He had no idea how she was here in Purgatory, unless she was dead. It didn’t matter one way or the other. All that mattered was that she was with him.
The thought gave him an idea and he took his hand and placed it over her heart. Her flesh was warm but there was a clear, steady beat thrumming under his palm. It shook him to his core, how strong it felt, how alive she was. Maybe that was why he had been drawn to her in the first place. How alive she seemed to him, with those big doe eyes, that wide-eyed innocence. He had wanted to corrupt her, and he had. Oh yes, he had. And it was the best thing he had ever done. She was his now, fully, completely, to the point where she would go to Purgatory to… He wasn’t sure if it was merely to see him or to save him, but it didn’t matter. She was here. By some miracle, she was here.
He almost hated her for it, for the new way it made him feel. The intensity of the feelings, the sensitivity of them. God, he hated it. He almost slapped her to punish her for these feelings, but he refrained.
No one else had ever made him feel this way. Vulnerable. Captive. He could never rid himself of her. But maybe, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Because he knew he would never find someone as devoted and as twisted as she was.
In essence, she was his one and only, his true love. His soul mate. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Her tired words drew his eyes downward, and though her own eyes were still hidden behind heavy eyelids, a soft smile that emphasized those round cheekbones touched her lips. His heart clenched at the sight of it, and he instantly condemned himself for such a silly reaction. She was his weakness, yes, but he didn’t need to feel as though she was at such a constant rate.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Not when she looked so sweet and vulnerable. He could take her right now and she would let him without question. But he wouldn’t. Not now. Not yet. He just wanted to be with her, in her company. The physical connection would come later.
“My mind,” he said, as though that would explain everything.
And to her, it would. Her smile deepened. “I thought I was your security blanket,” she said, pushing her head deeper into the pillow.
“How, uh, how can you be my security blanket when you shake me up so?” he asked her. He wanted some kind of response from her because he was trying to figure it out himself. “How did you, well, how did you get here? Why are you here?”
Keirah furrowed her brow, and this time, she did open her eyes. She sat up, putting her weight on her right hand, which she placed behind her and off to the side. Sleep still haunted her face, but somehow, it made her appear more serene, angelic. She looked out of place here, and he could feel his anger ebb and flow now that he noticed it. She shouldn’t be here.
“I came to get you back,” she told him, and he knew she was honest with him. He knew she would never lie to him. Not her. Not to him. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“Why would you assuuuume that?” he asked, and then snaked his tongue across his lips.
“Surely you don’t want to be trapped down here for all eternity, do you?” She was getting angry, he could tell, and the sight aroused him as much as it burned through his veins with his own anger. He liked when she stood up to him; the sight was a rarity because she was so good at listening to him and obeying his every command. “I’m the reason you’re here in the first place. I wanted to get you back, make sure you’re okay.”
“Well, I am,” he drawled. He couldn’t look at her, but he forced himself to. She was not allowed to dictate where he looked and when. “I don’t need you here to, well, to ruin it all for me.”
“What are you talking about?” Keirah asked. She looked like she was going raise her voice, give him attitude, but thought better of it, and closed her mouth.
Good girl, he thought automatically.
“I saved you,” he spat, his voice loud and booming and echoing off the stone walls. “I jumped in front of your uh body and well, I took a bullet for you. I took a bullet for you right. In. The. Heart. Do you think in your right mind that uh I do that? Do you, well, do you think an, an action like that is in my nature, my genetic makeup? And you throw it all away by uh, well, by coming down here?”
“You saved me,” Keirah agreed with a curt nod of her head. Her eyes narrowed at him, and he decided he didn’t like when her eyes narrowed. “And you’re upset that I’m here with the intent to return the favor?”
She didn’t get it. She just didn’t get it. Saving him implied that he needed her, and perhaps he had come to that same conclusion a while ago, that he did need her, but it was not something he was willing to admit. Not just yet. Especially not to her. But he wasn’t going to condemn her for it, either. He wasn’t going to punish her because she was right; he did need saving. He didn’t want to stay down here. He wanted to be back on earth, doing what he did best: causing chaos and terrorizing the citizens of Onyx. If not Onyx, he would find a different city with new people. In fact, that just might be more fun.
“You can’t save me,” he told her, making sure to articulate each and every word.
“Of course I can,” she said, and there was a sincerity in her eyes, in her words, that showed she actually believed what she said.
“Things don’t, well, they don’t run the same down here the way they do any place else.”
“I know,” she told him. “I know where I am, Noir.” For a moment, he believed she was going to call him by his real name. He had never told anyone his real name. Not ever. It was one of the reasons he hated her so much. She had such influence over him. She would bring him to his knees, cause his downfall, and there was a good chance he would love every minute of it.
“Then why did you come here?” he asked, and his voice turned dark, his words held bite, and he inwardly cheered when she visibly flinched. Good. She needed to be intimidated. She needed to be scared. “You, uh take… what I did for you, for gran-ted. Do you think I make-ah a habit of saving everyone? And now you’re here. You’re, well you’re hum… throwing your second chance at life away, doll.”
“It’s more like my third or fourth chance,” she retorted, more to herself than to him. “And I would do the same thing, over and over again. Life isn’t the same without you. And if you’re right and this doesn’t end up working out, if I’m condemned to stay here and my life on earth ceases to exist, it will all be worth it because I have you. Because we’re together.”
“I. Don’t. Want. To. Be. Here.”
Keirah smirked. “I know.” She gave him a sly look. “Which is why I have a plan.” He perked his brow, indicating that she should go on. “I’ve already talked to Hades about you. He’s thinking it over.”
This caught Noir’s attention. “He’s thinking what over?” he asked.
“Letting you go.” Keirah curled her legs up underneath her and arched her back up. She was completely naked, sitting in front of him completely naked. Normally, such a sight would not have made him blink whatsoever but he hadn’t feasted on her body in such a long time–time tended to move so slowly here; he wasn’t sure how much of it had passed since he had arrived–that he couldn’t resist dropping his eyes, taking her in, creating even more mental snapshots than he already had. She wasn’t shy with her body the way she had been when they first started fucking, and he loved her even more for it, appreciated her own appreciation of her sexuality. It made him fall even more in love with her than he already was.
The bitch.
“What?”
“He said he’ll consider letting you go,” she repeated. “Come back to earth. Come back to me.”
Before Noir could reply, a knock on the door interrupted him.
“Keirah, it’s Seph,” a familiar voice called. “Haye has rendered his decision. Please get dressed and I’ll wait out here for you. In case, you know, you need help. Or you need me to lead you back to the throne room.”
“All right, I’ll be out soon,” Keirah
called.
“Oh, and he wants you to wear something nice. Like a dress. Yes. A dress.”
Noir furrowed his brow, his eyes bronzing. He knew who Seph was, but he didn’t appreciate the implications the goddess’s words had with Keirah. Wear something nice? Why did she need to wear something nice? What was his relationship with Keirah anyways? How could a human somehow strike a deal with the god of Purgatory, without having some sort of relationship unless he wanted one?
Keirah was Noir’s. He didn’t give a shit who wanted her.
By the time he was finished with his thoughts, Keirah had pulled on a deep magenta gown, simple in the loose way it hung on her form. She threw her hair up into a messy bun. Somehow, with the miniscule time it took for her to get ready, she looked devastatingly lovely.
He couldn’t help himself; he lunged at her, placing a passionate kiss on her lips as though she might be gone.
“Come-ah back to. Me.”
Keirah smiled softly at him. “Always,” she murmured.
28
Jack opened his mouth to say something, but oddly enough, words were unable to leave the tip of his tongue. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was so startled by how completely desolate Andie looked at the moment, if it was because even he knew he couldn’t say anything to fix this, or if it was the look from Beverly. He shut his mouth abruptly and focused his attention on placing the flowers on the counter of the sink. He felt himself start to get defensive; why would his aunt look at him like that when she hadn’t even heard his side of the story? In fact, what business of it was hers? This was between him and Andie.
“I’d like to talk to my girlfriend,” Jack said, finally looking over at Beverly with sharpened jade eyes, daring his aunt to refuse. However, Jack should have known better when it came to her because Beverly’s crystal green eyes seeped into Jack’s like glaciers. “Alone,” Jack added with emphasis. It was only then that Beverly looked down at Andie, as though asking if he should leave.
If it was anyone else who had upset Andie this way, Jack would have found it humbling how defensive Beverly had grown over the young woman, but because it was he who had done this, Jack saw it as somewhat annoying.
“That’s fine,” Andie said quietly, though her voice was firm. She had yet to look at Jack, but she offered Beverly the best reassuring smile she could come up with at that moment.
Once she left, Jack threw a glance over at his Andie, who looked up at him with the saddest eyes he had ever laid eyes upon. He hesitated, though he longed to reach out and hold her, wanting nothing more than to promise that everything would be all right. But he didn’t know that; it was Andie who would determine if things were going to be okay, and all he could do was make the decision as easy for her as possible.
She wouldn’t leave him for this, would she?
“Listen, And,” Jack began, his voice taking its normal soft-spoken tone, “you have no idea how sorry I am.”
Andie nodded cryptically, before clenching her jaw. “Me too,” she managed to say, her heart clenching at the memory of expecting Jack to show up and being sorely disappointed.
“You have to believe that I never meant to hurt you,” he continued, taking a step towards her. “I lost track of time. This is completely my fault, and I’m sorry, but you have to know that I didn’t do it on purpose. I would never want to hurt you, Andie. Never.” His eyes tried to plead with hers, but they seemed to have built a wall up, a wall that had taken quite a while for Jack to tear down.
“Well, it doesn’t matter what you intended to do or not,” Andie said, her voice still so soft, and her eyes narrowed in his direction, “because I am.”
“You’re right,” Jack said, watching as Andie slowly stood up. It would seem that everything she did when she was upset had a purpose. “You’re absolutely right, and I’m sorry. I lost track of time, and it is completely my fault.”
Andie slowly cocked her head to the side as she regarded Jack. “What were you doing, exactly?” she asked him, each word pointedly articulated. “What could you have been doing that was so much more important than coming home, Jack? Because it was late when Reese found me and brought me home.” With each word, her voice got louder, and tears sprung into her eyes, though remarkably, they had yet to fall. It was only starting to hit her what she had gone through, what had happened to her, and she needed some kind of explanation for Jack’s absence.
Jack found himself getting defensive as she yelled at him, and his brows furrowed low over his eyes. “Nothing is more important than you! I had no idea–” he exclaimed, throwing his arms out. “I just lost track of time!”
“How, Jack?” Andie asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “How could you possibly lose track of time when this was so…” She paused here, pressing her lips together and looking at the kitchen ceiling in hopes that the tears accumulated in her eyes wouldn’t fall. “I was watching the clock the whole time I was at work up until the point that I got to that dinner, hoping you would cut it short with Vanessa. Then I continued to watch the clock up until the point when you would show up, but–” Here, her voice hitched, and despite her best attempts, tears rolled down her face, and her tone quieted. “But you never came.”
Jack clenched his jaw, feeling his heart constrict together painfully knowing how much he had hurt the one thing in this entire world that he loved more than anything. How could he be so stupid? How could he be so selfish?
“I… I needed you there with me,” she murmured, her eyes focusing on the tile that made up the kitchen. “I wanted you there, but more than that, I needed you there.”
“I know, and–”
“No,” Andie said, interrupting Jack. “No, you don’t know because you weren’t there. You haven’t experienced that, just like I’ll never experience what you go through as the Black Wing. But the thing is, I’m always there when you need me to be. I wait up for you. I worry about you. You don’t know that, but I do, and I’m happy to do it because I love you and I want to be there for you.” She swallowed, as though she was trying to get control over herself. “So tell me, Jack. What could possibly cause you to lose track of time, despite how important this meeting was to me, and how important it should have been to you?” She perked her brows.
Jack clenched his jaw again, his defense system melting into anger at himself. “I,” he began, but cut himself off, knowing that his answer was going to upset Andie more so than she already was. “I was in a meeting,” he finally explained. He wanted to end it there, but knew Andie would press him further so he forced himself to continue. “With Vanessa. About the party. I told you this, remember? It went late. I lost track of time…”
To say that all of the color drained out of her face wasn’t correctly defining it. Andie actually had to grab the back of the chair in hopes to keep herself standing. It was quiet for at least thirty seconds, but for Jack, it felt like an eternity. Finally, Andie cast her gaze over at Jack, and she let out a shaky sigh.
“So you’re telling me,” Andie said, her voice quiet and slow as it slipped out of her mouth, “that while you were out with your ex-girlfriend, you lost track of time and forgot about me. I knew you would be meeting with her. I just didn’t think she had the power to make you forget about me.” Jack opened his mouth to respond, but shut it, tilting his head to the side. It sounded horrible coming out of Andie’s mouth, but even worse, it was true. “You know what?” She forced her eyes to look into Jack’s, knowing that this was the hardest thing she had to do, but she had to do it. “I can’t do this anymore.” Without warning, she started to head past Jack and out the door, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Jack reached and gently grabbed Andie, turning her around so he could look into her eyes. “What are you saying, And?” he asked softly.
“I need space,” she told him. “I can’t be here… with you… right now. I’ll be at the guesthouse across the street.” She bit her lip, sighing through her nose.
“For how long?” he asked
, completely stunned at what she was saying.
“I don’t know,” Andie told him honestly.
“Please don’t go,” he told her. Jack hadn’t cried in a long, long time, and he wasn’t planning on doing it now. However, that didn’t stop his eyes from watering considerably.
“I’m not the one who left,” Andie said in a low murmur, before pulling herself away from Jack’s grasp.
With that, she disappeared. It wasn’t until he heard the manor doors shut that he realized she had really left him.
29
Reese smiled to herself as she walked down the street of Onyx after getting out of school, her blonde hair loose in the June breeze. Things were going well. Andie was okay. Jack had called her late last night to let her know that Andie was doing well, and besides some bumps and bruises, she was otherwise all right. This didn’t surprise Reese; Andie was a strong woman and Reese was almost certain that even though she had gone through a traumatic event, she pulled herself together for the greater good. Not only that, but she and Ollo were actually… something. They had yet to discuss what that something was, but she was more confident they were at least something.
The Dark Paradise Trilogy Box Set Page 81
