Vow of Hell by Clara Elroy
Saint
Isingled her out by her outfit.
She was wearing a bright blue dress today, drowning under layers of tulle, strutting towards the Falco headquarters like she was living her catwalk dream.
Ariadne Fleur was many things, but at least boring wasn’t one of them. From her eccentric fashion choices to her wild curls framing her heart-shaped face, and curves that she did a stellar job at hiding under layers of fabric, she bled personality and allure with every step she took. She appeared demure on the surface, but if you lit the wrong fuse, she would scorch you in seconds, spilling impulsivity by the buckets.
I rolled the window of my G-Class down, half tempted to scream “Get in loser, we’re going shopping” at her, but I figured that wasn’t the best way to approach someone you needed a favor from. I’d try taking the civil route first—no matter how ridiculous she looked wearing a haute couture dress on a normal workday.
My honk drew everyone’s attention, including hers, as she rotated in place, her eyes fleeting to mine like magnets. A healthy flush spread down Ari’s cheeks when she found me already looking at her. She did that a lot—blushed like a schoolgirl. Unfortunately for her, young inexperienced girls weren’t on my list of fetishes.
“Fleur,” I drawled, beaconing her closer so we wouldn’t have a conversation ten feet apart.
She looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole as people stared and bounded over, keeping her steps short until she was standing next to my car door.
“Astor,” she hissed lowly, throwing her hair over her bare shoulder. Bold choice considering it was freezing. “Couldn’t wait to welcome me until we were inside, or you missed me too much?”
“Surprised you showed, Spitfire. Apparently, I overestimated your boyfriend’s hold in your life.” I didn’t much care about him, it wouldn't be the first time a couple broke up because of me, but there was a reason I never proposed to any of those girls.
“You know nothing.” Her lashes lowered, shielding her eyes.
“But I’m about to learn everything. There are no secrets between a husband and a wife, right?”
I lost track of my mouth, something primal tightening in my gut, anticipating the verbal spar that was bound to follow. There was no reason to tip-toe around it. We both knew what we were here for.
“Keep your voice down,” she muttered, glancing at the crowd that didn’t pay us any mind.
I leaned back on my seat, fisting the steering wheel and revving the engine, impatience flying through me. “Get in,” I ordered. “We aren’t going to the meeting.”
“What? My grandma said—”
“I don’t care what Chloe or my father said, this is between you and me.”
The old farts would have to stop playing God for a hot minute. They’d sit in a conference room, wait, and wait, and wait, until panic took hold, that not just one, but both of us refused to show. Their brilliant minds would be put to question for one whole day until they found out the verdict of our private meeting.
“I don’t think—”
Still not following instructions. Her jaw locked when I spoke over her. “Unless you want your grandma to die a thousand deaths when I ask you if you prefer missionary or doggy style, swallowing or spitting, lights off or on, then you will get in the fucking car.”
A stain of embarrassment marred her cheeks again, and I was disappointed to confirm I couldn’t look away as she seethed, tapping her cream heel on the pavement. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me, Spitfire.” I met her stare head-on until she retracted her gaze first. “How can I marry you without knowing if our sexual preferences are compatible or not.”
Fucking with Ariadne Fleur’s was higher on my priority list than actually fucking her. We all had our different ideas of foreplay and watching her carefully controlled expressions melt in the vinegar of my words was mine.
A car whose parking space I was blocking honked in the background, getting more restless as seconds flew. I didn’t budge, looking at Ariadne with raised brows. Her fight dissolved in seconds, public outcry winning the waging war inside of her, and with a last glare and a string of curses that sounded comical coming out of her proper mouth, she started for the passenger seat.
The bottom of the SUV reached her waist, but I had a feeling she would slap my hand away if I tried to help her, so I watched as she struggled to get in the car, huffing like she ran a marathon when she settled into her seat.
“Where the hell are we going?”
I gunned it out of there as soon as she was buckled in, not lingering to test my luck and see how much longer it would take for the asshat behind me to crash into me. Ariadne squealed when Nyx and Erebus—my two black Dobermans—made their presence felt, panting all over her backseat and stealing occasional licks.
“Oh my god!” Her high-pitched scream, in combination with the dogs' excited barks, pierced my eardrums. “What are those?”
The sensory overload made it hard for me to focus on driving, and I narrowly missed a car, causing the driver to flip me off as I sped past him. I growled under my breath, throwing my left arm behind her seat to put an end to the chaos and grant Ariadne some space to gather herself. I barked a command for the dogs to sit, and they obeyed, their tails still wagging furiously when I glanced at them through the rearview mirror.
“They’re called dogs,” I deadpanned, grateful that my eyes didn’t stray from the road to look at her fluctuating chest, and feral eyes caressing the side of my jaw with primitive fear. “The one on the right with the red collar is Nyx, and on the left with the blue is Erebus.”
The dogs’ pants got harder at the sound of their names, and a small whimper escaped Ari’s mouth as she leaned as far as her seatbelt allowed her to, glancing over my forearm with slight curiosity.
“Could’ve fooled me. They look more like mini-sized bears.” Her voice was tiny, but she grew bolder, resting her palm on my bicep, informing me she wasn’t scared anymore. “A little warning that there are other living creatures in the car would’ve been nice.”
“They’re trained guard dogs. They don’t bite unless I tell them to,” I countered, grinning wolfishly.
I drew back, sticking my hand back on the gear stick, and watching out of my peripheral vision as she drew closer to Erebus, the calmer out of the two. He bobbed her outstretched hand with his snout, and she giggled when he started licking her fingers like a lovesick fool that couldn’t help but take to her immediately.
“Very original,” Ariadne quipped, over her initial panic, resting back on her seat once bonding time was over. “I see why you would need guard dogs, though. Breaking hearts on the daily is bound to have an impact on your life as well.”
She wasn’t wrong. I had my fair share of attempted break-ins. None of them made it, seeing as my house was more secure than Fort Knox. I learned my lesson the hard way when I found a naked stranger waiting for me in my bed after returning from practice one day. But since then, I made sure to up my security. The dogs were a bonus, plus they were damned cute when they were puppies and helped me stay active.
My phone rang as I opened my mouth to reply, and we both glanced down at the same time, watching my father’s name flash on the screen. I clicked the mute button, but then Ariadne’s phone started buzzing not long after.
“Ignore it,” I said, and she huffed in annoyance at being ordered around. “This is between you and me, Spitfire. Let them foam at the mouth for a little bit.”
She surprised me by agreeing and dropped her phone back in her mini-bag. It seemed I wasn’t the only one that was frustrated by the turn of events. The deal was too good to pass up, but a premeditated marriage never crossed my mind. Marriage never crossed my mind. Period.
The Promenade, Astropolis’s riverside park came into view when I took a turn down Beacon street. It was a five-minute drive from work, two depending on how many speeding laws you broke. During the warmer months, they sometimes hosted free movies and concerts, but on a cold Wednesday morning, there was barely anyone save for a few joggers, and boats bobbing in the water.
“Are we going to the park?” Ariadne asked when I slowed down, and Nyx and Erebus became more hyper. “I’m not properly dressed for this weather. I thought we were going to be inside.”
After pushing the lever up, I glanced at the exposed expanse of olive skin. Her tits were on the smaller side, which was why she managed to pull off this dress without looking trashy. Still didn’t excuse the fact that it was east coast fall time, and she was risking freezing to death for the sake of her Instagram feed.
Yes… I caved and Googled her. Not one of my proudest moments, ogling a twenty-one-year-old’s social media pages, but she posted religiously—two, maybe three times a day. Sponsored posts, thirst traps (like that red bodysuit picture in Crete before her grandparent's home that had me rubbing one out at three a.m.). I said a silent sorry to her Nan and Pop, so I’d stop feeling like a pervert.
It didn’t work.
“You can have my jacket.” I shrugged out of my Parka, throwing it her way.
It hit her straight on the chest, and I thanked the Lord for the first time in years. I didn’t need to be lusting after my too young, soon-to-be fiancé.
“What will you wear?” Aria asked.
“I’m wearing a sweater. You have a strapless dress on. I’ll be fine,” I said, getting out before she could say another word and bounding over to open her door.
She looked at me through narrowed eyes as she shrugged the jacket on, not making a move to get out. “Aw, is Saint Astor being a gentleman today?”
“Can’t have people saying I broke your legs before you even step foot in a church.” The hive mentality was real. I was the media’s golden boy, but at the first sign of fragility, they exploited anything they could get their hands on. If there was a medal for losing your credibility the quickest, I would’ve won a long time ago. The last thing I needed to be branded as was an abuser. That shit stayed with you. “What did your parents even feed you that stunted your growth this much?”
She pursed her lips but took my offered hand. “The way you’re going at it, I don’t think we’re making it that far.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist, trying not to laugh at the way she leaned back as far as she could, lowering her to the ground beside me. She was tiny, two heads shorter than me, but the way she didn’t stutter when she spoke back gave her more presence than her chipmunk build ever would.
Spitfire stared up at me, her chin tilted up in defiance, and I didn’t take my hands off her immediately. My body was drawn to her familiar heat and slight shiver that betrayed what her mouth would never dare utter.
“You never answered my question, you know. Saturday night while you were making yourself comfortable on my—”
“What question?” she growled, her breath leaving her body with a shudder.
“What drove you to me at Bella’s?”
“Too many coincidences on a short notice.” She avoided my gaze.
“You thought I was fucking that girl just to spite you,” I translated for her.
I was over that scene. It ended with getting my dick wet and my lust somewhat sated anyway, but I kept going back to it. Ever since Noah told me about the deal with the Fleurs, the wheels in my brain started turning. It didn’t take much to put two and two together and figure out why Spitfire was so prone to outbursts of jealousy.
She knew before me. Five whole months.
The notion that Chloe Fleur was the one that pushed for a marriage was turning more absurd by the day. Through acquisition or even a merger, she could get what she wanted without throwing her granddaughter to the wolves. My father pushing to control my life, on the other hand, was more believable. It wouldn’t be the first time, and certainly not the last.
After years of crazy, I wanted a quiet life, and I was willing to walk the extra mile to get it. Ariadne Fleur most certainly did not fit in my plans. Nothing that was planted in my life by him did. Things my father touched were stained beyond repair.
“Your trust issues wound me.” I clutched my hand over my heart, my tone laced with enough sarcasm for her to push me off, pursuing her bow-shaped lips as if she was readying to spit her venom.
I didn’t wait to hear it. Rolling my shoulders, I opened the back door when the dogs became restless, scratching against it. They burst outside with excitement, tongues hanging out of their mouths and tails slicing through the air. Nyx and Erebus didn’t take long to locate Aria behind me, taking to her like moths to flame.
She leaned down—not much, seeing as my Dobermans were half her height—and scratched behind their ears as they took turns licking her face when she said the magic word—walkies. The edge of her dress was getting dirty from the muddy ground, but it was a welcome change of pace. Most girls that met Nyx and Erebus freaked out.
Well, to be fair, they weren’t welcomed as warmly. My dogs didn’t like strangers—especially ones that tiptoed out of my house at three am.
“It was a lapse of judgment, and I was very drunk and emotional. I don’t expect you to stay celibate, as you shouldn’t expect that of me. This is a business transaction at the end of the day,” Aria clarified once we got the dogs leashed. I handed her Erebus since he didn’t tug on his.
I wasn’t going to be her gatekeeper, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be pushing for exclusivity. If she wanted to fuck anything with a pulse, she could, but I didn’t know how prone little miss priss was to running her mouth. I needed someone I could trust by my side, not someone that would sing like a canary because the dick was too good. I hoped fraternizing with Astropolis’s upper class was enough to teach her to look beyond the Crest-white smiles and notice the rotten breath of depravity lying beyond.
“Glad we’re on the same page, Spitfire. You’re going to have to drop your steady dick though. We wouldn’t want him leaking anything to the press unless he’s okay with the idea of an open relationship and will agree to sign an NDA.”
An emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on ran through her eyes, the brown irises turning hazel when the sun shone through the overcast clouds, but it was swiftly masked with disgust. “My god, you’re as crass as you are an ass.”
I paused, masking my smile by remaining impassive. “I’ll let it fly since it was an entertaining insult.”
She rolled her eyes, giving Erebus a pat as he walked calmly beside her. Nyx on the other hand was too busy getting distracted by squirrels and kept trying to bolt. “In case you didn’t know, not everyone is as good at throwing people out of their lives like used tissue paper.”
“Everything can be achieved through practice.” I plastered a nonchalant grin on my face.
“Some of us have feelings and get attached,” Ariadne spoke slowly as if I was a stubborn kid.
“Some of us also agreed to a merger that comes with a bonus of a legally binding marriage for five years and a non-disclosure agreement.” I challenged her by replicating the same annoying tone, looking down my nose. “So, if some of us can’t adhere to the rules, there’s still time to run.”
Unconsciously her steps did get quicker like she was trying to escape reality.
“I still haven’t agreed, so let’s not talk like this is a sealed deal.” She scowled up at me. “I’m surprised you’re even considering it. Saint Astor settling down, the miracle of the century. How will you survive without your bi-weekly orgy parties?”
“For someone I’ve talked to only a handful of times in my life, you sure know a lot about me.”
“You’re kind of a celebrity among us mere mortals. I don’t know if you’ve noticed.”
“So are you. An even bigger one based on your number of followers.”
“You don’t have any social media accounts, so that’s not a good measure of unit. And I’m a fashion influencer and critic, hardly the same thing. People don’t obsess over my life like they do yours.” She worried her bottom lip, alerting me that being put under a microscope as well wasn’t her idea of fun. “You literally have a Wikipedia page. All I have is famous birthdays, and they even got my star sign wrong.”
How the fuck did the conversation even get to star signs?
Losing ground so early on wasn’t a good sign. I could blink, and next thing I knew, she would be analyzing the compatibility chart between Leos and whatever sign she was. Reading people and steering them in a direction of my choosing came easy to me. Ariadne was like an open book, young and impressionable, but somehow she wound up holding the reins.
Could be because for the past twenty minutes my mind couldn’t stop conjuring all sorts of fantasies about how her impeccable skin would feel like under my fingertips. She had one of the best complexions I'd ever seen, tan and dewy as if she moisturized ten times a day.
“I don’t have all day,” I said tersely, willing some of the previous frost between us to build up again. “Tell me, Spitfire, what made you show up today? You just graduated, your career is taking off, and your boyfriend—while he seems like the bore of the century—is a solid guy according to Ares’s praise.”
We came to a stop on the off-leash section of the park, and I stretched my arm out after setting Nyx and Erebus free to run around with the other dogs. When I turned back, I caught Spitfire staring at me, her bold brown brows pulled together, shielding her stormy eyes.
“I could ask you the same thing,” she countered. “You could have any woman you want with a snap of your fingers. You’re already successful, and you can’t stand the sight of me from what I’ve gathered. What are you looking to gain, Astor?” She pointed an accusatory finger at me.
It was an avalanche of setbacks that led to my distaste for my future wife. It started with a snowball that grew into an ice storm overnight. Admittedly, running her mouth was her only mistake. Being my father’s pawn—even an ignorant one—was the final nail in the coffin, sealing any type of fondness away in a pandora box full of unspeakables.
“The company,” I said truthfully, keeping my intentions to myself.
“Me too.” Aria piggy-backed off my answer. “The success of my company, and the future of my family.”
Ah, that’s where you and I don’t mesh, Spitfire.
Ruin, destruction, and perish were wonderful synonyms that ranked higher up on the list for all the things I had planned for Falco and Fleur. Success didn’t even make the list, actually. Challenging Bezos, Musk, and Gates for best CEO didn’t turn me on as much as it did my father.
“Greed, then,” I stated the driving force behind our arranged marriage.
She tucked a stray curl behind her ear, and I let my eyes roam over her soft curls. Her hair glimmered red wherever the rays touched, full and shiny like they’d never seen a flat iron in their lifespan. “Do you think God is going to punish us for making a mockery out of such a sacred matrimony?”
I was already shaking my head. “I think God tapped out a long time ago on us, sweetheart.”
We spent the rest of the morning hashing out the details of our upcoming union on a bench next to running water. I probed to see how much of a problem she would be when it came to running the company autonomously. Not much, considering she had no love for the business that promoted the art. I temporarily dropped the topic of her boyfriend when she threatened me with a Christian Orthodox baptism to appease her Greek side of the family. And we agreed on her moving to my house for the first year when the attention of the public would be at its peak.
After that, each one would go on their own merry way, meeting only when the occasion arose. She had her life, and I had mine.
“So that’s it then… we both agree to this? You’ll be my husband, and I’ll be your w-wife,” she stuttered, seemingly having a hard time believing what she was saying.
My tongue ran across my teeth, a deep, unsettling ache unfurling in my ribs. I watched, fascinated as Ariadne’s demeanor shifted so fast it almost gave me whiplash. From confidently negotiating with me to cowering at the realization that we weren’t exchanging empty words. They were a promise sealed with the responsibility of a united empire hanging over our shoulders like a dreaded boogeyman.
I couldn’t believe it either. The whole thing went over too smoothly as if the Big Bang blew up one second and the universe was created in a day. Where there was darkness, I could now see pulses of light. Hope at the end of the motherfucking tunnel in the shape of a spitting fire that made agitation course through me like lactic acid after a hard workout.
“‘Til we both shall stand each other, Ariadne.”