The Thief's Punishment

Place: Estate of Duke Marcus Tremont
Date: March 23, 1823
Time: 12:28 a.m.

Alexis St. James eased in a booted foot through the stained glass window. She was dress in britches, a black tunic and a corseted bodice with her boots and gloves. Her long brown hair was in a braid that hung to her waist. Her vibrant golden eyes lit up as she made her way towards Tremont's rooms. For the past few years, Lex had been relieving some of England's rich and snobbish of their valuables. It was quite a strange choice for a young lady of worth like herself but she was a thrill seeker, a hellion in her own right.

There wasn't a man in the country that could tame her. Her father thought he could control her, tell her how to run her own life. Lex wasn't ungrateful for everything he had done for her but she had to be herself. Being caged would kill her spirit completely. Mostly she dispersed her ill-gotten gains to some of the poorer people in her employ. Mrs. Potts was able to send her granddaughter to a fine school thanks to Lex's backing. Of course no one knew that it was her that had stolen the money for the child.

You will marry Tremont and settle down. There will come a day when your headstrong ways will get you into a situation from which you cannot escape. Believe me when I say this is for your own good.

Her anger flared anew as she remembered her father's words. The contract for their marriage had been made in secret and against her wishes. Lex was determined to get away with one of Tremont's most valuable possessions; a ruby necklace that had been in his family for years. It was typically worn by the new duchess the night of her wedding. It was some kind of old tradition that his family held up. The locks on the rooms were well made but Lex had been doing this for years. She stood from her crouched position and walked very slowly to the case where the necklace lay.

The gold setting and large stones would fetch a handsome price when she took it to be sold in London. The proceeds could in fact pay for the repairs to the home of Mary Kitcher. The fire had left her and her three homeless. It was a devastating blow since the poor woman had lost her husband the summer before to a bad fever. The local doctor had refused to help him because the family was too poor to pay his fees. Lex had learned of the situation when it was too late but she would not let them suffer in the cold.

Carefully she unhooked the small satchel she had hanging from her belt and opened it. She lifted the necklace carefully, trying not to make any noise and slipped it into the small bag. Lex smiled to herself. That cocky Marcus Tremont would be steaming through his ears once he knew that his precious family heirloom was gone. Her glee was interrupted when she felt a strong hand wrap around her braid and tug her head back. The satchel fell to the floor and Lex came face to face with the man in question.

What do we have here?

She was in big trouble.

Marcus Tremont was burning the midnight oil in the library, going over the books. He was a wealthy man, but he was taking a major loss to help a friend of his late father. The St. James had seen their fortunes decline over the years, so when Lord St. James had come to Marcus for help, it came as no surprise to him. Marcus had agreed to help financially, but what threw him was Lord St. James's next request. A marriage with his daughter Alexis. In terms of benefits to Marcus Tremont, there was the land the St. James still owned. While they were money poor, they were land rich. And Marcus had always wanted to add their lands to his. With their debts, he could have easily taken over the land of the St. James's through the banks and courts, but because of friendship, had not done so. A marriage to Lord St. James's daughter would allow the old man to hold onto his estate and his dignity until his passing, at which point the land would be inherited by his daughter and her husband. The only drawback that Marcus saw to the arranged marriage was that he really didn't like arranged marriages. And then there was the matter of Alexis St. James herself.

Alexis had a reputation, both good and bad. Known for her striking beauty, she was also known for her wild and headstrong ways. Many were the horror stories he'd heard from other young nobles who had tried to court her. She'd been likened to Katherina from "The Taming of the Shrew" by so many of them. And while Marcus loved Shakespeare, he did not fancy himself becoming her Petruchio just so that he could inherit her father's lands. He would have preferred a wife that he'd had a chance to meet and fall in love with before marriage. And failing that, he would have preferred a wife that didn't need to be tamed as part of the process of marriage. He'd considered refusing Lord St. James's offer of his daughter, intending to still help the old man financially. But the poor man seemed desperate to find a husband for his daughter. A girl of rare beauty that no one wanted because of her hellion ways. Out of pity, Marcus had given in to his request. And now, as he sat looking at the financial cost, which he knew that he could afford, he began to consider the other cost of a marriage to Alexis St. James. A woman he hardly knew and suspected was going to become a bigger drain on his finances than her father had been.

A sudden desire for coffee, a habit he'd picked up from a visit to America, caused the duke to leave the library, headed downstairs to the kitchen. That's when he noticed a change in the light leaking from under the door of his study. Who would be in there at this time of night? Cautiously opening the door, he saw a figure dressed in black putting his late mother's ruby necklace in a small bag. At that moment, Marcus Tremont was filled with rage. Striding into the room he grabbed a hold of the hair of the thief, little caring that it was a woman. A sharp jerk almost took her off her feet and caused her to drop the bag.

"What do we have here?" he growled.

They had never been formally introduced, but the moment their eyes met, Marcus recognized Alexis immediately. But at that moment, he didn't care who she was. Jerking her hair downward so that she was almost forced to her knees, he bent to pick up the small bag. Then, keeping her in that stooped over position, he dragged her by her hair over to a chair next to the window, with her screaming the whole time. She was too busy using her hands to keep from falling on her face to use them to free her hair. Forcing her to her knees, he pulled her arms behind her back, jerked a cord from the window curtains, and proceeded to squeeze her elbows together and tie them up. Left with excess rope, still angry, and tired of hearing her screaming, he jerked her head back by her hair. When she opened her mouth to scream once more, he pulled the rope between her teeth, winding it around her head and between her teeth several more times before tying the end back to her elbows, forcing her head back in a strained position and her eyes to the ceiling.

Geoffrey, the butler burst in, exclaiming, "Your grace, what is going on in here?"

"GET OUT! I'm getting acquainted with my betrothed and DO NOT WANT TO BE DISTURBED!" Geoffrey immediately scurried out, closing the door behind him. Breathing heavy and still fuming, Marcus leaned back in his chair and glared at the girl kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"So what do I do with you? Send for your father and have him pick you up in your present condition? Or send for the constables and have them take you to jail?"

He was handsome. Lex could give him that much but his attitude needed some tweaking. She screamed her outrage of being manhandled by him. Lex's temperament had always been that of a fiery volcano. When the time came it was better not to be in the path of the eruption.But one thing she never was stupid and Lex knew that she needed to wait for the right moment.All the jostling about had knock the mechanism holding a small knife under her sleeve to come forward as he twisted the ropes about her. Not betraying a single move, Lex started to cut at her bindings just enough to her some slack.

Getting acquainted? Well she always considered herself to be a sociable person. Now that she had some room to move now, this would be an easy escape. Again she waited until he just close enough and in a lurch she head-butted him in the nose. It wasn't hard enough to break it but enough to stun the man long enough for her to detangle herself from the curtain rope.

Lex laid a kick to knee that had him on the floor. "How about I take what I came for and you forget about ever being connected with my family? "The satchel lay on the floor next to a chair. "I will never be owned by any man." In many ways she considered them inferior beings, slaves to the most basic of impulses. She scooped up the satchel only to feel him grab her right ankle and yank her off of her feet. The next moment he was on top of her trying to pin her arms down to the floor.

She landed a blow to his mid-section, knocking the wind out of him. "You don't give up easily, do you? That's a shame. It's only make it hurt worse." Lex rolled away and popped up on her feet. " Did I hurt you, milord?" She gave a mock curtsey. That only served to piss him off worse and she hated to hurt a man with such a pretty face but some things could not be help.

The sword she pulled from its scabbard made her point well enough. Lex motioned for him to stand in the corner of the room furthest away from her. "That's a good boy. As I was saying, there will no betrothal and no marriage. You and I will never see each other after tonight and this," She held up the satchel. "Will go to people who really need it." Not unlike a noble to go by without even noticing the suffering that went on on his own estate.

She was about to climb back out of the window when a hand caught her wrist and her sword fell out the window, leaving her defenseless. Lex tried to struggled but he had her so tightly in his hold that felt every inch of his body.The next moment he had pinned against a wall with body pressing into her own. "Get off me, you oaf! I'm not one of your whores!"

That got a curious reaction from him. Marcus began to chuckle, a full on hardy laugh at her expense that made her want to tears his throat out. Lex couldn't help the reaction he was causing in her own body. He was a pretty man and very muscular with good coloring. She could feel her hard nipple scraping at the corset's lining, making her want to grit her teeth. "You have me, Marcus. What are you going to do?"

Damnation, this girl is slipperier than a snake, Marcus thought to himself during the scuffle. How she had slipped out of the ropes, he didn't know. And he cursed himself for not disarming her before sitting down. But then, he was not used to being robbed. But the tussle had one good effect. It actually dissipated his earlier anger. There's nothing better to let off steam than a fight.

Finally getting the hellion pinned against the wall from behind, the front of her body pressed against the wood, Marcus found himself getting aroused. And a bit uncomfortable about it, since his manhood was pressed up against her ass and rising. So he couldn't help laughing when she said......

"Get off me, you oaf! I'm not one of your whores!"

"I've never been with a whore, but I suspect they're a lot more ladylike than you've been, my lady," he gasped between laughs.

"You have me, Marcus. What are you going to do?"

"GEOFFREY," Marcus bellowed. The butler came scurrying in a moment later.

"Yes. your grace?"

"The shackles on the wall. Bring them here." The butler hurried to pull two sets of shackles off the wall and bring them to the duke. As Marcus snapped one set on Alexis's wrists and locked them, he explained their presence in his study.

"These shackles were worn by my grandfather when he was a captive of the Barbary pirates. We'll talk some more after I've made sure we don't have another escape attempt." Forcing her to her knees and pulling off her boots, he snapped the second set on her ankles and locked them. Then he lifted the girl in his arms and sat her in a chair.

"Shouldn't you check her for more weapons, your grace?"

"After you've left, Geoffrey. But first, Miss St. James has a question that still needs to be answered." Turning to Alexis, Marcus repeated his earlier question.

"Do I send for your father and have him pick you up in your present condition? Or send for the constables and have them take you to jail? Or do you have a third option that you would like to suggest?"

Getting a close look at Alexis St. James for the first time, Marcus began to understand why so many young nobles had tried to court her in spite of her fearsome reputation. The girl was absolutely stunning. But what attracted him the most, were her bright green eyes. The same eyes his late mother had. And the same fiery spirit. He stood there and watched the play of emotion in those eyes.

There was nothing she could do as the shackles were attached. Lex felt the strength of him as he lifted her into the chair. Part of her found it exciting to beheld by him but the other wanted to punch him for touching her without permission. She was wary at the statement that he intended to search her after the butler left. Being in a room alone with Marcus was not ideal. During that scuffle she had felt the beginnings of an attraction that would only complicate her life. The way he was looking at her gave her a bit of jolt between her legs.

The man had the darkest eyes she had ever seen. Lex never betrayed the emotions running through her. "Third option? I have no idea what you have in mind." There was a light to his eyes that gave off a hint of mischief and seduction. "I suppose you would prefer to have me over your knee like a child who just got caught stealing cookies from the kitchen." The smirk he gave her told Lex that he might be seriously considering that very option. when would she learn to keep her mouth shut?

As alarming as being spanked as a full grown adult was, lex became distracted as Marcus began searching her for weapons. First was the braid on her hair where she kept a small dagger. Her curls lay about her shoulder once the leather cord had been undone. Next the ties of corset were being undone and loosened. A small pistol was hidden there, snugly fitted against her cleavage. Her eyes were suspiciously narrowed at him, her breathing slightly heavier than it was when he began.

Marcus dropped to his knees and felt up her ankle, finding the other pistol hidden there. Those big hand on her body made it hard for her to make a conscious thought. Lex had gone quiet during these past few minutes, rare for her. His hands traveled up her right leg, taking his time when he reached her thigh. He looked up at her and she had to restrain herself from whimpering for more.

He checked her other leg but felt the strap for her final dagger on her thigh. There was only one way to them; the britches she wore had to come off. Lex almost growled in frustration when she felt the tip of one of her daggers slicing into the material of her pants.With a few pulls, tugs and tear, the pants were off. She stood there in her tunic and her long legs bare. He cut the final strap off of her and it fell with a loud thunk to the floor.

Lex was trying hard to regain what composure she could given her state of undress. Her nipples were rock hard and her heart was thudding against her rib cage. Despite the ready supply of men running after her hand and her dowry, Lex had never given on a second to them. She had to kiss a few to con him into thinking he had a chance so that she could get a moment's peace. Those simple-minded idiots had no idea they were being conned by her.

None had stirred in her what this man did, which is why she was so nervous. Having someone else have any kind of control over her was infuriating. He had searched her thoroughly. If he checked her any further, Lex would be standing there naked before him. Lex watched him carry the bundle of weapons outside and hand them to the man from before and close the door. "Now what, Marcus? " The look in his eyes was hard to read and she could normally read a person very easily. What was he thinking?

Marcus found Alexis's third option amusing. And oh so tempting. Her arrogant bum definitely needed a warming up. But since she hadn't actually named an option, he turned to Geoffrey and told him, "You can go, but stay close by. I may still decide to send a messenger to Lord St. James or the authorities."

"As you wish, your grace," the butler replied, with maybe a tinge of disappointment in his voice as he bowed and left. Marcus suspected the old family retainer was looking forward to watching the body search. Or a bare bum being spanked.

Marcus went about searching Alexis quietly. Not because he didn't have a few biting remarks that he would have liked to have said, but because he was studying and exploring her magnificent body as much as he was searching it.

Circling around Alexis as she stood in her chains, he marveled at all the weapons she had hidden.

Only someone with such a luxurious growth of hair could hide a knife in it. And as he found the knife, he leaned in to breathe deeply of her scent, lightly brushing her neck with his lips.

Only someone with such an ample bosom would be able to hide a pistol in it. And perhaps he did spend a little more time than necessary, fishing it out from her impressive cleavage. But it didn't escape his notice how her breasts heaved as her breathing became heavier.

Kneeling to check her legs, Marcus couldn't help pausing to admire each finely turned ankle and each firm and athletic calf and thigh. This was a woman who didn't sit in the parlor drinking tea and gossiping all day. Smiling, he wondered if all the hardware she was carrying on her legs was part of the reason they were so muscular, as he retrieved another pistol from one ankle and felt a knife strapped to her other thigh. And perhaps he did spend a little more time than necessary lightly stroking her inner thighs in the course of his search, as he could see from the distracted look on her face.

Marcus really hated to sacrifice those leather britches of hers. They fit her form so beautifully. But it was the only way to get to the knife on her hip without removing her shackles and risking another tussle. So, a few quick slices and they fell to the floor. Followed by the knife.

Gathering up all her weaponry, he gave her a look of admiration. It was a wonder she could move as fluidly as she had in the earlier fight, while carrying all that weight. Stepping to the door to hand them to Geoffrey, he told him, "There's a sword outside the window to be retrieved as well. And have the stable hands check the grounds and surrounding woods. I'm sure she didn't come on foot. And she might have a confederate out there, so have them go armed."

"Of course, your grace," the butler replied, gathering up the arms while getting a slight peek in the door. Marcus wondered how many would have loved to get an eyeful of the infamous Alexis St. James looking as chastened as she did at that moment. Probably every suitor that she had emasculated. Closing the door on Geoffrey's prying eyes, Marcus walked back to Alexis.

"Now what, Marcus?"

Marcus motioned to the chair and said, "Please sit down, Alexis."

Now what indeed. What exactly WAS he going to do with Alexis St. James? Picking up the satchel, he pulled his mother's ruby necklace from it. Yes, the necklace had existed long before his mother and had been worn by other duchesses before her. But to him, it was always HER necklace. She had died from a riding accident on his twelfth birthday and his father was never the same afterwards. Nor was Marcus. A house full of life and laughter became a somber place overnight.

"You know that this would have been yours on your wedding day, of course. So by stealing it, I have to assume you never intended to go through with the wedding. And were perhaps planning to run away from your father? You leave me with a dilemma, Alexis. A few days ago I gave your father a loan, only to have his daughter then choose to rob me. I don't hold him responsible for his ungrateful daughter. And I don't want to humiliate him by having him come to collect his thieving child. Nor do I want him to have to collect you from the county jail either. Your father was my father's best friend, so I owe him the right to hold on to his self respect as much as possible. Which is hard to do when his daughter is undoing that self respect behind his back. So what would you suggest I do, aside from tanning your lovely buttocks?"

Alexis was more than a little confused and in her current state the information was a little muddled. "Don't assume anything about me, Marcus. You don't know me or my intentions. You never made the effort to even try." The man had never even taken the time to know her and he thought he could label ber some sort of brat?! "My father never mentioned anything of a loan to me. My mother had a vast inheritance from my grandfather." The man had been a thorn in her side for a long time. He had dominated her mother until it killed what was left of her spirit. Lex had vowed never to let a man do that to her.

"The necklace is unique enough that any fence would probably be caught with a few days. I had little doubt it would be returned to you within a week or two and my goal would be seen nonetheless." She grimaced at him. "I have never kept one bit of what I take for myself." That would be all she'd say on that subject, She honestly didn't understand why his opinion of her mattered all of a sudden.

"The two of you decide how I am to spend the rest of my life as a business deal and I am ungrateful?! You're practically a stranger to me, Marcus. I haven't seen you since I was maybe 10 years old." Her heart did soften for the child he had once been. "I was sorry when I heard about your mother's passing. She was a kind woman." She still remembered a day at the park when a few boys had been tormenting her and Marcus's mother had been about. Lex was crying, a rarity for herm, and she wrapped her arms about her, soothing away the tears.

Marcus had her eyes. That much she still remembered of the woman. There was a small tinge of guilt in her eyes as she thought of how she had repaid her kind ness by doing this to her son. "I may have been hasty in how I reacted to all of this but it was in anger. I don't want to be married to anyone. You have no idea what I grew up with, how my father was behind closed doors when no one was looking."

The echoing sounds of the cries her mother let out still haunted her. Her mother was not allowed to leave their home because of her father's fear that she would run off with some lover. The idiot man never took into account the fact that his wife loved him despite his horrid treatment. Lex had done her best to comfort her mother when it got bad but there only so much a child could take.

The frustration of the situation was getting to her and her state of undress was giving her a chill. Goosebumps had erupted over some of her skin and she shivered since there was no fire going in this room. "Sending me back to my father will do no good. I'm his bargaining chip and he wouldn't lose that. He may confine me to my room until the marriage takes place but that's it. The authorities are your choice but anyone and everyone will know about this in a matter of days. I only wanted to break the betrothal. I honestly don't know what you want in repentance. The only thing of value on me is my virgini..."

There was that look in his eyes again and Lex felt a tinge of fear. She had never let any man that close to her. In this day and age, bedding a man without the benefit of marriage had certain consequences that she was desperately trying to avoid. Suddenly she was extremely aware of how vulnerable she was to him in her partially unclothed state. What was he about to do?

Instead of making the decision easier for Tremont, the woman had made it harder. Marcus had reluctantly accepted Lord St. James's offer of marriage to his daughter. And if she had come to him the next day and said, "I don't want to marry you," he would have broken the contract with her father on the spot. He had no desire for a woman who didn't want him.

But the events of this night had changed his view of Alexis St. James. Tussling with her lush body, he'd been aroused like never before. And while she said she didn't want him, her reactions during that struggle and the search of her body seemed to say otherwise. Now all of a sudden, he desperately wanted what he'd reluctantly accepted before.

Marcus didn't like arranged marriages. His parents had been an arranged marriage. It was a marriage that worked, though God alone knows how. His parents were as different as night and day. Only an arranged marriage would have brought two such dissimilar people together. She was sunshine and laughter, he was an analytical man of numbers and profits. And while Marcus loved his father, the man had been cold in comparison to his mother. Only she could thaw him out. She alone could get a smile or a laugh out of him. But after her passing, the man grew colder. Never cruel, but just cold.

Thinking of cold, Marcus noticed Alexis shivering. Getting a blanket from his easy chair. he leaned her forward in her chair and wrapped it around her from behind. And then became distracted by the curls of her hair, which he ran his hands through for a few moments in silence. Then going to the door and opening it, he told his butler "Please fetch some wood and fire for the fireplace in here. And have someone make some tea."

Returning to pace around Alexis's chair, Marcus regarded the necklace once again. He was still unclear of her reasons for stealing it. "If this was some desire to help the poor, you could have just asked for a charitable contribution from me. I already support several almshouses in the area. And money means less to me than this necklace. Or was this less about money for the poor and more about getting back at me for an arranged marriage that I wasn't particularly eager for? If you didn't want to marry me, all you needed to do was say so. But now that you've broken into my house, robbed me, fought with me, threatened me with a sword, and lost your clothes, it hardly seems like we can return to what you "should have done"."

Once again he found himself standing behind her, his hand drawn to her hair as if it had a will of its own. Running his fingers through her locks until his hand suddenly found itself stroking her cheek. He could feel her tense up, like she wanted to pull away from his touch. From behind, he couldn't see her eyes. But he imagined them wide with apprehension, as she imagined all sorts of evils at the hands of Marcus Tremont.

What was he going to do with this woman, who he suddenly found himself irresistably drawn to?

Alexis took the blanket, a tad surprised. She felt her heart flip around in her chest when he touched her hair. What was wrong with her? A man had never effected her before but there was something about Marcus that was inately warm and welcoming, something in his eyes. "Thank you." Those words seldom left her mouth but they did this time. She watched the servants come in and do as ordered.

The fire felt like heaven after being chilled that way."If for one second my father thought I was going to try to break the betrothal, he would have broken my neck. He's not the man people assume he is. " There were few people she trust but right now she had nothing to lose. "You didn't see what he did to my mother. Marcus, he's literally insane with the idea of controlling anything and anyone in his life, especially me."

Someone knocked and a tray carrying a tea service was brought in. The young maid handed a cup to Lex, who sipped at the liquid. "I don't expect you to understand but I am being truthful in this. The men I have dealt with over the years are and always will be bullies. I had no way of knowing if you were like them or not. " She was unsure of how he ould react to her words so when he touched her again , she tensed. She didn't pull away but stood there, allowing herself to be touched.

Her breathing had become heavy and uneven as he touched her. "Marcus." Her voice had gone so soft and she felt his thumb skim down her neck, making her groan out loud before she could catch herself. Someone once told her that someday a man may make her see things slightly differently. After all she had done and Marcus was showing her kindness.

The attraction was there between them if the way he was touching was any indication. "I may have a solution that would work for us both." Once she had his attention, Lex explained her reasoning. "There is only one way my father would allow me to break the betrothal and that is if we broke what he considers his ground rules. I am not to give my virginity to anyone but my husband on our wedding night."

Lex took another sip of the tea, trying to calm her nerves at the thought of him touching her. "Once that is done he will never allow the marriage and I will never be approached again by any fortune hunting suitors again. As for the loan, I can pay that off myself. My mother left me an inheritance that can cover my father's debt."

Clearly, Marcus and his father had seen a different side of Lord St. James than the picture that Alexis was painting. While Marcus had seen St. James as cold, much like his own father, he'd never seen a cruel streak in him. Was the girl exaggerating about her father? She didn't seem like the type. But then again, she didn't seem like the type to rob other people's houses either.

But Alexis's suggestion that she give up her virginity to him bothered him even more. There was no question that he desired her. But to give up her virginity, not as a part of consummating a marriage, but as a way of avoiding that marriage didn't set well with him. In fact, it angered him.

"If you go that road Alexis, you might just well tell him you've lost your virginity while still holding onto it. If you really find me so objectionable, just stay the night in one of the guest rooms and return home in the morning, leaving your father to believe that I've taken your virginity." Marcus tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but it was hard to do.

Turning to Geoffrey, he told him, "Prepare a room for Miss St. James for the night." Marcus took a certain perverse pleasure in the amazed look on the butler's face. After all, humor was in short supply for Marcus at that moment in time.

As Geoffrey hurried off, Marcus dug the keys out of his pocket to the shackles Alexis wore. He would simply post a guard in the study and library to make sure she didn't steal anything of value during the night. She could then be on her way in the morning, free to make up her own version of events the night the wicked Duke of Tremont took her virginity.

Lex had tried to find a solution that met both their needs and just made things worse. "Marcus, Wait!" Her voice wreaked of a type of need that she never knew. "Please?!" That look in his eyes would haunt her for a long time if she didn't rectify it. "I can't let this end this way." His anger although well-deserved was from a misunderstanding. His anger seemed barely restrained but he stayed his actions to listen. "I do not find you objectionable, at least, not anymore." Her cheeks stained with a shade of red that she tried to hide.

"I knew so little of you before I can here that I made assumptions on your character that I know now were incorrect. It's the idea of marriage that frightens me, being chained to someone I barely know for the rest of my life." Old fears began to resurface and for once, Alexis didn't hide from it. "I watched day in and day out as my mother died a little every day because of my father's obsessive jealousy." Her curls hid the threatening tear that almost fell. "It seems more like a cage than a blessing. One that terrifies me."

She rubbed her sweaty palms against the arms of the chair. "I have schooled myself after all this time." Lex thought over the time she spent avoiding men and commitment. "I told myself not to feel anything for a man. It would only end in disaster. I thought that I had that done then I come face to face with the great contradiction: you. I feel something when you touch me."

This conversation was more difficult than she expected it to be. "You don't want someone like me for a wife, Marcus. Given your title, things would be expected from your wife. I am not the kind of woman that works well with that." Despite her protests, the truth lay in Lex's eyes and they showed that she was lying through her teeth. She want this, wanted him and it was frightening her to death.

Lex touched his face with her hand and glanced back at the small portrait of Marcus's mother. "I could never be like her." She didn't want to let go of him. The feel of his skin underneath her fingers felt too good. "No matter how much I wish I could." she whispered under her breath. "I don't know what to, how to make this right. All I can say is that I am sorry."

She couldn't help herself. If he pushed her away then she would deal with it. Alexis brushed her lips against his very gently, just barely tasting the soft lips she had admired on him. She backed away and sat back where she had been, not making another sound. Her insecurities were tirturing her, running all kinds of horrid possibilities in her mind.

As he fumbled with the keys and tried to step around her chair to unlock her wrists, Alexis seemed desperate to explain her earlier comments to Marcus, standing up and confronting him. Her words softened his anger gradually. The more she said, the more he understood her.

Reaching around her to remove the shackles, her hand was on his face the moment it was free. Alexis had a gentle touch for someone who had seemed a bit of a tom-boy earlier. And she smelled of leather and sweat. The leather from her now discarded outfit, the sweat from the fight. An intoxicating scent. Those green eyes, that lovely face, and those lush lips. It was all Marcus could do to keep from ravishing her on the spot when her lips brushed his. But then she backed away and sat back down. Sighing, he knelt in front of her to remove the shackles from her ankles.

"Alexis, I'm not looking for someone like my mother, though you have many of her qualities. Nor am I looking for someone to satisfy the expectations of society. Society be damned. If I met with the expectations of society, you wouldn't have heard all those rumours that you based your judgements of me upon. I'm not quite the rogue some have portrayed me as being, and while you are as wild as rumoured, I'm willing to take a chance that you are not as unapproachable as they claim. Nor deserving of some of the names they've called you when you weren't around."

He tossed her shackles aside and regarded one of her feet. The woman was making this way harder than it needed to be. During the course of the evening, he'd developed feelings for her. And he sensed that she had developed feelings for him as well. He could throw her over his shoulder and carry her to his bedroom, where she could continue to wrestle with her desires. Or...... Marcus raised Alexis's foot up to his lips to give it a kiss. And then proceeded to kiss his way up the inside of her leg.

Alexis felt the scorching mark of that chaste kiss even as she sat there. Her soft green eyes held a matter of confusion in how she felt at the moment. She watched him unshackle her ankles and knew that she could get away if she wanted to. That was the problem: she wasn't sure that she wanted to get away from him. Marcus wasn't at all what she expected. He lacked the cruel arrogance that she had seen in so many men including her father. Her green eyes searched his face but everything she saw indicated that he was being honest with her.

"I guess neither of us are what society makes up out to be."Lex felt slightly unstable, like she was standing on uneven ground. "You are definitely not like the men I have met inthe past. I don't know what to make of you." When his lips touched the skin of her foot, she trembled and sighed. The contact was so simple and yet so intimate. When the kisses started to travel up her leg, Alexis moaned and her slender fingers laced through his dark locks.

"There is something about how you touch me." Her breasts felt heavy and her nipples were almost painfully hard. Her hands cupped his face, her thumbs caressing his cheeks. "I fight all the time. I fight my father and his machinations. I fight society's preconceptions of what a lady should be. I'm tired. I don't want to fight tonight."Lex leaned in and kissed Marcus, cherishing the taste of his lips. "Marcus, please. I've never felt like this. My body aches. All I can think is how much I want you to make love to me."

This time when she kissed him, Alexis poured her longing into it. She felt his arm around her body, warm and strong and she sighed in pleasure. There was an ache and dampness between her legs that urged her rub on him. The lust she felt for him began to cloud her mind and Marcus caught her by surprise when he lifted her into his arms. None of the servants said anything as they went down the hallway.

As he lifted Alexis up and carried her to his bedroom, Marcus recognized that they'd yet to sort out the issue of marriage. So was he taking her to bed just to remove her virginity or to truly make love to her? He hoped to reconcile their differences on the issue of matrimony by the end of the night.

The blanket she was wrapped in gave her some semblance of modesty. Besides, he trusted his servants not to talk outside his house. But, ultimately, her absence from her father's house could impact the marriage contract. But Alexis looked old enough to make the decision on her own concerning marriage.

Laying Alexis on his bed, he sat on the side of the bed, peeling the blanket away and revealing her body. Leaning down, he gave her a long soft kiss, then murmured, "Hopefully, by the end of the night, you'll think more kindly on the possibility of marriage to me, Alexis."

Standing up, Marcus started removing his clothes. He was somewhat nervous at the thought of deflowering a virgin. Does one do it with one quick thrust or a slow entry, he wondered.