Author's Note: I'm thinking of setting up a Wordpress account with a weekly blog…or am I just procrastinating again? On another note, I love this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of it's characters. I only claim Serena, as well as the demons and descendants that I introduce.

A Demon's Mate

Chapter Sixteen

Serena knocked lightly on the door to Ciel's rooms and peeked her head in. The Earl was staring at the chess set that had been brought up from the salon but looked up when she entered.

"Are you thinking about tonight?"

"There's really not much to think about." He sighed and sat back. "You are right that our plan would work better if I put myself in his path as someone not protected."

Serena took a seat on the small sofa across from Ciel. "But, you really don't like it."

"There are too many variables. What if someone out bids him?"

"Bids?"

"It's an auction."

"Wow, the more I learn about England, the more disgusted I am."

"It's not just the English," Sebastian said as he entered quietly to stand at his master's side. "Throughout time, almost all societies have bought and sold other humans to the highest bidder."

"That doesn't make it right or any less awful. The fact that you all see nothing wrong with this is just disturbing." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"There are things that you can change and things that will never change. Humans are creatures that thrive on the debasement of others."

"I go back to my argument that there are some people that are decent."

The demon stared at her. "And as I said, I have not met many."

"Are you two done?" Ciel looked bored between them.

"Forgive me, master." Sebastian bowed low but the slight smile ruined it.

"Back to tonight. What are you going to wear?" Serena asked as she sat back in the sofa.

The Earl waved off her concern. "I have some commoner's clothing that should work."

"How are you going to catch his attention?"

"There is no catching attention. If he sees me, he'll buy me."

"Yeah, no wonder you were worried about variables. You're leaving too much open to chance."

"What do you mean?" Ciel looked at the chessboard again.

"If there is someone specific that you want, you have to work for it. Just like you did with Druitt."

"I'm not dressing as a woman again," He said as he glared at her.

"No, the person we're after likes you as a boy. I'm talking about putting the extra work in." Serena shot up and grabbed the teen's arm. "I have an idea. Come with me."

The red head dragged them across the hall and knocked on Soma's door. Agni opened and welcomed them in while Ciel sputtered behind her. The Prince stood from the carpet as Serena came toward him. She grabbed him by his shirt and looked straight into his eyes.

"Soma, I need...your closet."

"O...Okay." The Prince stuttered as a flaming red blush stole over his face.

"Thank you." Serena let him go and pounced on the wardrobe. Throwing piece after piece behind her, the red head motioned Sebastian forward. "Hold this for consideration."

She kept at it until she had gone through all the clothes at Soma's disposal. Finally emerging from the pile of silks and fine cotton, Serena pulled Ciel back into his bedroom. Soma and Agni followed behind Sebastian. The girl took all the clothes from them and laid them out on the couch.

"We need something for Ciel to wear."

The boy in question sputtered again.

"We need something alluring."

Agni stepped forward and pulled out a midnight blue silk vest with small gems sewn throughout the garment that twinkled in the candlelight. A pair of pure white, flowing pants followed that cuffed at the ankle. Soma must have gathered what they were doing and starting going through the pile as well. He pulled out three scarves, blue, black, and purple, setting them with the other pieces.

"Oh, I like it." Serena grabbed Soma and Agni before ducking around Sebastian. She pushed the butler forward. "We'll wait outside. Get him dressed."

Serena stared at the shut door as she thought. "We're going to need jewelry too."

"I'll get it!" Soma raised a hand and ran off to his rooms.

"What exactly are we dressing the Earl up for?" Agni looked after his prince to make sure that he was busy.

"You know about Ciel's work for the Queen, don't you?" She waited for his nod. "The whole reason that we came to London was that he received one of these requests. Ciel needs a disguise that is completely not who he is and catches attention."

"My lady, that outfit hints at..."

"A sultan's slave boy."

"We will need some other things." The man bowed and hurried into the Prince's rooms just as Soma was coming with a large wood box. "I will get that, your highness."

"Thank you, Agni. I did not realize that it was so heavy."

The man took the box as Serena watched. She smiled at their interaction. 'They may always be master and servant, but they are also friends and companions. I hope realizes how lucky he is to have someone like that without having to make the same deal that Ciel did. A person that will willingly give up their life without duty or honor or money as the cause are very rare.'

"Serena? What is wrong?" The Prince stopped before her and leaned down.

"Nothing." She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing at all."

The door opened behind them to show Sebastian waving them all in. Ciel stood in the middle of the room, still as a statue, in the disguise that had chosen for him. Serena twirled her finger to get him to turn around. He did so, but not without heaving a large sigh.

"There's still something missing."

"If I could have a moment, my lady." Agni re-entered the room carrying the large box as well as a smaller box on top. Sebastian cleared a place to set them on the low table and went back to his Master. Serena noted how some of the tension went out of Ciel with Sebastian nearby. The demon nodded slightly, obviously catching the thought.

Agni opened the larger box for his Prince and Soma dug through the contents with abandon. His servant pulled a jar from the smaller box and held it out to Sebastian.

"This will need to be applied to the skin and then given time to dry before dressing this evening. But he must be freshly bathed for it to stick."

The red head came up behind him and looked at the jar. He opened it to show some kind of lotion that sparkled.

"It's gold dust." She took a small amount and rubbed it between her fingers.

Soma came forward with a set of arm bands and bangles that he attached to Ciel without waiting for permission. The Earl stood still as the two men fussed with his clothes, put jewelry on, took it back off, experimented with the lotion, and even brought out kohl to line his eye with. Serena pushed Sebastian back to his Master when she saw the tightness around his eye.

'I think that he is ready to lose it.' She tried to focus on the demon in hopes that he would hear her. In an instant she was rewarded.

'I will calm my master.'

'This is still weird. I really don't like someone reading my mind.'

'It's not really mind reading. Surface thoughts are often projected. Human's attest that it is body language or facial expression, but there are many people that can project their thoughts and others pick up on them. The bond between mates is the same, just more detailed.' As he took up residence behind Ciel, the teen let out a breath.

'It's still weird.'

Finally, the two men stood back and let Serena see the finished result. She stepped forward to look closer. The vest brought out the blue in Ciel's showing eye and contrasted nicely with his pale skin. It covered his brand while still leaving most of his stomach bare. The pants rode low on his slim hips and the scarves tied around his waist fluttered with every movement. Around his ankle, gleamed a thick, gold band with a delicate chain that ran down his foot to a ring around one of his toes. A plain gold collar had been fastened around his neck and matching bands sat on each bicep. The bangles around his wrists tinkled every time he moved a hand.

"Wow, you two do good work." She held out her hands. "Come here."

Serena clucked her tongue when he took her hands.

"What?"

"You still walk like a noble."

A loud knock resounded through the house and up the stairs from the front door. Sebastian moved at the same time that Agni did and both reached the doorway at the same time. The Indian man bowed and backed away.

"You should stay here in case Serena has any other ideas." The butler swept out of the room to answer the door.

"He's right. We need to reteach Ciel how to walk."

"What's wrong with the way that I walk?" He put his hands on his hips.

"You walk like an English nobleman." She waved a hand in front of him. "All arrogance and stick shoved up your ass."

Serena ignored the tirade she could feel coming and looked around the room.

"We need more space."

The Earl must have decided that it was useless to argue and settled to glare at her. "The music room is the largest open space."

"Actually, that would be the ballroom." Sebastian came back into the room carrying an envelope that he handed to his master. "From Mr. Lau."

Ciel opened it quickly and sighed. "Our Colonel has decided to throw a house party tonight. Lau is invited and will be our entry as well. So, I can get out of this."

"Hold it." Serena came closer. "Didn't you say that you needed to search the house?"

"Yes."

"Distraction."

"What?"

"You get to be the distraction so that Sebastian can search the house."

The Earl sighed. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

"You are very distracting right now." She looked him over again. "And with a house party, now I have an even better idea for keeping his attention for a few minutes."

"What would that be?" Ciel couldn't hide the dread in his voice.

She clapped with a smile. "You get to dance."

***************************A Demon's Mate****************************

Everyone gathered in the music room for the Earl's lesson is walking. Even Sebastian was unsure of how to change a characteristic that was so deeply ingrained in his Master, especially with only a few hours in which to do it. Serena had asked Agni to try with Ciel while she took off with the butler to change. Both emerged in moments, the red head back in the bold silks from the day before and hair freed from its pins.

"Okay, so where are we?"

Judging by the glare that Ciel shot Soma and Agni, she guessed not very far from where they started. The Earl came to her and Sebastian.

"You really need to loosen up. Watch me." Serena walked around the inside edge of the room, using her hips to move around the instruments and make the skirt swirl with her steps. Both the Earl and Prince were blushing lightly when she made it back to them. "Now, you try."

Ciel took the same circuit with entirely different results. Serena shook her head as he stopped in front of her.

"You don't have a seductive bone in your body, do you?"

"I'm a man!"

"So what?! Look at your butler. He's a man and he's nothing but sex on the hoof." She looked over. "Wrapped in a sweet tailcoat."

Sebastian smirked down at her, oozing sex appeal. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She turned back Ciel. "And I hope that you just paid attention to that."

"Even watch him walk. There is a subtle movement in the hips that takes your steps from walking to gliding." Serena snapped her fingers as another idea came. "I wish I had a hulla hoop. Nothing teaches hip movement like a hulla hoop."

The red head pulled Ciel back to the starting point. "Come on. I'm going to walk with you."

She put her hands on his waist and ignored the slight jump beneath her fingers. "Everything from here up is fine. It's below this that you need to work on. Think about these scarves. You want them to swish behind you. As you walk, you want to hear swish swish in your head."

Serena pulled his hips in time with her own while they were standing. "I can't believe that you walk in heels every day and you have no movement in your hips."

"Stop touching me." He whispered at her.

"Then actually try." He jumped again. "You can't fool me, Ciel. I know you just don't want to do this so you won't even try to do it right. Now, walk."

They started forward jerkily. Every step, Serena would push his hips in the direction that she wanted. By half way around the room, she had stepped away and let go of him.

"Swish, swish." When they got close, everyone could hear what she had been repeating to him with every step. "Much better."

She put her hands on her hips and nodded at his progress.

"Now that you have loosened up, we need to work on your floor show."

"Floor show?!"

"That's right." Serena smiled. "Sebastian will need time to search the house for the missing men. During that time, we need to make sure that your host, as well as his guests, don't interrupt. I told you before that the name of the game was distraction. Or I guess that you could call it misdirection."

She clapped her hands together and dropped to sit on the floor. "Come on, let's see you dance."

"Dance?!"

The red head nodded happily. Soma sat down next to her.

"Come, Ciel."

The teen just stood there, unsure of what to do. His weight shifted from one foot to the other as he looked to each of them. Serena leaned to the Soma.

"I should probably do a demonstration, huh?"

"I think that would be a good idea," he whispered back.

She jumped up and pulled Ciel to her spot. Shoving him down, the red head went back to the center of the room. She started to sway a little but stopped.

"We should have had some music too. I need a beat."

Agni waved for them to give him a minute and left the room. Sebastian brought in tea to hand out to the Earl and Prince. Serena continued to sway to the music in her own head while she waited. The butler slid up beside her.

"I am unsure if I am comfortable with you dancing for other men." His eyes flashed for a split second before going back to crimson.

She nudged him with a smile. "Much better. I'd rather you say something than try to be high-handed and do something. Or think that you could forbid it."

"Is that all you're going to say about this?"

"No, who says you can't watch too?" Serena winked and pushed him away as Agni came back into the room.

The white-haired man carried a large drum that he placed on the floor. Sitting behind it, he started to tap various spots on its surface. He looked up to Serena and nodded.

"Something earthy, Agni."

He nodded again and started to strike the drum's taut surface. Serena's eyes closed as she felt the beat with a smile. Slowly, she started to move. Her hips moved with the music first and spread to the rest of her body.

Ciel and Soma stared at the red head as she danced. Occasionally, she would catch their eye as she swished and swirled in front of them. Her body moved across the floor without ever going out of their range. With a smirk, Serena leaned down and took the Earl's hand. She pulled him up to move with her.

They started slow, with Serena behind Ciel and guiding him through a secret dance. When she pulled away, they moved in a mirror of each other. The boy was more stilted than her, but not enough to put anyone off. The music began to speed up. Everyone watched as Serena brought her arms above her head, twinning them together like snakes while her hips kept time with the beat. The faster the drum beat, the faster she moved. Sliding into a backward dip, her hands and arms continued to move.

Suddenly, the music stopped. Serena came up from her dip and looked to the men. Ciel had stopped toward the end and now stood with the others gaping at her.

"You may want to close your mouth. Don't want to catch a bug in there." She smirked at them as she bowed.

"How do you do that?" Ciel snapped his jaw shut.

"The trick is to feel the beat and dance like no one is watching." She giggled. "It also helps to have a roommate your freshman year that took belly dancing lessons. I watched while she was practicing."

Serena bowed to Agni. "Thank you for the music. It was exactly what I was looking for."

The older man bowed back and picked up the drum.

"I believe that it is time to prepare dinner." Sebastian snapped his pocket watch shut carefully not looking at his mate.

The two butlers bowed and left the room.

****************************A Demon's Mate************************

Serena had stayed in the music room while the others went off. Remembering the music, she slid into the dance again. As she moved through the steps, the girl didn't hear another person enter the room. She turned around and saw a wall of black.

Sebastian grabbed her wrist and hauled the red head against him. His eyes glowed with swirling red.

"You will never dance like that again in public." His voice was growl of anger but she could feel that he had enjoyed the show as well.

"Something else that I'll only do in front of you?" The girl laughed as she pulled away and danced around him. "There's no one here now."

Serena pushed the demon lightly until he felt the piano bench behind him. Going back to the center of the room, she started the steps over again. Her skirts brushed against his legs every time that she came close but quickly danced away before he thought to touch her. At the end, instead of leaning away, she leaned back into him. Red hair brushed the side of his face as she bent and his hand skimmed the flesh of her side exposed by the dress.

With a quick jerk, Sebastian pulled his mate into his lap. The red head laughed at the break in his self-control. She looked up to see swirling red and fangs. She felt his breathing change against her back. Heavier breathes whispered across her lips as he held her jaw, dipping his face close to hers. Anticipation, instead of exercise, made her heart race now.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Both broke apart to see Soma backing out of the door as quickly as he could with his eyes covered. Serena's head fell back against Sebastian's shoulder as a laugh bubbled over.

"It's not funny." He growled.

"Actually, it kind of is. Something just occurred to me." She tried to talk through the laughter. "You're the one who really wants this. But in all your seduction planning, you never think to shut the door."

The demon stood up quickly, dumping Serena to the floor. Her laughter only got louder as Sebastian stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

"Now, you're on the wrong side of it!"