Crimes of Passion : An Erotic Romance Story (5 page)

             
He slammed her up against the wall once more, thrusting against her, until finally a wave of warmth rushed over him and he found his release. The girl moaned with him as she rode the wave of his orgasm, pulling herself into him tighter and tighter as his body relaxed and broke into a cold sweat. He slapped the wall with his free hand as he groaned, and he felt his hot cum drip from the girl’s wet cunt.

             
“You felt amazing between my thighs,” the girl said, pulling Kelly in for a deep kiss. He smiled and took her down to the ground. He lay on his back and she threw her leg over him, stroking the fine hair on his chest. Kelly looked up and retrieved his cloth from the end table, and placed it over his face. His body tingled, as the scent of ether and the post-coital effects over took him. The girl grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair and wrapped it around their naked bodies. Everything else went to black.

             
“I love you Addison,” Kelly uttered, stroking the blonde’s hair before drifting off into a deep slumber.

              Violent screams awoke the gentlemen early the next morning. The five men shot up from their resting places around the lounge and desperately searched the room, as the piercing wails echoed in their pounding heads. The three girls had disappeared sometime during in the night, leaving the men grossly intoxicated and scantily dressed. Kelly still had a blanket wrapped around his middle while Chapman, Eddowes, and Nichols were fully exposed. Stride was still planted in the corner, but he was almost fully-clothed.

             
The wails continued from downstairs as the five men frantically dressed. They followed the screams down the stairs and out into the alley, until they arrived at the crowd of frightened prostitutes surrounding Madame Cannery and a group of nervous spectators. Five policemen gathered around the lifeless body on the pavement, and when the gentleman stepped back, Kelly nearly fainted at the sight of Melody’s limp body. Her eyelids and lips contained a hint of blue, and there was obvious bruising around the sides of her neck. He nearly vomited when he discovered the large slit running across her throat, and the blood stained trail which ran down her bodice. In her small fist, blood had pooled beneath her fingernails, suggesting that she put up quite a fight before she died. And clasped tightly in her delicate fingers was an ordinary, red playing card. One of the Bobbies knelt down and gently pried her hand apart.

             
Chapman, who was standing in the front, turned and whispered to his group of eager colleagues in a hollow voice: “It’s a Jack…”

             
Tears welled up in Kelly’s eyes and he lost all trace of coloring. He turned to look at Nichols as his body trembled in disbelief. Avery put his arm around him to provide him with any sense of comfort, while Stride motioned for the rest of the men to come away.

             
“We were never here,” he said in a hushed tone, and he sent Eddowes and Chapman back to the lounge to collect the men’s things.

             
Then Stride grabbed Kelly and Nichols by the scruff of their necks. “Pull yourselves together and leave this place immediately--- meet us at the university at noon.”

             
When Nichols turned around, Edmund Stride had already disappeared around a dark corner, behind an alchemist’s laboratory. Nichols pulled on Kelly’s arm hoping to lead him away, but Kelly paused for a moment to take one last look at the dead beauty.

             
“I’m so sorry,” John whispered, as he and Avery made their grand escape.

The coroner’s carriage, drawn by two black stallions, sped past Nichols and Kelly as the boys made their way towards the law university. No doubt it was headed to retrieve the remains of the young Melody’s mutilated body. Nichols and Kelly averted their gaze, but Kelly could feel the daunting heat of guilt rising up around his collar. Nichols waited to speak until they were out of the crime scene’s vicinity.

“
This is bad. This is very bad, John. You have to think. Do you remember anything that happened last night?” Avery asked as they passed swiftly. Kelly shook his head in desperation, attempting to revive any trace of reasonable explanation or perhaps a suppressed memory. Flashes of the girl’s face, of her body, of her lips danced in the back of his mind.

“We made love,” he said
, trying to make sense of it all, “And when it was over, I--- I fell asleep. She took a blanket from a chair and wrapped it around our bodies. I could’ve sworn she fell asleep beside me. I felt her head resting on my shoulder. I could smell her perfume.”

“
Are you sure she fell asleep? You don’t remember her waking up at all?”

Kelly lifted his eyes and looked back at the street. His voice waivered, “I can’t
say for sure--- I was in a deep sleep. I had the most amazing dream…”

“About what?” Nichols implored.

“Addison…”

Nichols looked up and saw Edmund Stride’s
beautiful fiancée rushing towards them.

“Mr. Nichols, Mr. Kelly, have you seen my Edmund?” she cried, stopping in front of the two gentleman.  “He didn’t
come home last night.”

“We haven’t Miss
Addison,” Nichols lied. “But I’m sure he’s alright.”

“I stopped by his apartment early this morning to see if he wanted to walk with me to church, and when I knocked on his door, the neighbor said Edmund hadn’t been in since Wednesday evening. I fear he’s in some sort of danger.”

“Oh no, my dear, there’s no reason to worry. Well that actually makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it Kelly? You see, we have a load of important exams coming up and I recall Edmund saying he was worried about his grades. He was probably exhausting himself at the library after we left him last night.”

“Do you think
that’s true, Mr. Kelly?” Addison asked, looking to John with her bright blue eyes.

John began to answer “I—“

A bell rang out. “Murder in White Chapel! Murder in White Chapel! The Ripper strikes again! Step right up and read all about it!”

A newsboy
on the opposite corner held a stack of papers, hot off the press, with the most recent details of Melody’s murder. An older portrait of the girl was placed in the bottom right hand corner of the page. Kelly’s stomach churned at the sight of her face.

Addison turned back to Nichols and Kelly
, shocked by the headline, and her voice cracked in fear. “Is it true that they found another dead girl? Is it really happening again?”

“We can’t say for sure
that it’s the same gentleman,” Kelly replied, and the frightened girl collapsed into his chest.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his
middle and her body trembled. “Can you please escort me home Mr. Kelly? I’m so scared--- I’ve been searching for Edmund all morning, but with this news of the Ripper, now I’m terrified to go alone…”

Nichols
touched Kelly’s arm and excused himself, “I’ll meet you later.”

Kelly ran his hands down Addison’s shoulders and pulled her away.
She looked up at him and tears wet her cheeks. He longed to kiss her sweet angelic face, and to wipe her sadness away, but he couldn’t give into his emotions knowing that her heart still belonged to Edmund Stride.

“Let me take you home
Miss Addison,” he said, and he tucked her arm through his.

They walked slowly
at first, with their eyes glued to the pavement; Addison’s body was still trembling. Despite their current predicament, Kelly’s heart raced as he held Addison close. Her touch almost made him forget all of the terrible, tragic things that had happened. The things he didn’t wish to remember. For the moment, he sought to pretend that he and Addison were just a normal couple, out for a mid-morning stroll.

“You’re very kind to accompany me, Mr. Kelly,” Addison said in a soft voice as her body began to relax. She brushed a tendril of her yellow hair out of her face and curled her lip into half of a smile.

“
Please, call me John,” he replied.

“John…” She moved closer to him as
a group of strangers passed by, and she lingered there after they were gone. Kelly wrapped his arm tighter around hers to pull her closer, feeling the heat building up inside of him at her sheer proximity. “You must think me a child to be so frightened.”

“Not at all
, Miss Addison. These are dangerous times. And a woman should always feel the comfort of a man’s protection in times like these.” Kelly immediately cleared his throat, hoping to draw attention away from what he had said. He feared he was being too forward--- perhaps the liquid courage had not entirely left his system--- but he couldn’t guarantee he would ever get the opportunity to be alone with Addison again. This was his only chance.

“
Well thank you for being my man…” she replied.

A flush of color ran to her pale cheeks and she looked away. John’s heart raced---
if only it were true
. He wondered if she knew of his feelings for her, if any part of her felt the same. His imagination went wild.
If I built up enough courage to kiss her
, he thought,
would she pull away
?

“
I hope nothing terrible has happened to my Edmund,” she said finally. “Usually he’s out until all hours at the card tables and pubs. I worry.”

“Stride
can take care of himself,” he reassured her, although Addison’s concern for Edmund in this moment was notably disappointing. Still, he had to take advantage of their time alone. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“
I had no idea it was exam week, although it’s still difficult for me to imagine Edmund stepping foot in a library after knowing him all these years. To be honest, Mr. Kelly---and I hope I’m not being too revealing--- I was compelled to step out this morning because I had come to suspect that Edmund was being unfaithful to me. I know, I must seem like an utter lunatic…”

“Not at all,” he said.

Then Addison stopped, looked around for passersby, and pulled Kelly into a small alleyway.

“
It’s just that he’s been so elusive, so distant over the past month or so. When I tried to confront him about it, he became furious and told me to never speak about it again. Then last week at a society benefit, I overheard a rumor that a man matching Edmund’s description had been seen all about White Chapel taking up with ladies of the night. I even caught the scent of another woman’s perfume on his collar,” her voice waivered. “I suppose it’s entirely my fault because I wanted to remain celibate until our wedding day, but...”

She
leaned back against a wall and looked down at her shoes, before John lifted her delicate chin. There were tears in her eyes, and she was on the brink of crying. Kelly was enamored by her beauty, even in sadness; he didn’t even think before saying the next words that came out of his lips.

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about Miss Addison. You’re a beautiful and virtuous woman.
Edmund Stride is a foolish man. If I had a fiancée as wonderful as you, you would never have to look far to find me. I would always be right by your side.”

Kelly’s compliment caught Addison off guard and her breath caught in her throat. Her cheeks flushed
, and for a moment she stood completely still, looking up at him with her bright doe eyes. Then she cupped her hand around Kelly’s head, tightened her fingers in his brown tousled hair, and pulled him in for a deep, passionate kiss.

Kelly was surprised by the gesture, but only que
stioned it for a fleeting second. He dreamt of this moment since he had first laid eyes on her. Addison’s pink lips were soft and sweet, and Kelly felt a wave of heat come over him as she gently massaged his tongue with hers. He waited for the moment when she would come to her senses and pull away—they had only just met and she was engaged to another man-- but it never came. Addison kept pulling him in for more, moaning in unspeakable yearning; and when she finally collapsed into his body, Kelly felt her heave her breasts into his chest. John lost one of his hands in the curls of her gorgeous blonde hair, while he ran the other down her firm backside.

“I want you to make love to me John,”
she said when their lips broke away. “You’re so handsome and kind, I want to give myself to you in every way.” She kissed him again, with wet, passionate furry. “Please take me upstairs.”

John
felt his erection growing as Addison expressed her deepest yearning, but he couldn’t help think about the ungodly timing. Everything was happening so fast. The girl he had barely known yet made love to only hours before was murdered by an unknown hand, and here the only girl who had ever truly caught his eye was begging him not only to satisfy her, but to take away her virginity.

Nothing made sense, but
Kelly’s mounting desire to know every inch of Addison Wilkes’s exquisite body was strong enough to cloud his proper judgment. He had had one taste of carnal bliss, and he was hungry for more.

As he
stood there, contemplating fucking Edmund Stride’s perfect fiancée, Kelly began to realize that there were extenuating circumstances in which he and Edmund Stride weren’t so different after all.