The Lost: Book Two of The Whitechapel Chronicles

Chapter 18

The seconds passed and still it did not strike.

"Do it," I whispered, my mouth swollen and lips split in several places. "Do it now."

The darkness snorted in response and I heard the distinct sound of something hitting the floor by my feet, landing with a splat in the blood that pooled at the base of the chair.

I looked down into the face of Felix; his human face, with eyes wide and bulging from the sockets, his mouth still smeared with my own blood and his neck ravaged where it had been ripped free from his body. The dark figure grunted and then was gone, leaving me on my own in the room, staring down at Felix's decapitated head as the naked light bulb swung back and forth from the ceiling above me.

********

"It's beautiful," I gasped, feeling my breath catch in my throat and a warm haze spread into my cheeks.

I held the small Tiffany pendant up in front of me, admiring the small branded heart tag and key charm and the way the light from the setting sun glinted off the shiny silver. I didn't know much about Tiffany but I knew the delicate chain was expensive and a small thrill shot through me at the thought of wearing it to college the next day. The Argos girls wouldn't know what had hit them.

"You like it?" Brandon asked, his eyes nervously flitting over my face; the anxiety a stark contrast to his usual zealous confidence.

"I love it," I whispered, offering the necklace to him. "Put it on me?"

"Sure," he said softly, taking the pendant and moving to stand behind me as I raked my hair back with my fingers and pulled it up into a loose pony-tail. I couldn't help but smile as I felt the cool touch of the metal against my throat, nor could I stop the goose bumps that rose on my skin when I felt his warm breath tickle the nape of my neck. He deftly hooked the chain and clasp together and my fingers lightly traced the wording on the heart tag, as his lips planted a small soft kiss just behind my ear. His mouth nuzzled my earlobe as he wrapped his arms around my waist, tugging me against him and I relaxed into the firmness of his body, inhaling his musky scent. I moaned as his lips left a hot trail of kisses down my neck and I instinctively pushed against him, his hands gripping me tighter as his hardness pressed against the small of my back.

Turning to face him, I perched on the edge of the car bonnet, the skirt of my dress sliding up my thighs as he parted my legs. I locked them around his hips and sighed as he continued to kiss my neck, my gaze drifting up to the evening sky. A deep burnt orange faded into warm pink just above the tree line on the far side of the park, the avenue of oaks slowly muting into shadow. It was the late May bank holiday and the weather had been gloriously warm for this time of year, a taste of the hot summer months to come.

Brandon had reluctantly spent the weekend away with his family, claiming that every minute was going to be torture and he had rushed to meet me as soon as he had returned. When he picked me up in his new Golf - a present from his father - I pressed him on the weekend's events, always strangely hungry for the little tit-bits he'd feed me about his family, but as usual, his answers were limited and I noticed, this time, a little strained. His smile tightened and wavered and I knew instinctively it was time to throw in the towel and stop bugging him. His relationship with his family was difficult, that much I knew, plagued with pressure to become a lawyer, something he was resisting even though I knew he'd make a damn good one.

In a secluded spot, close to the park, Brandon had taken the car off-road and parked up not far from the boating lake and there we had sat, wrapped up in each other and in the London sunset. As the evening dusk settled all around us, he had reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the small Tiffany box, placing it in the palm of my hand.

Now with the pendant around my neck, my back hit the black chrome hood, Brandon's kisses becoming more fervent by the second and his hand travelled up the back of my thigh, fingers slipping easily under the elastic of my underwear.

I pushed lightly on his chest. "Let's get in the car," I murmured, my lips brushing against his as I spoke.

"Spoilsport," he laughed, but he took my hand in his, pulling me to my feet and leading me to the rear passenger side. Opening the door, he motioned for me to get in as he glanced around the small copse of woodland, before climbing in behind me.

Lying on the back seat of his car, with my underwear quickly discarded over the back of the seat, I giggled as he kissed up the inside of my thigh, his lips tickling my skin. I was notoriously ticklish and wriggled under him, hearing him chuckle as I did so. The warmth of his face moved further up my legs and when he reached the top, he paused and grinned boyishly at me before pressing his mouth against me, his tongue moving in slow, languished strokes. I knotted my fingers into his hair, enjoying the way he moaned against my skin as I tugged on his dark curls. His touch was always gentle to start, relaxing me with a slow build-up that he knew I loved and when my hips began to move in time with him, he knew he could build the pressure, easing me quickly to climax as he covered me with his mouth. That night, with the added thrill of doing it in a place where we might be discovered, I came quicker than usual, bucking my hips up as each pulse shot through me.

As I lay there, still gasping from the heat that blazed through me, Brandon knelt between my thighs and undid his jeans, tugging both them and his underwear down over his tanned thighs. I still got a thrill from looking at him there, almost as if I were seeing him again for the first time. I could never stop the flush from creeping into my cheeks, that exquisite mixture of shyness and desire as I drank in every part of him; wanting every part of him. And I always got what I wanted.

Quickly pulling on a condom, he leaned over me, his eyes locking with mine when he pushed against my body and I sucked in a breath as he easily slipped inside, our hips soon finding the perfect rhythm. I wrapped myself around him, hands sliding under his shirt, loving the smoothness of his skin under my fingers and loving it even more when my nails lightly scratched his back and he began to thrust harder. We both laughed softly as the car began to gently rock but we were well past caring by that point. All that mattered was us, encapsulated in our own little world as we clutched each other, our heat filling the car completely and fogging the windows. As he came, he kissed me passionately as he often did, his tongue hungrily devouring mine and our mutual cries of pleasure were crushed between our lips as I finished also, holding him tight as I rocked against him.

Afterwards, as we lay with the window now slightly open and feeling the mild touch of the summer night air on our skin, my fingers found the pendant again and I idly played with the charms, rubbing my thumb over the smooth metal.

"Do you really like it?" Brandon asked.

I smiled a small contented smile. "I just love it," I replied. "I'm not really used to getting gifts, especially not ones as beautiful as this. Thank you, Bran."

"Well, you'd better get used to it because I'm going to give you everything. You want it, and it's yours. I'd do anything for you, really I would."

He bent down and kissed me very lightly on my nose but his eyes were heavy with that dark intensity that always sent a shiver of excitement through me.

"Trust me, Megs; this gift really is the first of many."