Free Reads!! Wednesday Briefs – Innocence & Carnality Part 25
Welcome to the next part in my Wednesday Briefs flash fiction serial, Innocence & Carnality! Each chapter has to be between 500 and 1,000 words and this week I skipped using a prompt. Don’t hate me, it was all holiday related and didn’t fit. lol
An unexpected encounter.
Click here to start from the beginning
Part 25
I believe I forgot to breathe or move during the short wait for Samantha’s arrival. Her dress clung to every curve, all black leather, buckled and strapped together. The skirt front was split open, revealing her legs covered in the same fetishist treatment. Vibrant tresses spilling to her shoulders framed her face, makeup accenting her features into something fierce and exotic.
I wasn’t fool enough to ask about the riding crop in her fist.
Samantha took one quick scowl at the stranger as Blythe lowered him to the floor. Placing a hand over his face, she slammed his head against the shelf as she slipped past to kneel before me. He snarled and swore at her, but if she cared, I couldn’t tell.
“Are you all right?” she asked me, inspecting my cheek with a maternal touch. Too stunned with current events, I only nodded.
With a graceful move, Samantha rose, a feral tension coursing through her limbs as she faced the stranger.
“Mr. Lorings, we have staff specifically suited for this kind of encounter. It’s a shame you’re far too stupid to follow a simple set of rules. To keep Blythe—or myself, for that matter—from murdering you this evening, I will be escorting you from the building. You will not be returning. Ever.”
“I paid my money.”
“And it’s now forfeit.”
“That’s not right.”
A sinister grin curled her lips. “Very well. If you insist on staying, we can arrange something more appropriate.” She slapped the tip of her crop against his cheek. “Perhaps a session with me would be in order.”
Mr. Lorings paled.
“Or better yet, I can take you to Lord Delaga and have you explain why you chose his newlywed husband as your companion for the evening. I’m sure he’d be delighted to hear your side of the story.”
A sick sheen burst across his face. “I… I’ll go.”
“I thought so. Come with me to the front door, Mr. Lorings, and be polite. I’d hate to cripple you like a dog in front of all your peers.” Placing a hand at Mr. Loring’s collar, she pulled him from the pantry, pausing to speak to Blythe. “Take Nathan back upstairs and stay with him until Rother arrives. I’ll have him check in shortly.”
As Samantha disappeared, Blythe’s shadow loomed over me. He reached out with one of his enormous hands and I couldn’t help picturing how it restrained Mr. Lorings by the throat. His fingers brushed my arm and I shrugged him off as I found my feet. I could hold onto the threads of my dignity, such as it was. I’d been manhandled enough for one night.
“I can walk on my own, thank you.”
Blythe shrugged and led me through the kitchen to the back stairs; his proximity couldn’t be mistaken. He didn’t touch me, but I could feel the wall of his stature. I was still shaken, yet I refused to acknowledge it. However, no matter much Blythe chaffed me at times, I couldn’t be so rude as not to admit his aid earlier.
“Thank you for earlier,” I said.
“I’m Rother’s bodyguard, and yours too now. It’s my job.”
I nodded. “Even so, I’m glad you take your job seriously.”
“He didn’t hurt you?”
“Nothing that won’t heal.” I sighed as we walked, taking in the rustic splendor of the decor. “I suppose the fantasy would have to come to an end soon.”
“How do you mean?”
I gave a derisive scoff. “Please. After finally escaping my father, I’m a newly married Victorian lord living in an underground vice den. It’s only a matter of time before the authorities find out and everyone lands in prison.”
The scandal alone would ruin me forever. Perhaps my father planned it. His final vengeance for a loss of honor.
“The constables don’t care about Delaga House.”
I stopped and faced Blythe, aghast at his ignorance. “I hate to remind you, you uneducated oaf, that after the plague the Monarch outlawed all immoral acts that would drive people away from home and family. That includes gambling, and… inappropriate liaisons for money.”
The scar on Blythe’s face twisted into a deeper snarl than usual. “You just sit in your own little world, don’t you?”
“Excuse me?”
“Victoria’s history doesn’t mean a damn in Francine. The Victorian plague didn’t happen here. None of it matters to us. Your Monarch is a little bitch. He can’t do shit here.”
I winced at his crude language, but it couldn’t dull my curiosity. “What do you mean?”
Blythe’s annoyance pitched into a growl. “Well… my uneducated ass knows none of this is illegal in Francine. You should maybe study up a bit before you start bitching.”
My face heated like I’d been slapped. If he’d used his hand, I doubted it would have stung worse, in spite of his strength. Worse, he was right and I didn’t know how to handle that. Blythe continued up the stairs and I followed, stunned by the reversal in our roles. Neither of us said a word until we arrived in the hallway.
“Holy shit. What happened?”
Oh. Yes. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten the bedroom door was lying in the corridor. I raised my chin, refusing to be embarrassed.
“I didn’t appreciate being locked in my room.”
Blythe burst out laughing. “I hope Rother let’s me stay and watch when he gets back. I’d give my left nut for admission.”
I couldn’t be sure if his coarseness or his fortune telling of Rother’s reaction rubbed me worse. “Don’t be so droll.”
Blythe stepped inside the bedroom and found the dismantled lock on the table. He spent far too much time assessing each screw and gear for my liking. His deadpan reply did nothing to reassure me.
“I’ll give you a bit of advice. There’s a vein on Rother’s left temple that stands out and throbs when he’s really pissed. You might want to keep an eye out for it.”
Check back next Wednesday for the next installation… Be sure to take a read at the other briefers free reads this week here: Wednesday Briefs
