Page 10 of Damnation
Meet me by the creek when the moon is at the peak.
Tonight? I have so much to do beneath the full moon. Perhaps if I start soon enough, I will be finished in time. Am I really doing this? Are we? We are planning an unchaperoned meeting yet again. The last time was an accident, a mistake, you may say. This…this is filled with intention and promise as to what will come.
And I can hardly wait.
I slipped a tonic into William’s water. It was a mild sleeping tonic, one he will awake in the morning, drowsy, but well. Nevertheless, I’m a vile woman who is more and more hell bound by the moment. I had no choice, though. Without drink, he cannot sleep, and I needed him to. I have work to do and I have…Thomas. From the moment I read those words on the parchment, I felt as if I could not catch my breath. Not yet again until I saw him.
With one more glance to assure myself Dorothy was sound asleep, accompanied by a snoring William, I made my way out to the creek. I brought along some tonic that I created earlier, as well as some stones I reserve for special times such as these. Once bathed in the moonlight, I begin the practices my mother taught me, cleansing the stones and blessing the tonics with the gift of moonlight. So many would see me at the end of a rope for such things. The small minds of the townsfolk cannot separate the idea of evil influence from the Devil himself and harnessing the gifts and power God has granted the sun, moon, and earth. What I do is only evil if I hold evil intent. I have never, and would never, do such things, but I know better than to allow anyone the knowledge of my practices.
My hands are wrapped around a stone as I finish cleansing it when a snap comes from the distance. My eyes fly open in alert as I peer around in the darkness until a familiar figure steps beneath the moonlight. Quickly, I drop the stone beside my tonics in the basket I brought before covering them with my bonnet.
I reside on one side of the creek while Thomas is on the other. He pauses for a moment at the edge, a smile carving his face that sends that familiar fluttering feeling inside of me before he starts towards me. Long, purposeful steps carry him through the rushing water of the creek, his boots sloshing through until he makes his arrival on my side.
I expect him to greet me, to ask of my day and night, or something of the sort. I did not expect him to close the distance between us, not a sound nor a word escaping him before his lips are on my own.
The air is stolen from my lungs in an instant as I feel my heartbeat in my chest with a fierceness like nothing else. His large hands brace my face tenderly, as if I am the greatesttreasure he has ever experienced. When he pulls away, his breath is ragged and rough as his low voice calls to me.
“Good evening, my love.”
I cannot stop the smile that adorns my face at the name he has chosen for me. This is absolute madness. No care to the months, years, if I’m honest, that I’ve watched him, this is all moving so quickly. Too quickly. At least my mind tells me so, my body assures me that I have always been Thomas’s. That I was always meant to be.
“Good evening.” I smile.
“I missed thee…so,” he speaks, shaking his head as if the distance pained him.
“As did I.”
He leans in once more, his lips moving against my own before his arms come beneath my legs, lifting me into the air. I squirm at the suddenness before he is walking with me in his arms, leading us to a tree. The strength of his arms has me in awe as he presses my back against the tree, lifting the skirt of my dress up before pushing my undergarments down and forcing himself inside me. A pleasured moan escapes me as he groans.
“Right where I belong,” he says as he begins thrusting in and out of me.
Pleasure sparks inside me with each touch, our mouths still pressed to one another as he continues. This sinful act would be so much more abhorrent if it didn’t feel so decadent. My legs intertwine around his back, pushing him deeper inside me.
“Sarah,” he moans. “I ache for you, more than anything in this world. You are my greatest desire. ‘Tis unfathomable to have you in my arms like so. I’ve thought about nothing but for so long.”
I nod my agreement as another moan escapes me.
“As have I, for months.”
He pauses for a moment, his eyes burrowing into my own.
“Longer, my love. So much longer.”
My stomach flips at that as he continues thrusting into me. To know he has desired me for as long as I have him, for longer, it secures something inside of me. It gives way to a justification of sorts, though I’m sure there is not a soul alive who would see it the way we do. ‘Tis okay, though. The only person’s approval I require is Thomas’s.
“Finish with me, my love. I want to feel you finish around me,” Thomas practically begs.
There is something so meaningful about a powerful man like Thomas begging for someone like me. As I look into his eyes, a warmth spreads inside me. Something more than just lust or desire. Something far too powerful to come to fruition as quickly as it has. But it has, and ‘tis glorious.
Pleasure rolls through my body from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. My body shakes in his arms as I lose all control of myself, only existing in a space made up of pleasure and joy. Thomas follows along, jerking inside me as the warmth of his release fills me. What a terrible mistake we have just made. My cycle is linked to the moon in perfect harmony. The dangers of what could come of this moment are high, and I can’t help but pray God doesn’t allow that to happen, as if he would lift a finger for a sinner like me.
Chapter Five
Sarah
It has been seven Sundays since Thomas and I have begun our affair. We have not spoken of what it means, or what shall come. Instead, we find peace within each other, absorbing the moments we are gifted alone, a break from our reality. His hate for his wife is akin to my disgust of my husband. Yet we both know there could never be a future for us. Not here, not in Salem. ‘Tis okay, though, I will take the stolen moments with him with great joy, for they push me forward even on the hardest of days.
As I rise this morning, an ache settles in my breasts, and a wave of sickness plagues my stomach. I do not have to test my theory to know that it is fact. I also know that we did little to nothing to prevent such a thing, so it shouldn’t come as a shock. My ignorance wished we would be so lucky. That it shall not take, for William and I tried for so long before being gifted Dorothy. ‘Tis been near impossible to have another. I thought perhaps it could be that I was now barren. I now know that to be false. I am with child, and I’m certain with everything in me that the baby growing inside me is not my husband’s.
