He went rising up and crashing down on the ebb and flow of their passion. With one final plunge and groan as she called out his name, he collapsed upon her, clutching her fiercely to him.
The indigo sky gave way to blackest night, and overwhelmed, he slept.
The young girl was sprawled on the bed, her legs wide, begging for help. Oliver shook his head. He should never have agreed to this.
He had told himself it would be one final time before he settled down to be a decent husband to Georgina, for Mr. Jerome had caved in and said both sisters could marry in June. He could hardly wait.
Georgina had given herself to him so ardently the night before that he got the most rampaging horn just thinking about it. He was bulging with desperate need.
If he couldn't be with her tonight, he just had to find an outlet. Had to discover if any other woman could make him feel like this, or if Georgina really was special to him, as he had come to suspect.
What had started out as a quest for her fortune had become head over heels lust, if not love. He burned with desire, but not as much as the young whore before him.
"I can't. This is madness. It can't be normal. I say, Adam, what have you been giving--"
His brother stepped closer to the bed, and bunching up his fist, smashed the girl in the mouth.
Oliver's eyes widened. At first he thought he had been seeing things, but Adam punched her in the face again.
"Steady on. She's not putting up a struggle or anything. Far from it. I say, Adam, enough is enough," Oliver said in horror, as Adam hit the hapless girl again, until she cowered away from him in a tight, weeping ball.
"Carnal relations with women is one thing, this is quite another. Get a hold of yourself!"
"She loves it. They all love it. You can hear her groaning."
"That's not-" But he could see his brother wasn't listening to him.
Adam was fumbling with his trousers, and cursed after a time. "Nothing, still nothing," he muttered. "My damned accident."
"Adam, you can't go around beating women like this!" Oliver said, truly shocked. "Sooner or later someone is going to report you. Us sharing the girls was a bit of fun, but I just wanted a bit of a lark, not to get arrested for rape or assault! We're supposed to be getting married in a couple of months. We can't risk talk."
"They all keep quiet, don't worry. They don't want to be accused of asking for it. Look at that Neville whore. Her and her husband never said a word about it, even though I gave it to her good," Adam said with an evil smile.
He uncorked the brandy bottle and took a hefty swig. "I'll be watching and waiting my chance again, just you wait and see. And this time, I will swive her. I've got money now, for both of us. Cleaned out those two dead old bitches, didn't I? I'm going to go to a good doctor in Bristol, said to be an expert. He can help me get my manhood back, I know he can. I'm only young. It's so unfair. What's wrong with these bitches that they can't make me happy?"
Oliver listened to his brother's tirade in silence, his mind reeling from the enormity of it all. He tried to say in a conversational tone, "When did you do Arabella? You never said a word about your triumph."
"It was her wedding night. Hah! Only sorry I didn't get to be the first after all. Blake was already poking the fire. But I'll go see the doctor and get it all back. Then I'll poke her fire in earnest. It will sure keep that husband of hers guessing. Did she want me after all, did I give her a disease…
"She was ours. We could have had her and her money if it hadn't been for him. So now we're going to have her money, and his. He's going to be tried for murder. Once he's hanged, we'll have the widowed Arabella, and all his wealth and hers."
"Hanged? I don't understand. What's he done?" Oliver asked in genuine alarm.
"It's what I've done." He smiled proudly. "His two paramours are both dead now. Rotten pair of whores the pair of them, so good riddance. They had some good jewels though, so we're all set for a while. Enough to carry us through to you getting married to Georgina. That Rosalie got hers. Leonore Ross too.
"I left evidence behind in the beds. A cufflink each from a pair I got the maid to steal. Got her to thieve from them first, and then I did her and all. If they haven't arrested Blake yet, they soon will.
"As soon as they do, I move in to offer our consolation and help to Arabella, marry her, and we're home free. More wealth than we've ever dreamed of. Then once Arabella is out of the way, I can have Ellen too. Or maybe even both at the same time, once the doctor gets my rooster to crow again..."
Lost in his fantasy world, Adam turned his attention back to the gasping girl. It was then Oliver realized that in all the time he had been whoring with his brother, he had never once seen him stand at attention. The fall from the horse must have….