“Roll your eyes at me again and you will get fucked so hard you won’t be able to walk for a week.”
“Tell me where I lose out on this?” I climb off the bed and head for the bathroom door. An extensive selection of fancy-assed toiletries and makeup line the vanity in the black and white tiled bathroom. I give the sunken bathtub a longing look before washing up quickly in the shower. Maybe Lucifer will let me visit when this is over. Who’d have thought Hell would be a vacation destination?
Archan brushes past me on my way out of the bathroom, his gaze sliding down my towel-wrapped body like we hadn’t just been doing the naked tango on the bed ten minutes ago. “The dresses are in the wardrobe,” he mutters as he waves to a huge antique oak wardrobe. “I’ll get cleaned up. I think Jed has that food he promised.”
My legs pick up speed at the thought of delicious food. My stomach gives out a rumbling growl, which makes Archan laugh as he closes the bathroom door. I fling open the wardrobe door, expecting maybe two or three options. What I get is couture gowns in a rainbow of colors, lengths, and fabrics. My jaw drops as I run my hand over the dresses. Each one speaks to me on some level. But I need to be strong, capable—I need to be a woman. I select the gown I want and shimmy into it seconds before Archan flings the door open and strides from the bathroom, covered in nothing but a low riding white towel. Steam billows around him as he pauses and runs his eyes over me. He quirks a brow, then rubs his jaw.
“No,” is all he states.
Folding my arms, I cock a hip. “Did I ask for your opinion?”
“No, but you are getting it. And I veto that dress as it belongs in the bedroom. Not a war room.”
“If Lucifer thought I would succeed dressed in pants and a jacket, he wouldn’t have me change. Trust the man in charge of these demons. He clearly stated I would need to dress for the occasion to have any chance. So how about you roll back your testosterone and support me rather than try to control me.”
He eats up the distance between us as I hold my stance with a glare. “I am not trying to control you. But with you looking like this, I’m likely to murder everyone in the room. You have an amazing body and you aren’t afraid to show it—again, I’m fine with it, so long as it’s me you go home with at the end of the night. But this is Hell and you look like sin personified.”
“Perhaps that is the point?”
He leans in for a soft kiss, which stirs a warmth in my belly. His hands run up the side split in my black floor length dress, following it all the way to my hip before he tears his mouth from mine. “No panties?”
I shake my head. “Don’t be silly. You don’t wear underwear in a dress like this.” We both dart our gaze to the plunging V that exposes the swell of my breasts.
He runs a hand over his face. “Fucking hell, there’s going to be a new war tonight.”
I slide on a pair of strappy stiletto heels and wink at him. “The idea is to channel their violent tendencies in the direction we want them.” I stand and grip his chin. “Tonight I am, first and foremost, your queen. The rest will follow.”
He blinks, and then a small grin tilts his lips. I narrow my gaze. “What are you thinking?” I ask as someone raps on the door.
“Wicked, wicked things,” Archan mutters as the gold flecks in his eyes dance in amusement.
“Ten minutes until show time,” Jed hollers. “If you want to taste my goodies, you need to get your ass out here.”
I roll my eyes, release Archan and fling open the bedroom door. Jed takes a step back, letting out a low whistle, gaining the attention of the entire gang in the room. My eyes zone in on the spread of sandwiches and cakes on the dining table.
“Excellent choice,” Lucifer comments as I grab a plate and pile it high with Jed’s goodies. I spin around as I chomp down on the soft, freshly baked bread crowning the tiered sandwich.
“I should send you back to your room to get some actual clothes on,” Zee jokes.
“Please don’t,” Jed chimes in.
“Like Natia would let any man tell her how to dress,” Marsha says from her seat next to Duncan on the sofa.
I smile at her as I drop a piece of chicken into my mouth. “You look awesome,” I tell her as I take in her white floor-length gown.
“A little something to complete your look,” Lucifer says, twisting his finger in the air. I turn my back to him as a cool necklace is draped around my neck. I glance down. Diamonds. The man knows style and elegance.
“One last thing,” Archan booms as he strides through the door suited and booted in black to match me. He materializes my crown into his hands and situates it on my head.
He offers me his arm. “My Queen, shall we?”
I stuff the remaining sandwich down my throat and give the cakes a mournful look. “They’ll still be here once you’ve schmoozed the warlords,” Zac gripes. I smirk at him as I pop a mini chocolate cake into my mouth and link my arm with Archan. Lucifer takes my other side.
We file out of the room and take a stroll down the grand staircase, swinging in the opposite direction towards a set of immense closed doors, music and chatter rumbling from under them. My heart pounds in my chest. I glance at Archan, then Lucifer. They appear tense. Clearly, they had more time to process this grand speech than me. I appreciate they didn’t tell me sooner. I would have only worried about it.
We halt outside the doors. “You will be fine. Speak from the heart, because you can win over the most reluctant people in the world with nothing but your fire,” Lucifer states.
“And with two primordials on your arms, we are sending a strong clear message,” Archan says.
