Sun and sand.

She adored him and he adored her.

This was probably as close to love as he would feel. The utter devotion, the great joy he felt when he was around her outside of Sessions, his complete trust towards her during Sessions.

He smiled down at her, the emotions he was feeling - the joy and the devotion - shining within his dark, stormy eyes.

He bowed his head to press another gentle kiss to her lips before guiding her forwards again. They had a date to get on with.

They were going to the beach and she was going to try and force foreign food onto him. He couldn't wait.

As he looked down at her she raised her hand, stroking his cheek so tenderly as he bowed his head to kiss her again.

She kissed him back just as softly, leaning against him as her around wrapped around his shoulders again, hugging him close.

This was probably the most affection she had felt for someone in a long time, she didn't keep people close, she used them then through them away and finally after all these years she was letting others close to her.

She followed him eagerly, moving her arm to wrap around his waist again as she walked beside him, nestling her face in against the side of his chest.

He nuzzled against her when she rested her head against his chest.

He really did love spending time with her like this. It made him feel so much closer to her when they cuddled together like this.

His soft expression didn't change as they broke the trees and made their way into town. They weren't the only couple wrapped up in each other. There were many men and women clutching each other as they walked through the busy streets of the city.

It seemed they weren't the only ones that thought today was a great day for a date.

"To the beach first?" he asked, silver eyes turning down to her questioningly.

The town was busy today with people keen to enjoy the warm, sunny weather, it looked like they weren't the only ones feeling rather cheery, the town seemed rather joyful today.

"Mhmm, I can't wait to get into the water."

She replied, gazing up at him, her hand moving to grip and fiddle with the hand currently draped over her shoulder.

She liked to touch him in these little ways, fiddle with his hands or his hair, stroke him gently, they weren't touches that she indulged in very often.

Lia led him towards the beach, they hadn't barely started their date and already she wanted to plan more.

"Nice cool dip in the water," he hummed.

It was a hot day. He wouldn't mind cooling himself down with a long swim.

His lips curled upwards into a cheeky grin as plans ran through his head. He was probably get killed for what he was planning but it would be fun either way. He'd deal with her anger when it came.

Perhaps they'd make a game out of it...

He followed her to the beach with a little smile, his heavy boots sinking into the sand slightly as they tromped across the sand.

Lia found a free patch of sand and dropped her bag, she had planned ahead and packed towels.

She kicked off her shoes and left them with the rest of her belongings as she pulled her dress over her head in one simple motion, discarding on the floor.

The Demon was left in a simple, yet very flattering, bikini. It was probably a good thing that she had saved this trip for after Zakhar was off of heat.

"You coming?"

She asked as she danced across the sand for a few steps, inching towards the ocean.

He knelt as she dumped the bag on the sand, tugging at the laces of his boots, freeing them and tossing them aside haphazardly.

Zakhar wasn't the neatest person in the world. His boots constantly got kicked around and left wherever he kicked them.

He paused when he stood, staring at Lia silently for a few moments.

She wasn't wearing that bikini earlier. Definitely wasn't wearing that bikini earlier. It was...distracting. He was also glad that she had decided to leave this trip until after he had finished his heat. He wouldn't be just standing there staring at her if he was on his heat.

Her question snapped him out of his trance and be bolted forwards with a little grin, scooping her up in his arms and dashing until the water, dropping her in the cold sea when he was waist deep.

He back pedalled a few steps, waiting for her to surface and take her wrath out on him, grin still firmly on his lips.

Lia squealed softly as he scooped her up and bolted towards the water, her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No. Nonononono!!"

It was too late, he had dumped her into the cold ocean. People passing on the beach simply smiled, some of them laughing and a few men in their mid twenties cheered at the Lycan as they watch him dump his date in the water.

The Demon tumbled in the water for a moment before pushing off the bottom and surfacing.
She pouted at the man, most of her face covered in her mop of black hair.

"Oh you're a dead man."

She muttered with a grin as she pushed her hair out of her face and pounced on him, pushing him under the water.

He laughed when she finally surfaced.

She looked like a drowned rat. Her hair was a mess, clinging to her face and hiding her features from view. He could only imagine what her expression was.

A snort sounded at her little mutter and when she pounced on him, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him as he was pushed back into the water, dragging her down with him.

They floated to the water and he gave a little hum, smiling up at the Demon perched on his chest,

Lia broke into a laugh as they surfaced, pushing her wet hair from her face as she lay out on top of him.

She looked down at him and smile as water streaked down her face and dripped from the ends of her hair.

Leaning down she kissed him softly, wrapping her arms around him.

It was funny how quickly she had become fond of him, Zakhar was one of the few people who could look past what she was and simply be fond of who she was without the stigma of her biblical title.

This was fun.

He could pick on Lia all he wanted in this playful way. It was fun.

Zakhar loved being able to mess around with people he was close to; he didn't care who they were or what they did as long as he could have fun knocking around with them.

And with Belial he could. He didn't care that she was supposed to be the most powerful Demon around.

She was just Belial.

His Belial.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

She nestled in against his chest, the cool water lapping at them as they floated along aimlessly.

Peaceful moments like these were rare but she hoped that they could share more of them in the near future.

Her earlier guilt for not being able to feel for the Lycan as much as any other man or woman had faded, love or not she still adored the Lycan and her feelings for him were not as fleeting as something like love.

Demon's relationships were far different, they stemmed from something far richer.

Zakhar had the same wish.

As much as he loved being her Slave, he loved being her lover even more. He liked to share these sweet moments with her. Bonding like ordinary couples. Watching movies together, talking, joking, going out on dates.

Life was good right now and he couldn't ask for anything better than this.

He leaned up to kiss her softly again.

She kissed him back tenderly, her hand stroking over his cheek.

Lia had failed in her attempt at keep Lover's at arms length through dominating them sexually, if the sex was distant and unemotional, that detachment usually stopped them and her from getting overly affectionate.

But somehow this Lycan had slipped through her defenses and wormed his way into her life emotionally, and yet she could not bring herself to resent him for it, in all honesty, she was glad to have Zakhar so close and she'd have him closer is she could.

He leaned into her hand with a little smile, nuzzling against it affectionately.

He loved these gentle moments.

But he also loved chaos. His arms locked around her and he rolled over in the water, dunking her under the cold waves with a laugh as he swam away from her. The first time was a little fun. This time it was a declaration of war.

Zakhar continued on his path deeper into the water to save himself from her wrath, laughing as he got so deep he was forced to swim.

Lia spluttered slightly as she came back up for air, her eyes narrowed in on the Lycan, he was asking for it, and she was more than happy to retaliate will full force.

She darted after him, gliding through the water effortlessly as she swam after him.

It only took a few moments for her to catch up, with a small smirk on her face she darted under the water, sneaking up on him from below.

Lia grabbed onto his ankle and tugged sharply, forcing him under the waves with her.

The Lycan yelped loudly when she dragged him under the water.

His arms shot out, trying to bring himself up to the surface again, but having no luck whatsoever with her gripping his ankle like that.

All right then.

Time to play dirty. She could punish him for this another time. Right now he wanted to win this mini war.

Hell versus Russia. Which would win.

Instead of fighting against her hold, he let her drag him down. His arms wrapped around her, one splaying along her shoulder blades while the other pressed against the small of her back.

And then his hands moved. One dipped into her bikini bottoms to stroke her from behind while the other slid under a cup of the top to pinch and roll a nipple between his fingers.

This wasn't a sexual advance. He was merely looking for a good way to distract her so he could retreat.

Technically Belial didn't need to breathe at all, though being in a human form did make her lungs ache, but nothing would happen beyond that.

Her body pushed into the touch of his fingers, she hadn't been expecting something quite like this when she had suggested the beach trip, not that she was complaining.

A few bubbles left her mouth as she gave a surprised little moan, pushing her body up against the Russian's as her hands stroked through his sprawled out hair.

There.

When she was stroking his hair, she wasn't holding onto him. It was the perfect time to escape.

His hands slid from her swimwear and he pushed himself down out of the circle of her arms before swimming under her and popping up to the surface a few metres away.

She wasn't going to be amused with him, that much was for sure. But he was willing to receive a punishment for his acts afterwards. Right now the drums of war were still beating.

He swam into a large group of people playing around, splashing water at each other and tossing around inflatable toys, eyes running over the water, looking for Lia both above and below.

Lia huffed and glared at him as he disappeared beneath her, that was a dirty trick.

Well if he could play dirty then so could she.

There was no doubt that he would be looking for her, as such the Demon dropped back under water where no one would noticed her and changed her appearance.

Her long black hair was replaced with pixie cut, short blonde hair, her pale skin replace with tanned and her purple eyes replaced with green.

She was shorter in this form, her breast slightly smaller, but not enough that her swimsuit would no longer fit.

It was a plain black bikini, a lot of females here were wearing similar ones, it wouldn't be a defining feature and with all the salt water her scent would be masked.

She smirked softly and joined in with the group of people playing with an inflatable beach ball, keeping the sight of Zakhar in her peripheral vision.

He looked around slowly.

Had she given up? Moved away for a short time until he got worried and ventured out into the sea to search for her so she could strike?

His silver eye followed each wave, looking for a dark form underneath, swimming around, waiting.

He couldn't see it.

Zakhar didn't want to go out there and fall right into the obvious trap but he could feel himself getting more and more worried. He was so predictable in times like this.

The Russian sighed heavily as he waded out into the open again, waiting for her to come up to him and ensnare him in her trap.

"Lia?" he called out, still looking around.

She watched him secretly as he searched for her, knowing that he wouldn't be able to spot her out in the open.

Zakhar was predictable, his worry was obvious as he went out into the open once again.

Lia didn't strike when he waded out into the open, he was expecting her to pop out and attack him, so she wasn't going to do it, she'd bide her time and wait until he really wasn't expecting it, that would serve him right for teasing her like that in order to escape.

His eyes flickered over the scene before him, his searching becoming more frantic with each passing moment.

Where was she?

Had...Had she left him here?

No. No, she couldn't...could she?

He had done something worth punishing. Was this is punishment? Leave him here to wander around waiting for her?

That was cruel. The sort of thing that would make him truly sorry for doing something like that without warning or permission. His hand lifted to his collar, toying idly with the lock on it as he gave one final look around, searching for his Mistress.

Zakhar was beginning to look frantic, something that made her giggle softly to herself but she would put him out of his misery soon enough.

The ball they had been playing with flew through the air and landed near the Lycan, a perfect time to strike.

The woman paddled over to retrieve it, flashing him a smile as she picked it up and tossed it back to her 'friends'.

Instead of padding back over to them she turned and splashed the Lycan, pouncing on him and forcing him underneath the water.

His eyes turned to the side, hand sliding from his collar, when the woman approached him and smiled.

He attempted a half smile in return but he wasn't feeling positive enough for it to look convincing.

Belial had left him here. When would the Demon return? Would she return? Would he have to stay here until she did or would he crawl back to the mansion and grovel at her feet when he found her?

A shocked growl sounded in his throat when the woman lunged at him. He hadn't been overly friendly with her but that wasn't reason to attack him!

He struggled against her, trying to push her away without using enough strength to hurt her. The salt in the water was obstructing his sense of smell. He couldn't smell that it was his Mistress in a different disguise than her usual ones.