Elizabeth left the room and descended the stairs into the main room of the house where the family sat silently. William sat in a chair facing windows that faced the same western direction that she had been looking through upstairs. He hadn't needed to see the men from the window to know they were coming. They were nearly upon them now. Elizabeth's older nieces avoided looking at her, as she was sure their mother had instructed. She was trapped in a tortuous period of waiting, and alternated in her mind between wishing she could stop time, and wishing she could just speed it up.
Elizabeth knew that everything was about to change, again. She took in everything in the small room and knew that it would be etched in her mind for the rest of her existence; the golden light that diagonally traversed through the windows over her brother's daughters, the illuminated particles of dust that danced through the air, the warm brown hues of the wooden floor and furniture throughout. Though
Elizabeth left the room and descended the stairs into the main room of the house where the family sat silently. William sat in a chair facing windows that faced the same western direction that she had been looking through upstairs. He hadn't needed to see the men from the window to know they were coming. They were nearly upon them now. Elizabeth's older nieces avoided looking at her, as she was sure their mother had instructed. She was trapped in a tortuous period of waiting, and alternated in her mind between wishing she could stop time, and wishing she could just speed it up.Elizabeth knew that everything was about to change, again. She took in everything in the small room and knew that it would be etched in her mind for the rest of her existence; the golden light that diagonally traversed through the windows over her brother's daughters, the illuminated particles of dust that danced through the air, the warm brown hues of the wooden floor and furniture throughout. Though
"Such a sharp-witted witch, with an even sharper tongue." He moved impossibly close, his face now a breath from her own. In her restrained position she had no way to move away from him, she found that she was not dissatisfied with the choice being taken from her. Elizabeth did not trust that she would have retreated from him if she had been able. His large hands moved up to frame her jaw, tilting her neck up to look at him. She found her eyes locked in on his lips, his smirk had been replaced by an intense expression of what had to be lust that made her body quake. His mouth descended to catch her bottom lip between his teeth, he bit down gradually increasing his force. Her eyes instinctively fluttered closed as all of her focus moved to the sensations being experienced by her mouth.His teeth opened to release their captive only to have his lips insist on prying her own apart. His tongue demanded entry to her mouth before she had any idea what was happening. She had never be
John moved his chair back to the table and shook her awake gently. She hadn't felt like she had been asleep, her eyes felt dry and scratchy. "Come witch, they will be here soon." He pulled her gently from the table by her still restrained hands, back to the ceiling hook. Her muscles were stiff and sore as he extended her arms back above her head to the hook. This time she was unable to hide her tears. "Shh, my sweet, be strong." He wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb and kissed her, melding his lips perfectly to hers and gently exploring her mouth with his tongue. It had the intended effect of distracting her, but ended much too quickly as noise came from the hallway. John moved away back to the chair near the table as the large iron door creaked open. She took a deep shaky breath and tried to take John's advice and be strong. She didn't feel strong, she felt beaten, but she knew that the battle was just beginning.Jonathan's uncle Gerald entered the cell with the mi
"This is true." Gerald seconded."Stay," she heard John say from the corner of his mouth as he released her to stand on her own, still with her back to her audience. John walked behind her and she felt infuriatingly bereft in his absence. He was quick to return, although she could not see him as he remained behind her. She felt the presence of his large body. Suddenly she felt a sharp prick in the area John's finger had lingered on before above her buttocks. She made a hissing sound more in surprise than actual pain. She realized that he had poked her blemish with a needle as she felt a drop of what she surmised to be blood tickling her skin in its slow descent."It bleeds." John said with what sounded like a hint of annoyance."Search her again, make sure there are no other marks, be thorough." His uncle ordered from across the room. She was sure this was part of the facade to convince the minister of their legitimacy. She rolled her eyes openly as her face was
"I'm sorry lass." Gerald said as he untied the gag from around her mouth followed by pools of drool that it had caused. She was beyond feeling humiliated at her appearance, she just wanted to sleep and forget. There were no windows in the cell but it had to be late afternoon by now, and she had been allotted minimal sleep and sustenance, with an exuberant amount of stress being placed on her mind and body, she was exhausted."The alternative tests the minister proposed were much worse." He continued, as he took a clean cloth and some water from the table and gently dabbed her back, where the worst of the scratches were. She winced out despite his lack of pressure. He had a large bag in the corner of the cell that she only noticed when he walked over and pulled out a small pot from it."This will sting at first." He said as he applied some kind of oily salve from the pot with his fingers over the welts. She hissed through her teeth at the pain the salve caused but once
Her body was shaking in the aftermath of the pleasure he had given her. His body sank into hers and she revelled in the feeling of his weight on her. He groaned and grabbed her body and quickly flipped onto his back pulling her with him to lay on top of him while pulling out of her. She laid her head on his chest and tried to recover her breathing."Are you okay?" He finally broke the silence, his deep voice vibrating her ear laying over his chest.She chuckled. "You've already asked me that, repeatedly.""I'm serious, Elizabeth. I'm sorry, I -""I'm not, John." She sighed. Thankfully he didn't insist on continuing his apology. She didn't know how, nor did she wish to explain the tumultuous emotions that had been happening within her throughout the day. She wasn't sure what she thought about John Davis, but she did know how she felt about him. Hearing his voice after a day of being physically and emotionally drained made her feel a warmth in her chest tha
Surprisingly they both slept soundly, jolted from their slumber by the unlatching of the heavy cell door. John tensed his arm around her and relaxed when Gerald came into the cell, closing the door behind him. He arched an eyebrow in their direction but didn't speak of them lying together indecently. Elizabeth sat up and scooted to the edge of the table quickly, her legs dangling down over the edge. John sighed in annoyance at the interruption as he got up off the table slowly, feeling very stiff from the cramped sleeping position. At the loss of John's body heat she noticed that the temperature had dropped drastically overnight, the heat wave finally having passed. She pulled the thin blanket, still warm from their body heat, around her shoulders."I hate to bear bad news, lass, but today we go swimming." Gerald snarled in disgust at the suggestion that had clearly been the minister's."What does that entail?" She asked as John clenched his jaw and went still.
"Just breathe, Elizabeth" John said as soon as they were out of earshot, he looked down at her with concern, the harsh look from the river had melted completely."Will they believe me now?" Her voice came out as a barely perceptive croak, it burned her throat to speak. She sincerely hoped that nearly drowning would be worth something to this corrupt town she'd found herself in."I'm not certain." He answered sadly.She nuzzled her head into his broad chest, closing her eyes, as he quickly walked her back to her cell. When she opened her eyes she realized she'd dozed off in his arms. They were in a cell, but it wasn't the original one that they'd spent the night in. This one had a fireplace and it was blazing high as John fed it. Her whole body, which she'd been sure would never be warm again, finally began to thaw as she sat on his lap in front of the fire. He took the damp, cold blanket from her shoulders and pulled the edge of the saturated shift to remove it