She touches the spot again, more emphatically, and I feel my temper detonate. “You think because Trefor died, I can’t protect you?”
I would have come for Trefor if he’d asked me. I would have been there in a second. I would never have left him to die alone.
“You should have called out,” I growl again. “You should have been thinking of yourself, not what I was going to do to that asshole when I got my hands on him. I don’t care that your God doesn’t do revenge. ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ That’s bullshit.”
Branwen looks at me in surprise.
“Didn’t think I could quote scripture? I know all about your God and your Bible. I know what you were praying for. Didn’t get it, did you? Didn’t get nothing until I put my hands on you and gave it to you myself.”
I push my fingers into her hair and rub the back of her scalp, watching her mouth part. So tender and pliant, just how I like.
“You know I’m right. What I did for you, baby, you’d like that again, wouldn’t you?”
As if in a trance, she winds her arms around my neck, her body arched so sweetly against mine. The water is beading on her pretty tits and my cock is tight against her pussy. I make my own worship, for a congregation of two.
But first, I have to make something very clear.
I turn off the shower and wrap her in a towel, getting her all nice and warm and dry. Looking after her so sweetly before I tell her the truth.
“An eye for an eye. I always liked the Old Testament better. Bloodier. More practical.” I hook a finger into the edge of the towel and pull her closer. “I’m going to kill your daddy, Branwen. You know that, don’t you? That’s why I’m going to Avallonis.”
She doesn’t even blink. Where are her feelings? Is she a robot? “He wronged you. He frightened you. He was supposed to protect you above all other things. And did he do that? Did he do that, Branwen?”
Her face creases and she turns away from me, sobbing, and I realize how wrong I am. She feels everything, so much, even if she’s trying not to. Even though she’s been praying for it all to go away.
“He shouldn’t have done that, babygirl. He should have protected you, but he didn’t. So I’m going to do that instead.”
Branwen
I’m going to kill your daddy.
Geraint’s words should strike anguish into my heart. I should try and stop him. I should grab his phone and text daddy and warn him. I should run away. I should have run days ago.
I should have, but I don’t want to. I want to stay right here with Geraint. I didn’t touch his finger to remind him of Trefor because I think he let his brother die. I wanted to show him that more violence isn’t going to bring anyone back. Not Trefor, and not Cora. Geraint’s searching for something deeper, like I am. Salvation might be waiting for us at Avallonis, but it’s not the kind he imagines.
Geraint’s hand caresses my cheek. “I helped that night, didn’t I, when I found you in Texas? I’ve shown you I can be trusted?”
I throw my arms around his neck and bury my face in his chest, hoping he’ll feel how much I do trust him, how much I need him. In the eyes of the church, the world, Geraint is a bad person. But to me, he’ll always be the man who showed me mercy when no one and nothing else would. That makes him a saint in my eyes. An angel, no matter how dark his wings are.
He picks me up and carries me through to the darkened bedroom. The towel falls away, leaving us naked before each other. The silver crucifixes gleam softly around each of our necks. The water has driven away everything bad and we stand before each other, purified.
“You want me to make you feel the way you did the other night?” he whispers into my ear.
I need what he did. I need that private ritual, just for us. Punishment and forgiveness. Over and over again.
“Down on your knees, baby.”
Slowly, I lower myself before him, one knee at a time, and gaze up at him in the half-light. The shadows slide across his handsome face. All those hours spent on my knees in church did nothing for my soul, but just the act of kneeling before Geraint and my heart already feels lighter.
“When you’re down there on your knees before me, you offer me all your guilt and sorrow. I know all of it, see all of it, and I’ll take it all away from you to do with as I see fit.”
He sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls me between his knees. His penis is thick and long and just a few inches in front of my face. I put out my tongue and taste him, and he’s salty-sweet in my mouth. I lick him again, slowly, exploring him, and he groans.
“If you’re worried, babygirl, you leave that up to me. Daddy knows best. When you finally speak, that’s what I want you to call me, do you hear? I’m your lover, your priest, and your dom, all at once.”
I suck on him slowly. Yes, that’s a perfect name for him. Daddy. Geraint hooks an arm around my hips and hauls me up onto the bed. I’m face down on the blankets, my head in his lap, and I take him into my mouth again. Geraint palms my ass and golden stars shoot through me. He feels so good in my mouth, hot and velvety soft.
He raises his hand and I know what’s coming. Make me hurt. Punish me because I’m yours, and then raise me up in your arms, stronger than before.