Forsaken Angels: Lucifer

Ch 23: Touching Temptation

Lucifer

Fuck.

As the haze of pleasure recedes, the enormity of what just happened slams into me. I spring back from Cass as if burned, my heart racing and my breath coming in sharp pants.

What have I done?

"Cass?" My voice is hoarse. "Fuck. Are you...are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

She blinks up at me, her green eyes cloudy with confusion and lingering satisfaction. For a terrifying second, she doesn't respond. I've seen that dazed, vacant look before. In the eyes of the women from my past, their souls drained by Azazel. Panic rises in my throat. Have I done the same to Cass? Here, in the throes of passion, did I finally succumb to the monster within?

Then she sighs, the sound equal parts exasperation and fondness. "I'm fine, Luce. Better than fine." She reaches for me, but I flinch, still reeling.

"But I...I lost control. I couldn't hold back. Skimming so much—"

"Do you have to ruin the moment by panicking?" she cuts me off, but there's a teasing glint in her eyes that settles my racing thoughts. "I mean, here I thought we just had this profound, amazing experience together..."

A surprised laugh escapes me, the knot in my chest loosening. She's okay. She's not a husk, not a shell. If anything, she looks...radiant. Glowing with vitality and life.

But how?

"You're really all right?" I can't help but ask again, needing the reassurance.

She sits up, the sheet pooling around her waist, and cups my face in her hands. "I promise you, I'm perfectly fine."

Her thumbs stroke my cheekbones, soothing and electric all at once. This is unheard of. I didn't hold back. There was no tempering of my skimming. No thought beyond my desire to claim her. Make her mine. Worship her until she cried my name over and over.

All of that, and...nothing. She's suffered no adverse effects. Our bond really must be special, and it can't be only because of her Seraphim blood. If it were, Azazel would not have been able to drain Aura to the brink as he did. No, this is something else entirely.

"I don't understand it," I murmur, more to myself than to her. "What this is between us. It defies everything I know, everything I've experienced."

"Hey." Cass's fingers tilt my chin up, forcing me to meet her steady gaze. "We'll figure it out. Together. But for now..." Her lips curve into a mischievous smile as her hand slides down my chest. "Can we just enjoy it? Take advantage of the fact that we can touch and you don't need to hold back?"

Her touch ignites a spark beneath my skin, rekindling the embers of desire. She's right. The hows and whys can wait. All that matters right now is the incredible, impossible woman in my bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asks, her eyes searching mine. "What about the pain?"

I pause, taking stock. The ever-present agony, the weight I've carried since the Fall...it's still there but muted. Buried beneath layers of satiation and deep, abiding peace. I feel...whole. Renewed.

"Honestly? I feel obscenely good." Wonder colours my voice as the realisation sinks in. "Better than I have in centuries. Millennia, even."

She leans in, her lips a hair's breadth away from mine. "Really? Why don't we see if we can make you feel even better?"

A chuckle rumbles in my chest. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well..." She winks as her hand moves lower on my chest, skating over my stomach and down my abdomen. "I have some ideas."