Covet Not (30 page)

XLVIII

“
I didn't know Jude had a wife. You never
mentioned her,” Sophia said casually as she prepared their late dinner.

The
accusation annoyed James. It was none of her business. “It wasn't important.
They've been contracted since birth. She needed to be with child within the
first year or there will be financial penalties. Lately, some families have
taken their daughters to a specialist to make sure she is fertile. If she is,
the onus falls on the male to prove his fertility. And in our case, we would
lose the farm. That was never going to happen while I live and breathe. I
needed to make sure she got pregnant. I knew Jude wouldn't approve.”

Sophia tried
not to frown. She also had to erase all judgement from her tone. “Do all
contracts have that...as a rule.” She had to stop herself from using legal
jargon.

“
Not all. Some are two years, some five
years. I keep our contracts between one and two years.” It wasn't exactly a
lie. With all his sons, the only thing that would nullify the contract was if
she were infertile before the marriage, and then hid it. It happened to one of
his son's betrothed and James was tempted to ruin them, but they didn't have
much, so he dissolved the contract. He wasn't going to waste his time on
meaningless pursuits.

“
Why so soon? Wouldn't the newlyweds want
to have a bit of fun before?” She was truly interested, but she also knew she
was aggravating him.

“
Usually that bit of fun, as you call it,
leads to pregnancy, does it not?”

Sophia
laughed. “Yes. Of course. But there are ways to prevent
‒
”

“
Preventing is not something we want to
encourage when one is young.”

“
So each and every time is meant to create
life?” She asked dubiously.

“
Yes,” James said simply.

She brought
their food to the table. “So, no screwing around except at ovulation? No blow
jobs? No bringing each other to orgasm with hands or mouths? No masturbation?
Anal? Really? I don't believe a word of it.” She smirked at him.

“
Ladies don't speak of such things. You
should be ashamed.”

“
You are correct. I apologize for speaking
about it. I also apologize for instigating many of those activities. I will be
demure and be the picture of perfect submission.”

James barked
out a laugh. “That sounds fantastic.”

“
So, if you want something, you'll need to
take it. But since neither of us are fertile, it seems we should probably sleep
separately.” The flirting was making her a little sick, but she knew how
dangerous he was now, so she would pretend as long as she could.

He thought
that was a bit disingenuous. Her little pills didn't equal infertile. “Oh, but
there is room for divine intervention. We need to make opportunities for that.”

Sophia nodded
thoughtfully. “That is very wise. I am going to miss having you in my mouth,
though.”

“
Sometimes things happen when you imbibe
too many spirits. But, we have a forgiving god,” James took a sip of wine. “God
doesn't blame the men who are seduced. He blames the women for seducing. Who
knows what would've happened had we not been a product of The Fall.”

Sophia would
need to brush up on her mythology studies, but it wasn't difficult to work out.
She could do whatever she wanted to him, and if he succumbed, she was
responsible. It was sickening, but she would have to play the part of a harlot
and he could escape any personal responsibility.

She knew in
her heart that her sister was dead. The river was too wild and unwieldy, and
even if it didn't come to that, terminating the pregnancy had likely killed
her. Sophia saw the scar on James' testicles. It was very unlikely he was the
father, so she wondered who was.

Unless her
period had just been late.

But if she'd
told James she was pregnant, he would've assumed she stepped out on him. He
wouldn't have tolerated that.

Sophia was
agitated and she wanted to push him tonight. He'd been fine letting her take
the lead probably since it was so novel, but she wanted him to fucking own her
tonight, then maybe she could see what she was up against.

“
I think this wine is going to my head.”

“
We should get you to bed, then. You go get
ready, and I'll put the food away.”

“
Are you sure
‒
”
She grabbed her glass and the
half-finished bottle of wine. He hadn't even finished one glass.

“
Quite.” He wanted to listen for any
yelling from the guesthouse. He wanted to see if his waste of a son had that
blond laid out on the grass with a bloody face.

Shula's
disappearance had everyone somber, so a good fight might not happen until they
recovered her body.

James felt
dissatisfied with that. He should've chased her. He should've had her there on
the grass while the river drowned out her screams.

He would've
subdued her, but he would want her to feel every bit of violence inflicted. He
wouldn't trust her mouth, but he would fist her cunt while ripping her asshole
with his dick.

He would show
her what she amounted to.

Fucking blood
would be everywhere.

The only
choice she'd have, after he bathed her with his come would be the river.

He was so
fucking hard thinking about it. And if he hadn't been so keen on getting back
to Sofia, naked and pliant in his bed, he would've got to have her. Finally.

Sofia would
pay tonight for distracting him. She wouldn't know it, but she would see what
it was like to be fucked by someone who would just as soon kill you.

He wasn't
quite ready to part with her, though. He just wanted her to taste a little bit
of her own mortality.

He would need
to get to McAllen quickly because he knew once he had a taste of her fear, he
would crave it.

Sophia knew
she was in for something tonight. She'd known men like this, but those men had
the law and public scrutiny to contend with. Not James Agnesson. He was revered
around these parts.

She emptied
her glass and the rest of the bottle down the bathroom sink. She took off her
dress, but kept on her bra and panties. Normally, she enjoyed a little
domination in the bedroom, even flings, but she knew she was dealing with a
psychopath.

Once Jude
revealed his transgressions, she realized the danger she was in.

He'd been
easy to seduce. Any man with a woman on her knees would be hard pressed not to
take it, but she'd mistaken his curiosity for lust. Women here didn't behave
that way and she knew it. Sophia thought she'd have him under her thumb in no
time at all. Her ego demanded it.

Next time
James was out of town, she would bring everyone together and see what they knew
about Selene.

And if they
knew nothing, she would have one of the boys drive her to the city and she
would arrange transportation to El Paso.

There would
be no mystery to solve here. Sophia only hoped that she could escape relatively
unscathed.

She was
stupid to have come.

He watched
her from the doorway.

He would have
to be careful. His blood sang with adrenaline and his hands would not pity her
if she were foolish enough to try to stop him.

She smiled at
him lazily, and he smiled back. She was drunk.

If he went
too far, he'd have to make her sleep, and as much as he needed the release,
he'd rather her be awake.

He needed her
to fear him. He needed her to know that he'd been calling the shots all along.

He took his
shirt off and crawled upwards from the bottom of the bed. She was too slow and
didn't spread her legs, so he did it for her. His teeth grazed her inner thigh,
and he bit her hard enough to feel the fat break apart underneath. Her skin was
intact, but he didn't care for blood on the sheets.

She hissed at
the pain, and that just wasn't good enough.

James rose to
his knees and pressed each spread thigh against the bed and pressed them down.
He wanted to see her labia spread and see if she was aroused.

She was wet,
but he wanted to see her pussy plump up a bit more. She was a slender thing, so
maybe it wouldn't on its own. He could help her out with that.

She was
completely bare, and he'd been shocked when he first saw it, but he kept that
to himself. It still intrigued him.

He removed
his belt, but she was unmoved by it. But maybe she didn't understand.

He looped it
and ran it up and down the crotch of her knickers, and he could see her eyes
widen in his periphery.

He brought
the belt down, and her cunt fucking bloomed. Red and thick and wet. It was
delicious. He brought the belt back down again in the exact same place and he
could see her tense up, but she took it.

He bent down
to suck on her swollen labia, to feel how hot the belt made it. She pressed
upward, but he wasn't done, yet. Her pussy would be raw before he brought his
mouth down again.

He sat up
again, and belted each side of her pussy until she was begging him to stop. Her
panties were soaked, so he knew she wanted him to fuck her, but he was going to
make sure it was painful.

Hopefully she
would keep begging him to stop, and that would keep him from causing permanent
damage.

It was best
if he worked up to it anyway.

He removed
her soaked panties slowly, so her aching cunt would be revealed a little at a
time. Her clitoris was erect and swimming in her arousal.

He sucked it
directly in his mouth, and held it between his teeth until she understood she
was meant to be still. He gave it a few quick licks before grazing his teeth up
and down her pussy lips.

He worked on
his jeans. He'd need to fuck her before the swelling went down.

Her pussy
took him easily, and he loved how she'd pressed upwards to take him, but then
shied away from the pain.

He pressed
all the way in and ground against her. He grit his teeth to help quell his
desire to break the skin because all he wanted to do was to bite her pussy
while he fucked his fist.

But this
would do. He reached down and pulled her open wider, exposing her clitoris. He
pulled the hood mercilessly and flicked her every time he let go.

She was
starting to squeeze her legs closed, but he reached behind him for the belt and
tied it around her thigh. He took the end and pressed it to the headboard as
her leg was forced out.

He pummeled
her pussy then. With each slam she screamed, and it made him want to come
faster than he anticipated.

As much as he
craved more, this would do for a while. He would have to eventually be kind. He
didn't want what happened to Grace to happen to her.

James fell to
the side after he'd filled her. He reached down to see how she felt now and
rubbed his come into her raw skin.

Sophia looked
at the wall and listened to James fall deeper into sleep.

She wasn't in
nearly as much pain as she let on, but she needed to protest or he might've
really hurt her.

The hard
fucking was mind blowing even though she was terrified of him. He was
transparent and methodical, and she needed to play into that.

The part she
found truly frightening was his lack of expression and speech. But she didn't
know if she would have found it chilling otherwise.

She was
swollen, and she was in pain. Tomorrow would be Hell, but she would take a pain
reliever and act broken.

That's what
he expected of her.

It was a
fucking shame.

XLIX

They all woke early the next
day and met on the lawn at the tree line. Jared brought a map and circled a few
areas. He looked at Raphe. “You said to start further down, so we'll go where
the river splits and have bodies on both sides. There's a narrower bit of
river, though with all the rain it's higher than normal. I want you and Clara
on either side, preferably sitting on some of the larger rocks that are still
exposed. There would only be about ten feet between you both to watch. Just
please, watch carefully. Jude and I will flank the sides and check the various
creek beds to see if she'd been pulled in by one.”

They took two
trucks and a couple of blankets to wrap her in if they found her. They drove
twenty miles down, but the way the river curved in, it was at least a hundred
miles of river. Jared hoped it was enough.

Half of him
hoped they didn't find her. He wanted to keep the picture of her in his head
alive, but ultimately it wouldn't matter. He would not survive this.

He'd killed
her. And the penalty for that was death. It was justice plain and simple. Last
night, he'd started to dig the hole.

The dark was
closing in. Jude should've started back already, but he'd had an easy stretch
of land that was easy to navigate, and his truck was close. Some parts were
inaccessible, so he had to drive to the next clear spot, and a good deal of the
time, if he couldn't get to the river, Jared could on the other side.

His radio was
getting nothing but static, so he took one last look around with his
flashlight.

He found a
very small tributary that he thought was just a rough curve in the land from
being hit by a strong velocity of rain, but he could see that it went back a
little way because of all the rain they'd had the last couple seasons.

The nearly
full, but waning moon peeked through the clouds and illuminated areas his light
didn't reach.

There was
something out of place. It was stark white in the tree, and he thought it was a
massive sea bird who'd made its way too far north. As he moved closer he could
tell it wasn't a bird, but he didn't know what it was otherwise.

It seemed
likely it was something that got caught up there when the river was higher,
like a trash bag, and he nearly dismissed it. Except it made no noise.

Jude was
curious. He kneeled down and tried to catch hold of it, but the branches
weren't inclined to let it go.

It was damp
linen, and as he worked it free, he realized what it was.

It was a
dress. A white dress with small blue flowers that went unnoticed unless you
looked closely.

This was
Shula's dress.

It was
slightly ripped along the bodice, but the garment would've had to go over her
head with her cooperation.

“
Shula!
Fuck,
Shula are you here?”
Jude found his footing on several rocks until he was down into the creek. He
moved his light slowly over the rocks and tree roots, and any place that
could've held her.

“
Shula!” He balanced himself on another
rock, and looked further down.

She was
there, and had her face not been the same color as her goddamn dress, he
would've never found her.

She was
absolutely caked in mud from pressing herself into the wall of the small creek.
Her head was lying on a rock.

Jude stepped
into the waist-deep cold water and went to her. He reached for her hand that
was holding tightly to some roots and he prayed it wasn't rigor mortis.

Her pulse was
strong.

And the mud
was warm.

Jesus Christ.

Jude tried to
wake her, but she wouldn't. She'd already shut down, and he didn't have much
time.

It took him a
few attempts, but he picked her up with great difficulty and carried her to the
edge of the river and rolled her onto land along with his flashlight.

He began to
shiver with the cold, but he had a bit of adrenaline still to work with. He
hoisted himself up and gathered her quickly. He didn't know how much time she
had.

It took
forever to get back to the truck. He hoped the caked on mud protected her still.

He laid her
down and turned on the heat full blast. He checked her pulse again, and made
his way back to the road, and back to Jared.