Embrace The Dark (Her Elemental Dragons Book 5)(14)

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.

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.”

He parked in front of the building and donned a pair of black sunglasses, while I stepped out of the car and under the scorching desert sun. I was used to heat after living in Southern California, but this was brutal. Another sports car pulled up behind us and stopped on a dime, and then Zel and Gadreel jumped out. Zel was wearing her battle leather and had weapons strapped to her, and she glared at everything like even the sun offended her. Gadreel grinned and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair as he checked out the place, like he was a tourist on vacation.

“We have company today,” I noted.

A muscle flexed in Lucifer’s jaw. “You were attacked last night. I want you protected at all times from now on.”

My breath caught. “Attacked? I thought it was an accident.”

“We’re looking into it now.” He gestured at his two cronies as they approached. “I believe you’ve met Azazel and Gadreel, two of my most loyal Fallen.”

“Are they demons too?” I asked, lowering my voice.

“Not exactly.” Lucifer wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I stiffened, while he led me into a shady area. “Fallen were originally angels, as I was, but they followed me into Hell and became…something else. Not exactly demons, but not angels anymore either.”

I swallowed, absorbing this new information so casually spoken as if we were discussing the weather. “Do they have wings too?”

“They do, but mine are bigger.” He lowered his shades to give me a naughty wink. “And in case you’re wondering, yes, wing size does correspond directly with other body parts.”

A startled laugh escaped me at that, and my guard relaxed a little. I couldn’t help it. The man was just too damn charming. Not to mention that when I was around him, I felt like I knew him on some deep level. But…how?

A thin, attractive man walked out of the building carrying two helmets, and bowed his head to Lucifer. “My lord, everything is ready.”

“Brilliant.” He waved a hand at me. “Just the helmet for the lady today.”

The man before us raised his eyebrows and glanced at me with thinly veiled curiosity. “She knows?”

“She’s under my protection,” Lucifer said with a hint of a growl in his voice.

“Of course, my lord.” He offered me the helmet and then backed away in a half-bow. “I’ll get the keys.”

After the man had left, Lucifer leaned closer to me. “Another of my demons. A cheetah shifter.”

“A what now?”

“Shifters are another type of demon. They can transform into animals.” He gestured for me to follow, and we walked around the side of the building, where a row of sports cars awaited us. Gleaming, beautiful, aerodynamic cars in bright colors from lime green to hot pink. Some of them looked like they were right off a NASCAR racing track, with huge spoilers and stickers all over them, while others would be right at home in Lucifer’s garage next to his silver Aston Martin.

"Are we going to drive them?" I asked, as Lucifer pulled the helmet over my head. I'd have helmet hair for the rest of the day, but my excitement overcame any apprehension at the realization of what we were about to do.

“We are,” he said, as he led me to the first car, the lime green Lamborghini. He wouldn’t let anyone else but him buckle me into the passenger seat, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Before I knew it, we were off, while Gadreel and Zel watched from the sidelines under a canopy.

Lucifer raced to breakneck speeds like a pro in seconds, zipping us around the track. The force of the acceleration threw me back in my seat and took my breath away, but I hated to admit how much it thrilled me too.

“You’ve done this before,” I said through the helmet’s speaker, but I’d forgotten he hadn’t put one on. It didn’t matter, though. Lucifer heard me over the engine and shot me a wicked grin. Then he went even faster.

I screamed, except it wasn’t out of fear this time but exhilaration, like when you’re on a roller-coaster and go down a steep drop. Even though I held on for dear life, I couldn’t remember a time I’d had so much fun. Excessive speed had always made me nervous since the car accident, but Lucifer had a way of making me feel safe. Like he was in complete control, and nothing could hurt me when he was by my side.

As we finished the circuit and slowed to a halt, Lucifer looked over at me and let out a throaty laugh. It was so sexy it made me melt a little into my seat.

“You liked that, did you?” he asked.

“More than I expected.”

He helped me out of the elaborate safety system and took my hand, lifting me out of the car. His touch sent an unexpected thrill through me as he pulled me close against him. He lingered there, nearly holding me, drawing me in even though his eyes were hidden behind his shades. “I knew you would.”

“How?”

“I’m the devil, darling. Give me a little credit.” He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my wrist, like he did the other night, and everything inside me turned to hot, molten lava.

He’s the devil, a voice whispered in my head.

Yeah, but he’s really freaking hot too, a louder voice said back.

Okay, so I was probably losing my mind, but wouldn’t anyone in this situation?

We drove around the track in three other cars, testing each one out, and it was easy to lose myself in the speed and the adrenaline. Every time I glanced over at Lucifer he flashed me a smile, like he knew just how much I was enjoying myself. Like this, he was just Lucas Ifer again, a man with too much money and too many toys.