by Cate Corvin
Kiss away any concept of taking a succubus to bed.
“Sounds like a raw deal to me.” His gaze shuttered, expression hardening. “I won’t fuck you because you deign to allow it.”
My breath felt shallow, just the proximity to Belial making my head swim. I wanted the taste of his fire again, no matter how furious he made me.
“I have no need of an angel who doesn’t want me.”
My nails dug into my arms. Only the sudden sharp pain of silver claws digging into my skin made me stop, forcing myself to relax. “I-”
“Your trade proposition is bullshit. Take Lady Savage; you’ve earned her.”
I made myself look away from Belial, unwilling though I was.
Lady Savage was sprawled across the arena floor, unconscious, and my Chainling had calmly returned to his seat on the dais, not even breathing hard.
When I looked back at Belial, he waved a hand, his gaze still full of fire. Dismissed.
I strode down the steps, not looking back as my Chainlings hauled Lady Savage’s limp body upright and pulled her outside, draping her across Capheira’s back.
Rage and hopelessness warred inside me the entire way back to the Nightside. The hole in my chest ached so deeply I thought if I looked down, I might see blood spilling all over my front.
But there was nothing there. It was internal, an unhealing wound that I couldn’t seem to staunch the flow from.
I had them bring Lady Savage to her new chambers, where they were already inking my symbol of black wings around Belial’s sigil on her palm while she was unconscious, and disappeared into my own quarters.
It seemed impossible to talk to Belial without fucking up everything I said.
I wondered if he’d had the succubus brought to him. If he was just punishing me, if my apologies would mean nothing if I could ever let my rage go long enough to say them.
If I’d irrevocably destroyed the bond that had formed between us.
It seemed that all my wrath did now was poison me from the inside out.
6
Melisande
I swept into the middle of my arena, looking up at the empty stands. My footsteps echoed off the obsidian walls, bare of any decoration.
It was a blank slate, and it was all mine.
Instead of daises, I had the overhead balconies. My throne was the sole thing in this massive room that wasn’t untouched. The Chainlings had already draped it with black feathers.
I sighed, pacing to the other side. In one more night, it would be open. Warriors of every stripe would come to test themselves against each other and potentially join me under the banners of the Lady of Wrath.
My own army against Satan.
“What does the Lady desire?” A Chainling followed at my elbow like a silent specter.
I frowned up at the blank walls. “I think it needs… some shazam.”
“Oh, you’ve seen the light!” Vyra was perched on the upper balcony, clapping her hands. “This calls for sparkles!”
I nodded slowly. “Sparkles. Let’s do glittery black banners-”
“Like One Thousand and One Nights?” Vyra leaned forward. “And lanterns.”
The picture of how I wanted this place to look was clear in my head. Like the first night I’d realized where I really was, the happiness of winning…
The hungry amusement on Belial’s face. The lust in Tascius’s. The moment I’d understood I’d stepped into an entirely different world, and yet it was the one I fit into like a long-lost puzzle piece.
“I think shades of purple and rose for the lanterns,” I said to the Chainling. She nodded under her hood, vanishing instantly.
Vyra swooped down to the arena floor, glancing at my bitten nails and choosing not to comment. “Melisande…”
“I know. I fucked up. Again.”
The succubus laid a hand on my shoulder, pearly against the darkness of the arena. “I know it’s hard.”
A dark shape staggered into the arena, drawing our eyes.
Lady Savage’s welts and scratches glistened with healing salve. “You took me,” she said, and for once her voice wasn’t smooth as a blade. It was ragged, wounded.
“Belial traded you in a bet that I won.” I caught a glimpse of my sigil on her palm, emblazoned with needles and ink, completely unlike the kiss-placed brand Belial had given me. “You belong to my half of the Seventh Circle now.”
“But… Luck is back there.” Lady Savage blinked at me, seeming oddly lost and unfocused. “He’s on the Brightside.”
I blinked back before realizing she was talking about Blind Luck, the asshole who’d tried to cut off my wing.
And realized what I’d done.
They might have been a mated pair as much as Tascius and I were. Now they would be separated, in the same Circle but on different sides.
How I sympathized.
My tension mounted, the last thing I needed. “I’ll make it better.”
“You don’t understand.” Lady Savage wiped at her face. “I need him.”
That would mean facing Belial again, but I couldn’t- wouldn’t- be responsible for separating a pair like that. Not when I knew all too well how much it hurt. “I understand perfectly. One way or another, I’ll make sure-”
“I can’t live without him,” she pushed, and my temper snapped.
“Then I will fucking win him for you!” My shout echoed off the arena walls and bounced back to us, a thousand angry shouts multiplied into a storm.
Vyra and Lady Savage both stared at me, but at least the traded and possibly concussed fighter seemed a little clearer.
Lady Savage exhaled, her eyes wide. “You really need to work off some of that aggression.”
“Fucking tell me about it,” I muttered, turning away. “The next time I’m there, I’ll make a bet for Blind Luck. If I can’t, you’re free to go. I won’t be responsible for keeping you apart.”
“You can’t just free me,” she said incredulously. “It’s against the rules.”
I spread my arms wide, turning back to her. “Do I look like Belial? My arena, my rules.”
Vyra gripped my shoulders until I lowered my arms, rubbing my taut muscles. “I think you need to go kill a training dummy.”
“Right. I’m going to go do that, and you… go make sure the Chainlings have the right kind of sparkles. You’re the sparkle expert.”
Lady Savage wandered back to her chambers, apparently sated with my promise to win Blind Luck for her, and I found the training room my little cult had cleared out for me.
Within an hour, I’d reduced a dummy to nothing but twisted iron and shards of wood, and my tension hadn’t abated one bit.
It was nothing like the high of fighting flesh and blood in an actual arena.
I tossed my axe aside and left the annihilated mannequin.
Before I even opened my door, I knew someone was waiting for me. There was a strange lack of emptiness to the air, something tugging my heart.
“Lucifer!”
He sat on the edge of my bed, wings carefully folded behind him. All the bruises and scratches on his tattooed limbs had healed perfectly, leaving no sign they’d ever been there at all.
I shut the door behind me as he rose, silver gaze taking me in from head to toe. “Melisande…”
“No, let me say something.” I steeled myself. Step one in swallowing your pride: admitting you were wrong. I could do this. “I’m sorry. The last time I saw you, what I said was… not what I meant. At all. You aren’t a second choice to me, Lucifer. You’re not someone I want just because I have nothing else.”
I took a step closer, my hands shaking a little. “We are alike. I understand what you mean about free will, and having a choice. When I choose something, it’s because I want it, not because I feel compelled.”
He smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. He probably knew exactly what the solid flex of his muscles did to me, given the fact that he was shirtless, and my eyes hungrily traced the lines of his ta
ttoos all the way down his well-defined Adonis belt.
“Good. Because I came here for a reason.” Lucifer took a step of his own, shrinking the gap between us. “I felt you, when you healed me.”
“You weren’t awake for it.” I swallowed hard. He was only inches away, the heat of his skin caressing me.
“No, but I felt you all the same. And I felt it when you left.”
I’d barely blinked before I found myself lying on the bed, Lucifer’s massive form arched over me. His lips found my neck, teeth grazing my vulnerable throat. “Now, where were we before that?”
“Right here,” I managed to whisper. This time I didn’t hesitate.
His bare shoulders flexed under my hands. I stroked the silky skin over corded muscle, ran my fingers over his chest, tracing the swirling dark lines that decorated his skin from throat to ankle.
“I felt you, and when you were gone, I wanted you back.” He raised himself on his forearm, thumb stroking my lower lip.
“I’m right here,” I breathed, my fingers finding his feathers. Lucifer shuddered as I ran my fingers through them. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He leaned down and kissed me hard, forcing my mouth open for his tongue. Heat shuddered through me, becoming a fire when he reached up to grip my wrists and pull them down, pinning them over my head.
Lucifer’s hips angled forward, his cock already hard and grinding against me. I had no shame at all in wrapping my legs around his waist, pulling him closer and arching my back. After what I’d interrupted last time with my poorly-chosen words, I had no intention of saying a single thing that would stop him this time.
My tongue ran along the edge of his lower lip before I bit him, gently at first, then harder. Lucifer groaned in my mouth, his tongue searching deeper and legs flexing.
I tugged my arms a little, testing the strength of his grip, but he held me fast.
“Do I need to call for Azazel and his ropes?” he asked, a tiny smile flickering across his face. “Try to break free and I will.”
I shuddered pleasurably at the threat. My hard nipples brushed his bare chest, sending shocks through me. “If you don’t hurry up and take all these damn clothes off, you’ll have to. This is just cruel.”
He laughed a little, transferred both of my wrists to the grip of one of his hands, and tugged one of the laces of my shirt. The ribbon slid open easily under his hand and he pulled it away, eyes darkening as he took in my flushed skin and peaked nipples.
Lucifer’s mouth found my throat, working downwards until his teeth grazed a nipple. I gasped, writhing under him as he sucked it, his fingers stroking over my stomach to the edge of my training pants.
I unclasped my ankles and lifted my hips obediently, letting him peel the thin fabric away.
It was still impossible to break his one-handed grip, and he wasn’t even concentrating on holding me down as he yanked off his own pants, settling between my legs so his cock was pressed right against me, sliding against my wetness.
I slurred some unintelligible string of words when I felt the heat of his cock, arching my hips and wrapping my legs around him again.
Lucifer’s wings lowered until they covered us, his quicksilver eyes still shining in the dim light. “This is what I want,” he said, his voice rough. “You and me.”
“You and me,” I promised. I folded my fingers together far over my head, practically panting for him to push inside.
He thrust forward, the head of his cock just entering me. “Forever. I want to make you mine, understand?”
Lucifer slid in another inch and my eyes rolled back in my head. I bit down on my swollen lower lip at the thickness of him.
“Answer me,” he commanded, and I nodded, the heat in my lower stomach almost unbearable.
“Forever. You’re mine, too.”
I cried out when he thrust in hard, filling me completely. All of my muscles locked up tight at the sudden pressure.
He didn’t pull out until I relaxed again, pumping into me slowly, his metallic gaze pinned to my face. His own eyes were half-lidded, lips swollen from our first hard kiss.
I tilted my chin up, catching his lip between my teeth again. Lucifer’s cock pulsed, and he ground into me hard, his chiseled stomach rubbing my clit.
My gasps filled the air between us. He arched his hips against me, and I pushed him aside, forcing him to roll onto his back.
His face split in a crooked grin, his hands finding my hips and jerking me against him. I ran my hands over his chest and abs, tracing the lines of his tattoos.
Lucifer groaned and pushed deeper, lifting me off the bed.
The sight of someone so much stronger than me, so much more powerful than me, groaning in pleasure underneath me filled me with satisfaction. I rode him hard, relishing the feeling of the Morningstar, Hell’s own prince, pulsing inside me.
He stroked my shoulders and breasts, pinching a nipple and sending a streak of white-hot fire through my nerves. My hips jumped and he drew a hissing breath through his teeth, pinching the other as my strokes grew faster.
I hit the edge with the force of a tidal wave, clamping down on him when I came. One of my hands instinctively covered my mouth and he grabbed my wrist, jerking my hand away.
Lucifer shuddered, releasing himself deep inside me. When his moans became a groan of contentment, I collapsed on top of him, pillowing my head on his chest.
He stroked my back, running his fingertips from the nape of my neck down to the soft feathers limning my shoulder blades.
The last thing I expected was for him to ask, “How much do you trust me, Melisande?”
I looked up, touching his kiss-swollen lower lip. “I thought we already agreed that we trust each other.”
So why don’t you tell me what you brought you to death’s door?
I kept the thought to myself.
“So we do. But… there’s something I’d like you to do for me.” His quicksilver gaze was dead serious. I propped myself up on my elbow, and the little flex of stomach under me sent butterflies through my own stomach.
“Lucifer, you just fucked my brains out. I’m feeling pretty generous towards any requests you might have.”
His crooked grin came back. “Fine, then. What if I asked you to wear one of my feathers?”
I was immediately on-guard. “Would this be a mating gift, or…?”
“It could be.” I expected him to smile wider or laugh, but his somber expression hadn’t fully faded. “If you wanted it to be. If not, I’d just like for you to wear it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Does this have anything to do with why you were practically shredded the other night?”
Lucifer stroked the bridge of my nose, making me wrinkle it. “Perhaps. Let’s save that explanation for another time, yes?”
“No.” I swatted his hand away, but he began stroking my hair, and it was impossible to dissuade that. “I thought you were dying. Just because I’m in post-orgasmic bliss doesn’t mean I’m willing to hold off on reasonable explanations.”
He rolled over, swiftly crushing me under him. I inhaled, catching his peppery scent, and found myself pinned. “But that would ruin the bliss,” he murmured, nipping my earlobe. “Why don’t you just agree to my one simple request, and we’ll have this conversation later.”
I was ready to push for the information I wanted so badly, to have my worst fears confirmed, but it was impossible to concentrate on much of anything with Lucifer nibbling his way down my throat.
“Yes. I’ll wear your feather.”
He rumbled in satisfaction, hands flexing around my wrists. “As a gift. I’ve chosen you to wear it.”
“I accept, Lucifer. If you wear one of mine.”
He looked up, eyes dancing, but there was hope hiding behind his light-hearted words. “There’s nothing I want more.”
“Well then…” I wriggled underneath him, trying and failing to pull my hands free. “Maybe you should let me up so I can give it to you?”
&
nbsp; Lucifer released me, pulling me upright to sit in his lap. His wings rustled, and he reached to the tip to pluck a long pinion free as I did the same to mine, ignoring the sharp bite of pain at its loss.
I was barely breathing when I took his feather from his palm, tilting it to watch the light play over it in a stream of rich greens and reds tinged with blue. My own feather was a little shorter, but flashed violet in his fingers.
He held it up to the light, and when his gaze flicked back to my face, the triumph in his eyes genuinely staggered me.
Like he felt like he’d won what he was really after.
He pulled me forward to kiss me hard. “You’re all mine, Melisande.”
Something purred deep inside me, like this is what we’d been meant for. Two of the fallen, joined together the way they should be.
“Or maybe,” I whispered, clutching his feather to my chest, “You’re all mine.”
Lucifer’s grin widened. “I could live with that.”
7
Melisande
Lucifer didn’t leave until twilight the next day, which was only signaled by the slightest lightening of what sky was visible through the trees in my courtyard.
“We’re opening our doors tonight,” I said, curled around his side, my hair still damp from the shower he’d taken with me. “I’d be happy with just a handful of new fighters.”
“A handful?” Lucifer snorted. “You’ll get more than that. They’ll come to see you, and they’ll stay once they do.”
It was my turn to snort. I reached up and tapped the tip of his nose. “You have an extravagant amount of faith in my draw.”
Lucifer smiled and grabbed my hand, wrapping his fingers around mine. “You have two princes, a Watcher, and a Nephilim vying for your attention. I think my assessment might be fairly accurate.”
“Well, if they come for blood, they won’t leave unsatisfied. I can promise that.”