Page 18 of Premonition of Peace

It was wrong on every level to want this man, and yet I did. And I was getting tired of fighting it, no matter what he’d done.

“Tell me,” I said.

His eyes flashed, glowing gold as they bore into me. “I want to possess every inch of your skin. To own your thoughts. To consume your dreams. I want everything from you, Nathalie. And I’ll never stop wanting it. Demons are selfish creatures by nature, and I am nothing if not a model example of my species. I know you need the incubus and Baggage in your life?—”

“Must you call him that?”

He placed a finger to my lips. “I know you need them, but I’m not giving up my spot. I’m not going anywhere, and if the day comes that they fuck up bad enough—I can’t say I’ll be sad. I’m selfish enough to want all of you, but Iwillput your needs first.”

“If you had all of me, theoretically, don’t you worry you’d get bored?”

Amusement flittered across his features. He palmed my neck with one hand and cupped my cheek with the other. “You are the most fascinating creature I’ve ever met. I can say with certainty, I will never be bored of you.”

I wanted to doubt his every word, even when he spoke with conviction. I guess that was the part of relationships that scared me. It was my baggage. Marcel made me so certain before he broke my heart. A small part of me would always doubt because of it.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t take the chance. I could choose to be brave and open my heart again.

Bad Nat snorted.“You act like you haven’t already. You’re gone for him. Stop lying to yourself.”

“Go to lunch,”Peace encouraged.“Spend time with him. He’s good for us.”

“I don’t know aboutthat,”Ann said.“But he does seem to put us first and leash himself in some respects because of it. Our moral compass is fairly set. I’d say the odds of him dragging us down are low, but perhaps we can raise him up.”

Bad Nat rolled her eyes.“I’d say we should go to the dark side, but I’d be wasting my breath.”

“Yes, you would,”The Warden responded.“I’m with Ann on this. We treat him like he’s worthy of this relationship, and he will become that. His past is long, and mostly fucked up, but he’s made a point to do better for us. That’s worth a great deal.”

“I can feel the pull when you do that,” Lucifer said quietly. “I’m resisting it, but whenever you disappear, it’s like my body wants to follow.”

That yanked me firmly from my mind to stare at him. “Thank you for resisting.”

He gave me a tight smile. “Let’s just say I hope the day comes that you invite me in.”

“I . . . don’t know about that.”

“I’m aware. I can be patient.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I redirected our conversation. “Let’s get lunch, shall we?”

Lucifer kissed me lightly and let me go. I stepped away, gripping the counter to center myself. There was going to be a lot of that in my future, I imagined.

We walked down the street in comfortable silence. Me wearing my low-heeled boots and black jeans with one of my favorite off-the-shoulder sheer blouses. Lucifer in one of his infamous suits. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t envious of the way he could pop into the spirit realm and pop out dressed to the nines. There aren’t many powers I truly felt jealousy over, but that one was one.

When he got to the restaurant, heads turned. They weren’t looking at me. They were staring at Lucifer.

It only occurred to me then that I should have glamoured him. Not because I was embarrassed, but because the sheer amount of attention we were drawing made me uncomfortable. Lucifer had been around a long time, and he ruled New Chicago for many years. Most supernaturals knew what he looked like, and many had dealt with him in some capacity over the years.Dressed in his classic white suit with gold cufflinks, he looked like every part the devil he used to be.

“We’ll have to glamour you in the future,” I murmured as we were being led away to our table.

“Why?” He glanced sideways at me.

“Everyone’s staring.”

“And?”

We took our seats, but the menus remained untouched as we continued our conversation.

“I’m not used to the attention. I prefer to operate discreetly.”

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