He grabbed my hand, grimacing. “What did Eros tell you the other day?” he asked. I shrugged. “Don’t do that,” he said.

“Don’t do what?” I asked.

“Didn’t Eros tell you that he didn’t enjoy fucking someone he’s not romantically attracted to? That he’s only faithful to you?”

“Yeah, but—wait.” I stopped walking. “How’d you know about that?”

He gazed down at me with those icy blue eyes. “He tells me everything.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I wish he’d trust me.”

“If he didn’t trust you, he wouldn’t have brought you here. He needs you to understand. He’s in a hard position right now. One wrong move down here and we all die.” After a few moments, he arched his brow. “Are you ready to help him?”

“How am I supposed to help him? He’s not here?” I asked.

Lucifer shook his head and smiled. “You know, when Eros told me about you, he never mentioned this little attitude you have. I’m starting to really like it.”

“This is not the time for jokes, Lucifer.”

We stared at each other for a few moments. Strands of his white hair hung loosely by his face; his jaw was as sharp as ice. “Well, then, let’s get on with the plan. First piece of business, you’re going to flirt with Javier.”

I blew out a breath through my nose. “You’re kidding me,” I said. He shook his head, his annoying aroma of apples drifting to me. “Eros would never want me to flirt with him. We both hate him.”

Eros told me to stay with Lucifer and to avoid Javier. Javier was pure wrath which meant danger—which really meant that he could hurt me more than he already has.

Lucifer placed his hand on the small of my back and led me through the crowd of demons. Kasey waved me over from the make-shift dance floor, but Lucifer kept on pushing forward. “Do you want to help him or not?”

“He would not want this,” I said. I didn’t know what Lucifer was trying to pull because it was out of character for Eros to agree to something like this.

“You must.”

I stopped in the middle of the fuck-fest that was happening on the dance floor. “Eros might trust you Lucifer, but that doesn’t mean I have to.”

Well, Dani, you trusted him up to this point. You just made yourself look stupid.

Lucifer clenched his jaw. “I’m here to help the true leader of this kingdom claim the throne. Trust me or not, I’m on your side.” He lightly placed his hand on the back of my neck and steered me through the crowd. “Do you want to help Eros?”

There was a bar on the other side of the dancefloor with light pink accent lights under it. Javier was leaning over it, talking to the woman on the other side. I shook my head. “I can’t flirt with him. I’m terrible at it. Why don’t you find a succubus to distract him?”

“No.” Lucifer stopped. “You are going to flirt with him because he wants you and has been staring at you the whole night.”

A few mahogany tables stood in front of the bar. Lucifer placed his drink down on one, then grabbed my hands in his. “Listen, I don’t know where Eros is right now. He could be in that Lust Room or he could be somewhere in the palace. This wasn’t part of the plan,” he said. I closed my eyes. “I can tell you that he cares for you and is doing his best to keep you safe, but you have to do the same. If you don’t at least try to distract Javier, he will look for Eros. And if Eros is in the middle of enacting our plan, then he’s screwed which also means that we’re screwed.”

All I wanted was to run right out of the kingdom, throw away being Queen of Lust for a normal life as a human, continue my internship under Dr. U, and become a psychologist just like her, but I couldn’t. Not only were there guards in every corner of this castle, but I loved Eros.

I loved him, and that would be my downfall.

If I left and he died, I wouldn’t forgive myself. We would deal with this whole complicated situation later. I had to do the one thing I never thought I’d do.

Flirt with Javier to keep Eros safe.

I was going to hate myself for it, but I wasn’t going to let Eros die. It wasn’t who I was.

Okay, Dani. You can do this. Just distract him. It’d be easy.

Javier leaned over the bar, chatting up the bartender. One hand was stuffed into his pocket, the other was holding his Passion Delight. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled halfway up his forearms.

I stepped in his direction, but Lucifer grabbed my arm and pulled me close. “Do what you have to do—anything you have to do—to distract him. Do you understand?” he asked. I went to reach for Mom’s necklace and swallowed hard when I remembered it wasn’t there.

I had to do this all on my own.

Lucifer nudged me and sat at a table where he could easily watch. I kept my gaze low as I approached the bar—trying to gather all the confidence I had left in myself—and slid onto a stool a few feet away from Javier. I pursed my lips, pretending to look at the drink menu.

Once I felt his gaze burning into me, I glanced at him, eyes lingering longer than they should’ve to let him know that I was interested. His eyes were black pits tinted with the darkest color red. An odd combination that looked so wrathful, yet so alluring.

Javier strolled to me, his finger gliding against my bare back from shoulder to shoulder, making me shiver. “Lonely?” he asked. He rested his forearm against the bar and leaned closer to me.

I gazed at him through my lashes. “What makes you think that?”

He brushed his fingers against my elbow. “Eros has been gone for a while now, probably still fucking those whores.”

Stay calm, Dani. He’s just trying to get under your skin.

“Well, I’m just his pet. Nothing more,” I said. The words came out harsher than I wanted them too. I turned back to the menu. Passion Delight. Vodka with Passion. Red Sangria with a dash of Passion.

Javier smirked and sat next to me. “Really?” He placed his hand on my knee, fingers digging into it lightly. “Because to me it seems like Eros treats you like a queen. Always defending your honor.” He inched closer, and I could smell his intoxicating peppery scent. “I bet he worships your every move, doesn’t he?”

Flirt, Dani. Step up your damn game.

I turned in my seat to face him and watched his gaze flicker to my breasts. “He does, but…” I lightly brushed my foot against his, heart racing.

“But?” he asked, fingers rubbing circles on the insides of my thighs. His eyes were so captivating that if I wasn’t careful, I would fall under his spell too.

I blushed and glanced down, pulling myself away from him. “No.” I shook my head. “No—forget it.”

Javier paused, his finger stopping and digging into my mid-thigh. “But you want to be treated like a pet, don’t you?”

I sucked in a shaky breath and pressed my knees together. I didn’t want to be a pet, but since the other night with Lucifer—since my first night with Eros even—I was slowly discovering my love for lust.

Everyday something new excited me. First it was Eros, standing in my bedroom with black eyes and curved horns—too tempting to pass up. Next, in public while we took a leisurely ride in the bus. Then our threesome with Lucifer. And, now, as I flirted with Javier I realized that there was a world of desire down here and I knew nothing about it—but I wanted to.

This was what Javier wanted, and it had to be what I wanted from him right now too in order to keep him distracted.

Javier walked behind me, placed one hand on my hip as the other trailed up my body and roughly grabbed my chin. “You are a whore, just like I thought.” His breath was on my ear. “My brother never really knew how to treat a woman the way she wanted to be treated in bed.”

God, I really wish Lucifer never let me do this alone.

His fingers lightly traveled down my neck to my breasts. He ran them across the tender skin, so gently that I closed my eyes and pictured it was Eros teasing me, not him. Then he shoved me against the bar, so close that I could just feel my breasts about to fall out of my top.