Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) (11 page)

“O
kay
,” Alexandra said.  “Whatever floats your boat.  Good night all, or shall I say, shitty night all.”

Everyone exchanged goodnights and moved to their respective makeshift beds.  Once they were alone, Gabriel began inspecting the darkened corner.

“I know how much you hate spiders,” he said to her.  “I don’t see anything major here.  There are webs, but I don’t see a nest with a mouse trapped in it or anything like that movie we saw.”

“Great,” she said without enthusiasm. 

“I’ll knock down the webs,” he said.

“Don’t bother.  I’m sure there are a dozen more we can’t see.  This place, it is what it is, right?  We will just make the best of it.”

She sat down on a generous scattering of hay.  Gabriel joined her and held her gaze for several seconds, his eyes infinite pools of tropical water.  She shrugged out of her button-down shirt and rolled it into a crude pillow shape, reluctant to tear her eyes from his.

“So
are you tired?” she asked him.

“Kind of,” he said.  “My body is tired, but my mind is working overtime.”

“I know what you mean.  Finding Jack at our house, and then this, it’s all been crazy.”

“Crazy is an understatement,” he said and shook his head.  “But I’m glad to have a minute alone with you.  I feel like I haven’t seen you for days.”

“I know.  I’ve missed you,” she said and felt him take her hand in his and entwine his fingers with hers.

Her heart began to beat a little harder.  He traced her palm with his thumb and her heart began to race.  He reached out and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.  His touch was so light, go gentle, goose bumps rose on her skin.  He noticed the pale hairs on her forearm rise and said, “Goose bumps.  Are you cold?  Do you want my jacket?”

“No, thanks.  The goose bumps, they’re all you,” she said and recalled saying those exact words, or something pretty darn close to those exact words, on the night they were first intimate. 

Gabriel smiled, “I remember hearing that before.  It was the best night of my life,” he said and l
eaned into her slowly until his breath was hot against her lips.  “I love you,” he breathed then kissed her.

His lips were deliciously warm and soft, just as they’d always been.  Yet
, each time he kissed her felt like the first time all over again. 

He kissed her lightly at first, but the longer the kiss lasted, the more urgent it became.  After several moments, their kiss had graduated from urgent to intense.  His tongue swept between her lips, probing sensually,
for several moments before his mouth began traveling to her chin then down the length of her neck.  Suddenly, the stench of the barn, the very fact that they were in a barn at all, disappeared, replaced instead with the clean smell of soap mingling with whatever laundry detergent his clothes had been cleaned in.  His warmth surrounded her, filled her, and she wished she could teleport them to a remote island so that they could kiss until they exhausted themselves.  She knew no such possibility existed, that they would sleep uncomfortably in the barn until the sun rose and Jack took Gabriel to his town of horrors.  She wanted no part of it, wanted to move forward, and look to the future. 

Gabriel’s hand sliding up her back and twisting in her hair punctuated her desire to leave, to be with just him.  She felt his weight shift and guide her back against the hay.  He moved closer to her and she wrapped both arms around his shoulders, desperately wanting his body close to hers.  He rested his body atop hers, the hard planes of his chest crushing hers, but she did not care.  She just wanted to feel him near.  His mouth began working quickly, nibbling and kissing as it moved from her neck to her earlobe, teasing the soft skin.  She moaned softly and turned her head and was about to lift the hem of his shirt when in the corner of her eye, a large, spindly shape scuttled toward her.

“Ahh!” she shrieked and effectively killed their moment.

“What?  What is it?” he sat bolt upright and asked, panic lacing his every word.  He was on his feet within seconds, ready to fight.  But the only beast to slay was a wood spider about the size of her hand span.

“There, over there,” she said and pointed to the leathery animal who seemed to intuit its impending demise and drew its eight legs beneath it.  “There’s a huge spider!”

Gabriel let out a relieved breath.  “What spider?” he asked with a half-smile. 

“That one,” she said and pointed again. 

“I don’t see it.”

“How can you miss it?  The thing has a discernible eye color for God’s sake!  It was watching us make out.”

“Jesus!  Can’t a girl get some sleep?” Alexandra said and suddenly appeared beside Gabriel.  “Here!” she shouted and stomped on the spider lurking nearby.  “It’s dead
, Melissa.  You can relax now,” Alexandra said to her.  Then to Gabriel she said, “Nice work, lover boy.  Now you two can get back to getting it on,” and walked away.

Melissa began giggling uncontrollably. 

“I guess we weren’t as quiet as I’d thought.”

“I guess not.”

“We can pick up where we left off tomorrow, when this is all over and we’re back at home.”

“Until tomorrow then,” Gabriel said ruefully and sat down beside her.  He lay down and closed his eyes.

“Until tomorrow,” she said and kissed his eyelids.

She di
d not know how Gabriel could lie, feet from where the nefarious spider had prowled, and sleep.  She certainly couldn’t.  The thought made her skin crawl.  She resigned herself to sit vigil while everyone else slept.  What was one sleepless night?  She hoped that the next day would bring with it confirmation that Jack and his men were, in fact, crazy, and that they had nothing to worry about, that a Terzini clone and towns being overtaken were a giant misunderstanding.  She wanted to be free to plan their wedding, their future.  She tried to force her mind to focus on what she wanted to hear, what she hoped would happen, but felt as if she were only lying to herself.  Instinct warned that optimism would only yield disappointment.  She sighed silently, unable to shake the persistent sense that the day ahead of her would change everything.

Chapter 9

Lord Terzini rested comfortably
as he waited for word from Taft.  With his eyes closed, he inhaled deeply and enjoyed the rich scent of leather.  The couch, a luxurious gift to himself, had been crafted of the finest, supplest Italian leather and was a far cry from the one that had occupied the master suite weeks earlier.  The original couch, the one that had belonged to the previous owner, had been a fabric, floral-print atrocity that had hurt his eyes just to look at.  The entire bedroom and adjacent sitting area had been swathed in the same hideous, flowery pattern.  He’d remedied that nightmare by dispatching a team to scour the neighborhood in search of a more suitable choice.  He’d described to them what he’d wanted and to his delight, they’d returned with the one he now sat upon.  He’d repeated the process, poaching furniture from other homes, until the majority of his roomy five-bedroom ranch style residence had been redecorated, and all in a matter of days. 

Set on
roughly an acre of meticulously landscaped property, the sprawling home was far from main roads and neighbors and was situated away from prying eyes.  Of course, prying eyes stood little chance against the more than fifty creations he’d assigned to guard his private residence.  With the security team he had in place, he was a harder target than the President of the United States. 

His higher level of protection was
appropriate as he deemed his importance beyond that of the lowly Commander in Chief of just one country.  Soon, he would reign over the entire world.  Therefore, his safety was of greater consequence.  Besides, in a matter of months, the President, along with all human leaders, would fall and he would lead the world into a new age.

The era he would usher in would be one of peace, on
e during which the planet would be cared for instead of slowly destroyed.  Humanity had its turn, and had failed miserably.  A new day would dawn.

He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, could almost see himself presiding over legions of his creations, when the electronic crackle of the intercom system demanded his attention.  A voice notified him that Amber Herald waited in the foyer with an update from
Taft.

“Excellent,”
Terzini said. “Send her in.”

Amber Herald
.  The name sent a jolt of excitement through him.  He straightened his posture immediately then ran his hands through his thick, black hair.  He no longer favored the helmet-like style he used to wear when Dr. Terzini had been alive, no longer saw the need to resemble the fool. After all, they had been nothing alike.  Sure, their DNA had been identical, but that had been where their similarities had ended.  Their personalities, their methods, their views on how humanity should fall had differed dramatically.  Moreover, a fool like Dr. Terzini would never have had the courage to be with a woman like Amber, would not have been man enough.  But
he
was.

The sound of footsteps beyond his door meant she was just
outside, in the hallway.  He wanted to spring from the couch, bound to the door and yank it open.  He could not wait to look upon her, to touch her soft skin, to run his fingers through her silky hair; to bed her. 

The thought of seeing her naked flesh made desire stir low in is belly.  He wanted her.  And knew he would have her.  Unlike the late Dr. Franklin Terzini, who’d had the sex drive of a castrated elephant, he had a healthy appetite for female company.  And his company had just arrived.

A knock at the door signified her arrival.

“Enter,” he ordered her.

“Lord Terzini,” she nodded deferentially to him in greeting.

“Amber,” he said and tried desperately to bleed his voice of the swell of excitement he felt.

Her beauty was unparalleled.  She was a triumph by every standard, his greatest work.  She was also a bit of an experiment.  He had created many women in the past for the purpose of pleasuring him.  Sex was, after all, one of the simplest and most enjoyable indulgences one could partake of.  But Amber was different from the others he’d created.  During her creation, he had gone against every belief system he subscribed to and had allowed her to retain basic emotions.  By leaving the part of her brain responsible for experiencing emotions such as contentment and exhilaration intact, he’d believed he’d been courteous, gallant even. He’d wanted to ensure that she would enjoy being with him.  In doing so, he had performed his first truly generous, high-minded act, had exampled the magnitude of his greatness.  After all, it had seemed only fair for him to allow her to feel, to be able to experience appreciation of the privilege of being with him.  He could only imagine how appreciative, happy and fulfilled she was to be able to lay with a God on Earth. 

“How is the mission going?
” he asked and tried to return his thoughts to business, but all he could do was stare at her plump lips.  He wanted to bite them.  Perhaps he would.  She would not object to it.  She could not object to it.  She was his personal sex slave. 

“Excellent sir, there weren’t any complications.  All other teams have moved in
,” she said referring to Taft.  “We will have confirmation from them within twelve hours that everyone is dead and the town is ours.”

“Excellent,” he said and allowed his gaze to lower to
her uniform top. 

They’d socialized enough.  He did not want to spend another moment chitchatting with her.  Other needs beckoned, particularly the tightening below his belt. 

“Take off your top,” he commanded her.

She removed her shirt without question and remained before him in just a tank top.  The thin white material did little to conceal her firm, round breasts.  He stared at them unapologetically and felt a definite stir in his groin. 

“Remove the tank top, too,” he instructed her.

She lifted the hem of the flimsy material and pulled it over her head.  He stood, transfixed by her luscious mounds.  He reached out and pressed his palm to one, began kneading it
right then.  She did not flinch, but he felt her nipple harden against his hand.  She clearly enjoyed his touch.  Who wouldn’t?  Being touched by him was a privilege awarded only to a select few, his private playthings.  And Amber was one of them, a life-sized doll reserved solely for his debauched enjoyment.  He gripped her breast harder and hoped she’d wince.  He detected the faintest tick between her eyebrows and felt as though an electric current had charged his body.  Every cell within him wanted to ravage her.

“To the bedroom,” he directed.

He dropped his hand from her chest and led the way to the adjacent room.  A closed door opened to the master bedroom from the sitting area.  Once they were both through the threshold, he closed the door and locked it.  He pointed to the king-size bed and told her, “Remove your clothes now.”

He watched as she sat, topless, on the edge of the bed.  She removed her boots and socks, then her pants and underwear.  He gestured for her to stand and raked his eyes over the glorious
peaks and valleys of her naked body.  A growl of desire rumbled deep in his throat and he felt need twist achingly low in his belly.