Chapter Twenty-Six Lucifer
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lucifer
The knock near the elevator door is unexpected, but when I turn to find my new, human fiancée entering my office, it couldn’t be better timing.
“Charlotte,” I say, casting her my most devilish grin as she enters. “What an unexpected surprise. Please. Come in, darling. The detectives were just leaving.”
The two officers from the NYPD seated in the office lounge area exchange tense glances, coming to their feet as the woman on the right, who’s clearly in charge, nods. “We’ll be in touch if we need anything further, Mr. Apollyon.”
“Of course.” I nod amicably, still grinning.
They head toward the elevator.
The moment their backs turn, my smile fades while Charlotte and I watch them go.
Leaving us alone together.
“I didn’t expect to see you until this evening.”
She waits until the elevator doors close behind them before she faces me. “They think you’re responsible for the murder of Paris Starr.”
She says it like it’s a matter of fact. No hint of question in her voice.
As if she, too, might believe it.
I don’t try to hide my distaste for that as I turn to the office bar to pour myself a whisky. It’s not the sort of greeting I anticipated from her, not after last night, but I’m coming to learn that my fiancée is anything but predictable.
Not now that she’s proved her willingness to defy me.
Not that I mind.
All the more reason to punish her.
I practically invented brat taming.
“Of course they do. You can’t exactly blame them now, can you?” I lie. I pour myself two fingers of a rare black Bowmore. “I am the devil, after all.”
“And did you?” she asks, those deceivingly innocent doe eyes staring up at me. “Have anything to do with it, I mean?”
I shake my head. “Careful, Charlotte. I may have been forgiving of the detectives for doing their job, but you ...”
“I’m your fake fiancée,” she says.
I look toward her, my gaze raking over her in a reminder of everything we did last night. There was nothing fake about that. She submitted herself to me. Praised me. Both body and soul.
“Yes, well, you’re another matter entirely.”
Her cheeks flush pink.
I down the rest of my whisky, throwing it back before I turn away. “What brings you into the office today? I wouldn’t have expected you’d be up and walking so quickly.”
I round the far side of my desk, just in time to see the blush in her cheeks creep lower. No need to tell her that I already know she had to beg one of my staff for an Advil before she came in today, or that I’m certain she’s reminded of how I felt inside her with every step. She may not have been a virgin previously, but my fiancée is undoubtedly new to kink.
And I am not a gentle lover.
Though I take pride in my partners’ pleasure. Greatly.
“It was a mistake,” she says. “We shouldn’t do it again.”
I can’t help but scoff. “At my brother’s club or at my penthouse?”
The question catches her off guard.
“Your mistakes are starting to rack up, Charlotte. What’s next? You trip and your mouth falls onto my cock?”
She flushes even deeper. “I hate when you do that.” She wraps her arms around her middle like she means to protect herself. “You don’t need to be cruel.”
But I can’t help myself.
Not when it comes to her.
“And what exactly am I doing?” I say, smirking at her in a way I know makes her weak in the knees. It did even before we slept together.
“Toying with me. Like my emotions are a game to you.”
I sober instantly. “I assure you, your emotions have never been a game to me.”
Her mouth pops open in surprise.
I let that rare admission sink in as I return my attention to my desk. Contrary to popular belief, I’m actually quite busy.
Hell doesn’t run itself. Even if I only pop down there occasionally these days.
She pushes back her shoulders as she steps forward. “So that’s it? You just get to manipulate me into playing your fiancée, and then fuck me until I can barely see straight, and then call it a day?” She says it like it hurts her. “You don’t get to have it both ways.”
“Would you like things to be different?”
She blinks. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” I say. “Would you like for things to be different?”
I wait for a long moment as she sputters.
“Wh-what kind of question is that?”
“Let me make myself abundantly clear, Miss Bellefleur .” I use her surname in the way that it suits me, the way I know without doubt provokes her, as I round my desk once more, leaning against the front edge. “In a span of a little over a week, you’ve gone from being a glorified intern to being the world’s most powerful woman. You have fame, fortune, celebrity. Everything your heart could desire, thanks to me. So, if you happen to also get thoroughly buggered in the process, who cares? So long as you’re enjoying it, darling.”
She gapes at me. “Is that ... is that how you see this?” She gestures between us. “Is that what you think you’ve done for me?”
“Isn’t it?”
“I ...” She shakes her head, lifting her hand toward me. “I can’t deal with you right now, Lucifer.”
“So, it was a lie, then? Your desire for me?”
She freezes, and when I look at her, I know she’s wet for me. I can smell it. Her need so intense I can practically taste it.
“What did you say?”
“I said, the way you go still every time I look at you. The way you melt into my touch.” I prowl toward her. “The way you beg for me, crawl for me. The way even now, you wish for me to tell you you’re a good girl, especially when you take my cock. Isn’t that what you want to hear?” I stop in front of her. “If that’s all a lie, then tell me.”
“Stop,” she whispers.
I pause where I’ve reached for her, but then she leans in, stepping closer.
“Stop what, Charlotte?”
“Making me feel this way,” she exhales.
I reach out and stroke a single knuckle over her cheek.
She shivers and leans into it. “Like there’s an ache inside me and the only answer is you.”
I growl, my cock stiffening as I lace my fingers through her hair, gripping her as if I mean to kiss her.
Her lips part. Anticipating. “This was supposed to be fake.”
“I assure you, it’s fake. It’s all fake. Everything but this.” I take her hand and press it to my aching erection before I kiss her, claim her with tongue and teeth.
When I release her, the sight of her swollen lips flips a switch inside me, and I use the bit of leverage I have from her hair to push her down and onto her knees. “Now suck my cock like a good little slut and maybe I won’t put you on the rack this evening.”