Page 9 of Stranger Danger

I think the reason you've never thought about marriage...is because you're looking for something in particular. And it's something that none of the men around you has.

No, no, no.

I realize all too late that this is why I'm feeling on edge. I should've remembered that the Devil has a silver tongue, and I just don't have enough experience to stand against the perfidiously sweet guile of his words.

So tell me, Sheena.

I bite my lip hard, but I know I'm just delaying the inevitable.

What exactly are you looking for in a man?

"I've never...I swear I've never thought of it—-"

Then think about it now.

Shameful heat coils between my legs at what he's asking of me, and I want to cry and cry out at the feel of it.

There's no need to be shy.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but it's no use. The Devil has me under a spell, and I can all too easily imagine him crooning the words out even with the computerized tone of his voice.

It will be just like our little secret.

I squirm and turn this way and that. I cross and uncross my legs. But everything I do is just painfully futile—-

No one else will have to know.

And so the heat pulsing between my folds turns silken even when it's against my will.

Why do I have this feeling...that you've already figured things out?

"I d-don't know what you're talking about—-"

You don't truly think I'd buy that, do you?

I wish I could convince myself that this is simply the Devil being masterfully manipulative. That this is merely a textbook case of Stockholm Syndrome at work. But how can I even think that when I haven't even been abducted?

Just tell me what I want to know.

His words feel like a trap I can't escape from, and all I can do is shake my head.

Tell me what you're looking for in a man.

"I really don't know—-"

How surprisingly stubborn you are.

"Please." I don't even know what I'm begging the Devil for, but one thing I'm sure of is that he's the one who has the upper hand between us.

Please what?

"Please j-just stop this."

But of course the Devil doesn't heed this, since tormenting me is all he seems to live for.

If you want to put a stop to this, then answer my question.

"I can't."

---