Page 41 of To Crave Deeply
He was pissed. Royally fucking pissed.
And I could understand why. Iveri had walked me into a situation where I’d had no choice but to agree to the Witch Queen’s stupid fucking deal. On top of that, I needed him to let me speak to the original witch, and we still needed to deal with the angels.
There was no other way to describe this mess. It was a clusterfuck.
“If I could just speak to her, maybe she would—”
“No. Absolutely not,” Lucifer cut in. “I will not let you near her.”
“But Lucifer, couldn’t I just see her?”
He jumped out of bed and strode over to a door on the other side of the room. “No. My decision is final.”
Damn, this man was infuriating. I never liked it when he disappeared behind the face of his kingly persona. He became so high and fucking mighty that he suddenly stopped listening to me.
He emerged from the room fully dressed in a deep charcoal grey suit and my mouth watered. Fuck me, he looked good. The dark grey made his hair seem brighter and his grin, as I openly stared at him, was positively wicked.
Mind back on track, Lori.
“Lucifer. I only have six days left to deliver the original witch or I’m bound to her forever. That means you are, too.” His grin faltered. “I imagine that anyone bound to me becomes bound to her by extension. She’d also have Jasper and Torsten at her beck and call. Could you imagine what she would do with a highly-trained assassinanda Shadow Fiend?”
“But we have more serious matters to take care of. That will have to wait. Get dressed.”
I scoffed. “Excuse me?”
His eyes darkened again as he strode towards me like the predator he was. He leant over me, his hands resting either side of my hips, and brought his face close to mine. Instinctively, I leant backwards, but he just followed until his mouth was a hair’s breadth away from my own. I could feel power rolling off him in waves; he was intimidating and damn, it was sexy. Scary as fuck, but definitely sexy.
“Get dressed, Lori,” he demanded softly. “Or I will bend you over my knee and spank that pert little ass of yours until it’s bright red. You won’t be able to sit without wincing for days.”
My jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”
One of his thick brows rose mockingly above his expressive eyes. “Care to take the chance?”
I gulped, but I wasn’t sure if that was from the fear or the arousal that was suddenly starting to make my centre pulse with need.
Lucifer’s other eyebrow raised as surprise flashed in his eyes. “It seems you like that idea. Shame we don’t have time to explore it.”
He pulled back away from me and the thick fog of desire he seemed to wrap me in dissipated, allowing me to think clearly again.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he replied cryptically. He gestured to the door on the other side of the room. “You’ll find fresh clothes in there. Once you’re ready, call Torsten and ask him to bring you to the Great Hall.” He paused and a little frown of worry descended over his eyes as he rubbed his hand over his chest, right where his heart was.
I could sense there was something he wasn’t telling me, and I knew it probably had something to do with whatever my death had done to the soulbond. I could feel it changing. Right now, the magic was settled because we were together, but who knew what would happen if we ended up in different realms again?
“Are you alright?” I asked as I took his hand and pulled him from his thoughts.
A small smile curled his beautiful mouth, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I’m fine. Come on, get dressed and then let’s see if we can’t solve at least one of our problems today.” He gave my cheek a careless pat before leaving the room without another word.
Something was wrong with him, and my fear was that he wasn’t going to tell me until it was too late. He was the kind of man to suffer in silence and I didn’t want his pride to be his downfall. I wasn’t going to lose him, so he’d just better get used to the idea that if I asked him a question, he’d damn well answer it.
***
The Great Hall certainly lived up to its name. It was a ginormous cavern of a room, steeped in rich trimmings that displayed Lucifer as the king he was. It always took me by surprise when I saw this side of him. I was so used to the man I’d met as Orion, the ordinary demon who stole my heart, that the King of the Under Realm quite often felt like a stranger.
But there he sat, upon the biggest throne I’d ever seen, looking magnificent, and watching me with a hunger burning brightly in those dark eyes. If I hadn’t already slept with him, I’d have thought he was trying to compensate for something. The throne itself was carved from stone, and as I walked closer to the towering monstrosity, I could see intricate carvings littering the sides of it. It was so beautifully carved, the detail so small and exquisite, that I wondered how many hands had suffered to create this masterpiece worthy of the Devil himself.
