Page 64 of Midnight with the Devil

“Lucifer, my brightest star in the morning. How I have loved you. How I still love you…”

Lucien felt his body coming apart, atom by atom, in an instant, and his last thought and only thought was of Diana. She would be safe. She would be loved by some lucky mortal man. A man who would never know the treasure she was, a gift from heaven. The end was over, and there was no pain. Only endless light.

Lucas Starling cursedthe rain as it lashed his windows, and he flicked the wiper blades on. This was seriously dangerous shit. All he wanted to do was get back to his nightclub, but he had to stop by and see a friend tonight.

“I should’ve stayed at the club.” He turned down the highway, flicking his brights on to see through the gloom. Then he slammed on the brakes as a horrific sight came into view. A black sedan was rolled over in a ditch, smoke drifting up from the engine, the headlights piercing eerily ahead into the woods.

“Shit!” He parked his car and raced over, sliding in the mud. A man lay unconscious by the car. Lucas checked his pulse, and it was steady. Shit, he hoped that meant the guy was okay.

“Help…” A weak feminine voice drew him to the back of the car.

“Hold on!” Lucas reached into the shattered window, hissing as pain knifed his arms, but he found a woman and pulled her out to lie across his lap. She wore the most beautiful dark-blue dress he’d ever seen, like some 1950s starlet. Seeing her hurt was like a punch to his gut. A deep gash on her forehead was bleeding heavily. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialing 911.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked.

“There’s been a wreck off Beckett Road. Two people are injured. Please send help!” He held on to the woman and brushed her hair back from her face. She gazed up at him with beautiful gray eyes. Something hit him like a freight train, and he held on to her like the world was ending around him. All he knew was that he couldn’t let this woman die.

“My name is Lucas. I’m here to help. Stay with me, beautiful,” he said.

She smiled dazedly. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“I think you’re gorgeous.” He meant it. He saw a lot of hot women in his nightclub, but they had nothing on this woman. There was something about her, something that made everything inside him go still. She filled him with peace.

“I love your eyes,” she murmured and reached up to touch his cheek. Something inside him stirred, a strange sense of déjà vu, a flash, a memory of someone touching his face just like that.

“Keep talking,” he said. “What else do you love about me?” he teased, hoping to keep her awake and alert. Distant sirens filled him with relief. An ambulance would be here soon.

“What happened?” She blinked, distracted.

“You’ve been in a wreck. But I’ve called for an ambulance. Help is on the way. So keep talking to me, okay?” He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, completely absorbed by this woman. It was as though she glowed…not that he could explain it, exactly. The rain misted on her face, forming tiny diamond-like drops on the tips of her eyelashes, and he wanted to kiss her like he’d never wanted anything else in his life. Kiss her and make her whole.

“Stay with me?” she asked. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be, beautiful. I promise.” And he meant it. Whoever this woman was, he was not about to let her go.

Epilogue

What in me is dark, illumine. —John Milton, Paradise Lost

Six years later

Diana touched the faint scar at her hairline. Even all these years after the accident, she still couldn’t forget the night that everything had changed.

“Beautiful?” Lucas joined her at the mirror, curling his arms around her waist.

She gazed at him through the reflection. He was so gorgeous, with dark hair and soft brown eyes, and he was wicked too, her husband, a real sin in bed. From the moment they met, she’d felt like she’d known him forever, like they’d loved each other in another life. Diana knew it sounded crazy, but she couldn’t deny it. She loved him, loved him so much it hurt.

“I was just thinking about the night we met.” Their eyes locked before his lashes fanned down as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I still dream about it,” he admitted, his voice hoarse with emotion. “If I had been a moment too late…”

She turned in his arms and kissed away his worries. “You weren’t too late. You were right on time to save me.” She cupped his face and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again, their lips meeting in a soft, exploring kiss. It was the strangest thing, but sometimes when she kissed him, she thought she saw… But no, that was silly. She was in love. Surely every woman saw castles in the sky and flashes of brilliant light when they were kissing the man they loved.

“Where were you going that night? I never asked,” Lucas said as he rubbed his palms up and down her back.

“You know, I can’t even remember. I just had to be somewhere by midnight…” It was the one thing she couldn’t forget. The need to be somewhere with someone, yet it just didn’t matter now. That night was merely a bad memory, but it had led to something amazing.

“You need to come see this.” Lucas tugged on her hand, and they walked to the back door and looked out at the yard.

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