The Devil's Gate

by Rue Volley

  He flipped it so that I could read it clearly. I sighed as I read ‘stay hard for hours’. I wanted to know, I needed to experience that side of him.

  I leaned down toward his open door, and he slid over in my direction. “I am not a vampire unless that is what you wish for me to be, Abigail Watson.” He cupped my face and kissed me, long, no tongue, traces of passion filtered through it. He leaned back. His eyes studying my lips. I loved how he paid attention to me. Anything could be happening around us and his eyes would remain locked on mine. I felt as if I may be his entire world. Nothing could seduce me more.

  “I’m sorry, Jack, I didn’t mean to…”

  He kissed me again to shut me up and then leaned back. “I will come and pick you up on Friday, noon okay?” he handed me the checklist and I sighed.

  “This is so stupid, Jack, Avery didn’t mean anything by it.”

  He looked down and then back up to me. “There are a lot of things about me that you don’t know yet.”

  I parted my lips. “I want to; I do, Jack.”

  He whispered. “Your mouth drives me crazy, especially when I think about how it felt on my cock. I came so hard, it haunts me.”

  I blinked as he distracted me. “I—Jack, stop flustering me…wait, it's Tuesday, I won’t see you for three days then?” I asked, and he smiled.

  “I have business, Abigail. I will try to call you before then, but if I don’t, well, don’t take it personally.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I won’t, I mean I don’t take things like that…”

  He laughed. “Yes you do and it’s one of the things that I love about you.”

  I left my mouth partially open as he said the word love to me. “I, yeah, okay.” I stuttered as he closed the door and let the window rise. I stared at my stunned expression. I closed my mouth and stood up as his car drove away and took a piece of my reflection with him.

  I sat on the couch watching a romance movie, but not. You know exactly what I mean. I tried to focus on it, but when you are wrapped up in your own romance everything else pales in comparison. I took a bite of my popcorn as the couple on the screen started to kiss. It was calm, normal, no elevator or teeth biting into stuff, fingers going into places no one had been before or Jack inside of my mouth…I looked up as Avery came in, she turned back and smiled at the man who had taken her out. I had never seen him before and she wasn’t going to let him in. I could tell.

  She held her hand out and my eyebrow rose as I chewed. Oh man, sorry buddy. That was a serious strike out with her. She shook his hand and he leaned in as she leaned back. It was so awkward, but much more enjoyable than the movie I had been watching. I stopped chewing as she tapped him on the shoulder and started to shut the door. He said goodbye, and she waved to him. She turned and leaned against the door as she looked at me.

  “That was a big no.”

  I nodded to her as she walked up and tossed her purse on the side table. She sat down next to me, kicked her shoes off and settled in as she grabbed a handful of popcorn. She eyed the TV and pointed at it as she chewed. “I’ve seen this one, it sucks.”

  I laughed. “You’re so right.”

  She turned, pulling her legs up and tapped me on the knee. “So—how was lunch?”

  I smiled and took another bite of the popcorn. “I had an interview at Ford, remember?”

  “Yeah, yeah. How was lunch?” she repeated as I laughed and gently smacked her on the leg. She laughed right back at me. “Listen, Abi. I am sure you got the job, you are brilliant, anyone can see that and they would be fools to pass you up.”

  I sighed and looked down at the bag. She leaned down to study my expression. “What? What happened?”

  I looked up at her and shrugged my shoulders. “I got it.”

  She squealed as she hugged me. The popcorn bag getting a little crushed in between us. She leaned back and took the bag, grabbing a handful and chewing. She tilted her head. I guess I didn’t look like I had landed the dream job. “What’s wrong? You should be bouncing off the walls here.”

  I sighed. “Jack was there.”

  “Where?”

  I looked at the TV and turned it off. I tossed the remote on the couch beside me and grabbed some more popcorn. “At Ford, he was at my interview.”

  “WTF,” Avery said as I nodded to her.

  “I know! I went in, and they sent me upstairs, top floor. I talked to Ford himself.”

  “Are you kidding me, Abi? That’s amazing!”

  I looked at her. “No—I mean, it was, but, I just—Jack was there with him, they went to school together and he didn’t even interview me, he just asked me what my terms were.”

  She squinted her eyes as she gobbled down some more popcorn. “Terms?”

  “Yeah, like pay, vacation time…stuff like that.”

  She slapped my leg. “Oh my God, did you say six figures? You better have.”

  I reached into the bag and took some more popcorn. I played with it in my hand this time and didn’t eat it. “I didn’t have to. Jack had it all on a flash drive for him. He gave it to him right there.”

  “Wow.”

  “I know.” I looked down as she shook her head.

  “No—I mean wow, as in hell yeah!”

  I looked back up, letting my eyes settle on hers. She looked so happy. “Really?”

  She reached over and took the remote from me. I didn’t care; I was more interested in her reaction to Jack handing him my terms and not me.

  “Yeah—hell yeah Abi! Let it happen, all of it. I say go for it. I am sure that everyone in the world who ended up super successful had a little help from someone they knew. I say take advantage of it.”

  “It felt wrong, as if I could have walked in there and had the job with no schooling at all, I mean Avery, how often does a grad student land their dream job right after graduation? Never.”

  She stopped chewing and pointed at me. “You rock, this has nothing to do with Jack Landon, I mean, maybe a little as far as meeting Ford goes, but you rock hardcore, you deserve that job, you worked hard for it and I’m sure they know everything about you.”

  I blushed as I thought about the girl at the desk who grinned at the two of us as we exited the elevator after I—well, you know. She had to have heard us; it was so ridiculous. I rubbed my neck as I got flustered thinking about how Jack held me up after he…

  “Abi, what happened?”

  I stopped and looked at her. “What?”

  She touched my cheeks. “Red, blushing—spill it, woman.”

  I shook my head and then lowered my voice as if someone would overhear us.

  “We—he, I mean, he went down, and I was against the elevator wall, he held me up—with his hand.” I started to relay the lamest story in the history of erotic storytelling, but Avery’s eyes widened as she ate her popcorn and nodded to me. I couldn’t help but elaborate.

  “He bit me and then I went down there and did things, you know—the banana? Yeah, okay and then he started to, you know and he pulled out a razor, cut his thumb, and sucked on it.”

  “Holy shit.” She yelled as I jumped. “See? I told you.”

  “Told me what?”

  She nodded to me. “Vampire.”

  I laughed. “No—he isn’t, but you know what? I mentioned the list at lunch, and he got up and excused himself. Then when he returned he acted colder toward me, it was weird. Really, reallystrange.”

  “You need to get your ass in that mansion and find the coffins; I am telling you, the Landons…”

  She made a sucking sound and impersonated a vampire as I laughed at her.

  “He ate food—in front of me, he’s not a vampire.”

  “Well crap.” She honestly sounded disappointed. I smiled at her and took a bite of the popcorn.

  “Still—I heard things.”

  I stopped chewing as I stared at her. “Heard what?”

  She grabbed a pillow and hugged it as she settled in for a talk. “Well, we already know he gets�
��creative in bed.” I felt a bit of heat rise in me. “I also heard that he needs to taste blood to come.”

  “What, no—he said he did it to distract himself.”

  “Distract himself from what? The point of sex is to come.”

  “Avery.” My cheeks got hotter by the minute.

  “Well honestly, who the hell needs to be distracted and especially with doing some freaky ass shi…” she stopped as I looked down. “Oh honey, I didn’t mean anything bad. You know what? It’s hot, all of it. Jack is just hot as hell and you rock that however you need to.”

  “I did rock it.”

  She nodded to me as she shoved the last bit of popcorn into her mouth. “Yes and you just keep going with it.” I laughed. “Oh trust me, I plan on it.” Then she just had to say it again. “Garlic! Damn it, I forgot to add that to the list.” she snapped her fingers and made me flinch.

  “What? No—he is not a vampire!”

  She came at my neck and I laughed as I pushed her off. We both laughed and then it died down.

  I looked off. Avery noticed; she sees everything and its fine. I always appreciated her attention to detail with me. It just made me feel more loved by her.

  “What babes?”

  I turned back to her. “I don’t know. Just when I feel like I am starting to know him, well—he pulls back. Every time I am with him, it feels like the last time. It’s unnerving, but I can’t stop. I need him in my life. I do.”

  She touched my face. “Oh hun, Jack needs you too, I just know it.”

  She hugged me and all I could think about was the fact that I hoped, with everything that I am, that she was right.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  LET ME IN

  Three days felt more like three months. The only thing that broke my incessant need for Jack was the much-anticipated email from Ford. It was a dream come true. An offer that made me take a step back from my laptop and cover my mouth. The money was good, the insurance free, and the vacation time more than I expected. It was unbelievable and all I wanted to do at that point was call Jack and thank him. But I stopped myself. He said that he had business, and he would call if he could, besides, I am not the desperate kind who begs for attention. I just missed him, terribly.

  Then a knock came to my door and I closed my laptop, happily answering it, but the happy look faded from my face as soon as I saw Jack’s mom standing there. She looked me over and then scanned the room behind me. I know that our apartment is the size of one of her many bathrooms. Modest accommodations in her world, but fine with me. Jack was truly the only thing we would ever have in common, and from the look on her face, I could tell that she hated it.

  “Are you going to let me in?”

  I grinned. The idea of the rules for vampires entering my mind. If I said ‘no’, then she would have to go home. She tilted her head and stepped forward and into my apartment. Damn it.

  I turned as she took her coat off and handed it to me. I guess I was doubling as a maid. I walked to my bedroom and tossed it on my bed, which was a tradition for us mid-westerners. Every holiday would find a mountain of coats on one bed that the kids would play in. Funny how small memories like that stick with you forever. The older that I get the more I understand how these tiny things define us and make us who we are.

  I returned to find her inspecting my couch.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Brandy,” she said.

  I cleared my throat. “I have water, coffee, and tea.”

  “Oh—coffee will be fine. Imported?” I shook my head no, and she sighed.

  I walked into the kitchen and paused. Why the hell was she here? I could die.

  “So, Abigail.”

  I jumped and I flipped the Keurig cup across the room, it hit the wall next to her head. She watched it hit the floor as I stepped up and knelt down before her. I glanced up; I am sure that somewhere in her past many knelt to her ancestors, kings and queens, all of them. She stared down at me as I rose up, letting the faint amusement show on my lips. If I had hit her in the head it would have been much funnier.

  “Sorry about that, I’m clumsy.”

  “So I see,” she added as she stepped up to the island and sat down; she dusted the chair off first with the side of her hand—of course. I tried to ignore her snooty nature. I am sure that she was just built that way, just as I am who I am.

  I made her a cup of coffee and decided to grab one for myself, too. I might as well, at least it would give me something to fidget with as she continued to make me uncomfortable in my own home. What a delightful talent to have.

  I sat down and held the cup as she slowly lifted hers and sipped it. She nodded to me, I guess it was her way of saying that she approved.

  “I would like for you to stop sleeping with Jack.”

  I coughed as the coffee went down the wrong pipe. I tapped my chest and then looked up at her. She was calm as if she had just told me about the weather. I shook my head.

  “I’m not.”

  She laughed as she looked around the kitchen. Her eyes inspected the cabinets, the simple decorations. All of it. Then they settled back on me. “Please. I know my son, and he is enamored with you and it’s not for your charm.”

  “Really, enamoured?”

  She lifted one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Let me explain something to you about Jack. He is his father’s son; his legacy is set in stone and I can tell you that this—whatever this is, is not part of the plan. It’s folly. He has had this before, and it never works out. I mean, I feel as if I may be doing you a favor by nipping it in the bud before it becomes too dangerous for you to handle, and it will—trust me, I know.”

  I took a drink and sat up, squaring my shoulders as something switched inside of me. “This isn’t about Jack; this is about you.”

  She leaned back; I am sure that she wasn’t used to being called out on her bullshit.

  “Excuse me.”

  I took a sip and then sat my cup down as I stared into her eyes. I wasn’t going to let her tell me what I was going to do, or be, in Jack’s life. She could toss her words like ‘he has had this before’ and ‘dangerous’ at me all day. It wouldn’t change how I felt about him.

  I spoke with confidence, but allowed the softness to show through. I didn’t want to start a war, although I felt like it.“I’m not here to challenge you or take him away from you. I care about him—a lot.” The word love could have easily slipped past my lips, but not now—not with her.

  She paused and took a drink of her coffee as she remained cool and calm. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, I hoped that she wasn’t psychotic in nature. You just never know about people.

  She smiled. Her smile so similar to Jack’s that it disturbed me.

  “I get it. I do, trust me. Jack’s father was just as charming, but you don’t know him at all.”

  I nodded to her. “No, you’re right. I may not know him that well yet, but the key word is ‘yet’. I plan on getting to know everything about him.”

  She laughed; it wasn’t so much to be nice as to mock me. “You don’t know Jack; you never will. I never really knew his father and I lived with him for years.”

  It annoyed me; she was repeating herself, so I did too. “Yet,” I muttered as her eyes remained on me like a hawk circling its prey.

  She crossed her legs as she sat sideways on the chair. She touched her chin. It was a standoff of sorts. I felt like I was suddenly in the jungle and fighting for a mate. It was awkward. She lifted her finger and pointed at me.

  “I do appreciate your strength. Trust me, you certainly need it if you refuse to listen to me, Abigail.”

  I took a breath as her words sank into me. I would need it. Why would I need it?

  I spoke, but my voice came out softer than I intended it to. “Jack is a good person.”

  She laughed as she stood up, leaving her barely drank coffee behind. She looked around the kitchen. “Have you always been poor, Abigail?”


  I swallowed as her question bothered me. “I’m not poor, I live on a budget.”

  “I would assume now that Ford has hired you that you will move into something nicer?”

  I looked around the kitchen. “I love it here—how do you know about my job?”

  She smiled as she looked at me again. “Of course you do. Quaint, and I know everyone, you will come to understand that.”

  “I prefer the word cozy, and I don’t know that many people, I’m okay with that.”

  “Mmm.” She added as she stepped out, and I had to follow her. Who knew what she would be doing next? Inspecting my bedroom? I glanced at my open door as I thought about how messy it may be. I hate unexpected visits, and this is precisely why.

  I looked at her, and she turned back to me. I felt like I needed to reinforce my true belief in Jack. “He is a good person, Victoria. I know it.”

  She sighed. “Like I said, he is his father’s son.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, tell me about his father.”

  She paused. I couldn’t read her at all. I couldn’t tell if she would offer that up or simply leave.

  “You will meet him through Jack.”

  I narrowed my eyes, her admission was a repeat and it annoyed me that she would not tell me more. She let her cold eyes scan the apartment one more time and then let them rest on me. “Could I have my coat, please? I have an appointment that I must keep. Doctors are impatient creatures.”

  I walked to my room and grabbed her coat. I returned and she took it from me as she reached up and touched my hair. “I have someone who could fix your dry hair.”

  I stood there unable to say anything. She let it go and walked toward my door. She stopped as she held the handle, turning back and scanning the room one last time. “I don’t hate you, Abigail; you just have no idea what you are stepping into with my son. He will never love you as you love him, he isn’t capable.”

  I parted my lips as she left me standing there, devastated by her words and wanting nothing but to crawl into a hole and hide away from how it made me feel.