Chapter Sixteen
Time seemed to drag on as Temperance sat in her room awaiting her punishment. She knew it would be a bad one.
Emerson was dead because she had fought against him. She had overstepped her bounds and forgotten her place. She had allowed Tanner to touch her arm and had made the mistake of looking at the man a few too many times with Trevor watching....
She hadn't looked intentionally; her eyes were simply drawn to Tanner. He was the first true help that she had had--the first person to truly stand up for her in over a year and Temperance had been too shocked to focus on anything other than that.
Now she was going to pay the price for that.
Two hours passed before she heard foot steps outside her door and she took a deep breath to steady herself as the door opened and Trevor stepped in.
"Come here," he ordered.
Temperance was quick to jump to her feet and go to him, not wanting to anger him any further by keeping him waiting. She stood before him and stared down at his feet. Trevor's breathing was slow and calculated and she could feel his eyes boring holes into the top of her head.
"The punishment you deserve is a severe one, dear wife."
"Should I have let him force me then?" Temperance whispered, not quite knowing what had come over her to cause her to speak out of turn. "Would that not have gone against your rules if I allowed another man to lay with me?"
"Do not speak in such an insolent tone to me!" Trevor hissed as his hand closed around her upper arm and squeezed painfully. "Something is different about my brother and until I decide what to do about it you are to behave yourself. I will get one of the other women to serve him meals; you are to stay away from him. We are a loving husband and wife and you will take to sleeping in my room as to not arouse suspicions."
"No, I won't," Temperance shook her head and met his gaze. "I'm tired of being forced, Trevor...."
His hand fell sharply across her face and the burning sting silenced her. "You will do as I say and I will take what I want. You breathe a word to my brother and I will kill him and then you, do you understand?"
Temperance nodded quickly. Trevor pointed to the bed. "You'll stay in this room for the rest of the day and tonight I'll come for you and you'll spend your first night in my bed. As my wife that's where you should be."
Temperance watched him walk out the door and close it quietly behind him. She bit her lip to stop tears from falling. She was tired of crying over that man and the hell he put her through. Now the rape would be nightly and she would be forced to sleep with him curled up beside her..... She wasn't sure she could!
Trevor seemed genuinely worried about Tanner... could Tanner be her way out of here? Could he be the one to help bring down Trevor and save herself and all the others on this ranch from the other man and his thugs? Temperance wasn't sure how the man could in his current state but she had to find a way to talk to him. She had to know if he was truly friend or foe. If he was foe and he told Trevor about their conversation the worst Trevor could do was kill her.... And honestly death didn't sound so terribly bad.
***
Temperance was not given the chance to speak to or even see Tanner over the next week. She was a virtual prisoner of Trevor's bedroom. She was only permitted to leave twice a day to relieve herself and that was only with Trevor as an escort.
Her meals were brought to the bedroom but at least she was given three a day. It was a nice change from only have one, and the laziness of being cooped in a room once putting weight back on her bony frame. She was starting to once again resemble the well proportioned shapely woman she'd once shown promise of being.
Temperance was beginning to slowly lose her mind. She had gotten accustomed to human contact while living out among the slaves and she missed that. Staring at walls and talking to dust motes simply was not the same.
Trevor's rough forcefulness each and every night and again every morning was taking a toll on her body. She was covered in bruises and bite marks, all in places that would be hidden by her dresses should she venture out and be seen by Tanner. Her core was so raw, sore and tender that it hurt to walk and she was certain that she had seen blood the last few times that Trevor had taken her.
He didn't care.
Temperance looked out the window, cursing the lock he kept on the French doors leading out to the veranda. She would love the chance to simply sit with the wind blowing against her face.
Temperance knew that even if she picked the lock and left the room there was a guard always posted in the hall. She would not make it far and the punishment would surely not be worth the small taste of freedom.
Her spirit had been quieted. She was at Trevor's mercy and she had once again run out of strength to fight him.
***
The night lay heavy outside. Crickets and frogs could be heard through the closed window. Temperance's body ached and throbbed painfully from the torment that Trevor had put it through just a few short hours before.
He was snoring now--sleeping peacefully with the help of nearly an entire decanter of scotch. Temperance wasn't sure what had had him drinking so heavily but it had made him even more violent than usual.
She gingerly laid her finger against her split and swollen upper lip and winced. She knew that while she could not see them because of the lack of light, her arms were covered up and down with bruises as was her neck. He had seemed to take pleasure in choking her until she was on the verge of unconsciousness over and over again tonight.
Temperance prayed that there was no liquor left in the house. She would not make it through another night of that--she simply couldn't.
Her bladder tightened once again, reminding her of one of the reasons sleep was still eluding her other than pain.
She bit her lip, unhappy that she would have to wake Trevor to escort her to the outhouse. Surely he would be angry and there was always a chance he'd be ready to take her again... Temperance shivered at the thought. But if she didn't wake him and she went alone and he awoke while she was gone.... Temperance shivered at that thought as well.
Temperance sat up and nudged Trevor's shoulder, "Master? Master, wake up."
Trevor merely grunted and pulled the covers tighter around himself as he continued to snore. Temperance rolled her eyes and knew that if she didn't get to the outhouse soon she was going to soil the sheets. "Master, I have to use the outhouse..."
"Then go," Trevor mumbled.
Temperance bit her lip. She knew the man was in a drunken stupor--a scotch induced coma--but then again she had promised to obey him. If he said to go.....
Temperance rose from the bed, pulled her robe over her bruised bare body and went to the door. If Trevor caught her gone from the room.....
His snores were the only sound filling the air and Temperance knew that he wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon. The man was out. And if she didn't relieve herself he would beat her senseless for soiling his bed or his rug.
Her every movement ached, burned and caused tears to gather behind her eyes as she reached out and opened the door. Temperance stepped out into the hall and closed the door silently behind her.
There was so much pain in her body that she found herself unable to enjoy her momentary freedom.
The house was silent as Temperance made her way down the hall and out the back door. Everything was eerily calm and everyone was sound asleep.
Temperance contemplated going to the barn, saddling a horse and riding out of here but knew that her body would never allow it. Just walking to the outhouse was proving to be a challenge. She stood holding onto the porch banister for several long moments, breathing hard against the agony in her body.
After making her way to the outhouse and then returning to the porch, Temperance remained there for a long while. She simply took in the feel of the warm breeze against her skin and listened to the sounds of crickets in the night. This plantation was beautiful and deceptively peaceful during the night. A person would have no idea as to the terror the place truly held.
With a sigh, Temperance decided it was time to get back to Trevor. She would rather not but her body could not stand the beating that would come if he woke up alone and angry.
Temperance slowly made her way back into the house and up the stairs. She was about to climb to the third floor where Trevor's bedroom was located when she heard a strangled cry come from a bedroom down the hall.
Listening intently, Temperance heard nothing and was about to chalk the sound up to her imagination when suddenly it reached her ears again. It sounded as if someone was being hurt and begging for mercy.
Temperance frowned and walked to the door that was between her and the noise. She heard the cry again. She was fairly certain that this was the room Tanner had been using.
Was he in trouble? Should she help him? This would give her the chance to finally speak to the man but then again if she was caught in his room.... It didn't matter. If Trevor caught her out of bed she was going to pay for it either way. She might as well go see if she could help Tanner and have that talk with him she'd been wanting to have.
Taking a deep breath, Temperance reached out and turned the handle. How could she have known that by entering that room that night everything would change forever?