𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗢𝗠

𝘚𝘈𝘊𝘙𝘌𝘋 𝘗𝘙𝘈𝘠𝘌𝘙𝘚

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Sometimes, the worst choices lead to the best endings. When the future is unclear, the path is rough and the waters are troubled, the only thing that keeps people going is desperate hope. The light at the end of the tunnel. Finally seeing beach sand after a stormy sail. People will hold onto anything that gives them fate.

But what fate could an angel have when they start to doubt everything they'd once held sacred?

Luna's mind was all over the place. She was staring at the ceiling, lying in the enemy's bed and waiting for him to come out of the shower. For the past couple minutes, she had been alone with her thoughts and right now, that was a very dangerous place to be. She now knew she fell straight into his trap, but by the time she started to realize it, she was already caught up in the web he was weaving and it was too late to try to save herself.

The only option she had left was to go through with this. There was no salvation waiting for her in Heaven, not unless she brought this man in chains before the Divine Trial. But that was the goal, wasn't it?

She had to find the holes in his story and lock him up in chains before he got to cover them.

Right?

"What's going on in that pretty mind of yours, love?" Lucifer asked.

He reached for her, his hand cupping one of her cheeks. His skin was still damp and when he touched her, Luna was in pain once again, but this time, it felt amplified, like he managed to electrocute her.

She grabbed his hand and pushed it away from her face, but she didn't let go of it entirely, two of her fingertips still touching his hand. She was starting to get used to the pain and there was something else here. Something else that felt.. dangerously addictive to his touch and the pain he inflicted on her.

"Nothing that should concern you," she replied, looking away from him.

Lucifer frowned. He wasn't blind; he could see he was hurting her, and he knew it even before he first laid a hand upon her, but he was still drawn to her. Hell, if it were up to him, he'd have his hands roaming all over the angel's body, with no clothing left to shield her skin from his touch. He knew it hurt because it hurt him as well, but there was something buried deep inside him that she somehow awakened. Something so treacherous that could overthrow the pain and replace it with greater pleasure than both of them have ever known. But he knew better.

She deserved better.

Even though something in her blood called to him and continued to draw him magnetically to her, he would not do that to her. The price was too much to pay, and even the devil had his own rules about consent.

It was different with ordinary humans, however. Regular men and women didn't have to suffer such consequences for sleeping with the devil, they've been spared of such cruel fate, but an angel? That was an unforgivable sin and he would not condemn Luna to such a fall from his father's graces. She didn't belong in Hell anyway, she was too bright for it.

But did she truly belong in Heaven? He knew the truth of the Kingdom of the Skies, so what would such a divine being as herself be doing up there? Lucifer thought that if he were to run into God ever again, he'd tell him to no longer call him his greatest creation. He was nothing compared to this Seraph he had in his bed now.

Or Archangel, however she liked to call herself.

"Is that so?" Lucifer hummed. "I called your name twice, but you didn't hear me. You know, I've been told I'm a good listener."

"I don't want to tell you," she snapped. "Do I really have to spend the night here?"

"That was your end of the deal, yes," he pointed out. "But fear not, I won't be sleeping next to you. I have quite good manners, believe it or not."

"Then why did you ask me to stay here if you're going to leave?"

"Would you like me to stay?"

"Answer my question," Luna demanded.

Lucifer chuckled. "Very well, my pretty star. I want you to be close to me, we never know when we have to make a late night trip and I don't want to search for you in every apartment in this town. I figured it'd be easier if we at least slept under the same roof. May I offer you some clothes to sleep in? I think there should be a few nightgowns left in the dressing room."

"Do I want to know why you keep nightgowns here?" Luna squinted her eyes, now looking at him once again.

"Most likely not," he said with a laugh. "But they're dry cleaned, if that helps you ease your mind."

"No, thank you. I'd rather not," Luna said, rubbing both of her temples and letting out a long sigh.

"Then.. Are you going to sleep in this dress?" he asked, then continued to tease her. "It doesn't look too comfortable, but I'll have you know I'm also very good at helping damsels in distress take off their dresses, so I'll be here if you require my help."

He winked at her, then pushed himself up from the bed.

"Or, if you'd rather sleep in one of my shirts, you're free to look in the wardrobe over there," Lucifer added, pointing his hand to show her the directions. "I'll go get us something to drink and give you some time and space to get changed."

The devil walked out of his room, leaving Luna all alone, glaring at the door. The woman then ran a desperate hand through her blonde hair and rose off the bed, pacing back and forth around the room.

Him and his stupid ideas, his stupid nightgowns and even more stupid shirts. Damned be the devil, Luna thought.

She, however, realized she was the doomed one as soon as she wanted to take off her dress. Luna reached for the zipper on her back, but it got stuck somewhere around her shoulder blades, making it impossible for her to pull it down by herself.

The angel groaned and curled up her fingers into a fist, slowly hitting the wall next to the door."I can't believe I'm doing this.." she whispered to herself, then opened the door the devil went through. "Lucifer?"

He couldn't have gotten very far, or at least she hoped so.

"Is everything alright there, love? I heard noises," the devil was quick to reply, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not yet, at least.

"Not really. I mean, yes, but.." Luna slapped her own forehead. "I need your help with my dress."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Lucifer walking up the stairs, his hands occupied by two glasses of red wine. He didn't say anything to her, but he stopped at the top of the stairs, watching her carefully, with a playful smirk on his lips.

He clicked his tongue and began striding towards her. Instinctively, Luna started walking backwards, but he did not stop until they were in the middle of the room. He started to bend down, his face coming dangerously close to hers, so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath and sense the faint smell of whisky that still lingered on his lips.

Lucifer finally placed the wine glasses on the table next to her, then straightened his back."So?" he asked, lifting both of his eyebrows. "Are you going to turn around and allow me to unzip it for you, or do you want to stay like this and torture me some more?"

"I don't know what you're talking about—"

"It's your blood, Luna. And I know you feel it too, I see it in your eyes," he explained, fighting back the urge to touch her face again. "It's the Seraph blood in our veins that's calling both of us, magnetically trying to pull us together."

"I told you before, I'm not a Seraph."

"Tell yourself that, if that's what you wish," Lucifer said. "I don't need to hear it, I know it all too well."

Luna turned her back on him, not willing to fight on this anymore. He was messing with her head since he first laid eyes upon her, she had to start learning how to fight it and not let him under her skin anymore.

In case he wasn't already too deep underneath, of course.

Lucifer grabbed the zipper with one hand, resting the other on one of her shoulder blades to keep the dress in place. As he began pulling her zipper down, his other hand also lowered slowly, until it finally reached her lower back.

When he heard her hiss, however, he was reminded that clothing did not shield her from the pain, so he was quick to draw his hands back.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying my best not to hurt you anymore," he confessed with a whisper, sighing as he took a step back. "Call for me after you get changed, I'll wait outside the door. I'll heal these marks for you tonight."

"It's not—" Luna said, turning around to take a look at him, while holding tightly her dress so that it wouldn't fall off her shoulders. "You don't have to apologize every time you touch me, Lucifer."

He had already began walking, but upon hearing her words, Lucifer stopped and shook his head.

"Don't say such words to me, my pretty star. Not unless you understand what you're implying."Before she could say anything, Lucifer walked out of the room again and closed the door behind him.

That's it, she was completely out of her mind. Not only that she felt the need to comfort the devil, she almost gave him permission to touch her as he wanted. As if she wasn't aware of what great sin that was, or how painful his touches were to her.

"I'm losing it," Luna muttered to herself, then slipped off her dress. She then walked over to his wardrobe and grabbed one of his white shirts, covering herself with it.

Her eyes laid upon her image in a nearby mirror and if she hadn't known better, she'd say her heart skipped a beat as she saw her own reflection. His shirt had such a pure color, yet it was impregnated with his cologne. It was invading her mind; it smelled like danger and lust, and it was clouding her judgement. But she'd still chose to wear it over some stranger's nightgown for sure.

"You can come in," Luna finally said after she finished buttoning up her shirt.

She heard him open the door, but she didn't wait for him to serve her the wine he already brought. Instead, she walked over to the table and got the glasses herself, reaching out one of them to him, as some sort of peace offering. For now.

"What is it that they said—keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" Lucifer said with a knowing smile, but accepted the glass nonetheless. He clinked it to hers, then held her gaze as he had a sip. "Cheers, love."

Luna brought the glass to her lips and had a taste of the wine. "So, what's the plan? How do we stop your evil brothers from destroying the entire world?" she asked.

"You're rushing into it."

"Didn't you say we couldn't waste any more time? Wasn't that the reason why I agreed to this deal instead of filing a report to the Heavenly Army?" Luna eyed him suspiciously as she walked back to the bed and sat on its edge.

"I did, yes, and time is vital nonetheless, but first, I have to teach you everything there is to know about my brothers. And more importantly, I have to make sure you know how to defend yourself against them," he pointed out.

"I can defend myself just fine," Luna commented. "In case you forgot, I'm an Archangel."

"You might be able to defend yourself against regular demons, maybe even higher ranked ones, but right now, you stand no chance against any of us," Lucifer explained. "I see that look in your eyes, you don't believe me. Very well, then perhaps some demonstration is in order?"

"Are you underestimating me, Lucifer?"

"Not at all, love. You're the one underestimating the power of the Princes of Hell."

"I could knock you off your feet in less than a minute, but keep telling yourself you're undefeatable." Luna scoffed.

A low, yet provocative chuckle slipped past the devil's lips. "I'm far from being undefeatable, but you're not going to believe me unless you've had a taste of it yourself," he said, placing his glass back on the table and taking two steps back, then opening his arms widely. "Come on, give it a try. You're free to use that pretty spear of yours if you wish to."

The Archangel squinted, then clicked her tongue and put her glass wine aside as well. "You're going to bite back your words in the following minute."

Lifting herself off bed, Luna scanned his position, counting all the possible openings she had. As she thought about it, she started circling him like a predator, until she finally chose where to attack first. She reached her hand for her golden spear and once it appeared, she aimed to hit him behind the knees.

She was fast, but not fast enough. With a sudden turn of his body, Lucifer summoned a strong wind current that sent the angel flying into the nearest wall. Then, he linked his arms behind his back and waited.

"What the.." she muttered to herself.

"I'm not even breaking a sweat, pretty star," he commented. "Come on, you can do so much more than that pathetic attempt of an attack."

Luna clenched her jaw and placed both of her hands on her spear, separating it and turning it into twin blades instead. She leaped forward and sent one dagger flying like a boomerang, aiming the other one at his neck.

Lucifer bent forward at the last moment and reached his hand out, catching the flying dagger before it could hit her instead of him. He threw the weapon back to her and sighed.

"I know this is a mock fight, but you could at least try to treat it more seriously?" he asked. "I'll give you one more chance to touch me, I'm not wasting the entire night waiting for you to succeed to take me down and I'm not going to let you win either. If you fail to lay even a finger on me this time, we'll call this match over."

"You're all bark and no bite," Luna muttered under her breath, fusing her spear back again and aiming for his heart this time.

The devil, however, knocked the weapon out of her hand with a kick, then hit her ankles and swayed her off her feet. He grabbed the back of her head and her waist, holding her tightly as they both fell to the ground, yet protecting her from hitting her head on the flooring at the same time.

He was now close enough to her to make out each individual lash of hers. Blood rushed into her cheeks, but it was unclear to him whether it was because of the physical effort or pure embarrassment. Nonetheless, she was breathtaking.

"Trust me, pretty star. You wouldn't want me to bite," he teased her, then pushed himself back to his feet and offered her a helping hand. "Don't be too hard on yourself, it's nothing that can't be fixed with some proper training. I believe you know understand that sending the Heavenly Army to deal with this would have ended up in unnecessary slaughter, given that they would have been facing not one, but six Princes of Hell at the same time."

"You just caught me off guard, that's it," Luna defended herself, but grabbed his hand and allowed him to help her up in spite of the pain his touch brought to her.

"True, but that wasn't your biggest mistake," he pointed out. "You not only underestimated me, but you let me get into your head and cloud your judgement. My brothers have their very own ways with words, you have to learn how to not let them get to you, otherwise you're rushing head first to your demise."

"And what does this imply? Daily training sessions?" Luna asked, dusting herself off before sitting back on the bed.

"Yes, sort of. I trust you're a quick learner, there are many other things I need to teach you before we go on with the plan. And if we're lucky enough, we won't run into any of my brothers along the way, or at least not until you're ready to face them."

"So you aren't strong enough to handle them by yourself either."

"Technically speaking, I am," he confessed. "But there is a very high chance they could outsmart me, we're talking about six of the most cunning demons that have ever been born. Together, we stand a better chance."

The result of this mock fight was to be expected. Lucifer had not been God's favorite just because of his beauty, but also because of his power. He was created to be strategic and more intelligent than any other being He has ever made; it had been foolish of her to think she could take him down so easily, particularly because she knew how many other angels have been sent to get him before and they've all failed.

"I wish I wouldn't scar you every time I touch you," Lucifer said, kneeling before her. "Sometimes, it's necessary, but I know it pains you."

Luna's careful eyes watched him. "It doesn't hurt that badly--"

"I can feel the same pain as you do, don't try to lie to me," he warned her, then reached both of his hands forward to her. "Give me your hands, I'll erase the marks of our little sparring session."

Doing just as she was told, Luna placed her hands over his. Lucifer pulled them a bit closer and brought them up to his lips, once again murmuring a prayer against her skin.

The Archangel watched as her scars started to glow once more and the pain of his touch felt long gone, now replaced by a feeling of warmth and safety.

How ironic, she thought. To have the devil pray on his knees before me.

But it felt intimate, more intimate than anything she's ever known. And more importantly, it felt sacred.

"Get some sleep, love," Lucifer said, letting go of her hands and rising back to his feet. "We have a busy schedule tomorrow."

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so how do we like luna and lucifer so far?

i'm very excited to show you what i've prepared, it's going to be a beautiful journey!

also, i'm a fan of slow burns and you probably already know that about me but i'm not sure this is going to be one of these cases. to me, they're burning very fast and very bright, but i'd like to hear your thoughts about this.

that being said, do you guys want a slow burn or should they just burn all the way?

don't forget to vote and comment if you liked this chapter!

yours truly,
vega