Wages of Sin Read Free Page A

round to face him. She opened her mouth to protest at this rough treatment, but before she could utter a word his open hand slapped her face hard. She recoiled, holding her injured cheek.
    â€˜How dare you shame me before Sir Harry?’ he hissed.
    â€˜You shame yourself,’ spat Jane. ‘Behaving like some gypsy horse-trader! Selling me off like a brood mare to the highest bidder.’ Her lips tightened and she flung her head back, haughty despite the white finger marks on her cheek. ‘I will not marry him,’ she said insolently. ‘No matter what you do.’ Her lips curled in contempt as she looked at his face, swollen with ill-temper and frustrated ambition. ‘You may carry me to the altar kicking and screaming, but even you cannot make me say “Yes” once I get there.’
    He controlled himself with difficulty and a cruel smile twisted his mouth. ‘Do you really think I can be bested by a slip of a girl?’ he grinned. ‘We’ll see how strong that will of yours is after a few days on bread and water - and a little taste of what’s to come if you continue in your headstrong ways.’
    Wrenching her to her feet, he bent her over his knee and his hand rose and fell as he chastised her like a child. As she struggled futilely to escape her flimsy linen shift rode up, revealing the soft white thighs and rounded buttocks beneath. She squealed in pain and outrage as his palm, rough and calloused from riding, smacked against her tender flesh, making the globes of her bottom quiver and redden with every blow, the marks of his fingers standing out white against the flushed skin.
    He grunted with a mixture of fury, excitement and effort as she writhed against him, her legs kicking frantically in the air. Finally he stood up and flung her from him. She stood with her back to her chamber wall, panting with rage and humiliation.
    He grinned at her mockingly. ‘Not so proud now, are you, my lady?’ he sneered.
    She flinched at the way his eyes ran over her body, barely concealed by the thin shift, lingering on her firm young breasts as they heaved with her outrage.
    The grin became a leer. ‘If Sir Harry could see you now he would forgo your dowry entirely.’ His lascivious chuckle made her blood run cold. ‘I envy him the taking of your maidenhead,’ he whispered lewdly. ‘There’s nothing quite so sweet as a fresh young virgin, ripe for the plucking.’
    With a final leer he sauntered out, leaving Jane staring after him in dismay.
    Her eyes popped open as an outrageous idea flashed into her mind. Her stepfather would have her married, even if he had to beat and starve her into submission, but there might be a way out after all.
    Sir Harry was looking forward to taking her maidenhead, was he? Her lips curved into a wicked smile. Then perhaps he wouldn’t be quite so keen to marry her if there was no maidenhead to take!
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Chapter Three
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    â€˜Where are you going?’ quavered Alice, wringing her hands as Jane pushed past her. ‘Your father has given orders that you are to be kept in your room. He will beat me if I disobey him.’
    â€˜He’s not my father,’ said Jane hotly. She regained her temper and smiled slyly. ‘And how could any blame be laid at your door, when I was already gone when you returned?’
    Alice stared at her in bewilderment for a moment, then an answering smile crossed her face. ‘That’s right,’ she agreed, practising the lie. ‘By the time I came back the bird had already flown.’ A frown creased her wrinkled forehead. ‘But what if...?’
    It was too late. Jane had gone.
    Holding her breath, she tiptoed along the musicians’ gallery that overlooked the great hall. Her stepfather was there, taking out his temper by berating an unfortunate manservant for some imagined fault, and Jane silently blessed the poor man for distracting him. It was a