Page 30 of Midnight with the Devil

Falling…wind whipped around her. Pain sliced her back. Feathers all around her, my feathers… Gone forever. The glittering spires of the city of heaven vanished as the veil between heaven and earth was ripped open and she crashed to the ground…

9

Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose. - John Milton, Paradise Lost

Lucien immediately knew something was wrong. One minute Diana was panting and writhing beneath him, and the next she crumpled into the pool.

“Diana!” He pulled out of her and lifted her up in his arms. She was limp, her face pale. Her chest rose and fell, but he couldn’t seem to wake her. He cursed and closed his eyes. Seconds later they were in the hut on the water, she was naked on the bed and dry, and he was too. He turned down the blankets and tucked her into the bed. Then he laid her head on one of the pillows and brushed her hair back from her face.

What the hell had happened? He had slept with countless human females, and none of them had ever collapsed like that on him before.

“Diana,” he murmured more gently as he tucked her deeper under the fluffy white comforter of the bed. She didn’t stir. He sighed heavily, pressed his hand to her cheek, and closed his eyes. Flashes filled his mind—feathers, wind, the vanishing lights of heaven.

How did she see my past? My memories?

Lucien’s eyes flew open, and he stared at Diana. Had she glimpsed part of his fall? No one should be able to see inside his head, no one but…Father. He was torn between wanting to recoil from her and wanting to hold her closer. Finally he surrendered to the need to have her closer and climbed into bed with her. After he wrapped his arms around her, he was calm enough to breathe.

“Diana, what are you doing to me?” he breathed. Lucien tilted his head, and then he leaned down and feathered his mouth over hers in a brushing kiss. He froze when she stirred. Her lashes fluttered, and she looked up at him.

“What…happened? I thought we were in the pool and—” She glanced around them and then down at their bodies cuddled close in the bed.

“You…fainted,” Lucien said, frowning.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever fainted after sex.” Her nose wrinkled, and he was surprised by how adorable it was.

I’m the devil. I should not find anything a woman does adorable. Yet he did find Diana adorable. She was delicious, adorable, and fuckable. Normally he liked his bed partners to be wildcats, with hissing cries, claws raking down his back, and heartless cold eyes staring into his. Diana was soft, warm, and all too full of light.

I’m the devil. I’m the one who is supposed to be temptation personified. Yet she is the one tempting me…back to the light.

Oh, how I have missed the taste of light and innocence.

“Are we leaving now that we’ve had sex?” she asked.

There was a faint vulnerability in her question that intrigued him. She thought he would take her home after this? With another woman he might, but not her.

Lucien studied her face in the dim light, watching the rippling patterns from the illuminated water below.

“Dawn is still hours away. We can stay here if you wish.”

If you wish…Had he ever uttered those words to anyone?

“I like it here,” she admitted. She shifted beside him and gasped. “Where’s my swimsuit?”

He chuckled. “Gone. I brought you here the moment you passed out.”

“I can’t sleep naked,” she whispered.

“Yes you can. Everyone does it.”

“I don’t.” She lifted her chin, but the act of defiance only made him laugh. He gave her throat a playful nibble, and she wriggled beneath him in pleasure.

“Close your eyes, then, and go to sleep,” he commanded, but his tone was teasing.

“I can’t just go to sleep,” she scoffed. “I’m lying in bed with you naked.”

He slid one hand down between their bodies, then cupped her mound. She jolted as he slid one finger into her.

“Why don’t I fuck you again and wear you out? You can’t fight sleep if you’re too tired.” He thrust his finger deeper, seeking the spot that made her arch.

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