The ARC Chronicles Collection

Chapter 6

Eyes of the deepest blue regarded her from beneath a mop of brown locks, dishevelled and pushed back from his tanned face. Eva had no reason to, but she found herself memorizing every detail. His slim body, with wide shoulders, was dressed in suit trousers and a pressed shirt, his collar unbuttoned. He was tall, but sitting down, she was not sure just how tall he was. His smile was calm, confident. Eva stared a moment longer, then became painfully aware he was doing the same, since she had not yet responded.

“Hoodoo? Don’t you mean Voodoo?”

His smile broadened. Eva watched his lips, sensuous and inviting. “No, there is a difference. Voodoo is the religion. Hoodoo is the magic. It’s like comparing a belief in God to spoon bending, for lack of a better term.”

“You seem to be an expert on the subject.”

He shrugged, his shirt pulling taut as he did so. “I have lived in the West Indies on and off. It’s hard not to immerse yourself in the culture when you are around it every day.” He held her gaze, smiling, as he signalled to the barman. “Whiskey please, and whatever the lady is having.”

The barman left the blonde to the mercy of the hawk-faced man, who stared at Eva, unblinking, even as Eva watched him speak to the blonde. Eva leaned back. She noted her stranger’s eyes drop to her chest as she did so, and it warmed her. The hawk down the bar had not taken his eyes off the newcomer. He was not watching Eva any more, but his rival. The barman frowned, and reluctantly came to serve them. “Another Passion Plunge?”

her“Please.”

In moments, the barman had made the drinks, and served the glasses. Eva barely noticed. “So what are you doing here?”

“I am just passing through; staying at a hotel nearby and thought I’d visit the oldest bar in Worcester. What’s your story?”

Eva was tempted to tell the man her entire recent history. “Just an after work drink,” she said, instead.

“A Passion Plunge, eh? Why would such a beautiful woman be drinking such a drink? Oh, where are my manners? You don’t even know who I am. My name is Madden Scott.”

Madden Scott. The name sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

“Madden Scott.” Eva repeated the name, savoring how the syllables rolled off her tongue. For some reason the bar had just gotten warmer.

“And you, mysterious woman, do you have a name?”

Eva blushed. She didn’t know whether it was the unusual heat of the bar or the whispered, husky tone of his voice. ”Eva. My name is Eva.”

“Just Eva?”

“Tonight, it is just Eva; let’s leave it at that.”

“A beautiful name it is. It is taken from a Hebrew word meaning ‘mother of life’.”

The knowledge, the insight this man had, ignited a stirring within her. It was a feeling Eva had never felt with Brian more than once. Without conscious thought, she found herself removing her jacket. Madden stood up from his bar stool, took the coat from her, and turned to place it on the back of her barstool. There was an air of mystery about him that held Eva within its grasp.

As he returned to his seat, Eva glanced around the bar. Couples were sitting closer than she remembered seeing when she had come in. Strangers were touching, unabashed, and intimate. Eva shook her head. These were people that, until mere moments ago, had been playing Keno on the television.

“Thank you,” he said before she could question her sanity any further.

He smiled, causing her to shiver with excitement.

“What were we talking about, before I took your coat?”

“You were telling me your name. I am sorry; I could have sworn you told me.”

He reached over and circled the back of her hand with one finger. That simple touch caused an ache of longing within her. “My name is Madden Scott, Eva.”

“Madden Scott.” Eva savored the words rolling off her tongue, and, for some reason, had a sense of déjà vu. “You… you didn’t tell me your name before?”

“You never asked,” Madden purred.

“But I told you mine?”

“Indeed. Long day?”

Eva laughed. “Yes, you could say that. This bar, is it usually like this?”

It made her feel a little self-conscious. She toyed with the buttons on her blouse, suddenly wishing there weren’t quite so many. The hawk-eyed man was still watching Madden, but unconsciously played with the blonde as he did so, his hands moving around her, seemingly of their own volition. It was hard for Eva to concentrate, but she felt something was going on, something not normal.

“I hadn’t noticed.” Madden replied, drawing Eva’s attention back to him once more. The rich timbre of his voice made her want to melt into his arms. In response, she felt a slight throb between her legs. Blood was flowing, in a way Brian had never managed to make her feel, and she knew she wanted this man. It was hard to concentrate; there was a sensual air in the bar. She could hear clothes rustling as they fell to the floor. Somewhere nearby, a woman gasped in pleasure.

“Is it such a sin for people to enjoy themselves?” Madden asked, trailing his hand through her hair and down the side of her neck.

“It is one of the seven deadly sins,” Eva replied, each word faltering as her body began succumbing to the overwhelming atmosphere.

“And… each… sin… has a demon,” Madden said as he kissed her neck, “In the Bible, Asmodeus is Lust. He might be with us in spirit, now.”

Eva moaned. His kisses felt so good. She was scarcely aware of her surroundings and the others that shared the bar with her. She wanted to give in, to open herself to him right then and there. Eva ran her hands through Madden’s hair, pulled him to her, and kissed him deeply, relishing the feeling, as their tongues touched.

andThen years of psychological conditioning took over. “Wait. This is wrong.” Her sudden change confused Madden. Before he could protest, she continued, “No, not here. This is wrong. We have to get out of here.”

Fighting the feelings of lust radiating through her body, Eva pulled herself together long enough to grab her jacket, drag Madden away from the bar, and out into the darkness. Still caught up in the moment, he followed.

The hawk-eyed man watched them cross the room while he toyed with the woman he had chosen in his dance of lust. He realized he had become caught up in the moment, and regretted his momentary lapse of concentration. From across the room, a woman alone smiled at him, oblivious to the carnal riot going on around her.

“You never could concentrate on the task at hand, Asmodeus,” she purred.

He smiled, and continued administering kisses to the blonde. In between kisses, his teeth grew to needle points, and, with a fierce bite, he ripped her throat out. She dropped to the floor, too overcome by lust to have even registered her peril. Nobody in the room noticed.

“All in good time, Belphegor. All in good time.”

Eva, with Madden alongside, walked down the hill towards the convention center. She stopped, turned to him, and said, “What happened just then?”

“I have no idea,” he replied, seemingly disconcerted by what had happened. By the look on his face, still a little in the moment, he grinned. “Fun though.”

Eva smiled in return. She was still attracted to the man, but self-control had overpowered the lust that infused her. “Fun, but looked at in the cold light of day, somewhat unnerving.”

Straightening her clothes, wrapping her arms around herself, she trudged on. “I feel dirty. I want to go back to my hotel, and go to bed.”

“Nightcap?” Madden offered.

This made Eva laugh. “It’s barely eight o clock. Not quite time for a nightcap.”

“Drink, then,” he countered. “Things started off so well. Before it all got weird, they did, at any rate. Just imagine what may still be going on in that bar right now.”

Eva shuddered. “It’s probably harder to imagine something that ‘isn’t’ going on in that bar. I really do need that drink.” Saying nothing more, Eva picked up the pace, Madden right beside her.

Moving with a purpose, they made it to the hotel in minutes. Looking pretty much the same as when Eva left earlier, she noticed a few more businessmen had gravitated to the lobby. Eva marched straight to the bar and signalled the bartender.

“Do you know how to make a Passion Plunge?”

“Sure,” he replied. “You take a nice cold shower. What we got is what you can see here, ma’am.”

Ignoring his rudeness, Eva peered past him to look at what was on the shelf. “Double Jameson’s, straight up.”

“And for you, sir?”

“The same.”

Madden noticed the abrupt nature of the man and bristled at the comments directed to her, and Eva approved. Chivalry was rare in the modern world. Before he could demonstrate his chivalry further, Eva paid the tab. Nothing more was said and the bartender moved off.

Eva raised her glass and Madden touched his glass to hers. “Cheers,” she said, and downed the drink in one swallow. The warmth made her insides glow in response.

Madden sipped his whiskey, placing the glass on the bar. “You should have let me say something to him.”

“Don’t think I didn’t appreciate what you wanted to do. It is just the nature of the place. This hotel is across from a huge convention center; that guy is probably very busy and used to being spoken to with such impatience.”

“Sounds like you know this sort of place fairly well.”

Eva laughed. “Me? No, not at all. I work in a hospital that is more akin to a prison, and I spend my days consumed with working. My nights are… were… taken up with a husband. However, my life is all such a mess that I do not know what I will find when I go back. If I ever go back. Suffice it to say, this is the first night out I have had in years. I am sure it hasn’t been since I was a grad student, probably.”

“What happened, to your husband, I mean?”

Uncertain of how much to tell him, given the fact that Brian was out there, somewhere close, Eva delayed her answer by ordering another whiskey.

“He has had indiscretions, shall we say. He just decided to make a point of them a little too often.”

“And you had enough?”

Eva toyed with the now refilled glass, swirling the amber liquid as she considered her words. “I guess I had had enough a long time ago, and was kidding myself. He was simply the wrong man for me, and despite forgiveness on a number of occasions, he continued to throw his inferiority complex back at me as if I was offering some sort of challenge.”

“Ultimately a challenge doomed to failure.”

“Well yes, since you put it that way. But what do you care? You are just trying to talk yourself into a place to sleep for the night.”

Madden had the grace to blush, but he did not back down. “Is it working?”

It was Eva’s turn to blush. She was not used to a lot of alcohol, and this much whiskey was going straight to her head. “I haven’t decided yet, as presumptuous as you are. What makes you think a bit of whiskey and soft words are going to lead you down that path?”

“I think if you didn’t want my company, we would not even be here now. I think you are upset by this so-called husband, unnerved by the bar, and deserve, if not happiness, then certainly a distraction.”

“And I think there is more to you than you let on, Madden Scott.” She knew she had made her decision. She was not going to lie down for others any more. She was going to reach out and take what Eva deserved. “I think you are right. Will you join me?”

Madden stood and offered her his hand. “I don’t have anywhere I would rather be, at this moment in time.”

“Oh yes you do. You would rather be upstairs, with me.” Eva leaned into him and he kissed her. There was none of the frenzied lust from before, but the warmth of his lips and the touch of his hand as it trailed down her back warmed her nonetheless. Without another word, Eva took his hand, and confident she was going to finally doing something just for herself, led him to the elevator. Inside, Madden kissed her, oblivious of any other occupants. When the bell chimed for their floor, she could barely pull herself from his embrace. The feelings had returned, but this time they were aches of longing. Something special was going to happen to her, and Eva could not wait to grasp it. She pulled Madden through the doorway, into her room, and, as the door slammed behind them, two people were already in the throes of passion.

Soon, two bodies lay replete, exhausted, amidst a ruffled duvet and crumpled sheets. A person walked down the hallway outside, smiling. It was a smile of satisfaction and genuine amusement at how easy mortals were to manipulate. The smile spread across his face, wrinkling the corners of hawk-like eyes.

He entered the elevator where a woman confronted him, her eyebrows arched in query. “Well?”

“Success,” he purred. “As I said, all in good time, Belphegor. You plant a seed and it cannot help but grow. Now, it is your turn.”