Page 308 of The Spider Queen
It felt like I’d truly won something.
Jax rolled his eyes and held out his hand. “You do a damn lousy job of hiding your emotions.”
“That’s odd, because I’m usually the one no one can read.”
“Humans don’t pay attention.”
“You were human,” I pointed out.
“But I’m not anymore and haven’t been for centuries. Do you want to argue semantics or do you want to come with me?”
Not allowing my nerves to get the best of me, I let Jax scoop me up into his arms. With the heavy flap of his stone wings, we flew into the sky, leaving my cage behind.
Chapter 16
The night was warm despite the mist of the storm clouds.
“Does it always rain here?” I yelled over another groan of thunder.
“Temperamental ruler, remember? And it hasn’t rained here in decades. It seems he’s been making up for lost time.”
“That’s weird.”
“He wasn’t here the last many years, Stella.”
“Where was he?” I wondered.
“Looking for you, of course.”
I blinked in surprise. “Really?”
He nodded. “Hell was surprisingly tranquil. Now that he’s back…well, it’s”—he grinned—“Hell.”
I fell silent as I pondered Jax’s words. Lucifer had been looking for me. Was that because of the debt he was owed or—
I cut off that train of thought immediately. I meant nothing to him. I was a means of passing the time, of getting his rocks off, all the while using me to ease the pain inside of him.
“Why did you do it?” Jax asked, his gray eyes staring straight ahead. Not that he needed to watch where he was flying—there were no birds or other flying creatures that were out. Not that I could see, anyway.
“You think you have the right to ask me that?”
“We’re friends, are we not?”
I was so incredibly lonely. Herron wasn’t here and she would’ve been the only one I would’ve wanted to talk to about it. About him. I gulped in sorrow, thinking about her and what I’d been forced to leave behind. It hadn’t been much, but it had been mine.
“You won’t judge me?” I asked finally.
“No, I won’t judge. There’s no rottenness in you.”
“No?”
He shook his head. “You may not be human, but you yearn for all the same things they do. Companionship, friendship, the desire to be loved.”
“That’s not why I slept with him,” I blurted it out.
“Really?” He sounded like he didn’t believe me.
“I did it because—well—this is going to sound weird. I’ve never, not once, felt an inkling of desire. Not until him. Lucifer…he makes me feel emotions I’ve never had before. I don’t know if they’re real, or if he is manipulating me, but…” I trailed off, still unsure how I felt about the entire thing. Sure, I was raw and vulnerable. My walls were down. But when I closed my eyes, I saw him there. Glorious and nude. His eyes hungry, devouring me.
