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Chain of Lust
ISBN # 978-0-85715-971-7
©Copyright Lizzie Lynn Lee 2012
Cover Art by Lyn Taylor ©Copyright May 2012
Edited by Rebecca Douglas
Total-E-Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Total-e-burning and a sexometer of 2.
This story contains 71 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 8 pages.
Spirit World
CHAIN OF LUST
Lizzie Lynn Lee
She knows better not to fall for that handsome bounty hunter from Hell, but why are forbidden things so wickedly irresistible?
Madeline Cartwright not only sees ghosts, spirits, and things that go bump in the dark, she’s also a magnet for them. The unseen beings love hounding her to the point she’s having a hard time functioning in real life. After her job interview was ruined by a gang of poltergeists, Maddie stumbles upon the entrance of Maison Plaisir and falls straight into the arms of a tall, dark, and handsome stranger—a man who makes her tormentors scatter to the four winds.
Once human and now a bounty hunter for the Pit, Hellhound Jean-Luc Berthier has forgotten many sides of his humanity until he meets Maddie. He offers her a pact: if she’s willing to become his lover, he’ll protect her from the spirits that ruin her life.
Jean-Luc smells like nothing but trouble and getting involved with him is the last thing she wants to do. But when a dark force uses her as a bargaining chip, Jean-Luc is the only person she can turn into. Even if that means she would have to surrender her body to please his every desire…
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Sharpie: Sharpie; Newell Rubbermaid
7-Eleven: 7-Eleven, Inc.
Jacuzzi: Jacuzzi Hot Tubs, Inc
Lotus: Lotus Software; IBM
Frisbee: Wham-O Toy Company
Chapter One
Please not the diploma, oh, please not the diploma…
Madeline Cartwright froze in her seat as she surreptitiously watched the framed diploma on the wall behind her interviewer, Doctor O’Bannon, become unhinged from the hook. It hovered three foot above him. And the culprits—a pair of poltergeists—leered at her, apparently ready to drop it on Dr O’Bannon’s head.
Maddie clawed the edge of her seat, feeling cold all over.
The poltergeists, volatile spirits that love wreaking havoc, swarmed around the office like renegade bullets. She was the only one who could see them. And Dr O’Bannon, a dermatologist who was looking for a new receptionist, remained oblivious. He’d been oblivious when they’d moved a framed picture of him and his family from his desk and defaced it by scribbling moustaches on each person with a Sharpie pen. And he was still oblivious when the spirits dropped paperclips and an eraser into his coffee mug. Maddie sincerely hoped Dr O’Bannon wouldn’t notice any of that until the interview had finished and she was long gone from the office.
But if those nasty spirits decided to drop the diploma on Dr O’Bannon’s head…
Maddie shifted her gaze to her interviewer, schooling her best poker face. Dr O’Bannon had noticed she’d been nervous earlier. The good doctor had joked he wouldn’t bite her, and Maddie had forced herself to make a polite, girlish giggle. She liked Dr O’Bannon. The middle-aged man with a receding hairline and cheery disposition seemed like he would be a good boss to work for.
And besides, she really needed this job.
She was tired of scraping here and there just to get by, and facing eviction every month because she couldn’t hold down a steady job. Maddie wasn’t lazy or anything. She was just a magnet for spirits, ghosts, and all things unseen, to the point that she had trouble functioning in real life. Ghosts loved pestering her to help them with their worldly unfinished business, and other kind of spirits—wraiths, spectres, and their whole gangs—loved messing around with her. Maybe because they didn’t encounter many humans that could see them, or maybe she was catnip for the spirits, but her gift had become a curse.
Dr O’Bannon cleared his throat as he finished reading her résumé. “You worked as a front desk clerk at your last job?”
Maddie stiffened in her seat. “Actually”—she decided to be honest—“I was working as a cashier in 7-Eleven after the hotel job. I didn’t put the cashier on my résumé because I didn’t think it was relative to the position I’m applying for.”
“I see.” Dr O’Bannon went back to scrutinising her résumé. “You only worked for three months at the Red Inn?”
“Yes, sir.” Maddie swallowed hard. “The hotel management wanted me to work the graveyard shift and I couldn’t. I’m the primary caretaker of my mother.” The truth was, she was afraid of working nights. The spirits particularly loved to prowl after sunset. She preferred to be at home, in her own apartment, where she could put some wards against them. Sometimes, the wards worked. Many times, they were useless. Either way, she felt much better fending them off on her own turf.
“And how long did you work in 7-Eleven?” he asked.
Maddie shifted uncomfortably, wondering whether she should lie or not. She’d lasted only one day in the 7-Eleven. A customer ran away from the store after claiming she was handing him a snake. It wasn’t a snake. It was his change. She didn’t know why, or what kind of spirit had the power of illusions, but to the eyes of that customer, he’d thought Maddie had handed him a three-foot long hissing cobra.
But that wasn’t all.
With his demented screaming, other customers were also running from the store, thinking the place was being robbed. Within minutes, the store was surrounded by police officers and she had gone through some embarrassing interrogations, and before lunch time, she was out of her job.
Of course, when she argued to the owner he should check the security camera to show that she hadn’t played any hanky-panky like the customer had claimed, the owner wouldn’t hear her reasons and ousted her anyway. It was so unfair.
Maddie halted her breath, decided to skitter along the truth. “Only a day, sir. The place was robbed, and I was too scared to go back the next day.”
Dr O’Bannon let out a sympathetic sound. “That was unfortunate.”
Maddie nodded hopefully. “That’s why I prefer an office job. It’s more…secure.”
Dr O’Bannon nodded along, looking eager. “I can understand your concerns. I assure you my clients are respectable members of the society. In fact, we have a few celebrities, as well.”
A flicker of hope lit u
p. Does this mean he’ll hire me? Maddie straightened her posture and hoped the good doctor would hire her before these poltergeists ruined it all.
Unlikely though.
The poltergeists that had been following her since she’d got off the train in Dan Ryan started to chant her name audible only to her. “Maddie, Maddie, Maddie…”
She knew the drill. Poltergeists loved to chant whenever they were about to create havoc. This wasn’t the first time she had encountered nasty ones like them. Maddie forced herself out of her trance and took the initiative. “Sir, is it possible to conclude this meeting at a later time? Suddenly, I’m feeling unwell and—”
Crash!
God, no. For a long moment, she couldn’t breathe. The diploma slammed O’Bannon’s cranium in full force. The glass cracked. The frame balanced on top of the doctor’s head before it tumbled and hit the carpeted floor. Dr O’Bannon, who was shocked and puzzled, could only mumble unintelligible, wondering what had just happened.
The frame wasn’t big enough to knock someone unconscious. Maddie had prepared herself with an excuse—that somehow the diploma had come loose from the wall and fallen on his head. But at that moment, all hell broke loose.
The poltergeists swung into full force. Havoc ensued. The filing cabinets opened by themselves. Folders flew in the air. The chairs slid out of the room, of their own accord. The printer spewed paper from its tray. Everything on Dr O’Bannon’s desk became airborne.
It was pandemonium.
Sweet Jesus Christ.
Maddie leapt from her seat and darted towards the door.
She had to get out of there before Dr O’Bannon, or anybody else in the office, got seriously hurt. Spirits or poltergeists rarely hurt her. They liked to play, tease, and so far none of their hauntings had managed to put her six feet under. Thank God for that. But it didn’t guarantee people around her wouldn’t get scratched. Dr O’Bannon was yelling in confusion when she skidded past the door. She hoped the poltergeists would follow her instead and abandon Dr O’Bannon.
Maddie ran into the elevator and slammed her palm on the ground button. O’Bannon’s office was located on the seventh floor in the Folsom building, which housed several law and financial firms in upper levels, retails and boutiques on the lower stories. The elevator’s door whispered shut. Maddie flattened her back against one wall, bracing herself so she wouldn’t fall. As she’d predicted, the poltergeists followed her into the elevator. Maddie only had two minutes of respite before her shoes were forcefully taken away from her feet. She lost her balance and fell.
“Fuck!”
Maddie groggily reached for the elevator buttons. She slammed on five and hoped she could get out before she was in deep shit. Taking the elevator down was proving to be a bad idea. She should have taken the stairs instead. If they decided to tamper with the elevator, people could seriously get hurt. If she’d taken the stairs, the only person to watch out for would have been herself. One of the poltergeists tugged at her purse. Maddie quickly snatched it back and barked, “Leave me alone!”
It meant nothing to them. They knew she couldn’t do anything about it. She was as helpless as a squealing infant. They yanked her purse back towards them. Maddie pulled it with all her might. Her wallet was in there. She didn’t have much money in it, but if it got lost, she wouldn’t have a train fare back to her apartment. They gave in and blew a long raspberry at her. The others started to pull her hair and her clothes. Her heart plummeted. Poltergeists didn’t usually behave this way. They loved wreaking havoc around her. Not to her.
The elevator shuddered to a halt and the door opened. Maddie bounded from it like a junkie on PCP, looking for the nearest exit. Luckily, there were no people in the hallway at this time. Or she probably would have run over them. Dr O’Bannon had scheduled her for a late interview because he didn’t have the resources to make his appointment in regular business hours.
Maddie dashed to the left, following the emergency exit sign. She barely ran past half the corridor when the poltergeist tripped her. She stumbled like a fallen tower. They got the hem of her pants and started dragging her towards the elevator again.
“No!” She writhed, abandoning her attempt to be secretive. “Help!” And she really needed help. She thought she could handle them like she always had. But this time, she couldn’t. This gang of poltergeists wasn’t like any she’d encountered before. Maybe this time they would try to kill her. Maddie tried to grab on to something, anything. There was nothing to grab on. “Help me!”
Maddie squirmed, trying to shake them off. It was useless. They were too many and too devious. They gave a hard yank and she sort of flew to the end of the corridor. “Help!” She blindly grabbed above her head. This time, she caught something. A foot. Boots.
A man.
She heard somebody bellow, “Be gone!”
For a moment, she thought the shout was directed to her. Then, she found out the man was shouting at the poltergeists.
Wait a minute—he could see them?
The poltergeists scattered with scampering shrieks.
Maddie took a good look at her saviour. A pair of black boots filled her view. Then a pair of strong, long legs wrapped in black leather pants, followed by his black leather coat. His body was mostly obscured by his trench coat, but he was built like a truck, solid and powerful. He was handsome. Devastatingly handsome. Unruly copper hair framed his features. He had a strong jaw, an aquiline nose, lush eyebrows, and piercing eyes.
Maddie’s heart started to race again. His eyes were glowing red.
The man wasn’t human.
* * * *
Jean-Luc Berthier was amused.
He hadn’t stepped into Maison Plaisir for the relaxation he desperately needed, but he hadn’t expected to find some entertainment by the establishment’s front doors. A gang of poltergeists had tried to molest a human female.
He narrowed his eyes, looking closer. Make that a pretty human female. Fine ass, too. He bent down and helped her back on her feet. She shrank in fear as he was about to touch her. A few stray hairs obscured her beautiful face.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he told her.
She took a step backward. “I’m fine,” she squeaked.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Jean-Luc inched closer, curious. Not every day he met a mortal who could see the Unseen. He studied her with great interest. This woman was one sweet delight. Even though she was dressed in slacks and a blazer, the allure of her femininity dripped from her every pore. “Name’s Berthier. Jean-Luc. What’s yours?”
She eyed him as if he had sprouted a second head from his neck. “Thanks for your help, Mister. I need to go.”
“Do you have a name?” he pressed.
Her gaze was laden with suspicion. “I’m not giving my name to people like you. You aren’t human.”
“Afraid not.” Jean-Luc couldn’t help grinning. Her huge, gorgeous fawn eyes captivated him. The irises were dark as midnight, complimenting her thick, long lashes.
She took another step backward. “Who are you?”
“Jean-Luc. You certainly have a short memory.”
“I meant—what are you?”
“What do you think? Look, I just want to know your name so I know what to call you. It isn’t a ridiculous favour to ask.”
She blanched a little. “I’m Maddie.”
“Maddie,” he echoed. “It wasn’t that hard, was it?” Jean-Luc grabbed her arm and steered her to the entrance of Maison Plaisir.
“Where are you taking me?” she protested. “I…I need to go home.”
“Just treating you to a drink. You look pale.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Don’t look fine to me.” Jean-Luc paused to pick up her purse and give it back to her. With his shoulder, he pushed the door open. Maison Plaisir’s hostess materialised before them.
“Jean-Luc Berthier. Well, I’ll be…” Madame Chabert spread her arms and
patted his back dotingly. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Where’ve you been?”
“The usual, Roxanne. Nose to the grindstone.”
Chabert slid her gaze to the woman he’d just saved. “And this is…” Chabert narrowed her eyes. “How curious. A human.”
“She’s a bit rattled, I’m afraid. Some zacrahs tried to molest her. Is it possible for us to have a private room? And perhaps tea as well? She could really use some.”
“Poor thing.” Madame Chabert spread a hand. “Please follow me.”
“Come.”
Maddie resisted. “I need to go home.”
“Look.” Jean-Luc gave her a hard stare. “Your clothes are ripped. Your face is dirty and you have a cut on that elbow. It would be best if you clean up before you go home.”
“I don’t have a cut.” Maddie groped her right elbow and flinched. “Oww… How did you know?”
“I’m a Hellhound and I can smell blood from miles away. I suppose that explains everything, yes?”
She didn’t resist when Jean-Luc carefully ushered her to follow Madame Chabert. The hostess placed her hand on the doors behind the reception desk and murmured an incantation. No unwanted guests were able to enter Maison Plaisir without her permission. The doors swung open by their own accord, revealing the grand sight of Maison Plaisir’s Common Hall.
Maddie gaped as they waded among the patrons. She looked impressed. A few people noticed she was human and whispered among one another, watching her every move. Humans who were able to see the Unseen was exceptionally rare and desirable.
Jean-Luc stole a glance at her. She was a pretty young thing, couldn’t be more than twenty-five, in human age. Her oval-shaped face with big eyes elicited the saving-the-damsel-in-distress urge within him. Her fair skin was flawless and looked creamy enough to lick. Jean-Luc gulped hard, indulging himself in a little dirty thought. His cock stiffened under his pants, jumping with interest at the prospect of bedding her. He hadn’t been aroused in a long time. Decades, perhaps. Being an agent of the Pit had dried up his sexual drive to nothing. He became less and less of what he was before. A red-blooded male with healthy sexual appetites.
Chain of Lust Page 1