He stepped closer, his whole body relaxed and ready, like he knew he had won the fight, but his eyes… His eyes begged me to go through with it. If I didn’t know any different, I would say he was at odds with himself about the whole situation. It was cute actually. The fact that he’d come in here all hard and was now going to leave here all soft because of me made me smile.
I didn't mean to show him my amusement, but I couldn’t help myself. I laughed in his face at his offer. He was shocked for a second. I could tell from his glare that he was prepared for me to try to fight my way out of this, but I didn’t think that was necessary.
No. I had always planned on someone trying to pull something like this on me. Was I expecting a go to Hell proposition? No. I was thinking more along the lines of trying to take things over, or propositioning me for sex. Those were normal kinds of business things, but in this case, the options I had in place still worked. Lucky me.
He stepped up in front of me, rage vibrating off him as he hovered over me, trying to intimidate me again.
“If you think this is just a game, I can assure you, I am not playing one. I have the power to pull the contract, no matter if Delany likes you or if you are buddy-buddy with Balizar. I can end this with just one stroke of my pen.”
I put my finger on his chest, skimming down slowly as I watched his eyes flutter involuntarily. I placed my palm on his lower stomach and then shoved him away roughly.
“It's true, you do have that power, but I also have power.” I saw him start to build his around himself, expecting me to use my magical power against him, but I waved him off. “No, no, no. I was not talking about that kind of power.”
I turned my back to him and walked to the wall at the end of the conference room. I leaned against one of the sides as I looked back at him with a smile, then took my fist and tapped twice, then paused and then tapped four times. The panel underneath slid down, revealing a recording machine. I pressed the release button, and a USB drive popped out. I removed it, then turned and walked slowly back to him.
Since my skirt was ripped, I could feel my whole pussy on display, and instead of making me feel weak and uncovered, I felt strong and powerful in my nakedness. Impenetrable.
He looked at the USB stick, then back at me, still trying to figure out what I was saying. It was my turn to flash a wolfish grin in his direction.
“Oh, this?” I waved the flash drive in front of his face. “This is a recording of everything we just did.”
His eyes narrowed. “You know that’s illegal right? It won’t stand up in the court of law.” He still didn’t get it, did he?
I laughed, making sure it had a cruel edge to it as I smirked and pointed to myself. “I’m a demon, baby. That sign in sheet in the lobby has invisible ink that states you are consenting to being recorded for everyone’s safety. Plus if I really wanted to, I could have the whole courtroom influenced my way. I could show it and still have them throw it out, but the jury would still have the influence of it.” I took a few steps closer to him.
“Let me play out a scenario for you.” I turned around and used my magic of Envy to create an illusion of a courtroom. The picture before us shimmered, so we could see that I was on one side, and he was on the other. My lawyer was playing the tape of him grabbing my head and forcefully pushing his cock past my lips. By the way it looked on tape, with no sound, people could get the wrong impression. The video stopped before we got any further, and shock and disgust were reflected on every juror’s face, while I shook like a leaf at the horror.
I flashed it forward for him. His job black-balled him because of the scandal. All of his accounts and those of his brothers were frozen, even the offshore ones, because I knew where all Others who had extra-long lives hid their money. He was rotting in a jail cell as his brothers all started to lose their minds without him.
I added that last part for flair because I sensed he cared deeply for his brothers and if anything could change his mind, it would be their welfare. I turned around and narrated the scene to him in a whisper as he watched the very realistic illusion in front of us with disdain. The distraction worked. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and shoved him over to the portal, planning to push him through.
His arms snapped out, holding onto the edges as he turned to yell at me over his shoulder, “If I go through, I’m just going to come back. But when I do, I will ruin you. I will do everything in my power to take you out of the game.”
Something inside of me snapped, and I pushed forward and kissed him. I smashed my lips to his, drinking in his hate and anger, but also his lust and want. He wanted me desperately, but he also hated me. I could deal with that. Hate and love were so close after all.
I swiped my tongue out, and he moaned as I licked my way inside of his mouth, clashing our teeth and tongues like we wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.
He couldn’t let go of the edges of the portal, but I could feel he wanted to kiss me back. He wanted to soak into that kiss and keep it going until the fire we’d started between us roared into an engulfing inferno.
I broke apart first, biting his bottom lip as I pulled away. “You are more than welcome to try. In fact, I would like you to try, because then we can have more and more meetings like this. Us fighting, making deals, then fucking each other’s brains out. I will take hate-fucking because I can turn it into something outstanding and transcendent. We can fight until the end of time. That sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
He didn’t say a word, his body tense and trembling from his effort to hold on to the edges of the portal, but sooner or later, he would need to fall in. He knew it and I knew it. I let my hand cup his face, and I gave him the smallest kiss on his cheek. It was sweet and kind and loving, all the things that I was so clearly not, but I tried. I tried for him.
He gulped as he looked back at me, appreciation and respect shining through. “I will find a way out of this, and when I do, you better be ready for me and my brothers to come for you. We won’t give up. We can’t now… now…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He just released his hold of the portal voluntarily and left me hanging, which enraged and excited me.
I watched as he fell into the dunes of the Sands of Time and got excited when I saw his head pop up out of the sand before the portal closed fully.
His last words still rang in my ears like a lover’s promise, but I didn’t know if that was just wishful thinking or not. I didn’t know if it was more of a warning or a promise, but I was now on guard, and I wouldn’t let this happen again.
Chapter 17
Thisidiothadwhatwas coming to him. I’d been sitting at the poker table, minding my own business, winning like always, when this idiot sat down and started spouting off about the world coming to an end. Yada yada yada. If the world was coming to an end, I would know. Death knows everything.
I’d tried to ignore him—I was usually quite good at ignoring everything and everyone. Like right now, I was ignoring the transparent sickly-looking female spirit right next to me as I put out my cigarette in the ashtray on the poker table.
She had long, feathered hair, wore rose-colored glasses and jean bell bottoms. She was trying to talk to people about how war was wrong and was killing the human spirit. Then there was the old man in a mafia suit who kept walking the casino floor, looking for his granddaughter. The only reason I knew he was dead was the gunshot wound in his head. There were many other spirits that met their end here and stuck around, waiting for something. And I ignored them all.
So it was easy to say that I was good at ignoring people. My brothers would argue I was too good at it, especially when it came to the living, but it was necessary. Only my brothers could hang with me, and that was only because they each had their own afflictions too. No one wanted death as a friend.
