Page 27 of Midnight with the Devil

He picked up his glass of bourbon and took a slow drink. “You’re trying to keep your distance, reminding yourself I’m the bad guy. It’s not going to work.” Lucien turned back to the food and retrieved two plates and prepared their dinner.

She frowned at him. “You are the bad guy, and I won’t ever forget it.”

His gaze burned clear through her. “I don’t want you to forget it. I want you to revel in it. I want you to bathe in darkness with me, glorify in the pleasures we share, and give yourself over to me.” He raised the glass to his lips again and took another drink. She focused on the way his throat worked as he swallowed, and her skin flushed with heat. How many dreams had she had where he poured amber liquid over her bare breasts and licked them clean? Or how he’d dripped honey between her thighs and tasted her over and over.

Stop it…stop thinking about the dreams. You didn’t really do those things with him. He’s just getting into your head.

“Here.”

He gave her a plate, and they left the kitchen. Lucien didn’t stop at the dining room. He kept going. Diana followed him back to the pool, and still he didn’t stop. He headed straight toward the beach, where there was a wooden hut on stilts in the ocean. They walked down to the wooden walkway over the water and into the hut.

Diana’s jaw dropped. There was a massive glass floor that was lit up by an underwater light. Brightly colored fish swam below, darting through the crystal-clear water. Two cushy beanbags were on the floor nestled in the corner of the room opposite the large bed. Diana could only imagine the number of women who’d been here with him, who’d slept in his bed.

“This must be a popular place,” she said, eyeing the bed. His gaze followed hers to the bed. What would it be like to lie beneath him in that bed, seeing light off the water rippling along the walls while he fucked her slow and hard? It would be… Her throat ran dry as she tried to banish the erotic images darting through her like the colorful fish in the waters below.

“The villa, yes, but not this place. I come here when I need to be alone. The water and the fish—it calms me.” Lucien’s admission surprised her. She turned to face him, and she didn’t back away when he was right beside her. The heat of his body felt good against hers as they both watched the aquatic life. It was almost romantic…but that was insane. She focused on what he’d said and tried to stick to their conversation, even though she knew she was only delaying the inevitable.

“So, Mr. Star…do you get lonely?” She couldn’t deny she was fascinated by the thought.

“I…” Lucien hesitated and then answered with a rueful smile. “I suppose I do. Hell is not a pleasant place, after all.”

Diana sat down opposite him in one of the cushy black beanbag chairs and tasted her chicken. Okay, the devil could totally cook.

“What is hell like?” she asked between bites.

“You really want to know?” He raised one brow.

“Yeah, I do.” She was curious. Who wouldn’t be? But she also wanted to know more about his world, because it would help her understand him.

“Hell is…dark, and I don’t mean that literally.” Lucien stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles in a relaxed position while he balanced his plate on his thighs to eat.

“Dark?”

“It’s tough to put into words, but it’s like Dante’sInferno. Dante almost had it right. There aren’t levels, but rather sections for specific types of sinners. You know, tyrants here, serial killers there, car salesmen on the right, mean girls from high school on the left.”

“Mean girls?” Diana had seen her fair share of those.

“All those girls who were total bitches? Yeah, unless they’ve made a change of heart—” He mimed a plane crashing and burning with one hand and chuckled. “Lots of mean girls down there. Hate having to pass through that area, all those bitchy women. They even dare to insult me! I’m the fucking devil!”

“Wow.” Diana thought back to the girl who’d bullied her in high school. Kristina. She’d been friends with her, but the next thing she knew Kristina had played the victim on something, and everyone was on her side, calling Diana a selfish bitch. That last year of high school, she’d lost all her friends. It had been terribly lonely.

It’s why you don’t have friends now either. She’d kept to herself in most of her classes just to avoid drama and getting hurt.

“So…” She sipped her Bay Breeze, thinking over what she wanted to ask. “Are there really demons, heaven and hell, God and you? It’s all real?”

Lucien nodded. The light from the underwater lamps illuminated his face with ripples of pale-green light.

“God is real, but he’s been…absent. Not picking up the phone, if you know what I mean. His disappointment in his creations has made him withdrawn. You humans really did a number on him. Your greed, jealousy, lust, hate…all that free will made you monsters.”

Diana’s throat tightened. “But I thought you were the evil in the world.”

Lucien snorted. “No. Evil exists out in the universe, yes, but I didn’t put it there. My duty is to punish those who give in to it. The sins of humanity fall at their own feet. I merely collect the souls who need to pay the price.”

“You’re not really evil?” Diana struggled to wrap her mind around that.

“Not in the traditional sense. No horns, tail, or pitchfork. I can promise you that. But I’m notgoodeither. When an archangel goes dark, their wings are ripped from them during the fall. One’s wings are full ofgrace. Without that part of oneself, it’s hard to remember how to be good. In fact, it’s almost impossible.”

“Wait, what’s grace? Like the grace of God kind of grace?” She finished her meal and set the plate aside. Lucien did the same and reached out and placed his palm on the glass floor. Suddenly hundreds of fish were gathered in the water below, dancing in the light from the lamps. Lucien’s lips curved into a smile, but it wasn’t a cold or cruel one, it was softer. Her heart flipped as she saw for an instant the archangel he’d once been in that smile.

---