The Devil's Love

Tempt the Devil: Chapter 13: Anton

Sarah was quiet for the entire trip to the restaurant, I suspected that the view of her restaurant filled to capacity was a little mind bending for her. Maybe even a little crushing. It had never occurred to me that she might find the negative side of the situation but as I watched her fingers toy with the cutlery and her eyes cast to them, I knew that she had.

She had tried to keep the business going and was failing, mostly through a lack of funds. I walked into her life and turned it around in a matter of minutes.

"Do not despair, Sarah, think of it as a boost and nothing more. Once I am gone then you will still have to keep the place going."

It earned me a nod and she continued to line the cutlery up and then push one out of the way, thus keeping her amused as she lined them up again.

"So why are we doing this again?"

"The meals together?"

She nodded as her eyes rose to mine. Her eyes seemed like they were the brightest pale blue I'd ever seen. Compared to the constant red that I see, they were almost heavenly.

"Because I want to give the appearance that this is more than what it is."

"Oh, okay." she said quietly.

I watched the downshift in her mood, lowering further. It seemed with every passing second she was drawing away from me and I couldn't figure out why.

"I want for us to be at ease with each other. To sit at a table and to know each other, to dance and not feel awkward."

Her eyes darted to mine, wider than usual.

"I don't know how."

It was a whisper across those ruby red lips. Four little words that caused a snap in my mind.

"That's okay Sarah, I will teach you. It is important that you learn the proper steps. The guest list includes some rather important people." I leaned a little closer to whisper "Royalty."

"Human?" she asked low.

I shook my head and watched her begin to freak out.

"Sarah."

Taking her hands in mine, I made her look at me. She calmed down rather quickly, her eyes darting around as the other diners looked at us.

"It's okay Sarah, they are normal people. You do not need to worry about it, I will help you."

In the distance I could see the waiter moving towards us, I pulled back and looked up. Sarah turned to him just as he arrived at the table.

"Thank you."

He tipped his head with a subdued smile and wandered off again.

"Enjoy the meal, Sarah. You may ask questions but keep them clean for those who should not be listening."

"I'm surprised you don't make some little sound bubble." she scoffed, picking up her cutlery.

"It echoes." I offered with a slight sneer "And the waiters would bump into it, food would go flying everywhere."

Sarah giggled and looked at me with a smile that told me that I was in so much trouble. Not real trouble, no this was the love kind of trouble. Crazily enough, I didn't care so I smiled back at her and hoped that maybe if I was a good boy, I might just earn some more smiles from her.

Dinner was over and the plates were yet to be cleared away but neither of us seemed to mind. Sarah held the glass of red in her hand, her delicate fingers wrapped around the stem of the glass. Watching her drink was terribly erotic, she had a way of doing it that seemed almost sensual.

Most of the diners had departed, leaving us to talk in low voices without fear of being heard.

"Who is the highlight of the famous to walk through your world?"

"Ahh, now that's an interesting question. I've had a few but how could I go past Elvis as the answer?"

"He went to hell?" She asked with a frown.

"It is a gateway for all souls, based on their life they are then directed to their eternity."

She went quiet for a moment and then grinned.

"So he's not flipping patties at some burger joint in Texas?"

I shrugged rather non-committedly.

"I don't keep track of the souls Sarah, I just take them in and ensure they understand what has happened to them. You know, dead."

"That's a shame. Isn't there some people that you might want to keep track of? You know like really bad people."

"Those kinds of souls don't get regenerated, they stay in a special place. Now, I think it's time that we leave. You've got to get your dancing shoes on."

Half an hour later the driver pulled up beside Sarah's apartment, I stepped onto the pavement and looked across the street. The restaurant was still packed to the walls with people, I was in awe of it.

Even though there was an elevator, we walked the staircase to her apartment on the first floor.

There was little space to be had in her apartment now that it had been filled with clothing. Sarah wasn't fazed by it. Instead, she found her way into the kitchen and poured two glasses of red wine.

"May I take your jacket?"

"Of course."

I reveled in the slow movement of removing it from her, the proximity, the intoxicating scent of the musky tones of her perfume. I gazed into her eyes when she turned to look at me, at that moment I knew that I would never recover from the demise of whatever this was becoming. How Cerberus had managed to get it so right was mind boggling.

With her jacket in my hands, I opened the wardrobe door and hung it, placing mine on the hook on the inside of the door. Sarah leaned on the kitchen bench, offering a glass to me as I approached. Her eyes lingered all too easily, moving over my body with little remorse.

It's only been two days my mind whispered Behave yourself.

I upended the glass to Sarah's shock and placed the glass on the counter.

"Right, let's get on with it."

As Sarah found a song to play I moved the rug out of the way. It was a trip hazard waiting to happen.

She stood, looking incredibly uncomfortable which was my point for this exercise. I didn't want to be seen as... What? Someone that disrupts a human's life to save face? Yes, that was me in a nutshell.

"I don't have anything classical or even old." she said as she rolled her eyes "So you get Snow Patrol."

"It will do for tonight."

I didn't listen to music so I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Hand here on my shoulder."

She was so timid as she put her hand where I told her, I could feel her body tighten as my hand found her waist.

"Relax Sarah. It's just dancing."

I took her other hand, feeling the cold of the night on her skin.

"Up here, don't look down."

Her eyes reached mine, full of fear but I knew it wasn't because she was scared of me. She was scared of what was happening. I knew that fear all too well.