His slippery hands went back to my shoulders, and he slid them down my arms, washing me. His fingers were firm as they slid down my arms to my fingertips and then back up the sensitive underside, moving over my shoulders and then working in lazy circles down my chest. He leaned forward and trailed small wet kisses down my neck.
His hands finally reached my soapy breasts and I sucked in a gasp as he kneaded them, tugging my nipples between his fingers, each tug pulling at my core.
Those rough, strong hands slid even lower, down over my ribs and in big looping circles over my stomach, his finger dipping into my naval, making me suck in a quick breath. Lower, closer to the aching part of me that was desperate for attention.
His hands skimmed over my hips and down to the tops of my thighs, sliding inwards and brushing ever so close.
Instead of giving me what I wanted, he turned me, and I got my first look at Lux naked. He was beauty. Smooth, unforgiving muscle chiseled his body. Sitting hard and proud against his abdominal muscles was the biggest cock I'd ever seen. I swallowed hard in both fear and anticipation.
“Holy shit.”
He chuckled as he fell to his knees in front of me, working the suds from my ankles upwards, building the tension all over again. His fingers skimmed the sensitive part behind my knees and he worked my thighs in long, hard strokes. Finally, he was back where I wanted him. He pulled me into the warm rush of water, rinsing off the rest of the body wash.
His fingers grazed over the folds of my pussy, giving my clit a quick flick, making me buck towards him on a moan.
“You're going to want to lean back for this,” he said and lifted my left leg, hooking it over his shoulder. I took his advice and leaned back against the cool, black tiles. I couldn't breathe as he looked at me, staring at my pussy like it was a work of art. Then he leaned in and licked my seam in one long stroke.
The breath I'd been holding hissed out of me as he buried his face between my thighs, lapping and sucking like a starving man. My knees wobbled and he reached up, grabbing my other leg and placing it over his other shoulder until he was supporting my entire weight against the wall, two hands under my ass, kneading. And then he feasted.
Orgasm after orgasm hit me until I was just a screaming mess.
My body was jello by the time he stood, flicking off the water. He grabbed me up in his arms and carried me to the bedroom, both of us still dripping wet.
“Our first time won't be in a shower. I want to make love to you right,” he whisper-growled at me.
He placed me on the bed, his body immediately coming over mine. He traced his tongue up the scar on my sternum, before drifting to suck my nipple into his mouth, making me writhe. I was panting by the time he switched to the other breast.
“I can't wait any longer,” his soft voice was a plea.
“Don't. I need you inside me, Lux.”
He growled, his cock at my entrance in seconds. He pushed the massive head into me, slowly, my gentle barbarian. The stretch was deliciously painful, but I was wet and ready for him.
With one powerful thrust, he was seated all the way in me and I'd never felt so full or so right in my life. This was perfection. He began to move, and coherent thought left me as we became a wave of movement and sensation, building and building. I chanted his name on every exhale until the pleasure built so high that I exploded, screaming, and my dodgy heart thundering in an out-of-time staccato.
Lux kept pumping, his rhythm getting ragged as he reached his own climax on a roar. Everything went black but I came around in seconds. Thankfully, Lux hadn't noticed my temporary lack of consciousness, or he might never give me such a mind blowing orgasm again.
His body lay along mine, a comforting weight, and I wrapped my arms around his chest, my nails tracing light patterns up and down his back. “That was…” There were no words.
“Yes,” he groaned back, pulling out and rolling off me but taking me with him until I was lying on top of him. Stickiness dripped down my thighs.
“I will clean you in a minute. I just want to hold you while I catch my breath.” His soft, rough voice did something to my heart.
“I don't mind. It means we can shower again later. I really like your shower, with you in it.” I punctuated the words with a kiss to his chest. Fuck, he was amazing. I desperately wanted to lick every inch of him, but I was exhausted.
“Sleep, Sweet One. There will be time for more later. Rest.”
His eyes closed, though his fingers traced light lines up and down my back, lulling me into sleep.
Chapter Ten
I flicked through the clothes in my wardrobe. When I'd finally returned to my apartment the other day, after hours of making love to Lux and sleeping in his arms, it was to a sea of shopping bags in my living room.
Unfortunately, I hadn't had time to go through them right then, I had an appointment to keep with Elias for tests, so I'd thrown on the first casual thing I could find, a halter neck rockabilly dress with a little red cherries pattern and a pair of black ballet flats.
When I'd returned, I'd been so exhausted after a day of tests that I had fallen into bed that night and hadn't woken up until noon. It'd been a long week on an emotional rollercoaster ride and my body had been wrung out.
I'd put away all my new things with my old thrift store finds. I appreciated my closet, full of clothes still with their tags. I hadn't had one of those since my parents had died.
Now, Monday had rolled around again, and for the first time in years I wouldn't have to go to work to make sure I could pay my medical bills and rent for the month.
I fingered a soft, pink sweater. It felt like a cloud on my skin. I would have to call Tolliver and Sam, and thank them again. I missed them now that they weren't here. How could you miss people you'd known less than a week? But I did. I missed Tolliver's serious face and dry wit. I missed Sam's laid-back nature and teasing sensuality. Only seven more days until they were home.
The black jeans with the grey tee, Ace weighed in on my outfit choices.
I had to agree; I'd tried those jeans on and they made my ass look like a peach.
Ace had also flourished since I moved in with the guys. Maybe I was just more accepting of her, or myself, because a voice in my head was no longer the craziest thing about my life. She liked the guys, though they still didn't know about her. Nothing came up in my brain scans when Eli ran them the other day, so she wasn't due to a brain tumor. I decided to keep it to myself for a little while longer. Eventually I'd let it slip, then I'd explain. Well I'd try. I didn't even know how to explain it to myself.
Ace is the badass bitch I wish I could be, Ace mimicked my voice almost to perfection, although it sounded a little whinier than I did.
“You got the bitch part right anyway,” I teased back. I always spoke out loud to her in private. It was just too much pressure in my brain otherwise. I could put up with the pain if necessary, but only for a few minutes. It was like my brain was going to war with itself and it always gave me a pounding headache.
I shimmied into my 7 For All Mankind jeans, giggling at the irony, and the soft grey t-shirt. I was going to find Oz. He promised to teach me to play Call of Duty today. Whatever that was. It just sounded like a great excuse to sit on his lap.
Give the girl a little lovin' and she turns into a brazen hussy. Gotta say, I'm kinda proud right now.
“Jealous much?”
A scoffing laugh. Hardly. Though, your boy Lux is packing some serious meat in his lunchbox.
I laughed, enjoying our new camaraderie. There was a knock at the door. I glanced at my pink wristband that thankfully doubled as a watch. Oz was early. Eager much?
I didn't bother with shoes, but stuffed my phone in my pocket.
I was smiling as I pulled open the door.
“You're earl…”
But Oz wasn't at my front door. It was a stranger. A fucking scary stranger.
I couldn't pinpoint why I thought he was scary, though. He had dark black ha
ir and dark eyes, a beautiful face with a sparkling white smile. He had on a Black Sabbath shirt and black jeans that were torn at the knees. He looked boringly average, if not a tad more handsome than the average Joe. But still a cold shot of fear ran down my spine.
I stepped back towards the Mini-Oz sphere on the hall table. “Help, help,” I said, praying it was loud enough.
“You must be Arcadia. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.” The man stepped forward into my apartment.
I mentally willed the guys to hurry. My heart was beating too fast and I could hardly breathe. Something was wrong. I willed myself not to give into the darkness again.
“Don't worry about the fear response. It's just the primordial part of your brain trying to tell your nervous system to protect itself. I mean you no harm. My name is Luc. You might know me as Lucifer Morningstar. Or…” he grimaced, “The Devil.”
Ace let out a piercing scream in my brain, the sound sending a spearing pain around my skull and making blood pour out my nose. Blackness swamped into my vision and the last thing I saw was the face of the Devil staring at me.
Part II
Chapter Eleven
When I opened my eyes, the Devil was sitting on my couch drinking a beer. Not a devil; the Devil. Big D.
Well, I've only just got my memories back, but from what I remember you’re right. He has a really big D…
I screwed my eyes closed again and let out a frustrated scream that could only be heard inside my head.
What the fuck was that, Ace? You nearly gave me a goddamn aneurysm and you knocked me out, in front of the fucking Devil. That scream… I shuddered. And now you are making dick jokes?
I sounded screechy even inside my own head but I was equal parts pissed off and scared.
Excuse me if I was finally remembering all my past lives at once, including my immortal soul being ripped from its vessel and placed into yours. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, Arcadia, but that shit hurts. A lot.
She sounded choked up and I felt momentarily bad that I yelled at her.
If you are done with your little shit-fit, I feel compelled to tell you that he can hear inside your head and knows everything we are saying. She sounded smug.
My eyes shot open again, and the Devil was still there, saluting me with his beer bottle, a slight grin on his face.
I sat upright so fast my head spun, and I clutched at it against the residual headache. Two strong arms came around me and pulled me onto a lap. I didn't fight it; I'd know Lux’s scent anywhere.
“Not so fast. You're okay. I've got you,” he whispered to me in his gentle voice, as he pressed me back against his chest. “You are the scariest person I've ever met, Arcadia Jones.”
I twisted so I could see his face and raised both eyebrows. “How can you say that when we are sitting across from He Who Shall Not Be Named?”
“Hey, I resent the Voldemort comparison. That guy was seriously evil,” the Devil said as he took another sip of beer. “Please, call me Luc. I insist.”
Well, if the Devil insisted.
He can hear you, remember? You have to call him Luc in your mind as well, Ace said and I wanted to scream again. There were already two people in my head. Three was definitely a crowd.
Lux gave a little disgruntled huff. “Lucifer doesn't faint all the time, worrying me he might never wake up!”
I looked up into Lux’s face, slightly pale despite the natural gold of his tan. His jaw was tight and two adorable worry lines fought for dominance amongst the scars. He looked scared. For me.
“I'm sorry. It doesn't usually happen this often but it has been a bit of a crazy week. You can blame Ace for that last one though.”
“Who's Ace?” Another voice asked, and I looked over to see Eli was in my apartment too. Actually, all the guys were here, except Tolliver and Sam obviously, who were at Fashion Week. Oz was pacing near the kitchen. I'd never seen Oz pace. Ri was in the corner, his face as strained as Lux’s. I gave him a little finger wave and a smile.
“I'm with Lux, Beautiful Girl. You are one scary mama,” he croaked out as he shook his head.
Valery was drinking wine from the bottle in my kitchen, although last time I checked, I didn’t have any wine lying around. Actually, he was most of the way through the bottle and his cheeks were a ruddy pink. He placed the bottle on the counter and came over to me. He bent down and said something stern in French, placing a palm on both of my cheeks and kissing me solidly on the mouth. His lips were soft and tasted like a fruity red.
As far as first kisses went, it was delicious if slightly unexpected.
He walked away, still muttering in French, but whatever he was saying made the Devil, I mean Luc, smile.
“Who is Ace?” Eli repeated, and I sighed.
This should be interesting, Ace said, back to her usual nonchalant self.
INDEED.
I flew to my feet as the Devil’s - I mean Luc’s- voice boomed in my skull.
“No, no, no get the hell out of my brain. Two is already a crowd and you are so loud. You just doubled my headache.” Arcadia Jones, chastising the Devil and failing survival instincts since 1998.
APOLOGIES ARCADIA. I AM NOT SHOUTING. WE ARE JUST ON DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES I AM AFRAID. UNFORTUNATELY, YOU ARE THE ONLY CONDUIT I CAN USE TO SPEAK TO MY BELOVED ACEREZEAL.
Ugh, I hate that name. It sounds so angel-ish, Ace whined.
“Arcadia…” Eli was beginning to sound worried.
The urge to scream was beginning to build again. I huffed and sat back down on Lux’s lap.
“Fine. Ace is the voice in my head who has been with me since I was sixteen and she's not a brain tumor but I don't know what she is other than the fact she swears like a pirate and is right about most things and that she loves me and protects me if I need it.” It all ran out in one long, peevish sentence, and Eli remained silent. He just blinked at me slowly. Then he turned to Lucifer.
“Is this your doing? I checked her brain scans literally yesterday. There is nothing to support her having auditory hallucinations. She has no family history of psychosis or schizophrenia.”
Luc drained his beer, and another appeared in its place. Guess I now knew where Valery's wine came from.
“Well, yes and no. Acerezeal, or Ace as Arcadia knows her, was one of the fallen, like me. She is my consort and her immortal soul lives inside the body of your Arcadia.”
Lux pulled me closer to his chest, every inch of his body poised protectively around mine.
“Relax, I'm not about to commandeer your new toy, Lux. I would like Ace back where she belongs, in her own body.”
I felt like I'd been sucker punched. For so long, I'd assumed that Ace was some long buried part of me that I needed to cope with my life. She was everything I wanted to be; calm, intelligent and a complete badass.
But she wasn't part of me at all. She was an angel stuffed into my body. It felt like I was losing something, my best friend. A piece of my soul.
Hey now, I'm not going anywhere yet. You're stuck with me being a parasite in your body for a lot longer. Even when I'm not… with you, I'll always have your back. Always.
She was preparing me. But for what?
“What aren't you telling us?” I narrowed my eyes at Luc, and he laughed.
“You are much more of a badass than you believe, Arcadia.” He sighed and shifted in his seat. “You must remember that my life has been endless. The perpetual flow of time around me an imperishable object. And not just for me, for the other guy too.”
I just stared. The other guy?
“Keanu Reeves?” Oz asked from where he rested against the wall. At least he'd stopped pacing. I resisted the urge to go to him and wrap him in my arms.
Lucifer grinned. “No, not Keanu. He goes by many names, like me, but we are obviously speaking of God. Big G,” he laughed and winked at me.
“I am the first to admit that I probably broke the old man's heart when I fell, though in my opinion he massively overreacted, b
ut I made my peace with that and I quite like my new role. There's something to be said for the freedom to live how you wish. But Big G, well, he's seen a decline in numbers, while I gotta tell you, my domain is brimming. You should see the line to the eternal punishment chamber. Hell, I'm beginning to think that waiting in the perpetually unmoving line is punishment enough.”
You're getting off track, Ace interrupted.
YOU ARE CORRECT, THANK YOU, MY HEART.
I grimaced. Painful and weird. Great.
“But I digress. Upon our last game of chess in Central Park in 1982, I remarked upon my current overcrowding problem. You see, he was having the opposite problem. There were so few without sin these days. He will forgive most things, but indulging in one of his ordained deadly sins, the very ones he cast his favorite son out of heaven for? Those he could not forgive and forget. And he is a stubborn old ass when he wants to be. I informed him that there were millions of souls in my domain that were truly repentant and would happily atone for their sins, without reward. He didn't believe that a soul, once judged, could change so much. So we had a wager. And here you guys are. The first of my Redeemable souls. And my secret weapon, the Redeemer.”
There was silence around the room, every one of us grasping at the tiniest glimmer of hope, and looking for a flash of deceit.
“And if we succeed?” Valery’s voice sounded hoarse.
“If you succeed, people will be able to work their way up from hell and past the pearly gates. You guys get a free pass to heaven. Win-win for humanity.”
“And what do you win, personally?” I raised both brows. Altruism isn't a trait usually associated with the Devil.
“If I win, Ace gets her body back. Her immortal soul was torn out by Azriel, on the Father’s say so. I kept it in a vessel until the bet was decided and then I placed her inside you as you emerged from your mother’s womb. Such a strong spirit already, I knew that Ace would not overcome you. I apologize. I am sure it must have been difficult, but there is little I wouldn’t do for the woman I love.”
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 8
