Rumors of War

by Cynus 

War of Hell

Chapter 6

         We lay naked on the bed, our bodies covered in sweat and other, sweeter juices. At some point we had moved to the bedroom that was part of our quarters, and had made love for hours. It had been the most intense love making session of our relationship, and I was well beyond satisfied.

         Marc was practically purring as he spooned up behind me. Every point where his skin touched mine was like an anchor tying me to blissful happiness. If we could have remained like that forever, I would have never wanted anything more, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be possible. There was work to be done.

         “Are we ever going to get a break, Marc?” I asked suddenly, and I hoped that I wasn’t spoiling the mood. We were very much in love, that I knew, but it was time to have a serious conversation about how crazy our lives actually were. We had been through an attempted assassination, bullying and serious injury, culminating in my coma. We had been dragged away from the last semblance of reality that I could hold on to; my father crying in a hospital room. And now we were “guests” of The Devil. It was far from the dream life.

         Marc caressed the side of my face gently, and whispered in my ear, “I don’t know, my love. Maybe when this war is over, when we win, maybe things will go back to normal. Whatever normal is. All I know is that I will be with you for as long as possible. I will never willingly leave your side. Can it be enough that I promise we’ll be together?”

         I smiled as I turned back to face him, kissing him gently. “Yes, that is enough for me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want us to be able to live some quiet life together without all the drama. Imagine having the opportunity to make love like that every night without having to worry about someone wanting to kill us. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I suppose you are optimistic though, so maybe such a future isn’t so hard to see for you.”

         “I’ve never really considered myself optimistic, but I suppose you’re right. What makes you say so now?”

         I knew I was going to kill the mood with my next words, but I went ahead with them anyway. “You said, ‘when we win’. There is no indication that we will win this war, especially if we go off of Merlin’s words. I was told that he said I would end the war, not win it. Those are not the same things. For all we know you’ve been protecting the person who will make a mistake so large Michael will have an easy victory.”

         “And now who’s being pessimistic? I have every confidence in your ability, and I’m starting to have confidence in this alliance between the demons and Hell, much as I hate to admit it. Lucifel’s group is very strong, and if the angels see us working together, it might just be the push we need to gain the upper hand. I’m just surprised that she’s willing to work with us.” Marc replied as he raised himself up on one elbow. I had learned that it was his thinking pose when he was lying down.

         “I’m not being pessimistic, I’m being realistic. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We could win, and we could lose. We need to be prepared for whatever is going to happen. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, that’s the motto we need to adopt. I’m all for winning this thing, but what if we can’t?” I replied with a bit of worry. I was still insecure about being the child of legend that everyone expected me to be.

         “We’ll just have to see how it’s all going to play out I guess. For now, I think we should concentrate on us,” Marc replied suggestively, as he reached out and glided his hand across my bare chest. My body responded almost immediately, and I was about to give in, when I realized I hadn’t said everything I had wanted to say.

         “We’ve been focusing on us for the last few hours! Would you please give me just a moment to focus on everything else that’s happening?” I replied with frustration.

         He looked as if he was about to tease me further, but then thought better of it and drew his hand away. “I’m sorry, Damien. Please understand where I’m coming from though. I have you naked in bed; I haven’t been able to do this in four months, and you’re the love of my life. I’ve missed you. I’ve been living without you, even though you were there physically. I need this, just like you need to talk about what’s going on. But you’re right; I was putting my needs first. When we’re done though, will you promise to come back to where my needs are?”

         I felt a little ashamed, but also grateful for my boyfriend being so understanding. I nodded, and then admitted with a quivering voice, “I’m just scared, Marc. I don’t really know what’s going on. You and Keith have been educating me, but I still only know so much about what’s really happening out there. From my frame of mind, I’ve only known that angels and demons were real for around a month now, and that’s still not that much time considering how much has happened already. I’ve had people trying to kill me, I’ve been in the hospital, and I’ve been dragged away from everything that was once familiar in my life, and I don’t even know if I’ll ever see my father again.”

         When the tears started falling down my cheeks, I felt like an idiot, and I tried to turn away from Marc so that he wouldn’t see my weakness. He didn’t let me and pulled me in to his naked chest instead. I wept like I had only done once before when my mother had died, and my father had been the one to hold me. With Marc holding me, I realized the truth of it all. The fact that I had lost my father as well was finally sinking in, and I knew my fear of never seeing him again was what was actually triggering my emotions.

         Marc held me for another hour, as I went through different fits of sobbing. He would whisper quietly that it was okay, and we would get through it. I knew then that it didn’t really matter to him that we were putting off his needs. His first need was making sure I was okay. Once that finally sunk in, I knew that everything really was going to be alright, as long as I had my guardian with me. I finally looked up into his understanding eyes, and once again established a link with his mind. I allowed my pure love for him to flow across the link, and it was returned full force.

         Our next kiss was not of passion, or lust, but just a message of that same pure love. I pulled him down to me, and continued my expression. We had made love many times before, several times in the last few hours even, but this was different. This wasn’t about the sex at all; it was about the connection, the purity that we shared at that moment.

         He knew all of the spots where I was sensitive, and I knew all of his, and we took turns pleasuring every single one. We didn’t communicate in words, but the emotions we shared went far beyond the need for them. We were like one soul, perfect in our union of body and mind. When we found the release we did so together, enraptured in each other’s eyes and thoughts. When I kissed him again, it was no less powerful than when we had begun, and we knew that nothing would ever come between us.

         We settled on to our backs, side-by-side, and did nothing more except bask in the other’s presence. It was perfect, and neither of us was going to ruin that moment. It would end when the world forced it to end, and we would be okay with it, but for the time we had it, we were going to enjoy it.

         We had another hour before a knock on the door finally brought us out of our rest, and with contented sighs we both turned to the door and said in unison, “Who is it?”

         Alan’s voice greeted us, and though he had interrupted our moment, I couldn’t help but smile when he said, “Damien! I’m so glad you’re back. I brought Lucifel’s chief of security with me, and he wants to talk to both of you about how your protection is going to be handled on the ship. Do you guys have a moment?”

         With another shared sigh, we looked at each other and giggled. Marc answered before I could, “Yes, we’ll be right there. We just have to get dressed.” He then turned back to me and whispered. “Oh well, we’ll be able to get back to this later. Thank you, by the way. That was the best time I’ve ever spent with you. Are you feeling better?”

         “You have to ask?” I replied, giving him a teasing wink. “Of course I’m better. How could I not be after that? You are amazing, Marc. I couldn’t ask for a better partner in my life. Thank you, for everything that you are.”

         We shared a smile and another brief kiss before we got out of bed and got dressed. The last things I put on were the green shoes. This time I was completely ready for how they acted, and actually enjoyed watching them wrap around my feet. Marc gave me a puzzled look when he saw my smile and I just shook my head and explained, “Just taking joy in the simple pleasures brought by alien technology.”

         He laughed and then gestured toward the door, indicating that he would let me go first. I nodded and stepped toward the opening, taking a deep breath to compose myself before meeting someone important. I realized suddenly that we probably reeked of sex, and I entertained the thought of showering before we left the room, but noted that we probably didn’t want to keep whoever it was waiting.

         So I stepped through the door. Seated in the same chair that Verina had sat in, was an angel I would only describe as middle aged. He wore the same outfit all the other angels had worn, except that his was red and black. His most notable feature was his long white hair, braided more intricately than any of the other hair styles I had seen, and I wondered if the braid was an indication of rank. His only other defining attribute was what looked like some sort of sword hilt on his belt.

         Marc apparently saw something differently than I had, for when he came into the room his first reaction was one of confusion, but then it turned to white hot rage. “You! What are you doing here? Did you sell us out; decide that working with Lucifel was better than the demons? I thought you were a friend to demonkind, Lumial! You’re going to pay for this treachery.”

         The angel jumped to his feet as Marc started toward him, his face turning first from confusion, to anger, and then to sudden recognition. And then it changed to something I didn’t expect, fear. He suddenly raised his hands in surrender and said in all seriousness, “No, please, you don’t understand. It’s not like that!”

         But Marc would hear none of it, and it was all I could do to shout in surprise as my boyfriend shifted into his demon form and pounced on the angel, claws raised to scratch mercilessly at his face.