Seduce Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

compliance.
    “You’ll have a banknote for half before you leave today,” Jensen said, not even blinking. “The other half when you bring us
     the box.”
    “Will you accept our proposition?” Mr. Nichols asked. Fielding grinned. “I will.”

Chapter Three

    S ometime the next evening, after an exhausting journey, the coach rattled to a stop. At some point during their long ride,
     the men had untied her hands and removed the cloth from her mouth, making it far easier to breathe. Esme was most eager to
     exit the vile enclosure so she might stretch her legs and relieve herself. Neither man offered her assistance, but she managed
     to climb out of the rig.
    Of course her hope that they had stopped at an inn and she’d be able to seek help from a stranger was dashed when she saw
     no welcoming lamps. Instead she faced a barren landscape without a house or even a barn in sight. Her first few steps were
     unsteady, but she was able to maneuver herself behind the nearest bush.
    “Stay with the girl and see that she doesn’t try to run away,” Thatcher yelled.
    Desperate to avoid being seen by her abductors in such a state of dishabille, Esme hurriedly tugged her clothes into place.
     She stepped back onto the path. Waters grabbed her arm and led her through a clearing. She surveyed their surroundings as
     best she could in the dusky evening light. The moon hung heavy and low behind her, still rising but illuminating the stone
     walls in front of them. Off in the distance she could hear water lapping at rocks and gulls crying. She inhaled deeply and
     filled her lungs with crisp, salty air; they were on the coast.
    It had taken them a while to traverse London, but once they were on the open road, they’d traveled all day and into the early
     evening. Not long enough to reach a western or northern coastline.
    Waters grabbed her arm. “We won’t hurt you if you just do as you’re told.” He led her forward toward a bank of crumbled rock
     walls.
    “Considering I’m not certain of what you want, cooperation might be challenging.” Esme waited for his response, but none came.
     Indignantly she jerked away from the man.
    The ruins stretched on as far as her eye could see, in some spots nothing more than a pile of stone, whereas other sections
     still had full walls standing. He led her to a spot where the wall had crumbled down to nothing and stepped over the threshold
     into the ruins. Cold stone chilled her feet through her thin slippers, and the damp night breeze scattered goose bumps across
     her body. In a futile effort at gaining warmth, she pulled her thin robe tighter. The scent of damp earth and moss permeated
     the air as they moved farther into the decaying building, past more piles of rubble, through tumbled-down archways and heaps
     of rotting timbers.
    “What is this place?” she asked.
    “It was a monastery,” Waters said.
    They came to a steep staircase, which proved difficult to maneuver. The moss-covered stairs were slippery and lacked a railing,
     but with careful steps, she made it to the bottom unscathed. Water dripped into several puddles in an odd cadence, giving
     the large cavernous room a hollow feeling.
    They said they were taking her to a dungeon, and they had made good on that promise. In the flickering light of the men’s
     lanterns, she saw that a torture cage hung loosely from the ceiling across from her, though, thankfully, it looked to be in
     rather poor condition. Several sets of manacles were fastened to the wall, the ceiling above them partially collapsed. She
     suspected the thing off in the far corner was a pit. She shuddered to think of being crammed into the tiny box with nothing
     but the dark surrounding her.
    “I believe you are mistaken,” she said. “This couldn’t possibly have been a monastery. Monks are not predisposed to torture—upon
     themselves, perhaps, but not upon others.”
    “This was an old castle before the monks inherited it,” Waters said.