Free The Devil's Wife by Holly Hunt Page B

me.
          "I don't need sleep," I said with a grin, waving his comment off. "I just need coffee."
          "Ah. I don't have coffee," he said apologetically.
          "I know," I said, smiling at him. "I already had a look for it. I'll go down the shops and get it."
          Lucifer shook his head, shut the door again, leaving us outside. "Do you have your house keys and whatever else you need to get into your home?"
          I looked through my pockets. I never used a handbag, keeping all my things in my pockets, where they couldn't be stolen easily. I pulled my keys from my left pocket, amazed I hadn't stabbed myself in the hip with them in my sleep. "Yeah, I've still got them."
          He smiled, gesturing me closer.
    "Don't you need to sleep?" I asked.
          "I could still fly to Australia and back before I fall asleep in the air. Flying, for me, is like walking for you. Bare minimum of thought, no effort," he said with a cocky grin. I was still slightly hesitant, but he took his shirt off. Without waiting for me to say yes, he stepped up close to me and swung me up in his arms.
          "I'm starting to think you like carrying me around," I complained lightly, my arm around his neck as I watched over his shoulder. I was fascinated by his wings emerging from his back.
          I felt Lucifer's chest vibrate as he laughed, stepping up to the very edge of the wood. "I don't mind it," he said, and his tail whipped around, balancing him. "It's not like you're heavy. Where do you live?"
          I gave him my address and made the mistake of glancing down. Lucifer was standing on the edge of his deck, balancing on his toes. I swallowed hard, shutting my eyes and burying my face in his neck. He laughed again, moving so that my brown hair suddenly flapped in my face, obscuring my view.
          I felt the wind whip by us and heard the crack of his wings. He had thrown us out into the air, and we were flying over the country-like landscape he owned, heading for the city a few miles away.
          I got the feeling that flying with me in his arms was no effort at all to him. I pulled myself tighter to his chest in fright, and I could just hear his laughter over the neardeafening flaps of his wings and the wind whipping past us.
    ~ * ~
          "You can open your eyes now, Clarissa," Lucifer said, gently placing me on what I hoped to Heaven was solid ground.
          I opened my eyes hesitantly, looking around us. I heard Lucifer's wings flap once, then there was no sound from them. I looked around to see that he'd put them away.
          We were standing on the top of my apartment building, overlooking the Hudson. I stepped back, into Lucifer, when I saw just how high up we were, even though we were a few feet from the open air.
          "The stairs are over here," Lucifer said, turning me around gently, his hands on my shoulders. I could hear the amusement in his voice. "I didn't realize you were afraid of heights, or I'd have set us down closer to the ground."
          "I'm not afraid of heights," I said, my voice higher than it had been twenty minutes before. "As long as I'm looking at the heights from the ground end."
          Lucifer laughed, opening the door to the stairwell. "After you." He bowed me through.
          I stepped into the stairwell, looking over the banister at the stairs curling away below me. "I'm going to be exhausted by the time we get to my apartment!" I groaned.
          Lucifer smiled, rolling his eyes at me. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the top of the stairs. "We can jump in the elevator when we get to the next level, Clarissa," he said, laughter in his voice.
          I felt silly, and led the way down the stairs with a warm face. I was conscious of Lucifer's cool hand around mine, but I didn't worry about it. After all, I'd just spent the night at his house. In his bed, even. I was thinking friendly