by C. R. Moss
****
Amazed at how fast Jack’s mind changed when it came to the topic of being with him, Kol snuggled against the man he’d been waiting ages for. Happy about that fact, he wasn’t going to complain about the timeline.
This was where the two of them were meant to be—in each other’s arms and lives—along with having Kristina around. Jack looked at him and grinned.
Kol’s heart soared. “Spiritual sounds good. Like you’re passing the depths of your soul on to your partner," he said. “Like sharing your energy because being close to someone during sex can make one very vulnerable. So you have to exchange the energy to be comfortable." Kol rose and untied Jack. “Before I take you to the den, I’ll let you get cleaned up.”
“Thanks. But before that, do you think we could just lay here for a little while?” Jack asked and closed his eyes.
“Sure.” Kol resumed his position on Jack’s beautiful body and rested his head on Jack’s chest. He hoped his guy, a detective in his life, wasn’t lying when he’d said he liked him and cared for him. It’d be a step in the right direction in freeing them from the cursed shackles of their lives.
He sighed. Maybe if they had met under other circumstances, Jack could have fallen in love with him without issue. But now? He didn’t know.
The situation sucked, too, because it seemed as though he was falling hard for Jack.
All over again.
Chapter Ten
Still coming off his high from the morning with Kol, Jack rolled over in the bed in the den that the three of them were lying upon and draped his arm over Kristina.
“This is nice, isn’t it?” Kol asked from the other side of Kristina, stroking Jack’s arm, then her thigh. “Just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.”
“Yes, it is.” Kristina replied.
Jack murmured his agreement, not wanting to break the tranquility Kol and Kristina seemed to be enjoying. Desire continued to claw and clutch at his insides. Those feelings warred with his logical side—the one that kept whispering, ‘You need to go home.’ He wanted to calm his mind and join them in the serenity, but he wasn’t sure he could. His gut was telling him to stay on alert. Over the years, he’d learned to listen to his instincts.
The intercom through the phone on Kol’s desk buzzed, followed by Sidero’s voice cackling through the speaker, “Kol? You there Kol?”
Kol sprang off the bed and headed to his desk. “Yes, I’m here. What’s with the interruption?”
“There’s been an emergency at the club. You need to get down here as fast as you can.”
“Can’t you and or one of the bartenders take care of it?”
“No.”
Kol closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then replied, “All right. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He looked over to Jack and Kristina. “Looks like I have to leave for a bit. I’m going to leave you two to your own devices here in the den while I’m taking care of whatever it is Sidero needs me for. Will you two be good?”
“Sure,” Jack and Kristina chimed in together.
The dancer rushed from the room, slamming the door behind him. The one thing Jack noticed that was different about this exit compared to all of Kol’s others surprised him.
“Jack?” Kristina inquired softly. “What’s up? You’re looking kind of stunned.”
He held a finger up to his lips, motioned to her to follow him off the bed and then stood close to her. “I’m not sure if we’re being listened to, so we need to speak in hushed tones,” he talked quietly in her ear. “I can’t believe our good fortune. I think Kol forgot to lock the door.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Come on. Let’s check.”
They both tiptoed to the door. Jack reached out, turned the knob and pushed it open. It was their lucky night. Though Kol hadn’t freed them yet, neither did they have to treat him bad and deplete him of energy. The benefit of not wasting his magic, to his way of seeing things, was that it would save them a world of guilt in the long run since then they wouldn’t have to act deplorable where he was concerned.
Excited, they ran up the steps. Kristina grabbed his hand and led him to Kol’s room on the premise that they’d be able to find some type of clothing there.
In a wardrobe, Jack located some of Kol’s white pants and shirts. He tossed Kristina one of each. “We’re going to have to hurry. Who knows when he or his sidekick will be back.”
“Then let’s not waste any time. We can get outside and away from the house then dress, right?”
Jack nodded and together they found their way downstairs, out onto the deck and traversing a path away from the mansion. He didn’t like how there was no cover, no trees, large bushes or dark shadows to take refuge in should they hear a noise. The clothing, too, would be a hindrance. Bright white material reflecting the light of the almost full moon? Maybe their luck wasn’t so great after all.
“Look, Jack. There’s a boulder up the way. We could stop there and dress, gather our breath and thoughts.”
He nodded again, and a few minutes later, the boulder sat between them and the house.
The heavy flapping of bird wings and scrapes of gravel made Kristina skittish as they dressed. Jack did his best to assure her they were all right. “Noises like what we’re hearing are normal in the desert. Lots of wild creatures around.” He swept the shirt over his head, grateful for the clothing and not having to be naked with his privates flapping in the air anymore.
She breathed deep and rubbed her arms. “You have a point. I just wish we had our cell phones so we could call Vic and Lory.”
“I have one.”
He and Kristina spun at the husky voice behind them.
Sidero stood there, looking none too pleased. Her blood red lips pursed in disgust. “Kol’s not going to be happy with you two, and your attempt to escape.” She wagged a finger at them.
“Please, don’t tell him. Just pretend you didn’t see us.” Kristina stepped back a few inches.
“And why not? He offered you his hospitality … his love … and you’re in essence spitting on all of it by leaving without his permission.”
“We’re not spitting on anything,” Jack stated with soft menace. “We told him numerous times we needed to leave.”
“Leave,” the sidekick whispered, her facial expression changing from loathing to mourning. “But why would you want to leave him? Besides, it’s too late. He knows you’ve escaped.”
More flapping sounds filled the night sky and for a moment a mass obscured the light of the moon. The three of them looked up and tracked Kol, who flew in and controlled his descent with large bat-like wings. When he landed, he trained his dark narrow-eyed gaze on them, bearing his sharp teeth in a snarl. A tempest of negative emotions seemed to brew on his features. Irate didn’t do justice to describe his apparent fury.
“You both betrayed my trust,” Kol bellowed. His angry voice rang over the vast landscape. “You’ve shown me your true feelings and desires, and for that, you’ll truly become my captives now.” With a snap of his clawed fingers, the whole group was back in the den.
“They wanted to desert us. All our plans … our hopes…” Sidero glared at Kol and let out a maniacal cackle, then talking to herself about being cursed for eternity, she left the room.
“Jack?” Kristina clung to his arm, her voice full of fear. “What do you think he means to do with us?”
“What am I going to do to you?” Kol advanced on them, his face and body swelling and contorting in anger. “I’m going to punish you. Though I’d love to do it with some of my implements, that would prove useless on you guys.” He came within inches of Kristina’s face, stroked a finger down her cheek. His claw left a long red line in its wake. He chuckled as Sidero had. “I am resigned to my fate. This hideous form you see before you. Just as Sidero is reconciling with her destiny. Now you two will face your own horrific future.”
Jack’s blood ran cold in anxious anticipation of what new torture the beast
had planned. Kol had truly become a fiend. Gone was his softer side, the compassionate one that would keep him and Kristina safe.
Kol stepped away from them and swept an arm in the air. Two cages that looked like cubes appeared in opposite corners of the room. The prisons weren’t big enough for a human to stand in. “The best thing I can do to torment you two right now is to leave each of you in those individual cages, gaged and in the dark.”
“You can’t,” Kristina shouted, voicing Jack’s thought.
“Oh. Yes. I. Can.” Kol snapped his fingers, and Kristina materialized in the enclosure furthest from them. Her mouth contained a gag, and her wrists were shackled to the top bars. Sitting cross-legged in the cage, she looked several shades of miserable, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“You really are a beast, Kol,” Jack stated cold and steady. How could someone who’d been so loving and generous turn so dreadful and no longer seem to care? His stomach churned. “And to think I was intimate with you, wanted more of you. How could you do this to her? To us?”
“How could I?” Kol snapped his fingers again.
Jack found himself in his own small cage, bound and gagged like Kristina. He should have attacked Kol when he’d had the chance. Subdued him and freed Kristina. He glared at the beast, hoping to convey his own anger regarding their current treatment.
Kol strolled over to the door of the den and opened it. His hand hovered over the light switch. “I can because as you said, dear Jack, I am a beast.”
Chapter Eleven
The next day Kol entered the den where the two beings he’d loved most in the world once upon a time, and still loved, slept in the prisons he’d made for them. He leaned against his desk, observing each one of them.
How could they betray him like that? Run off in the middle of the night? He hadn’t meant to leave the door unlocked, but in his rush to get to the club that tidbit slipped by him. Then again, he’d believed he could trust them. Turns out he was wrong. True, they’d requested to leave his home a number of times, and it wasn’t like their reasons weren’t valid. But to escape?
Maybe he’d tried too hard to get them to stay. The drive to end the curse made him go mad, take things to an extreme he otherwise wouldn’t have reached. He wondered what he could do to make it up to them.
What was that phrase? If you love something set it free? Perhaps that’s what he should have done sooner. He should have listened to them, let them go and hoped for the best.
Not too late now though.
He flipped on the overhead lights. Jack and Kristina stirred and woke in their cages. Kol waved his hand, pictured the shackles, the gag and the cages disappearing and then it happened. The pair rubbed their wrists, stretched their arms and legs. Neither of them looked in his direction.
“I know. I deserve your disdain.” Kol walked toward the center of the room so he could address both of them at once. “I’ve been unfair about keeping the two of you for so long. It’s no wonder you tried to get away from here, especially considering you kept telling me you needed to get back. I could list off a bunch of excuses as to why I wanted to keep you for as long as I could, but that doesn’t matter right now.”
Jack glanced up at him with a slight shake of his head.
Was Jack’s glance progress? Kol hoped so. He continued talking, “There’s nothing I can do to keep you here, nor to punish you. I should never have taken my resentment out on you nor lost my temper that way. For that I apologize. You both are free to go now.” With a bit of his magic, he placed a drawstring bag around each of them. It hung off one shoulder, its strap diagonally resting across the chest. “In your bags are gifts. There’s a silver paddle, and there are the accessories you both used while you were here. In the paddle, you’ll be able to see me whenever you want, and should either or both of you ever want to return, even if it’s just for a visit, all you have to do is put on your accessory.” Kol turned his back on them and shuffled to the door. “Goodbye Jack and Kristina.” He snapped his fingers, then looked over his shoulder.
They were gone.
****
Five days and three solved cases later, Jack had gained his groove again at work. Vic loved his commitment and rededication. Jack figured the more he worked and concentrated on the cases, the less he’d have to think about Kol and his feelings for the beast … the dancer … the whatever he was. He ran a palm over his face, then picked up a new file. A woman who hired him and Vic as private investigators was looking for a relative she’d never met. Happy for something that would take up lots of time and that he could really get into, Jack opened the folder and began reading the overview sheet.
Kristina rushed into Jack’s office. Alarmed, he dropped the case file, jumped to his feet and ran around his desk. He grasped her upper arms and caught her frantic stare. “What’s wrong? What’s got you so worked up?”
She broke free and from her purse pulled out her long silver paddle. Kristina held it up. “This.”
In the reflection, Kol lay on the floor of his den between Kristina’s cage and the rack Kol had liked to put him on. Kol’s skin had turned wash-water gray. He appeared thin and haggard.
“He’s wasting away.” She swallowed back a sob. “We need to go back.”
“Kristina?” Would she really leave him for that beast Kol? “I know we both had a thing for him, but could you see yourself living the rest of your life with that fiend?”
She seemed to think for a moment, glanced at the image in the paddle, then nodded. “Yes, I can. Outward appearance aside and his fit at the end there, deep down he’s a kind and loving man.” She yanked off her shirt, slipped out of her bra and pulled the nipple clamps with the chain accessory out of her pocket. “As you know, I’ve been having strange dreams and remembering my past since I met him. He was a part of it, I’m sure of that. I can’t let him die if I can help it. Not just because of the dreams and the past, but because it’s not right. Plus, I need to know the truth. I’m going to Kol. I miss and want to be with him. Truthfully Jack, I love him. Since I love you too, I hope you can find it in your heart to join us.” With two quick motions, she attached the clamps to her pert nipples and vanished.
Jack sank into a chair. Kristina had willing gone back to the creature. She wanted him to join her … them. Could he? Could he find it in himself to go back to Kol’s estate and live there with the two of them? If he chose to go, that’d mean he wasn’t only accepting and returning the love of a woman and a man, but that he’d at last be admitting and believing in the paranormal for good. Could he make all those leaps at once?
He was completely in love with Kristina. Had been from the moment he’d met her. Kol though? Kristina was right. Despite the rough start between them, and Kol’s creepy appearance when he ran out of energy, Kol was a cool guy. The creature man was intelligent, witty and not a bad lay either. That bit of temper at the end probably was due to stress and just a fluke. At least that’s all he hoped it was.
Rising from the chair to return to his desk, he realized he missed Kol, their talks, their quiet moments and the rack in the den. He pulled his paddle from the top drawer. The image showed Kristina sitting on the floor with an unconscious Kol in her arms. She rocked back and forth, appearing to croon to him.
Would Kol survive if he didn’t return? Or did the beast need the both of them to survive? Did he care?
Jack imagined Kol not being in his life and realized that now that he knew him there’d be a hole in his world if Kol wasn’t around. So, yes, he did care. He was trained to serve and protect and not let others come to harm. He hated to see Kristina upset. Losing Kol would devastate her.
Jack shook his head. Who was he kidding? Not having Kol around would break his heart as well. The creature man didn’t deserve to die just because he’d been given a shitty façade.
Hell, how could he not take the leap? He’d go to him, profess his feelings and beliefs and pray for the best. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.
Jack jotted
a quick note to Vic on a legal pad, stating he was using a couple of personal days to take care of some business, and that he’d explain everything later. Kristina would be away with him.
After propping the pad against his monitor so the note couldn’t be missed, he undressed, removed the cock ring from his desk, snapped it in place and gazed at the scene in the paddle.
The room dropped several degrees. A clawing and sucking sensation gripped Jack. He didn’t like the feeling of being pulled in all directions. His arms lifted of their own accord. He wondered if being drawn and quartered felt the same. If not, it was probably pretty damn close. Looking down at his left arm, he watched it slowly start to become transparent. His limb felt light as air, as did the rest of his body, then in a split second, he winked out of existence.
In the next moment, he hit the floor of Kol’s den, hard. The breath whooshed from his body, and he moaned in pain as he worked to reclaim air into his lungs.
Kristina rushed to his side. “Take it easy, Jack. Give it a moment, and you’ll reorient.”
He breathed deep, ignoring the hitch in his side and sat up. “Is he… Is he all right?”
She shook her head. “Kol’s not doing well. When I showed, he seemed to perk up some, but then he mumbled your name and fell back into his stupor. Go to him, Jack. Tell him why you returned.”
He nodded, then crawled over to the withering beast a few feet away.
“Jack,” Kol’s voice strained to be heard. “You came back.”
“Yes, Kol, I did.” He stroked the fiend’s horn.
“Why? After everything, why?”
His heart ached for the beast. No one should have to endure the despair and atrophy Kol was being subjected to. “Because I care for you, Kol. I realized I missed you, and that I want you in my life. We’re here for you. Please don’t die.” Jack lay beside him and held him close. “I do love you, Kol. Don’t go.”
“I love you and Kristina, too,” Kol’s voice shook with strain. He breathed in then stilled. His mouth went slack. His chest no longer rose and fell with breath.
