Chapters (70)
His body would no longer obey his mind, was ignoring his conscience. He did the most instinctive thing in the world and took the offered nipple between his lips.
There was milk, plenty of it, and it was as warm and sweet as fresh cream.
He closed his eyes and drank deeply of her, hot tears of shame trickling down his cheeks, his arms encircling her narrow waist as if he were holding on for dear life. As he sucked, she clasped his head more tightly against her bosom and began to rock against his erection, creating a delicious friction.
In no time at all, an orgasm exploded through him, the most pleasurable sensations he’d felt in ages.
Sweet Jesus. He shuddered against her, his body quaking from the aftershocks of the climax.
“There, there now, reverend.” She patted his head. “You needed this as much as I did, but that is good. A little pleasure before the end is always a blessing.”
McBride pulled away, swallowed. He stuttered. “What . . . what . . .”
“You’ve been attempting to meddle in my affairs.” Smiling, she traced a finger around his lips. “Disclosing old secrets, hmm? Stirring up the pot? I know you spoke to Dr. Stephens. You kept phoning their home and finally met with him this morning. I’m quite observant, you should recall.”
He choked out the words: “I owe my daughter the truth.”
“Oh, you dear old fool, the truth? None of you has ever known the truth.”
She opened her mouth wide. He saw her tongue, that inhumanly long appendage, uncoiling from the depths of her throat like an awakening serpent, and it was more nightmarish than he remembered.
And he’d never known it could be a weapon, too.
52
Monica had dozed off. She snapped awake, blinking drowsily.
Although Grace had departed on her mysterious errand, before leaving she had forced Monica to consume the entire cup of herbal tea she had brought her. Monica worried the tea would have a sedating effect upon her, but she hadn’t dared to resist. She fully believed her mother’s threat to knock her around if she displayed any defiance.
The side of her face ached from where Grace had struck her. The ice pack Grace had given her had taken the edge off the swelling, but she was going to have a nasty bruise.
Sitting up, eyes still half-open, Monica felt something tighten around her neck. A coarse material. She touched it with her fingers, and her eyes went wide.
It was a rope.
She gasped. She pulled at it, to no avail. The rope was looped tightly around her neck, a perfect noose.
The length of rope traveled upward to the ceiling. It was tied around the base of the ornate wooden ceiling fan above the bed, in a complex-looking knot.