Chapter 42
Lionel
Lucifer parked the car in a garage around the side of the house, and for the first time, I got a glimpse of the actual size of the place.
“Humungous” was the first word that came to mind.
The house was an L-shape, with the shorter side facing the street out front, almost like a decoy to hide that it went on and on.
The gravel road that took us to the garage around the longer side led past tastefully arranged greenery and bushes forced into neat spheres. There was enough space in front of the garage itself for at least ten other cars to park, and I spotted a side entrance set into the glass wall there.
The garage housed several cars, some under protective covers, and it looked like it was part of the basement. It smelled of grease and oil and cleaning products when I opened my door as soon as Lucy parked the pink hybrid.
I got out before he had a chance to hold my door for me, but since I didn’t know which way to go, I just stood there.
His door opened. “Babe. Are you in a hurry?”
His voice was a dark purr like crackling fire. I hated that it made me…shiver. All the way to my balls.
“Well, Lucy, I have a silicone stick up my ass, so yeah, I sort of want it out before you decide you need to go on another shopping trip.”
He chuckled, dark and wild, as he opened the back door to let Soul jump out and grab the recycled paper bag with the fruit. “It’s there to make sure you’re ready. It’s important to get people ready when they’ve never had a cock in them before.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him as hard as my hangover headache would allow. Oh, that smug smile of his, the way he looked so effortlessly perfect, the way his bouncy hair shimmered even in the dull lighting of the garage. It was all just infuriating.
“Like I said, Lucifer, I’m not a fucking virgin. Marc Deacon took care of that.”
His smile stretched, and I saw teeth. Then he fucking growled, and the noise filled the entirety of the basement with all its creepy corners where spiders were hiding and waiting to scare people.
“Babe.” He paused, clenching and unclenching his jaw before putting on a smile again. “What did you just call me, hmm?”
Two could play at that. “Me? Lucy. I called you Lucy. Like the Dracula chick who almost got all the men, even the Texan.”
Soul barked once, then Lucifer started walking toward me with his environmentally conscious bag in hand. He walked right up to me and looked me in the eye, and fuck, but he was tall. His woodsy fire scent filled my nose.
“That’s right, Nelly. That’s exactly right.
” With his free hand, he patted my butt before squeezing and making me squirm.
I pressed my lips shut, doing my best to keep any needy, whimpering noises in, but I didn’t entirely succeed.
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs.” It took him another few moments to release my butt, and then he walked us around a pillar to a door.
“After you.” He held the door for me, a staircase looming beyond it.
“No way. You don’t get to grope me on the stairs. You go first.”
“Ah, sweet Nelly.” He licked his lips and shook his head in amusement. Soul dashed up the stairs ahead of both of us, and Lucifer followed the poodle after letting his eyes roam all over me for a long moment.
It was good he couldn’t put his hands on me and make my erection flare up more than it already was, but the way he walked up the stairs, slowly, really showing off his own goods… Well. My mouth watered, but if anyone asked, I’d deny it until my dying day.
The Devil’s behind almost distracted me from the wallpaper, but when I tore my eyes away from his denim-wrapped glutes, I noticed the cute little comic girl with angel wings and the equally cute little devil girl with leathery black devil wings, both of which were repeated over and over on the walls framing the staircase.
“Do you have wings?” I blurted out.
Lucifer looked over his shoulder. “Like the wallpaper?”
I hated that he knew where my mind had gone. “Yeah.”
“Not quite like that, but I do have wings. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”
I searched my memory for stories about him, myths I’d read while studying at the Collegium. “I thought they got torn off when you fell after fighting another immortal.”
Lucifer sighed. “No one fell, and no one in their right mind would try tearing my wings off of me. I’ve always been the way I am, Nelly.” He shrugged. “Or more or less the way I am. But if you have tasty rumors being told about you, why invest in good PR?”
“Would have to be some genius who could spin good PR for you.”
That made him laugh out loud. “Aren’t you delightful!
” He opened the door at the top of the stairs, and Soul ran through, darting off to find someplace to lurk.
Lucifer held the door for me, and his sapphire eyes met mine.
“Some opinions aren’t worth caring about, you know,” he said in a low, rumbling voice as I made it to the landing. “Shoes.”
He opened a wall cupboard with plenty of shoes inside. The colorful heels I assumed were Metatron’s, and the fancier ones in more muted tones, his.
I huffed. “You’re kidding, right? I thought the floors could get wet.”
He focused on me. It was entirely uncomfortable. “I’m not sure we’ll go there the first time, Nelly. Maybe work up to it. Let’s put Trony in a good mood so she continues to make you coffee.”
“Oh, fine.”
I wasn’t sure what he was getting at with the wet floors, but I sensed it was probably not a good idea to just ask, so I fumbled to get my shoes off. Not only was that awkward, it was…stimulating. The bending over wasn’t really doing me any favors given my current predicament.
Once I was done, I put them on a free shelf. Lucy took his shoes off and put them next to mine, lining them up neatly before he said, “Now, I want you to go upstairs and take your clothes off, get on the bed, and wait for me. I’ll join you in a moment.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” The problem was, there was a small, tiny, minuscule part of me that really…liked hearing him tell me what to do. Something else I’d never tell another living soul. From her lurking place, Soul barked as if she’d heard my thought.
He put a hand on my cheek. “Then wait right here, and I’ll carry you upstairs and strip you naked myself. Yes, I’d enjoy that.”
Oh fuck. I was so hard it hurt. I had to bite the inside of my cheek, because I didn’t want to lean into his hand. This just really needed to end—the sooner, the better—because Lucifer was driving me out of my skin, out of my mind, and apparently, out of my pants.
I broke eye contact. “Fine. Which way?”
Which way to slaughter, which way to the Devil’s bed. How had I gotten myself into this? Luckily, I was about to get myself out of this, because afterward, we’d be done, at last.