Page 191 of The Bonds of Indigo

“Better not. I’m sorta obsessed, and need you with me at all times.”

Heat rises straight to my cheeks.

“Gods, not being able to kiss you goodbye—this is bullshit.” I’m pretty sure he huffs. “Hurry back.”

He waves his hand, and the moment I’m about to make a silly joke about patience, an arm is around my waist and hoisting me from the counter. Looking up at Lucifer, he leans forward and rests his forehead against mine.

“We’ll be back with him before you know it.”

I smile weakly, and before anything else is said, darkness envelops us.

“I’m sorry.” He is not at all how I expected the son of Belial to act.

We arrived hours ago, only to be turned away by one of the sentinels guarding Belial’s office. They told us to come back, and we did—four times now.

After being dismissed yet again, we retreated to Lucifer’s room… which quickly turned awkward. I kept looking at the bed, then at him, then at the bathroom, then back at him.

I didn’t want to stand in front of Belial’s office waiting like an unwelcome guest, and truthfully, I didn’t want to fall into bed with Lucifer alone either. It’s not that I don’t trust him, I do.

I really do. Especially after last night with how he allowed me all the control between us.

It’s just… he’s Kayn’s.

And I’m Kayn’s.

Lucifer and I? We’ll work on it. There’s no rush in my mind. I got to know Kayn, and I want to get to know the man who has quietly slipped his fingers between mine to hold my hand.

“Don’t be. It isn’t your fault.” I give him a smile as I lift my chin to meet his gaze. “I get to see the house you grew up… in…”

Gods, that sounded ridiculous.

He laughs, and I swear my heart flutters straight into my stomach, only to be attacked by butterflies. Lucifer is seriously so good-looking. Perfectly constructed face that’s symmetrical, hair that always seems to be swooped back just right. I mean honestly, everything from his laugh to the way he speaks gives me good tingles.

“Technically I did, just… a few thousand mortal years ago.”

“Do you mind if I ask how old you are? Not in mortal years.”

“About seventy, but I spent a bit of time in the mortal world, so I’m probably closer to one hundred and fifty. Give or take.”

I hum. “I still can’t quite comprehend the time differences between the mortal world and the Beyond.”

“It’s very complicated, but I’d say it’s about thirty-six mortal hours per one Beyond hour. No one has actually done the math. Until…” His voice turns somber. “I did, after leaving Kayn.”

Instinctively, I step closer to him, causing him to release my hand and wrap his arm around my shoulders.

“For Kayn, it was over four hundred years without you… What was it for you?”

“About twelve. Every one of them agonizing… except the moment I met you. I think for those fleeting minutes…” He pauses as we turn down another long hall. We’ve explored the upper floors and now we’re on the base level. Every corridor looks the same—onyx-painted walls, scattered paintings, red or deep-blue rugs, and narrow tables topped with vases of black flowers. “…it gave me hope that maybe I could move on, if I found the right person.”

I chew my bottom lip, staying quiet as I rest my head into the crook of his arm.

“Instead, I obsessed over you and missed him. Fate had a weird way of telling me I’d been… an idiot.”

“No. Just telling you that you were wrong. You’re far from an idiot, Lucifer.”

He lets out a long breath, but when I look up at him, he’s smiling.

“Well… wrong I was. Bloody Beyond, how⁠—”