The Darkest Joy (4 page)

“Thank you,” he whispered. His fingers trailed down her cheeks and across her lips. “I’ll see you again soon.”

Bliss watched as he walked away, the hem of his coat ruffled slightly by the breeze.
Wow,
she thought, getting into her car. That was all her mind could muster.

Chapter Three

The bell over the door of the diner gave a cheerful jingle to announce someone had entered. Sandy looked up from her magazine, and her jaw dropped in astonishment. There stood a man as gorgeous as a
McHottie
from her favorite television show or a model from those sexy men’s magazines. His blond hair seemed to catch the dull fluorescent light of the diner, and his teeth, when he smiled, made her want to lick them.
Damn, this is the night for hot guys. Bliss thinks she caught a hot one. She should see this big boy,
Sandy thought as she fluffed her bleached blonde hair.

“Well how are you tonight?” The sugary sweet tone of Sandy’s Southern drawl would put most people’s teeth on edge.

The man instead smiled even brighter. “I am absolutely fabulous now I found this place.”

“You had a long trip?” Sandy asked as he slid into the seat by the counter. “Coffee?”

“You could say that I had a long trip.” He grinned and winked. “Oh, coffee would be perfect.”

Jesus H. Malloy, he rolls his
r
s
,
Sandy thought as she poured him a cup.
If he
knew how wet his voice was making me . . .
She blushed at where her mind was going.

“So what brings you
to
little
ol
’ Merry?” Sandy cooed.

“Oh, I came here with a friend. You might have seen him, dark hair, green eyes, and a long black coat.” The man gave her a cocky grin. “It’s kind of his
trademark, that
coat.”

“Oh yeah, I saw him. He was in here a little while ago with Bliss.”

“Hmm, Bliss you say. Who is this?” The man took a sip of his coffee casually.

“Oh, she’s a little thing that works over at the hospital, thinks she is high-and-mighty because she works there,” Sandy said airily. She leaned on the counter and whispered conspiratorially, “But if you ask me, she
ain’t
that much.”

“I see. Do they come in here often?” He smiled and winked.

“Bliss is in here all the time, but this is the first time I ever saw her in here or with him. I don’t think she’s ever had a man,” Sandy announced. “The girl wouldn’t know what to do with one.”

“But you do?” the man asked smoothly.

Sandy felt a curl of desire inside her. “You should stick around and find out.”

“Maybe I will do just that.” The man looked at her. His startling blue eyes seemed to see deep inside her soul. “Has anyone ever told you that you should be a model?”

“Really?” Sandy giggled prettily. “Well, you know, I used to be in those
kiddie
pageants, and I was Miss Teen Queen eighty-three.”

“And no more? I would think you had some nationals under your belt. Like Miss Universe or something along those lines.”

Finally someone who sees my potential!
Sandy licked her lips and put her hands on her hips. His questions about Bliss and her new beau were all but forgotten. “Why the questions about my modeling career? I don’t even know your name.”

He took a silver briefcase off the floor and rested it on the counter.
Man, did
he have that when he came in?
Sandy wondered, but she figured that his good looks just kept her from noticing what he had in his hands.

“You can just call me B. Everyone does.” The case opened with a soft click, and he pulled out some papers. “I’d like to offer you a deal, a contract of sorts that will make your wildest dreams come true.”

“You mean you can still get me my modeling career?” Sandy asked in breathless excitement.
No more working in a deadbeat diner! No more cleaning grease traps!

“I can get you anything you want. All you have to do is sign this. But let’s talk about it a little, okay?” B handed her the contract, and on the top, in very formal embossed letters, she read
Belial Agency
written in gold.

“By the way, do you know what shift Bliss works at the hospital? B asked mildly. “Just in case
Caim
needs to know.”

“It depends, but one of the desk nurses will know if he goes by and asks,” Sandy replied as she trained her focus on the contract. “Hey, this contract says I have to sign in my blood. That is kind of gross.”

“It’s just a formality, my dear,” B supplied. “Let’s talk about how famous I am going to make you first.”

While he talked, Sandy giggled, her focus on her new career and not the smell of sulfur that was coming off the papers she held in her hands.

* * * *

Caim
had phased out of the diner parking lot and directly to New York. Manhattan had its usual crowd on the street, but he walked through the lonely night aimlessly. Nothing he passed or even the glitz of Times Square called his interest like it used to. The only thing that was in his mind and that encompassed his every thought was Bliss. He felt a tremor run through him as he remembered the kiss they had shared. Her taste, her lips were more desirable than he had possibly dreamt. If he were still an angel in heaven, he would have gladly given up eternity to touch her and have her love. Now that he lived in a realm that no one ever wanted to see, the choice was much easier.

The eye-catching glamour of Times Square passed into silent streets. He walked by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where columns stood silently guarding the structure.
I
wonder if Bliss has ever seen New York.
It was one thought that passed though his head. He didn’t know how long he wandered, but the bells of St. Patrick’s Cathedral finally brought him out of his musing. He looked down at his feet, where his shoes had begun to sizzle. Even the sidewalk in front of the church was consecrated, but he didn’t step away, preferring the pain of holy ground to being without it. He looked up at the church that rose majestically into the sky. It reached up to heaven where he couldn’t, and its bells encouraged people to enter where he could not tread. Instead he could only stand and stare up at its glorious artistry and feel such an ache and loss over what he had become, it was almost unbearable.

“Missing your past?” The snide remark caused
Caim
to grit his teeth. “He doesn’t want you back you
now,
and I’m enjoying watching you sizzle like bacon.”

“What do you want, Belial? Did you have to go on a food run or something, secretary?”
Caim
asked nonchalantly.

Belial snarled in his face as he turned and stepped off the curb. “One of these days, I am going to kill you for that remark.”

“Yes, and one of these days, you will work yourself up to middle management. Again, what do you want, gopher?”

“I followed your trail, and I decided to stop in and say hello.” Belial’s face changed from anger to the pristine beauty.

“Oh, how sweet, now you’re stalking me. What did I do to deserve that?”
Caim
said, mocking him.

“Stalking is one of our favorite evils that humans perform. But no, I was wondering why you were in a little rinky-dink town called Merry? As far as I know, we have no contracts there.”

Caim
felt his heart drop when Belial mentioned Merry. Not from worry for himself, but for Bliss. “I was looking for new prospects. You know small towns like that always have a few people who would sell their souls for a break.”

“Why,
Caim
, I didn’t know you were trying to move up in the demon ranks. Could it be you have given up the notion of getting back in the so-called Almighty’s good graces?” Belial had a shocked expression on his face. It was a fake, of course, which made
Caim
want to smash it off his face.

“I’m a demon now. I have come to terms with that.”
Caim
almost growled.

“Oh goody, goody!” Belial clapped his hands. “
Samael
will be thrilled to hear it!”

“Can you be any
more gay
?”

Belial laughed and then turned serious. “That, dear boy, is called sarcasm. I know you are up to something, and I will find out what.”

“It’s your time to waste, Belial,”
Caim
replied. “Now go away. Your stench is gagging the cockroaches.”

“Fuck off!” Belial gave him the finger before he faded out of sight.

“Right back at you,”
Caim
muttered as he continued his walk. He would have to be more careful now that Belial was sniffing around. The best thing would be to never see Bliss again. But that would leave an ache in his chest that would not go away, even in an eternity. He couldn’t wait another thousand years to feel like he did now. That little clause had been the only thing that kept him going on for all those endless years. It was the one thing that would save him from an endless eternity in hell. The church bells chimed again and filled his heart with hope and the clear, clean sound. It was like the ones he had left were telling him not to give up. He wouldn’t.

* * * *

“Oh my god!” Amber’s eyes were wide as saucers when Bliss related the night’s events. “Okay, tell me about the kiss again. On a scale of one to ten, how was it?”

“Off the freaking scale!” Bliss leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “I mean, if kisses were addictive, I’d be hooked right now. What am I saying? I am hooked!”

It was true after that one kiss. Bliss drove home in her little blue car in a state of euphoria. With her lips still tingling and his scent in her nose, she got dressed for bed in a haze and practically floated into bed. Her body tingled with unspent excitement and sexual need after only one kiss. The next day she had gotten up and cleaned her entire house while singing “You Are My Candy Girl.”
Oh
yeah, I’m hooked.

Amber laughed out loud. “You are such a slut!”

“Hey, it was technically our first date.” Bliss grinned.

“Oh, I retract the slut thing then. When are you going to see him again?”

Amber posed the question, and the intercom interrupted their conversation. It called for Bliss to come down to the ER. She picked up her tools of the trade and left her office with Amber hot on her trail.

“So?” Amber asked again.

“So what?” Bliss pretended to be clueless.

“Oh, don’t make me park outside your house with binoculars. You know what I mean. When will you see him again?”

“I guess when I see him. It’s not like we exchanged phone numbers or anything. Oh my God, I feel like a kid.” Bliss slapped her fingers against her head.

“Ah, young love,” Amber said, teasing her. The two friends separated where the corridor to the ER and another section of the hospital met. Amber smacked Bliss on the bottom, and she let out a tiny squeal. “Bye, babe. Don’t work too hard.”

“Later, gator,” Bliss called. She reached out and hit the automatic buzzer that would open the door to the emergency room.

The hustle and controlled chaos of the emergency room hit her in a rush. The noise was a low hum of murmured voices with the occasional child’s crying or irate patient’s loud voice thrown in. She walked to the main desk to get the information on where she should go.

“Hey, Leslie, where do you guys need me?” Bliss asked the older nurse sitting behind the desk.

The older lady looked up with a smile on her face, but her eyes darted from Bliss’s and stared off behind her. Bliss turned around to see what caught the woman’s attention, and her heart began to pound in her chest.
Caim
, with the gorgeous green stare that had haunted her dreams last night, was now walking toward her. She watched a smile cross
Caim’s
face when he saw her. It lit his face up with brilliance.