Infernal Incarnation: Asmodeus to Ari

Chapter 11

        Still lying in bed, Elias was trying to hold onto the last strings of the delicious dream he was having. The image and sensations of lying in bed next to Serafina, with her looking up at him longingly as she caresses his cheek and bites her lip played across his mind. Trying to hold on as long as possible, trying to stay here in the dream where having her was a possibility, Elias slipped further and further away from his dream state. The awareness of being asleep and being in a dream often betrayed him, ejecting him right when he wanted to stay the most. Yawning deeply, he started stretching to release the stiffness from his muscles that also accompanied his sleep. Elias’s body vibrated as he felt all of his muscles stretch and some of his bones pop.

        Starting to blink slowly, he tried to adjust his eyes to the rays of sunlight that filtered in through the blinds, flooding the room with bright light. Although there would be no returning to the dream world for him right now, he still held onto the residual cozy feeling of his dream. Elias woke up in an exceptionally content mood this morning, until he realized he still had not heard back from Justin about whether or not Ari is his child. It has been three days since the brush had been dropped off at the lab. What in the world is taking so long?!  Annoyed, he pulled out his phone to check to see if he had missed any calls while he slumbered.

        When he found that he had no missed calls from Justin his skin prickled all over with annoyance, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. I’ll just have to call him, myself!  No more waiting around for this plebe to call; I need answers now. While swiftly scrolling through the list of recent calls to find Justin’s contact information, a text message notification banner popped up at the top of the screen. “I’m sorry I can’t answer right now, in a meeting with the general inspector. They came by to make sure that the lab isn’t doing anything untoward, thanks to an anonymous tip they received.”

         Fine! Ugh… I’m starting to wonder… Is he telling the truth? Or is he just - Before Elias could finish his thought, another text popped onto the screen. This time with an image of an official looking man wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard. “I’m not making excuses. I know you are getting impatient, but as I told you, it takes up to two weeks to verify a DNA match.”  Elias didn’t even bother with a response.  Instead opting to roll his head side to side before tossing his phone on the bed and heading toward the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.

        As Elias goes about his morning routine, he starts thinking of ways to inject himself into Ari’s life so he can get to know them a little better. If they would let Serafina close to them, it shouldn’t be too hard for me to get to know them, Elias reasoned. First, I need an excuse to get a meeting with them face to face. Elias padded over into the living room where his laptop was sitting on the glass coffee table. Time to do some recognizance.

        Opening the laptop and doing some quick searches on Ari, Elias swiftly formed a plan.  He would approach Ari as someone who is interested in buying their architecture firm. Since Ari is the CEO, he would have to meet with him, surely. Feeling confident in his plan, Elias went about preparing everything he would need in order to present Ari with an offer. Even if I truly have no intention of buying their firm, this must appear legitimate.

        Meanwhile, two cities away, Ari woke up feeling physically fine but emotionally off. They felt bad about going off on Serafina in the manner that they did. Even if she was overstepping the boundaries Ari had put in place when they began their relationship, as it were. When Serafina and Ari made an agreement to maintain a steady s****l relationship, they had gone over all of the things each of them were comfortable with, what their soft and hard boundaries were and even the types of things they were both wanting to explore together. She was more than aware that going to their apartment uninvited and unannounced was one of Ari’s hard boundaries. Maybe I should call her and apologize for my reaction but reinforce that as one of my boundaries.

        Ari pulled out their phone to call Serafina. The line rang a few times, then went to voicemail. Ari was surprised and confused at the pang of disappointment they felt. Could it be because they felt more for Serafina than just hooking up with her? Ari sat in bed for a few more minutes pondering what they truly felt about Serafina, still caught off guard by the disappointment that she hadn’t answered, when their phone lit up and her smiling face was looking back at them.

            “Hello.” Ari answered simply.

            “Hey, A. Listen, about last night…” Serafina started before getting cut off by Ari.

            “Please, me first?” Ari asked, softening their tone so they could convey tenderness instead of annoyance.

        Serafina was silent for a moment before letting out a breath and replying in a small voice, “Okay, you first.”

            “Look, first I want to apologize for the way I reacted to you being here. I immediately felt ambushed, then got angry because I felt like you were overstepping a boundary you knew was a big deal for me. However, I realize that I overreacted. I shouldn’t have automatically been so aggressive toward you, and I apologize for that.” Ari paused for a moment before adding, “Do you forgive me?”

        Serafina smiled to herself and felt her heart soar when Ari started apologizing instead of berating her again. Thank the fates they aren’t still furious with me for showing up out of the blue…

            “Are you still there?” Ari asked, pulling her out of her thoughts and back to the present moment.

            “Y-yes, I’m here. I’m just surprised, is all.” Serafina bit her lip and considered pressing her luck a little. “Would it be okay if I came over today? I miss you terribly and I’d love the opportunity to make up for just showing up like that.”

        Her voice was silky smooth and a little lower in tone than normal, with just enough rasp to get her underlying point across. Serafina felt the corners of her mouth tug into a sly smile as she spoke, knowing Ari would feel her smile and know her intentions. Serafina closed her eyes and bit her lip as she allowed herself to fantasize about all of the deliciously naughty and depraved things she wanted to do with Ari. She could feel the desire within her rising with every passing millisecond. Suddenly her eyes flashed open and a squeal of pure excitement escaped her when Ari answered.

            “Yes, pet. Come over, I’ll be waiting.”