Sinful Solace

by Garnell Wallace

  Kane smiled. “You have a discerning palette.”

  Jessica shook her head. “I doubt that. You just make really good wines, I guess.”

  Kane sat back. “Would you like to see my Winery?”

  Jessica gasped. “In France? I’ve never been anywhere except Florida.” With what he was paying her, a trip to France was certainly possible. However, she needed to be sensible with that money until she found another well-paying job. “I don’t think I’ll get to France anytime soon.”

  Kane sat back. “If you could go anywhere in the world, would it be France?”

  Jessica smiled. “Yes, and specifically, Paris,” she said in a dreamy voice. “My grandparents used to let me watch old movies when I stayed at their place. My father didn’t allow us to watch movies. My grandma liked films set in Paris. I must’ve seen An American in Paris at least twenty times.”

  “Then I think it’s about time you see it. You have to see all of France, and Italy, Spain, Greece, Switzerland; all of Europe actually.”

  Jessica burst out laughing at such a ridiculous concept. “Maybe one day I’ll win the lottery and take that trip.”

  Kane leaned forward. “I’m your lottery. When we’re done here, I’ll pay for you and a friend to travel through Europe. I have friends in every country that can show you around.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because eyes that beautiful are meant to see the world.”

  Jessica felt heat stain her face. Those words from any other man might’ve been corny, but coming from Kane’s lips, they made her feel hot all over. This rich, gorgeous man had the power to make all her dreams come true, and she was enraptured with him. She wanted to run around the table and throw herself on him. She managed some restraint and instead took her emotions out on the food.

  Jessica didn’t realize how much she was into the food until she came up for air and found Kane sipping on his wine and watching her. She noticed that he hadn’t touched his food.

  She blushed. “I’m sorry I was famished.”

  Kane took a sip. “I like watching you eat.”

  His words and hungry look suffused her with heat. Jessica picked up her wine glass and sat back and stared at Kane. “You’re not eating.”

  “I’m not hungry for food.”

  Jessica took a large gulp. “What are you hungry for then?”

  Kane placed his glass on the table. “Come here, Jessica.”

  Jessica didn’t know how her legs supported her. The scrape of the chair sounded loud; the clop of her heels echoed through the room. Kane stood up and towered over her. Jessica gazed up at him.

  “Are you a virgin, Jessica?”

  Jessica blushed and lowered her eyes.

  Kane placed one hand under her chin and lifted her head. “Are you afraid of me, Jessica?”

  “Should I be?” she answered.

  The heat from his fingers burned her skin.

  “You should be very afraid of me.”

  Jessica placed her hand over his. “I’m not.”

  Kane yanked his hand away. “That is because you don’t know what I am, and you have some romantic notion of what we can have together.”

  “I have no romantic notions about you or anyone else.” She lowered her eyes. “I know you want my body, and I want to give it to you. I don’t expect anything else.”

  “I do want your body, though not only in the way you’re thinking.”

  Jessica gasped. “What other way is there?”

  Kane stood up and pulled Jessica to her feet. He placed his hand at the small of her back and pulled her close against his hard body. The heat radiating from him wasn’t normal. She felt as if she stood next to an open fire. It engulfed her body, and sweat trickled down between her breasts and legs. Her eyes widened when she thought she saw fire danced in his. When his lips touched hers, Jessica's knees almost buckled. Her mouth opened under his, and she felt his wine-soaked tongue. Though she’d only had a few chaste kisses with boys behind the church, she knew there were few men who kissed like Kane.

  His mouth was sweet and hot, like dark molasses with a hint of mint. A hundred new sensations rippled through her body, and streaks of electricity erupted from her sex and coiled throughout her body. Kane cupped the back of her head and kissed her like he owned her. He was gentle and possessive. Then his kisses turned hard and deep and became tinged with desperation, like he didn’t want to kiss her but couldn’t help himself. Jessica had no intention of letting him go. She reached up and wrapped her hands around his neck as her world swayed from the intensity of his mouth. The hardness of his chest and legs kept her steady, and the hardness at his center had her wet and terrified. Was she really ready for all that part of him would want from her?

  She gasped against his mouth, taking his breath into hers. It burned a trail down to her stomach like hard intoxicating liquor, and she felt utterly intoxicated. This was the kind of kiss she’d read about in countless romance novels, the type of kiss she’d never thought she’d experienced outside of books. It was all real, and she wanted to run around the room screaming with joy, except she couldn’t tear herself away from Kane and the magic of his mouth.

  When he reached down and cupped her backside, Jessica’s pleasure shot to a whole new level. She groaned and dug her nails into his neck. She pulled away slightly to catch her breath but then decided that kissing Kane was more vital than breathing. She lifted herself and wrapped her legs around his waist. She was ready for him to take her right there on the table.

  Suddenly her backside felt very hot. She stared up at Kane and froze. His irises had turned red. At first, Jessica thought she imagined the color change, but they really were red. With a shriek, she jumped down from his tall frame. “What are you?”

  “I’m the kind of man your family would warn you to stay away from, though I believe there are far more dangerous people in this town.”

  Jessica swallowed the lump of fear in her throat. Then she almost choked as the truth became clear to her. “You’re a sex demon!” That was the only way to explain the intense sexual attraction between them. She’d read about people like him in romance novels and had fantasized about what it would be like to make love to one of them. She’d never thought this kind of demon was real. Now that she knew the truth, it was scary more than sexy.

  “Yes, I’m a sex demon,” Kane confirmed. “My father was a demon, and I inherited it from him.” He was a good man, and I learned from him that I could be a good demon.”

  Jessica sniggered. “My father would say that there are no good demons.” Jesse had educated all of his children on every demonic entity, though Kane was far from the monster-like creatures, which had terrified her in her father’s religious books. That didn’t mean he wasn’t evil. She took a step away from him. She couldn’t believe any book, religious or romantic. “Did you kill your wife?”

  Kane’s face darkened, and his eyes seemed to flash actual fire. Jessica shrieked and ran across the room. Kane caught her before she reached the door. He held her by her arms, and Jessica was sure she was about to die.

  “I didn’t kill my wife,” he growled. “I learned too late that she was more attracted to what I am rather than who I am. She liked it when I fed on her.”

  “Fed from her? Like a vampire?”

  “Somewhat, though we feed on sexual energy.”

  “We, you know others like you?”

  “Yes, and my wife did too. She cheated on me with a demon that was willing to feed on her until she passed out. She liked pushing her limits. One day he took her too far, and she died.”

  “So, where was her body? How come they never found her?”

  “There wasn’t a body. When you take that much of a person’s energy; it’s not just sexual energy; it’s their life-force. If you take too much of that, then the person can age quicker than normal. The demon took until she aged about seventy years in a week and then died. He left her on the lawn, and there wasn’t even anything for the vultur
es. How was I supposed to explain a shriveled up carcass of my wife to anyone? I took the woman I loved who was now just a bag of bones and buried her in the garden. If anyone ever finds her, the condition of the bones would seem far too old for her to be my wife or for me to have killed her. I left this house soon after and haven’t been back until now.”

  “So, you just need to feed on me?” Jessica asked.

  “I need more than just a mere feeding. I need to take a lot of your energy.”

  She turned to face him. “Knowing what happened to your wife, why would you think I’d let you do that?”

  “Because I would never take you that far. I just need to feed to get strong enough to get to Graham Major. He’s very heavily guarded at all times, so I’ll need to defy bullets to get to him.”

  “You want me to risk my life for your personal vendetta?”

  “It’s not my vendetta, though I do take it very personally. That man is a killer, a thief, a pedophile. You name it; he probably has done it.”

  “I know being a martyr is a great Christian virtue; however, I’m just not that sanctified.”

  Kane caressed her cheek. “I’ll take care of you, Jessica, I promise.”

  His soft voice washed over her, and for a moment, she believed him. Then her fears took over. He was a demon! A rich, handsome, and sexy demon, but a demon nonetheless. Her Christian brain could not match what she’d been taught about demons with what she knew about Kane Morley. Slowly she backed away from him. Would he allow her to get out the door, or would he attack her and never allow her to leave? He wanted to take her energy. She wasn’t even sure what that meant, and yet she knew she didn’t want any part of it.

  Slowly she backed away from him, and Kane watched her like a lion calmly watching its prey’s futile attempt to escape. Each step toward the door filled her with a little more hope. When she exited the dining room, Jessica turned and made a mad dash for the front door. She cried out when her fingers grasped the cool brass handle. She pushed the door open and ran outside and around the house to the guesthouse she’d now never get to enjoy fully. She flung the front door open and grabbed her car keys from a little table by the door. She’d worry about her belongings another time.

  She ran back around the house to her car. She was so happy she hadn’t had time to place it in Kane’s garage. Thankfully she had added the transponder Gustav had given her to her car keys. The black gates opened as she sped up to them, and then she was free.

  Kane stood in the middle of the driveway and watched Jessica’s car disappear into the night. Fiona came and stood beside him. “She’ll be back. Her mother will make sure of it.”

  Kane gave her a skeptical look. “A deeply religious mother will advise her youngest child, a virgin, to sleep with a demon and risk her life to avenge the wrong Graham Major did to her over forty years ago?”

  Fiona patted his arm. “There’s more to it, my boy. Trust me, she will be back, and she will do anything to get rid of Graham Major.”

  PART 2

  Jessica drove straight home. What Kane had revealed had been such a shock she needed her mother’s calm and good nature. The house was quiet when she walked in. She found her mother on the back porch looking out over the lake, which bordered their property. Jessica watched her through the screen door. She seemed so sad. She sat up when the door screeched open and stared at Jessica in surprise.

  “Jessa?” She stood up and rushed towards her youngest child. “What’s wrong?” She led Jessica over to a chair. “Baby, what happened?”

  Jessica stared at her mother and tried to figure out the best way to explain what had happened to her. In the end, she decided the only way to do it was just to blurt it out.

  “Do you believe in demons, mother?”

  Ruth’s eyes widened. “Like demonic possession?”

  “No, like sex demons.”

  “Sex demons? What are you talking about?” Ruth’s hands flew to her mouth. “Jessa, what have you gotten yourself into baby? You’ve been gone less than a day, and already Kane Morley has got you mixed up in some kind of sex cult. I’m going to call your father.” She jumped up, and Jessica grabbed her hand.

  “Please, mother, I don’t want him involved in this. Can I just talk to you?”

  Ruth sighed and sat back down. Jessica explained to her mother as best she could what had happened at Kane’s house. She noticed her mother got real tense when she mentioned Graham Major.

  “Did he do something to you?”

  Ruth’s lip’s trembled, and then she burst into tears.

  “Mother, what’s wrong?”

  Ruth’s thin shoulders shook as she cried. Jessica fished a napkin out of her purse and wiped her mother’s face. “Mama, talk to me,” she pleaded.

  Ruth blew her nose and then stared out over the lake. “I’ve been sitting out here for hours praying to God for a miracle and he sent it to me in the form of a demon.” She sighed and sat back. “I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone, not even your father. I was seventeen when I first met Graham Major, and I fell madly in love with him. Everything about our relationship seemed perfect until I got pregnant.”

  Jessica gasped. “You… You were….”So many thoughts were spinning around in her head that she couldn’t finish one of them. She’d been taught that both her parents had been virgins on their wedding night. To hear that her mother had not only had another man but had gotten pregnant blew her mind.”

  Ruth squeezed her hand. “I know it’s a lot to take in. When I told Graham I was pregnant, he demanded that I get rid of the baby because he wasn’t about to strap himself down with a wife and baby. When I refused, he… he beat the baby out of me.” She closed her eyes, and tears slid from under her lids. “All these years later I still remember that night. I still feel that pain. We were out in the woods, close to Kane’s house. He left me out there to die, I guess. Gustav and Fiona found me sometime later on their evening walk. I was so delirious I told them the whole story. They took me to the hospital and then took care of me until I was able to go home. They wanted me to press charges, but I didn’t want the world to know what I’d done. I begged them to keep my secret, and they did.”

  Tears streamed down Jessica’s face. All of these years, her mother had carried this secret, and her parents had lied to their children. “What did father say when you got involved with him?”

  “I didn’t tell him anything until after we were married, and even then, I only told him that I’d had a boyfriend. He still doesn’t know about the baby. He said I had betrayed him, but he didn’t believe in divorce, so we worked through it. Though he never let me forget what I’d done to him and he became paranoid about making sure our children remain virgins until their wedding day. After what had happened to me, I wasn’t sure I’d have any. Each one of you was a gift I never expected to have. I just hope you can forgive me for being so hard on you.”

  Jessica wiped her eyes. “It’s okay, mother.”

  “There’s something else I have to tell you,” Ruth told her.

  Jessica’s heart stopped. “Oh, God, what else can there be?”

  “Graham has hurt your father too. It’s because of him that I’m out here praying. Your father invested all of our savings and the savings of a lot of our church family into what has turned out to be one of Grahams’ Ponzi schemes. He didn’t tell me anything about it. You know he has archaic views about women and business. All the money is gone now. Graham says he doesn’t owe him anything. Your father will have to explain to his parishioners where all their just to blurt it money went after they trusted him to make good financial investments for them. He can’t tell them he lost their money. If he loses his church, it will kill him.” She grabbed both of Jessica’s hands. “Tell Kane Morley you will do it if he gives your father fifty thousand dollars. That’s no money for a man like him. But also tell him that if anything happens to you, I will kill him.”

  Jessica laughed through her tears.

  Ruth
hugged her. “God will keep you safe.”

  Jessica drove back to Morley Manor. She’d never been so nervous. Not only was she about to have sex for the first time, but she was also about to have sex with a demon! Once the black gates closed behind her, Jessica knew there was no turning back. The front door opened, and Kane came down the steps to meet her.

  “I’m glad you came back,” Kane said.

  “I’m back on one condition. Graham conned my father and his members out of fifty-thousand dollars. If you give me that money, I’m yours.”

  “That son of a bitch!” Kane growled. He took his phone out of his pocket and punched one number. “Wire a million dollars into Miss Munroe’s account.”

  “A million dollars!” Jessica was about to protest when she realized that she still had no idea what Kane would require her to do. Her life was definitely worth that amount of money. Kane held out his hand. Jessica took a deep breath and placed her small hand in his. Kane led her up the steps and into the house. The door closed behind them with a finality Jessica felt to her core.

  Kane cupped her face. “I’d like to take you right here against the door, but I’d want your face time to be more special than that. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bedroom. He placed her beside a large black bed. “You’re trembling.”

  Jessica laughed. “I’m nervous; I can’t help it. This is my first time, and it’s with someone like you.”

  “I promise I will be gentle.” He pushed one finger under the strap of her dress and caressed her skin.”Your skin is so soft.” He pulled the strap down and then leaned forward and kissed the spot. Jessica closed her eyes and sighed as his mouth traveled across her shoulder and up her neck. He inhaled deeply. “You smell like roses and innocence.”

  Jessica giggled. “What does innocence smell like?”

  He planted a kiss on her neck. “Fresh, pure.” He planted another kiss. “Intoxicating. Your energy is so strong.”

  Jessica tensed. Her fear took her out of the moment. “What will it feel like when you take it from me?”