Taming Maria (28 page)

There was an
uproar as he dragged her forward, shouting, 'What have we
here?'

Immediately
Damien grabbed and shook her, his face thunderous. 'Maria! How did
you get here?'

'I followed
you,' she stammered, saying the first thing that came into her
mind.

'Why?'

She had never
seen such fury on a man's face. He was capable of killing her!

'I thought you
were going to meet a woman.'

The men who
had gathered round laughed loudly. 'A jealous little tart, eh?'
said Chesney, looking her over lustfully. 'Is she one of your
whores, my lord?'

'Never mind
who she is,' he retorted, eyes blazing, fingers tightening
painfully on her arm. 'She needs to be punished.'

'It won't take
us long to teach her a lesson and take our fill of her,' Towser
broke in eagerly.

Every man
there was scruffy, villainous and ugly. The thought of Damien
turning her over to them was abhorrent. Would he do so? He was
furious and might well decide she deserved such a fate. There was a
split second's silence and in that instant she knew he wanted her
for himself.

'First she
must be tied up and beaten,' he ordered.

Maria was
manhandled, her dress ripped off, her naked body caressed, pinched,
nipples and pubis examined. 'Someone's shaved her pussy,' Chesney
shouted, lowering his face and licking her slit with a wet, fleshy
tongue. 'I want first go at her, boys. Never had a hairless cunt
before.'

In the midst
of the pain, fear and confusion, Maria caught Damien's eye, and it
was he who stretched her out, face-down on the sandy floor,
tethered her wrists and spread her legs, attaching the ropes to
pegs driven into the rock.

'Stand back!'
he ordered his excited men.

They did so,
forming a circle around her. Some had already bared their cocks,
rubbing them to full erection, anticipating driving into Maria.
Chesney's was huge, a great brown monster, curved like a sabre,
standing proud from a nest of black curls. It was already bedewed
with clear jism and he held it in his hand, licking his lips and
grinning at her. Towser took second place, his prick rather less
spectacular, and half a dozen other men were egging one another on
with crude jests.

Maria was
naked, helpless and angry. How dare Damien treat her thus? She was
a titled lady and his ward! Did he guess she had been spying on
him? Probably, and this was her punishment, this exposure to a gang
of ruffians. If, as she feared, he had finished with her, then she
would be delivered into their hands to be ravished. The idea made
her stomach rise, for they were dirty, smelly and probably
disease-ridden. She might become pregnant by one of them!

Damien flexed
his riding whip. Maria heard the swish as it raced towards her. She
felt the numbness as it landed on her buttocks and the rush of fire
that flowed. The men guffawed and massaged their pricks. The whip
struck again. Maria started to cry, her pride ground into the dust.
Damien was so crafty, never striking the same place twice, making
sure stripe was laid next to stripe. She could feel her sense of
reality slipping away, the heat from her backside spreading to her
cunt, her need for a male member penetrating her growing more
urgent with every fresh cut of the lash. She wanted Damien, Charles
and, even more shameful, anyone of those disgusting rogues who
surrounded her. She was a suffering animal, but one, moreover, who
needed to be mated.

She heard the
clatter of the whip landing on the rocky floor. The smugglers were
quiet now, only their rapid breathing reaching her ears. Then a man
spread himself over her, and she clenched her inner muscles,
expecting the violence of rape. But her body remembered and her
nostrils recognised his smell as she felt the hardness of his cock
entering her.

'Damien!' she
sobbed, as he battered her furiously, releasing his rage in a far
more potent way than with the whip. But this pain was one she
welcomed, spearing herself on it, that deep, all-consuming
thrusting that took her to the brink without giving her
release.

She felt the
surge as he discharged into her, and the emptiness as he withdrew.
Then the full horror burst upon her as she heard him say, 'Your
turn, Chesney.'

'No!' Maria
shouted, the denial coming from the depths of her heart and
soul.

The horror was
upon her, Chesney's big body knocking the breath from her as she
was flattened under him. Her breasts were ground into the rock
beneath her. With her face pressed to one side she could see
little, but felt the enormous bar of his prick forcing its way into
her entrance. She was still slippery from Damien's discharge.

Useless to
struggle. She would only get hurt. But she vowed to kill Chesney if
and when she got the chance. This insult could never be forgiven
and neither would Damien's part in it. She wanted to scream at him
to save her, but he was laughing with the others, watching Chesney
rape her.

'Maybe the
Frenchies would like a go at her,' bellowed Towser. 'What a welcome
to England!'

Unable to
resist he came forward, and so did the rest. While attempting to
clench her buttocks and prevent Chesney's penetration she felt
cocks in her bound hands and cocks stroking her back, leaving wet
trails, while another was at her mouth.

She was
suffocated, outraged, soiled by the men and deeply mortified
because Damien was allowing them to besmirch her. She was aware he
was watching, gaining satisfaction in seeing her used, and she
cried out, 'Damien! Stop them! Please...!'

'Why should I?
You've always defied me, and have the temerity to come here. What
did you hope to find? Were you seeking to discredit me?'

'Whatever my
reason you are my guardian and should protect me. Don't let them
ravish me!'

He might have
listened to her plea but she was never to know. There was a sudden
outcry from the mouth of the cave. Men rushed in, shouting, 'We've
been discovered! There's fighting going on out there!'

She was
forgotten. Even Chesney left her, covered his cock and joined the
rest. She tugged at her bonds and succeeded in yanking out the
pegs, able to free her hands, though the ropes remained around her
wrists. She found her cloak and huddled within it. Had Charles
arrived? What was going on? She looked at her surroundings. A
tunnel led from the tomb in the crypt to the cave. It had probably
been used by escapees, refugees and smugglers for centuries, but
now Damien had it for his own purposes.

Maria went to
the entrance, coming out on a shelf set in the cliff. The sea would
only reach it at high tide. Below her was a confused scene of men
fighting, with a rowing boat half in, half out of the water, where
others struggled to apprehend those who were trying to land. A ship
was anchored in the bay, its sails filling as the breeze freshened,
the helmsman waiting for the turn of the tide.

Flares were
stuck in the sand, illuminating the turmoil. The clash of swords
and pistol shots punctuated the cries of angry men. Then she saw
Charles, face to face with Damien, the light dancing on their naked
blades. Damien registered surprise on seeing Charles, followed by
grim determination.

'You,
Bradbury! I might have guessed you were up to something!' he
shouted, and leapt forward.

'And you,
milord, are a traitor! Meet me now, sword to sword, and I'll cut
you down and send your black soul to hell!'

There was the
ring of steel as the swords met. The duellists were old foes who
knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. Maria's attention was
riveted on them, though conscious of the skirmishes taking place
all around her. The smugglers were fighting desperately,
outnumbering Charles's men and giving them a hard time. The
coastguards had not yet arrived. Some of the French, who had leapt
from the boat into the water, had their swords out and were joining
in the fray. One keeled over, clutching his chest, falling into the
shallows where men splashed and fought and swore, blood turning the
wavelets red. Powder flashed and the sound of shooting reverberated
among the cliffs.

Damien and
Charles circled each other, antagonists with an axe to grind. Maria
knew this favoured neither. It was better to keep a cool head.

Crouching
slightly Damien advanced in little leaps, while Charles avoided his
blade and mocked him, 'Are you fighting, sir, or dancing a
gavotte?'

Damien cursed
and attacked with renewed vigour. The blades rang and Maria was
terrified for both of them. This was real. No fencing bout, but a
fight to the death. She edged closer, forgetting her own danger,
seeing her lovers stamping backwards and forwards on the wet sand,
admiring Charles's coolness and Damien's expertise.

He thrust high
and Charles parried, the light running down the swords like blood.
They were close now, glaring at each other, eye to eye. Damien
broke free and leapt back. Charles followed, his blade whirling.
Damien caught the point that was aimed straight at his heart. He
knocked it up, but not before it had scratched his cheek.

This first hit
enraged him and he started to lose control. He lunged at Charles,
who pivoted slightly to one side, avoiding the strike. Damien
recovered and beat down Charles's blade, attacking like a madman.
Maria cried out and he backed towards her, grabbed her arm and
retreated to the cave mouth with Charles after him. It was as if
the fray on the beach was of no matter. All that remained was the
fight between two men over one woman. A story as old as time.

Damien kept
his sword pressed to Maria's ribs as they entered the cave. 'If you
don't let me go I'll kill her,' he ground out mercilessly. 'Call
off your men.'

'I can't do
that. Surrender and I'll put in a good word for you.' Charles kept
cool.

'How
magnanimous!' Damien sneered. 'And what proof do you have that I'm
involved in this?'

'Plenty. I've
been working on it for months.'

'Are you
willing to sacrifice Maria's life?'

Damien's hold
on her was strong, and pushed her against the damp, rocky walls.
Was this to be her tomb? Her last vision of life on earth? The tip
of his sword nicked her skin just beneath her left breast; one
thrust and it would penetrate her heart. Her cloak was open and she
was naked beneath it, stripped by him a short while ago. She could
see the spot on the ground where he had tied her and flogged her
and permitted his hellions to abuse her. She ached in every limb
from his treatment, and hurt inside because he cared so little for
her.

Charles
lowered his weapon. 'I'm willing to negotiate, but you'll have to
be quick about it. From the sounds on the beach I would say that
reinforcements have arrived. You don't stand a chance.'

Damien wiped
the blood from his face on his jacket sleeve. He would carry the
scar for life, his handsome features marred. He did not release his
hold on Maria. 'I have a horse outside the chapel. Oh, don't worry,
I've covered every contingency. I shall disappear and you'll not
see me again.'

Charles
paused. 'Does this mean you'll leave England?'

'Yes, until
the war is over.'

'And what
about me? Who will be in charge of my affairs?' Even at that
fraught moment Maria kept her wits about her.

'Everything is
taken care of.' Damien gave her a fleeting smile, and then turned
to Charles again. 'Well? Do we have a bargain?'

Charles
nodded. 'Do you give me your word as a gentleman that you have no
more tricks up your sleeve and will disappear?'

'I agree.'
Damien held out his hand and Charles took it. They shook solemnly,
but Maria was not convinced of Damien's sincerity.

He looked at
her, then reached out and touched one of her naked breasts and,
even in that moment of peril, her body responded. 'Don't fret. We
shall meet again, my dear little slave,' he murmured. 'Think of me
when you're in your lonely bed, or even if you're sharing it with
an inadequate lover. Think of me and remember that I was and always
will be, your master.'

He let her go
and she ran to Charles's side, his arm coming round her. Damien
gave an ironic bow and vanished up the steps into the crypt. Maria
hugged Charles, unable to believe they were both alive.

Quint
clattered into the cave, shouting, 'My lord, it's over. The
coastguards have arrested all concerned. Except the ringleader who
seems to have run off.'

'Don't worry.
I'll come and sort it out.' Charles smiled at Maria and said,
'You're a disobedient hussy, aren't you? Didn't I tell you to stay
out of trouble? Now what am I going to do with you?'

'We'll take
care of her?' Robin spoke from the steps. He was backed by
Tranter.

'And how many
more people have you involved in this?' Charles said angrily,
giving her a shake.

'None, but
they have come in time and will take me back to the manor.'

'Stay there
till I come. Make sure she does, will you, Robin? I've never known
such a wayward chit!'

Although
Charles was scolding her she could see he was relieved. He
questioned Robin further, saying, 'Did you see a man leaving the
crypt?'

'No, we were
only concerned in finding her ladyship,' Robin replied, eyes wide
as he listened to the clamour outside.

'Good man,'
Charles said, and pushed Maria forward. 'I put her in your safe
keeping. Maria, I shall call on you later, probably tomorrow
morning. You'd better be there.'

He strode from
the cave with Quint, and Maria gathered up her torn clothing and
permitted Robin to help her climb up into the moonlight and find
her horse. In the back of her mind was the disloyal thought that
perhaps Damien might be lurking somewhere, ready to spirit her
away. She hated herself for this. She loved Charles, didn't
she?