Against Her Will

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Temperance saw Trevor and the men riding in and her heart began to pound violently against her ribs. Her gaze instantly sought out Tanner and she saw him stand up straight and wipe sweat from his brow as he watched Trevor approach.

"Come here, Temp," Tanner ordered and Temperance did not argue as she quickly closed the distance between them.

"He's early," she whispered fearfully. "Tanner, what are we going to do?"

"You're going to calm down," Tanner replied gently. "You're going to stay with me at all times. I won't let him touch you again."

"But I'm his wife..." Temperance reminded him. "And he paid a lot of money for me. Legally he..."

"That's enough." Tanner's jaw was tight and there was more anger in his blue/gray eyes than Temperance had ever seen in them before. "A woman bought with blood money and a marriage forced at gunpoint does not give him any rights to you. He has no right whatsoever to you."

Temperance took a deep breath and forced down her fear. Tanner was right and she knew that. Trevor had no rights to her and she had to stand up to him--she had to make him see that. If she didn't do it now--if she didn't help Tanner with what the man was trying to accomplish then things would never change and she would eventually die from the inside out.

Temperance saw most of the workers rush to their living quarters and knew they were hiding. Only a few men remained out to stand up to Trevor. Temperance wished they could be braver but she did not blame them for hiding. Trevor was not a man you wanted to anger. And anger him greatly was what Temperance was preparing to do.

"Tanner?" Trevor appeared confused as he hopped down from his horse. He pointed toward the improved servants quarters. "What have you been doing?"

"Working on fixing the things that needed fixed around here," Tanner replied, his gaze slowly taking in the four men that were standing behind Trevor.

Trevor nodded. "Temperance, I'll be expecting you to go in and get cleaned up now. I've missed you and would like to spend some time alone..."

"No," Tanner cut his brother off and Temperance could practically hear Trevor's jaw popping.

"Tanner, it's good to see you out of bed but I think you're still suffering a bit of heat stroke. Temperance is my wife...."

Tanner shook his head. "Tell him, Temperance."

Temperance felt her throat clog with fear when she met Trevor's icy blue eyes. He seemed so angry and yet somehow confident that what he wanted was what the end result of this stand off would be. It seemed that in his mind it didn't matter what either Temperance nor Tanner said. Trevor was sure of what the future held.

Temperance wished she could be as well.

She felt Tanner's hand on her low back and somehow that contact was enough to have her speaking though her voice was quiet and much more meek than she would have preferred. "I don't wish to be your wife any longer. I won't... fulfill those duties again."

Temperance saw the rage flash in Trevor's eyes. She saw the way his body tensed and when he stepped forward it took every ounce of Temperance's inner strength not to shrink away.

"You are my wife!" he screamed, his breath was hot against her face and droplets of moisture from his mouth blew against her cheeks.

Temperance was shaking so violently that she could feel her knees knocking together. "Not anymore," she vowed.