Page 69 of To Crave Madly
“Darling, I see you and all that you are. You’re magnificent and every day you make me glad I chose you.”
And cue the tears.
I couldn’t help it. His words made me happy and I found myself falling a little bit more in love with the Devil with each passing moment.
We stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms until the water ran cold. I still hadn’t gotten over how strange this interaction was. Being able to feel him but not see him. But I knew the moment had come to say goodbye, for now at least. I could feel Lucifer withdrawing from me. His form became less solid and his voice became a little more distant in my mind.
“I must go, and you must get some rest.”
My heart panged as I heard the words. I knew it was coming, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
“I know. I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“As do I, little dove.”His form disappeared completely, and I fell back against the cold tiles. I let out a yelp at the sudden coldness that hit my skin.
“Warn me next time, Lucifer,” I grumbled.
“But you’re so cute when you scowl,”he said just before a blazing hot kiss spread across my lips. It felt like a kiss from Hell itself, full of fire and passion and the promise of wicked things to come.
It was with that thought I jumped out of the shower and into bed. My hair would be wild in the morning, but I was too happy and too exhausted to care. I drifted into a sleep filled with passionate kisses and fiery eyes and it was the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long time.
Chapter 23
LORI
This had to be the most uncomfortably awkward meeting I’d ever had here. And I’d had a few of those. Cassian had obviously told Jasper about the events of last night which was probably why Saskia looked like she’d had a serious dressing down. Jasper was pissed. Probably more than pissed, actually. His jaw was clenched, his nostrils were flared, and his scowl was the deepest I’d ever seen it.
Oh, boy. I was in some serious shit.
Cassian was refusing to look at me, which wasn’t surprising. I still felt guilty about the whole Dragon Tears stealing and personal space intrusion. I had no idea how I was even going to begin to make amends for that fiasco. Fenris was standing with Elissa. Fuck knows why she was here. But if it had something to do with the mages, I guess she would add value, much as it pained me to admit it. The poor thing looked terrified and stood slightly behind Fenris. In her shoes, I’d probably feel the same and wonder what kind of clusterfuck I’d walked into. The only one who looked at ease was Alec, but then the man was so laid back, he was horizontal.
“So,” Jasper snapped. Oh, yeah. He was royally fucking pissed. “Cassian tells me that you two overheard an exchange in the alley behind the club.”
I didn’t trust my mouth to speak so I merely nodded. I was fucking terrified. I had never seen Jasper this angry. I had visions of little jets of steam pouring out of his ears as his face turned bright red. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.
Oh, god.
I was going to laugh.
I had to bite my lips between my teeth to hold back the snort that was desperate to escape.
Jasper’s eyes narrowed as he stared down at me. Shit. He knew. I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to die today.
“Care to explain to the rest of the team what you heard while you wereout?” The last word was forced through his clenched teeth.
Another deep breath.
“There were two men, and they were talking about how they could get more from the gathering. And then one guy asked about transportation and disguises to which his lackey replied that everything was in place.”
Jasper turned to Elissa, who still looked terrified. “Could this be the Yule Gathering?”
“What’s the Yule Gathering?” I asked.
“It’s a large ball hosted by the mages and open to all magic users,” Elissa explained. “All the most powerful mages and witches will be present.”
That must be it. Whoever was taking the witches would most likely use this perfect opportunity. They’d have their pick of the crop.
“We have to go. We have to stop them!” I knew that without a doubt we needed to be there.
