There’s something about Nikolai.
Either he’s lacing my wine with some warlock magic or being in his presence brings me a sense of peace so potent that I’m able to forget all the crazy for just a few moments. But the minute he’s gone, and I’m back in my room alone, all the anxiety comes rushing back in.
Legion said he’d come to me tonight. Yet after an hour…two hours…of waiting and still no word, I finally give up and slide my freshly showered, shaved, and oiled body between cold silk sheets. He had mentioned sending his scouts out (what scouts?) so I try to force my mind to understand. Still, my heart is more than a bit fractured at being stood up.
After training with Crysis, plotting and planning with the Se7en, and polishing off a bottle of wine with Niko, sleep comes easier than I expect. And soon, I’m tumbling into darkness towards a room the color of fresh blood. Fire burns all around me, yet I cannot feel their burn on my flesh. There is no smoke that fills my lungs, no soot that dusts my skin. I’m comfortable within these walls made of a thousand dazzling rubies. Comfortable and content. But everything around me is burning…dying. Yet I stand, unscathed, unbothered by the world that’s disintegrating into ash around me, for it was me who created it. It was me who birthed this inferno from my war-torn womb. And the man who stands before me, so beautiful in his cold brutality, is the king of my wicked ruin.
I walk into the fire towards him, and it cools at my feet. Tousled hair brushed with the barest kiss of sunlight; a tailored suit poured over a body that boasts of elegance and sex. He smiles slyly, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. The stars in those endless twin galaxies have been extinguished.
“Is this what you wanted?”
I look around us, watch as the rubies melt and drip into puddles of blood at our feet. “No. No of course not. This is what I wanted to avoid.”
Lucifer looks away, staring into the fire. When he turns to face me, his cheeks are streaked with bloody tears. “Then why did you leave me?”
I stumble back, confused. Horrified.
“He did this, Eden. Your beloved. This is what I tried to protect you from—all of you. And you unleashed him unto the Earth. Your world will not survive him a second time.”
I shake my head furiously. “No. No. I don’t believe you.”
“Look around you.” He waves a hand, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. “Your city is burning. Everyone you’ve ever known—ever cared for—is dying or dead.”
“He’s…he’s…”
“With her. I defied our Father to protect him. I created a scandal because I knew he would never leave her on his own. I fell for him. Don’t make the same mistake, Eden. There’s still time to save yourself.”
“What do you want me to do?”
He offers an outstretched hand. “Come with me. Say yes, and come with me.”
Timidly, agonizingly slowly, I reach for him. But just before the tips of our fingers meet, the flames rise, creating a wall of fire. And he’s gone.
I’m awake. And not alone.
Legion is sitting on the bed, his back to me. Startled, I sit up and pull the silk sheets up to my chin. I’m still wearing the deep purple satin nightgown I donned in anticipation of his visit. Now, I’m wishing it was a turtleneck.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.” His voice is hauntingly low, and he doesn’t turn around.
I frown. I waited and waited. It seems like all I’ve done is wait for him. And with that dream still pressing into the forefront of my muddled mind, my words are doused in annoyance. “Then why are you here?”
“Because I had to be close you. Even though I know it’s wrong and it’s selfish of me. I just needed to feel your presence.”
Dammit. That makes me go soft all over. My weakness for him is a curse that I can’t seem to break. “Why?”
He finally turns to face me, those glowing silver eyes slashing through the darkness. “To remind me of what I’m fighting for. To give me just a sliver of the peace I once felt with you in my arms.”
“You’ve barely looked at me. You’ve hardly even noticed I was alive.”
“I have. I just couldn’t let you see me. Not like this. Not as I am now. I didn’t want to scare you.”
“L…” He winces at the name on my tongue, so I start over. “Legion…I’ve always seen you for who and what you truly are. And it’s never frightened me.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t know what you’re saying. What I was…that was nothing. The beast you glimpsed during the Blood Oath was only a fraction of my darkness.”
I roll my eyes. The Se7en ritual he invited me to watch was terrifying, I’ll admit, but I knew it wouldn’t be a cakewalk. And I got over it. I accepted who and what he is and fell for him despite my fear. Why does he keep treating me like a child? I know what I want. And I want him—all of him.
“I’m not blind. I know you’ve changed. We both have.”
“So you understand.” He heaves out a heavy breath. “What I am now—and what you are now—you could never want something like me. Could never love…this.” He talks of himself like he’s an object. An animal.
“Why do you say that?”
“I am fire. I am rage. I am Death itself. I embody everything you should stay far, far away from. And I could never—would never—allow myself to corrupt your soul.”
“My soul was corrupted a long time ago,” I rasp.
Sitting up on my knees, I let the sheet fall to my waist, revealing my purple satin nightie. The semi-sheer bodice is decorated with silver threading that exaggerates the deep V that falls between my breasts. I watch as his gaze coasts from my pleading eyes to my throat and down below my neckline. He drags his teeth over his bottom lip, and I imagine him dragging those teeth over my nipples.
He only lets himself look for a moment before he’s turning away. And something within me deflates.
“I shouldn’t have come here. I should have let you be.”
He starts to push off the bed, but before he can stand, I lunge forward and grip his arm. “Don’t. Don’t go. Please?”
“Eden, I can’t…I can’t let you…”
“Just lay with me. That’s all I want. I…I miss you. Please, just stay.”
A thousand battles are fought and won across his features, but he reluctantly nods. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is. It’s what I want.”
He nods again, then kicks off his boots before turning his body to place a knee on the bed.
“You’re not going to sleep fully dressed, are you?” I tack on a small smile to ease the tense moment. He’s agreed to sleep in the same bed with me; I don’t want to push it. But I also don’t want to constantly be walking on eggshells either.
Legion looks down at his dark jeans and black tee. When he raises his chin, a shadow falls over his features. “You know what I look like now. You know my body has changed.”
“And you know I don’t give a damn about any of that.”
With a resigning sigh, he grasps the hem of his shirt and drags it over his head, causing his dark hair to fall over his brow. I gasp at the beauty of him, stunned at the dark ink that now mars his smooth, tan skin. That cruel, jealous beast stares back at me, taunting me. Up close, I see that its silver eyes actually do shimmer with some type of dark, daunting magic. Even the red stone held captive in its massive fangs glimmers mystically. I’m mesmerized by it, damn near entranced by its wicked splendor. I want to look away, but it calls to me, urging me closer.
Legion turns, allowing me to see that the dragon has wrapped itself around his back, completing the mural with elaborate scales and a razor-sharp tail. Closer, it whispers. Touch me. I won’t bite.
With its murmured lies singing in my ear, I move in closer, my fingers outstretched. Legion catches my hand before I make contact.
“Did it hurt?” I whisper, my lips only inches from his.
He lets me go and shakes his head. “The transformation was excruciating. I broke every bone in my body. Muscle and tissue were torn to shreds. But this…” He runs a hand over the hard planes of his chest and abs. “This was nothing.”
I lean back, marveling at the sheer wonder of the beast before me. I didn’t think it was possible to find him more gorgeous, more alluring. But here I am, panting with the need to have him close to me. Beside me. Inside me.
Fuck my dream.
If I am to birth fire, then Legion’s seed is the spark that will set the world aflame.
“Come here.” My voice is so hoarse with desire that I hardly recognize it.
He doesn’t crawl to me from the foot of the bed as he’s done so many times before. He prowls, like a deadly animal scenting its prey, right before he pounces and tears out its throat. My mouth dries, my knees shake, and my core clenches with anticipation.
He settles next to me, facing me, yet doesn’t touch me. His silver eyes dim, but just barely, as if he’s trying to contain his power. Still, I feel him. He’s so hot, it would be unbearable for anyone else. Even the air between us seems to sizzle.
“I don’t care. I don’t care if you’re different,” I whisper. I need him to believe it. Even if I have to say it every day for eternity.
“I do.” He matches my tone, but his voice is gravelly.
“You shouldn’t. You haven’t changed to me. The man—the demon—you were, and how I felt for you…nothing has changed.”
“How you felt…” He grimaces, as if the thought disturbs him. “You shouldn’t feel for me, Eden. Not anymore. Because the way I feel for you…” He shakes his head before turning onto his back. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
I don’t know if he means emotionally or physically, but I don’t care. “Then you won’t.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Fucking hell. I don’t get it. I’m here, telling him that I accept him, whether he’s man or beast, yet still he pushes me away. Maybe he’s telling me something else. Maybe he wants me to push back.
“Is she a threat?”
Legion turns back to me and frowns. “What?”
“Is Adriel a threat to me…to us? Is it she you would rather be with right now?”
A wisp of darkness snakes between us, shading his penetrating glare. “No.”
I pretend to ignore what I saw—the way black smoke and shadow manifested right before my eyes—and store it away for another time when I’m not trying to persuade him that I’m not afraid. “Then you have nothing to worry about. You won’t hurt me, Legion. You wouldn’t do that.”
To drive my point home, I move in closer, closing the small space between us to a mere few inches. A blast of stifling heat wafts over my entire body. A warning? Or an invitation?
“You don’t know what you’re saying. You have no idea what you’re signing up for with me.”
“Then show me. Show me, Legion of Lost Souls. Show me what you are.”
Timidly, I reach out and brush his stomach, right where that horrid serpent beast holds the ruby in its fangs. The hard ridges of his abs tremble under my fingertips, his body temperature searing my skin. I slowly begin to slide my hand up his smooth, solid chest. When I cup his jaw, he sags into my touch, and his eyes flutter closed.
“Eden…fuck,” he curses. When he opens his eyes, they’re churning with tortured desire.
“Don’t be afraid of this,” I urge. “Because I’m not. Don’t hold back.”
With a growl that rings of relief and desperation, Legion swiftly flips me onto my back and gathers both my hands in one of his, pinning them over my head. No preamble. No warning. Just his body pressed against mine. My blood races with concentrated need as I look up at him through my lashes, begging without words for him to keep going. For him to strip his soul naked and show me who he truly is.
“Last chance,” he grits, his jaw tight.
I nod. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I don’t know how he does it, but with the barest of brushes against my side with his palm, my gown disintegrates into ash. I’m completely naked under him, and the way his eyes glow at the sight of my bare flesh, like an animal withering of famine, I know exactly what he meant by “Last chance.” He’s going to devour me. And once he starts, he won’t be able to stop. And I don’t want him to.
He takes my mouth and kisses me like he’s drinking the very essence of my soul. His lips feel the same, yet, this is like kissing someone else. Not quite a stranger, but not L either. I kiss him deeper, searching to taste the demon I fell for before I even knew what he truly was. He nips my bottom lip in response, hard enough to make me flinch, then soothes the tiny wound with his tongue. Groaning, his hips flexing into me, Legion sucks my lip into his mouth and savors my blood.
I am…so turned on right now. I should be utterly freaked out. Maybe even a little disgusted. But this hunger in him, this seductive violence, arouses me to the point of pain. I ache for him. My nipples go tight and hard as he releases my hands above my head and lets his fingers trail down to my breasts. He gathers them in his palms and squeezes them together.
“Please,” I beg, my voice a choked whimper.
A slow smile spreads Legion’s lips, and when he bares his teeth, I see that they’ve transformed into fangs. I barely have a chance to gasp before he lowers his mouth to my nipples and sucks them both at once. The scrape of those sharpened teeth, the soft roughness of his serpent tongue…the sensation is orgasmic, and I moan loudly and grind my naked sex against his, still concealed by dark denim.
He sucks and nibbles my pebbled flesh to the point of madness before licking a slow trail to my navel. Then he kisses me from hipbone to hipbone, all the while spreading my thighs wider. Fuck. Just the anticipation has me on the verge of coming. Legion lifts his head as if he can sense that I’m close…as if he can smell it. He drags a long, thick finger from my belly button down to my slickened folds, watching intently as my flesh quivers with the first signs of orgasm. He strokes me gently from the top of my mound to my tight entrance, rubbing circles over my clit. Up and down, over and over, he primes me for his tongue. And when he lowers his head and covers me with his mouth, I explode into a billion brilliant colors, knees trembling and hands grasping his dark hair.
He sucks and fucks with tongue and teeth, unleashing an assault so deadly, I lose my breath. My head is swimming. My whole body is shaking. I feel like I’m dying a thousand little deaths, yet still am desperate to fall on his sword and suffer a cruel, delicious fate. This isn’t normal. No one should be able to feel this incredible and so tortured all at once.
I’m still shivering when Legion rises to his knees. I lick my lips as he unfastens his jeans and slides them down to the middle of his thighs. His proud, heavy hardness pulses wildly with its own sinuous heartbeat. Holy shit. It looks bigger. Thicker. How the hell…? I can’t even explain it. But all I want to do is wrap my lips around him, if only to see if he tastes as delectable as he looks. However, when Legion grips my thigh and flips me over onto my stomach in one swift maneuver, then perches my ass in the air, I realize he has other plans for my mouth.
“Bite the pillow.” His voice is level, but there’s an edge of viciousness to it.
I do as I’m told, and just in time. Because in the next breath, Legion spreads me open and he licks me from my dripping wet sex up to my tight, puckered hole. I gasp, the unfamiliar sensation so intense that I nearly collapse. That’s all it takes for me to be on the cusp of another orgasm. That’s all I need before I’m whimpering into the pillow, begging for him to fuck me senseless. He must have heard my pleas because, in the next moment, he rips me to shreds in one hard, soul-shattering thrust.
I cry out into my feather down silencer, a mix of pain, shock, and undeniable pleasure rippling through me, as he fucks me deep and hard and fast. My belly is on fire with his violent intrusion, and the hotter I get, the more I buck back against him, eager for him to singe my insides with his seed. But he doesn’t show signs of slowing. If anything, my coaxing only encourages him. And when I feel his hand slip between our bodies to fondle my tight seam, I moan so loudly that I don’t even recognize my voice. Not even the pillow can muffle my cries as he presses into that puckered place and slowly slides a thick finger inside me to the knuckle.
I feel so full, so heavy. My thighs are shaking uncontrollably and I’m afraid I’ll collapse from the intense pleasure at any moment. He must feel it too, because with one arm banded around my waist, Legion lifts my torso so that we’re chest to back. His strokes never falter, even as he reaches down to play with my clit, adding to the severe sensation at my backside. And as he holds me close, fully supporting my sagging body, I feel his lips on my neck, his breath hot.
“So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden,” he recites gruffly, “He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”
I don’t know what to make of it. Honestly, with him so deep inside of me, I can’t even comprehend the significance of the scripture. And before I can possibly begin to decipher it, I feel his teeth on my skin, in the space between my neck and my shoulder. The sharp sting of pain is enough to make me yelp, but somehow the sound translates into a moan. And with his fangs still embedded in my flesh, he groans—guttural and animalistic—and I feel him throb wildly inside of me. His strokes turn jerky as he empties fire and vengeance within my womb, and seconds later, I’m coming again, shouting words of worship and sacrilege.
He holds me until we both still. And when I’m no longer able to sit up, Legion lays me down on the bed, covering my naked frame with the silk sheets. He could leave, and I wouldn’t be able to protest, too spent and sated to say a damn word. But to my surprise, he settles down beside me, pulling me to rest my head on his chest.
Not even that hideous dragon whispers a word as we catch our breath and bask in the afterglow of orgasm. And I drift off into a dreamless sleep, swathed in fire.