Similar slivers of that same feeling rush through me but I school my features, crossing my arms. “I didn’t take you for the type to use trickery to get someone where you want them.”
The smile he gives me is filled with malice. “Why not? Am I not the King of Demons?”
That he is, the devil himself. He’s on the hit list of every true hunter in the world, and as unattainable as a god. I shouldn’t be surprised by the things he does, but I can’t help it. Unlike every true hunter in the world, I know him, even deeper than the flesh. The mark I have on my neck is a testimony to that. Thankfully, it’s a mark only visible to demons.
“King of Demons or not, there’s no way you could have known I was the one that would come here.”
“I didn’t,” he says with a simple shrug. “And I planned to kill any hunter that came in your stead.”
That should have sent a shiver through my spine, but it only makes me want to wrap my legs around him.
“That’s quite dedicated of you,” I say drily. “I was coming to you –”
“You’ve been avoiding me for weeks.”
“Eventually,” I finish off. “I was coming to you eventually. But, as I’m sure you know, I’ve been busy.”
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Busy moping around the Guild like you lost your shadow? You weren’t busy, Melody. Other than busy avoiding me.”
I don’t want to hear this. I’m not prepared for this. I’m not in the right frame of mind to talk about this. Not when I’m barely able to keep myself from jumping him, if only to mask all the other shit that’s going on in my head.
“Why the fuck would I need to avoid you, Lucifer?”
“That’s what I’m here to find out.” He rises, and just like that, the immense power that fills the room strengthens exponentially. Slowly, he approaches me, towering over my body in a way that only he can. I don’t attempt to step away. “Why are you avoiding me, Melody?”
“You’re out of your mind, Lucifer. As I said, I was busy –”
“I don’t take kindly to liars, Melody.” His easy tone does little to hide the growing fury. “Answer me. Now!”
I grit my teeth. “I don’t take kindly to being bossed around.”
“If you would co-operate, there would be no need to boss you around. Is it because of our mark?”
I resist the urge to flinch at the word. “Why would you think that?”
“Your thoughts.” He steps closer. “You’re trying to hide them from me. You’re trying to hold back.”
“Hold back from what?”
“From this.” His finger brushes the nape of my neck and I almost turn into a puddle at his feet, barely able to keep myself standing. Fuck, I forgot how strong the soul bond is. Just a simple touch and I’m a near whimpering mess.
No matter what I do though, Lucifer can sense my reaction. The makings of a satisfied smile play at his lips, and he slips his hand around my neck, pressing firmly so that I can’t move. “Tell me why you’re avoiding me.”
His hand around my throat tightens, not enough to cause pain, but enough that my breaths don’t come in as they should. Hand still keeping my neck in place, he dips his head lower until his lips are no more than an inch away from my lips. “Why. Are. You. Avoiding. Me. Melody?”
Now, he closes the space between us, but instead of pressing his lips against mine, he locks my lower one between his teeth. When he bites down, it’s not with gentleness.
I squirm under his touch. “Fuck off.”
Lucifer pulls back and his smile widens. Without warning, he grips my hair and crashes his lips against mine.
It’s been weeks since I’ve last seen him, since we’ve last touched like this and, fuck, it feels like we’ve been away for ages. Everything in me explodes, like fireworks but stronger, louder, more catastrophic. And it makes me putty in his hands.
I sag against his touch, wanting to caress his face, wanting to bring him closer and feel his body pressed up against mine. Wanting to feel our hearts beat in sync. But if I do, every sane thought will flee and leave me begging for more of him. So, I resign myself to kissing back as furiously as he does, savoring the taste of him, enjoying the feel of his tongue against mine.
Then, I pull away. “Fuck you, Lucifer. You can’t keep trying to play with me like I’m fucking Play-Doh. You –”
His hand presses against my neck again and he pushes me back into the wall. I hardly feel the cool touch of it, not with the raging volcano of desire exploding within me, bringing forth a ragged breath when his touch licks my throat – right where my mark is. Our mark. He nips me there gently, then crashes his mouth against me again. And just as I’m about to start pleading, he starts feeding.
Whatever I was feeling before, increases tenfold. He wraps his arm around my waist, keeping me from sinking to the floor when my knees give way. I hardly notice it. The ceiling, the mess, the wall behind me – everything disappears and all I know in this moment is that if I die, it’ll be one Hell of a way to go.
Lucifer growls against my neck, as if he can’t get enough of me. He crushes me against his body, milking my life essence until every one of my nerve-ending is on fire, until I’m breathless and panting and sweating. Until I’m breathing like I just ran a marathon, yet I’ve never felt more energetic.
Desire pools in my stomach when he licks my neck once more and I grab onto him, clawing his back, wanting more.
He pulls away, licking his lips. “You were saying?”
“Fuck you, Lucifer.”
He flashes an award-winning grin and I swear I’m momentarily blinded by it. “As you wish, madam.”
Lucifer tightens his hold and the next second, we’re gone.
4
Blackness seeps into my skin, nearly coming alive around me as it weeds into my very mind. For a split moment, I’m captivated, with no way out and no voice to call. Then, I’m back to reality, standing in a large ornate bedroom with my hands wrapped around Lucifer’s waist.
“I’m really beginning to hate that,” I say, stepping away from him, allowing my body to adjust to the sudden wave of heat that nearly sends me to my knees again.
The Lucifer I know, the Lucifer that had been by my side almost every second since the moment we met, gives me that familiar impish smile filled with mirth. The sight of it warms me, almost bringing out a smile on its own. “Don’t worry, love. You’ll get used to it.”
I stiffen. “Don’t call me that.”
“Love? Why?” Why? I have no damn clue. All I know is that it makes me want to run and hide.
I step away from him, turning toward the bed with my arms crossed, pretending I’m looking around when really, I just don’t want to face the confused look in his eyes. A cowardly move, I know. Not my finest moment.
“You guys kept this place … the same.”
Lucifer doesn’t say anything to me at first. I know he’s watching me walk around, running my fingers over the bed linen as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world. In actuality, I hardly even see it. I can focus on nothing but the disconcerting pair of eyes boring into my back. “We had no reason to change it.”
“Understandable.” I nod as if I’m really taking his words in. Damn, those few weeks really turned me into a cowardly little bitch, huh?
Steeling my spine, I face him and nearly regret it instantly. The look in his eyes … if you are supposed to use one thing to describe the devil, it’ll be those. Those eyes can freeze you to the spot and set you on fire all at the same time. Right now, I have no clue which it does but I’m not very keen on giving in to either.
“You’re regretting this, aren’t you?”
I cock my chin a bit higher. “No, I’m not.”
“Bullshit.” The next second, he’s standing before me, hand gripping my upper arm. I try to wrench it free, but his grip is vice-like. “That’s why you’ve been avoiding me. You regret that we’re soul bonded.”
“Get your hands off me.” I pull again but his
hand doesn’t budge. “You’re out of your mind.”
“I didn’t take you for such a coward, Melody.”
Fuck, right in the heart.
With one massive tug, I pull my arm free from his, ignoring the pain that’s left behind and meet the fire in his eyes. “You want to hear me say the words, then? Fine! I regret it. You can’t fucking blame me, though, can you? I’m the daughter of the Guild’s fucking leader. I’ve been trained since I was barely walking to hate your kind. To kill you on sight. And within a month I’ve not only worked with the worst possible demon I could find, but soul bonded with him as well. How the hell do you expect me to feel about that?”
Lucifer steps away from me, but I feel the pain that laces through him, though his face shows nothing of the kind. “You weren’t like this before. You enjoyed it.”
“I was heady off everything that happened. It happened so quickly. Now, I’ve had the chance to really think about it.”
“And?” He quirks a brow at me, a delicate and simple motion that belies the contained emotions within him. It nearly makes me falter.
“And I’m not sure this is such a good idea anymore.”
Another tick in his jaw. And just like that, my words don’t feel very truthful anymore.
“You’re not sure you want to be my soulmate anymore?” The question is more for clarification and I flinch so hard its nearly jarring.
“Don’t use that word with me, Lucifer. Demons don’t have soulmates.”
“It’s essentially the same thing. Our souls are literally bonded.” He steps forward again and grabs my hand, placing it against his chest. I don’t have to feel my own heart to know it’s beating in the same rhythm as his. I can hear it in my ears. “This, Melody. This is what you’re not sure about?”
He comes even closer, until his breath is a caress against my skin. I scarcely move – and honestly, I don’t want to. “I know you feel that.”
I do. His cock, pressed up against my thigh, throbbing with restrained excitement. It takes everything in me not to grab for it. Instead, I grit my teeth, not saying anything. To be honest, I’m not sure what’ll come out my mouth if I attempt to speak.
Lucifer doesn’t move to touch me. He only scorches me with the intensity of his eyes. With his hands by his side, he leans down and whispers, “I know you want me.”
And therein lies my problem.
I do want him. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone before. More than I ever thought it possible to want another being. Just the sight of him, the smell of him, has me melting. Has a dozen and one things shooting up inside me, all boiling down to one blatant fact: I need him. My body needs him.
And it’s about time I started giving it what it wants.
I pull him closer, our lips colliding with such passion I go lightheaded. As if sensing it, he holds me by the small of my back and lowers me onto the bed, his lips doing wonders against mine. I don’t feel like waiting or taking my time. I’ve been holding myself back for weeks and now, there’s nothing I’d like more than to take his body into mine until we’re just as much one in flesh as we are in soul.
Lucifer knows my urgency and is quick to shed his clothes, throwing them onto the floor next to mine. Naked and ready, I stand, pushing him to sit on the bed and then I get on my feet. I take the length of him into my mouth. The sound of his primal moan coupled with him gripping the sheet the way he does, nearly has me combusting all over the beautiful carpet.
The sound he makes as I shove him far down my throat fills me with even more energy. My tongue circles his tip, fingers trailing down his now wet shaft, then I cover him again.
Lucifer curses.
I smile.
As soon as I do, Lucifer pulls me to my feet and throws me onto the bed. I’m ready for him before he even mounts me, before his skin brushes against mine again. When he enters me, he fills my body with not just him, but with the thing I’ve been missing all my life, that part of me that’s only complete with him. I can’t help arching my back as he grinds on me, moving in and out slowly as if he wants to take his time. The gesture is both maddening and sweet, and I’m crossed between begging him to go faster and kissing him with all the tenderness in the world.
But, alas, I don’t need to say a word. I just open my mind, letting my thoughts flood past the gates I had erected. Letting him even further in than he was before. And then he pumps harder.
It isn’t long before I explode all around him, crying his name. He comes with me, pressing his head into my neck and squeezing me tightly, as if he wants to meld my body into his. For a second, we just lay there, panting. Satisfied, yet not sated. Drained, yet wanting more.
I speak first. “You have quite a way with words, I must say.”
I feel his grin rather than see it. “I find actions speak louder. You’re the sort of girl who would rather me prove something to you than pay you lip service.”
He’s right. Of course, he’s right. And because he’s right, I don’t find it difficult to open up a bit more. “This doesn’t make it any easier, you know.” After a moment’s thought, I correct myself. “Scratch that. This makes it much easier, but it doesn’t erase the thought altogether.”
Lucifer lifts his head and looks down at me. “I didn’t expect it to. Just my luck to be bonded to a woman as set in her ways as you are.”
“Hey, you’re the one who pushed it with the feeding. Not me.”
“You’re the one who offered.”
“Should I have let you die then?”
He chuckles lightly. “Of course not. But it doesn’t negate the fact that you were the one who offered.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever.” I push him lightly. The demon is as heavy as a sack of rocks. “I have to get going.”
“No.” He doesn’t move and stubbornly burrows his face into my neck again.
“Lucifer, I have to get back to the Guild.”
“No, you don’t. You’re just running again. I know you can be away from the Guild for at least three days without anyone having to get worried.”
“Not without prior notice, I don’t.”
“I doubt you’ll get the chance to do that every time something happens on a mission.” He snuggles in closer. “Stay with me.”
I sigh. As heavy as he is, his weight is like a comforting blanket. I don’t want to move any more than he does. “Feed me and I’ll stay.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
Lucifer hops off my body excitedly, pulling on his pants the next second. He plants a happy kiss on my lips a second before he winks out of view, clearly not noticing the way I freeze at his endearment.
I blink at the suddenly empty space, trying to clear my head, but all I can think about is how good his kisses feel, how good he feels. Those pestering thoughts that had plagued my mind before are like a shadow of their former selves. Lucifer takes up every inch of my mind. Dazed, I manage to get his discarded shirt and pull it over my head.
And as if summoned, he reappears, holding a McDonald’s bag and a tub of soda. I scowl at him. “You know I don’t only eat McDonald’s, right?”
His happy smile falters a bit, and he looks worriedly at the food. “Would you like something else? Because I can get you something else. Whatever you want.”
“No, it’s fine.” I accept the bag, setting it in my lap after I climb back onto the bed. “Do you need to feed some more or are you good?”
His grin is back with full shine. “I’m good, Melody.”
I shrug. “Hey, I don’t like it when whoever I’m with is hungry while I’m eating. Makes me feel weird. I don’t like feeling weird.”
“You didn’t care about it the last time.”
“I was angry then.”
He faces my nonchalance with a grin so wide and joyful, I’m nearly stunned by it. I open my mouth to say something, but then the door opens and Merlidon pops his head in.
For a second, he just blinks at me in surprise, then his mischievous smile lights up his beautiful
face. Like Lucifer and Brotus, Merlidon isn’t lacking in the physical department and puts much more work into making sure he’s always perfect. His lithe body, hidden behind the door, is no doubt clad in a similar fitted suit to Lucifer’s, irritatingly impeccable. I feel a deep grimace come over my face at the sight of him, annoyed even more by the pull of attraction I feel. As annoying as he is, there’s no denying that my body doesn’t respond to him.
“Would you look who it is? Finally decided to take your head out the sand?”
“Hey, Merlidon,” I say, returning to my fries. “I was beginning to miss telling you to stick your head up your ass.”
“Ooh,” his eyes glitter with excitement, “feisty, as usual, are we? Would be nice having a decent punching bag around for once.”
“Hit me with your best shot, fuckface. I’ve been itching to set your nose a couple degrees to the left.”
Lucifer laughs at that, effectively cutting into Merlidon’s retort. He inclines his head in his direction, still smiling.
“Why are you here, Merlidon?”
“Because you missed me,” he answers without a hitch.
He’s not wrong and I decide not to deny it. “I’m not back for good,” I say instead.
Pulling his eyes away from mine, Merlidon’s gaze settles on Lucifer. “She’s saying a lot of things she doesn’t mean,” Lucifer grunts.
“Good to have you back, Melody.” The mischievous smile falls and Merlidon becomes serious. Not an expression I’m used to seeing on him. “There’s a problem.”
Lucifer straightens and looks at him. “What about?”
“The Guilds in South Africa.” He casts a furtive glance my way. “I think you should come see this.”
Lucifer catches the look. “Anything you need to tell me, Merlidon, you can say in front of Melody. You know just as much as I do that she can be trusted.”
Merlidon opens his mouth but I beat him to the punch. Truthfully, as curious as I am, I’m not sure his kingly problems are something I need to involve myself with. Not when I’m still at war as to whether or not I want to be a part of this life. “It’s okay. Go. I’ll stay here and finish my food.”
Hunting Light: Hunter her Lovers (Demon Hunter Book 2) Page 3