Читать книгу Hotter Than Hell - Cathryn Fox - Страница 3

“Am I dead?”

Jadyn Callahan’s shaky voice echoed all around her, bouncing and reverberating off the long, sunken walls that had suddenly seemed to close in on her, shaping and molding her small frame.

A long pause and then, “Yeah, baby girl, you’re dead.” The deep, mysterious voice came from the shadows and had her heart pumping like she’d just received a shot of adrenaline.

Sweat broke out on her body. A lump lodged in her throat. Oh, God, how could this be?

Jadyn squinted, but could see very little in the hot, narrow cavern. The only visible light was coming from the mouth of the cramped cave a few feet away, just out of her reach. Confused and disoriented, she put her hands out on either side of head, racing her fingertips over the broken and jagged rocks, trying to find her bearings, as she trekked onward toward the light,toward that raspy voice that did lascivious things to her body without even trying—things she couldn’t believe she was feeling under the circumstances.

The air felt thick, suffocating, and a dry blazing heat—a heat unlike anything she’d ever felt before—enveloped her and practically blistered her skin. Struggling through the discomfort, a survival mechanism she’d learned early on in life, she continued to make her way to the end of the blackened corridor. The pungent scent of hot garbage and rotten eggs reached her nostrils and made her gag. Sulfer. Her exploratory hands trailed cautiously along the stone wall until she came to the scant opening.

Moments before she stepped through the portal, an ominous feeling curled through her and brought on a shudder. She took a deep, fueling breath and fought to establish her location.

Where the heck was she and how did she get there?

She searched her mind and drew on her last memories. After pulling double duty at the emergency room, she’d been driving in her car on her way to her friend’s bachelorette party, and the next thing she knew she’d found herself in some noxious cinder passageway.

Jesus, she couldn’t be dead, she just couldn’t be. She had too much to do, too much to see, and she was just now getting her life in order. And her sister…her sister needed her. Jadyn’s body stiffened, and her head throbbed as she shook it adamantly, refusing to believe that she was dead, to accept it.

Ducking, she breached the crevice and poked her head out. Her eyes widened in shock when she glimpsed the hedonistic acts taking place around an enormous glowing fire pit. The hot coal stones gave off an orange luminescence, providing sufficient light for her to see the sprawl of naked, lustful bodies contorted into various sexual positions, shocking even a bold, adventurous woman like herself.

Jadyn gulped air as she emerged from the tunnel and stepped into what felt like a fiery kiln. Her lungs filled with the chalky, ash residue.

“Is this hell?” she asked, her voice as shaky as her hands while she waited for that same deep, masculine voice to answer her, unsure if she really wanted to hear his response.

A moment later, a large body stepped from the shadows and moved in front of her. “Yeah, baby girl, this is hell.”

There was something eerily familiar about the way he called her “baby girl.” She took a moment to work through the chaos erupting inside her head so she could digest and understand his words. The fact that she’d landed in hell shouldn’t have surprised her, considering her jaded background and all, but nevertheless, since she’d changed her wicked ways, she still held a modicum of hope that she’d go up in glory, instead of down in flames.

She twisted around to look into the long, black passageway from which she’d just come, fight-or-flight instincts kicking in. Even though she spoke withsurety, she couldn’t keep the tremor from her voice. “I think there’s been a mistake—”

“There’s no mistake about it, Jadyn.”

She caught the inflection in his tone when he called her by name. Cocking her head, she stole a glance at him, but his dark eyes were clouded, unreadable, and his mouth was set in a straight line. Pushing down a burst of panic, she drew on calm and logic, the way she would when dealing with an outpatient emergency. “How do I get out of here?” she questioned, striving to keep composed.

“You don’t.”

Two large arms circled her and anchored her in place, shocking and exciting her at the same time. Taking her by surprise, his alluring heat whipped through her blood and aroused all her senses. When he cemented her to him, her nipples tightened in painful bliss and her pussy throbbed, clamoring for attention. His attention.

“What the hell?” she said.

“Precisely,” he replied and dipped his head. Warm, chocolate-brown eyes with a slight amber glow met her glance. It was that seductive strike of amber that acted like a catalyst to her flesh, sparking and igniting a fire deep in her loins.

She should be afraid, she knew, but something about his touch intrigued her, comforted her.

Seduced her.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Breaking his tenuous grip, she inched back slightly. She let her glance race over him, taking note of the lacerations on his tall, broad frame, the sinewy skin that stretched across his bare chest and the perfectly hewn thigh muscles that hadn’t been sculpted in any gym. Lust prowled through her and pooled in her belly, where need gathered in a ball. Her gaze lingered an extra moment on his skimpy loincloth and the large bulge behind it before moving back to his dark face and hair. Despite his scar-ridden body, the guy looked like a Greek god straight out of Mount Olympus. Except she wasn’t in heaven and this man was no god. He looked dark, damaged and downright sexy. In fact, he looked hotter than hell. Clichéd she knew, but considering her locale, she could actually say it with conviction.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

The tall Adonis before her gestured with a nod. Following his lead, Jadyn angled her chin to see a man—if one could call him that—seated in a large, uncomfortable-looking stone chair overlooking the libidinous activities, four virile warriors flanking him. A tremor moved through her and her throat dried from trepidation. She chanced another glance and noted that his horned head seemed too large for his body, and his hoofed feet tapped restlessly, as though fighting a deep-seated boredom.

The sexy voice at her ear pulled her back. “I’m Gage, servant of our Master Lucifer and guide to you until he claims you.”

Our Master.

Her stomach lurched and in a deceptively calm tone she said, “Define claim.” She took the opportunity to glance down at her clothes, which consisted of nothing more than a chamois cloth covering only the bare essentials. What the heck…?

He paused, as though weighing his words carefully, and then said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Like hell she would, since she had no intention of hanging around for one more minute.

Survival instincts kicking in full force, she kneed him in the groin and spun around to run back into the depths of the cave, only to turn and slam into a muscular chest she deemed to be that of her “guide.”

He reached out and fingered a lock of her auburn hair, his eyes narrowed in genuine concern and something that looked like sadness flickering in their shadowy depths. “Jadyn, baby girl. You can’t run. No one leaves hell.” His voice was low, soft and sympathetic.

She worried her bottom lip. “How did I get here?”

His brow furrowed and he gave her a knowing look, as though he was privy to every sinful secret from her past. Then again, perhaps he was.

She crossed her arms. “Okay, let me rephrase that. Why now? What happened?”

Silence fell over them as his seductive glance moved over her face, assessing her. Then he passed his hands through the air, placed his palms on her shoulders and turned her around.

He pulled her in tight, until her back was molded against his hard chest—among other hard parts on his strong, athletic body. God, why did his touch feel so achingly familiar, filling her with solace, not fear? As she glanced into the tunnel, a watery picture danced over the stone walls. She grasped her chest when she saw her sports car wrapped around a tree.

“I fell asleep at the wheel,” she stated.

“You were in no shape to be driving,” Cage responded.

The image flashed forward to a hospital room where her friends and younger sister, Tami, stood over her still body, tubes and machines keeping her alive. She turned back to face her guide. “But I’m not dead. I’m on life support.”

“A technicality,” he assured her, his eyes solemn. “Since you’re not officially dead, Lucifer has forty-eight hours to claim you.”

“How?”

“As soon as you submit to him and hand yourself over to his authority, you’ll be his to do with as he pleases, his forever, and your body will die.”

Submit to him? Like hell! Jadyn didn’t submit to anyone.

Gage shifted on his feet and, as though he’d read her thoughts, he added in a low, tortured tone, “He has a way of making people do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

Standing strong and courageous was how Jadyn had managed to get her and her sister through life, andthat was what was going to get her out of this hell pit, too, she quickly decided. She lifted her chin high, suddenly hopeful, and asked, “If I don’t submit, I’ll go back to my body?”

Gage let out a long-suffering sigh. His expression was dark, pained. “It won’t happen, Jadyn. No one has ever been able to resist Lucifer’s demonic charm.”

Vowing not to lose a single ounce of her earlier optimism despite Gage’s solemn words, she swallowed and momentarily closed her eyes, partly to keep her focus and partly to give her a moment of reprieve from his sexual magnetism. “I guess you have that charm, as well, don’t you?” Which explained why her libido had gone into overdrive the minute she encountered him.

He put two fingers under her chin and nudged her head upward. His eyes softened when they met hers, and warm familiarity moved through her. “No. As a matter of fact, I don’t.”

Her head jerked back with a start. “Oh.” Then why was she so drawn to him? So attracted to the devil’s henchman in a way she’d never been attracted to a man? She opened her mouth to ask, but he cut her off.

“Enough for now. Come, let me take you to your chambers and prepare you for tonight’s feast.”

“Feast?” Working to stay unshakable, to show no fear in the face of adversary, she planted her hands on her hips and played the best card she had under the circumstances. “I hate to break it to you, but if you’re sacrificing virgins, you’re out of luck.”

With that Gage laughed out loud, and for some strange reason the sound was like an aphrodisiac to her. “We’re not going to eat you, Jadyn.” He stepped closer and ran the pad of his thumbs over her lips. He wet his mouth like he was about to devour her, and her body shivered violently in response. Oddly enough, it was a shiver of anticipation, not fear. After a short pause he pitched his voice low, leaned in and whispered in the softest, gentlest tone she’d ever heard, “Unless of course, you want me to.”

With his hand positioned on the small of her back, Gage led her through the main lair and ushered her to her own private den in the “waiting room”—a cold, dank room where she’d linger until she submitted to Lucifer. Until then she was his charge, his to watch over and guide until her claiming.

He angled his head and gave her a long, thoughtful stare. Her barely there chamois hung low over her full breasts, affording him a glimpse of her creamy flesh and pretty pink areolas. His pulse kicked up a notch and his cock thickened beneath his loincloth as he took pleasure in her near nakedness.

Jadyn, sweet Jadyn.

He had watched over her in the “real world” long enough to know she was intelligent, beautiful and audacious, a woman with integrity and heart, despite her rough upbringing. Even though she was putting on an outward show of bravado in the face of death—his aching balls were a painful reminder of that—he could feel her body tremble beneath his palm. He hated what her future held, and everything inside him tightened. Fuck, he could hardly believe she was here with him. Torn between guilt and pleasure, he cursed himself for finding joy in her presence, because she shouldn’t be in hell at all. Not her. Not his sweet Jadyn. She was kind, compassionate, angelic and didn’t belong here—no matter how much he wanted to keep her with him forever, to protect her from everyone and everything, especially Lucifer.

He’d been observing her every action for years now, drawn to her in an inexplicable way. He felt like he knew her better than she knew herself, understanding her every desire, her every need. Gage had spent many years fantasizing about what it’d be like to kiss those plump lips of hers, to run his tongue over her lush body, to rake his fingers through her auburn hair and make sweet passionate love to her all night long. Perhaps they’d been lovers from another lifetime. Or perhaps not. All he knew was that for some mysterious reason she was important to him. Unfortunately his memories were fading, slipping away like dust in the wind, because the longer he spent in hell the harder and harder it was to recall his past.

The walked past a string of locked cells. Guides stood outside each cell, keeping watch over their charges while they, too, waited for their claiming. Gage’s comrades nodded as he advanced and then turned their eyes on Jadyn. Protective instincts kicking in, he fought the urge to position her behind him, toshield her from their prying gazes. He watched her throat work when she swallowed, her body inching closer to his—better the monster you know, he supposed.

He turned the corner, and except for Brand, seated outside one of the cells, the back wing was quiet and empty. Gage and Brand had arrived in hell at the same time, and had bonded, relying on each other for support after many long, hard days at the hands of Lucifer. Brand was his friend, a man he completely trusted, in life and in death.

Gage stopped outside Jadyn’s cell. What he was about to do went against the rules, but it wasn’t like Lucifer would ever find out, since he never frequented the “waiting rooms.” He brushed his hand over her eyes. “In here.”

“It’s just like…” Her voice fell off and her gaze flashed to him. “How did you know?”

“I just did.” He wasn’t about to tell her his strange fascination with her. No need to make her more frightened than she already was.

Gage unlocked her door and herded her inside. She touched the frilly yellow bedspread, a replica of the one on her bed back in Chicago, then moved to trail her fingers over the pillows, the dresser and the framed photo of her sister. “Is this real? The other cells weren’t…”

“Not all guides are…” Are what? In love with their charges? Fuck. He quickly redirected the conversation. “Are you hungry?”

She put her hand over her stomach. “I think so.”

“I’ll bring your food. Something to hold you over until tonight’s feast.”

She rolled one shoulder and blinked up at him, her pretty blue eyes unsure, questioning. “I supposed this doesn’t matter, now that I’m dead, but I’m allergic-”

“To nuts and strawberries, I know.” As soon as the words left his mouth he berated himself. No guide was supposed to know his charge intimately, the way he did. Nor was a guide to interact, connect on any level or even touch in any manner. The consequences would be most severe. His scars took that moment to ache, an unpleasant reminder that some things were worse than death. A guide was only to provide his charge with the basic necessities until he or she submitted to Lucifer and earned a right to join him in his lair. After all, this was hell, not heaven. And the people that landed here hardly deserved to be pampered. Except for Jadyn. Jadyn deserved so much more. He backpeddled quickly and said, “I’ll bring meat. It’s edible, and fresh. Just don’t ask where it came from.”

Showing a fierce inner strength that others lacked, she lowered herself onto her bed. It took every ounce of control he possessed not to rush to her, take her in his arms, make sweet love to her and tell her everything would be okay. Except he knew it wouldn’t be okay. How could it be, really? Lucifer was invincible and charming, and his loyal warriors—warriors who kept the guides in line with brute force—would forever protect their Master.