"That was . . ."
"The best of your life," Adom answered with a low laugh.
Win smiled. "Yeah, probably," he said and the Devil eyes narrowed. He'd said the wrong thing, he realized. He'd reminded Win of the young man's fear that this was a one time occurance.
Adom sat up, looking down at the pale unmarked skin of his Angel lover. "I'm glad you enjoyed that, because we'll be doing it quite often from now on."
Win froze, his blinking eyes meeting the Demon gaze. "I thought—"
"I know what you thought, Win," he said quickly. "You thought I would use you and then discard you—perhaps plan a trap for your brethren with you at the center of my nefarious plans." He paused and the Angel looked vaguely uncomfortable with his words which mean that he'd at least contemplated the idea and Adom rolled his eyes. "No, Win. There will be no ransoms, no traps, no escape."
"Why?"
"I like you, Win. I like you enough to offer you this little vacation."
"Va—Vacation? We're in the middle of a war!" Win said in a mix of desperation and exasperation.
Adom expression was indifferent. "For you, the war is over."
Win shook his head. "You—you can't just keep me locked up like this."
"Oh, I can, Win. I am," he said, leaning in. "You'll survive this conflict—you might even be the only one that does."
"My—my family—my Solumate will come for me."
Adom wondered if Win really believed that—if he truly believed that his family would go on a suicide mission to save him. Perhaps the Soulmate would . . .
The Devil smiled. "He might, but until then," he said before looking towards a blank wall and allowing his arm to flourish in a wave of magic. A door appeared and he turned back to Win. "That door will take you anywhere in the world—this one or another."
"Anywhere—even back home?"
"No," he said flatly. "Heaven is guarded by protective magics—not even an illusion can be created to mimic it."
"Why are you doing this?"
Adom brushed a kiss over Win lips. "You're going to be here for a long time—or at least until the war ends. I like to think I'm a gracious host to my guests," he said, his fingers moving lightly over Win chest, brushing the other man's nipples and smiling at the catch in the Angel breath.
Win looked down at the hand before meeting Adom gaze again. There was something . . . resigned about his expression—almost disappointed. "You . . . you want to have—have sex with me again, right? That's why you're doing all this?"
Adom tried to remember the last time he'd met someone with such a low estimation of themselves—perhaps Van Gogh, he thought. With enough time and encouragement, ideally the Angel would outgrow it. It'd be a shame for Win to lose an ear.
"There will be plenty of that," he said patiently, "Amongst other things. Now, I think you and I need a shower. Why don't we adjourn to the bathroom and I'll be sure to wash your back."
Win shook his head but got up anyway, his butt flexing with each step and Adom head tilted in appreciation before getting up to follow the other man.
Adom watched Win has the other man ran through the empty streets of Paris. The illusion of the city was barren of life—and odd choice for someone like Win, but perhaps he just did not want the distraction during his daily bit of exercise.The Devil sipped his tea, revealing himself as the other man came around the corner. Win slowed down to a stop as he approached. Adom snapped his fingers and another cup appeared opposite him, steam rising from the delicate china."What are you doing here?" Win asked and there was a tiredness to his voice that was not just from the exercise.Adom raised a brow at the tone, but ignored it. "Simply taking in the scenery. I must say, I never thought to hear the sounds of the wind or the chirping of the birds while in Paris.""I hate running through people." The words were short—clipped, as though he was stewing for a fight. Win had never spoken to him in such a way before.
Adom looked down at the fingers resting over his. At any other time, such a gesture would have been welcome, but now . . . when his lover was attempting to manipulate him. Adom dragged his gaze back up to the Angel and Win flinched back as the Devil normally pale yellow eyes flashed black for the barest of seconds in anger.The illusion around them shattered, the city falling to pieces and disappearing."The answer is no, Win."Adom got up and the table and chair disappeared as well, causing the Angel to fall onto the ground. Win hastily got back up again, following as Adom made his way out of the illusionary space and back into the bedroom.Just as he stepped through, a hand around his arm. "Please, Adom! I—I just want to see my family."The Devil grimaced, shrugging the other man off. "This discussion is over."Win came around to face him, his head shaking. "You won't
"I'm not trying to change you, Adom," Win breathed out. "But it doesn't have to only be your way!"Adom snorted. "As opposed to what? Your way? Rainbows and puppies for everyone as we all kiss and make up and forget the genocide your people attempted to inflict on the other creature's ?"The Angel nostrils flared in anger. "Is that what you think about when you're with me? Have you been blaming me for what they did this entire time?"Adom sent him a withering look. "If I did, you'd have been dead long ago."Win reared back, shoving the Devil away. "You . . . how are you like this?" he asked, voice catching in disappointed sadness.The Devil crossed his arms over his chest. "Centuries of living in hell will do that to a person, Win. I didn't grow up in your sheltered Heaven or even on this plane of existence. Hell is where I was reared.""Yo
.It was never supposed to have gone this far, he thought. And now he was even having doubts about continuing the war. It had intensified as the months passed, and Win kidnapping seemed to have put the other Angels on edge. They'd begun striking on Creature's strongholds specifically rather than the creature's lairs that were far easier to take.He'd never breathe a word of this to Win—never mention the other angel Sam that lead these clandestine attacks . . . ones not sanctioned by the Heaven . The higher-up in heaven were growing increasingly frustrated with the fracturing of power and control within the Angel hierarchy. Many of their warriors and leaders no longer directly followed their orders.The Heaven had little in the way of power to back up their edicts, and now the one Angel who had followed their decrees to the letter was missing. The Angel knew h
"How long have I been here?"It was the first thing Adom heard when he portaled into Win- their quarters. He grimaced, looking anywhere but at the Angel who lounged back on the sofa. The space had expanded considerably as Adom spent more and more time there and bore little resemblance to the cell it had once been.Where there was once only a bed, some small bits of furniture, and lavatory, there was now a full suite of amenities branching off into various training rooms for Win as well as areas for more leisurely activities such as the sauna and full bath house. The Angel even had proper platforms for his box jumps now and no longer used the coffee table. Anything Adom could grant to Win in order to stave off questions like these."Does it matter?" the Devil asked instead, pulling off his overcoat and coming around to face his lover. Win didn't move so Adom shrugged and lifted the other man's feet, sitting down beneath them.
Adom leaned in and brushed a kiss over Win lips, gratified that the Angel didn't try to pull away. "It'll be alright, Win, I promise."The Angel shook his head. "You can't make that kind of promise. This is a war . . . things-terrible things-they happen all the time.""Win," Adom said chidingly. "I'm a Devil . All things are possible."Win looked at him then, his gaze telling Adom something that the Devil could not quite understand, but a pool of warmth formed in his stomach. It was an unfamiliar sensation, but not altogether unwelcome. He smiled, stealing another kiss and deepening their connection. His hand came up and cupped Win face as the Angel reached over and clutched his shirt. A snap of Adom fingers had them naked and Win shivered as his newly bared flesh was hit by the cool air of the room."I need you," Adom whispered, pushing the Angel against the sofa back while he pulled awa
Win had been wandering the halls for hours already as he looked around the palace. Three months had passed since Adom had loosened the leash. Win still felt it, but he'd figured that even baby steps were better than no headway at all when it came to the Devil . For now, he'd settled on spending his days wandering the maze-like hallways, mentally mapping out the rooms and corridors. Even after so many days, he was still discovering new places within the never-ending palace grounds.The place was oddly quiet no matter what part of the compound he was in. the only sounds he heard with any consistency were his own footsteps and the skittering and clicking of his 'guard'. Win hadn't actually seen the guard except for once. The ceilings of the palace tended to be high and unnaturally dark. The . . . creature usually stayed within the confines of the shadows above.It had shown itself once when one of Adom demons had gotten too close to Win.
"Angel blood," a second voice whispered, and Win looked to the side, his gaze finding a dark-haired vampire.Man, he remembered. The Thailand clan leader he and Boss taken over after former leader had sacrificed herself in tribute to Lucifer . He'd never actually met them, even before the war had broken out, but he was aware of the vampire's physical prowess as well as his considerable influence in the downworld.Boss fangs dropped as a snarl ripped from his mouth. "Angel !"The vampires came at him, but Adom appeared as if stepping from mist before Win , sweeping his hand and throwing them back into a wall. The picture that had hung there along with the side table both split open at the impact and whatever glass decorations that had sat upon the table shattered as well. Another man that Win had failed to notice sped towards the vampire's side, his face worried.