All Lindsay wants is a normal life. What she’s got is anything but.
Betrothed to the Devil by her greedy father, Lindsay was blissfully unaware there was anything unusual about her life until her twenty-first birthday, when the groom appeared before her and presented her with a black diamond wedding band.
Displaying uncharacteristic patience and soft heartedness toward his young wife, Big Red (as Lindsay calls him) endures all her attempts to annul their union and forge an independent life as far away from his world as she can possibly get. In the end, all he really wants is her happiness.
When the ghost of Lindsay’s father visits and offers her exactly what she wants, will she still be so eager to rid herself of her husband?
A paranormal romance and a Hell of a lot of fun from our Orbits sci-fi/fantasy short story line.
“LINDSAY!” His voice came from deep below, from beneath the very crust of the earth. It filled the whole house, rattling windows and skewing the pictures on the wall.
The scent of burning sulphur filled the air; a rotten smell. How appropriate, as he was obviously in a rotten mood. The floor began to vibrate and heat up beneath my feet. When I heard him roar it occurred to me that maybe this time I’d really pissed him off.
Oh yeah, he was fuming, all right, much more than normal. I sat on the edge of my bed with my hands folded calmly in my lap and waited for his arrival. His theatrics were no longer impressive; the big ball of flame, the flash of light and even the cloud of smoke, I’d seen them all before. Still, it probably wouldn’t do to act like a bored teenager when he showed up.
And there he was, in the blink of an eye; Big Red stood before me. Damn, he took my breath away. Not that it would do me any good to tell him, because I was very much aware he could take my breath away…permanently.
He towered above me, arms folded over that impressive broad chest. “I get one visit out of Hell a week.” His voice was thunder. “One! And once, just once, I’d like to use it to spend time with you in a more appropriate way than lecturing you about your inappropriate behaviour.”
“Sorry,” I shrugged.
“Sorry? That’s all you have to say, sorry?” He took a deep, frustrated breath. “Do you know what it’s like to be married to a mortal when you’re the all-powerful Lord of the Underworld?” He threw his arms wide, filling the small room with his body. “Can you imagine the taunts and laughter I’ve endured as my minions found out my wife has just been on a date? With a vicar’s son?”
I looked away as if bored; in truth, I was anything but. Red intimidated me and had me shivering in my socks…but I wasn’t letting him know that. So I countered his question.
“Do you know what it’s like being married to the immortal Lord of the Underworld? Knowing I’ll never be normal, never get to marry the man of my dreams? Do you know what it’s like, day after day, seeing couples strolling around holding hands, kissing, getting married, having babies and knowing I’ll never have that?”
“Of course you can, I’ll give you the Underworld. All you have to do is accept me.”
