VIII
Lucky had more fun organizing his files than he thought he would.
Charlie was entertaining to talk to, and a lot smarter than he’d given him credit for.
Something had changed after he’d woken up.
They managed to make a sizable dent in the stack of his most recent contracts over the past few years, and they could actually see the floor by the entrance.
It left them plenty of space to set up the boxes, and Lucky had requested the maintenance staff put up new shelves after they left for the evening so they could keep them organized.
He’d also ordered a clean shirt that the administrative staff delivered, and requested one of them take the hellhound out for a walk and a meal.
By the time they were done, several boxes covering the last few decades had been made and most of them were over half-full.
It still felt like an impossible task to get it all done in twenty-eight days, but Lucky wasn’t as overwhelmed as he had been.
Charlie had been laser-focused. It seemed he needed clear, precise instructions but the freedom to work without being supervised.
Once he was in the zone, nothing stopped him.
It was a fight to get him to eat more of his sandwich and stop to take breaks, especially since Lucky couldn’t really tell him why it was so important to nourish his soul without letting the whole still being alive thing slip.
Lucky finally had to call it quits and pull Charlie away around ten in the evening.
Charlie didn’t want to stop, but Lucky assured him they’d made enough progress and it was fine to go home.
The human was yawning, and Lucky refused to have a repeat of the night before, so he offered to stop for coffee on the way home if Charlie felt like it.
He didn’t tell the priest that home meant his penthouse, but the sleepy soul didn’t pay it much mind and blindly followed Lucky down Hell’s crowded streets with the happy and full hellhound keeping watch.
The meal the beast had eaten seemingly did wonders, because Lucky swore it had grown in size in the short time it had gone on its walk.
After returning to the penthouse, Lucky told Charlie to make himself at home and left to go wash up, putting the rest of the human’s oversized sandwich in the fridge for later as he went.
He offered him one of his shirts to change into so the priest would have something more comfortable to wear and left him alone.
The Prince of Hell bathed and dressed in his finest party attire—a fashionable silk button up with cutout flames along the ribcage and tight leather pants with matching flame-covered heeled boots—and spritzed himself with cologne that Gabe got him every year for his birthday.
Frankincense and myrrh, with a dash of sandalwood to add some sweetness.
It was rich and fragrant, and the only thing he wore.
It smelled delicious when his body heat escalated on the dance floor or partook in sexual escapades, two things he hoped would happen tonight for his own sanity.
But as he walked out of his bathroom and saw Charlie in his bed—wearing his shirt that was oh-so-big on the human’s body, revealing that slender shoulder all covered in freckles—he couldn’t will himself to leave.
He turned his eyes to the fiery skies and thought about how nice it would be to have some fun, forget about all of his to-dos and stresses, but he couldn’t.
Looking at Charlie like that he knew why he couldn’t, and he hated himself for not realizing what was going on sooner.
A weight settled in his stomach. Something about messing up a holy man did it for him, but it was a fantasy he’d only dreamt about.
The prince would never put it into practice, let alone spend his precious time pondering over it…
usually. This was different. Charlie was different.
It was one of those tucked away kinks and ‘maybe someday’ check boxes he hadn’t entertained other than in daydreams. The daydreams had haunted him all damn evening, and now nothing else would suffice.
Admittedly, Lucky didn’t think about sex much.
It was often a chore, something to do on occasion to round out a stressful month, and seeking it out wasn’t on his lengthy task list. Work always took priority, and his Soul Score and reports proved it.
He was probably the least sexually active of all of the heirs, and he preferred reading about it over engaging with it.
It often meant he forgot about those aspects and desires, as well as his fear.
The things that made up his attractions and kept him from building authentic relationships.
Sex was a way to destress every now and then, but anyone he brought to bed stayed at arm’s length.
Sex was a requirement of Hell’s heirs along with partying, debauchery, and the other basic sins, so his preferences often slipped his mind since they weren’t necessary to keep up appearances.
It wasn’t something to indulge in, but a way to soothe the aches and play the part of the prince that everyone expected.
That was another reason acknowledging this sudden surge of new thoughts bothered him so much.
He knew himself well enough to admit that his sexual attraction went deeper than looks.
It went deeper than Charlie’s priestly ways or the silly scribbles on pages in novels.
It was built on connections, and he’d started connecting with Charlie.
For the first time in who knows how long, he was authentically horny.
Damn it all to here, he was lusting after the priest he hit with his car.
And Lucky didn’t lust, that was his sister’s job, so the fact that he wasn’t able to shake those thoughts scared him.
The only person he’d ever actually enjoyed doing it with, and made it a priority with, was Gabe, and they’d made him work for it.
They’d broken up a long time ago, though, so those deep feelings had been buried under several centuries of his hardened heart.
Work took priority, always. No one had captivated him in some time, and now those familiar sensations were rising again. It was horrible. This had to stop before it got out of hand.
No wonder he couldn’t stop staring at Charlie.
The past two months had been spent focused on the priest. He hadn’t taken the time for his own self-care.
He definitely needed to get laid, then all of the weird feelings would vanish.
Slap a priest collar on an incubus, rail him into the mattress, and he’d be fine.
He had to prove to himself that he was overreacting, overthinking, and simply pent up because Charlie had consumed so much of his time he was conflating attraction and the racing of his heart with his rising anxiety over the audit and possibly losing his head.
That’s all, the thrills and emotions had gotten jumbled.
One quick hotel meet-up and he could get back to work.
All would be right in his world full of wrongs.
But when he thought the regular on again-off again names in his phone, how they’d do whatever he asked without question, it wasn’t appealing. All he could think about was Charlie. His legs had turned to stone and he couldn’t will himself to leave the apartment.
It didn’t help that his restrictive leather pants were tenting at the thought of the priest in his bed, in his clothes, sleeping so soundly and looking so delicious.
It caused him to grow hornier than he had been.
He turned his mind to some of those previous partners out of curiosity as he stared down at his dick, cursing it angrily under his breath with such fury smoke rolled out of his nose, and they did nothing for him.
But Charlie? Sweet Charlie? Innocent, precious Charlie?
That was doing something, something dangerous, and he felt like it wouldn’t fix his problem to go handle it in a hotel with a stranger.
It would only sooth the aches of his afterlife for an hour or two at best. That being said, jerking off to the thought of Charlie who couldn’t consent and didn’t ask to be used like that was too evil even for him, and he didn’t need Charlie’s stupidly sweet face logged in his spank bank.
He also didn’t know if he could face the priest come the morning if he did, and they had to work together.
Still, something had to be done about Lucifer Morningstar Junior’s junior…
He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly, releasing another thick cloud of smoke into the air. The only option was to handle it himself and try his damndest not to think about freaking Charles Reed Wickham in his bed while he did. Guess it was time to head back to the shower.