by Emma Castle
“Why did I even bother asking?” she muttered. Lucien set the box on the coffee table by the couch and led her into the kitchen.
“No five-star chef?” she asked.
“No, tonight it’s just me.” He went straight to the bar. “Drink?” He opened a cabinet next to the stainless-steel fridge.
“Er…I guess. What do you have?” She glanced around at the art on the walls, which were all paintings of stormy seas. It was beautiful.
“Anything you want.”
“A Bay Breeze?” she asked.
“What the hell is a Bay Breeze?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“A splash of rum, pineapple juice, and cranberry juice.” She sat down on a barstool, watching Lucien as he removed his coat and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. In that moment it all felt so normal, so like a real date. He wasn’t acting like the man who’d had his hand up her skirt at the previous dinner, or the man who’d demanded she strip down to her bra and panties and lie back on his bed while he played with her. But she could see by the fires barely banked in his eyes that it would happen again tonight. He would remind her that he owned her body and soul. Diana swallowed and glanced away from him.
“One Bay Breeze coming up.” He prepared her glass, then popped a little colorful umbrella into it. She stared at the umbrella. So the devil had a sense of humor when it came to mixed drinks? She picked up her glass and took a sip. It tasted perfect, of course.
He poured himself a glass of bourbon and took a sip, then went over to the oven and he pulled the oven door down. A wave of delicious aromas traveled through the kitchen.
“Jerk chicken and hush puppies,” Lucien announced as he removed two dishes and placed them on the stovetop to cool down. “I had to deep fry the hush puppies but I kept them warm in the oven.”
“So the devil knows how to cook?”
“Yes, I do.” He shot her a smug look that shouldn’t have been sexy but it was. “They have the phrase Hell’s Kitchen for a reason. I have watched every season of Top Chef, by the way. Now, why do you keep doing that?” He turned to face her, retaining his relative affability, but his eyes hardened.
“Doing what?” She blinked, baffled.
“Saying the devil this, the devil that. Why?” His direct look was accusing and cold now.
“Why? Because it’s true, you are the devil. So…”
He picked up his glass of bourbon and took a slow drink. “You’re trying to keep your distance, reminding yourself I’m the bad guy. It’s not going to work.” Lucien turned back to the food and retrieved two plates and prepared their dinner.
She frowned at him. “You are the bad guy, and I won’t ever forget it.”
His gaze burned clear through her. “I don’t want you to forget it. I want you to revel in it. I want you to bathe in darkness with me, glorify in the pleasures we share, and give yourself over to me.” He raised the glass to his lips again and took another drink. She focused on the way his throat worked as he swallowed, and her skin flushed with heat. How many dreams had she had where he poured amber liquid over her bare breasts and licked them clean? Or how he’d dripped honey between her thighs and tasted her over and over.
Stop it…stop thinking about the dreams. You didn’t really do those things with him. He’s just getting into your head.
“Here.”
He gave her a plate, and they left the kitchen. Lucien didn’t stop at the dining room. He kept going. Diana followed him back to the pool, and still he didn’t stop. He headed straight toward the beach, where there was a wooden hut on stilts in the ocean. They walked down to the wooden walkway over the water and into the hut.
Diana’s jaw dropped. There was a massive glass floor that was lit up by an underwater light. Brightly colored fish swam below, darting through the crystal-clear water. Two cushy beanbags were on the floor nestled in the corner of the room opposite the large bed. Diana could only imagine the number of women who’d been here with him, who’d slept in his bed.
“This must be a popular place,” she said, eyeing the bed. His gaze followed hers to the bed. What would it be like to lie beneath him in that bed, seeing light off the water rippling along the walls while he fucked her slow and hard? It would be… Her throat ran dry as she tried to banish the erotic images darting through her like the colorful fish in the waters below.
“The villa, yes, but not this place. I come here when I need to be alone. The water and the fish—it calms me.” Lucien’s admission surprised her. She turned to face him, and she didn’t back away when he was right beside her. The heat of his body felt good against hers as they both watched the aquatic life. It was almost romantic…but that was insane. She focused on what he’d said and tried to stick to their conversation, even though she knew she was only delaying the inevitable.
“So, Mr. Star…do you get lonely?” She couldn’t deny she was fascinated by the thought.
“I…” Lucien hesitated and then answered with a rueful smile. “I suppose I do. Hell is not a pleasant place, after all.”
Diana sat down opposite him in one of the cushy black beanbag chairs and tasted her chicken. Okay, the devil could totally cook.
“What is hell like?” she asked between bites.
“You really want to know?” He raised one brow.
“Yeah, I do.” She was curious. Who wouldn’t be? But she also wanted to know more about his world, because it would help her understand him.
“Hell is…dark, and I don’t mean that literally.” Lucien stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles in a relaxed position while he balanced his plate on his thighs to eat.
“Dark?”
“It’s tough to put into words, but it’s like Dante’s Inferno. Dante almost had it right. There aren’t levels, but rather sections for specific types of sinners. You know, tyrants here, serial killers there, car salesmen on the right, mean girls from high school on the left.”
“Mean girls?” Diana had seen her fair share of those.
“All those girls who were total bitches? Yeah, unless they’ve made a change of heart—” He mimed a plane crashing and burning with one hand and chuckled. “Lots of mean girls down there. Hate having to pass through that area, all those bitchy women. They even dare to insult me! I’m the fucking devil!”
“Wow.” Diana thought back to the girl who’d bullied her in high school. Kristina. She’d been friends with her, but the next thing she knew Kristina had played the victim on something, and everyone was on her side, calling Diana a selfish bitch. That last year of high school, she’d lost all her friends. It had been terribly lonely.
It’s why you don’t have friends now either. She’d kept to herself in most of her classes just to avoid drama and getting hurt.
“So…” She sipped her Bay Breeze, thinking over what she wanted to ask. “Are there really demons, heaven and hell, God and you? It’s all real?”
Lucien nodded. The light from the underwater lamps illuminated his face with ripples of pale-green light.
“God is real, but he’s been…absent. Not picking up the phone, if you know what I mean. His disappointment in his creations has made him withdrawn. You humans really did a number on him. Your greed, jealousy, lust, hate…all that free will made you monsters.”
Diana’s throat tightened. “But I thought you were the evil in the world.”
Lucien snorted. “No. Evil exists out in the universe, yes, but I didn’t put it there. My duty is to punish those who give in to it. The sins of humanity fall at their own feet. I merely collect the souls who need to pay the price.”
“You’re not really evil?” Diana struggled to wrap her mind around that.
“Not in the traditional sense. No horns, tail, or pitchfork. I can promise you that. But I’m not good either. When an archangel goes dark, their wings are ripped from them during the fall. One’s wings are full of grace. Without that part of oneself, it’s hard to remember how to be good. In fact, it’s almost impossible.”
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“Wait, what’s grace? Like the grace of God kind of grace?” She finished her meal and set the plate aside. Lucien did the same and reached out and placed his palm on the glass floor. Suddenly hundreds of fish were gathered in the water below, dancing in the light from the lamps. Lucien’s lips curved into a smile, but it wasn’t a cold or cruel one, it was softer. Her heart flipped as she saw for an instant the archangel he’d once been in that smile.
“Grace is a purity of purpose, holiness, peace, and unity with everything around you. When you lose your grace, you feel an invisible weight pressing down on you, a hollowness. Each angel describes it differently. For me it’s like an ache, one so deep, so embedded inside me it will never be eased.” He moved his hand on the glass and the fish responded, trailing behind him. Diana tilted back her Bay Breeze, finishing it before she slipped off the chair and knelt on the glass beside him. She placed one palm on the glass beside his, their pinky fingers almost touching.
“They like you,” she noted. “My cat definitely doesn’t.”
“You sound surprised.” Lucien chuckled. The sound was rich and dark. It sent delicious shivers down her spine.
“In the movies animals always seem to sense evil, but you aren’t…not in the traditional sense.” She couldn’t quite explain what she was trying to say.
Lucien moved his hand, lifting it so he could trail a fingertip over the back of hers. She didn’t pull away. It felt nice, and little flares of heat built in her belly at that seductive little caress.
“Most animals like me, except for dogs. They’re too loyal to humans. Cats, though…” He grinned as she glanced his way. “Cats make up their own minds. Some like me fine, while others despise me. Unless I’m in a devil rage and wreaking havoc in nature, which I don’t do much if at all, most animals usually don’t mind me. They know on an instinctive level that I have no stake in their survival. I don’t despise them the way I do humans.”
She didn’t address the comment about him despising humans. “You have a truce with animals?”
“Yes, that’s a good way to put it.”
He continued to caress her hand. She let him. Diana knew she didn’t have much of a choice, and another part of her liked it far too much. Whenever he touched her, that dark little whisper in the back of her head seemed to get louder.
“Did you get enough to eat? I confess I don’t know much about mortal physiology.”
“Yes, it was perfect. Thank you.”
“Good.” He stood and held out a hand to her. “I think it’s time you explore the contents of your box tonight.” She accepted his hand, and he led her from the hut. But her heart was pounding hard now, and her blood roared in her ears. The inevitable had arrived.
“What about the dishes? We—”
Lucien snapped his fingers, and the dishes on the tiki hut’s floor vanished.
“Well that’s convenient.” So much for using the dishes to slow him down a bit.
He smiled at her, and this time the expression was the wicked one she was used to.
“The devil doesn’t do dishes,” he replied airily, but his lips twitched.
“Ha ha,” she replied sarcastically, but she couldn’t deny that tonight had been amazing so far. This place, this paradise was like something out of an expensive travel magazine. Each time she came to him, he continued to surprise her. And he wasn’t scaring her, not like he had the first night. She could almost forget who he really was. Almost.
When they got back to the villa, he handed her the box and she opened it, her hands trembling a little. Inside was a red bikini. It looked more like a collection of straps than an actual bathing suit.
“I…” She swallowed hard and glanced at Lucien. How the hell was she supposed to put this thing on? Where did her butt go versus her breasts?
“Does this come with an instruction manual?” she asked, frowning. Maybe he’d snap his fingers and give her a more sensible suit.
“You’re a smart girl—you can figure it out. Or else I imagine I’ll be seeing more of you than the suit intends.”
His dark eyes were no longer sweet, nor was he smiling.
“I’ll grab some towels. Meet me at the pool in a few minutes.” He turned and walked away.
“Okay.” She exhaled slowly, removed the swimsuit from the box, and located a bathroom on the first floor. She slipped on the suit, wincing at her curvy figure in the revealing suit. Her breasts felt as if they would pop out of the tiny cups that held them. And her ass was basically falling out of the cheeky-style bottoms.
She exited the bathroom, padding toward the door that led to the pool deck. She crossed her arms over her body protectively when she went outside.
The night air was humid, and crickets hummed in the foliage of the elaborate garden beds. The heavy aroma of gardenias clung to her, but she found she liked it. The white blooms lining the path to the pool seemed to almost glow beneath the moonlight. Diana froze when she reached the pool. Moments ago the pool had been clear, but now there were dozens of floating candles lazily drifting along the top.
Lucien stood by the deep end of the pool, wearing nothing but a pair of black trunks. His bare chest was sculpted to perfection, with broad shoulders tapering to a trim waist. She couldn’t help but admire the real beauty of his body. He suddenly dove into the deep end, barely making any splash as he knifed through the water. She leaned over the pool’s edge, watching his body glide beneath the surface. And that’s when she saw two jagged scars running just along the edges of his shoulder blades.
“When an archangel goes dark, their wings are ripped from them during the fall.”
She clenched her arms tighter around herself as she imagined the agony he must have felt. Those scars had to be the remnants of the most horrific pain someone could go through. Just looking at Lucien’s back made her hurt with sympathy.
Lucien broke the surface and swam toward her at the shallow end. He propped his elbows on the pool deck and curled one finger, inviting her to come closer.
“Let’s see.” He twirled his finger around, indicating she should spin. She did so, and her face was flushed as she faced him again.
“You look utterly fuckable,” he said softly.
For a second, she dared not breathe. Then he pushed away from the side of the pool and swam a few strokes on his back. She rushed to the steps at the shallow end and hastily dropped into the warm water. She swam deeper, up to her neck so her toes touched the bottom only barely. Lucien glided in her direction. His dark hair was slicked back, and droplets clung to his long dark lashes. He stopped a few inches away from her, his body taller as he stood rather than treading water.
“Are you afraid, Diana?” he asked quietly.
Nerves skittered through her like little electric shocks as she gazed up at him. She was afraid, and yet she wasn’t. The animal magnetism that drew her to him was something she wished she could ignore, but she couldn’t. And that attraction overrode most of the cloying fear inside her.
“I’m afraid…afraid that I want you,” she admitted.
“And you don’t want to.”
“Of course not. You’re…a bad guy. The bad guy.”
“I certainly am,” he said, and then his voice turned husky. “But right now I’m your bad guy, one who wants to do every bad thing to you that you desire.” He reached up to caress her bare shoulder. Diana’s pulse quickened with forbidden longing.
There was a growing desire between them, but she knew it was only a matter of time before the glow became a bonfire of lust, burning them.
“I want you to say it, say that you want me.” He cupped her chin, and she tilted her head back, expecting him to simply take her mouth with his, but he kept his mouth inches from hers.
“I…” She struggled to breathe. Being close to him like this made it hard to resist him. Her body wanted his, there was no denying it. But her heart and mind tried to remember who he was. She gazed into his eyes, and beyond the dark hunger she saw a glimmer of somethin
g else…loneliness. An ache for purity of purpose he no longer had. That ache called to her. She felt her own ache, a sense that she was missing something. She’d never known what it was, but when she looked at him, when he touched her, that ache eased.
In that moment she knew that this burning intensity between them was irresistible.
Why fight what you want? that little voice murmured in her head.
“I want you,” she breathed.
Lucien brushed the pad of his thumb over her lips. “Are you sure? Once you mean it, I won’t hold back.”
“I mean it.” She met his gaze firmly.
Her lips parted, and he licked them before he wound one arm around her waist under the water and closed the distance between them. When he took her mouth, it was slow, heated, open-mouthed, and raw. He kissed like he was fucking her mouth with his tongue, and her entire body throbbed with need. She wanted to feel him inside her.
His gentle, coaxing kiss turned sharp and wild with need. He lifted her against his body, moving through the water until he reached the steps at the shallow end. When he set her down, she parted her thighs so she could wrap her legs around his hips. She rubbed herself on his erection, which tented his swim trunks. He cupped her ass, digging his fingers hard into her. She whimpered and swallowed the sound of his kiss. When their mouths briefly broke apart, he was panting.
“I want to bend you over and fuck you,” he growled. “Ram my dick inside you and pound into your ass.” He growled as she arched her back, pressing tighter to him. The filthy image he painted set her traitorous body on fire. Wetness filled her, and she clenched her thighs tighter around his hips.
“You like that?” His kiss turned possessively greedy for more.
She gave in, opening her mouth to allow him to penetrate her lips with his tongue. Diana gripped his shoulders, digging in her nails, uncaring as she left scratches.
“I…” She panted, struggled to speak. “I think I want that too.” She couldn’t get it out of her head, the idea of him fucking her from behind, him completely in control. She’d only had missionary sex with her past boyfriends because she’d never felt comfortable asking for something more…wicked.