Chapter 25

[She was scrubbed with the most aromatic bathing salts in the warm bath, perfumed with the most fragrant of perfumes. Her hair was perfectly coiffed and adorned with jeweled combs, her arms and wrists were wrapped in the purest of gold cuffs and bracelets and her body was covered in the finest gossamer silks in bright colors. Her cheeks were rouged and her eyelids were colored and shaded with the finest colorful minerals and lined with the darkest kohl.

Kyoko was only shown from her bare neck up and when the camera pulled back for the opening of the scene. Her nude body was only filmed from behind, not showing her pregnancy. She was still nervous about the nudity, but it was a closed set scene and the other actors had been women.

When she was presented to him, Valerius found her more beautiful than any of statues of Aphrodite herself. He was enchanted. He could hardly wait until this Earthly goddess was his. Tonight he would make sure that happened.

Asmodeus would only stay until the ceremony had ended to ensure the marriage to Dahlia. In the morning Valerius' gift would become his curse; after all, one does not make a deal with a demon then betray him and treat him as a slave. He would relish in the man's demise at the hands of beauty.]

"Cut! Good scene.. Alright we need to move to studio 7 for the bedroom scene. I'll need everyone over there in 10 minutes." Konoe told his crew and actors. "See you there." He waved them off as he checked the scene and they left.

[The evening breeze flowed gently through the gossamer curtains as Valerius took in the visage of his new bride.

"Come to me..." He commanded.

She moved to him with the grace of a panther to the expansive, silken bed that he stood beside.

"You may speak my flower." He tried once again to remember her name. "Tell me your name again."

She looked at him unsure, knowing her voice was her weapon then remembered what Asmodeus had told her. 'Feed, feed to your heart's content.' She smiled seductively. "My name is Dahlia..."

Valerius found himself spellbound, his mind clouded and he couldn't think, shivers ran down his spine and his body felt paralyzed. His mouth attempted to form words, but none came as her small soft hand caressed his rough cheek.

She could smell his lust and uncertainty. She could hear his heart pounding loudly in his chest like a clarion call. Her small hand ran down his cheek to his neck then his shoulder. She pulled him slowly to her and his eyes grew wide with anticipation. "You smell nice." She whispered in his ear then licked his neck. She pulled back and smiled widely exposing her dangerous fangs then quickly leaned back in and sank them into him, draining him of his life. She giggled at the lifeless body of her new husband. "Easiest meal I've ever had." She then screamed.

"My Lady!" The dark haired man-servant, named Rudolph, burst though the doors to her aid to find the lifeless body of his master before him. "My Lady what happened?"

Shedding false tears, she sobbed. "A strange animal... it came in... and... and..." Her tears and sobs came more fiercely.

Her, maid-servant, Lily entered and took the crying girl into her arms. "There, there My Lady... All will be well. All will be well." Dahlia's icy blue gaze darkened and a small hidden smile crossed her lips.]

"Cut!" Directory Konoe called. "Thank you Kyouko-san, Murasame-san, Kijima-san and Kotonami-san. Good scene. Good work today." He praised.

"Moko-san! We get to work together again!" Kyoko squealed with delight as she hugged her friend tightly.

"Mo! Kyoko get off me." Kanae groused as she pealed the young pregnant woman off of her while Murasame and Kijima stood there snickering at the two girl's antics.

Murasame commented, "Kind of reminds me of my last film. Kyoko-san... You don't have a sister do you?"

"No why?" She was curious, but cautious. The identities of Cain and Setsuka had yet to be revealed.

"Aw... There was this guy that was in my last film that played the villain. The guy was a total jerk but, he has the prettiest sister named Setsuka. I swear you two could be twins." Murasame shivered. "Really dangerous guy. Don't know how he became an actor with that kind of personality." He mumbled.

Kyoko stiffened a little, not enough for Murasame to notice, but definitely enough for Kanae.

Kanae's eyes narrowed and she glanced at Kyoko. "Dangerous? How so?" She smirked.

"Oh... Let's just say he was a real jerk and the relationship he had with his 'sister' was a little more than questionable." He shook his head. "Their little brother was cute though."

"I see." She looked back at Kyoko. "Dangerous, huh?"

Kyoko was now nervously fidgeting. "Moko-san..."

"Kyoko... how about we go have ice cream?" Kanae asked slyly. She was going to get the details of the Dangerous Mission no matter what it took after she heard about the dangerous actor, his 'sister' and 'little brother'.

"Explain..." Kanae growled in a whisper when she sat down with their ice cream.

"Moko-san. I'm not supposed to tell until after the movie comes out." Kyoko whispered back.

"Fine... if you can't tell your best friend, then who can you tell? I suppose I'm not really your best friend." She pouted.

"NO!" Kyoko's hands flew to her mouth in embarrassment from yelling. "No, Moko-san... I'll tell you." She whispered again. Kyoko dug around in her bag searching for something and pulled out a little photo album that held several photos of Kuon-chan, then opened it to a photo of the darkest looking couple Kanae had ever seen.

"Wow... Those two look scary. That guy looks like he could kill someone. So why are you showing me this? Wait... Is that Kuon-chan? Kyoko why would you let those people anywhere near him."

Kyoko sighed. "Moko-san... That's me and Kuon with him." Kyoko explained.

Kanae's eyes went wide with surprise. "No...way..."

Kyoko nodded then said "Dangerous Mission."

"Wow... you guys are scary Kyoko. Really scary." Kanae told her as she stared at the photo.

"So... where is Kuon-chan today? I thought you would bring him in with you today since you didn't have any photo-shoots." Kanae asked as she started to dig into her ice cream.

"Oh! He's with his new nanny today. We just hired her. Shachou found her for us and Kuon-chan really seems to like her." Kyoko picked a strawberry from her ice cream and rolled it around on her tongue until it thawed.
"Good... You needed the help. You were spreading yourself a little thin last month with all of your work, studying, party planning and the accident. I don't know how you do it." Kanae licked the chocolate from her spoon.

"It wasn't as much as your making it sound like Moko-san. It's just... the broken leg really didn't help and... well maybe it is." She decided it really was busy after thinking about it.

"I'll pay this time." Kyoko grabbed the ticket.

Kanae put her hand over Kyoko's "No... I asked you to come... I pay. No arguments." Kanae said with an authoritative tone. Kyoko just nodded and allowed Kanae to have her way. Kanae and Kuon were wearing her down when it came to who's going to pay and frankly today she just didn't have it in her to argue about it. She felt like she had been walking on egg-shells the entire time she had been working with Taira Murasame and she was stressed out from trying not to do anything Setsuka-like.