Devilish Mate: Claimed By Lucifer Book Two

by Briggs, Elizabeth;

  “And I would never move against my oldest and dearest friends," Lilith said, gazing between me and Hannah.

  I glanced to Hannah and she nodded, confirming they were speaking the truth. I tried not to let my relief show. If I'd had to fight the vampires and the Lilim, on top of the other demons, I might actually lose the battle. Probably not, but why risk it?

  "I appreciate your honesty and loyalty," I said. "What do you know of their insurrection?"

  Lilith took a slow sip of her wine. "We know all the other Archdemons have turned against you. We believe Nemesis is leading them."

  "Nemesis?" Hannah asked. "The Archdemon of the imps?"

  "Yes, she's always been a jealous one," Lilith said. "Hungry for power. Did you know she's tried to seduce Lucifer many times over the years?"

  "And always failed," I snapped. Nemesis had long been a thorn in my side, but I never thought she'd stoop so low as to actually plan a coup. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

  Lilith and Baal exchanged glances, before Lilith turned back to me, lowering her voice as she confessed, "They've threatened to hurt our children if we helped you. Even telling you this much is a big risk. But I can no longer remain silent."

  "We refused to join them...but we can't help you either," Baal said.

  I tapped my fingers against my wine glass as I glanced between the two of them. I understood their fears, but I also knew what was coming. "They're planning the release the Four Horsemen."

  "No," Lilith said, her word more like a gasp.

  “That is…unfortunate." Baal had always been a master of understatement.

  “I suspect you want Famine to show up about as much as I want Death released," I said to Baal. I was driving the issue home, and we both knew it.

  “You're right," he said. "I would prefer not to see either of our parents walk this world. But my hands are tied."

  “What if…” Hannah spoke from beside me, her voice quiet, thoughtful.

  “Go on.” I knew that voice. It was a tone that had helped me out many times in the past.

  “What if Baal pretended to join the other Archdemons?” She looked at me as she spoke. “Then he can feed information back to you.”

  “Like a spy.“I rested my hand lightly over Hannah’s, pleased with her for speaking up, before locking eyes with Baal. “They’ll believe it, because you’ve always been outspoken about your desire to take my throne."

  Baal chewed his food and sipped his wine, and we all did the same, giving him time to think over the idea. After a few moments, he set his glass down and nodded once. “I’ll do it. But you will owe me a favor, Lucifer.”

  “I’m going to regret this, aren't I?” I chuckled, dark and low. I disliked owing favors to anyone, and much preferred when the power balance leaned in my direction. However, this favor would be worth it. “But you have a deal."

  17

  Hannah

  “Hannah, would you care to walk with me?” Lilith asked, as Lucifer and Baal continued the discussion of their plan. It had taken on a life of its own after Lucifer said the word spy, and I had a feeling they'd be working out the details for hours.

  I rose to my feet. "I'd love that."

  Lilith and I set off down the nearest winding path, tiny pieces of white gravel crunching beneath our feet. The garden was a huge oasis of plants and flowers, most of which I recognized at first sight, and I was curious to explore it some more. Besides, I felt much more at home out here among the foliage than anywhere else.

  We wandered down various paths for a while before Lilith spoke. “I hope we can be friends again,” she said as I stopped to admire a particularly pretty evening primrose. “Like we were in the old days.”

  She pretended to be distracted by the overhanging, feathery leaves of a weeping willow, but she’d never had a particular love for nature, that much I remembered. Well, nature that didn't involve naked humans, anyway.

  I grazed my fingers over the delicate petals, trying to think of a polite reply before I looked at her. “I’m still sorting out my returned memories. You were Adam’s first wife, weren't you?”

  "I was, yes." She glanced down the path, deeper into the garden that seemingly had no end. "I was forced to marry Adam against my will, back when I was human. But I didn't love him, and I saw the darkness within his heart. I ran away, much like you did."

  "You were once human?" I asked.

  "Long ago, yes." She grimaced a little at the memory. "And much like you, I was also cursed. I was turned into a succubus for my crime of leaving Adam. The Elder Gods loved him. Probably because he was as awful as they were.”

  "Hence why they call your kind 'Lilim,'" I said.

  "Yes, although please don't think I sired the entire line." She let out a delicate laugh. "They created many others after me. I was simply the first."

  I stood from where I was by the flowerbed as I considered her words, which rang true. “I’m slowly remembering these things, but sorting through all of my memories has been difficult."

  “In that case, there’s something you should probably know about me before you remember it on your own and get the wrong idea,” She sounded hesitant as she touched my arm to get my full attention. “I slept with Lucifer. Eons ago. After I met Adam, before Lucifer met you as Eve, when I had first become a succubus and I could barely control my newfound hunger. It meant nothing though. A simple dalliance to help ease my insatiable thirst. Once he met you, he had no interest in anyone else.”

  It meant nothing. Wasn’t that what they all said? But Lilith was speaking the truth. Though I felt a quick pang of jealousy, I couldn't be upset about something that had happened so long ago, before Lucifer had even met me.

  She continued before I could answer. "At first, I was jealous of you, and how you'd captured his eye so completely, but I soon came to view you as one of my closest friends. Besides, we both know Lucifer is not the type to share."

  "No, definitely not." I cocked my head. "Your daughter told me about how challenging it was to feed a succubus's hunger."

  Lilith's face broke into a big smile. Maybe she’d expected an angrier reaction than the one I gave her. “Isn't she lovely? I only recently reconnected with Olivia. I’m so proud of the woman she’s become.” She ran her finger lightly along a flower petal. “I had to give up Olivia when she was a child. It was for her own safety since she was the only angel-demon hybrid, and such a thing was forbidden back then. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

  “How did you go about reconnecting with her?” I asked.

  She smirked and tossed her dark hair. “I made a nuisance of myself. I showed up in her life one day, and then I kept showing up. That's all you have to do."

  "Annoy them until they love you back?" I asked with a laugh. “I wonder if that might work on Belial. I know he and Lucifer have had a falling out of some sort."

  “It's best if you remember that story on your own, I think." Lilith drew me close to her, linking her arm through mine as she led me down another path. The light from the gazebo glowed gently at the end, and every so often a burst of male laughter drifted in our direction on the breeze. "But even though Belial and Lucifer are estranged, that doesn’t mean they can’t make things right. Nothing is too late while they’re still both alive."

  We emerged from the gardens back by the gazebo, but before we returned to our men, she stopped and looked me in the eye. "If you want your son in your life again, you should consider making a bold move.”

  A bold move... My breath caught in my throat. She was right. I had to find Belial, and make things right with him.

  I had to go to New Orleans.

  * * *

  Lucifer shut the door of the guest room with a quiet click as I took in the space. A huge, wooden four-poster bed was hung with gauzy curtains, while a small fire crackled in a fireplace in the corner, with two small chairs flanking it. Every piece of furniture looked like it had been lovingly crafted, and I sensed they all had an impressive history. Pill
ows and throws were strewn artfully across the bed and chairs, and I wanted to lie down just to experience the comfort.

  "You were brilliant tonight." Lucifer loosened his necktie, the noise of the fabric slicing through the room, his fingers swift as he made the masculine movement. "I knew you would have no trouble resuming your role as my queen."

  "I'm happy I could help in some way." I sat in one of the chairs by the fireplace and fiddled with the soft throw hanging over the arm. "But there's something I want to talk to you about."

  His brows drew low. "What is it?"

  "I want us to visit Belial."

  Lucifer shook his head. “It’s not a good idea right now, with all that's happening with the Archdemons. Once things have calmed down, then we can see him."

  “No.” I stood, no longer hesitant, my voice firm as I took control of the situation. “I don't want to wait. What if Adam kills me, permanently this time? What if I never get to see my sons again?"

  “Adam won’t—” he started, but then he pressed his lips together as I narrowed my eyes into a glare.

  “We can’t know that for sure.”

  Lucifer moved to the great window overlooking the garden and rested his hands upon the sill as he gazed outside. His back was tense, his muscles tight and straining against his shirt. After some time, he sighed and turned back to me. "Very well. But it would be better if you went alone."

  "What happened between you and Belial?" My memories from Eve and my other early lives were the hardest to access and the most faded due to time, unlike more recent lives like Lenore. I remembered Belial, but only in brief flashes and pangs of emotion. Love. Pride. Disappointment. Guilt. Sadness.

  Lucifer scowled. "He rebelled against us, as all children do in the end."

  Something had happened, something no one wanted to talk about, but it had clearly broken our family in two. I wasn't going to stand for that. “You should come with me."

  "It's not a good idea. I won't stop you from going, but you'll have better luck speaking with Belial without me there. Just take Azazel with you. And Morningstar."

  I grabbed my brush and began working it through my hair slowly as I considered his words. “Thank you."

  He sat on the edge of the bed, folding his shirt sleeves up to reveal his masculine forearms.“For what?”

  I set my brush down on the vanity and locked eyes with him. “For respecting my wishes. For treating me like an equal.”

  He inclined his head slightly. "I'm doing my best."

  I stood and unzipped my dress, lowering it to my shoulders. “I know.”

  “Besides, you know what the best thing is about you traveling alone?” Lucifer’s eyes took on a wicked gleam.

  “What’s that?” I let my dress fall the rest of the way to the floor, revealing a thin slip underneath and nothing else.

  “Saying goodbye.” He reached for me as I walked toward the bed. Without hesitation, I slipped my hand into his and he tugged, pulling me so I sprawled on top of him.

  “Mmm..." He pressed his lips to my neck and pushed one of the thin straps of my slip from my shoulder. “I think this might need to be a very long goodbye indeed."

  I relaxed completely under his touch as his mouth burned a trail of heat across my skin. I arched my neck, increasing his access.

  "Just promise you'll come back to me," he said. "I won't lose you again." His words seared into me, sinking deep into my soul, before he flipped us, the movement so fast he was above me before I even registered the movement.

  "Always." I reached up to touch his face, overcome with emotion. Deep down, he must be afraid I'd leave and never return. I wondered if he'd always had that fear, if every time he watched me be killed by Adam's hand he wondered if I would reborn again.

  I curled my fingers into the hair at the back of his head and drew him toward me, lifting to meet his mouth, capturing his lips in a deep kiss. His tongue brushed against mine, and I was greedy for him, opening my mouth and arching my back, pressing my body to his in search of his touch.

  He groaned as he explored my mouth, and my hand fisted tighter in his hair as he rocked against me, the bulge in his pants hitting just the right spot. Wave after wave of heat flooded me, and I dug my free hand into his ass as I ground against him, seeking a quick release even though the need to feel him inside me was almost overwhelming.

  His hand slid up the side of my body, skimming the slippery fabric separating him from my skin. “I like this very much, but it's got to go."

  I popped open a button on his shirt. “You're right. Our clothes are in the way.”

  He lifted up and removed his shirt, then threw it across the room. His pants vanished too, leaving me with a naked devil looming over me. His eyes burned red as he looked at me through heavy lids, lust evident in his gaze, but also something else flickering in the fiery depths. Love.

  He gripped the hem of my slip with a devious smile, but I caught his hand before he could continue.

  "Don’t rip it!" The man had destroyed way too many of my clothes already. "It's the only one I own."

  He slammed my hand down on the bed, pinning me beneath him, his body looming over me as his lips seared my neck like a brand. “When we’re back, I'll buy you an entire wardrobe of lingerie just so I can have the pleasure of destroying them every night.”

  His words sent a ripple of dark anticipation through me. As he pushed the slip up my thighs, the fabric skimmed my skin in a light caress, and a shiver ran through me. He moved down my body to kiss above my knee, then again in the middle of my thigh. Inching my slip upward, he kissed the new skin revealed, until he paused.

  “Now, how loud should I make you call my name?" he murmured, as he smoothed his hands across my skin. "Loud enough that everyone in this house knows what I'm doing to you?"

  I pressed my lips together as heat gathered in my cheeks. I'm sure the people in this house had heard worse with Lilith here.

  “Yes." He coaxed my thighs apart. “Let's make you scream."

  He kissed the inside of my thigh, sucking gently on the soft skin there before nuzzling forward. Higher. My hands were back in his hair, and he groaned softly as my fingertips pressed into his scalp. At first, all I was aware of was the warm air of his breath, but he quickly followed that with his equally warm tongue, and I squeezed his hair tighter as he ran it toward my core.

  His fingers circled my clit, and I lifted my hips off the bed, trying to angle myself to nudge him closer to where I wanted his touch most. Then he lowered his head, and his tongue flicked out, grazing my clit. I tensed and tried to muffle an unexpected cry with my hand tight over my mouth. He sucked my clit into his mouth, and I gasped out meaningless sounds at the hint of teeth.

  “Lucifer!” His name was a breath of air, and I pressed his head closer as he barely nipped at my clit then soothed it with his tongue as one of his fingers explored my entrance.

  Then he switched his fingers and his mouth, his tongue dipping inside me as he rolled my clit with a laziness that kept me right on the edge of…something. I searched for it, chasing the elusive sensation of completion, but it was always just a second more away. He thrust his tongue inside me again, and I squeezed my thighs around him, but I still wanted more.

  “Lucifer, I need you inside me." I pushed my straps from my shoulders, exposing my breasts as if to entice him farther up my body.

  I thought he might ignore my words, but then he slowly began to move up my body, worshiping each bit of skin he passed with his mouth. He kissed each of my breasts, sucking on my nipples and flicking them with his tongue before he lay above me, his hard cock nudged between my thighs. Then he paused.

  Impatiently, I used my newfound angelic strength to roll us both over on the bed, so I was on top of him. I stared down at my fated mate, my inevitability, and wrapped my hands around the base of his cock. “Now I get what I want.”

  He put his hands behind his head and grinned up at me. “I’m yours.”

  Slowly, I sank onto his
cock, relishing every single inch of the stretch he gave me. My body tensed, then relaxed as the feel of him inside me ignited memories of all the times we'd done this before.

  I began to move without thinking, rocking on top of Lucifer with his cock buried as deep as it would go. My clit ground against him, as his hands grabbed my hips and urged me on. Yes, this was exactly what I needed – to be in control. To take what I needed from him.

  Switching my rhythm, I leaned forward and braced myself on the bed, arms on either side of his head, and kept rocking. This gave me room to pull up, letting him nearly all the way out of me, then falling back down and thrusting my body on his cock as hard as I could.

  But it wasn't enough. I arched my back and rode him hard and fast, grinding down against him, while he held onto my hips and let me fuck myself on his cock. I demanded more and more and he gave it to me without hesitation.

  He reached up and teased my nipples with his fingers, and I came apart, bucking wildly, yelling my pleasure as the climax shook through me. I had no doubt everyone in the house knew exactly what we were doing, and I didn't care.

  As I sat there, panting through the last bit of it, Lucifer grasped my hips and rolled us over in one smooth motion, never letting his dick slip out of me. Connected. As we were meant to be.

  Lucifer began to move his hips. “I am yours, Hannah. I will always be yours.”

  But his movements were too slow. "More," I begged.

  “I want to savor it,” he ground out.

  “There will be many more times.”

  “And I will savor each one,” he replied before claiming my mouth, plunging his tongue between my lips, and swallowing my gasps of pleasure as his body set a rhythm that I matched.

  Lucifer moved in and out of me, drawing pleasure with every pass of his shaft. He thrust harder, never removing his gaze from mine. His muscles shifted and moved beneath my hands, and he knew my body so well, slowing and quickening, angling himself to press right where I needed him.