Archer, Jane (24 page)

Alexandra focused not on his words, but on his body, and was surprised not to see the hard, bulging member she'd expected. Was there something wrong with her, with him? No, he'd explained that. Well, no matter, she only wanted to lie there undisturbed.

"I don't suppose you dance, Alexandra, or know any of the exciting arts of seduction? Well, no matter, there will be time for that later. Now, let's see, what shall we do?"

Alexandra watched his frowning face, as if he pondered dinner, or what jacket to wear. Then he smiled, his decision made. He took her hand and began drawing her up to him. She let him ease her toward him and then he picked her up in his arms. She wondered vaguely where he was taking her, but it didn't matter and she was much more interested in the feel of his hard, warm flesh next to hers. His masculine body reminded her of someone else.
Jake.
But no, she must never think of him again.

Giles opened a door to what appeared to be a closet, but it was longer and he walked into it, shutting the door behind them. There was a dim light inside and she watched him as he reached up to the ceiling and pulled down a contraption. He pulled her arms high up over her head, then tied her wrists in the thing. What was he doing? She was suddenly almost afraid.

"Giles? What are you—"

"Shh. You must learn to enjoy the more exquisite pleasure of sex—pain."

Alexandra couldn't understand, but felt herself being pulled higher toward the ceiling. Her arms ached and she felt as if they were being torn from their sockets. Her feet no longer touched the floor and she hung there completely helpless. But she didn't really feel the pain. Then Giles advanced on her, a long, black whip in his hands.

"What are you doing, Giles?"

"We used these on the slaves. There are many ways to use a whip. I know them all. I won't mark you, Alexandra, you'll see. And soon you'll find this as much pleasure as I do. You'll learn to use it on me too."

"Whip?" she muttered, wishing she could think more clearly, knowing somehow that this was wrong, that Giles must be mad, but she could not think through the languidness that had taken control of her mind and body.

Giles turned her around so that her smooth back, full, firm hips, and long legs were exposed to him, completely vulnerable and at his mercy. Sweat beaded his forehead as he snapped the whip in the air, then sent it reeling toward Alexandra's back. It contacted, cracking against her bare skin. He felt the first flush of excitement start in his loins. It had been so long. Nothing could satisfy him quite like this. Yes, Alexandra would be fine, just fine, he thought, as the whip bore down on her again. He must not strike too hard; he didn't want to mar her beautiful body, the body that strained now, sweat glistening, as it writhed away from the whip's terrible embrace. But the burning in his loins was growing, spreading, demanding release.

Excited now almost beyond control, he let the whip come down again and again across her shoulders, her back, her hips. Sweat glistened on his body and he wanted to feel her under him, but more he wanted to feel the sting of the whip on himself. He knew it couldn't be this first time, but soon, soon he would teach her how to be his perfect slave. Finally, the needs of his body became too great. He threw down the whip and approached Alexandra. He let his hands run across her blood drenched back, then twisted her around to him. She gazed glassy-eyed at him, not seeing or comprehending, but he didn't care. He had to ease the ache in his loins. He lowered her slightly, letting her fall into his arms as he released her wrists.

Catching his prize to him, he rushed back into the bedroom and threw Alexandra on the bed. He had no more thoughts for her now as his passion drove him on. He pulled her up toward him, bracing his knees inside her thighs, his manhood bulging, throbbing. Then he plunged inside her softness. He thrust hard, deep in his frenzy of passion until at last he reached the zenith of his desire. Then, satisfied, he rolled over, away from Alexandra, and fell into a heavy sleep.

Pain and agony seeping into Alexandra's stunned mind. She could not quite combat the effects of the drug, but she knew what had happened and she knew that she had to escape before Giles awoke. But moving was sheer agony for her back burned and stung almost beyond endurance. Still, she forced herself to slip from the bed. She could hardly stand and held onto pieces of furniture as she made her stumbling way across the room. At the door, she glanced back at Giles, but he slept on, peaceful and sated. She turned the lock, the click seemed to echo endlessly in the silent room, but Giles did not move. She opened the door, shuddering at the creak it made, then tightly shut it behind her.

She took a deep breath, fighting the overpowering pain. She had to get away, escape the mansion. Stumbling repeatedly, falling and dragging herself up, she finally made her way to her own room. Hopelessly aware of her bloodied, nude body, she thrust the door open and fell into the arms of Ebba.

"Oh, child, child. That monster done hurt you bad. Oh, the women that he's ruined. Oh, sugar, we've got to get you out of here. I was afraid so I waited, but I never dreamed he'd go so far with you. Oh, child!"

She helped Alexandra to the bed, shaking her head and mumbling to herself.

"He's asleep, Ebba. We don't have much time."

"I've got to get you cleaned up first, child. Put salve on your back. You're not cut deep, but it's got to be tended."

"Hurry, Ebba, I'm afraid he'll awake. Are there horses?"

"There's a horse and carriage, but they belong to Mister Giles."

"Well, they belong to us now. And Ebba, you can't stay here any longer either."

"I'm going with you, sugar, you can be sure of that. Now, I'll just get the salve and be right back."

Alexandra took out her valise, stuffing hose and chemise into it. She picked up the Norwegian medallion from her dresser and carefully tucked it into the valise. It was now her most important possession.

There was a sound at the door and Alexandra whirled around to see Ebba hurrying inside. She was relieved to see her friend for she was haunted by Giles' presence down the hall. He could easily wake up and find them in her bedroom.

Ebba quickly spread the noxious smelling salve all over Alexandra's sore back, then wrapped the clean cloth all around her. Ebba slipped the gown carefully over Alexandra's head, pulling it down gently over her body.

Alexandra hurriedly picked up her valise and they stepped into the hall, looking carefully toward Giles' bedroom before rushing down the stairs. At the back door, they paused, breathlessly, to listen for any sound of Giles, but all was quiet.

Outside, the cool night air felt good against Alexandra's face and her head began to clear as the drug lost its effect. She would not think of what she had just been through, not now, she couldn't. She had to think of escaping from the plantation before Giles discovered her missing.

They hurried across the lawn to the kitchen.

Once inside, Ebba grabbed her large, worn valise. It was stuffed with all her possessions.

"You were already packed, Ebba?" Alexandra asked, surprised.

"I knew Miss Eleanor was going, child, and I knew that I'd be going when that happened, too. This is all I have. Now, let's pack some food. I've baked cornbread and there's some meat to take. Hurry, child."

"Ebba, you pack the food while I harness the horse, unless you know how."

Ebba's eyes grew large. "Sugar, I'm afraid of those animals and I ain't never harnessed one."

"Well, I haven't either, but I've seen it done. I'll do my best. Is that the stable over there?"

"Yes, but hurry, child. He might wake up at any moment, and he'd kill us both sure as the world."

"I'm going, Ebba. You hurry, too."

Alexandra left the kitchen for the stable. How she would harness the horse she didn't know, but she was determined to use her last ounce of strength to escape Giles. Knocking aside the clinging moss and limbs of trees, Alexandra ran determinedly on, growing more angry by the second. The pain that riddled her body only served to intensify her determination to escape Jarmon Plantation.

She stopped outside the stable, standing there a moment as she took great gulps of air to catch her breath. When she flung the stable door open and stepped inside, she gasped. The horse had never been unhitched from his harness or the carriage!

She wouldn't have to do it! But how completely cruel of Giles Jarmon. The poor animal. She hurried over to the dejected beast whose head hung down wearily. He eyed her suspiciously, as if expecting more punishment. There were old welts on his sides where Giles had whipped him frequently.

She threw her valise into the carriage and firmly took the reins as she pulled at the reluctant animal. The carriage jangled, creaked and groaned as it rolled out of the stable and Alexandra gritted her teeth. The noise was enough to wake the dead, much less the sleeping Giles, but there was nothing that could be done about it. They
had
to have the horse and carriage. She led the horse, walking beside him to keep him quiet and reassured, speaking to him all the way toward the kitchen. They had to go around the mansion to the front yard to gain the main road. They weren't nearly free yet.

Suddenly a dark figure approached Alexandra. She gasped, biting her hand to keep from crying out and jerking the horse to a stop. Then her breath came out in a sigh of relief as she realized that it was Ebba moving up to the carriage.

"Glad you got it, sugar. Ready to go?"

"Yes, Ebba. Giles had left the horse like this. But hurry, hurry. Get inside. You've got everything?"

Ebba nodded as she threw her things into the carriage, then hoisted herself inside.

Now, Alexandra thought, if we can just make it to the front of the house and down the drive without him hearing and coming after us.

She pulled at the horse. He was reluctant. She pulled again, straining her sore muscles, and he began walking. The pain in her back was a constant red haze that drove her on, demanding that she not be subjected to Giles' brutal treatment again. Moss hit her face, blinding her as she strove to find her way around the house. Finally, she was at the side of the huge mansion, then on the circular drive. At last, she could reach the one road leading away from Jarmon Plantation.

She stopped the horse and threw the reins inside. Before stepping into the carriage, she turned around. She wanted one last look at the mansion that had bred a person like Giles, but to her horror she saw the dark shape of a man on the verandah. Then he began to move, taking the stairs two at a time. Giles hit the ground and was running, running toward her!

She froze, unable to move. Every horror that had ever haunted her was embodied in the dark, sinister figure running toward her. But still she couldn't move and he was getting closer, and closer.

"Hurry!" Ebba hissed, and the familiar voice broke Alexandra's dream-like stupor.

She got into the carriage, and grabbing the reins in both hands, she flicked them harshly over the poor animal's back. He jerked forward in surprise, then quickened his pace as Alexandra urged him on, but he was not quick enough. Giles was upon them. He grabbed Alexandra's arm, pulling, holding on as the animal gathered speed.

Desperate, Alexandra forgot her fright, her pain, as her hand came down on the whip Giles had left in the seat. Her fingers curled around it and as she raised it, she looked hard into his dark, furious eyes. Her eyes glinted like bits of green glass as she brought the whip down viciously across his face, striking again and again until his blood ran red and his face contorted in pain and rage. Still he hung on as the animal raced down the drive away from the mansion. Alexandra clung to the reins of the wildly running horse with one hand and plied the whip with the other. Then she saw her chance. There was a bend in the road with the branches of the trees hanging low along the side. She urged the horse on, then turned to Giles as the trees came close. She lashed out at him once more before the branches caught him, scraping his body away from her and the carriage.

Alexandra's triumphant laughter rang out in the quiet, still country night.

PART THREE: THE EYES OF TEXAS

Chapter 17

TEXAS! Was it as endless as it seemed? Alexandra shaded her eyes as she looked far into the distance, wishing that she wore a more appropriate hat than the small fashionable one perched atop her curls. No matter how far they traveled, or how far her eyes could see, it was still a land of endless proportions—a flat, dry, dusty country filled with gamma grass, brush, and mesquite. There was no resemblance here to anything she'd known before. And surprisingly, many small animals as well as the large herds of wild longhorns and mustangs lived in this desolate country, thriving in the hot, dry climate.

Even the fine horse and comfortable sidesaddle could not keep the muscles of her body from aching as they rode deeper and deeper into south Texas toward the Bar J Ranch. Alexandra glanced over at her companions. They sat their horses well, seemingly tireless, but then they were United States Cavalrymen and were used to long hours in the saddle. Alexandra was not! And her healing back did not help matters.

Four soldiers were escorting her to the Bar J Ranch: Lieutenant Blake, his sergeant, and two enlisted men. She had been fortunate to attain their protection in Corpus Christi, the port where she had debarked from the boat she'd boarded in New Orleans. The thought of Louisiana brought memories flooding back.

She remembered how she had not slowed the poor horse down until Ebba and she were far away from Giles and the Jarmon Plantation; after the pace had slowed she had walked the exhausted beast much of the way to New Orleans. It had been a long, painful trip, but after stopping to rest several times, they had finally arrived just as dawn was breaking over the city.

Fortunately, Ebba knew her way around New Orleans and had insisted that she and Alexandra stay with some people she knew in the Negro section. They would be safer there; Giles would be less likely to find them. It was a small overcrowded house but to Alexandra, it had seemed like heaven.