“No,” Nicole whispered, and backed away, her hands vainly trying to hold on to the stone wall behind her.
Abe laughed as he lunged at her and grabbed her by one shoulder. She tried to twist away, but she couldn’t as his thick fingers bit into her flesh. He forced her to her knees. Nicole moved forward and sank her teeth into the muscle just above his knee. The next moment, she was sent sprawling across the room.
“Damn you!” Abe swore. “You’ll pay for that.”
He grabbed her ankle and tied one end of a rope around it. The rough hemp cut into her already sore flesh. She kicked at him, but he held her easily. He grabbed her arms and tied the wrists together. There was an iron hook embedded in the stone wall where game had once been hung. Abe lifted Nicole by the rope around her wrists and tied her to it. Her feet barely touched the floor.
She gasped at the pain of her extended arms. He tied her feet together, then lashed the rope to another hook. She was helpless, tied tightly to the wall.
Abe stood back and admired his handiwork. “You don’t look like such a fine lady now,” he said, rubbing his leg where she’d bitten him. He took a long knife from his pocket.
Nicole’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Now you look like you’re gainin’ the proper respect for a man. One thing my pa knows for sure is how to treat a woman. All them women at the Backes’s house make me sick. Their husbands let ’em talk, give ’em money to bet on the horses. You’d think they were men, the way they acted. Some of ’em think they’re better’n men. Last summer I asked one of those girls to marry me, and you know what she did? She laughed at me. I was payin’ her a great honor, and she laughed at me! Just like you! You fit in right well with them. You’re so pretty, married to a rich man, you couldn’t even give me the time of day.”
The pain in Nicole’s arms was too much to allow her much room to think. Vaguely, she was aware of Abe’s rantings. Maybe she had been guilty of ignoring him, of snubbing him. “Please release me,” she whispered. “Clay will pay you whatever you want.”
“Clay!” he sneered. “How can he give me what I want? Can he give me a lifetime away from a crazy father? Can he make a real lady agree to marry me? No! But he can give me a few hours’ pleasure with his lady.”
He moved closer to her, the knife upraised. His eyes sparkled with threat. He slipped the knife under the first button of the bodice of her gown. She drew her breath in sharply as the cold steel touched her skin. The button popped off and flew across the little room.
One by one, he cut the buttons off, then he slashed the satin sash that held the dress under her breast. He put his hand to her and gently parted the wine-colored velvet. He caressed her right breast through her thin chemise.
“Nice,” he whispered. “Real nice.” He used the tip of the blade to cut the chemise away neatly.
Her breasts lay bare before him. Nicole closed her eyes, tears squeezing out at the corners.
Abe stepped back to admire her. “You don’t look much like a lady now,” he smiled. “You look just like them women in Boston. They liked me. They begged me to come back to them.” Suddenly, his mouth turned hard. “Let’s see the rest of you.”
He inserted the knife at the top of the long skirt and very slowly slashed the velvet to the hem. It hung open, exposing the nearly transparent chemise beneath.
“Lace,” Abe whispered as he lifted the hem of the chemise. “My ma always wanted a piece of real lace so she could make a collar for her Sunday dress. And here you’re wearin’ lace on your underclothes.” With a swift, violent motion, he jerked the chemise away.
He stared at her nude body, the round hips, the small waist, and her breasts lifted high by her uplifted arms. He ran his hand up one thigh. “So this is what ladies look like under all their silks and velvets. No wonder Clay and Travis and them others let ’em backtalk.”
“Abe!” Isaac called. “You inside? One of the oars broke and—” He stopped as he entered the cabin doorway. What he saw nearly made him ill. Nicole was tied to the wall, her arms stretched far over her head. Abe’s body blocked Isaac’s view, but the boy could see the pieces of Nicole’s dress, the shreds of her chemise hanging to the floor. Isaac’s boyish face turned from confusion to anger to rage.
?
??You said she wouldn’t be hurt,” he said through clenched teeth. “I trusted you.”
Abe turned on his little brother. “And I told you to go back to the sloop. I gave you an order, and I expected it to be obeyed.” He still held his knife, now aimed at Isaac.
“So you could use her, is that why you wanted me out of the way? Were you planning to use her like you did the little Samuels girl? Her parents had to send her away after that. She was scared to go to sleep at night, scared you’d come for her. Only she wouldn’t say who you were, but I knew.”
“So what?” Abe said. “You make her sound like she was a child. She was engaged to one of the Peterson boys. She was givin’ it to him, so why not to me?”
“You!” Isaac choked. “No woman would ever want you. I’ve seen ’em try to be nice to you, but you only wanted the ones you had to take.” He grabbed the bucket at his feet and threw it at Abe’s head. “I’m sick of watchin’ you use women! I’ve had enough! You let her go!”
Abe easily dodged the flying bucket. He grinned maliciously. “Remember the last time you defied me, boy?” he said, circling, crouched over, the knife passing from one hand to the other.
Isaac glanced at Nicole when Abe moved away. He wasn’t excited by the woman’s helpless position. It repulsed him. He looked back at Abe. “I remember that I was twelve the last time,” he said quietly.
“So the boy thinks he’s become a man,” Abe laughed.
“Yes, I have.”
Isaac lunged so fast that Abe didn’t really see his little brother move. He was used to a controllable, awkward child. He hadn’t seen his brother grow up.