Page 36 of Scent of Desire
“Who are they? What are they doing?” My tone was defensive.
“Your security.” Radcliff sauntered past the landscape of blooms to head back to our ride. “They guard the fields against every type of intruder. Day and night.”
“Really?”
Radcliff’s stare hit mine, and I had my answer. Radcliff never joked.
“The doe can come if she wants. I don’t want anything to happen to her,” I added, running to catch him.
“You’ll do as you please. It’ll be your orders. I have no power overyourfields.”
The way he accentuated the wordyourbloomed my heart. The most magical land was mine.
“You think I should make a list just in case and give it to the guards?” I considered, lifting my head with pride. “I’ll make a list,” I decided with a smile, facing Radcliff’s silence.
My stomach growled and rumbled loudly. Under all this excitement, I had forgotten to eat. “Where are we going now?”
“We’ll stay somewhere private for the night.” By that, he probably meant a villa far away from the city and luxurious enough for Radcliff’s taste.
“I was wondering… perhaps we could grab a bite in the city?” I asked hesitantly, my fingers intertwining together. “I’m starving, and it’d be nice to visit the center.”
“I’m not going into the city.” His tone didn’t leave any room for argument.
His face closed up as the sunset behind him faded away through the valley. I hadn’t said my last word yet. This time, I would be the one testing him. He drew me to the darkness; I’d do the same with the light.
“I understand. I’ll just go alone, then. But I left my phone at the manor, so I won’t be able to contact you.’’ Not that I had his phone number. I sighed dramatically—if I had to play Radcliff’s game, the only way to win was through his possessiveness. “I’ll stay near the lights while walking through the night, and if I’m lost, I’ll just ask someone to help me.”
He didn’t reply, but the way he fired his stare at me was answer enough.
I knew he wouldn’t let me go alone.
Just like I knew I was the more stubborn of us.
“You really had to close down the entire restaurant?” I asked, carrying the paper swan with the rest of my dish inside. “The poor owner couldn’t even put two words together at the end.”
Radcliff had paid to privatize the most exclusive restaurant in Grasse for us to dine alone with no other guests. The owner was reluctant at first, but it took the Devil only thirty seconds for him to change his mind and for us to eat as we pleased in the back of the restaurant like in a glamorous cave.
Radcliff’s lips drew into a sinister line. “Just like you ordered three dishes.”
I laughed as Radcliff and I continued our midnight walk around the center of Grasse. Together, we made the weirdest team. Me, ordering the dishes for an ogre, and the merciless king of hell for a client—whose discontentment would destroy the owner’s career. The poor owner was sweating his guts out, afraid that something would go wrong. And as much as I hated to admit it, it was by far the funniest night I had lived.
“At least I finished two of those dishes.” I showed Radcliff my swan, smelling the delicious odor of truffles. “And I’ll finish the third later tonight.”
Radcliff posed his hand behind my back at the view of a man passing in our dark alley. He was lit up under the streetlights, unlike us. The stranger’s gaze swept over me with a longing smile that faded the moment his eyes rested on Radcliff.
Radcliff’s hand behind my back tensed, and the stranger lowered his eyes to the ground, quickening his steps to get away from us as fast as possible to escape the Devil’s merciless gaze. Even Radcliff’s long black coat’s shadow was frightening on the stones. It made him look supernatural. He could have passed for a dark magician with the hat he wore to probably hide his scar.
I barely saw his scar anymore. It was a part of him, what made him the Devil that aroused me and the phantom that understood me. But the look of the passengers and the workers at the restaurant had been fixed on it with terror. They made him their villain, and the thought of what Radcliff had to go through all these years cracked my heart.
When we stepped out of the narrow street, we arrived at the town center, a blinding light coming from a shop making us stop. Only one window wasn’t closed off, illuminating the whole place.
It displayed the new advertising for Carmin’s No. 27, the perfume that, despite everything, had remained my favorite. A masterpiece. In the picture, a young woman was wearing the fragrance, the world bowing at her feet. Surrounded by gilding, she was the queen of the universe.
I inched closer to the window. There was a huge picture of Christian displaying a wide, white smile, with a heart logo and text written below:
The legend, the great Carmin, was born here, building an empire of excellence in the perfumery world.
At least he isn’t a megalomaniac.I swallowed, my stare stopping at an advertisement of Carmin’s latest male perfume. Adonis was the model for their oceanic fragrance, standing on a yacht with two women almost making out with him. It was oversexualized, selling Adonis as a golden boy even though he was much more than that.
