Celestial Desire by Abbie Zanders Page A

being tested, but I know now that I am, too. The plumber, prison, finding you – don’t you see? I have to prove that my love is pure.”
    For all intents and purposes, James Bradley looked like a perfectly normal, ordinary man. With his tan, no-wrinkle Dockers and maroon Henley, he could have blended into any crowd and not raised even the slightest sense of concern in anyone around him. But Celeste could see the madness glittering in the dark brown eyes she had once thought so kind. It hadn’t been kindness at all. It had been cleverly-concealed insanity.
    James exhaled, looking down at her bared legs. “You’ve lost a lot of weight, Celeste,” he said approvingly. “You look even better than I remember.”
    His hand moved up at down her calf, over her thigh. “And so smooth. I know I told you to keep yourself natural, the way God made you, but I like it. See? I’m willing to compromise.”
                  “It’s been so long, Celeste. I’ve missed you. Once a man knows his wife, it physically hurts not to be with her, did you know that? It’s God’s way of reminding us of our spiritual bond through physical joining. And the two shall become one. ”
    He continued to move his hand up and down her leg, each time getting closer to the juncture of her thighs. “Mine,” he said in a fierce whisper as he palmed her mound through her panties. “I was going to wait until I carried you over the threshold again, but you are so tempting, Celeste. It feels almost sinful, but you are my wife, and that makes it okay.”
    “No,” she breathed, the true horror of his words seeping into her like ice.
    James grabbed the hem of her bloodied shirt and raised it up until it bunched at her wrists above her head. His eyes glittered when he took in her lace and satin bra. “So pretty…” he said, tracing the outline with his fingers. “You will not deny me this, Celeste. It is a sin for a woman to deny her husband his marital rights.”
    Placing his fingers at the center of her bra, he flicked once and released the clasp, then peeled back the sides from her breasts with nothing less than reverence. “So pretty,” he repeated, cupping first one, then the other, pleased when she still overflowed his palms. “I can’t wait to watch our children suckle at your breasts, Celeste.”
    He took another wet cloth and began to wipe the dried blood from her skin carefully, thoroughly cleaning her breasts before working downward to her belly. His hand froze right over her navel and he let out an evil sounding hiss as he noticed the piercing there.
    The roar that came after was enough to rattle the lamps on the night tables. “ What have you done? ”
    Her panties were suddenly torn from her body and she felt his fingers over her tattoo. His voice was little more than a choked gasp as he roughly flipped her over, wrenching her shoulders in the process as he examined her back for more markings.
    “You have defiled yourself!” he said, the familiar maniacal gleam re-entering his eyes. “How could you let a man do this to you?!”
    The sound of the bedside light crashing to the floor had Celeste trying to burrow into the bed in an attempt to protect herself, but she was barely able to move more than her head. She braced herself for the blows she knew would be coming any minute.
    It took several moments for her to realize that someone was pounding at the door. Celeste lifted her head from the pillows and screamed as loud as she could, hoping that whoever was at the door would realize something was wrong and call the police. The sound brought James’ attention back to her and he slammed his fist down hard on the side of her face. The crack was audible and Celeste’s head snapped with the impact. She fell face-first into the pillow, and didn’t move or cry out again.
 
    * * *
 
    Zane forced himself to take a deep breath, swallowing the panic that threatened to overwhelm him and calling upon his inner discipline as he