Falling Into Darkness

by L. M. Brown

  Michael could tell he didn’t want the demons to know of his lack of lovers despite his longevity.

  Michael stroked Lucifer’s cheek as he kissed him deeply. “If you don’t want this, just say so. We can send them away.”

  “It’s rather hard to say no to you when your tongue’s in my mouth.”

  Michael sat back and chuckled. “Sorry.”

  Lucifer inched back to put a little space between them. He waved his hand to freeze the two demons out of the conversation. “I don’t know if I can let another man fuck me. You know how long it was before I let you.”

  “I know.”

  “Are you disappointed in me?” Lucifer asked.

  “Disappointed?” Michael shook his head, surprised at Lucifer’s question and what it revealed about his lover’s fears. “Of course not. But I think we should talk about your boundaries. What are you comfortable with?”

  Lucifer’s gaze flickered to the demons. “I liked them sucking me, and I enjoyed sucking Irdu. I think I’d be okay with them rimming me too.”

  “What about you fucking them?” Michael asked.

  The expression of desire on Lucifer’s face answered his question. Lucifer wanted the two demons, and despite being the one to instigate this, Michael recognized the twinge in his gut as jealousy. He squashed it down and concentrated on how he had felt watching Lucifer coming. He never appeared more beautiful than when he was in the throes of an orgasm.

  “I have an idea,” Lucifer said. “How about we suck each other while our new friends rim us? Then I’ll fuck Irdu, while he takes Ardat.”

  “And what am I doing while that’s happening?” Michael teased. “Or had you forgotten about me?”

  “You get to fuck me.”

  Michael frowned. “I’m not really sure about the logistics of that one.”

  Lucifer cocked his head to one side. “It might be something we have to work up to.”

  Michael shook his head and smiled fondly at his lover. “Let’s see what our companions have to say. After all, they are here for their own pleasure as well as ours.”

  Lucifer unfroze the two demons who either didn’t notice or didn’t comment on the time lapse. He gave them the details of what they had decided upon.

  Thankfully neither of the demons commented on the change of plan.

  Michael let Lucifer guide him into position and after several moments of jostling limbs the four of them were finally ready. Michael took Lucifer’s cock between his lips and sucked the head lightly, while at the same time Lucifer licked at Michael’s own throbbing erection. They had done this many times before. The position was familiar and almost comforting.

  Then came the unfamiliar sensation of another set of hands on his body, slowly parting his buttocks, carefully so as not to knock him from Lucifer’s mouth. He felt warm breath ghosting over his hole and a tongue, too long for that of a human, delving into his arse, licking him more intimately than Lucifer ever had, stroking his prostate with perfect accuracy.

  On the other side of Lucifer, Ardat gave Michael’s lover the same attention.

  Michael closed his eyes and concentrated on the varying sensations, his senses close to overloading. He sucked Lucifer with increasing desperation, taking as much of his length into his mouth as he could manage.

  He sensed a slight drain on his angelic powers and could tell Irdu was feeding from his energy. He couldn’t kill him, but Michael knew he would have to be careful not to leave himself too vulnerable. It was safe for the moment, though.

  With a moan of pleasure, Michael stroked Lucifer’s heavy balls, fondling them gently. Lucifer mimicked him and Michael sucked him harder in response.

  The four of them became increasingly noisy while they slowly continued to pleasure each other.

  Michael tasted Lucifer’s seed as he began to spill into Michael’s waiting mouth. He sucked harder and Lucifer released Michael’s cock to scream out his release.

  Ardat and Irdu drew back when Lucifer came, and Michael nearly cried out at the loss of the demon’s tongue massaging his prostate.

  Lucifer took a while to come to his senses, by which time Michael’s own climax had retreated somewhat.

  “Fuck his mouth,” Irdu whispered into Michael’s ear.

  “What are you and Ardat going to do?” Michael asked.

  “Enjoy the show,” they replied together.

  “Come here,” Lucifer ordered, though his voice remained groggy.

  Michael crawled up his lover’s body and straddled his chest. The two demons moved position so they knelt at Lucifer’s head. They kissed deeply before turning back to Michael.

  “You taste good,” Ardat commented.

  Lucifer gripped Michael’s arse and tugged him closer. He opened his mouth wide and Michael didn’t need any further encouragement. He pushed his way slowly into Lucifer’s mouth and, when he was sure his lover wasn’t going to choke, he began to slowly thrust.

  In front of him, Ardat took hold of Irdu’s cock and stroked it in time to Michael’s movements.

  Lucifer encouraged him to quicken his pace and Ardat did the same.

  Irdu came first, spilling across Ardat’s fist. The succubus raised her hand and licked his cum from her fingers, her eyes on Michael the entire time.

  “Want a taste?” she asked.

  “You’ll taste no other man’s seed unless you’re licking it from my body,” Lucifer reminded him.

  Michael shook his head, too breathless to form words.

  Ardat held out her hand. “Are you sure? I think you might like it.”

  Michael suspected he would, but he wasn’t so far gone he had forgotten Lucifer’s terms. He slowed his thrusts a little and gathered his breath. “How long until he comes again?”

  “A few minutes,” Ardat said. “Maybe less, with the power boost rimming you gave him.”

  “Make him come over Lucifer,” Michael ordered.

  Ardat grinned. “Is this another rule?” she asked.

  Michael nodded.

  “I think I want some rules of my own,” Ardat said as she and Irdu crawled back down the bed. “I want to taste the cum of an archangel.”

  “You can’t suck me,” Michael reminded her.

  “I know, but there’s no rule stopping me from tasting you after you’ve come in Lucifer’s mouth, is there?”

  Michael’s heart constricted. She was talking about kissing Lucifer—his lover—and Michael didn’t like the idea at all. Now he understood exactly where Lucifer was coming from. “No.”

  Ardat smiled. “You two are really quite perfect for each other, aren’t you? Both so sweetly jealous. It’s almost as if you don’t trust each other.”

  “I could change my mind about having you in here at all,” Michael said. “If I say I want you gone, you’ll never share Lucifer’s bed again.”

  “You think he can resist us?” Irdu asked. “No one can do that forever.”

  “He can,” Michael replied. “I trust him.”

  “Then why won’t you let me kiss him?” Ardat questioned.

  Michael didn’t answer her, and, after he came in Lucifer’s mouth a few minutes later, he climbed off his lover to the opposite side of the bed where the two demons sat. Too far gone to form words, he nodded at Ardat, giving her silent permission to kiss his lover.

  She leaned in, licking her lips, then lapped at Lucifer’s, tasting Michael’s seed. Michael cringed, unable to watch without his jealousy rising.

  Suddenly Lucifer pushed her off and wiped his hand across his mouth. “No.”

  “Lucifer?” Michael asked.

  “You don’t enjoy watching her kiss me, so it doesn’t happen again,” Lucifer explained. “My kisses are yours alone, agreed?”

  Michael threw his arms around Lucifer’s neck and kissed him, tasting himself as well as his lover. “Agreed,” he said. “No one gets to kiss you except me.”

  Lucifer pushed him down onto the bed and thrust against him. “Leave us,” he told the two demo
ns, who seemed to sense the shift in mood and vanished instantly.

  “You’ve sent them away for good?” Michael asked. Something akin to disappointment hit him sharply.

  “No, just for now,” Lucifer replied. “When you want them to join us again, let me know.”

  “What if you want them here?” Michael asked.

  Lucifer rubbed against him, and Michael spread his legs wider so Lucifer could claim him fully. “I won’t,” Lucifer said as he speared Michael with one smooth thrust, nailing his prostate as efficiently as Irdu had managed with his tongue.

  Michael relaxed and let Lucifer fuck him with abandon. He shouted and screamed his pleasure, and afterwards he whispered words of love into Lucifer’s ear, even though he could tell his lover slept, exhausted at last.

  * * * *

  It took a while before they found a good balance between the four of them. Lucifer refused to back down on any of his rules, and, after Michael’s own jealous reaction to seeing Ardat kissing his lover, Michael didn’t blame him.

  They invited the two demons to join them once every couple of months, for a single night of carnal pleasure.

  Michael had no illusions about what was in it for the two sex demons. Each time they came to Lucifer’s bed they fed from Lucifer and from Michael himself. They took just enough power to ensure their survival during the battle for the throne of the Underworld, and Michael tried not to begrudge them. He wasn’t happy to discover Lucifer’s survival was now common knowledge in the Underworld, but there was little he could do about it.

  In the seclusion of Lucifer’s chambers, what they did together privately seemed perfectly natural. However, when he went home, to the realm of angels, Michael began to harbor doubts. He needed to confide in someone, and as always Gabriel was his first choice.

  Michael had now worked in Gabriel’s garden for many years, far longer than their initial arrangement, and some days he even enjoyed it. Today, when it was just the two of them there, laboring side by side, it was easy to open up and talk.

  “Can I ask you something, in confidence?” Michael asked.

  “Of course, what is it?”

  “You won’t speak of this to anyone?” Michael pressed. “Not even Raphael?”

  Gabriel stopped digging and frowned at him. “Are you still at odds? I thought things had improved between you, now the business between Machidiel and his lovers has been resolved.”

  “It is, which is why I don’t want to risk rocking the boat again, at least not yet. Things are a little too raw between us, if you know what I mean?”

  “I won’t speak to him about whatever you tell me,” Gabriel promised. “Though I’m sure I don’t need to remind you secrets do have a tendency to come out sooner or later.”

  Michael understood that very well indeed. “It’s about Lucifer.”

  “It usually is,” Gabriel commented dryly. “What’s he done this time?”

  “Nothing!” Michael shook his head and hurried to reassure Gabriel that Lucifer had been behaving himself. “I guess I should have said it’s about my relationship with Lucifer.”

  “What about it?” Gabriel asked.

  Michael focused on tugging a particularly stubborn weed from the flowerbed. “We’ve been having sex with other demons,” he finally blurted out.

  “You’ve been cheating on each other?” Gabriel’s tone conveyed his disbelief.

  “No, never!” Michael met Gabriel’s horrified gaze. “I meant we’ve been inviting other demons into our bed, the incubi and succubi leaders, in fact.”

  “Irdu and Ardat?”

  “Yes.”

  Gabriel whistled. “And how are you enjoying sharing your body with a woman after all these years with only men?”

  Although Gabriel rarely spoke of his own sex life, Michael knew enough to be well aware of the fact Gabriel was what the modern world referred to as an equal opportunities lover.

  “It’s different,” Michael admitted, “but we’ve not, er, you know, gone all the way.”

  Gabriel snorted. “You’ve just admitted to me you’re sharing your bed with three demons at once—and I know you don’t see Lucifer as such, but he is—yet you can’t say the word ‘sex’.”

  Michael scowled at Gabriel and tossed down his gardening fork. “Fine, I’ve not had sexual intercourse with her, okay?”

  “Then what have you been doing?” Gabriel raised his hand. “On second thoughts, I’m not sure I want to hear. What exactly is the problem? Apart from the obvious, which I doubt has even occurred to you.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Michael asked. He sounded defensive even to his own ears.

  Gabriel sighed and rose from the ground. He held out his hand to help Michael to his feet. “This has obviously been happening for a while, yet you’re only now telling me. That means you’ve been lying to me again, even if it was by omission.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Now, what’s the problem you want my advice about?”

  Michael walked through the gardens, not seeing the beauty in the fresh blooms, nor smelling the scents of the flowers. “I’m worried I’m no longer enough for Lucifer.”

  “Why do you think that? Does he have sex with these demons when you’re not there?”

  “No, he’d never do that to me.”

  “Has he told you you’re not enough, or indicated he no longer wants you?”

  “No.”

  “Then he’s shown a preference to your other lovers, over you?”

  Michael frowned as he considered Lucifer’s behavior in the bedchamber. “I don’t think so.”

  “Then why do you think you’re not enough for him?” Gabriel asked. “Has he ever given you cause to believe that?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  Gabriel sat on a metal bench with a rose motif, and Michael sat beside him. “Lucifer loves you. You were the only angel he ever took notice of before he fell, and you’ve been the one constant presence in his life from that day until this. Throughout all these centuries, you have been enough for him. Have faith, my friend.”

  Michael nodded. “I guess maybe I needed to hear the words out loud. When I’m with them, I don’t question what we’re doing, but I wonder how much of that is because of what they are.”

  “Probably most of it,” Gabriel replied. “What do you feel for Irdu and Ardat?”

  “Lust, desire.”

  “Love?”

  “No.”

  “And you still love Lucifer?”

  “Of course, that goes without saying. I can’t even imagine life without him.”

  Gabriel wrapped his arm round Michael’s shoulder and hugged him close to his side. “Keep loving him as much as you do right now, and one day you’ll bring him home.”

  “Do you really believe that?” Michael whispered.

  “Don’t you?”

  “I used to, but now I wonder if love is enough.”

  “Don’t let your doubts lead you from your path. Everyone can be saved, even your newest lovers.”

  Gabriel always seemed to know the right thing to say. Michael wondered whether anything ever bothered him and if he ever doubted himself. He smiled as he recalled something Machidiel had once said to him, a comment about how Michael always seemed calm. Things weren’t always as they appeared. For all Michael knew, Gabriel battled inner conflicts too. The thought didn’t sit well with Michael. Why wouldn’t Gabriel confide in him if that were the case?

  “What’s with the frown?” Gabriel asked.

  “Why don’t you ever confide in me?” Michael replied without thinking.

  Gabriel laughed. “Where did that come from? You know everything about me.”

  “I don’t even know if you’re seeing anyone at the moment,” Michael said. “You haven’t mentioned anyone in years.”

  “That’s because I’ve not been involved with anyone in years.”

  “Aren’t you lonely?”

  “Sometimes, but I can fi
nd company when I need to.”

  “Who?”

  “No one you know,” Gabriel said. “Why do you want to know about me all of a sudden?”

  “Because I’m trying not to be so self-absorbed. If you ever wanted to talk to me about your troubles, I want you to know I’m here for you.”

  “I know, but I promise, I don’t have any troubles to talk about.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Gabriel hesitated just a little too long.

  “What is it?”

  Gabriel stared at the clouds. “I worry I’m not a good leader for the archangels.”

  “You’re doing a better job than I ever did.”

  “You underestimate your own abilities. Who do the lesser angels come to for guidance?”

  “Whoever happens to be available?”

  “No, they go to you,” Gabriel said. “You’re more approachable than the rest of us.”

  “Being easy to talk to doesn’t make me a good leader.”

  “The angels would follow you anywhere, and you know it. I think you should resume your previous position as our official leader.”

  Michael hung his head. “I don’t know.”

  “I’ve called a meeting for us to vote on it.”

  “You’ve what? Are you sure you want to give up the post?”

  “Positive. Now, come on, let’s start pruning the roses round the gazebo.”

  Michael followed Gabriel and soon they were back at work, and if Gabriel seemed to be gathering together a large bouquet of roses, Michael wouldn’t comment on it. He hoped whoever they were for appreciated the gift, as well as the archangel who had grown them.

  * * * *

  Michael fidgeted in his chair as the archangels took their seats for Gabriel’s meeting. He felt as nervous now as he had any time he had been caught in his lies about Lucifer. He had been a poor leader, and he couldn’t understand why Gabriel thought he should take on the role again.

  Behind him, the public gallery remained empty. This meeting was only between the archangels, for things would be discussed that weren’t common knowledge, specifically Michael’s relationship with Lucifer.

  Gabriel took his seat last and called the rest of the archangels to order. “I’ve decided to relinquish my role as leader of the archangels,” he said without preamble.