A Deckerstar AU

Chapter 8

Sorry this took longer than expected!!
Rocky water ahead folks

Chloe froze on top of him, every muscle in her body coiled tight.

Time seemed to stand still, a yawning chasm of emptiness. She could feel her pulse pounding in her ears, practically felt the rush of blood in her veins. The sound of the grandfather clock in the corner seemed amplified, a staggered tick for every beat of her heart.

Eventually, Lucifer’s eyes slowly flickered back to brown, the red flecks melting away as though they were never there in the first place.

But they were—and that had two things happening at once.

It had her scrambling backwards, off him and onto unsteady feet, and it had him breathing—

“Chloe.”

She shook her head, the words caught in her throat.

He stood too, cloaking her in the shadow of six and a half feet of handsome. Her unblinking eyes flitted over sex-wild curls, a dark beard lining a chiselled jaw, expressive eyes shining deep but also guarded.

It was all true.

He was the Devil.

He was the Devil—so why did he look like that?

One sure step brought him a little closer to her. His hand was outstretched, fingers curling through the air, cautious. He was approaching her like she was an easily startled deer, about to bolt.

Vaguely, she registered how ridiculous it was that they were both naked, bodies still trembling in the shadow of orgasm, a flush sheen of sweat on their skin. But she couldn’t move to put her clothes back on. She couldn’t breathe.

“Chloe,” he murmured, voice low and aching, “don’t be afraid of me.”

She drew in an unsteady breath, her mind running a mile a minute. She felt trapped in a confused fog, unable to make sense of it. Unable to understand.

He took another step forward, his eyes flickering with something akin to pain when she took an answering step back.

He breathed her name again, heavy and intense, and then in a promise, he whispered—

“I would never hurt you.”

She swallowed.

She wanted to believe that. In her core, she did. She still felt how she felt and nothing was different… yet everything had changed.

“This…” she cleared her throat and tried again to speak, “this is why you’re pushing me away. It’s all true.”

His hand remained outstretched. Whether it was reaching for her or keeping her at arm’s length, she didn’t know. She didn’t know whether he wanted to grab her and pull her in, or use it as a barrier to keep her away.

“I told you from the beginning,” he insisted, level and measured, “I never lied to you.”

A disbelieving scoff fell from her lips.

“No, you’re right…” she muttered, sarcasm dripping from her tone, “this is my fault. I should have just believed you when you kept saying you were the Devil. That would have been an entirely rational, human response and—”

“You’re panicking.”

She blinked.

“Yes, I’m panicking,” she could hear her voice at least two pitches higher, “you’re the Devil.”

“I’m aware.”

She covered her face with her hands, looking at him through the gaps in trembling fingers.