by Jacey Ward
Harry managed to look thrilled and worried simultaneously.
“Why don’t you and Conrad meet with Mr. Parker tomorrow morning, and I will deal with our other new clients.”
“No,” Sera insisted. “I’ve done my job.”
“I’ll meet with the client, Mr. Winston!” Conrad chirped from the doorway.
“This is a private conversation!” Sera growled at him, rising from her desk. “This office is the least professional place I have ever seen. No wonder clients are scarce.”
She turned to leave the men alone in her office, sick of the back and forth.
Cassiel is waiting at my place. I’ll go home, have another romp in the hay with him and then send him on his way. That will make me feel better.
To her surprise, Harry reached out and grabbed her arm.
“The clients are scarce because you aren’t doing your job,” he hissed, and Sera looked at his hand secured around her bicep.
“Let go of me,” she hissed, and he did. “You forget I am the only reason this place runs at all. When was the last time you or boy wonder brought in any new clients?”
Harry’s mouth became a fine line and he shook his head.
“And I hope you realize that is your job. If Conrad and I were out scouting for clients, you would be out on your ass, living on the poverty line like you were when I hired you.”
Their eyes clashed, and Sera swallowed her fury toward the slimy man.
They’re all the same, she thought, slipping past him and heading back out of the humble office space. Condescending, demanding and unable to do anything without a woman.
“You better be back here in the morning, Sera. You and Conrad have an appointment downtown at 10 am.”
She didn’t bother to answer.
Of course, she would be back in the morning. What other choice did she have?
For the second time, Sera left the building, heading toward the bus stop as her mind began to change course.
At least the rain is letting up, she thought, the dampness still in her bones. But, she reminded herself , she had a very sexy houseguest.
The silver lining, she thought wryly as she boarded the bus, shaking off the few drops in her hair.
I wonder if he has any money, Sera laughed. Maybe he’s my knight in shining armor, ready to sweep me off to my castle in…wherever the hell he’s from.
She smiled like it was a joke but deep inside, Sera wondered if that ever happened.
Do mysterious strangers ever just waltz into your miserable life and sweep you off your feet and take you away from all of it?
Sera knew she wouldn’t have it, even if Cassiel was the Prince of Luxembourg.
Imagine sitting around all day on royal velvet eating bonbons and watching soap operas. I would kill myself.
And she meant it.
Despite what her step-father had thought about her, or the woman her mother had been, Sera had always believed in hard work, and in her youth, she had been an excellent student, devouring books and studying hard. Even after her father had died of leukemia, Sera channeled all her grief into schoolwork and tried to make the best out of a terrible loss.
But Serafina had been forced to run away from home at fifteen to escape her mother’s abusive husband. With no money and no shelter, going to get her law degree as she had planned was impossible. Instead, she had been forced to take the first job she could find (thanks Harry), while she tried to save enough money to get to Florida. That was where she was meant to live, she was sure. The fantasy kept her going day after day.
And even if she was on her deathbed, she vowed, she would never return to her step-father’s house again.
Some days, she missed her mother so terribly, tears would soak her cheeks. But only when she was completely alone, and no one could see her cry.
After all, Serafina Kennedy did not cry.
I had good motivation to achieve everything I did though, Sera thought bitterly, calling her stop on the bus. The will to live was a great motivator.
As Sera dismounted the bus, she shook her head and laughed slightly.
There are no such things as Prince Charmings. They’re all the evil step-mother in the end, just wanting to stuff you full of a poisoned apple so they can fuck you when they want.
After all, that was what her stepfather had done to her mother. A rich, dashing man who offered her mom the world before knocking it all away with a closed fist.
I don’t need a prince, she told herself firmly, heading toward her unkempt apartment building. I don’t need anyone, least of all a man fucking up my life.
But she couldn’t deny that she was looking forward to round four with Cassiel.
I don’t need him, she justified, increasing her pace. But damn I want him.
And for a while, Sera’s foul mood was all but forgotten.
Chapter Ten
Nathaniel
At nine o’clock, there was a knock on the door and Nathaniel hurried to open it.
Lucky/Damien stood in the hall, a beaming smile on his face.
“Good morning!” he called cheerfully, pushing his way inside, his uniform crisp and fresh. “I brought breakfast.”
Nathaniel watched as the demon wheeled in a cart laden with silver dishes and he tried to swallow his nervousness.
“Where is your friend?” Lucky asked, and Nathaniel shook his head.
“She is still asleep.”
The devil eyed him knowingly as the door closed and patted him on the back heartily.
“You are wasting your talents in Heaven,” he chortled. “The ladies in the underworld would be lined up at your door.”
“Thank you for breakfast,” Nathaniel said, hoping to keep the nervousness from his voice. “I should be getting dressed.”
He did not want to upset the beast, but the demon’s presence made him uncomfortable.
“Yes, yes,” Lucky agreed, removing the lids from the myriad plates to present a feast of fruit, breads, eggs and meats. “I only came to bid you a good day and make good on my end of our deal.”
Nathaniel felt a spark of excitement as he understood.
“You are going to bequeath me powers?” he asked, trying to mask his eagerness, but it was futile to act coy with Satan.
“Yes, of course,” the devil replied easily. “You must have every resource at your disposal.”
Nathaniel nodded and waited, but Lucky only peered at him speculatively.
“I daresay,” he commented. “You would have made a good soldier of the underworld. I am surprised you would choose the boredom of heaven. I have been there. Hell is much more entertaining.”
Nathaniel didn’t know how to respond but he knew he was being set up.
No one yearned to go to Hades, no matter how charming the devil appeared.
“Anyway,” Lucky continued. “That point will be moot if you fail in your quest, will it not?”
“I won’t fail,” Nathaniel promised, heat rising to his forehead. “I have you on my side,” he said slyly.
When Lucifer smiled, it chilled his core and Nathaniel looked away quickly.
Suddenly, a hot wind blustered through the room and Nathaniel could not breathe.
His eyes bugged from his head as he gaped at the demon, his hand reaching for his throat to claw maniacally but Lucky only smiled.
He lied to me! I’ve fallen into his evil trap! He sought me out to send me into purgatory - but why? Why me?
Spots danced before Nathaniel’s eyes and he dropped to his knees, reaching out toward Lucky imploringly, but the demon did not move, his onyx eyes boring holes into Nathaniel’s body with intensity.
When he spoke, his lips did not move but his body morphed into the terrifying red beast Nathaniel had always envisioned, horns protruding from his crimson scalp.
“You are under my employ now, Nathaniel,” the voice said, reverberating through his mind as consciousness slipped away. “Do not disappoint me, or this is what your life will feel like every day
for eternity.”
The world went black as Nathaniel fell forward onto the floor, his face crashing into the marble tile. One final thought echoed through his mind.
The devil has killed me. I have been fooled by the Lord of Lies.
An incessant pounding filled his ears and he waved his hands to push the hammers aside.
“Get up, you blathering idiot!”
Nathaniel jumped as Lucky’s voice filled his mind, overcoming the lingering pain that was still thudding through his body.
Again, the pounding commenced and slowly, Nathaniel rose, looking around the hotel suite as if seeing it for the first time.
“Answer the damned door!” the devil snapped, as Nathaniel realized that he was alone, sprawled on the leather sofa.
Indeed, there was a pounding on the door, but he couldn’t immediately move, as if his body was weighted down by an unseen force.
Looking down at himself, he realized he still wore the terry cloth robe he had wrapped himself in earlier in the morning.
Again, Lucifer ordered him to rise and Nathaniel forced himself to obey. There was no way to avoid the devil now, not when he was inside his head.
He ambled to his feet and shuffled toward the entranceway, noting that the tray still sat in the short corridor, untouched.
So, I didn’t imagine his visit, but he did not kill me. What the hell happened?
“Who’s there?” he croaked.
“Conrad Christenson and Serafina Kennedy from the law office of Harry Winston,” a male called back. “We have a ten o’clock appointment with Mr. Parker.”
Confusion washed through him.
“You have the wrong room,” he replied gruffly. “Go away.”
“No,” Lucky chirped in his ear. “You are Mr. Parker. Open the door and meet your new lover.”
Heat filled his face as his pulse quickened.
“What?”
“I am already growing tired of your stupidity!” Lucky growled. “Answer the damn door.”
Fear prickled through him and he cautiously did as he was told.
In the hall stood a man and woman in their mid-twenties but an odd pairing by any standard.
He was tall and gangly with acne scarred cheeks and a nervous air.
She was a vision of beauty, with shoulder length auburn hair, wise blue eyes, and an almost bored expression on her face.
Her cheekbones were high and sculpted, and her lips were full and inviting. Nathaniel was overcome by her attractiveness, in spite of her seemingly aloof aura.
“Mr. Parker?” the man asked, offering him a timid smile. “May we come in and discuss your accident?”
Nathaniel opened his mouth to plead ignorance again, but he caught himself, realizing that somehow Lucky had arranged for the meeting.
“Yes,” he sighed, reluctantly stepping back. Looking quickly down at himself, he realized that somehow he was now dressed in a sharp looking pair of dress pants and a fine white button up shirt that molded to his broad shoulders perfectly. Lucky again? he wondered.
What am I supposed to say to them? He asked Lucky silently, but suddenly the devil was quiet.
Nathaniel found himself fixating on the girl, Serafina.
I sure hope when Lucky said ‘meet your new lover’, that he meant her and not the awkward man, Nathaniel thought balefully. It would be just like Satan to force him into a relationship with the gangly man. Serafina. The fiery one. I wonder how accurate that is for her in bed, he thought crudely.
And as if she could hear his thoughts, her gaze swung toward him. She glanced over his form quickly, barely pausing to look at him, and then her gaze moved away, dismissing him at once. But then her eyes darted back again, as most women’s eyes did. He really was a fine specimen of maleness, he knew.
Her breath caught as her eyes traveled from his feet, up his muscled thighs, pausing on his worthwhile package. He saw her eyes dilate momentarily, then continue their way up across his taut abdomen and ripped chest and shoulders. Her eyes caught on his mouth, and he saw her tongue dart out quickly as she licked her lips. When her blue eyes clashed with his grey ones, she looked annoyed at him for a moment. As if she was pissed off at him for causing even a slight sexual awareness in her. She looked like she was about to snarl at him, but then slowly, a fogginess came over her gaze and her face lost all expression.
A slow, almost hypnotic smile formed on her lips, and the glazed look covered her eyes.
“You asked for me,” she said quietly, and Nathaniel noticed that she stepped closer, as if needing to be near him.
He held her stare and nodded.
“Yes,” he replied slowly. “I…”
“I do know you, don’t I?” she whispered. “How do I know you?”
There was awe and confusion in her tone and Nathaniel suddenly realized that she could not tear her eyes away from his face.
Is she drawn to me or is this something Lucky has done to her?
Nathaniel didn’t feel any different, but he could not imagine why this woman would be staring at him with such blatant desire if she was not under some sort of spell.
It was true that he had his pick of women wherever he went – he was stunningly good looking, after all. He had the broad muscled shoulders, tight abs bulging biceps and corded forearms of a god, and with a height of six feet three inches, he seemed to draw the eyes of women young and old. But something felt off about Serafina’s adoration.
It was just… wrong, somehow.
Granted, he wasn’t in the habit of paying attention to what a woman wanted – after all, it was really about him, wasn’t it? But her sudden change from disinterested and almost annoyed, to fawning lovesickness seemed improbable.
But then again, how long had it been since he had deigned to understand the mannerisms of the fairer sex? Had he really ever tried? In the past, he had mostly been concerned with his own satisfaction – solely.
As his thoughts ping-ponged from one argument to the next, Nathaniel couldn’t deny that he was as captivated by the ginger haired woman as he had ever been with any woman.
Or has Lucifer put a spell on me also?
The gawky man cleared his throat, obviously sensing something amiss.
“Maybe we can come in and sit down,” Conrad suggested, but Serafina shook her dark hair, her eyes not moving from Nathaniel’s.
She bit on her lower lip and trailed her forefinger down his chest. For a strange moment, Nathaniel thought she might begin to strip off her clothes and throw herself directly at him.
“Get out,” she told her partner. “I can handle this, Conrad.”
Conrad laughed nervously.
“Harry said – “
“Get out. Now,” she said and there was no room for argument in her voice.
Conrad gaped at them, his face blushing crimson.
“Are you sure, Sera. I mean – “
“Get out!”
This time Nathaniel joined the order.
Conrad muttered something under his breath as he turned to leave.
Nathaniel barely noticed as the door closed, and the woman stepped directly up under his chin, their lips inches away.
“Who are you?” she breathed again, grabbing his hand. “How do I know you?”
She swayed slightly and the drugged look faded from her eyes for a quick moment. She grabbed her head, wincing as if she was in pain. She tried to step back from him, and he panicked, grabbing her arms and pulling her forward to press his strong body against hers. As soon as he touched her, the sleepy look came back over her eyes again and she smiled like a dim-witted person, looking a little lost, but comfortable with it.
“I am Nathaniel,” he replied, gulping back the momentary anxiety he had felt when it looked like she was waking from a dream.
Alright, he assured himself, obviously my charm is overcoming her senses. Could it be this simple? She is already in love with me, just look at her face! And now I can get rid of Mari, clingy moneygrubber that she is. Who need
s her anymore, when I’ve got this beautiful piece of ass throwing her body at me. He bent toward her, his lips crushing hers in a bruising kiss.
There was snide laughter in his head. “You can’t even see the difference between lust and love?” Lucky snorted. “You’re supposed to be an angel. Honestly, how did they ever allow you in the gates? You must have snuck in while St. Peter was pissing or something.”
Nathaniel tensed but he couldn’t stop himself from placing his hand on Sera’s, as he leaned forward to maintain the contact with her lips.
He was taken aback by her acquiescence, believing it was his skill at seduction that had won her over ultimately. His shaft grew hard beneath his robe.
She used her free hand to slip the garment off his shoulders, exposing his smoothly muscled chest and Nathaniel’s cock answered with a resounding ‘yes!’.
He let go of her momentarily to drop the robe from his arms, and almost immediately, the glazed look in her eyes started to fade. Again, she grabbed her forehead, a small groan escaping her as if she had a headache. Nathaniel realized that it wasn’t lust for him after all that was keeping her there. It was that bastard, Lucky. Some weird kind of spell he must have cast.
The realization made him angry – he had never needed help bedding a woman before! He was legendary, and women from his village lined up to bed him. Yes, he was in it for his own enjoyment, but he just happened to be very, very good at fucking. No one left him unsatisfied. He did not need the demon to help him win this woman away from his brother!
“Why do I know you?” she asked again weakly.
Nathaniel flinched but it only caused the anger to spike in him and he grabbed her arms again, pulling her body into his and descended on her mouth with all his talent. He fisted one hand in her hair, tilting her head to give him better access as he tasted her mouth, and then her delicate neck. He chanced a look at her eyes, and was frustrated to see the glassy look was back as she stared at him, her blue eyes hazy.
“You are mine,” Nathaniel told her, leaning forward to lick her earlobe and she nodded eagerly.