“The definition of torture is ‘the infliction of intense pain,’” I told him stiffly. “A Demon voluntarily suffering through my antics isn’t torture on his part—it’s tolerance.”
“Unbelievable,” he griped to himself, closing his eyes while rubbing his injured head. Another string of odorless smoke flowed away from his lips. “I willingly let this girl torture me and she still isn’t satisfied.”
I wanted to respond to that. Sadly, I couldn’t find the will to when all I wanted to do at that moment was to rip my skin off. With my feet unexpectedly feeling itchy as well, I disregarded the existence of Eclipse for a distracted second. I took off my heels and relieved the itch on each foot. Too exhausted to wear my heels, I looked up at him while standing there barefooted.
Eclipse still had his eyes closed, rubbing his head in pain. When he opened them, he stared forward at the point where I was once standing. Perplexity met his eyes before he lowered his gaze five inches and gaped at me in confusion. A disbelieving grin took over his face. That jerk was in no way shy about making fun of something I had always felt self-conscious about.
“Whoa, where did five inches of you go?” he asked without filter, staring down at me in surprise. “Why are you suddenly a leprechaun?”
A leprechaun?!
Two pink circles embellished my cheeks. I held on tightly to my heels, debating about whether or not I should smack him with it. People rarely saw me standing without my heels. When these rare instances occurred, I always found myself feeling extremely insecure.
“I’m . . . I’m not that short,” I responded quietly, feeling like a midget while standing next to his tall frame.
He smiled teasingly, noting the blushes that found a home on my cheeks. “I could put you in my pocket, Teacup. I think that proves how adorably small and delicate you are.”
“Te-Teacup?” I spluttered, offended by the labeling. My immaturity and offended ego got the best of me, so much so that I went crazy with my next words. “You chain-smoking jerk. You dare call me a ‘Teacup’ when you’re like a frigging assh—” I stopped, tripping over my words. I wanted to call him an “asshole,” but I didn’t want that atrocious and dirty word to come out of my mouth. Instead, I settled for, “Ashtray!”
A quizzical brow went up as a fog of smoke curled around me.
“Ashtray?” he inquired.
“A-s-s-h-o-l-e,” I said as my nice code word for him into what his nickname truly meant. It sounded silly, but I had to admit, with all the chain-smoking he did, “Ashtray” was very fitting as well.
“Ashtray,” Eclipse echoed, faking a hurt tone in his voice. He playfully placed a hand to his “wounded” heart while looking at me like I was the most adorable thing on earth. “Your words are like knives, Teacup.”
“Stop giving me bad grades, stop making me crave sweets, and stop torturing me,” I commanded, no longer appreciating the tangents. I didn’t have time to be made fun of. I only had time to stop him from screwing up my life.
Upon hearing my demands, he yielded with the tangents as well. “All I need is your soul and I’ll make everything better.”
“Haven’t we established that there’s no way you’re getting my soul?”
“Then I trust we’ve established that there’s no way I’m stopping until you do?”
I glowered at him. We had reached another impasse, and once again, I found myself backed into a corner with no means of defending myself. I had other torturous things planned for him today, but everything seemed futile at this point. I could cause him pain and annoyance, but what was the point if he was merely tolerating all of it?
The war I waged hadn’t even begun, and it appeared that I had already lost. My pride had never been more wounded. All I could do at that instant was glare and hope that he would keel over from the severity of my gaze.
“I’m going to go clean myself up,” he told me once he saw the venom in my eyes. He let out a long sigh. There was a tinge of regret in his eyes. If I didn’t know he was a Demon, I would have mistaken that glint as actual remorse.
“I’ll keep trying to make it up to you tonight,” he assured before flicking his cigarette away. He inclined his head at me, gifting me with another one of his irresistible smiles. “I’ll see you tonight, Teacup.”
And just like all of his dramatic exits, Eclipse disappeared, leaving me by myself.
Wonderful, I thought sullenly. After a whole day of me screwing him over, at the end of this shenanigan, I was the one who was screwed over when everything came full circle. While he was probably showering and getting rid of the itching powder, I had another hour of work left before I could relieve myself of the goddamn powder from Hell.
Great.
Just frigging great.
It was only when I dejectedly scratched my neck, admitting defeat to myself that I could never win against the Demon of Lust, that it occurred to me there was something else I hadn’t touched on: Eclipse’s strengths.
I gasped to myself.
Why didn’t I think of this before?
Eclipse's very strength was his sexuality, which happened to be his weakness as well. He was the single most sexually charged male I had ever laid eyes on. The energy that rolled off him was so intense that I could even feel it in the marrow of my bones. He was so sexually charged and the ironic thing was that he couldn’t release any of it.
If he had sex with me, then I would die.
If I died, then he would never get my soul.
And Eclipse would never let me die—at least not at this stage. Since he wouldn’t let me die, then it was safe to say that he would avoid having sex with me until I agreed to be a Demon. The light bulb in my head grew brighter. And what better way to torture the Demon of Lust than dangle something in front of him that he could never have?
I smiled to myself.
The war I nearly surrendered was back in full speed. Only this time, I wasn’t going to go after his physical state. I was going after his mental state—his self-control. I was going to torture him by seducing him and taunting him with something that he couldn’t have.
And judging by how much he wanted my soul, how much he wanted me, and how adamant he was that I be kept alive, then in this new war, I was betting that I’d win.
"There is no rule that says good will always conquer over evil.”
12: Nosebleed
I took a tentative step into my apartment and poked my head into the living room to make sure that Eclipse was there. Instead of finding him sitting all regally on a chair with a cigarette between his lips, he was actually running around the kitchen, cooking what suspiciously smelled like . . . barbequed beef, barbequed pork, and scrambled eggs?
“Hey! Hey!” I blurted out, momentarily forgetting about my plan to destroy him. I was too afraid of what he was up to in my kitchen. “What are you doing?”
I scrambled behind the island that separated the living room from the kitchen. I leaned my arms over the counter and had to stand on my tiptoes to have a better view of what he was doing.
“Making you dinner,” he replied charmingly. His long black sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, provocatively revealing sexy arm muscles and a new platinum Rolex watch. His black tie was undone and he couldn’t have looked more like an irresistible house husband who was making dinner in the hopes of getting back in his wife’s good graces.
Suppressing thoughts of how domestically harmless he appeared, I gave him a blank stare. I didn’t trust his motives. “Did I request that you make me dinner?”
“No, I insist on making you dinner,” he said with easy charisma.
A dry laugh issued from my mouth. “Insist on making me dinner, huh? Just like you insisted on barging in on my once peaceful life and ruining everything?”
“Teacup,” he began, scooping rice out of the rice cooker and putting it on a plate, “you have to understand that what’s happening to you is just business. It’s nothing personal.”
It took all my willpower to not
grab the vase beside me and chuck it at him.
“How could torturing me not be considered personal?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Because as a Demon, it is my business and ultimate duty to acquire the commodity that I seek—your soul being my prized possession.” He flashed me a smile, proudly picking up the plate of rice and heading over to the dinner table. “But business aside, I’ve taken quite a liking to you, Gracie. For tonight, it’s no longer business. I’m not going to be any less attentive when it comes to doting on you and endeavoring to get on your good side.” He gave me a brighter smile before sliding an arm around my waist. He herded me in the direction of the dinner table. It was overflowing with everything I could possibly want to eat for dinner. “You’ve been lusting after some nicely cooked barbequed pork, beef, scrambled eggs, and other little goodies, so I’ve decided to give you what you crave—at absolutely no cost.”
“Did you spike it with some of that demonic cocaine to triple the calories or something?” I asked wryly, wriggling myself out of his grasp.
“On the contrary,” he replied with ease, taking no offense to my actions. He allowed me to slip free from his hold. “This has absolutely no calories. It is a guilt-free dinner.”
I had to use every ounce of control at my disposal to not ravage the delicious looking food in front of me. I wanted the food, but I wanted to defeat Eclipse more.
My gaze on him was firm and unyielding. “I’m not done with my quest for revenge.”
“To be perfectly honest, Gracie,” he prompted with a sigh, obviously tired of my belief that I could actually do anything to get back at him, “what exactly do you think you can do to torture me?” He assessed my petite frame and held back a smile. “You can hit me, smack me, or punch me, but you know it’s not going to do much good. There’s only so much a human can do to a Demon. I’m afraid to say that I think you’ve met your quota.”
That was my competitive cue.
Game on.
I had no idea what I was doing. I was wearing my trench coat and with easy grace, I took it off and allowed the white fabric to glide seductively down to my feet. With my skin growing hot, I unclipped the diamond clip from my hair and allowed my wavy curls to cascade past my bare shoulders. I was still wearing my strapless pink empire dress that stopped at my thighs. I wouldn’t normally consider it to be a provocative dress. However, when I gathered my long black hair and placed it over one shoulder, I knew the amount of skin displayed from my shoulder alone would be enough to drive Eclipse insane. The sight of an inexperienced virgin trying to woo the Demon of Lust was not something one would see everyday. What male in their right mind would not find this to be a turn on?
“What are you doing, Gracie?” Eclipse asked, his typically cool façade unraveling at the vision of me in such a provocative manner.
He was staring at me like I was a succulent treat that he couldn’t wait to get his hands on. From the way his muscles were bunching up, I suspected that the Demon of Lust within him was fighting to come out. To the same degree, the apparent frustration within him was clear. He was doing everything he could to stay in control, to keep himself from lunging at me and doing what came naturally.
“Nothing,” I murmured, approaching him as my big brown eyes gazed into his with innocence.
As I stepped forward, something incredible happened: the great and powerful Demon of Lust . . . took a step back.
It astounded me to see the control dissipate out of Eclipse’s eyes. This in itself made me feel incredible and powerful. With every advancing step I took, he took his own step of retreat. Though his actions were prey-like, his expression was nothing short of predatory.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” he said through clenched teeth. For the first time, true anger lined his voice as he continued to retreat.
I was unfazed by the admonishing tone in his voice. I continued to follow him with my heels clicking in the tense silence. “So?”
“So stop it,” he gritted out with savage, frustrated eyes. He circled around the couch, keeping close to the walls of my living room and keeping a hefty distance between us. “If I sleep with you now, you’ll die.”
“But you won’t,” I supplied knowingly.
He was no longer retreating. He was simply walking in a circle now—a slow and deliberate circle around the apartment while I followed closely behind.
“How do you know I won’t sleep with you?” he countered.
I assessed the muscles straining in his body and the misery marked on his face. “If you planned on it, then you would’ve taken me as soon as I took my coat off—or as soon as you met me that first night.”
A dangerous smile crossed his lips. “Tempting me of all people isn’t the smartest thing to do, Gracie. I’m not a Demon known for his chastity.” His eyes darkened ominously. “Now, stop it. You’re pissing me off.”
“Then stop making me accident-prone, stop messing around with my calorie intake, and stop giving me bad grades.”
Fury morphed onto his features. He glared at me and stopped in his tracks. “You’re risking life and death just to get me to stop messing with your stupid grades?”
He grew angrier.
Then, before I could even blink an eye, he sped towards me, efficiently devouring the air between us. He was suddenly standing in front of me, shocking me so much with his abrupt proximity that I froze completely.
“You think this is torture?” he prompted irately, scaring all the fibers that made me human. The ferocity of his reaction left me stunned with fear. “How do you think your life will play out if it gets out that you were the six-year-old child who murdered her own family?”
My terrified eyes broadened at the prospect.
He went on, showing me exactly why he was such a powerful Demon, and why—despite his obvious liking to me—he wasn’t the Demon to piss off.
“Do you think your grades would matter then? Do you think your acquaintances will want to be near you after that? No one will want anything to do with you—they wouldn’t even want to be around you. You thought it was bad when everyone stared at you in class? When your pompous little professor embarrassed you and put you on the spot?” His eyes turned cold, and I could feel the chills slide down my spine. “How do you think life is going to play out for you if everyone finds out about your fucked up past? If the media gets hold of your true identity? If those religious freaks find out what the child-murderer looks like now? And when all of that comes to pass—when you’re neck-deep in that type of misery—would you think then that getting bad grades, tripping every now and then, and getting fat would measure up to the type of torture I could actually bestow upon you?”
I blinked at him, my heart hammering with unrivaled terror. I had no idea how to respond.
Upon seeing the fear in my eyes and taking note of my defeated posture, the severity in Eclipse’s eyes cooled. He did not want to scare me, but he wasn’t going to back down if pushed past his own limits.
“Do not tempt me again,” he growled with finality before moving away from me. He stormed into the hall where he marched into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The apartment shook from the aftershock of his strength. The next thing I heard was the water running, and I imagined he was showering with cold water because all I could hear was a string of curses about how “fucking cold” the “fucking water” was.
Beyond shocked at how angry Eclipse was, I went back to my room, completely taken aback by how the wheel of fortune came back at full reversal and knocked me out with its anger.
Well, that plan backfired, I gloomily thought long moments later.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat in my room, turning over the pages of the scene that took place in my living room. I couldn’t believe how in a matter of seconds, Eclipse went from being a charming Demon to a no-nonsense Alpha Demon. I wanted to hate him because as a human being, it was in my nature to want to blame others for my flaws. At the same time, as an evolved human who had been conditi
oned by the environment around her to know better, I reflected on all that I did and eventually concluded (despite my own resentment) that it was slightly my fault that he was pushed over the edge.
What he was doing to me was messed up, yes, but I got him back by screwing around with him all day. If all of that wasn’t enough, I took the low blow route and went after his sexual prowess because I knew he couldn’t have sex with me (or else he’d kill me and apparently he was adamant on not doing so). I pushed him to a corner and he attacked back—hard. It was a screwed up fight, and I hated that its origin traced back to me.
I cursed under my breath, bitter at how I was too politically correct at times. Unfortunately for my pride, I knew what I had to do. I was a sadistic and disturbed person, but I was also considerate and fair. I could admit when I was wrong.
“Eclipse?” I whispered tentatively. I stepped out of my bedroom and into the hall where I found him back in the kitchen, scooping a batch of warm rice from the rice cooker. He was dressed in the same outfit he wore earlier. Only this time, his hair was wet from his shower and parts of his smooth skin were still misty from the water. With his lips holding onto his cigarette, he looked as refreshed, cool, and collected as ever.
“Yes, Gracie?” he responded evenly, his voice leaving no trace of anger. He looked completely serene, like he was already over what had just happened.
Whether he was over it or not, I still felt the need to apologize. If not for my own peace of mind, then for safety reasons—in case the Demon deemed me to be too annoying to be allowed to live any longer.
“I shouldn’t have used sex as a weapon,” I told him at once, stepping closer to the kitchen island. My voice was quiet while my fingers nervously fidgeted with one another.
He spared a glance at me. Interest flickered in his gaze. He didn’t say anything and merely listened to me as I went on.
“That was really messed up of me. It was a low blow because I knew you couldn’t do anything about it. I shouldn’t have gone there—”