Hey. It was worth a shot.
She turned, preparing to start walking back to the house when a woman standing a few feet from her stopped her. Mandy’s eyes widened when she noticed the woman had wings that resembled Paul’s. Instead of being black, however, the wings were a deep shade of violet, quite similar to the woman’s eyes. The woman – no doubt a fallen angel or some other demon – was tall. She was well above seven feet with long, straight raven locks that reached past her waist. Her body was taut but extremely curvy, and scantily clad, but Mandy knew that she wasn’t any sort of slut just because of her clothing. In fact, the woman reminded Mandy of the Amazonian women; strong, beautiful, and nothing short of intimidating.
“You are the girl,” she said, and her voice, while deep and commanding, was also melodious. “The girl who is supposed to win the war based on what side she chooses.” The woman took another step forward. “My name is Kesha, and I am here to help you choose.” Kesha tilted her head very slightly to the side so a stray, ebony lock fell in her face. It didn’t seem to bother her, however, because she refrained from moving it as she continued to speak. “Do you know why you’re so important?” She smiled. “No, I dare say Paul hasn’t told you. And why would he, when he made a decision completely opposing the one he had agreed to when he went off to find you?”
Mandy wasn’t sure whether or not she should be speaking now, and the most she could do was stand her ground and pay attention.
“You are a very important young woman,” Kesha continued. “You are going to be married to the devil himself. Oh, don’t look so surprised, young one. Of course Paul wouldn’t say anything of that nature to you. He wants to keep you all to himself, and to do so, he must not upset you, as I’m sure you are now.
“Why, you might ask. Why are you to marry Satan? Why would Satan, our Creator, need a wife? Why, to corrupt the very humanity he loathes. If he had a wife, a wife of human descent, then he has tainted the pureness which is humanity. He has done what he has set out to do for so very long. And once Satan has you, He can win this war.
“I must say.” Kesha pushed her hair from her face finally, but only because she wanted to see Mandy better. “I didn’t believe the rumors that a creature like you truly existed, but that was my choice. And I can now say I stand corrected. What do you think of my wings, young one? They are beautiful, are they not? They aren’t actually made of solely feathers, you know. Satin makes up a majority of it. They are so soft to touch, and they truly make excellent additions to acts of passion. I got them for doing what my Creator asked me to do.
“Oh. Did Paul not tell you? Whatever story he told you in order to get close to you is a lie. Satan sent him to find you and bring you back for Himself. Paul was just a delivery man. Would you like to know what he was promised in return? Yes, I thought you might. He was promised the gift of life, of mortality. For whatever reason, he wants to be one of you – weak, insolate. He wants the opportunity to die. To do human things. I cannot understand.” She shook her head.
Mandy felt her chest start to hurt, found it incredibly hard to breathe. It was as though she had been slapped across the face. And yet, what hurt even worse was, for whatever reason, Mandy still felt affection for Paul. Everything that Kesha had told her hit her full force, and no doubt she was betrayed by Paul’s words. He might have even faked any sort of attraction to her – used her body to get himself off – in hopes that it would only deepen her trust for him. And the thing was, it did. She hated that she still cared about him, but she did. And Kesha had mentioned that he had changed his mind about giving her over. That had to count for something, right?
Yeah, it was hard to convince herself that what Paul did was justifiable, but that didn’t deter her feelings from being partial to him.
“Take that from him before he can change his mind again,” Kesha said, leaning forward. “Take away his mortality.”
“I’m not going to do that,” Mandy said – a reaction that she didn’t even have to think about.
“You must know that you don’t have a choice whether or not you are delivered,” Kesha told her, her eyes cool and calculating. “You will be, whether you like it or not. But you can choose how you’re delivered. Choose now, young one, or I will choose for you.”
“Paul,” she whispered, her voice hitching in her throat. “I choose Paul.”
Kesha looked like she had to refrain from rolling her eyes. “Fine,” she told the woman. “Fine. So you will allow the demon who abused your trust to get his reward. I do not understand you humans. Listen to me: if you are not here in twenty-four hours, I’ll come for you.”
Nineteen
When Mandy walked in, her body completely soaked, her hair matted to her face, Paul leapt up out of his seat. It was only when he shut the door and locked it behind her did he finally give her his full attention. He had been thinking long and hard since he walked back into the house about what he felt for the woman who had somehow managed to wrap him around her finger. In fact, Paul had been so consumed in his thoughts after he left Griffin that he didn’t even feel the rain as it beat down on his back, his wings completely filled with the water.
It was only when he walked into the house to discover Mandy gone did he finally come to the conclusion that he loved her. Maybe it was because they had spent so much time together in these past few weeks and he couldn’t seem to get her off of his mind. He could rationally understand that. But even so, Paul was still unfamiliar with the feeling because demons were taught to use logic and cunning rather to give into emotions – seen as weak and ridiculous. And to be honest, that was just fine for Paul. It was why he never allowed himself to get attached to anyone he might have encountered, especially if they belonged to humanity. Sex was sex, a need he could satisfy without the understanding of emotional intimacy.
But after making love to Mandy, he realized that said intimacy, at least concerning her, had been what made the experience so much more memorable. Of course, Paul didn’t understand the feelings going on in his body. He had never learned about them, so he couldn’t figure them out. Even his intelligence drew up scenarios that didn’t seem to satisfy them. So he had been playing it by ear, keeping them closed, only to have them explode more powerfully, captivating him until he put a name to him.
And that name showed up when he believed that Mandy was taken from him. He had walked in, expecting to find her in her room where he had left her, except she wasn’t there. In fact, after searching the entire house, he realized that Mandy was gone. His heart had jumped into his throat, and he had gripped his head with his long fingers, trying to figure out all possible solutions as to why she was gone. But the most simple and the most likely – she had been taken from him.
That was when he realized he loved her. Now, Paul wasn’t exactly sure if his concept of love was actually correct, but then again, Paul couldn’t be expected to realize that love was what one made it, and if he truly believed he was in love with Mandy, then he was. He might realize later on that he was wrong, but for the time being, he labeled his feelings for Mandy as just that: love. And because of this, he wanted nothing more than to give her back, and he would do everything in his power to accomplish this.
However, he needed to make sure that Mandy was indeed swept off her feet by Griffin or one of Griffin’s goons, and he couldn’t do that as quickly and as efficiently as he wanted if it continued to rain and without Kelly and Bruce. So he waited for something – for the rain to let up, for his friends’ presence, or for Mandy herself to walk in. The latter was the more hopeless option out of the three, but his newfound realization gave him an optimism he hadn’t possessed before. It wasn’t likely, of course, but it was possible.
And now, looking her, he realized that it was safe to be hopeful, however far-fetched certain claims were. Logic wasn’t always right.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The velvet words seemed to come so easily from his lips, much like the rain falling from the sky. In the instant he reali
zed she was all right, Paul suddenly realized he was upset with her, especially when she knew – “You know you’re in danger, and you just go off? God, I could never believe you would ever be so stupid, Amanda. Certainly you’re not naïve about everything I have warned you about.”
The word caught Mandy off-guard, and she felt herself tightening her hold on her jaw as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Me?” she asked him as though she couldn’t believe what he was accusing her of. “Me? Stupid? You think I’m stupid?” That vertical wrinkle that etched itself into her brow whenever she was frustrated or angry suddenly made an appearance. “You didn’t think I’d find out about your little plan? About what you really intended to do with me? Well, I ran into an acquaintance of yours – a demon by the name of Kesha – and she set me straight. She told me everything.”
Upon hearing Kesha’s name, Paul visibly paled. Mandy knew what he had set out to do, then. Kesha wouldn’t have made an appearance if she didn’t have a reason, and what better reason than to tell Mandy about everything?
“You know what I’m talking about,” Mandy said, her eyes filling with tears, despite the fact that she had promised herself she wouldn’t cry. “You were going to turn me over to Satan. I was supposed to be his bride. Hell, I still am. I’m your key to what you want the most. I’m the key to your humanity.” She stopped, trying to control her wavering voice. In a low voice, she said, “And about how everything between us was a lie.”
Of course, Kesha knew nothing that had happened between Paul and Mandy, but there couldn’t be any other explanation. Paul didn’t truly like her; he was just using her.
“No,” Paul said through gritted teeth as he regarded the woman in front of him. “Nothing between us was a lie. Nothing. Why do you think you’re here with me and not back in the apartment? That was where they were supposed to get you, you know. But I couldn’t –“ His voice hitched and he stopped, only to restart once more. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He took another step towards her and reached out, taking Mandy’s hands within his before she even realized it. Her eyes were glued into Paul’s, and she couldn’t look away. “I don’t want to let you go.”
Here, he paused once more before dropping her hands. However, Paul still needed to feel her in some way, needed to touch her. This time, it was her cheeks that he held, softly. His thumbs pushed away the errant and very wet strands from her face, but his palms made sure to stay on her face. He wanted her to know that what he was saying was true, wanted her to believe that what he had set out to do was completely changed from what he wanted now.
“You must know what I feel,” he murmured, his voice dropping into a deep husk, but his pale blue eyes still pleaded with her own as he continued to stare at her. “I love you.” He dropped one hand only to place it over his chest. “My heart - whatever that is, wherever it is – it belongs to you. Only you.”
Mandy swallowed, not expecting Paul’s confession to her whatsoever. She thought that he was still apt to turn her over, that he still craved and desired his mortality instead of her. A smile littered her face and she finally was able to look away, to look down and around, her mind content, knowing that she had made the right decision. This whole situation was ridiculous and impossible and yet, anything that had to do with Paul was probably the best time of her life. How could it not be? And yet, she knew she had to leave him.
“I love you too,” she whispered, looking back at him with certain eyes. “I love you too.”
Paul’s taut face relaxed upon hearing the sincerity lace the words she had conveyed to him. He hadn’t realized just how badly he wanted her to feel the same until after she admitted that she did. It was a great relief to him, and he dropped his hands from her face only to wrap them around her waist, pulling her close to him. In the back of his mind, Paul knew that Mandy would need to get out of the wet clothes she was wearing and into a hot bath in order to ensure that she wouldn’t get a cold, but for now, he just wanted to hold her in his arms.
“I want you here with me,” he murmured before leaning his head down, resting his forehead gently against hers.
Mandy’s eyes were closed, and for a moment, she pretended that such a thing were to happen, that everything would work out and that she would get her own happily ever after. But she wouldn’t. And even though she wanted nothing more than to allow the world fall away and pretend that only she and Paul existed, she couldn’t.
Twenty
Mandy stepped out of the steam-filled bathroom in nothing but a towel. She felt a lot more relaxed, and her heart was still made up with the decision to leave relatively soon, once Paul, Kelly, and Bruce had fallen asleep. She couldn’t risk telling one of them because they would most certainly prevent a thing from happening, and she couldn’t risk getting caught because it was doubtful none of them would ever understand. Not even Paul himself.
However, that wasn’t to say that Mandy wasn’t scared. Of course she was. She didn’t know what to expect, didn’t know what Satan was going to do to her. And more than anything, she hated leaving Paul when she knew that he loved her and she loved him in return. Life really wasn’t fair. But she felt confident in her decision nonetheless. If Paul could sacrifice his humanity – his life – to save her, then she could most certainly do the same thing for him. Her heart ached at the thought of being without him, but it was a small setback on what Paul could no doubt have. And she wouldn’t be the reason he had given up what he wanted the most. Mandy didn’t want him to regret his decision and then unconsciously start to blame her. And the relationship would be even harder, knowing that for the rest of her life, they would be on the run.
No, this decision worked out for everybody. Paul would be human, this war would end, and earth’s turmoil would cease to exist. But there was something she needed to do before she left, and then she would be content, would be able to walk out of the door without looking back.
Mandy headed over to Paul’s bedroom door and when she saw it was closed, swallowed, but urged herself to continue. She raised her fist and knocked a few times, and after a few seconds, listened to Paul’s voice on the other side, bidding her to come in. After she did, she closed the door behind herself and turned to look at Paul. When she did, she felt her breath vanish on its own accord.
Paul was sitting on the edge of the bed in nothing more than black pajama pants. It amazed her how truly beautiful he was, especially when he was so dark and so haunting. Paul’s pale blue eyes were searing through his, looking at her with an enigmatic expression on his face, but it wasn’t closed off.
Without fully knowing what she was doing, Mandy started to walk over to him, only stopping when her shins brushed against his knees. Without a word, Paul reached out and placed his hands on her hips, drawing her towards him until she was sitting on his lap, facing him.
“Are you warm now?” he asked in a gentle whisper, his eyes sculpting the contours of her face. He watched her lips as they spoke the word yes, and it was only then when he forced his eyes upwards, capturing hers once more. “And now what would you like to do?”
She didn’t even have to think about it. “Make love to me,” she said, her voice soft but firm. She wanted him to know that she was serious when it came to her desire, and before she left him, she wanted to feel connected, wanted to remember what it was like to be in the throes of passion with him, even though forgetting was a clear impossibility. But, as before, she wanted to forget – however temporarily – that she had to go. And he was so good at doing that.
“Are you sure?” he asked her hopefully but with a few reservations.
Mandy bit her bottom lip, nodding as she did so. Her arms locked around his neck and she tilted her head forward so her lips were centimeters from his own. “Make love to me, Paul,” she whispered.
Paul didn’t need to be told again. He filled the gap between them, kissing her slowly, sensually, as his hands reached around her, and was merely content with simply holding her.
Her legs curled around
his waist, pressing herself against him. Mandy could feel his arousal press against her thigh, and just the thought of him filling her caused a shudder of pleasure to course through her body. Her grip on his shoulders tightened when Paul tilted her head back and deepened the kiss. He wanted to taste her, to memorize every inch of her.
It wasn’t long before they had to break apart, if only to gather air in their lungs once more, but Paul quickly claimed a few pivotal points on her neck, causing her to moan in pure ecstasy. As he devoured his skin with his mouth, his hands slipped underneath the rough material of the towel and pushed it apart so the white cloth fell to the ground.
Without further hesitation, his hands cupped her breasts fully, causing her to gasp. How long had he missed her skin molding against his, the way her flesh hardened at just his touch. His member stiffened even more at her reaction to his caresses. He loved watching her, loved how warm she felt against him.
Another moment and he wrapped one arm around her, flipping her around so she landed flat on her back and he was on top of her. Mandy didn’t hesitate when it came to disposing of his pants, and once he was as naked as she was, she reached out and took his arousal in her hand. Paul stifled a groan and nearly lost his balance at how brazen she was being. Passion lightened her eyes and he was falling in love with her even more. The feeling of her soft hand around his flesh, gently pulling up and down in one continuous motion was too much for him to take, and he made it a point to stop her lest she finish him much too quickly.
Paul grabbed her hand, breaking her grip on him and bringing it up so he could place a chaste kiss on each fingertip.
“I want you,” he told her, after releasing her hand and looking at her with his darkened eyes.
“You have me,” she told him softly, and slowly parted her legs, giving him an invitation – nay, a demand that he enter her as quickly as possible.
Killing by Captivation: A Gods & Monsters Prequel (Gods & Monsters Trilogy Book 0) Page 9