Chapter 93

Beatrice

“Aren’t you glad I dragged you out of the house tonight?” Persephone asked as she set a sparkly pink drink in front of me. Her left arm still had a brace on it, but the sprain was healing quickly, and it hadn’t slowed her down one bit.

“Why are we drinking unicorn blood again?” I asked.

Persephone paused, her drink almost at her lips. “I wonder what real unicorn blood tastes like.”

I laughed because only Persephone would wonder something like that.

“Have you given him an answer yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I admitted.

“Why?” she asked. “You want to live with Lucifer. You’ve only spent two nights at our apartment in the last two weeks.”

I did want to live with Lucifer, but for some reason, I still hadn’t said yes. It could be that he’d only asked me one time. After I’d told him I needed to think about it, he’d agreed to be patient and done his best to seduce me into going to his place every night. My two nights at home were because I’d gone out with Lucy. He seemed averse to seducing me in front of his daughter.

“Oh!” Persephone squealed. “The band just arrived. I’m going to see if I can talk to them.”

Without waiting for my response, Persephone dashed away, still holding her sparkly drink. My eyes scanned the room and stopped when they landed on the man leaning against the bar. Dressed in a fitted black suit, his long hair was pulled back from his face. He looked imposing and sinfully hot. His crystalline blue eyes met mine as he prowled across the room.

Without waiting for an invitation, he sat right beside me and leaned in until his warm breath caressed my ear as he spoke. “Hello, Beatrice.”

A shudder of desire ran through my body. “I’m surprised to see you here,” I remarked in a breathy voice. Lucifer always had this effect on me.

“Persephone mentioned you’d be here,” he replied, his hand settling on my jean-clad leg. “She suggested I stop by.”

“She did?” I asked.

He nodded. “She also suggested I get some advice from Hades. Whatever do you think she meant by that?”

I shook my head and laughed softly. “Don’t even think about kidnapping me,” I warned.

He chuckled at my response before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” he began.

“Kidnapping me?” I asked.

“Don’t be a smartass,” he warned before standing and reaching out a hand to me. “Come dance with me.”

“You already know I’m not much of a dancer,” I reminded him as I placed my hand in his.

He drew me close before leaning down to murmur close to my ear, “You already know I’m a strong lead.”

“Yes, you are,” I breathed out, and I wasn’t referring to his dancing ability.

I allowed Lucifer to lead me to the dance floor, abandoning my sparkly pink drink.

Since there was a well-known band performing, The Cauldron was packed. Not surprisingly, the crowd made plenty of room for us on the dance floor. I laughed at their reaction. There were obvious benefits to being with the biggest badass in the room.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“I was just thinking about how funny it is that everyone is terrified of you and your sparkly aura,” I teased.

He groaned and muttered, “I thought we agreed to never bring that up again.”

“I would never make that sort of agreement,” I assured him.

This seemed like the perfect time to talk to him about living together, but before I could speak, he said, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.” He seemed too serious.

“What have you been thinking about?” I asked hesitantly.

“You living with me,” he stated. “I’d like to rescind my offer to have you move in with me.”

I stopped dancing, took two steps back, and stared at him in stunned silence. Was he breaking up with me? That didn’t make any sense. We’d just been joking and flirting. We were already bound together for eternity.

My expression must have conveyed my concerns because he quickly added, “I’m saying this all wrong. I want you with me forever.”

“I’m not following,” I admitted.

Lucifer, the Lord of Hell, Angel of Darkness, the devil himself, dropped to one knee before holding out a ring made of a white gold band with several emeralds. “Beatrice LaCroix, will you marry me?”

“We’ve already bonded,” I reminded him, my eyes locking with his. “You don’t have to do this. I know fallen angels don’t marry like other species.” All a fallen angel needed was a bonding of magic, not a formal ceremony.

“I want to do this,” he assured me. “I love you. You are the woman I want to spend eternity with. Say you’ll be my bride. We’ll have a ceremony that’s as big or small as you want.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” he replied.

I planned to say yes, but not before I messed with him a little. “We’ll have to contact The Council of Witches and find out when we can get on their schedule,” I said thoughtfully.

“Council of Witches?” he asked hesitantly.

“They’ll insist on doing an affinity test and a bonding ceremony,” I pointed out. “I wonder if they could do the wedding at the same time as the bonding ceremony. We can ask Isadora when she comes by to help me plan.”

It was almost impossible to hold my laughter in when I saw the sick expression on Lucifer’s face. Rather than telling me no, he took a deep breath and nodded. “Whatever it takes to make you happy,” he assured me.

I launched myself into his arms, tears burning the backs of my eyes. “You’re such an idiot. I don’t want to be around the Council of Witches any more than you do, but thank you for agreeing just to make me happy.”

“I’d do anything to make you happy,” he promised. “So, are you going to give me an answer?”

“Yes,” I told him. “I love you, too, and my answer is yes.”

He kissed me and grinned. “I told you that you’d fall in love with me.”

“Arrogant ass,” I accused.

We began a new chapter in our relationship in the place we’d met. I’d never expected to find love, but I had in the arms of the devil.