Suddenly, the sound of commotion filled the hallway outside, pulling everyone's attention away from the scene before them. Just as Thomas opened his mouth to investigate, another guard, shoved a bewildered young man into the room. "Found this lad sneakin' around," Sullivan announced, holding his pistol towards the young man.
The room immediately turned its attention to the newcomer. Evie's shocked gaze locked onto the one person she hadn't expected to be here, Caleb, her young, often foolhardy, apprentice.
Evie snapped out of her reverie, and found her voice. "Caleb, what in God's name are you doing here?" she asked, trying to conceal the fear and concern in her voice.
Caleb, his face ashen, glanced at Evie and immediately blushed scarlet, his gaze darting away from her scantily clad form. A mumbled response of, "Was just tryin' to...to help, Miss Frye," came from his direction, his voice barely audible.
The room was electric as stares turned from Evie back to the unfortunate youth, the men in the room seemingly stunned and amused at the same time. Evie, however, was anything but amused. Instead, her mind was racing on what she was going to do next. Worried that they might try to use him as blackmail.
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The tension was palpable as Thomas tore his attention away from the commotion, his gaze turning back to Evie. "Who said you could stop undressing, Frye?" he practically barked. "Don't stop until you're standing here naked, and we can see you're not hiding anything else!"
An intense surge of anger and embarrassment welled up within Evie. Despite her vulnerable state, she looked Thomas dead in the eye, her cheeks flaming. "As a woman, I deserve my dignity while undressing, without the likes of you staring at me!" she demanded, her voice laced with defiance.
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On cue, both Thomas and William erupted into laughter. "Did you hear that, Thomas?" William snickered, patting his bodyguard on the back. "She speaks of dignity when she's nothing but a thief!"
"Oh, you're quite hilarious, Miss Frye!" Thomas grunted with amusement. "You should've thought of that before deciding to steal from us! You'll undress in front of us, whether you like it or not!"
Her eyes ablaze with anger. "May you both rot in hell before you find an ounce of decency!"
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With her left hand still clutching at her breasts, she reluctantly reached for the waistband of her tights with her free hand and started to pull them down. As she barely managed to keep her dignity intact, the men quickly noticed the lack of further garments beneath her tights.
"Well well, Thomas," called William, eyes gleaming with perverse excitement. "Our Miss Frye doesn't bother with undergarments. Probably keeps her cooler, wouldn't you reckon?"
Thomas chuckled in response, raking his gaze over Evie. "Can't imagine the scent on a warm day is all that pleasant, Miss Frye," he made an exaggerated sniff. "Quite a natural woman, aren't you?"
Their crude comments stung, causing a flush of humiliation to spread over Evie. But she refused to cave into their cruelty.
To be continued...