tear through his hair, before he turned away from her entirely.
Looking past his shoulder, Arianna saw Connor in the doorway. As usual, he stood motionless; his green eyes jumping between her and Joseph, his entire body tensed as if he waited for something that would cause him to react.
In a calmer tone, Joseph said, “I need to return to the ballroom. When the meeting concludes, I’ll return to deal with you.” He didn’t look back when he walked briskly from the room and disappeared into the shadow of the corridor. Arianna expected Connor to follow, but instead, he stepped inside the room and shut the door behind him once they could no longer hear the sound of Joseph’s retreating footsteps.
Her eyes locked with his and she was surprised to find the compassion she’d hoped to find in her husband. He didn’t move near her; his hand never leaving the handle of the door, he asked softly, “Are you okay?”
A humorless laugh escaped her - of course, she wasn’t okay. She’d just been witness to slaughter and now she was locked in a room with the man who’d been the one to carry out the act.
Straightening out her dress, she calmed herself while keeping her eyes trained to the material. “Please leave.” It was a quiet request, one that lacked strength or force; but it was one that caused Connor to push down on the handle of the door and let himself out into the hall.
Before completely exiting the room, he paused without turning to look at her. “I’m sorry you saw what you did. You should never have been there.”
The soft click of metal and Arianna was left alone, a quivering heap sitting weakly in the center of her bed.
Chapter Eleven
It was hours before Joseph returned. Stumbling into the bedroom, he appeared disheveled, his clothes emitting a powerful stench of alcohol and smoke. His normally styled hair was messed up from where he’d run his hands through it and his normally grey eyes appeared black as coal.
Arianna remained on the bed, still dressed in the scarlet red gown she’d worn to the meeting in the ballroom. She’d fallen asleep after Connor left, her body giving out from the torrent of emotions that had assaulted her system over the last few days. She probably would not have woken upon Joseph’s entry had he not fallen into the door before opening it.
He circled around the foot of the bed, his drunken gaze traveling lazily, hungrily over her body. “You’re sleeping in your gowns now?”
Wiping the hair from her face, she looked down over her dress before quickly looking back up at her husband. “I…it’s been a rough night. I didn’t intend to fall asleep. I’ll change.” Pushing herself up from the bed, she moved to the side and stood up attempting to walk towards the closet. Within seconds, Joseph moved to her side of the bed and wrapped his hand tightly around her bicep.
“There’s no need to change.”
Arianna eyed Joseph wearily, understanding of his meaning slithering down her spine as each tired muscle in her body found the strength to spasm and lock. Her eyes closed slowly before opening again. “You can’t be serious, Joseph. Not after last night … or tonight.”
However, he was serious, and when his hand reached up to find the hidden zipper at the back of the dress, Arianna attempted to shift away, only to have her arm squeezed tighter beneath his iron grip.
Dangerously low and slurred from the alcohol he’d consumed, his words agitated her, an abrasive sensation like sandpaper being scraped across her skin. “Will you fight me, deny me the duties owed by a wife to her husband?”
Looking up into his hooded eyes, Arianna sighed in resignation. She didn’t want to fight him, didn’t have the vigor to endure any additional abuses – but what choice was there? “And if I refuse?”
The corners of his lips curled up, a renewed heat rolling off his body against hers. Bringing his lips to her ear, he whispered, “I’d like that very much. Nothing turns me on more than conquest.”
Moving so suddenly he hadn’t had time to react, she freed herself of his grip and spun to face him. Anger brushed his features before his eyes followed her arm that reached behind her back to finish what he’d started.
Pulling the zipper of her dress open, she shrugged out of the material as it loosened over her shoulders and chest. It fell to her feet in waves of shimmering rubies and she stepped out of it, dressed in nothing more than the silken panties she’d worn underneath. The cool air meeting her skin induced a full body shiver, her skin prickling as the clear blue pools of her eyes met the jaded grey of Joseph’s.
“I find it ironic.” Her voice was cold, emotionless as she addressed the man she no longer knew. “You make a show of rescuing me from a man who intended to rape me, you destroy my world by admitting to what you’ve become, and then you force me to bear witness to a slaughter – and you do so in the name of protecting me, and in the name of showing me your power, your ability to bring punishment on those who attempted to hurt me.”
Joseph wavered on his feet, but still lorded over her small stature, perfectly quiet as she spoke.
“And yet…here you stand, threatening to take what I will not give, committing the same crime against me.”
He stared at her, his nostrils flaring out in anger before his hand moved quickly to her throat. His fingers tightly anchored against her skin, Joseph pushed her back towards the wall by the bed, pressed her firmly against the plaster with his eyes burning into hers and lifted her so that her toes barely brushed the ground beneath her. She didn’t resist, didn’t attempt to fight him off; her understanding of his deepening madness enough to keep her from angering him further. In that moment, as they stood nose to nose, passion filled grey eyes locked with the unfeeling blue, Arianna made a decision to escape, to endure whatever was necessary in order to find that one unwatched, unguarded second when she could run.
Joseph’s eyes closed and his head fell back slightly, but when he pulled it back, when his eyes opened again, Arianna knew the man she loved was no longer there.
“You, Arianna, are an unappreciative, spoiled bitch of a wife.” Tossing her to the floor, her head hit against the adjacent wall, a small cry escaping her lips from her surprise and pain. He stalked towards her, cruelty inlaid in the grin that touched his lips.
“I’ve given you luxury, I’ve given you a home, I’ve given you…” He stopped, a sick smile smearing across his features before he continued. “Ah yes, I forgot, you didn’t want those things – it wasn’t enough for the perfect princess I married. What you saw tonight, what I did for you, it was a display of power, of justice, of…”
“Of insanity, of a nightmare…” she softly added.
He reached down to lift her by her hair, only to backhand her so suddenly that she fell back to the floor once more. Warmth spread across her cheek where he’d struck her and she reached up to touch her lip, finding blood when she pulled it away.
Crawling away, she looked up at him and noticed how his eyes closed tight, giving him the appearance of a man pained. Opening them again, he said, “And of a woman in hysterics!” Reaching down and easily catching her, his hand gripped around her throat. She could barely breathe but tried to remain calm. She waited for the next strike, her breath ragged and her heart beating painfully against her
chest.
Joseph appeared mad, a man attempting to control himself, but losing the battle, his violence leaking out against his wife. After several minutes of silence, he said, “Embarrass me again, Arianna, and I’ll make sure you meet with a true nightmare. As for now, there is something you can give me, that you’ve failed to give me for far too long.”
His hand gripped harder and his fingers tangled painfully deep within the silken strands of her hair. He lifted her again, but turned quickly to push her facedown against the bed. Using her hair as reins, he controlled her and held her still for his abuse. The touch of his hand was callous and cruel as he ripped away the last bit of cloth that covered her. She felt him shift as he removed his pants, heard the belt hit against the tiled floors when it fell to his ankles. Finally positioning himself at her opening, he pulled her head up by her hair so that he could place his mouth to her ear. “You will give me a child, an heir, if I have to force this night after night until that happens, so be it. The level of pain is your decision. Fight me and this will be more agonizing than it needs to be.”
Tears spilled from her eyes when his mouth and tongue moved across the skin of her neck, when his teeth bit sharply into the sensitive area at her shoulder. She cried out in pain, which only made him move one greedy hand quickly over her body and breasts while the other continued to pull at her hair. And even through the pain, she couldn’t help but respond.
“You’re sick! I’ll never bring a child into this hellhole you’re creating!”
He laughed, the sound disgusting and maniacal as he bent forward to say, “It’s a shame that’s not your choice any longer.” Shoving himself inside, the sensitive skin between her thighs burned as tiny fissures were ripped open from his force. She cried out again when his girth filled her and her muscles ached from the sudden and uninvited intrusion. “Please Joseph, please stop!”
But instead of stopping, he seemed lost in his rage – pure madness stripping away all remaining sanity.
The hair at her scalp threatened to rip free as he held her still, raping her, freeing her of the last bit of love she’d had for him. When he’d roared out his release, and when his body collapsed over hers, he ripped her head to the side once more.
“I told you that you belong to me long ago, and regardless of whether you love me or hate me, that will never change. If you value your life, it’s best you learn to accept it.”
He pulled himself free allowing her to fall to the floor. She sobbed as he redressed, and as his footsteps grew faint when he left the room. Only when the door closed, did she allow herself to truly let go; crying, shaking, and drowning in the knowledge that he’d never let her leave.
Chapter Twelve
One deep, dark and resonating note filled the small space of the room. Arianna’s eyes looked up at the music above the keys, squinted at the light and airy music contained on those pages, music that she could not play, could not bring herself to enjoy.
One finger, on one key, playing one note – over and over.
It was all she could manage.
Two weeks had passed, each night bringing more indignity, more rape. Her body felt bruised and battered, and her mind felt shredded and torn. She’d become a prisoner in her own home, an object for his use, his pleasure, a thing of so little value, that she’d been reduced to an empty shell devoid of emotion or light.
Connor stood at the door to the music room, his stance typical as he stood sentry over her. She grown accustomed to his presence, and oddly, she found comfort in his ever-watchful eyes. They’d spoken to each other only on rare occasions, and only when she’d responded to his statements or questions. However, as the weeks dragged on and as Joseph fell further into madness, dragging her along with him, Arianna couldn’t speak, wouldn’t voice anything openly or easily.
Up until this morning, she’d still been able to play, but the night before had been her worst. Joseph’s tastes were becoming more vile, more depraved. He’d violated her in ways no man should be allowed, had torn at parts of her body, had chained her and gagged her, and he had done so while telling her he loved her still, and that in time, when she was fat with his child, she’d remember the promises made on their wedding night, their past desire for a child they could call their own. She knew he was sick; that his mind had twisted into something foreign and dark – a place from which there was little hope of return.
She’d grown numb to the abuse, to the added insult of his spoken words of love. Reaching a point where death was welcomed, she secretly hoped he would go too far, choking her free of her life, instead of just into unconsciousness.
Each morning that she woke up, she forced herself from bed and out into the living room. After the first week, she’d noticed how Connor’s eyes would seek out new injuries, how they would hood over and darken when he’d found what he sought. He’d said nothing to her about it, hadn’t made a move to approach her in the weeks that Joseph’s abuse had occurred; so, when a deep voice spoke softly behind her while she sat playing that one key, she startled before turning to look into the eyes of emerald and jade that shimmered in light and were made brilliant against tan skinned and black hair.
“I’m sure you’ve heard this many times in your life, but you play beautifully.”
She blinked in surprise, not having expected a compliment from the strong and silent guard in the room. Her eyes lowered to the floor, the intensity of his stare too much for her at that moment. She felt exposed, raw, and ashamed after the nights she’d spent with Joseph over the past few weeks. “Thanks, I guess.” Turning back to the piano, she lifted her hands as if to finally play, but the only thing that fell on the ivory keys were the tears she could no longer contain.
The soft sound of boots against stone tile was the only warning before a large, strong hand fell tenderly on her shoulder. “Would you like to go somewhere else today, away from this building? It’s been a while since you’ve seen the sun.” His tone of voice was relaxed and compassionate, the baritone depth wrapping around her body like a warm blanket in winter. Arianna felt unsettled to feel comfort in his voice, his presence, but she accepted it nonetheless. Sometimes, when all a person is given is solitude and silence, having any human interaction is a blessing, regardless of its source.
Her mind traveled back to the last time she’d ventured outside, to the dense fog in the woods that had disguised the danger lurking nearby. Beside her stood another monster who had lumbered into the woods that morning, one she grown accustomed to since that fateful day.
“Do you trust me enough to take me out? What if I were to run, to never look back?” She knew she’d never make it if she tried, but that didn’t stop the fantasy from playing endlessly in her mind.
“Come. Walking the grounds may do you some good.” His hand still set on her shoulder, the warmth traveled through her skin, settling against the chill of her bones she was never able to escape.
“Will you get in trouble? Will Joseph approve?” She couldn’t help the scorn in her voice as she said her husband’s name. Twisting so that she could peer up at Connor through the thickness of her lashes, she noticed a slight twist to his mouth, and the faint indentation of the dimple on his cheek.
“Joseph’s instructions to me were to keep you safe and away from his men and his wing. Other than that, where you travel is up to you, as long as you remain on the property.”
A resigned sigh brushed across her lips and she nodded in agreement.
Reaching down, Connor took her hand to assist her from the bench and led her out of the music room towards the sunlight that awaited her outside.
The thick ground cover and leaves crushed and shifted under Arianna’s feet as Connor walked her towards the path leading through the woods of the property. Her face turned up into sunlight, she closed her eyes to the glare but welcomed the warmth that brushed over her skin. Breathing in deeply, she shuddered to think how long it had been since she’d been outside and she was thankful to Connor for having made the suggestion
.
As usual, he was silent when they walked, but he appeared determined in his lead. When they’d finally entered the shade of the canopies, Arianna cleared her throat before asking, “Is there anywhere in particular that we are going?”
He turned to her, gently taking her arm in his hand as he assisted her over some top roots of a large oak tree nearby. “Actually, yes. I had a lot of time to explore the land before Joseph asked that I watch over you. There are some hidden places dispersed over the property that are absolutely beautiful. When I wasn’t on duty, I spent most of my time in some of them. There is one, however, which is the most beautiful of all. That’s where I’m taking you.”
Her interests peaked; she smiled shyly after he released her arm. “For as long as we’ve lived here, I’ve never had the chance to explore. Between the parties, and my music, and … him … the only time I ventured out into the woods was that day.”
Connor nodded. “I’m sorry for what happened. I was lucky to be nearby, to hear when you cried out. I don’t want to think what would have happened if I’d been farther away.”
Laughing at his apology, Arianna considered the irony of his statement. “You only saved me from the pan to throw me into the fire.”
His steps faltered at her words, his shoulders tensing and then relaxing at her implication. Without responding, he continued walking her deeper into the forest, stopping every so often to hold back a branch or assist her over difficult patches of top-seated roots that littered the path. The canopies of the trees left them obscured in shadows, but after an hour of walking, her eyes finally settled on an opening where light cascaded into the woodlands, bringing life and color to the trees and plants that it touched. Faintly, she could hear what sounded like rushing water and her eyebrows lifted as she attempted to peek around Connor’s large form to see where he’d led her.
Finally breaking free of the shadow of the trees, Connor stepped to the side to give Arianna an unobstructed view of the place he’d wanted her to see. Her eyes widened as much as they could against the bright glare of the sun. Her jaw dropped from her shock at the beauty opened out before her. Taking hesitant steps, she moved towards the calm pool that was set off from the stream that ran over the property. The rocks glistened in multiple hues of gold, red and brown and the water running over them imitated sparkling diamonds as it traveled through the branches of sunlight that touched it.