Page 19 of Ashes to New

Persist and endure—that was the best she could hope for throughout the rest of this evening.Was it evening? Or had enough time passed for the early hours of a new day to arrive?

His hand pressed against her shoulder.

Only years of conditioning kept her from flinching against that touch. With a deep breath and the resignation that came with the knowledge of what would come, Elsbeth forced her body to relax. Tension would only make the pain worse.

His fingertips brushed against the curve of her shoulder and swept down her back. He traced the line of her spine until he came to where her waist narrowed, and then his fingers walked toward her belly. When he pulled her against him, his spicy musk, fetid and rank after a long evening, seeped through the thin cloth of the hood.

Elsbeth made certain not to react. She let him explore, her mind focused on thoughts of brighter days to come. The summer sky would soon brighten with the sun, and the deep blue would pull her to a distant place. With great struggle, her mind detached from her body until she became little more than a spectator in that dark basement.

Master John removed the hood. Hair matted against her tear-streaked face, it was in her mouth, shoved up her nose, and stuck to her eyelashes. With great tenderness, he gathered all the strands, pulling them back over her shoulders to drape between her shoulder blades. The gentleness of his kisses feathered a trail down her skin, eliciting…nothing. No fear. No revulsion. Nothing.

She’d accepted her fate.

Elsbeth breathed out. This was her future; of that, she was certain.

Unless she did something to change it.But what could a seventeen-year-old girl do?

He lifted her bound wrists off the hook overhead. The heavy weight of her arms pulled at her sockets. Numb for a moment, she barely registered the ache. The press of his lips settled in the hollow of her throat, soft, gentle, insistent.

And she felt detached from her surroundings, but his words tumbled through her mind.

“You may beg for forgiveness later.”

He’d never set a punishment.

What would it hurt to try?It wouldn’t. That was the answer. And it had been years since Elsbeth cared about pride.

“Master John,” she whispered. “Please,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry. I’ll be good. Forgive me.”

The roving of his hands stilled. His lips lifted from her neck.

She rushed to fill the silence. “I shouldn’t have disobeyed. I…please, I beg for your forgiveness although I don’t deserve it.”

His lips nibbled at her ear, and then he cupped her jaw, twisting her neck to the side. The darkness of his eyes drilled into her.

Deferring to his station, she dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry.” And then her body did tremble.

He lifted her in his arms. “My dearest pet, I will always forgive you. All I ever ask is for you to obey.” With his promise spoken, he carried her through the room.

Taking another chance, she wrapped her leaden arms around his neck—partly to keep from falling but really more to prove her capitulation. Her survival depended on convincing him that she’d accepted his dominance even if it wasn’t true.

As he carried her to the stairs, the bruised and battered form of Forest on the floor had her hitching her breath, and her heart stopped beating. Still and lifeless, he looked so very gentle, small, and fragile. She stared, daring Master John’s wrath, until the gentle rise and fall of Forest’s chest proved he still lived.

Master John planned to steal her future, but what he and Clark Preston had planned for Forest was worse. She feared for Forest’s life.A year?That was how long Master John had given her little Beanpole. That couldn’t happen.

With her arms wrapped around Master John’s neck, she burrowed into his embrace, inhaling his sickly sweet stench. Carried in the arms of her tormentor, Elsbeth was taken to his guest bedroom on the second floor. Master John tucked her into his bed, and she spent the rest of the night in the arms of a madman who’d claimed her as his own.

Chapter Ten

DAWN BROKE WITH a violent fury,the air seething with gusts and driving rain. Thunderstorms had rolled in from the west, bringing enough power to rattle the windows and shake the foundation of the house.

Elsbeth woke, clutching fine linen sheets to her naked form.Where the hell was she?Her pulse raced while the fog of her mind struggled to catch up.

It didn’t take long for the memories to return.Where was Master John?The side of the bed he’d slept in held only rumpled sheets.

Ah, there, on the pillow, was a note. She reached for it, dreading what she would find but feeling relieved to have awoken alone.

My darling,