One Handsome Devil (11 page)

"You're right,” she said. “But I want there to be a reward. I want both of us to be happy."

"I'm a demon. I don't deserve happiness."

"Nobody deserves it. It's a gift."

Jack pulled away just far enough so she could see his dark eyes. “Sara, I can't have happiness.” He paused a moment, then continued. “I didn't even think I could have pleasure. You've shown me I was wrong about that, at least. Let me enjoy it. Don't ask for what can't be."

She swallowed hard, trying to hold back the tears. How could any being exist, century after century, without a chance for happiness?

"Don't pity me.” Jack almost growled.

"No? Then let me pleasure you.” She bent her lips to his arousal wanting to give him what he could take, needing to hide her tears from him.

He reached a strong finger under her chin and pulled her face back to him. “Not now."

"But—"

He pressed one hand over her lips, then lowered her to the ground. One finger touched her between her legs and the tiny panties her girlfriends had given her for her twenty-fifth birthday and she'd never dared wear before vanished in a flash of fire.

Jack's heat might not burn her skin, but it certainly burned inside of her. She tugged him onto her, pressing her hips against him, demanding that he take her.

Jack slid inside of her. Already she was accommodating his size.

Something, it felt like a tree root, dug at her back and caused her a moment of pain.

She must have winced, because Jack stopped. “Did I hurt you."

"Not you. I—"

"Oh.” He tugged her against his body, thrusting himself even more deeply into her. To her surprise, though, whatever had jabbed her in the back wasn't bothering her any more. In fact, she couldn't feel anything against her back at all.

Jack gave her that beautiful smile that made him look like a real angel, then began to move within her, creating a rhythm that seemed to extend beyond his body, beyond her body, into the atmosphere that surrounded them both.

She found the rhythm in herself, matched it to his, let Jack take control.

Her body felt as if it weighed nothing. Jack's body too, seemed weightless. It covered her without pressing down on her. She looked at him in wonder, then forgot to think about anything as the sexual energy built up in her, rising like flood waters swept in by a hurricane, until she could hold it off no longer and released herself into orgasm.

Jack's face appeared radiant, yet it felt no warmer than usual when she kissed him. He had slowed down the pace for a moment, letting her enjoy her release, but when she had caught her breath, he found the rhythm where he had left it.

Again the pleasure built up within her. This time, she felt Jack's own release and let it trigger a second orgasm.

She had made love outside, in the middle of the Oklahoma prairie, and it felt softer than the daintiest feather bed she could imagine. Then she looked down and screamed.

Katra gathered her course outlines and her purse. She told herself she'd delayed leaving because she needed to finish grading her students’ homework to free up her evening, but she wasn't really convinced. All day, whenever she'd stepped out of her classroom, she had caught glimpses of someone who looked like Derrick.

She cracked open the door to the teachers’ lounge and peered out.

A hint of movement seen only in her peripheral vision raced her heart. But it was only a janitorial crew. What was wrong with her? Derrick had been sweet, hadn't even tried to get into her pants.

She dismissed last night's paranoid notion he might somehow have found out about her winning lottery ticket. Her share wouldn't be enough to attract a homeless person, let alone someone who had made millions in software.

Still, she tiptoed down the hall, starting at every sound.

Her Chevy sat alone in the middle of the teacher parking lot and she breathed deeply suddenly aware that she'd been holding her breath. What was wrong with her? She liked Derrick, didn't she?

As she turned out of the parking lot and onto Main Street, she caught a glimpse of midnight blue paint in her rear view mirror. Derrick's Jaguar pulled alongside.

She reluctantly lowered her window at his commanding gesture. “Hey, guy. What's up?” She tried to sound cheerful. It wasn't Derrick's fault she was paranoid.

"Hi, darling. I've been thinking about you all day. I made reservations at Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth."

Be honest, Katra. Was there any reason in the world not to go? She'd asked for a boyfriend and Sara's demon had delivered. Well, shouldn't she get some benefit out of her wishes? Then again, Jack had managed to ruin the other two wishes.

"Are you always this way when you go after a woman, Derrick?” She couldn't escape her fear that Derrick only wanted her because of something Jack had done.

Derrick nodded. “When I find a girl I like, I let her know about it. I'm not one to beat around the bush."

Her fear wasn't assuaged, but she felt somewhat better. “All right, Derrick. I'll see you at seven."

He gave her a little salute and zoomed off.

Katra sat still for a good minute, until someone behind her got impatient and leaned on his horn.

She waved the jerk around her and ignored his impatient gestures. She didn't want to go home to her mother and sister. She knew Sara was in Oklahoma today so she couldn't talk to her friend. Finally she decided to head for Sara's grandmother's place. The woman was a little eccentric, but she was a great listener.

Maura lived in a prairie style bungalow a few miles from Sara's apartment in a historic district in South Dallas. Her home had huge rooms, high ceilings, and always smelled of something baking. It was Katra's ideal of a perfect grandmother house although its lavender color put off more than a few who saw it for the first time.

Katra almost drove on when she saw the black Lexus in Maura's driveway.

The Reverend Bob was one of Maura's favorites, but he tended to get excited about things. Still, the alternative was home and Katra definitely wasn't ready to go there.

Maura came bounding out of her house before Katra had decided what to do next. At seventy-five, Maura still had more energy than Katra and her sister combined. “Come on in,” the woman demanded. “I just pulled some peanut butter cookies out of the oven."

Peanut butter cookies were one of Katra's weaknesses—admittedly one of many weaknesses. She followed Maura in, helped herself to a cookie, then nodded at the Reverend Bob.

Reverend Bob looked like a young Johnny Cash, all in black with a near-permanent frown. “I hear you got yourself a new boyfriend,” he observed.

"My mother called and bragged,” Katra guessed.

Reverend Bob nodded. “Actually, I heard it from three of your neighbors first. She thinks this Derrick person is going to save the entire family. He's rich, good looking, and has all the right social connections."

Katra sank into one of Maura's Lazy Boy recliners. “My mother is like that. There's always something that will make our lives complete—of course it's never anything we can do ourselves."

"You don't seem quite so enthusiastic about this young man,” Maura commented. She poured Katra a cup of tea and handed her a plate fully laden with cookies.

Katra shook her head. “I'm probably being paranoid but all day long I've had this feeling that he was watching me."

"Sounds like love,” Maura cooed.

When she put it that way, maybe that was all it was. “I'm not sure—"

"Sounds like stalking,” Reverend Bob interrupted.

"I never got a close look. It might not even have been him."

"I've never known you to imagine things,” Maura pointed out.

Of course Maura hadn't been over at Sara's when they'd summoned a demon. That was imagination running wild. Katra decided to keep her mouth shut, for once.

Reverend Bob stood. “May I use your computer, Maura?"

"Oh, I was hoping you would. I know they are supposed to be so easy, but I'm always afraid I'll click the wrong thing. Do you think you could show me where to find those MP-3 files you were telling me about? The Orthodox Chants."

Reverend Bob smiled. “Of course. But first let's see what we can find about this Derrick. If he's a stalker, he's probably done it before."

Katra took a sip of her tea and almost spewed it on the end table. Maura had laced it with something strong.

"You looked a little pale,” Sara's grandmother told her.

The alcohol burned as it went down, but Katra did feel a little more human. “Thanks."

"Have another cookie."

The Reverend Bob clicked onto the Internet. Katra leaned over his shoulder, watching the long lists of sexual predators roll down.

"I didn't know you could just look them up.” She'd always thought there was a little more privacy than that, although protecting sexual predators’ privacy didn't sound brilliant.

"The Lord works in strange ways,” Reverend Bob answered. “In this case, some of our Church brothers have posted the lists to secure church sites."

"Oh.” Sara thought a moment. “Do you have any who claim to be demons?"

The Reverend Bob's hand froze. “Why do you ask?"

Sara's scream brought Jack back from heights of ecstasy he'd been certain he would never reach again.

"Ohmygod,” Sara shouted in his ear.

He almost lost his grip. “Don't say that word."

"What have you done?"

"What?” He was sure he had kept control, hadn't damaged her. Could he have broken her wards and his promise without even noticing?

"Look down."

He did. Relief surged through him. “Oh. I may have gotten a little carried away there."

"We're a hundred feet off the ground."

He calculated quickly. “Closer to three hundred. Say a hundred meters."

"You could have dropped me."

"Only when you said that word. Otherwise you were perfectly safe."

"But—"

"Shall we head back down?"

Sara nodded numbly. “What if someone saw us?"

Jack couldn't help laughing. “What would you do if you saw a naked demon carrying off a naked human?"

"I'd call my shrink."

"Then I'm sure we won't have anything to worry about."

Sara's eyes refused to meet his so he couldn't tell if she was angry at him, angry at herself for her reaction, or simply embarrassed at the possibility that someone could have seen her.

"If we don't have to worry, what is that?” Flashing blue and red lights tore up the highway heading for their car. “What should we do?"

"You have a right to be here, don't you? Isn't this a lease you're checking out?"

"I'm supposed to be here, but I'm supposed to have my clothes on."

"Let me worry about that."

Jack's wings beat slowly as he lowered the two of them to the ground, thankfully behind a tree that hid them from the police car's view. Unfortunately, Sara knew those thanks would be short lived. She'd be arrested for public lewdness. In the close-knit world of petroleum engineering, this would be the kiss of death. Her dreams of starting a company and regaining her family reputation had just gone down the drain.

Sara wanted to scream at Jack, tell him he hadn't lived up to his part of the bargain. She forced herself to be fair. She'd been as aggressive as he had. She'd wanted him. Just because she hadn't dreamed he'd burn off their clothes and take off like a, well like a bat out of hell, didn't absolve her from responsibility.

Fairness didn't help. She was in big trouble.

She took a deep breath and tried to relax. Not easy when she had to look at Jack. He looked completely comfortable in his nudity. Of course he should. He had a body like an angel.

"Should we at least cover ourselves with branches from this tree?” she asked.

Jack gave her a funny look. “Last time I heard about people doing that, it got them in even worse trouble. I say we brazen it out."

"Brazen it out? What the heck is that supposed to—"

A sound of slamming doors interrupted her before Sara managed to come up with more of an answer for Jack's completely inadequate response.

"Is anyone back there?” The commanding voice sounded through the squad car's loud speaker.

"We're back here officer,” Jack sang out. “Just checking this oil lease.” Jack grasped Sara by the arm and tugged her in the direction of the police.

"It's natural gas,” she reminded him.

"Keep it simple."

"Oh. Well, don't drag me around. If I stay behind the tree and you sort of crouch, they might not really notice us.

"They'll notice us more if we act strangely."

Jack must not understand the human nudity taboo. Well, Sara did. “We've already acted strangely. Now they're going to arrest us for exposure."

Jack smiled. “A venial sin to be sure."

"Easy for you to say. You've probably committed every sin in the book."

Jack laughed harshly. “I'm the reason they wrote the book.” He paused for a moment. “If we don't go out, they'll be suspicious. We don't want that."

His grip on her arm grew stronger and, moments later, he tugged her around the tree into sight of the officers.

One of the policemen leaned against the car holding a huge shotgun. The other was speaking on his radio. He looked up when Jack and Sara rounded the tree, then continued talking. Neither he, nor the other cop, seemed to find their attire out of the ordinary.

She glared at Jack, hoping that he'd somehow magically clothed them. No such luck. His nude form could have inspired a renaissance sculpture. Or maybe it really had. She'd have to ask Jack about his history. Later.

"What's going on?” she whispered. “Are we invisible?"

"No. Just act normally."

Easy for him to say. Other than when she was fifteen and she'd lost her bikini top water-skiing, she'd never found herself on public display like this. Jack, on the other hand, probably wandered around naked all the time. He certainly didn't have a visible tan line.

Sara sputtered to silence. She didn't have a clue how to act normally right then.

"Is there a problem, officer?” Jack asked.