Tempted (10 page)

His face crumpled up as another deep groove
appeared on his cheek.

“
God commanded me. It was Heaven
for you or Hell for me.”

“
Then I forgive you,” he
murmured.

“
Oh no, please don't forgive me.
I can't bear it. You should hate me.”

“
No. Now go, it'll be over
soon.”

“
I don't want you to
die.”

“
It's best. I wanted to take you
with me to Hell. But it was...just a dream.”

His eyes focused and fastened on hers and
her heart constricted tightly with pain.

“
I wish your dream had been
real, Uvall. I don't want to be here anymore.”

“
Yes you do. And Hell is no
place for you, in any way, Lila.”

“
Heaven's not the place for me
either.”

“
It has to be now. Goodbye
angel. Please. Go.”

“
No. I want to stay. Until the
end.”

“
I don't want you to see Gehove
making an unholy example of me.”

“
Why is he?”

A long and very deep groove dug into his
chest and his eyes rolled in his head and his fists balled while he
struggled with the pain.

She stroked his face, touching the wooded
grooves which now marred his handsome beauty.

“
Too long ago. All forgotten...
don't fucking care.” he ground out through clenched
teeth.

She wondered, briefly, if this was all an
act. Demons were such cunning creatures. He could be trying to earn
her pity. She was the only one who would likely help him. He knew
that.

She couldn't be sure, she didn't know, and
could she ever trust him?

Demon's weren't to be trusted, were
they?

But did it matter how true he was? Her
feelings were the ones she had to deal with for the reason of
eternity.

At that second, she made the biggest
decision she'd ever made in her short life.

A selfless one.

Trust aside, she couldn't stand by and let
it happen. If Uvall was to die, it wouldn't be at her hand. The
Seraph would have to cut him down in a fairer fight.

She placed her hand on his chains and
shackles, and one by one she released his bonds with a short burst
of lightning into the locks. She took his arms out of the cuffs,
then his feet.

But to her surprise he didn't move.

“
I'm not leaving. You'll be
punished, Lila. I can't allow that. Fasten the shackles
again.”

“
Take me with you. Like you
said. It doesn't have to be a dream. It could be real.”

His eyes probed hers.

“
Take you somewhere? We have
nowhere to go.”

“
To Hell.”

“
I can't take you to Hell. Look
what you've done to me. I don't think Bael will allow you to move
in as his house guest. You have humiliated him. Don't you
see?”

“
I'll speak to him. Apologize.
Sweet talk him round.”

“
You really think you can sweet
talk the devil? He won't be interested. Only in revenge. He has his
own agenda. He'll chain you and you'll turn slowly to dust. It'll
be an eye for an eye.”

“
I'll take that
chance.”

“
You'd do that for me? For a
demon from Hell who you don't even know? Lila, you're a fucking
stupid bitch if you do.”

She knew why he was being this way. He
wanted to push her away, so she would hate him and he could die.
But she wasn't going to let him.

“
Tough shit. That's my life. I
shouldn't be here. I wasn't a good mortal. God only brought me here
to enslave you.”

He lifted his hands and weakly brushed his
hair from his face.

“
Come close,” he said, and she
bent to him. He touched her cheek, his fingertip caressing her
lips. “Lila, you don't have to do this for me. I will gladly die,
now I've seen your face. Don't make it harder for yourself. Just
kiss me goodbye and go. Think of this as my willing release from
torment.”

She burst into tears.

This man was for real. He was not evil. He
was a kind soul. How had he come to be in Hell?

She gathered all her fortitude about her.
And made her decision.

“
If you don't take me somewhere.
I shall go to Hell on my own.”

“
NO!” he exclaimed loudly, then
lowered his voice, “no... you can't... please don't do
that.”

He swung his legs over the side of the
altar, and forced himself up, with a low animal groan of pain.

“
Give me some water. I need to
stop this goddamn shit awful desiccation. It's pure
agony.”

She passed him some holy water from the
table at the side of the altar.

He drank a big mouthful and his
whole face screwed up in disgust. “
Fuck
...I really don't think I can drink any more of
that holy shit. I'd rather turn to wood.”

“
I can take you out, through the
side door. To the river. You can drink there. And beyond that are
the steps down to earth.”

“
I cannot spend much time down
there. I will become mortal.”

“
As will I. Perhaps that's what
we should do, Uvall? Become mortal?”

“
No, not an option, because if
we do we are damned in the afterlife. Believe me, you don't want to
go there.”

“
Let us hide out for a day while
we think.”

“
You think we can hide out from
God and the devil for crissakes? Where could we hide?”

“
There's somewhere I know we
could go, one of my old friend's places.”

“
You really believe God won't
know about that, about your friends? He'll hunt you down and he'll
look there first. No. Xonil will help us. We will have to live
rough in the wilds. He will guard us night and day. And another of
my Legatus may help. Micol is a faithful legionnaire. He will stand
guard too. I can call them when we arrive on the
surface.”

“
Xonil can look after me alone,
can't he? You can go back to Hell. You've done nothing wrong.
Perhaps you could persuade Lord Bael we were tricked somehow? He
may look upon me more kindly after that?”

“
Lila, listen to the facts.
Women can only enter Hell as a succubus. Which would mean you'd be
tied to me for eternity. I don't know if I could persuade Bael of
your suitability, as you are a deceptive angel, a weapon of God,
impure and have caused him some fucking grief. In fact he may not
be too pleased to see me, either. I've failed in my task for Lord
Bael, and he's been shamed because of what I did with you. No demon
conjugates with an angel. For any reason. Mistakenly or otherwise.
It's forbidden territory. I don't know what he'll do when he sees
me. I could be beheaded on the spot. Or more likely fed to the
souls, in small pieces. Questions will be asked of how I escaped,
and of you and your whereabouts. What I think he might do, is send
me back for you, to finish you off, to bring back your head, to
ensure I am still his loyal subject. Or maybe I'll be asked to hand
you over to him alive, so he can feed you to his hounds
himself.”

She paled at the thought of such a horrific
end, as being ripped to pieces by demon dogs and devoured as the
devil watched. “Then both of us hiding out really is our only
option. If we're not welcome in Heaven or Hell, the surface of the
earth is the only place to go.”

“
Unless I die. Which I am very
prepared to do.”

“
Then I'll die with you. Let us
choose the way that comes about.”

“
No, Lila, I won't let you die.
In fact you can't die. You are already dead, woman. I'm an old
soul. I've lived out my time in this world. And I've lived in all
parts of it. Let me end it it here, I can bear the pain and it'll
be a peaceful end. It'll answer our problem, won't it? And in all
honesty, I don't think I have the energy to go on
anymore.”

“
Well find some fucking energy,
for crissakes! Uvall...
please
... I'm sure we can find an answer, somewhere.
Wouldn't you like to be with me? Because I'd love to be with you. I
know we haven't known each other long, but Uvall, you've touched my
heart. I can't let you go without a fight and I won't. Don't leave
me here alone, I beg you.”

He smiled and leaned forward to kiss
her.

“
You're beautiful angel, and I
cannot lie, I do want to be with you, but it's fraught with danger,
the path ahead is going to be so hard. It may not be
possible.”

“
I don't care how hard it is.
I'll be with you. And how ever hard it gets, it won't be as hard as
staying here. I can't bear to be dictated to by Gehove. To be one
of his seraphim. Not after this. To live here in this terrible and
soulless place for all eternity is a horror I cannot face. There's
nothing holy here.”

“
Anyone would think you were
talking about Hell, not Heaven.” He caressed her face with his
fingers. “I remember thinking something similar a long time ago.
God didn't like it when I spoke the words out loud.”

“
Is that all you did to get cast
down? Disagree with him?”

“
It was more than that, but this
isn't the time to discuss it. My mind isn't functioning very well.
I feel a little giddy...
Fuck
, I need a drink so badly.”

She pulled him into her arms and ran her
hands all over his hard muscled ass, feeling the deep wooden
grooves running down it.

“
Is it reversible. All this
damage to your body?”

“
Why, does it spoil my good
looks much?” he grinned.

“
No... well maybe a little.” She
smiled.

“
I think it'll fade, if I ever
leave this dry Heaven.”

His lips brushed hers, back and forth, and
she melted into him like he was at one with her. Her body trembled
violently in his arms with a deep desire and her heart beat fast in
her chest. She felt him stir fast and hard against her thigh.

God, how she wanted him. Always. Every
moment in his presence.

He broke away, with a look of yearning in
his eyes.

“
Now, this is really dangerous
territory, little angel. I want to fuck you on God's altar and that
wouldn't do, because I'm too weak and stiff limbed to make a very
good job of it.”

His eyes twinkled wickedly as they locked on
hers.

Despite the seriousness of their
predicament, she couldn't help but smile at him.

There he was, leaning shamelessly, against
God's altar, semi erect with a wood lined face and body, bloodied
wrists and ankles, his hair everywhere.

And, still, he was the most goddamn gorgeous
thing in the whole universe.

Desire erupted within her like volcano full
of lava.

She swallowed her threatening moan. “Come,
let's go. I really need to find you something to wear,” she
muttered. She was almost biting her tongue off, stifling her need
of his cock inside her.

She led him slowly to the door, the
desiccation in his legs and body causing him to move stiffly. She
opened the door, breaking the lock with lightning, and let him out,
into the small, shadowy doorway.

“
Wait there, I will return in a
moment.”

She left by the front door, bidding the two
seraph a cheerful goodnight, and adding a convincing sigh of
contentment as she left them, locking and chaining the door behind
her. She circled around the side of the building and into his
waiting arms. They stayed a moment to kiss passionately, in the
shelter of the dark, their mouths smothering the moans of their
desire.

Then they moved silently through the shadows
of the compound of Hailen, to the edge of the fields. She held him
tightly to her, as she flexed her wings wide, and beating them hard
to carry the weight of two beings, she flew away, to the river.

She left him to drink his fill while she
collected him a full black gown from her closet. As she flew back
to his side, she could see he was sat on the bank of the river,
waiting her return.

Her feet whispered the few steps across the
long, lush grass and she passed him the gown.

“
It'll be tight, but it'll do
for now. It'll cover the parts than need covering,” she
giggled.

“
Thanks,” he said. He held his
hand out. “Sit with me.”

She sat at his side. “For a minute then, but
we need to go.”

“
No we don't. We have all the
time in the world. No one will be looking for us until dawn at
least.”

Then he lay her down and undressed her, her
heart pounding madly in her chest, she spread her wings beneath
her.

“
I have wings,” he said, softly
smoothing her black feathers with the flat of his hand.

“
You do?”

“
I'm a fallen angel. Of course I
do. When I'm in Hell, they emerge. But I don't suppose I'll see
them again, will I?” His laugh was false and hid his true
feelings.

She appreciated he mourned the loss of his
wings. It was like losing limbs. Worse than that, as they enabled
her to soar high, and she loved that beyond description. Her time
on the earth, after Gabriel had temporarily taken them from her,
had left her feeling lost without their presence.

“
I'm sorry Uvall. You can borrow
the use of mine if you need to fly anywhere.”