Jason knocks

A knock on her door made Charlotte freeze in fear. "Charlie?" Only Jason called her "Charlie," it was a nickname she despised but he refused to abandon it. "Charlie, I heard you cry out." His voice was thankfully low, but at this time of night no-one should be awake. Why was Jason in the hallway outside her chamber?

"I'm fine Jason; I must have had a bad dream." Charlotte told her persistent suitor, pleading silently for him to go away, but to her horror she saw the door open wide and Mr. Worthington step into her private room.

"Jase!" She exclaimed loudly not having to feign shock at his bold intrusion. "Close that door, what would my father say?!" To her dismay the arrogant man misinterpreted her objection, stepping quickly into her boudoir and closing the door softly behind him. Sometime during the futile hunt for Black Brand, or perhaps upon his return, Jason had removed both his riding jacket and cravat; his once immaculate ruffled blouse was stained with mud and sweat and his form-fitting black pantaloons were no longer tucked neatly into his black boots and she could see his stocking feet instead. That helped explain why she had not heard him in the hallway, of course she had been a little distracted by her fantasy and might not have heard him anyways.

"He's asleep." Jason took a step closer to where she lay motionless and naked under the bedsheets. "They're all asleep." Jason's grin was almost wolfish.

"You must be exhausted, Mr. Worthington." Charlotte tried to send him away. She had never seen Jason so disheveled, so tense. It was bad enough that he was here in her chambers at this hour, but there was something in Jason's demeanor that made her decidedly uncomfortable, and she wished yet again that she had thought to lock her door when she retired for the night.

"Oh I am, Charlie." Jason stepped closer to her bed. "I've been chasing through the damn nighttime forests looking for a sodding highwayman who must be miles away by now." Charlotte was appalled by Jason's coarse language and uncouth manners, she had known him long enough now to know that he was a man like any other, but this was the first time he had made no effort at all to defer to her sensibilities.

"You must leave now." Charlotte told Jason with as much authority as she could to make sure there was no misunderstanding.

"Not yet, Charlotte, I need to know what that animal did to you first." Jason's face dark and brooding as he towered above her and Charlotte. At least he did not presume to sit upon her bed, but even this was intolerable. He was close enough for Charlotte to smell the strong odor of brandy on his breath; he was most certainly more than a little drunk.

"I saw the state of your dress, Charlotte, and how your boots were barely laced." His pointed his finger at her only inches from her face. "That bastard fucked you!" Charlotte didn't know what she found most alarming; his accusation, the coarseness of his language, or his lack of empathy for her if she had been ****. "I know what that outlaw did. I just want to know if you fought him at all, or if you obligingly spread your legs like a village whore!" Charlotte pulled away from him in shock.

"Jason, leave this room immediately." She put as much **** behind her words as possible and was rewarded with a small retreat on his part.

"Oh no Charlie, you fucked him, you can fuck me too!" Jason dropped onto the bed pinning her under the blankets "Did he pluck your prize?" Jason asked even as he shifted his weight until he covered her completely. "Did he steal the maidenhead that was mine to take?" Once again he leaned forwards kissing her roughly with drunken determination.

"No!" Charlotte protested, tearing her lips away from the crude kiss. "Get off of me!" Compared to Mr. Fuller's passionate kisses, Jason's turned her stomach - she could feel bile rising in her throat. She didn't want to be kissed by anyone, certainly not a drunk and angry Jason Worthington who was acting like a petulant child who didn't get the gift he wanted for his birthday.

"Don't worry Charlie," Jason laughed bitterly, "I'll still marry you even if you are ruined. Your dowry and title are still fine prizes, even if your cunt has been sullied by that highwayman's cock!" He pulled at the blankets covering Charlotte and at last she was able to pull her arms from under the blanket, but Jason was coming dangerously close to discovering that her nightgown was still bunched up around her waist. "I'm just not going to wait for our wedding night to sample your lanky body."

"I'll scream!" Charlotte warned Jason in a last ditch effort to make him see reason.

"Go ahead Charlie." Worthington sneered, "Scream away! After word gets out about your little adventure in the woods, no decent man will have you." Her hands were finally free from the bedding but his were groping at her breasts and working even deeper under the covers and she had to fight to keep them off of her. "You know it, and your father does too. The only thing that your screaming could do is bring more witnesses to find us together in bed and speed up the timeframe for our nuptials."

Even in the midst of her panic response Charlotte suspected that there was some truth in Worthington's claim. Her father would more than likely use the fact that Jason and her were caught in flagrante to compel the courts to override her mother's will and **** her marriage to this noble suitor. The irony of being spared ravishment by a common outlaw only to be **** by a peer of the realm that very same night was not lost on Charlotte, but her dread of being married to this foul man made it impossible smile.