43 Knock the Socks Off

Lily

Lily wiped Bel’s tears gently as he blinked back into the present. There had only been a minute of silence since he’d touched the page, his body perfectly still except for the way his heart started racing after several seconds. It was simultaneously the longest and shortest minute of her existence.

She wanted Bel to know her story, and the whole ugly truth of it. She wasn’t proud of a lot of it, of who she’d been when she’d been hurting, of the mean, biting things she said to people, of how scared and guilty she’d been for most of her life for no good reason. But it was her story, and she trusted him. She wanted him to understand.

Bel’s tail tightened around her calf as he set her file on the floor. He cleared his throat, one hand smoothing up the curve of her back while the other came up to trace her jaw. “I’m so proud of you Lily.”

His gentle statement brought immediate and embarrassing tears to her eyes. She opened her mouth, but he cupped the side of her neck with his large palm.

“You have a warrior’s soul. You’ve been a warrior from the very beginning. You fought to heal yourself from your trauma, and when asking for help failed, you did what it took to help yourself. You handled all of what you went through alone. You fought to grow and live . And at the end, you did the hardest thing any warrior could ever have to do: surrender.”

“I gave up.”

“No,” he said with a firm shake of his head. “You were in a situation in which you could not win, no matter what you did. You chose the option that would spare others from suffering needlessly. I know how much it hurt your family and friends for you to die, and that should be acknowledged. But, Lily, if you had fought, knowing that it wouldn’t have made a difference, and given false hope while draining your—and their —resources? That would have hurt them so much more. From one warrior to another, I’m proud of you.”

A warm, fuzzy feeling filled her chest. “Thank you.”

He smiled softly at her before those brilliant silver eyes, luminous in their intensity, lost their warmth. “As for your youth leader…” His jaw flexed, then he nearly snarled, “ Suzanne. ”

Lily scowled on reflex.

“She told you to pray that your future husband was a forgiving man. I’m not your husband, but I am yours , and I am not, in any way, shape, or form, forgiving about what that piece of shit did to you. You did nothing wrong; you did nothing that needs forgiving.” Something dark seeped into his expression but it wasn’t directed at her. Her resulting pulse of arousal was probably inappropriate. “But, Lily, I may need your forgiveness for what I’ll do to him when he gets to Hell. I’ll put Greg out of a job.” His promise was harsh, dripping with the threat of violence. “Though, he’ll likely be too busy with Suzanne to notice.”

Lily smiled sweetly at him. “As long as you at least give me a turn, you can do whatever you want.”

The little crinkles around his eyes deepened, harshness fading from his expression to be replaced with something soft and thoughtful.

He pulled her closer, nuzzling into her hair. “I…do have one more confession of my own.”

Lily smiled against his chest, fully expecting something not only sexual but deliciously filthy—

“I have your brothers’ socks in my desk.”

Lily pushed herself up, staring at him. “You… what ?”

“There’s a drawer in my desk filled with your brothers’ socks.” Bel’s cheeks stained a deeper shade of dusky purple. “You told me about the promise you made to your brothers, about stealing their socks from the Afterlife and how you felt bad that it was a lie. As an adult, I can’t go to the mortal world without causing a bunch of problems. But teenage demons sneak into the mortal world all the time. It’s like a rite of passage. So, I’ve been asking some of them to steal one of your brothers’ socks every so often. I don’t tell them why, but they bring them back to me, and I keep them in a spare drawer. You loved them so much, and I wanted you to be able to keep your promise.”

Lily peered down at him, reeling from the flash of clarity. “Is that why I’ve been seeing those teenage demons go by the Hellp Desk?”

Bel shifted a bit under her scrutiny. “Probably. I tell them to act like they’re running an errand for me so that no one questions them. There’s a really good crack to the mortal world by Lua-o-Milu that I used to use that I tell them about.”

Lily didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry or both, so she settled for sliding her hand down his stomach. “I can’t believe I’m about to fuck you senseless because of my brothers’ socks . Have you ever been ridden by a hot redhead who loves you?”

Bel’s eyes gleamed with interest, skimming the very tips of his claws down the length of her side. “No, but I’m thrilled that there’s a first time for everything. And hopefully multiple repeats.”

“Good. Floor? I don’t want to crush your wings.”

They wiggled off the couch and onto the floor without an ounce of grace, giggling the whole time as Bel leaned back on his hands and Lily straddled him.

Sobering slightly, she took his face in her hands, losing herself in his gleaming eyes. “Thank you,” she said softly, kissing him. “I’m about to ride the capacity for speech out of you, but thank you.”

Bel sat forward, bringing his hands up to brace her hips as he kissed her more deeply, just as someone tried to open the door, drawing both of their attention.

“Oh for crying out loud. They better not be doing what I think they’re doing.” Lev’s annoyed voice was muffled. He jiggled the handle again. “Beleth! I know you received my memo about inappropriate office activities! We discussed this!”

Asmodeus’s amused drawl chimed in. “Cut the guy some slack, Lev. What’s he supposed to use that big desk for? It can’t all be paperwork.”

Lev snapped something in response, rattling the handle.

Bel was either choking or smothering laughter—Lily would bet on the latter—so she used Bel’s shoulders as leverage to push to her feet, ignoring his huff of protest.

“I’ve got this,” she said over her shoulder, searching for her clothes, which—other than her boots and one sock—were nowhere in sight. A pile of black fabric that turned out to be Bel’s sleeveless shirt was her best option, so she pulled it over her head and padded barefoot to the door. It fell to her upper thighs, gaping open almost like a hospital gown at the back because of the wing slits.

Oh well. She was decent enough.

She threw the lock and opened the door just enough to smile with excessive politeness at an aghast Lev and an utterly delighted Asmodeus.

“Hey, guys, we’re kind of busy fucking the sense out of each other right now—”

“Then fucking it back in,” Bel added loudly from his spot on the floor.

“And then fucking it back in,” Lily agreed. “I understand that you sent out a very well-written and clearly worded memo, Lev, but this is an important moment that couldn’t wait. We’re sorry.”

“No, we’re not,” Bel called.

“We’re just going to be a bit longer…” Lily glanced over her shoulder to where Bel lounged back on the rug, head cocked, a smirk playing over his features as the red-gold light gleamed deliciously over his naked body. “We’re going to be quite a bit longer,” Lily amended, pressing her thighs together and turning back to them. “So if it’s possible to make it wait, please do so.”

Lev huffed, looking pained. “I’ll come back…later.”

“Tomorrow,” Asmodeus suggested. Lily shot him a grateful grin.

“I really appreciate your patience, Lev. I’ll write you up a basic report on the Hellp Desk as soon as possible, how about that?” she offered, slowly closing the door.

Just before it shut completely, Lev sighed. “Make it double-spaced, please.”

Lily smothered her laugh with her hand and threw the lock with a decisive click.