Page 9 of Falling for the Devil

She could tell by the creases marring Lucifer’s smooth, golden forehead that he remained puzzled. He hadn’t even glanced down at the rocks. His warm gaze never strayed from her face giving her the sensation of butterflies dancing in her belly.

“We are each unique but made of similar matter. The Creator molded every creature, every species, with loving care. But with you”—she raised her hand with the pendant—“He took more time and skill in forming. He manipulated the elements just so to make you stand out among even your peers. Same ingredients, but a different outcome.”

Diana pocketed the raw crystal but held out the pendant. Lucifer opened his hand. She placed it in his palm, then folded his fingers around it.

She wasn’t sure why she’d done that, but ever since she had first locked eyes with the magnificent angel, something within her had desired to give him something. Diana imagined many, if not all, people wished to fawn over him with gifts. But what was it that she truly wished to bequeath upon him?

Her father and family had been wrong to leave her alone with the archangel. If someone didn’t intervene, she feared she’d part with something much more precious.

A slice of terror mixed with heady excitement assailed Diana. This was dangerous territory. She enjoyed danger. It was so much more fun than playing it safe all the time, as she was expected to do. And she had never fled a challenge or threat. Actually, she enjoyed facing down any enemy. It brought out her mischievous side—one of her not-so-divine qualities according to her father and mother. Her playful nature had been piqued.

She felt the corners of her lips tick up and locked gazes with the mighty Lucifer. “Care for a swim?”

Without waiting for an answer, she ran toward the waterfall which fed pristine lagoon. Diana didn’t need to turn to know that he had given chase but was politely allowing her to lead. Nearing the water’s edge, the roar of the waterfall cut off all other sounds. She didn’t dare stop or she’d chicken out. Yanking the stola over her head, she threw it on the mossy forest floor moments before hooting and jumping into the cool mineral waters.

Her arms reached and pulled at the water. Her legs and feet moved like a dolphin through the water as quickly as she could swim. Diana had no idea what she was getting herself into. Ever since she’d set eyes on him, she’d been uncomfortable with the premise that he held power over her, despite all the evidence that he most certainly did. Hades below, I nearly swooned!

She needed to take the upper hand, or at least level the playing field to throw off his hold on her.

The water was her natural habitat, this lagoon her private retreat. Why she had lured him into it, she could not fathom. It had just felt right.

Something grabbed her ankle, pulling her backward. At first, she struggled, but a moment of fear gave way to a burning heat that raced up her leg to coil higher and higher. When they punched through the water’s surface to gasp for air, laughter bubbled up from her. Strong arms circled around her waist with hands that crept up her back to tangle in her wet hair. Basking in the tremendous energy that exuded from Lucifer’s touch, a pit of lava threatened to erupt from her core. Their bodies were perfectly molded together, like they had been made for that exact purpose.

Where had his armor gone? For despite the rock-hard physique pressed against her, that was not iron or any metal she’d ever known. And the sheer heat radiating through into her own skin clearly indicated there was no longer a rigid barrier between them, but a thin cloth that molded to his body. Surely, he would’ve sunk to the bottom of the lagoon in his suit of armor.

Without thought—for she was far beyond the capacity to think with any sense—Diana cupped Lucifer’s face between her hands, drew him to her, and pressed her mouth to his. If she never kissed or touched another being in her entire existence, she wanted this one moment, this one special kiss to live on in her memory.

Her intent had been to entice him close, and then shove him away—to tease and torment and then turn away from him. To show him that she was fully in control and could take or leave him as she pleased. Wasn’t that what Aphrodite had taught her to do?

But her best or worst intentions be damned.

Chapter 6

Too Close for Comfort, Too Hard to Hold

Lucifer had spent infinity in the heavens, but the succulent feel of Diana’s lips on his, the warmth exuding from her body as she pressed closer to him... those sensations were far more divine than anything he had experienced before. How had he not known the sheer joy of a woman’s kiss?

Shivers raced through his veins like liquid mercury—freezing but capable of melting anything in its path. And that was exactly what he wanted to do... meld himself with the goddess in his arms.

A moan escaped him... or had that low groan come from her? At this point, Lucifer couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

A kiss. Something so simple. Something so complex. Something he had never allowed himself the luxury to experience. Yet, it completely undid him. All reasoning and rationale fled. There was only Diana’s lips pressed against his. He wished he knew more about the arts of love, but in this instance, she would need to be the instructor and he was her willing student. It had taken less than a moment for Lucifer to succumb to the very thing he claimed to abhor the most—desire.

It had started so easily once they broke through the ice of mistrust. She’d smiled, laughed, and then lured him to this lagoon. A part of him had known it was simply a flirty trick. She was testing him.

Then why had he followed, smiling like a fool, and nearly collapsing with want while she’d carelessly disrobed and jumped into the water? Diana still wore her thin tunic that had been beneath her stola, but the material did nothing to hide her curves, nor the swell of her breasts, nor the curve of her ass. Now that it was wet, she might as well be naked.

She lightly nibbled at the corner of his mouth, coaxing his lips to allow her admittance, which he could no sooner stop than he could freeze the universe to preserve the moment. Diana’s tongue slid in to dance with his own, eliciting a terrifying fire within himself that shot through his being like lightning.

He shoved her away with more strength than he intended. Diana’s arms and legs disentangled from his torso, leaving him empty and abandoned. Shocked, and hurt, honeyed eyes stared at him in horror.

“No, I’m... I... I’m sorry.”

Without another word, he swam back to shore. He desperately needed to put space between them—fast. Before his body overruled his will. A blackness invaded his mind with tiny droplets of regret and despair. Lucifer had never wanted someone so much. He’d never wanted anything at all for himself. It was all too convoluted and... unfair.

Diana emerged from the water, her fiery hair dripping. He knew enough to turn away quickly before the image of her body so lusciously outlined by her wet tunic ruined him. Not that it would matter—the glimpse of hatred he’d witnessed etched in her expression had sealed his fate. Lucifer would never forget the touch of her kiss, nor would she ever look upon him again with the same heat in her eyes.

It was a good thing his business would be quickly settled with her father, and he could leave Olympus, never to return. But he was already well aware, that neither time nor distance would dampen what she had so effortlessly awakened in him. A reckless moment of giving in to the wild abandon raging within him, that he’d never known existed, had sealed a new fate for him. Eternity no longer loomed like a bright, sparkling blessing. Instead, eternity would be his torment.