Demon King (Claimed By Lucifer Book 1) Read online

  Like in my dreams.

  The rush of air ripped tears from my eyes, but through the haze I saw something dark falling above me. For a second I thought a man had jumped off the edge of the roof, but that was absurd. Until the man came closer, and I made out Lucas in his black suit. I watched his eyes glint red as his determined face drew near, and I laughed, because surely this was some kind of near-death delirium. Or maybe I was already dead?

  Just as he wrapped his strong arms around me, enormous, black-feathered wings erupted from his back. My stomach lurched as we stopped falling, and I sucked in a huge rasping breath of air, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest from the impact.

  “I’ve got you,” he said, as he tucked me close against his chest.

  I could only stare in shock and wonder as his wings moved like shadows against the bright city lights. Darkness trailed away from each feather like smoke as we flew through the air, rising until we reached the balcony of his penthouse. He landed easily beside the pool, but didn’t let me go, his arms wrapped protectively around me as I leaned against his chest. Probably a good thing, since I wasn’t sure I could stand.

  I looked up at Lucas’s impossibly handsome face. His eyes had lost the red glow, or perhaps I’d imagined that, but the black wings were still there. They looked like they were made of night itself, and I watched the way the darkness curled around him, the shadows clinging to his body and maybe even forming the hint of horns above his head.

  “Am I dead?” I managed to ask. “Are you an angel?”

  “You’re not dead.” He gazed down at me with such fierce protectiveness it took my breath away. “And I’m definitely no angel. Not anymore, anyway.”

  My heart was still beating out of my chest, but I had to see if this was real. I reached up with a trembling hand to touch one of Lucas’s wings, running a hesitant finger along one of the night-colored feathers. He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes for the briefest moment, and it surprised me to see how much such a light touch could affect him. How I affected him.

  Our conversation from last night came back to me like a voice on the wind, as everything he’d told me connected with everything I’d seen in a rush of clarity.

  “I am the devil. My true name is Lucifer.”

  “You’re trying to tell me you’re actually the devil. Fallen angel. Evil incarnate.”

  “Evil? Probably. Fallen? Definitely.”

  I could no longer deny it.

  Lucas Ifer really was the devil.

  And I’d made a deal with him.

  8

  Lucifer

  With one last look at the star-filled sky I'd plucked Hannah from, and the bright lights below where everything could have ended, I cradled her closer to my chest and strode inside the penthouse to settle her on the sofa. Her blonde hair spread over the black leather cushions like spun gold, and her blue-eyed gaze watched me with a mixture of shock and something else. Fear? Curiosity?

  Fire raced through my veins as I turned in a circle and raked a hand through my hair as I tried to figure out what to do. Water. That’s what she needed. I headed to the bar and poured some for her, and a whiskey for me. This certainly called for a drink.

  That was too close. I’d nearly lost her. How had she fallen? By the time I spotted her in the panicked crowd, it was already too late. If she hadn’t screamed, I wouldn’t have seen her in time. Someone must have shoved her, and hard too. Only supernatural strength could have gotten her over that wall.

  Was he after her already? Or was it someone else? Fuck. I couldn’t even keep her safe on the roof of my own building. Would it be better to send her away? Would she be safer?

  No. No. She was safest by my side. This time would be different. It had to be.

  When I returned with her water, Hannah sat on the sofa in the exact position I’d left her in. She hadn’t moved or said a word, she just stared off into space with her perfect lips slightly open. This was definitely shock. Falling from a roof would do that to anyone, not to mention being saved by the most infamous villain in the world.

  As soon as I realized she was shivering, I waved a hand at the fireplace and it ignited, instantly. Then I snatched a velvet throw from the chair by the fire and covered her with it. As I tucked it around her shoulders, she finally moved her eyes upward, focusing on something behind me. I whirled, expecting to find someone there, but we were alone.

  As I returned my attention to Hannah, I realized her wide-eyed gaze was glued to my wings. I tucked them away quickly, making them vanish.

  “I was planning to show you my wings, and prove to you all I’d been saying,” I said in my softest voice—the one I reserved only for Hannah—as I squashed all the fury still roiling inside me. “But not like this.”

  She jerked her gaze to my face, and her perfect little mouth formed an o. “It’s true. It’s all true.”

  “Yes, it is.” I reached up to stroke her cheek, but she flinched back from me and I stopped myself. “Do you know what happened back there? How you fell?”

  She shook her head silently, her eyes still wide.

  “Whoever attacked you will pay.” This time, I wasn’t able to keep the menace from my voice, and she recoiled again. I drew in a sharp breath and regained control of myself. “Hannah. You have nothing to fear from me.”

  Hannah’s chest began to heave under the blankets as she took rapid breaths. “But you’re the devil!”

  Without waiting for a response, she threw her blanket to the side and kicked her heels off. Her red dress rode up her legs with the movement, revealing inch after inch of pale, soft skin. My cock twitched as I remained ever aware of how perfect she was, inside and out, even in the midst of an existential crisis. I averted my eyes.

  “God,” she whispered. Ah, she’d discovered the larger implications of me being…well, me. “Does God exist? What about the Bible?”

  “I’ve known many gods in my time, and I’ve been a god or two as well, but I don’t know if the God, an all-powerful and all-knowing deity, actually exists. No one does.”

  She jumped to her feet and scurried across the room, but she didn’t leave, which was promising. I had a sliver of hope I hadn’t completely scared her away. “And the other demons you keep talking about. Imps, succubi, incubi…. Those are real too? What about angels?”

  “Yes, all real. Everything I’ve told you is true.” I wanted to reach for her, to help her through this difficult realization, but I stayed back. She was still here. She knew where the door was, and she hadn’t left. That was the important thing.

  Hannah stopped pacing and stared at me with her jaw hanging open. “But…how?”

  “Demons come from a…” How to describe it? “Parallel universe of sorts, known as Hell. Angels came from another realm known as Heaven, and fae come from Faerie.”

  Her eyebrows rose with every sentence I spoke. If I carried on, she’d lose them somewhere in her hair. “Fae?”

  “Let’s focus on angels and demons for now and worry about the fae some other time.” I walked over to the bar and poured myself another whiskey. Sometime in the last few minutes I’d downed mine without realizing it. “Drink? If there was ever a time for alcohol, it’s when you realize your entire view of life has been upended.”

  “No, thanks.” She walked over to the armchair by the window and collapsed into it, completely unaware of how the dress had shifted on her frame, exposing those thighs again, not to mention most of her midsection. Another inch and I’d see the lower curve of her breasts. Not that I was complaining. “The last thing I need is for this revelation to be muddled by alcohol.”

  “Many humans find life preferable when muddled by alcohol. Alas, it has no effect on me.” I took a sip of whiskey anyway, mainly because I liked the taste. The burn reminded me of Hell.

  Hannah finally realized she was holding a glass of water and took a sip. A tiny bit of clarity returned to her eyes, and I could almost see her thoughts working inside that smart brain of hers. Her true natur
e would allow her to accept these revelations easier than a normal human would—some of them never recovered from learning about supernaturals. I had no doubt Hannah would be fine by the end of the night. She always was.

  She turned those big blue eyes on me, peering at me from under her soft lashes. “You were an angel once.”

  "Archangel," I corrected. "But I rebelled against Heaven, much as the lore says I did.”

  “Why?”

  The answer to that was too much for her to handle tonight. “Let’s just say I disagreed with a few of their policies regarding Earth.”

  “And then you became the devil?” she asked.

  “Then I left Heaven for Hell.” I ran a hand down my suit, smoothing the rumpled fabric. “There I united the warring, chaotic demon tribes and crowned myself King. I've ruled the demons ever since.”

  I debated telling her how she played into it all, but she seemed shell-shocked enough as it was. She’d had enough for tonight. Soon she would know everything, with no more secrets between us, and I longed for that day. But she needed time to process everything first.

  I stepped forward and offered her my hand. “I can tell you have more questions, but I think it’s time you got some rest. You’ve had an…eventful night.”

  “But I have more questions,” she said, as she slid her hand into mine.

  “And I promise to answer them. Tomorrow.” She wobbled a little as she stood, and I bent down and picked her up again. The second she was in my arms, everything in the world felt right again.

  “What are you doing?” she squealed, kicking her legs as I carried her across the living room.

  “Taking you to your room.”

  “I can walk!”

  “That’s debatable.” I kicked open her door and set her down on the bed. “You just had the shock of a lifetime, and nearly died as well. Allow me to help you get undressed.”

  She stood up without wavering this time. “I can manage just fine, thanks.” But then she paused. “Although if you could unzip the back of this dress, that would be great. I could barely get it on by myself earlier.”

  A low chuckle escaped me as she turned around, and I dragged the zipper down her back, exposing her pale, perfect skin. Oh, how I longed to trail my lips down it, and to continue sliding this dress to the floor. I had to have her. Soon.

  She turned around and shot me a look that reminded me of a kitten trying to be ferocious, and muttered thanks. Then she grabbed something from the closet and escaped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

  I lounged on the bed while I waited for her, admiring the flowers around the room. Gadreel had done a good job following my orders, as I knew he would. I breathed them in, remembering a time long ago when we’d also been surrounded by narcissus.

  When Hannah stepped out she did a double-take when she saw me on her bed. Her face was hesitant, but she licked her lips, and I knew she felt desire too. She could never resist me, no matter how hard she tried.

  Her hair was loose around her shoulders, her makeup gone, and she wore a thin black nightgown with spaghetti straps. Restraining myself from slipping those straps off her shoulders was sheer torture, but I prevailed and rose to my feet.

  “I’m leaving,” I told her, as I unbuttoned my suit jacket. “I simply wanted to make sure you were all right before I left you alone.”

  She let out a long breath. “I feel like my head’s been taken off, shaken about, and put back on again.”

  I chuckled softly. “That sounds about right. Come. Lie down.”

  I eased forward and took her hand, drawing her toward me. She allowed it, to my surprise, which only showed how tired she was. A near-death experience really took it out of humans, even one as extraordinary as Hannah. I drew her blankets back and when she slipped into the bed, I covered her up. When she looked up at me with her golden hair spread out on the pillow it took everything I had not to climb in bed with her. Her eyes were wide though, and I sensed her tired brain was resisting sleep, coming up with even more questions to ask me.

  “Sleep. We have another big day tomorrow.” With the faintest push, I added a bit of power to my words, just enough to make her yawn and her eyelids begin to flutter closed. The command wasn’t very strong, but it would allow her body’s own instincts to take over and help her sleep off most of the shock.

  She yawned and pulled the covers up to her chin, before whispering, “Why me?”

  “Because you’re mine. You’ve always been mine.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead as her eyes fluttered shut. “And you will always be mine.”

  9

  Hannah

  When I woke, the sheets had twisted around me like I was being pinned to the bed by coiled snakes. A cool sheen of sweat lingered on my body, and damp strands of hair stuck to my forehead. I groaned and sucked in a long shallow breath. It wasn’t enough. My body craved oxygen as though I’d spent most of the night running.

  I’d always been a terrible sleeper, plagued by horrible dreams and then waking to find my body clenched tight around a pillow, my muscles aching from the tension in my limbs. But last night was especially bad.

  Fractured remnants of my dreams floated through my mind. Fire and ashes, shadows and smoke, darkness curling into feathers and horns. So much fear, so much pain, so much death. And Lucas…always Lucas. His face drifted in and out of focus before being replaced by another’s, though this one was blurred.

  The only dream I remembered clearly was one with Lucas—no, Lucifer—sitting on a black throne, and the closer I tried to look at him, the more he seemed to become aware of my presence. Too late, I pulled back, but his red eyes gaze snapped to mine and he crooked his finger, beckoning me closer. That was right before I woke up, and my heart still thundered from the memory of it.

  I sat up and shook my head, trying to clear it, but the fear from my dreams still lingered. I hesitated to leave the room because Lucas would be out there, with day three already planned for me. Which sin would it be today?

  I swallowed the horror drying my throat. How could I possibly spend any further time with that man now that he’d revealed his secret? When I’d thought him a mob boss, I’d questioned my choices. Now I condemned them.

  I moved from my bed like an old lady, slowly and carefully in case I broke. I’d nearly died last night, and my body felt tender, like it hadn’t gotten the memo I was still alive. I walked to the closet on autopilot, and the hangers clacked together as I moved them from left to right. Like everything else I touched in this room, they were good quality. Expensive. And they belonged to the devil.

  Did I belong to him too now?

  I drew out the first outfit my hands touched—a linen, sleeveless pantsuit. I briefly wondered if it would suit today’s activities but shrugged it off. I didn’t care about the activities. I was only doing this for Brandy.

  Once dressed, I couldn’t delay any longer. I had to face Lucas.

  No, not Lucas.

  Lucifer.

  Lu-ci-fer.

  The syllables rolled around and around in my head, their sound enough to drive me crazy. Even after everything I’d seen last night, it was hard to accept it was all real.

  When I finally walked into the kitchen, he was there and already dressed in another of his impeccable black suits, sipping coffee and reading a newspaper.

  “Good morning.” His warm voice washed over me, as if nothing at all untoward had happened last night. Except I’d all but plummeted to my death, and he’d grown a pair of wings as black as darkness itself. But then, the devil might not have a care in the world. Why should he?

  “Morning,” I murmured, although it was nearly noon at this point.

  He looked me over, his eyes dark and unreadable. “You look lovely.”

  “Thank you.” I couldn’t look at Lucifer without memories of my dreams flickering through my head, or of the stomach-lurching jolt when he’d caught me mid-air and saved my life. Clearing my throat, I focused on the food instead.

&nbs
p; An entire brunch buffet was laid out on the table with everything from eggs to pancakes to fruits. I picked at a couple of things, then glanced at the apples. Ruby red, juicy-looking, and tempting me like they probably once tempted Eve. Was that story real too? I shook my head, rejecting them.

  Lucifer watched my progress back toward the table, and he eyed me as I began to pick at the small scoop of eggs on my plate, but I avoided looking at him. Every time I glanced his way, my breath caught at the memory of his protective eyes looking down on me, his arms clutching me tight, his wings unfurled behind him. The enormous, shadowy, impossibly beautiful wings that had saved my life. If he had wings and red eyes—because surely I didn’t imagine those either—what else did he have? Horns? A forked tail? Goat legs? My brain conjured up all sorts of horrifying images from movies and tv shows, and I shoved my food away, my hunger gone.

  Yesterday, I'd been trying to humor a sexy billionaire with a devil fetish. Today, I was dining one-on-one with Lucifer himself. It was a lot to take in. I just had to get through the next few days, and then I’d have Brandy back, and I could spend the rest of my life trying to forget I’d ever met the devil.

  Yeah, right. As if that was possible.

  That afternoon, we took another of Lucifer’s fancy sports cars out onto The Strip. I didn’t ask where we were going, and Lucifer left me to my silence, as if he knew I wasn’t ready for conversation. We left downtown Las Vegas and drove just past the edge of civilization, to the start of where the desert could swallow us up. He turned the car down a road that led to a sign for the Devil’s Playground Raceway, and we soon came upon a rectangular building set against the backdrop of a large racetrack with the arid, dry mountains behind it.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked, as I gazed out at the race track.

  “Letting off a little steam.” Lucifer gave me a wicked grin. “I thought you could use a good distraction.”