Reaping of the Wives

THE ABYSS BEYOND HIM

As I stared into his eyes, I knew the infected shadow cloaking Noah was reaching out for me, but what it wanted to twist and corrupt would not bend. There was a part of me still holding strong. The part that gripped to my last shred of sanity. It was the ghost that hovered just beyond the veil of total surrender, urging me to question. To doubt. To remember why my body used to tremble in this man's presence.

Though anger rolled within me like thunder, it was no match for the lightning quick rage that overtook Noah's features.

Like the calm before the storm, time seemed to stand still for the briefest moment. Suddenly, Noah rose from his laying position and with his hand tightened in my hair, he swung my head up with him, pulling us both off the bed. His right foot kicked the chain out of the way and he tugged me to stand in front of him.

"Apologize to me, Wife." His eyes, darkened by fury, tried to smother me but his words only served to stoke my inner fire.

I gritted my teeth as his hand gave a sharp tug to my hair, forcing me closer and bending my neck back to look up at him. I refused to relent. "Answer my question, Husband."

Noah's free hand reached down and grabbed the hem of my gown.

"What did I tell you earlier?" he asked darkly.

I rose up on the tips of my toes. "You told me you would ANSWER MY GOD DAMN QUESTIONS!" I screamed as close to his face as I could reach.

Noah gave a forceful shake of his hair-wrapped hand that caused me to stumble onto flat feet. He leaned down until his nose was nearly touching mine as he bellowed, "DO NOT USE THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN!"

His voice dropped to a quiet, lethal tone. "And I told you," he quickly thrusted his hand up my nightgown and grabbed the band of my underwear. "If you mouthed off to me again, you'd lose these."

My hands shot down to wrap around his wrist. He gave another violent shake of my hair that made a sharp pain spread throughout my scalp. I winced and couldn't stop one of my hands from reaching up to pry his fingers loose.

His other hand began pulling my underwear down while simultaneously yanking my hair. I wasn't strong enough to stop him from doing both so I did the only thing I could think of.

I lunged myself forward and tried to knee him as hard as I could in the crotch.

Noah's grip faltered from my underwear and he partially blocked my attempt, but I could feel I connected somewhere with his body. I gave him a two-handed shove but he didn't move. Instead, his hand left my hair and just as quickly wrapped around my throat.

My eyes went wide and I stepped away but he followed my movements until my heel hit the baseboard. The pounding of my heart was in synch with the blinking of my eyes as I tried to keep angry and terrified tears at bay.

"You tried to hurt me," he whispered. There was a look of surprise on his face and the shock of it was evident in his voice.

"You are hurting me," I countered.

He pushed me until my body was flush against the wall. I felt his quickened pulse thrumming in his fingertips as he applied just enough pressure to my throat. Maybe it was my own heartbeat, I couldn't tell. All I knew was a breaking point was about to occur.

"I'm trying to teach you, Grace. You fighting me is what's hurting you." Looking up at the ceiling, he gave a slow shake of his head before turning his eyes back down to me. "I'm your husband. You don't demand things from me. You don't scream in my face. And you certainly don't try to hurt me."

His eyes narrowed. "Now I have no choice but to actually hurt you. See what you've done? You've forced my hand, Grace. All I want is to love you but you just keep pushing me."