Steal My Soul

We exited the Shadow Realm where Luc set my feet gently down on the ground. I glanced around the area and discovered we were outside of my apartment building. Seeing Natalie’s car parked in front of the building, I quickly turned around to start walking the opposite way of home. Luc watched me curiously keeping in step beside me.

“Why are we going this way?” he questioned shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

“Well…I kind of promised Natalie that the next time I saw you, I’d tell you something regarding her and your brother meeting. I never fully intended on keeping that promise and…I just don’t want to deal with her heartless attitude right now,” I sighed brushing my fingers back through my hair.

“Oh…” he mouthed. “That’s fine. We need to talk privately anyways.”

My anger at him burned beneath the surface, but I did my best to keep my composure. Even though he had apologized earlier for not doing more to stop his father, I was still hurt and upset with him. I kept fooling myself into believing his kind words and feeling protected by his arms. I had to keep reminding myself that he was just a demon. The eldest son of Lucifer at that! There was no way I could allow myself to believe anything he said to me. He was born to lie.

“About what?” I asked turning right to cross the street and head for the lookout point. Even though a lot of people went there throughout the day, I figured it would give us the opportunity to talk alone. Not only that, but it had been a while since I had gazed at the beautiful view of mountains and fields of various flowers down below.

Luc followed along beside me no questions asked as to where we were heading.

“About the wedding,” he answered. My eyes darted up to his.

“Do you not want to marry me?”

“I’m not saying that,” he huffed. “It’s just…this ritual will take at least a year to properly prepare for. So I don’t see the point in needing to rush and make the wedding happen by the end of this month.”

I began to slowly climb up the long, zigzagging staircase that led to the lookout point.

“I figured you would want it to happen as soon as possible,” I quietly admitted already feeling my calves beginning to burn from the ascent.

“Well, um,” Luc released a frustrated sigh. “I want to make sure you have ample amount of time to prepare yourself and your family for this. I figure I’m going to be hated enough because I’m taking away your parent’s “little girl”. I don’t want them to hate me even more for basically putting you through a shotgun wedding and having them think you’re pregnant.”

“And why would Lucifer’s son ever be afraid of my parents?” I asked rolling my eyes.

“Some fathers can be scary when it comes to their daughters. I mean, you’ve seen my father. And I’m his SON,” Luc pointed out.

“Fine. If it is going to make you more comfortable then we won’t have the wedding at the end of this month,” I agreed finally reaching the top step. There was a large area of concrete laid out in a semi-circle before us. A thick black fencing surrounded the rounded edge of the lookout to keep viewers from falling over the edge. A few feet back from the fenced off edge was a small wooden bench.

“It’s really beautiful up here,” Luc admired stepping ahead of me to rest his hands on the metal fence and look out at the beautiful view. I smiled and nodded my agreement as I stood beside him.

It was odd not to see anyone here, but in a way I was glad that there was no one around. For once I didn’t have to feel angry or jealous because of another woman flirting with Luc. Nor did I have to worry about the things I said or did. I relaxed against the fence and found myself drawn to the magnificent view. The mountains seemed to be painted a darker blue against the background of the bright blue sky. Large, white clouds dotted the sky slowly moving across the endless blue sea forming various shapes as they molded together or broke apart. The mountainous view seemed to stretch on forever to the left and right. The beauty was endless.

Below the lookout point and stretched out before the mountains like a colorful blanket were fields upon fields of flowers. The colors ranged from a passionate red to a deep amethyst. The sight was absolutely breathtaking making me wish I had brought my camera. There were large patches of grass spotted throughout the sea of flowers from where fall had begun to make its toll on those particular buds. Either way, it was simply magical.

My gaze slid over to Luc who was staring enthralled at the scene laid out before him. The light from the sunset washed over his sharp features making his skin glow like some ethereal being. Each beat of my heart was painful; it was like someone had shoved a blade into its tissue and just left it there. I still wasn’t quite sure how I had ended up with such a man. Well, demon technically. A part of me wished that none of this had ever happened to me. That my life would just go back to normal. Even though life before hadn’t exactly been simple or perfect…I had been content with it. Until he had entered into my life. Suddenly things had escalated and everything I knew became lost in a new world of things I never even knew existed.

My life had grown complicated, exciting, and had literally spiraled straight into Hell all within a matter of a couple of weeks. Some might call me foolish for not accepting Lou’s offer to gain my soul, unharmed, back to me, but if wanting to be in love is foolish? Then so be it. Luc might be a demon and, yes, he is the eldest son of Satan himself. And, sure, it may be true that Luc will never love me the way I am starting to love him, but I find myself okay with that. As long as I have him beside me in my life then that’s all I really need. Right?

He must have sensed my gaze on him because those frosty blue eyes clashed with mine. The golden sunlight streaming across his irises making them appear almost like a seafoam green. My eyes shyly dropped from his assertive gaze down to his rose colored lips. I could see the small, almost invisible holes from where he used to wear his piercings. Growing anxious under his watchful gaze, I broke the silence.

“How come you never wear your piercings anymore?” I asked curiously glancing back up into those piercing pale eyes.

“I figured they didn’t exactly work well with my new look. Plus, I wouldn’t want your family to think of me as a delinquent now would I?” he smiled mischievously. I shrugged thinking he had looked fine with his lip rings in. Then again when he had had them in, I was constantly distracted by the way his tongue would flick out and play with them. Almost like he had been teasing me. The longer I thought on it, the more I came to realize that I hadn’t kissed Luc since the day we had made the deal.

I felt my cheeks growing hot when I began to lose myself in the fantasy of kissing those lips again. There had been a few times where he had tormented me by bringing his lips within centimeters of my own, but neither of us had acted on the opportunity. Mostly because I was afraid of falling harder for him while to him it was probably just some sick, twisted game of who would give in the quickest. I had been in a one-sided relationship before, but I had never been on this end of things where I was the one crushing on the person who could care less. It made me fully understand just how much something like this could hurt. I had never fully realized until now.

I felt a gentle brush along my cheekbone as Luc swept a dark brown curl behind my ear.

“What are you thinking about?” he softly asked; that British accent of his making his voice sound even deeper.

“Nothing. Just wondering when the best time would be to get married,” I lied glancing away and back out at the mountains. The sun deepened into a burning ball of orange as it slowly dipped behind the mountains.

“There’s something that must come first before a wedding,” Luc replied making my gaze turn away from the glowing ball of light.

“And what’s that?” I chuckled wondering what on earth he could be up to now. He trailed a finger from my ear and along my jawline before gradually lowering himself down onto one knee. My heart jammed to a stop inside my chest; my eyes darting around the lookout point wondering if there was anybody else here. We were still alone.

“Leighra, I know that you may find this silly since I am a demon and it’s hard for a creature like me to love since my heart doesn’t exactly beat anymore. However, I know that it’s any woman’s dream to be properly proposed to and this couldn’t be a more perfect spot for such an event. Of course, it’s not just any woman’s dream that I want to make come true, but just one. And that’s yours. I’ll try to be a decent husband for being a demon, but, of course, I make no promises. I just…want to thank you…for agreeing to stay beside me and not run away like I’m sure your mind screamed for you to do. And on that note…”

Luc reached into the pocket of his jeans and removed a black velvet box. Even though deep in my heart I knew this was all for show…that this was just part of our agreement to get married…I desperately wanted to believe that he was asking this of me because he loved me and no one else. I knew that was untrue, but for just this moment I wanted to let myself be swept away with my emotions and pretend this was real as tears pricked the edges of my eyes.

The lid creaked open as it snapped back on its hinges to reveal a beautiful engagement ring tucked safely between layers of black satin bedding. The gold band twisted like branches to form a perfectly crafted loop. The golden limbs held a breathtaking Mexican fire opal in its thin, fingerlike grasp. The edges of the opal shone a deep orange-red in the setting light of the sun; the color shifting into a pearlescent yellow as it drew nearer to the center of the stone. As he lifted the ring higher up, the rays of the sun refracted off the jewel making the yellow alter into a neon green in some areas while the orange deepened into a red. Each small movement he made, the stone changed its color along with it, but always staying a shade of red, orange, or yellow with the occasional bright green tossed in. The ring held me utterly captivated.

“Leighra, will you be this demon’s one and only bride?” he inquired. In the few weeks I had known Luc, this was the first time I had seen him gaze at me through apprehensive eyes; sweat beginning to glisten along his brow. He was…nervous.

My lip trembled in happiness at seeing him act so…human for once instead of being calm and collected or snarky. It was when I saw this side of him—this human side—that made me feel so secure in my decision of staying here with him. I inhaled a deep breath and released it shakily.

“Yes, Luc, I’ll be your bride,” I softly answered. A relieved smile swept across the demon’s handsome face as he plucked the ring from the box and slid it onto my wedding finger. It settled on my finger perfectly like it was made to be worn by me and no one else.

The velvet box tumbled out of his fingers to clatter onto the ground as he swept me up into his arms; he twirled me around in the air before setting me gently to my feet.

I laughed and began fixing my hair.

“You’re such an id—”

My sentence was cut short as Luc lightly grasped my face between his hands and covered my mouth with his. There was no hesitation this time on my part. My eyes fluttered closed while my hands came up to weave my fingers through his thick, dark hair that was as soft as feathers. He maneuvered a hand to the back of my neck to tilt my head back just far enough for him to deepen the kiss. His other hand dropped to my waist pulling my body in closer to his; the hot, solid length of his body felt good against my own cool skin thanks to the brisk fall winds.

Our lips moved in sync as my heart pounded hard against my chest. His tongue teased my bottom lip as if asking for entrance. I smiled into the kiss taking this opportunity to instead dominate over him. My tongue plunged deep into his mouth catching him off guard. Luc growled in approval as our tongues battled for dominance over the other in a passionate dance. His fingers gripped tightly around my waist to smash our bodies even closer. My heart was racing so fast, pounding like crazy, that for a second I thought it might be his and not mine.

We broke away from the kiss, both of us softly gasping for the air that we had refused to intake during the time our lips had been joined. His lips were swollen and slick from our passionate make out session. He lightly chuckled sweeping his finger across my bottom lip showing me the streak of red across the pad of his thumb. I glanced up at him in shock shortly before he brushed the tip of his tongue along the blood cleansing his finger.

“I think I got a bit rough,” he sheepishly admitted resting his forehead against mine.

“I’m…strangely okay with that,” I confessed wrapping my arms around his narrow waist.

“I really am sorry for not doing better to help you earlier with my father. Humans aren’t the only ones frightened of him you know.”

“Your mother seems to be the only one who has enough balls to actually confront him,” I pointed out with a laugh.

“Indeed,” he smiled. “It would seem my mother has the largest set of balls in our family.”

A sharp breeze cut through the warmth of my body causing me to shiver in Luc’s arms. The sun had fully set beneath the horizon leaving the once bright blue sky to turn into a midnight black full of sparkling crystal stars. Luc kissed the tip of my nose and wrapped me tighter in his embrace. My numb ear pressed against his warm chest as I relaxed into his embrace.

The silence beneath his chest unnerved me. I should be hearing the subtle thump of his heart letting me know he was alive and well, yet there was absolutely no sound. He hadn’t been lying when he said his heart was no longer beating. That only made the organ inside my own chest ache yearning to restart that long forgotten rhythm.

“Come on. Let’s get you back home, shall we?” he suggested, his breath hot against the top of my head.

“Yeah,” I softly agreed.

If a kiss like that couldn’t jumpstart his heart, then what would? Luc intertwined our fingers together as he led us back down the stairs making sure to keep me close against the heat of his body so I wouldn’t grow too cold. He had told me the day we had made our deal that he wouldn’t love me. That he never would. But I wanted so badly to change that. I wanted him to feel SOMETHING for me in return. How would I know though if he really felt something for me if his own heart didn’t beat like a human’s? It had been that lack of pounding beneath his chest that made me reopen my eyes and see he was a demon. And I was a human. I knew we were just two species never meant to fall in love.

So why couldn’t I accept that?
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A/N: Ok, well, for some reason it won't upload the image of her ring :( So, you guys might just have to copy and paste it the old-fashioned way if you want to see what it looks like. Sorry!! :(

Here is the link: http://www.georgianjewelry.com/system/item/12152/24756_large.jpg?1269458403