Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight
It had been a whole four hours since Raphaela had landed in Hell, and I had locked myself in my bedroom and refused to come out.
It didn’t bother me that she was here. I actually rejoiced in the fact that I had made the purest angel sin.
She had come down here to see me, and that was something to be proud of. Nobody else could do that.
I sat on my balcony and stared out at the pure ice, throwing back a shot of Vemon. Unlike usual, it burned the back of my throat and made me recoil. I rested the glass on the railing and leaned over it. Still not knowing how to feel—really feel—that she was here.
So, I picked up my phone and did the one thing I always did when I felt like this—called Eros. He didn’t answer on the first ring or the second or even the third. I called him again and again with no answer.
After the third call, he answered me with a monotone, “Hello?”
“Come to Pride,” I said. “Meet me in the palace bar.”
There was a long pause, and I could only hear his uneven breathing.
“I’m busy,” he said.
“With Dani?” I asked. “Tell her to come too.”
Again, he paused and then sighed. “Not with Dani. Listen, Lucifer. We’ll see you in a couple of days. We have some things we need to sort out in Lust. Schedule a fallen angel party for Raphaela, and we’ll be there.” And then he hung the phone up without giving me a chance to speak.
I stared at it for a few moments in shock.
Eros had never hung up on me. Whenever I called him or asked him to meet me somewhere, he did.
This wasn’t like him at all … but I wasn’t going to worry about it.
I shoved my phone into my pocket. Nothing could ruin this feeling of pride rushing through my veins. Nothing at all.
But I was going to find them. I wanted to talk. I needed to talk.
Just as I opened my bedroom door, Raphaela appeared in front of me, about to knock. “Lucifer,” she said, her voice soft. She clasped her hands together and rocked back and forth on her heels. “I wanted to talk to you. I—”
“About what?” I asked, trying hard to keep my composure.
“What do you want? To fuck? Because I’m about to go to Lust and find two hotties to spend all night with.
Maybe I’ll go up to Earth and have a good time with some of the humans as well.
Get them smashed, get them to steal, to kill, to rot in Hell for eternity. ”
I watched her reaction, wanting to see if she’d react like an angel did when sinning came up—her eyes glowing a tinge white or a halo appearing above her head or …
something—because it was a bit too suspicious that she had fallen from Heaven as soon as I was happy for once in a long time.
And with this false prophet around, it was difficult to believe that she wasn’t more than a mere distraction.
But when the words came out of my mouth, she didn’t react like I’d thought she would.
Instead, she looked at me with furrowed brows and tears in her eyes.
“Why would you do that to me?” she whispered, stepping into my room.
“I came down here for you. I came down here to love you again, and you’re going to go be intimate with someone else. ”
I cleared my throat and stared her right in the eye. “I didn’t ask you to come down. I was doing fine before you came down and—”
“No, you weren’t,” Raphaela said, stepping toward me. “You weren’t fine before I came down.” She took another bold step closer and stared right up into my eyes with her deep green ones. “You still thought about me.”
I arched a brow. “I didn’t think about you. You were fucking with my head. You and Mother were trying to weaken me.”
She shook her head and rested her fingers on my abdomen.
“I did no such thing. I wouldn’t do that to you.
Mother hasn’t let me have contact with you for the past thousands of years.
” She looked confused for a moment. “It must’ve been another angel, but who?
” She furrowed her brows and looked down at our feet.
“You’re lying,” I said, testing her.
I didn’t know what it was, but something didn’t feel right. It felt off, and I didn’t know if I should be suspicious or not about it. I knew I should keep my distance, but her fingers slipped under my shirt, and she touched my skin so intimately.
She sinned. She touched a man who wasn’t her husband anymore. She couldn’t do that without actually having such a horrified reaction to it if she still abided by the angelic rules of Heaven. She was telling the truth, or she was damn good at acting.
“Please, Lucifer,” she whispered, moving her face closer to mine. “Please … it’s been too long.” She dug her nails into my abdomen. “I want you back. I want to feel you like I have so many times before.”
Her lips hovered above mine, and I wanted to press my lips to hers. She smelled so good. Better than she ever had before.
“Just kiss me, and if you don’t like it, I won’t bother you.”
I swallowed hard, staring down at her lips. It had been thousands of years, yet I didn’t think I’d ever want to kiss her again. It hadn’t crossed my mind once, but now that she was standing right in front of me … the thought did cross my mind.
“If I kiss you, I’m going to fuck you.” The words came out stronger than I’d thought they would. “No passion. No romance. I’m going to fuck you, and I’m going to fuck you hard.”
She moved closer until her body was pressed against mine. “Then fuck me hard, Lucifer.”