Page 88 of Lucifer's Redemption

If Luci found out my mom was in here, she would be in a heap of trouble. It was like I was harboring a fugitive, but kind of not. She wasn'treallyhere, it was just her apparition.

"Not until I find that evil, Uriel!" Mom stood up, determined, as she slid across the room. Her bare feet didn't even sink into the carpet as her translucent form stopped. "I will even find out if your supposed ‘mate' is to blame as well. I still don't trust him. Do not let him mark you!" I stood up on the bed, pointing my finger at her.

How dare she tell me what to do after lying to me for all these years!

"I will do as I wish!" I snapped. "You have no control over me anymore!" shaking my head in disbelief. To think I felt sorry for her earlier.

The loud banging now pushed the large white doors until they bowed. Luci's smoke and fire could be seen through the cracks of the door.

"I mean it, Uriel! Be a good girl and listen to your mother!"

I shook my head again defiantly. Stomping my foot on the ground, I yelled out for Luci.

No way! No way can she tell me what to do anymore!

"She's in here! My mom is in here!" I shouted, half crying. I couldn’t believe it came down to this; I thought she could change after I took away the guilt, but it looks like it just fed the fire inside her. Mom was bent on trying to protect me, even when I knew my mate would help.

Mom's face softened from her angry scowl to disappointment, thinking I sided with my mate instead of her. She has taken care of me all these years. She did it in her own way, but still, it was wrong the way she did it. Mom couldn't let go; she couldn't trust her daughter; she couldn’t trust the way I felt about things. Luci would never, ever hurt me and I am stronger than what she makes me out to be. She understood nothing about me, just her perception of me: the innocent little Uriel who still loved bubble baths and was ignorant of the realms.

Ok, I still loved bubble baths.

"We will figure this out, Uriel," Mom spoke before the white double doors of my room blasted open. They fell to the floor; the once pristine white doors now charred black with flames on the corners. Luci's black wings held fire at the tips, and his eyes glowed red.

"You!" Luci growled.

Luci lunged to capture Mom's apparition. His flapping wings nearly engulfed the entire room. Ash flew from his wings as Mom took one last glance and disappeared entirely.

I gripped a pillow next to me and silently cried.

Could she not see that Luci was trying to protect me? Now she looked like the evil one in all this mess: she kept me from my mate, she hid me all these years, and she lied to me. The only evil I see is her. Mom was going about it all wrong. She loved me, but why did it hurt that she wouldn't listen to me?

I heaved in deep breaths until Luci's warm arms engulfed me. His wings shielded us both by wrapping them around me. He whispered in my ear while petting my hair, kissing my cheek, and giving me all the love that I had craved since learning we were mates.

Luci comforted me. He loved me, and I loved him fiercely even though such a short amount of time transpired. Mom should have been happy for me. She got her mate and loved my dad deeply. Now I sit here with my mate, and she tells me not to let my mate mark me as his?

What does marking even mean?

"Luci?" I sniffed, drying my tears on his now tattered shirt. His eyes were no longer the red that stared down at my mother. "What does it mean to mark your mate?" My head tilted to the side, gripping onto the rags of his shirt.

"Oh, bunny…" he whispered, brushing my sparkly tears away. "What did she say to you? Did she hurt you?" I shook my head, leaning into Luci. His wings held us in the dark with only a tiny bit of light emanating from the fire on the tips of his wings. It lit just enough so I could see his face.

"She didn't hurt me," I sniffed. "She is very confused. She thinks she is helping me, but she isn't. Mom thinks you might be the evil that is after me, and when I told her we were mates, she kind of lost it. She told me not to let you ‘mark me,’ but I don't understand that." Luci held me tighter, the growling in his chest became louder as he kissed the top of my head.

"To complete the mating bond," he muttered, "we have to actually mate. As we both come close to feeling that wonderful pleasure we like to give each other," I blushed, covering my face as I giggled. Luci chuckled, kissing my temple, "our souls will disconnect from our bodies and merge. We are then one in body, mind, and spirit." My eyes widened. It sounded so beautiful to be connected to him. I felt so in sync with him already. How was I to feel once we completed this?

"I want to do it," I whispered. "I want to be mated to you." Luci's eyebrows furrowed, his fingers tracing my lips.

"I do too, more than anything." His lips touched me, my hands reaching to cup his face.

"But I don't want you to do it because your mother forbids it. You have a lot of emotions running through your body, bunny. I want you to have a clear head because I know," he tapped my nose, "you fear my cock destroying your precious, little flower." I giggled, knowing that was precisely how I felt.

"How do you know so much?" I mused, tracing the tattoo on his shoulder.

"I can feel your emotions. We have become close in a short amount of time, but I can sense what you feel. You are an open book, my innocent, little goddess." Luci's breath was warm as it fanned my neck. Straddling him, I put my head on his shoulder as he rocked us back and forth.

"Is that why you came in here? Because you felt me?" I kissed the base of his neck. My tingles returned as I sat straddling him. Rocking against him, he groaned, putting his hands on my bum.

We didn't have to mate now, but we could do playtime stuff, right?

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