CHAPTER SONG: "I've Got You Under My Skin" by J2
After Will and Emmy watched Joe Blake's rig depart with Molly and the children to hide them, they went back into the house, a sense of tension and exhaustion racking through both of their bodies.
The anxious corporal locked the front door with Emmy closing the curtains of the parlor windows to make sure nobody could peep inside. Bucky followed her every step with the occasional whine of worry, feeling the vibe of uneasiness within the room.
Will leaned forward against the closed door, the palms of his hands flat against the wooden structure barricading them from the exposure of the dangers outside. Nausea twisted his stomach as a wave of dizziness threatened to take him down to his knees and he suppressed a groan of sudden fatigue.
Emmy immediately perceived her fiancé's demeanor of trying to keep himself together, seeing the slight wobble of his long legs and the shivering of his upper body. Without either of them saying a word in that moment, she made her way to stand behind him as he leaned still against the door, pressing herself against his back and enfolding her arms around his abdomen, squeezing him in a protective embrace and assuring him that he wasn't alone, placing a kiss to his shoulder blade.
Her cheek pressed against the vertebrae of his muscular back, the curls of her hair tickling the nape of his neck. His panting breaths began to slowly calm down and his hands came up to hold hers, their fingers interlocking in an unbreakable grip. Will gathered the fortitude to straighten his posture, inhaling deep breaths as his fingertips felt the engagement ring on Emmy's hand, just the mere touch of his mother's heirloom he had gifted to the woman holding him provided the strength he needed to keep from accepting defeat in this predicament they now found themselves in.
"Come here." Emmy whispered softly, her hands gently pulling out of his grip and grasping onto his shoulders to slowly turn him around to face her. She stood on the tips of her toes, wrapping her arms fully around her soldier as he too encircled his arms about her petite body, her lips kissing the reddened scarring of acne on his cheek that signified the stress he was under. "It'll be alright, baby. We'll get through this together, I promise. I love those girls and I love Molly… and I love you, my Will. For better or for worse, right?"
They pulled away slightly out of their embrace, Will looking down at his American beloved, the green orbs of her eyes alight with life and fire as the back of his fingers raised up to stroke her pink blossom cheek, reveling in the warmth of her touch. Not a day went by since the moment she had awakened from her coma where she hadn't become more beautiful and his heart would threaten to stop beating every time he laid eyes on her.
As the man who intended to marry her, he had found it difficult to envision how she would look on their wedding day, knowing his fantasies wouldn't compare to seeing her in a glorious bridal gown further emphasizing her beauty.
"Yes, my angel. For better or worse… as long as we both shall live." Will murmured with a deep huskiness to his voice, leaning down to kiss her, the palm of his large hand cradling her cheek with the softness of a flower petal as Emmy smiled lovingly at him, closing her eyes in bliss.
Before their lips could touch, the sudden sound of Bucky growling alerted them to pay attention to what was happening. The chocolate furred retriever jumped up toward one of the parlor windows facing outward of the house to the front yard and stood on his hind legs, his paws clinging onto the windowsill as he whined and barked.
The dog turned around, placing his paws back onto the floor and looked up at Emmy and Will, his black eyes wide and void of any playfulness, small whines emanating from his throat.
The engaged couple knew something wasn't right.
Then, a startling knock sounded on the door from the front porch. Bucky growled again, his ears pointed up to signal his protective canine instincts coming forward to guard his human owners.
"He's here." Will whispered, one of his arms clutching Emmy carefully to him, his body angled to place himself between his love and the front door. "I need you to take Bucky and go upstairs to your room and lock the door. Don't come out until I say he's gone."
"Will, I'm not gonna hide, and I won't let him hurt you either." She withdrew out of his hold, still close enough to him as she placed her hand on his pale cheek. "I stand beside you as your equal, remember?"
He looked down into her determined eyes, seeing her stubborn resilience and knowing she wouldn't back down. Despite Will's desire to keep her safe as he had promised himself, he had to trust her words. She had saved herself from Erik without his help and he would always hold regret for not being able to protect her from such a predatory brute.
And the day was coming within weeks of having to leave her again for France, and she would be without him at her side. The inevitable agony of separation…
He inhaled a deep breath, taking ahold of her hand upon his cheek and placing a kiss to the pulse of her wrist. "Very well… but if he lays one finger on you…"
"If anything happens, we'll deal with it." Emmy interrupted him, aiming to remind him of why they were doing this in the first place. "This isn't about me; it's about keeping Molly, Cici and Elle safe. Our family safe..."
Another sharp knock at the door, more insistent and impatient this time, broke Emmy and Will away from their talking. A deep growl vibrated through Will's chest, his own instinct to guard his childhood home paralleling that of Bucky, who he beckoned to stay by Emmy as he turned away from his bride-to-be and made his way to the door.
His fingers struggled not to shake as he turned the lock and twisted the knob, pulling open the door as he heard the concerned grunt of Bucky, the brown canine planted loyally at Emmy's feet. He stood firm and tall in the entryway of the house, stepping on the threshold, his shoulders straight and head held high to properly face his estranged and despised brother-in-law.
Will held back a shiver of internal rage as he met the ice-cold stare of James Satterwhaite. He spoke first, keeping his voice at a low volume to not alarm Emmy. "You have nerve showing your face here, James. Though I'm proud to see that Molly packed a wallop for your return yesterday."
He nodded his chin up, gesturing to James' heavily bruised nose from Molly's defending herself from his advances. He couldn't help but smirk at the humiliated scowl of the older man, but he quickly reminded himself to remain serious while facing this enemy.
"I see you've still managed to not be blown up by the Bosche, brother dearest." James also kept his voice lowered, his baritone holding an air of condescending snobbery. "I'm aware that you're keeping my sweet wife and children from me… if you tell me where they are, I'll gladly leave you be."
Will placed both hands firmly on both sides of the entryway, blocking James from seeing inside the house. "You've no right to consider them as yours anymore. If you've any regard for them, you'll give Molly the divorce and let her keep the children, and revoke any legal right to them as their father."
"I've no wish to fight with you, Will. I know you've never liked me as I never liked you… though I grudgingly respect you for that beating you gave me that night." James chuckled, smiling with conceited pride at the sight of Will's hands clutching tight onto the doorway, as though he were physically restraining himself from fighting his sister's husband right there. "I didn't think you had the balls to defend Molly's honor."
"You dare to speak of honor when you possess none yourself, sir. If you value your wellbeing at all, you'll leave this very moment, or I will find a way of hurting you." Will's voice lowered even further so Emmy wouldn't hear, his nostrils flaring with seething anger.
James continued as though Will hadn't spoken at all, let alone threatened him. "While I'm here, it'd be rude of you not to introduce me to your lady friend. I'd like to meet her, see if she's as beautiful as the rumors say she is."
Will's jaw clenched tightly, seeing that James wasn't going to leave unless he was satisfied in some way. He turned his head behind him to see Emmy standing in the middle of the parlor, petting Bucky behind the ears to calm the whining dog down.
He met her eyes, and she nodded, having understood the nature of the men's conversation and Will knew he was taking a risk allowing this man to be in the same room as his betrothed. Turning back to face James, he spoke louder for Emmy to hear them. "Five minutes, I'll allow. And I'll force you out if she wishes you gone before time is up."
"And you do everything she tells you to do? She's taking you on the path of emasculation, brother mine." James dared to take verbal aim at Will's confidence as a man, seeing the corporal's features remain stoic and his gaze landing carefully on the woman standing in the parlor and the young soldier went to join his fiancée at her side.
James and Emmy's eyes met, neither one of them blinking, the older man taking note of her hand grasping onto Will's, their fingers interwoven. To James' amusement and secret surprise, he saw no hint of uncertainty or fear, and he smirked at the conformation of her eyes being green…
As James opened his mouth to verbally dress her down in humiliation, she cut him to the quick, speaking first to assert herself as a force that he wouldn't underestimate if his instincts were to be correct. "I've heard a lot about you, James. I'm Emmanuelle, Will's fiancée."
"My dear… I've heard many a rumor about you. And so far, one of them is to be true. Your eyes are a most beguiling green. Though you're not exactly a fair English beauty, like my little Molly. A woman of your… character isn't one to be the proper wife; one I would imagine Will marrying." James' own gaze looked her up and down from head to toe, like she was an animal at auction to be appraised for sale. "You made the loveliest sounds by the lake yesterday, I'm certain the entire village could hear you gasping for it like a bitch in heat."
"Dare bloody dare you?!" Will hissed, a boiling fury within his body, every word from James' lips increasing his growing anger as he resisted the urge to place himself in front of Emmy and shield her from the older man's judgmental stare. Instead, he inched forward to not bump her standing next to him, Bucky resuming a low growl. "You shall not speak to her that way and you will apologize at once!"
"No, Will!" Emmy stepped forward to get physically closer to James, releasing Will's hand from hers, causing the younger man to stop in surprise. Despite her shorter height, her formidable attitude surged her to defend herself from this awful man and Will froze while still standing close by, his eyes vigilant of every gesture between his fiancée and his brother-in-law. "I don't need an apology from him. That won't fix anything."
"Emmy…" Will attempted to interject, taking a step forward, placing his hand gently on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.
"No, dear boy. Let the girl speak her peace." James raised his eyebrows in a gesture of challenge to the young woman, a smirk forming upon his mouth in amusement to what she possessed with her own verbal ammunition. "We are in the age of the suffragists, after all."
"I'll be frank here… I don't care what you think of me. You can threaten me and slut-shame me all you want. I'm not perfect and I don't pretend to have a clean past with men, but I've dealt with plenty like you before. And I know that Molly and those girls deserve better than someone like you for a husband and father. And you have nobody in your life who wants you around. You're just an abusive tyrant who almost killed his pregnant wife. You're small and pathetic and a fucking waste of space. And if you ever hurt our family again, I'll make you pay with my last breath and you'll regret crossing me." Emmy's voice was a low seething whisper, her eyes remaining on James' face as his smile slightly grew into a grin of tempered admiration and disbelief at her words. "And I've nothing more to say to you. You'll leave this property now, or find yourself with something worse than a broken nose."
With her head held high, Emmy turned on her heel and walked away from the two men, not sparing James a backward glance as they stood in bewilderment for a few seconds at her verbal warning. James' hand flinched as he stared at the back of her neck, exposed with her hair twisted in a coiled braid behind her head. He imagined his hands wrapped around her treacherous beautiful throat, her windpipe crushed in his grip, her larynx damaged irreparably so she could never speak again…
"You heard her, James. Leave this house or you know damn well what happens to you." Will roughly pushed him toward the front door, Bucky nipping at their heels as he growled up at James, who regarded the canine in silent displeasure.
"I daresay, Will. Your little viper has quite a mouth on her, spitting me with her venom. 'Tis your husbandly duty after you wed to silence her if she steps out of line." James knew exactly where to strike the young corporal's weak spots of chivalry, daring to push him closer to violence with Emmy nearby in hearing distance. "Your sister can attest to such an occurrence every time she disobeyed me."
Will grabbed the back of James' neck, forcing him to bend forward at the waist and shoving him through the doorway, causing the older man to tumble onto the porch.
"Give Molly the divorce and custody, James…" Will commanded him, knowing full well that he wanted so badly to end his senseless life right there. "… and never, ever enter our lives again…"
"And allow your foreign bride-whore to take my place, fill my daughters' heads with suffragette nonsense?" James continued his tirade of insulting Emmy, knowing that while she herself claimed not to care what he thought, Will would never hesitate in defending her.
"You watch your next words very, very carefully." Will grabbed James by the lapels of his jacket, pulling him to stand from the porch surface and pushing him up against the closed front door, his normally refined voice a velvet growl. "Emmanuelle wears my mother's ring and she will not be disrespected whilst I'm here to protect her honor."
James scoffed at the soldier's choice of words. "But, dear William, she said so herself, she possesses no such honor. In fact, I'm sure she doubts you're capable of protecting her at all. If her green eyes are anything to show for, she's on her way to damnation, being the witch she is. If it's not a sleeping coma that'll take her, maybe an execution by hanging, though a burning pyre would suit her best."
With every word James spoke, Will only saw blood-red, rage coursing through his veins as he pulled his sister's husband away from the wall and tugged him down the porch steps, finally shoving the older Englishman to the ground. "Get the bloody hell out of here, you worthless bastard! If you come anywhere near Molly or Emmy again, I'll put a bullet in your head… I swear to bleeding Christ, James!"
Will swore that he saw a glint of genuine shock and apprehension in his brother-in-law's eyes as he lifted himself back onto his feet, turning away from the furious corporal, but managing to compose himself and turn back halfway to shout one more idle warning of menace.
"You can't keep them hidden forever, William. It's a small village, only so many places they can go. I'll find them and they'll be mine again! God help whoever stands in my way…" And Will felt very little sense of security or accomplishment as he watched James walk away, making sure he fully vacated the property, waiting until he was walking the cobblestone pathway toward the town square and keeping distance from the house.
Will closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath to calm down before going back inside, and for a horrifying instance, he visualized Emmy in a wedding dress stained with crimson blood seeping at her abdomen, the skirt of her gown piling around her broken body like a funeral wreath…
.
.
That night, Will made love to Emmy in her bed in the guest room for the first time.
Between carnality and tenderness, something had awakened within both of them in their intimacy following today's incident with James. Will kissed away any iota of pain he sensed within Emmy, pain she was feeling along with her doubts of being worthy, his mere presence bathing her with his unconditional love.
As they came down from their first session of lovemaking that evening, he tasted the tears on her heated cheeks, and he knew only to hold her as she sobbed into his neck, muttering how she shouldn't let James' words get to her and how scared she had felt deep down while trying to keep a brave façade.
He knew better than to interrupt, just allow her to release everything as his arms sheltered her with his warmth.
For each instance he was within her, gasping out her name in exhilarating adoration and seeing the returning look of love back at him every time she panted to catch her breath, seeing the effort he went to please and cherish her.
Every tender kiss imprinted on her body from his lips spoke more volumes than any words of romance or reassurance… all she needed was his touch, the feel of his strong hands on her naked skin, his long fingers tangling in her untamed hair.
As they collapsed against the pillows after one final bout of vigorous lovemaking, ending with Will's tongue tasting her "down there", Emmy nuzzled against his bare collarbone, biting onto his shoulder.
"How are we going to follow all of that on our wedding night? I'm surprised we didn't break the bed with this old mattress." Emmy snuggled even closer, causing the springs beneath them to squeak.
Will chuckled at her words, a smile forming on his lips as he kissed her forehead. "My love, if I had one evening in my life to anticipate with joy, it'd be my first night as your wedded husband."
"Hmmm… say that again. Say it like you're reciting a poem and I'm your muse." Emmy whispered, their noses brushing as their foreheads met, their heads on the same pillow.
Will's hand cupped her cheek, his fingertips brushing a curl of brown hair from her temple. "I, Corporal William Christopher Schofield of the Eighth Devonshire Regiment…"
Emmy then opened her mouth in a wide oval shape, releasing a loud yawn to signify her playful boredom with his long dragging out of his military rank and name. "No offense, baby, but I almost fell asleep listening to that."
He recognized the soft sarcasm in her voice mixed with the coming exhaustion as she inhaled a genuine yawn and he smiled at her jest. "I'm sorry, my darling. Perhaps, I overextended myself in our exertions tonight."
Emmy's heart raced at his particular choice of words, one of her legs rising up to enfold around his hip. "No, it's alright. I'm actually impressed with how long we went. Tomorrow, I just want to stay in bed with you."
Will saw her eyelids struggling to remain open and he quietly spoke again, the tips of his fingers, tracing along behind her back, above the bones of her spine. "Emmanuelle… in all seriousness, I should not have allowed that man anywhere near you. It was enraging enough, seeing him in such close proximity to you and… and everything he said tonight even after you told him to leave… it took everything in me not to kill him right there and then. To threaten Molly and the girls is one thing… but to wish harm on you… the woman I love… "
Emmy felt his choked up emotions burgeoning to the surface and she shushed him calmly, running her fingers through his dark hair before moving them along the length of his cheek, her thumb tracing his lips. "Shh… I know he sees me as a threat in his path to Molly, Cici and Elle. He doesn't know me, which is an advantage Erik had that allowed him to gain the upper hand and kidnap me. I underestimated a man's obsession before and I won't make that mistake again. James will get his comeuppance, one way or another."
Will absorbed her words, listening to the courage and wisdom with which she spoke. Not knowing what to say in response, he could only blink back a tear and wrap her fully into his arms, placing a kiss on her lips.
He drifted off several minutes later into sleep while listening to her mutter in her dreams, whispering the lyrics of Let Me Call You Sweetheart in her ear and tried to ward off the nightmares his brain conjured up of seeing her bound in ropes to a stake, surrounded by a towering inferno of scorching flames to burn alive.
.
.
Will opened his eyes the next morning to Emmy's side of the small bed empty, his arms instinctively reaching for her as he woke up to the early morning blue of the dark sky.
As he opened his mouth to say her name, a bloodcurdling scream of fright assaulted his ears.
A woman's scream…
His beloved Emmy was screaming…
Panic twisted every which way through his bones as Will sprung half-dressed from the bedroom, yelling Emmy's name as he raced down the stairs and through the parlor, searching for any signs of her or nearby danger.
"WILL! Will, please…!" He heard her cry out for him, just like in his nightmares of losing her.
"Emmy!" He shouted for her again, going through the dining room and not finding her still.
He slowed when he reached the kitchen and pantry, looking through the window to see her kneeling in the grass of the backyard, clothed in her sheer lace nightgown.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the unfinished bookshelf he had begun carving for her as a wedding gift, but that wasn't what had her wailing in horror.
He pushed the door open and made his way outside, rushing to his love who appeared to be frozen in shock.
Will knelt beside her on the ground, his eyes scanning her over for visible injuries, and she only shook her head, tears and snot staining her paled face as she pointed with her wavering hand to a familiar form lying lifeless on the ground meters away from them.
He barely registered Emmy's collapsing against his chest in a terrorized faint as he recognized his carpenter axe in the grass and beside it laid the fly-ravaged carcass of Bucky in a pile of blood.
