Extinguish (18 page)

"How could you have stopped me?" she asked. "You can’t hurt me."

Lucifer snapped his finger
s, the room fading away to pure blackness. Serah felt like she was hovering in a void of space with no way to escape—no entrance, no exit, no nothing. Her Hell. "Okay, I get it. Enough."

No response.

She spun around in a circle, searching for Lucifer, but there was no sign of him anywhere. She tried to run, but she had no sense of direction. It was like gravity no longer existed. "Stop this!"

Still no response.

Time withered away, her panic escalating. She tried flying, her wings rapidly expanding, but she couldn’t tell if she was getting anywhere with no ground to soar off from. It could’ve been a minute or an hour, a day or a week—time meant nothing in a vast pit of nothingness.

Terror ran through her, a cold sensation overtaking her body. "Lucifer!"

At the sound of a snap, Serah was instantly back on her feet in the meeting room, eyes wild, hair windblown. Lucifer sat in his throne, not appearing to have moved an inch. Most of the flowers lay in a heap at his feet but he held one—a pale pink wildflower. "Terrifying, isn’t it? Being trapped? No wonder it's your Hell."

"You’re horrible!"

Lucifer ignored the jab and motioned to the table in front of him for the second time since she’d burst into the room. "Have a seat."

Serah tentatively approached him. Instead of taking a seat in one of the black chairs, she hoisted herself up on the table, feet dangling off the side as she faced him. She was so close she could thrust her foot out and kick him if she so desired.

With the mood she was in, it was certainly a possibility.

"Why’d you do it?" she asked quietly. "That’s all I want to know. Why?"

"I've done a lot, so you're going to have to be more specific," he said. "Why’d I rebel? Why’d I give everything up? Why’d I cheat at War? Why’d I crash into the gate like a fucking suicidal imbecile?"

"No," she said. "Why'd you kiss me?"

He twirled the flower between his fingers, bringing it to his nose and inhaling. "Why not?"

"That's not a good answer."

"It's the only one I've got."

Serah shook her head exasperatedly and looked away, frustrated. Lucifer sat up and reached over, grasping her chin and pulling her face back so she'd look at him again.

"Tell me something." His voice was low, a gritty whisper. "Have you ever done something simply because you wanted to? Not because you were ordered to, not because you thought you had to, but out of selfishness? Pure greed? You did it, because you couldn't imagine not doing it? Consequences be damned."

She shook her head slowly. "No."

"You're lying," he said. "You wouldn't be here with me otherwise."

"I was sent to ask you—"

"To stop the fighting," he said, cutting her off. "And you've asked me . . . more than once. And I've denied you . . . more than once. Yet here you still are. Why?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Why not?"

Lucifer smirked. "Exactly."

They stared at each other for a moment before he slowly, deliberately inched forward. Serah's breath again hitched as he pressed his lips to hers for the second time, kissing her softly. She trembled, kissing him back, for the first time tasting the mint in his mouth, tingling her tongue. She groaned at the sensation, the sound spurring Lucifer on. He tried to deepen the kiss, but Serah pushed away from him, both hands pressed flatly against his chest, keeping him at arm’s length.

"We can't do this," she said. "It's wrong. It's all wrong!"

"So?"

She stared at him incredulously. "It's a sin!"

"Ah, sin,"
Lucifer said. "Like the serpent that tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. She devoured it, knowing she shouldn't."

"And she was punished for it."

"She was," Lucifer agreed. "But if you think for a moment she truly regretted it, you're wrong. That fruit was the most glorious thing she ever tasted—the sweetest, the ripest—and once you experience something so breathtaking, you never forget it. You never regret it."

"How would you know?"

"Because it's the same thing with feeling," he said. "Once you know what it's like to smell a flower, you can't go back to seeing it as just a plant. It's more than that—much, much more. And it's the same way with pleasure. Once you feel the shiver from a lover's touch, you can't go back to being numb again."

"But Eve didn't just hurt herself by sinning."

"You give her too much credit," Lucifer said. "She ate a fucking apple. That's it. She couldn't ignore her hunger. The temptation was too great. And if anything, instead of holding it against Eve, the world should really envy her."

"Why?"

"Because she experienced a pleasure none of them will ever get, gratification none of them will ever come close to. Even I don’t know what it’s like to bite into that apple, and I’ve never denied myself anything." Lucifer stroked his thumb along her cheek, a small seductive smirk twisting the corner of his lips. "Give in to it, angel."

"Give in to what?"

"The hunger," he said, his tongue slowly running across his bottom lip. "The need. Give in to the craving. Give in to me."

"Never," she whispered, the word impulsively tumbling from her lips, no conviction in her feeble voice.

"I know you feel it, deep inside of you, screaming out to be acknowledged, to be satiated," he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. "I can sense it, clawing underneath your skin, begging to be let loose, begging to be invited out to play."

She shook her head, silently refuting his words.

"Tell me you don’t feel it then, the fluttering in your chest; the hair on the nape of your neck rising as your nerve endings stir, your fingers tingling with the need to reach out and caress something." His eyes raked down her form. "Tell me your body doesn’t ache at the mere thought of me between your thighs, on top of you, inside of you, giving you what my brother never could—real feeling, the kind of feeling that makes you scream so loud your throat feels like it’s bleeding. Agonizing pleasure, the kind that torments your every thought, driving you to the brink of insanity only to pull you right back from the edge, over and over and over again. Unbearable pleasure, the kind that makes you beg for it to stop, but the moment it’s over, you feel like nothing but an empty, useless shell—a shell that needs more."

Warmth flooded her body, starting from the top of her head and rushing down, engulfing that spot at the apex of her thighs that seemed to involuntarily respond to his tirade.

"Tell me," he growled. "Tell me you don’t feel your body coming alive. Tell me you don’t want more of it, that you’d be content going back to your miserable, endless existence where a fucking tingle is enough to quench your thirst. Tell me, and I’ll never ask you again."

Serah opened her mouth to tell him, to end the charade, but she couldn’t force the words from her lips. She couldn’t lie. She swallowed thickly, her breath quickening as she rubbed her hands against her dress, wiping away the sudden dampness of her palms.

Lucifer jumped out of his seat, slamming his hands on both sides of Serah on the table. He towered over her, red raging in his eyes at her prolonged silence. "Tell me!"

"No."

The pathetic squeak of a word, barely audible, was enough of a spark to ignite a fire in the room. With no hesitation, no ounce of self-doubt, no second-guessing, Lucifer smashed his lips to Serah’s, kissing her with a fervor she’d never perceived before. He slammed her onto her back on the table, forcing her legs apart as he pressed himself against her, the layers of clothing between them not enough to contain the heat radiating from him. His erection throbbed in his pants, pulsating between her thighs as she ran her hands through his hair.

Oh,
Heavens. . .

Lucifer’s hands slid up her outer thighs, shoving her dress around her waist as he hitched her legs up at his hips. There was no kindness in his movements, no gentleness in his touch, none of the sweetness she’d always associated with the act. This was lust, raw and authentic, an unfiltered yearning that brewed between them, unleashed for the first time.

Lucifer broke from her lips long enough to tear her clothes off and throw them across the room. He pulled back as she lay on the table, not a shred of material shielding her from his eyes. He yanked his shirt off and dropped it to the floor near his feet, his dark stare fixated on her bare chest. His hands brushed across her nipples, the sensitive flesh puckering under his touch. A single fingertip slowly trailed down her stomach, circling her navel, before dipping into the bare flesh between them.

Her eyes closed when his finger brushed against her clit, electricity jolting her. Through the darkness, she saw fireworks, her world exploding in vast colors she'd never seen before. A groan rumbled in her chest as she shifted her hips involuntarily, seeking more friction. He didn’t deny her, picking up her cues right away. He rubbed circles around the spot as he undid his pants with his free hand, kicking them off when they dropped to his ankles.

Serah’s eyes opened again the second the connection was lost, but she didn’t have a moment to spare a curious glance at him. He plunged inside of her, filling her in one hard stroke. The breath caught in Serah's throat, escaping as a strangled moan as she threw her head back, arching her spine at the sensation. Lucifer’s mouth went straight for her neck, licking and sucking the exposed flesh as he plowed into her, his hips slamming into her thighs.

Her unsteady hands explored his sculpted back as her body tried to adjust to him inside of her, her fingers acclimating to the rough texture of his skin. She let out a shuddering breath when his lips found hers again, messily kissing her with abandon, teeth gnashing together.

"Do you like that?" he murmured against her mouth. "Does it feel good to have me inside of you, fucking you?"

"Yes," she panted, a shiver tearing down her spine at his filthy words.

"Not good enough," he growled. "You can still speak."

Lucifer bit down on her lip, piercing the skin as he pulled out of her. Grabbing her hips, he flipped her over, his rough hand pinning her down, breasts flat against the table. A startled yelp echoed through the room as he thrust into her from behind, filling her deeper than before. A nauseating saltiness coated Serah’s tongue as she licked her lips. She winced at the sharp burn and swiped her finger across her mouth, startled to see the smear of red.

Blood.

She had little time to consider what that meant as he started pounding into her, harder and harder, deeper and deeper. A loud cry tore from her as she clawed at the table, the marble crumbling as her fingernails dug
deep ruts into the hard stone. Startling sensations swarmed her body, nothing like the tingles she felt before. This was a ruthless strike of lightning surging through every centimeter of her body, infusing every cell, altering her at the core. She could feel her body coming alive, growing stronger every second while another part of her deteriorated, unwittingly fading into something more. Her chest viciously ached like it was in a vise grip, triggering throbbing beneath her skin. She could hear it above the sound of their skin slapping together, the thump-thump-thumping of a pulse, beating for the very first time.

It seemed to explode inside of her as her heart kick-started, sending all of her senses into overdrive. The musky smell of sex and sweat filtered into her lungs, her vision blurring, her skin prickling with goose bumps. A cold breeze wafted through the room, a stark difference from the burning fire of Lucifer’s hands on her flesh. He tightly gripped one of her hips as his other hand stroked the small of her back and the curve of her behind, the rough calluses of his fingers like sandpaper against her sensitive skin.

He battered her, again and again, taking no mercy on her body. She ached where they connected, a pleasurable sting as he stretched and filled her. They fit together tightly, like leather clinging to wet skin, where he ended and she began a blur of sensation. Serah tried to clear her head, tried to make sense of it all, but the feelings were too overwhelming, too cloudy to see through.

Lucifer leaned over her, his chest pressed to her back, his warmth nearly scorching her skin. His cool breath fanned against her as his tongue swirled along her earlobe, a light chuckle vibrating his chest as she
violently shivered.

"Give in to it," he growled in her ear. "Give
yourself to me."

Never
, a shrill voice in the back of her mind screamed out, warning her, but she was too far-gone to listen. Her lips softly moved as she mouthed, "I’m yours," the words barely a whisper, a mere shuddering breath, but it was enough for him.

The air shifted at that moment, the split-second, snap decision where she’d pledged herself to him changing everything. A loud crack of thunder split the ceiling, the walls starting to crumble around them as Lucifer slammed into her hard from behind. Brutal shockwaves seized her body as she erupted in orgasm, quaking with pleasure, screams of ecstasy burning her raw throat. She tightened around him as he let loose, a feral growl ripping from his chest as the two of them came together. She could feel him, pulsing as he spilled inside of her, warming her from the inside out. A familiar tingle—the tickle of her Grace energizing—stirred in her body, stronger and stronger, higher and higher, building to the point of detonation.