Chapter 2
Ichabod Crane became aware of a throbbing in the back of his skull as he slowly regained consciousness.
He slowly opened his eyes. The room he was in was dark, dusty and not very large. It appeared that it was now late in the evening.
At he became fully wake he realized he couldn't move his wrists. There was something like cord wrapped tightly around them. It cut into his wrists if he tried to move them from behind his back... and no amount of tugging would get it to loosen.
"You're not going anywhere " said an amused, husky and undeniably feminine voice behind him. Something about it sent a shiver up the back of his neck.
"Who's there?" he asked nervously, trying to move his head to look behind him. A high chuckle came from behind him.
Out the corner of his eyes he saw a woman with long silky pale blonde hair and a deep purple dress walk past. When she turned to face him his dark eyes widened in shock.
"Mary?" he said unbelievingly.
She grinned maliciously. "Yes me. Who else do you think knocked you out and took you here?" she drawled.
"Why?" he asked in that same unbelieving tone.
"Well I couldn't let you get in the way of my plans" she said as if it was obvious.
"You… you raised the horseman?" he said. His voice was still shocked… but it was starting to make sense to him now. Once Baltus was out of the way everything would go to Mary.
"The Van Garrett's turned my family out of our home… leaving us to starve in the Western Woods. They deserved what they got."
"That's why you married Baltus?" he asked in a tone that suggested nothing would shock him now.
"Of course. I was determined that everything the Van Garrett's had would be mine. First I became the former Lady Van Tassel's sick nurse. Then I put her body in the grave… and my own in the marriage bed. After that it was simply a matter of killing all those who stood between me and the Van Garrett's fortune… and all those I couldn't seduce or coerce into keeping quiet" she said smugly.
"The man I saw you with in the forest…" he said thoughtfully.
"The Reverend Steenwyck" she said with a grin like the cat that had got the cream. Even a so-called 'man of God' had been unable to resist her charms. No one had… except the man tied to chair in front of her, she thought, grin dropping slightly.
He couldn't help wondering what she had in store for him. If she had wanted to kill him he'd be dead already… but she couldn't let him go now he knew everything.
"Well my Lady" he said, making the 'lady' ever so slightly sarcastic. "Now you have me here what are you going to do with me?" he asked.
He hadn't meant it to come out suggestively but a mischievous smile spread over her face.
"I'm sure I can think of something…" she purred, blue eyes wandering down his body. He blushed and looked away. He wasn't used to women looking at him like he was something they wanted to eat.
"Are you blushing… constable?" she teased, a wry smile curving the edges of her lips as she took several steps closer to him.
"You know…" she said casually as she leaned over him, resting her hand on the arm of the chair and giving him an excellent view of her slender white neck, and the soft curves that peeked over the low neckline of her dress.
"I never understood why you would be interested in a little goose like my stepdaughter… when you could have a real woman…" she said in a casual but rather suggestive tone.
"Katrina has many… many fine qualities…" he said in a slightly hoarse voice. His breathing had already started to quicken in response to her closeness… and the desire in those blue eyes.
"No doubt" she said in her usual ladylike voice, leaning in so her lips were by his ear… her breath warming the side of his neck. "But would she know what to do with this?" she whispered, reaching down between his legs to lightly stroke him through the fabric of his trousers.
He couldn't prevent a sound somewhere between a gasp and a groan leaving his lips as he felt her hand on him. She smirked in triumph.
"Madame…" he said firmly but breathlessly.
"Yes?" she asked innocently, leaning in to press her soft lips against the side of his neck. Her hand gave him a firm but gentle squeeze that made blood rush to certain parts of his anatomy.
He had to bite back a groan as she continued to touch him.
It so was difficult not to react. Even though he kept himself it was wrong… that this was Katrina's stepmother… he couldn't prevent his body responding to her caresses.
She slowly leaned in. For a moment he thought she would kiss him… and he knew he would let her. She pressed her lips against the side of his face and straightened up.
Alarm went through him when she produced a knife from the pocket of her dress. Had she decided to kill him after all?
She quickly cut through the ropes binding him, smirking at his startled expression.
"There's no need to keep you tied up. You won't be able to leave anyway" she grinned.
"Will I not?" he asked in dismay.
"A spell to prevent someone leaving a building is child's play compared to controlling the Hessian" she pointed out.
"Now if you'll excuse me I have places to go... heads that need chopping off" she said sweetly.
She breezed from the room, leaving him sitting there… his thoughts in confusion. Part of him was relieved she hadn't done more to him… and part of him wished she had.