Page 6 of Courting Envy
Surely, he was here. This was his goddamn apartment.
I moved down the short hallway. Faint light came from the living area, probably from the lamps. They could be on a timer, I told myself, not wanting to get my hopes up. Or the morning light coming through the big glass windows.
Please still be here.
Then I heard a clink in the kitchen, glass or porcelain, it didn’t matter. My jaw unclenched.
“Lucien?” I called, hope fluttering in my throat.
“Rava,” he replied, his voice a gruff rumble. “Did I wake you?”
I stepped into the living area and saw him in the kitchen making what looked like a second mug of coffee. It was such a mundane thing to do. A simple act.
“I was cold,” I said, moving towards him. “But you’re toasty warm.” It felt natural to go to him, to slide my arms around his waist, lean into his back, to graze his bare belly with my fingernails. He was so damn delicious and I hoped beyond hope that he would give me his number, call me, ask me out on a proper date.
I needed more.
“It’s my infernal drive,” he said, turning in my arms. He tilted my chin up, bending to kiss me. His mouth was hot and coffee tinged and I didn’t care one bit if I had morning breath. He didn’t seem to care either as his tongue caressed mine and one hand tangled in my hair pulling me closer still.
I could feel him growing hard against me, felt his fingers inch between the fabric to find my skin.
He pulled away, kissing my chin, my neck. “I want to hear you sing something different, a new tune,” he murmured against my collarbone.
I smirked, running my fingers up his bare back, over his shoulders, grazing the stubble on his chin with the palm of my hand as I gripped his hair. "You spent last night getting me to sing in a way I've never done before.” I looked into his vibrant eyes, the green so vivid it almost glowed. “Are you sure you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve?”
“Oh, you have no idea.” He pulled away from me, the cold rushing in from his absence. But he reached for my hand and drew me out of the kitchen and back to those huge windows I’d been so drawn to the night before.
They were cooler now, especially when Lucien tugged the sheet free, letting it pool at my feet.
I stood there, stark naked, back pressed against the glass, ass bare for anyone to see if this wasn’t double glazed to high hell. He pinned my arms above my head and kissed me again, more savage this time. Like he was hungry for something I didn’t have to give.
But oh, how I tried.
“Are you ready to sing?” he asked, pulling away so that he could see me more clearly. His eyes really did seem to glow now and there was something subtly different. Still Lucien, but somehow more, a shadow flickering over his face, his hair spiked in a way that made it look like he had horns. It sent a shudder through my body, desire tinged with anticipation.
He removed a hand, pinning both of mine with the other. He traced that finger down my arm, under the curve of my breast. The nail felt sharp and I gasped at the pain.
“What kind of song?” I asked, my voice high and taut. I wanted him to touch me where I needed it, and this delay was torture. I arched my body towards him but he pressed against my chest, connecting me to the window. I knew the lights would be glittering below, wished that I could see me now. Like this. Flushed and wanting, the city expanding behind me. “Please,” I whispered. “I need you.”
“You’re so damn beautiful right now. I will always remember this moment.” His eyes were full of hunger, his lips begging to be kissed.
“Lucien,” I urged. “Please. I want–”
Something sharp plunged through my chest and I looked down to see a spike protruding from Lucien’s wrist, green veins of power throbbing through it. The green spread like a sickness, veining out across my chest, burning like fingers of lava.
I did sing then, my wail of pain and shock like nothing I’d ever heard before.
“So fucking beautiful.”
He released my hands, but I was pinned to the glass, the burn inside my body threatening to make me combust.
Sharp teeth extended from his gums as the pain spread through my body. He tore his wrist open and pressed it against my mouth, urging me to swallow.
“I’ll see you soon, my queen,” he whispered, but I barely registered the words.
His blood was thick, dark, hot. Inhuman. Heavy, like lead in my belly, dragging me down, down, down into darkness.
Into Hell.
