She turned to lay on her back in the circle of my arms. Her breasts slipped free from the covers. Home’s bones, they were perfection.

“I mean, why the names? It’s Beelzebub, isn’t it? Not Beezlebub?”

A wry chuckle bubbled up my throat. “You are right, Mouse. But when I was a little devil, I couldn’t quite wrap my mouth around the word. No matter how hard I tried, I could not pronounce it correctly. Besides, I thought my way sounded much better than the name the stuffy governesses who rapped my knuckles when I repeatedly got it wrong tried to force upon me. So, when I was presented with two puppies all of my own, being a … rebellious little tyke, I named my two new pets after my great great grandfather … Beezlebub.”

Jemma giggled, her breath fanning against my chest, right where it thrummed with a beating pulse. “That’s quite adorable … well, except for the corporal punishment, that is. Was being a child in Hell awful?”

I shrugged. “Mostly it was just lonely. Spawn of the Lucifer line never know their mothers. We’re left with our father as foundlings so that we don’t form unnecessary attachments. My older sister is an awful creature, resentful of the fact that I was born with the correct anatomy to rule. My father is … shall we say, he values his own pleasure above anything else, even his responsibilities as the king, and … those of a father.”

“Oh, SJ.” Her lips came up to brush my cheek. “That makes me so sad.”

“It was what it was.” I pulled her closer to me, my hands finding the small of her back. “I … I do not wish you to feel sad about my childhood when yours was so much worse.”

She tilted her head to meet my eyes. “Have you had anyone who … who cared enough to feel sad for you before?”

I shook my head. “Empathy is not the Lucifer way.” But even as I said the words, I wondered. Because I felt empathy. I felt it so strongly with her. And I wondered, did Hellen or Father ever feel it? Had my mother, whoever she was, ever felt it?

“You must not be a Lucifer, then,” she murmured against my collarbone, then stifled a yawn. “Because you’re full of empathy. And I’d kind of like to think that you and I … we’ve formed an unnecessary attachment.”

I nuzzled my nose into her hair, inhaling deeply. “No, we have not … this attachment is entirely necessary.”

I felt her smile against my skin. “It feels that way, doesn’t it?”

I kissed the top of her head. “It does.”

With her nestled safe in my arms, we both drifted off to sleep.

* * *