CHAPTER 11 - ABOUT ANGELS AND DEMONS (PART 2/2)

Cain did not want to analyze the relief he felt when he discovered that Setsu was just the Pink Flamingo bartender because he was too busy dealing with the implications of Boss's new request: until the day she come to her senses and returned home of her own accord, he would continue with the Heel siblings' farce, live with her and protect her.

In the meantime, he should do anything to convince her.

A shiver ran through him whenever he remembered Lory's intonation of "anything." Fearful of what he could hear, Cain chose not to ask what the extent of his deeds should be.

While practically chewing on a cigarette and growling at every male that surrounded her, he wondered how long his sanity would last. Yes, he was relieved to find out she was not a stripper, but that did not stop the clients from coveting her. Which, in turn, was a constant reminder that she was a woman, and a very desirable one, a fact that his eyes insisted on proving each time they slide through the tempting curves, eliciting thoughts that crossed the border of the appropriate.

To make matters worse, they were cohabiting. Every day he saw her leaving the bathroom after showering, wearing nothing but panties and a tank top, both very revealing. Her smell, an undeniable scent of woman, was in every corner of the decrepit one-room apartment. Finding her sprawled on the uncomfortable sofa that had become his bed in recent weeks, distracted while reading or painting her toenails, was a wonderfully homely and deliciously sensual situation. Hear her soft moans through the thin wall that separated them, he in the living, she in the bedroom, while Setsu pleasured herself, kept him awake for hours on end.

Cain could feel his self-control dwindling in the same proportion as self-contempt increased. Because she should not excite him so much. Setsu was the best part of his life - the only good part, actually - so she should stay away from his hands. Otherwise, she would be tainted by his cursed being.

Cain would not leave without her, determination that Setsu attributed to his loyalty to the Takarada Organization. The same loyalty that often made her wonder if he really liked her or if she was just another mission.

He was like a drug. Not that she had ever used drugs, but the symptoms she presented were typical of an addict: always trying to be stronger than her addiction, always imagining being able to live without him, and always failing miserably. Well, she tried to articulate her own intervention. She tried to complete all the steps of an impromptu rehabilitation. But how to be successful, if the addiction was bent on pursuing her?

Well, maybe she had boycotted herself by adopting the surname Heel, including a fake document and stuff. A small trail to guide him directly to her? Or just the last desperate cry of her heart, trying to protect a precious piece of itself in the form of the surname she always wanted to acquire?

Whatever the answer, she was at a crossroads. The days of forced cohabitation with her forbidden passion were translated into small secret pleasures that charged her dearly. Every smell, every look, every phrase and every gesture had intense and peculiar meanings that she cataloged obsessively. Setsu wanted to lock Cain inside herself, unaware that, behind his gentle words and sweet smiles, behind his eyes clouded by feelings as complex as conflicting, he tried to do the same with her.

She longed for the end of that torture as much as she wanted to eternalize it. It was a bittersweet dilemma to know that, in the midst of all doubt and behind every tense pause after a brief involuntary touch, he was also experiencing his own private hell. After all, despite being considered a demon, Cain had the decency of a saint while she, supposedly an angel, longed for the moment when he would corrupt her.

It would be a relief, indeed, if he realized how decadent she could be. Any other man would have noticed and taken advantage of it, but Cain was not like any other, and that was exactly why she loved him. That is, she was stuck in a vicious circle. Setsu could not break free from that chainless prison where her only jailer was her own heart, just as she was caught in the dilemma of wanting to change the nature of their relationship, making him see her as a woman, and the fear that he would be disappointed by that.

How could she overcome the fear of losing the special way with which he looked at her and made everyone around them embarrassed and suspicious that the two had an incestuous relationship? On the other hand, would there be anything worse than being stuck in that limbo?

Forget hell. For Setsu, nothing could be worse than that purgatory.

"It's our day off. Why did you dress up?"

"I'm going out."

"...With whom?"

"With a guy."

"...A date?"

"Yes, a date."

He grunted and frowned, but they both knew he could not do more than that. Without a word, Cain simply followed her and watched her from afar. After all, this was the job of a Takarada family bodyguard. However, it had never been so difficult to refrain from acting until there was a real threat going on. He really would love to beat the motherfucker who was eyeing her lasciviously.

In the weeks that followed, Setsu adopted the same hellish routine: on her only day off, she wore clothes that made him want to incinerate half of her wardrobe and went out to dinner with a random man much older than her. Because, according to her, young men bored her too quickly.

Cain wondered how fast the young guys bored her if even the older men were dismissed before dessert, but he never questioned her because it had become his greatest relief to get her home safely, smelling of Setsu and not some man or cheap motel soap.

His relief, however, was short-lived. After a few weeks of dining with a bunch of losers, occasions when Setsu exhaled indifference through every pore, she was finally behaving like a woman eager for the day's date. Her ever-graceful movements were uncoordinated, she seemed lost in thought and more than once Cain caught her sighing and smiling for no reason, which gave him many reasons to be tense, worried, anguished, and irritated.

As usual, Cain followed her. This time, however, the weight on his chest was overwhelming. There was no doubt that that date was different. Better saying, that man was special, which made Cain hate him and entertain himself in planning his mysterious disappearance as he walked a few yards behind Setsu.

When she reached her intended destination, he faltered in pain. She had entered a quiet restaurant in a respectable neighborhood. Either the guy had money or wanted to impress her, which should reassure him for the simple fact that she would be treated like the queen she was, but it only angered him.

Something in his heart roared like an agonizing animal and made him examine the men approaching the restaurant door with the desperate fury of those who are about to lose the most important part of their soul. After dragged minutes that turned into an hour of waiting, the relief that crept inside him soothed him as much as shamed him. After all, his relief meant the sadness of his most important person.

Examining her through the glass window, Cain was surprised by what he saw: contrary to what he expected, she showed no annoyance or sadness, only determination. In fact, she seemed willing to wait all night if necessary.

That guy meant a lot to her if he could keep her patiently waiting for him for over an hour. It was quite a feat, and Cain grudgingly wondered if the man would know that, but in his heart, he hoped not. After all, Setsu only revealed herself to people who came close enough, which were few. A select group, in fact, to which he was proud to belong.

While he imagined some idiot trying to usurp his place, Cain pondered what was happening. Apparently, some bastard had rejected Setsu. The guy could not be in his right mind. Or he was dead. So much the better. Or maybe he would still show up, with an excuse convincing enough to reward him with a smile. The same smile that he loved so much that it tormented him to think of another man receiving.

When he realized what he was doing, Cain was already sitting on the empty chair in front of her.

"The idiot is not coming, Setsu. Eat something, you must be hungry."

There was the smile he did not want anyone else to receive! The white teeth, the dimple on her left cheek, her eyes gleaming with joy. Setsu revealed the contents of her heart when she smiled like that, which always made him genuinely proud of himself for being worthy of her trust. After all, Setsuka Takarada knew how to be an impenetrable fortress when she wanted to.

Without needing to look at the menu, Setsu ordered to the waiter. Only when the food arrived did Cain realize that she had also ordered for him. He was not hungry, but he would eat anything she told him to eat. Because he trusted her, period.

The night he thought would be the most excruciating of all had become the best of his life. They chatted amicably while they ate, and Cain prided himself on making her laugh, in that sense of humor so peculiar to both of them.

"I always wanted to ask you about your name. Cain is not exactly an ordinary name, especially because of the Old Testament... So how did you end up with it?"

It was the sort of question only Setsu could ask him.

"According to my mother, I killed my twin in her womb."

It was the sort of response only Cain could give without flinching.

It was the first time he had seen her burst out laughing, an image he absorbed greedily and locked in his heart like a precious treasure. What to the world was morbid humor to Cain was undeniable proof that she alone had the power to turn the unpleasant memories of his childhood into something he liked to remember.

The restaurant was already closing when dinner was over. Outside, his jacket lay on her shoulders so casually that it was as if they had done it several times, and so could be said about the slow walk back home.

Neither of them could tell whose hand had taken the initiative. Such information was not relevant. It was enough that they were so united that no one in the world could refute the truth of their hearts. A truth Setsu had always accepted, but for Cain it meant admitting that if he really wanted to claim her heart, there was only one way to do it.

It was a dilemma. He knew what he wanted and what he needed to do to reach his goal, but he loved her too much to touch her. In short, the very feeling that made him want to monopolize her demanded that he protect her from a fallen being like himself. As a result, when the apartment door closed and he saw her looking at him, so frail and expectant, Cain hated himself more than ever.

"It was a long night. You must be tired. "

Her response was quick and full of meaning.

"Not a bit."

He did not have enough willpower to move away from her.

"...Go to bed, Setsu."

"You coming too?"

He pretended not to understand the invitation because it was too damn hard to reject it.

"No, I'll take a shower."

"Can I go with you?"

Cain felt cornered a few times in his life. As far as he could remember, Setsu was responsible for most of them.

"...You should get away from me now."

"Why?"

Her eyes defied him as much as they begged for so many things that it would be possible to make a list.

"Because my job is to protect you, and right now I'm a threat."

He knew such words would encourage her, but anything else he said would be a lie and hurt her.

"I am not afraid of you."

As if to demonstrate what she was saying, she moved closer and rested her hands on his chest. Unable to stop her, Cain closed his eyes, rested his forehead against hers and held her by the hips, lying to himself that he was just keeping her from getting even closer to him.

"You should. I'm bad influence for you."

As she took a deep breath to get up the courage, Setsu thought it was good that they were finally talking about their relationship, whatever it was.

"Is that why you suggested to Grandpa to send me to boarding school?"

This made him immediately open his eyes and face her.

"...How did you know?"

He was genuinely surprised. It never occurred to him that she would have such information.

"Dad wrote me at the end of my first year there. He said I should stop trying to run away because I was just being a problem for everyone and the idea of boarding school was yours."

Oh. So that was the cause of her sudden change of behavior and her detachment in the following years. Peering into her gaze, Cain identified so much suffering that a lump formed in his throat.

"Setsu, I-"

She suddenly hugged him.

"I tried to be a good girl, I really did! If you wanted me away from you, then it was up to me to disappear from your life." Her voice was a muffled cry against his chest as she gave in to tears. "I've tried to make things right so I would not be a burden on you and Grandpa anymore."

Her words, broken by painful sobs, were like daggers in his heart.

"You're not a burden!"

Cain held her firmly, as if he could absorb all the sadness of the young woman clinging to him in despair.

"I wanted to go home when I became of age, but Daddy's words haunted me. I could not bear being a problem for you, so I ran away."

Behind what Setsu was revealing was the hurt of a young woman who felt rejected three times: the first by her father, who left her with her grandfather when she became the painful memory of his deceased wife; the second by her grandfather, who sent her to boarding school; and the third by Cain, who suggested her departure. That is, her three most important men had hurt her, which explained the resentment she had shown when she came face-to-face with Cain again.

"Setsu, you needed to get away from me. Your attachment to me was... disturbing, to say the least. You were growing up too fast and I was... I am a bad influence. In addition, the boarding school offered a healthier environment for your development. As for your grandfather, he only agreed with me because he loves you and wants what is best for you, just like me."

She jerked her head away from his chest and looked at him as if she wanted to decipher the mysteries of the universe on his face.

"Just like you? Just like you love me? Or just like you want the best for me?"

The tenderness in his face when Cain replied, far from comforting her, only distressed her even more.

"They're both the same to me. After all, you're my special girl."

Maybe she was a greedy person, because that was not enough. Not anymore. While she was a child, she was content to be his special girl; as an adult, Setsu wanted to be his woman.

Surprising him with her hurt look, she moved away from him.

"Well, then I guess that it sets all, does not it? I will never be more than a little sister to you." Cain became visibly troubled and opened his mouth to speak, but Setsu did not let him. "Which means the problem persists. I persist. I have not forgotten you even after seven years of trying. And now you're here, trying to take me to the place where I was constantly blamed for loving you; where the family leeches used to say that the remorse for killing my mother made me crazy enough to distort what should be a fraternal relationship into something wrong and dirty." Setsu sighed heavily and shuddered. "I would rather die than go back to that life."

Her last words, spoken in a whisper, terrified him.

"Never say that again! Do not even think about it!"

He was deadly serious and virtually desperate. His mother had committed suicide; losing Setsu in the same way would be his end.

"I do not know what to do." Her voice sounded pathetic to her own ears. As much as she wanted to shrink in a corner and lick her wounds, she had bottled up so many feelings that she could not stop their flow after the cork popped. "Today's date was my last resort. I thought maybe... if you felt a little attracted to me..."

The understanding Setsu longed for struck him like lightning, bewildering him for a moment. Cain prided himself on his wit, hence his surprise to deduce so belatedly, what she had done. Every time she walked half-naked in front of him, forcing him to look away, and every insinuating phrase she had said in the months of cohabitation were not 'Setsu doing her thing', but deliberate acts with the sole purpose of seducing him. Every encounter with an older man he was forced to witness was an attempt to mitigate the age difference between them. But above all else... he was the mysterious guy she had waited for over an hour. The lucky son of a bitch. The heartless bastard. The motherfucker who would replace him in her life.

And to think that he had entertained himself by thinking of ways to disappear with himself and giving himself names that were not at all flattering or polite, while Setsu was waiting for the moment when he would sit in the empty chair before her.

The irony of the situation did not go unnoticed, but there was something else that demanded his attention. An unprecedented sensation, warm and liquid, had spread rapidly throughout his body from the chest. That could only be euphoria, because he felt capable of conquering the world.

Oblivious to what was happening inside him, Setsu continued in her outburst.

"That's why I cannot go home. I would only cause more-"

His move was so fast and unexpected that she did not immediately identify what was happening. Then, when she realized his lips were covering hers, Setsu kissed him back. After all, whatever miracle had made him kiss her, she did not want to risk him changing his mind.

She was adorable for not being able to decide what to do with her small, shaking hands, which wanted to be everywhere at once. Her eagerness to entangle him even more in a web of seduction was as evident as unnecessary, as Cain had no intention of letting her go, but he could not stop kissing her to tell her that.

As much as he had loved the dress she was wearing, he wanted her out of it. And fast. However, the damn zipper was stuck and Setsu's hand was inside his pants. If it was difficult to handle the zipper while she kissed him and nibbled on his neck, after her hand began to stroke him vigorously it became impossible.

Fuck the zipper. He was in a hurry, she was driving him crazy and the biggest advantage of a dress is that it can be lifted. He was just slapping it together, he knew, but the sight of her tiny, fragile panties rewarded him and made him remember every time he had fantasized about ripping that thing off.

"I'll get you a new one."

She gasped as she felt the pull. He moaned as he looked down.

That was art. Cain knelt, because it was in his subconscious that one must kneel to revere. Or to beg. Or to pray. Or in submission. Anyway, it was appropriate that he was on his knees. And kneeling while she was panting, he appreciated the curves of her legs and hips. The white skin, tainted by the angry mark in her left hip thanks to the abrupt pull that had torn her panties. The inviting nest of hairs that showed a tempting pink button.

She was the sight he wanted to take to the grave and beyond it, whatever the Hell that awaited him. Because Setsu was his paradise, and he was a sinner unworthy of such a gift. There would certainly be exemplary punishment for that transgression, but Cain did not care. Not when she was so tempting that his mouth was dry. Not when he knew where there was a fountain waiting for him.

Soon she was moaning and whimpering melodiously, which amazed him. Setsu was not just a living sculpture and a banquet: she was also an orchestra. True delight to the senses as she melted sweetly under the thirsty attack of his mouth.

His position was uncomfortable, but Cain could spend hours in it. His knees hurt, but this pain could not be compared to the penance he deserved for committing that sin and not repenting. On the other hand, he would never say the same about Setsu's discomfort. She was precariously balanced on one leg, the other resting on his shoulder as he delighted in her. It would not be long before her knee gave in, if the tremor in her delirious voice and the strong tugs on his scalp were reliable signs. Then, with a last intimate kiss, he stood up and held her against the wall.

She was a mess, breathing heavily through her mouth and barely keeping her eyes open and focused. Her dress was crumpled around her breasts and Cain felt a pang of guilt over not having freed her from the garment. Setsu did not seem to care, though. Surprising him once more, she finished removing the dress and her bra and silently offered her delicate breasts.

She was an angel, right? He was a demon. So how could she be tempting him?

The humility with which Cain accepted the offer succumbed to the masculine pride of seeing her sensual response to his touch. For so many times he reproached himself for wanting her, imagining himself the worst kind of person, that it was ironic that she had seduced him to the point where she leaned on his shoulders, circled him with her legs and slid him inside her.

Cain closed his eyes and surrendered to the feel of her body, moving against and around him. However, even though his senses were concentrated on extracting pleasure from the intoxicating moist heat that were compressing him and from the reactions of her body to his ministrations, he did not ignore the possibility that the friction with the wall would hurt her. Therefore, Cain took her to bed.

The clarity of the day eventually woke him up. Disoriented for a moment, his eyes caught the sleeping woman on his chest.

Cain smiled, captivated. No wonder she looked so exhausted.

Recalling the events of the previous day, his smile widened. When he had awakened to the smell of the strong coffee that Setsu was preparing as she hummed the jingle of a toothpaste commercial, he never imagined that in a few hours she would be in his arms and eager to undress him. Even less so that he would perform one of his secret and shameful erotic delusions by tearing her panties and fucking her against the wall.

Stroking her back gently so as not to wake her, Cain remembered the feel of her breasts against his palms and the hard nipples between his fingers as he pulsed in her warm silk interior. Then he remembered how she clenched him deliciously and gasped in his ear as she climaxed.

He watched her with absolute adoration as Setsu slept soundly. So deeply asleep, that perhaps he should not have entered the shower with her after they made love for the first time, because he obviously would not resist the call to turn the bath into foreplay. And as much as it was reasonable that he had wrapped her in the towel before taking her back to bed, where he dried her carefully so she would not get sick, maybe he should not love her again.

Not that he was sorry for any of his acts. Nothing could be more wonderful than feeling her hand around him. Or her mouth, trying to swallow him whole. Nothing could make him happier than seeing her tempting body and every one of her delicious reactions to his attentions. However, perhaps he had been greedier than he should have, because he had exhausted her. Setsu was giving no indication that she would wake up anytime soon and they were running late.

Not for work, no. Their letter of resignation would be the second document they would sign that day. The first, for which Cain was really anxious, involved giving Setsu a document with his surname.

A legal one.

EPILOGUE (BONUS CHAPTER)

"Are you sure?"

"Well, judging by their expression when they returned and by the way they walked hand in hand, I'd say Cain finally succumbed."

"Great! Great! I am sure the two will get married soon."

"And that makes you happy? Are you not at all sorry for losing your granddaughter?"

"I will not lose her. In fact, I got her back, and I still added Cain to the family. The result could not have been better. I think he will soon convince her to pay me a visit, and we will all be a family again. Maybe I even get a great-grandson!"

"Congrats then."

"Thank you. But, changing the subject, how are the other girls? Any progress?"

"Hm, maybe... Do you remember the polite girl who asked for a job because she was being threatened by moneylenders?"

"The one who was cheated by her childhood friend, who used and abandoned her with the huge debt he contracted?"

"The one and only!"

"How could I forget her? What about her?"

"Well, a foreigner came in for a drink and ended up watching her show. Let's say he was very interested in the girl. At first, I thought he was just another guy thinking this place is a brothel, but he seemed genuinely concerned. He said he was a childhood friend of hers, so I thought he was the same guy who abandoned her. I told Cain to be ready to teach him a lesson, if it was really him... in fact, it would be an interesting fight to see, because the two have the same built and a dangerous glint in the eyes, but the fight never happened… The foreigner is another childhood friend. The poor girl was very moved and relieved to see him. Something about broken wings or whatever. I let them talk in my office for a while. When they were finished, he sought me out before he left to ask me the names of the moneylenders."

"Oh? Do you think he's going to pay her debt?"

"Either that or he's out for blood. Though obviously rich and angel-like, there is something dangerous about him."

"...Foreigner, did you say? Same size as Cain?"

"Yes."

"Blond and green-eyed, by any chance?"

"Yes! Do you know him?"

"...I need to go; I have some phone calls to make. Oh, before that, I've been thinking about changing the name of the club. How about 'Love Me Section'?"

A/N - ...Sequel?

To anyone who is in doubt about the epilogue, yes, Lory is a mastermind. He is the hidden Boss of the Pink Flamingo. Setsu was working for her grandfather and did not even know XD

My early planning included Setsu as a stripper, but during the second chapter, I realized that someone like Cain would take her off the stage immediately and carry her back to Lory if that was the case. Therefore, I had to rethink my original idea, hence the delay in the update.

I used part of Prisoner's PV in the plot. So this fic is basically a crazy mix between "Ren + Maria", "Cain + Setsu" and "Prisioner".

As for the way I wrote the lemon, I have a clear picture of Cain as a man obsessed with Setsu and very passionate, so I tried to convey that.

Hugs and see you next time!