Hell's Gift (39 page)

I untied my make-shift loincloth and tossed it aside. I’d noticed a full set of clothing, complete with new leather boots in my size, so I wouldn’t need the slim piece of fabric Pogo had given me anymore—I looked down—or my too small boots.

I dreaded removing them. I had almost gotten used to the pain of the acid burns. I could only imagine how bad it looked, but the wounds needed cleaning so they wouldn’t get infected. Without another thought, I sat on my old loincloth and untied both boots, making them as loose as possible, then just stared at the footwear like they would magically vanish on their own. No such luck, but when have I ever had any of that?

I looked about my immediate area, then grabbed my spear so I would have something to bite down on if the pain proved more than what I could bear. I didn’t want to scream out and alert predators, if I could help it.

With the long stick protruding from the left side of my mouth, I was out of things to do that would allow me to procrastinate any longer. I placed my palm on the heel of the boot, took in a deep breath and pulled.

The pain was intense, but not as bad as I thought it would be. With tears blurring my vision, I gave one last agonizing cry and wrenched the leather from my foot. Eyes squeezed tight, I fell to my back and took in short shallow breaths as the pain began to recede.

It might have been pure exhaustion or maybe even the pain that knocked me out. I don’t know, but that was the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness.

~ ~ ~

I could feel feminine hands, wet and soft, as they washed my legs. I relaxed in her gentle care, a low approving moan escaping my lips as she kneaded and worked the sore muscles of my calves and thighs. My smile grew in anticipation as the small circular motions with the soapy cloth reached the most intimate area of my body.

Each touch, each experienced stroke, teased and taunted me until I was breathless with reckless desire.

I kept my eyes closed, letting the feel of her playful touches heighten my senses.

Hearing her moan of approval that I was ready to do more than let her wash me, only excited me more. Her succulent lips kissed at my hip below my pelvic bone, involuntarily making certain body parts move of their own freewill.

Her silky hair fell over my stomach, left hip and thigh, awakening senses in me I never knew existed.

“Tell me you want me, Rhyan.”

“I want you. I will want you always, Kendra.”

She gave another seductive laugh, and then I felt her straddle my hips and place her warm sex on my erection. Sliding to the tip of me, then back to the base, she worked herself on me until I thought I would go mad with wanting to be inside her. “Mmmm, I was hoping you would say that.”

“Please—”

“Please what, Rhyan? Tell me what you want.”

“There is only so much passion and desire a man can endure before completely losing his mind. I wish to bear the burden of such tasks, for I will go insane without your sweet torture anyway. I’ve waited for this moment long enough. Put me out of my misery and drive me mad, woman.”

My eyes flew open and stared hard into the beautiful green meadows of her eyes. My palm came up to fit against her cheek. I searched for any doubt, but found none. “What about Adam?”

She shook her head slowly. “He isn’t here.”

“I am here. I’ve always been here, waiting for you, Kendra.”

She placed her hand over mine and nodded. “I know. Will you allow me to make it up to you for making you wait so long?”

I grinned. “I would be disappointed if you didn’t,” I said, then moved my hand to the back of her neck and brought her lips down to mine.

The kiss was just like I remembered it: soft, warm and tasted a little like sugar plums. I craved more and she seemed to read my mind, because she opened her mouth to allow my tongue access to explore.

Panicked words echoed in my mind.
“Don’t fall for it, Rhyan. Remember me…remember me…remember me,”
it said, but I didn’t want to remember anything except the feel of Kendra under my hands.
“Rhyan, please,”
she pleaded,
“I love you, and you love me. Try to remember. I’m Abbi. I’m your wife.”

I broke from the kiss and looked away from Kendra, confused. “My wife?”

“I will be if you’re asking,” she said, and then rocked on me again, making me forget about the voice in my head.

Passion engulfed me once more and I was lost to the beauty in my arms as I consumed her mouth with mine once again. There was no better feeling than what I was experiencing in that moment with Kendra.

“Rhyan, don’t let them do this to you. You are stronger than this. Remember me and remember why you’re here.”

I knew exactly why I was there, and it wasn’t to let some voice in my mind distract me from taking what I wanted. I sealed my mind up tight, pulled Kendra to me, then rolled until I was the one in control of our little rendezvous.

She stared up at me, eyes full of desire.

I waited.

She nodded.

I gave one hard thrust and was finally where I wanted to be.

Chapter 49

Abigail

Tears flooded Abigail’s eyes and her hand shot up to cover her mouth to keep from screaming. She shook her head back and forth in denial. Something had to be wrong. Lucifer had to be messing with her mind to make her believe Rhyan could forget her so easily, she thought. Unless Thoros erased the memory of her from Rhyan’s mind and only left him with lustful thoughts of his charge. Yes, that had to be it, she thought. She wouldn’t allow herself to believe otherwise or be angry with Rhyan for loving another if his mind was being toyed with and that’s all he knew.

She got to her feet and headed for the door, grabbing Lucifer’s black satin cape on her way out. When he realized she was gone, he would just force her to return, and she wasn’t sure he could even make her do that anymore since he’d signed the contract. The only reason she’d stayed this long was because she knew he couldn’t touch her and she didn’t want to miss anything about Rhyan’s journey through the sydes. It definitely wasn’t because he’d demanded her to be there.

Abigail closed her eyes and brought Thoros to mind. He was in his personal chambers alone, and with a heavy heart to boot. She knew she’d been right in assuming the female angel meant more to him than he was letting on. It was bad enough that Lucifer had her, but would be far worse if he knew for certain the prince had feelings for the girl.

Dematerializing to the Prince of Lust’s private chambers was the easy part. She took in a deep breath, then let it out in a whoosh before knocking on his door lightly.

There was a brief pause, then, “Come in, Abigail.”

After closing the door behind her, she removed the hood and found the handsome rogue sitting on a stool at the bar, with what appeared to be a half empty old fashioned glass of scotch in his hand. She shuddered to think how many full glasses he’d consumed so far.

“Thoros—” she began, but he held up his hand to silence her, then scooted off the stool and stumbled his way to the chair in the living area of his chambers. He all but fell to the cushion and let his head relax against the backrest, revealing his swollen face to Abigail for the first time.

She gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth to stop the ‘What the hell happened to you?’. “Did Lucifer do that to you because of my husband?”

He chuckled and threw back the rest of the scotch in one single gulp. He gave a loud belch and leaned forward to let his elbows rest on his knees, then shook his head. “Nope. Your husband did this to me because of Lucifer.”

Her response was instantaneous. “What? Rhyan would never—”

“I can’t help him, Abigail. Matter of fact, I have no choice but to make sure he fails. Lucifer has Josselyn, and she doesn’t deserve to be here any more than Rhyan does, but he chose this. She didn’t. She’s been stripped of her abilities and was taken against her will, so I need to make sure she gets out of here with everything she had.”

Abigail swallowed and choked back the tears. “Since when has any soul mattered to you, Thoros?”

Hands clasped together, he let his head fall to rest on them. “Since the moment Lameria brought her into Lucifer’s lair.”

“Why now, when I, your friend for over a century, have a chance to get out of here?”

“I have no choice, Abi—”

Tears streamed down her face. “He will go through the sydes a thousand times if that’s what it takes, but Rhyan will not give up! He promised—”

“Promises are meant to be broken.”

“Not Rhyan’s promises. You don’t know him!”

Thoros stood quickly and glared at her. “I know he thinks he’s fucking his human charge right now, and it doesn’t at all look like he’s worried about saving your precious soul!”

The slap across his left cheek was instant, and Thoros stayed in the position the hit left him in. “You, bastard!”

“You’re right, I am. So what? You’re a bitch and always will be. We’re demons, Abigail. We can’t screw angels and have anything good come of it.”

“I’m not just screwing him. He’s my soulmate!” she cried.

“And Josselyn’s mine!” he roared back at her.

They both froze and just stared at one another for a moment.

Abigail shook her head. “No—it can’t be—”

“If our roles were reversed, if Josselyn was in your syde and fighting to save my soul, but Lucifer had Rhyan and the only way he could keep his soul was if Josselyn failed, could you let her earn the door to the next syde? Honestly, Abigail, would you do that for me, your friend of over a century, knowing that your soulmate would forever be damned and under Lucifer’s heavy command?”

She lowered her head and swallowed.

“I thought so,” he said, and turned away to get another drink from the bar. “Want a drink? You look like you need one, now.”

“If our roles were reversed, and you had the power the contract between Rhyan and Lucifer has given me over him, what would you do?” He stopped halfway to the bar and spun to face her. “Would you stop him?” She read the yearning on his face like a book. “I think I can stop him, Thoros, but I can’t protect any of you if you aren’t on my side. Fallis has already turned me down. He is afraid I can’t hold up my end of the bargain and we will all be thrown into Wrath for my boldness. You know what’s at stake here, what you will lose and what you can gain. Lucifer thinks he has us both tied, but I’m not going down without a fight. Help me and we can both win.” He started to shake his head, but stopped and looked back at her when she started talking again. “You really think he will just let her go if you do as he commands? He’s desperate, Thoros. He will say anything to get what he wants, because he wants a pure soul willingly given to him. He won’t get that with Josselyn, but he will if Rhyan fails. We can save them both if you will just help me. I won’t let him hurt her, but you have to let Rhyan go. Give him back his memories of me, please.”

Abigail felt like a whole day and night had passed in the silence between them as she waited for his response.

Thoros finally sighed and rubbed at his tired eyes. “We have much to plan and no time to waste. What do you suggest?”

Rhyan

The rush of images flashing through my mind had my hips stopping mid-stroke to grab hold of my head, for fear it would burst if my fingers didn’t hold it together.

“What is it, Rhyan?” Kendra asked.

I looked down at her with wide eyes, then scrambled to the pea-gravel to get away from the demon that was surely not my human charge.
“What have I done?”

“I was blocked from you somehow, Rhyan. I did everything in my power to reach you, but you couldn’t hear me. Your memories of Abigail were temporarily taken from you. I’m not sure why you have them back now, but you cannot lose consciousness again,”
Isaiah replied.

“Come back to me, Rhyan.”

I shook my head at the female that looked a whole lot like Kendra, then got to my feet. I realized as I looked at my feet that it had all been real. Both of my boots were gone and my blistered feet had been cleaned and wrapped so they could heal. My body was clean, even my hair was still damp from the washing.

“You’re not real,” I said, shaking my head.

She smiled. “Of course I’m real. I’ve been real for over thirty years now.”

“No, no more mind games. You are not Kendra, and even if you were her, I wouldn’t have had sex with you if my mind hadn’t been tampered with. She is married and so am I.”

“Don’t be silly, Rhyan.” She held her hand out, encouraging me to join her. “You know you want me. I’m here. I’m yours. I can stay here with you forever.”

“I don’t want you. I don’t want anyone except my wife Abbi.”

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and noticed a bright red door. I sighed in relief, and when I looked back to the Kendra look-alike, she was gone.

I took my time in dressing and arranging my pack of supplies. I couldn’t allow my thoughts to dwell on whether Josselyn would be okay if I walked through the door. None of us would be alright if I didn’t, so I silently told Josselyn goodbye and thanked her for the friendship she had given me. I could only pray she heard me. I had to be on top of my game in Wrath, and distractions would only get me killed.

I had no idea why my memories of Abbi had returned. I could only pray the Prince of Lust took mercy on me and was now on my side, but I knew there was no hope in ever converting the Prince of Wrath to side with me and let me through his syde unscathed. Murry was not my friend and never would be. That was okay. The feelings were mutual.

Chapter 50

After walking through the door to Wrath, I had to agree with Malcolm on the death and destruction bit. It was the image of Hell that I had always pictured in my mind, even as a human.

Fire rained from the dark, black and red sky. Flashes of blue lightning streaked across the horizon, giving each section it touched a purplish hue. Massive lava-filled clouds hung low and dispersed flaming baseball-sized volcanic rock into the heavy winds. And, man, was it hot, I thought as I wiped at the sudden dampness that broke out across my brow.