Bound By Lucifer by Aiden Pierce

Chapter Three

Jess

Isat up a little straighter. The idea of Gabriel being anything other than human was troubling because it was very possible he wasn’t. Supernaturals were all around us; they always had been. The “real world” had been in the dark until two years ago and was still adjusting to this new normal. It was scary because these supernatural creatures were friends, family, co-workers… Many of them were “still in the closet” so to speak. Which brought into question who was human and who wasn’t? Because not everyone supernatural had jackets and logos like the Tacoma Pack.

I’d known Gabriel for over seven years. Mel had known him since she was just a kid. The thought of him being something other than human had never even occurred to me. But there was a very real possibility that Gabe was no different from all the others that had been in hiding.

“Do you really think… Shit, do you think he’s a wolf?

Mel shook her head. “I don’t think so. A cat maybe, going by the way he cringes whenever wolves are mentioned. Whatever he is, he’s been lying to me this entire time.”

I tensed, drumming my nails against the veneer of our table. “I hate to side with Gabe here but say he is a sup. Is there ever really a good time to tell your childhood best friend that you’re not human? What if he’s something embarrassing like a chicken shifter? Then I really wouldn’t blame him for not coming clean.”

Her lips quivered. “We don’t keep anything from each other.”

“I don’t know. If I was secretly a chicken, I wouldn’t want that sort of thing getting out. It would also be hell on my dating life. There, I cracked the mystery of why he wouldn’t sleep with you.”

She flung me a barbed glare. “This isn’t helping.”

“I get that you’re worried about him and whatever secret he’s hiding. But hey, you lost your V card! And even if he’s a lying asshole, you lost it to the guy you’ve been in love with for a decade. How was it?”

“It was… Wet.” She bit her lip, searching for the words. Her cheeks grew even redder, her whole body looked red from Siren’s lighting, but her cheeks especially were on fire. It made me wonder what exactly had gone down in that alley.

“Ooooh.” I waggled my eyebrows.

“Because of the rain,” she scowled.

“Oh.”

There was an awkward silence, then eventually Mel spoke again. “Fuck him. Fuck him and his stupid huge cock.”

My brows shot up with curiosity. “Huge, huh?”

The conversation continued around Gabriel and his equipment. Realizing I still didn’t have a drink in my hand, I tried to waive a server over with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Oh my God, Jess.” Mel pleaded. “Stop harassing the servers. You’re so embarrassing.”

“I need to unwind somehow, girl. Not all of us have a hot guardian angel to sweep us off our feet and fuck us with their nine-inch cock.

Her face turned sheet white. “What did you just say?”

I blinked at her, confused by the apparent epiphany glimmering in her eyes. If this scene was a cartoon, a light bulb would be blinking over her head.

“Not all of us have a guy to fuck us with a nine-inch cock?”

“No, not that. You called him my guardian angel.”

“Yeah…because he saved you from those thugs. It’s an expression.”

Was she suggesting what I thought she was suggesting? God, I needed a drink and pronto.

Mel must have been thinking the same thing because her attention wandered to the man tending the bar. The moment I saw him, my mouth went dry, and all the moisture in my body slipped down between my thighs.

Hot. Damn.

I’d heard plenty of rumors revolving around the infamous playboy billionaire who was snapping up downtown property like hotcakes. I’d built an image in my head, an older man with hard eyes and thin lips. I’d imagined him as the kind of villain you saw in movies with gray hair and long knobby fingers, always petting their cat while they plotted world domination in their evil conference room.

The only details I had gotten right was the suit, although he was wearing Armani, and I had imagined some kind of Lewis Carol Ebenezer Scrooge getup. Basically, my mental picture of him was all wrong and hallelujah for that because the reality was much nicer to look at.

Lucifer Morningstar was surely the reason behind the saying “handsome as the devil.” Talk about sex on a stick, sinful as all get-out, drop-dead gorgeous.

Seriously.

Looks like his should be outlawed because he’s so painfully gorgeous, it almost hurt to look at him.

His hardened body, his dark, suave features, and Holy Mother, that jawline. It looked like it was painstakingly carved from marble with a defined edge so sharp a girl could cut herself on that thing. His hair was as dark as the devil’s soul, swept back from his face with little curls at the end curving up beneath his ears, framing the masterpiece that was his heart-breaking physiognomy. His Romanesque nose was ever so slightly crooked, giving his otherwise sleek look an edge that made my core heat with female appreciation.

It was at that moment his gaze lifted from the bar and locked with mine.

My heart leapt to my throat as I found myself starring into the most hypnotic eyes of liquid gold. His gaze had a weight to it that made me squirm and heat that brought a flame to my skin. His perfect, plush lips donned an infernal smirk that made his eyes sparkle. It was a smirk he wore so well, like it was part of his uniform. And the way the tip of his tongue flicked out to run over his bottom lip when he registered I was blushing…

Holy Mother of God. Why was he so freaking hot? I’d never seen anyone so handsome. Which wasn’t fair because everything I knew about him meant that this guy was a raging asshole. Assholes had no right being that beautiful.

It was almost as if he could read my mind, because his shoulders shook with a chuckle even though no one was near him.

“What the hell, Mel. That’s Lucifer Morningstar? Why didn’t you tell me he’s that hot?

I realized Mel wasn’t gawking at the club owner the same way I was. She was looking at him with a blazing kind of indignance like her epiphany somehow involved him, and by the way she was glaring daggers at him, it wasn’t good.

She rose to her feet, as if in a trance, and made her way toward the bar.

“Mel?” I called after her, completely at a loss as to what was going on in her head.

“Wait here,” she muttered over her shoulder before making a beeline for the bar.

What the hell was she doing?

I watched in astonishment as she marched up to the billionaire like she had a bone to pick. The smirk he wore shifted to something a little more polite or formal when his attention moved to Melanie.

“Wait here?”Who was this person? Melanie never approached guys, especially rich bachelors. And what alien universe had I fallen into where she didn’t want me as her wing woman?

I waited at the table for at least five minutes as they talked. I could tell by Mel’s body language that she was hot and bothered about something, and he just appeared amused.

Melanie had told me to stay put, but screw that. This was the weekend, and I wasn’t so good at behaving on the weekends. Besides, my curiosity was eating me alive.

Go to him, Reckless Jess urged. And since it was Friday, I listened to her.

Whatever it was they were talking about, Mel was uncomfortable. She began to retreat from the bar and bumped into me as I approached. She spun, looking simultaneously relieved and irritated that I had left the table.

“Jess!”

“Were you just going to leave me at the table while you keep the bartender all to yourself, Melanie?” While I addressed Mel, I couldn’t seem to peel my eyes off Lucifer Morningstar. I’d been taken with his looks from across the bar but, up close and personal, he was so good looking it was practically hypnotic. His eyes were the color of hot honey and smoldering embers. Their unnaturally bright hue reminded me of those exotic animals you saw in nature documentaries; deadly, venomous creatures who could kill you in one bite. He flashed me a sly grin that had my insides melting.

“Well, hello there, beautiful.”

Holy Hell.

His voice was a deep, velvety baritone that worked its way under my skin and turned my insides to liquid. “What brings a piece of Heaven like you to this sad corner of Hell on Earth?”

“Rumors, mostly,” I said through the ghost of a smirk.

“Ah. Rumors and hearsay. Two of my favorite things. Does wonders for business. Can I get you a drink, Kitten? Let me guess your poison.” He paused as he contemplated, his tongue giving a sensual stroke over his lower lip. Each move he made was seductive and made with purpose. This man was dangerous, the kind of guy a girl could easily overdose on.

And that was exactly my type of guy.

“You’ll take a cosmopolitan,” he said after a few seconds of contemplation. How had he known my favorite drink? There was no way he’d guessed. There were too many drinks to choose from, and no one was that lucky.

His attention briefly skirted to Mel, and he winked at her as if sharing some kind of inside joke. A joke Melanie didn’t find funny in the slightest. She seemed uneasy and pulled at my shirt sleeve.

“Jess, we gotta go.”

“Like hell we do.”

I’m not sure what compelled me to brush her off so easily. I liked to think I was a good friend, and if she was feeling uncomfortable in a bar, I would respect that and take her to a place she felt comfortable. But pinned beneath the gaze of this devil, I wasn’t feeling quite myself.

I couldn’t tear my eyes off him. And by the smug arrogance glittering in his hellfire gaze, he knew it. There was something incredibly sinister about this man, but fuck me, did he wear sin well.

“Lucifer. My name is Lucifer,” he said through a melodic purr. At that exact moment, the pulse of the synth music playing on the club’s speakers stopped, and a new song started; the Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil.”

Now that was a freaky coincidence.

“I know who you are,” I said, leaning against the bar. “I’m J—”

“Jessica,” he finished for me.

I cast Mel a quizzical look. She’d apparently introduced me already because there was no way he could have guessed my name.

He set to making me a cosmopolitan, and I watched his every move behind the bar with intent curiosity. Especially when he turned his back to me to lift one of the bottles of vodka from the top shelf, giving me an excellent view of his ass. He moved with such confidence, a swagger in his step like he’d invented walking, and he filled up the backside of his Armani slacks like the brand had been created specifically for that ass.

When he turned back around and began to concoct my drink, I propped my chin in my palm and gave him a flirtatious smile while my gaze banked with mischief. “That’s not how you make a cosmopolitan.”

He arched a brow like he was thoroughly amused by my comment. Clearly, he wasn’t used to critiques. “No?”

“No. You’re crushing the ice too thin, which will water down the drink, and you used a lime twist. It’s supposed to be lemon to garnish.” My smile pulled up high on one side, morphing into a teasing smirk. “No wonder humans aren’t coming to your bar. You can’t make a drink to save your soul.”

From the corner of my eye, Melanie looked absolutely horrified. I would be, too, if I had any interest in being polite to this guy. But if I knew anything about him, it was that he was a cocky bastard. And as infuriatingly sexy as he was, I loved taking cocky bastards down a notch. The fun ones loved it just as much. Okay, so I might have had a thing for jerks, or at least my vagina did. Jerks were historically the bomb in bed. Especially if I spent most of our night antagonizing the guy. If things escalated to the bedroom, the guy would usually have something to prove and a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Polite lovers were boring. And since I never had time for a boyfriend, I didn’t have to worry about all the negative shit.

Lucifer’ faltered, but amusement glimmered in his eyes. “Well, fortunately for me, Jessica, I’ve got no soul that needs saving.” He gestured to behind the bar. “But by all means, show me how to make a ‘proper’ cosmopolitan.”

His invitation had an edge to it, a challenge.

“Jessica, don’t…” Melanie warned, but I barely heard her. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was already behind the bar, as if some part of me had little control over my actions. I was ready and eager to obey him.

Admittedly, there was something very snake charmer-esque about him. But instead of setting off any alarms like he appeared to be doing for Mel, I was completely enticed and curious to figure out exactly why he had this effect on me. It wasn’t just his dastardly good looks. Maybe it was the way he looked at me with intrigue and hunger, despite my wrinkled scrubs. It was like he was looking deeper into a part of my being no one else could see. And whatever it was he saw there, he liked it. He liked it a lot.

As the go-to girl for a drink that wasn’t trash at all the keggers and ragers we went to, I knew my way around a bar.

With his back against the smooth veneer of his bar and his arms folded over his chest, Lucifer watched me with an intensity that had my heart beating so hard I could feel it in my mouth.

“There, a perfect cosmo,” I said after a mere few minutes, topping off my creation with a lemon garnish. I held out the glass for him, and my breath hitched as his fingers brushed against mine when he took it.

What happened when his skin grazed mine was something similar to an electrostatic shock. But it was something different, something warmer and more pleasant. Then the sensation was gone so fast, I wasn’t sure it had happened at all. It left me wanting to touch him again just to make sure I hadn’t imagined it.

He rose the glass as if to toast, then brought it to his lips and sipped on the pink liquid with all the sex appeal of Dionysus sampling wine for the first time.

“It’s delicious,” he said after a moment’s consideration, looking surprised by the fact. “As it so happens, I’m currently looking for a bartender. A human who knows how to make human drinks. And having a human on staff might do wonders for creating a more er—relaxed atmosphere.”

His words had me crinkling my brow in confusion as I scanned the club, looking at the dancers and servers just a little closer. Other than how outlandishly beautiful they all were, they all looked human.

“They’re succubi,” Lucifer said, answering the question that I assumed must be written all over my face. “Another form of shifter.”

“Demons?” Mel piqued, her voice trembling.

“But of course. Where there are angels, demons are never too far away.” The corners of Lucifer’s mouth curved into a mocking grin, fitting the devil himself. “But don’t worry, loves. I keep all the naughty demons locked up downstairs, and I only let the most angelic of my hellish brood out to play on the surface.”

Mel shuddered. I couldn’t believe she was buying into this stupid fantasy he was selling. Humans that could shift into animals was one thing, but demons and angels who could shift into humans? I’d never heard of that, save for out of this guy’s mouth, and he might as well have a forked tongue with all the lies that were slipping off it.

But his offer was tempting as hell. It sent a thrill of excitement through me, and I had to reign in that impulsive part of me from excepting on the spot. I had to think about this for a sec.

Accept. You can trust him,my inner voice told me. Jesus. Maybe I should rename Reckless Jess and call her Laura Palmer instead because if I listened to her, I was going to end up dead on a beach wrapped up in plastic.

The guy was really doing it for my impulsive side. That meant I was probably about to do something stupid if it meant getting into his ridiculously expensive pants.

Okay, so Lucifer Morningstar was a bit of an enigma. And while I didn’t believe for a second that he was who he said he was, he definitely wasn’t human. An energy rolled off him that electrified the air and made my skin tingle in the wake of his power. Whatever it was, he was dangerous. Not to mention the sort of clientele he catered to.

Humans were afraid to come here, and there was a reason for that. Most of the supernatural population we were aware of in this area consisted of the Tacoma Wolf Pack. They were dangerous dope-dealing assholes. And they seemed to have a strong liking for this place.

But working all the double shifts the hospital had me working lately was killing me. If the offer was a good one, maybe working here would mean I could spend more time with my dad. At this rate, who knew how much time he had left.

But could this Morningstar guy really be offering me a job on the spot? He knew nothing about me. And I wasn’t exactly dressed to impress.

I let out a nervous laugh while shaking my head. “You’re funny. I won’t lie, working here would be wild, compared to the long shifts I pull at the hospital.”

“Indeed. Exactly why you should come work for me. I’ll only work you half the hours they are. Besides,” he began, tapping his stubbled chin in thought, “I want you so badly that I’m willing to throw in something extra special as a sort of sign-on bonus. How about that?”

I gapped at him in slack-jawed amazement. Was he serious? God, was that offer appealing. But this whole thing just screamed strings attached, the kind of strings that had reasonable, Sane Jess on edge.

“What kind of sign-on bonus?” I asked, caution underscoring my question.

“If you come work for me, I will double your current salary the hospital is paying you.”

“But you don’t know what I’m making.”

He chuckled like I’d told some kind of joke.

“Trust me, I can afford it.” He glanced at Mel and gave her another wink like she was in on some kind of inside joke that I’d yet to be clued in on. “It’s also my understanding that your father is in poor health. Miracles aren’t really my line of work, Kitten, but you intrigue me. I can help.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a paper contract. “All you have to do is sign this.”