Page 45 of Sinful Pride

“Sure, but the next meetings are going to be under your jurisdiction, won’t they? And you have organized this one and made sure everything went smoothly. Well done.”

This time, words failed to come to Tirael. He just nodded. There it was, his refusal to take anything good at face value. The hint of sadness deep in his eyes didn’t help matters.

Be patient, I told myself, observing the situation from near the door to the room. Don’t spook him. Take it slow.

Raphael followed me out after that. Our interaction with Tirael was quick, but quite meaningful. It was a stepping stone towards what we wanted. A foundation. A sign for Tirael that he didn’t need to avoid us anymore.

The next three months passed like that, with us orbiting Tirael until he accepted us back into his space. There was still hurt in his eyes, sadness, feelings we put there with our inconsideration. I could admit to myself I was playing with him before, as I played with all of my marks. Why would I care what happened to them? Adults playing at sex or BDSM were responsible for their own actions and their own feelings. How could I have known I would come to regret being so shallow in this one particular case?

As far as I was concerned, Tirael should hate us, but the fool of an angel was extremely forgiving. And I could see, as several months passed, he didn’t blame us two anymore. But that only meant that he thought the entire fault for the fiasco of our relationship laid solely on his shoulders. I needed to break that martyr mentality he had, preferably by breaking his skin. The urge t to take my whip to him again was strong. I had to force my spiraling thoughts away from that particular subject, as I knew we were quite a way away from any activities of this magnitude. Fortunately, I had more scheming to occupy myself.

Raphael and I decided Phase Three was a go.

Chapter 16

Tirael

It all started with strawberries. I was rifling through papers on my desk when Raphael strode in and set a small basket in front of me.

“Good morning?” I asked hesitantly.

“Hello, Tirael,” Raphael said with a sunny smile. “I saw those magnificent specimens when I was in Chile and thought about you.”

I peered into the basket and saw white strawberries. White! They were pale, with red dots where the seeds were and a smattering of green leaves at the top.

“I hope you enjoy them,” Raphael said, already heading towards the door of the Embassy.

I could only manage to shout, “Have a good day!” as he vanished from sight.

Curiously, I picked one of the strawberries, sniffed it, poked my tongue out for a lick, and not seeing anything weird except the color of the berry, I took a bite. It was softer than I was used to, but still quite juicy and sweet. The strawberry melted in my mouth. There was a funny phrase about angels frolicking on your tongue; I was experiencing something akin to this saying right now.

Raphael was thinking about me, a tiny voice inside me said, but I squashed it firmly. This was just a fluke, a friend—no, a colleague—giving me something he associated with me. There was nothing more to it.

Except the gifts kept showing up.

The next time it was Beelzebub who came bearing a gift. The demon cornered me after one of the Archangels and Archdemons meetings at the Embassy. When I was twirling a pen in my hand, he caught my wrist and I froze. Oh, no, was I annoying him with my antics? Was the motion too distracting? It certainly was for many of the angels I worked with. I stared at the top of my desk, ashamed.

“I have something better for you to play with,” Beelzebub said, all pleased with himself. He took away the pen from my hand and switched it with something metal. I jerked my gaze to my hand, and I saw a curious little metal device on my palm. There was a circle, and attached to it was a spider-like shape made of oxidized metal. The colors shifted with different hues depending on the angle from which you looked at it. I touched it hesitantly with my other hand, and the device moved; the spider legs spun around the central part.

“Boy, you need to visit Earth more if you’re not familiar with those. The trend for them had already passed, but I’m still quite fond of this particular one.”

“What is this?” I dared to ask.

“A fidget spinner,” Beelzebub said, as if that explained anything. At my blank stare, he chuckled and continued. “It’s a toy designed for keeping your fingers occupied. You can channel your restless energy or nervousness into it. The motion helps you concentrate.”

That made me look up.

“How can it help me concentrate? Isn’t it distracting? Wouldn’t it distract me from my work? That’s what they always said… that I should sit still to concentrate better. That I was doing myself and everyone around me a disservice by being so fidgety…”

Beelzebub sat the pen in his hand down, the sound ominous.

“Who are they? Tell me,” he asked, in such a cold tone it made a shiver go down my spine.

“It’s nothing,” I said quickly. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Tell me who they are, who dared to make you so nervous about a normal, simple thing like this, and I will eat them.”

I wouldn’t wish Beelzebub’s wrath upon my worst enemy, so I did not tell him about Laniel or any of the other angels who bullied me into being a perfect little worker bee.

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