AN: Thank you to everyone for reading and following! I'm glad that the story does appeal to others. Please Review! These first few chapters are a little slow, but don't worry! The plot is going to get rolling!

The Text

Vera was not really enjoying the movie. It was tacky and overdone. She had wanted to watch the action movie with Liam Neeson being surly and shooting people in the face. Instead she was here seeing this abomination of a film. The slap stick buddy comedy was grating her nerves. Her friends had insisted though and so the decision had been made.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and, even though she knew it was rude, she slipped the device into her palm and studied it. Suddenly she felt a little dizzy. It had been two weeks since what she referred to as "the bar incident" had taken place. She was positive at this point that she had made up the sexy British guy who called himself Crowley. But there it was on the screen. "That charming Devil fr…" her phone read. She rolled her eyes. Of course such a long contact name hadn't fit. Her heart was racing. He had texted her.

"Come outside", was all it said.

Vera could feel her nerves kicking in. She hadn't been given longer than thirty seconds to make up her mind when another text flashed onto the screen.

"Now." It said simply.

Without allowing herself to think any further Vera stood. After whispering a half hearted apology and lame excuse to her two friends, she left. Vera departed the theatre somewhat cautiously, not sure what she was afraid of. There he stood. Crowley was wearing a dark suit and long over coat. His breath swirled and billowed in front of him in the cool fall air. His tie was a deep purple and lightly stripped. Vera was trying her best not to look flustered.

"What took you so long?" he sneered. Vera was brutally reminded of what his voice did to her.

"I was in the exact middle of the theatre! You try maneuvering around six fat ladies and three questionable spills in under sixty seconds." She was pleased to see he was actually laughing at the remark.

"Why didn't you call me?" he asked suddenly. Vera balked at the question.

"I didn't think you would like it if I called you. You said you were old fashioned." She tried her best to sound apathetic.

"You're right, I wouldn't have liked it." Vera noticed he dropped his voice even lower to deliver this sentence. She shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, Crowley grinned.

"I've decided to woo you, little Love." He said.

"Oh…" Vera replied hesitantly. She wasn't sure if his idea of "wooing" was flattering her until she gave it up, or if he was interested in something more permanent, and she wasn't sure if she cared.

"Ok then." She replied cheerily.

"But I want you to know-"he had closed the distance between them before Vera could even register his movements. He wound one arm around her waist and spoke directly into her ear.

"This is all on my terms. I will decide what we do and when, and you'll like it." His voice had a hoarse, forceful tone and Vera was struggling to comprehend what he had actually said. She nodded shakily and Crowley relinquished his hold on her.

"Now then, you need some new perfume." The change of subject was a slap in the face for Vera.

"What?" she stammered, hoping this wasn't a rich guy way of saying "you stink."

"Well, at first I thought the scent had something of a naïve charm-" He gestured loosely with his hand "But up close it smells coarse and common. And I don't like it."

Vera raised both eye brows very high on her head.

"Well, excuse me Your Highness, I did not mean to offend thee." She did her best to mock his accent.

"I like being called that." He said with a leer. Vera had never met a man capable of using only an expression to get her blood racing.

"In any case, where is the nearest perfume shop?" Vera couldn't believe he was serious.

"Don't be a dick." She said, trying to feel bold. Crowley frowned.

"Listen Darling, I'm wearing Clive Christian No.1, it comes in a pure crystal bottle with a diamond inset on the gold stopper. I'm not going to stand around near you and your dollar store, clearance bin body spray."

Vera gave him a very skillful bitch face and turned her head away slightly. Realizing that his idea of a nice gesture was not going according to plan, Crowley switched tactics.

"Don't be like that." He said giving her an honest smile. "I'm trying to be nice! I want to buy you something-" he hesitated but apparently was unable to help himself "-that you desperatley need."

"You're not very good at being nice." Vera observed. Crowley shrugged and held his palms out in a very endearing "what'cha gonna do" gesture.

"I don't have a lot of practice."

Sighing, Vera pointed to the set of buildings across the street.

"That mall has a Macy's in it. They have a perfume counter."

Crowley turned and looked at the aforementioned shopping center with suspicion.

"Seriously?" he scoffed.

"Seriously." She replied flatly. Crowley seemed to be debating something.

"You know-"he began slowly "I could always- "

"If you offer to fly me somewhere in a private jet I will turn around right now and walk back into that horrible movie." Vera interrupted. Crowley chuckled.

"Don't trust me, Cupcake?" he asked.

"Not at all." Vera said seriously.

"Good." Crowley nodded sharply.

"Never trust anyone."

And without another word he turned and began walking in the direction of the mall. Vera hurried to catch up. They walked the short distance in comfortable silence. Crowley sneered when they reached the large glass entrance but did not say anything. Vera laughed at him when he held the door open. The greasy scent of the mall food court wafted to Vera and she realized she was starving.

"Hey, we coul-"

"I'm not eating here." Crowley interrupted. Vera laughed again.

"You're a fish out of water here, huh? Stuck with us common folk?"

"That's adorable." His tone was more than a little condescending.

"What?"

"You said 'folk'"

Vera frowned. Crowley put his hands up in mock resignation.

"Well, lead on."

Vera walked briskly in the direction of Macy's, trying not to let on how much the dig at her accent had stung her. She was sure her drawl wasn't very noticeable. She had honestly put a great deal of time and effort into keeping it out of her voice. When she was in high school she had been mocked for not having any southern twang. Crowley seemed oblivious to the fact that he had offended her and continued to walk next to her in silence. When they reached Macy's he spoke.

"They have some relatively decent looking things here." He was eyeing a smartly dressed mannequin. Vera stood beside him observing the cold female figure.

"Bleh." She grimaced

"I think they're creepy when they don't have faces."

Crowley grinned.

"Not easily spooked are you?" he asked. Vera thought about the question. She had always been slightly superstitious. More than once she had been sure she could feel eyes watching her. Sometimes her dreams were terrible.

"A little." She finally replied.

"That's a shame, really." Vera raised an eyebrow at his very serious face.

"Come on, then." He said lightly.

"I want to get out of this dump." Vera rolled her eyes but walked to the cosmetics and fragrance section none the less.

Each pretty outfit she walked by made her more and more aware of the fact that she currently wore an old t-shirt bearing a skull and her army style boots. Upon reaching the perfume counter they were greeted by a very tan, heavily made up woman. Vera struggled to contain her laughter, but Crowley paid the woman no such respect. Her eyebrows, which where one hundred percent painted on, turned down into an exceedingly ugly frown.

"What can I do for you?" she grated out. Her bright pink lips seemed to take up the whole bottom half of her face. Crowley coughed, regaining composure.

"Nothing, I'll find what I want." The woman turned around immediately and walked away. Crowley spent a very long time studying the clear glass cases that contained perfume of every kind. Vera was slowly beginning to realize the absurdity of the whole situation and she couldn't shake a very nagging feeling that something was not quite right.

"Eh, it'll do." Crowley seemed to have finally settled on something.

"Miss!" he spoke in a way Vera felt was louder than necessary. The woman came over very slowly. Crowley explained that he was ready to make his purchase. He had chosen Chanel no. 5 because, he claimed, it was the best thing he could pick out of the meager selection available. The woman was not impressed but grabbed the desired package and rang it up.

"That'll be three hundred-"

"No," Crowley interrupted

"I want them all."

"Sir, there are like, seven bottles back here." The lady protested.

"Did I ask you how many bloody bottles there were?"

Vera was surprised by the genuine anger that showed on his face. The woman seemed to want to ask something else but thought better of it.

"Crowley I appreciate it but I don't need-"Vera began. His face still looked frightening, Vera watched as he sighed and purposefully schooled his features into a more pleasant face before turning fully to look at her.

"Nonsense." He said with easy grace. "And don't argue with me."

He gave her a mind numbingly vicious smile before leaning in a little closer. "Ever."

The lady across the counter cleared her throat and gave Crowley a total that had Vera panting. Don't freak out, she told herself, so what if that's twenty percent of what you make in a year. Crowley causally removed a card from his wallet. Once the purchases were placed in a bag they left the store. Outside it was slowly becoming night. The cool evening air was exhilarating to Vera. She smiled watching Crowley as he carefully buttoned his coat up.

"Get cold easy?" she asked. He snorted.

"I'm used to a warmer climate."

"It gets pretty cold around here." Vera offered, not sure what to say to him. She was strongly feeling the awkwardness of a man she just met giving her a present that cost more than her last car. She didn't know if you thanked him or just accepted the gift and went on. While she had been puzzling, Crowley had turned and was walking around the back side of the he building. Vera followed.

"Uh, my car's the other way goof-"she didn't finish her sentence.

Crowley seized ahold of her shoulders and with a swiftness she felt was not normal, he pinned her against the brick exterior. One of his arms snaked around her waist and forced their bodies together. The kiss was deep and rough. Vera knew she should protest but found she really couldn't. His tongue darted into her mouth and she made no resistance, allowing him to control the kiss completely. He wound her hair between his fingers and gave a sharp pull, Vera gasped and tilted her head back. Crowley attacked the newly exposed skin of her neck. At first he kissed gently but the kisses soon turned into bites that were surprisingly aggressive. Crowley smiled when he felt Vera doing her best to squirm away.

"Hu-hurts." She muttered pathetically. Crowley chuckled darkly and Vera could feel her arousal increase a hundred fold. He bit a little harder before whispering;

"Say please."

Vera was angry and horny and thoroughly confused by her body's reactions in every way.

"P-please." She managed to force out. Crowley released his hold immediately and grinned at the bruise that was already forming.

"Quit acting surprised, you know what you like Darling. And I know it too." He graveled into her ear. Vera was a little too dizzy to reply. Crowley returned to kissing her. One of his hands slowly moved position from around her waist. Vera moaned a little more loudly than she would have liked when the sensitive skin of her nipple was gently squeezed. Sneaky bastard was the only sentence she could string together in her head. She hadn't even noticed his hand leaving her waist, much less it going under her shirt and somehow getting past her bra. Crowley grinned at the noises she was making.

"Yes?" he asked softly, Vera nodded. Crowley elicited more gasps and moans from his prey.

"You're a noisy one." He chuckled.

"I like that." Vera would have slid down the wall if he hadn't been holding her up. Even in her haze of pleasure Vera could still not shake that nagging question in the back of her mind. She knew there was some little fact she had noticed and needed to think about. But that was proving very difficult. Crowley's hand had slid somewhere else entirely.

"Come on Love." He said playfully, trying to undo the button of her jeans with his left hand.

"Pay us back for the perfume."

"I'm not…that's stupid…not…" Vera wasn't making very much sense and she knew it. Crowley succeeded in his task. Then it hit her. Her mind cleared like someone had dumped a bucket of water on her head.

"Wait." She said sternly.

"Nope." Crowley replied casually as he pulled her zipper down.

"Get the fuck off me." Vera shouted pushing him back violently. Crowley looked absolutely shocked. The surprise on his face quickly turned to rage. He took a few steps back, stopping short of the dumpster nearby. Vera knew it was all in her head. No one could actually be paralyzed by fear, right? But she was unable to move for several seconds even though she was trying with all her strength. Crowley breathed out slowly and his face became a calm mask. Vera promptly fell to the ground. Disoriented but unwilling to back down she scrambled up.

"I just thought of something." She said forcefully.

"Clearly." Crowley did not seem amused.

"Apparently it was important enough to ruin what was a very good time being had by all."

Vera chose to ignore him.

"How did you know where I was?"

"Oh Hell, is that what you're upset about?" he seemed more annoyed than anything.

"It took you that long to think of it?"

"Well… I was distracted." She retorted.

"What answer would you like? Hmm? That I'm stalking you? Or maybe I've hired a guy to trail you or I've tapped your phone? Maybe I put one of those tracking devices under the hood of your car? Or maybe, just maybe, you posted it on bloody Facebook!" The calm mask slipped from his face a bit as he ended his tirade.

Vera was stunned for a minute. She had been pretty sure the truth was one of the more outlandish suggestions. But she had made a post about going to the movies. She looked down at her shoes.

"I don't remember adding you on Facebook," came the feeble rebuttal. Crowley scoffed.

"Because Facebook stalking and actual stalking are on the same level." He said scornfully.

Vera wasn't sure what to say. She did regret accusing him, but at the same time she was a little glad that she had stopped things when she did. It had been an embarrassingly long time since she had gotten any, but out back of the mall was not the classiest place to be intimate. She had to keep reminding herself that she didn't even know this guy. She sighed.

"Sorry. But hey, you're the one who said not to be too trusting." She tried her best to sound light hearted.

"I'm not going to forgive you for being so rude that easily." Came the stiff response.

"You're going to have to make it up to me." He looked at her lecherously. Vera was currently buttoning her pants.

"Like what?" she laughed.

"I'll decide the next time I see you." He nodded curtly.

"But I believe some punishment is in order."

"Oh, you promise?" Vera teased.

"I'm a man of my word Darling."

The smile faded from Vera's lips. He was serious. Her stomach was doing flips. She had never even considered how to deal with a situation like this.

"Walk me back to my car?"

Crowley smiled and offered her his arm. She accepted, wondering what in the Hell she had gotten herself into.