“Spar with me,” I repeat, swallowing past the lump in my throat.
“There are better ways to get rid of pent up energy than sparring.” Somehow he’s even closer than he was before, though his skin is still his skin and his touch still remains restrained.
“There is no better thing than sparring.” His eyes have trapped mine now and no matter how badly I want to look away, I am stuck staring into them.
“There are things that feel a lot better than sparring.” I feel his voice against my lips. The warmth of each vibration. I feel the way it carries to my core and before I’m able to counter what he says, to deny just how good I know what he’s offering will feel, his hand finds my center. Cupping my sex so that his fingers point south and the heel of his hand dig into my clit, he presses hard, but moves slowly.
“This is wrong,” I whisper.
“That’s the problem with you humans,” he whispers, “how can something that feels so good, be wrong? Doesn’t your body know what’s good for you better than some stupid doctrine.”
“Better than a doctrine, maybe. Better than my brain, no. I might want you, Lucifer, but that doesn’t mean you’re good for me.” I don’t know how I managed to get the words out. They’re the truth, of course and he knows it just as much as I do. Still, that doesn’t stop him from crashing his lips against mine and sucking at my tongue like he wants to leave a mark on that too. He earns my engagement for just a few seconds and I tell myself I only kissed him back because he caught me off guard. But I know that’s not the truth because it felt like torture pulling myself away from him.
“Spar with me, Lucifer.”
“No.”
“Are you scared, Lucifer?”
“Of a human? No.”
“Of a hunter.”
“The answer is still no.”
“Then what’s the problem.” I motion to the sword by his side. “Let me see that thing in action.”
After a moment’s deliberation, Lucifer shrugs. “If you wish.”
We go to stand in the very center of the room where there is enough space to fight comfortably. I reach up and pull my sword from its sheath just as Lucifer does with his. “Don’t go easy on me,” I say to him.
“On a hunter? Never.”
I grin. Then charge. Our swords collide with such force, it nearly pushes me back onto my heels. The purple hue of my blade meets the black obscurity of his, bringing our bodies, and our faces closer. He smirks then pushes his sword against mine, forcing me to jump backwards to avoid its swipe. He swings again, the sword whirring through the air and cutting the space right where my head would have been had I not ducked. I twirl, bringing my body low and swinging my foot out. He leaps over it before I can take him down but I’m on my feet again, my sword arching upwards to slash him in his abdomen.
Lucifer parries and the force of it hits me again. I grit my teeth, standing my ground and I know he can see my struggle. I send my knee up but he blocks it with his elbow and a counteractive uppercut which I dodge. I block the other punch he sends me, then parry the sword that nearly comes crashing down on my head. With our hands up, we both see the opening, but I move faster. I duck into him, jabbing him on the arm and the sword clatters to the ground.
He isn’t thrown by it. He grabs my own arm in retaliation and pushes me to my knees, pulling my arm in such a way that the sword falls to the ground as well. I swipe my foot out at him and he falls. He leaps backwards onto his hands, dodging my kick, then blocks the other one.
I send out another punch, but Lucifer grabs and pulls it behind my back. His foot pushes against mine, sending me to the floor with his heavy weight on top of me. He presses my arm to my back and rests on my knees.
His breath brushes my ear. “I believe this means I win.”
My other hand, the one he failed to subdue, pulls on his clothes and I roll on top of him, whipping out my dagger and putting it to his neck, straddling him the same way I did Merlidon. Heat rushes to my core, but I ignore it.
“What was it that you said about winning?” I tease.
Lucifer laughs. He looks at me more directly, then laughs again, louder this time. “I should have let you stay during the demon attack.”
I don’t know why, but pride fills my chest. So much so that it feels like my heart is actually increasing inside. Which is odd, really. I know how good I am and I’ve never been one to seek approval, much less to feel anything close to this when approval is given. But there’s something about Lucifer. Something about his demeanor and his tone and that devilish grin that turns my entire world inside out and upside down.
There’s something about Merlidon and Brotus too. And all of those somethings added up make one big bowl of nonsense.
“You really should have let me stay,” I answer, not able to hide the smile that forms on my lips.
His hands, which he had risen in surrender, settle on my waist. A dozen things shoot up inside me. The laughter fades from his eyes and he’s staring at me with that same intensity. This time, I can’t look away.
He reaches up and touches my neck, brushing the very spot he marked. “Beautiful,” he whispers.
He brushes it again, then his fingers go around my neck, as if he intends to pull me closer. Nothing in the world would have stopped me from letting him do whatever it is he intended to do in that moment. Not this time. Logic and well, my brain itself are tossed to the side, in anticipation of the very thing I should not want. His touch, pleasure brought on by hands that belong to the devil himself. I am there, at the point where there isn’t a damn thing that’s going to stop me from allowing him to have his way with me. Consequences be damned. And as for regret, I’ll find a way to have it fester sometime later.
Lucifer’s hands brush the swell of my breasts and my head dips back, the feeling of his touch like electricity all over my body.
And I want more. God, do I want more. But that more never comes because standing in the doorway, looking like he just caught the cat who stole Schrodinger’s box, is Merlidon.
“Melody,” he sings.
I scramble off Lucifer’s body and get to my feet. “What?” I snap at him.
Merlidon’s eyes move from Lucifer to me, then back to Lucifer. A grin spreads across his face. “We should get started,” he says.
“Fine.” I turn away, trying to hide my face which I’m sure is tomato red. “I’m coming. Meet me in my room.”
“Your room. Got it.”
Since when is it my room? Fuck.
The door closes. Lucifer gets to his feet. He looks at me, then bends to pick up my sword. I take it from him without looking.
“This can’t happen again,” I say.
“Tonight,” he says. “I will see you again tonight and yes, it will happen again.”
I look up in surprise but he’s already disappeared.
20
“Let’s get this over with, fucktard.”
Merlidon grins at me from the bed, picking at nonexistent lint on his pants. It’s an attractive grin, of course. But, as is evident in just about every goddamn thing I’ve learned about their world - the most haunting, despicable things, are also the most attractive.
I cross my arms, leaning against the door, glad for the distance between us. I’m not really looking forward to being alone with Merlidon because I have a sneaking suspicion we’re going to kill each other before the lesson’s over.
“Aw, don’t look like that,” he croons. “You look like you’d rather jab a knife in your eye. It’s really hurting my feelings.”
“That actually doesn’t sound pretty bad right now.” I blow my breath out my nose, already frustrated. “Look, let’s just get this over with, alright?”
“Alright, alright.” He raises his hand in surrender, standing. It’s the smile that makes me narrows my eyes at him. He gestured to the floor before the bed, then raising his hand again, he sinks into a sitting position, knees jutted out to the side. “Let’s get started then, shall we? Look, no tricks, no anything.”<
br />
“Doing all that just makes you look as guilty as Cheshire.”
“Is Cheshire an incredibly beautiful demon?”
“No actually,” I say, sitting before him. “It’s a big, fat cat.”
Merlidon gasps dramatically. “I’m offended by that.”
Annoyingly, I have to resist the urge to laugh at that. Instead, not willing to give him the satisfaction, I scowl deeply and say, “Let’s just begin. What do I need to do?”
Merlidon smiles wider, running his eyes over the length of me, as if he can tell I was hiding my amusement at his statement. Then, he shrugs. “It should be pretty simple. All you have to do is gather up all your thoughts, put them inside a room and close the door behind you.”
“That doesn’t sound simple in the slightest.”
“Ah, right. Foolish human. Slipped my mind for a second.” He chuckles at my snarl then scoots closer. “Think about it this way.”
Merlidon reaches forward, the smell of expensive cologne crowding my nostrils instantly, and his fingers brush the back of my head, causing me to stiffen. “What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s a part of the lesson, Melody,” he says. “Relax.”
Is that the first time he’s called my name? I can’t recall, but at the sound of it, my tense shoulders sag. He shuffles closer, until his face is just inches away from mine and I find myself holding my breath. “You see where my fingers are?” he says. “Imagine you’re shoving everything in your mind to the back of your head right where you can feel my fingers. Imagine that the only way you can get me to stop touching you, is to put your all into pushing your thoughts there.”
Easier said than done since I don’t mind his fingers being there at all, nor do I mind him being so close. For a second, I can imagine his fingers somewhere else and I shiver at the sight. Fuck, Hell must be freezing over.
I catch his eye. “Can you and Brotus read my mind as well?”
Merlidon looks at me, with no traces of irritation or amusement. “Yes,” he says simply. “Though, on Lucifer’s orders, we’ve been staying out.”
“Why?”
At that, he shrugs. “You’ll have to ask Lucifer.”
Later, maybe. Right now, I’m too relieved to know Merlidon can’t tell what I’m feeling or thinking. I don’t think he’ll ever let me forget it.
Sighing, I close my eyes. I imagine my hands in my head, gathering up random floating words and pushing them to the spot Merlidon’s fingers are.
“I’ll be accessing your mind now,” he whispers, his breath brushing my cheek.
I nod, still picturing myself shoving the thoughts back.
“Picture the room,” Merlidon says. “With a lot of locks. As soon as the thoughts are in, close the door.”
“This sounds stupid,” I tell him.
“It’s working, though. Right now, the voice in your head is fading.”
This bolsters me a bit more and I continue shoving, picturing myself slamming the door shut.
“Good, Melody,” Merlidon says softly. No sooner does he say that does the door I closed slam open and the thoughts come rushing back out. At the force of it, Merlidon removes his finger and scoots back.
I open my eyes with a mocking smirk. “Scared you, kitten?”
It takes a moment longer than expected for that wicked grin to spread across his face. What did he see?
“You suck at this,” he laughs. “Not surprising for a human. Jeez, we’re going to be here all day. Not that I mind.”
“Fuck off.”
Merlidon laughs even louder.
The lesson goes on for much longer than it needs to be, simply because Merlidon is much more annoying than he needs to be. We quarrel all throughout it, and on more than one occasion, I’m very tempted to put my boot down his throat.
It did the job though. Even now, as I walk down the hallway towards my – the guest – room, I’m doing as he taught me, imagining an empty room, shoving the thoughts I want to hide inside and closing the door. With a key for good measure. Sometimes, I can’t manage to form all the walls. Other times, the door just won’t stay close. But the more I practice, the easier it is to lock them all away.
The reason it’s so difficult for me to get this down properly is because Lucifer’s words keep echoing in my head. Those are the thoughts I try to lock away, but they keep creeping back out, blaring as if it needs me to hear it on high.
I don’t, I tell myself. Because no matter how much I try, there’s no way I’ll forget the promise he had left in his departure. No way in Hell.
He’s coming to my room – fuck, the guest room – tonight. Tomorrow, they plan to use me as bait in hopes that the person responsible for the future demise of my world will bite. But tonight, he wants to come to my room.
For what? To feed again? The prospect should have made me angry but it only fills me with longing and puts a pep in my step.
I see the door, a beacon out of all the others though they look exactly the same, and I almost take off running. I haven’t showered since I left the Guild. Maybe I should. I didn’t see any bathrooms nearby, but then again, I didn’t check all the rooms. I smell under my arm. Not bad. Could be better.
I open the door slowly, half expecting him to already be here. I try not to peek inside, and I’m glad I didn’t. He’s already sitting on the bed. I go all the way in.
“I need a bathroom,” I blurt out.
He nods, as if he knows the question coming. “Demons don’t need bathrooms, but there is one three doors down.”
Probably put there to accommodate Jezebel. Bitterness bites my tongue. “So how do you guys get cleaned?” I ask.
“We shed our skin on the night of the full moon.”
“Ha ha. The King of Demons has jokes. Who would have thought?”
“Not many, apparently.” He smiles softly, gesturing to the door. “I’ll wait.”
I’m tempted to ask him why he’s here, but I don’t. I just nod and exit. True to his word, there is a bathroom three doors down and it is the most magnificent bathroom I’ve ever set foot in. The floors are polished marble, shining so brightly it nearly blinds me as much as the elegant chandeliers from the ceiling do. A deep, mammoth sized tub dominates the left side of the bathroom, while closets which I assume are filled with towels and maybe clothes, stand to the other side. A toilet is sandwiched between them, two matching sinks on either side of it. His and hers.
I go to the tub and turn on the tap, allowing it to fill up. Then I shed my clothing, leaving the dusty suit near the door. Naked, I go over to the full-length mirror encased in one of the closets.
The scars on my body glow under the brilliant light. I turn, observing to see if there are any others that might have appeared which I hadn’t noticed. For me, pain fades after a while. I nearly always find myself with a new wound I didn’t remember I had gotten.
Fuck, that reminds me. My leg. Natalia had basically broken it in her apartment, but now I’m standing on it quite fine. No pain or anything. When the Hell did that happen and how did I not notice?
I keep staring at the knee, twisting and turning to see if maybe one of them had done something to it. But there’s nothing. The area looks smooth and scar free.
I decide to put that out of my mind for now. At least until I’m done with my bath.
I sink into the hot water and feel my muscles relax upon contact. I turn the tap off, content with the level the water has risen to, and sit back stretching my legs out. Maybe Jezebel isn’t a complete waste of time, after all.
The water is so soothing I nearly fall asleep. I don’t even know how much time has passed since I went in, but I know that a second later and I’ll turn into a prune. So, I get out and pad naked over to the closet. As I expected, the one I open is filled with towels.
I dry off quickly then open the other. It’s filled to the brim with dresses and other articles of clothing I would never get caught dead in. The only thing available to wear is a long robe. I put that
on then leave the room, leaving my suit behind.
Lucifer looks as if he hasn’t moved an inch since I left, though I’m sure it’s been nearly an hour. When I walk in, he looks at me and a shadow of a smile falls over his face.
“What happened to my knee?” I ask him.
He frowns lightly. “What?”
“My knee.” I stick it out the robe for emphasis. “Natalia damaged it when we were fighting, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. What happened to it?”
“It was healed when I fed off you.”
“I didn’t know that could happen.” Which isn’t surprising. I didn’t know a lot of things – like the fact that he could mark me, or the fact that I could stand being in his company. Not to mention the fact that he’s not the only demon I find appealing.
“To a minor effect, yes. But since we’re marked, the strength of it has much more force.”
“Enough of a force to heal bones.”
“Yes. Enough to heal bones.”
A suitable answer, though it doesn’t make me feel any better about not realizing. Neither does it explain a lot of things. Not the present and not the future.
Lucifer sits up, placing his elbows on his thighs. “There were a lot of things on your mind, Melody. It’s understandable.”
“Not for a hunter, it isn’t. You should know that.” I should know that.
He nods. “That is true.”
I come further into the room, but keep at least four feet away from him. Just as much afraid as I am curious of what would happen if I inch closer. I cross my arm and meet his eyes. “Why are you here, Lucifer?”
“I think you already know.”
“Enlighten me.”
“I’m here to feed, Melody.”
At the word ‘feed’, my body erupts into flames. At least, it feels that way. My fingers tighten on my skin, still keeping my eyes on him, watching the way he watches me.
Then, he stands. I straighten but don’t move. Our eyes remain locked on each other as he comes closer, until he’s standing right before me and I’m staring up at him. I don’t uncross my arms, though all I want to do in this moment is wrap them around him.
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