T. A. Chase

Angel’s Seduction-Part Thirty-Five

*borrowed the picture from Sherrill. :)*

Angel’s Seduction copyright (c)2006 T.A. Chase

Part Thirty-Five:

Who do I belong to? I know what he wants me to say. It is a game he likes to play. Before this moment I would have said what he wanted to hear, if only to try and get a reprieve from the beating. It never worked and this time I know the true answer to his question.

“Whom do you belong to?” He screams again. The other man grabs my hair at the back of my head and jerks back hard enough to make my neck hurt.

“I belong to no one.” My words are forced between gritted teeth. My back throbs with pain as blood pours down from my wounds.

“You belong to me. You carry my name. You’re mine.” Father’s face flushes red and I see the fury building in him.

“If I belong to anyone, it would be Lord Greyson. I’m not your son. I am Greyson’s lover.” These words might push him over the edge, but they are my truth.

“Pervert. That sodomite has seduced you into believing perversion is love. What is your name?” This is another game he plays with me, having me repeat my name over and over. He is re-enforcing the idea that I belong to him since our names are the same.

I stare at him and grin through my pain. “My name is Angel.”

Rage takes hold of him and his fist rams into my face. I feel my head snap back and my nose break. My knees start to buckle. I tense. There is no way I’ll allow myself to fall to my knees in front of my father. When I kneel again, it will be without pain and only to bring pleasure or comfort. I glare defiantly at him, blood dripping from my chin.

“Hit me,” I challenge him. I wave a weak hand towards the man holding me. “Beat me.” I scrub my hand over the blood on my face and hold it out towards my father. “Spill my blood until it pools beneath me. I’ll never deny my love or my lover.”

Shock pushes through the anger in my father’s eyes. He steps away from my hand.

“I no longer fear you.” I throw back my shoulders and straighten so I’m standing taller than he is. My body screams in agony. Pain is beginning to return. “I pity you. You live in fear and face the world with anger. You’ll never know love from anyone, not even your own family. At least while I’m burning in hell for my perversions, I’ll know I’m loved.”

I take a shallow breath. That’s all my battered body will allow. I look for the whip the man dropped. I spot it and make my way slowly over to it. Bending is torture. I’m afraid I’ll fall over, but I grasp the handle. I hand it to the man. When I make sure he’s holding it, I turn and offer my back to him.

“Take a pound of flesh, Father. Try to beat the demons from me. Kill me if that’s the only way you know of to drive this disease from me. It matters little to me what you think. I love Lord Greyson, and I’ll die loving him.”

In that instance with those words still ringing through the air, I feel the last chain holding my heart captive break. Fear flees before the truth I’ve spoken. In the love I have for Greyson, I’ve found the ability to love myself. No one will ever be able to make me believe I’m a monster because I love a man. No opinion will matter to me so much that I lose myself.

The man with the whip growls and I hear the leather whistle through the air. Pain rips through my body, but I accept it. I no longer fight it, not even when my legs give out and I fall to my knees. For my brain has taken the suffering away and all I can see before me is Greyson smiling and loving me.

A knock interrupts the beating. Father walks to the door while he gestures for the man to stop. “What is it? I said I didn’t want to be disturbed.” He yanks open the door.

A nervous footman shifts from side to side. “My lord, the Duke of Northamptonshire and the Earl are here. We told them you were unavailable, but they demand your presence.”

Relief surges through me. Edward kept his promise and they came. I manage a chuckle. “I told you I’d be free again.”

“That’s what you think. Come with me.” He heads out of the room with the stranger behind him. “Keep an eye on that one and make sure he doesn’t get out,” Father orders the footman.

“Yes, my lord.” The servant bows his head, but I see his gaze dart over to me.

Disgust fills the young footman’s face after my father disappears down the hall. The servant moves towards me and I find myself tensing, expecting him to hit me.

“Bastard.”

The hate-filled words surprise me. I glance up at him and see he’s staring at the slices across my back. I want to shrug my shoulders to show I didn’t care what he thought but the pain was too much. I struggle to gain my feet.

“Don’t move, my lord.” The footman touches my shoulder. “Master Edward will be here in a second. He’ll help you.”

“Shouldn’t” is all I’m able to force out.

“I turned my back for too long, brother.” Edward enters the room. He has a shirt over his arm. He hands it to the footman. “James, hold on to this. I’ll get Robert up and we can cover him with that.”

“Angel,” I hiss, his hands bracing me as I push myself off the floor.

“Right.” He manages to work the remnants off my wrists.

“I have this.” James holds up a small key.

“Good man.” Edward grabs it and frees me from the cold iron cuffs.

“You shouldn’t help me. If he knows you did it, he’ll punish you.” I wobble, trying to pull the clean shirt on.

Edward tugs it over my head and gently lays it over the wounds on my back. I can tell the fabric is soaking up the blood.

“He won’t. We’ll help you to the stairs and then we disappear. James has already been fired, though Father doesn’t remember he did it. So it won’t matter for him.” He lets me lean on him as we make our way down the hallway to the stairs.

I study the stairway. It’s the pathway to my permanent freedom, but I don’t know if my body has the strength to move.

“Where is Angel, Williamson? I demand to see him. I won’t leave without him.” Greyson’s voice drifts up to where we stood on the landing.

My love is down there and I’m not willing to wait any longer to be with him again. I take the first step towards true freedom.

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