The Devil's Playthings (7 page)

“Is this…” she asked, as the word couldn’t form in her mouth.

“Yes,” he answered solemnly.

“Eve,” she whispered. “What’s the fruit?” She didn’t ask it, she demanded to know.

He made a clucking sound with his tongue, and slightly shook his head.

“She is so beautiful,” Emma said in a reverent tone. “I need to know. Please tell me.”

He smiled the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen. “I can’t tell you,” he answered. “I can’t tell you the fruit of knowledge. What if you ate it?” He laughed at his own personal joke.

“Can you tell me, then, where I fit in with these women? I’m not beautiful, or womanly, or feminine.”

“You are delicate, and young, and fragile,” he informed her. “And don’t ever feel that you aren’t beautiful, because if you feel like you aren’t beautiful, men will feel the same way. Stand up straight, and be confident, and men will find you more attractive than you can imagine.”

He came to stand behind her, caressed her shoulders, and gently pulled them back. Then his hand moved down her bare chest to cup her small breast, and her body reacted almost violently to his touch. “And you are very feminine.”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t tell you the entire plan,” he countered. “But I can tell you part of it. There is a teacher I want you to seduce. It has to be a scandal, enough to bring him complete humiliation.”

“But, how am I going to do that? I’m an adult, and teachers having affairs with a student isn’t that big a deal anymore.”

“What if you’re 15, and he’s a teacher at a Catholic school,” he wondered aloud. “What if he’s also a priest?”

“But I’m not 15, or Catholic,” she countered.

“You look 15,” he stated, and she knew it was true. “And I am going to enroll you in the Catholic school, as your guardian. I can do whatever I want, remember that.”

“Then why do you even need me?” She wanted to know.

“I can’t interfere with men’s free will,” he informed her. “But men can be influenced. And you are the influence.”

“Why not just get a young girl to do it?”

“Young girls are prone to falling in love. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that from you. You will never trust a man enough to fall in love with him.”

She stared at him blankly, wondering if he was right. Of course he is, she thought to herself. He’s the devil. He stared at her with that beautiful smile again.

“You know I am right,” he punctuated with a nod. “Now, let’s go meet our guests.”

As they approached the door
, he stopped her, and touched her shoulders. She immediately straightened up.

“Remember, you are beautiful, and men will be attracted to you. Every man in that room is going to want you,” he said as he took her hand and led her
toward the sitting room
. All eyes were on her, and she felt thankful for the work
done on
her earlier.

Rosa had helped her choose a youthful yet sophisticated dress, a very appropriate dress for the occasion. It was white silk with spaghetti straps, gathered over the bodice with an A-line skirt down to her knees. She wore with it opened toed white sandals to show her pedicure. She looked almost like the innocent young lady he’d made her out to be.

He introduced her to everyone in the room as his “niece”, the daughter of a cousin who died with his wife in a horrible car accident, and Emma could only stare blankly and nod. It was true after all, her parents had died in a car accident. But neither were his cousin. It didn’t matter though, no one questioned him. Of course no one would question him, he was the supreme liar.

And he was correct when he told her the men would look at her and want her; all of them stared at her with desire in their eyes. All the women looked jealous, and looked at Luc the same way the men were looking at Emma.

She had to admit he looked gorgeous and very desirable. He paired his very stylish and stern dark grey suit with a soft pink shirt open at the colla
r, and it set off the soft tanned
tone of his skin perfectly. She had to look away from him so her eyes did not betray her.

Surely no one would believe this dark exotic man was her cousin, but just as the thought entered her mind she glanced up at him and saw a man who looked
somewhat
like her father when he was younger. Her eyes squinted as she stared at him, but apparently he showed her his little trick earlier so she wouldn’t be so shocked now.

One of the guests at the party happened to have a child Emma’s age enrolled at Lakewood Academy. “It’s an excellent school, and Adrianna is really showing an improvement in her grades. The teachers pay attention to the students and their progress. They even offer one on one tutoring for students who need a little extra help.”

“Oh, I’m sure Emma would thrive in that type of environment,” Luc said smoothly. Even his voice was as she remembered her father’s voice.

“She has had some emotional problems since the accident,” he continued the lie. “She lived with her grandfather and he died recently as well. I am ho
ping to give her some stability;
somewhere she can begin to feel safe.”

“Lakewood is the place for Emma,” the woman assured Luc. She even moved forward to touch his hand. But when she did she involuntarily pulled back, and she didn’t even know why. “Here is the number for the adm
issions
office,” she said and wrote a number down for him
from her cell phone
.

The woman’s husband walked over and placed his hand on her elbow, giving Luc a wide birth. No one in the room was as good looking as Luc, no one dressed as well as him. And she noticed people were at once afraid of him and drawn to him.

“Emma, I believe it’s time for you to go to bed,” Luc said with a mixture of endearment and authority, and she nodded. Some of the women wanted to hug her or kiss her cheeks, and Emma allowed them to do so.

They all cooed over her and offered to take her out shopping or to lunch, or to just talk if she needed to. She even felt a tear falling down her cheek. She escaped hurriedly to her bedroom, and sat on the edge of her bed and cried.

After his guests left he came to her room. He didn’t knock.
He found her asleep on top of her bed, still in her pretty white dress.

He gently removed her shoes and softly kissed her toes.
His hands slowly moved up her calf, to her thigh. His lips followed slowly after, and when his tongue touched her upper thigh under her white dress her body jerked up and her eyes flew open, and she let out a blood curdling scream.

Without thought he knew why, and he moved to lay beside her. “It’s me,” he whispered in her ear as he held her close. “It’s Luc.”

Her eyes were vacant, and her screaming got louder. “It’s me, Emma,” he whispered in her ear as he continued to hold her, even though she fought a
nd hit him.

“Emma, its Luc.” He kissed her neck, below her ear, and suddenly she stopped fighting him. “That’s my beautiful girl,” he whispered, and she became still.

He held on to her through the night and watched her sleep cradled on his chest. He sighed as he brushed at her gorgeous blonde hair. He knew she would be the one to hurt him, and still he couldn’t resist her.

She awoke to the smell of him
, like
wood and rain.
He
smelled like the forest after a summer shower.
And she felt his skin on her cheek, soft and taunt and hard at the same time, like a p
iece of metal wrapped in silk.

“Good morning,
beautiful girl
” he whispered, and kissed her forehead.
“I think today we will take you to the school and get you registered. I can’t wait to see you in your little school girl uniform.”

His voice was a growl, and his lips were hot as they moved down her cheek and to her lips.
Her hand slightly pulled away from his body,
his skin so hot now it nearly burned to touch it.

S
he moved to sit up
, and fear filled her eyes
.
She couldn’t comprehend what was happening to her
. She shivered as she slid off the other side of the bed.
Her hand literally hurt from the heat of his skin.

“Emma,” he said as she hurried to the bathroom. When she returned he was gone.

She didn’t want to go down to breakfast in the dress she wore last night, so she hurriedly changed into her dressing gown and swept down the stairs. Rosa met her at the dining room, and Emma saw only one place setting. “Master won’t be joining you for breakfast, but asks that you are ready to leave by 11 am.”

She had no idea what time it was. She had not seen a clock since she’d been in the apartment. Luc didn’t wear a watch, and neither could she see that anyone on staff did either.

She shrugged as she seated herself, to the right of the head of the table. She ate eggs and bacon and toast, and then Rosa joined her in her room as she readied herse
lf. She wore navy blue slacks with a blazer and a light blue oxford shirt. She also wore flat navy shoes and a soft camel coat. She was glad for the coat when Luc met her
downstairs, winter had arrived in N
ew
Y
ork
C
ity
.

They traveled in the town car to Lakewood Academy, which was in Manhattan. Luc carried a briefcase and wore a smart dove grey suit with a black over coat. And he too
k the appearance from
the evening before, of a Caucasian man in his mid thirties, with a slight receding hair line and a soft middle. She tried not to stare, but couldn’t help it.
He looked so much like her father it made her shiver.

“Ah, Mr. Reinhold, we’ve been expecting you,” the headmaster stated as they entered his office.

Father Thompson was a priest, but he wore dark trousers and a white polo shirt with Lakewood Academy embroidered on the sleeve
and the school’s crest on the chest
.
The man looked much like Mr. Reinhold, receding hairline,
but heavier a
round the middle, with a pasty complexion. Emma did what she did best, sat quietly and watched.

“Father Thompson, I’m so glad we could get a place for young Emma here at Lakewood. She’s been so traumatized, and I’
ve heard that your program is top notch.” He even spoke with a slight New England accent. Emma simply looked at her shoes. “Here is all the paperwork you requested. I’m sure you’ll find it all in order.” Emma could see
a check
o
n top of the stack of papers
. She was sure that was all Luc would need to get her enrolled.

“Yes, I’m sure everything is fine,” he said as he stared at the number on the check and put the rest of the papers in a folder. He didn’t even look at them. “Emma will be in her sophomore year, correct? She will enjoy Father Peter’s class. He teaches religious theology and English to sophomores, and he is everyone’s favorite; students, parents, and staff all adore him.”

Emma said nothing the entire time,
even as
she picked
up 3 blazers, 5 different pairs of khakis
, 3 skirts, and oxfords in white, light blue, and pink at the Academy’s
shop with the card Luc gave her. She needed
a polo in navy, white, and burgundy, and various ties, scarves, and socks
to go with her uniforms
.
She also bought the obligatory gym clothes. She
despised the idea of gym.
She even purchased two pairs of black patent shoes
,
and
a backpack
.

And the secretary helped her with the books she would need, which had to be purchased as well. Before they left she had a schedule, and a student assistant showed Luc and Emma around campus.

When they passed Father Peter’s class Luc stopped her. She stared in the room, and Luc’s hand lightly moved up her back to her neck.
She knew he was the one.
Luc didn’t have to say anything.