The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison (18 page)

Something feels wrong, but every time I open my eyes, I see her, and I want so badly for it to be her. “I love you Sam,” I say, holding her up and not stopping for one second. No matter her moans, or her breathless pleas for more control, I do as I want to her. Lifting her legs higher and kissing her lips, I move inside of her hard, demanding her full attention. Something about this experience makes me angry, and I have to turn her around, bend her over, and fuck my anger out. Her orgasms do nothing to deter me. I don’t stop until I finish, until I come. Then, I pull out and step away from her, closing my eyes and opening them only to see Franky.
What just happened?

“Hi Nick,” Franky says, causing me to spin around on my heels towards him. Nick steps into the room and quickly exits again.

Fuck! I fist my hands into my eyes. What I have done?

“Why do you look so upset?” Franky grabs my arms. “It’s okay Ryan, you needed that, and I have to say, it was amazing.” She caresses my dick with a purr. “Really amazing.”

I push her hands away from me. “Stop Franky! Stop touching me.” She won’t leave me alone; she just keeps coming, kissing me and touching me and whispering to me until I feel I am with Sam again. My mind is spinning, and I am not sure what is happening. Before I know it, we are kissing again, and I am taking her to my bed to fuck her again.

Franky becomes a habit, a drug I can’t let go of. I crave her constantly, and I get angry if she denies me for even a second. I demand for her to be Sam and to do the things she would do. Franky does exactly what I tell her every time, and I never bother to ask why. I don’t want to know why this woman is seeking me out, or what she has to gain from this other than getting fucked. Nick never bothers to say a word to me about what he saw. I know he and Kayla are not happy about me and Franky, but I don’t care. He would understand if he lost Kayla.

Franky sits up on my chest and looks down at me. “You know, Nick told me all about what Dennis … I mean, who Savage is. He confided it all to me, and I have been helping come up with even more information. It is all quite exciting, I must say. And now, here you are, another found … Prince I guess you could say. All that time you both spent in poverty, and the whole time, you were actually more important than anyone around you.” She just keeps talking, and all I want her to do is shut up and let me go to sleep. “Do you think if Dennis is able to get you your own realm and have the Council recognize you as a Lord, would you take it?”

“I don’t even know what you are talking about,” I say, frustrated that she keeps talking.

“Oh, well, think of it as a chance to set the punishment for those who are deserving of it. You would be in charge of sentencing all those who committed horrible things. You would make the decision to inflict true justice,” she says.

“That sounds like a heavy burden. Not sure I am the best one to decide anything like that considering I will probably be that person receiving true justice one day.”

“Oh Ryan,” Franky says. “You are nowhere near the evil I have seen. You are not perfect, but who is? Besides, wouldn’t you feel better if you could right the wrongs in a way? There has to be someone you can think of that you wish you could be in charge of or could have been in charge of their true justice?” she says, and instantly, many names and faces begin to appear in my head, specifically that fuck Sam was engaged to at one time. The coward didn’t give me a chance to inflict any pain on him before he killed himself. The idea of being the one to sentence him for eternity brings a smile to my face. “See… I knew it. I knew you could do it after all. I think you would be perfect.” She lies her head back down on my chest. “Yes, I can definitely see you as a Lord, and as a Savage, you would have your pick of realms. Just like Nick, you have so much potential,” Franky says, rubbing her hand against my chest with a deep moan.

“You sure do know a lot about this. I am surprised Nick would confide all this to you.”

“Why not? We have known each other for a long time, and he knows I find all this fascinating. I have been helping him do research ever since he found out that his mother has been sharing valuable information with me.”

“Nick’s mother told you all about Savage?”

“His mother and I talked a lot, and though I thought she was delusional when she talked of Nick’s father and Savage, it turns out she wasn’t as delusional as I thought. Some of it stills seems unbelievable, but with what we have confirmed, who knows what could be true.”

I glance over at her with a strange feeling coming over me. There is something about her that doesn’t fit. “You know, most normal people would run away from us if they knew any of this to be true. Hell, Nick and I both would like to run away from it. Why are you running towards it?”

She sits up and gently caresses my face before replying, “Sometimes, you just feel that you belong, and I feel I belong here, with you. I think I was meant to be here to help you. Help you find your love. Help you find your bright shadow again,” she says, pushing me to crave Sam. My head becomes dizzy, but I smile wide when Sam finds her way back into my arms and allows me to tell our story again.

“I love you so much, Sam.”

“And I love you,” she whispers back.

Chapter 22

Nick

Ryan opens his bedroom door, and Franky walks right in, the two of them together does not make me happy in the least. I don’t understand what he is doing, but if she is able to keep him from doing something crazy, then maybe it is a good thing.
Maybe.
I begin to wonder about what my mother said and decide the best thing for me to do is to investigate Franky a little further and her friend, the man she continuously sneaks off with. I have one of my men search out information on her father’s death and see if there is anything that will help me understand where she has been. Surely he was buried wherever she was. Until I find out more about her, I will honor Ryan’s request for Franky to continue staying here a little longer, despite my mother being gone and she having no reason to be around here anymore. I haven’t talked to Kayla about it, but I am sure it will come up soon. For now, I avoid the conversation and the trouble by paying attention to Kayla and giving her no reason to think of anything else but me.

I fall asleep with Kayla in my arms, but it isn’t long before my peaceful sleep is interrupted. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I sit up in bed and listen carefully. Kayla takes a hold of my arm with a look of concern. “Get the boys and stay with them in the safe room,” I say to her before cautiously moving down the stairs. I listen and focus. Instantly, a man appears out of nowhere and another and another. I quickly realize that fighting these men off is not going to happen the usual way. No, these intruders are part of an army that has prepared to fight me. My stance needs to change in order to protect my family, and it does so quickly. I don’t bother speaking. I simply make my displeasure known from the depth of my core.

“Look boys. This dumbass is going to fight us off in his boxers,” the bold moron laughs but still avoids my eyes. “What? You couldn’t at least find some pants stud?” I don’t speak. “What was that? Did you say something?” he says, nearing me with a single step and a defensive eye, but no more. “Okay, I see you want to listen. So listen here. If you go quietly, we will make it painless for you and your whole family. Otherwise, we will have to force you to hear them scream to their deaths. You won’t possibly be able to save them all.” He steps forward again as his friends take a strong stance near him. “So, what’s it going to be stud? And please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be. You work for Savage, and we just can’t take any chances that you might make him any stronger than he already is.”

“You don’t think I can take you all on and save my entire family at the same time? You don’t know me that well do you?” I growl, causing the whole group to step backwards at once. I take one step forward, and they back up five. My body is so tense that I can feel nothing but fire burning from my heart to the tips of my fingers. They quickly scramble and decide to attack me all at once. That might have been their best chance to get me, but it wasn’t their best decision. These are no ordinary intruders. They don’t attack me with guns or fists but with a force like I have never seen before, an attack that is pointed as if they are searching for a weak spot in my body. Despite their precise attack, I still feel their breaths fade as I flex and kill. One after the other, they die at my feet. I demand them to surrender, yet they keep coming and coming, and I keep killing. Their faces become blended and nonexistent to me. I stop asking who they are, who they work for, and begin to enjoy the slaughter. I have never felt so strong and so powerful. The rush of adrenaline causes such a great satisfaction within me, I don’t want to stop.

“Nick! Nick …” Kayla’s voice begins to surround me.
I won’t let them get to her or my boys
. The sound of my wife’s voice only makes me more determined to kill. I believe them to be all gone when I feel another presence at my back. I spin around, grab them, and lick my lips, waiting for their beating heart to burst.

“Nick!” Ryan screams at me as he grabs my hand and tries to force my release. He manages to loosen my grip, but I don’t understand why he fights me. “Nick you are going to kill her!” Ryan strikes me and strikes me again until I let go and turn to him, enraged.

“What are you doing?” I yell at him. He ignores me and leans down to the person at my feet. “Kayla!” Ryan yells before breathing into her mouth to try and revive her.
No. NO.
I did not do that?
Ryan screams at me to help him, to help her, but I am still tense with anger, and I am afraid to touch her. “Nick!” he yells again, pulling me down to my knees. I lay my hands on my wife, and instantly begin trying to breathe life back into her. “I’m sorry. Please Kayla, I’m sorry,” I cry to her. I try again to revive her while Ryan calls for help.
Oh God, please …

“Mommy!” Nicky screams, racing towards his mother. I tell him to stay back, but he doesn’t listen. He calls to her and wraps his little arms around her neck. “Mommy. What happened, Mommy? Wake up Mommy. Wake up!” my son cries, ignoring my attempts to revive her. I grip my face with my bloody hands and pray for this nightmare to be over.

The sudden gasp of breath from the air causes us all to stop breathing. I look down and watch her eyes open. “Oh my God, Kayla.” I lean down and kiss her. “I love you,” I say, smiling down at her. She wraps an arm around Nicky and kisses him weakly but looks at me with fear.

Ryan rushes over and helps her sit up. “Are you okay?!? Can you breathe?” he asks her. She nods. I want to touch her, to hold her, but somehow I think that would only make things worse. “Nick, I think you should help her to bed and let her rest until the doctor can get here.” Kayla’s lip immediately begins to quiver as she takes his hand over mine. “Okay, I’ll take you. Nick, you stay here and … and calm down.” I nod and fall into my hands, not understanding what happened. Franky leans down and put her arms around me.

“It’s okay, Nick. Everyone is okay now.”

“I nearly killed my own wife,” I say, pushing her away from me.
Why would she want to be near me? Did she not see what just happened?

“She got in the way. She should have given you a chance to calm first. It’s dark, you were surrounded by attackers. It wasn’t your fault. You were amazing. Absolutely amazing.”

“I’m a monster.”

“No, you’re not …” she says against my ear, rubbing her hands on my bare chest.

“Franky, I am covered in blood. I just nearly killed my wife. Please stay away from me,” I urge.

“I don’t mind, and you’re in pain. Let me comfort you.” She kisses my cheek. “You need to relax. Take a hot shower, clean up, and calm down.”

“Kayla’s in bed. I don’t want to disturb her right now. I can’t imagine she wants me anywhere near her.”

“You have more than one shower, don’t you? Use mine. It will help you feel better before you approach Kayla again,” Franky says, taking my hands.

I finally agree to step into a hot shower, but before I do, I stare at myself in the mirror, looking over the bloody monster staring back at me. The shower eases my pain some and my nerves, but I don’t know that anything can fix my marriage right now. I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist, breathing a little easier but exhausted. “Thanks for letting me use your shower,” I say to Franky before noticing her naked body across the bed. She tries to entice me before running between me and the door. “Get out of the way, Franky. I don’t know what is wrong with you, but you are not the girl I used to know.”

“You’re right. I’m a woman now. A woman that can ease your pain.”

“You should know better than anyone that acting this way doesn’t do anything for me. You should know that. The Franky I knew would know that,” I say, silencing her enough to move out my way.

I step towards our bedroom and hesitate before going in when Ryan opens the door. “She’s fine, Nick. Come on in.” He takes hold of my arm and pulls me in. “She wants to see you, so go in.”