Sileretched between them for a moment, broken only by the faint crackle of embers. Lucifer closed his eyes, letting himself rest in their presence. He didn’t answer, but the weight of their words lingered, curling into the edges of his mind like a seed waiting to grow.

  Lucifer stared at them, their unwavering resolve striking him like a blow. It wasn’t just their words—the way they carried hope as if it were armor, defying everything he had e to accept about his existence.

  A warmth unlike anything he had known began to unfurl in his chest, fn and uling. For turies, he had been fire inate, burning but hollow. But now, in their presence, something stirred—something perilous.

  This hope could destroy me.

  His hand moved almost indepely, trembling slightly as he gently pced it against their forehead. His cws brushed the edges of their hair. His touch was uncharacteristically tender as if they might shatter beh his hands.

  “You are a bea of hope, angel,” he rasped, his voice thick, weighted by something he wasn’t ready to name. “In your presence, I am remihat there may yet be goodness... even in a pce like this.”

  His firailed down slowly, his cws grazing their skin with feather-light precision until they rested beh their . He tilted their face upward, their eyes log in a profound gaze that felt like the heavens were watg.

  For a moment, he said nothing, his crimson eyes drinking in their siy, their belief in him—a belief he had hought possible. “Perhaps,” he murmured, his voice low, ptive, “together, we uhe mysteries of my exile. Perhaps we find a path to redemption.”

  The words huween them like a fragile thread, daring to stretch toward something unattainable. His thumb brushed over their lower lip, a touch so soft yet charged with a possessive tenderhat spoke of his iurmoil.

  Could I ever be redeemed?

  The thought cwed at his mind, but he pushed it away. This wasn’t about redemption—it was about the moment.

  “But for now,” he tinued, his voice a husky whisper as he leaned closer, his breath mingling with theirs, “let us simply enjoy this fleeting moment, angel.”

  Tears welled in Shay’s eyes, glistening like tiny shards of Heaven’s light against their flushed cheeks. A lump formed ihroat, and they struggled to speak, their voice trembling as it finally broke free.

  “Will you kiss me again?” they whispered, the plea so soft the heavy air of Hell almost carried it away. “Please...”

  The plea cut through him like a bde, sharper and more devastating than any on fed in Heaven or Hell.

  For a moment, he hesitated, his gaze flickering with uainty. But the longing in their eyes, the quiet, fragile hope they offered—it was irresistible. It wasn’t just a kiss they sought but an act of rebellion, a daring defiance of Heaven’s decree.

  He closed the distah a low, guttural growl, g their lips with an uing and ing force.

  The kiss was an inferno, a wildfire born of his endless hunger and their unwavering hope. Shay gasped against him, their cool lips a stark trast to his seari, the meeting of their mouths igniting something primal.

  His hands slid over their form, the roughness of his cws grazing against their delicate skin, leaving trails of fire and need in their wake. His tail coiled around their waist like a serpent, possessive and unyielding, pulling them closer until there was no space between them. His wings fred, the dark feathers rustling with restless agitation as though to shield them fr eyes, eng the moment in a veil of shadow.

  The heat was unbearable, a palpable wave that surged from his body and enveloped Shay pletely. It cshed with the serene ess of their celestial essehe opposing forces merging in a kiss that was a war unto itself.

  The molten fmes of Hell surged against the tranquil breeze of Heaven, a battle of light and shadow, chaos and serenity. A, in that forbidden union, there was no flily harmony in the destru.

  Shay’s fiangled in his hair, the silky strands slipping through their grasp as they g to him, their resolve meltih his touch. They yielded to him, their lips parting as his tongue iheir mouth with an intoxig fervor, tasting them, ing them.

  The ess of their esse his fiery hunger, and for a fleeting moment, they were perfectly banced—Heaven and Hell entwined in a single, defiant act.

  The kiss deepened, became bruising, desperate. It wasn’t just desire—it was rebellion, a silent rainst the divine order that sought to keep them apart. Every csh of tongue, every scrape of fang, was a decration.

  We defy you.

  But the iy was overwhelming. The heat of his passion seared through Shay, building to a cresdo that threateo ighem entirely. Their wings quivered, the charred tips trembling as golden embers sparked faintly at the edges.

  It was too much—too ing, too powerful—yet it was everything they had craved.

  Finally, gasping for breath, Shay tore their lips away, their forehead colpsing against his as they pahe words spilling from their lips in a trembling vow. “I will find a way,” they whispered, their voice hoarse but resolute. “I promise, my beautiful angel.”

  Lucifer’s breath was uneven. His chest heaved as he gazed at them, his crimson eyes alight with a fierce, uing fire. His hands gripped their hips, his cws trembling as though relut to let them go.

  “You are a force of nature, angel,” he rasped, his voice roughened by the storm of emotions surging within him. “Your determination and passion... they are a balm to my tortured soul.”

  His gaze roved over them, drinking in the disheveled mess they had bee—flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and trembling wings. They were his undoing, his salvation ed in fragile defiance.

  His tourned solemn, a vow carved in the heat of his essence. “I will follow you into the depths of Hell itself if it means a ce at redemption. Together, we shall defy God and fe our destiny.”

  A soft ugh escaped Shay’s lips, their nose brushing his affeately as they murmured, “Maybe rebelling isn’t the best way to redemption.”

  Their tone shifted, growing serious as they cupped his cheek, their thumb brushing lightly against his skin. “But we’ll find a way. Together.”

  With a relut sigh, Shay stepped back, smoothing their attire as they prepared to leave. Lucifer released them slowly, his hands lingering on their arms for a moment longer before he straighteo his full, imposi.

  His voice was a low, rumbling purr as he said, “Return safely, angel. Know that my thoughts will be with you, and my heart... well, it belongs to you now.”

  As Shay disappeared into the shadows, Lucifer’s gaze followed them, his eyes gleaming with an iy that bordered on possessiveness.

  The moment they were gone, he turned and stalked back to his throhe weight of their partiling heavily on him. But his mind was already ing, and he lotting ways to reuh the celestial being who had stolen his heart.

  But as he turned, a shadow flickered at the edges of his throg, waiting. Heaven was never blind for long.