Betrothed Ch 02

Nick quickly put is hand over her mouth to stifle her scream. She looked at him with terrified eyes and started to thrash and claw at him. Nick heard footsteps outside her door, and wondered if someone had heard her scream.

Nick didn't know what to do. There was no time to explain who he was, because she would just ask questions about where he had been, and refuse to leave with him until she got the answers. And there just wasn't any time. "Don't scream or I'll kill you," he whispered in her ear. She must have believed him, for she didn't make a sound when he pulled his hand away.

He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He was just climbing out the window when he heard a soft knock on her door. He climbed down the balcony as fast as possible with a wiggling woman over his shoulder. He threw her over the front of his horse and climbed up behind her.

He knew she would be uncomfortable, but he had to get away as fast as possible. He sent his horse off in a run, and when he was convinced that no one was following them, and they were a safe distance away, he stopped and pulled her up to a sitting position.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She immediately demanded as she twisted around to look at him. She didn't recognize him. The thought entered Nick's head, and he didn't believe it at first. She was staring right into his face, yet she didn't even show a hint of recognition.

"My fiancé will pay any ransom. If you hurt me he will track you down and kill you." Little did she know, she had said the one thing that would anger him most. Nick didn't want to hear about her fiancé, who from the sound of it, she obviously cared for, if not loved. And he certainly didn't want to hear of the other man's devotion to her, he wanted to pretend this other man didn't exist.

"I don't want any ransom." Nick growled out, no way would he let her go, not for any amount of money.

"Then what do you want?" Allison cried out hopelessly, if he didn't want money, would he rape or kill her? And who was he?

"Shut up." Nick kicked his horse and took off in a steady gallop. Allison was scared to death, who was this man and what did he want? Looking into his eyes, she got the odd feeling of knowing him from somewhere, but quickly dismissed it. This was some scoundrel; she couldn't possibly know him from anywhere.

***

Allison sat in the small locked cabin where he had put her. He had taken her to a beach, let his horse go, and had rowed her out to a ship. When she had first seen what he had planned, all hope of escape had rushed out of her like a rain cloud suddenly opening and pouring out its contents, drenching her in despair.

Now, she couldn't escape the horrible feeling that she was being taken away from her home, and might not ever return. Not that she would have much to miss anyway, since her parents had died, leaving her with nothing and no one, she had stopped caring what happened to her and had just gone along with what others told her to do. She had gotten engaged, since she didn't have any money, and didn't really have much of a choice. She didn't have any love for her fiancé, but she didn't feel that her fiancé had any love for her either. The real reason she didn't want to leave her home was that's where all her memories of Nick were. But he was dead, now.

Allison laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. She couldn't stop the memory of the horrible day coming back. She had been twelve years old, and an aspiring artist. She had loved to paint, and most of her paintings had gone to Nick. She had just finished her latest one, and had gone over to his house to give it to him, but he wasn't there. His brother informed her that he had died just that morning. He had fallen off the boat they were sailing, and had drowned Allison was just starting to let the pain she had felt overtake her when her kidnapper walked in.

"What are you going to do to me?" Allison asked. She was scared of him, but she was more scared of not knowing what was going to happen to her.

"I'm going to keep you," her kidnapper said, looking at her like this was a normal occurrence, and he didn't know why she was so upset.

Allison stared at him for a moment, what was he talking about? "Keep me for what?" she asked, completely perplexed.

"You're going to become my wife." Allison couldn't believe she had heard him right. His wife?

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Allison stared at him, befuddled.

Nick walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "You are going to become my wife," he repeated gently, as though her were speaking to a child that didn't understand what was going on.

"No I'm not," Allison was still confused. She didn't even know this man; she wasn't going to marry him.

"Yes, you are," he told her, a little more forcefully.

"You don't understand, I can't. I'm getting married tomorrow."

"No you're not," he roared at her, "You can just forget your old life, and your old fiancé, your never going back to him, so you can just resign yourself to staying with me." Nick couldn't believe he let his temper get away from him like that, but she was making him angry. Why didn't she recognize him? Maybe she just didn't remember him altogether.

"But who are you?" he heard her whisper softly. He couldn't tell her. If she had forgotten about him, he couldn't let her know he had thought of little else besides her these six years he had been away.

"You can call me whatever you want." He said.

"Fine, you vagabond."