“I don’t feel good.” Lucinda held her tummy and moaned.
“I’ve got you, littlest lamb.”
When the fuck had Bambi arrived? She held out a leather purse just as the child heaved and slammed it shut when done.
Julio eyed the purse. Was the egg inside? Did it matter? Everyone was safe.
Including his wife.
He swirled his cloak around her. “If we’re done here, I’d like to find a place with a comfortable bed.”
“And a toilet,” Helen muttered.
Lucifer waved a hand. “Go.”
“Where? Have you granted Helen asylum? Have you made her safe from the angels?”
“Don’t worry. Everything will be just fine.” For once, the devil’s words didn’t hold a lie.
Julio made the mistake of believing him.
22
There was relief in stepping into Julio’s apartment on Earth. Helen might not have spent much time in it and yet the moment she saw the familiar setting, she felt herself relax.
“The door is fixed,” she observed.
“Yup. But who cares when we can have a shower free of brimstone?”
“Just a shower?” She arched a brow.
It didn’t take much coaxing to get her naked. Soon his soapy hands ran all over her body.
The moment he rinsed her clean, he was on his knees worshiping her, tonguing her sex, making her come against his mouth. Then making her cry out again as he pushed into her. The thickness of him stretching. Filling. Claiming.
Loving.
She celebrated each moment. Basked in happiness as Julio spent the next several days practically glued to her side and had her in every way imaginable. Bed. Shower. Counter. Couch. Window. Floor.
Even if she’d not been officially declared fallen, she sinned enough to be damned for eternity and she couldn’t wait if it included Julio.
Eventually, though, they had to let the real world interfere. Julio had been handling his work via phone and computer, until it wasn’t enough anymore.
“You have to go to work,” she declared as he rubbed his face, having just hung up the phone.
“I’m not leaving you alone,” he stated.
“Lucifer said things were fine.”
“Since when do you believe anything the Dark Lord says?”
She pursed her lips. “Are you saying he lied?”
“I’m saying he has his own agenda that doesn’t take into account other people.”
“What should we do then?” Because, while new at this whole relationship thing, she knew they couldn’t be together every second of every day. More than a few doctors on the internet said so when she did her research.
“Come with me to the office.”
“To do what?”
“How about if we found you a job?”
“Then I could buy things.” Her expression brightened, and after showing him how happy that made her, doing things with his man parts using her mouth that had him shouting, soon they were on their way to the Grim Dating offices.
Entering the building by his side, clutching his hand, she couldn’t help but notice the stares turning their way. Hearing the whispers.
“Why are they watching us?” she asked softly.
Julio grimaced. “Because I always swore I’d never get married.”
“I’m sorry.”
He glanced at her, startled. “Don’t be. You should know by now I don’t regret it.”
She smiled. “It is nicer than I would have expected.”
“Only nice?”
She leaned close enough for only him to hear. “There is nowhere I’d rather be than with you.”
He apparently didn’t care they had an audience as he swung her into his arms for a kiss. It lasted until someone yelled, “Get a room and don’t forget to videotape it.”
Julio growled, and she smiled. Grabbing his hand, she squeezed it before pulling him to the elevator. This time, she didn’t have the same turmoil clutching her as they entered the office on the top floor. She’d learned so much since her first visit. Now she knew the truth. Knew what living could really be. Understood love. Definitely enjoyed the lust part.
She spent the next few hours inside the big office, the door open so she could see Julio at work while she took a course on the internet to learn how to be a nanny on Earth. The rules were different than she was used to. Apparently, holding a child and showing it affection helped it to grow. She could see the benefit.
Eventually, the latest client with a problem left and Julio came in with a sigh. “I swear, they don’t read the fine print. We don’t offer a guarantee. Sometimes a woman just has to accept a guy doesn’t want to sleep with her on the first date.”
“They don’t like each other?”
“More like the client is determined to respect her and she just wants him to seduce her.”
“Seduction is good.” She leaned forward, bored with her studying and ready for more fun.
“Not yet. If I don’t get us lunch first, my next appointment will arrive and then we’ll both be hungry.”
“I know what I’d rather eat.”
Julio kissed her. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back with lunch, and if we’re quick, we’ll see how small that bathroom is.”
Once Julio left, she paced, not realizing until that moment how much she relied on his presence. But this was good. She needed to do things on her own.
When the door opened, she expected to see him, only it wasn’t Julio who walked in but Theodore.
And his grin was anything but angelic.
23
Julio returned to find Helen gone. The only sign she’d not left willingly was the feathers scattered on the floor.
“Lucifer!” he bellowed, not caring if he had any disrespect in his tone.
The Dark Lord appeared in a hazmat suit, holding a baby dressed in pink, exuding the most awful smell. “I’m kind of busy. Is it important?”
Ignoring the putrid stench, Julio snapped, “Helen was kidnapped!”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“By whom?”
“Who do you think?” The devil laid the baby on the desk and pulled forth some tongs to peel back her sleeper.
Julio pulled his shirt over his mouth and still it was as if he could taste it. “The angels got her? But I thought you said she was safe.”
“Fake news. I said everything would be fine.”
“How is it fine? They took her.”
“Yup.” The devil pulled free the shittiest diaper. It dripped as he yanked, the drops of liquid poop burning into the floor. Lucifer opened a rip into another dimension to drop it in.
“What are you going to do to get her back?” Julio asked, impatience burning, but knowing better than to blast the Dark Lord with his temper.
“Me? There’s nothing I can do. She’s in Heaven now.”
Out of reach. Only Julio wouldn’t give up. “So send the legion after her.”
“And start a war? Over an angel? Don’t be silly.” The devil whipped out a sponge and swabbed the baby clean, drawing sweet giggles.
“It’s not silly. She’s my wife.”