Between the Two [COMPLETE]

11~Cleanse Me

“What you said about cleansing me…? Do you believe I’m redeemable? Because I don’t.”

The words were my honest to God truth. Only I knew about my heinous crimes against Rob and the passing truck driver. Only I knew about what really happened to Louie while he thought of him as a dog. Three lives, two of them innocent. Their blood would always be on my hands and no amount of holy water, prayer, or salvation would ever take those sins away. Being a good girl’s my only saving grace and I could use that to keep the people I’ve found refuge in safe.

Ezra caught my attention, his expression soft and soothing. For a moment, he didn’t seem like the monster that would beat his son, leaving him scarred and broken. For a fleeting moment. He remained vindictive in his stance. “I believe all of God's creatures are redeemable of their sins, if they so choose. Especially you. You are more redeemable than you could ever imagine.”

His assuring devotion almost made my heart quake, flinching back. The way he looked at me, a promise of atonement, brought an unfamiliar awareness sparking through my veins. Belief. Belief in something I knew wasn’t feasible. Like planting a seed in soil you knew had already rotted.

“How would you know?” I asked, trying to shake off the feeling. He was trying to get inside my head as he does to all his followers at church. But I knew his sins. “You barely know me or what I’ve done!”

He stared at me for the longest, his eyes roaming around my face then down to my bruised neck. They were fading quickly but not quick enough. He’s seen the reminisce of my mother's abuse but never acknowledged it until now. I’ve disguised it with scarves, makeup, my hair, but he always knew.

With a delicate touch, he caressed the healing bruises.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all,” he spoke soothingly, leaning over me. His warm breath hit the nape of my neck, making me recoil at his sudden touch. A heated flame ignited beneath his tender kiss along my neck. I gasped quietly. He pulled away casually, his fingers tracing the healing bruises. “You’re mother will pay for her sins in due time.” A surge of astonishment trickled along my skin at his statement, wondering if I heard him correctly. “I know who I married. I know her and I know you.”

He took a step back, allowing his hand to fall back to his side. The frost of the room hit me without his touch, my arms wrapping around my body again. He continued to speak, turning away and pacing his office in contemplation. “Despite your redeemable qualities, you still came in late and you lied. Two rules you’ve broken in my house. I can’t overlook your disobedience.”

Walking to his desk, he opened a drawer to revealed a long, stiff rod coated in leather with a leather paddle at the end. I recoiled at the sight, flashes of Asher’s wounds grazing my mind. I asked for this. Whatever the punishment, I would have to accept it regardless. It would only bring me closer to Ezra and all his secrets to free us both.

Staring at me from a distance, he measured me once more before stating boldly, “Take off your clothes.”

It took me a second to process his words. “Excuse me?”

Ice icicles pierced relentlessly into me, shot from his cold, stony glare. “Do I have to repeat myself, Lilah?”

Hastily, I shook my head. Within the curtain of my hair, I grinned at my prophesied theory. Ezra would sexualize me as punishment which was more benign than lashes against my back. I could handle that from past experiences. He played a different way but it was all the same game.

Allowing coyness to settle over me, I calmly unbuttoned my uniform shirt, letting it slip off my shoulders. His eyes traced each movement, watching me shiver at the blasted chill of the room. My body shivered. Unzipping my skirt, rolling down my hips and onto the floor, I watch him eyeing me with control. Once done, I wrapped my arms around myself, fighting off the cold. He did this on purpose, a scowl crawling along my face.

“Underwear too,” he sighed, pushing off the desk. While I unhooked my bra, he walked over to his bookshelf and grabbed a hefty black bible. Was he going to read off scriptures while I froze to death? When I slipped off my panties, he walked over to me, eyes admiring the curvature of my frame. Instinctively, I rubbed my shoulders for warmth, shielding my chest. “Show me the palms of your hands. Back straight, head held high.” Doing as instructed, he placed the heavy bible on the top of my head, the muscles in my neck tightening. “Don’t drop it.”

A surge of pain shocked the palms of my hands, tilting me off balance. “Don’t drop it!” My hand quickly shot up to catch the book and place it back on my head, steadying myself.

“You could have warned me,” I complained, wincing as the cold air prickled at my searing palms.

He placed his face an inch from mine, his breath caressing my lips as he spoke. “Do you think God gives warning to the sinners he punishes beforehand?” The strum of our heartbeats resounded between us, his eyes never leaving my face. He leaned closer, the skin of his lips heating mine, touching foreheads. Sweet and smokey. “He doesn’t.”

I gasped at the touch of leather between my thighs, Ezra keeping his firm body close to mine. Trickles of heat cuffed the back of my neck, his solid grip holding me. A glint of satisfaction sparked in the fog of his gray eyes, leaving me silent. Bound to his magnetism. The leather rubbed against my swollen clit, back and forth tauntingly. Suppressing a lurid moan, I licked my lips, accidentally brushing against his. The jolt of surprise at the accident almost made me forget the book on my head, stepping back. His hand along my neck brought me back to his warm embrace, adjusting the thick book.

“Tell me, Lilah,” he began, his enticing voice, husky and smooth, unearthing a shiver down my freezing spine. “What sins, at such a young age, have you committed to make you think you can’t be redeemed?”

Visions of red wine blurred his face, my heart thumping in a panic of the memory, the nightmare of that night and what proceeded after. I turned away from him carefully, hair curtaining the shame of my mistakes. The air entering my lungs brought a frigid burn, leaving me numb and heavy. Ezra’s thumb caught the line of my jaw, positioning my face back to his smoldering eyes.

“Don’t turn away from me,” he commanded. A calming sensation enveloped me, his forehead returning to mine.

My lips quivered. He likes a challenge. “I’ve committed a lot. I can’t be saved.”

Leather heated the skin of my behind, awakening me with a yelp. “You can be saved and you will.” He backed away, his hand slipping from behind my neck, giving me a one over with soft, calculating eyes. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Watching the rise of the rod, I anticipated the searing pain to my palms before it connected, keeping still. A white smile lit his face, pride displaying at my fortitude. Passion kissed me with the touch of leather along the lips of my privates, Ezra moving closer to me. His hand captured the dip of my cheek, the leather titillating me. “What does that mean?” I whispered, balancing myself once more.

Dropping the rod, he pressed his body closer, the heat of him soothing to my cold body. His fingers caressed the folds of my lips, a mousy moan eliciting uncontrollably. His eyes flashed with the familiar yearning of lust, for a second reminding me of Rob. It took everything inside not to recoil from him. Losing himself, he snatched the book off my head and licked the nape of my neck. A throaty murmur vibrated against my skin along with a trail of kisses, his hands running along the sides of my body. Pulling away slowly, he placed his forehead against mine.

“Tell me all your sins and I will cleanse you.” His fingers continued to rub along my slick lips, his breath a sweet smoke I absorbed with delight. “You can be redeemed if you trust in me, Lilah. I want to save you.”

“Why?” I breathed, his lips parting closely.

I gasped unexpectedly, feeling his fingers enter me, his other hand held me close by the waist. His embrace calmed and enthralled me simultaneously. “So your purity can shine.” He thrust his fingers inside me, at first with grace. When I could feel myself seizing every motion of his fingers, I pressed into him, his arm drawing me closer to him until my breast pressed upon his chest. He thrust harder, his eyes looming over, watching my will against him fade. “I want you to tell me a sin of your past.” He kissed the nape of my neck gently.

What could I possibly admit that wouldn’t make him retaliate in disgust? “I...I would touch myself a lot...when I was younger.” I shivered at the pleasure of his touch. “It made me feel good...after mom would...hit me.”

His fingers slipped out. Then his lips swallowed mine, alleviating all my senses. The sweet smoky aroma entered my system, heating me from the inside. There was an imposing force that came with his kiss, claiming everything I laid bare. His body forced me backward until my back was against the wall, the cool structure making me moan. The kiss was strong and ravenous, his fingers entwined in the strands of my hair.

He pulled away, breathing heavily. “Before bed, you will come here and tell me a sin.” He kissed my neck, down to my erect n*****s, and bent down to my stomach, stopping at my pelvis. “I’ll make you feel good. I’ll cleanse you.”