Captivated

She felt sapped, suddenly. Bereft.

Make you ready…

Evie took her brush and began combing through her tangled hair. Slow, calming strokes, sliding the brush through the thick strands. She was the ideal ladies' maid, properly deferential, experienced in all the ways of handling her mistress.

Just what you would expect from the master of Wildwood…

Her breath caught.Master of Wildwoodmaster of her…

'We ready now, missus.' Evie's soft voice in her ear. 'Stand you up now so I can take these wet towels.'

She stood, limp as a rag doll, and let Evie remove the towels.

'Master come to you soon, missus.'

Evie turned away, leaving her standing naked in the middle of the room.

'Eviemy robe…'

Evie turned at the door. 'Master give the word, missus. You wait for him there, like so. No robe. No towel. No clothes. Nothing. Nothing to keep you from the master's desire.'

And then, before Drue could react, before she could move, Evie exited the room and locked the door emphatically behind her.

chapter 3

'Evie?' She pounded frantically on the door.'Evie…! Evie…!'

Nothing. No one. She wheeled and darted into the bathing alcove, but Louisa was gone as well, silent as a ghost; the connecting door was bolted.

Locked in! Like an animal confined for mating…

She felt murderous, vulnerable. She grabbed the bedspread and wrapped it around her shaking body. She would never be naked for him.Never!

She wanted every just impediment to their union.

She wanted Gerard. Furiously, she pulled open the armoire doors.

Empty! But what did she expect; they werehis servants, they had no loyalty to her, they would dohis bidding, not hers. And obviously, they had had strict instructions to remove her clothes.

Mistress of Wildwood… she thought bitterly, pulling the bedspread tighter around her body as she paced around the room…In name only. In reality she was nothing more than his slave, as much at his beck and call as anyone else in the house.

And he had set it up so well she had nowhere to run… and no place to hide.

How could her father have let this happen? How could Gerard?

And thenthe waiting; how long would he make her wait? And when he camethen what?

He's entitledto a hundred thousand dollars worth of my body…Alifetime of servicing him in the name of filial love and daughterly devotion…

A brood mare…

She stopped her furious pacing by the satin-draped window and she pulled back the filmy under curtain. There was peace and beauty outside that windowthe bright midday sun softened by the shadows of the oaks that lined the drive, the rolling green lawn stretching to the road, and the levee and the flowing river beyond.

There was no one in sight. In a house like Wildwood, all of the work was done subtly, behind the scenes, so that all a visitor or a passerby saw was a picture of calm and serenity.

But she was neither calm nor serene. A moment from now, or an hour, Court would unlock that door and demand his marital rights.

It was unimaginable. She was so used to Gerard's gentlemanly way of courting her. Of respect and reverence. Of kisses lighter than a souffle.

She knew already that Court was a man of intensity and passion, and a temper that was under laid by a very short fuse. He had a low tolerance for fools, and no store of patience at all. When Court wanted something, he got it, and she knew that her body was no exception. He would not have agreed to the bargain if he hadn't, for some reason, wantedher.

But no, what he wanted was Oak Bluff, and if he got a reluctant body with it, well, it probably wasn't any different to him than buying a whore in the French Quarter.

Oh, God…

A man like Court didn't like to wait. He would be here, soonshe was sure of it.

She dropped the curtain and turned back into the roomthe beautiful, luxuriously furnished room that should have been a bridal bower, and a place of transition from her virginal world to one of carnal delights.

It felt like a prison.

What would he ask of her? And how?

Would he even kiss her?

Or would he just throw her down on the thick feather bed and demand that she spread her legs?

He wouldn't be that callous. He couldn't.

But then, he wouldn't know that she loved another, that she had already discovered the pleasure of kisses and caresses in another man's arms…

Oh, Gerard…

She groaned. The betrayal was almost crippling. She would have given herself to Gerard in an instant, and instead she was waiting for her darkmaster to come and command her as he would any slave.

She shook away the thought. She couldn't keep thinking like that; it would only lead to disaster. She felt resentful enough already.

And scared.

One night, Drue. Just one night and you'll be a virgin no more. He'll just come and sink himself into you, and after that, it will be easy.

Easy for him…

Never easy for a woman

She had never seen a naked man. Not her father. Not Gerard. And she herself had never been naked this long after a bath. Always her maid scrubbed her down, rinsed her off, and trundled her into a towel, robe, and gown within the space of ten or fifteen minutes.

She felt as if she had been exposed for hours. She felt uncomfortable, awkward, stupid, deathly afraid.

Gerard would never have treated her this way…

She shuddered. So useless thinking of what might have been…

And what was her father doing, this night of the sacrifice of his virgin daughter to the god of saving face?

STOP IT!

She was acting like a frightened child, a victim, when she should be comporting herself like a queen. After all, shewas the mistress of Wildwood.

For whatever that was worth…

…for her part, Drue Caledon will act as mistress of Wildwood, including, but not limited to, providing companionship and sexual congress for her husband; attending to all household functions, overseeing the house, gardens and servants; keeping account of and doling out stores, arranging dinners, attending to guests; and other unspecified services as defined by her husband that fall within the purview of her wifely duties…

Written up as tightly as any contract executed by a lawyer. Court had known exactly what he wanted and how to get it. She was nothing more than an item on his list to be attended to when he had the time.

And she had willingly signed herself into servitude, goaded on by her father's penitent promises of reform and