Bayou Bishops Box Set: Books 1-12

CHAPTER 3

Cherie fought to hold on to the darkness swimming in her vision. “Please God. Let me die. Please. I’m sorry, please. I’m sorry.”

“What are you saying?” the demon demanded, yanking the gag ball from her mouth.

Cherie answered with screaming sobs, clenching her eyes shut when his fist crashed down on her again.

This time the dark haze produced visions of a better place. She gasped at seeing him enter the room, her beautiful bayou angel. Please take me God. Let me die now with this vision.

Her heart exploded in her chest when the monster turned and faced him, making her realize he was real. Oh God he was real. The monster lunged and her angel’s blades plunged clean through him, the bloody tips protruding out of his back. Her eyes locked onto them now moving slowly up his body. He yanked them out and shoved him against the wall then swiped both blades along his neck. Cherie stared at the surreal sight of his head on the floor right before Samuel kicked it into the wall. Then he was before her, real and touching her. Kissing her face. Oh God was this real?

****

Lesion opened that final door and blew two paralysis darts into the naked demon. He shut the door quietly as the monster collapsed to the floor, staring up with wide eyes. Kneeling next to him, he pulled out his vial of acid and poured it into his gaping mouth, watching him gag on the liquid death now eating away his throat.

He stood and removed his coat, covering the naked girl.

“Help me,” she begged. “Don’t leave me!”

Lesion removed his hood and stared into the blue eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her swollen lips pressing together tight.

He drew his knife and cut her restraints. “I’m going to lift you.” He carefully scooped her tiny body up and carried her out, wondering how he knew she was the one.

“Are you good?” she gasped, hiding her face in his neck.

For some reason the question was difficult to answer. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he said.

“Who are you?”

She clung to his neck, her body shaking more now, making her jaw bang together. “My name is Lesion.” He spotted Bishop at the back entrance and made his way over right as Revelator entered the narrow hall with his woman.

“Lesion,” the girl barely whispered. “That’s a nice name. I’m Tully Jane. My friends call me Tully.”

“Nice to meet you Tully,” he barely murmured, realizing the girl might be lacking in her mental faculties. The idea brought a sudden fury to his blood as he nodded at Bishop who opened the door and peeked out.

With the coast clear, they made it to the truck and he realized they wouldn’t all fit. “I’ll hold her in the back.”

“I’ll drive as careful as I can,” Bishop said as they all got in.

“It hurts,” she suddenly cried when he got her in the back.

“I’m going to lay you down so I can get you something for pain.”

“No please. I can’t,” she whispered. “I…I was clean.”

She sobbed the final words as he realized his medicine roll was in the coat covering her. “I need to get something from my coat pocket. I’m going to put my hand inside but I won’t touch you.”

“Okay.”

He located the pocket and retrieved the roll without making any contact. He brought a small vial to her mouth. “Can you open for me?”

She obeyed without question and he gave her the entire dose. He returned it to his pouch. “I need to hold you so you’re not injured more.”

She reached for him and he pulled her back onto his lap then tucked her arms against her chest. When Bishop got on the highway, he moved with her against the back of the cab to block the wind, tightening his coat around her.

“So cold,” she whispered, shivering.

He lowered his face, blocking more of the wind. “You’ll be okay now. The medicine will start working soon.”

He closed his eyes, wondering what sort of injuries she might have.

“Lesion?”

He moved his ear near her mouth. “Yes?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

Saving her. He’d healed a lot of people before but he’d never rescued anybody from such an evil as this. “You’re welcome.”

“I like your beard,” she murmured, the medicine’s effect in her soft words. “And all your ink.”

He lifted his head and looked at her blue eyes, half-slitted now.

“And your eyes,” she murmured. “So pretty. And sad.”

Hm. He’d thought the same thing about hers. “Sleep,” he murmured, stroking along the tension between her brows. “Tomorrow, life will start over for you.”

****

“I need to bring her to Madam Hag,” Lesion said when they reached the Dry Dock.

Bishop helped them onto a boat. “Take her with you to Revelator’s for now. I’ll send somebody to help you get her wherever you need.”

Lesion carefully lay his sleeping patient on the floor of the boat, using a life vest for a pillow while the Holy Man kept hold of his woman.

“She needs something for pain,” he told Lesion.

After they got going, he managed to get the roll from his jacket and handed him a dose. “Give her all of it.”

Lesion eyed Tully on the floor of the boat. He found her pulse and checked it. The dose he’d given her was strong enough for an adult man and she was very tiny. Once he got her stable, he’d adjust whichever way he needed to. But the nature of her injuries would require Madam Hag to look after. He had little knowledge of those things other than how to kill the man who’d committed the crime.

At Revelator’s house, he lay her on a bed of blankets on the floor next to the fireplace and checked her vitals again. Still sound asleep and stable.

He turned his attention to Revelator’s woman, finally getting a better look at her condition. “My God,” he barely muttered. Even though she had dark skin, the bruises and swelling stood out where Revelator allowed him to look.

“She’s still in pain,” Revelator said, his tone dark as ever.

“I’m going to put her out.”

He nodded. “Do it.”

To hear such desperation from the Holy Man hurried his steps. He located his sedatives and selected two. “You’ll need to check her pulse every thirty minutes. I need to know if it drops below forty beats per minute.”

“I will.”

“When she’s sedated, you can apply topical pain relief to her obvious injuries. It’ll help.”

“Thank you. How’s Tully?”

“I think her injuries are where I can’t treat.”

“We’ll get her to Madam Hag as soon as we can,” he assured.

When he administered his woman’s dose, he gave him the ointments. “Apply liberally. The sedative should last four hours. If it doesn’t, I’ll check for extensive injuries.”

“She’ll be okay,” he whispered, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed.

“You saw this?”

He nodded, sliding his hands over his face.

“And Tully?”

“Her too.” He finally looked up at him. “And you’re right. She’s been broken in places you can’t treat with medicine.”

Lesion looked over his shoulder at her. “She seems like a child.”

“I know.”

“What do you know of her?” Lesion asked.

He shook his head a little. “Only that she’s still pure somehow.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… despite the evil they heaped on her, she has a light in her that refuses to dim. I don’t understand how,” he said, shaking his head, his exhaustion coming through. “Other than divine intervention.”

“You need to rest,” Lesion said. “Opening all those channels took it out of you.”

“Feel like I’ve been hit by a train.”

“A chemical train, yes. Lay next to your woman. It’ll help you both.”

Revelator glanced over his shoulder at her and made his way carefully next to her.

“I’ll keep watch,” Lesion said. “Sleep.”

“Thank you,” he muttered, tucking his face near hers while being careful not to touch.

Lesion turned his attention to the girl next to the fireplace. He knelt by her and checked her pulse while studying her face. The softness in her features loosened his stomach. The little human butterfly wasn’t feeling any pain now.

Lesion decided to make a fire in case she had a chill. The autumn nights were chillier than usual, he’d noticed. He pulled up the small footstool and placed it near the girl, staring at the unmarred parts of her face glowing in the firelight. Fate had done a strange thing. Given him something curious and unusual to study. A young female. He’d never been able to study one and had given up on the idea.

He touched the pulse on her wrist and focused on the flutter under his finger, his gaze moving along her hand. He turned it over and ran his fingers lightly along her tiny palm, looking at the lines before turning it back over. His eyes held on to the jagged edges of her nails and dried blood causing that tension in his stomach to return. How had they gotten that way? He remembered the prisoners they’d take and the burning in his gut grew. He’d get to have them when Revelator was done. He had many diabolical things to test on the human filth.

Lesion traced the veins on the back of her hand again then moved his fingers to her wrist to count the flutters once more. She would be safe in the swamp with Madam Hag. Once she was recovered, he’d see that she had a safe place to stay. The swamp would return the things the world stole.

“Lesion…”

His eyes moved to her face. He reached and stroked the tension between her brow until it left then tucked her hand close to her chest. Her tiny fingers clutched his and he glanced over his shoulder, finding Revelator asleep. He lay next to the delicate butterfly, letting her keep his hand while watching as she wiggled her tiny frame closer and snuggled against him. The sight of such a thing had him in awe. Like a tiny angel hiding her face in his side.

He slowly moved the golden strands of hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her delicate ear. He wanted to map her, he realized. As soon as she was healed, he needed to. Unless Madam Hag did it first. No. Fate gave him the girl for a reason and he should be the one to map her.

He lifted the golden strands of hair between his fingers. What a strange turn of events she was. What was her purpose? Why was she there? Maybe having a girl such as this to look after could exempt him from the marriage trap. She could be his apprentice. He could teach her everything he knew and that could take years. A lifetime, even. Or he could just go through the motions and never find a woman he wanted. That would be the easiest solution. She could still be his apprentice either way. If she wanted to. All options. The more of those he had, the better. At least he had Madam Hag on his side. She thought the marriage bout was a tub of galactic frog shit.

He began mentally mapping his little human butterfly and his eyes drifted closed, leading him to dream of everything his mind couldn’t answer. And what provoking dreams they were.

****

Cherie jerked awake for the fifth time to Samuel’s soothing touch and lips all over her face. She fought through the pain, needing to feel he was real. He was. A warm heaven saturating the darkness and allowing her to rest and forget the shame of her life and recent actions. She didn’t care about anything but being safe in his arms. The other man there that she didn’t know appeared on and off during her endless slumber, making her drink things. She decided she liked him for the effect he always left her with. Allowed her to slip back into that heaven where only her and Samuel existed and nothing else. No past sins to ruin lives. No rules or standards she couldn’t measure up to. Just the perfection of his love.

On one of her journeys to the world of consciousness, she was able to watch him sleep. He was so beautiful. She pushed through the pain in her limbs and pulled his leg over hers, forcing him closer to her. He gave a soft mmmm that woke a terrible hunger in her. To pleasure her beautiful angel.

She stroked her hand over his denim, immediately getting the sound of his own desperate need. His hand covered hers and before she could worry he’d stop her, he pushed into her touch. He pulled the covers over them and gave her what she craved. Her hands all over his beautiful cock. He pressed his mouth to her forehead, his quiet shudders heating her skin and lighting her on fire. She worked her other hand in his pants, cupping his balls as she stroked him from hilt to the sensitive head. His fingers wrapped around hers, helping her move along his shaft and the feeling had her stifling moans. She lifted her face and his mouth covered hers carefully.

“Cherie,” he barely whispered, working her hand faster on him. His breaths cut off as he orgasmed and she covered the head with her hand, catching every drop of his hot seed. She kissed him, stroking his face with her hand.

“I love you so much,” she barely whispered.

“Where are you hurting?” he whispered, stroking her face.

She moved his hand between her legs. “Not here.” The monster had tortured her with the kind of pain that bruised but didn’t break. She had no doubt he was saving her privates for last and couldn’t keep the tears back that her angel had come before he had.

“Are you sure?” he whispered, fighting her urgent tug.

“He didn’t hurt me there. You came before he did.”

His breaths shuddered as he stroked her so carefully. The fire was instant and there was no pain in her body that would stop her from opening for so much more. She pumped her hips desperate for his touch and the orgasm he was about to give her. She came so quickly, it shocked her. The feel of his finger sliding hungrily inside her doubled the heaven as she fought not to make a sound.

“Does she need something for pain?”

Samuel froze at the voice of her other savior. “I don’t think so,” he answered as her heart hammered in her chest while her body buzzed from her release.

“Good. You’ve both been out for a while.”

“How long?”

“Three rounds of eight hours.”

“Wow,” Samuel said. “Bishop?”

“He came by and left. I told him we were fine here for now. When you’re both well enough, I’ll make other arrangements for Tully.”

“You have Tully?” Cherie whispered, hopeful.

“Yes. Lesion got her out.”

A sob escaped her and she clutched Samuel’s shirt in her fingers. “Thank you,” she croaked, sucking in several breaths. “I hate that she ended up in that hell.”

Samuel slowly sat up. “I think I can handle it from here if you leave me instructions.”

“Already wrote them down and have everything you’ll need on the counter. You can call if you have questions.”

“What about her?”

“She’s much better. Sleeping the whole time as well.”

“You’ll take her to Madam Hag?”

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Probably.”

Cherie reached out and stroked the skin peeking out of the bottom of his black t-shirt. He reached behind him and held her hand while Cherie’s curiosity piqued about the Lesion man. She wanted to thank him but already felt another long nap coming on.

Just one more and then she’d have to use the bathroom.

****

Revelator spent the rest of the afternoon cooking a healing soup for when Cherie woke. He’d get her strong again then they’d have a talk and come to an understanding. He was adding wild onions when he heard her moan and looked over his shoulder.

He hurried to her when she tried to sit up.

“Bathroom,” she moaned, sounding frantic.

He was glad they were alone. He scooped her up naked and carried her straight to the job, setting her carefully down in the bathroom before shutting the door. “I’m right here if you need anything. Understand?”

“Yes,” she whimpered, like everything hurt still. No doubt it fucking did. He shouldn’t have let her do that to him earlier but having her hands on him like that was more than he could resist. That he was able to touch her the way he had was a miracle he was still thanking God for. And he couldn’t wait to touch her again and again. He’d mark her until she couldn’t see straight without him, just like she’d done to him.

He fetched her robe, feeling like she needed to be covered even while he never wanted to stop looking at her perfect naked body. “Your robe is hanging next to the door.”

“Thank you,” she barely said.

“Do you want a shower?”

“Can I?”

“Of course you can. If you’re able.”

“I’m able.”

His gut loosened at hearing that. Fifteen minutes later, she exited the bathroom in her robe and he set her food at the counter. “How much do you hurt?” he asked, needing to know what he could and couldn’t do. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being don’t touch.”

He let her make her way to the stool, eying her steps as she went. “Five in some places…eight in others.”

“What percent of your body is at five and eight?”

She sat carefully and he put the bowl before her. “Eighty percent of my body is at five, the rest eight.” She took her first bite and his body nearly sagged in relief at those numbers. Whatever Lesion had done took a huge dent out of her injuries.

He pulled the other stool next to hers and took the spoon from her. “Let me.”

She didn’t argue as he fed her the entire bowl, kissing her cheek every other bite. He stared at her when he was done, a million things on his tongue he needed to say to her. “You want more?”

She shook her head. “I’m tired again.”

“Then you’ll sleep.” He stood next to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him carry her to the bed.

“Sleep with me.”

He lay her down and she opened her robe, the hot need in her eyes stealing his breath. He removed his shirt, watching her eyes on his chest as he moved to undo his jeans next. She spread her legs and pulled her knees back and he couldn’t get to her offering fast enough.

“Oh God, yes,” she whispered, rocking against his mouth while pulling his hair.

“Fuck, I missed you baby,” he whispered, sucking her clit into his mouth.

“Please,” she crooned, rocking faster. “Make love to me.”

He pushed his finger in deep and she came instantly, sending a shockwave through his cock. “Not until you’re healed,” he finally managed, lapping up her orgasm with a greedy hunger.

“I’m healed enough. Please Samuel.”

He kissed his way up her body, getting lost at her breasts. She was burning again, holding them together nice and tight as he sucked the nipples. She pushed her leg into his hard cock and he groaned, thrusting. Before he knew it, she’d fought her way into his underwear and the next moment the head of his cock was sliding against her hot silk.

“Please don’t stop,” she gasped, her fingers digging into his ass when he tried to pull back.

“Cherie,” he croaked, pushing off her and sitting at the edge of the bed. “Not until you’re more healed. Do not ask again,” he said, leaving the bed when his body warned of a rebellion. “Fuck, I’m sorry,” he said, crawling back on the bed till he hovered right above her. “We need to talk before I consummate with you.”

She looked away and he turned her face back. “There’s nothing you could do that would stop me from loving you, Cherie. But I will learn everything that happened to you. And everything you’ve done. Yes,” he insisted when she shook her head with tears pouring. “There can be nothing hidden from me. You’ll have to trust me.”

“Please,” she begged, pain and worry crimping her face.

His anger rose hot toward the demons in her life. “I will not have mercy with this. I will own you. Every bit of you. There won’t be an inch in your spirit that isn’t wide open to me and mine. That’s how it has to be and if you can’t give me that then you can’t give me anything. All or nothing, Cherie. That’s what I require of you. That’s what you get of me.”

A sudden anger sparked in her eyes as she stared at him. “That’s easy for the saint to say, isn’t it? Maybe for once you’ll wish you didn’t have to know all the dirty details.”

“They’re mineas much as you are. And I want every single one of them. But I won’t force you, you’ll have to give it. I won’t take a single thing.”

He watched as her chest rose and fell faster. “What if I can’t give it? What if…I need you to take it?”

He eyed her, considering what she was trying to say. “Whatever holds your tongue imprisoned will answer to me. But you have to ask.”

“What if I can’t ask!”

He shook his head slowly, eying her. “Find a way to.”

She swallowed, closing her eyes, tears pouring. “I’m tired again.”

He studied her face and lowered his mouth to hers. “You’ll sleep. But first… you owe me orgasms.”