Lucifer's Cage (After Dark Book 6) by Sarah Bailey (romantic story to read TXT) 📕

“I’ll find a way to send you home.”

Her eyes flew open.

“What?”

“You don’t belong here. You should be on Earth. Hell is no place for a living soul.”

It didn’t matter how much he wanted her. He knew what it meant to be caged. Locked away and forced to do your duty.

“That’s not something I expected to hear from you.”

“You must know why I was cast down from Heaven. Freedom is a precious commodity.”

She reached up, brushing the lock of hair which had fallen in his face away.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologising for?”

“Here I am complaining when I’ve barely been away for a month and yet you’ve not been able to go home for millennia.”

“Don’t tell me you feel sorry for me?”

She frowned.

“Having empathy is not the same as feeling sorry for someone. You know, I thought for one moment you might want to have a proper conversation with me.”

For some reason, it bothered him that she felt something for him other than lust, anger or desire. She wasn’t meant to have feelings for the Devil. He didn’t deserve that.

“I still meant what I said. I’ll help you go home.”

“After you have your way with me.”

“Candace, contrary to what you might think, I am not a mindless animal driven by lust for you.”

She raised an eyebrow.

Clearly, she has no idea how much I’ve had to hold back when it comes to her. I want to give her pleasure, pain and everything in between. I want her splayed out before me, unable to do anything but give into me.

“Then why do all our conversations escalate into something sexual?”

“It takes two to tango. Don’t put it all on me.”

“You are so frustrating. If you really want to know why I keep saying no, perhaps try to get to know me.”

She shoved at his chest. He took her hands, pinning them to the bed. She glared at him. Getting to know her would mean seeing her as something other than the woman he wanted to ruin. That would cross a line he wasn’t sure he could come back from.

“We are not finished talking. Why were you near my throne room in the first place?”

She sighed, looking away.

“I found something in that book and I wanted to tell Mall about it.”

“What did you find?”

“A spell. It opens a gateway to Hell, but I think I can reverse it if I have the right things.”

“And open a gateway to Earth?”

She nodded, turning back to him. If she could do that, it would solve all of his problems with Hell and his dukes would leave him alone.

“Are you skilled enough to do such a thing?”

“I don’t know. My magic is an anomaly because of my fae blood. My father never tried to fully test my capabilities.”

“Then I will go over it with Mall.”

He needed to get to the bottom of it with his assistant. He let go of her wrists to move off her, but she grabbed his arm. He looked down at her with a frown.

“Don’t go.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you to go.”

Her violet eyes were cautious.

She doesn’t want me to leave? What is this now?

“I couldn’t sleep, that’s why I was reading that book. I don’t want to be alone.”

“I am not here to make you feel at ease.”

“I… that’s not what I meant. Why is this so difficult to say?” She blinked. “I’d like it if you stayed with me because I want you here, not because I’m lonely.”

He was momentarily at a loss for words. Something about the girl below him disarmed him. He didn’t want to feel things. Especially not for a woman who drove him crazy with lust.

Be gentle with her.

Mall’s words rang in his ears again. He sighed, shifting off her and lying down on his side. He clicked his fingers and was instantly in less restrictive clothing. A plain t-shirt and loose bottoms.

She eyed him for a moment as if she was waiting for him to change his mind. She shifted closer, burying her face in his chest, her arm around his waist. He stared down at her, utterly confused by the girl wrapped around him.

He reached out, tugging the covers over the both of them before curling his free arm around her. He’d never lain in bed with a woman like this before. It had always been about sex and he usually left right after.

She’s cuddling me. This feels… wrong and yet right at the same time.

He fought against the urge to bury his face in her hair.

“You’re warm,” she mumbled.

“Am I allowed to ask why you’re… holding me?”

“I like having you close. Why? Do you not make a habit of this?”

“No. Never.”

She turned her face up, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Are you saying I’m the first person you’ve let cuddle you?”

He didn’t want to answer her at all, but the way she was looking at him made his heart thump.

“Yes.”

A small smile appeared on her lips before she buried her face back in his chest.

“So, the Devil has a soft spot for me,” she whispered.

“I do not.”

“Yes, you do, Lucifer. I’ve admitted so much to you. It’s only fair you be honest with me.”

Disarming. Candace was utterly disarming. He couldn’t deny he felt more than just desire for the woman pressed against him.

“If I admit to such a thing, you’re to keep it to yourself. Do you understand?”

“Yes. You have a reputation to uphold.”

He buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. She smelt of citrus and violets, like her beautiful eyes which enraptured him.

“I will treat you with care when you ask for it,” he