by Liza James
Stella watches Lucifer speak, her eyes trained on his as we stride through the familiar mansion that acts as a center base to all of the different provinces. My mind spirals with possibilities, and I have to reign it in and remind myself this isn’t going to be our future.
“I can’t leave my sister. Especially not now with everything happening on the upside, and with Amelia. Nathanial and I can’t leave them,” she argues sensibly. She knows the score. I do too.
Lucifer drops his head as a wry smile pulls at his lips. “One day, you won’t have to play babysitter anymore. And then you’ll have to choose to either accept your darkness and your Demons, or give in to the light.”
Stella’s shoulders straighten as she halts her steps and turns to face him. “And what if I want both?” Her words excite me, I can’t lie. They send a challenging rush through my blood, begging to me chase her, show her exactly what that could mean.
“Well then, little Stella, Avernus will be your home. And it’ll be waiting for you,” he laughs as he lays his hands on Esme’s shoulders and grips her tightly, urging her forward until we’ve entered a dark stairway.
They allow Stella and I to step ahead, and we slowly climb the stairs until we reach a dead end. It’s just a blank, brick wall ahead of us. There’s no way to move past it. I know what this is, because I’ve been here before. But Stella turns around and looks over her shoulder as confusion lines her face.
“Goodbye, my little Demons. We look forward to seeing you both again soon,” Lucifer’s voice is dry, aside from the bit of humor due to Stella’s reaction. I step forward without a word, without a farewell—because I don’t care—and take Stella’s hand in my own, pulling her forward.
Without a glance back, I step through the brick easily, bringing Stella with me until we find ourselves emerging in the woods where we initially entered the Underworld.
“What the fuck?” she asks as her feet fall and land on the familiar dirt path. “Well, at least leaving Hell isn’t nearly as bad as getting there in first place.”
I nod in response as I step up behind her, placing a possessive hand on the back of her neck while I stalk her forward. Dipping my head down behind her ear, I remind her of something. “You know, Danner doesn’t know where you are. No matter what you saw, what you heard in these woods last night. Whatever he says to you in your dreams, he’s lying. I promise Stella, you’re safe.”
She leans back against my chest as we continue walking. “It’s not me that I’m worried about,” she replies quietly.
“We’re all safe. He can’t find any of us, not where we are. You can’t carry all of our safety on your shoulders, Stells. Do you understand?” My voice is firm. I need her to absorb this, understand, so that she doesn’t do anything stupid.
She nods though, and even while she’s accepting my words, I know she doesn’t believe them.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Luna’s roaring voice echoes from the kitchen as we walk through the front door of our home. She bursts forward and runs straight up to Stella, throwing her arms around her neck and dragging her in for an embrace. “I was fucking terrified that Danner had you, or you guys wouldn’t come back, or—”
“I’m okay. We’re okay,” Stella’s muffled voice sounds through being pressed firmly against Luna. I can see how relaxed she instantly is in her sister’s arms. Stella clings to her tightly, her own need to connect with Luna after last night is clear.
Elijah leans against the doorframe to the kitchen, his arms casually crossed in front of his chest. “You could have given us a heads up, you fucking dick.”
I shut the door behind me and turn to face them. “I did, when I sent you a text.”
“Not what I mean, and you know it.”
I sigh, “We had to do this on our own. It would have been a waste to worry you guys before we even left.”
“So did ya’ll fuck yet or what?” Leon’s arrogant voice breaks through from my right and I realize he’s perched comfortably on our fucking couch, eating a bag of goddamn Doritos while his eyes bounce back and forth between Stella and I.
“None of your fucking business—”
“Hell yes. And sorry babe, but I don’t think I’ll be feeding from you again anytime soon,” Stella chimes in humorously. I’m glad to see she’s making jokes now, maybe she’s feeling more comfortable. More at home.
“No, she definitely fucking won’t be,” I reply harshly as I step forward and quickly fist her hair in my hand, tugging her head back while Luna still holds her. Just enough to press a selfish kiss to her lips in front of everyone in this house and show them who the hell she belongs to.
“All right, all right. I get it. Hog the little vixen all to yourself,” Leon surrenders.
I release my hold and she straightens her spine, stepping out of her sister’s grasp before moving to the stair case. “I’m going to upstairs for a bit. Just going to unwind,” she offers a placating smile and I narrow my eyes, but let her go. I understand she has a lot to process right now.
Stella turns away from us and climbs the stairs before disappearing down the hallway to her room. I watch as her frame tenses, and a wash of unease flows through me. I can’t tell if it’s my own overly cautious thoughts, or if I’m picking up on Stella’s continued irrational fears.
I don’t go to my room.
I keep walking straight down the hallway until I see Amelia’s door, cracked open just slightly. I have to talk to her, I have to tell her that those last words she spoke to me, helped. Even if only a little.
When I reach her door, I knock before opening it further and I hear the sudden shuffle of a book or something closing and then being quickly placed somewhere else. I peek in, justifying the breech in privacy by reminding myself that she isn’t really allowed to have much secrecy. Not with everything she’s done to all of us. But I was right, it was a book and she’s hastily trying to jam it in the small bookshelf that sets next to her bed.
“What do you want?” she bites out starkly.
I take it as an invitation and push her door open wider, stepping inside and shutting it behind me.
“I wanted to say thank you,” I reply with my own challenging tone. “For what you told me before I left for the Underworld.”
Her ice blue eyes meet mine as she silently watches me. Her long-sleeved red sweater is pulled up around her fists. She sits cross legged on her bed, her arms resting in her lap. She doesn’t offer any acknowledgement, no response other than her cold words flowing through the space between us. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“About it not being real, whatever I had to do to get to the door—”
“I didn’t say any of that. So, get the fuck out of my room and leave me alone.”
I pause, my eyes widening at her clear denial of doing something good in order to help. As if she doesn’t want anyone to know, doesn’t ever want it spoken about again. For a second, I think about pushing her into talking. Force her to tell me about whatever is happening with her eyes and with the things she’s clearly hiding.
But just as I’m about to press her for the information, her door flies open behind me and Nathanial stalks in.
“Get out here,” he says to me, his voice heavy with tension and restraint.
Chills run over my shoulders and down my spine, but I look back to Amelia who sits with mild interest coating her features. Her eyes look back at Nathanial and I, seemingly waiting for him to share whatever it is he wants to say. But it’s clear he isn’t sharing anything in front of her. I turn without another word and follow Nathanial out into the hallway, shutting her door behind me.
He suddenly grips me tightly by the elbow and drags me to his room where he closes us in alone. I’ve actually never been in his room before. He’s been shoving me away for so long that this is the first time he’s willingly pulled me in here. It’s dark, he has long black drapes that block out any light, and I quickly recognize the fact that he has a similar bed to the one we used
in Hell.
Before I have much of a chance to process my surroundings, he has me slammed back against the wall as he plants each of his hands on either side of my face. His broad chest is rising and falling quickly, his large frame drowning me in everything that is him. My body reacts, my mind responds, everything tuned into the heat he’s putting off. I know something is wrong, but he leans in closer and all of my thoughts are quickly distracted by the nearness of him.
“Where is your head right now, Stells?” He speaks roughly, the words sounding like gravel coming out of his throat.
Fuck.
I’ll admit, I’ve been a little preoccupied in my head since I woke up today. I can’t stop thinking about Danner visiting me last night, the things he said, or his continued threats to find me. I need to figure out a way to get rid of Danner while keeping everyone around me safe.
I hesitate in answering, so Nathanial’s tight grip lands on my chin as he shifts my head up in order to meet his eyes. “Answer me.”
I swallow, forcing back the lump that’s built in my throat over the fears I’ve been having in all of this. “My head is focused on where it needs to be, on keeping you all safe and the fuck away from Danner.”
His thumb traces a heavy line against my lower lip, tugging it down before releasing it again. “Stop,” he orders. “Stop worrying about the rest of us when we’re fine. We’re safe. No one knows where we are here.”
“You don’t know that it’ll stay that way. You don’t know that he hasn’t already found out where we live,” I speak quietly, frantically while my mind begins spiraling.
“I do know that. Because we just got word that Sunan and Danner were spotted near the Capital. They don’t know where to go or where to look. So, they resort to sticking close to where they know we’ve been,” he explains. He speaks slowly. Deliberately saying the words in a way that will affect and remind me that I’m safe here—that we’re all safe here.
I take a deep breath in and drop my head against the wall, letting my eyes fall shut in relief. I’m still breathing heavily when I feel his lips land on my jaw line, slowly moving back until he can graze them down my neck.
“Elijah and I are going to look for them,” he says as he continues trailing his lips across my heated skin. My heartbeat picks up, sparks of fire burst in my chest. “We’ll be back later tonight. But you, Luna, and Amelia are staying here. Leon will stay here as well, and Alf will be around if necessary.” His voice is low as it licks around me like fire. But the actual words he’s speaking begin registering in my mind. He’s distracting though, intoxicating me with his touch.
“No,” I say as I slip my hand to the back of his neck and pull him even closer. One of his hands drops to the belt on my shorts as he quickly unbuckles it. “Don’t leave.”
“Not happening, baby girl. I have to, but I want a piece of you before I go.” He rips the belt through my loops in one, hard pull before he reaches behind and tucks it into the pocket of his slacks. His lips come back up to my mouth as he claims me. His hands slip up the front of my cropped Tee, lifting it just enough to expose my breasts while he yanks the front of my bra down.
“I don’t want you going near him, Nathanial. Not until we know how to stop him,” I beg, just as my body grows more frantic, more needy and ready to have him take me. I’m turned on, my pussy wet and aching for his touch.
“I already know how to stop him,” he says as he pulls on one of my nipples, tugging it between his fingers until it pinches in pain. And then he bends down and licks me, sliding his tongue flat over the hard tip before he sucks it into his mouth.
“Shit,” I moan as my legs begin to weaken and I have to find the strength to hold myself steady.
Nathanial grips the waistband of my shorts and he tugs them down my legs until they’ve fallen around my ankles. I try to step out of them, but he stops me and literally flips me around so that I’m pressed tightly against the wall and my legs are trapped in my clothing. He pulls my waist back so that I’m bent over for him, exposed for his perusal.
He kicks my feet wider apart, so the denim pulls tight around my ankles and I’m standing there in only my fishnets and the cropped tee pulled above my tits.
“I’ve wanted to fuck you all day in these,” he says, his voice husky with desire while he pulls the waistband and lets it snap back against my skin. He lays both of his hands flat against my waist and slowly slides them downwards, grazing over my ass where he pauses and kneads my flesh. He grinds his hard cock against my ass before he quickly pulls away and crashes his hand against my pussy. I uncontrollably flinch at that pleasure of it. “You’re going to stay home tonight. You’ll call me if you hear anything, if Danner visits you or says anything new. Understand?”
I nod in acceptance, but my heart kicks even faster as he reaches behind and pulls my belt from his slacks. It’s already folded in half and just as I think he might bind my hands with it, he brings it back and hits my ass.
Only this time, the leather bites into my flesh in an entirely new kind of pain and desire. “Say yes,” he orders. The sting radiates from my flesh and I’m positive he’s left a mark.
I hesitate as my mind whirls and tries to process what he demanded of me before. The pain has surged a new erotic fog over my thoughts, and I remain silent for only a moment too long.
Slap. Again, the leather tears at my ass, but this time falls closer to the apex of my thighs. It sends a spiraling hurricane of both desire and pain coursing through me. I moan out in pleas as I try to catch my breath when his hand slowly begins moving over the places he inflicted.
“Be a fucking good girl and answer me,” he whispers against my ear. His breath is a hot touch of searing need.
“Yes. Yes,” I cry out, and he drops the belt to the floor. He reaches one hand down and in between my legs, slipping a finger through my soaked pussy and the thin fabric of my fishnets. He groans as he leans forward and does it again, shifting the tights just enough that he can slip a finger inside of me. “I need this. Need your slick pussy wrapped around my fucking cock, okay Stella?”
I verbalize my response quickly now, knowing that’s what he wants from me. “Yes, fuck. Yes. Okay.” My breaths are skyrocketing, my heart slamming, my pussy pulsing. All in sync with each other, my body is completely responsive and feeding from our energy. I can’t get enough of him, of these moments where he’s annihilating me and giving me everything I want at the same time. I’m being ripped apart and pieced back together in dark, seductive chaos.
He bends down and kisses a trail down my spine and over my ass. His hands follow every movement as they rake up and down my blazing skin. Once he gets to the apex of my thighs, he slides his fingers into the fishnets and rips them apart, tearing the fabric so that I’m completely on display for him. He presses his mouth to my core, licking his way through me for only a brief moment before he stands back up and I hear him unzipping his slacks.
Before I even have a second to catch my breath, his wide head is pushing against my entrance, sliding inside until he’s stretched and filled me entirely. I gasp at the feeling of him, of how thick and fucking big he is, but I quickly fall into moans and heavy breaths as he starts moving inside of me.
He pulls out slowly and then powerfully thrusts insides while he moves his hand around the front of my waist. He drops it lower until he can graze against my clit, playing with my pussy while he fucks me.
“I wish I could take my fucking time with you right now, but I have to go,” he says against my shoulder before he uses his other hand to grip my hair and pull my head back. His lips land on mine while he continues thrusting, and then his tongue slides inside my mouth to do the same. “So, I’m going to fuck you hard and fast, and then I’ll be back tonight to taste everything I’ve left behind.”
He’s dominating me, using me, giving to me, and taking for himself as he picks up his speed and pounds me against the wall. I’m absolutely positive every single person in this house can hear us, and I don’t g
ive a shit.
I whimper against his mouth, moaning and arching my ass into him, giving him more of me. Both our releases climb and crest at the same time, but I unravel first, the coil whipping and snapping through my body while my pussy milks his cock and he comes inside of me. I take it, without a second thought because I fucking want it.
He slows down and we ride out the wave of release together until we’ve caught our breath. He pulls back to tug up his slacks and slips his heavy cock back inside. I turn around but fall against the wall, not even bothering to touch my outfit. I don’t care, and I’m about to go to bed and rest anyway.
Nathanial reaches forward and wraps his hand around my jaw, forcing my head to look at him as he speaks. “Don’t take a shower. Don’t wash up. I want you to smell like me when I get back. I want you to feel me inside you while I’m gone, the way I’ve marked you like you should be. Because you’re mine.”
“Yes, daddy,” I say quietly and I let the tiniest bit of sarcasm lace my voice while a smirk tugs at my lips. He leans down and kisses me again, biting my lip and smacking my ass again before he turns to walk out the door.
“Sleep in my bed. I’ll be back tonight.”
“Be careful, Nathanial. I’m serious,” I remind him as I turn around and peel the fishnets slowly down my thighs. I look back over my shoulder and see him watching me, so I arch my back a bit more and make a show of it.
“Get the fuck in my bed and be ready for me when I get back.”
I laugh as he turns around and shuts the door behind him and then I crawl up into his bed as I pull my shirt and bra off as well. Completely naked, just like he’ll want me and exactly how I want to be.
“My sweet Stella,” his vile voice croons in my ear. “Come here, Stella.”
