16 Ariuk
Ariuk
Walking back from campus as I tried to keep my hands to myself was a chore, one that I thought I accomplished spectacularly until Nick pulled me against him as Luc tried to get the apartment door open.
Luc grumbled as he fumbled with the key, Nick’s lips dipping to the curve of my neck as I squirmed in his hold.
The door swung open, Luc dragging me away from Nick and inside, ready to devour me on his own terms until someone clearing their throat pulled me out of my lust-filled haze.
I twisted around Luc to see the last person on Earth I wanted here at the moment.
Motherfucking stingy-ass cock-blocking king of hell himself was politely waiting for us, that smug look on his face telling me that he knew way more about our situation than he had originally let on.
He hadn’t even technically lied to Raphael when he said that his mentees needed guidance. He just hadn’t let the archangel know that it included guidance for me too.
The heat thrumming through me didn’t go anywhere, but I decided to place myself far enough away from the boys so I didn’t embarrass myself.
I pried Luc’s fingers from the top of my dress and put a few steps between us so my essence didn’t magically have one of them bending me over the edge of the couch in front of Dante.
God, that would be so fucking embarrassing.
The blush rising to my cheeks told me I wasn’t completely against having people watch me in the throes of passion though, which was a problem for another fucking day.
“Looks like you’ve been settling in just fine, Ari. How is everything going?”
A devilish grin spread across Dante’s lips as he crossed his legs, his eyes dancing with amusement at how flustered we all were. Nick grunted at the question as he closed the door behind him, the outside world now cut off from this odd conversation.
I frowned at his terrible display of hospitality. “Just fine. I always hated school. Good to know that human school is just as bad.”
“Yes, yes, but that’s not what I’m asking about, and I think you know that.”
Dante ran his tongue along his top teeth, one of his brows raising in jest. He had been so intriguing in the café last week but now his presence was starting to grate on my nerves.
I also knew he hadn’t come to talk about school, but I wasn’t going to discuss my sex life with the king of hell when it was his boys that were dicking me.
“Uh-huh. Right.”
My face burned a deep shade of red as I tried to hide myself in the kitchen behind the counter, but there wasn’t any use in doing that. His eyes followed my every move.
“You were a brave girl going to school dressed like that. I’m sure you knew that the gloves weren’t going to do much with all that skin showing?”
I nodded timidly, refusing to look at Nick or Luc. If I caught the heat in their eyes, we’d be in a very awkward situation. Memories of last night had my face lighting up all over again. Thoughts of Nick stuffing me so fucking full while Luc made me choke on his cock were—
Dante leaned farther into the cushions, his smile widening.
I glared at him. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Sweet girl, you really have blossomed since I last saw you.” His eyes flicked over me again before settling on my face. “Tell me, Temptation, how does this new freedom feel?”
“Great.”
And I meant it.
I loved not having to adhere to all the pompous rules in Heaven.
I loved being able to grab my sugary drinks and foods without fear that someone was going to ridicule me for my choices.
And I absolutely loved the way both Nick and Luc seemed to be just as enraptured by my presence as I was by theirs.
Still, it was a learning process. Every day I was taking another step away from rules that had been ingrained into my head and figuring out who the fuck I was without someone else deciding for me.
Temptation included.
“And your feathers?”
Of fucking course. Dante hadn’t asked how school was going, whether Luc and Nick had managed to use their gifts without leveling half the campus, or whether the three of us were adjusting.
He wanted to know about my feathers, my reactions, and whatever else was changing inside me.
He wasn’t checking on his mentees; he was checking on me, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it in front of them.
I’d been used enough already, so this time I was going to bullshit my way through whatever he was fishing for.
“Nick won’t touch me with a ten-foot pole and Luc only likes it when I’ve got a bag on my head.”
Luc slowly turned his head toward me.
Nick coughed into his fist.
Dante’s mouth twitched.
Immediately, I realized Luc had been seconds away from kissing the fuck out of me when we entered, but I could spin that too.
“Luc likes to get rough with me when I don’t understand some of the human norms.”
I snorted internally.
That could be taken one of two ways and now I was thinking about Luc getting rough with me.
Fuck.
Dante stared at me for several seconds before his smile started spreading again.
“You done?”
My confidence faltered. “With what?”
“Nothing.” He waved one hand lazily. “Please continue.”
The bastard knew.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Their darkness feels icky and my feathers haven’t changed. I don’t know what’s going on but it’s stuffy and confusing here. I don’t like it.”
Nick’s gaze slid toward me.
Luc’s brows rose.
Dante looked downright delighted now.
“On Earth?” he asked.
“I love Earth. But your mentees are menaces.”
“Now that part I believe.”
Nick flipped him off.
I left it there, unable to keep digging the hole without falling into it completely.
The energy pulsating through the room was already thick enough.
Nick had taken a seat across from Dante, his thighs spread as his eyes stayed trained on me.
Luc had more control, leaning against the wall like none of this bothered him, but the slight darkness in his gaze said otherwise.
Dante finally stood and approached the kitchen, moving with that same unhurried confidence that made me want to throw something at him. He stopped on the other side of the counter and looked me over for a second. “You touched Luc on Friday?”
I hesitated, which was apparently answer enough.
“And Nick?”
I pressed my lips together and stared at him instead of answering. Dante’s grin returned slowly, smug enough to make my skin crawl. “Interesting.”
“I said nothing happened.”
“No.” He rested one hand against the counter. “You said quite a lot of things. Most of them were terrible lies.”
My mouth fell open while Nick barked out a laugh behind him. I shot Dante a glare. “Fuck you.”
“There she is.” He tapped the counter once, entirely too pleased with himself. “I wondered how long you were going to keep trying.”
“You knew?”
“Ari.” He looked almost offended by the question. “Please.”
Fucking Devil. I folded my arms across my chest, but before I could come up with another lie he would obviously see straight through, Dante glanced toward Luc and Nick and then back to me.
“Either way, you’ve spent enough time here.”
The irritation drained out of me so fast my stomach dropped. “What?”
“Time to move on.”
Nick’s amusement vanished immediately. Luc pushed away from the wall, the change in him subtle but instant. His shoulders squared and his chin lifted slightly, like Dante had personally insulted him by making a decision he hadn’t been included in.
“What do you mean, move on?” I asked.
“Exactly what I said. There are five more creations.”
I stared at him, trying to figure out when this had gone from checking on Luc and Nick to being shuffled toward the next demon. “I thought I was supposed to gauge their gifts.”
“You are.”
“You haven’t asked me one fucking thing about theirs.
” I frowned as Dante’s smile sharpened, and something finally clicked.
That had been bothering me since he walked through the door, buried beneath all his questions about my feathers and whatever was changing inside me.
“You never cared whether I could tell you how strong Pride or Wrath were.”
“I care very much about their development.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“No.” He looked pleased that I had finally caught up. “It wasn’t.”
Luc’s jaw flexed. Nick shifted forward on the couch, elbows landing on his knees as his fingers curled tightly enough that the tips of his claws started pushing through.
I folded my arms. “So what exactly does gauging them mean?”
“Observe them. Meet them. See what happens when your essence and theirs occupy the same space.” Dante shrugged like he was explaining something painfully obvious. “I never promised you a standardized evaluation sheet.”
“You made it sound like I was checking whether they could control their gifts.”
“And you are learning quite a lot about their control.”
I stared at him until the wording clicked into place, and then I wanted to smack that pleased look right off his face. The motherfucker had buried the truth inside exactly what he knew I would agree to. “You hid it in the wording.”
Dante pressed one hand dramatically against his chest. “I explained exactly what I required.”
“You explained the version that made me agree.”
“Also true.”
A low growl rolled out of Nick behind him, deep enough to make the back of my neck prickle. His eyes had darkened almost completely, his claws fully out as his tail slipped loose and dragged once across the floor before curling around my ankle like it belonged there.
My gaze dropped to it, some of the anger twisting in my chest easing at the contact.
Luc noticed too, but his own reaction was quieter.
He hadn’t moved from where he stood, though every line of his body looked too controlled now, like all the anger had been shoved beneath the surface and locked there.
“You knew she would bond with us,” Luc said.
Dante tilted his head. “I suspected.”
“Bullshit.”
“I cannot lie to you, Lucifer.”
“That doesn’t mean you tell us everything.” Luc laughed when Dante’s expression didn’t change. “Right.”