She nodded, that defiance in her gaze growing brighter.
“Ah, well. It seems taking the crown might be a more pleasant task than I first surmised.”
That small grin now broke out into a full-blown smile, and it knocked me completely off balance. Just then, a strong blast of wind rushed over us, pushing her scent toward me.
Every part of my body went stiff, including my cock. Thankful for the basket that covered the evidence of my arousal, I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on the task of calming the monster inside me. If I still had wings, he’d probably force the shift onto us.
“Mine. She’s mine!”
“Don’t be stupid. She isn’t yours. Father said Eve is our true mate.”
“He’s wrong! This is the one. She smells divine. Like her scent was made for me. Mine, mine, mine.”
She did smell amazing. Her fragrancewas warm, like sunshine. Which made no sense because this female had never been to the surface, and while I knew little of this realm, I did know that none of its layers had a sun. Underneath the sunny scent was something else. Something fragrant and nice but deceptively so. Like the pretty poison she’d been picking.
Then another surprise slammed into me, like wave after wave crashing into me, intent on knocking me to my feet.
I caught a thought from her. The string of consciousness was murky, but I could still decipher much of it.
I could still read minds.
This little discovery was more than just good news. It meant that in this realm, I would have an edge. I wouldn’t need the ability of my beast’s sight if I was still able to glean thoughts.
I shouldn’t listen in on this gorgeous creature’s inner musings when I’d been given no license to do so, but curiosity had always gotten the best of me.
“Lucifer, are you alright?” she asked.
“Y–yes. I’m fine, thank you.”
I had to applaud the control of her facial expressions. She regarded me like I was no skin off her nose. Like if I turned to take a running jump back into the lake, she wouldn’t care too much one way or another.
But her mind was alive with as much curiosity for me as I had for her. I could see the way she’d watched me fall from the dark sky, lighting it up like a star, making it as bright as morning.
Then I caught another voice in her thoughts, one she was doing her damndest to ignore.
“Mine,”her beast purred to her. “He’s mine.”
18
Emotion fisted my heart, squeezing fresh tears out of me that I hadn’t meant to shed. I snuggled in tighter against Lucifer, holding onto him like I was afraid he might slip away again.
He’d shown me more than the day we’d met. He had shown me something I’d never experienced before. He’d opened up his heart and let me see all the scars his family had inflicted the day he took his wings. He’d allowed me to see all the pain and hurt he’d suffered, by watching it through his eyes.
I saw a vulnerability in him that he’d never exposed to me before. Like the way he secretly yearned for his father’s approval and how his little knack for causing mischief was probably just a young Lucifer’s method of securing his father’s attention. How he had fooled around with Eve not because he loved her but because he was desperate for the attention and companionship he hadn’t gotten from anywhere else.
And when he fell, he knew deep down that Eve wasn’t his mate. His beast knew it, and even Michael knew it.
But he’d still been desperate to do as his father said. Not just so he could get his wings back and make Michael pay for the lifetime of what had gone far beyond sibling rivalry,but because he wanted his father’s approval.
“I don’t care what Father thinks of me now, Jessica. Please know that,” the devil said, a silken whisper in my ear. “I stopped caring that day on the Styx. When you went into heat, and I kissed you, I knew you were mine. I knew Father had either been lying, or he’d been wrong about Eve being my fated one.”
I turned in Lucifer’s arms to face him. “But you didn’t claim me until the Second Circle, in Lust.”
He brushed back a rogue lock of my hair with his knuckle and gave me a sad smile. “That’s because I still cared about getting revenge on my brother. I was afraid. Even if you were my true mate, there was a part of me that was afraid my father might deny it. He doesn’t like admitting when he’s wrong. ThenI would never get my wings back. Without my wings, I won’t have the strength to defeat Michael. But when you fell from that platform, all I could think about was how much I hated myself for not facing the truth.”
“And what truth is that?” I asked, my breath catching in my throat.
“That I don’t care whether or not you were created for me by the Almighty, The Fates, or the cast ofThe Lord of the Rings. You’re mine. My mate. My queen. My best friend.” His eyes twinkled. “And hopefully, my soon-to-be wife.”
