I arched an eyebrow at her. “You did all this?”
“No, I had help. From Hannah.” Azazel crossed her arms and cocked her head at me. “She used Morningstar.”
I glanced over at the spot on the wall where the sword usually hung, but it was missing. Then I saw it resting on my desk, beside its jewel-encrusted sheath. I picked it up and examined the sword I’d wielded back when I was an Archangel in Heaven, now covered in traces of gargoyle blood and stone but still glowing with the white light of the angels. I’d clean it later, after I checked on my mate.
“Impressive,” I said, as I set the sword back down. “She must be remembering, finally.”
I left Azazel in the library and stalked to my room. The door wasn’t quite closed, and I opened it silently. Hannah was passed out on the bed, curled up in a ball, clutching my pillow tightly to her chest. She’d fallen asleep tense, based on the way her brows were furrowed together, and at some point she’d thrown the sheets off herself and pushed them into a heap on the empty side of the bed.
My rage quieted, turning into a strong relief to see her alive. When I’d arrived and found the evidence of an attack, I’d feared the worst. Though Hannah’s eventual death would be inevitable, I wanted to spend more time with her first.
For a few seconds I simply stared at her, watching her breathe. She wore another of those slinky little nightgowns we’d bought yesterday, and it showed off every curve of her body. Her golden hair draped down her shoulders, and one of her hands was reaching out, like it was searching for me. Intense longing to claim her ran through me, but I pushed it down, back into its dark depths.
I sat gingerly beside her and rested my hand on her shoulder, needing to feel her soft skin, to confirm she was alive. I didn’t intend on waking her, but the moment I touched her, her eyes popped open and she sat straight up, like she was ready to bolt.
Tension left her the second she saw me. “Lucifer?”
I kept my hand on her shoulder, hoping to keep her calm. “It’s okay. I’m here. Brandy’s safe.”
Hannah surprised me by throwing her arms around me and letting out what sounded like a relieved sob. “She’s okay? Really?”
I held her close against me, savoring the feel of her in my arms once more. Where she belonged. “Of course she is. I promised, didn’t I?”
“Thank you.” She slowly sat back and wiped tears from her eyes. “Where is she?”
“She’s in a suite here at the hotel, with a human doctor tending to her, along with plenty of food and plenty of armed bodyguards. I’m having some clothes brought up for her too, and I sent someone to let her family know she’s all right.”
“You did all that?” Hannah asked, tilting her head as she studied me.
“It’s the least I could do. She was kidnapped from my hotel, after all.”
“Can I see her?”
I shook my head. “Your friend has been through a traumatic experience and is exhausted. Right now she needs sleep more than anything.” Her shoulders slumped in disappointment and I quickly added, “However, I booked you both a spa day tomorrow. A slothful day, if you will.”
“A spa day sounds good.” Her eyes focused on my white shirt, and she reached out to touch a spot on it, her palms resting against my chest. “Are you bleeding?”
My muscles clenched under her touch. “I’m fine. It’s not my blood.”
“I guess tonight was wrath.” Her words were barely above a whisper and she looked away, her face twisting to a grimace. “For both of us.”
I sensed the turmoil inside her and guessed it had something to do with the attack. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
She looked at me with wide, shocked eyes. “These…gargoyles flew in and attacked us. Zel fought them off, but there were so many of them. I ran to the library and got that sword off the wall, and it was like I’d been trained in how to use it. My body moved and worked on its own, without me controlling it. It was like…” She hesitated and frowned. “Muscle memory or something.”
She looked at her hands, shocked and maybe a little excited. Of course, there was no mystery as to how this had happened, her being able to handle a sword. Not for me, anyway. But was it the right time to tell her?
“Perhaps you tapped into some deeply repressed memory?” I suggested, hoping my words might create some recognition.
“Maybe,” she murmured, but nothing changed in her expression.
“That sword was mine when I was in the Angelic Army, created to cut through demons using heavenly light. Few others can wield it without it burning them.” I reached up and stroked her cheek softly. “I’m glad it protected you tonight.”
One bare shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Zel did most of the hard work.”
“From what she said, it sounded like you held your own against them.” I slid my fingers into her soft, golden hair. “Are you all right? You weren’t injured?”
“I’m okay. Physically anyway. Emotionally… I’m pretty shaken up.” She drew in a long breath, but then smiled weakly at me. “At least Brandy is okay. I’m so grateful to you for everything you’ve done for her. And for me.”
“It’s my pleasure and my duty.” The way she looked at me made my chest tighten with longing. “I would do anything for you.”
She raised her eyebrows at that. “Maybe the devil isn’t the bad guy everyone thinks he is.”
I laughed darkly. “I assure you, I’m every bit the villain they think I am.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“Shall I prove my point?”
I took her chin in my hand and turned her head to the side, then leaned in close, breathing in her sweet scent. I wanted to fill my lungs with her, to drink her in until she suffused my empty, dark heart with her light. My soul ached to consume her, but it settled for me pressing my mouth to the spot just below her ear. The slight taste wasn’t nearly enough to sate me, especially when I felt her pulse race faster and her breathing grow shallower. Was she growing wet for me? Did she crave me as much as I craved her?
I ran my thumb across her soft lips, imagining them wrapped around my cock or shouting my name as she came. Her eyes fluttered shut at my light touch, her breasts rising and falling in time with her heavy breathing, her nipples straining against the thin fabric of her nightgown. My mouth trailed down her neck ever so slowly and she arched her back toward me, unable to help herself.
“Lucifer,” she gasped softly as my lips reached the curve of her neck. Her fingers grasped my shirt, digging into my arms, though not to stop me, but to pull me closer. Her desperate need matched my own, and a low groan of masculine satisfaction hummed deep in my throat. This woman would be my undoing and my absolution, as she always was.
I turned her face toward me and met her eyes, then captured her lips and claimed the kiss I’d long awaited. For years I’d dreamed of this moment, but the reality of it was even better than I’d imagined. As my mouth captured hers, time stood still. For the first time in an eternity, I felt alive. Whole. Complete. Blood pounded through my veins, and my senses sharpened, while darkness swirled around us. I deepened the kiss, wrapping my arms around her and probing her delicate mouth with the tip of my tongue. Her fingers slid around my neck, pulling me closer, kissing me back with as much passion as I felt. Even if she didn’t remember the truth about us, her body did, her instincts telling her that she belonged to me.
When I pulled back, she licked her lips and stared hungrily at my mouth, eager for more, and fuck, how I wanted to give it to her. Everything inside me surged with the need to possess her body again, and I knew she’d let me do anything I wanted to her. Within minutes I’d have her begging for me, until she knew deep in her soul that she was mine, and mine alone.
But I couldn’t do it.
Not yet.
Those crystal blue eyes were hazy with sleep and desire, but something held me back from making her mine. A slight hesitation in her gaze, a small tremble in her touch. She wasn’t ready for this. Not after the night she’d just had. The act of restraining myself nearly undid me, but I told myself it would only make my claiming of her even sweeter when it did occur. I pressed one last hot kiss to the hollow of her throat, and then relaxed my hold on her.
She looked confused for an instant, but then footsteps sounded outside the door. Rage threatened to bubble up inside me again—who dared interrupt me with my woman in my bed?
Gadreel strode purposefully inside and then paused when he saw Hannah in my arms. She looked a little stunned as she touched her lips, like she was still dazed from the way I’d kissed her. I couldn’t blame her.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Gadreel said, averting his eyes. “I’ll come back later.”
“It’s fine.” I let go of Hannah, though it pained me to do so. “You have a report for me?”
“Yes, we managed to capture one of the shifters at the motel. We’re holding him for questioning now.”
“Very good. Did they find anything else at the motel? Any indication of who was leading them?”
He kept his head bowed. “No, my lord.”