mine, but they merely bided their time, growing stronger. ~Lena
I sat on a huge, four-poster bed surrounded by crimson silk curtains. I ran my hand over the smooth, black blanket and one of the large pillows, soft as fur, covering the top. It felt like heaven against my heated skin. The bed smelled of Lucian, driving my never-ending hunger for him to new heights. Rich, amber, sandalwood, and dark desire filled my senses, lulling me into a relaxed state of bliss while I waited for Lucian to return to our room.
Luna mewled softly, stretching out before leaping from the bed and padding away to scamper off. Lucian had hidden her here, keeping her safe. Luckily, she’d survived the fallout of Hell colliding with earth. But then he’d claimed her, and she seemed to prefer him to me nowadays.
In the room’s silence, I replayed Lucifer’s words inside my head. Would I take him up on his offer? No. Did I crave to have a child of my own? Yes. Did I think Lucian had done something to secure I would return to him? Absolutely. I feared he’d done something unforgivable and detested that he was keeping it from me.
I had been around him enough to know when he shielded me from something deadly or something he thought would hurt me. He was the proverbial alpha male, assuming he knew what was best for me. Some days I craved it, and other times it drove me nuts. I also hated that since returning from Faery, Spyder refused to be alone with me, or even get near me.
Spyder and the bonding situation presented an entirely new problem for us. He wasn’t the only one fighting the magnetic attraction. Every day since the night that he and Lucian had claimed me to protect me from Lucifer, it became harder to ignore the need I felt for him.
I knew it was the bond demanding that we finish what was expected of us. I wasn’t in love with Spyder, no matter what the magic thrumming through our veins told us. I knew that I only craved Lucian and had fallen in love with him. That much was a given. Had I told him? No.
Did Lucian even know what genuine love was, or what it meant? He’d felt something for Katarina, or so he’d told me after I’d died, ending their twisted game. My stomach somersaulted at the memory, hating that it had been the last thing echoing through my mind as death claimed me.
How did you tell the man you loved he was your world? And what if he didn’t love me as I loved him? Lucian was endless and primordial. He had watched the world form and evolve during his lifetime. Shit, he’d probably helped shape it into what it was today. I was the idiot that had fallen deeply in love with him and couldn’t figure out how to tell him or express it out loud.
Turning onto my side, I screamed at finding him beside me, still dressed in his suit. He smirked, leaning down to brush his lips against mine. Heat enveloped me, and I laughed softly against his kiss at my response to his sudden appearance.
“What were you just thinking about, Little Witch?” The deep, soothing baritone of his voice drifting through me was calming. Peering into his midnight gaze, watching the galaxies swirling within them, I exhaled and nipped at his plump bottom lip.
“Changes, and how you stole my cat, asshole. She’s absolutely spoiled and impossible to please anymore.” I held his fiery stare as his lips jerked up into a smile and he growled deep in his chest, allowing the sound to slip through his parted lips. I struggled to pull my gaze from his, certain he’d let me drown within the beauty of the world’s burning in his eyes.
“Little liar.” Lucian rolled on top of me, gazing down as he captured my hands, pinning them above my head. “She isn’t spoiled at all. Luna is a good girl, just like her mistress. Do you want to be my good girl, Lena?” he inquired, lust dripping from each word he uttered. “Can I make your pussy purr as loudly as Luna does for me when I pet her?”
“Do you really need to ask?” I lifted my head, claiming his mouth softly, enjoying the flavor of scotch and the hint of citrus that I always tasted when kissing Lucian.
His grip on my hands tightened as he lowered his head and pressed