Page 1 of To Crave Madly
Chapter 1
LORI
The world around me splintered into thousands of particles of pure brilliant white light. I was momentarily disoriented as my body was torn from the mortal plane. I could feel my soul fracturing alongside my body, the pieces suspended into time, before colliding again seconds later.
My heart pounded in my ears and blood rushed through my body as I tried to fill my lungs with precious oxygen. The world tilted precariously and my knees waivered beneath me. Instinctively, I reached forward and grabbed a fistful of the creature in front of me.
Firm hands surrounded my waist, steadying me before I could crumple to the ground in a heap. My eyes travelled up the solid chest beneath my fingers. Up and up they went until they found the face that was made to tempt even angels to fall.
My Orion.
No.
Not my Orion. He’d lied to me. Made me think that he was something he wasn’t.
This was the Devil.
This was Lucifer.
And he was beautiful.
My breath caught in my throat as I drank in the glorious sight of him. Bright golden curls framed a face that could have been sculpted by an Italian master. It was all sharp lines and smooth planes. I could stare at them for hours and never be bored by their beauty. But his eyes were the most mesmerizing features. The irises were completely black surrounded by a ring of swirling fire. I could see the flames flicker around the edges, and they flared now as I stared at my reflection looking back at me from their dark abyss. I was powerless to move as I stared into those fathomless depths. Those eyes that had seen so much, more than I could ever comprehend, held me captive, and for a moment I forgot that all his beauty was merely a pleasant veneer for the monster I now knew lurked beneath it.
I took a step backwards as my ability to breathe vanished. There was something so raw and fragile in his gaze as he looked down at me. I knew his name, knew who he was, and he stood before me completely exposed. I wanted to hate him, and seeing him look vulnerable was not helping with nurturing that need to hate. It was tempting me to reach up and clasp him in my arms.
Stupid fucking bond. I could feel his desire to be held, to be wanted, to be needed and it made my legs buckle under the sheer weight of it. A sob broke free from my lips as I landed on the edge of the bed.
I’d been here before. These were his private quarters in the Under Realm; only last time it was a dream, and he wasn’t the Devil. He’d stolen me away, taken me from the base, but why?
I wanted to hate him, to claw his eyes out and destroy him for what he’d done. He’d lied to me and killed a friend right in front of me. I could still see the vacant expression in Alec’s eyes as he fell to the ground. My chest clenched in pain at the loss of my friend. I’d been powerless to save him. Lucifer had been channelling the energy I’d consumed on the battlefield to maintain his presence on the mortal plane which meant I’d had nothing left to even try to bring Alec back.
I looked back up at the creature who tormented me. His face showed no signs of emotion, but I could feel them all through our bond. It was like a maelstrom, raging wild and destructive through my chest and it robbed me of my breath. He was angry, upset, scared, sorrowful but buried deep under all that was a tiny flicker of hope. At what I hadn’t the faintest idea, but that tiny flicker of hope halted my burning rage at him.
“Why?” My voice cracked with a sob. “Why did you kill Alec?”
Lucifer sneered and the elegant lines of his mouth were distorted by the cruel gesture. “He was in the way.”
The words were cold and emotionless, and they made my heart lurch painfully. How could I have thought I felt anything for a man who could be so nonchalant about taking a life? My eyes found the floor. I couldn’t even bear to look at the face that had haunted my dreams. Tears fell from my eyes, silent in their descent across my cheeks.
“No, little dove, you mustn’t cry.” Lucifer knelt before me, but still, I couldn’t look at him. “Your tears are the worst punishment,” he whispered as his thumb swiped a tear from my skin.
“Then why cause them to fall?”
His forehead rested against mine as his hands came to frame my face. “I am not a patient creature. Being near you for the first time, somewhere other than a dream, it drove me mad and I just wanted to steal you away.” He took a deep breath. “I am not a good man, Lori. I will not always be kind, but I will always be honest.”
I couldn’t pull away. Despite wanting to run screaming from the room, something about his words had me stalling. I tilted my chin up and found him gazing down at me, a warmth swirling in their depths that wasn’t there a moment ago. He was letting down his guard and allowing me to see the truth in his words. I could feel the honesty pulsing steadfastly through the bond and it made me feel that for a moment, just one small moment, that even if he was the Devil, he might not be so bad.
“Besides, I think your little pet has a few secrets,” he mumbled.
I frowned. Now I was confused. “What do you mean?”
“Darling, I’m the King of the Under Realm. If someone dies, I know, and that dog did not die.”
Alec wasn’t dead? Relief flooded through me. My friend was alive, and I was going to… wait a minute.
“Did you know?” I growled, my elation suddenly skidding to a halt as I glared at Lucifer.
A sheepish grin crossed his face. That bastard. He either didn’t know or didn’t care that he could have murdered Alec in front of me.
