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TWENTY-TWO
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Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-THREE
IT WAS a beautiful huge garden, with the entrance to the grounds littered with a few statues of horses, lions, and wolves. The inside consisted of forest trees that lined outer walls topped with thick, sun-tanned bricks. There were irises, English roses red and white, tulips and lavenders on boxed compartments. She strolled in between boxes and boxes of perennials and annuals, basking in the sweet smell of flowers until she reached the gazebo that was at the farthest end of the pavement her feet followed as she explored.Once there, she sat and faced the pond where water flowed under a short, romantic-looking bridge. Flowering peas, of all things, climbed this bridge and it looked very pretty to the eyes. As she watched the water and basked in the coolness of the breeze on her face, for a moment it seemed like her troubles disappeared.But it all came back when she heard the neighing of horses arriving in the chateau.The Baron had come back.Would he ask for her? The servants knew wh
Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-FOUR
“BARON,” said the knight as Fabian approached the steps. “I was just singing to the lady. I arrived to find her looking so alone and melancholic I just had to try to make her smile.”She looked towards him and could not know what to say. In all intents and purposes, that was what he tried to do. But she did not know she appeared sad when he came.“I was told you were here to give me a message, Bertrand?” he asked in a formal voice, “and not to sing to my guest.”“Yes. But your guest is so lovely and I can’t help but coax a little smile out of her lips.”“Bertrand,” the Baron almost growled.“You shouldn’t leave her unattended, then. Where were you, Fabian? The lady did need company.”Adalene gasped. “Oh no, I am not a Lady, Sir,” she corrected, alarmed that the Baron might think she let the man think that, or introduced herself to him as that. “I am just Adalene Duvre without a title. Though... I am wed, which means you can also call me Adalene Didier.”The knight took a step back has
Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-FIVE
“I wish that I be brought to my parent's farm, in their humble cottage, and be left there. I do not wish to be sent to Louis Didier’s estate,” she told him quickly.He stared at her, his eyes puzzled now and he wasn’t scowling anymore. “And will you tell me why? I promised him my men will return you to him when this is over,” he asked in a calm voice.“I... I do not wish to carry on with the marriage.” She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. She couldn’t cry now. She had to give him a proper and determined explanation of her plans. “I will ask my father to return the bride token. I would rather work as a slave for an aristocrat or like a man on the farm than go through with a marriage that will eventually kill me,” she replied in a trembling but forceful voice, which she also could not help. She felt like she was deluding herself that the Baron would allow her to do this. She felt like everything was hopeless.“And what made you think you can have this choice? You are the da
Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-SIX
Instead of giving her an answer, he dropped his head and, with a groan, kissed her hungrily and passionately. She could only kiss him back as heatedly because there was no other way he could be answered. He pushed her back to the seat in the gazebo and they sat side by side, and she leaned back on her hands as his hands started to get through the complicated layers of her clothes so he could intimately probe her body.“Fabian... your men—”“They will not dare disturb us here.”“Do they know what we’re doing?” she asked, while her cheeks felt like they were about to melt in much heat.He raised his face to look at her and there was a grin there so rouge that her heart skipped a bit of its rushed beating. “Whatever we’re doing here, unless there’s a war coming to our doorstep, no one is going to come here.”She had almost completely lost her concern by then. His palms were already somewhere very near where she wanted them to be. “Oh, Fabian...”He understood the reason for the plea in h
Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-SEVEN
“What were you doing outside?” he asked as they started to walk back towards the house. “What exactly were you thinking that made Bertrand want to sing to you?”She smiled. “I was thinking about my options, my Lord,” replied. “I thought I cannot go to Louis Didier, and there must be some other way. I was planning to ask for work when you get back...” She lowered her face. “I didn’t know yet that you’ve paid Louis for me.”He was thinking. “Do you realize that once word gets out that I’ve paid to release you from your marriage, everyone would expect that you're going to be my mistress?”She gulped but managed to nod. “I was thinking the same thing.”He was quiet for a few moments. “I can give you work,” he finally said. “And I can pay you a part of your wage while I took back my investment. But I know I cannot promise not to take you to my bed, ma bichette. The temptation is too much. And besides, I cannot secure your safety from other men if you will not hold the status of my lover.”
Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-EIGHT
Adalene stared at the Baron’s handsome face. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but before she could make a fool of herself, she lowered her eyes.“Yes, you are right. I am indeed a bit sore.”She did not want to burden him with her expectations because she shouldn’t have any! And, honestly, her thighs ached also. They had never had the experience of being as tensed ever as when he was... doing his thing between them.He went back to the hall and she continued on her walk to her bedchamber, again feeling the acute disappointment that she would not be sleeping in a bed with him tonight. She would have loved, at least, to cuddle...She almost stumbled at the thought. She really should stop thinking about doing things with him that a woman would expect from a husband. But she was sleeping with him! screamed another part of her inside her head. Well, it was purely lust. That was different from love.Then she remembered how sweetly and lovingly he had kissed her face after they made
Claimed by the Baron TWENTY-NINE
Upon arrival at the Duke’s castle, Adalene’s senses were assaulted by all things royalty. Color, smell, and noise of different tones and varying degrees of emotions were all over the place. She tried not to get too overwhelmed especially since Fabian—Baron Deschamps, her lover, and keeper—warned her she could get overwhelmed by the aristocrats. But it was difficult because she had never been exposed to something so busy and noisy and colorful!Now, as she looked down at what she could see of the activities from the window of the room she occupied with him, she couldn’t help but think back to the events that happened in the most recent days.Just a few days ago, she was just a bride being married to a callous, old man whom her father had arranged for her to marry in a drunken moment. She grew up on a farm that was mostly quiet in her whole existence except for days of seasonal feasts, and she expected that by now she would be living in a vineyard this time that would be made callous by
Claimed by the Baron THIRTY
They took a short ride later in the day as he showed her around. And when they arrived back in the chateau, there were a lot more people on the grounds. She instantly noticed the curious looks of those who had seen them on the grounds. Fabian helped her get down her mount and behind him, she saw ladies whisper, their headdresses almost entangling as their heads gossiped. It did not help that Fabian’s right hand held her waist familiarly while he instructed his men about, going back to their rooms with his hand firmly remaining at the small of her back. By then, several more pairs of eyes had been added to the first few.“Try not to be drawn into any conversation with the ladies. They can be quite... notorious when they’re bored. I don’t want you getting into situations you don’t need to get into.”“Oui, my Lord,” she replied obediently. “Is there anything else?”“I know my great aunt will arrive tomorrow. I have things to discuss with her.”Her eyes lit up as she smiled. “Really?” she
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