CHAINS TO FREEDOM.✔

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Daniel came through the dining room door just as Jessica finished wiping over the table from the morning's breakfast. He grinned at her so she smiled back. Jessica thought he had such a lovely smile, and he used it much more than Master Louis ever did. Master Daniel made her feel like a real person and not a servant. They were so completely different in looks and personality. Daniel was loud and happy. Louis quiet and mostly solemn.

"Do you like me, Jessica?" Daniel asked in a flirtatious way.

Jessica knew it was just his way; with all of them he played this game and they responded to it. She laughed inwardly with thoughts of Mary, who Daniel especially liked to tease. Jessica grinned at the memory of him proposing to her. Mary had blushed to almost scarlet and giggled like a young girl. She had remained in high spirits for the rest of the day. Jessica liked him very much; particularly for the way he treated them all with jovial good humour making them feel his equal.

"Why yes, Master Daniel," she said with laughter. "You are a very likable person, sir."

He smiled again. "Please don't call me, sir, Jessica. I'm not honourable enough to be a sir."

Jessica tilted her head to one side thinking he was playing one of his games. Grinning at him she teased, "If you're not worthy to be a sir, what am I to call you?" She tittered and added, "Lord perhaps."

"Daniel. My name is Daniel. I would like you to call me by it."

"Oh, no!" Shocked, Jessica shook her head. "Master Louis would not like me to call you that, sir."

Daniel reached out and drew her towards him. "Your Master Louis may be my brother but it is none of his business what name I want you to call me by."

A ripple of fear raced through Jessica at the change of his tone. She felt there was something very different in the meaning of these words to all those spoken in the past. "I could not, sir, it is too personal."

He smiled once more, and then ran his hand down her arm. "What is wrong with being personal, Jessica?"

She tried to remove her arm from his grip. Anguish caused her heart to race as his hold tightened. "Please release me, Master Daniel." Jessica tried to pull away once more.

He laughed, jerked her closer, wrapped his arm around her waist, and then moved his hand lower so it rested on her backside.

Jessica put her palms to his chest and pushed but she couldn't budge him. He placed his other hand on the back of her head and brought his lips down hard on hers. Jessica gasped for breath and struggled against him. She felt like she was being smothered.

At that moment Louis walked into the room.

Daniel released Jessica immediately, smirked at his brother and guffawed, "Good morning, Louis." His grin broadened as a blaze of anger came alive in his brother's eyes. Still chortling he bowed politely to Jessica, took her hand, kissed it, and then left the room.

Fury surged through Louis in one mighty wave. With that uncontrolled rage he lifted his hand.

"No..." Jessica cried, raised her palms and cowered before him. His eyes, wells of darkness, filled her with fear as his face distorted until there was nothing of the man she knew. Jessica staggered sideways in terror, and would have fallen against the table, but for the speed of Louis's hand dropping, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her into his chest so her face was buried in his shirt.

He pressed his hand to the back of her head as he steadied his breathing. What had just happened? Was this the kind of man he had become; a man able to assault a woman? Never had the urge to strike out been so strong. Louis cupped her chin and made her look at him. The air of fear and anguish on her face tore at his heart. Surely he was not a man who would beat the woman he loved. As he stared at her, anxiety rippled through his chest. She was in Daniel's arms. Did this mean he had lost her to his brother? When Jessica's tears spilled from her eyes it was as though someone had pierced his skin with a knife and allowed the blood to flow from his veins. The realisation that she was scared of him hit Louis hard. He released his grip on her. She fled from the room like a hunted rabbit leaving Louis staring at his hands. Would he have hit her? Was he that kind of monster?

The sound of her hurried footsteps ascending the stairs to her room brought him back to awareness. He had to explain and make her understand what possessed him; that all of his moods and reactions were due to the aching demon that controlled his heart. He'd never hurt her, surely he wouldn't. With these thoughts in mind he followed her. She was just closing the door when he reached it and had enough time to drive his boot between it and the door jam.

Jessica screamed when she realised he was there. Absorbed with her own thoughts and feelings she had not heard him follow her up the stairs. She fought hard to shut the door, hoping the pressure of it pushing against his foot would make him withdraw it and allow her enough time to shut it and slam the bolt into place. He was too strong. The strength he used was enough to not only open the door but to push Jessica backwards into the room.

The door slammed hard against the wall and bounced back off it, Louis grabbed at it, pushed it shut, and then slid the bolt into place.

Jessica was more frightened than she ever remembered being. She stepped back as he approached her and bumped into the end of the bed, stumbling as she did so.

"We have to talk," Louis said as he held out his hands to her.

Jessica shook her head and continued to move backwards until she reached her dressing table.

He stepped toward her again still holding his hands out.

"Stay away from me!" she hissed. Fear of him burned deep in her soul. Jessica felt terror grip her once more. She had never dreaded anything or anyone more than at this moment. She had trusted him, opened her heart to him, and the look on his face when he raised his hand had torn it from her chest. Without taking her eyes from him Jessica fumbled with the items on the dresser taking hold of her hairbrush. She held it out to him. "Stay away from me!"

"No." Louis shook his head; she had to give him the chance to explain, so she could understand the eruption of feelings he'd had when he saw her in Daniel's arms. Louis ran his eyes over her. Tangles of hair hung over her face and shoulders. Her shirt must have torn when he had grabbed her and her face was blazed with mistrust. She was beautiful even in this state of disarray. Desire scorched every part of his being. "Please put down the brush, Jessica." he pleaded.

She shook her head and stabbed at the air with her weapon, warning him to stay away.

Louis sighed, dropped his hands to his sides and stepped toward her. She struck out at him with the brush. He swept his hand through the air, knocked it from her hand, and then took hold of her wrist. "We have to talk, Jessica."

"No!" She tugged against his grip and winced in pain at the pressure he applied to hold onto her.

"Yes." Louis moved her to a vacant strip of wall where he could corner her in case she tried to escape him. She needed to hear what he had to say. He took a strand of her hair and ran his fingers down it. As he was about to speak a tear rolled down her cheek. He touched it, letting it trickle around his finger to continue its journey downward. With his nail he traced its path, to catch it on his fingertip. Louis looked into the tear's depth knowing he had done this. His dishonesty to both himself and her had caused so much pain and he wondered how many tears she had shed without him knowing.

He bent toward her, wanting to comfort her, to show that he meant her no harm. Louis place his lips to the path her tears had taken wanting to catch her sorrow and make it his own. His mouth, warm and moist, caressed her skin and moved upward to rest on her eyelid. He kissed her there and with the hardening of his body Louis sighed. He rested his forehead to Jessica's, torn by the knowledge of what he really wanted from her. If he just held her, touched her, surely, she would understand. He cupped her face, moved his lips to her neck and kissed her flesh.

"Please, Master. No." 

Copyright © 2019 Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.