I certainly caught a few of you out with my little joke at the end of last chapter! Can you imagine the reaction my first ever published book received when it ended at that point? Ugh! It was an awful idea, and the backlash was dreadful. 5000 readers bought the original ebook copy of Innocence, but only 1000 came back to read Protection, as they were rightfully annoyed. I'm so happy I've been able to join the two books back together again, both in published form on Amazon and here on FFn. :)

This is the prologue that was at the beginning of the second book, Protection. It is very dark! PM me if you are concerned. It's also only very short, so I'll also post the next chapter.

xx Elise

~I~

Prologue - Revenge

Lord James Hunter, erstwhile baron and fugitive from the King's justice, nursed a brandy in his right hand, his left occupied with squeezing the hip of the blonde lounging on the arm of his chair. She was overdressed in corset and chemise, a situation he would soon remedy. Considering his plans for the evening, it was a good thing her tolerance for rough treatment was high.

Having been stripped of his title and forced to flee abroad to avoid imprisonment—his return to England only temporary—Hunter's need for brutality was bordering on murderous. He hoped the girl survived the night, as she had been with him for a while now. Finding a replacement would be a nuisance.

"Sorry to hear about your trials, old chap."

His drinking companion's tone was gloating, and Hunter's grip tightened on the girl's cloth-covered flesh.

"Gettin' started already, my lord?" The whore stood and sauntered towards the bed, the sway of her hips drawing his eye.

"You'll know when we've started." He dismissed her with a flick of his fingers and looked to the man seated opposite. "Care to join us? It's been some months since I've indulged in a threesome—well, that sort of threesome. You can expect a high degree of physicality."

If his whip hand slipped and came down on the young lord's fragile skin, there wouldn't be anything the arrogant fop could do about it—and he might learn to treat his betters with a little more respect.

"Maybe next time. I've already put in my order down the road.''

Hunter shrugged. While he could appreciate the appeal of youth, he wasn't interested in bedding children. They bored him.

"You are a brave fellow for returning to English shores after the stunt you pulled," his drinking partner continued. "We've all been tempted to preempt an inheritance, but you must admit you took a risk trying to rid the Swan estate of its incumbent holder. Although, shooting the fellow in the chest should have been sufficient."

"Bloody oath, it should have," Hunter muttered, infuriated the retired officer had survived what he'd believed to be a mortal wound.

"What I can't understand is why you went to such effort over a minor estate, an entailed one at that, or why you'd want to wed the man's daughter," he said, a sly smile twisting his lips. "Don't tell me you developed a tendre for the chit? Although it would explain why you had all and sundry out hunting for her."

"I couldn't give a damn about the girl." Hunter downed his glass in one gulp and then threw it at the stone fireplace.

"Unappealing, was she?"

"Quite the opposite. Red hair, green eyes, and a form to make a man's hands itch. Well, a man who appreciates that sort of thing." Once she was under his control, Hunter anticipated receiving great enjoyment from marking the girl's porcelain skin—repeatedly. "She was merely a means to an end."

"What end would that be? I heard the necklace the daughter took with her when she fled was valuable."

"Valuable?" Hunter sneered.

His curiosity had been piqued by the rumours of a French princess having escaped the Terror, a priceless pearl necklace in her possession, but he'd never expected to discover her daughter was his distant cousin. Motivated by increasing debt, he had only made the journey to Swan Manor in the hopes of finding his predecessor in poor health or a generous mood. But one glance at his flame-haired daughter, who bore a striking likeness to the princess whose portrait Hunter had seen at St James's Palace, and he'd realised a far greater prize than the minor estate was within his reach. If they had wed, the girl's connections, once publicly acknowledged, would have greatly increased his standing. Considering the paltry size of her dowry, he'd have had to realise the monetary value of the necklace—a challenge given its notoriety. The situation was simpler now that he no longer need worry about the opinions of others, a two-edged sword for which he had Miss Swan to thank.

"The necklace isn't merely valuable, it's priceless." Hunter dangled the hook. "But not worth half as much as my sweet cousin to the right buyer."

"Really? She must be something special." His visitor's eyes lit with avarice before slowly dimming. "It's a pity your plan failed so comprehensively. The girl not only escaped, she eluded capture for several months. Hid out with her old governess, or so I heard. Her father didn't die, and now you have been publicly denounced. A bit of a disappointment all round, I imagine."

If Hunter hadn't needed him, the young fop would have regretted his patronising tone.

"Plan A was unsuccessful, but there are many more letters in the alphabet."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I plan to make Sir Charles regret his survival. As for his daughter, Miss Isabella Swan is going to pay a high price for thwarting me." Confident his prospective accomplice had taken the bait, Hunter reeled him in. "To take possession of what is rightfully mine—the necklace and the girl, both worth a fortune in the right circles, a fortune I am willing to share—I shall need some assistance."

~I~

Eek! You were right to be worried about Hunter! He's a truly despicable man.

There was lots of interest in reading the Edward POV chapters that were cut from the story so far (we start hearing from him from here on out), so I separated them from the original story, and to my surprise, they came to almost 50 000 words! I'm not sure how you'd like me to post them, as they start from close to the beginning, when Bella first arrives at Worthington. I could go back and add them in where they fit, just at the bottom of the applicable chapters. Or would you prefer I posted them separately as outtakes? Let me know, and I'll get on it. :)

xx Elise