Celestial Desire by Abbie Zanders

and the public opinion of the sinful. The only law that matters is God’s law. You are my wife , Celeste. What God has joined, let no man put asunder .”
    Celeste floated in and out of consciousness, trying hard to stay awake even as James rocked her gently back and forth. “Sweet Celeste,” James whispered, his voice pained. “Why do you drive me to do such things? What part of love, honor, and obey do you not understand?”
    “You … hurt …. me,” she wheezed, the words nearly unintelligible.
    “I didn’t mean to,” James said sadly. “When I came home early and saw that guy leaving…”
    “Plumb….er”.
    He sighed and held her tighter. “Yes, I know that now. I was wrong, Celeste. I saw him coming out of the house… he was smiling, you were smiling. Something just snapped in me, Celeste. And then I tried to apologize, but you wouldn’t let me explain…”
    “Need… help….”
    “I will take care of you, Celeste. We’re going to start over, you’ll see. I got us a special place in the mountains, just like you’ve always wanted. It’s in Canada, so it will take a few days to get there but then it will be just you and me, Celeste, like it was meant to be. No more interference. I’ll give you lots of babies, and we can be a real family, just like God intended.”
    Celeste tried desperately to stay awake, but it was like trying to swim against a powerful tide. Those parts of her that weren’t numb hurt like hell, and unconsciousness promised a temporary respite that was getting harder and harder to resist. She wished she was stronger, or braver, but she wasn’t.
    James held her until the bleeding stopped, rocking her gently and murmuring how everything was going to be all right. Celeste knew better than to disagree; it would only antagonize him, and if she sustained any more injuries there would be no hope of escape. No, the best thing she could do was remain quiet and non-combative until an opportunity presented itself. Attempting anything else at this point would be counterproductive, if not suicidal.
    At least James didn’t seem to know about Zane, which meant Zane was safe. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him because of her. She’d lost track of time, but knew that several hours had to have passed. What had he thought when he’d arrived at her place and found it empty? He was probably worried, as was her mother, but at least they were safe. That was all that mattered.
    With that in mind, she closed her eyes and hoped against hope that it would lull James into a false sense of security.
     
    “Celeste, wake up, darling. It will be dark soon.”
    Celeste cracked open her eyes to find James pulling her still-bound wrists up over her head and securing her hands to the back of the bed frame. Then he moved toward her feet and snipped the bonds around her ankles.
    “Be a good girl, now,” he warned. “I’m going to get you out of these dirty clothes and into something warmer.” James quickly tugged her shorts down over her hips and along her legs. “It’s going to be much colder where we’re going and we don’t want you getting sick.”
    Celeste tried in vain to move her legs, but it was no use. “Can’t move…” she whispered hoarsely.
    “No,” he confirmed. “I gave you a mild paralytic with that last sedative; I had some things to do, and I couldn’t take the chance you’d wake up too early and try to slip away on me again, Celeste. It should last another hour or so, but we’ll be back on the road by then. I’ve already gotten us a new car and switched the plates, but we’re better off traveling at night, I think. At least until we cross the border.” James spoke calmly with just an edge of anticipation, as if they were going to spend the day picnicking at the park instead of fleeing the country.
    “No…” Celeste knew if they made it that far, there was no hope.
    “I know you still don’t understand, Celeste, but you will. I thought you were the one