“No,” she gasped. “I can’t… you can’t. It’s not right. I don’t really want those things, they’re just messed-up desires.”
“They’re more than that—much more. That is why, in all this time, they have never gone away. All those sweet little romances you have written. All that delicious money you have made, but for what, Penny? None of it ever made you happy.”
“Jackson made me happy.” Her tone was plaintive, an image of the asshole manifesting in her mind.
“Jackson used you,” I corrected.
“No.” Penny shook her head. “No, it wasn’t like that.”
“He saw your potential, and he exploited it. He reveled in the luxuries your money afforded—the vacations, fast cars, and this house.” I paused, gesturing around at the wood-paneled interior of the study. “None of it pleased you, Penny. It was all about him.”
“Fuck.” Tears burned in her eyes, and as I relaxed my hold over her, she wiped them away with the heel of her hand.
“I loved him,” she murmured, her brow knitting as though she couldn’t understand why she was confessing such a deeply personal admission to me—a complete stranger who had appeared in her home. “I miss him.”
“You do not need him,” I enunciated with care, wanting to ensure she heard them. “You never did, Penny. You were the talent. Not him—not Jackson—it was always about you. He took you for granted.”
“No.”
There was little conviction in her throaty tone, but her brain refused to cede, reinforcing the notions she had cemented for so long. Penny needed them—or thought she did. She clung to them like the wreckage of a ship, floating in the ocean, but I would make her let that debris go.
“Yes.”
I reached forward, compelling her chin to rise and meet my outstretched palm. Moving slowly, I allowed the long fingers of the new guise to skim the underside of her hot flesh, and for one magical moment, there was nothing else.
Nothing but that first touch.
Nothing but our connection.
Penny felt the electricity flow.
I know she did.
“He used you for what he could get, then betrayed you, yet you are still loyal, your affection lingers for him. It makes no sense.”
Running one digit to the edge of her chin, I tipped her gaze north to meet mine.
“I can give you all those things he never could—the lust, the inspiration, the discipline you need to finish the damn books—your salvation, Penny. It is all in me.”
Her heart pounded furiously, and for one moment, all she could do was stare at me.
“Salvation.”
I nodded. “From this, Penny, an escape from your own private perdition. Your salvation is another chance, an opportunity to write again—to live again.”
Chapter Five
Penny
I was dreaming. I was certain I was dreaming, and I’d conjured this handsome being into existence. It wouldn’t be the first time. I’d invented many heroes in the past—tall, dark, swarthy protagonists with stern expressions and large hearts, who were just waiting for the heroine to trip and fall, so they could catch her in their strong embraces. This creature certainly wasn’t new in that, but there was something about him.
It, my intuition reminded me, not him.
You don’t know what it is, but you know it’s no man.
“What are you?” I asked again, but this time, I held the insistent green gaze which washed over me. “Please, just tell me.”
Those tantalizing lips curled at my words.
“I come from the nether world, and no, Penny. I am neither man nor one of your protagonists. I am something else… something more.”
“The nether world?” My heart pounded faster, though my brain simply refused to accept it.
I tried to shift my chin from the digit, which propped it in place, but once again, the movement was impossible. My head seemed to be made of lead, impractical to shift, and at any rate, as I gazed into those eyes, I couldn’t recall why I wanted to look away. I’d never known eyes like it—hypnotic green pools that seemed to draw me in with every second.
“Yes.” His tone washed over me, and once again, I quite forgot my error. The unknown being was no longer an it in my mind, but a tall, brooding man, and wow, as I contemplated him, I realized just how tall he was. I stood at almost five foot ten at my full height, but he towered over me, well over six feet, if not taller, just as his shadow had promised. “You might know it by another name.”
And just like that, the answer popped into my head as if he’d planted it there.
Hell.
My eyes fluttered in acknowledgment, my heart racing so fast, I couldn’t catch my breath.
“Hell?”
That was preposterous!
I didn’t even believe in hell, or heaven, for that matter. I’d cast out religious constructs as a young girl and lived without them with no regrets. My heroes had become my gods, and I’d let each one go, sending them out into the world like my children. I’d been happy, too, regardless of what he said—happy to conjure them, and happy to let them go.
“If you like. Mortals have a litany of nouns to describe the place I am from. The one you choose is irrelevant.”
He released my chin, and as though it had only been that one finger holding me up, my head fell forward, my palms crashing to the carpet to keep me upright.
“You expect me to believe you’re some sort of devil?” I asked the question of the shiny black boots just beyond my hands. Now that he’d broken the spell of his enchanting gaze, I was wary of meeting it once more—just in case it happened again, just in case there was truly no escape from his powerful charm. “That you’ve come from hell for what?” I pulled in a shaky breath. “For me?”
“I don’t expect anything.” His tone was sterner, and all my muscles clenched at the change. “You will, ultimately, have little choice in the matter, little human, and though I should prefer your cooperation, it is not essential.”
“What does that mean?” I could barely get the words out, my sense of alarm knotting. “You’ll take me whatever I say? You’ll do terrible things to me?”
“Terrible things?” He chuckled, the dark sound resonating deep in my core. “Well, Penny, that is a matter of opinion. Consider this—I know the things you yearn for, the dark needs, the desire to be bound and compelled, the craving to be coveted, your delicious shiver at the thought of shackles. I can exploit those needs for my own gain, or I can use them to both our benefit. The only question is… which would you prefer?”
My head pounded at his words, spinning, trying to register the logic of his presence, which was impossible to reconcile, alongside everything he’d told me.
“Which would I prefer?”
“Yes.”
His voice drew my focus, my gaze meeting his before I had time to rationalize what I’d done, falling into his trap again—putting myself just where I suspected he wanted me.
“I’m giving you a choice, little human. Will you come as a worthy recipient of my attention, or will you be my captive?” He grinned, flashing a set of white teeth that would have made any dentist proud.