The Lady and the Earl (47 page)

He smiled at her as though reading her thoughts.  She took one more step backward and bumped into the piano.  In a state of panic, she looked down to see what had stopped her retreat. 
Lucas
bound toward her,
grabbing her wrists in an extremely painful hold and
pinning her against the piano.

If her voice hadn’t caught in her throat out of fear, she would have screamed.  She even
had her mouth opened for the act, but only silent air followed.  She struggled against his grasp, trying to free her hands, feeling bruises begin to form along her wrists.  “You’re hurting me,” she gasped as she fought against him. 

He tightened his grip and laughed cruelly at her.  She kicked out at him and connected with his shin, causing his smile to slip as he inhaled sharply.  Angrily, he pulled her away from the piano and shoved her as hard as he could back into it.  She cried out in pain, feeling aching knots form where her back had hit an edge.  He smiled wickedly, delighting in the power he had over her and the fear he caused.  Allana struggled uselessly before realizing her struggles only brought him pleasure. 

“
Declan
and Connor will be back any moment now,” she said, breathing heavily.  It took every ounce of control she had to simply stand still and look him in the eyes. 

“Yes, they probably will.  But will it be in time
?” he
asked, smiling as he leaned into her hip. 

She lost her control and frantically fought against his unmovable form.  His legs along with her dress prevented her from kicking out at him again, and his grip on her wrists was relentless. 

He laughed delightedly as she struggled against him.  “Keep
fighting
, Allana.  It
is
…
i
nvigorating
.
”

“What do you want from me
?” she
hissed as a tear slipped down her face.  She pulled at her arms one last time with no avail and let a small sob brake from her chest when she realized how helpless she was against this man.  She hated this feeling of being in someone else’s control.   

“I want you, Allana.  And I will have you one way or another,” he replied calmly. 

A door opened in the distance, followed by male voices.  Allana’s heart jumped.  Maybe
this time Lucas would come to some justice.  She lost that small bit of hope with
Lucas’s
next few words.

“Right on time,” he said looking toward the sound.  “Your precious Earl will find us together and once again believe we are lovers.  Remember what I told you the last time we were together
?” he
asked coolly.  “Well, it still applies.  Talk and they’re dead.  Make it known when Cunningham and Connor enter the room that it was me who attacked you, and
our dear friend Fredric will suffer.
  I have a man waiting as we speak, and if I do not show up
…,” he shrugged.  “I gave the man no restrictions.  The boy knows too much anyway.” 
A vicious smile spread across his face.  “Now kiss me.  We have company.” 

Lucas leaned down and kissed Allana hungrily.  She tried to pull back, but there was nowhere for her to go.  Her struggles were useless against his body, and the piano wasn’t budging.  He broke the kiss and backed away from her slightly just before
Declan
and Connor reached the room. 
And Allana
knew
exactly what it looked like.

*
             
*
             
*

Declan
burst in
to
the room like a madman with Connor on his
heels
.  The Earl had been informed of the intruder immediately upon entering the house and had charged toward the
sitting
room with Connor pleading behind him,
“
I’m certain there’
s a reason.  Don’t do anything drastic,
Declan
. 
Declan
?
”

Declan
didn’t hear a word of it.  He was too concerned with what he would find upon entering the room. 

Allana looked
desperately at
him
.  Something was wrong, but Declan was too enraged to rationalize what it was.
  Lucas was standing
far too
close to her, and she was flushed
as if just breaking from a passionate embrace.

Lucas whispered something to her, and she quickly looked away and out the window.  Declan felt betrayed
.  It ha
d been almost a week since he’
d claimed her.  H
e had believed everything she’
d told him.  Now he was beginning to think he had been a fool.  No, there was something amiss here.  If only he could discover it.  He turned his attention to Lucas.
 

“Hoffman, I believe that is my wife you are standing needlessly close to,”
Declan
said, taking a threatening step toward Lucas.

Lucas eyed
Declan
with confidence and smugness.  “I was just having a friendly conversation with an old friend, Cunningham.  No harm done,” he said lightly.

“Still the same, I would step away from her now if I were you.”  The
y
eyed each other dangerously.

Lucas smiled politely, but it did
not
hide the loathing
Declan could plainly see in the man’s eyes.

“My Lady, thank you for seeing me,” Lucas said charmingly to Allana, bowing to her and kissing her hand. 

Declan watched Allana.  She was trembling visibly, and when Lucas released her hand, she unconsciously wiped it
rather
savagely upon her dress. 
Fear.
  That was the missing element. There had been fear in Allana’s eyes when Declan had entered the room.  What was she afraid of
—Lucas
or himself?  Lucas stepped away from Allana, and Declan could see her visibly relax.  He wanted to think she feared Lucas and not his own wrath, but why would she?
 

“I apologize, Cunningham,” Lucas said with earnestness.  “I will take my leave since I can tell I am not welcome here.  I hope my presence does not cause any disagreements for either of you.”  He smiled smugly once more. 

Veins bulged in
Declan
’s
neck as he strained to control his urge to attack this man.  “I
would not come again if I were you,”
Declan
replied tightly.  His heart was raging with anger and jealousy.  He very much wanted to tear Hoffman’s smug face apart.

“Arden,”
Declan
called.

“Yes, m
y
Lord
,” the scrawny man replied from the hallway.

“Please escort
Lord
Hoffman to the main door
, and inform me when he is gone
,”
Declan
finished not taking his eyes off of Lucas. 

Lucas smiled conceitedly.  He felt he had won this battle.
  He bowed to th
e room before following the man
servant out.

*
             
*
             
*

Allana watched
Lucas
go, doing everything in her power to keep from breaking down under his presence.  She tried to stand as proud as she could, but she was
shaking
uncontrollably from fear, praying nobody would notice.  She would
not
give Lucas away.  She could
not
!
Dear Freddy, what had she gotten him into?

Allana stood silently
,
looking out the drawing room window while Declan and her brother watched her.  It seemed an eternity before Arden returned.

“My Lord, he is gone,” Arden informed the room.

“Thank you.  You may go now,” Declan said, shutting the
sitting
room door behind the m
an.
 

Allana turned from
Declan and Connor
and
released the flow of tears she’
d been suppressing in a small sob.  Silence filled the room behind her.  She could feel heated, accusing stares on her back.  She took in short, ragged breaths
,
fighting the emotions that were threatening to overflow. 
Do not fall apart.  Not yet. 
He still needs
more time.

“Why was that man in my home?”
Declan
asked darkly.
“And what
did
we interrupt?”

His voice rang with anger
, and it pained Allana that he could believe what Lucas had staged.
  

Silence spread like ice t
hrough the room.  “Answer me,” Declan
demanded
.
   

She
could not
.  She was struggling to keep
her emotions in check.  She needed
to give Lucas time. 

Do not cry,
she told herself. 
Don’t
show them your fear.  You
must
be strong. 
Freddy, oh Freddy, please be safe.
 

Her body wouldn’t cooperate.  She gripped the piano, trying to hold herself upright. 
H
er legs were so shaky, and her arms were tired from fighting against Lucas.  She
didn’t
know how much longer she could stand
, how much longer she could fight the raging emotions within!
  Another sob escaped her lips, and she collapsed to her knees bringing her hands to her face to push the pain, frustration, and fear away. 

Hate filled her being, hate for Lucas and the torment he had caused.  Hate for the fear he placed within her soul.  And most of all, hate for herself, for the pathetic creature Lucas had turned her to. 

She ha
d
been so afraid, so afraid of what Lucas was going to do to her.  Luckily,
she’d
come away with only a few bruises on her wrists and maybe one on her back where he slammed her into the piano. 
But she had been
so powerless against him
!
 
And she remained powerless to do anything but what he said.  She released a cry of anguish, sounding like a wounded animal, and wept. 

Connor watched his sister crumble.  She seemed like a rigid queen
just moments
before, and now all control was gone as she
sobbed
.
He
was
kneeling by h
er side in seconds, pulling her to him, wanting to take away her pain. 
He’d
never seen
her this
fragile before.  She’
d always been so strong and in control of her emotions. 

“Allana, what is it?  What happened?” 

She shook her head as she sobbed harder.  She clung to him and
wept
.  Connor was mystified.  Was it because she was afraid of what her actions accused her of?  Was it because she thought
Declan
wouldn’t
want her anymore after finding her with Lucas?  What happened to cause her such grief? 

He pulled away from her, so he could look at her.  “Allana, please talk to me.” 

She kept her head down and trembled under his grasp.   He lifted her face to his to try to get her to look at him, but she shoved his hands away from her, flashing something dark across his vision. 
No,
he thought. 
It couldn’t be.
 

A cold chill ran goose bumps over his body.  Anger spilled through his veins
as his mind registered what he’
d seen.  He grabbed her left hand tightly and examined her wrist, confirming his belief there were indeed bruises forming there.  His heart raced as his mind pictured his sister lying broken on her bedroom floor. 

“It was Lucas, wasn’t it
?” he
whispered.  She
didn’t
answer.  He
hadn’t
even considered Lucas as Allana’s attacker, but now….

Connor grabbed Allana’s shoulders, shaking her slightly, causing her to moan in return.  “He was
the one
who hurt you
, wasn’t he?”  She refused to
look
at him.  “Answer me, Allana!” h
e practically shouted. 

“Yes,” she whimpered. 

Connor stood
angrily
and slammed his fist into a wall. The rumors in London finally made sense.  No wonder Lucas had dared spread such things about her.  He knew she wouldn’t dare refute them.  “You should have told me.
Why didn’t you just tell me?”
Connor asked.  He looked at her in silence before turning away.  “I trusted him.  He was my friend.”  He let out a roar filled with rage.  Then
,
in a moment’s decision, he headed for the door with determination.