Luce focussed on her face, trying not to remember what it looked like in her more passionate moments – like this morning. He could inspire her to remind him later. "Yes?"
"I asked what you wanted to do this afternoon. Given both of us are unemployed and relatively free, for the moment – your call." Mel smiled.
Luce thought he'd like to get her out of her conservative clothes and show her the devil of a good time. He'd happily do that all afternoon and into the evening, too.
"Clothes?" Mel asked.
Luce stared at her. Had she read his mind? He'd heard there were angels who could read thoughts and his had been fairly graphic. He felt a blush colour his cheeks. "What about clothes?" he ventured.
"Don't you need more clothes? All you have are your current suit and shirt. You're going to need fresh ones for tomorrow."
Luce shrugged. "I can buy some more before we leave, I guess." He tried not to show how relieved he felt.
Mel shook her head, still smiling. Luce didn't want her to stop smiling – ever. "I assume Persephone made you sign over your house, along with everything else, but she'd have no use for your clothes. Wouldn't it be easier just to ask her if you can have them?"
When Mel put it so reasonably, it sounded like the easiest thing in the world – but she couldn't know Persephone as well as he did. The half-angel, which he suspected was also half-demon, would probably insist he do something incredibly degrading for every single sock. He still had horrible flashbacks about her tattoo. Hundreds of damned, writhing, naked...all scrambling and fighting to get closer to her unholy halo...
"Do you want me to call her and ask for you?" Mel asked kindly – once again, as if she could read his mind.
Luce shivered and said, "I'd really appreciate it if you would. Buying new might be easier, though."
Mel pulled out her phone and made the call. After less than a minute of speaking to Persephone, she ended the conversation. She turned her eyes to Luce again. "She said you can have all of your clothes, shoes, accessories and toiletries. I'd like to smell your aftershave on you again." She slipped her phone into her bag. "We can go over there this afternoon while no one's home, if you still have your house keys. Otherwise, we can go pick up the keys from her in the office."
"I still have my keys, so we can do it without having to see her. Thank you – for everything," Luce said, dazed. "What did she ask for in return?" He dreaded knowing, but he knew he needed to.
Mel laughed. "Persi is deeply in my debt for giving out my phone number and address to a demon without my permission. She wouldn't dare ask me for anything until long after she's made reparation for that."
She'd been giving Mel's details out to random demons? Luce's hands clenched, ready for combat. "If any demon comes near your house..."
Mel laid her fingers gently over his fists. "There was only one demon – you, Luce. I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement for me calling in a favour on your behalf."
"In other words, I'll be in your debt?" he suggested. "Even deeper than I am already, of course."
"That sounds tempting. In the meantime – it's time for you to show me where you lived, Luce."
He thought of his Crawley penthouse. "With pleasure."
Eight
"There's the restaurant I wanted to take you to on Valentine's Day," Luce said, pointing. "Really fresh oysters..." He stopped. "Sorry, I know you don't like oysters." He didn't think she'd heard him as she didn't respond.
Mel's curiosity was clear in her wide eyes as she followed him into the old brewery by the river. "How long have you lived here?"
"I bought this apartment off the plans. Why?"
"Well, this bit of land has a reputation for being cursed. Apparently, there's a huge snake that lies in wait for the unwary here. I'm just wondering how much you had to do with the origin of that particular legend..." Mel wore her wicked smile, the one Luce found hard to believe he was seeing on an angel's face.
"Big snake? Sounds like my style," Luce replied, wondering just how much Mel knew about him. She had said she knew his history, but realisation dawned on him that she could have meant far more than his initial fall from Heaven. In contrast, he knew almost nothing about her.
How was that possible? There weren't that many angels as old as she was – and he knew a fair bit about all of the others. He'd fought with or against all of them in the past. Given she was still an angel and hadn't fallen with him, she must have been one of those against him, but he knew he'd never seen her before she'd walked into the HELL Corporation offices. It was almost as if she'd been deliberately avoiding him – or hidden from him by someone else.
Worried, he shoved the key into the lock and almost broke it off as he wrenched it around. The key twisted and unlocked the door, but he hesitated before opening it for Mel. The view from the arched windows was absolutely stunning, and he wanted her to enjoy it.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"For what?" she replied.
He grinned. "Entering the devil's lair. I could have a den with whips, chains and all sorts of torture implements in here. Aren't you worried about what you might find? Or that you might not make it out?"
Her smile didn't waver as she looked deep into his eyes – no, into his soul, he realised. "You don't torture people for pleasure. You tease and torment, yes, but pain is reserved for those who you feel deserve it – those who have caused similar pain. I don't think you enjoy it, either – or you would never have left Hell. You could be hiding poor taste in decorating, though – the walls of your place might be plastered with naked pictures of all the women you've slept with." She laughed. "If that's the case, the worst you'll do to me is make me blush."
Now he was more worried than ever. She knew him almost as well as he knew himself – details he'd never really thought about, and she saw so much! What if she thought he had bad taste?
Mel's smile softened and she stopped laughing. "It's all right. If you really do have naked pictures on the wall, I'll do my best not to look, so I don't embarrass you. Oh...unless the naked pictures are of you?"
Luce laughed aloud. Why in Hell would he want to see naked pictures of himself? "Okay, just as long as you feel you're ready." He threw the door wide open and strode in, beckoning her to follow him. He stood beside the windows, his eyes fixed on her and not the view of Melville Water. "What do you think?" he asked anxiously.
"The view is really beautiful. You can almost see clear to my place from here." She turned sympathetic eyes from the panorama to him. "It must have been hard to give this place up."
He'd never really thought about it until now – this place wasn't his any more. Instead, he had Mel. Or he'd had her for a night. Cautiously, he laid an arm around her shoulders, wondering if she'd pull away, even as he pulled her to him. His relief hissed out with his breath as she rested her head against his chest.
"It was worth it," he responded. "I mean, you or a big snake. The choice was easy."
She laughed. "I know what I'd prefer." She didn't enlighten him. Instead, she said, "We should really start packing up your clothes, or we'll still be here when Persi gets home. I don't think I've ever seen you wear the same black shirt twice, until today. It'll take us a while to get them all packed."
She'd noticed. He felt absurdly gratified to hear it. He wondered what else she'd noticed but feigned indifference to.
"C'mon, Luce. You won't shock me with your extensive wardrobe. I've seen you wear a lot of it at work." Mel stepped away from him, headed for his bedroom. He hurried to follow, hoping he hadn't left any of his sex toys out where Mel could find them. Or worse – if Persephone had found them after he'd left. How could he explain his handcuff collection to an angel like Mel?
Nine
Countless trips later, he'd filled the car with his clothes, shoes and other personal items. He'd managed to hide at least three sets of cuffs without Mel seeing, or at least, he hoped so. The pair weighing heavily in his coat pocket had featured prominently in a parti
cularly elaborate fantasy about Mel. He didn't even want to contemplate Persephone touching them.
As he headed back up in the lift to the apartment one last time, Luce wondered whether his whiskeys counted as personal items. Persephone hated whiskey and some of the more mature ones would definitely be wasted on her. He'd ask Mel what she thought about taking the bottles. After all, she'd made the bargain with Persephone – she'd know whether the alcohol was included with his stuff.
He found her standing at his bedroom window, staring out across the water.
"Did you know you could see the dolphins from here?" Mel turned her eager eyes on him and held out her hand. "Come watch them play."
He took her hand, letting her reel him in, before dropping it to wrap his arms around her. Mel pointed at the fins cutting through the water, near Matilda Bay. They'd stroked the swans together on that shore and he'd wanted to bring her here ever since. "There," she said.
Luce peered out at them over her shoulder, then shrugged. "Are you sure those are dolphins? I always thought they were baby bull sharks. There are a fair few of them in the river."
Mel laughed. "No, the sharks are smaller, with different tails. They're far shyer, too. Look at their tails. Sharks swim with their tails flicking from side to side, like this" – she moved her hand to demonstrate – "and dolphins are mammals, so they undulate up and down, like this," she said, rippling her arm like the dolphins in the bay below.
"I should've had you up here a long time ago, just so you could tell me what I was seeing." Luce glanced at the bed. "I'd still be happy to have you here now. It's just us, my king-sized bed and the amazing view..."
Mel turned cold. "It's not your house or your bed any more, Luce. It all belongs to Persi. Even with the wonderful view, someone else's bed simply doesn't appeal to me. Have you packed up all your things? The car must be pretty full by now. I think you own more shoes than I do."
Luce felt his face redden. The way she said it, it sounded so sordid. Like offering her his dirty desk. Again, she was right. Persephone had cuffed herself to this bed and it was soiled by sheer association. It didn't even look like she'd changed the sheets. Hell, the whole penthouse was polluted by her presence, the venomous little viper. Now he wanted to leave more than Mel did. There were the whiskeys, though...
"I have all my clothes and shoes in the car. I was wondering about my whiskey. Do you think they count as personal items? Most of the bottles are opened," he said.
Mel tilted her head, considering. "Does Persi like whiskey?"
Luce laughed. "No. When we were in Japan last week, I was given some particularly fine bottles of Hibiki. She almost caused an incident when she choked on her first mouthful. I think the bottles are here somewhere..."
"I've never tasted Japanese whiskey, though I admit I'm quite fond of the Scottish ones. Something about the peat they use there. It's certainly improved a lot since the early batches in the 1500s, too. They called it the water of life back then, though." Mel nodded slowly. "If they fit into your car, you can take them. I'll arrange it with Persi when I speak to her next."
Mel liked whiskey? Luce brightened. He'd pack every single bottle he owned – and throw out all his shoes to make room in the car if he had to. Surely she'd appreciate the twenty-one-year-old Hibiki. He headed for the walk-in pantry behind the bar, where he kept his spirits.
Ten
"Mel? Are you still here?"
Luce almost dropped his best bottle of Laphroaig at the sound of Persephone's voice. He tried to pull the door shut, so she wouldn't see him. But, because he couldn't close it completely without making noise, he still heard her clearly.
"I'm in the main bedroom, admiring the view," Mel called back.
"Oh, Mel, I'm so sorry! Raphael shouted at me so much last night that I cried! I should never have told him how to find you. It all seemed so easy, so simple, that I thought you wouldn't mind and Raphael was so angry. I didn't know..."
Was Raphael the one who'd tried to hide her from him? Luce wondered. Or was he just doing it now, for someone else? Whoever he'd been on the phone with this morning...
"It's all right," Mel's calm voice interrupted. "Have you spoken to Raphael yet today?"
Luce tried not to make a sound as he packed the remaining bottles into the box. He definitely didn't want her to know he was here.
Persephone's inane giggle set Luce's teeth on edge. "No! He'll only shout at me again and I didn't want to cry in front of all those demons at the office. Your call was a godsend. I couldn't leave you to pack up all the demon's things by yourself, so I got off work as early as I could and raced over here to help you. Do you want me to get started on the shoes? I've never known a man who had so many. I don't think I've met a man like him, ever. I still can't believe he wasn't the slightest bit interested in me – I even offered him his choice of handcuffs! Do you think it might be because he doesn't like women?"
Mel coughed to cover what Luce thought sounded more like laughter. He hoped she wasn't laughing about the handcuffs. "Maybe he just likes good shoes. Actually, most of Luce's things are already packed and downstairs. There's not really much more for you to do."
"Are you sure? You shouldn't have to deal with the demon's things like this. I definitely don't need any of them. Raphael should have sent some of the boys from the agency over to do it, or I would have when I got home. I'd have had a courier deliver them to...wherever Raphael wanted them. Are you sure there's nothing else I can do to help?"
"It's fine. Like I said, all taken care of. Oh, there was one thing I was wondering about. His whiskey. Would it be all right if I took that, too? It'd be a shame to waste it."
Luce held his breath, hoping. The little minx would probably pour them all down the drain if she knew they were for him and not just Mel.
"Take anything you want," Persephone said warmly. "He keeps the best alcohol in the cupboard behind the bar..."
Luce had only a moment's warning of her approach, but he had nowhere to go with the box of bottles in his arms. The door flew open – and Persephone's mouth did, too.
She pursed her lips almost immediately. "Mel, did you know the demon was hiding in the cupboard?" She glared at Luce, who backed up involuntarily. "You were going to jump her when she came to collect the whiskey, weren't you? If you hurt Mel, you'll have every angel in the agency, and Heaven as well, after your hide. If you so much as touch her, I will personally chop your willy off!"
Was he imagining it, or did her eyes look more red than brown for a moment there? Luce wondered, trying unobtrusively to cross his legs where he stood. Just in case.
"That won't be necessary, Persi," Luce heard Mel say. He tried not to show how relieved he felt. "I brought Luce over to pack his own things. He can carry the whiskey down to the car for me, too." She pulled Persephone out of the way, so Luce had space to edge out of the cupboard, using the box as a shield between his body and the angry half-angel.
He hurried out of the apartment with the bottles, then took his time carrying it to the car park and loading it into the car. He debated whether to wait for Mel in the car or return upstairs to his former home and PA, wishing he didn't have to see Persephone again. Still, he knew he'd have to face her at some point.
Gah, when did she change from being simply a nuisance to something that scared him? As if her touch tainted him, when all he wanted was Mel. Who was waiting for him upstairs.
He sighed and trudged back up to the apartment, hoping Persephone would leave before he made it there.
"Mel, you really should let some of the Grigori boys take care of him. I should never have let him leave. Should have asked Michael to send him back to Hell where he belongs so he can't..." Persephone broke off abruptly as Luce shouldered past her to wrap an arm around Mel. He needed her like a lifeline.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked her, doing his damnedest to ignore the half-angel. "If we leave now, we can beat the peak-hour traffic and I can have everything put away at your place before dinner. I kn
ow this wonderful little seafood restaurant down by the water that serves the best oysters..." He grinned.
"I'm not eating oysters," Mel objected.
Luce let his grin widen. "You won't have to. I'll happily eat enough for both of us. You can order whatever you like and I'll drive you home after."
Mel's face lit with a genuine smile. "That sounds lovely." Her fingers closed around his. "See you later, Persi, and thank you for the whiskey."
Together, they walked out of the apartment, leaving a shocked Persephone behind them.
Eleven
"These old wardrobes must've been built when people only owned a few clothes. It won't shut!" Luce grumbled.
Mel appeared in the doorway, the empty whiskey box in her arms. "Here. You take the box out to the recycling bin and I'll see if I can help. You can always put some of them in my wardrobe if you have to. I'm sure I have space for more."
Luce agreed and left her to it. He'd never had to deal with furniture that fought back before.
He returned to the guest room to find Mel squeezing through the doorway with an armload of his clothes. "Let me help," he said instantly, taking them from her.
"They'll have to go in my room. This one's full." Mel nodded at the now-closed wardrobe that housed his clothes and shoes.
He dumped his load on her bed and opened Mel's wardrobe door. It was pitifully bare – she had perhaps a dozen items hanging from the rail. Hell, he had more clothes on the bed. He recognised all of them, too – that one she'd worn to work on Melbourne Cup day; there was the suit she'd worn to her job interview, beside the skirt she'd worn on Valentine's Day. And the suit she'd worn on the day of the alien press conference, when she'd ended up as the HELL Corporation heroine. No, wait...there was one dress he'd never seen her wear. The shimmer of silk as it caught the light made him certain of it. He'd have dropped to his knees and begged if she had. An angel in deep gold silk...the gift!
Welcome to Hell Box Set: Paranormal Romantic Comedy (Mel Goes to Hell Series Book 123) Page 21