Chapter Eleven
Determined not to let her unease at the situation show, Lucy crawled behind Taryn into the living room. When he’d told her Victoria was coming to visit with her, she’d been excited at first. She’d hoped that Taryn would let her wear one of the pretty floral dresses she’d found hanging in her wardrobe but, once again, he’d insisted she put on one of these figure-hugging bodysuits. This one was made from a black, velvety material that just begged to be stroked. The look was completed by a long tail and little pointed ears attached to a hairband that kept her blonde tresses back from her face. It was humiliating to be put on display like this. She had no idea how Victoria was going to react, but that was not the only thing putting her on edge. She didn’t want to make a wrong move in case she was punished on the spot. The last thing she wanted was to end up being spanked in front of Victoria.
With her head bowed low, she moved to kneel at Taryn’s feet. As she sat up, she schooled her features into an expression of total serenity. She felt anything but calm, but she was sure she was doing a good job of appearing to be at peace with the situation. Her heart pounded as she glanced over at Victoria to meet the disapproval radiating from her head on. There was something about the combination of disgust and pity in her best friend’s eyes that first saddened her and then made her incredibly angry. All her life, Lucy had felt like the weakest person in the room. Among her circle of friends, she was the one who was treated as though she was delicate. Just because she hadn’t liked talking about her fantasies, they’d all assumed she was too prudish to discuss such things. Well, she’d had enough. She was not going to allow Victoria to leave here with the impression that she was a victim of Taryn’s need to dominate.
Lucy wanted her friend to see her as a woman who was capable of expressing her sexual desires in her own way. The life she was leading with Taryn might not be to everyone’s tastes, but she had nothing to be ashamed of in trying to forge a relationship that suited her. She met Victoria’s eye and the two women stared at each other for what felt like an incredibly long time before Taryn finally broke the silence that had fallen.
“Perhaps you would like to show Victoria your room, kitten,” Taryn suggested. “You should spend a little time together before we leave.”
Lucy’s eyebrows knitted together in a frown. She had no idea what he was talking about. He hadn’t mentioned any plans to go on a trip. They hadn’t even had a chance to settle here yet.
“Leave?” Victoria gave voice to the question that was going through Lucy’s head.
“I am being sent on a diplomatic mission and my pet will be accompanying me.”
Lucy was startled by the news, but she didn’t have much of a chance to think about it as she saw a dangerous look cross her friend’s face.
“Your pet?” Victoria spat out. “Lucy is not a pet.”
“Victoria,” Allik, whose presence Lucy had barely registered until now, cautioned.
Lucy knew her friend would ignore his warning. Once Victoria got worked up about something, there was no holding her back. It was amazing that she’d been able to fool everyone in New Cambridge into seeing her as the very model of feminine virtue and grace. In reality, she was a spitfire.
“No, Allik,” Victoria protested, “this isn’t right. Can’t you see that? She’s a human being, not an animal.”
“There’s a difference?” Taryn asked in a pleasant tone that was surely designed to provoke.
Even if he was just trying to spark a reaction from Victoria, Lucy couldn’t believe he had made such an insensitive comment. Did he really have such little respect for her? Sadly, she was starting to think that might be the case.
“Yes, there is,” Victoria raged. She tried to rise from her seat, but Allik pushed her back down. Again, she did not heed the obvious warning and Lucy feared her friend was getting herself into seriously hot water. There was no knowing what a man like Allik might do if angered, but Victoria seemed not to care. “She is not your fucking pet!”
The strength of Victoria’s reaction caught Lucy by surprise. She knew her friend was protective of her, but this was too much for Lucy to deal with. She hated conflict and the tension in the room was becoming unbearable. In response to the hostile atmosphere and the venom in Victoria’s voice, she couldn’t help but let out a little whimper.
“You are distressing your friend,” Allik scolded Victoria. “Now, stop this and go spend some time with your friend. You and I will discuss your behavior later.”
To Lucy’s ears that sounded ominous, but Victoria was clearly not in the least bit fazed by the threatening tone of his voice.
“Yes, sir,” she snarled impatiently.
Lucy could not believe that her friend was getting away with speaking to Allik like that. It seemed incredible that he didn’t pull her over his lap to spank her. That’s what would surely happen to her if she showed such disrespect to Taryn, especially in front of an audience. She looked up at him and he seemed to be watching the exchange between the couple with great interest. He appeared to be as intrigued by the fact that Victoria was being given such leeway as she was. Seeing how Allik and Victoria behaved toward one another made Lucy even more conscious of her own subservient position.
“May I please get up, Master?” she asked the question quietly, so the others wouldn’t hear. Victoria was already enraged, and Lucy doubted she would approve of her addressing Taryn in that way.
She looked hopefully at Taryn. If he refused her request, she wasn’t sure how she would bear it. Luckily, he inclined his head in agreement and she quickly rose to her feet. Offering her friend a shy smile that she hoped would calm her temper, Lucy held out her hand. Victoria rushed across the room to take it.
Despite Victoria clasping her hand warmly, Lucy still felt ill at ease as she led the other woman along the corridor and into the bedroom. She said nothing as Victoria looked around at the pink walls, the floral cushions, and the huge bed. No doubt she was thinking that it was similar to Lucy’s old bedroom, back in New Cambridge.
Lucy held her breath as Victoria’s eyes fell upon the cage in the corner of the room. That was going to be hard to explain, but Lucy intended to make no apologies for the way she was living her life, even if she had some reservations about that cage herself. She could sense the disgust coming from Victoria and it irritated her to think that her friend was making judgements about her. She could practically see Victoria biting her tongue as she took a seat on the sofa and cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry I left you the way I did,” Victoria said, clearly referring to the way she’d slipped out of her home and run off as Lucy slept in her bed. “I should have left a note.”
“It’s alright,” Lucy said, characteristically letting her friend off the hook for her thoughtlessness. “Zinnie let me know you’d gone.”
Victoria nodded as though that satisfied her.
“How did Jonathan react?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Lucy replied as she flung open the door of the wardrobe and beckoned for Victoria to come and look at the clothes it held. She hoped that by showing her some of the beautiful outfits Taryn had supplied her with, Victoria might see that he was a generous man and tone her criticisms down a bit. “Zinnie and I got out of there before he knew you’d left.”
“Where did Zinnie go?” Victoria got up from the sofa and joined Lucy beside the large wooden closet.
“She went to look for Lizzie Chatterton. She said she knew of a few places she might have gone.”
“Really?” Victoria sounded as surprised by that as Lucy had been. Clearly, she didn’t think that Zinnie knew Elizabeth either. “And what about you? How did you come to be with Taryn?”
“Well, I knew that some of Commander Rossingham’s men had stayed behind at Caroline’s house, so I went there,” Lucy said. She decided to gloss over the details of her early interactions with Taryn. Victoria did not need to hear how she had offered to become his pet and he’d intimated that he would help her only if she agreed to his demands. “As it turns out, Caroline had asked Taryn to protect me.”
“Is he looking after you?” Victoria asked with a note of skepticism that really irritated Lucy.
“Oh, yes,” Lucy replied as enthusiastically as possible in order to counteract her friend’s negative tone. “I know you don’t approve, but I am really happy. I promise you I am.”
“If you say so.” Victoria’s lips pursed, and it was obvious she remained unconvinced.
It was becoming painfully clear to Lucy that her friend didn’t think she knew her own mind. Lucy might not be entirely happy about how things were with Taryn, but she did genuinely feel something for him. At the moment it might be driven mainly by a primal attraction, but she was sure, given time, that she could grow to love him. Even if that didn’t happen, nobody else had the right to comment, not even her closest friend.
“I do,” Lucy said firmly. She reached out and laid a hand on Victoria’s arm. Deciding to push back against her friend’s reproving attitude, she fixed her with a sympathetic stare. “But what about you? It can’t be easy being stuck with that beast.”
“Allik is not a beast,” Victoria snapped, and Lucy knew she’d successfully landed a blow. “He has a few scars but that hardly reflects the type of man he is. At least he treats me well.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes at the implication that Taryn was not looking out for her welfare.
“Taryn treats me like a princess,” she retorted. “He’s been very good to me.”
It was largely the truth, but her response seemed to displease Victoria, who waved her hand toward the cage in the corner of the room.
“Does he put you in there?”
As it happened, he hadn’t yet, and they hadn’t discussed the reasons for it being there. Lucy imagined that the cage was there to remind her of her place. If she stepped too far out of line, she would probably spend time in there. Bizarrely, the thought of it did not horrify her as much as it had when she first saw it. In fact, she could picture herself in there, feeling quite safe and secure in the knowledge that Taryn cared enough to punish her harshly when required. Something about the look of disgust on Victoria’s face made Lucy want to provoke her.
“Sometimes,” she said, trying for a wistful tone, “but only when I’ve been very naughty.”
“You sound as though you like it,” Victoria challenged.
“I do.” Lucy hoped she sounded convincing. “I enjoy being his pet.”
Victoria shook her head, her lips pursing. Lucy wondered whether her friend saw her as some pathetic little girl, incapable of having sexual fantasies, let alone indulging them. Perhaps Victoria didn’t realize that she had needs and desires. That was probably her own fault for never feeling comfortable enough to share them with her friends.
“And I’ll like being his wife even better,” Lucy added smugly.
“Wife?” Victoria repeated. “You’re going to get married?”
Lucy nodded and smiled broadly.
“Married?” The viciousness that tinged Victoria’s tone made Lucy step back in shock. “I didn’t realize a fucking cat could get married.”
Lucy’s mouth fell open. She was startled when the other woman shoved her aside and stormed from the room. Realizing she’d pushed Victoria too far, she quickly recovered herself and followed her down the corridor.
“Vicky, please wait,” she pleaded.
“No,” her friend yelled back at her. Now that Victoria’s hackles had been raised, Lucy knew she would not get through to her. “I don’t want to hear any more of this shit.”
Lucy sobbed and ran to Taryn, seeking comfort from the one person she was absolutely sure would look out for her. He held her close as she cried, her tears staining his pristine white tunic. Across the room, Allik flung Victoria over his shoulder. Afraid for her friend, Lucy sniffed back her tears and started to go after them. She wanted to urge Allik not to punish Victoria on her account, but Taryn pulled her back.
“Leave it, kitten,” Taryn said firmly. “That one needs to learn how to behave herself.”
Lucy nodded. She supposed he was right. Victoria had been the very model of decorum back in New Cambridge, but she had always had a rebellious streak and she was clearly no longer trying to rein it in. Obviously, Victoria had no fear about confronting Allik. Lucy wished she had her friend’s courage. There were things she wanted to change in her relationship with Taryn, but she had no clue how to address her issues with him.
Feeling weary all of a sudden, she looked up at Taryn.
“May I go to bed, please?” Her voice was small and Taryn narrowed his eyes as he studied her face, looking for answers to whatever question it was he had in his head.
“Yes, pet, you may.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said.
As she padded off to her room, she could feel Taryn’s eyes on her retreating back. She was sure that he was not entirely happy with how things were going between them either, but he hadn’t said anything. He seemed as unwilling as she was to openly discuss their feelings. How was anything to be resolved between them if they couldn’t even talk to one another? Alone in her bedroom once more, Lucy curled up on the bed and cried herself to sleep.