I grasped her chin, forcing her to look at me, and inhaled her scent. “That’s—”
“Dani!” someone called from deep within the palace. My gaze flickered from Jasmine to the door, never having heard the female voice before here. Jasmine’s fingers slipped under my robe and brushed against my underwear, making me clench.
Maeve appeared at the door, mouth ajar. I released Jasmine’s chin and stepped away from her, trying to push away all the dirty, little fantasies running through my head. Maeve’s lips twitched into a smile, the happiness not reaching her emerald eyes. “Sorry to interrupt, but I thought we were going to Rebel today.”
Jasmine brushed her fingers against my forearm. “You know where to find me, if you really mean what you said.” She walked out of the room, her hips swaying from side to side in her tight blush dress.
After I excused myself from the kitchen, I hurried upstairs to change quickly into some tight jeans and a swooping, red halter top. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and gazed down at the messages from Dr. U. “I’m volunteering tonight at the ice skating rink. Care to join?”
My lips curled into a wide smile, and, before I left the room, I grabbed my coat because it was bound to be cold on Earth.
Maeve was walking around in the throne room when I returned, her fingers brushing against the velvet throne itself. “Are you ready?” I asked, folding my coat over my forearm.
She turned and held a hand to her chest as if I startled her. “Oh, yeah.” She smiled when she saw me and continued to look around the room. “It’s really beautiful in here. I’ve never been in a throne room before.”
“Well,” I said, curling my arm around hers. “It’s good that I’m inviting you into my court in a couple days, then, isn’t it?”
While most of Lust would watch the Courting Pit and the Crowning Ceremony, I had to invite a few special people to be by my side in the throne room to bear witness to my crowning. And because Kasey was out of the picture, I wanted Maeve because she had been one of my constants down here.
“Really?!” she asked.
“Yes.” I smiled and pulled her toward the exit of the castle. “I don’t know or trust many people here, except you and a few others in the palace.”
She broke into a fit of contagious giggles, giddy about what I had told her, and walked with me through Chastion. We stopped briefly for Fervor Crisps at Annen’s Bakery and found our way into Rebel, the day and nightclub in the center of the city.
Even in the morning, Rebel thrived with people either dancing, getting drunk off Passions, or flirting hard. The light toward the back of the club was a soft pink today, and though there were about twenty free booths, Maeve pulled me toward the back, as if she knew exactly where she was going.
And she did, because the Triad was sprawled out on a couch, all looking oddly satisfied this morning. “So, this is why you wanted to come here,” I said, arching a brow at them. Zane had his back turned toward me, his shoulders slumped forward, less uptight than he usually was on Earth.
When Axel noticed us, he held out two full glasses of Passion on the table. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist coming to see me, Maeve,” he said, burying his face in her neck when she sat down next to him.
Her cheeks flushed, and she playfully pushed him away. I sat down next to her, watching him and her fall into an easy and very flirtatious conversation. Zane and Enji sat across from them, rolling their eyes. I arched a brow. “I’m hoping Maria is still in one piece.”
Zane chuckled and said, “Maria is fine.” Then he gazed at me from across the table. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
Chapter 25
“So,” I said, awkwardly walking next to Zane toward the ice skating rink after our get-together at Rebel. Maria had asked him on a date, but Zane didn’t date. He fucked, apparently. Him and Maria had spent more time with each other, but I didn’t like the fact that he was part of the Triad because I didn’t want the same thing that happened to her with Javier to happen again. “What’s going on between you and Maria?”
He brushed some snow off his shoulders and pulled his jacket tighter around his torso. “We’re just friends.”
“Just friends?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and trying to keep myself warm. God, even Lucifer’s kingdom wasn’t this cold… or maybe I had just been getting used to it down there. “You seem like you’re more.”
We passed the road where it happened—Mom’s murder, and I glanced down it, seeing those piercing red eyes in the middle of the street, staring back at me. I could feel Javier’s fingers in my throat, could feel him clawing his way back into my head.
My jaw twitched, a weirdly innate urge to snap coursing through my veins, but I took a deep breath and stepped closer to Zane until my arm began brushing against his with every step.
Familiarity. Close friends. Goodness. I repeated it in my head like a hymn, hoping that Javier would disappear. Zane paused for a moment and gazed at me, the same haziness I saw earlier in his eyes. Instead of scurrying away like I should have, I arched a brow at him and said, “Well?”
“We’re just friends, Dani,” Zane said, turning back. “We fuck sometimes, but that’s it.”
“But you like her,” I said, teeth chattering slightly.
“I like many people.”
The crosswalk light flashed white, and we crossed the street to the outdoor skating rink. “Well, don’t break her heart because I won’t let Maria get hurt again.”
For the first time in a long time, he chuckled, deep and throaty, a laugh that got me all hot and bothered. “And what will you do to me?” he asked. There was a light flirtiness in his voice.
While I didn’t love flirting with just anyone, it was the typical way of speaking to another Lust demon. And, if I wanted to be queen and to get people to like and trust me, I’d have to pick up their mannerisms.
“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” I asked, lips curling into a smirk.
He smiled again, turning his hazy eyes away from me and inhaling deeply. “You’re more tempting than you think you are, Dani.”
I glanced up at him and walked into the square. The rink was filled with about a hundred people, bright lights shined down upon the ice. It was almost seven o’clock on a weekday and this place was poppin’ tonight.
Maria sat on a black metal bench, staring at her phone screen and trying to put on some mascara. Zane excused himself and found his way to her, and her eyes almost immediately brightened. I frowned, wondering if she had caught feelings too fast for him.
After shaking off the thought, I walked to a small building where there were lockers, a place to buy food, and a smiling Dr. U who stood behind the counter, handing out shoes to couples and children.
I kicked the snow off my shoes before I entered, then took off my coat, hanging it on a coat rack in the back. The heat was on full blast, blowing directly into my face as I stood next to Dr. U. “What do you need help with?” I asked.
“Are you good with money?” she asked, nudging me to the concession stand. I arched a brow at her and walked over. And for the next three hours I handed out hot chocolate and fries and the occasional hot dog.
When I had taken everyone’s orders, I rested my elbows on the counter and stared out at the ice skating rink. Though it was still late and the skaters were slowly starting to leave, there was a mother and daughter skating together on the ice. The little girl with blonde pigtails was holding her mother’s hand as they spun in small circles. She had the biggest smile on her face, and my heart warmed, remembering when Mom used to take me here.
We’d come here almost every week during the winter and split a basket of fries and a hot chocolate. I wished I could spend one more day here with Mom, just one moment was all I wanted. One moment to see her smile or to hear her laugh or to feel her fingers against mine.
A teenage boy walked into the room, leaving four of his friends outside in the cold. “Slurpee, please.”
“
We don’t have slurpees,” I said, brows furrowed together. It was almost freezing outside, and this kid wanted a slurpee? “We have hot chocolate.”
He adjusted a baseball cap on his head. “You got a candy cane you can put in the hot chocolate?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Give me three.”
“Three hot chocolates?”
“Three candy canes in one hot chocolate.”
I stared at the boy in confusion and poured him his drink, hooking three large candy canes into the cup which would melt down to their fragile core within the next five minutes. “Three candy canes in one hot chocolate, just for you,” I said, placing the cup on the counter and watching Trevon walk through the door.
The kid took the cup and walked outside, gulping it down like it wasn’t even burning his tongue. Trevon stared at the kid and turned back to me, jaw clenched. “Just for him, huh?”
I waved my hand in the air. “It’s nothing.”
He leaned over the counter in front of me, getting a little too close, and smiled, glancing back at the boys one more time. “Remember when we talked about having kids?”
My eyes widened, and I furrowed my brows at him. What the hell? I leaned closer to him, so none of the other volunteers could hear the fight I was about to get in with him. “Trevon, we talked about that one time. Years ago.” I shook my head. “We’re over.”
Trevon shook his head and glanced away. “Because Eros broke us up.”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe he wanted to have this conversation here and again.
After tugging on my coat, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the building, so nobody could hear us. “Because you cheated on me,” I said, whisper-yelling and poking him hard in the chest.
Why were we running in circles, fighting about the same senseless things over again?
“I was under Javier’s influence.”
“Well, I was under Eros’s influence and I didn’t sleep with him. Hell, I didn’t even kiss him while we were together.”
“You’re the fucking Queen of Lust,” he said, as if it were an excuse.
I crossed my arms over my chest and grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me. “Which is why I should’ve jumped on Eros the moment I saw him, but I resisted. I didn’t physically touch another man like that because I wanted to make us work.” I crossed my arms over my chest, watching the snow melt against his dark skin. “And you didn’t seem to have a problem with us being broken up until recently. So what is your damn issue?”
After he paused for a long moment, he shook his head and walked away from me. I stared at him from across the rink, lips curled into a frown. What had happened to him? One minute he was fine that I was with Eros, the next he was jealous of him. Never, and I mean never, had he brought up Eros in conversation beforehand. Not when we broke up. Not when he turned into a demon. Not when I announced to him that I would be queen.
“Dani,” Dr. U called from behind me. I glanced back to see her peering behind the door. “We’ll be closing soon.”
I nodded my head and turned back around for a quick moment. Trevon walked around a couple tables, where that teenager and his friends were taking off their ice skates. That man was going to drive me insane.
The sweet scent of cinnamon filled my nostrils, and I glanced behind me at Eros. Wearing a scarf and a thick wool coat that went down to his mid-thigh, he curled his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. “How’s it going?” he asked, placing a kiss on my neck.
For a moment, I thought I’d feel Javier’s lips on me, but all I felt and smelt was Eros, which meant that this… this… cure might be working. At least, it was working a bit. I hadn’t had another hallucination of him again.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, brushing my fingers against the slight stubble on his chin. “I thought you were heading to The Lounge with Luci?”
“He had some business to take care of,” he said softly in my ear. His cheeks were a light pink, his green eyes were so comforting. “So, since I was in the city, I thought I’d come see you.”
My eyes fluttered closed for a mere moment as I enjoyed him. Something about today, about right now, felt so utterly peaceful.
“I can finally introduce you to Dr. U!” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the door. When we walked into the room, Dr. U was behind the counter, organizing the ice skates by size. “Dr. U,” I said. “This is my partner, Eros.”
She glanced toward us, her eyes widening. “Eros,” she said, smiling softly. “It’s nice to see you again.”
My brows furrowed, and I curled my fingers into Eros’s bicep. “Again?”
“We’ve met a few times in passing,” Eros said to me. “At the lounge.”
I stared between the two, brow arching. He didn’t fuc—
“Do you want to explain?” Eros asked her.
Dr. U blushed and rubbed her hands together. “I used to date… Eros’s sister.”
“Kasey?” I asked. Eros grimaced, and my eyes widened. “You dated Kasey, the woman we saw at Ollie’s the other day?”
She gave me a tense smile. Oh, my god. Dr. U dated Kasey? My best—ex-best—friend Kasey? I could barely believe it. I glanced between Eros and Dr. U a couple times, trying hard not to think of Kasey because the last time I saw her, I wanted to rip her head off and take her soul. She’d only bring Javier back out, and I’d break just when I thought I was getting better.
“Well, I have to finish these,” Dr. U said, breaking the tension between us and going back to organizing the shoes. I pulled Eros back out into the cold, letting his body keep me warm. The group of teenage boys walked in front of us, cutting us off.
“You stole my hot chocolate.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Why’re you fucking lying?”
“Fuck, dude, I said that I didn’t.”
“Hey,” I said to them. “No cursing.”
One of the boys turned around. “What do you kno—” He stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. Then he slapped one of his friends on the chest and slowly backed up and turned around, looking… scared. “Dude, did you see her eyes?”
“She was hot.”
I held a hand to my forehead, muttering an “Oh, dear lord,” under my breath, and turned around toward Eros.
Though I expected him to say something snarky to me or even agree with that kid, he widened his eyes at me, his typical sinful look gone, and brushed his fingers against my cheek. “Heavens,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, brows furrowed together, scared that maybe… just maybe this wasn’t working after all and I was starting to resemble Javier now. Maybe my eyes were glowing black even though I wasn’t conscious of it.
“Your angel…” He smiled widely at me. “Your eyes, your skin… they’re glowing.” His fingers curled into my sides, and he said, “Look at me.”
He grasped my face in his hands and made me look into his eyes, which changed from green to totally black so I could see my reflection. Like the other day at the nursing home, my eyes were like white stars but with black rings around the edges, and my skin was glowing just as Eros had said.
“What do you think of me?” I asked softly. Trevon had given me his opinion the other day, but I wanted to hear it from Eros. His opinion mattered more than Trevon’s. Much, much more.
He stared at me for a few moments. “What do I think of you?” he asked, lips curling into one of his boyish smiles. “I love you.” He took a deep breath. “Heavens, I love you so much.”
There was something about that moment, about standing with Eros in the snow, about the way he looked at me, that made me so freaking warm. And I wondered if this was how Mom and Dad felt together.
Complete.
He rested his forehead against mine and brushed some hair out of my face. “You know… when I was in Heaven, I’d make people fall in love with each other. That was… my job. A heart-shaped dagger right through the heart.” He unzipped hi
s jacket, slipped my hand under it, and ran it over his chest so I could feel the light scar under his shirt. “But this… us…”
“We’re real,” I whispered. Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. While I wasn’t sure what the future had in store for us, while I knew that it wouldn’t be this easy all the time—especially in Hell—I placed my lips on his and breathed him in. If we could survive the Courting Pit and the Crowning Ceremony, we could survive—
“Eros,” Trevon said, tensely from behind me.
I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw. One moment. One damn moment. That was all I asked for, but, of course, nothing could be that easy. I pulled away from Eros and turned around, grasping his hand and intertwining our fingers so Trevon knew not to bother me about getting back together with him.
Eros gazed at him for a moment, brows furrowing together. “Heavens, he reeks of something putrid,” Eros whispered against my ear. He paused for a moment, then smacked my ass, pushing me forward. “Why don’t you finish closing? Let me talk to Trevon.”
After biting back a laugh—knowing Eros would say something smart to him—I walked to the building. Dr. U stood outside, dressed in her coat, talking to a petite woman. She was older with short pink hair, green eyes, and a huge smile. Dr. U glanced at me, and I wiggled my eyebrows at her flushing cheeks.
“Dr. U!” I said, approaching her once the woman disappeared down the street. “Your flirting was phenomenal!”
She playfully rolled her eyes and turned back to the rink. “That wasn’t flirting, Dani. She’s just an old colleague.”
“A colleague that you might be going out on a date with?” I asked, gazing back at Eros and Trevon and watching Eros’s lips curl into a deeper smirk as they spoke. Trevon had his arms crossed over his chest.
Dr. U stayed quiet for a long time, and my smile widened. “No way,” I said, my heart racing. “You’re going out on a date?” Not once in my entire life did I see Dr. U go out on a date. She was always either home or at the office, working. I nudged her. “Well, if you need me to help you get ready. I have the perfect team.”
Demonic Desire (Becoming Lust Book 2) Page 12