Page 106 of To Crave Deeply
The fire in his eyes died down to the usual simmer and a sadness crept in.
“We can’t ignore what Mordecai has done, Lori.”
“I know. And I’m sure it’ll hit me later. But right now, I just want to enjoy this time with you. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you and…”
“I know,” he replied, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear affectionately. “I wish I could stay here forever, but I need to make sure the Under Realm is in a stable position if I’m to leave it to join you on the mortal plane.”
My demon let out a purr at the thought of her imminent feeding and I blanched.
Lucifer let out a soft chuckle. “I can hear her delight at the thought of tortured souls.”
“Urgh, don’t remind me of it.”
He cocked his head to one side in curiosity. “I can sense the demon but not Iveri. What happened to her?”
“Selene,” I mumbled with a grimace. “Iveri and I were finally getting on, but Selene decided she’d had enough of us talking to ourselves and she gave Iveri’s soul solid form.”
Lucifer frowned but said nothing. He gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he disappeared into his thoughts.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he replied with a frown. “I just always get the feeling that Selene is up to something. She always liked to play games. Anyway, that’s for me to worry over. You need to get back.”
I sighed but unfurled myself from Lucifer’s lap. He was right. It was time to head back to the real world. And all its fucking problems. Like how I was going to turn into a vampire because I’d stupidly ordered Torsten to kill me if Mordecai turned up. Yeah, I wasn’t ready to deal with that shit yet.
“Give me a few hours, and I’ll be ready,” Lucifer said as he stood.
I nodded and leaned up to wrap my arms around him once more. I pressed a soft kiss against his lips. His hands settled on my waist, like he wasn’t quite ready to let me go.
“Lucifer, I need—”
He cut me off with another kiss. It was brutal and consuming. His tongue pushed past the seam of my lips, and I moaned as desire pooled in my belly. His fingers dug into my hips as his tongue rolled against mine and all I could think about was him. His taste, his scent, the feel of him against me. God, I couldn’t wait to fix this soulbond. Normally, I’d be able to feel all his desire singing through it, but at the moment, I barely got a whisper of it.
He brought the kiss to an end, and I was breathless.
He smiled warmly down at me, his eyes dark with desire. “We can finish this later.”
“Yes, please,” I replied quickly, and he chuckled at my enthusiasm.
“Go on, be off with you. Before I let my kingdom fall to ruin because I’m too busy fucking you senseless.”
His words sent a zing of desire straight to my core and I had to forcibly take a step away from him before I asked him to do just that.
“See you later.” I blew him a kiss as I walked out the door, feeling lighter than I had in a long time.
***
ALEC
The wind ruffled my hair as I stood on the balcony looking out towards the valley. The sun was warm as it caressed my skin, and I could feel the soft thud of my heart as I brushed my fingers across my bare chest. I thought I’d feel everything now I got my heart back, but instead all I felt was confused. I thought this would solve everything, make me feel alive again instead of walking through a fog and merely existing, but I was struggling to feel anything. Nothing had changed.
I slammed my hands down on the bars of the balcony and roared in frustration.
“Dammit!”
Wait… that was new.
That was… different.
