Page 73 of Unholy Fate

“Pathetic,” I sneered, shouldering my way through the crowd with predatory grace. “Their lives are so small, so insignificant. And yet...”

My gaze flicked to a nearby shop window, my reflection staring back at me with an unsettling intensity. For a moment, I saw myself as they might, just another face in the crowd, unremarkable and utterly forgettable.

The thought made my stolen blood boil. I was Lucifer, the Fallen One, master of all I surveyed. And I would not be ignored.

And I would take the female who was mine by right from any who tried to hold her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

EVELYN

I saton the plush couch in the penthouse’s living room, a bowl of popcorn in my lap. Ian, Aziz, and Levi sprawled around me, engrossed in an over-the-top action movie playing on the massive TV. Explosions and gunfire echoed through the room, but my attention was wandering. The chaos on the screen was almost laughable compared to the chaos inside me.

Aziz reached his hand into the popcorn bowl on my lap, his fingers grazing my thigh. He shot me a wicked grin, mischief dancing in his deep brown eyes. I rolled mine at him playfully. Aziz was always pushing boundaries with his flirtatious touches and innuendos. His raw sexuality and hair-trigger temper kept me on my toes these past few days.

I stretched and set the popcorn aside. “I think I’m going to call it a night. I need a long bath, shave my legs, maybe read a book. You guys enjoy.”

Levi tossed a handful of popcorn at me. “We’ll try not to miss you too much.”

I laughed, dodging Aziz’s hand as he reached for me, and waved them off as I headed toward the master bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I leaned against it for a moment, letting the quiet envelop me.

I looked around the opulent bedroom, the luxurious furnishings both comforting and overwhelming after my humble background. Moving toward the en suite bathroom, I ran the water for a bath, adding a generous pour of lavender-scented oil. The calming scent filled the air as steam rose around me.

Stripping off my clothes, I glanced at myself in the mirror. The bruises from past encounters had faded, but emotional scars still lingered beneath my pale skin. My curves and pretty face felt like a stranger’s reflection staring back at me. So much had changed.

As I turned toward the inviting tub, a sudden coldness swept through the room, snuffing out the warmth of the bathwater and flickering candles. I froze as the shadows in the room seemed to gather and coalesce into a chilling, unnatural darkness. Fear prickled down my spine.

I turned and locked gazes with a man that somehow I knew wasn’t a man at all.

“Who the hell are you? Why are you here?”

Luciferhissed through my mind, answering the question. The memory of him coming to me, shining in the desert.

His golden stare burned with intensity as he stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “You are mine, Lilith. You always have been. I’m here to ensure you never forget that. And to take you back where you belong.”

I backed away, but there was nowhere to go. My back hit the wall, and Lucifer’s large hand shot out, pinning me in place.

“Get away from me,” I said, my voice shaking but defiant.

His expression was calm, almost detached, but his amber eyes gleamed with a dark hunger. “You’ve forgotten. Let me remind you.”

“Ian! Aziz!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Levi!”

Silence. It was as if the sound of my words was swallowed by the bathroom walls.

I grabbed a crystal ornament on the sink, just within reach, and swung it, hitting his head with all my strength. It was like hitting a wall, pain from the blow radiating from my hand all the way down to my shoulder.

It didn’t even break his flawless skin. He grabbed it from me, tossing it to the side, then wrapped that hand around my other wrist. I struggled against Lucifer’s iron grip, but he was impossibly strong, his touch searing my skin.

“This moment is ours alone,” he purred, almost tenderly.

Even kicking and throwing myself side to side, Lucifer moved both my wrists to one of his large hands. He pinned them both above my head high enough that I had to go on tiptoe. Gazing at me, he licked his lips.

At the site, unwanted arousal pooled low in my belly, as if I knew that expression and I knew what would follow it. The uncanny familiarity whipsawed through me with a flood of other emotions. Lust, anger, grief... all of them intense enough to make me freeze.

Lucifer traced his other hand down my body, starting it my cheek then my neck down my breast to circle my nipple and then sliding to my thighs. Even though his nail looked normal, a thin trace of blood sprang up where his finger had traveled. He leaned in and delicately licked my nipple as his fingers found me.

Panic coursed through me as Lucifer fingered me. Every movement of his fingertips led to a burst of pleasure. It was if he knew exactly what would arouse me, what would make me yearn. And he exploited it without mercy.

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