Page 58 of Touched By Death

My lips spread into a sinister smile as I approach her from behind. “Do you miss them, Genesis? The weight of them?”

When my hands land on her shoulders, she turns her head slightly. “You removed my wings.”

Swiping her hair from her neck, I duck down to breathe her in. “My first trophy.”

I don’t miss how her throat jumps—the first crack in her steel facade. Her heady scent intensifies with the storm of emotions that thickens the air the longer she stares at her past. My eyes roll to the back of my head as I imagine sinking my teeth into the column of her long neck. It’s no longer a craving so much as a dying need. I need to fuck this sweet body. I need to fuck it and ruin its perfection.

“You’re a sick man, Lucifer,” she murmurs in a choked voice as she slowly turns in my arms.

“We finally agree on something.”

When her eyes collide with mine, I grab her by the throat hard enough to draw a delicious yelp from her lips. She stumbles when I walk forward. The backs of her legs collide with the edge of the bed, and I duck down to sink my teeth into her bottom lip. Her racing pulse thunders beneath my fingertips. Not a single breath slips past the constricted column of her throat while I nip and bite at her delicious mouth. By the time I’ve drank my share and shoved her down onto the bed, blood coats her swollen lips.

“You shouldn’t have come back here, Genesis,” I tell her as I climb on top of her. “Little moths shouldn’t fly so close to the flames.”

She bares her teeth with a hiss. When she thrashes on the bed, I overpower her with ease. “I guess I’ll have to hurt you to get what I want.”

Arching her back, she attempts to buck me off. “You would never hurt me.”

“Is that so?” I laugh, nearly crushing her tiny wrists in my tight grip. “Why’s that?”

“Because you’ll never get to fuck her if you do.” Lifting her head off the mattress, her brown eyes flash red. “You’re all victims of her in your own unique ways. It’s pathetic how you all want a piece of the little angel. How easy it was to use her innocence against you.” The red recedes and gives way to a cruel smile. “Now he gets to claim her instead, and fuck, baby… He’s taking advantage of having her all to himself without obstacles in his way. Even now, I can feel her distress. Her helplessness.”

Something ugly rears its head inside me. Some foreign, weird sensation I don’t know how to place. I bruise her wrists with my grip. “What the fuck are you talking about? Who’s claiming her?”

A manic laugh bubbles from her bloody lips. “You’ll never know. She’s gone, Lucifer. The shadows have her now. Your life is ruined. Your son will go insane hunting for her. Did you know they’re bonded by hellfire?”

“Fuck,” I grunt, letting go of her wrists and grabbing her in a chokehold. My hands engulf her small neck as I begin to choke the life out of her. I choke and choke, grunting with the effort, cock straining painfully against my pants despite the fucking anger that boils my blood.

Only when she begins to lose consciousness do I release her with a roar. I scramble off the bed, breathing hard as I tear open the bedside drawer. The contents spill to the floor. I toss the drawer aside, snatch up the handcuffs, and secure her wrist to the bed frame.

“Fuck,” I whisper, then louder, “FUCK!” Tearing at my hair, I begin to pace the black rug on the floor. Why the fuck am I this affected by her? And when did my son bond his hellfire to hers? I kick over the nightstand as she coughs on the bed, clutching desperately at her sore throat. Her eyes find mine, glinting with a sick amusement. “Do you know what that means, Lucifer?”

“Of course I fucking know what it means to combine flames with another angel,” I bark, pointing an accusing finger at her. “This was your game all along, wasn’t it? Steal my only heir from me?”

She tugs the handcuff as she replies, “You’re so dramatic. Did you honestly think God wouldn’t seek revenge in His own time? You turned your back on Him.”

“So what’s your plan? Deprive my son of his female now that they’ve combined flames? Slowly drive him insane? To what end? Just to punish me?”

“Since when did you become such a saint, baby? You were willing to fuck her brains out just a few minutes ago, and now you’re worried about your son? Why? Because you found out about their bond? While it’s true that hellfire-bonded couples go insane if they’re forced apart, he’s not the only one she’s bonded with.”

I pause, whipping my head in her direction. “Who else?”

Her shoulders rise and fall with a shrug. She rattles the handcuff. “Release me, and I might tell you.”

“Not a fucking chance in hell. Not until you tell me what I want to hear.”

Easing back against the bed frame, she watches me pace the room. Rain patters softly on the glass as the minutes tick by. “You’re all bonded to her in some way. Whether it’s by fire, emotion, or because you’re victim to your own possessive nature doesn’t matter. It all leads to the same end.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” I spit, flames erupting from my fingertips.

“None of you are able to hurt her.”

Surging toward the bed with my incisors bared, I growl, “I will kill you one day, Genesis. Mark my fucking words. Your days are numbered.”

“You’ll end up hurting her. And then your son and his friends, maybe even your own brother, will kill you. I wouldn’t even have to raise a finger. Everyone you care about in your own unique, twisted little way will turn against you if you so much as lay a finger on her. I’ve done my homework, Lucifer. I won’t make the same mistake twice. This time, you can’t hide behind your followers.”

Shaking my head with disgust, I drop down into the nearest armchair and blow out a ragged breath. Head in my hands, I stare down at the floor. She made them combine flames, bonded them in the fucking fire that forges Hell, and then she tore her from my son. My only heir. The one who will one day rule Hell. And unless he gets her back, he’ll slowly go insane until only darkness remains.

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