Mel pressed her hand to his chest, over his heart. "I took a fancy to your soul, my love, and I wanted it all to myself." Her eyes danced with laughter.
He stared at her. "Careful – you sound like me, or like I used to. If you're not careful, you'll be bargaining for souls just like a demon – and you'll put your own in danger. More than ever, I don't want to see you fall, Mel."
She let out a peal of laughter. "Luce, angels collect souls as readily as any demon. The difference is we don't bargain. We only take those souls that are given freely. The reward...ah, that comes after." She winked.
He didn't hesitate. "Mine's already yours – has been since the day we first sat here together. I need no reward – your friendship – companionship – whatever it is we have, is more than enough. More than I could have hoped for. I'm still deep in your debt – anything you ask for, I'll give you." His eyes bored into hers, desperate for her to accept everything he had to offer. Not to reject him – even after all the mistakes he'd made.
Her laughter died as her expression took on a more serious cast. "Thank you, Luce. You offer me...an amazing gift, and I fully appreciate your worth. I hope never to ask for more than you're willing to give." She took his hands and kissed them ceremoniously.
He held her hands for a long moment, wanting to savour the connection between them, before he said, "Can I ask you something personal?"
"Of course," she replied warmly.
He hesitated for a moment, but ploughed on with, "It's something Patrick, your...friend...in London, mentioned that I've been wondering about." A slight wariness crept into her expression, but she nodded, as if encouraging him to continue. "He said that here – this city – is where you come to rest between your more difficult diplomatic interventions. Where you don't spend all your time saving the world from...well, from me and Hell's other denizens."
"I work with humans, trying to save them from themselves," Mel corrected. "I'd never really spent much time working with or against demons until my first day at the HELL Corporation. When I last saw Patrick, I'd been working in HELL for a very short time and I was feeling a little overwhelmed. And then there was you – the puzzling demon who wasn't a demon, with your fascinating soul that I couldn't stop thinking about."
Luce perked up. "You were thinking about me while you were on holiday with him?"
He'd missed her laughter so much, so it was a joy to hear it bubble up in her throat again before she said, "Not like that. Honestly, Luce...I was worried about you. Not the same thing at all."
Dismissing her denial, Luce continued, "You said that HELL could wait a bit for you to set it to rights. I'm wondering how long you'd be willing to delay. A couple of weeks or maybe even a month? I want to make sure you've had a chance to rest before you delve into the deep-seated problems of a demonic corporation." He gripped her hands tighter when it felt like she'd pull away from him. "You're home early because you need rest, aren't you? Please say you'll let work wait."
"It could wait a month, if it had to," Mel began cautiously, "but just the thought of you enduring thirty days like today without me helping you...Luce, I couldn't be so selfish as to stay home when I know you're stressed and hurting."
"I won't," he replied eagerly. "I'll take the time off with you because I know you need it. I want to take you on a holiday. Just the two of us. No demons, no angels, no work – for a whole month. I rely on you more and more for sorting out the corporation's problems when I should let you rest. I don't want you to avoid coming here because there's more work for you to do. I miss you when you're away and I want to give you the kind of respite you need right here. You won't have to worry about anything – I'll take care of every detail. What do you say – do you trust me to give you the most relaxing holiday you've ever had?"
The wistful look in her eyes told him he had her convinced. For a moment, Luce felt her exhaustion as she sagged in his arms. She needed this – but she never considered her own needs.
"It sounds wonderful, Luce. But four weeks seems like too much – more than I need. One week is plenty, surely..."
His hands tightened around hers. "Humans get four weeks of holidays a year in this city and you work harder than any of them. I need this break as much as you do. Please, Mel. I'll make some calls this afternoon and you can leave the next month up to me."
She closed her eyes. "All right. On one condition."
"Name it, Melody. I'd do anything for you – you know that."
Mel's wicked smile sent his heart racing. "You make your calls and arrangements tomorrow, not today. Today, I was hoping you'd join me for dinner in a restaurant that does oysters just the way you like them. For tonight, you're going to need them."
Luce grinned. His angel had been thinking about sex – or maybe just reading his mind. "I'll call ahead and have dinner delivered to our apartment. After that...your wish is my command and it'll be a pleasure indeed."
The steamy shower screen blurred her body's silhouette, leaving him aching for Mel in more places than he felt should be capable of feeling anything. Without thinking, Luce stripped swiftly and opened the shower door. "May I join you?" he asked, eyeing the water cascading down her hair.
Mel lifted her eyes. "I was just finishing up, but if you want..."
Luce didn't wait. He stepped in behind her, clicked the door shut, and pulled her body tight against his.
She seemed to sense his inner turmoil as she laid a sympathetic hand on his arm. "What's wrong, my love?"
"I need you. I need to feel you close to me. I've missed you so much while you've been away, it's been a constant ache in my heart. What's this bond we have for, except leaving me bereft when you're not here?" He hated the lost sound of his voice.
"I've missed you, too, you know, but through the bond between us, I could reach out and sense your feelings if I needed to feel close to you. Can't you sense mine at all?" Mel squirmed in his arms until she could look into his eyes. "Luce, tell me you can feel how much I love you."
He tried. God, he tried. He didn't dare tell her how badly he'd failed, but the anguish in his eyes must have told her anyway.
Mel's fierce kiss brought with it the wave of sensation he'd sought. Now her love washed over him, enveloping him in welcoming warmth that brought tears to his eyes. "Melody..."
Her warmth vanished the moment his lips left hers, leaving him horribly alone, even with her in his arms.
"Hold on, Luce. Tell me what it felt like."
He struggled to find the right words. "Heaven. It felt like my first dawn in Heaven, where the first rays of world-warming sunlight touched me, followed by the full blaze of the sun accepting me as her own and a part of her. And then gone, plunged into icy cold rock that..." Luce's voice died, but it was too late. He'd already summoned the memory of his first fall into Hell.
Mel's voice was deep and calm. "Focus on the first part. Not your fall, my love. Dawn, the sun, the warmth...I hold it all in my heart for you. All you need to do is reach out to claim it and it will always be yours."
He reached – God, he reached – but it was like trying to grasp the slippery bar of soap. No, harder than that. Like trying to catch a squirt of Mel's shower gel in just his fingers. He clutched her closer. "I'm sorry, Mel, I can't. I can't..."
"It's all right, I'll help you, my love," she murmured between kisses. Each sweet touch of her lips brought him a breath of the warmth he remembered, buoying his spirits a little. "We need...Sptlk!"
The imp appeared, perched on top of the towel rail. An ideal vantage point to see both them and their reflections in the bathroom mirror, Luce realised, wondering if Sptlk had been watching them. The imp flashed his teeth in a wicked grin as he glanced at Luce, before giving Mel his full attention. "Respect, Lady. Respond to summons." He lifted a towel from the rail and bowed as he offered it to Mel.
Luce wrenched at the taps to turn the water off and grabbed a towel to dry himself. It was one thing for the imp to watch him giving pleasure to Mel, but it was another
entirely to see him at his most vulnerable. He hoped Mel knew what she was doing, bringing the imp leader into their private business. Sptlk enjoyed causing trouble far too much for Luce's liking.
Mel wrapped her towel around her torso, tucking a corner in so that it hugged her like a strapless dress. "Sptlk, I want you to let Luce see through illusions like I can."
"But Lady..."
The imp hadn't mentioned payment, Luce realised. "Mel, he didn't say what he expects in return. They never do favours for free."
"Unthinkable disrespect, asking Lady for payment. Honoured to serve. Lord offers Lady deep disrespect. Must pay!" The imp's soul-voice sounded like a snarl in Luce's head – the first time he'd ever heard one of them angry.
"I have plenty of respect for Mel," Luce protested. "You never do anything for me without payment, so I thought..."
"Lord far beneath Lady. Never be her equal." The imp flooded Luce's mind with intimate images of himself and Mel, in sexual situations Luce wouldn't have dared to ask her about. "Has Lord repaid Lady for disrespect in Hell?"
Luce wished he could lie. Instead, he stomped out of the bathroom. He glanced over his shoulder as he reached the couch and was incensed to find that both Mel and the imp had followed him. The explicit images the imp projected grew even more imaginative.
Mel's gentle laughter surprised them both. "Oh, that's sweet! You asked Sptlk to do something that contradicted my order and the payment he asked for the service was in very personal services to me? Luce, you should have said. And I thought all the offers of sex were just your rampant libido..."
Sptlk sniggered as Luce forced his mind to go blank.
"Sptlk, I need him to be able to see with no illusions at all. Remove them, please," Mel finished.
"As Lady wishes." The imp bowed and Mel's body dissolved into dust, leaving just a glittering cloud where Mel had been standing, only a moment before.
"Mel!" Luce choked out. His legs felt heavy and he fell to his knees, bowing so low his forehead touched the floorboards.
A cold breeze wafted across Luce's bare arse before he heard the front door click closed. Oh Hell. Of all the times for some random visitor to wander into his house, they had to pick right now, while he was arse-up on the floor in the most submissive pose he'd ever held. Luce longed to get up, but he couldn't seem to make his body cooperate. He couldn't even raise his head to peer into the dust that occupied the space where Mel's body should be standing.
For humiliating him like this, Luce swore the imp would pay.
"Pay Lady in service," the imp's soul-voice said in his head. "Respect owed. No humiliation in offering respect. Angel should bow. Owes Lady greater debt than Lord." Sptlk seemed to hesitate. "Lord can return illusions with blink. Lady knows."
Shoes clomped across the floorboards. "Well, that's a sight to see when you walk in the door. Your taste has definitely improved since that demon I found in your house. That's one damn fine arse. I must say I approve, Mel."
"Please get up," Mel whispered.
She was still there, somehow. Or perhaps the dust was her, Luce decided, remembering how her body had disappeared outside the gates to Hell. The imp was right. He lost no face in prostrating himself before her – she was Lady Muriel, after all. No other angel on Earth stood higher than her – not even the one admiring his arse.
Luce lifted his head to squint into the glowing cloud. He saw Mel's true self now – glittering gold outlined the feminine form he knew and loved. And she'd asked him to stand. Luce rose smoothly to his feet. "Thanks for the compliment. Of course Mel has impeccable taste. I sculpted this body for her pleasure." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her until she gently disengaged from him.
"Luce. Please go put some pants on," she said.
Luce winked at Raphael. "As Lady Muriel commands." He blew Raphael a kiss. "Can't have you staring at my sexy arse all night." A glance at Mel told him she approved, though she was trying to smother a laugh with her hands. Still grinning, he marched off to find the promised pants.
Luce dug out some casual pants that he knew showed his arse to the best advantage, then decided he'd best wear underwear, too. He selected some red silk boxers. He'd noticed the way Mel liked to stroke silk as much as skin and, if he had his way, once they'd evicted the interfering angel there'd be a lot of stroking going on.
"Cannot give Lady her desires," Sptlk said mournfully.
Luce's shock quickly turned to anger. "I will give her anything and everything she desires. No matter what it takes. She deserves no less." He remembered the forced obeisance that had pinned his body to the floor. "What did you do to me in there? You made me look like a submissive slave!"
"Lady's orders. Remove illusions. See Lady as she truly is." The imp's eyes glittered with malice. "Remove all illusions. Illusion of self-worth, self-respect, arrogance, belief Lord is Lady's equal. Lady deserves more respect. Satisfaction to see Lord give."
Mel hadn't asked for it. The imp had obeyed her order to the letter, adding a broader meaning for his own reasons. Mel didn't want him bowing and scraping around her, Luce knew. Even the show of respect from the angels outside Heaven's gates had unsettled her. "I know I'm not good enough for her. I'm working on it. But she never asked me to be her equal. So what in Hell does she want that you think I can't give her?"
The imp settled onto the pillows, looking depressed. "Lady lacks strength and angels continue to sap it." The image was replaced with a blurry picture of Mel and Raphael, conversing quietly in the lounge. Mel's glowing soul seemed to dim. Even as he watched, glittering motes winked out.
Luce zipped up his pants. Without wasting time on a belt, he strode back to Mel.
"My sources say she's been spotted in Egypt. Some say in Cairo, while others say she frequents the ruins. There's talk that she's looking for the entrance to the old Underworld. The one before..." Raphael stopped abruptly to glare at Luce.
From warm glow to sparkling stars, Mel's soul had taken on a ragged appearance in Raphael's presence. She patted the seat cushion beside her, inviting Luce to sit down. "Raphael was just telling me that Persi might be in Egypt, but she's shying away from any angel who approaches her." She sighed. "I wish I knew what's troubling her."
Luce plonked his backside on the couch, making sure to sit as close to Mel as possible. This seemed to irritate Raphael no end, so Luce stretched an arm around Mel's bare shoulders to enrage the angel further. It also gave him better access to try and heal her, or hold her together. "Me, probably. The little half-angel was so obsessed with me she chained herself to my bed and tried to keep me out of Heaven." Hoping Mel didn't notice, Luce directed a tiny stream of healing energy into her body from his palm.
"I'll have Gabi book your flights for tomorrow," Raphael said eagerly. "It shouldn't take you more than a couple of weeks to check Egypt for her – maybe three or four weeks, if you have to comb the desert – and you can –"
Go somewhere else to exhaust her even more when she desperately needed a holiday? To Hell with that.
"No."
Both Mel and Raphael stared at Luce. Her expression wasn't hostile – it was one of wonder.
"Mel's just sorted out a huge political mess in Japan after scouring London for your lost nephilim, and she needs rest," he continued. "That's why she's here. And I'm damn well going to make sure she gets it. Searching the bloody desert isn't something she should be doing – it's grunt work. I wouldn't send anything above a junior demon for that, and it'll go faster if you have more searchers. Get your Grigori on it or I'll send some demons instead. I'm taking Mel on holiday so she doesn't have to deal with this sort of stupidity. You're supposed to be the director of an agency full of helpful angels. Find some damn helpful angels and stop bothering your boss!" Luce bared his teeth in a snarl.
Raphael cleared his throat, looking like more than his throat was irritated. "Mel, put a leash on your pet demon. This is angels' business and none of his concern."
Luce glanced at Mel. She smiled s
erenely back, but she didn't say a word. Was she waiting, or simply too tired to speak? Luce took her silence as permission. "The Hell it isn't. You dragged her and me into this because you lost one of your employees. Now we're both managing the HELL Corporation for you, while we attempt to do our normal jobs, too. It's a wonder Mel doesn't demote you to gate guard like that nuisance Michael. It beggars belief that she lets you stay in a position of authority when you're this useless. She's got way more patience than I'll ever have. Find that girl on your own. Mel's done enough. She needs to recharge and sending her on another wild goose chase is the last thing she needs." Luce saw a fleeting look of panic cross Raphael's face before it disappeared. "You're just trying to keep her away from me, aren't you? Fat chance. The only one I take orders from is Mel."
"She should have left you to rot in Hell," Raphael hissed.
Mel rose and Luce stood beside her, not willing to let go of the fragile angel. "Raphael, that's unacceptable, as you well know. Answer Luce, please. Have you sent your team of Grigori into Egypt to follow up this lead?"
"No."
She bowed her head. "Then do so, please. Helping Luce out of Hell took quite a toll on me, at a time when I had little strength to spare. Luce is right that I need time to recuperate. We will continue to help with the HELL Corporation, but I leave the search for Persi in your capable hands. Bring her to me as soon as you find her and make sure every angel knows that I want her found. Perhaps she'll hear the gossip and come to me of her own volition."
Holiday From Hell Page 2