Wicked Surrender (Regency Sinners)(26)

Dante had no idea of the degree of hurt he had caused Bella by telling her the truth of his reasons for seeking her out after seven years of silence. He did, however, know the exact extent to which his head now ached.

He was also thoroughly disgusted with himself. As Bella had told the Monroes just this morning, they were now the only two members of the St. Just family still living. He should be protecting Bella, not treating her like a criminal.

Except there was a female spy at large in English Society, and Dante had pledged his loyalty to the English Crown.

Bella’s impassioned outburst to him earlier had seemed genuine enough, and there was no doubting she was still angry. But she had tried to leave London without his knowledge. As he knew she had also been about to leave the hunting lodge just now while he was sleeping.

Those did not seem like the actions of an innocent woman.

The two of them still had much to talk about, it seemed.

“I am going to the kitchen to fill the kettle to make some tea,” he informed her coldly. “You may join me or not, that is up to you. But one thing I advise you not to do is put me to the trouble of chasing after you, if you should go forward with your plan to leave here. Your bared bottom will be very soundly thrashed if that should be the case.” Dante heard Bella’s gasp of either outrage or shock as he turned on his heel and strode through to the kitchen.

The front door was wide open when he returned two minutes later with the filled kettle to place on the fire to heat the water.

Dante felt a tide of anger wash over him as he saw Bella’s bonnet and cloak, as well as the lady herself, were all noticeably absent.





Chapter 9


Bella had no idea what had possessed her to grab up her bonnet and cloak, throw open the front door, and run out into the black of night. Nor did she have any idea in which direction the village lay or if there were any other dwellings close by. Although she doubted it, if Dante had the hunting rights to this part of the forest.

It was also colder outside than she had realized, even with her cloak wrapped tightly about her, her bonnet on her head, and the shelter of the trees as she began to traipse through the forest.

A part of her said she should go back to the lodge, that it was madness on her part to stride off into the unknown.

But she refused to do that. Her pride was all she had left right now, and she would not relinquish that to Dante too. Besides, she refused to return only to suffer the humiliating punishment of having her bottom spanked.

Dante would be furious when he discovered she had left the lodge, despite his having warned her not to do so. A part of her relished causing his fury.

But the longer Bella walked, the more the forest seemed full of shadows cast by the moonlight overhead. There were also unfamiliar noises and rustlings in the undergrowth her imagination told her were wild animals waiting to pounce and attack her.

She was very soon breathing hard and casting hunted and apprehensive glances about her.

Perhaps she should turn around after all. What was her pride worth if she kept that but lost her life instead?

Except when she turned to find her way back to the lodge, she realized she had completely lost her sense of direction, and that none of her surroundings seemed in the least familiar to her. Certainly she could not say for certain in which direction the lodge, and safety, lay.

She was well and truly lost.

Every part of her froze as she heard the snapping of a twig to the left of where she stood, her movement slow as she turned her head in that direction.

Two eyes glittered at her from the base of one of the surrounding trees.

Bella was immediately overcome by panic, turning quickly on her heel to run blindly in the opposite direction of those eyes. She wanted only to escape whatever was lurking there in the undergrowth watching her.

She could see light up ahead. Well, perhaps not light exactly, but it was moonlight shining into an area unhindered by the trees.

Bella headed toward what she hoped might be the road into the village, praying the wild animal stalking her would shy away from the possibility of meeting more humans. Although, as it was the middle of the night, there seemed little chance of that. But the thought of some protection was better than none.

It was not exactly a road she found, more of a dirt track, but relief filled her to find something which looked as if it led to civilization. She continued to run, half-afraid to look behind her, to confirm whether or not she was still being followed. At the same time as she felt a morbid curiosity. A need to know if that creature was hot on her heels.

She was glancing back over her shoulder as she continued to run forward. Did not see the horse and its rider coming toward her until she was struck squarely in the chest. The blow knocked all the air from her lungs before spinning her off her feet.

She lay inert and winded, unable to move as the horse reared up and over her, and she saw its hooves descending toward her.

Bella closed her eyes and waited for the pain of death.



When Dante caught up with Bella, he was going to pull down her drawers and spank her bare ass until it was painful for her to sit for a week, he promised himself as he trudged along the uneven road to the village. Not that he had any proof this was the direction she had taken when she fled out into the night, but he had to start looking for her somewhere.

Once he had spanked her to his satisfaction, he was going to pull her drawers the rest of the way down, bend her over the couch as he had said he would, and fuck her, pound into her, until she promised him, over and over again, that she would never do anything so bloody stupid or dangerous ever again.