by Gail Koger
“Okay, how about I find my own cherry popper?
I’m sure in Vegas I can find a guy who would be willing to help me with my problem.”
“Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?”
“You’re the one who said you didn’t do virgins, remember?”
“No one touches you but me.”
“Guess I’ll remain a virgin then. I’m not into pity fucks.”
Exasperation flashed in Derek’s eyes. “Not even to save your life?”
“Wrong thing to say, asshole.”
Ed and Hank laughed.
Without taking his gaze off me, Derek growled, “Something funny?”
Ed quickly answered, “No, sir.”
“Sorry boss but seeing you and Zelda going toe-to-toe is funnier than hell. You scare the living shit out of most people,” Hank added.
“I’m not most people.”
“No, you’re a sticky-fingered, unruly brat that needs a firm hand,” Derek responded.
“Now you’ve done gone and hurt my feelings.”
Gangster’s Paradise erupted in Derek’s pocket.
How in the hell had he programmed that ring tone in my phone?
Shifting his grip the prick answered his cell phone. “Sloan. Okay, I’ll be right there.” He slid his phone back in his pocket. “Hank’s going to check you over.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?” Derek ran a gentle hand over my bruised face. “You’re running on adrenaline alone and you’re heading for a crash.”
“Like you care.”
“I take care of what’s mine.”
He pushed me down on the phone junction box.
“I expect you to sit here quietly and let Hank check you over.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Ed’s going to shoot you with his tranquillizer gun.”
I turned my attention to Ed. “You would really shoot me?”
He nodded solemnly. “Yes ma’am I would.”
“Prick.”
Sloan’s hand clamped around the back of my neck and he growled. “Behave Zelda, or I’ll put you over my knee.”
The beast would, too. “Sorry Ed, but dealing with a bunch of testosterone challenged men has made me a bit cranky.”
“Yes, ma’am, I can see how it would.”
I winced when Derek tightened his grip.
“You’re pushing it.”
“Just saying.”
Hank pulled out a blood pressure cuff and eyed me warily. “Ma’am?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
He wrapped the cuff around my arm and pumped it up.
Derek tilted my head up. “I need to have a word with Dixon and I want you to be sitting right here when I come back.”
“Yes, sir.”
He dropped a hard kiss on my mouth and strode off.
“Twenty says the boss hits him,” Hank said.
Ed watched him stride over to where a dozen officers stood around a patrol car. “Not a chance with all the cops around.”
Both men pulled their weapons and jumped back like scalded cats when I grabbed my purse.
“Relax guys; I’m just going for my wallet. I want in on the action, too.” I pulled out a twenty. “See?”
“Real easy now, hand me your purse,” Ed instructed, his tranquillizer gun pointed at my chest.
Giving him my best, I wouldn’t hurt a fly look, I carefully handed it to him. “A bit on the twitchy side, aren’t you?”
“No ma’am, the boss said you took down Dixon.”
“Yeah, so what?”
Ed snorted in disbelief. “So what?”
“No man, woman, cop, or felon has ever taken Dixon down, including the boss and believe me he’s tried, repeatedly,” Hank added.
“Really?” That brightened my rather dismal day. “Guys always tend to underestimate me. Just ask your boss.”
“The Commander won’t make that mistake again,” Ed stated confidently.
“Probably not.” God, I hated smart guys. They made my job so much more difficult. I handed Hank the twenty. “I think Derek will hit him, too.”
Hank took the money and gave me a bottle of water. “You’re still a bit dehydrated. Try not to dump it over the boss’s head this time.”
“Spoilsport.” I twisted the cap off, took a swallow and watched the show.
Derek opened the back door of the patrol car where a thoroughly pissed Dixon sat, leaned in and punched his cousin hard in the face.
Dixon swung around and kicked Derek in the chest, knocking him back into the cops standing behind him.
His teeth bared in a snarl, Derek yanked Dixon out of the patrol car and hit him again. The police officers charged in and separated them.
My radar went on red alert. Opening my psychic eye, I reached out searching for the cause.
The image of the beat all-to-hell pilot formed in my mind. Giggling insanely, he crawled along an old tumbleweed filled irrigation ditch. He was close but where? Oh shit! He was right behind me.
The pilot erupted to his feet, raised a pistol and aimed it at my back.
“Watch out,” I shouted, ramming my shoulder into Hank and slamming him to the ground.
A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly exploded in my right butt cheek. My body immediately went numb.
The ungrateful jerk had tranquillized me. Holy Mary Mother of God, I couldn’t move! “Granny!”
“Die you fucking bitch,” the pilot screamed and opened fire.
Bullets whizzed over my head.
Hank jumped on top of me and more gunshots rang out.
Through the ringing in my ears, I heard a frantic Ed say, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Granny Annabel, I thought she was trying to escape.”
“She saved your lives,” Granny answered in a monstrous voice.
Holy crap, she was using her scary voice.
Derek bellowed, “What in the hell happened here?”
Then again so was nasty CIA agent. Hands lifted me and I could make out the fuzzy outline of Derek’s furious face. “This had better not be her blood.”
“No, sir, it’s mine,” Hank hastily answered.
“It’s just a flesh wound, sir.”
“Bella must be closely guarded while she sleeps” Granny commanded.
“I’ll keep her safe,” Derek responded, cradling me against his chest.
Aw. How sweet. The world faded to black.
Chapter Eleven
Hot. Why was it so friggin’ hot? Was the air-conditioner broken again? What was that awful wailing? Geezus, it sounded like someone was strangling a bunch of cats. My neighbor’s choice of music had always sucked but wow! This was way beyond creepy. It was as if…. Crap!
I pried my eyes open and realized I was lying on a hard stony floor. Waking up like this was never a good thing. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I looked around.
An immense cavern lit by flaming torches stretched out before me. Strange contorted rocks reared from the floor. Some seemed to writhe in nameless agony, while others clawed at the air as if to escape some unspeakable horror.
A jolt of raw fear shook me. Oh dear God! I’d been dropped into the Cavern of the Damned!
“Dammit Aunt Sophie, I don’t have time for you and your stupid games.”
A raspy hiss of a voice answered, “It’s not a game. My master summoned you.”
I bolted to my feet and spun to face her. “This is nothing but another dream.”
“Is it?”
She stepped into the light and I frowned.
Something was seriously wrong with Aunt Sophie.
For one thing she was way too tall and her red silk robe barely disguised an oddly bulky body. My aunt’s facial bone structure was more than a bit off and her skin didn’t seem to quite fit. “You’re not Aunt Sophie.”
The creature laughed and the skin sagged obscenely. “She said you were a smart girl.”
Cold horror knotted my stomach. It was wearing my aunt’s skin. P
lease, please don’t let it be the serpent king of the Ninth Hell. My voice came out as a squeak, “Asmoday?”
“Correct.” He slid closer.
Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! It’s him. It’s him.
Keep it together. Keep it together. Fuck it! I let out a mental shriek, “Granny! I need help. ”
“The old one cannot help you.”
Holy Mother of God, he was reading my mind.
Asmoday cocked his head. “That holy one cannot help you either. You are alone.”
“Good to know,” I babbled. “What did you do to Aunt Sophie?”
“Do you care?”
“Ah… Not really just curious.”
“Curiosity can be fatal.”
“Okey-dokey then, forget I asked.” I backed away as the smell of rotting flesh hit me. Whooeee!
I guess they didn’t have water in the Ninth Hell.
The demon smiled, revealing two long curved fangs. “You find my scent unappealing?”
“I’m not into dead things.”
“Your aunt likes the taste of death.” A long red, forked tongue slid suggestively over his borrowed flesh.
Nausea rose in my throat. Oh God, had she actually fucked that thing? “Aunt Sophie’s stomach is a bit stronger than mine. She’ll do just about anyone or anything to get the power she craves.”
“True and the foolish female failed to read the fine print in our contract.”
I looked around desperately for a way out. If I just had a shit load of salt and a blessed cross, I might live another hour. “She actually signed a contract?”
“In blood and it clearly stated that I am to be obeyed in all things.”
A hysterical laugh bubbled from me. “My aunt’s not really good at following orders. She likes doing things her way.”
“I soon discovered that fact.” Asmoday licked his lips obscenely. “Her punishment was most delicious.”
“Is she dead?”
“No, that would have been too merciful.”
Asmoday gestured.
Horrific screams filled the cavern and an instant later, my aunt appeared.
Every nerve in my body twanged with shock and denial. She had been skinned alive. Blood oozed from her exposed muscles and her breasts hung in long, meaty strips.
I flinched when I noticed her torn and bleeding crotch. It looked like something had tried to chew it off.
“Not chewed, she was raped by a thousand demons,” Asmoday corrected with a creepy relish as he ripped off a hunk of her breast and ate it.
Aunt Sophie shrieked in agony, collapsed to her knees and pleaded, “Please master, I’ll do anything you want.”
“Yes, you will.” With a flick of his fingers, my aunt vanished.
Amoday turned his attention to me and licked his lips again. “Such a pure soul. I shall enjoy eating it.”
Drawing on every ounce of power I had, I shouted, “Tempore. Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce! Go back to hell you fiend.”
For a fleeting instant, a bolt of pure light danced around Asmoday and then sputtered out.
The demon laughed, an awful sound that send chills slithering down my spine. “You have no power here, human.”
Maybe not, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. What was the phrase Granny said to use as a last resort? Crap why couldn’t I remember it?
The demon slid closer and closer.
C’mon,
c’mon,
Miraculum
something,
something.
Granny whispered in my head, “Miraculum sepulcrum ibidem solus novem.”
That was it! I yelled, “Miraculum sepulcrum ibidem solus novem!”
Pure, burning white energy crackled wildly around the cavern and slammed into Asmoday. The demon howled in fury and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air.
I landed hard on a bloodstained sacrificial platform. Thousands of skulls and bones littered the floor. My heart knocked erratically in my chest as I frantically scrambled to my feet. “Miraculum sepulcrum ibidem solus novem!”
A few sparks of energy danced around me and Derek’s voice echoed in my mind. “Come back to me, Angel.”
“Don’t you think I’m trying,” I cried.
“Focus on me. On my touch,” he commanded.
“There is no escape for you, bitch,” Amoday roared. “I’m going to rape you until you are nothing but a bleeding mass of flesh begging for death.”
Dry heaves wracked my stomach. I’d kill myself before I let that happen.
The bones around the platform transformed into skeletal warriors, jaws clacking madly they charged me.
“Holy Jesus!” I was trapped. “Granny! ”
“Focus on me!” Derek shouted in my head and his ghostly mouth closed over mine in a long, voracious kiss.
For a fleeting second I was safe in his arms until a blinding pain exploded in my back.
Screaming in agony, I collapsed on the platform
and the horde of skeletal warriors swarmed over me, biting at my breasts, their bony fingers digging into my crotch. “Nooooo!”
“It’s not real, Angel, but I am. ” A callused palm slid across my right breast and tweaked the nipple, sending pleasure cascading over me. “Feel my touch.” A hot mouth closed over my nipple, suckling it. My body bowed as flames licked through my blood. “Know that I’ll keep you safe but you have to wake up. Now!”
I latched onto his voice, focused on his touch, and the kisses Derek rained over my face.
“That’s it, come back to me. ”
The cavern abruptly vanished and I was locked in Derek’s arms. “Are you real?”
“Yes.” He slowly, thoroughly ravaged my mouth. “Very real.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I sobbed, “Don’t let me go. Please, don’t let me go.”
“I’ll never let you go. Shhhh, it’s okay.” His large hands gently stroked my back as I shook uncontrollably. “You’re safe now.”
“Asmoday skinned Aunt Sophie alive,” I cried, shuddering in remembrance.
Derek wiped away my tears. “What did the bitch expect when she sold him her soul? Happily ever after?”
“Power is her happily ever after but I don’t think she was expecting to be raped like that.”
Another tremor shook me.
His hands kneaded my shoulders. “It won’t happen to you.”
“You promise?”
“After tonight Asmoday will never touch you again.” He stroked my face tenderly.
The terrible fear drained away and I relaxed in his arms. I knew what I had to do. “How did you know I was in trouble?”
“Granny and the screaming was a dead giveaway.”
I smacked his shoulder. “I wasn’t screaming.”
Derek placed a gentle kiss on my mouth.
“Yeah, you were and don’t ever do that again, unless I’m pounding into your hot, tight pussy.
Then you can scream all you want.”
I glared at him. “Like that’s going to happen.”
His powerful hands cupped my breasts. “Are you going to let Asmoday have another go at you?”
I stiffened in shock at the sensation of bare skin on bare skin. “Holy hell I’m naked!”
Derek grinned. “We both are.”
“Why are we naked?”
“Your underwear had way too many gadgets in them and it’s easier to have sex when you’re naked.”
Planting my hands against his shoulder, I shoved with all my strength and the jerk just tightened his grip. “Let go of me.”
A fierce, hungry light filled his eyes. “I promised you I wouldn’t.”
Damn, he had me there.
Derek looked me square in the eye and asked, “So, are we going to do it?”
“You haven’t a romantic bone in your body.”
“No, but I’m dynamite in bed.”
“God, your ego is unbelievable.”
“I’ll protect you with my life,” th
e big, bad CIA agent stated, every inch a warrior.
For a long moment, I stared into Derek’s compelling silver eyes and knew he would lay his life down for me. In my profession, it sure beat the hell out of roses and candlelight.
Derek’s lips consumed mine and his tongue exploded every inch of my mouth.
God the man could kiss. In my heart, I knew Granny was right. He was the one for me and once he made love to me, I would be his for all eternity.
A fact he was well aware of and planned on exploiting. If he thought I was going to roll over and play dead, he was seriously mistaken.
“I’ll bring you chocolate every day,” Derek added.
“You’re such a sweet talker,” I said and kissed him.
The next thing I knew I was flat on my back and Derek was straddling me. “Buckle up Angel, it’s gonna be a hard, fast ride.”
“What’s the rush?”
“I’m not letting that monster take you again.”
His hands skimmed over me, exploring my curves and igniting a fire in my belly.
“Oh dear God, don’t ever stop,” I gasped as my Tomb Raider used his tongue and teeth to lave and nip my nipples.
“I won’t.” Derek’s fingers slid erotically down my stomach and my breath hitched as his penis teased my clitoris, rubbing back and forth.
Asmoday furious bellow sounded in my mind and I flinched. “Get out of my head, you smelly snake.”
My warrior snarled, “Asmoday?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on this might hurt a bit.” Gripping my hips, he anchored me and buried himself deep inside me.
I shoved at his chest. “Holy Mother of God!
Hurt a bit? That gargantuan cock doesn’t fit. Get off me.”
Derek held very still and hissed through gritted teeth, “The first time always hurts.”
“Ya think?” It felt like I had been impaled on a flagpole, a very large flagpole. I could feel him hard and thick inside me. I wiggled my hips experimentally and gasped as the delicious slide of his flesh sent pleasure sizzling through me. “You know, I think I could get used to this.”
“You’re killing me, Angel. You’re so fucking tight; you fit me like a glove.” Derek’s mouth locked on mine, consuming, dominating. He flexed his hips, stroking me with long, hard thrusts.
My body caught fire and I writhed like a wanton beneath him.
“That’s it, Angel, let go.”
His mouth was addictive. Fire raged through my body as he thrust harder, going deeper, stretching me in the ultimate act of possession.
