She looked again at Mitchum, as if he might, against all hope, actually give her an idea of something to do. But he was looking past her, suddenly alert. She turned to find Lord Douglas only a few steps away. She leapt to her feet, and Mitchum began to walk towards them. How had he come to the beach without her or Mitchum noticing? The earl held up his hand.
“Come no closer, boy. I’ll talk to my daughter-in-law in private. She’ll come to no harm.”
Mitchum took another step.
“Mind your place,” said Douglas to Mitchum, and this time his voice was a warning. Mitchum stood where he was and didn’t retreat.
Cait twisted her hands in the skirts of her gown.
“You have no curtsy for me, Princess?” Douglas asked, his eyes boring into her.
She made the smallest reverence possible. She had avoided the older earl thus far, but now, on this remote beach, she felt terribly imperiled. She snuck a look at Mitchum, who continued to watch as the earl drew her away. Lord Douglas ignored her subtle resistance.
“Do you like your guard there, what is the boy’s name?” he asked when they were alone.
“His name is Mitchum, and he’s not a boy.”
“He is a boy, don’t fool yourself. Do you like him?”
She looked up at the earl in confusion. “Like him? He is my guard.”
“How would you feel if he were to be lost? You would be sad, wouldn’t you? Say, if he were to fall from that rock up there?”
Cait’s stomach turned over as the earl pointed casually to the rock jutting from the head of the cliff overlooking the firth. She went there often, although her guards would never let her near the edge.
“Say, if he were to fall, an unfortunate accident. All your fault. How would you feel?”
Cait swallowed hard. “Awful. But we don’t go near the edge— We never go near the edge of that rock—”
“Don’t you?” he said blandly. He looked at her. “If I want him to fall, he will.”
Her throat closed up, and she had trouble breathing. “What do you want?”
“I want you to find a way to make him go away.”
“He won’t. He won’t leave me. Duncan says— Duncan orders—”
“Duncan is not here, and your puffed up guards will not listen to me. He’s already glaring, so I’ll make this short. You will find a way to steal away from your guard tomorrow, and you will meet me at the abandoned barn on the hill beyond the orchard after lunch. If you do not find a way, your guard will die.” He said it so calmly the entire world took on an air of unreality to her. She felt confused, breathless, shaky with fear.
“Why?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
“If you show distress, you will make it worse. Do you value their lives so little? Collect yourself. You will not know why. You will only do as I say, or else.”
Cait looked over at Mitchum, so staunch, so protective. She couldn’t be the cause of danger to him. With terrible effort, she schooled her face to calm obedience. “I will do as you say. Just don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt any of them. Please.”
“That, my dear, depends on you.”
Duncan. She needed Duncan. When would he be back? What could she do on her own without him? Who could she confide in? No one. It was not safe. If any harm came to Mitchum, or Lonnie, or Desmond, any of them, she couldn’t bear the guilt. She would meet the earl tomorrow and see what he wanted. When Duncan returned, he would take care of all of this, but for now, she had no choice but to obey.
“What do you want?” she asked Lord Douglas again.
“You will learn that soon enough. And lest you think of telling anyone else about what we’ve discussed—”
“I won’t,” she interrupted before he could make any more threats. “May I go? It is nearly time for dinner.”
Lord Douglas turned away and began to walk down the beach. Cait collected herself. She didn’t know how she managed. She only knew she couldn’t let Mitchum think anything was amiss. She walked over to him and forced a smile in the face of his obvious concern.
“What a nasty old man,” she murmured. “It’s getting late. Let’s return to the keep.”
* * * * *
All night Cait tried to think of a plausible excuse to get herself alone to the barn. She could simply steal away but that would raise a terrible alarm, and would certainly infuriate the earl into possible retaliation. She would have to lie, but she was terrible at lying. She had no choice. She had to try.
The next day Henry was her guard, which was serendipitous. Of all of them, he was the least likely to question her. He usually barely attended her, and he had only been her guard a few weeks. She told him she was working on a surprise in the barn for her husband, that she wanted to complete it in secret before he arrived home. Henry seemed content enough with her excuse and allowed her to steal into the barn while he waited a distance away.
She pushed open the door, hoping against hope the earl wouldn’t be there, but he was. He barred the door behind her as she backed across the barn. It was dark inside and dusty, a faint smell of animal still lingering in the air. Light filtered through some holes in the eaves. She shivered. It was terribly cold.
“Henry is here, but he’s waiting a distance away. I told him I was coming here to work on a surprise.” She watched him nervously. He just stared at her. Somehow it gave her comfort to keep talking, although she got the feeling he didn’t care what she said. “For Duncan. A surprise for Duncan.”
“Ah, a good plan,” he said. “So you can come here every day without arousing suspicion.”
“I’d rather not. I’d rather you just tell me what you want and get this over with. I don’t enjoy all this secrecy. Duncan won’t like it when he returns.”
“Duncan will never learn anything of it,” the earl said sharply. “I’m afraid that secrecy will continue to be required. Take your clothes off.”
Cait’s eyes widened. “I most certainly will not!”
“You will do what I ask, Princess, or someone you care for very much will be harmed.”
Her eyes narrowed and she pretended a courage she did not feel. “You are a horrible man. I won’t take my clothes off. Duncan forbade me to ever take my clothes off for another man—”
“Or he would punish you?” The earl’s laughter was soft but terrible. “I warrant you have never felt a punishment like the one I’ve been reserving for you, dearest daughter-in-law. Now take your clothes off immediately, or I will do it myself.”
* * * * *
Lord Douglas watched her pick at her food. He had stripped her of her dignity, her self-esteem, her belief in a safe, predictable world...and now her appetite as well. It pleased him. He liked the changes he’d seen in her. The deadening of her eyes, the stilted way she walked, the trembling in her hands. It was the way he’d always wished to see her. It had been an enjoyable week.
Soon, he would have to stop. There would have to be time for the marks to fade before Duncan returned from the Simpson keep. His entire plan had played out without a hitch. He didn’t want to ruin it with something so simple as unhealed bruises and cuts. Tomorrow he would assault her for the last time. For now. Until Duncan left again. This lovely arrangement could go on for years, as long as she had loved ones to threaten. As long as she valued the lives of her friends.
Everything had gone perfectly. The morose change in her demeanor was assumed to be a wife pining for her absent husband. No one suspected what went on up in the barn on the hill every afternoon. No one noticed him stealing in before she arrived or stealing away some time after she’d gone. Her guards believed she cried for him there, Duncan, because she missed him. Douglas chuckled to himself under his breath. No doubt the little whore did miss him when she was in that barn, for it was his absence that gave Douglas the opportunity he’d craved. He’d made good use of every moment with her. He’d abused the little slut in every way he knew.
The first day she’d been defiant. He’d had to wrestle her clothes off
and shove her to the floor, cut off her breath until she complied, until she saw that no was not an option. He knew just how to do it without leaving marks. How to exert just enough pressure to immobilize a resisting woman, just enough to let them understand the threat that was at hand. After that she’d been still and let him have his way with her. And he had. Oh, he had.