Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    This Incarnates: Lovers
    This Incarnates: Lovers
    This Incarnates: Lovers
    Ebook77 pages1 hour

    This Incarnates: Lovers

    By Richard Jackson

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Who and what are the Incarnates? After an encounter with a stranger, Bethany is about to find out. The answer is just the beginning of her adventures as she is plunged into a world of magic she never knew existed.

    Set in the same world as the Count Albritton Series, this book includes the first three Incarnate short stories and the flash fiction story, Soulcatcher.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRichard Jackson
    Release dateJul 27, 2011
    ISBN9781465800428
    This Incarnates: Lovers
    Author

    Richard Jackson

    Richard Jackson, co-founder of Bradbury Press, Orchard Books, and DK Ink, has been an editor and publisher since 1962. He is the author of Have A Look, Says Book, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, and lives in Towson, Maryland.

    Read more from Richard Jackson

    Related to This Incarnates

    Related ebooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Freedom

      Aug 6, 2020

      Freedom
      7 min read

    • Article

      Witness

      Jun 9, 2020

      My sister threw open the door so that it banged against the little console table she kept by the entrance. “Silas,” she said breathlessly, before even removing her coat, “I have to tell you something.” Which was enough to make me feel trapped, as tho

      25 min read

    • Article

      The Stonemason’s Wife

      Sep 1, 2020

      JOLINA HAS been hearing voices of men she’s never met. Voices like water, clear and cold, eddying at the back of her mind. They’re not real. She knows this. As in, she’s not crazy. They’re only the voices she’s heard on the phone, voices of men who b

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Power Of THOUGHT

      Jun 29, 2023

      The Power Of THOUGHT
      4 min read

    • Article

      Take a Writer Like Him: My Complicated Love Affair with Kingsley Amis

      Aug 24, 2018

      1. As much as I may rack my brain, there are 15 minutes or so in the dark that I can’t account for and that I’ll never get back—15 minutes during which, I have to think, that creep’s hands were touching my body. It’s a weird thing to think about all

      12 min read

    • Article

      Heavy Heart

      Feb 5, 2022

      Heavy Heart
      6 min read

    • Article

      Don’t go THERE!

      Jul 14, 2021

      Don’t go THERE!
      6 min read

    • Article

      STEPPING Out

      Feb 19, 2020

      STEPPING Out
      10 min read

    • Article

      Supportive Husband

      Sep 12, 2023

      There were less intimate places available, so it was odd when a woman took the seat directly facing mine across the subway aisle. I looked up from my book and right back down: a couple of months before, we’d gone home together. She had a Southern acc

      22 min read

    • Article

      Living With A Painful Past

      Jun 24, 2023

      Living With A Painful Past
      8 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      To Live a Little

      Oct 3, 2022

      To Live a Little
      13 min read

    • Article

      Push

      Aug 4, 2022

      Push
      5 min read

    • Article

      Q-tip Options

      Oct 10, 2023

      I am not a good person. Abby was at my door. My reaction when I saw her should have been more charitable. She was young and cute and needy, but all I wanted was a nice relaxing day at home. When the police questioned her, I should have let them take

      16 min read

    • Article

      Six Dart Out

      Sep 10, 2023

      Marc figured the girl was a vegan. Her puke had overflowed the sink and run onto the floor—tomatoes and rice marinated in microbrew lager. He’d told Vegan Girl to slow down, but her friends had won the turning-21-peer-pressure battle. Admittedly, Mar

      9 min read

    • Article

      A Gentle STIRRING

      Mar 13, 2024

      A Gentle STIRRING
      6 min read

    • Article

      Love & miracles

      Aug 14, 2022

      Delia Ephron, the screen-writer, novelist and wit, was in her apartment in Greenwich Village in New York City when I phoned. She was disappointed we weren’t doing the interview via video. “That’s too bad. I look fabulous.” She is appearing, virtually

      7 min read

    • Article

      Philip Roth

      Jun 4, 2018

      Philip Roth
      25 min read

    • Article

      ‘Sing to It’: Featured Fiction from Amy Hempel

      Mar 25, 2019

      If she was home at night in her husband’s bed, did he care what she did with her days? The post ‘Sing to It’: Featured Fiction from Amy Hempel appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Welcome to Reliance

      Dec 1, 2021

      Welcome to Reliance
      11 min read

    • Article

      La Bohème

      Mar 1, 2022

      ON A SATURDAY or Sunday afternoon in the cold early months of 1988, I sat alone at a table for two in a Greenwich Village diner, twenty-four years old, hopelessly young, my notebook open in front of me. At the table next to mine were three people, al

      13 min read

    • Article

      Six Million Reasons

      Jul 9, 2021

      Six Million Reasons
      6 min read

    • Article

      Absolute Best

      Apr 30, 2021

      Absolute Best
      20 min read

    • Article

      The Ladies Book Club

      Apr 10, 2024

      “Our brains are shaped with the capability to care deeply but also to kill. This deep ambivalence is potentially problematic. A society filled with people who are inherently very compassionate and very violent might prove unstable.”1 1Emile Bruneau,

      25 min read

    • Article

      The Billboard

      Nov 25, 2019

      The Billboard
      4 min read

    • Article

      Sounds Like FUN

      Jun 23, 2020

      Sounds Like FUN
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for This Incarnates

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      This Incarnates - Richard Jackson

      The Incarnates: Lovers

      Richard Jackson

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2011 Richard Jackson

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Part One: Lovers

      Chapter One

      The dream was different this time. The man in his dark clothing and hooded long coat had never ventured into the light before. Dark of hair and eye, he was handsome. When he smiled at her, somehow she knew it was an expression he seldom used. That made it more precious. As he moved closer to her bed, he spoke softly. The words barely reached her but she heard and felt them.

      Bethany, he whispered I’m here.

      He said it like she was the answer to his prayers. The words made her feel warm inside and out. She slowly slid out of the bed, moving with a grace that turned heads and seduced many a man. Without a word, she guided him back to the bed as if this were the most natural thing in the world. At first, he hesitated but there was no denying her. Bethany felt stronger than ever before as if his presence allowed her to tap some hidden reservoir of strength.

      In the darkness, Bethany found something in the stranger’s strong yet gentle hands that she had missed. There was something familiar and comforting about his presence. It was something none of her previous lovers could match. He wasn’t selfish when it came to his wants and desires. He seemed to think of her just as much as he did himself. It was a welcome change.

      Together they reached heights undreamt of. Just when she thought they were about to plummet back to earth again, he would bring her back to life again with a gentle touch or caress. Whispered words in between kisses, licks and nibbles excited her. It was as if he knew exactly what she liked and how she would respond to his efforts.

      Hours passed in this passionate heaven. As the sun rose, the stranger slipped out of bed to open the curtains. The morning light outlined his form. He wasn’t what she had once thought was her type. He was in shape but not overly so. There was a hint of softness to his body that she relished. He also lacked the ink that she adored on most of her men. Instead, he sported a number of scars that she could now see instead of feel. It made her wonder what kind of life he led.

      I shouldn’t have come, he said, though there was no hint of regret in his voice. Now that I have, it changes everything.

      I don’t understand, Bethany said. A small part of her, no, a big part of her, wanted to tell him to shut up and come back to bed. They could talk later, much later. Instead, she sat up in bed waiting for him to get to the point. She was afraid the dream was about to devolve into a nightmare where she would be the other woman and a home wrecker. It was a part she had no intention of playing again.

      The stranger turned from the window and made his way back to the bed. You will, He said, and then there was no more time for talking.

      ***

      When she had woken up, Bethany knew she had not been dreaming. There were too many signs for her to ignore. The sight of her rumpled bed, the feel of her body, the faint smell of sweat and sex, all of them told a story. Instead of working, she tried to make sense of what happened last night. It was a fruitless task that got her nowhere. As the hours dragged on, she found herself wanting to go out and do something. By the time the sun had set, this desire was undeniable.

      Bethany decided to head to Government Center. It was still early but the bars and clubs she frequented were already packed. None of them could help take her mind off of what happened. What bothered her was the fact that the entire incident didn’t disturb her. She had made love to a stranger in her apartment. It wasn’t the first time this had happened but it had never happened quite this way before. She had no knowledge of how he came to her or where he had gone. It was so like one of those trashy vampire novels her friends loved and she loathed.

      On a whim, she slipped into one of the many bars with live music. Maybe, just maybe, she might run into the stranger from last night or to lose herself in the crowd. It soon became apparent to her that neither option was working out for her. Although the music was good, the dark confines of the bar did not shelter her from those looking for something she wasn’t in the mood to give.

      Bethany decided to call it an early night. She would have one more apple martini before she left. It would help her sleep. Just as she finished her drink, she caught a glimpse of the stranger from the night before in the window. He was passing by the club. The man wore the same hooded coat though she was sure he had changed his clothes. Bethany got up from the bar. She used her elbows and skill to quickly slip through the crowd then out the door.

      She caught up with him on the corner as he turned towards Union Street Park. When she touched his shoulder, he spun around to face her. As he did so, he tried to capture her wrist in what she thought might be some kind of karate move. The failed attempt made her smile. Bethany didn’t put much stock in the martial arts.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1