The Cellar Ch. 04

Joelle's skin possessed a sweetness that bested any taste he'd ever known. Every evening began and ended in her flavor, and tonight would be no exception. Lucien's hands slid the length of her long legs, delighting in the feel of goose bumps across her silken skin. When he'd reached her hips, he pulled her sharply against his pelvis, gently falling against her body. His fingers played against the contours of her waist as he snaked his tongue along the curve of her neck.

Tonight, he decided, would be consumed by her, there would be none other. It had been months since he'd allowed himself the rapturous feel of her mouth, the eagerness of her tongue. Tonight she could have all of the things for which she so desperately pleaded, there would be no denial, and he would give her whatever she desired, without hesitation.

"There's a surprise for you," she whispered, as if in response to his devious thoughts.

"Mmmm, sounds delightful," he cooed, filling his mouth with the tender flesh of her shoulder.

Joelle rolled on her back and Lucien wasted no time nibbling and teasing her breast. Yet she seemed reluctant to respond.

"You have a visitor -- waiting outside."

His body tensed immediately and though he knew instantly who this mystery guest was, the question still needed to be asked. "Who is it, Joelle?"

"Annette."

"Headphones," he commanded, his body quickly vacating the bed, charging out of the room. Fucking Annette, he should have known she'd eventually come to the house. It was against his better judgment that he brought Joelle home. He knew he should have taken her somewhere else while he dealt with the complications of his arrangement with Annette.

Joelle slipped the headphones over her ears and pressed play on her Ipod. They had been a necessary distraction from the sounds of pleasure which still enraged her. But tonight they served a different purpose; tonight she needed them to drown out the pounding of her heart.

***

When Lucien returned to their bedroom, she was precisely where he'd left her, nestled in a ball on their bed, with headphones firmly in place. He knew she'd be furious, Annette had told her everything, and regardless of the spin she'd put on it, there wasn't much to argue against. Lies had been told, information omitted, and ultimately Joelle was deceived. But his feelings for her, his desperation and desire, his need for her, those were all very real.

"No," Joelle protested, pushing away his hands as they threaded her thighs.

"I need this," he forcefully insisted.

"You don't get to have us both," her voice hitched, as she shoved him away.

"I don't want you both, I want you. Please, I need to rid myself of her."

"Did you bet to see how long it would take to get between my legs? Who won, was there at least a prize? Was I worth at least that?"

"I should have told you. The promise I made was out of greed and it was made a very long time ago. I regret it now, but I don't regret that it brought me to you."

"Eternity Lucien? You promised her eternity? What the fuck does that even mean?" she insisted.

"That was what she requested, eternal life. At the time it no longer meant anything to me. Never had I come across anything that held any value to me. Until you."

"But she said you were using me, that you never cared about me. She said you demanded me, what kind of shit is that?"

"I demanded you because I longed for you. Yes, in the beginning I absolutely used you, but not once since you've been here, not a single time! I'm still not certain what it means to care about someone, but it made me sick to be with her, to know you were in here, to know you were upset! I have to believe that means I care deeply for you."

"You fucked her; you fucked her, didn't you?"

"Joelle, I..."

"No, I can tell by the look on your stupid face that you did, so spare me the fucking excuses and just admit it."

"Yes."

"Fuck! You promised that would be just ours and she fucking took that? And you; you shit! You gave that to her!"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't exactly given an option. It was that or cashing in her chip."

"So she raped you?" she growled.

"Not exactly rape, more like forced consent."

"There isn't anything left, you let her have the last piece of you."

"That wasn't the last piece of me, no one else can claim my adoration."

"It's not the same thing." A sigh escaped her lungs as she surrendered. The fight was over, she didn't want to hear anymore. What was left to discuss?

"Joelle, you have to understand, this wasn't by design." He brushed the hair from her neck and kissed her throat.

"Don't touch me! Just the thought of her skin against yours repulses me."

"Joelle, you don't understand, I need this from you," he growled.

"Fuck you, I don't give a shit what you need."

His hand reached between her legs, but she fought his advances and kept them tightly clenched.

"Joelle," he snarled, "don't do this."

"Or what? What are you going to do?"

"Now Joelle," his voice trembled as his hand pried her legs apart with one easy jerk.

"Get off me you fucking bully!" she punched his shoulder but it was akin to jack hammering concrete with a pickle.

Joelle felt the shock of his mouth against hers, feverish and hungry, as he forced himself between her legs. She was even more shocked when she felt his massive erection rest against her thigh.

When his tongue slid between her lips, she bit down, clawing his cheek as she wriggled out of his arms. There were no words, just a fierce growl as he wrestled for her arms, easily pinning her wrists in one potent hand.

"Get off me!' she screamed as she kicked against his thighs.

The struggle with his inner monster was more intense than ever. He wanted to hurt something; no, he wanted to eviscerate something. What he'd wanted from Joelle was her soothing touch, what he needed from her was complete surrender, but what she gave him only incited the monster and he was on the verge of losing all control.

With no concerns for tenderness, Lucien thrust himself inside her. Joelle yowled from the extreme friction and that only spurred him on. She was deliriously tight, to the point of painful constriction, and the lack of lubrication between them only heightened her pain. All of these factors led to only one conclusion, and he now feared for Joelle more than ever before.

Joelle felt the unmistakable transformation happening between her legs. Her mind raced as she remembered the pain, and though she'd never seen what lurked inside him, she knew the monster was fierce. Whatever control he once had was quickly diminishing and she felt his intensity growing at alarming speed.

Lucien jerked her hips off the bed, pinning her legs around his waist as he thrust himself inside her. His restraint had been exhausted and nothing remained but the gnarring of the demon. It was now too late for her.

"You're hurting me!" she screamed, "Stop it!"

The skin against her shoulder yielded beneath his teeth. Blood pooled in his mouth, her blood, sweet and delicate; fragrant, like a fine wine. The sound of her scream, the terror and pain, it almost pulled him back.

Scream again, his brain commanded, but the words would not leave his lips. Joelle, scream again. He concentrated harder, focusing on the words he could see etched in crimson against his eyes. Scream Joelle! Please!

But she didn't. She lay silent against his shoulder, only weak gasps escaped her mouth as he felt the flesh of his body slamming against her.

And it was done. He sank away into the cage the beast now controlled, sequestered behind a veil of flame. He could merely watch, simply listen to the carnage beyond the prison walls.

Lucien felt himself slam inside her, felt the agony of her flesh as it trembled, spurring him on. Still it wanted more, there would be no sparing her this time, no scrupulous pavan with death, the demon would take what it wanted and leave him the remains.

Her body lay listless and twisted between his arms. The feel of his hands around her hips, once so delicious, marked a dangerous turn. He thrust inside her again, slamming her pelvis against his, tearing her from the bed completely. The vicious arm around her neck pushed her harder, more urgently against his cock, impaling her fully, lancing her very core.

As her back smashed against the wall, the air burst from her lungs, like the popping of a balloon. "Lucien," she gasped, struggling for breath.

He heard his name, registered what it meant, but couldn't temper the raging creature.

"Please," she whimpered as she anemically clawed his neck. Through the veil of blurred vision she saw the creature, with eyes as black as coal and shimmering skin, like a snake, a deep burgundy.

The minor pain she inflicted only served to incite the beast, who now moved with renewed vigor between her quivering legs.

"Your eyes," she gulped, struggling to feed her depleted lungs, like a fish out of water, slowly suffocating, painfully dying.

Joelle summoned her dwindling strength, pouring it into her shaking arms. Her hands lashed out against him, tearing at his skin, clawing at his face, but with every strike his savagery mounted. Her face fell against his neck as her back slammed the wall once more, snapping something inside, completely crushing her lungs.

"You're killing me," she whispered against his ear with the final ounces of air in her lungs.

And everything simply stopped. She wondered if she were dead, there was nothing left but absolute darkness. Nothing moved and tingling numbness consumed her body, and then an all-consuming stillness.

***

Blinding light rocketed her awake. Though she felt the irrefutable feel of skin against her arm, she was unable to move.

"Oh, don't try to move sweetie," a woman's soft, soothing voice whispered, "let me get you another shot of Dilaudid."

It was mere moments until everything returned to black.

This cycle repeated for an immeasurable amount of time, until the pain began to subside and the fogginess drained from her brain. Joelle's cleared eyes panned the room. She was in his bedroom, though she could not imagine why.

"Oh good, you're awake," the woman's voice sang from across the room.

"Who are you?" Joelle strained her neck to meet the stranger's face.

She was lovely, this nameless stranger, tall and slim with hair as blonde as sunlight and glistening hazel eyes, a mixture of topaz and emerald. Was this heaven? Despite her dalliances with a demon, had she actually made it to the pearly gates? It seemed unlikely. Perhaps this was purgatory, or worse, perhaps this was hell.

Joelle had always imagined fire and brimstone, but perhaps hell was filled with beautiful fallen angels. If Lucien was any indication of what lurked in hell, maybe her longstanding assumptions were incorrect. It's a good thing they didn't tell you about that in church, otherwise people might flock to the devil.

"My name is Delilah," she chirped as she sat at the edge of the bed. "I'm so thrilled you came back Joelle. Lucien said if you died he'd make certain I went with you."

"Charming," she muttered.

"He was just being melodramatic -- message received," Delilah laughed. "Besides, he's always had a flare for the dramatic."

"What happened to me?"

"Broken back and seven ribs, punctured lung, some pretty severe internal bleeding... a fractured skull."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Oh, and a minor spinal cord injury, technically you were dead for a little bit there, but I got you up and running again!" Delilah crooned.

"How?"

"Oh, I'm not supposed to say -- he'd kick my ass," she tittered.

"Where is that prick?" she scowled.

"He's gone. He left a note though." Delilah slipped an envelope from her back pocket and laid it on the bed beside Joelle's clenched fist.

"Why are you here? Actually, why am I here?"

"Well, I'm here to make sure you're right as rain and you're here because this is where Luke wanted you."

"'Luke', huh? When's 'Luke' coming back?"

"I don't know, he's been gone over a week already. He asked me to tell you that he's absolutely mortified -- no, wait, that's not right -- he's devastated. He's absolutely devastated by what he's done. By the looks of it, he's right to be."

"Unless 'Luke' went to throw 'Luke' off a cliff, I'm not really interested in how 'Luke' feels," she growled.

"Maybe you should read his note," Delilah offered.

"Maybe I should. But I won't."

"He said you'd feel that way. He said to give you this." Delilah waved a wad of money between her hands. "It's twenty grand, he also left you the Benz, you know -- to get yourself a fresh start."

"What an apology, he fucks me to death and leaves me with a wad of cash. That's just super awesome."

Joelle slept on and off, mostly on, for the next few days. Surprisingly once she was out of bed she didn't feel as bad as she expected to. With the exception of a few aches and pains, and a couple of sickly yellow bruises, she actually felt kind of alright.

The fact that she was on the fast track to recovery seemed to make Delilah more cheerful than normal and something about that irritated the hell out of Joelle. There was nothing at all to be cheerful about. Lucien, the man - or what ever the hell he was - she loved, the same one she had hoped to have a life with, had killed her. Not almost killed her, he had technically killed her.