I do not own Shiki or any of the characters from 10 days with my devil. This is rated M for lemons. If you don't like lemons, please don't read the story. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. Thanks! Please enjoy.

It was a long day. She sat with Shiki's laptop balancing on her stomach nibbling on some carrot sticks. She was comfortably sprawled out on the sofa in the living room since she was home alone, with all her papers spread around in organized piles. The current search was flowers. She didn't know many flowers so this was proving difficult.

Her head was still so overwhelmed. She still couldn't believe it. 'His parents blatantly refused us and now we are planning the wedding.' Well, she was planning the wedding. Shiki really isn't into all that. His only request was that the smells weren't too strong and that it has a mandatory gift of a box of cracker jacks. He had a list of approved character prizes that was included in each invitation. He's such a child in that way.

As she thought on that, she realized a lot about him was still like a child. She hoped as time went on that they would slowly be able to help him grow. He was so inexperienced in so many ways due to his constant wish to be alone and sleep. Licorice understood why he had such a fear of people. He was traumatized by his parents. Watching them be fake and act cheerful around others while after hours his life was a living hell, with him in the center of it. No pun intended. The way he clings to her in his sleep makes her realize just how deep seeded of an issue this is to him and how truly scared he is.

"We're here now. He's not alone. He knows that. He will come to heal in time. I know he will," she said in complete confidence while rubbing her belly affectionately.

Suddenly the door bell rang. She struggled up out of the sofa and put the computer down the coffee table in front of her on one of her piles. She walked over to the door and looked out the peep hole. No one was there. She shrugged her shoulders and walked back towards the couch. Then the door bell rang again as she was about to sit. In an annoyed sigh she walked back over to the peep hole and still nothing. She brought her head back confused. She should be able to see a child there even if it's short. She leaned up to look again when suddenly there was a voice from behind her. A voice she had never heard before.

"Well, well, well. Hello Licorice. I'm glad they all left so we can finally meet." She was so scared she didn't want to turn around but the man's hand turned her around against her will. She stood in place, petrified. She was staring into the face of another man. He was about six feet tall. The man was dressed in a gray business suit, but obviously built beneath it. He looked about 30. His face was covered in scratches and scars, but still very handsome. He was of fair complexion with beautiful gold eyes. His dark brown hair was wavy and dangled from his head, dropping to just above his eye brows. His movements were very fluid. He was smooth and calculating. Nothing betrayed on his face.

She got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. 'Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you… yet.' His voice sounded. She was completely thrown. This mans mouth wasn't moving but she heard him talking. His lips didn't even budge. His lips never parted, unless they broke into a smile. He must be a demon.

"Who are you and why are you here? How do you know my name?" Licorice demanded. She backed herself against the door. She knew she would never be able to run away, especially in her condition.

'My dear. Like I said, I am not here to hurt you. Yet. If we meet again, I will be. So be aware. I am here on business. You have two choices. If you continue to stay with Shiki, I will be forced to kill you. I'm instructed to only do so when the baby is old enough to survive without you so that Shiki might have an heir. BUT, please save me the hassle. Break it off with Shiki. Tell him you two are through. Leave. And never have contact again. Then I won't have to kill you and you get to keep your bastard.' His lips still didn't move the whole time. He was able to speak directly to her mind. It frightened her.

'What if he could hear my thoughts?' She was scared.

'Rest assured, I can't read your mind.' He answered as if he was able to. 'I'm just good at, as you call it, reading people. One of my powers is to be able to talk to people without using my voice. It comes in handy for being stealthy in my line of work.'

"Why am I being threatened? Who is it that wants me to leave Shiki?"

'I am under strict instructions to keep my boss a secret. You know what you need to know. I will be tailing you. I am under a long term contract to make sure the terms I told you are upheld. I will always be around. I will always be watching.' He moved closer until their faces were almost touching. 'What a shame though. You're cute.' He traced his finger over her stomach and looked down. 'What a shame to waste such a fine creature. Pregnancy suits you. Your glow is breathtaking. Maybe I will have some fun with you. But be warned, I will, without a doubt, have fun with you if you go against me.' Licorice recoiled from his touch.

"So if I stay, I will die. If I leave, I can meet and raise my child, but Shiki won't be a part of our child's life?" She forced out.

'Exactly. Once you leave he's to have no part of you or your child's life. So leave and start a new life. Let's face it, the one you were actually meant to have. Or stay and die, in which your baby will have no mother and you two will never meet. But either way you choose, if you let on to ANYONE about this, in any way, you and your child will be destroyed. IMMEDIATELY. You will never know when I'm there. You will never know when I'm right next to you. I will always be there. I have more powers than just projecting my voice into another's mind. I am in this field because of my skills.'

He finally walked away from her. She was shivering. She felt herself grow cold. What was she going to do? She couldn't protect herself from him and she couldn't tell anyone either. "What are your other skills?" She felt she had a right to ask.

'Well, aren't you nosey?' He chuckled. 'Alright, I will humor you. I can mask my presence. I can magnify my hearing. I can project my voice in your head and to other places to throw people off to where I am, the power you are experiencing now. And last but not least, I am able to strangle people without touching them.' He smiled wickedly. 'Would you like a demonstration?'

"No!" She shouted putting her hands around her throat.

He chuckled again. 'You really are attractive. I think I will enjoy this job.'

Her legs were no longer able to hold her. She sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands. The warmth of the fresh tears rolled down her face. She was stuck. She knew she had to leave. She knew there was no choice. If she stayed and died, there would be no way in the future she could possibly find a way back to him, so leaving was her only option.

'Now you have to make it convincing that this was your idea. If he doesn't buy it, you will be killed no matter what. So if you choose to live, then you had better do your best. You have to beak it off completely. Leave no chance at 'working things out'.' He talked as he paced around the room. 'You have to find your own place to stay. You will leave here. You will begin breaking it off the minute he returns from the mission. There's no delay. The longer it takes the harder it will be.'

Her phone vibrated on a stack of papers on the table. He walked over and picked it up. He opened the screen and read the text. His face slowly turned to a smirk and put the phone back down on the table. He continued, 'I would start looking for places now. You don't have much time. You will be homeless as soon as he's home. You can't keep in contact with ANYONE from the demon realm. You will live and act as though it never existed and everything was a dream.'

She wrapped her arms around her baby as it kicked sensing the mother's extreme distress. 'How could I possibly pretend it never happened? I'm pregnant from it.' She knew she had no choice, so there was no part in arguing.

'So are we clear?' He took a few strides over to her until he was in her face. He put his hand under her chin and brought her close to him. 'Are we?' He asked again as he licked his lips.

She met his gaze with tears dripping down her face. "I understand. I am leaving."

'Good girl.' He released her face and took two steps back. He said one last thing as he turned and left out the back door. 'Hope to not see you again too soon.'

She ran over to her phone and saw who texted her. It was Shiki. She opened it up and read it. 'Licorice, I miss you…. I can't sleep without you. How are you and the baby? I love you. It's getting so hard to be away from you. Next time you come with. I need you here.'

She started to cry uncontrollably. 'How could this happen?' She looked around at all the hard work she's been pouring her heart into every weekend. Their wedding was nearly complete, but now all for nothing. There wouldn't be a wedding. She picked up all the papers and plans and threw them in the trash. She cried in agony. She saved the page with all the made plans with the phone numbers on it. She had to call them all and cancel.

Once she finally recomposed herself, enough to talk on the phone, she walked over and sank to the couch. She picked up her phone and responded to Shiki's text. 'The baby and I are fine. We will be waiting for you when you get home.'

Her vision started to blur again, but started making calls. She opened the lap top, closed the flower sites and opened an apartment rental one.

The next day...

Tonight Shiki was coming home. Today was the day her life was ending. She walked up to the address on the piece of paper. The last one on her sheet of the possible apartments she could afford as well. If this one didn't pan out, she was in trouble. She walked over to the apartment and knocked on the door. As the door opened, an elderly woman popped out.

"Hi, I'm Licorice. I'm here about the apartment."

The elderly woman came out with a big smile with a key in her hand. "Oh, hello darling. Let me take you right there." She closed the door behind her. They walked only two apartments down from the landlords place. This apartment was on the very end and had nothing above it. She unlocked the door.

They walked in and to her surprise, the place was lovely. "Just went up today. You're the first one to see the place too. Go ahead and look around. I will wait here." The elderly woman sat down in the mud room seat. She was amazed. It was so good for the price. As you continued out the mud room there was a kitchen immediately to the left. There was a door on the wall opposite the kitchen and that led to a full bathroom. As you kept walking in there was a decent sized living room next to the kitchen. And a mini office on the other side of the living room, not divided. There was no dining room, but she noticed the stools were under the counter. The kitchen was in a big 'U' shape, the opening facing the living room, with a window looking out front behind the sink at the outside where they came in. It wasn't expensive, but it looked nice. The whole house was in neutral colors. As you walked past the kitchen and the living room there were two other doors on the wall opposite the living room/office. She walked over and opened the first one. It was a bedroom with nothing in it, but smaller. The last door to the house was opened and lead to a decent sized master bedroom with a walk in closet. It even had its own master bathroom. The house was fully furnished. It had a stove, dishwasher, fridge, microwave, couch and recliner, everything but the bedroom furnishings.

There were stars in her eyes. This was way too good to be in her price range. "Are you sure this is the one for 1,000 per month?" she said as she looked around in awe.

"Oh no, that's not this one. This one is going for 1,500. But I see you're expecting. In order to keep my other tenants happy, I will be glad to give it to you for that price. I have some tenants who are very picky with noise. This would help us all out. Besides, I noticed I'm the last one on your paper. I would love to help you. You remind me so much of my daughter. Both my daughter and grandchild died in an accident when she was just about at her due date. So in honor of her, I want to help you. You said on your application, you're soon to be a single mother. Let me know how I can help you. I will even babysit from time to time in emergencies. Just consider me your mother."

She started to cry. It was so nice to have someone close to her like a mother. Since her actual mother lived in another country, she really felt alone. The only one she had was her sister who had her own life and child to look after. "Thank you. I would be so pleased to accept. When can I move in?"

"Today. I will have my son drive over to your place in his truck as soon as you say the word. Here's my number. Call me any time young lady. My name is Rose. Don't be a stranger." She walked right over and embraced Licorice. She finally felt like she had a tiny scrap of hope of getting through this.

It was afternoon when she got home. Her new place was closer to work, but a great distance from here. That was probably the best. She knew if she lived close she would find herself walking by here and trying to sneak a peek at Shiki every chance she could. That wouldn't do. Especially if she is to make it clear there wasn't a chance of reconciliation.

She walked up the stairs to her room. She pulled out her luggage and packed all her clothes and belongings quickly. She only had a few hours until Shiki would arrive and it would all take place. She went through a mental check list. She called Rose and like she promised she sent her son over. "He will arrive in a half hour. He will help you carry your things. Don't you worry about anything." She was such a nice woman. As licorice packed she remembered her pillow was in Shiki's room.

She walked in and froze. It hit her that itwould be the last time she was in here. Her knees went weak at the power emotion ripping through her body. Such sorrow and loss, almost like a death. That's when she heard it. The door was being unlocked.

To be continued…..