The Hard Way (Box Set) (17 page)

Snarling, she drew back her fist and let it fly… straight at Jamie’s face.

And the fleshly thumping sound her fist made connecting with her right eye was music to her ears.

“Come on, skank,” Jess hissed as Jamie flew back, arms see-sawing to regain her balance. “Remember I said I was going to hang my foot up your ass? Well, bitch, the time has come!”

Jamie shrieked and attacked again, adding kicks to her wild swinging, but Jessica sidestepped those and delivered a sharp kick to her middle, knocking Jamie to her knees.

“Just as I promised!” Jessica’s voice was filled with triumph as she circled around Jamie and landed a sharp blow to her upturned ass.

Jamie shrieked. She flew through the air to land on her face, skidding across the carpet.

“Tai Bo won’t save your ass now!” Jessica moved in for the kill, but skidded to a halt as Jamie played her final card.

“How about… I just… shoot the shit out of you instead?”

Jamie approached Jessica, madness in her eyes. “You killed the man I love.”

She reached behind her back and pulled out an almost comically large barrel attached to some high caliber handgun. Jamie made a show of reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a silencer, which she slowly screwed on, never taking her eyes off her wayward older half-sister.

The woman had skills, Jess thought, hiding that huge thing and getting the silencer on without ever looking!

“Actually,” Jess corrected as she held her hand palm out before her and took a few steps back, “he kind of killed himself. I never laid a hand on him.”

“That is beside the point!” Jamie shrieked, advancing further.

“And the elevator thing was your idea.”

“Don’t you ever shut the fuck up?”

No answer for that one, because Jessica was playing a dangerous game placating the mad woman. It was important to humor the insane, she concluded. You were less likely to get shot that way.

“You ruin everything you touch! First my father, then my business, and now my man! You are going to die!”

“Look! Over there!” Jessica suddenly shouted. “A unicorn!”

As stupid a tactic as it was, it worked. Jamie turned away and Jessica hurled herself at the other woman, knocking her to the ground and falling on top of her in a cloud of dirty terry cloth and rhinestone shoes.

There was an audible pop and Jamie jerked beneath her, then lay still.

Jessica rolled off of her youngest baby half-sister and watched as the life drained from her body.

“You… you…” Jamie struggled to speak. A bright light focused in on her face, her makeup and features perfect even after the fight, and with her dying from a self inflicted bullet wound. Only a trickle of very bright red blood trailed down the corner of her lips. “Daddy… always loved… you… best.”

Her head tilted to the side as she drew her last breath.

Jessica took in the sight of the dead woman with no visible bullet wound, glanced back toward the elevator that James had fallen through, and she began to wail.

“I want to go home! I don’t like it here!”

She stumbled to her feet, backing away from the body, and actually clicked her heels together three times.

“There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home! Carter? Phil? Murray! Get your personal paternal desire-granting asses down here and take me home!”

Tears rolled down her face as she fisted her hands at her sides and threw her head back.

“‘Carter! Fuck you, you stupid fairy! Get your tutued ass down here! I wanna go home!”

“Well, you don’t have to yell,” an irate voice said from behind her.

“Carter!” Maybe they had come to take her out of this disaster of a wish!

“And you really need to clean up your language, young lady.” Carl was not amused.

“And while I admire the attempt to actually do something with your hair,” Phil groused, “rollers are not a fashion statement.”

Murray said nothing, but made his way over to the bar, stepping over Jamie’s body to do so. Then he snorted in disgust when he realized there was no real alcohol in the place, just colored water.

“Screw that and screw you!” Jessica walked right up to Carter and faced him nose to chest, one finger jabbing at his stomach. “I want out of this crazy town.”

“No can do, sweetie,” Carter’s rough voice informed her, while Phil made small comments about Jamie’s clothing and hairstyle to Carl, and Murray sulked, sipping on brown water and frowning at Jessica as if it was her fault the bar wasn’t particularly well stocked.

“No can do? Well, you had better do something! So far, I have been attacked, knocked out too many times to count, drugged, kidnapped, tied to various pieces of furniture, put into a prison, damn near raped two times, scarcely avoided the Broomstick Brigade, and now almost shot to death. Two people -- no, scratch that. Three people died before me, counting the Mafia don who was trying to get into my pants!” Her tears dried up and her anger began to take over. “I want out of this fucked up wish!”

“Impossible.” Carter patted her on her roller-covered head. She looked up and yes, the pink rollers were back.

“Why not? I want out of this wish!”

“Well, sweetie, it’s like this.
Prefect City
is a hit. Every creature from the Chubacabra to the water sprites is eating this thing up. We are a hit! The endorsements are flying in and me and the guys are making us a mint!”

“A television show? You guys have turned my life into a television show?”

“Not just any television show, sweetie, but the best running daytime preternatural soap opera ever! And there is more good news!”

“Good news?” Was there any good news in this piece of trite crap her life had become?

“Yeah! It’s sweeps week and we’re killing them in all markets! Congratulations, you’re a hit.”

“But… but I just want my life back, Carter!” Tears began to well up again as she stared at her personal fairy. “I want out!”

“No can do, sweetie. But if it’s any consolation to you, we are going to toss in more of Darious. The public likes him, and his approval ratings go through the roof. Who knew assassins would test so well?”

“Carter!”

“Sorry, love, it’s sweeps week. And now that the commercial break is over, we have to go.”

“Go? Don’t leave me alone here!”

“Got to!
Prefect City
moves on! Later, ducky.”

And with that, all four of her personal paternal wish granters winked out of existence, leaving no traces of themselves.

Sighing, Jessica made her way back to the elevators, pressing the down button on the still functioning unit. When the doors opened, she examined it carefully to make sure that the car was really there. Satisfied that there were no alternate universes or portals to the great unknown, she tightened her robe’s belt and climbed inside. She would go and tell Jennifer that Jamie was dead. Hell, it was better than standing over a dead body and moping. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse. Right?

* * *

Jennifer stood in front of the first floor elevators, a five-year-old child in her arms. It was Jennifer, though a non-pregnant one with light brown hair. But the smile was the same.

“Jessica!” So was the voice.

“We were so worried about you,” she gushed. “Weren’t we, Jack?” She smiled as she spoke softly to the child riding her hip.

“Um, hello, Jack.” Her face plainly showed confusion as Jessica looked at her ever-changing younger baby half-sister. “Cute kid. Where did he come from?”

“Oh, Jessica!” Jennifer chuckled. “You know your own nephew when you see him! You are always such the kidder.”

“But you were just knocked up?”

“Five years ago, Jess, and it seems like only hours ago. My, how time passes, and how quickly they grow.”

Another kiss for the baby, then Jennifer was smiling at her older half-sister again.

“Um, yeah.” Shaking her head, Jess figured now would be as good ‘a time as any to tell about the youngest in the family. “Well, there is a dead body upstairs.”

“Another one? James just fell from the elevator. His family is distraught. The funeral will be in an hour. I do hope you can make it.”

“Um…”
One hour
? “Well, the dead body? You see. It’s Jamie.”

“What? No! Not Jamie!” Jennifer looked distant for a moment. “Oh dear. This is going to make things awkward for the press conference. Why don’t you go on up and tell Satina. I’ll handle things on this end.”

Jennifer turned and walked away, ignoring the people staring at James’ twisted body at the bottom of the shaft. And damned if he hadn’t fallen perfectly flat on his back, too! No signs of distress were on his face, no splattered body parts or bits of brain, and his clothing was amazingly neat and clean.

Shrugging, she made her way back to the working elevator and pressed the up button. A few seconds after the doors closed, she was really not surprised when it stopped between floors.

“Darious.” She sighed. “Come on out now.”

“How did you know I was there?” he asked as he took her into his arms.

“Because the sex music began to play.”

Sure enough, the small, enclosed space was filled with the sound of a slow, haunting, jazzy beat.

“I don’t… Well, as nice as sex is, and I want to have some right now, I have to tell you to beware of the ancient evil.”

“Jamie was not ancient, Darious. Annoying and spoiled, but ancient, no.”

“That is not… Are you okay? You look… shaken.”

“Gee, Darious. I don’t know. I just saw two people die and I am stuck in this stupid city. I just want to go home.”

“I am so sorry for your losses and your experiences, Jessica. I wish that there was a way I could make all of your troubles disappear.” He pulled her to his chest and buried his face in her hair. “You smell so good…”

That was all it took. She needed the comfort of his arms. The feelings he evoked were so familiar to her, so stable. They were the only normal things in this world.

She threw her arms around him, burying her face in the smooth musculature of his chest. He was so hot, his skin so soft beneath her fingertips. Her hands traveled down over his stomach, pushing his shirt aside as her fingers latched into his waistband.

“I want it now,” she whispered, peppering kisses along his chest. “I need to feel you inside me.”

Almost instantly, wetness flooded her pussy. His hands, so large and firm, ran down, then up her back, the intensity of his touch felt even through the terrycloth of the robe. She closed her eyes, her breath harsh as his fingers gripped the collar and slowly pulled the cloth away, exposing her rich brown skin to his gaze.

“You remain one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever beheld,” he breathed, dropping a series of butterfly kisses along her exposed shoulders.

She tilted her head back as his lips climbed her neck and rose softly to her lips. He licked them first, running his tongue over her full, parted lips before he gently pressed his own to them.

“Mmm.” Her moan filled his mouth as his hands pulled the robe from her body. It fell to the ground while his tongue penetrated, teasing her tongue into a wet duel.

Her hands ripped his shirt from his back, uncaring where it landed. His hands ran down her back, his nails lightly scoring her skin, until they drifted low enough to grip her ass. Her hands forced their way between them to paw at his zipper until his pants drifted to his ankles, taking the thin white boxers he wore as well.

His hard cock pressed into her stomach, causing him to hiss and thrust against her. He was so hard and unyielding, and soon he would be buried deep inside of her.

“God, I want to fill you,” he breathed into her ear. He pushed her back a little, just enough to cup her pussy in his hands, his middle finger rubbing circles around her clit.

“Darious!” she hissed, and her knees went weak. Her body trembled against him, a woman caught in a gentle storm of desire, the quiet fire of his passion filling the void of darkness within her.

“I’m ready,” she insisted. One long finger parted her. “Now, please.”

Her nails bit into his rounded shoulders and she slumped against him, unable to hold her own weight. She felt the wetness of pre-cum flowing from the head of his cock, painting sticky droplets against her belly, and knew that he was just as affected. Wordlessly, he bent at the knees, gripped the backs of her thighs, and lifted.

“Darious, hurry,” she urged, squeezing her eyes closed in anticipation of the thick meat of him forcing his way deep into her tight confines.

“Whatever you wish.” He shifted, lifting her higher until the head of his cock just breached her pussy.

“I worship you.” His breath sounded harshly in the elevator car. For a moment, time stood still as the anticipation built.

The need to be filled, the desire to feel the long thick slide of him entering her… “G-God, please hurry!”

She squirmed in his grasp, trying to force the connection, trying to force him where she needed him most.

“Yes.”

That one word, and then he was lowering her down, hissing between his teeth as he felt her slide inch by inch down his shaft.

“Gah!” His eyes closed, his head tossed as the hot, wet, tight stranglehold she had on his cock sent fire through his spine.

Her head was whipping from side to side, her breasts bobbing as she squealed and tried to force him in deeper. This was exactly what she needed!

Leaning his back against the far wall to support some of his weight, Darious set up a pounding rhythm, slamming as deep into her as he could.

“God, yes! Harder! Harder, Darious!” she screamed. “Fuck me!”

Her whole body jerked as the punishing rhythm took her breath away, and she gasped at each deep penetration.

A tingling took over her legs. They tightened around his waist, going for more leverage to keep him pounding into her. The wet slap of their bodies was loud in the enclosed area. She shuddered as his huge balls slapped against her ass, straining the nerves there. His hands squeezed her thighs, leaving bruises she was sure, but at this point she didn’t care.

Lights exploded behind her eyes, her inner muscles gripped and convulsed around him. She felt the tension in her build and knew that soon she would be coming.