Page 57 of Falling for the Devil

Looking around, all she could see was him. His impressive and soft wings held her snug against him, without crushing her. They blocked out all else. For all she knew, they were plummeting to the ocean floor inside a cocoon of his protective energy, or they could be floating through space again. Or they could be inside the gullet of one of those monstrous flying creatures. Regardless, Diana knew he’d keep her safe.

A whirling noise—soft at first, but quickly turning into a roar—captured her attention. She shoved against his chest, hoping to wake him. “Lucifer,” she whispered for fear of what lay beyond the security of his wings. “Wake up.”

He began to stir, but only tightened his hold on her until she was squashed up against his chest. Not a bad place to be. In truth, it was exactly where she wanted to be, but that sound had her nerves on edge. It was like nothing she’d ever heard before.

She spoke with more urgency. “Lucifer.”

He startled awake. His eyelashes blinked a few times, but his gaze zeroed in on her lips. Diana had to remind herself they could be in danger, so there was no time to do all the wonderful things that raced through her mind. She promised herself to take full advantage of every carnal craving once they were safe.

“We’re not dead?” His voice was raspy, his attention never straying from her mouth.

“I don’t think so, but honestly...”

He didn’t wait for her full response, choosing instead to capture her lips in a kiss that left her breathless and wanting so much more. It was only a chaste press of his lips, not even a slippage of his tongue through her waiting lips. Yet the small action lit every cell in her body on fire with need. Groaning, she shoved against his chest to break the kiss.

“Sweetheart, you’re tearing me apart. I want... need to devour you...”

Her hand flew up to stop his speech. It wasn’t like she wasn’t feeling the same. Diana squeezed her thighs together to stop the urgent pulsating from her core at the thought of him claiming her.

The whirring noise was louder, beating against her eardrums like a mosquito trapped inside the ear canal. “What is that?”

Lucifer’s eyebrows knitted together over the bridge of his nose. “What the...” He stretched his neck, peering at something over the rim of a bloodied wing.

Alarm welled in her belly. He’d been injured. Blood ran down to mingle with his soft feathers. The last thing she remembered was him racing toward her while those giant flying beasts had tossed her around like a game of keep-away that she’d played as a child. Her siblings had always tormented her by keeping her favorite toy—a doll made of birchwood, sprinkled with pixie dust to make it come alive whenever she said the magic words—away from her. Apollo, her twin, was the only one to take pity on her cries and frustration.

Shouldn’t Lucifer have healed already?

He poked his head back inside the cocoon formed by his wings. Biting his lip, his expression didn’t calm her overwrought nerves.

“I think we may have a problem. Whatever happens... stay behind me.”

After she nodded her assent, he sprang up to his feet. His wings extended fully, shielding her from whatever terror awaited them.

Once her vision cleared from the sudden onslaught of blinding light, Diana’s breath caught in her throat. A blazing sun burned everything the light touched. The heat sucked out the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping. The ground, for as far as she could see, was nothing but dull brown sand which flew around in countless tornadoes across the landscape. But that wasn’t what stilled her heart.

Running toward them were a dozen or more men dressed in strange full-body suits that matched the various shades of brown around them. Each had something similar to an armored helmet on their heads with ineffectual cloths wrapped around the lower portions of their faces. Even stranger items—also outfitted in the same ugly colors—were clutched in their hands and pointed at them. A few of them were shouting something in a language she could not decipher. Whatever it was, their intentions were not friendly.

And what was that horrendous metal monster in the sky that stirred up the sand into whipping winds the closer it came to the ground?

Chapter 26

A Game of Leap Frog

From a primordial water planet to this bizarre desert world... Lucifer preferred the company of the flying monsters to whatever disaster they’d stumbled into—or fallen into. He’d rather take his chances getting his organs ripped out by sharp, elongated beaks than this. In all the systems in the entirety of the universe, he’d never experienced the scorching heat that was now being blasted at him in rapid whirlwinds, due to that whirling contraction that had just landed.

The mortals did not appear welcoming in the least. They shouted in an unknown dialect. Great! Another language to learn! Considering all the new species popping up around the universe, it was already hard enough to keep up with the millions of different languages and customs. The tenor of the yelling, though, conveyed what he couldn’t understand—they were far from friendly.

And those giant sticks in their hands had to be weapons. With over one hundred of those pointed at his chest, Lucifer had no intention of sticking around.

However, based on the terrain, the strong magnetic pull from the planet’s core, and the heaviness of the atmosphere, he had a good general idea where they were. The futuristic aspects had thrown him off when he’d first peeked out at the world. They’d gone from a prehistoric world to one far more advanced with technology, but with still the primal urges to ravage and plunder everything in their wake until the only thing left would be desolation. He’d witnessed it many times. This civilization wasn’t far from creating their own extinction event.

Based on his assumptions, and a quick scan of the skies above, Lucifer had an innovative idea on how to find the fastest way out of there.

Wrapping one arm around Diana—whose mouth hung open in apparent shock, her eyes darting from one freak to another—he unfurled his wings and shot up into the sky. Thousands of tiny, pesky projectiles bounced off his armor, and a few clipped his beautiful wings that were still recovering from the bird attack.

Once they had enough distance from the hulking monsters of metal, he tucked Diana underneath his arm and accelerated. His divine shield clicked into place around them both. Instantly, the intense dry heat cooled and the thunderous sounds coming from mortals and machines quieted to a muted whisper. Within a mere blink of an eye, they were far away, not even able to see the chaos below them anymore. They were going so fast, everything outside the bubble was a blur of brown.

“What... wh... what was that?” Diana’s warm, honeyed eyes were wide, her pupils dilated in shock. “How...” Her lips trembled, but no further words came out.

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