Lucifer woke up with Anne’s face nuzzled firmly into his chest. He kissed her head and closed his eyes before trying to go back to sleep.
“Anne,” Gaea yelled through their bedroom door. “I have table settings for you to look at.”
At least there was daylight filtering through the wheat-colored window shades this time. He looked up at the canopied four-poster and ran his fingers through Anne’s hair.
“The woman never sleeps,” Anne mumbled.
“Can this not wait until later, Gaea?” Lucifer called.
“Highly unlikely,” Gaea said. “You’ll probably be spending the rest of the day with your visitor.”
“We have a visitor?” Anne asked. “We never have visitors.”
“Well, the wedding is just weeks away,” Gaea said. “You should expect old friends and family members to come out of the woodwork.”
“Who is it?”
“After the table settings, dear.”
“Go on,” Lucifer said, showering Anne with kisses and drawing her first giggles of the day. “I’ll see to our guest.”
He playfully groped her toned body as she left the bed, and she threw a pillow at him before entering the bathroom. He rolled out of bed, wiped his face with his hand, and approached the door. Time to have some fun with Mother Nature.
“Where is this visitor, Gaea?”
“Main visitor lobby at the north of the town.”
He struggled to remember which building it was.
“The one with all the vines and overgrowth?”
She laughed from outside the door. “Are you poking fun at my decorating style?”
He chewed at his lip and pressed against the oaken door. “I would never.”
“Ask one of the guards,” she said. “And tell that wife of yours that I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Damned right,” Lucifer joked.
“If you think that this thin little door will stop me from bending you over my knee and spanking your little demon ass, then you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Keep talking dirty to me, Mum.”
She opened the door and turned away like someone had thrown water in her face. “Put that away,” Gaea said. “Nobody wants to see that thing.”
“Speak for yourself,” Anne said from the bathroom doorway.
Lucifer chuckled as Gaea closed the door.
“I’m in the kitchen,” she called as her footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Lucifer turned toward Anne and smiled as she motioned for him to join her in the bathroom.