Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) by Amelia Hutchins

He’d break my girl, and I’d destroy his fucking world into dust and ruins. I was bound by laws where he was concerned, but there was nothing big enough to stop me from destroying this universe if Lena died. Lucifer knew that, which was why she’d never die if he got his hands on her. He’d put her in one of his cages, keeping her alive to pull her out and use as entertainment or wreck her when he remembered she was there. I wouldn’t allow that to happen, ever.

“He knows you’d destroy him and his world. Lucifer may be hell-bent on revenge, but I have a feeling he actually likes her, Lucian. He craves love, and Lena is special. Hell, even without that bond, I don’t want to see that girl hurt. I’ve never met a woman who was as selfless as Lena. She had waged a war against monsters, and she’d won. She died, but Lena fucking won and ended your pain. You may not say the words, but you love that girl. I do too.”

“You aren’t touching her again, asshole.”

“No, and I don’t crave to fuck her anymore. I like Lena and I care what happens to her. She died, ended up with three furies inside of her, and she is holding them. Name one other being in history that held all three furies without going insane within days of receiving them. Even though those bitches live within her, Lena still has this innocence that shines through her pretty eyes. When Lena looks at you, her entire heart is in that stare. You’re one lucky prick. Had I been five minutes earlier, I could’ve been the lucky one to get the worst submissive in the history of mankind.”

“Asshole,” I grumbled, holding Spyder’s obsidian gaze, swimming with inky shadows. “She’s not submissive, but she plays it well. I enjoy her fire and her need to disobey.”

“You like punishing her. Admit it,” Spyder snorted, holding the glass to his lips, downing it quickly. One thousand-year-old scotch was wasted on him and Lena. Neither appreciated the fine taste of it. “That’s why she’s inside your room, writhing on your bed while you hold that remote, driving her pleasure to an unbearable level. You knew she wouldn’t fuck you after what she learned today. So, you improvised. How’s that reclaiming sex going? Is she yours yet, or is she dreaming about climbing my ladder?”

“You know I’m going to have to remove the memories of you with her, right? I won’t spend an eternity hearing about her pining after your ladder, and I ain’t doing that shit to my dick.”

“It enhances the pleasure of both participants, asshole. She came hard enough on it. You should think about getting one. She enjoyed it,” he snickered. “Lena’s a fucking climber.”

“She also enjoys me without your bedazzled cock around,” I countered, standing to go back to her. “See what the others have learned and get eyes on Alden. Lena is attached to the old bastard. Have Devlin check-in on Joshua and the other furies and assess how they’re managing without Nyx.”

“On it,” he stated, rising from his chair to lean over the desk. “Lena is worth fighting for, Lucian. If you don’t make her see reason, you will lose her. Maybe not in the sense of actually losing her, but that doesn’t mean she won’t vanish in other ways. Women are fickle as fuck, and you can’t predict how they feel or react to shit. She also needs to know where she stands with you. You’re all she has left, and right now, she’s not sure about that either. You’re a cold bastard, and you have a good reason to be. But Lena, she’s your girl, asshole. Stop fighting her and allow her to fight beside you.”

“If I could just come out and tell her and be assured that our child was safe from that asshole, don’t you think I would? Harbinger is safe for now, but that’s because only you, me, and Death know he’s alive. He’s in stasis, and that is where he will stay until I can get her to understand or end the threat Lucifer poses to him.” Glaring at Spyder, I shook my head.

“Go, she’s waiting for you.”

“I know she is,” I chuckled, but it wasn’t her body making me need to get back to her. It was to see her with my own fucking eyes, to see that she was still safe. Leaving her was an issue, one that fucked my head up since she slit her pretty throat in front of me.

I exited my office, moving through the club, feeling eyes on me every step of the way down the hall. I knew Lucifer was watching, and I also knew he wanted Lena for more than just to torture, too. He wanted her because she could love a monster. Lena was a different breed, one who didn’t let a rough exterior bother her.

She’d looked beyond my hardness, loving me regardless of my cold detachment. I’d put that girl through hell, and we were so close to the finish line. Once I was done here, and Lucifer was in a fucking cage, we’d finish what I had planned for Lena. We’d be free to live without worry or looking over our shoulders, waiting for the sky to fall.

Entering my bedroom, I grinned at seeing her spread out, covered in arousal. Her scent drifted to me, and I felt a twinge of regret at not smelling brimstone and sulfur. So I was a sadistic prick who took pleasure in fucking her hard and angry sometimes. She enjoyed it, too. Moving to the bed, I leaned over her, finding her eyes barely open as her lips parted, and a sultry moan escaped her throat.

“I’m going to kill you,” she whispered through parched lips.

“Why don’t you try to kill my dick with that tight, wet pussy of yours to start?”