The Devil's Love

Tempt the Devil: Chapter 16: Sarah

I could have recommended to all the women on the earth that kissing the devil was the thing to do. Except that would mean I'd have to share him and I wasn't prepared to do that. So to the women of the earth, I offered my silent apology that I didn't really mean and enjoyed Anton's affection.

Part of me was a little old fashioned in the way that I wasn't ready to fall into bed with someone that I barely knew but I was modern enough to say that one day real soon it was going to happen. And by the way that he looked at me, real soon wasn't soon enough.

The rational side of me was working overtime. I'd known him for like five seconds and I still didn't really know him. But that's what dating was for, getting to know a person. I had a month, well less than a month really. We had to know each other enough that when the wedding was over, he would want to stick around.

I could make that happen.

Because I didn't have a lounge, we sat on the bed and drank the remainder of the wine bottle. All very casual and nothing sordid whatsoever.

"So have you ever dated a human before?"

"No." he said.

The tone of his voice was a little curious. It was almost like it was a novel concept, one that he liked but was wary of.

"Is there a reason for that?"

"Not really. I don't venture out of my own world much."

"Are you underground or in the center of the earth?"

Anton frowned slightly, his lips twisting.

"Not underground as such. It's probably closer to a parallel universe but still a part of the earth. There is land with trees and a sun, it's red."

"Cool. Would you take me there? Is that allowed?"

"Humans are actually allowed to venture to me and if they can find their way. It's not easy and I keep it that way for a reason. I don't want people searching me out because they think I can solve their problems. Making deals does not solve problems, it just offers an alternative with a hefty price. It's better they don't know about me."

I nodded, agreeing with him completely. There would be so many people that would ask for so much and not realize what they were doing. People would ask for money and if everyone was rich then the value of money would drop. Though I didn't want people to be poor, I didn't like how people went without, how people could be hungry. Yet there were countries with an obesity problem. How does that work?

"Maybe one day I could take you there if you like."

"I would like that very much."

We were leaning against the wall, the bed pushed against it to make as much room as possible. Anton leaned on one side to look at me, his face seemed a little concerned.

"If you could have three wishes without consequence, all of them to be granted. What would they be?"

"You mean ones that you would grant?"

"Me, life, anything." he shrugged.

I thought about it with a lot of seriousness. Everyone would go for the top items like lots of money, a cool car and a big house. They were pretty good things, I could easily go for them but I had to have a good reason for it.

"Okay well, I'd like an endless pit of money so that I could help others. They say that charity begins at home but I see those pictures of people starving. Like really starving with no chance for a soup kitchen. I wouldn't know where to begin." I frowned as I thought about it "Maybe to stop the violence as well. Not just physical violence but emotional as well. Humans really do hate each other, we can be so terrible and not care about it. And I guess for the third I'd like for the planet to stop going down the toilet. For people to take responsibility for their actions."

"You didn't want anything for yourself?"

"What do you mean?" I frowned at Anton "If the world was a happy place and there was no fighting or intolerance then I would be happy. I have my shop, I like my apartment. In terms of materialistic need, I'm covered."

He nodded and leaned back onto the wall, sipping the last of his wine.

"How come no one intervenes with the wrongs in this world?"

"You can't stop them all Sarah, it would be a never ending battle. Humans need to learn to help themselves. They cannot rely on someone to come in and clean up their mess just because it's too hard for them."

I'd had too much wine, I knew that when I sat up from the wall. Worse yet, we were on a subject that was a little prickly.

"But there are children dying from starvation Anton, how can you sit there and say that they need to help themselves?"

"The rules of my kind are strict, we are not to intervene directly. However, we can through indirect ways such as guiding aid workers and filling people with the need to help them through the donation of money. People donate to charity, give to goodwill, soup kitchens, so many things to help those that need it. How could you say that the people that do these things do it of their own intention and not think that maybe there might have been a little push from somewhere else? I understand you feel heartache for those images but this world is in a terrible predicament, so precariously close to overpopulation. We need death and yes I understand that it is not fair but that is life."

I thought about his words, mulling over them in my mind as I leaned against the wall again.

"So you can't help out but you can through other means?"

He grinned slightly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at me. Shifting side on he moved a little closer.

"What are you up to Sarah?"

"I have a question for you and I want you to take it seriously," I said as I sat up on the bed.

Anton raised an eyebrow with a growing smile.

"Alright."

"Would you be upset if I sold all that?"

I gestured to the ridiculous amount of clothes and accessories.

"Well, in a way I suppose I might, however, I know what you are planning and I cannot become angry or resent you for it. All that I ask is that you keep them up until the wedding. After that, you may do as you please. However, I might like to add that if things go past a month, what will you wear when I take you to dinner?"

Damn him, toying with me like that.

"I know what you're thinking." he offered "You can see all that money sitting there, you know that there are women out there that would do anything to get their hands on those items. And with that money you could do so much charity work, couldn't you?"

I nodded, he offered a sympathetic smile. His hand took mine and entwined our fingers together.

"I'm not the kind of person that likes to see such waste, however, if there was a reason that you were left without suitable attire for fine dining then I would have to ensure you were accommodated accordingly. After all, I have to maintain an appearance to those that look upon me. If it so happens that you somehow managed to inadvertently sell all of the items after the month then I, of course, would be forced to ensure you received new items. Perhaps such items might disappear at the end of the season so that you would be in the latest and of course had a good chance to wear the other items. How does that sound?"

"It sounds perfect." I grinned, leaning over to kiss him.