“Is regular food an actual part of your diet?”
“It’s not mandatory, if that’s what you mean, but I do enjoy it. I’m a spoiled creature and enjoy good food and even better dessert. Once you have your murderous tendencies satisfied, I intend on enjoying you for dessert.”
“How is Gallo doing? And my brother?”
“Belial will take care of your brother, although with those two, I expect there to be bodies along with a few new pet fish for your collection. I have decided one of Gallo’s companions will not be surviving today.”
“Oh?”
“I do not wish to discuss what he wants to do to you.”
Ah. Right. As I hadn’t been born yesterday, I could read between the lines. “He’s keeping company with an asshole who wants to poison me in order to coerce me into marrying him after he kills off his wife. Were you expecting anything different?”
“I was not precisely expecting anything different, but you will be my wife, and I take great offense over what he has planned for my wife.”
Oh, boy. “You don’t get to call me your wife until you get on bent knee with a ring, and even then, there needs to be a wedding,” I reminded him, and as he was being pushy and overprotective, I added, “You will bend your knee in front of witnesses consisting of your more notable demons and devils. My brother is my only family, so he absolutely better be present for the wedding, or I will be very offended. As for the reason your demons and devils need to witness, you have to make it clear that they’ll be making a poor decision should they cross me.”
“I feel strangely cornered yet intrigued and aroused by your disgustingly reasonable requests.”
Aroused? Had the Devil been dropped on his head as a baby repeatedly? After a moment of consideration, I realized he was an idiot who liked when I bossed him around. “Well, you are the Devil, and you have this expectation that people should grovel at your feet because you’re big, bad, and scary. I just find you sexy as hell, so it’s entirely possible I’m too intellectually deficient to be scared of you, so I boss you around instead. Because you have ridiculous expectations, this is attractive to you.”
“You’re too smart to be scared of me, as you have evaluated the situation and have come to the conclusion that I am not a threat to you, thus you have no reason to be scared. I’m very appreciative you find me sexy as hell, as this is a good indication I can pursue being sexy as hell for your enjoyment as soon as we finish with our after-dinner show tonight.”
“I will let you kill the one you don’t like if you let me kill the one I don’t like. Then you can teach me how to best welcome fucking assholes to your dungeons. Hey, how long does it take to make some badass leathers? I bet I’d rock leather.”
“Being the Devil has its perks, and I’m sure I could acquire some leathers for you to wear while you’re educating our newest fucking assholes in our dungeons. What color would you like your leathers to be?”
I pointed at the collar I’d pilfered from his dresser. “It needs to look good with this. I’ve claimed this as mine.”
“I put it there so you could steal it at your leisure. Such a lovely throat deserves to be adorned with jewels. If you had not helped yourself to it, I would have enjoyed pinning you and making you like my adornment of your person.”
Some equations were easier to solve than others, and I liked the Devil’s wicked ways. “I will make sure to leave it out so you are forced to indulge when you’ve been particularly good.”
“I really like reward systems, as I enjoy being rewarded for my behavior.” The Devil smirked, and he stared at something behind me. “Gallo has no idea what we’re discussing, but he recognizes your tone as seductive, and he does not like that at all. He feels quite entitled to your company.”
“How am I doing on the seduction front?”
“I am highly annoyed we have things to do before you can successfully seduce me.”
“Will you at least try to contain yourself, so your succubi don’t whine?”
“No.”
I raised a brow. “No?”
“You deserve my best, so the succubi will just have to whine, as restraining myself means you do not get my best. I’m a perfectionist, my darling, and you’ll just have to get used to it.”
There were worse ways to go, including being poisoned by a fucking asshole. “I’m going to require a full demonstration of your prowess, and what I should look out for if you’re not giving me your best.”
“But I only want to give you my best.”
“You’re going to be stubborn over this, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely. But maybe if you beg me, I’ll make some sacrifices for the sake of tormenting you until you understand the mistakes you’re attempting to make.”
“So, basically, you would be extending your seduction of my person? I am not seeing the problem here. Isn’t more for longer better? You can give me linked demonstrations of your enthusiasm for a full experience.”
“I suppose it isn’t neglectful if I am showcasing the various ways in which lesser men would frustrate you.”
“Exactly.”
“I haven’t even converted you yet, and you’re demonstrating you’re quite capable of being a naughty kitty.”
“I have, through careful consideration of my situation, determined naughty kitties are rewarded.”
“My naughty little kitty is definitely going to be rewarded.”
I purred. “That’s my cue to finish my steak so we can get onto the evening entertainment.”
Sixteen
They believed victory was within their grasp.
When the Devil asked for the bill, the waiter brought back a small dessert box along with the receipt. Curiosity ate away at me, but Lucifer guarded the box with great care, keeping it out of my reach so I couldn’t peek. When the limousine picked us up, the box went with the driver, who promised to guard it.
The Devil toyed with me, and something delicious likely lurked within that box, and after having sampled several of the restaurant’s desserts, I would do a lot of things to gain access to the treat waiting within.
The Devil didn’t have to cheat to lure Gallo and his accomplices to a secondary location. Any other day, I would’ve viewed being taken to a secluded and dark stretch of woods to be creepy at best and downright terrifying at worst. In a way, I almost felt badly for the quartet of idiots following us.
They believed victory was within their grasp.
“They are waiting for us to be distracted before paying us a visit. They are planning to use their poison on us, as they have the antidote and won’t have to worry about me at all within a few hours.” The Devil shook his head, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me closer to him. “Should all go as they plan, you’ll be poisoned, but it will be addressed quickly.”
“Before I get another one of those headaches type of quickly, or I should be bracing for a terrible few hours type of quickly?”
“You will not get another headache from their poison.”
I decided if I wouldn’t be inconvenienced with a headache, I didn’t care if I was poisoned again. Eliminating the main culprit would be sufficient, and if I suffered through some more poisoning, it would be a small price to pay. However, I’d found a very nice silver lining to having been poisoned, one I wanted to experience again. “Can we have a repeat of the part where I got to sit on your lap and use your chest as a pillow without the headache? Being honest, I liked that part.”