Deal With the Devil

by Annmarie Ortega

  Damn.

  “What’s wrong?” Nate asked Marie as he placed a hand on the small of her back. “If this is about the other day at work and that package, don’t worry about it. There is no way you’re going to lose your job,” he told her. “You could send every package out incorrectly and it wouldn’t matter. You won’t be fired.”

  “No, no that’s not it…I…ummm…I’m not feeling well,” Marie scooted off the bed and away from his touch. She thought it was a weak excuse but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. It was harder to resist him when he sounded like he actually cared about how she felt.

  Silent tears continued to stream down her cheeks. All she wanted was for Nate to leave her alone. The entire situation was too much for her, too overwhelming. Straightening, she wiped the tears from her cheeks then tossed her hair back away from her face. She knew she had to talk to him eye to eye otherwise he would never leave her alone.

  “Listen, do you think we can maybe do this another night? I just don’t feel well right now.”

  ***

  Nate looked at Marie with genuine concern. He had never seen her so distraught before and he’d never seen her cry. He didn’t like it. He wanted to know what was bothering her so much. He thought perhaps she was upset because he’s made her tell him she was his. He hadn’t meant to upset her, and had simply needed to hear the words.

  She had obliged his wish, but then she had started to cry. When he tried again to look into her mind to see what was wrong it was like running into a brick wall. Was she deliberately keeping him from her thoughts? If so, why would she do such a thing?

  It bothered him, ate at him in a way that he wasn’t used to. And while it was true he told her that he had many more contracts with other women, he hadn’t been totally honest with her either. Since he had started his visits to Marie something had gradually changed. He didn’t enjoy the other woman as much as he once had. He constantly found himself comparing them to Marie. In all his years he had never compared one woman to another.

  Since he’d met Marie, he spent much of his time trying to figure out just what it was about her that made her so special. When they had met he had told her she was beautiful and that wasn’t a lie. She was. But so were many of the other women he was with. Celebrities who were known for their incredible beauty couldn’t even compare to Marie. They didn’t hold his interest. He didn’t want to talk to them.

  Marie had something innately different about her. She had a fire in her eyes when she saw him appear. There were many women who were with him because they had to be, and weren’t afraid to show their true opinion of him. When he appeared, they’d look at him with hatred or disgust, only tolerating him because of their contract. Not that it had ever bothered him before. In fact, he sometimes enjoyed their submission even more when they hated him. But now it just seemed…empty.

  He couldn’t exactly say why, but Nate had the feeing that Marie would be with him even if there were no contract. She didn’t even seem to mind that he was the Devil. When she was with him she seemed genuinely seemed happy. That was a new sensation to him, having someone who wanted him of her own free will.

  It was a good feeling and he enjoyed it.

  And the sex…it was phenomenal. Out of all the partners he had she was the one who satisfied him the most, which was no easy task. No one else made him feel the way she did. He loved the way she was open to trying new things, even when he knew she wasn’t completely comfortable with whatever he wanted to do.

  Often he found himself wishing he could be with her for more than two times a month, but he was obligated to see many more people and simply didn’t have the time. So he bided his time, filled his obligations, and looked forward to his two visits with Marie. Lately, he hated to leave her apartment.

  When he made love to another woman, he wished he had Marie in his arms. He had even gone so far as to consider freeing some women from their contracts with him. He had steadily lost interest in the others and letting them go seemed like the thing to do. In fact, it was why he was going to see the other women tonight. He was going to let them know that he didn’t want them anymore.

  Now it seemed that despite her knowledge of the other women from the beginning, and the fact that they weren’t really dating, she was jealous. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed it sooner. Jealousy was a sin he was quite familiar with, after all. He could tell Marie was quite upset now and really wanted to be alone so he decided he would leave.

  “Yeah, sure Marie. I can leave now. Is there anything I can do for you before I go?” He wanted her to tell him to stay, or to tell him what he could do to make her feel better. He didn’t like leaving her while she was so upset.

  Marie shook her head no only wanting him to leave. She needed to be by herself.

  Nate stood up off the bed and mentally dressed. At the same time Marie’s pink floral pajamas appeared on her body. She looked down with a small smile, obviously grateful that she wasn’t naked in front of him anymore.

  “Okay, well I hope you feel better soon,” he said quietly. And then he disappeared.

  Chapter Nine

  Marie ran her shaking hands through her hair. When she was sure Nate was gone and wasn’t going to return, she finally allowed herself to break down, and let all the tears she had been fighting back fall. She climbed onto her bed and drew her knees up to her chest. It had all gotten so out of control. She couldn’t continue to hide her feelings about Nate being with other women. She was so in love with him, and to know he was intimate with so many other women broke her heart. Marie knew that she would never be with anyone else for the rest of her life. Nate was the only one for her. But he had existed alone forever and he wasn’t going to change his ways just because one of his minions had been foolish enough to fall in love with him.

  She decided the best thing would be to get out of her contract with Nate. If she didn’t have to see him anymore then maybe she would eventually forget about him. Maybe someday she would even meet someone else and fall in love again. The problem was that when she signed the contract with Nate, he had made it clear that he would be the only one to terminate it. Marie didn’t think he would just let her free if she asked. She had to think of some other way.

  Marie got up from the bed to go get a tissue. Walking across her bedroom, she thought of how badly her heart ached. No man had ever hurt her so badly…

  Well, hell.

  She froze inches from the tissue box as the idea screamed through her mind. She had the perfect way out of her contract with Nate.

  ****

  After Nate left Marie’s apartment, he didn’t go see any other women like he told her he would. Instead, he took some time to simply think about Marie and everything that had happened that night at her apartment. He knew he should tell her that he had feelings for her but he hadn’t been able to work up the nerve yet. It had torn him up inside when he had seen her so upset, which was something he wasn’t used to.

  Telling her of his feelings wasn’t going to be easy. This was all unknown territory for him and he wasn’t exactly sure how he should proceed. After seeing Marie’s tears, he knew he had to do something to ease her pain. It was so strange to him to care about a person so much, to have genuine concern for their feelings. In the past he never gave a thought about how a human felt, only how they could make his body feel pleasure.

  Of course, no human had moved him like Marie. He didn’t want to be with any other woman, ever. The only woman he wanted was Marie. He knew for a fact that she wasn’t sleeping with anyone else, just him. And he liked the idea of being the only one in her bed. He never wanted another man to touch her. She was his.

  His thoughts stunned him. Never in his existence had he considered having just one woman, one lover. He swallowed hard, dumbfounded.

  He was the devil, banished from heaven by God Himself, and he was in love. His heart raced and there was a pit in his stomach. He felt an inexplicable urgency to get everything straightened out with Marie
. Right away.

  Or rather, once she’d had her time to herself. He would go to her the following night. He would tell her exactly how he felt, how he didn’t want any other woman but her. He would tell her he was terminating all the other contracts he had, including hers. He didn’t want her to be with him because of an obligation, he wanted her to be with him because she wanted to be.

  He wanted to tell her that he would never have another woman as long as she existed. She would be all he ever needed.

  He wanted her body and her soul…but most of all he wanted her heart.

  Chapter Ten

  Marie was washing her dishes from dinner when Nate suddenly appeared in her kitchen. Part of her wasn’t surprised to see him again after what happened yesterday. She had asked him to leave before he got what he’d come for. She still owed him a night according to the contract. But Marie was actually glad he returned so soon. She had been practicing what she was going to say to Nate all day. The previous night had only confirmed to her the sooner she was free from Nate the better. Once free, she would be able to get on with her life and forget about him.

  Well, at least she could try.

  Marie turned to look at Nate. He was dressed all in black from his button down shirt and jeans to the fedora he wore on his head tonight. Marie never really liked it when he wore that hat. She always thought it was a shame to cover up his beautiful hair. The hat usually didn’t stay on long though since they always ended up naked soon after he arrived. Regardless, he was handsome as always. It was going to be difficult never seeing him again after getting out of their contract. She would miss him terribly.

  “I have to talk to you,” they both said at the same time. They exchanged nervous, strained laughter. There was a tension in the air they both noticed but neither mentioned.

  “You go first,” Nate told her.

  “Are you sure? You can go first.”

  Nate shook his head. “No, you go ahead.”

  “Okay,” Marie said with a small shrug. “Why don’t we go sit down in the living room?”

  She led Nate into the living room and sat at one end of the baby blue sofa. Nate sat at the other and turned to face her. There was an awkward silence between them.

  “Okay, Marie, what do you want to tell me?” Nate asked breaking the silence. “I can tell there’s something bothering you.”

  Marie nodded. “You’re right, there is. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I want out of our contract.” She looked at Nate, and saw the stunned expression on his face. He didn’t make any attempt to speak so she continued. “When we met at the bar, when you explained everything to me, I know you said that you were the one who would terminate our contract, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.” He took off his hat, placing it on the floor next to him and running his fingers through his hair.

  Marie watched him, trying to gauge his reaction. He didn’t seem angry, just really surprised. She decided it was safe to continue.

  “Okay, that’s what I thought I remembered you telling me. But I also remember something else you told me. You said that if you hurt me at any time, our contract would be void. So now I’m asking you to release me. You hurt me, Nate.” Marie had to swallow to fight back the tears that threatened to escape from her eyes.

  He looked like he had been punched in the stomach.

  “What?” he asked, leaning in closer. “When did I ever hurt you?”

  Now he looked upset. She didn’t want to make him angry. She didn’t like the glowing red eyes and the evil voice he had used with her once before.

  Despite her fear, she pressed on. “Well, let me explain, okay? The thing is every time you have come to me has been amazing, it really has been. You are the most incredible lover any woman can want.”

  “And the problem is…?”

  “The problem is that I knew from the beginning that you didn’t want a relationship with me. You were very clear about that. You only wanted me for sex. Nothing else. But somehow as time passed I realized that I did have feelings for you…I do have feelings for you.” She looked down at her hands that were in her lap so she wouldn’t have to look at Nate.

  “What are you trying to tell me?” Nate asked.

  “I want to tell you I …” When she looked into his eyes she could feel herself losing her nerve to tell him how she felt.

  “You what?”

  Marie swallowed against the lump in her overly dry throat and looked right at him. “Nate, I love you,” Marie whispered so the words were barely audible. She drew a breath to compose herself before she started speaking again. “Your being with all those other women really hurts. It breaks my heart that I’m not enough for you, that you need others besides me. Every day it kills me that I’m here by myself just waiting for you to show up and spend a few hours with me. I just can’t take it anymore, Nate. I can’t keep having my heart broken every day. That’s why I want you to let me out of our contract. I need you to let me go so I can try to forget about you and get on with my life.”

  The entire time she spoke he had held onto her hands. He still held them just as tight with no sign of letting her go. Her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so nervous, not even on the night she signed the contract with him.

  “Oh, Marie,” Nate said back in a voice just as quiet as hers. He brought Marie’s hands up to his lips and gently kissed them. “I had no idea you felt this way…and you’re right about what I said that night in the bar. If I hurt you, I’m sorry. I never meant to.”

  He moved Marie’s hands so they were both open, palms facing upwards. Out of nowhere a folded piece of paper appeared. “This is the contract we both signed,” he told her. Nate took it from her hands and opened it so she could see the document and both their signatures on the bottom. He crumbled it up into a ball. “Consider yourself free from our contract.” As he said the words the paper disintegrated in the palm of his hand. The contract was gone, vanished.

  Instead of feeling relief, she was nearly overwhelmed by sadness. Now she was never going to see Nate again. They had nothing connecting them anymore. The contract was gone and her heart hurt even more than before.

  “Thank you, Nate,” Marie whispered as she tucked several strands of her hair behind one of her ears. The silent tears still continued to roll down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the backs of her hands.

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “But before I go, would it be all right if I told you why I came here tonight? There really is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  He seemed almost nervous, which was totally out of character for him. She couldn’t think of any reason he would be nervous in front of her. Curiosity quickly overcame common sense.

  “Yeah, sure, of course Nate. What is it?”

  “When I told you about how many women I have contracts with, I could tell you were upset. I’ve noticed how you’ve been acting differently towards me. Yesterday you were able to hide your thoughts from me when I tried to look into your mind, but I was able to sense your jealousy.” He paused, appearing to consider his words. “The truth is I’ve had more lovers than I can count. And I’m not telling you this to upset you, I just want you to understand that I’ve never wanted to be with just one woman before. Sex has always been about sex and no commitment. But everything changed when I met you.”

  Marie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He had never given her any indication that he felt that way at all. “What about all the other women? I mean, what about yesterday? You said you had more women to see last night, that’s why you had to leave.”

  “Yeah, that probably didn’t sound too good yesterday,” Nate admitted. “I thought about you a lot last night. When I left here I didn’t go see anyone else. I didn’t want to. All I did was think about what I could do to make things right. I felt terrible that you were so upset yesterday. You have to know this is all new for me. I’ve never cared about anyone before, ever. So last night I decided to l
et all the other women go. I actually spent the entire day today visiting all the other women and releasing them from their obligations to me.”

  Marie sank onto her sofa, amazed with Nate’s confession. She had been so jealous of him going with other women and he was letting them all go. She never dreamed he would do something like this. “You really voided all of them?”

  Her heart raced as he moved over on the sofa to sit closer to her. He reached up and touched her face, softly stroking her cheek. She trembled at his gentle touch on her skin.

  “All of them. I only want one woman,” he told her. He reached down and took her hands in his again. “I only want you Marie. I love you.”

  Marie didn’t say anything—she couldn’t. It was wonderful to hear the words out loud that she had only heard him say in her dreams. A slow, steady stream of tears trickled down her cheek. All she could do was sit and stare at her hands in his.

  He loved her.

  “No, no, don’t cry again,” Nate begged.

  Marie laughed and wiped her cheeks. “It’s okay. I’m surprised is all. I had no idea you felt this way about me. I mean, even though you told me from the beginning you didn’t want a relationship I still hoped…but when you talked about other women, I couldn’t handle it. I wanted to be enough for you. I told myself so many times not to let myself fall in love with you, but I couldn’t stop it. I can’t help myself when it comes to you.”

  Marie leaned over to him and touched his cheek. She could feel the rough stubble under her fingertips. Nate reached over and scooped her up, sitting her sideways on his lap as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Marie put her arm around his neck, her fingers playing with his hair.

  “I can’t believe how lucky I am that you even want anything to do with me. Most women are scared to death of me.”

  “You’ve made me feel a lot of things, but I’ve never felt scared. Well,” she quickly amended, “maybe you did scare me a little that first night in the bar. And I wasn’t crazy about the whole glowing red eyes thing, but it doesn’t matter to me who you are; I want you to know that. I don’t care. All I know is I love you.”