Chapter 6: Taming

Maria's face smiled sadly at me as the dream fell apart.

Her image faded and broke like the reflection of a shattering mirror. She said she was coming back to me. That thought alone prevented my mind from despairing.

I could feel a stirring underneath one of my arms. Consciousness drifted lazily back into my mind ... I lingered between sleep and reality. Cariel was awakening, and I could not slumber any longer. Using my innate Demonic ability, I reached out with my awareness and checked where the sun was.

It was just cresting over the horizon, marking the dawn of a new day.

A groan escaped my lips unbidden, I was nocturnal, and this infuriating Angel was interfering with my natural sleep patterns.

My eyes snapped open.

I was laying on some sort of feather mattress. It was soft, yet it reeked of old female sweat and Light magic. It was a surprisingly heady aroma.

But that wasn't the most surprising aspect of this unwelcome morning.

I glanced down to the small female nestled underneath my arm.

Her silver eyes were gazing up at me. She was trying her best to convey all her hatred and loathing for me through a simple look. But that didn't change the fact that her body was pressed closely to mine. Her soft naked breasts were pillowed against my side, and her hard nipples were making themselves known against my skin.

Her smooth arms were wrapped around my body ... like she was my lover.

Cariel's mouth turned down as she saw me assessing our position. Her expression became unreadable.

"Are you cold?" She asked softly.

What an odd question.

"No," I replied. I could hear my own confusion in my voice.

In a flash, Cariel blurred out of my arms and away from me. She rematerialized on the far side of the underground room. Her back was against the wall, and her arms were folded over her bare breasts, and her legs were crossed, hiding her sex.

With a sigh, I stretched and flexed my fingers and toes. My muscles felt wonderfully relaxed and supple. I knew Cariel would be working on my back again soon, whether she desired to or not.

"You did a good job on my massage, little one," I said in a slightly mocking tone. I was still mad that she had interrupted my shared dream with Maria with her squirming.

"Though we must work on keeping you still while I sleep, I become irrational when I have to be up during the day."

Cariel shifted in her incredibly defensive position, it couldn't be comfortable trying to sit and cover her assets at the same time.

"This can't be my life now," Cariel said as she looked at me. Again I found her expression unreadable. "This isn't fair."

I laughed ... and my booming jubilations echoed menacingly in the small room.

Cariel shuddered.

"There is no fair Cariel. You fought me and you lost. Accept your fate and I can promise you that one day you will live for serving me."

"But I didn't fight you thinking that this would happen!" Cariel screamed at me. Her silver eyes flashed, and blue magic fluttered in the air around her. She looked wild and fierce ... and oh so fuckable.

"I thought the worst that could happen was my death..." she said in a softer tone now, "I never realized that I could become ... a slave," she whispered the last part. For a moment there she had sounded truly broken. I liked it when she sounded like that.

"What difference does it make?" I asked. I would lead her down a road of submission. Visions of Maria and Cariel on their knees in front of me danced across my mind. They would be sisters in blood and sisters in service.

I would also drink that blood.

"It doesn't feel like you've won me fairly. This band around my neck feels like cheating," Cariel said with growing forcefulness.

"Oh? What rules are you referring to then little one? To my knowledge, our situation is unique," I said.

Cariel huffed, looking like the picture perfect example of an irritable and illogical woman, "The rules of my feelings Demon!" She shouted.

Her face was red now, and the flood gates had been opened.

"I am a higher entity of the Light! I am powerful. I have lived for fifteen hundred years! I deserve some fucking respect!"

More blue magic sparked and danced around her. The enslaved Angel's hand glowed a royal blue with unspent sorcery. In a flash, Cariel raised a hand at me, hoping to discharge magic at me.

The band around her neck activated ... and the red haired and emotionally distraught Angel froze in place. The magic on her hands settled and then disappeared altogether.

A moment passed. Cariel put an absent finger on her collar. She stroked the metal as she looked vacantly at me. Her rage had left her hollowed out.

"Cariel," I said gently, "Look at me."

Her silver eyes flicked over to mine.

I sat up, and looked at her intently, "What do you think would be fair?"

"Fight me again," she said softly ... eagerness gave her words a desperate undercurrent.

"Why would I do that Cariel?" I asked ... as if I was questioning a child.

"If you win, I'll let you fuck me," she said immediately. Her mouth was set in a grim line. She had decided she would pay for this rematch with her very body ... but I already owned that.

"You make it sound like I couldn't already do that with just a word," I leered openly at her.

Cariel covered herself again, but her eyes didn't leave mine, "You wouldn't want to rape Maria's sister would you?" She asked as if it were a forgone conclusion.

This Angel put too much weight in her blood relation to my Aethling ... and too much weight in my sense of morality.

But there was one thing that she could give me. Something that could only be given ... not forced or taken. Yes ... that would be it. I would be willing to fight again for such unending pleasure.

"I have a counter proposition for you Angel," I said slowly. I couldn't keep the grin out of my voice.

"I will lift the band's restrictions, and we will fight again. If you win I will untangle the magical web I placed in that band and set you free."

Cariel nodded her face alight with expectation.

"But if I win," I continued, "You will offer me your blood for free. You will claim no wishes from me, and you will submit to my hunger whenever it strikes me."

Cariel's mouth dropped open, and she looked at me with familiar disgust.

"Unacceptable," Cariel breathed, "regular Demon bites are addictive, I have no knowledge of how potent a Demon Prince's bite is ... I would be even further lost to you."

I shrugged, and licked my teeth suggestively. My mouth was watering, and my stomach rumbled ... I wanted this badly. A fresh supply of Angelic blood whenever I wanted it. That would be true paradise.

"Those are my terms. You have just one chance at freedom. We can fight once more ... with each party clearly knowing the terms of both victory and defeat."

I left that hanging in the air ... and sat back on my haunches. I watched the little red head deliberate like the predator that I am.

I knew a Third Sphere Erelim who had been bitten by a X'irel on a routine cleansing. He had been haunted by the pleasure that it had given him. His mind was in turmoil until High Seraphim Achael used potent magic to clear the Demon's venom from his system.

That would be my fate if I accepted and lost.

Addiction.

Could I defeat him after being bested a first time?

Could I live with myself if I didn't at least try?

If we fought here I would feel lethargic from being underground, but I doubted he would change venues with the sun outside.

I peered up at the Demon through my lashes. His luminescent red eyes glowed evilly in the semi-darkness of this underground chamber. His face was a mixture of expectation ... and hunger.

In the end, hope won out.

"I accept."

I smiled ... I would enjoy this.

"Cariel, I rescind my earlier command. You may attack me freely."

The red headed Angel wearily got to her feet, now that the time was upon her she looked reticent.

"How do we do this?" She asked hesitantly.

"I think we can skip the opening pleasantries. We both know the others capabilities ... I suggest we draw our swords of power immediately."

Cariel's mouth was set, but she looked nervous. She would have to face me without any of her previous tricks and tactics. This would be a fight without guile. Bravery is one thing, but I knew she had just sold herself to me. Perhaps she knew it too.

Had she done this to make herself feel better? To assure herself there was nothing more she could do?

Cariel moved her hand in a familiar motion I had seen before. Blue sparks tore a hole in this plane, and she reached through that rend and pulled her sword into reality.

The blade was silver with intricate golden runes that moved gracefully across the metal. The sword glowed a dull blue in the darkness of the room.

I plunged my own hand through a gap in Creation and reached into my own plane of Hell. My sword came willingly into my grasp. My blade was made of true-darkness with a Hellfire ruby embedded in the pommel.

There was no taunting ... no theatrical come hither motions. Cariel simply moved forward ... and we started our dance. She came at me with a ferocity that didn't show on her face. The Angel looked composed ... even distant, but she slashed at me with a flurry of lead-heavy cuts. The swords clashed and grinded together rapidly.

Once the initial surprise of her sudden attack faded I pressed my natural advantages. I was stronger, I was faster, my reach was longer.

I ducked away from a horizontal slash at my neck, moved to make room for my longer sword and parried swift cuts to my left and right flank. My speed and power flowed through me like water as I dodged and spun ... too quick to catch.

Cariel jumped backwards as I aimed a lazy swipe at her legs.

"You aren't trying," Cariel said softly ... anger burning through her composure.

I didn't answer ... I was far too busy imagining how her blood would taste.

The silver sword snuck out again. This time she made her cuts quick and light. She tried to dart around my defense. She tried to feint and fool. What she tried made no difference. Each strike met my sword or nothing at all.

This was no different than before ... I wondered if this was her way of giving herself to me.

Her hand jolted out and a spell of crackling blue lighting erupted from her palm. I grabbed it in mine ... as if she had thrown me a ball. It guttered and died as I tossed it aside.