Fire & Brimstone: A Neighbor from Hell

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Did humiliating me along with my brother and cousins really mean that much to you?” he asked, slipping his hand beneath the oversized tee shirt that she’d changed into so that he could rub her back.

  “Yes, yes it did.”

  “And why’s that?” he asked, leaning back against the headboard.

  “I just needed a distraction,” she admitted with a sigh, reaching for another Hershey Kiss even as she shifted so that she could place her feet on his lap, making him chuckle.

  Demanding little thing, he thought as he took the hint and started rubbing her feet. “What’s bothering you?” he asked, wondering if she was still upset about the pregnancy test that had nearly taken ten years off his life.

  “Nothing,” she mumbled dejectedly around a mouthful of chocolate as she gave her foot a wiggle, demanding that he shift his attention to the other foot.

  “I see,” he murmured as he gave her foot one last rub and shifted his attention to the other one. “Then you’re just upset about missing out on a night of really bad singing?”

  “Devastated,” she said dryly.

  “If you want, we can go downstairs and encourage everyone to start singing Bieber songs,” he offered.

  “No,” she said, sighing heavily. “It’s just not the same.”

  “I see,” he murmured, thoughtfully as he focused on the movie she had playing until it showed someone getting their guts ripped out.

  After that he just focused on making the crabby woman happy. For several minutes they stayed that way, him rubbing her feet and doing his best not to look up and Rebecca laying there, slowly devouring a huge bag of chocolate.

  It was actually kind of nice, he thought, enjoying himself more than he thought possible. Before Rebecca had completely destroyed his world with that first kiss this kind of thing would have irritated him. In the past whenever a woman wanted to watch a movie, snuggle or any of the things that he used to think of as a bullshit waste of time, he’d brush them off and focus on work.

  Now he not only looked forward to spending time with Rebecca, doing absolutely nothing, but he loved it. Thanks to her he was better rested, enjoyed work more and didn’t feel like tearing everyone’s head off. He could easily say that Rebecca was the best thing that had ever happened to him and that scared the shit out of him.

  “Would you have done it?” she asked, saving him from his thoughts.

  “Done what?” he asked, rubbing her leg.

  “Got up on stage and sang you little heart out,” she said, pulling her leg free so that she could roll over onto her side and look at him as she waited for an answer.

  “No.”

  “No?” she asked, for some reason looking surprised that he wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to make an ass out of himself in front of his family.

  “I thought you didn’t care what anyone thought,” she teased with a devious little smile.

  “I don’t.”

  “Uh huh,” she said, clearly not believing him.

  “You doubt me?”

  “Absolutely,” she said, not missing a beat.

  “I thought you knew me, sweetheart,” he said, saying the hell with it and snatched her bag of Hershey Kisses away from her.

  Other than narrow her eyes on him, she didn’t say anything about the theft. Instead she said, “I know you better than you know me.”

  “Really?” he murmured, chuckling as he popped a Kiss in his mouth, because that was fucking impossible.

  “Absolutely,” she said, reaching to take back the bag and because he was such a generous guy, he allowed it.

  For about ten seconds, then he reclaimed the bag, shot her a warning glare and proceeded to devour the contents of the bag. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?” he asked, wondering if he’d just stumbled upon an easier way to get her to return to the Fire & Brimstone where she belonged.

  *-*-*-*

  “And what exactly did you have in mind?” she asked, even as she had to wonder if she could use this challenge that he was clearly laying down at her feet to return to the Fire & Brimstone.

  She really missed Fire & Brimstone and if it wasn’t for her damn pride, she would already have her job back. But, unfortunately for her, she did have her pride so she was here, in bed with her incredibly hot boyfriend, hoping that this would all work out like some ridiculous plot in a movie or just a really horrible book.

  “Winner’s choice,” he said as she sat there, calculating the possibilities and realizing that they weren’t looking good.

  Not because she was afraid that she was going to lose, but because she knew that she was going to win. She knew Lucifer better than anyone else so the chances of her losing were pretty low. She didn’t need to win to tell him that she wanted to come back to work, because she could do that now if she wasn’t so damn stubborn.

  Inwardly sighing, she realized that she was going to have to use her win for something else, like making him serve her breakfast in bed for a month or so, or getting her car detailed. She’d find another way to get back to the Fire & Brimstone without having to suck up her pride and asking for her job back. Not that it mattered anyway, not when she’d promised to come back in a few more weeks if she didn’t find another job.

  Things would work out, she told herself as she sat up and faced off with the man that was going to learn how she liked her eggs cooked and cocked a brow in challenge. “Fine. Then fire away. Ask me anything,” she said, smiling, because this was probably going to be the easiest win that she’d ever-

  “Fine. How did I end up with the nickname Lucifer?” he asked, cutting her off and making her realize something very important.

  She may have once again underestimated the sneaky bastard.

  “How did you end up with the nickname Lucifer?” she repeated back to buy herself some extra time as she desperately searched her memory, trying to find something, anything, that would help her answer that question.

  “How?” he asked with a cocky smile as he folded his arms over his chest and sat back, watching her expectantly while she sat there giving up on trying to remember something that would clue her into the answer that she needed and decided to try to bullshit her way through this one since there was no way that she was going to be able to come up with the right answer.

  “Because you’re an asshole,” she said, deciding that was her best chance to win this thing.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Oh my, God, really?” she asked, stunned that she’d actually nailed it.

  That is until the bastard that had damn well better make sure that her bacon was crisp every morning started laughing.

  “No.”

  “Asshole,” she muttered with a glare and a pout, already hating this stupid game.

  Chapter 49

  “Your turn,” he said with a satisfied sigh as he watched her pout turn to confusion.

  “Are you forgetting something?” she asked with an expectant tone.

  “No,” he simply said as he waited for her to get on with it.

  “You haven’t proved that I was wrong yet,” she stubbornly pointed out.

  “I wasn’t aware that was part of the game,” he murmured absently when she shifted on the bed, causing the tee shirt to pull up just enough so that he was rewarded with a flash of pink panties.

  “You should have been,” she said as she gestured for him to get on with it. “Well?”

  “Well, what?” he asked, shifting as discretely as possible in the hopes that he would be able to get a better view of-

  “Ouch! What the hell was that for?” he snapped, rubbing his knee where the crazed woman had just flicked him.

  “I’m going to need you to focus here,” she said, reminding him that she took games seriously, very seriously. “Why does everyone call you Lucifer?”

  “Besides the fact that I’d kill them if they didn’t?”

  She rolled her eyes with a nod. “Yes, besides that.”

  He shrugged and admitted, “Because of
Aidan.”

  Apparently that wasn’t what she’d expected, because she sat there, staring at him. “Yeah, that really didn’t answer my question.”

  “Didn’t it though?” he asked innocently, loving the way her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

  He really wished that he’d realized just how much fun it was to torment her sooner. All that wasted time…

  “No, no it did not.”

  “Would you like to me to go into more detail?” he asked around a mouthful of Kisses.

  “That would be nice,” she bit out, clearly struggling not to tear the bag of Hershey Kisses out of his hands so that she could beat the shit out of him with it.

  “Fine,” he said, sighing heavily as he took his time unwrapping another handful of Hershey Kisses, well aware that she was sitting there watching him with something close to homicidal rage.

  It probably made him a sick bastard to enjoy tormenting her like this, but he really didn’t care, not when it brought him this much joy. Sighing heavily, just to annoy her, he popped the freshly unwrapped Kisses in his mouth and took his time savoring them.

  “Well?” she snapped, making him chuckle, which by the look on her face she also didn’t appreciate.

  “Aidan had a speech impediment when he was a kid,” he answered with a shrug as he grabbed another handful of Kisses.

  She watched him expectantly while he sat there, contemplating getting off his ass and grabbing a Coke to wash the chocolate down and maybe a steak. He could really go for a steak, he thought as he shifted his attention towards the kitchen. He could probably whip up a few steaks, creamy mashed potatoes and corn in a half hour.

  He should probably see if she wanted something too, he decided since it was the polite thing to-

  “What exactly does Aidan’s speech impediment have to do with your terrifying nickname?” she asked, clearly not satisfied with his answer, which was a lot more than he told most people.

  “God, you’re demanding,” he said, shaking his head as he shifted his attention back on her.

  “You already knew this,” she said impatiently as she gestured for him to get on with it.

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “When we were kids he couldn’t say my name correctly. It came out as a mangled Lucifer. The other kids heard him call me that and got on his case about it. Since it didn’t bother me, I beat the shit out of the other kids and started calling myself Lucifer to make it easier for him,” he said with a shrug as his mind wandered back to those beautiful steaks just waiting for him.

  “Huh,” she said, drawing his attention to find her sitting there, nibbling her bottom lip and appearing lost in thought.

  “What?” he asked, reaching over and pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

  “Nothing,” she said, seeming a little sad.

  He watched her for a moment before he narrowed his eyes suspiciously on her and said, “You have a bet going over my name, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” she said with the saddest sigh that he’d ever heard.

  “You lost, didn’t you?” he guessed, shaking his head in disgust.

  “Well, I wouldn’t have if you’d been named Lucifer for your young, misguided love for all things evil,” she pointed out with a little pout that had him chuckling.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you,” he teased, leaning in and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

  “No, you’re really not.”

  “You’re right. I’m not,” he said, leaning back against the headboard. “All right, your turn,” he said, getting comfortable as he waited for her question.

  “Fine,” she said, getting back in the game, “what’s my favorite song?”

  “That’s too easy,” he said with a pitying shake of his head, because he’d seriously thought that she would give him something of a challenge.

  “Then you should have no problem answering it,” she said, folding her arms over her breasts as she waited for his answer.

  Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he said, “Sam Hunt’s, Take Your Time.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, cocking a brow in question, clearly trying to throw him off when they both knew that he’d nailed it.

  “Positive.”

  “You guessed,” she said accusingly.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” he said, laughing when she grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head.

  “You cheated!”

  “Sure did,” he said, smiling as he reached for her and pulled her onto his lap.

  “Then how did you know?” she asked, carefully straddling his lap as she placed her arms around his shoulders.

  “Because every time it comes on you get this cute smile on your face,” he said, tracing her beautiful pink lips with the pad of his thumb, “and you sing along under your breath while you work.”

  “Hmm,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable on his lap. “Fine. I’ll give you that one.”

  “Because I got it right?” he asked, chuckling when shot him a mocking glare.

  “Because I’m that generous,” she said with a sniff as she tried to bite back a smile.

  “Then I guess it’s my turn,” he said, reaching up to push her hair back so that he could run his fingers through her soft hair, enjoying the way each strand slid between his fingers before falling back in waves around her beautiful face.

  “Ask away,” she said as she leaned into his touch.

  “How many siblings do I have?”

  “Two?’

  “Nope.”

  “Three?”

  “Try again.”

  “Four?”

  “Not even close.”

  “How many more guesses do I get?” she asked, looking a little panicked and for good reason.

  “At least four more,” he said, loving the calculating expression on her face as she worked it out.

  “Eight?”

  When he nodded, she repeated it as though she didn’t quite believe him. “Eight? Seriously?”

  “Mmmhmm,” he said, placing his hands on her knees and ran them over her thighs.

  “God, your poor mother,” she said, shaking her head in wonder.

  “She wanted a big family,” he said absently as he watched his hands push the hem of her tee shirt up her legs and over her hips, revealing those pink panties that he was going to be thinking about for the next week.

  “Apparently,” she murmured in agreement as she grabbed the hem of her shirt and in one move, had it off and tossed over her head so that she was left sitting on his lap wearing only those pink panties and that devious little smile that he loved so much.

  “So, I guess it’s time to claim my prize,” he said, deciding that he’d use his prize for something other than making her return to the Fire & Brimstone since she’d be back on her own in a matter of weeks anyway.

  As he ran his eyes over the large beautiful breasts and down between her legs, he decided that it was definitely time to claim his prize.

  Chapter 50

  “What are you doing here?” Melanie asked when Rebecca slammed the door shut behind her.

  “Planning Lucifer’s murder,” she bit out, still shocked that he would do something like this to her.

  When he’d suggested winner’s choice, she’d assumed that he would either use the game to make her return to the Fire & Brimstone or for sex. She would have been fine with either one, but had he demanded that she return to work or even drop to her knees and give him a blowjob?

  No.

  Instead the sick bastard wanted…he wanted…

  God, she couldn’t even think about what he wanted without feeling sick to her stomach. She just couldn’t believe that he would take things this far.

  “What did he do?” Melanie asked, sounding a little distracted, but that was most likely because she was lost in her own little world of computer code, Hostess pies and a cocoon of blankets.

  “The bastard cheated!” she snapped, which apparently was enough
to grab Melanie’s attention, because she looked up from her computer and frowned.

  “He cheated on you?” she asked, looking really confused, probably because Lucifer wasn’t the type of asshole that cheated.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head as she pushed away from the door. “He didn’t cheat on me. He cheated at a game.”

  “What kind of game?” Melanie asked, setting aside her laptop.

  Rebecca gestured lazily towards the door. “A game to see which one of us knew more about the other,” she explained with a shrug as she walked over to the refrigerator to grab a Coke.

  For some reason that made Melanie’s frown deepen. “You asked each other questions?”

  “Yup, and that bastard cheated,” she said, grabbing a Coke and not really caring that she’d just walked out on Lucifer without a word.

  “So, in order to win this game,” Melanie said, obviously having a difficult time wrapping her mind around the concept of the game that she’d just played with the cheater, “you had to know more about him than he did about you?”

  “That just about sums it up,” she said, still kicking herself for giving him such an easy question.

  “So, you played a game in which you had to know more than someone with questionable OCD?” Melanie asked, kind of making her feel like a moron, because she really should have thought about that before she’d agreed to play with him.

  Still…

  “It was anyone’s game,” she said as she popped the top off her soda, trying not to think about how incredibly stupid she was.

  “A game of chance with someone that notices every detail about pretty much everything?” Melanie asked, looking at her as though she just couldn’t believe that she was that stupid to go along with something like this.

  She’d never had a chance, she realized with a pathetic groan as she took a sip of her soda. When she was done, she tossed the empty can in the sink and leaned back against the counter, in absolutely no rush to follow through with this bet.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked Melanie, wondering how she was holding up with everything.

  “I’m good,” Melanie said, shooting her a smile as she picked up her computer and placed it back on her lap.