The Taming of a Vixen Ch. 17-18

Alyssa moved swiftly, her hand rising like a bolt of lightning, striking out at the woman who meant to do her harm. She connected solidly, a jolt of pain going up an arm still weak from her fall down the stairs, but she couldn't stop.

As Abigail fell back, Alyssa came unsteadily to her feet and weaved towards the door.

She felt her hip hit a small desk, and stumbled against the chair that went with it; but then she was at the door, her hand grasping the handle and pulling as she tried to twist it. She felt Abigail's hand wrap in her hair and yank, displacing her pins and the small hat she'd fixed in place before she'd left. The older woman wrapped her arm around Alyssa's throat, hauling her backwards with uncanny strength, cutting off her air.

"You bitch!" Abigail screamed, twisting to throw Alyssa to the ground before falling atop of her.

The drug in her system made Alyssa slow and her hands didn't come up fast

enough to stop the woman from wrapping her hands around Alyssa's throat, her fingers brutally squeezing, cutting off her air.

"He's mine," Abigail crowed, laughing as Alyssa fought under her, turning red as she was deprived of needed oxygen. "He's mine! With you gone, I shall move into his home and be his wife."

"Bedamned if you will," Jason said from behind her, snatching her away from Alyssa.

"No!!" Abigail shouted, staring as the man she longed for fell to the ground next to his wife, gathering her in his arms as she gasped for air. "No! She has to die, Jason. She has to."

Running to a basket in the corner of the room, Abigail pulled out a pair of wickedly sharp scissors, running her fingers over the gleaming blade as she watched Jason pick up his wife. He turned his back to her and she dashed forward, the blades sparkling in the light coming in through the window. She hurled herself across the floor, determined to bury the blade in his back. For if she couldn't have him, then no one could. And her son would still be Duke, for she carried his heir.

A loud explosion shook the room and Jason spun on his heel to see Abigail staring down at the hole in her shoulder. The scissors dropped from her numbing fingers. She almost seemed to melt, falling to the ground bonelessly, her blood soaking into the carpet under her.

Teddy stood in the doorway, a smoking pistol in his hand. He nodded at Jason. Jason nodded back in thanks before continuing out the door and into Teddy's waiting carriage.

"Jason?" Alyssa groaned, her voice somewhat husky. "Is she dead?"

"No, my love. But she will wish she was. Teddy will get the guards and she will most likely spend the rest of her life in Bedlam Sanatorium." He laid her across his lap, his hands gentle as they touched the bruises on her neck.

"When I arrived home with Teddy in tow, I was informed of your whereabouts. I couldn't believe my ears. ."

"How was I to know who she was? She gave me something, some drug to make me sleepy." Alyssa rested her head against his shoulder, her eyes closing. "What of her baby?" she said sleepily.

"What of it?" he asked, reaching for the lap robe and wrapping her in it.

"Is it yours?"

Despite his resolve to never lie to her again, Jason felt a touch of unease at the question. "It could be love, but it could also belong to a number of other men. I cannot be sure."

"Then we'd better find out," she murmured. "For if she is going to Bedlam, what would happen to the baby?"

* * *

Epilogue

Alyssa and Jason became parents of a beautiful baby boy; his eyes were gray like his mother's, but his hair held the darkness of his father. He came into this world with a strong weight and was hale and hearty.

On the day that Abigail gave birth, having been condemned to Bedlam for an extended period, Alyssa and Jason went and collected the baby, adopting her as one of their own.

She was beautiful, a small precocious blonde with hair that shone so light at times to appear white. Her eyes were clear and blue, the color of a cloudless sky on a summer afternoon. She was born weeks after their little boy, alleviating the suspicion that Jason could have been the father. Neither let that fact stop them from adopting her and raising her as their own.