Al’bah turned to Law and stared for a moment. “Would I have been better off with my former master? Would the same fate be desired by my precious Bond?”
Law set aside the scroll he was writing on and picked up an empty book that floated to the desk from one of the innumerable bookshelves. “Perhaps not, but all your pain and suffering up until this moment will seem light in comparison to what you will face once Cain dies,” he stated, picking up a quill and started to write within the heavy leather-bound volume.
Al’bah sneezed from the dust clinging to the air and thought for a while before speaking. “Therein lays the folly of our kind. We can only imagine the eventuality. We can only see the press of existence, and not what the Creator lays before us.”
Al’bah turned to Cain and rested her head upon his shoulder and curled his hair in her fingers. “Do you not feel the power in this one, in all humanity? Do you not see how the likeness of the Creator within this creation twists our own sight of destiny?” Al’bah turned back to Law, allowing a little indignation to creep into her voice. “I have a dual nature now. This gives me hope and perhaps more, as the time becomes clear to me.”
“Perhaps, is the mortal aware?”
Al’bah turned back to Cain and caressed his uncomprehending face and kissed him softly. “No, his awareness is safe now.”
“Good. Now on to the important matters I must discuss with his protector.”
Al’bah hissed and wrapped her arms around Cain. “He is mine! I shall protect him!” she snarled as jealousy filled her heart.
“Do not presume. You cannot protect him from the press of corruption—even now Taint moves against the both of you.”
Al’bah trembled at the mention of her former master. “W-we shall not fail! I believe it!” she stammered.
Law shrugged and closed his eyes. “Purity?”
“I am here.”
Al’bah gasped as a bright light flared, forming a portal; a tall, haughty figure stepped through and walked up to Cain. His noble features creased in thought as he stared. A simple white garb with a single red symbol hung from his shoulders, as did a pair of magnificent wings appearing to be made of metal golden feathers that could probably double as deadly weapons.
“You have been watching what has transpired here?” Law stated, drawing Purity from his thoughts.
“Not in its fullness.” He shook his head and turned to Law. His profile was full of a gentle wonder and with a confidence that could only come from an existence as ageless as it was righteous.
“How peculiar. I had witnessed the rituals of Bonding concerning only the sons of God and the daughters of man.” Purity turned back around and looked at Cain. “But here stands an unsaved human.” He locked his gaze to Al’bah, even as she hid behind Cain. “And a Demono? It is most peculiar indeed.”
“There is nothing that is impossible, given Faith, Hope, and Love,” Law retorted, closing the leather-bound volume he was writing in. “Your role as an Angel in this matter is clear. You will fulfill it.”
Purity nodded. “Perhaps. However, there is little chance for a source of spiritual jeopardy for the two that are now Bonded. After all, Bonds such as these were during the time of Noah and his ilk.”
Al’bah gasped as Purity locked his gaze to her and began to move closer. She cowered away to one of the many bookcases and tore the volumes from their shelves and attempted to bury herself with them.
“Be not afraid. I am not here to pass judgment nor punishment.”
Regardless of Purity’s reassurance, Al’bah shrank down in the bookcase, trying to cover herself from his presence. She felt his fingertips brush against her lips. Her breathing became rapid and painful; her heart hammered in her chest frantically.
“Frightened,” Al’bah whimpered.
At last, Al’bah felt Purity move away, and she dared to open her eyes and returned to her place behind Cain, still trembling.
“The Succubus does not steal spiritual energy from the human?”
“Indeed, the mortal named this Succubus as his Al’bah.”
Purity turned around and glanced at Al’bah and then to Law. “Was this intentional?”
“Cain, like all humanity, is a dual creature. His intensions were contradictory, as is his words, nature, and, yes, even the naming of the Succubus he is Bonded to.” Law gestured toward Cain. “This one is a fitting example of self-interest—and pride.”
“And in the end, he agreed to the Bond,” Purity said with a smile. “Is there one who opposes this Bond?”
“Taint was the master of the one Bonded to this human.”
Purity cocked his head with this knowledge. “What an astounding coincidence.”
Law nodded. “Perhaps. I do hope your centuries in solitude have prepared you for what lies ahead. Though, it would be much easier for you to deal with Taint directly.”
“I have resorted to such presumption before. I shall not do so again. I will trust in my Creator, and not myself.”
“We shall see. Taint, are you present?”
“I am.”
The shadows of the various objects merged together into a shapeless window to a dimension that only knew darkness, which Taint stepped through. Al’bah gasped slightly and tried to shrink away, but was unable to move.
The three spiritual entities stared at each other for a long time. The silence and motionlessness were broken by Taint, who walked up to Cain. “There is an aspect to it that gives me pause.”
”Perhaps with good reason,” Law replied. “Would you not consider to let this matter drop? This one is unsaved, and his Al’bah will return to you once his life is over.”
Al’bah felt a little anger mix in with her fear at Law’s statement. Was it really so hopeless? Why did Cain seek out a spiritual companion if he did not have faith in the Creator?
“Spare me your placating platitudes. I will not suffer them nor this insult!” Taint spat, pointing to Cain.
“Such mindlessness—you have not changed in the slightest,” Purity said quietly. “Even you must acknowledge Law has no bearing upon your wounded ego and your boundless pride.”
Taint turned toward Purity. “You have always been my greatest and most worthy opponent. I am filled with great anticipation with you as their spiritual protector. Coincidence has no place here.”
“Coincidence has no place here? Do you truly declare such with the authority of absolute knowledge?” Purity shook his head. “How presumptuous!”
“Me? Presumptuous? You seek to protect them from corruption when it already exists within the both of them.” Taint leered. “Even the balance of Noah’s generation failed to lift their eyes to the Creator! Even with the sons of the Creator marrying the daughters of man, attempting to show by example, the love the Creator has for all creation!”
Taint pointed to Cain. “This one declares there is no higher power than itself! It rejects the Creator, how long before it rejects its Bond? And when it does, it will wither, wane, and die, rising to damnation eternal! And the one it is Bonded to cannot even remember the sin which brought ruin upon herself! How can either of them fulfill the purpose placed upon them? How can either of them reflect the Bond the Creator supposedly wishes to have with all creation?”
Al’bah closed her eyes as despair gripped her heart. She had heard the same mantra before from Taint, but never in the way Taint had spoken it to Purity. It was interesting to see Taint interact with another being that was not a slave but something more akin to an equal, a superior. She was about to surrender all hope when she heard Purity sigh, speaking with a gentleness that was beyond even her greatest imaginings.
“This one, unknowingly or not, declared something other than himself as ‘his everything.’” Purity arranged Cain’s arms to encircle Al’bah’s hips, and he positioned his head to nuzzle her cheek. “He can recognize the suffering of one and desire to end it for the sake of mercy—maybe even for the sake of love, and to love for its own sake.”
Purity ste
pped back and nodded. “A fine start to a fine example. Perhaps this generation, believing so strongly to have no need for the Creator and His love, make them all the more needful of the reemergence of this type of union.”
A wave of hope crashed upon Al’bah’s senses. Was what Purity said also true? Did she have hope? Somehow she could sense her paralysis was from the Angel and the reason why Taint was ignoring her.
Purity nodded and turned to Law. “I can not see victory for me. I can not see victory for them. I do not have the sight of my Maker. Only He knows the eventualities of the press of eternity.” Purity placed his hand upon Cain’s shoulder. “But I do not see defeat either, just harsh struggle. I shall protect him and his Al’bah from Taint and the press of corruption.”
Law tapped his gavel upon the desk. “So shall it be. Purity, you are appointed and have accepted the role as a spiritual protector of this one, and his Al’bah.” Then Law was gone.
Once Law vanished, so did the sense of balance. The taste and smell of a library was gone. The weight of books, now absent. What was left behind was a strange existence that could neither be light nor dark. There was just Cain and the presence of two forces so opposed to each other—a darkness so complete, there was no darkness. A light so encompassing, there was no light.
There was just existence and a glory hard to behold; it came through, but not from Cain.
“As it was written, so shall man be made in the image of the Creator,” Purity said with a content grin.
“A place they do not deserve! So ignorant it, and its own are of spiritual matters!”
“Perhaps this ignorance was the point, my fallen sibling. Perhaps man was created so ignorant so he might make mistakes, be forgiven, and come to know the Creator through His mercy, and His love. Perhaps we should have come from such low beginnings. Maybe we would have taken to our stations with greater humility. Our own was given a place so close to the throne, and a third knew not contentment nor their place.”
Taint laughed maniacally. “Does my hearing deceive me? Or are you about to say the Creator made a mistake with the creation of the Angels?”
Purity laughed as well, but his was filled with a soft humor. “Taint, you have not changed. The mistake was in the choice you made. Just because it was presented to you does not mean that you are innocent for making it.” Purity turned to Cain. “Be well, Cain Lamentson. Awaken to your destiny.”
Chapter 6
First Passions
“Wake, Cain. You will feed my hungers; you will satisfy my longing. I hold you close to my heart. I will cherish you forever. I am yours until you leave this mortal coil, or until you send me away with a broken heart. Now wake…wake…wake.”
—Al’bah
Cain thrashed out of the covers of his bed. He still heard the echoes of Al’bah’s voice telling him to wake. He closed his eyes and with his left hand polished off the whiskey bottle he opened earlier. He was about to toss it aside and tell himself it was a dream, when he saw Al’bah, wings and all, kneeling next to him with a worried look on her face.
“That was real?” Cain shrieked, seeing but still disbelieving what was before him.
Al’bah had raised her arms as if to ward off an attack. “Yes, it was real. I am real.” She slowly lowered her arms, her face calm. “Please, do not yell at me. Please, do not hurt me.”
“What? Hurt you?” Cain realized Al’bah’s attention was drawn to his left hand holding the bottle like a weapon. With more conscious effort than he thought necessary, he finally relaxed and tossed the bottle aside. “I am not mad at you. I just don’t know what is happening. I don’t—I don’t even know what you are!”
Cain waited for her to respond. Blood pounded through his body, quickly turning to fire as his mind registered how absolutely breathtaking Al’bah’s beauty was. Meeting Al’bah in his dream was quite different than seeing her now. In his dream, his mind was fuzzy, but now? Cain swallowed, her nakedness—no, her brazen nakedness—ignited his desire, threatening to take all sense away from him.
She appeared to sense his passion and the stirrings of lust. With a relieved smile, she leaned forward, moving on all fours to Cain who had by now sat up. She rose up, wrapping her legs around his torso, and settled into his groin. Her wings partially expanded, reaching all the way to the ceiling.
Her hair spilled over her shoulders as she swayed her head before him, observing Cain from different angles. Then with slow, deliberate motions, she reached out to touch his chest, exploring his torso with her palms, pausing for a moment on his abdomen before slowly moving them higher to his neck and face. “Are you real?” She whispered, ”Is this moment real?”
Her wings started to flutter, causing a slight current, and she enveloped Cain with her scent. It was heady and sweet, reminding him of decadent chocolates and rich caramels. Not quite as intense as cocoa butter, but with a bitter undertone like raw cacao powder. Cain breathed in her deliciousness with a deep sigh, causing his blood to turn hot with desire, arousing his lust’s demand for satisfaction.
“Perhaps I can start by telling you what I am.” Her voice brought Cain back to his confusion, his frustrations, and his need for answers. “I am Succubus. You named me Al’bah. I am your Bond and—” Al’bah’s brow furrowed with concern. She turned her attention to Cain’s hand. “Your hand is hurt. Please, let me see.”
A pang of despair welled within him, as he had forgotten about his injury. He brought his mangled, worthless hand into Al’bah’s open one. The stitches were broken, and his wound wept red again.
Al’bah stared at Cain’s hand for a moment then brought it toward her lips.
“Hey! What are you doing?” he protested, tugging his hand back slightly.
Al’bah looked up into his face. “Shhh.” She pulled his hand to her lips and locked them over his wound. Cain felt nothing at first. But a pressure built in his hand, quickly escalating into incredible agony.
“Stop it!” Cain cried out and snatched his hand back.
Al’bah flinched slightly and looked frightened. “Is your hand not better? Did I hurt you?”
“Are you kidding? Of course that hurt! It…I…”
I can feel my hand again! He looked back at his injury. His hand was flushed, and his wound was still bleeding. And yet there was pain where there once was none. He flexed his fingers in breathless awe.
“Are you not pleased?” Al’bah said quietly.
“I don’t believe it,” Cain whispered. He winced as he moved his hand and fingers in spite of the incredible pain it brought.
Al’bah reached for his hand again. “Please.”
Cain looked at Al’bah for a few moments. Al’bah swam in and out of focus before him. He couldn’t tell whether it was from his shock, relief, the whiskey, his euphoric tears, or the highly charged lust rushing though his senses.
“Please, let me,” she said, moistening her lips. Her bright eyes were filled with a dark lust, and they kept a steady contact with his own.
He placed his hand in Al’bah’s yet again, and yet again she brought it to her mouth. This time she ran her tongue and her lips over his weeping flesh, giving light kisses of tender affection. Cain could hear her speak soft words he couldn’t understand, but he had the feel of sensual adoration, perhaps even a form of worship. After a few moments of her tender ministrations, she looked up to Cain with a satisfied look on her face.
“There.” She sighed. “Your hand is well. Happiness fills me.”
Cain looked at the spot where his wound was, only to see a twisted scar. “How?” he breathed, flexing his hand and moving his fingers.
Al’bah shrugged. “There are no words in your language to describe how I was able to restore your flesh, my precious Bond.”
“Bond?” Cain said, looking from his hand to Al’bah. “What does all that mean? The dream, Law, the…what does being a Bond mean?”
Al’bah sighed. “I do not have an accurate word for it in your language. ‘Companion’ is a fair
approximation, though it is sorely lacking. And to say ‘master’ or ‘owner’ is too crass. To say ‘friend’ is too trivial. And to say…”—Al’bah swallowed and sighed—“to say lover would be—” Al’bah stopped speaking as a shy smile grew on her face and a delicate tone of pink crept up to her cheeks. She giggled slightly through her nose, more of a fluctuating breath than an actual laugh.
Lovers? Cain thought to himself, trying to fight the feverish influence his lust and alcohol had over his mind. It was hard to concentrate with Al’bah on his lap. She seemed to talk and breathe with her whole body, making a delicious friction, right to his loins.
“Needless to say, Cain, I am your Bond. I am yours.” She punctuated her last statement by leaning forward and teasing his lips with her own, caressing his back with tender finger strokes made deliciously rough by the perfect cut of her fingernails.
Cain felt the last vestiges of dreaming slip away, taking the ignorance dreamers usually have with it. Ignorance that could make one believe that a lost loved one was still alive, or forgetting that a Succubus was in fact—
“Wait a second. Succubus as in Demon?”
The pink blush and smile immediately vanished from Al’bah’s face as she watched Cain with a strange expression. “I am a type of Demono. Is there something amiss?”
“Well, it’s just…it’s just that…well, aren’t Succubi supposed to be evil? You know, tempting mortals, stealing their souls and the like?”
Al’bah shrugged again, making her hair cascade even more around her shoulders. Her hair teased Cain’s nose, bringing more of her scent, intoxicating him with an immense pleasure that started to cross the boundaries into torture. “I suppose you could say that, but there is so much to say in that respect, and even more to show.”
Cain’s curiosity just barely won over his lust for Al’bah. “What…what do you mean?”
With a smile full of strange humor, Al’bah buried her fingers in her ebon locks and stretched her arms to the ceiling, bringing her hair up high, to fall back down around her shoulders and neck. “This,” Al’bah purred while she slowly lowered her hands down the sides of her face and neck. She began to pant slightly as her hands continued down, pausing to caress the more sensuous features of her body to finally rest back upon Cain’s chest, drifting to his abdomen. “This, and so much more, for the moon only reflects the light given to it by the sun. Oh, you give me so much, and yet I take only to make you whole.”
Succubus Tear (Triune promise) Page 4