Table of Contents
PARANORMAL PLEASURES Title Page
Devilish Deal by Sandra Sinclair
About Sandra Sinclair
The Incubus's Job by Logan Woods
About Logan Woods
Mysterious Lover: A Vampire Seed Tale by Carly Katz
About Carly Katz
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Rachel turned on the lights, leaned against the counter and allowed the tears to fall.
For the past two years, she had always come home to that two-storey house which she and Jack had bought right after their wedding happily, either eager to get dinner ready before Jack came home or smiling as soon as she saw Jack’s familiar silhouette in the living room.
But not tonight.
Tonight, Jack wasn’t home.
He wasn’t coming home.
Yesterday afternoon, while Jack was on his way home from work, his car was hit by another and had been brought to the hospital barely alive. According to the police, the other driver was not drunk but apparently had been having a fight with his girlfriend inside the car, which was why they had been swerving and had accidentally hit Jack’s car from the side. Jack could have easily avoided the collision if he had simply crashed on the sidewalk but apparently, there had been a woman and child there so he had no choice but to be caught up in the collision. In the process, hitting his head on the windshield after his car circled a few times.
According to the doctors, a fragment of the glass had entered his skull and possibly made contact with his brain, which was why he had been rushed into surgery upon arrival at the hospital. If the fragment did not embed itself deep in the brain tissue and the surgery was successful, Jack would survive with his mental capacity intact but if the surgery failed, there was a chance of brain damage and Jack would likely have lapses in memory or impaired cognition… that was, if he ever woke up.
All throughout her conferences with the cops and the doctors, she had held on to her composure, taking in everything they told her without question or complaint or any violent outbreak and even while staying by Jack’s side at the hospital, she had managed to stay strong. Now, though, she felt herself shattering into pieces as she sat on the floor, holding her knees tightly to her chest and burying her face in her arms, crying her heart out.
What was she going to do without John? She did not even want to think of an answer to that question.
There had been nothing special about Rachel and Jack’s meeting, no love at first sight nor any extraordinary circumstance that was befitting of a romance novel or even telling their future children. They were simply co-workers working for the same magazine – she was a section editor and he was a layout artist.
They had bumped into each other at the office and sometimes, at the cafeteria, a few times each week, and talked during company parties, but other than that, never really paid attention to each other. In fact, Jack had been dating another woman, one of the writers under Rachel, while Rachel had a crush on another section editor.
They only managed to get together when one night in August, both of them had to work overtime to finish the anniversary issue of the magazine. There were other people at the office, too, but Rachel and Jack somehow ended up working more closely than all the others, and afterwards, even though it was nearly midnight, they had decided to celebrate the feat they had accomplished by grabbing late dinner and a late movie.
That had been their first date. After that, they just started spending more time together and even without any warning, commitment or official announcement, just fallen deeply in love and became an item. Three years later, they were married.
Shortly after, Rachel was offered a job as the editor-in-chief of another magazine and though she was reluctant to leave the magazine which had led her to meet Jack, she had decided, with Jack’s encouragement and support, to accept the job, which was why they were no longer working together. Otherwise, they would still probably be driving home together.
For a moment, Rachel wished she had been in the car with Jack during the accident. Then, she wouldn’t be suffering as she was suffering now, the mere thought that there was a possibility Jack would never wake up making it hard for her to breathe and stay sane.
No, she couldn’t stand the thought of losing Jack. In fact, once, she had asked Jack to promise her that he would only die after she had gone even though she knew he probably had no control over it, simply because she couldn’t stand the thought of mourning his death or having to live without him. Now, there was a chance that promise would not be fulfilled.
As Rachel remembered all the wonderful times they had shared, all the meals they had made for each other, all the movies they had watched together, all the vacations they had taken to different parts of the world, all the presents they had given each other, and all the intimate moments they had shared in bed after turning the lights off, drowning in pleasure and reveling in each other’s warm bodies, she found her chest tightening even more, almost painfully, and her tears streaking down her cheeks.
“Oh, Jack,” she sobbed. “I would do anything, anything just to have you back by my side.”
She wasn’t really expecting an answer. After all, she was just talking to herself, but all of a sudden, a voice spoke, startling her.
“Anything?” the voice asked.
Looking up, Rachel’s eyes widened, her lips parting to let out a gasp of disbelief, as she saw the man standing in front of her.
“Jack?”
For a moment, she felt fear grip her heart as she thought that Jack had already died and returned to haunt her, but then, right before her eyes, the man transformed, becoming a different man entirely, a dashing man in a suit with light hair and a pair of dark purple eyes that seemed to pierce right through her.
“Who are you?” Rachel asked in her trembling voice as she slowly stood up, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“I believe I asked a question first,” the man said, his voice clear, without any hint of an accent, deep and strangely, with a sultry edge, all at the same time. “Are you willing to do anything to save your husband’s life, Rachel?”
Rachel stared at the stranger, wondering if he was an intruder who had broken into her house since she had forgotten to turn on lights or perhaps, even to lock the door, but then, that wouldn’t explain why he had transformed from one man into another before her or why he knew her name.
I must be dreaming, Rachel thought, but even as she did, she somehow knew that everything was real. Or maybe I’m just going crazy.