Rose of Passion

Chapter 13; Judas

By the time Aesc returned, Kate had pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her arms which crowned her knees, her shoulders shaking. She quickly wiped away the tears as she jumped to her feet, and rushed over to him. He held her in his arms with a timid half-smile.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she sobbed and put her face in her hands as he held her against his wide chest. Kate could hear his heart beat, it's calm rhythm matching his cool exterior; Aesc had returned tranquil and controlled, which also mildly calmed the hysterical Kate. "I shouldn't have-"

Aesc put her face in his hands so that her red eyes would meet his clear ones. "It's okay." He bent down and gently kissed her on the lips.

He broke it and Kate put her forehead and palms against his chest. Fear remained, but it had moved to the back of her head. Her breathing slowed to a more normal, natural pace as Aesc tightly held her close to him. He ran his hand through her fiery hair, and his heartbeat sped up under her wet cheek. Absentmindedly, Kate looked up.

Aesc's mouth covered Kate's roughly. She wanted and tried to kiss back, but his passion had exploded while hers wasn't even smoldering. He quickly overpowered her. At first his hands clamped down on her arms, as though he was afraid she'd try to run; however, Kate could not think clearly yet. In fact, her back arched so her body pressed against him as her brain blanked and her hormones took over. Aesc's hands moved to her cheeks so he could cup her face and kiss her more ardently.

Suddenly, Kate felt the same hands snake up the back of her shirt and unclasp her bra. She gasped and tried to pull back, but her actions were ignored or went unnoticed or misinterpreted. That's when her internal alarm went off - again. She stopped kissing back, tried to push him away, and struggled as fervently as he tried to continue to kiss her. Finally, he pulled away, panting.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused. Years before she would have found the expression cute. "What's wrong?"

"I-no, I can't," she whispered. Realizing her hands were still cupping his face, Kate quickly pulled away and tried to step out of his embrace. He let her, but his face fell.

"Oh," was all he said. His brow stayed furrowed as he stared at her.

Kate shook her head and again placed her face in her hands, this time because her face was turning bright red. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" he responded sweetly and smiled deplorably. Aesc took her hands in his. "You make me better than the average demon. I don't succumb to every whimsical desire anymore! I could never truly be mad at you, and I could never be upset with you for very long. I am the one who should be apologizing. I always...mess up. I do everything with a demonic twist to it, but you keep me in check." Kate squeezed his hands and Aesc squeezed back. Then he furrowed his brow, making it feel as though Kate's heart was being squeezed, and refused to meet her eyes as he rambled, "In, fact, I've been thinking...you know, as a demon, we never really could do this-socially, religiously, whatever, it just doesn't work here in Hell, especially because I'm the demon and the rest have certain expectations of me and I need to follow those expectations as much as possible to win them over so they don't suspect anything about the war...so it would have to be symbolic, a marriage."

Where is this even coming from? Then again, he did "save" her from Purgatory. Is this all he wanted all along? Kate yanked her hands out from his and stepped back. I can't be tied to him - symbolically or otherwise. Why did I lead him on? What have I done? Her heart raced as her breathing quickened.