The Devil's Fire Read online

  She pointed behind her. “Well, he hasn’t left. He’s been here the whole time. They patched him up, and he just lingers out there in the lobby, waiting for you. I won’t lie. I was mean to him, I said terrible things. I told him to leave, but he stayed. It seems that nothing can push him away now.”

  She stepped up to me and wrapped her arms around me. She rocked me back and forth and kissed my forehead. There wasn’t anything that she could say to me. I’m grown and even though her motherly instinct is to guide, she must know how much I need him in my life. She knew, because she still loved Peter, regardless of the pain that he had left behind.

  She walked away from me, pausing at the door. “I’ll see you at home then, okay? Just be careful honey.”

  I nodded to her, but being careful was the last thing I ever wanted when I was with Jack. It was the reason that I loved him as much as I did.

  I stepped out of the room and there he was, sitting in the lobby. He turned and saw me, his jaw was bruised in two places, and his lip was split open. Sam had attempted to destroy him on my behalf. I couldn’t blame Sam. I hadn’t talked to him since that night. I wasn’t sure what I should say or if there was anything that could be said to fix this. Sam hated him as much now as he did then.

  Maybe more.

  I knew that Jack was capable of defending himself. I wondered why he almost let Sam beat him into oblivion. Perhaps he felt as if he deserved it.

  Whatever the reason, it worked with me. I felt compassion for him as all other pain seemed to be swept aside.

  I walked toward him. He stood up, using the chairs back to help him.

  I looked him over as he squared his shoulders. “You look like crap,” I said.

  He laughed, quickly touching his side. “Thanks. Sam broke two of my ribs.”

  I looked him over. “Sam was upset, he’s—I guess he’s protective of me,” I paused, then I spoke with a calm tone. “Why did you come here?”

  He looked up at me and his eyes softened. “I got a message on my phone that you were here. Some guy, he sounded like he was freaking out. I panicked and flew here as fast as I could. He said that you called him Jack and when he checked your phone I was the only Jack listed in it, so he called me.”

  I bit my lip. It must have been the poor guy in the cemetery with his girlfriend.

  “So what did he say?”

  Jack raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to do this here, Abigail?”

  I sighed. “No.” I looked around. “Let’s go, we can talk outside.”

  We stood in the hospital garden. I watched as two butterflies battled each other. They rose into the air and then dropped, only to rise again. It was a constant tug of war. I felt that it was very appropriate for the situation I seemed to find myself in now.

  To be honest, I wasn’t even sure what the situation was.

  I walked to the wooden bench and sat down, Jack joined me. He was silent, perhaps he was waiting me out.

  I turned to look at him. His face looked tired. His eyes were darker, faint circles could be seen under them. The light of day exposed every tiny flaw that had never shown itself to me before. It intrigued me the more I looked at him. The bruises, the cut to his lip. All of it on my account. But did he earn it? I couldn’t be sure. I wasn’t sure of anything, except that I loved him.

  “So, what did that boy say when he called you?”

  Jack looked down at his hands that rested in his lap. I was tempted to reach over and hold one of them, but I refrained from doing it. I felt awkward, as I would guess that anyone would.

  “He said that you called him Jack and then you cut your wrist in front of him.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, that sounds dramatic.”

  Jack looked at me. “Was it?”

  I sighed, rubbing my fingers across my bandage and thinking about the cut and how it made me feel.

  “No. I was drunk. That was all.”

  He paused, reaching up with his hand and moving my long hair over my shoulder. His fingers grazed the side of my neck, and it sent a small wave of pleasure through me. It was an old feeling, one that I missed. I tried to ignore it.

  “So why did you call him Jack, Abigail?”

  I turned to face him. It was time to lay it all out on the table.

  “I got drunk and I heard laughter. I hid behind a gravestone and then they appeared, that guy and his girlfriend, then they—I, I was drunk, it was dark. It looked like you and Rose. Happy now?”

  He bit his lip and reached out, taking my hand into his. He looked up at me. His eyes may be haggard, but the blue still enticed me, mesmerized me. Held me in one place as only he could do. Even beaten down he looked incredibly handsome. Even more so now with this soft side of himself shining through.

  He spoke slowly, never taking his eyes off of mine. “I’m not with her, Abigail.”

  “What?”

  He moved toward me, his knee rested against mine. He continued to speak slowly, with a calm tone, staring me straight in the eye. “I am not with her.”

  “I saw the papers, what they’re saying about the prince of New York and Sleeping Beauty. The ring, marriage—all of it, Jack.”

  His grin turned the corner of his mouth upward. It was small, but I could tell that he was happy that I had paid attention to what he was doing.

  “I will have to thank Sam again for that.”

  I shook my head. “I—I don’t understand, Jack. I mean if you’re not with her then why didn’t you call or text me? Anything would have been better than nothing. You left me with nothing, Jack. Nothing at all.”

  He lifted my hand and turned it over, placing his full lips to my palm. I wanted to jerk it away from him, but the tenderness that he showed to me held me frozen in place. I blinked as he closed his eyes, kissing my palm slowly, taking his time to savor the moment. Then he laid my open hand against his cheek. He felt warm again, not cold as he had in the chapel. It felt like him, looked like him, but his walls seemed to be crumbling down.

  “You frighten me,” he whispered. I could feel his breath on my skin.

  “Jack,” I whispered back to him.

  “It’s always been you, Abigail, from the beginning of time. I know that now.”

  He leaned in and kissed me. His lips searching, trying to connect with me on a new level. It was gentle and giving. Soft and comforting.

  It finally felt like home.

  I pushed back from him and stood up. My heart raced, my head felt dizzy. I started to walk away from him, and I stumbled. Jack quickly caught me and held me in his arms, slowly lifting me up to face him. I cleared my throat and looked down. He touched my chin and lifted it. Making me look at him when I was afraid of what this meant, what he would become in my life.

  “I can offer you everything and nothing. All you have to do is accept me as I am.”

  I took a slow breath. “I have so many questions, so many things that I don’t understand about you, about us.”

  “Come with me,” he placed his hand into mine and we started to walk. We reached the front of the hospital. His long limo sat there, like a reminder of the past. It looked so out of place and yet so normal. Like something I should expect to see.

  I stopped as he held the door open for me. I looked back at the hospital and saw my mom standing in the entry way. I bit my lip and then slid inside. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to know what he wanted to show me. I needed answers, even if those answers destroyed me. It was the only way to move forward.

  He closed the door and walked toward my mom, they spoke very briefly as her arms remained crossed over her chest. She looked at the car and then back to him. The nod of her head marked her surrender as he ran to the car, around the other side and the driver opened the door for him. He climbed into the limo. The door closed behind him, and here we were, at the beginning and not the end.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  FREE FALLING

  ___________________

  We pulled up to the small airport where his p
rivate jet sat on the runway. The jet looked as if it could hold maybe twenty people at best. It was nice, black with white stripes down the side of it. It reminded me of tuxedo pants. It was the only plane here, so I had to guess that this was for his family’s convenience, and no other.

  It did puzzle me that it sat so close to the outskirts of town and yet I had never heard of it. It was buried deep in a thick, lush forest, one that I had never hiked in or even accidentally discovered. It intrigued me, not unlike Jack did.

  I had a feeling that the questions concerning him would never end. It was part of his lure.

  The door opened on his side, and he stepped out, walking around to my side and opening my door for me. All of this was new. The driver had always handled the doors on the car before. Jack’s newfound need to do it for me was impressive. It’s not like I look for men to be gentlemanly about things, but a door being opened for me here and there does matter.

  It makes me feel special.

  He reached in, and I took his hand. He helped me up and out of the car. I still felt a little weak from all of the napping I did in the hospital. I also finally understood how much his loss had affected me.

  I think that depression can be that way. It will suck the life right out of you.

  I let the thought of Sam enter my mind for a moment. I stared at the black jet. Jack placed his open hand on the base of my back, and we walked along as if we had never missed a beat, but we had lost many. Had it taken its toll on us? On our love? On me?

  I couldn’t be sure.

  I climbed the steps up to the open door of the jet as Jack walked up behind me. I stopped, and he leaned against me from behind. I glanced to the side and decided to go in. He followed me. The door closed behind us, and I looked at the extravagant nature of the interior of the plane.

  It had couches, chairs, and an open bar. It was a bachelor pad at best. I looked at everything as Jack stepped up next to me and held his hand out. I walked to the long red couch and sat down on it, he walked to the bar and pulled a square glass, quickly pouring some amber liquid into it. He raised it to me, and I nodded to him.

  “Would you like one?” he asked me. I looked down. “No thanks, I don’t know when I’ll drink again.” I fingered at my wrist.

  He walked toward me and then took a seat next to me, he set his drink down on the clear table in front of us and then reached over. His lips were so close to mine that I could feel the heat rising off of him. He pulled out a seatbelt and stretched it over my lap. I could hear the click of the metal as he lingered near my mouth. He jerked on it, and it tightened across the bottom of my stomach. I made a small noise that rose from the back of my throat. He grinned, slowly letting it go and then put on his own. He reached over and pressed a button.

  “We can take off now.”

  He lifted his finger from the button and picked up his drink. I could feel the plane moving down the runway. I gripped the side of the couch, my fingers turned white. He eyed my hand as every muscle in my arm contracted. He took his free hand and slid it into my hand, intertwining his fingers in mine. I swallowed hard, squeezing his hand as the plane took off. I could feel it tilting back. I grit my teeth as he watched me with some enjoyment.

  “You act like this is your first time. Is it, baby?”

  I took a breath and looked at him. “It is. I’ve never flown before.”

  He narrowed his eyes and took a drink. He grinned at the edge of the glass, and I wanted to smack him.

  It was Jack, the same sexual creature who liked to toy with me. I couldn’t lie and say that I hated it, in fact, I had missed him. All of him. Every side, from the highest mountain top to the deepest valley. I knew that he was many people in one. I guess the situation at hand would warrant which one he would use to handle me or anyone he was with at the time.

  “So, you are a virgin in more than one thing. Interesting.”

  He let his eyes lower to my lap. I tried to cross my legs. The plane evened out, and he reached over and undid my seatbelt, he lingered just as close to me, only at my neck this time. His heated breath caressed my skin. I parted my lips and then licked them, I couldn’t help myself. No one could fluster me like he did. No one had the skill to seduce as Jack Landon did.

  No one.

  “You are still—” he stopped. I looked at him. My eyes now lit with anger.

  “Yes, I am, Jack, thank you,” I started to blush.

  “Mmm,” he said as he leaned back and took another drink of his liquor.

  I tried to hide my disgust with his question about my virginity, but it was hard. “Like I would just give it away.”

  He grinned, placing his thumb to his lower lip. I tried to ignore him, but it was useless.

  “Jack, I need to know about Rose and why you said what you did to her.”

  He stood up and walked back to the bar, he set his glass down and twisted it between his index finger and thumb. He turned and leaned against the bar using his elbow to brace himself. He looked so nonchalant and it infuriated me.

  “You mean, why I told her that I loved her.”

  The muscles tensed in my jaw. “Yes. That.”

  “There are many forms of love, Abigail. The love that I feel for Rose is hard to define.”

  His words aggravated me. “You married her.”

  He stood up straight and tapped the bar with his knuckles. “I did, but it was out of spite.”

  “You said that you—that you two, you know,” I waved my hand in the air, unable to say the word sex.

  He walked back up to me and held his hand out. I refused to take it, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you ever think that maybe I lied to Jerod?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You could be lying now.”

  He leaned as the plane did. I held onto the side of the couch. “I could be, but I’m not. I never slept with her. Rose is like—it isn’t like that with us. It never was.”

  “Then what is it like?”

  He reached down and took my hand, pulling me up in front of him. He leaned in to kiss me, and I turned my face. He slowly released a laugh under his breath.

  “I never tasted her. I didn’t want to.”

  I looked back into his eyes. “Why did you say that you did when you were fighting Jerod?”

  “To hurt him. Jerod irritates me. I’m sure that you noticed.”

  I felt his hand tighten in mine. “I watched you try to kill him.”

  He sighed, quickly biting his bottom lip as he stared at my mouth.

  “I missed you. I missed your fire. Some people are consumed in the flames, and some are reborn in them.”

  I studied his eyes, they were engulfed in passion. Something was rekindling his spirit. Perhaps it was me. “Is that what you’ve done, Jack? Did you rise again?”

  The plane moved, and I bumped into him, he wrapped his arm around me. I tried to steady myself, but his hand slid down my back and rested there. He pulled me against him, I could feel that he was already hard. I cleared my throat and backed away from him. He paused, choosing to allow me to resist him.

  “Okay.” His eyes remained locked on mine.

  “Okay, what?” I asked him.

  He turned as a light lit up on the wall, going from red to green.

  “Let’s go.”

  I raised an eyebrow. I was utterly confused. “Go where?”

  “Out. If you want answers, that’s where you’ll find them.”

  He turned and stared at the door towards the back of the plane and then turned back to smile at me. I looked at the door and shook my head. I pointed at it. “You mean out there, outside the plane?”

  “Yeah. Come on. It will be fun. I promise.”

  “Um, hell no, are you crazy, Jack?”

  He tilted his head. “Well—”

  I let out a short breath and laughed quietly. Of course he was, or could be. So was I.

  His head lowered, his eyes narrowed. His mischievous gaze was taunting me. “Are you afraid, Abigail? You can tell
me if you are.”

  I grit my teeth. “Why is it that everyone thinks that I’m scared to do things now?”

  “Who else thought you were afraid?”

  I paused and then smiled. “Well, I went out on a date and when he got naked he—”

  Jack cut me off. “Got naked? Who got naked?”

  “Man bun.”

  He crinkled his brow. “What kind of name is that?”

  “His, it’s his hair. But anyway, he wanted to jump from the bridge, which I have done before, and he asked me if I was chicken. I’m not.”

  Jack laughed. “I didn’t ask if you were chicken. I asked if you were afraid. Chicken is juvenile, fear is an adult thing. Just like we are, we are adults, aren’t we? Should I get naked? Would that help you?” He stepped closer to me, biting his lower lip while he looked me over. I could feel his eyes digging into every curve on my body.

  I felt my body temperature rising. His flirtatious nature was even more intense now than it had been when I first met him. “I can do things. Dangerous things. I’m not afraid,” I said audaciously.

  He leaned forward. “Prove it.”

  “Fine, I will.”

  I walked to the door and stood there as Jack smiled. He grabbed a black backpack filled with a parachute and put it on and then stepped up behind me and put mine on for me. He tightened it and turned me to face him by using the straps.

  He slowed down, looking me over, letting his fingers slowly caress each strap that ran across me. I swallowed hard and looked away from him as he let his fingers graze my breasts and then my stomach. He stopped and jerked on the straps and it pulled me forward. I felt a little manhandled, and I liked it.

  He inspected everything on me and then grinned. His hands slid down the straps across the front of me one last time. He kept lowering his hands and I thought that he had every intention of sliding them into the front of my pants. I let out a small noise that rose from the back of my throat.

  I held my hands up, raising my eyebrows. My heart raced in my chest. My voice cracked as I spoke. “Well? Let’s do this, Jack,” My pride took over where my brain should have been guiding me.