The awful screaming has stopped but the fire still consumes her.
Kayla is vaguely aware of her feet thudding on to solid ground. Somewhere, far away, Lucifer is saying her name. She shakes her head, trying to see, trying not to burn.
Because surely that's all she's doing. Burning. Her skin bubbling, her insides liquefying; really, how is she even still alive –
Cold hands cup her face and the relief is so instant, so pure that she sobs with it. But it's not enough and she presses forward into his touch. The darkness shifts and she can see him, albeit hazily, his face tilted down towards her as he repeatedly asks something she can't hear. The pain is smoldering now, waiting to burst back into flame, so she instinctively reaches for him, craving his cold touch.
Her hands force themselves clumsily under his shirt and slide round his back. One of his hands moves from her face to the back of her neck as she presses herself against his chest and the blinding pain subsides enough that she can hear what he's saying, something about his grace not allowing him to heal her. She tightens her grip around him, needing his iciness to fend off the flames.
Her body moves on instinct, before she even realizes what she's doing. Her hand slides out from under his shirt to grasp roughly at the back of his neck as she reaches up on tiptoe to press her lips hard against his.
The effect is instant; grace glows where their lips join and the pain flows smoothly out of her. She opens her eyes and her vision is clear.
Then she starts, because she's nose to nose with Lucifer and their lips are touching.
He's frozen, eyes still open, hand limp on the back of her neck.
Kayla breaks the contact and takes a hasty step back. Two steps back. "Um," she says, because she's sure she's overstepped all kinds of boundaries.
He still hasn't moved, his eyes trained to hers, narrowing slightly like he's trying to work something out.
Then he disappears.
Yeah, Kayla had expected that. She looks around. She recognizes the place; it's the one room cabin at the edge of the town in Wyoming she'd opted to stay in. The wooden walls are covered with protective symbols and Kayla had spent her free time trying to memorize them. There's a kitchen area in one corner and a bed in the other. Behind her, a couch and a tv.
Kayla sighs and pushes a hand over her face, closing her eyes and running her fingers through her unruly hair. I just kissed Lucifer. Lucifer. Shit.
She tries to ignore the jump in her stomach as her imagination tries to expand on that particular line of thought.
She has more important things to worry about. Like the fact she just hallucinated she was burning alive. She feels so worn out in a way she's never felt before.
She takes a deep breath and steadies herself before opening her eyes. Three inches from her face is fucking Lucifer.
She jumps approximately two feet backwards, colliding with the back of the couch. "Could you fucking not?" she grumbles. It's as she pulls herself to her feet, swaying dangerously, that she realizes just how bone-deep her exhaustion is.
"You need to sleep. We can talk about your little incident in the morning." Lucifer grabs her hand and pulls her towards the bed and she's too tired to complain or fight, or even make a snide remark about how he's finally taking her to bed. "I heard that," he chuckles as she pulls off her boots and slides under the covers.
She groans. "Stay outta my head, it's creepy."
As exhaustion takes over, she makes out Luci's voice saying, "I'll stay here," before she slips into the welcome relief of sleep.
Kayla falls.
She tumbles and spins in the air, flashes of green and blue alternating in her vision as she speeds towards the earth. She's dizzy and terrified and she thinks her stomach might just fall out of her mouth, if her heart doesn't give out first.
None of that can even compare to the pain of the fire engulfing her form, turning her into a fireball hurtling through the sky like a shooting star. She's dying, she can feel it.
My wings, she thinks wildly. My wings –
The pain stops and her vision changes as she finds herself lying in a field full of knee-high golden wheat stalks staring up at a bright azure sky. The place seems familiar, although she's sure she's never been anywhere even remotely like this, and there's an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu settling in her stomach.
She knows instinctively that Lucifer is here too, so she's not surprised when she turns her head and sees him lying with him hands tucked beneath his head, eyes closed, sunbeams dancing along his body like he was made to bathe in light.
"I'm dreaming," she realizes. He opens one eye and then the other, rolling over the prop himself on one elbow beside her.
"Yes, but I'm really here," he says, and Kayla mentally adds invading dreams to the list of shit angels can do. "You were screaming in your sleep. I tried to pull you into a more pleasant setting and somehow we ended up here." He frowns, like he's not happy about it, before continuing. "Have you been here before?" Kayla frowns and shakes her head, regardless of what the sick feeling in her gut is telling her. Maybe she's dreamed of here before and she just doesn't remember. Like some kind of happy place her mind goes to.
Except the feeling tells her it's a bad place. She uneasily pushes the thought away.
Lucifer studies her for a moment. "What's been happening to you recently? The screaming and the nightmares – and the impromptu kissing?" The bastard is grinning at her, although his eyes are still concerned.
Kayla scowls because it feels like he's laughing at her. "I think your grace is affecting me somehow. The sword, too. I can't explain it." A thought strikes her suddenly. "Luci, what was falling like?"
"Why would you ask that?" He can't quite meet her eyes, and she wonders if it's because of the pain of falling or the shame of it, and he hears her, of course he does. "Neither. Why do you want to know?"
Stop reading my mind, you dick, Kayla projects extra loudly – he laughs, and she smiles back inadvertently – before answering him. "I think I might be tapping into your memories somehow. It feels like I'm falling; like I'm burning. I could feel wings – my wings – turning to ash." She shudders at the memory of the pain.
Lucifer leans over her, still propped on one arm. His other hand moves to cup her face; fingers cool against her sun-warmed skin. "I'm so sorry," he says softly. "You shouldn't have to experience that."
Kayla just shrugs, trying to ignore the spark travelling through her in reaction to his touch. "It's not your fault, not really," and Lucifer looks pained. She wonders what she said.
They stay in easy silence for a while, both contemplating.
It's as she looks up at him that she realizes the sun is behind him, catching each golden strand of hair and surrounding his head in a perfect halo. His whole body glows with light, and Kayla can almost picture his wings, seeping out on either side of his body, catching the rays of the sun.
Her stomach flips at the sight. "You're beautiful, Luci," she breathes, and his something in his expression just opens.
She barely gets a chance to notice because suddenly his lips are on hers and her breath catches and her stomach twists because this is so much better than the awkward crashing of lips that occurred earlier. This kiss is long and slow and deep, their lips moving together in perfect harmony and setting her blood alight and wow, when did she turn into a lovesick teenager?
But she doesn't care, because she didn't realize how much she needed this until now as she winds a hand into his hair and pulls him down on top of her. His lips part in surprise and she seizes the opportunity to slide her tongue into his mouth. The kiss changes pace and Lucifer groans a little and she feels pretty pleased with herself for being able to pull the sound out of him. He bites down on her lower lip and a moan escapes her as her other hand finds its way under his shirt and her nails scrape lightly down his back.
Lucifer breaks away from her and she whines a little at the loss but then his lips are on her neck, trailing hot and heavy kisses all the way down to her collarbone. He sucks on the skin there and warmth pools in her stomach as she shamelessly bucks her hips up to meet his, nails digging into his back as she's struck with uncontrollable need. He thrusts back against her and lets out a sound that lets her know he's just as wrecked as she is, if the hardness in his jeans wasn't enough to go by.
She pushes the sleeves of his button-down past his shoulders and he tears his mouth away from her skin long enough to pull the shirt off his arms. She tugs on the hem of his undershirt and he sheds that too as she pulls her own shirt off. She's bare underneath.
Kayla presses her mouth to his as her hands map out his chest, sliding down to his stomach and slipping around his waist where she can pull him back on top of her. A filthy moan slips out of her as she feels the cold expanse of his skin pressed to her. Her nipples rub against his hard chest as he thrusts against her, and one of his hands cups her breast before sliding down her waist towards her pants.
"Shit, Luci," Kayla groans against his lips as her own hand slips around to the front of his jeans. He freezes and before she can say what –
Kayla opens her eyes to the darkness of the cabin. "Fuck!" she shouts out angrily as she sits up. Lucifer is nowhere to be seen. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Frustrated is not the word.
She gets out of bed and pulls on her boots. She needs a walk. And possibly to kill something.
She grumbles angrily as she crosses the room and throws open the door to the cabin. She steps out into the night; half-hoping Lucifer will appear and tell her not to be stupid just so she can shout what the fuck at him.
What she's not expecting is, the second she leaves the protection of the wards that keep her hidden, for a guy in a dodgy trenchcoat to grab her and hold an angel blade to her throat. "You need to come with me."
Kayla's own angel blade lies forgotten on the nightstand.
A/N: Merry Christmas! I hope you're all having a lovely day 3
P.S. it's 3:30am and I probably haven't edited this as much as I should have, but I hope you enjoyed this installment!
