“Oops, that’s a big oversight on your behalf,” I mutter.
“Clearly,” he mumbles.
“Can’t you just,” I snap my fingers, “let us in?”
He shakes his head. “No, I made it this way so I couldn’t take anyone into Hell against my will.”
“No failsafe?” Zac snaps.
“No, it never occurred to me I would bring Natia and her band of merry men to infiltrate Hell at my behest.”
“So what’s the tax?” I wonder.
Lucifer glances at Archan, then me. “Lust. Payment must be made by fulfilling the demands of the level.”
“But then we would be trapped,” I point out.
“Only if you choose to fulfill it with a soul already damned here. Souls not of this realm can pay the tax together, meaning they can leave afterwards.”
I take a step back as my heart pumps wildly in my chest and glance around.
Zee’s spring green eyes tighten as he watches my distress and everyone falls into an uncomfortable silence. He glances at Zac. “Hey, bro, I’m up for it if you are?”
Zac snorts and I send Zee a grateful smile for snapping the tension. “Not in this lifetime,” Zac mumbles.
I push my hands through my hair. “You want me and Archan to have sex?” I check. “Here, out in the sea of bodies with questionable fluids coating their flesh?”
Lucifer wrinkles his nose. “Well, not amongst the damned.” He waves towards the altar. “You’ll need to be on the altar—that’s what powers the level and allows us to pass through.” Lucifer cuts a look at Bert. “Leave us.” Bert gives an awkward bow and then runs off behind the curtain.
Archan’s warmth wraps around my back. “Into a little voyeurism, Natia?” he whispers. My breath catches in my throat as my gaze darts around like a trapped animal. All I can see are my best friends and Zac. Could I seriously give into this desire burning though my body in front of these people? I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Not even in the slightest,” I mumble as Archan spins me around, blocking out everything but him.
He leans down and runs his nose along my throat. A shiver runs down my spine, reigniting the fire in my veins. I tilt my head back in surrender and close my eyes.I can do this.Have sex in front of everyone. Nope.
“Turn around,” he commands.
“Not going to work,” Lucifer says. “I don’t need to make any payment, but you have to create enough for six people to pass. No matter how much you get your freak on, it won’t be enough.”
“If you are suggesting I share—” Archan growls.
“Of course not, but there are ways of partaking in the festivities without touching her.”
I squeeze my eyes closed.I can do this. I mean, I’m barely hanging on to my morals and clothes as it is. Everyone here has seen me naked already, so what’s my problem? Sex with Archan isn’t just a physical release. Each time he steals a little more of my soul for his own. I can’t let anyone else see that.
“Not Duncan,” I mutter. “I can’t in front of Duncan.”
“I’ll take a short walk,” Duncan mumbles.
“I’ll join you,” Emi says as the sounds of their feet grow more distant.
“It should work with that number,” Lucifer says. “The level demands high payment to deter people from even trying. The rest will be easier.”
“Easy for you to say,” I whisper. Archan captures my chin with his fingers and grazes a kiss on my lips. A blaze of fiery need blasts through my limbs, making them tremble. He backs me up, each step punctuated with a deeper kiss. My thighs hit the cold stone, making me startle. I drown in molten gold eyes, the people around us fading into the shadows as a wild need takes over me.
“Fucking hell,” Zee says, “are we really doing this?”
I turn my head. Archan grips my chin. “Eyes on me, Natia.”
