Dancing With the Devil

Chapter 1

Dante's P.O.V.

Walking back down the street to my shop, having finished a rather expensive yet satisfying meal at my favorite restaurant, I find my thoughts wandering south. Lady has been hounding me to find a woman and stick with her, because quite frankly, she's had it with my one-night-stands, which usually end with someone getting hurt. Trying to think back to the best one I've had so far, the first one that comes to mind is Charlotte. Oh fuck... That night was beyond what words can describe. Sadly, as one-night-stands go, there's no exchange of contact information, so I unfortunately have no way of getting in touch with her.

My thoughts are snapped back to the present when I reach the front steps of Devil May Cry and find that the door is half open. Quietly, I walk up the front steps, discovering upon closer inspection that whoever opened the door was not a friend to my business. Slowly creeping inside and closing the door behind me, I observe the wreckage that has befallen my shop. Various items are strewn across the floor. Including but not limited to, ammunition, some worthless weapons I'd completely forgotten about, and my relatively small collection of magazines depicting women in very revealing lingerie. Waiting for any signs of movement, I'm starting to think that whoever it is has already left when I hear a crashing sound coming from upstairs. A string of hushed cursing reaches my ears, and I discern the voice as female. My demon stirs a bit, getting excited.

"Where the fuck are they?!" the woman's voice screams in frustration, her footsteps marching across the floor of my bedroom in circles.

Suppressing a chuckle of contempt, I walk over to my desk, sitting down on its edge. It's in this moment that I catch a whiff of a new scent. Without a doubt, I know it's the scent of a demon, which confuses me to no end. If her scent tells me she's a demon and her voice is human, then that means-.

My bedroom door slowly opens with the faintest creak and my uninvited "guest" lazily steps out. Her emerald green eyes are locked on my icy blue ones, shining with a hint of triumph. Next thing I know, she vaults off the railing and lands about six feet away from me. I find myself speechless... Her style reflects me when I first started my little business. Black leather combat boots that come halfway up her calf, smoke gray skinny jeans, black crop top, and a crimson red tailcoat, which even had two empty gun holsters hanging down the back-. Wait up a sec... EMPTY?!

My time to ponder this matter is brought to a screeching halt as the me-like woman stalks over to me, smirking deviously, which excites my demon even more. Her eyes scan over me, lingering down south. I chuckle as she continues to approach me with more certainty, my demon stirring fiercely as she gets ever closer, her slender form oh so inviting.

"You looking for something, babe?" I growl seductively at her.

"I was looking for something in particular," she replies sheepishly, twirling a lock of her long, golden brown hair around one finger while biting the corner of her lip. "But I think I just found something even better."

Her emerald green stare does a double take on me while my eyes wander to her well-toned midsection, then up to her decent size bust. By now, I'm fighting to keep my demon from taking over.

"Like what you see, babe?" I whisper huskily as she feels along my abdomen through my shirt, making my nerves go into a frenzy. "You can have it if you want, but it's gonna cost ya."

"Name your price, Dante," she purrs, very slowly climbing onto my lap and straddling my waist. "I'll match every dollar." 

"You can give me your name as a start," I reply suggestively, running a hand through her silken hair.

"Well, I'd love to, but-," her breath tickles my ear as she leans in close. "Unlike your guns, I find names really don't have that much value."

My mind registers what she means while my hands reach for Ebony and Ivory. In the same instant, the door of the shop swings open and Lady gawks at the scene, my body now frozen, paralyzed. The half demon woman quickly pulls her arms away, and with a wink at me, she disappears in a haze of white flame. Shakily, fearing to confirm the truth, I reach back to the holsters where my guns should be, only to meet empty leather.

"Dante, if that was the beginning of another one-night-stand-."

"I swear, it wasn't me!" I protest, throwing my hands up in the air. "She came onto me-."

A small calling card and a crimson red rose on my lap stops me there. Lady walks over and smirks, going over to the couch on the far right side of the room. She sets down her weapons and turns to me, expectant.

"Dante," she urges as I make my way to the front door, making a slight detour to pick up Rebellion. "Where do you think you're going?"

Grudgingly, I fish into the left pocket of my tailcoat and pull out a wad of bills, tossing it to her without looking back.

"Don't die out there," Lady giggles at me, mocking.

I groan and shrug off her comment, walking out of my shop, only one thought going through my head; getting my guns back, whatever it takes.