Page 26 of Lust
Why the hell not?I thought petulantly.
“It’s not that,” I said dismissively to tackle the root of the issue. “I-I made some impulsive choices last night that might affect Sara negatively,” I offered vaguely, remembering how she had moaned around my finger. “But if the outcome is something good, can the ends not justify the means?” Why did it feel so damn good if last night was wrong?
He smiled. “Hmm. Your current dilemma reminds me of another story about Asmodeus. Would you like to hear it?” Michael paused meaningfully, searching my face.
I gave nothing away even as my heart started beating erratically.
Yeah, I fucking want to hear it, and he knows it, too.
Over the years, Michael’s stories about Asmodeus sated my curiosity for some untold reason. I had researched this demon. None of the sources I had found matched Michael’s version. Perhaps he simply made these stories up in hopes of showing me the light. He was convinced I’d turn into the embodiment of this demon if I weren’t careful.
Still, how did Michael learn such intimate details that resonated with my life so acutely?
Michael refused to disclose further. He said that the little mystery guaranteed my weekly return for sessions that now cost me four hundred dollars an hour, claiming inflation caused the rate increase.
Fucking asshole.
Despite my irritation, I didn’t protest as he told me yet another story about the demon named Asmodeus.
* * *
Asmodeus rarely showed himself in form and didn’t wreak havoc amongst the mortals through carnage but rather through the power of suggestion. But now, he had fallen in love with a mortal. He was drawn to Sarah like a moth to a flame. The demon strained to hear her voice, yearned to see her at every chance.
But oh, that God, He was as just as He was cruel.
To punish Asmodeus for his follies, God made it so the only women he could touch were the ones to satiate his nefarious desires, never the ones to fill his hollow heart. He was to walk eternity knowing all the pleasures of the body and none about mending his rotten soul.
It infuriated Asmodeus, but there was nothing to be done. Sarah could neither see nor hear the demon. He’d always be a mere feeling to her, watching over her.
All the same, Asmodeus lurked in the shadows to watch his beloved be courted by measly men. When another approached her while she strolled through the gardens, never had Asmodeus’ golden eyes flared so lethally from anger. This fly was going to take away his Sarah.
He, the demon of lust, could bring any woman to their knees. Yet, the only one he loved was immune to his presence.
His broken heart boomed, beating violently at the thought. It ignited the wrath Asmodeus had never known to possess. And driven by his anger, Asmodeus came apart.
Over the next few years, every man to come near Sarah died mercilessly at his hands until seven mysterious deaths surrounded the same woman. Sarah’s reputation was in tatters. Her parents desperately sought to hide evidence that linked their beloved daughter to such atrocious crimes. Still, Sarah wasn’t concerned with her reputation, only with the innocent victims who had met their untimely deaths.
Accusing eyes followed Sarah everywhere she went. She tried to drown out the judgment as she walked through her beloved gardens. But two young women sneered at her retreating body.
“Succubus!”
“Harlot!”
“Murderer!”
Sarah’s chest constricted with pain as she looked up at Heaven, wailing at God. “Why, God? Why does everyone to come near me die such gruesome deaths? Tell me, Merciful God. What is wrong with me?” she sobbed relentlessly.
God didn’t answer. He didn’t have to because she already knew the truth.
Sarah was cursed.
Asmodeus’ amber eyes glowed with sorrow as he watched her. It was the first time in his forsaken eternity to experience such emotion. Desperation rolled off his shoulders from the powerlessness he felt, unable to comfort her. The arrogant demon, who didn’t kneel around the mightiest of all, knelt in front of the woman he loved.
“My dear heart, please don’t cry anymore.” Asmodeus gently stroked Sarah’s cheeks to wipe away the tears, only for his fingers to slip through her skin like hollow nothingness. The moisture remained on her skin, and he cursed at the reminder that he could never touch her.
Sarah jolted at the feel of a lingering coldness on her skin, though she saw no one. She had known something had always lurked in her wake, watching her misery. Swiftly, she closed her eyes, chiding herself for acting like a child who believed in ghosts.
Asmodeus looked longingly at her. He craved to comfort her and vowed to give her the next best thing instead.
