Falling Into Darkness

by L. M. Brown

  The demon king nodded fervently.

  Satisfied, Lucifer focused his attention on Michael. “As I’ve told you before, angels have no business wandering the Underworld. Either you go back to my chambers and wait for me there, or the next battle put on for the entertainment of my demons will be the archangel Michael, taking on all comers.”

  The demon king gaped momentarily at Lucifer. However, this time the creature held his tongue.

  Michael knew Lucifer had the power to make Michael visible to the demons. His powers were amplified in the Underworld, while Michael’s were weakened. That didn’t mean Michael thought he would carry out his threat, and even if he did, Michael was perfectly capable of defending himself.

  “You weren’t listening to me at all this morning, were you?” Michael asked. “I’m not going to allow you to continue to manipulate me.”

  “I’m ruler of this realm,” Lucifer reminded him. “You do what I say and go where I tell you. You have two choices. I suggest you think fast because the current fight is almost over and my demons will be anxious for a new battle to enjoy.”

  Michael stood and shook his head. “I take the third option.”

  As he walked away he saw from the corner of his eye the black-horned demon raise his arms in victory as the defeated demons writhed in pain at his feet.

  Michael walked back to Lucifer’s chambers at a relatively slow pace, giving his lover plenty of time to catch up to him if he wanted to. By the time he reached the tunnel, Michael could tell Lucifer had no intention of chasing after him. He glanced at the bed, and for a moment his resolve wavered and he considered waiting for Lucifer to join him.

  “No,” he told himself firmly. “You are not going to be manipulated.”

  He repeated the words like a mantra as he ascended the stone stairs back to his beach.

  * * * *

  The next day Michael debated whether to go to the Underworld at all, but in the end he did. Despite threatening Lucifer with another separation, he didn’t want one. He just hoped Lucifer didn’t force him into a position where he had no other option.

  Lucifer waited for him in bed, naked and aroused. Unfortunately for Michael, he wasn’t alone in his chambers. A young man reclined in a chair, drinking wine, and stroking his exposed cock.

  Anger flared as Michael stared at the man.

  “Human or demon?” he asked.

  “Can’t you tell?” the stranger asked and when he met Michael’s gaze his eyes were blood red. A demon then.

  “Get out,” Michael ordered.

  “These are my rooms,” Lucifer stated. “I say who stays and who goes.”

  Michael glared at him before stalking over to the demon. “Don’t make me ask you again.”

  The demon laughed. “I don’t take orders from angels.”

  “Lucifer,” Michael said, “tell this creature to leave.”

  Instead of doing as Michael said, Lucifer patted the covers beside him and the demon hurried to join him on the bed. “Gregor has offered to keep me company when your duties take you away from me. I thought you might enjoy meeting him before he begins his new role in the Underworld.”

  Hearing Lucifer hadn’t yet fucked the demon helped quell some of Michael’s anger. Lucifer was calling his bluff, manipulating him yet again.

  “Remove Gregor’s memories of you and send him away,” Michael said. “The last thing you need is for some lower-level demon to brag to the rest of your followers about your continued survival.”

  “Maybe I want everyone to know I’m still around,” Lucifer suggested. “I might earn a little respect back. Humans don’t even fear my name anymore.”

  Michael had heard enough. He might not be at full strength in the Underworld, but he wasn’t powerless. He produced his sword and pointed the blade at the demon’s throat. “Or I can silence him myself, permanently,” he suggested.

  Lucifer didn’t bother to come to Gregor’s defense. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Michael poked the demon with his blade, just hard enough to draw blood. Gregor squeaked and scooted away. “Get out.”

  This time the demon obeyed him and he scurried from the room. Lucifer waved his hand after him and, when Michael asked, confirmed he had wiped his memory.

  Michael kept his sword unsheathed as he faced Lucifer. “If I ever find another man in your bed again, it’s over.”

  Lucifer stretched lazily. “You know you’ll always come back to me.”

  Michael raised his blade to Lucifer’s throat. “I’m not talking about our relationship,” he clarified. “I’ll finish what I started on the battlefield. This is your last chance, Lucifer.”

  “If you kill me, you’ll have failed your mission. How will the rest of the archangels take that?”

  Michael laughed, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “Most of them would be delighted to hear I’ve come to my senses.”

  When he thought he might have made his point, Michael lowered his sword and stared at Lucifer for several long minutes.

  “I’m going home now.”

  “You’re not coming to bed?” Lucifer asked.

  Michael gave him an annoyed scowl. “Strangely, I’m not in the mood right now.”

  Lucifer gave Michael’s groin a deliberately provocative look. “Are you sure about that?”

  Loose-fitting robes might hide most things, but sometimes even they weren’t enough. Michael had no doubt Lucifer could see how turned-on he was.

  Lucifer slid from the bed and took Michael’s sword out of his hand. “You shouldn’t wave that around. Someone might get hurt.”

  Michael gasped as Lucifer set aside his blade with one hand and grabbed his aching cock with the other.

  “Oh yes,” Lucifer whispered. “Let’s go to bed and I’ll take care of this problem for you.”

  Michael grasped Lucifer’s wrist. “Not tonight.”

  “Are you sure I can’t tempt you?” Lucifer purred into his ear and Michael shivered. “Come on, Michael, stop being so awkward.”

  Michael pushed Lucifer away and he tumbled onto the bed. With lightning-fast moves, Michael pushed Lucifer onto his back and climbed on top of him. “I don’t want to be fucked tonight. Though I might be persuaded to fuck you.”

  Lucifer stared at him in silence. Never once had he let Michael top him, and Michael doubted he would start now.

  “I didn’t think so,” Michael said.

  “Wait!” Lucifer grabbed Michael’s arm before he could pull away and leave. Then, in a movement completely unexpected, Lucifer eased his legs apart and offered him a small nod.

  Michael took a minute to process what Lucifer was saying to him. After so many centuries of refusing to let Michael fuck him, he had been sure of the answer before he made the suggestion. Yet Lucifer had called his bluff.

  With a shaking hand, Michael reached between Lucifer’s legs and stroked a finger round his hole. He expected Lucifer to stop him, to change his mind when push came to shove. He tested him with the tip of his finger, pushing the tiniest fraction into his opening, and Lucifer moaned with blatant desire.

  All thoughts of going home vanished as Michael scrambled across the bed, searching for Lucifer’s stash of oil on his bedside table. He found the half-empty vial and moved back to his previous position.

  Lucifer had never appeared more beautiful to Michael, or more tempting.

  “Get on your hands and knees,” he ordered and Lucifer hurried to obey him.

  Michael dribbled oil over Lucifer’s hole and his own fingers. He rubbed his slippery digits along Lucifer’s crack and eased his index finger inside him.

  Lucifer groaned at the intrusion, relaxing without any urging from Michael. Thrilled at his response, Michael pulled his finger almost completely out, then thrust it in again.

  “More,” Lucifer begged and Michael complied by inserting a second finger along with the first.

  “Tell me if it’s too much,” Michael said.

  “Not enough,” Lucifer replied.
“Fuck me, Michael, fuck me now.”

  Michael wasn’t sure Lucifer was fully prepared for his cock, but with the power to remove pain with a single touch, he decided to give Lucifer what he wanted. He removed his fingers and after coating his erection with the rest of the oil, he spread Lucifer’s buttocks and pushed his way in.

  Lucifer howled, and for a moment Michael wondered if he had misjudged the situation. Then Lucifer moved against him, eager for more.

  Michael put a hand on Lucifer’s back and held him still. “Not this time.”

  “I need you.” Lucifer whimpered. “Please, Michael.”

  “Listen to me,” Michael said. “I need to be the one in control right now. Do you understand?”

  Lucifer nodded.

  “When I’m topping you, I’m the one in charge.”

  “Yes,” Lucifer agreed. “Anything you want, just fuck me already.”

  Michael kept his thrusts deliberately slow and steady.

  “Harder,” Lucifer begged.

  Michael leaned over him so his mouth was as close to Lucifer’s ear as he could manage. “I’ll go harder when I’m ready,” he whispered. Then he nipped him on the shoulder, quick and hard.

  “Yes,” Lucifer cried.

  He wanted to make this last, because he had no idea when Lucifer would let him top him again. Unfortunately, finally being allowed to take charge and top his lover meant he was as eager as Lucifer. He managed to keep his pace slow for the first couple of thrusts, before his passion took over.

  “Who’s in charge?” asked Michael, his voice short and breathless.

  “You, you are,” Lucifer replied.

  “Say it again.”

  “You’re in charge. Fuck, Michael, right there, yes!”

  Michael did as Lucifer begged, fucking him with abandon. He gripped Lucifer’s hips, hard enough to leave bruises, if his lover had been mortal. He wanted to say more, but he was too far gone to form words. Lucifer cried out in pleasure, clenching around Michael’s cock as he climaxed.

  “Lucifer!” Michael screamed when he came, buried inside his lover for the first time.

  Michael collapsed on top of Lucifer, where he lay panting for breath. When he thought he could form words again, he gave it his best shot.

  “Lucifer?”

  “Hmm?” his lover murmured. To Michael’s ears he sounded well and truly fucked.

  “I want you to promise me something,” Michael said.

  “Promise what?”

  “That you won’t take another lover for as long as we’re together.”

  Lucifer rolled over and stared at Michael. “Did you really think I would have fucked that pathetic excuse for a demon?”

  Michael shrugged. “I don’t know. When we’re here, like this, I’d say no, but…”

  “But what?” Lucifer prompted.

  Michael turned on his side to meet Lucifer’s eyes. “I never thought of myself as the jealous type, but if my reaction to Gregor is anything to go by, I guess I must be.”

  “I like you jealous,” Lucifer teased. “Especially when the result is sex this good.”

  “I don’t want to wonder whether you’ve taken another lover while I’ve been away. I hate the idea of anyone else touching you. I know you don’t feel as much for me as I do for you, but—”

  “What?” Lucifer interrupted as he brushed Michael’s hair back from his face. Michael lowered his gaze. “Surely you know by now how much I love you?”

  “Do you?” Michael asked quietly. “You’ve never said the words.”

  “I’m a fallen angel, or to give me my true title, which I know you don’t like to use, even though we both know it’s true, a demon. We aren’t supposed to love.”

  “You never said the words before you fell either,” Michael pointed out.

  “I must have.”

  “No, you didn’t. Believe me, I’d know if you had.”

  Lucifer remained quiet for a long time before he finally spoke again. “I’m sorry.”

  Michael smiled and kissed Lucifer on the lips, sliding his tongue into Lucifer’s mouth, tasting him and drawing him nearer. Lucifer loved him. He didn’t doubt it, especially now he had spoken the words out loud. Which meant Michael could save him, maybe not today, or even this century, but one day.

  When they parted, Lucifer’s smile matched Michael’s.

  “I love you, Michael,” Lucifer whispered. “I have ever since the first day I caught you spying on me. I should have told you, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I want no other in my bed.”

  Michael believed him and he curled up in Lucifer’s waiting arms, content at last.

  “Besides,” Lucifer added, “now I know what I’ve been missing all these centuries, I intend to make up for lost time.”

  Michael smiled. He had a feeling he would enjoy taking charge in their relationship, just as much as Lucifer seemed to enjoy giving up control.

  * * * *

  Back in the realm of angels, Michael found Gabriel relaxing in his garden.

  “You look like the cat that got the cream,” Gabriel commented as Michael sat next to him. “I take it things are going better between you and Lucifer?”

  Michael nodded. “We’ve come to an understanding.”

  “Is he closer to returning to the light?”

  “I think maybe he is,” Michael replied.

  “And he’s going to stop manipulating you?” Gabriel asked.

  Michael snorted. Lucifer had tried to persuade him to stick around this morning, neglecting his duties once more, with the promise of letting Michael top him again. This time Michael had recognized the ploy for what it was, and with one stern glare at Lucifer, his lover had backtracked. The calculation had vanished from Lucifer’s eyes and had been replaced by pure lust. They had reached an understanding, and Michael found himself content with their relationship for the first time in centuries.

  “He’ll try,” Michael told Gabriel, “but he won’t succeed in his manipulations, not now I recognize what he’s doing. I honestly believe he doesn’t even realize he does it.”

  “Oh, he knows exactly what he’s doing,” Gabriel argued. “He’s a demon. Manipulation is what he does.”

  “It’s because of what he is that I think he doesn’t realize. It’s so ingrained in him now, he can’t help himself.”

  “If he’s ever to come back to us, he’ll have to learn to stop.”

  “I know, and I’m going to help him.”

  “How, if he doesn’t know he’s doing it?”

  Michael smirked. The temptation to tell Gabriel he intended to fuck the habit out of him was awfully tempting, but he knew the archangel didn’t want to hear about their sex life.

  “On second thoughts, I’d probably rather not know,” Gabriel said.

  Michael was still chuckling when he arrived home, after leaving Gabriel to find Michael more jobs to do in his garden the following day.

  For the first time Michael believed Lucifer saw him as his equal. He had earned his respect as well as his love. Now all he had to do was bring him back to the light.

  Chapter Nine

  Michael and Lucifer settled into a routine of sorts, spending their nights together and most of their days tending to their duties in their separate realms. They also spent time on Earth, watching the world changing around them.

  Michael felt as if he were making progress, albeit slowly. It therefore came as something of a surprise when he heard the reason for the latest summons calling him to the archangels’ chamber.

  Raguel took center stage as soon as Michael, the last to arrive, had taken his seat.

  “I’m here to request we vote again on whether to ban relationships between angels and demons.”

  Michael frowned. As far as he knew, Lucifer had been toeing the line and keeping to the rules set out for him. Had he misjudged him so badly? What had happened that Michael wasn’t aware of?

  Raguel pointed at Michael and glared. “Michael has set a dangerous precedent and now w
e see the repercussions.”

  “Precedent?” Michael asked. He glanced round at his fellow archangels and from the expressions on their faces several of them appeared to be as confused as he.

  Metatron cleared his throat. “One of my angels has been found to be in a relationship with a demon for the last ten years.”

  “A relationship she concealed and lied about,” Raguel shouted. “Like someone else I could mention.”

  “I thought you already did mention him,” Gabriel pointed out.

  Raguel faltered momentarily at Gabriel’s comment. “We can’t have angels getting involved with demons. They’re too easily corrupted. I demand we vote again on this issue.”

  Metatron rose from his seat and faced the rest of the room. “No angel outside of this chamber is aware of Michael’s continued relationship with Lucifer. Allisandra does not know of any rules relating to such relationships.”

  “All the more reason for relationships to be banned,” Raguel argued. “She shouldn’t have been consorting with a demon at all.”

  “He had targeted one of her charges,” Metatron explained. “During the assignment they came to know each other and she recognized his attraction to her. She used this to her advantage and distracted him from her charge.”

  “That sounds more demonic than angelic,” Raguel said. “Manipulation and using her body to get her own way is hardly behavior befitting an angel.”

  “Maybe at first,” Metatron agreed. “However, once her charge had completed the task Allisandra had been assisting him with, the relationship with the demon became more conventional.”

  “Conventional?” Raguel roared. “It’s an abomination.”

  Michael cleared his throat and Raguel had the grace to appear apologetic for his outburst.

  “I’d like to hear from Allisandra,” Gabriel said. “Does everyone agree?”

  “Yes,” Michael replied, along with most of the other archangels.

  Metatron left the chamber and returned a few minutes later with the angel in question. Slight and blonde, Allisandra wore an expression of horror at being brought before the archangels.