Wages of Sin Read Online Free PDF Page B

imagination. She was alone in the house yet she could hear the sound of heavy footsteps echoing along the deserted corridor - and they were coming towards her room!
    She whimpered with fright as they grew nearer, her eyes focused on the thick door that was the only barrier between her and whatever horror stalked the long gallery.
    The key grated in the lock; she cowered back as the doorknob turned slowly and the door yawned open to reveal - her stepfather!
    Relief made her smile, until she saw the expression on his face. All thoughts of ghosts and bogies evaporated before the terrifying reality of what she read in his eyes. Face white, she began to back away.
    For a moment he stood on the threshold, his lips twisting with pleasure as he savoured her terror, then he advanced into the room, kicking the door shut behind him.
    â€˜Ready, my pretty little whore?’ he whispered. ‘It’s time to pay the piper.’
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Chapter Five
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    â€˜Wh-what do you want?’ she managed through numb lips, as she scrambled away from him.
    â€˜What do I want?’ he jeered mockingly. ‘You thick-witted slut! What do you think I want? I want what you’ve already given away to every Tom, Dick and Harry.’
    For a moment she stared at him. What was he talking about? Then it dawned on her and her already pale face drained of all remaining colour. No! He couldn’t mean that...?
    â€˜I... I don’t know what you mean,’ she stammered, playing for time as her mind raced, looking for an escape from this monstrous situation.
    â€˜Oh, yes, you do,’ he hissed, his hands reaching for the buckle on his belt and beginning to fumble it free. ‘If you can play the whore for any passing stranger, then you can play the whore for me.
    â€˜Who was it took your fancy?’ he sneered. ‘Some glib-tongued gypsy rogue? Some sturdy beggar with a strong body beneath his rags? Or a pilgrim perhaps, who stopped to pay his respects to Venus instead of Our Lady?’ He snorted, his smile becoming lascivious. ‘What does it matter who he was? He had you. And now I shall have you too.’
    â€˜You would not dare!’ she gasped. ‘It is against all the laws of man and God! You are my father!’
    â€˜Stepfather,’ he reminded, grinning. ‘As you are so fond of pointing out, I am merely your mother’s husband.’ His cold eyes ran over her cringing body in an assessing fashion. ‘And why should I content myself with the scrawny old hen when the plump young pullet is so ripe for the plucking?’
    â€˜I shall scream,’ she warned, taking a step backwards.
    â€˜Scream away. There’s no one to hear you. Everyone’s at the fair, except for old Tom and he’s as deaf as a post. You could scream loud enough to wake the dead and he’d still not hear you.’ He chuckled as he stepped towards her. ‘There’s no knight in shining armour coming to save the fair maiden this time. It’s just you and me.’
    Backing away from him she bumped against her toilet table. One hand groped behind and her fingers closed on the carved wooden box that held her few jewels. As he stepped towards her she lifted it and swung it towards his head. He grunted as the corner caught his temple and the lid flew off, scattering her baubles over the floor. For a moment he staggered and she made a dart for the door - and freedom.
    She squealed in pain as a cruel hand caught her upper arm and dragged her back. He whirled her round, his face, swollen with rage, scant inches from hers, his breath hot against her cheek. Blood trickled down from the wound above his eye. ‘You little bitch,’ he snarled, slapping her with his open palm.
    Her head spun, but she still managed to raise her other hand to claw at his cheek. He grinned as he caught it, forcing it behind her back to join its twin. He had both wrists trapped in his left hand now and she writhed