“Much better,” I decided, and bent to kiss him again.
He sat up and banded one arm around my waist while the other slid up my spine.
Neither of us progressed things forward, happy exactly as we were. But eventually, we had to come up for air when the room tipped from warm to hot. Or maybe it was our inner temperatures that had spiked.
I rested my forehead against his, panting for breath. “We should?—”
“Not quite yet,” he said. “You promised me six minutes. I have no idea how long that is, but I’m fairly certain we aren’t done yet.”
I actually had no idea how much time had passed, nor did I care.
“I wanted to give you a morning that isn’t immediately all blood and strategy,” he said. “I know how things get when you’re leading an army. So I just wanted a moment that was just…us.”
“We’ll get more mornings like this,” I said, low, like saying it too loud would jinx it.
“We will,” he agreed.
That did something awful and beautiful in my chest. I kissed him once more for that alone. When I finally eased off him, he let me go. No sulking. No theatrics. He only caught my hand and pressed his mouth to the inside of my wrist, fangs skimming skin without breaking it. I shivered, tempted to let him bite. Ilovedthe feel of his teeth—and other, fleshier bits—inside me.
“Okay, okay,” I mumbled, my voice rough as I armed myself. “Now, I really need to get out there. I need to make sure Korrak didn’t assign the barracks using trial by fire.”
“He tried, but we vetoed him,” Rathiel said dryly. “So Varz suggested arm wrestling. Rathgor recommended a sprint along the wall with someone throwing knives for ‘motivation.’”
“See, youdoneed me.” I smirked and reached for the door again.
He caught up to me in two steps and placed his palm against the stone above my head, then leaned close enough for his breath to stir the air near my hair.
“If the darkness takes over, you tell me. Immediately.”
I hesitated. The darkness was there, a quiet pressure under my ribs, but it wasn’t demanding or enforcing itself.
“It’s quiet right now,” I told him. “It’s just you and me here.”
“Good,” he said, relief gentling his voice. “Let’s try to keep it that way.”
“I’ll do my best. If not, you’ll drag me back, remember?”
“Always,” he said, and kissed the spot just under my ear.
I cracked open the door. Heat surged in, along with the smell of rank bodies and metal. The courtyard thrummed—shouts, clatter, the low thunder of hellspawn voices arguing about absolutely nothing and everything. Purrgy had claimed a spot atop what remained of the outpost wall, and was washing a paw while Vol sat nearby, his legs dangling over the edge.
Rathiel’s knuckles brushed my spine. “You’ve got this.”
I did, but it was nice to hear.
“Go be terrifying,” he told me, stepping aside so I could clear the doorway.
I glanced at him over my shoulder, letting the look say everything I didn’t have time to say out loud, and stepped into the courtyard, ready to conquer the day.
The moment I stepped into full view of my army, they fell silent. Dozens of eyes cut toward me—hungry, expectant, half-wild—awaiting orders.
Perfect.
We had work to do. After all, Lucifer wasn’t going to kill himself.
Chapter Nineteen
LILY
