The Devil's Fire Read online

  He leaned forward, letting his cheek glide along mine. I wanted to bite his neck like I had in my dream. He smelled so good. I took a deep breath and held it. I didn’t want to let him go. He whispered in my ear. “I suggest that you pull your legs up to cushion the fall when you hit the ground.”

  I fiddled with the straps in front of me. “That’s your advice? I mean what else do I—”

  He slammed his hand against a button on the wall, and the door opened behind us. He lunged at me and wrapped me in his arms as he dove out of the plane.

  We spun a few times as I held on to him for dear life. The feeling was indescribable. Pure terror and rushing adrenaline took over every sense in my body. I swear that it felt like foreplay. My thighs hummed, and the feeling moved in between my legs. I buried my face into his neck and moaned. He felt me.

  He leaned back and flipped us, we were now upside down and barreling towards the earth at an unimaginable speed.

  He pressed his lips against mine as his arm remained wrapped around me. He reached down between us and slid his hand in between my legs. He quickly found my clit behind the material and rotated his fingers against it, a flick, a sweet caress, one movement blended into the other. It aroused me very quickly, and my stomach tightened. He quickened his pace, his rhythm sending waves of pleasure all through me. He buried his tongue inside my mouth as my moaning rose along with the orgasm that was trying to escape me. I broke from his lips and cried out at the top of my lungs as he continued to stimulate me. He flipped us over and pulled my chute as he pushed me away from him before I could fully climax. I shot upward and away from him as I screamed his name.

  My vision blurred, my heartbeat thundered in my chest. I’m sure that it was a combination of the free fall and his torturous stimulation. Both ridiculous, both lavish, just like Jack. Why would I expect any less from him?

  Jack pulled his chute below me and shot up above me. I held on for dear life as we fell closer and closer to the earth, I looked down and saw a large open field and I allowed gravity to bring me in. I held my legs up, just as he suggested, and hit the ground. I rolled once or twice and ended up on my back, the chute slowly floated down over me and blocked out the sky and everything else with it.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  BEYOND SKY

  __________________________

  I lay there laughing. I couldn’t help it. What an insane feeling to be set free, like a bird into the open sky. Ironically Jack controlled every bit of it, from the fall to the seduction, to the drop.

  I have no idea why I expected any less of him. He was built to be epic in all ways.

  I looked up as the chute was pulled off of me. I held my hand up to block the intensity of the sun’s rays as Jack leaned in, and his shadow shielded me from it. I grinned. He reached out and grabbed me, pulling me up and wrapping me in his arms. He turned me around a few times and then set me down. His excitement matched my own.

  I looked up at the sky and shook my head.

  “Don’t you ever do that to me again, Jack. I mean it.”

  He smiled, studying my expression with a glint of curiosity behind his stare.

  “So, you don’t want me to make you come at sixteen-thousand feet?”

  I sighed. He unlatched my chute and it dropped behind me.

  “Shut up, Jack. I didn’t—you didn’t let me.”

  “I promise to make it up to you, Abigail.”

  “That’s what scares me.”

  He laughed and took his chute off, he let it drop to the ground. I turned and looked at the beautiful countryside all around us. Then I spotted the large house on the horizon.

  I looked back at him. “Do you own that?”

  He gazed at it, his blue eyes catching the sun's light and making them brighter and more beautiful, as if it were possible. “My family does, I guess it’s more mine than anyone else’s now. I have been staying here, mostly. I left the estate a couple of weeks ago.”

  I watched as the black jet started to descend onto a runway that ran along the side of the house. I also saw a hanger in the distance. Self-contained, secluded. I could love it here. I already knew this just as well as I knew that Jack had slipped right back into my life. Few beats missed, in true Jack fashion.

  He took my hand. “Shall we?”

  He had drawn me back into his world just as quickly as he had ejected me from it.

  Would it last?

  Only time would tell.

  We reached the house and it looked as if someone had simply placed it there. There was no driveway to speak of. Grass grew right up to the front steps of the mansion. It looked magical.

  The house was attempting to blend in to its surroundings, becoming part of the countryside. Tall, majestic trees surrounded it on all sides. Deep green ivy covered it, winding its way up the front, around the many windows and stopping at the edge of the rooftop.

  Jack walked up the steps, very reminiscent of the ones built at the estate. The mansion was similar, I could tell that the same architect that designed the Landon estate had also designed this one. The façade was large, consisting of light grey stone. The windows were oversized, yet not overbearing. They flanked the front of the home, only rising to the second floor. I stared up at the dark windows, expecting to see faces, or perhaps at least one, but none appeared.

  For some reason it was comforting to see Jack enjoying something on a smaller scale, maybe it humanized him more. I know that we flew in on a private jet, but when you know that the man you are with could have anything, it’s just refreshing to see something in moderation.

  This house was only a quarter of the size of his home. Modest in comparison to what I had experienced with him before. I appreciated it more than he would ever know.

  He walked up to the door, grabbing the black iron handle and letting it swing wide open. I stepped in and took a deep breath. The entry way was an atrium. A fountain, with crystal clear water cascading over the three tiers of it, stood in the middle. It had thick greenery all around it. It felt nothing like his other home. This one was free and open. Lighter. Devoid of the lingering chill that ran from one end of the Landon estate to the other.

  I stared up at the large glass ceiling. It let the sun rain down on everything and filled it with life. Renewed and hopeful. It was breathtaking.

  I turned to look at him and then back at everything in the room.

  “This is—I’m speechless, it’s beautiful. I love it.”

  He closed the door behind him. I expected a staff member to come walking out to greet us, but no one came.

  “Are you, I mean, are we here alone?”

  He walked to the fountain without saying a word. He leaned over the side of it and splashed the cool water on his face. It dripped from his chin as he waved me over to him. I stepped up to the fountain and looked in to see my reflection with his standing next to me. It was like a dream, all of it. I still expected to wake up on my bed, or in the hospital only to find out that this all never happened.

  My life had abruptly changed with one cut with a broken piece of glass in the cemetery that night. How ironic, when Jack and I began with something so similar in nature.

  It seemed that my blood summoned him to me, like a siren's call.

  My mind flashed to him grabbing my hand and placing it against him, his erection hard and aching for me. I could see us in the kitchen that night on the surface of the water beneath me. It caught my breath as he leaned in and gently kissed my lips, his moan echoing in my mind. The stitch was tightening, holding me together like a ragdoll at his command.

  He could unravel me at any moment, and then stitch me back together at his leisure. I wasn’t sure if I could control it any longer. I didn’t even want to.

  I touched the base of my neck, blinking out of memory as he spoke to me. The vision of us started to fade and the reality of who we are now started to come into view.

  “Only the pilot,” he said quietly. “It’s peaceful here, without interruption.”

>   I reached in and scooped the water in my hands. I splashed it on my face, just as he had. The heat rose in my cheeks at the thought of us being alone—truly alone.

  “Come.”

  He took my hand and pulled me along, half running down a long hallway that led into a great room. Almost the entire back wall was made of glass with thick iron bars holding it all together. I could see the large lake sitting behind the house. It was a brilliant shade of blue. The surface of the water sparkled like diamonds as it captured the sun’s light.

  He opened one of the glass doors. I stepped out onto a large stone terrace. I reached the edge and held onto the railing. I stared out across the lake and took in the clean air. I could smell the water, the trees, all of it. This place was like heaven. The complete opposite of my impression of the estate.

  Jack leaned on the railing next to me, his elbows bent as his eyes surveyed the water.

  “I spent a lot of time here as a child.”

  “Really? I thought that you lived at the estate most of the time.”

  He turned and leaned his back against the short stone wall. He stared up at the back of the mansion.

  “This is where we spent our summers, every summer that I can remember. I love it here. Jerod was bored, but I enjoyed the quiet, the peaceful nature of it all.”

  “Did Peter come here?”

  He looked down and then over at me. “No, that’s why it was peaceful. Every summer mother would fly us here, and she would stay, but I didn’t see much of her.”

  “So why have a house that you never visit?”

  He laughed and turned back toward the lake. “My father wasn’t allowed to come here, he built this for one of his lovers, Mom never said which one—he had many. But anyway, I heard them fighting over it, and he said this place was poison, and that she could have it, he didn’t care.”

  “So he built all of this for a woman?” I looked out across the lake and how beautiful the landscaping was. Such great care had been taken to make this heaven on Earth.

  Jack looked at me and leaned in. “So the legend goes. All that I know is that I love it here, and I’ve never brought anyone to this place. Until now.”

  I narrowed my eyes as he stepped out in front of me. “I can’t be the first girl that you have brought here.”

  He leaned toward me and touched my hair that lay over my shoulder. He slowly moved his thumb and then let it go. “Oh, but you are, well, except for Rose. She’s been here, of course.”

  I shook my head and looked down. Of course, she had been here. I had so many doubts about her. I couldn’t help it. Jack leaned down and touched my chin, lifting it up so that I had to look at him.

  “Abigail.”

  “I’m sorry, I just—”

  “I want to show you something.”

  He reached out, and I slid my hand into his. It fit so well it was like breathing. Everything about him was just that, breathing and taking my breath away—one after the other.

  It was as if a constant storm was rolling in off the ocean and then blue sky would break through. I was addicted to the turmoil, now more than ever.

  We walked along a small cobbled path made of dark grey stones. Suddenly he stopped and looked up at a white tree. Its large branches spread out to either side, twisting and turning as they blocked out the sunlight. The trunk was at least four feet wide. It must have stood here forever, collecting memories as history tends to do.

  He walked toward it and then stopped, placing his hand on the side of it. He looked at me, and I had no other choice but to join him. I stepped up, and he took my hand and placed it on the tree. I stared at the initials dug into the side of it. Etched deeply and with care.

  J.L.

  R.L.

  J.L.

  I stared at the letters. “You, Rose, and your brother?”

  “Me, my sister, and my brother, Abigail.”

  I sucked in my breath as I stepped back from the tree. “But Jerod—he, oh my God. With his own sister? How could he?” I covered my mouth with my hand.

  Jack looked at the letters dug into the tree. He touched them. His fingers lingered over each one. He turned his head and looked at me, his expression had changed.

  “No, Abigail—Rose wasn’t born into our family, she was a gift to my mother. My father brought her home when she was one, a peace offering, I would guess. Mother wanted a girl, but she couldn’t have another child after Jerod. He nearly killed her, but anyway, Rose grew up here, mostly. She wasn’t at the estate very much. We had nannies who looked after us here. When she was a child, I only saw her here, each summer. The rest of the year she was kept here, and we were at the estate. It wasn't until she turned sixteen that she came to live with us. That’s when, well, Jerod was enamored with her.”

  I fiddled with my hands and then rubbed them on my legs. “I—I had no idea. I mean did Peter adopt her? If so, then what Jerod did was completely uncalled for.”

  “Not in any legal sense of the word. He merely brought her home and my mother, as you can tell, isn’t exactly the maternal type, but there was something about Rose that she adored. She would protect her at all costs. So when father started to go downhill, we spent more time here, and that’s when I got to know her. Rose is very special, broken—like me. I love her, not out of pity, but out of loyalty to my own. And I don’t blame Jerod, you have no idea how manipulating Rose can be, she excels at it.”

  “Like your father,” I said quietly. Jack pulled a knife from his pocket.

  I watched as the blade caught the light and flashed at me.

  Jack held his hand out to me, keeping the knife at his side. I hesitated.

  “Abigail, come here, don’t be afraid. I would never harm you.”

  I walked toward him, taking my time until my hand slid into his again. He placed me in front of him. He put the knife into my hand and gripped it tightly. He stabbed into the initials. Digging out his, then hers, and then Jerod’s.

  He stabbed into the tree underneath the carnage and started to carve in the letter A, and the W followed. He carefully carved the letter J and an L below my initials. Then two simple words.

  FOREVER MINE.

  His hand lowered to his side, and he dropped the knife, he took my fingers and placed them in the letters that now lay forever etched into the tree. He traced each one, slowly, methodically—letting me feel them as they were. As something real and tangible.

  He turned me so that I faced him. I leaned my back against the tree. He lifted his hand and kept his eyes locked on my mouth as he traced my full lips with his fingertips. I parted them, allowing my breath to float across his skin.

  “Yours is a face that could bring any man to his knees,” he whispered to me.

  “Jack,” I whispered back to him. I looked down and then back up to him.

  “I love you as no one has ever loved you before. I love you beyond the sky, beyond earth, beyond anything ever known or that will be known. Please forgive me, all of me, Abigail.”

  The tears came in silence, he leaned forward and gently touched my face, wiping one tear away with his thumb as his kisses rushed in like the high tide that I had held back so long.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  EVERY BIT OF HIM

  _________________________

  I sat in the ivory tub, stretched out in clear water. The steam rose up from the water’s surface, curling and twisting, creating beautiful patterns in the air, once and never to repeat itself again.

  True art, in the purest of forms.

  I lifted my arm, and the steam rose off of it. A soft white sponge ran the length of it. Jack leaned in, with his eyes closed and kissed my skin where the water retreated and vaporized. His kisses lingered on me. I sighed, I couldn’t help myself. His seduction was overpowering.

  He moved to the end of the tub, behind my head and pulled my long hair out so that it lay over the edge. His hands slowly gripped the length of it, pulling the water over his fingers and letting it run down and drip onto the stone f
loor at his feet. It pooled, glossy and contained in one imperfect circle. Capturing light and his reflection.

  He picked up a large white comb and started to brush my hair. All the while I lay in the tub and enjoyed his affection. It truly was that, pure love and nothing more. He wanted absolutely nothing in return.

  This was simply for my pleasure, mine alone.

  He leaned into my ear, whispering sweet words as he continued to brush my hair.

  “You are a Goddess.”

  I smiled, “Jack, I forgave you, you don’t have to keep trying to win me over.”

  He bit my ear, gently nibbling on the edge of it and reached forward, spreading his fingers wide and pressing them against the upper part of my chest. I arched my back as he pushed his hand forward, between my breasts, pausing only to let his thumb graze my erect nipple that broke the surface of the water.

  “Look at you,” he paused for a moment. “Sheer perfection.” he added, with such adoration in his voice.

  I moved ever so slightly, he licked his bottom lip and then bit into it. He started to rise and leaned forward. I gasped as his fingers made contact between my legs. He slid two fingers in, quicker than I expected. I parted my lips and could see his erection above me. I tilted my head back, reaching up and guiding his hardness toward my waiting lips.

  Each deep thrust of his manhood into my mouth was met with his fingers gripping me. He would push his hips forward and pull back with his hand, my moaning deepened, as did his own. I could feel his strength pulsating on my tongue. He was fighting it as usual. He could come, explosively giving into me if he would only allow himself too. For some reason, he fought against it, perhaps for my extended pleasure.

  I reached behind him and dug into the side of his hip. My fingernails were cutting into his flesh. He hissed, placing his hand over my own and helping me dig deeper. He enjoyed it, just as I assumed that he would. I could feel the wetness of his blood on my skin. He lifted my hand to his mouth and gently guided my fingers into his parted lips and onto his warm and sensual tongue. He took every drop of his blood. He growled, the vibration felt good and heightened my arousal. I became wetter by the moment, and the humming intensified between my legs as his fingers continued to stimulate me.