“I'm sorry you had to see that,” Lucifer said as he laid beside me. “I failed you. I failed myself. And now, I'm forced to cling to you with magic.” He stroked a hand down my body as I stared adoringly up at him and my clothing vanished. Lucifer gazed down at me appreciatively and sighed. “I've waited so long to have someone I can respect and truly love. You are that woman, Elaria. Time and time again you've proven your worth to me. When you told me you had faith in me, it made me want to be a man you could respect and love. And then you sang to me and showed me how much you wanted me too... if only you didn't have others holding you back. The Devil promised me that he'd deal with your other lovers and remove the obstacles between us, but then you let fear drive you away.”

  His expression fell as his hand possessively roamed my body.

  “That fox temptress wouldn't stop pushing me,” he snarled. “I tried to tell her that I didn't want her, that I wanted you, but she wouldn't accept it. She used her carnal skills to seduce me past reason, past the point where I could control my devil. Then she threatened you. I had to stop her, sweetheart. I had to kill her. You understand, don't you?”

  “Yes, of course,” I said gently as I stroked his beautiful face.

  “Tell me you love me,” he ordered.

  “I love you,” I said immediately.

  “I knew it.” Lucifer closed his eyes and shivered.

  Then he laid his lips over mine and tasted the words on my tongue. I offered them up to him—everything for him—and rolled toward his glorious body. Lucifer groaned but pushed me back gently.

  “No; let me see you,” Lucifer murmured as he leaned over me. “Let me learn your body—discover how to make you sing in other ways—before we join our flesh.”

  He moved the pads of his fingers experimentally over my hardened nipples and smiled as I moaned and arched up into his touch. As Lucifer held my stare, he lowered his mouth to me and sucked on my nipple. His wet tongue worked me—going through several techniques—as his hand traveled over my belly in lazy circles and his glittering eyes analyzed my every response. Then Lucifer sighed and laid his head on the cushion of my bicep while he lazily licked and nuzzled me. His hand massaged my other breast gently, and my arm cradled him closer; fingers slipping over his feathers.

  We stayed that way for long minutes; Lucifer contentedly laving me while he stoked my arousal higher and higher. Finally, his hand wandered down my belly and between my legs. My thighs fell open at his touch, and Lucifer trailed a single finger down my center before moving back up to that perfect spot and gently circling it. My hips pressed me up against him.

  “Do you like that?” Lucifer asked me; his chin pillowed on my breast. “Do you want more?”

  “Yes,” I said and lifted my hips again.

  Lucifer rubbed me harder with the pad of his thumb as he watched me writhe. His fingers tickled my entrance and then slid inside. I arched back and cried out. Lucifer used the movement to slide his other arm beneath my upper back and pull me against his chest. He kissed my throat—lips soaking in the vibration of my cries—as he sank his fingers into me slowly.

  “There are things you shy away from,” he murmured against my throat. “I see it in your mind. Dark delights that we shall explore together.” His pinky rubbed circles over that other entrance, and I shivered. “Will you deny me?”

  “No. I deny you nothing.”

  Lucifer chuckled. “That's as it should be. But don't worry; I will ease you into it. First, I will pleasure you as you want to be pleasured.”

  Lucifer moved between my legs, and I held them apart for him, grabbing my knees to pull them wider. He looked over me as he licked his lips, and then lowered his face between my thighs. I shouted—a deep, primal roar of rapture—as he worked magic over my sex with his tongue, using it to lick and thrust inside me.

  “This taste is for me alone,” he growled against my flesh. “Your body is mine. Say it!”

  “It's for you alone,” I repeated the words obediently. “My body is yours.”

  He licked and sucked me into ecstasy as my reward. When I screamed and shook through my release, he worked the slick evidence of my passion lower, rolling it over the place I never let any man go. It made me tense and images of strange sexual acts bombarded me. A centaur standing over a bent woman; his massive member driving into her... backdoor. I jerked as Lucifer slipped his finger inside me.

  “Easy, now.” He started thrusting in both of my entrances at once. “Give it a chance.”

  I'm told there's nothing like double penetration for a woman, a man's voice echoed in my memories.

  Lucifer put his thumb back against my clit, rubbing firmly as he went deeper. Pleasure blasted through me but more images filled my mind; angels pumping against bare asses; a corridor of debauchery and stages dedicated to erotica. Beneathers chained and enslaved. Angels groaning in pleasure or laughing in delight as they did things to those slaves that Lucifer now mimicked. I whimpered and tried to pull away.

  “All right. That's enough for now.” Lucifer stopped and smiled. “I was just testing you. I'll fuck your pussy today and save your ass for tomorrow. It will be something to look forward to.”

  As Lucifer settled the tip of himself against my sex, he met my gaze and went still. I wanted him, but the fear still rode me, and I know he saw it in my stare. The skin around his eyes tensed as his lips parted, and his hands clenched around my thighs. One inch forward and he'd be inside me; I felt myself opening to the pressure of his sex. I had the feeling we'd been here before but hadn't gone further. It was time to accept the god as my lover; I knew it was. But he hesitated, and so did I.

  “I can't,” Lucifer whispered as he jerked away from me. “Damn me for a fool!”

  Lucifer launched himself off the bed. I curled up into a ball and watched him rage. He shifted back into his Devil form and tore the beautiful furniture in his bedroom apart. Wood splintered, metal bent, and glass shattered. Everything fell to pieces beneath the force of his rage. Everything except for me and that ridiculously large bed. Part of me felt afraid but another part of me felt hope. I don't know why. Then that other part of me—the hopeful one—forced me to my feet and sent me carefully across the debris.

  Satan went still when he saw me; striding toward him nude amid the wreckage. He panted violently, his eyes wide like a startled beast's. I kept going until I stood directly before him and then I set my palms carefully onto his heaving chest. His tail lashed aggressively and he bared his teeth in warning, but I didn't stop. I laid my cheek against his chest and slid my arms around his thick waist. The Devil's body shook violently and then he wrapped himself around me; arms and wings and tail.

  I felt a shiver of magic beneath my cheek and opened my eyes to see light beneath his skin. It poured outward, changing the Devil back to the Star as it went. I looked up to find Lucifer staring down at me with wide eyes.

  “What have I done?” Lucifer whispered.

  “I'm not sure,” I said in confusion. “But I think it was momentous.”

  Lucifer sighed deeply and eased the tightness of his embrace. His wings rustled around us; a feathered sanctuary where we could cling to each other while we tried to make sense of it all. His gleaming hair—a river of starlight—poured over my shoulders as he folded his body over mine protectively.

  “Take me back to bed, Lucifer,” I urged him.

  Lucifer lifted his face to stare at me mournfully. “I can't. I don't want you like this. I want to look into your eyes and know that you desire me as much as I do you. I want to know you truly love me.”

  Something trembled inside my chest, and I felt the love he'd forced upon me fade. He was right; I didn't love him. I didn't want him. But I did want to help him.

  I laid my palm against his cheek and kissed him gently. “We don't need to have sex to feel close to each other; just lay beside me and hold me. Love can't be forced, it must be nurtured. Give it time.”

  Lucifer's wings fell open as he sighed and then smiled softly. “I have eternity, and I'll give it all to you.”

  “Why don't we start with one night?” I teased softly.

  The Morning Star laughed as he lifted me in his arms and carried me back to bed. He laid me down gently, pulled back the blankets for me to slip under, and then crawled beneath them with me. When Lucifer laid down beside me, I learned why his bed was so expansive; his wings spread out to fill it. They rustled into rest as I settled against his side, and he positioned me so that my cheek laid over his heart. One elegant hand came up to cup my head as Lucifer sighed deeply. His strong heartbeat filled my ear as my leg wound over his and my arm slid around his waist.

  I fell asleep in the arms of a god I didn't love but hoped that someday I would. Around us, the ruins of his rage gave testament to his love for me. And that was enough for now.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  “Good morning,” Lucifer purred in my ear as he slid up against my back.

  We'd shifted in the night. One wing still lay beneath me, cushioning me in downy softness, but I'd turned away from Lucifer and rolled onto my side, facing the window. Sunlight gently warmed the silk curtains and a gentle breeze blew them inward, giving me glimpses of blue sky. Lucifer pressed his full body against me; all but his sex. His hand slid up my arm and his cheek nuzzled against mine.

  The Devil was trying to be romantic.

  It made me smile and turn toward him. “Good morning.” I breathed in deeply of feathers and man. “How did you sleep?”

  “More peacefully than I have in millennia,” his voice was soft with an amazed tone. “All this time, I thought that I could teach you how to control your goddess magic, but it was you who calmed my devil; you who laid down beside him and gave him dreams instead of nightmares. Thank you, Elaria.”

  “You're welcome,” I whispered as I touched his cheek and stared into his starry eyes. Something tickled the edge of my mind; a memory of him using those eyes to... to what?

  “What is it?” He asked.

  “Nothing,” I murmured. “Just a memory trying to surface. It'll come to me later.”

  Lucifer's face went still before he smiled brightly. “I'm sure it will. Are you hungry? I'll call for breakfast, and we can eat together in my private dining room.”

  “That would be lovely,” I agreed. “Do you mind if I shower while you do that?”

  “Of course not.” He leaned back to let me go. “Go ahead. I'll have everything ready by the time you're done.”

  I kissed his cheek and slid out of bed. As I closed the bathroom door, I looked back at him. Lucifer had gotten out of bed on my side and stood before the window, stretching his arms above his head and his wings back behind him. Sunlight stroked his body and warmed his skin with gold and crimson. I couldn't look away; he was breathtaking. But then the sunrise painted his wings and, for just a second, it seemed as if they were coated in blood. I flinched and shut the door, my heart racing.

  “Stop that,” I muttered to myself as I headed for the shower. “It was just a play of light, not a premonition.”

  But the uneasy feeling followed me through my shower and then back out to the bedroom. A velvet gown in shimmering silver waited for me on the bed next to a set of delicate undergarments, a pair of glittering shoes, and a diamond necklace that looked as if it should be in a museum. For some reason, the finery only served to amp up my feeling of foreboding.

  I got dressed quickly and twisted my damp hair back so it wouldn't drip down the front of my dress. The diamonds chilled my skin and made me shiver, but I ignored the sensation along with my disquiet. I pasted on a smile as I strode into Lucifer's dining room.

  Lucifer sat at the head of a family-sized table—pale, gray wood with silver accents—and stared at the door, waiting for me. An army of porcelain dishes filled with steaming food sat before him. His brooding expression brightened as soon as he saw me, and he stood to hold out a chair to the right of his.

  “Oh, so now I get to sit at your right hand?” I teased.

  “What do you mean?” His smile wavered.

  I blinked in confusion as I sat. “I don't know.”

  “You're just tired,” he said blithely. “Eat your fruit; it will perk you up.”

  “Okay.” I scooped a piece of firm, golden-fleshed fruit from my bowl and ate.

  Honey and wine burst over my tongue in an effervescent explosion of sweetness tempered by sharpness. I sighed and closed my eyes to enjoy the flavor. Even after I swallowed, it lingered on my tongue, urging me to take another bite. I did, and my head suddenly cleared. Everything became so simple. Life could be as sweet as this fruit if I only let it. I could relax and let Lucifer handle all the silly issues that used to plague me. He'd take care of me; I knew he would.

  I looked up at Lucifer and smiled peacefully.

  His eyes weren't quite as peaceful as his lips. They widened and latched onto my face with amazement. I don't know what I'd done to make him look at me like that, but I enjoyed watching the play of emotions as they rocked through him. Admiration, respect, jealousy, wonder, arousal, and, finally, love. The Morning Star loved me. I'd seen proof of his ardor last night, but this felt different; deeper. Real.

  “You are more wondrous than I'd originally thought, Elaria,” he whispered as he stroked my temple.

  “This just came to you now?” I teased him.

  “Yes,” he said seriously and then glanced at my bowl. “I had an epiphany while I watched you eat. You've had a hard journey, haven't you?”

  I frowned as memories played in my head. Singing on an empty shoreline as a child. Dancing to the slam of violent music with a massive man I called my best friend. Killing and coercing people with my magic. I had done bad things, but I thought I did them for the right reasons. Did that make them good or simply make me delusional? I frowned as more images poured in. Absently, I noted Lucifer's hand slipping into mine. How strange; this movie reel of memories. Did I normally think like this?

  I sat back in my seat as my life continued to roll before me. Meeting men I loved; fighting for them and with them; against them. Blood on jewels, spells in songs, and an entire planet trembling in fear of me. I should have felt something, but I didn't. I watched it all dispassionately and then considered it just as clinically. I had done evil and believed it to be good, but then my heart had shown me the truth. I was satisfied with myself. With cool reason, I was finally able to understand, accept, and forgive what I had done. No, not forgive; approve. I knew I'd done well. I'd done better than a lot of others could have. This was what Lucifer admired; my struggle and then victory. But how did he know?

  I looked at him in question.

  “The fruit.” Lucifer nodded at my bowl. “That is fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. It has allowed me to see into your mind.”

  I should have been angry, shouldn't I? Lucifer had invaded my private thoughts without permission. But all I could feel was an immense relief that someone saw my truths and loved me for them. Not in spite of them, but because of them. I deliberately lifted another piece of fruit to my mouth and ate it.

  Lucifer smiled brilliantly. “Elaria, I know for certain now that none of this has been random. You were brought to me for a reason; we are a perfect match. Your Fire calms my devil, and my Light cools your Fire. We will do great things together. First, here on Angelus and then on Earth.”

  “Earth?”

  “Your home planet and a second home to me,” he said gently. “Long ago, I hurt the humans and now, I want to make it up to them. You will help me atone, Elaria. With your voice and my magic, we will claim Earth and usher it into an everlasting peace.”

  “That sounds beautiful,” I whispered.

  “I'm so glad you think so.” Lucifer leaned forward to kiss my cheek. “Now, finish your breakfast. We have work to do.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Our work would have to wait. While I sipped my coffee, an angel ran into the dining room.

  “Enemies at the gate, Morning Star!” The Angel panted. “Shining Ones, Witches, and Gods.”

  Lucifer glared at him.

  “False Gods,” the Angel stuttered. “They're laying seize to the city!”

  “It seems as if your old friends have come sooner than expected,” Lucifer said as he helped me out of my seat.

  “My old friends?” I asked in surprise.

  “Don't worry, my dearest one, they will not hurt us.” Lucifer wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to his balcony. “We will stop them; you and I together.”

  “Okay,” I said dreamily.

  The Angel gaped at us.

  “Tell the Virtues to assemble the Host!” Lucifer snapped at him. “I shall meet them at the gates.”