Matthew had defiantly changed who I was. Not just the outside but inside as well. I was no longer the happy, outgoing flirt that everyone loved. The day he had hurt me changed everything that could possibly be changed personality wise.
I was no longer Mary Jane, the girl I knew so well. No, I was Nicole now. I was disgusted and hated my captor.
Matthew’s men soon realized that something had happened to me. I was so lifeless and dull. It was not until I had been married for a month before they even asked about it. We had been riding through the town where the Lafayette Manor was. I was pretending to be asleep against my husband.
“Sir?” Frank asked. “What did you do to her?”
“What do you mean?” he asked him.
“She is so lifeless now.”
“She is not.”
“Yes, Nicole is. She does not talk to even move unless forced to do so.” He paused to let my husband talk. “It is as though the girl is sick.”
Rolf then agreed with him saying, “Indeed. She used to play around and was so active. What did happen?”
“Nothing,” Matthew lied, stroking my hair.
“Something made her this way.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I am saying that you did something.”
The horse was stopped so abruptly that I was slung forward slightly. I raised my head and looked at Rolf whom had fear written all over his face. He saw that I was awake and began pleading for me to help him.
Matthew dismounted then drew out his sword with a look of hatred. He was too angry to control his anger. So I shot out one hand and placed it on his shoulder. I could not allow him to kill anyone else, even if it cost me my own life. “Matthew, get back on the horse.”
“Nicole, stay out of this!” he shouted at me.
“Yes, sir.”
That caught his attention almost immediately. He turned around to face me. “What did you just say?”
“I said, ‘yes sir,” I answered, looking at him with a serious expression.
“Why are you talking like them?” He pointed at Jack.
“Because I am one of your thieves.”
“You are my wife…not a thief.”
“I do not see a difference.”
He dropped the sword from surprise and shock. My captor stood there staring at me as though trying to figure me out. “How can you say that?” he demanded obviously hurt by my statement.
“I know…silent as the grave.”
I looked from him to my hands. My silver wedding ring was glistening in the sunlight. I moved it around slightly, bored.
“Nicole? What is wrong with you?” Hawk asked quietly. “It is like you are lifeless.”
“I am, Hawk. I have already dug my grave.” I did not look up as I spoke. It was the way Nicole was. She was nothing but depressed and suffering from low self-esteem.
“What have I done?” my husband asked himself aloud. Then he took my hands in his saying, “I am so sorry, Mary Jane. I did not mean to change you so much. Please forgive me.”
I finally looked up at him with a grim look. “I am Nicole…remember?”
Rolf mouthed a thank you.
* * *
I was lying on a rock in the shade when Jack approached me. He sat down on the ground very close to where my head lay.
“Mary Jane, why are you acting like this?” he questioned bitterly.
“Why should I tell you?”
“You have a point there.”
I closed my eyes wishing he would let me be. I had not intension of speaking to him unless it was a must, which this was not. Nor would it ever.
“Matthew is worried about you.”
“Why tell me?”
“Maybe because you are his wife.”
“More like his tramp.”
“You need to talk to him.”
“No, I do not.”
“You are hurting him more than you could ever know.”
He rose to his feet and walked away with failure. I was glad for this. But before I could be perfectly happy about it for a split second, my husband sat down beside me. The happiness left as quickly as it had came.
“Can we talk?” he asked lightly.
“Either way you will talk to me.”
“Is this because I was so violent with you in that inn?”
I remained silent to allow him to think what he wanted. That was when he kissed me. I kissed him back for approximately a second just so that he would not hurt me. There was no telling what he was going to do next or how much he had been thinking.
“Mary Jane, I love you so much and want nothing more than for you to be happy, he stated, running the tip of his index finger down the side of my neck.
Happy? He wants me to be happy? Ha! That is a load of bull. The only way he could possibly make me happy would be by allowing Mary Jane to return. But that was very doubtful.
“Why did you let me live?” I asked, ignoring his statement. “I saw you kill James and we hate each other.”
“For the reason that I do not hate, but love you…I need you.”
“What for? To prevent lonely nights?”
“No, that is absurd!” he cried.
I looked up at the tree asking, “What did you mean when you said that I would remember that night in a way other than with a shudder?”
I had to know the meaning behind it. When it was said, I let it go forgotten, but now it was different. Now I was too determined to be me again. Maybe this would help.
“I was hoping on getting you pregnant so that you would not be able to leave me,” he answered with a look of honesty in his eyes. But was it true or an act?
“Are you serious?”
“I bet my life on it.”
There went the sadness. That was just what I needed to hear to forget the whole Nicole business and how much I hated him for changing me. There was also the fact that he had proven his love for me. Love…my dream…what I needed.
The hate started to fade and was overtaken by a very strange feeling I had never experienced before. It was love. I did not want to fall in love with my kidnapper, but I could not stop it. It just overwhelmed me and I could not fight it off.
I could not stop myself. I grabbed hold of his coat and raised myself up to him. Or lips met with such a force that my emotional nature was set off like an alarm. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me off the rock. My weight caused him to fall onto his back. He landed on the soft ground with me on top of him. I sat up so that I was sitting on his lower abdomen with my hands flat on his chest.
“Were you lying to me, Matthew Bromley?” I demanded, gazing into his eyes for the truth.
“No, that was the truth,” he assured me, taking hold of my wrists.
“Is it still the truth?”
“Yes. Now, can we continue?”
“No.”
I rose to my feet, pulling my wrists free, and began to walk away. I did not mean for the kiss to go much farther. I had gone no more than three steps when suddenly he grabbed hold of my ankle. That was when I began to fall.
I landed on the ground with a soft thud. Stunned slightly, I immediately rolled over onto my back expecting him to be angry for getting up. But instead, he had a smile on his face…a happy smile. I watched as my husband crawled over to where I had fallen. Then while pinioning me between his arms, exclaimed, “You cannot just lead me on and then leave me lying there like that.”
“The men are close by!” I cried out. “We cannot just….”
Matthew laid a single finger against my lips to silence me. “Mary Jane,” he said. “We are married, and have nothing to hide.”
“I will not permit those thieves of yours to watch.”
I could not believe he was calling me Mary Jane again. My plan had worked so well. I was absolutely delighted.
Stunned, he spoke, saying, “You actually want to join in on the fun this time?”
“I cannot believe I am saying this, but, yes,” I replied, still lying there between his arms.
“Let us go into the trees.”
“What if they follow?”
“Kill them?”
He began laughing. It was not long before I was too. We laughed all the way into the shelter of the trees. The sound of our laughter was silenced with kisses.
Soon we were lying in the grass behind a huge mass of trees. I was in his arms and he was beside me.
“Matthew, what happens if they come looking for us?” I questioned in wonder.
“We let them join,” he answered with a smile.
“You are absolutely terrible.”
I pulled myself up from his side on the ground and looked at him with a fake glare. I placed a kiss on his lips as he brought me back down to him with a slight jerk.
“I will take that as a compliment,” Matthew bantered.
I was so delighted that I actually returned the favor.
Chapter Eleven:
My eyes slowly opened and I blinked twice. I found myself lying with my head on Matthew’s chest with his arms about me. I found that we were still lying behind the mass of trees, but there was now a cloak over us. Very strange. It had not been there before we fell asleep.
I l watched as he woke up from the morning sun shining in his eyes just as it had been in mine. The first thing he did was smile at me. Nothing new there.
“Good morning, my dear,” he said with a yawn.
“Morning,” I greeted him, sitting up with the cloak against me.
“Sunset was something was it not?”
“Indeed. It was quite special.”
He placed a kiss on my lips as he did every morning. “You know what we need to do?” he then asked.
“What? Kill someone?”
“Very funny. We need to take that walk in the moonlight.”
“But are you going to kill someone?”
“Only if you want me to.”
I smiled and kissed him once more. He wrapped his arm around my waist as he sat up. Then without prior notice, he pushed me back down onto my back with that same smile. Now he was leaning over me.
“I do not regret kidnapping you or killing so many people to make you mine,” he informed me, running his hand through my hair. His eyes were twinkling with excitement as he looked down at me.
It was at that precise moment that I realized the love I had for him. It was unbelievable. How could I be in love with Matthew Bromley? But I did love him. I knew it from the depths of my heart and soul.
“Matthew, I think I love you,” I whispered, causing surprise to fill his face.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
We kissed with a new kind of passion. This kiss was full of love.
As this was happening, I realized that Mary Jane had come back and my husband was not going to make her go away again. I was once again the girl he had fallen in love with at the Leroux Manor. He was the Matthew Bromley that had watched me in the library.
Our moment was suddenly ruined by the sound of a footstep. It was getting louder and louder; who ever it was, was getting closer. We jumped up with surprise.
While I was quickly dressing, I found a piece of paper lying on the ground where my shoes were. I picked it up and read it over aloud:
Matthew,
Jack and Frank heard about the award for finding Mary Jane. They left at sunrise to tell the governor’s search party of our whereabouts. If I were you I would take the girl and get the heck away from there before they find you. We are taking the horses and such to make it look as if we were never there. I am sorry.
Rolf.
“Matthew, if we get separated by the search party, what is going to happen to us?” I asked breathlessly as we ran through the trees.
“I will find you.”
A man who appeared to be one of my father’s men came into view with a gun before either of us could say another word. We both saw him, and ran faster. It was very difficult to keep up with him.
“We have to escape,” I said with a panicked voice.
“Mary Jane, there is nowhere for us to go. They are going to catch us,” he exclaimed.
“If they capture you….”
“I know. I will be hanged.”
Matthew had to get out of here. I could not let him die like this. Especially not now that I loved him. He would have to leave me behind. I must make him leave no matter what.
“Run. Get out of here.”
“I cannot leave you.”
“You have to,” I cried.
“No. I refuse to leave you behind.”
“Now! Do it or I will kill myself as soon as you are hanged.”
I knew he was uncertain, but we both knew there was not any other alternative for the situation.
“Give me back my ring when we are together again,” I said, thrusting the diamond ring into his hand.
“I love you,” he whispered. “And I will.”
“I love you, too.”
We kissed. And he was gone, yelling, “Mary Jane, I will find you by moonlight.”
* * *
Matthew’s men had disappeared with the horses like the note said they had. It was the right thing to do. There was no other alternative they could take just like my husband was forced to leave me behind. He had escaped barely while the search party took me in. They were all happy to have finally found me. Surprisingly the man who found me was one of my Father’s friend’s sons, Nicholas. I had not seen him in years and was surprised to find him here looking for my safe return.
After a day’s ride in my father’s carriage, I entered the Pendleton property. The mansion now looked rather dull to me than it had when I was kidnapped. After such an adventure it was just another boring building. As soon as the carriage pulled to a stop, my parents came running out the doors. My elegant mother was running in her expensive white dress. Unbelievable.
“Mary Jane!” Mother shrieked with delight. “Come down and hug your mother.”
“I must warn you,” I said lightly. “You will not like what you are about to see.”
My father opened the door saying, “We are so happy to see you home.”
Without a response, I stepped down wearing the black cloak that appeared to be Rolf’s about me to cover the clothing that would surely shame them. It was when they embraced me that the cloak fell from my shoulders, revealing my attire. I immediately covered myself back up.
“Goodness gracious!” she cried. “Daughter, what are you wearing?”
“I was forced to change my identity so that my captor would not be found,” I explained to them.
Mother walked around examining me from head to foot complaining about my appearance. There were many things for her to complain about. Trust me.
I knew my skin was no longer pale, soft, or clean enough for her. Then my hair was no longer long and silky, but short and bleached from the sun. I did not look like her daughter anymore.
“There is much to fix before the public can see you again,” she commented with a tsk or two.
Father ignored her, taking my hand and leading me inside the place I had desired most before the thief stole my heart from me. “Did they hurt you?” he asked gently and caring.
“There were a few times when I was punished for angering them,” I answered quietly.
“Them? How many?”
“Five men.”
“Did they rape you?”
I looked away from him, debating on telling the truth. It was rape at the beginning…but not at the end.
“Daddy, there is something I must tell you,” I insisted, deliberately changing the subject.
“Yes?” he asked.
“My captor forced me into marriage. We sort of married and…fell in love.”
“Sort of?”
“All he did was give me a ring.”
“Who was this man?”
“I must not say for you shall hang him for his actions. I do not want his death on my conscious.”
“But your fiancé’s will be?”
“James did not matter to me.”
My parents stood there silenced with shock and shame. Mother went pale with this information, for they now know that I was in love with James’s murderer. It was hard for them to believe but I saw in their eyes that they did believe me.
“I could be pregnant,” I commented with haste.
That for sure was not something my mother could handle before she fainted, landing on the dining room floor. Her wine glass fell from her hand and shattered to a million pieces at my feet. I will never forget the look on her face for as long as I live. Nor will I ever forget my father’s next words: “My daughter is a vagrant.”
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