Page 302 of The Spider Queen
“He’ll be fine,” Lucifer snapped. “And his wings are only partially made of stone. The outer part is like armor.”
I whirled and glared at him. “Why did you do that to him?”
“He was in your bedroom.”
His voice was calm, but his jaw muscle twitched. Still, he somehow was keeping his rage on lock down. Well, his anger at me anyway. He’d set Jax on fire.
“I asked him to bring me here,” I stated. “No thanks to you.”
Lucifer’s jaw dropped open. “No thanks to me? How do you figure?”
“You left me in the meadow.”
“You didn’t want me there.”
“You let me wander. Alone.”
“I was giving you time to cool off.”
“Correction, you were giving yourself time to cool off!” In the midst of our exchange, I’d marched toward him. I was glowering up at him, and I wanted to press my hand against his naked chest and shove him out the door. But a part of me worried that when I felt his warm skin against mine, I’d want to bring him closer, drag his mouth to mine, and demand he take me to bed.
His chest heaved. “Stella.”
Before I knew it, his hand clasped the back of my neck, and he dragged me to his lips. I eagerly sought his attention, despite knowing I’d regret it when it was over.
I launched myself into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist. My fingers tangled in his dark hair as I melted over him, drowning in the feeling he elicited in me. I was burning from the inside out, desperate, aching, wanting him the way I’d never wanted another man.
Maybe I was never meant to want another man—maybe I was designed only to want him, the Prince of Darkness.
If that were the case, then I was ready. I was ready to give him everything I had. Not because he owned me. Not because I was bound to him. But because in my entire short life, I’d never felt this alive.
He smelled of destruction and damnation, of my complete and utter ruination. But I didn’t care.
“Stella,” he whispered, trying to pull his lips from mine.
“No.” I adamantly yanked him back to my mouth. I found him with my tongue, blindly seeking, my body leading me.
“We have all night. There’s no rush.”
I was afraid that if we went slowly, I’d have time to think. I was afraid the desire would clear, and I would exist again in that dark place of hating him but wanting him all the same.
“Make love to me under the Tree,” I begged.
“Not for our first time.” He walked with his hands underneath me to the bed and gently set me down. “Our first time is here. Among the clouds.”
Lucifer waved his hand. The door creaked shut. A heavy leather flap covered the window, blocking out the storm.
I thought about asking him why he didn’t just shut it off—the storm—since he clearly controlled the weather with his emotions, but then I realized he still felt the tempest. Deep inside. Restless. Unyielding.
Mercurial Lucifer.
Whenever we interacted, I never knew which side of him I would get. The charming, affable, smiling man. Or the brutal beast caged by skin, bone, and wings.
But there was another side of Lucifer, one he hadn’t shown me until now. The gentle lover. The tender caresser.
He came down on top of me, using his elbows to keep his weight off my chest. He pressed his warm lips to the column of my throat as he drenched me with desire.
Lucifer would not be rushed, no matter how much I thrashed against him, demanding more. He spoke no words. The language of passion needed none.
