“I don't want your money,” she ground out, twisting her head to the side. “I just want you to leave.”
“We can do this two ways,” he said, his eyes growing menacingly dark. “You can stop your pretending and have a bit of fun, or you can fight me all the way. I don't particularly care which you choose. Either way, I am assured a good time.”
She slapped him across the face.
“That,” he bit out, “was a mistake.” He threw her onto the bed and then pinned her there with the weight of his body.
Victoria began to fight. And then she began to scream.
Robert tried Eversleigh's room first, but he wasn't terribly surprised when he didn't find him. He then searched the guest wing, thinking that Eversleigh might be entertaining himself with a female guest. No luck, although he did discover that Lord Winwood's wife happened to be having an affair with the husband of Lord Winwood's mistress. Robert didn't even bat an eyelash. Such behavior was common enough among his set, much as it was beginning to sicken him.
He then tried the card room, knowing that Eversleigh had a fondness for gambling.
“Eversleigh?” one of the players said. “He was here earlier.”
“Was he?” Robert asked, trying to ignore the speculative glances from his friends. It was common knowledge that the two men were not friendly. “Do you know where he went?”
“I saw him heading upstairs,” someone said.
Robert stifled a groan. He would have to search the entire guest wing again.
“Most odd,” someone else added. “He used the servants' stairs.”
The sick feeling that had been rolling around in Robert's stomach all evening exploded with blinding terror. He ran from the room, taking the steps on the servants' stairs three at a time.
And then he heard the screams.
Victoria. If he failed her now…
Robert couldn't even complete the thought.
Victoria refused to resign herself to her fate. She fought like a madwoman, clawed like a cat. She knew that her actions only made Eversleigh angrier, but she could not allow herself to be raped with nary a protest. But he was strong. Much stronger than she was, and it wasn't difficult for him to hold her down while he tore at her clothing. He lifted his hand from her mouth to yank at the neckline of her gown, and she seized the opportunity to scream. Loud.
“Shut up, you bitch,” he hissed, twisting her head sideways and forcing her cheek into the pillow. Victoria bit his hand.
“Goddamn, you little whore!” he yelled. He grabbed another pillow and jammed it over her face.
Suddenly Victoria couldn't breathe. Good Lord, did he mean to kill her? Her terror increased until she thought she might go mad. She kicked and scraped, but she couldn't see a thing, and she was growing weaker.
And then, just when the world began to turn black around the edges, she heard a splintering crash, followed by a cry of rage unlike anything in her comprehension.
Eversleigh was abruptly lifted from her, and Victoria immediately threw the pillow aside and scrambled off the bed. She ran to a corner, her lungs burning with every breath and movement, but she had to get off that bed. She had to.
The room filled with noise. Something crashed, someone yelled. There was a sickening sound that could only be flesh against bone. But Victoria didn't look up. She couldn't even open her eyes. All she wanted to do was block out the terror.
Finally, however, she forced herself to face her demons, and when she did she saw Robert. He had knocked Eversleigh to the ground and was straddling him, beating his fist mercilessly into Eversleigh's face.
“Robert,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Thank God.”
Robert made no indication he'd heard her. He just kept pummeling Eversleigh.
“Robert,” she said, louder this time. She was still in a daze, and she couldn't stop shaking, and she needed him.
But Robert was beyond communication. He said nothing, just grunted and yelled, and when he finally looked up at Victoria, there was something wild and primitive in his eyes. Finally, still straddling the now unconscious Eversleigh, he paused for a moment to catch his breath and said, “Did he hurt you?”
Her mouth opened a fraction of an inch, but she couldn't say anything.
“Did he hurt you?” Robert's eyes burned with rage, and Victoria realized in that instant that if she said yes, he would kill Eversleigh. She shook her head frantically. It wasn't a lie. Not really. Eversleigh hadn't hurt her. Not in the way Robert meant.
Robert dropped the unconscious man and rushed to her side. He crouched down beside her and touched her cheek. His hand was shaking. “Are you all right?”