Chapter 40

Beatrice

Though I wouldn’t say I’d completely forgiven Lucifer, I wasn’t nearly as angry with him, and I knew I’d forgive him eventually. Dinner with Lucy was nice. She was a sweet person. As for Lucifer, I liked seeing his reactions to Lucy. He loved her very much, and he obviously wasn’t ready to let her grow up. It was past time to let go. Lucy was nearly a decade older than I was, and I was beginning to suspect she’d never even kissed a guy. How does someone remain chaste when they grow up in Hell? I suppose, with Lucifer as a father, it’s hard to find a date. Most would be terrified of incurring the devil’s wrath. I could help Lucy with that when I moved in with Lucifer. If I moved in with Lucifer. I needed to remember that I wasn’t ready to forgive him.

It was shortly after Xavier returned to escort Lucy back to the demon realm that Gryph, Julia, and Persephone arrived.

“I had a feeling you’d still be here,” Gryph remarked gruffly.

“Be nice,” Julia warned, carefully avoiding looking at Lucifer.

Persephone was openly gawking at him.

“Your wings are incredible,” she breathed out as she stood behind Lucifer.

He was sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen island, so she had a perfect view of Lucifer’s wings.

“Do you want to touch them?” he asked with a patient smile.

“Yes,” Persephone replied excitedly, her fingers hovering near his wings. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It’s fine,” he assured her, and she reached out to stroke the feathers.

I felt a jolt of jealousy. Lucifer was watching me carefully as Persephone basically petted him. She was my closest friend, yet I still wanted to scream at her to get her hands off him. Touching his wings seemed far too intimate.

“You should stop,” Lucifer told Persephone.

“Is it irritating you?” she asked.

I knew it wasn’t irritating him. His eyes were still locked with mine, and I expected him to say it was because I was jealous of having another woman touch his wings. Instead, he said. “It bothers me a little.”

The doorbell rang before my friend could think of a thousand questions to ask about his wings.

“That’s probably Ray and Lauren,” Gryph told us. “They’re my neighbors.”

“They’re also swingers,” Julia added excitedly.

“Vampire swingers?” I asked in surprise.

“I was shocked, too,” Julia told me.

“Vampires are fairly prudish, from what I’ve heard,” I added.

“The vampires in this neighborhood are far from prudish,” Gryph said on his way to the door.

“They’re not pushy about it,” Julia assured us before glancing over at Lucifer. “It would help if you covered some of that up.”

Before Lucifer had a chance to comply, Gryph entered the room with two vampires. They were both dressed in jeans and t-shirts and looked to be in their teens with brown hair and eyes. Vampires are turned around their eighteenth birthday and look older before the change. After they become vampires, they are forever stuck in their mid-teens, physically, at least. Only the use of dark magic could change that. Some vampires went that route, but not many. I’d only met a handful of vampires. They were as elitist as witches, preferring to keep to their own kind and looking down on other members of the preternatural community.

“These are our neighbors, Ray and Lauren,” Julia told us since Gryph didn’t seem inclined to make introductions. “Ray, Lauren, these are our friends, Beatrice, Persephone, and Lucifer.”

“Oh my,” Ray breathed out as his eyes landed on Lucifer.

Lauren also looked dumbstruck. I didn’t blame her. I’d spent the last four hours with Lucifer shirtless, and I was still a little dumbstruck. The man was too hot for words.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Persephone told them. “I’ve never met vampires or swingers. Well, I suppose I may have met swingers and not known they were swingers. You don’t exactly have club jackets, right? Still, this is exciting. Please, tell me if I get too nosy. I tend to forget my manners when I get excited.”

Persephone’s excited chatter was enough to break the spell the vampires seemed to be under.

Lauren gave her a warm smile and moved forward to set the tray of brownies she was holding on the counter. “You can ask us anything you like,” she assured Persephone.

“We’re not shy,” Ray added with a toothy grin.

“Do you mind if we ask a question?” Lauren asked.

“Go right ahead,” Persephone told her.

“Why is Lucifer standing in the kitchen?” Lauren asked.

“Not that we’re complaining,” Ray quickly added.

“I came to retrieve what’s mine,” Lucifer replied arrogantly.

I snorted and walked over to smack his bare chest. “Don’t be an ass.”

Lauren let out a startled bark of laughter before trying to cover it with a cough. “Sorry. I never expected to see a witch call Lucifer an ass.”

“Beatrice is something else,” Lucifer murmured as his heated gaze moved along my body.

“Oh my,” Ray breathed out again. “That is really hot.”