Page 53 of Lucifer's Redemption

But as his fingers grazed the lower part of my back, my body arched pushing my chest straight into his. My girly parts screamed at me to do something, but I didn’t know what. I grunted, trying to pull away—it’s too much again.

I don’t know what to do or how to fix it, but I can’t ask Luci to help. No way.

Pushing away abruptly, I stood up, leaving him sitting on the bench. His eyes widened with his hand running through his hair as I looked down on his oh-so-pretty face.

“I’m sorry, bunny. I got carried away.”

His haggard breath only made me squeal internally at the pet name. My hand covered my mouth, still processing what I had just done.

I have a mate; he has a mate, somewhere out there. What happens if they catch us? They wouldn’t want us anymore.

I began shaking. Luci stood up to walk towards me only for me to hold out my arm to stop him.

“Uriel,” he growled again. “Don’t push me away.” His wings flew from his body, and the fire in his eyes I had only seen directed towards his brother and Ares came to light.

It didn’t scare me, not in the slightest. In fact, it made the butterflies in my tummy roar like mighty eagle wings.

“W-we have mates though, don’t we?” I sputtered. “I-I promised I would save my kisses for someone I loved, and—and I-I feel like I’ve already messed up.” The warmth in my eyes let me know tears were going to fall. They were threatening, impeding, but Luci stepped forward, moving my hand down and wrapping his arms around my waist. My hands pulled my hair to one side, pulling on it as I tried to explain.

“Shh,” Luci’s finger came to my lips, hushing the rambling words that protruded from my mouth.

The heavy breathing of my panic slowed as Luci continued to coo, the soft sounds of air rushing through his teeth melted me into his arms. An arm wrapped around my body, his hand reaching up petting the back of my head.

“You are such a good girl, little bunny,” he whispered to the top of my head. My heart raced, hearing such praise.

I thought I was being bad—a bad girl that wasn’t listening. I already disobeyed my mom by not wanting to go home with her, and so far, I had embarrassed myself in front of Luci and his family with my ignorance.

Even after all of that, Luci still thinks I’m a good girl?

My body wanted Luci, and part of my heart did too, but I was still so hung up on the words Nora had spoken previously, ‘Mates are our special someone.’

“The reason I brought you out here is to explain everything. Everything you want to know.” Luci pulled away from me, tilting my chin up with his rough fingers. “Will you come to sit with me now?” I nodded my head silently, and he gripped my waist tighter. “Words. I need to hear your beautiful mouth speak to me.”

My face flushed bright pink, rolling my lips into my mouth. “Yes,” I finally whispered back as he led me to the bench.

Absalom trudged out of the lake, shaking the water from himself as he went to find a patch of sweet grass near the base of a large willow tree. The leaves brushed the top of his back, shooting a shiver down his back and flank. Luci’s hand never released mine as he saw me watch his beautiful horse pawing at the grass to release its sweet scent.

“Remember the statue that you pointed out in the garden?” Luci began as his eyes stared into the distance of the palace. A haze had gathered around it, giving it a darkened, mysterious vibe.

I nodded my head again only to correct myself and whisper, “Yes.”

“My good, little bunny.” His hand rubbed the top of my head, making me smile brightly as his teeth glistened in the red sun.

Clearing his throat, he pointed to the moon that hung on the opposite side of the sky. “Selene is who you saw. She is the Moon Goddess, which is why she has a crescent moon on her forehead.” My eyes trailed to the blue moon, cocking my head to the side in wonder.

“Thousands of years ago,” Luci began, “when the world was still young with human life, Gods and Goddesses enjoyed observing their small creations. It took all of their power, working together to create a species that they could watch flourish—the humans.”

I scooted closer to Luci, laying my head on his shoulder. His gentle squeeze let me know it was okay as I listened.

“They wished to create creatures that looked like themselves, but a simplified version. They wanted them devoid of powers, with no strength beyond that of their own bodies. Gods wanted to see if, without powers, they would be more loving creatures than themselves.”

I shook my head, giggling.I know humans can be bad. I’ve seen it plenty of times when studying their wars.

“Gods have always wanted power; they fight amongst themselves and bicker relentlessly. They wanted to know if there was a creature that they could create with its own agency that would choose love over hate?” I pulled on my hair gently braiding a small section. “Unfortunately, humans were created with all of the gods’ personalities, and many were ripe with hate, selfishness, and greed. Some gods wished to destroy humans, deeming them a failure. However, many refused this notion questioning, ‘how could they destroy all the creatures when only a few were evil?’” Luci shifted in his seat, so I draped my legs over his.

“As time went on, many gods took small groups of humans and experimented with them. Many suffered and even died, but that did not deter them from them trying to create a being that would ultimately destroy the human race. With this experimentation, vampires, fae, witches, and warlocks were created, as well as many others. Just like humans, these new species also held good and evil within them. Humans realized that their existence was in jeopardy, so the strongest warriors gathered and began training to fight. These human warriors took many years to train themselves and helped countless humans in villages across the land. The warrior numbers never dwindled, but the human race was on the brink of extinction.” I gasped; I couldn’t help but be engrossed with the story.

“The God of War, Ares”—Luci winked at me as I squealed.I knew him!—“took notice of these large human warriors. He appreciated how fearlessly they fought.” Luci held up his arm to flex. Feeling brave I reached out to poke his muscle only to have my finger bounce back in protest.

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