The Countess Bride by Brisbin Terri

Author:Brisbin, Terri [Brisbin, Terri]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, General, Medieval, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781426878473
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

“Give me your scream again,” he ordered through the darkness that always surrounded her.

He thought she screamed in pain, but hers was one of pure fury. She had fought the fear and confusion for so long, but this outraged her to the depths of her soul. Although she hated him to think that she submitted to his wishes, she did scream again. Her body shook with it, her throat burned from it and her soul felt the defeat that it meant.

She had lost everything that she held dear. Her family, her home, her name—all gone now. The only thing of value left to her had just been stolen from her. And he laughed at her pain and her anger.

“Give it to me now and I will stop this.” She knew he lied, as he had each time. “Scream and then tell me your secret. ’Twill be over then.”

He reveled in her loss, and she could hear the pleasure he gained from it. As she felt the wet touch of his fingers on her breast and her cheek, and smelled the metallic odor of spilled blood, she knew that he marked her with her own. As on a hunt when those on their first kill are marked with the blood of their prey, he smeared her with her own.

“You will give it to me. Never doubt that you will. No one can save you—there is no one left for you. And without your maidenhead, you have value to no one. You will always be mine.”

The darkness pulled her in and she screamed no more.

Struggling awake, Catherine sat up and fought to breathe. Her screams and the voice still echoed in her head, and she looked around the room for its source. A few beams of moonlight came in through the shuttered window. Enough for her to see that the room was empty but for her and Geoffrey. And he slept next to her, snoring lightly even as she shifted and moved.

It must be the excitement of the journey and her exhaustion that caused such strange wakenings. Gathering her hair over one shoulder, she lay back next to Geoffrey and allowed his warmth to soothe her frayed nerves. She turned on her side and he followed her, curving around her and holding her close. She felt no fear as he held her, so she knew it must be some bad dream. Soon, she felt the pull of sleep once more and let it come. As it did, she also remembered something from those dark times.

She was not a virgin.

When Geoffrey finally claimed her, he would find no virgin’s blood, no proof of her virginity, for she had lost it already. She could not bleed again, even for him.

Would he forgive her if she could not remember it?

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