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CAMI

H ot red sunlight streamed in through the gauzy curtains, the air holding a note of fire and brimstone, one I never thought I’d want to smell again.

But underneath was a current I adored, one doused in decadence and sin.

Melek, I thought, breathing him in as I rolled toward him on the giant four-poster bed.

Only, another scent lingered here, too. Cinnamon , I realized, inhaling deeply. Burning cinnamon. The aroma mingled with Melek’s richness, making me dizzy with want.

I grabbed his bare thigh, then inched higher to his hips. He hummed in appreciation, his fingers going to my hair as I slid on top of him, ready to wake us both up properly.

My Virtuous Fae mate made me feel bold. Alive. Ready for anything .

“Mmm, I think I like you lust-drunk, Cami,” he murmured, nipping at my bottom lip. “Had I known you would be this insatiable, I would have claimed you at a more opportune time.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, nor did I care. I just wanted to kiss him. To fuck him. Or rather, for him to fuck me.

Again.

And again.

Because wow, Melek was… everything. His taste. His touch. His tongue .

I practically melted against him as he kissed me, his wicked mouth undoing every part of me and flooding me with need. I couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in my ears, the sensation of being underwater overwhelming every inch of my being.

Melek smiled, his lips a taunting curve against my own. “Good morning, my king,” he murmured.

My brow furrowed. King?

“Little prince,” a deep voice replied, the warm tone sending ice through my veins.

Ice because it belonged to Typhos Lucifer. The Hell Fae King.

Oh, shit…

That was the source of cinnamon lingering in the air. I was in his bed. Well, the one he shared with Melek. His mate. His little prince .

A prince I was currently straddling while naked.

I scrambled for the sheets, wanting to cover myself, and unceremoniously fell off of him and onto the mattress near where Lucifer was currently standing.

His dark eyebrow winged upward, his striking blue eyes holding mine.

I swallowed, then grabbed the blanket again in an attempt to wrap myself up in it. But naturally, it was twisted beneath me, making it impossible to complete the task.

Which left me vulnerable and exposed to his burning gaze.

“I do hope you’re a little more graceful when lost in the throes of passion, Miss De la Croix.” He glanced at Melek. “Or did you keep her tied up all night?”

“I conducted an introductory course,” Melek informed him. “We’re still working on trust.”

“Hmm,” the Hell Fae King hummed, his gaze returning to mine. “A concept I’m all too familiar with.”

My heart skipped a beat, the meaning beneath his words ringing through loud and clear. He didn’t trust me. I’d touched his Source. And he’d recently learned that I was literally created to steal his light.

Because I’m a siphon. Crafted and molded by his enemy—Vivaxia. A Virtuous Fae who also happens to be my grandmother.

Yeah, trust was nonexistent between me and Lucifer. In his mind, I’d be better off dead.

Oh, he’d claimed he wanted to train me to become a queen, not just a pawn. But part of him wanted to remove me from the board entirely.

And that part of him was studying me now, causing his irises to flicker with blue fire as they tracked down to my throat and lower.

He’s probably picturing me covered in blood, I thought, shivering beneath his open perusal.

The heat in his eyes as they returned to mine confirmed his thoughts, his hunger one that could only be driven by his need to kill .

“Yes, trust is absolutely going to be a challenge,” he murmured, then turned away from us with rigid movements.

I held my breath, waiting for him to return with a knife or maybe a handful of Hellfire. But when he stepped back up to the bed, he was holding a robe instead.

When all I did was stare at it, he leaned in to drape the plush red fabric over my body.

“You are far too tempting in this state, Camillia. Naked, partially aroused, equally afraid.” He inhaled deeply, his irises flickering with more of those hypnotic flames. “It’s making me want to test your limits, something neither of us is ready to do. So put that on. Because we need to talk.”

He rotated away before I could reply, his muscular shoulders encased in expensive-looking black fabric, his pressed suit fitting him to utter perfection.

I couldn’t help but admire the way it framed his ass as he walked over to a nearby bar to pour himself a drink.

Nor could I stop my gaze from homing in on his impressive package as he rotated again, his groin in perfect view from my space on the bed.

“It’s the mating high,” Melek said, sounding amused. “I’m rather enjoying it.”

“Yes, I’ve felt your enjoyment all night,” Lucifer replied flatly. “I tried to give you space to indulge, but unfortunately, time is not on our side.”

“You’ve discovered something.” The words from Melek lacked his amusement from seconds ago, his serious tone somewhat registering through the fog in my mind.

“I remembered something,” he corrected. Energy vibrated the air as he pulled up a translucent screen, his voice deepening as he said, “Breakfast for three. Bring a variety of everything available.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” someone replied, the voice androgynous in nature and seeming to float throughout the room.

Lucifer shut off the monitor, then settled with his drink at a nearby table. “Join me,” he said. Two words, uttered with a conviction that definitely resembled an order.

Yet my limbs refused to move.

I… I was frozen beneath this robe. In the Hell Fae King’s bed .

Warm lips brushed my temple, nearly causing me to leap out of my skin. Except I was paralyzed by fear. So my heart simply raced instead. “He’s not going to bite you, little angel,” Melek whispered against my ear. “Not unless you ask him nicely.”

Lucifer grunted and took a long swallow of his drink without looking at us.

Melek rolled over me to land deftly on the floor. My eyes widened as he sauntered toward Lucifer, utterly naked and very much aroused.

The Hell Fae King glanced up at him with an arched brow, then his expression disappeared from my view as Melek leaned down to kiss him. “Play nice, my king,” he said, before vanishing into thin air.

Melek, I hissed in my mind.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes. Ajax?

Cami, he replied. Are you all right?

I… I swallowed, opening my eyes to glance at the Hell Fae King again. He had pulled up a screen, his focus seeming to be on the words scrolling across it. Is he reading a newspaper?

What? Ajax asked.

I shook my head. Sorry, Lucifer is… I think he’s reading… Never mind. Where are you?

At Zenaida’s with Shade and Zakkai, he muttered, causing my brow to furrow.

Is everything okay?

I believe I asked you something like that first, he drawled. But yes, everything’s fine. Just… negotiating.

I nearly asked what he was negotiating when Lucifer said, “Do you need help with that robe, Miss De la Croix?”

My eyes squinted closed again. “N-no,” I told him, hating that I actually probably did need help since my body seemed to be incapable of moving.

I just slept with the Hell Fae King’s mate. Oh, I’d done more than that. I’d mated Melek. Typhos Lucifer already hated me. And I’d just given him fuel to hate me more.

Which one? Ajax asked, causing me to frown. Az or Melek? Actually, don’t answer that. I’m pretty sure you meant Melek since Az is off meeting with Maliki.

Maliki? I repeated. Who’s Maliki?

His half brother.

Oh. Did I know that? Maybe. I couldn’t?—

“Miss De la Croix?” Lucifer’s voice came from right over my head, causing me to stop breathing.

He must have stood up and walked over to the bed while I’d been mentally talking to Ajax. What’s going on? my Midnight Fae mate asked, sounding concerned. You feel… nervous.

I squinted my eyes in frustration, not liking at all how he’d described me. Mostly because it was true. Nervous. Terrified. Still aroused. I’m fine , I gritted out.

You don’t sound fine, he hedged. Where are you?

With Melek and Lucifer.

Well, I was with Melek and Lucifer, anyway. At least until Melek had disappeared.

Do you need me? Ajax asked.

Part of me wanted to say yes. But I didn’t want to pull him away from whatever conversation he was having with Zenaida, Shade, and Zakkai. It was likely important; otherwise, he wouldn’t be there. No, I’m… I’ll be okay. I’m just, as you said, nervous.

Which I hated.

But how was I supposed to?—

A warm touch on my jaw had my eyes flying open. Lucifer stood over me, his brow furrowed and his lips curling down. “You’re terrified of me.”

“I am not terrified,” I ground out, the lie bitter on my tongue. Because I’d literally just used that word to describe myself seconds ago.

Lucifer withdrew his touch. “I’m not going to harm you, Camillia.”

Yeah, he’d said that yesterday, too. Pretty sure he’d also mentioned that while dancing as well. But that didn’t mean I believed him. Not after all the previous threats lingering between us.

Sighing, Lucifer sat on the bed, his large form somehow managing to fit in the small space between me and the edge of the mattress.

One big hand cupped my jaw, his palm a brand against my skin. “You have every reason not to trust me,” he said, his soft tone almost as surprising as his touch. “But we’re connected now through Azazel and Melek. I couldn’t harm you even if I wanted to.”

I nearly snorted.

Because yeah, that didn’t convince me to believe him.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, his sapphire eyes searching my features. “Tell me so we can discuss it. But please don’t lie.”

I stared up at him, not sure how to respond to that. He probably already knew my every thought, given the connection he’d just mentioned between me and his two mates. So maybe this was a test of sorts to see if I would be honest with him.

Knowing Lucifer, it was exactly that. A way to measure my loyalty, to determine if I was worthy of his mates, worthy of being kept alive.

“There are a lot of thoughts rolling through my head,” I admitted.

“Give me one and we’ll start there,” he suggested.

“Okay. How about your previous threats? Do you hear those echoing via the bond?” I wondered aloud. “Or is it just my uncertainty you’re picking up on? The fact that you’re telling me you can’t hurt me, therefore you won’t, doesn’t boost my confidence in this situation.”

However, admitting all this out loud was making me feel less frozen, and a little warmer. To the point where I could actually somewhat move again.

Only, I wasn’t sure where to go with Lucifer sitting so close to me.

“I don’t hear anything,” he told me, confusing me.

“What?”

“I suppose I could try to access your mind through Azazel’s or Melek’s thoughts,” he went on, ignoring my question. “But that would be a severe intrusion into your privacy and theirs, and that’s not who I am.”

I blinked at him, surprised by the sadness in the latter part of his statement.

“It seems you and I have misunderstood one another from the beginning, which is primarily my doing.” His thumb traced the hollow beneath my eye, his gaze on mine.

“I’m not one for starting over, as I believe history creates important foundations, but perhaps you and I can strike a compromise of some kind. ”

My throat worked, my mouth suddenly dry. “What kind of compromise?” I asked slowly, not sure what to think of this bizarre twist in our dynamic.

“A tenuous truce, perhaps?” he offered. “One that we can strengthen as we learn more about each other.” He shrugged, his hand leaving my cheek. “Honestly, in my very long life, I’ve never been in a situation like this before. We need to trust each other. But it won’t be easy.”

He wasn’t wrong about that last part—it absolutely would not be easy.

“However, nothing worth having has ever been easy,” he went on, his dark gaze capturing mine once more before slowly lowering to my mouth. “You kissed me yesterday.”

The jarring change in topic had my lips parting, my mind instantly rewinding to the incident he referred to. “I thought I was dreaming.”

“So you dream of me kissing you?” he asked, still studying my mouth.

“I dream of a lot of strange things.” The retort fell from my tongue before I could swallow it.

But rather than be offended at me calling our interaction strange , he chuckled.

He’d laughed yesterday, too.

A sound I’d never heard from him before. At least, not like this. So relaxed and amused, yet not in a dark way.

“I imagine you do. Still…” He caught my chin, his touch just as hot as before. “You coaxed me into kissing you back.”

My eyes widened. “ Coaxed seems like a strong word.”

“Does it?” he asked, leaning toward me. “Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps seduced is a better word.”

“I didn’t seduce you,” I fired back, but the words lacked heat and came out in a breath instead.

A breath that touched his lips.

Because his mouth was only a hairsbreadth away from mine.

“You’re naked and in my bed right now, Miss De la Croix,” he murmured. “Perhaps you didn’t mean to seduce me, but you have and you are.” His lips brushed mine. “Scenting your sweet ambrosia-like arousal isn’t helping matters.”

A tremble worked through me, not born of fear so much as interest.

Because I could smell him, too.

His cinnamon spice. Underlined with Melek’s decadence and Az’s simmering bonfire cologne.

“I want a truce, Camillia,” Lucifer said, the words spoken against my mouth. “Not a deal. Not an agreement. Not even a promise or a vow. Simply… a truce. Give me a chance to show you who I really am. Please.”