"Fuck!"

The woman had died upon arriving to the hospital. She was announced dead ten minutes into the e.r. staff's life-saving measures. Her thoughts had tapered off after one last question of Where are we going?

From my place in the waiting room, I delved into her mind. All I caught was a white sea of calm, until I heard the flat line from the hospital monitor. Then, the white sea vanished, and I saw nothing.

My hesitation had cost her. I had waited for Tristan, when I should have rushed her to the hospital right away.

Around him, I wasn't myself. I acted like a young girl desperate for his attention. Why the hell did had I waited? He had told me he would take care of the demon, and that I should take care of the girl. He was a Djinn, and could handle himself. Obviously, he had done his job, and I had failed to do mine.

Tristan was the paradigm of a distraction. It was possible that distraction was his ultimate purpose. Lillith and Samael still existed, just in a form unknown to the human eye. They could have manipulated my particular Djinn into doing whatever they wished. If so, I wondered what their ultimate goal would be in such a scenario. Veer me off course, mess with me, kill me?

To find out more, or to merely feed my addiction, I planned to stop by Tristan's apartment later. There was also the matter of my sword being in his possession, which was really my main reason for going to his place. Yeah. Yeah, right.

At his door, I hesitated, followed by a strange sensation to leave and never return, sword be damned. I could see myself slipping out of the building, opening the door to my hotel room, and taking a long-needed shower. I would go to bed unburdened. The only regret I would feel would be associated with the loss of my sword. So clear were these images in my mind that I nearly followed through. Yet, a stronger sensation pulled me out of my anti-fantasy and back to Tristan's front door. The cold wood of the door on my fingertips confirmed it was no dream. Being with Tristan was the dream, and I meant to find out how it ended.

My open palm curled into a fist, knocking gently on the door. After a rustling of padded footsteps, the door swung open. Tristan's hair was wet, a towel secured around slim hips, affording me the opportunity to appreciate his form: like his infamous parents, his skin had a stone-like hardness to it, and was just as pale. His paleness didn't turn me off to his perfect gleaming abs, chest, and face. Every inch of him mirrored that of a Roman statue made flesh. I ached to move aside the bothersome towel.

Tristan rudely interrupted my appraisal. "Care to look into my eyes, love? Not that I mind the starin' much. Would just make it easier to talk."

I averted my eyes with some effort. "I came here for my sword."

"Well, I didn't think you came to shower with me." My breath came in at a noticeably swifter pace at his casual remark. He raised his brow. "Come on in."

You can still go to the hotel.

In response to my conscience, I stepped over the threshold of his doorway, essentially telling the voice, Thanks, but no thanks, fucker.

Ah, that word was on the tip of my tongue, with the physical implications of it looming large in my mind. Following Tristan's half-naked body into the drawing room, I knew what I had really come here for.

"You can sit and wait while I get dressed." He cleared his throat quite audibly. "Then I'll fetch your sword."

The heat of my embarrassment bloomed as I realized why he had cleared his throat. Tristan may not have seen my red-colored thoughts, but he could certainly feel the lust. Oh God.

He was being a gentlemen by not mentioning it, and that made me want him even more. Every characteristic he possessed made me want him more.

"I only came here to get my sword," I said.

"All right." Tristan leaned against the door frame leading to his bedroom, ignoring my denial.

"You know, even if you are getting any feelings from me stating otherwise, I don't like you, like that."

"All right."

"It's only a crush, a school girl crush," I lied.

"All right."

"Can you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Saying all right!"

"Well, what do you want me to say?"

"You could tell me what you think about this," I demanded.

He shrugged. "This meaning?"

I pointed at the distance separating our bodies. "Us."

"Oh. To begin with," Tristan dusted imaginary dirt from his shoulder, "you shouldn't deny your feelings for me, because they're the same as mine for you." He ignored my sigh. "Second, no one will ever understand you like I can. We are both beings possessed of great power, wandering the earth, isolated by our differences from the average human. Now, we don't have to be alone anymore. We're alike, you and I."

He paused, gauging my reaction. My heart hammered in my chest, and I wanted to kiss him, emotions I knew he could sense.

"Think about all that, and I'll be right back," he said.

Tristan disappeared into the bedroom. Wait for me! I was half-tempted to call after him. Who was I kidding? Half-tempted? More like 100% tempted. Still, I managed to restrain my desire.

Well, for a few more seconds anyway. After waiting about a minute, I ambled on to the master bedroom. Each step carried me closer to what I wanted, closer to another path I couldn't return from, nor did I want to.

Equivalent to a Peeping-Tom, I poked my head around the corner of Tristan's open bedroom door and wasn't disappointed at all. His back was to me, but that was just fine. The towel was draped over the bed, along with a set of clothes. He picked up a shirt, but this time I cleared my throat.

"There's no need for that," I assured him.

I couldn't believe my ears, or that I was even speaking like that.

Tristan stilled.

"Clothes would be unnecessary for what I have planned." To bring clarity to the statement, I entered his room to press myself against his naked backside.

"What exactly do you have planned?" he murmured.

As I had been longing to do for some time, I kissed his bare skin. "I do believe you mentioned something earlier about showering together..."

* * * * *

Wow. Wow. Wowie, wow, wow. Fucking fantastic. Literally.

The legs carrying me back to the hotel room were shaky, but not from exertion. Most people would be tired after a bout in the shower, the bed, the floor, and then back to the shower again. All in one night. Tristan had reminded me: we were not like most people.

Dawn broke over the horizon as I turned the key in the lock on the hotel room door. Once inside, I didn't bother to take off my clothes. Instead, I crawled into bed, cuddled with a pillow, and reflected.

Recalling my erotic encounter with Tristan was like fetching a distant memory from my youth. It was strange that an event that had taken place only hours before would seem so far from me already.

Flashes of what had transpired between Tristan and I stole through the haze. His green eyes and the way he had looked at me while he had filled me so completely was an image that made me bite my lip. We had done things that I had never imagined myself doing. Things that I had considered embarrassing, or silly.

"Oh my god," I groaned into the pillow as I thought about all of the liberties I had allowed Tristan to take with my body. Tristan, who was practically a stranger to me.

No matter, I was hooked. I would go back to him, I knew. Was I in love? Yes, I must have been. Or did I want to be in love with him to assuage my guilt over the betrayal I had taken part in.

(RAFE)

Even if you do find him, you might not be able to purge the demon, a voice inside told me. It's not wrong to live your life. To move on.

Rosalind had warned me against distractions, but she had also told me not to waste my second chance. She had told me to live.

Living was just what I practiced over the next few weeks. To be more specific, sex, hunting, and sex was the kind of living I took part in.

Tristan had a hold over me, but I didn't mind. It was fun to be a part of the world. Some days, I would watch him paint for hours. Other days, when he worked at the restaurant, I went with him. He would sneak me into the kitchen, tie an apron on me, and act as though I were a new member of the staff. We would create dishes together, with Tristan doing most of the heavy lifting. Watching him cook was like watching his hands more across the canvas, mesmerizing.

On the rare occasions when we weren't at the restaurant or losing ourselves in sexual pleasure, I hunted Lillin. Tristan followed along when he was free. Although, he never again killed a demon like he had the first time. He said he preferred to watch me because hunting was my art. Initially, I was weirded out by him watching and not participating, but after awhile, I got used to him being my supportive shadow.

Our life together couldn't last, because the number of Lillin in the city declined every day, thanks to me. Eventually, I would have to keep on moving south. I didn't mention this to Tristan, not wanting to spoil our time together. I was riding on an enormous high that I didn't want to come down from just yet.

One night, I did come crashing down. Hard.

****

A/N: Click on your old friend 'vote' if you're feelin' it :D

Dedicated to a new and favored follower, Ceiles. Correction: we're BFF's. Don't be too jealous.