Of Light And Shadows

Chapter Thirty One...

Lucifer froze as soon as Jia's lips touched his. Even his breath stopped. She lingered a moment longer before moving back, her cheeks burning. She couldn't look right at him out of fear that she'd massively overstepped. Her hands curled into fists in her lap.

"Huh." The sound was soft and when she did finally look up his expression was gentle, his eyebrows still raised in surprise. "And there was me thinking if it ever happened I wouldn't be able to control myself," he said, almost to himself.

"What?" She could hear the tremble in her voice as her shame threatened to overwhelm her. He smiled faintly.

"I froze."

"I'd freeze too if somebody kissed me when I didn't want it," she mumbled awkwardly. His head tilted a little.

"Is that what you think?"

"Why else would you be so shocked?" He chuckled and reached out to take her hands in his. The dimples in his cheeks were maddeningly handsome, his laugh smoother than silk.

"Because I thought I'd be the one to make the first move."

"Oh." Her cheeks grew even redder, drawing another laugh from him.

"Why now?" he asked.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "I just...I wanted to." He nodded slowly, considering his next words careully before giving them a voice.

"Can you tell me what I am to you yet?" She saw a faint flicker of hope in his red eyes and guilt flared up inside her chest. She liked him but she couldn't say for sure what she wanted from him. Her life was in turmoil; she wasn't even sure how she fit into it all.

She shook her head and he nodded again, looking away for a second. When he looked back his smile had returned, though it was a muted version of its usual radiance.

"Alright."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He let go of her hands. "You've been through a lot of drastic changes in a short space of time and you still have some big decisions to make about your future. I can wait." He watched her in a way that turned her insides to jelly. "Try not to tease me like that if you can help it."

"I didn't mean to." She'd never seen Lucifer look at her that way before. He looked like he wanted to kiss her until she was dizzy, and yet he sat perfectly still in front of her. Part of her was glad he didn't move. The rest of her wanted him to do it. She chewed her lip and forced those feelings down, fully aware that it wasn't fair on him when she couldn't even give him a straight answer.

"Don't worry about it," he replied and his smile turned teasing. "Just don't expect me to restrain myself next time." Her face felt hot again, though it no longer had anything to do with shame.

"I should go to class," she mumbled, sliding off the bed and standing on shaky legs.

"You don't want to be late," he agreed. She smiled weakly and left the room, letting out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding once the door closed behind her.

Her heart was hammering in her chest and in her mind all she could see was the look on his face when he asked her not to tease him. She shook it off and forced herself to walk towards the lecture theatres, taking in the details of her surroundings in an effort to distract herself.

Apollyon Academy was, for all intents and purposes, a huge boarding school for Demons. Many of the students were centuries old and yet they wandered the halls like the kids in a human college, laughing and chatting as they made their way to their next class.