The Devil's Lover: The Wish (4 page)

"Hey, hold on to me, I'm about to take
off," he instructed when he felt her arms suddenly leave his waist.
She wrapped her arms around him again and clung to his back, trying
not to press her chest against him too hard.

†††††

Why am I here? Chevalier asked himself
as she dragged him into the amusement park. Are you a man, or
aren't you? Why are you always being manipulated by this girl? Why
can't you reject any of her requests like she was any other
female?

"Hana!" Kali called out when she
spotted her friend in the middle of a crowd. "Over
here!"

Hana made her way through the mass of
people toward them.

"Chevalier, this is my good friend,
Hana. You two met at the dance," Kali pushed Chevalier toward Hana.
"Do your best to show her a good time.”

Chevalier wanted to ask if she was
being serious, but it wouldn’t do any good. "What will you be doing
by yourself? Come with us.”

"No, no, it’s fine. I wouldn’t want to
get in the way of you guys getting to know each other,” Kali
politely refused. "I have other arrangements.”

"What other arrangements?" Chevalier
asked, his voice taking on the tone of an interrogator.

"I have…” she should think of
something fast, "...a date,”

"A date?" Chevalier raised his brow.
"Well, excuse us for wasting your time. Let’s go…”

He tried to remember her
name.

"Hana,” she reminded him.

"Yes, let’s go.”

"What do I do now?" Kali asked herself
after the two headed off on their own. She could head back to the
apartment, but since she was already at the amusement park, it
wouldn't hurt to go on a couple of rides before getting back to
studying.

"Are you here by yourself?” she heard
a familiar voice. Kali turned to face the girls from her
class.

"So what if I am?"

"I have to compliment you. You’re very
brave to come to an amusement park alone,” Cyn said. Her two
well-dressed friends giggled to one another. "By the way, aren't
you supposed to be at work? What is that place called
again?"

"I forget. I think she works at some
convenience store,” one of her friends said.

"If you guys have nothing else to say
other than trying to put me down, I'm going,” Kali walked past
them.

"Why does a girl like her go to our
school, anyways?” she heard Cyn saying as she walked
away.

She waited patiently in line for the
roller coaster. Everyone in line seemed to have a partner but her.
When it was her turn, she boarded the ride and secured her seat
belt. It did feel kind of strange with an empty seat next to her.
Who in the world goes to an amusement park by
themselves?

Maybe she should have gone
home.

She felt a little better when someone
plopped into the empty seat. She was expecting him to secure his
own seat belt, but he didn’t. Didn't he know that's the first thing
he was supposed to do on a ride like this?

"You should fasten your…” she pointed
at the seat belt. She blinked as she realized it was the new
transfer student from her class. No, he wasn't a transfer student.
She just never paid attention to him.
      

She gasped in mortification,
remembering the scene only two nights ago. She became so flustered
that she thought she was going to have a nosebleed. The first
thought that jumped into her head was to get out of there, but when
she unfastened her seat beat and stood up, she was stopped by the
staff.

"Please stay in your seat, the ride
will start in less than a minute," he said as he fastened both of
their seat belts.

"What a coincidence," he smiled at
her. His attitude was completely different than the other night. It
was much more relaxed and not as formal. She wondered what had
caused the change. Maybe he wasn’t comfortable at formal events,
either. Whatever the reason, he was clearly not the man he had been
the other night.

Kali lowered her head and avoided eye
contact the best she could. If she met his eyes again, she would be
embarrassed enough to burst into flames.

"Are you afraid?” he asked as the
roller coaster began to climb the first incline.

"No,” she kept her answer short. Her
hands began to tremble as she looked down at the ground. They were
so high up now. Every second, they were further away from the
ground, and it made her dizzy. Perhaps she had always been afraid
of heights, and just didn't know it.

Reaching the summit, the roller
coaster plunged down. Kali squeezed her eyes shut. The drop was so
high, she felt like her body was free-falling. She grabbed Lucien's
hand and squeezed it as hard as she could.

This free-falling feeling was…
familiar to her. She had felt this before, not so long ago. This
was the same exact feeling from her dream, when she’d fallen off
the cliff during the mudslide. She had heard of dreams replicating
reality, but is there such thing as reality copying a
dream?

When the ride braked to a full stop,
she had the urge to throw up. Her stomach couldn't handle the fast
motion and sudden brake. She quickly unfastened her seat belt,
wobbling toward the exit.

"It was too intense for you," he said
as he sat down next to her on the park bench. "Are you
alright?"

“
I'm fine.”

Lucien handed Kali an ice cream cone
he had bought from the ice cream stall nearby. As she accepted the
treat, she realized she didn't feel so embarrassed about the
situation anymore. She has quickly come to terms that it had only
been an accident. Although she highly doubted that she would ever
feel at ease around him.

†††††

Lucifer sat on a building adjacent to
Chevalier's apartment. He had watched Kali since her return from
the park. There was a stoic expression on his face, making it
impossible to read his emotions. Soren, his servant and shadow, was
suspicious of his master’s true intentions. 

"Humans are such simple creatures,"
Lucifer commented wryly. "They will do exactly what you want them
to do, without so much a clue that they are being
manipulated.”

Soren agreed. "Then why are you
wasting your time with them?"

"And why not, when they are so
entertaining?” his eyes haven't left the girl. "An eternity is such
a long time to be subjected to boredom.”

"If that is what you wish,” Soren
bowed his head obediently, quieting his objections.

†††††

Chevalier returned home late. Throwing
his jacket on the sofa, he headed toward the bedroom. Kali was
already asleep, and she looked so peaceful he didn't want to wake
her up. He wanted to ask her about the man she had been with at the
park today, but that could wait until tomorrow. At least he thought
it could wait until tomorrow.

Chevalier traced the outline of her
lips with the tip of his finger…her full and pretty lips. Her long
and dark lashes were pressed against her coral cheeks.

He held a lock of her hair in his hand
and gently kissed it. He quietly lied down on the bed and gathered
her tiny body into his arms. Her breathing was warm and soft
against his neck.

“
If only you would hurry
and grow up,” he whispered into her ear. "If not, I wouldn't mind
if you would stay like this forever.”

"Chevalier?” she said
sleepily.

"Yes," he replied.

"Could you close the door? The light
from the hallway woke me up.”

"You don't mind me staying here for
the night?” he asked, since she hadn’t shoved him out the door
yet.

"That reminds me," she yawned, "get
out of my room, while you're at it.”

"So..,” he deducted, "if I had not
reminded you, you would have let me stay?"

"Probably, I don't know, let me
sleep.”

"Kali, have you ever once seen me as a
man?"

"Tomorrow, Chevalier," she sunk her
face deeper into the pillow.

"Don't change the subject," he rolled
her over and pinned her shoulders down until their eyes were
leveled. "I asked if you've ever seen me as a man.”

Her eyes wandered to different corners
of the room, as if she were seeking the answer he wanted. When it
took her longer than it should have to answer the question, he
became frustrated. Her silence only confirmed his fears.

The expression on his face suddenly
changed. "I'll show you how wrong you are," he said and began to
unbutton his shirt. She gasped, not knowing how to react. His
golden stare chased away the sleepiness from her eyes.

He leaned forward, pinning down her
shoulders once again. He locked their lips together in an
aggressive kiss. It was unfair of her to think of him any less than
a man, when any bastard could just walk into her life and be seen
as one. He regretted that he had given her too much attention and
affection that she had grossly misinterpreted as something other
than the love between a man and a woman. He could not stand the
unfairness of it all!

Her hands pushed against his bare,
lean chest to create distant between them. "What the hell are you
doing?” she demanded. "Just what are you trying to
prove?”

When her protest didn’t do any good,
she grabbed a fistful of his hair.

"That really only turns me on even
more, you know?” he said with a voice so strange, lustful and
angry. The expression on his face was so sensual that she felt
herself growing uncontrollably flustered. He dipped to land gentle
kisses on her neck while his other hand caressed her full
breast.

She began to laugh. "Stop," she said
with a half laughing voice. "Please, you're tickling
me!"

He raised his head and stared at her
laughing face.

"Be serious,” he demanded.

"I can't…" she giggled, "It tickles so
much.”

He tried to continue but her laughter
soured his mood. With an aggravated grunt, he pushed himself off
the bed and left the room, closing the door behind him. She knew he
was still standing on the other side long after the door was
closed.

Kali placed her hand on her forehead
and sighed. It was not like she didn't understand his frustration.
She had known him as long as she could remember. How could she not
know his wants and needs?

Chevalier had always been popular with
women. However, he never associated with them longer than three
weeks. If she gave in to him, if she started something with him…
how long would it lasts? A month? Two months?

She wanted to be ignorance to his
feelings forever. At least then she could stay beside him. As
friends, even if they fought, they would still be friends. As
lovers, if they got into a fight, it would mean a break up. And
rarely any broken up couples could truly be friends
again.

She knew she was being selfish. It
wasn’t that she didn't have confidence in him. She simply didn't
have confident in herself. Kali doubted she could be interesting
enough to keep a lover interested for very long. To put it plainly,
she fell short of all the beautiful and accomplished women around
him. At least as a friend, he wouldn’t expect as much from her, and
hopefully would keep her around longer.

She felt her eyes drifting closed as
her thoughts turned to sleep.

After Kali had showered and gotten
dressed, she went to the living room. She found Chevalier sitting
on the sofa, his head tipped back on the sofa arm. The dark circles
under his eyes told her he hadn't slept a wink.

“
Let’s go,” she said to
him.

He glanced at her for a moment and
stood up. Grabbing the key to his motorcycle, he headed out the
door. Kali followed him.

Chapter 4: The Devil and
the Knight

“How long do you intend to avoid me?”
Kali asked. She leaned on the sofa where Chevalier was lying again.
“Hey, are you listening to me?” she asked when he didn’t respond.
She lifted up a small part of his sheet to reveal his
face.

“
I’m not avoiding you,” he
mumbled.

"It's not that I don't see you as a
man…”

"Do you think I really want to listen
to this?"

Kali nodded. “Of course I do. It’s
just that I can't see you any other way. You have been my Chevalier
for as long as I could remember. Don't you think that seeing you as
my knight in shining armor is better than viewing you as a
man?"

“
Your Chevalier?” he
laughed. “I haven’t heard that in a long time. It seem like only
yesterday you followed me around like a duckling.”

She laughed at the memory.

His eyes met hers directly. “Kali, may
I kiss you?”

“
What?” her brows knitted
together. She picked up the pillow lying next to her and whapped
him in the face with it. “Are you out of your mind,
Chevalier?”

“
Maybe. I don’t know,” he
held the pillow firmly with his left hand. “I’m asking your
permission this time.”