The Devil and I by Kay Alastor

Chapter Seventeen

Rayna

The morning light that pulls me from sleep is beautiful, painting the bedroom in tones of blue and peach. When I open my eyes, I immediately search for Lucas. Finding his side of the bed cold and empty makes me feel exceptionally lonely. I have gotten so used to the heat of his body, and the way he holds me close, as if he is afraid I'll slip away while he sleeps. Waking up without him leaves me feeling lost adrift in an endless sea.

I roll over, squinting against the bright morning light pouring in from the window behind the bed. My hand reaches for the bed-side table, feeling around the cool wood surface in search of the cell phone kept there. Memories of our late-night phone call race to the forefront of my mind, and I can't help but smile in remembrance. I instantly remember his threats, and a responding heat rushes to the apex of my thighs.

I sigh happily, grabbing the phone. I sit up slowly, stretching out the stiffness from a night of deep sleep, as the silky bed sheets gather around my hips. When I flick the phone screen on, it vibrates, indicating a waiting text message. I open it up with another smile.

Almost home, baby.

Leaving the phone on the bed, I quickly slip out and make my way to the bathroom with a bounce in my step. I wasn't sure exactly when he'd be home, but I was grateful it was soon. I can't imagine spending the whole day hanging around his house without him, trying to make time pass faster until he got back home.

I use the bathroom, freshening up and brushing my teeth before heading back out to the bedroom. On my way to the bedroom door, I lean down and snatch the phone up to take it with me, just in case another message comes through.

Walking into the kitchen always makes me feel good in the morning. The light from the big window makes the kitchen look so open and inviting. The birds are already flitting around the feeders that Lucas left full for them, singing pretty songs I can faintly hear despite the windows being closed. I walk straight over to the kettle, fill it up, and turn it on to make some tea. I find my favourite brown mug, pop a tea bag in, and wait. I can't help but open up his message again, eager for him to get home, wanting to see what time it was sent. An hour ago. Hopefully that means he will be here any minute. As I wait for the kettle to finish boiling my water, I type a text back to him.

I'm waiting in the kitchen with some tea. Can't wait to see you.

I hit send and turn my attention out the window, wondering if Lucas has managed to get any sleep last night. One thing leads to another, and I am contemplating what business had him out of the house all night without being able to give me any details. Maybe he was working undercover, or taking out some big name criminal somewhere. The truth is, even though we've been together every hour of the day for the last week, we still don't know everything there was to know about each other. Lucas is an enigmatic man, and I'm sure he has a ton of secrets left for me to discover.

The sound of the kettle finishing its boil pulls me from my thoughts, so I fill my mug with water and float the tea bag so it can steep. I pull a second mug down and set it aside, in case Lucas needs some caffeine when he gets home.

Grabbing my mug to warm my hands, I walk around the island and set it down next to where I plan to sit. I hop up on the counter with my back to the kitchen so I can see down the hallway in the direction of the front door. Minutes pass by as I wait, my feet swinging as I sip my tea and watch the birds out the window.

The sound of the garage door opening pulls me from my quiet reverie, and my heart starts to beat faster. It doesn't feel like he has been gone for as long as he has, but I am still eager to see him again. I can recognize the co-dependency from a mile away, but I am helpless against it. It is easy to attach myself to Lucas. He is safe, he brings me nothing but pleasure, and he truly cares about me. Just how much is evident in the way he takes care of me every single day without asking for anything in return.

When the door leading from the garage to the house opens, a smile spreads across my face. It drops off immediately as soon as Lucas steps into view, his gaze cast towards the floor. He looks tired, his black hair is messy, as if he has been dragging his hands through it all night. He looks incredibly intimidating, dressed in all black. He is covered in what looks like dirt, but it only seems to add to his rugged and rough appearance. Despite looking like he just walked off the battlefield, he is unfairly handsome.

“Lucas?” I call out to him, since he seems a little dazed. When he lifts his eyes to mine, my heart nearly stops. His eyes are tired, but they are so intensely grey that they nearly glow silver. It's almost too difficult to hold his gaze. I fight the urge to drop my eyes. He holds me captive in his stare the same way he commands everything in his life, with unyielding authority. My fingertips ache to touch the rough stubble covering his jaw, but more than anything I want to offer myself up to him like a sacrifice. My lips part on a breathy sigh, and the subtle sound seems to flip some sort of switch in him.

Lucas drops the dark bag he is carrying and lunges towards me. When he reaches the island I'm perched on, he shoves my legs apart and forces his big body between them. The mug of tea I am holding falls from my hand and goes crashing to the floor. It doesn't shatter, to my surprise, but the remnants of my tea spill from the cup.

Without a single word, he wraps one hand in my hair and pulls my mouth to his. Our lips clash roughly, his tongue sweeping into my mouth mercilessly to take possession of me. I squeak from the sudden intensity, but it is chased away quickly by a throaty moan.

Lucas conquers my mouth and takes control of my body effortlessly, pulling me closer with his other arm wrapped around my body. His kiss is so intense my lips feel bruised, and when he finally pulls away, I'm panting from the vicious surge of arousal he's left me with.

The hand settled against the base of my skull holds me tightly, long strands of my hair wrapped around his fist. It's almost painful, but my pussy doesn't seem to mind. I'm already wet, desperate for him to finish what he started with his forceful kiss.

With him this close to me, the dirt scattered across his body no longer looks like dirt. I lift a hand to touch the splatter of reddish brown across his jaw line, and he watches me closely as I touch the marks. It's mostly dry, but when I pull my hand away there is some stuck to my fingers. I bring it to my nose, and a metallic scent floods my senses. Dried blood. I drop my hand and narrow my eyes slightly, concern painted across my features. Lucas's expression doesn't change, nor does his breathing even out.

“What happened, Lucas?” I ask softly, my voice barely above a whisper.

“He's dead,” he replies simply. His voice is roughened from lack of sleep, but there is something else in his tone that I can't quite decipher.

“W-who?” Fear creeps up from the pit of my stomach and promises he made to me in heated moments rush through my mind. Did he kill someone? Anxiety strikes like lightning, and I am suddenly trying to wrap my arms around myself for self preservation.

“Don't,” he growls, his voice like an earthquake threatening to turn my world upside down. Both of his hands abandon their positions to pull my arms away from my body, not allowing me to retreat into myself. “He deserved to die for what he's done.”

“N-now they'll t-take you away.” The idea of spending the rest of my life without this man, despite the short time we've been together, made me want to die all over again. One of my hands slips into the other, and I find my fingers traveling up my forearm to bother the edges of the bandage still covering the result of my suicide attempt.

Lucas brings his hand to mine and pulls it away, his other arm slipping behind my back to pull me flush against his body again. Sitting up on the island means my legs are splayed wide to accommodate him, but the intimate proximity soothes me instantly.

“No one is going to take me anywhere,” he tells me firmly, one hand grasping my jaw to force me to hold his stare. “I've been hand delivering criminals to hell for a long time. I'm good at what I do.”

“I'm not worth all this,” I tell him sadly.

The animalistic sound that emanates from Lucas is unsettling, making him sound more beast than man in this moment. I would have flinched if I didn't trust him implicitly. Maybe that's naïve of me, considering the reality of how long we've known each other, but I can't help it. He brought me back from death's door and has taken better care of me than anyone else ever has. He has done nothing but chase away the demons that keep trying to pull me under. He has made me feel good where I have gotten so used to feeling nothing but anxiety and sadness. The reason I am alive is him. More importantly, he is the reason I want to remain that way.

“You are everything I have ever wanted and needed, Rayna. Now that I've found you, I won't ever let you go... and anyone that hurts you will pay for it with their lives,” he explains, and the confession sets my heart on fire. The still damaged organ beats a harsh rhythm against the confines of my chest. All of this is so fucked up, and the logical part of my brain tells me so, but I just can't connect with any of it.

Lucas pulled me from the brink of oblivion, and it wasn't enough for him. He had to go so far as to kill the man that raped me.

“I'm not a hero. I'll do things for you that normal men won't do. Fucked up shit, shit that makes the devil himself look like an angel,” he tells me, his bloodied hand holding the side of my face steady. “I'm a bad man, Rayna. I just know how to camouflage myself with a good reputation and a police uniform.”

There is no conflict in his gaze, no remorse for all he has done. It's clear now that Lucas truly is a monster, one that is perfectly comfortable in his skin. All I can do is stare at him with a tumultuous mix of conflicting emotions. As much as I want to be a good, normal person... I can't deny that all that was done to me in the past has changed me. If that meant embracing my darkness, when his own sought to serve mine, then so be it. He may be a monster, but he is my monster.

“I wanted you when I found you, so I took you.” He leans forward, his lips brushing against mine. I'm trembling all over at the rawness of his confessions and the truth of my own realizations. “I can't breathe without you, so I kept you.” His tongue traces the seam of my lips, and I feel a whisper of the sensation between my thighs. “I found the man that touched you, and I tortured him. I'm not sorry. I'll kill a thousand times more if that is what it takes.”

Arousal floods through me as he grinds his hips against me. I should be sickened by the blood of my rapist all over him, but it only intensifies the emotions overwhelming me. Need, love, adoration, obsession. I'm just as sick as him, because every word that falls from his sinful mouth tightens the binds that connect us. Where I once would have recoiled from his admission, I find myself wanting to get closer.

“I'm going to fuck you while I'm covered in Mark's blood, Rayna. I'm going to force you to take my cock, and I'm not going to stop even if you beg me,” he tells me with his lips against my own, his hips still moving hard against me. I'm wearing nothing but another one of his oversized t-shirts, leaving my pussy exposed to the rough and dirty material of his pants. This is madness, absolute insanity, and yet here I am drowning in this with him. Both of us enslaved by our dark and twisted love.

Lucas took a life for me last night. He identified a threat, and he removed it from my life without mercy. I was done fighting with the moral compass society ingrained in me. Everyone in my life either abandoned me or hurt me, and I was done trying to be what the world expected me to be. The devil has me now, and I am glad for it. I feel myself letting go and giving in, and the freedom I find in that gives me a kind of strength I've never experienced before.

“I'll never let you have me,” I tease him, my voice anointed with a strength I didn't know I was capable of. His answering snarl would have frightened anyone else, but it only made me ache even more. His gaze captures mine, his pupils dilating as tension surges through him.

“Like you could fucking stop me.” He lifts me up with both arms and spins us away from the kitchen island, taking us down to the floor. Though he cradles my head in his hand, I'm not sure if it's to protect me from the impact or stabilize my throat against his mouth as we fall. The thought slips away with the feel of his teeth on my skin, sinking down. I cry out, trying to writhe beneath him while I fight to catch my breath from the impact of hitting the cold floor. Although he cradled me against him and took us down safely, the weight of him on top of me overwhelms my senses.

I whimper as his teeth release me, feeling the warmth of blood on my skin. He drags his tongue along the wound he made, the satisfied rumble from his chest reminding me of a hungry lion.

“I'll run,” I whimper, my voice trembling with raw need.

The devilish laugh that rises out of him makes my hair stand on end, but it doesn't stop him from tearing his black cargo pants open and reaching in to free his massive cock. “There is nowhere you can run that I won't find you, baby.”

I struggle against him to the best of my ability, but it only seems to amp him up. He kisses my throat where he bit me, and when he pulls back to look at me his lips are stained red with blood. The sight of him above me, looking like the monster I know he is, is enough to unravel me. I'm lost in the madness between us, and he loves it. The wicked grin on his bloodied face only proves that.

“That's it, baby. Fight me. Let me show you just how weak and helpless you are against the devil himself,” he growls, hooking my leg over his hip with one arm while he holds me down with the other. He grinds his pelvis against me, and I cry out as the heaviness of his big cock slides across my clit roughly. He rocks back just enough to re-position himself before driving his hips forward and pushing his way through the tightness of my entrance. I moan brokenly, the feeling of his violent invasion making me want to scream.

“Ahhhh, fuck,” he moans, his head dropping down next to mine as he squeezes his eyes shut against the onslaught of sensation. “You grip my cock so fucking tight, baby. This is the kind of pussy that makes men want to wage wars and burn the fucking world down.”

His words amplify the pressure building inside me, hurtling me towards climax faster than I've ever experienced before. I cry out as he works his cock in and out of me, forcing my body to adjust to him. He is merciless, pounding into me so roughly that it leaves me utterly breathless. He feels so impossibly big and hard in the most soft place within me. It sets my teeth on edge.

“I'll tear the world apart for you, baby. Whatever it takes to keep you, I'll fucking do it,” he groans through clenched teeth, fucking my body like a man possessed. He's so rough that I know I'll bruise. There is no way I can walk away from an encounter like this unharmed. The mix of pleasure and pain is a tornado wrecking havoc on my body, and I am utterly helpless beneath him. It's all I can do to brace myself and take everything he is giving me.

“It-it's too much,” I cry out, feeling myself spiraling out of control towards my orgasm. The ferocity of it all is terrifying, but he doesn't let up. Every powerful thrust hits its mark, his pubic bone grinding hard against my highly sensitized clit. I can't control the speed with which I'm careening towards my release like a train derailed.

“You'll take everything I fucking give you.” He lifts his head to look at me, his face contorted from the sheer pleasure holding him in a vice grip. Just when I don't think I can survive him, I feel sparks erupting along my spine as my pussy ripples forcefully around his cock. I am thrown over the edge I was racing towards, powerless against the orgasm he takes from my body. The sound that leaves him is animalistic, and he shifts my body to sharpen the angle with which he drives into me.

“Good fucking girl. Come all over my cock, just like that,” he moans, and I see stars from the force of my climax. My pussy spasms violently as it milks his cock, forcing his own orgasm in return. He groans viciously as he explodes inside of me, thick ropes of cum emptying deep. I cry out and he tightens his hold on me. He fucks me through my release, pulling every ounce of pleasure from my body. I am left breathless and panting as he collapses on top of me, rolling immediately to his side so he doesn't crush me. As I lay there quivering, he pulls me against his chest.

“I love you more than anything in this world,” he tells me, planting a kiss against my damp forehead. If he wasn't holding me, I'm certain I would drift away. Every ounce of strength in my body is gone, but that doesn't stop my heart from beating wildly in my chest. He loves me, and I love him too. More than I imagined possible.

“I love you more.”