Page 103 of To Crave Deeply
I tilted my chin and looked deep into his eyes. I hated that I saw fear in them. It made my stomach churn, and I knew this situation was probably about to get a whole lot worse.
***
I was pacing. I couldn’t help it. I was such a mess of nerves by this point that I couldn’t sit still. Torsten was standing to the side, looking stoic and imposing, but with a frown that showed his thoughts were anything but good.
I was waiting for Lucifer. There were some riots down in the city that he was having to deal with. I knew things in Hell were bad, but I didn’t expect this. The castle was quiet, and everyone was side-eyeing people they passed in the hallways. I could hear the whispers, the uncertainty, the fear. Doubt circled in the air like an unwanted guest, lingering and tainting everything until the place reeked of it.
Even my demon was unsettled. She usually loved being down here in Hell, but she felt on edge and antsy and it worried me. I turned my thoughts inward for a moment and tried to calm her, but she lashed out, causing me to wince.
Urgh. Maybe I needed to feed her properly. She hadn’t fed off tortured souls since that day in the square, and even then, we’d only done it subdue the victim, not torture them, before sending them back to Hell. That was probably like taking a mere mouthful for her.
My stomach rolled at the thought of having to actually torture someone, but I didn’t miss the way my demon jumped excitedly at the thought. She clearly wanted a proper feeding. At least it would help me fix the soulbond with Lucifer. If he was on board with letting Selene try. And that was a big ‘if’.
The door burst open and in walked the man himself. He strode straight over to me and captured my mouth with his. Oh god, I’d missed the way he’d tasted on my tongue. I braced my hands on his chest as he walked me backwards, not stopping until my back slammed into the wall. He moaned deep into my mouth, and I felt the vibration beneath my fingers. Need rose inside me like a tidal wave, and a haze of lust descended upon me, making me desperate for his touch.
His hand fisted in my hair, and he pulled on the strands fiercely. My nails dug into his chest, and he gasped.
“I’ve fucking missed you,” he growled as he rolled his hips against mine.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I replied, taking his bottom lip between mine, and nipping it lightly. He smiled against my lips and kissed me again. A hint of copper hit my tongue and sweetness burst to life in my mouth. The moan that escaped my lips was orgasmic. Fuck. I needed more of that.
I dragged Lucifer’s bottom lip into my mouth and sucked. Oh god, I’d never tasted anything like it. It was so beautiful, so rich, so delicious, so goddamn—
Lucifer ripped his mouth away from mine and stumbled backwards.
“What the fuck, Lori?”
The haze of desire lifted and the enormity of what I’d just done flooded through me.
“Oh, God.” I brought my hand up to my mouth in shock. What had I done?
Lucifer fixed me with a wary gaze and Torsten frowned deeply behind him.
“It is what I feared,” Torsten sighed. “She had a run in with Mordecai.”
Lucifer went deadly still. It was scary to see his mood turn from shock to horror to rage in the blink of an eye. The silence of his rage was deafening, and even though I knew it wasn’t directed at me, I shuddered just as if it were. He was frightening, and I suddenly understood the source of all the myths and legends that were created to make us fear the Devil. I’d never seen anything so terrifying in my life.
“When?” he growled, and I flinched. The word was loud in the aftermath of his silent rage.
“A few days ago. He used some escaped souls as a distraction to have a conversation with me.”
Lucifer muttered something under his breath and closed his eyes for a moment as a flash of pain crossed his features. Fear settled in my gut, and I knew things were about to get a Hell of a lot worse.
“Did he bite you?” Lucifer asked quickly.
“N-No,” I muttered, and Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief. Shit. “Not really. His fangs scraped my lip when he kissed me.”
“He didwhat?!” Lucifer seethed.
I cringed at the memory. “He kissed me. He had me under some kind of spell, but it was only a drop of blood that he gave me.”
“No,” Lucifer cried despondently as he sank into a chair. “He gave you his blood?”
“Just a drop, I think. It can’t be that bad, can it?” I tried to sound like I was brushing it off, but I couldn’t hide the tremor of fear lacing my words.
“Little dove, it’s so much worse.”
“Why?”
