Chapter 14 Lucifer
LUCIFER
Luc’s face might as well be glued to Dex’s skin. He never wanted to pull away from his earthy scent. It was nearly as intoxicating as his blood. Luc hadn’t lied when he’d said he could drain Dex dry.
Even that wouldn’t be enough.
Dex’s hands found their way into Luc’s hair, gently toying with the strands. His pounding pulse calmed, the hint of fear sharpening the scent of his arousal long gone. Dex was, by all accounts, satisfied.
Luc would never be satisfied. Not until he could make Dex his forever.
Despair threatened to smother Luc’s afterglow. Dex would never be his. Mating wasn’t any more possible just because Dex had embraced some of Luc’s more selfish urges.
But there was nothing Luc could do about that at the moment.
“Let’s clean you up.” Luc reluctantly withdrew from the crook of Dex’s neck and sat back, pulling the borrowed sweater over Dex’s head and using it to clean the cum from his stomach.
“I wanted to keep wearing that,” Dex grumbled, trying to prop himself on shaking arms.
Luc tossed the soiled sweater away and wrapped a supportive arm around Dex. “You can have another, but I like you without it. I want to keep you naked in bed forever.”
Dex shivered. “Like a prisoner?”
It was hard to tell if he was teasing. Did he want to play that kind of game, or was he still trying to goad Luc into revealing all his darker desires?
Maybe a little from column A, and a little from column B. Luc could work with that.
“No, not like a real prisoner. That wouldn’t be pleasurable for either of us.” Luc pulled Dex’s tangled underwear from around his thighs and tossed them toward the sweater. “We can pretend you’re my prisoner, if you like.”
Dex squirmed, a response that could go either way. “Have you thought about holding me captive?”
“You mean seriously?”
Dex nodded.
Luc frowned. He obviously wanted the truth. “I considered the merits of not letting you leave my bed until you agreed to be mine. But it wasn’t a serious consideration. More a fantasy than anything.” A desperate wish to soothe Luc’s own fears.
Dex blinked dazedly, as if he were having trouble absorbing Luc’s words. Unless was it the result of having his pleasure sucked out of his neck.
Luc went on, “It would be easier to look after you if I kept you close. Willingly.”
Dex trapped his lower lip between his teeth. “That’s what you want to do now? Look after me?”
“Yes.” Fire burned in Luc’s chest. “You need to eat something. That was more than a love bite.”
Dex’s cheeks darkened, and he covered the spot on his neck where Luc’s bite would have been if he hadn’t healed it with magic.
Luc pulled Dex’s hand to the side to stroke the unmarred flesh. Dex remained pliant, seemingly ready for Luc to do whatever he wanted.
After a moment, Luc tucked his soft cock away and zipped his pants, then stood to grab the pastry box, bringing it back to the bed where he sat against the headboard. He dragged Dex onto his lap, draping both his legs to one side, and situated Dex’s bare bum on his crotch.
Dex didn’t resist Luc’s commanding touches. In fact, he seemed to settle in, enjoying the possessiveness. Luc almost purred.
He pulled the pastry box closer.
Dex squirmed. “You want me to sit here, eating naked?”
“I do. I have a hunch that you’ll enjoy me ogling you as much as I will. You like when I’m not a gentleman.”
Dex buried his face in Luc’s shoulder and his earthy scent flared. “Oh my god.”
Why was he bashful? Did his desires embarrass him?
Luc stroked Dex’s hair. “Am I right, or would you rather cover up and leave me to my imagination?”
Dex huffed, pressing his face harder against Luc, like he was trying to burrow inside. “You’re right, I’m enjoying this.” His voice was strained, as if the admission cost him.
Perhaps he needed reassurance. To know he was safe and free of judgement.
“I’m pleased to hear it.” Luc let the hint of a purr come through, hoping Dex could tell how much he meant it. “You can always tell me what you like. And what you don’t. I want to know it all.”
Dex’s grip tightened. “All of me?” he whispered.
“All of you,” Luc confirmed. “With no exceptions.”
Dex relaxed into his hold, and Luc smiled.
He opened the pastry box and tangled a hand in Dex’s short hair, pulling his head back. “Eat this.” Luc handed him a muffin.
Dex took it and had a bite. Damnation, he was so obedient.
He finished his muffin quietly, and Luc handed him another. Remembering the coffee, he levitated the latte over and grabbed the cup from the air. With a silent spell, he reheated it and handed it to Dex.
He had a sip. “Wow, it’s warm. Did you do that?”
Luc hummed, appreciating Dex’s sense of wonder. “Magic is great for little things.”
“Is it stupid that every time I see magic, I’m surprised all over again?”
His tone implied he thought it was stupid, so Luc set him straight. “Why would it be? All your life, you were told that magic was a fantasy. It’s only logical for a part of you to resist believing.”
“I hadn’t considered that.” He had another sip, shifting his position, his muscles going lax. “Can we stay like this for a while?”
Luc wrapped both arms around Dex. “Of course.”
They lapsed into silence as Dex finished eating and drinking his coffee. Luc didn’t mind. Holding him was enough for now.
When the food and coffee were done, trash levitated away, Dex wrapped an arm around Luc and tucked his face into the crook of his neck.
Luc had meant to fondle Dex, tease him until he was aroused, and suck another orgasm from him, though probably not through his blood. But as Dex cuddled closer, Luc’s chest tightened.
So much sadness was trapped in his petite form. Luc wished he could extract it, banish it, or otherwise destroy it. Anything to get rid of it. But Dex wasn’t being haunted by an enemy Luc could conquer with force. All he could do was be good for Dex, not hurt him, and help him on his journey.
And Dex seemed prepared to let him.
Luc’s mate found comfort in him. Snuggled him so sweetly. He accepted Luc’s soft side along with his domineering tendencies. Dex allowed Luc to be whole, not just a demon who fed on him and possessed him, but held his grieving heart.
Luc hadn’t had intimacy like this in thousands of years, if ever.
Damn his worn-out soul. Not bonding with Dex would break him. Why couldn’t there be a way to keep Dex without taking anything from him?
“What’s the deal with mates?” Dex asked after a while, jolting Luc out of his reverie.
It was as if Dex had read his mind, and Luc panicked. He hadn’t spoken out loud, had he? “What do you mean?”
“Ollie told me he’s bound to Dante and won’t die. He started going on about fate. Mates are some huge thing, aren’t they? It’s not just the demon word for partner.”
Luc was grateful they weren’t facing each other. Dex would read too much into his expression.
He held Dex firmly tucked against his neck, in case he had any ideas about peering at him. “Mates aren’t the same as human partners. They’re fated. All Eternal beings have a fated mate, or in the case of my polyamorous kin, more than one.”
“What does fated mean?” Dex sounded frustrated, and Luc almost smiled.
“That the couple is meant to be together. Destined to share a powerful, magical bond. We can’t see the future and don’t know who our mates are before we meet them, but we know they’re out there, that we’re meant for each other, and will never part once we come together.”
“So Ollie and Harper were destined by magic to be with Dante and Ash?”
Was that a hint of sadness in Dex’s voice? Luc hated it. He had to obliterate it, but wasn’t sure how. “Yes… Did Ollie or anyone tell you why I led the fall to Earth?”
Dex shook his head into Luc’s neck.
Luc rested his chin in Dex’s hair, securing both arms around him.
“Finding your fated mate is political in the Eternal Realm, and many were denied theirs. I was denied mine more than once by my parents, who sat on the ruling council. It wasn’t right.
Restricting love and regulating connection is wrong, so I decided to find my mate on Earth. ”
“But you didn’t?” Dex asked hesitantly.
“No. None of the hundreds who fell with me did either.”
“And then magic infected humanity? That’s what Ash said.”
“Yes. A demon and a human had a child, and Hell was born to hold the resulting souls who couldn’t reincarnate.
I tried to stop magic from overtaking humanity completely by trapping every demon in Hell.
I bowled over anyone who said there was another way.
What did it matter if we were prisoners?
We’d failed to find our mates. I’d doomed everyone who’d followed me.
Some hated me already. What was a little more hatred cast my way if it stopped magic from wiping out humanity and destroying mortal life? ”
“Right…” Dex’s tone was flat, almost like he wanted to disagree. “But Ash and Dante have their mates now, so…?”
“So now, demons are free. They can find their mates and be happy. Ash and Dante mating was the biggest shock to everyone. I didn’t believe them.
Their claims enraged me. The hunt for mates died over a thousand years ago.
Hope was buried and forgotten. I hadn’t seen my brothers in centuries, and hadn’t been close to them in much longer.
It seemed like they were taunting me, and it broke me. ”
Dex went rigid in Luc’s hold. “And Ollie?”
“I took out my rage on him, needing to prove Dante a liar, while secretly hoping he was right, and hating myself for believing. I forced Dante’s hand in the cruelest way.”
Dex swallowed audibly but didn’t pull away. “Ollie said he wants to forgive you. He said it’s fated for you and the other demons to work things out.”
“Ollie can’t see the future any better than the rest of us. Maybe it’s fated, maybe it’s not. But he’s willing to give me a chance I don’t deserve. So we’ll see.”