Savannah
Savannah lifted her gaze, avoiding the others' eyes directed at her. She held herself in place when she met blazing red eyes. The kind that either gave off warmth like a campfire or an inferno that devoured everything in its path.
She stood rigid and blinked twice, wondering how the lighting messed with his eyes that much. Maybe they were a rich brown, and the red hues of the lights made them more prominent.
She breathed slowly through her nose, mind racing as it came to the only thing she could think of.
Contacts.
That was the only explanation she could think of as the seconds ticked by and they hadn't changed back to a brown.
"Can we help you?"
Her head swiveled to the man with light blue eyes that reminded her of a bright sky. He spoke up to be heard over the music.
She was glad it wasn't the man beside him that spoke to her. Whatever it was, every time she stared at him, she felt as if she was being pulled out into a riptide. It was better to leave what she knew was a dead end alone than become a mockery among them when she left by staring at him and turning into a tomato.
Savannah lowered her head and tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down as she second guessed herself. Her gaze flickered to the man who hadn't looked away from her and noticed his eyes divert to her lips. Releasing the hold she had on her lip, she diverted her gaze away.
She cleared her throat, looking back at the man with blazing red eyes. "Um... I hope I'm not interrupting anything-" she glanced down at the table, chiding herself before she turned her gaze back to his- "but you look familiar, and I don't think I've ever seen you around before."
It took everything she had to try and keep her focus on the man in question, but it was hard when all their gazes were focused on her. It didn't help when those red eyes flickered like flames.
By some will, she didn't find those cerulean blue eyes that washed over like spring rain; fresh, calm, and peaceful-everything she wasn't.
God, was she out of her element.
What was she thinking?
Right. She wasn't thinking. That was the problem. Her need for answers probably drove her insane to even think walking up to their table was a good idea.
The man with ocean deep eyes spoke in favor of the man with red eyes. "You're not interrupting anything, darlin. We're new to this town. Just passing through, really."
Savannah slowly turned to the man, loving the way the endearment fell from his lips. Up closer, she could make out the lighter shades in his eyes, giving the feeling of shallow waters that captivated her attention. They stood out against his short chestnut hair. It was the aftermath of whatever her mind thought that pulled her out.
Clearing her throat, Savannah glanced down at the table, took a deep breath, and gathered her bearings.
Turning her attention back to those flaming red eyes, finding one of his eyebrows already raised at her.
The man spoke easily, setting his drink down. There wasn't any noise that could be heard over the music, but it felt as if the motion was a gravel slammed down, giving her the final verdict. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we've ever met before."
Her body slackened, wondering if she had been wrong the whole time. Everything inside her told her that she wasn't wrong. "Did you know someone here? Arielle Cadel?"
"Who?"
"My... my friend. You look like someone I saw watching her funeral from a distance a month ago. If you knew her... well, you didn't have to feel left out. Even if you knew her for only a day she would have wanted you to feel welcomed," she informed him softly.
Nerves struck a cord throughout her and she began to fiddle with her her cross necklace that dangled around her neck.
Her breath caught in her lungs when his eyes seemed to darken a tad. The atmosphere tensed around her, making her glance at the other men briefly.
"That's our brother for you," the ocean eyed man piped up, barely releasing the tension with his light tone. "He's theatrical in going to those, even if he didn't know them. Isn't that right, Sate?"
The man in question, Sate, rolled his eyes, thrumming his fingers on his glass and glared at the man across from him.
Her head whipped between the two, but only one question spilled from her lips. "Sate?"
The man with red eyes turned his attention back to her. His gaze softened ever so slightly, but she still saw the flames that burned bright in the neon lights that danced around them. "It's an unfortunate nickname these boneheads have given me."
He didn't elaborate further, nor give her his name in a way to make her understand the nickname. His gaze reminded her of the reason she stood in front of them while her body buzzed on the inside with an energy that made her want to run the other way. Questions. She had questions that she wanted answers to, and there weren't answers to many of those.
But this one? This one could be answered.
"It's short for Satan."
Savannah's breath hitched at the name. Her eyes widened slightly, frozen and unable look away from his gaze. She was stuck between watching a fire that burned out of reach from harm and a flame that was uncontrollable; seeking to burn everything in its path. It was as if she looked into the pits of Hell itself and he had somehow contained it in himself.
The sound of the club was drowned out. The music became a dull background noise over the blood that rushed past her ears, but she was well aware of the eyes that stared at her.
"Is that a deterrent, darlin?"
Her head whipped back to those ocean blue eyes. She avoided looking at the smirk that hadn't seemed to leave his mouth since the moment they walked in. It drew her in almost as much as his eyes did, begging her to succumb to whatever he wanted.
And God, did she want to. To feel something-anything than the cold, emptiness that was inside her.
Had his name shocked her? She'd be lying if she said no, but it also wasn't her place to judge someone by their name alone. It seemed a little unsettling that his parents had named him after one of the angels that were cast out, but she was taught not to judge those based on what she didn't know. It didn't mean hearing his name made her feel any less uncomfortable, but she pushed that aside as the guilt gnawed at her at conscience.
"A name chosen by your parents shouldn't determine how you should be treated. So, no," she spoke truthfully. Her eyes briefly held Satan's gaze, looking at anything other the men that surrounded the table when it became too much.
"I'm glad to hear that. Names Asmodeus, but you can call me Day."
Savannah's heart sank to the hollow pit in her stomach, yet the small organ in her chest still repeatedly pounded against her rib cage.
It was all a coincidence.
Or their parents had twisted minds.
Honestly, the latter would be better in her opinion. She didn't like coincidences much anymore.
Raising her head slowly, she met Asmodeus's smirking face.
The man next to Satan spoke up, taking a slow sip from the drink in his hand. His posture seeming carefree as the other, yet still rigid. "You can also call him dickhead too." He stood out the most amongst them all. Red hair fell in soft curls around his face, accenting his light green eyes. It reminded her of trees that bloomed to their fullest in spring; full of life and color. It made the freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks stick out more.
"You're just jealous, Beel," Asmodeus threw back, though his eyes barely left hers when he spoke.
"Jealous?" The man, Beel, rolled his eyes, setting his glass down, but didn't take his hand off of it. "Please, don't make me puke."
"Oh, for the love of... Shut up, both of you."
Savannah turned her attention back to Satan. Her mouth clammed shut at the intensity in his eyes that was aimed toward Asmodeus and Beel. He was someone she would actively avoid not to anger if she could, and that meant keeping whatever little peace was left between them all. "I shou-"
"I'm sorry for their... conduct," Satan said, glancing between the two with narrowed eyes. His attention was brought back to her. "As they have tenaciously said, I make appearances when I see them because I feel it is only right to send my regards. I'm also not a crowd person, so I prefer to keep my distance."
He didn't have to explain anything more than not knowing Arielle, everyone had reasons for not going to something or make an appearance. And yet he told her more than she had asked. Savannah didn't know why, but his answer had somehow made a weight settle in the pit of her stomach. Did she wanted Arielle to know him? Something other than always seeming to be there when Savannah needed her.
The questions were on the tip of her tongue, to ask more, but closed her mouth when she couldn't find the right words.
It wasn't her place to ask such things.
How could she find something that wasn't there? A whisper of lost words and feelings that would never exist. That was all Savannah kept trying to grasp-failing and falling at every turn.
Asmodeus stood, offering a hand out to her. "Would you like to dance, darlin? My brothers aren't the best company, and you don't seem to be having a great night." His eyes shined with a bright smile that spread across his face. He didn't seem to ever be without one. Bright, cheerful, with either a streak of flirts or jokes.
Though she didn't know him to know if that was his everyday personality or he had somehow won a bet since the others seem bored or brooding. She just knew it hadn't left Asmodeus's face since she had seen them walk in.
"Oh, no. I don't dance. Not like that, anyways." She declined his request with a shake of her head.
She turned to watch the people on the dance floor. Their bodies pressed together, grinding, running their hands anywhere they seemed to possibly put them made her shudder. It was such an intimate and almost degrading way that did little to her physique.
"We don't have to dance like that." Asmodeus voice came from right beside her ear. His voice had dropped, no longer airy, but matter-of-fact, but still clear over the music that blasted around them.
He couldn't be serious. Not in a club where everyone danced like they were intimate with clothes still on, and yet when she her head turned slightly, meeting those cerulean blue eyes that never wavered from hers with sincerity, she knew.
He didn't care how anyone else would see them.
He was being serious. It almost made her want to laugh with nerves.
It's only a dance... right?
"I-" Savannah glanced from his hand to the dance floor. The music that played was fast and upbeat. It wasn't the type of music she danced to. She didn't know how to. Tonight was only supposed to be a get away with Rachael and Max... and free coffee in the end.
With two choices, either return to her friends or take the hand that was outstretched to her.
One let her return to wallowing in grief.
While the other opened herself to new horizons.
Her gaze swiftly turned to the table where Rachael and Max still sat, staring at her; their quick responses were smiles with nods.
Turning back to Asmodeus, she placed her hand in his, quieting the voice that spoke in her mind about how much she might regret the decision. What would she have to regret anyway? He wasn't asking to sleep with her.
At least not yet, her mind reminded her just as quickly.
There was no harm in a single dance. And besides, she had Rachael and Max that hadn't moved from their spot at the seats they occupied, as if they knew she needed their reassurance just as much she did.
Asmodeus's eyes lit up and he gently squeeze her hand. There was something in the way he gazed at her that would either be her undoing or leave her with the best possible feeling in the world. Both scared her like Armageddon was knocking on her door, yet it felt euphoric. As if she had grown wings that were new and uncomfortable that she didn't know what to do with until she learned how to uncurl and spread them like a bird ready to soar through the sky and clouds on a bright, brisk morning.
Weaving through the crowd, Asmodeus led her away from the intimate hands and bodies that collided like sparks on an flickering flame that tried to consume them whole. Every step had her heart racing, wondering if her choice was the demise for every unfaithful doubt before Asmodeus stopped at an empty spot on the other end of the club, far enough away they wouldn't have to worry about bumping into someone, but she noticed Max and Rachael were still within her sights if she glanced over his shoulder.
It almost felt like a secret hideaway that only they knew about while everyone else went about their carefree night, unaware of their presence. Except it was in a club, with blaring music that was deafening to everyone but them. He had found privacy withing a crowded place, but with enough reassurance that she didn't feel the need to immediately jump ship.
One glance up, those ocean blue eyes had her lost in the depths of waves that churned behind them. She was at a loss on what to do. Any kind of dancing was out of her element unless it involved slow dancing.
Asmodeus placed a hand against her waist, surprising her as she furrowed her brows at him in question. His touch was so light that if she didn't think about it, she wouldn't know his hand was there, but that was the problem. She was all too aware of his presence that loomed over hers.
"Relax, darlin. We're just going to slow dance."
Savannah wasn't sure if that was better or worse. On one hand, she only knew how to slow dance. The other, she was beyond nervous with someone that nearly had all her attention it only fueled the pounding inside her chest and unwarranted questions that would also never get answers.
They had barely moved, and yet she felt like she had danced for hours.
"Sor-"
The apology died off quickly when Asmodeus reached down for her hand, sliding his hand into hers and raising it to the side. "Don't. You did nothing to apologize for."
Savannah rested her hand on his shoulder, feeling the slight tremble in her hand when he pulled her closer, their bodies inches apart.
He began to move to music only he seemed to hear. There was a rhythm to the way he moved, and even though she couldn't hear it, it was easy to follow his lead.
She was all too aware of his body that brushed against hers every so often, making her stare blankly at his chest while heat rushed up her body. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down gently. Her body was racked with nerves having someone as close to her as he was, and it wasn't because she disliked it.
Quite the opposite.
Savannah enjoyed his presence. He hadn't pushed her to dance nor invade the space she knew most men would have. He respected it. Put a boundary between them that wouldn't be crossed. At least he made it seem to be that way. Just as he had asked for the dance.
"You're nervous."
A nervous laugh bubbled up her throat. She quickly clamped down on it, cutting it off, and let it die halfway through. She pressed her lips into a thin line, glancing away at where their conjoined hands.
Asmodeus's grip tightened for the briefest second on her waist, bringing her eyes back up to meet his. "Do I make you nervous?"
Yes.
In more ways than one. She was nervous because she hadn't been with anyone since David. Afraid of how he made her feel with just a glance. And she didn't even want to think of what his touch did to her: alive, weightless, liberated, yet riddled with guilt and sorrow for feeling that way.
"I've just never..."
"Never slow danced?"
Savannah bit down on her lip before releasing it. "Never in a nightclub with a stranger."
"Well, I'm honored to have this dance with you. It's always been something I've wanted to try with a beautiful woman. Unique, outlandish, and truly breathtaking. There's something about doing what others don't have the heart or mind to do that is absolutely invigorating."
Savannah rolled her eyes, turning her head away from him to force the redness from her cheeks. She turned back to face him when she felt the heat lessen in her face. "You must be a natural flirt. You tell all the women that line?"
Her eyebrows ceased together as he gripped her waist tighter. It wasn't tight enough to hurt nor keep her in his hold but enough as a reminder of the flames that flared to life under her skin. He was just as deadly as the waves that could crush her that she saw in his eyes. And she was tempted to dive into them if only to douse the feelings he gave her-quickly.
His hand glided to the small of her back and leaned forward.
His movements sent her heart into a spiral. Her hand slid on instinct to the back of his neck as he leaned her off-axis into a low dip. The breath caught in her lungs as she met his eyes: intense and dark, with churning waters that wouldn't settle. "You tell me. I've never used it on other women, just you."
The world seemed to fade around her at his words, yet shattered just as quickly.
'You're the only woman I want, Savannah.'
Asmodeus brought her back up slowly and rested his hand back on her waist.
Savannah shoved the reminiscence words from her mind. "You don't seem like a hard man to please, though. I'm sure a lot of women have caught your attention."