The Tithe That Binds by Candace Smith Page A

saved any of her old gear.”
    Mara spent two more days strapped to the table. A slave came by to put a waste bucket beneath her hips twice a day. Gabrielle tended to her and removed the ring the first evening to feed her. Mara was exhausted from the pain and itching, and now the top layer of her skin was stretching and peeling. She wanted to tear it off. Gabrielle washed her with cool water and kept lotion on her skin. She noted her tithe had not spoken of her friend the entire time.
    Minerva finally announced that Mara was finished, and they let her up from the table. Her legs were wobbly and her back ached. She stared down at her bared pussy in surprise. Gabrielle actually laughed at her shocked expression. She let her walk around for a while, and then she was led to the bedroom. There was a cage in the corner Mara had not noticed before, and she was ordered inside and locked into it.
    Mara curled up and fell asleep again. She woke to men’s voices yelling and arguing from the other room. One of the voices belonged to the devil, and although Mara shivered at the thought of his return, she also felt her pussy respond with a clenching clasp of arousal.
    While Mara had been sleeping, Minerva and Gabrielle made plans. Elijah and Abram surprised them by showing up early. They looked tired, but said that everything had gone well. Jill was already secured with the widows, and Edna offered to keep an eye on them. It had been many years since the women had had a slave of their own.
    Minerva and Gabrielle explained the situation with Lucy, and Abram trudged off to collect the Preacher and Shawn again. When they returned, the hushed discussion lasted for half an hour. “Elijah, she’s meeting him at our old copse. We’ve watched them for past two days. They wait until Holden leaves to check the grain supplies.”
    “Then you think they’re meeting now?” the Preacher asked.
    “If we hurry. They’ll be heading back around three,” Gabrielle answered.
    The six of them left to the woods, skirting around the edge of the thicket. Elijah pointed and held his finger to his lips, and they worked their way closer until they could all hear the sounds of a very passionate exchange. Abram and Eli stood to the sides, slithering their hands through the brush. The Preacher nodded, and they pulled the branches back and he strode through the vines into the small clearing.
    Lucy shrieked and grabbed for her dress. She slapped Eddie across the face before his shocked mind could grasp the sight of the Preacher and principal elder. “He raped me,” Lucy screamed, and tears burst from her eyes.
    Minerva walked into the clearing. “And did he rape you yesterday? And the day before that?”
    Lucy searched the group for an ally, and her eyes caught on Gabrielle. She was smiling with a satisfied green cat-eyed stare at her. “You,” Lucy shrieked. She jumped to her feet and dropped her dress, preparing to claw Gabrielle.
    Eddie continued to sit on the ground, slowly pulling his clothes on. He glanced uneasily up at Abram. Shit. This little game with his cousin had just earned him time on the wheel again. The enforcer held out the cuffs, and Eddie did not resist. Hell, not with Elijah here too.
    The Preacher grabbed for Lucy, and in her outrage she spun and slapped him. She stilled immediately and dropped to her knees. “I’m sorry, Preacher. Oh, no. Oh, god.” She looked up and whispered, “He raped me. The women are lying.”
    “No, Lucy.” The Preacher looked down his narrow nose in disgust. “Get your clothes on, woman. There’s no reason to march you through town naked, and humiliate your husband even more.”
    Gabrielle glanced at Minerva. They noticed the Preacher did not refer to her as Mistress. They did not know that when Holden approached him about using Edna’s tithe to breed for his sons, he had already discussed the possibility of dissolving his union with Lucy. In the Preacher’s mind, he had already stripped her