Auctioned

14

Drunk lords and flirtatious women surrounded the dinner table. Penelope was ready for the night to end when Cambridge strolled into the room with Jasmine on his arm.

He was placed directly across from her and Jasmine to his right. Penelope watched Jasmine scold him and turn to her table partner, who more than likely had better etiquette.

When Penelope's eyes drifted back to Alex, he bore a hole through her. She immediately turned to the Viscount to her right and began to speak of the weather.

"Lady Penelope!" Alex shouted across the table, causing the room to be silent. She glanced at him with a warning look. "There you are! I have not seen you all day!"

The room began to come back to life as they realized the duke's proclamation was merely an observation.

"Lady Penelope!" he roared again, silencing the room.

This time Penelope was tired of his game. "My lord duke, if you would like a word, perhaps we can speak after dinner." The words came out between gritted teeth.

"I've been meaning to ask you about mythology..."

Penelope's eyes grew wide, and she quickly stood, scraping the chair along the wood floor and nearly knocking it down in the tomb-like room. "I'm not an expert in the subject, but given your insistence, perhaps we can speak on the terrace."

One of the main things Penelope knew about mythology was that she dressed as a goddess for one evening of debauchery, where Alex purchased her like a racehorse. She knew that, given his drunken bitterness that if he continued this line of conversation, he would attempt to ruin her in front of her peers.

"But I just arrived..." he said, leaning on his elbows and resting his chin on his knuckles.

"Then I shall speak to you later," she said, turning to the entrance to the dining hall.

"But Lady Penelope," he paused. Penelope - that's a Greek name, correct? My mother was a smidge Greek," he chuckled. "There were many goddesses in ancient..."

Penelope turned around slowly, trying to prepare her following words carefully. "Yes, most rather vengeful, if I recall."

"Not all..."

"The Furies, my lord duke. Or perhaps Nemesis?"

"Aphrodite?"

"Didn't she blind Erymanthus for spreading gossip of her dalliance with Adonis?" Penelope asked, raising a brow.

"You amaze me, Penelope," he replied, shaking his head in disbelief. "I knew I was asking the right woman."

"In truth, you haven't asked anything, my Lord Duke; however, if you would care to step outside, I shall attempt to answer your questions."

"Hmm," he said, standing. "Fair enough." Then he walked toward her clutching her elbow when he arrived.

***
When they were finally outside, Penelope whirled around at the man. "What are you playing at?"

"You wouldn't speak to me otherwise..."

"Of course, I wouldn't! You are a drunk. You gamble, whore, and..."

"You don't like those things?" he chuckled.

"Why do you persist in harassing me? You are the worst type of man..."

Alex closed the distance between them and pressed her to the house's exterior wall. "The worst type?"

"Yes! The worst!"

"You weren't saying..."

"You are handsome and know your way around a woman's body, but those are your only redeeming qualities. One you can't help, and the other comes from your whoring!" She pushed at his chest.

"A few mistresses..."

"You purchased a virgin for several..."

"You can't wrong me for that! You were just as guilty!"

"I'm not an angel, but I walked away as expected. You keep torturing me! Telling me where to go, with whom, and then forcing me to care for you when you are sick with drink! I am not going to live with this auction over my head for life," she said, continuing her attempt to push him away.

"You could be carrying my heir. Have you considered..."

"Your bastard!" Penelope spat back.

Alex pressed into her, taking her wrists at his chest and cuffing them beside her hips. "Don't fucking call my son..."

"A bastard is all he would be..."

His head dropped to her ear, and he snarled at the words. "You will marry me, Nell."

"Never," she said, moving her head to escape his raspy voice.

"You will wed me willingly or by force, Nell."

"Stop threatening me! I don't want to marry you. I don't want your child. I'd rather throw myself...."

Before she could finish, he had hauled her over his shoulder and was walking into the dark shadows of the estate.

"What are you doing, Alex?! Unhand me!" She beat down on his back with her tiny fists, but it didn't even make a muscle twitch.

Penelope found herself in the stable and thrown over an in-use saddle stand. Alex lifted her skirts under her wiggling protests until he exposed her bottom to the night air.

Alex immediately began the open-hand spanking as though he couldn't wait another second. Words fell from his mouth about marriage and children, suicide, and duty. He requested she beg for forgiveness, and after apologies poured from her mouth, he began to soothe the tender flesh.

"Nell," he growled. "You know you are mine. Why do you refuse to give me what I want?"

Penelope was sobbing from the pain and emotions that the punishment created. It also aroused her sexual appetite for her tormentor, and with each blow. "I'm sorry," she sputtered again. "We aren't good for each other, Alex."

"What?!" he asked, pulling her up by her upper arm and dragging her into his lap on the dusty floor. "You are what I need..."

"I'm not, though, Alex. I'm not. You get bored, so you drink and whore. I can't live with the debauchery and alcohol," she said through watery tears.

"Come on, Nell. You know I'm not like that with you..."

"I will bore you one, though. I know I will, and you will be like your father and have a widow or some other mistress at your townhome..."

"I disapproved of my father and all of his mistresses, Nell. You know that. You know I hated that room."

"You brought me to that room. You so much as told me that was my lot in life..."

"I know. But it was my attempt at distancing myself from you."

"It doesn't matter, Alex. I'm leaving..."

His body tensed below me. "After all of this, you will leave me?"

"I'm not leaving you, Alex..."

"Mmhm," he said, standing up and straightening her clothes. "Fine, Nell. I tried." Then his soft eyes got a sinister look. "But I swear you will not leave England if you carry my child. If you attempt to leave or deny me, then I will ruin you until being my mistress or whore is all you have left!"