Page 56 of Midnight with the Devil

“Very well, you seductive bastard, do what you want tonight. Right now I want to dance,” she teased.

He placed one hand on her lower back, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on to him. Their bodies were pressed flush to each other, and despite the lust racing through his veins that demanded he lay her flat and take her here, he wanted to dance too. She closed her eyes, and they started to slow dance. He’d never understood until tonight why anyone would want to dance this way.

The breeze moved the blossoms and made them whisper, and the wood creaked as the branches swayed. Distant birds sang as twilight fell, and they danced beneath it all. His throat tightened as he realized the scents in the air were heavier than usual, that the sounds were clearer and the heat of Diana’s body was warmer. He’d never been so aware of himself physically before. Dancing this close, this slow was too intimate. He felt vulnerable.

A tear escaped his eye, and he shakily rubbed it away, stunned. He shouldn’t be feeling like this. Had something in him weakened? Was that why he had been unable to fight off the croucher demons? He’d failed for the first time in his existence to destroy rogue demons—and it had been because this human was making him soft. Too damned soft.

He broke away from Diana and muttered an apology, then cursed himself silently. The devil didn’t apologize. The devil wasn’t sorry…but he was.

“Lucien?” She whispered his name in concern.

“I’m…sorry,” he muttered, and in a blink they were back in her apartment, and in another flash he was gone.

Lucien had vanished again.Diana collapsed on her couch, and Seth curled up beside her, purring loudly.

“What the hell am I doing?” she whispered as she scratched at Seth’s ears. He half-closed his eyes with pleasure. This was nuts. She was in love with Lucien. Stupid, bad idea as it was, it was too late. She loved him. Not the devil part of him, but the other part, the man who loved concerts by candlelight in ancient Jordanian cities and dancing beneath wisteria blooms in Japan. She loved the angel with the missing wings and awful scars.

“Seth, I’m so screwed.” She set the cat on the floor, grabbed her car keys from the table, and headed outside.

She drove straight to Amara’s bookshop and was relieved to see her friend selling a few books to a woman. Diana waited for the woman to finish paying before she rushed over and hugged Amara.

“Oh dear. More tea, then?” Amara chuckled gently.

“I swear I’m not pathetic, but it’s just…I need to talk to somebody.”

Amara nodded. “I understand. I’ll put the kettle on, and we’ll talk.”

As they sat down, teacups in hand, Diana confessed, “I’m in love with him.”

“Him? You mean…” Her dark brows winged up in surprise.

“Yeah.Him.”

Amara was silent for a long moment. “Does he know your feelings?”

“I don’t think so. Each time things seem to get…emotional, he bails.”

“He does?” With elegant fingers, Amara played with a string of black beads that hung around her neck, and Diana was strangely comforted by the sound of the beads clicking softly against one another. It was a normal sound in a world that had been turned on its head.

“You have two more months owed to him on your contract?”

Diana nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then you must stay the course. If you love him, you love him. Either he will come to see it and appreciate that, or he will not.” Amara reached across the table and gripped one of Diana’s hands. “You can and will survive a broken heart.”

A headache pulsed in Diana’s head just behind her eyes, and she winced, touching her temples.

“You okay?” Amara asked.

“Yeah, I just have a headache.” Diana sipped her tea, hoping to relax. It had to be stress-related.

“Why don’t you go home and rest. You’re seeing him tonight at midnight, yes?”

“That’s the plan,” Diana said, but she honestly was starting to feel ill. Maybe she really did need to rest.

“Go home, child. Call me if you need anything.” Amara slipped her a paper with her number on it.

“Thanks.”

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