As Azazeal spoke, he reveled in the attention. He was made for this, for gaining trust, for teaching mortals, for guiding them to greater understanding, as well as protecting them from evil influences. He had failed and had been corrupted by Lucifer but all these thousand of years later, he had found a life that often reminded him of the real uses for the talents that the Creator had given him.

"In the beginning," he paused and tried to stifle the innocent laugher that was bubbling up at this start to his story, "there was, I don't supposed you have a concept of God…well, there was a Creator, a being that would create everything. This Creator created beings made of spirit, angels like Lucifer and myself, to serve Him and to love Him perfectly. And then He created this world we find ourselves in now with mortals like Cassie and Elizabeth, who are much like yourselves. For reasons we will not get into, the creation of this world caused some of the angels, Lucifer in particular, to fall from the Creator's grace. The Creator willed the abyss into existence as a place outside His presence in to which to put Lucifer and the other fallen angels. Out of this creation, your world was spawned, for the acts of the Creator often generate ripples of existence that develop into new creations."

"We angels are part of the mythology of this world and so we may exist here, however your world, though near to where the fallen angels were exiled, is not open to us. The fallen have watched your world and observed your triumphs and struggles but we have never interacted as we do here. However, you are part of the Creator's creation so no doubt He watches over you as He watches over the people of this world."

Jaenelle took this all in as if it made perfect sense while Daemon and Lucivar's heads began to ache.

"And how did the fallen angels get out of their exile in the abyss and end up here?"

"It is a long and complicated story, but I will tell you that I had been created to protect mortals from the evil influences of Lucifer, who had become angry at his abandonment and sought to corrupt them, and to teach them things that the Creator wanted them to know. I was corrupted by Lucifer and by my love of the mortals and I fell too. Eventually, I was chosen by the fallen to come here and fulfill a prophecy that would free us all from the loneliness and torture of the abyss at the expense of the mortals. But I fell in love with Cassie and refused to let the prophecy be fulfilled. Then I realized that Cassie was the key for me to existing in this world comfortably. You see, all angels have a purpose and talents given to them by the Creator and if they are not able to use them… it is emotional uncomfortable. It was that pain that we sought to ease by escaping from the abyss." Azazeal paused here and smiled at Cassie.

"My love for Cassie and her acceptance of my nature has helped me and we in turn helped all of the other fallen angels to find a person or a purpose that suits them. But it is difficult because the depths of the angelic experience are greater even than the extremes of joy and rage that the people in your world feel."

"And Lucifer?" Jaenelle asked.

"Lucifer was the first, most powerful, and most glorious of all of the angels and he was created only…to love and obey. But he's not very good at it any more, is he Cassie?"

There was a little bit too much amusement in the last statement and Lucifer, whose face had been blank, and gave Azazeal a quick glare that was met by an arrogant smile.

Jaenelle felt a spark of understanding of this strange man because if his purpose was to blindly obey…

"So you became a pleasure slave," Jaenelle said as a half statement, half question, not yet able to see beyond the constructs of her own world or his prior comment about whips and chains.

Lucifer looked over to her and then a naughty smile spread across his face replacing the seriousness.

"Oh ab-so-LUTE-ly!" Lucifer said dragging out the word and licking his lips at Jaenelle, "I'm not good for much else, am I sweetie?"

Jaenelle went on, "And you were the Ring of Obedience?"

"I wear no ring," he quickly replied with irritation. Elizabeth smiled to herself at this because of the insults Lucifer had leveled at Cassie and Azazeal when they had started to wear gold rings around their fingers to show their commitment to each other, only to later ask her if he himself should wear a ring for her.

"But it sounds kinky," Lucifer added with smirk recovering from his annoyance.

Without warning, Lucifer ran psychic fingers through Lucivar and Daemon's minds and found an explanation of the Ring and its uses as well as details regarding the life of a pleasure slave. Both Lucivar and Daemon snarled and Lucivar unleashed a directed burst of Ebon-gray power at him that had no effect and which Lucifer ignored completely, although inside Lucifer's terror flared up only to be savagely squashed back down. Daemon glanced at Lucivar and was not comforted by the fear and rage he saw in his brother's eyes.

"Mmm, very kinky indeed," Lucifer said but his tone had changed to a more serious one that lacked amusement. He seemed quieted by this new information about their world.

Jaenelle silently glared Daemon and Lucivar into backing down and they were forced to fight any further urges to attack Lucifer, but Daemon was itching to try in order to somehow prove to himself that he could protect Jaenelle against this man.

"I wear no such Ring and my duties, while sometimes similar, are entirely…voluntary." Lucifer finished with a new wicked grin, delight replacing the quick flash of sympathy that had been in his eyes, making it clear that even the painful part of their service as pleasure slaves was not beyond exciting him.

"How can you enjoy it?" Lucivar spat, no longer thinking about the fact that his burst of power had had no effect on Lucifer.

"He's exaggerating," Elizabeth interjected, not needing to read their minds to have an idea of what a pleasure slave in their world might be subjected to and that Lucifer was offending them, "I apologize! You really must excuse him. You have gotten him all worked up. He is my lover…"

"Oh, I'm more than that," Lucifer interjected in a low seductive rumble.

…"and although he's the most powerful being in this world…"

"Universe, honey."

"…right, well, he likes to think of himself as a sex toy."

"YOUR sex toy, dear."

"Exactly!" Elizabeth confirmed with laughing smile and then added in a lower voice, "I use you for more than that."

"Sometimes," he replied with amusement.

Daemon and Lucivar inspected him carefully wondering if he really was exaggerating and, if he wasn't, how he could possibly enjoy that kind of treatment.

"I thought you said you'd behave," Elizabeth said, turning to Lucifer, who was grinning as if he was still thinking about his duties as a sex toy, and there was something in her voice that hinted that she was using more than words to communicate with him.

To Daemon's surprise, Lucifer immediately softened and turned to her with a look of loving attention completely opposite from his prior naughty amusement.

"Of course," he said softly as he practically crawled into her lap, wrapped his arms around her, and began kissing her neck. She disentangled him gently and when their eyes meet, his body tensed and he froze. His eyes widened slightly and his breath became very deep and slow. He let out a small moan that was almost a whimper and then his face settled in a serene look and he became silent, entirely focused on her.

Azazeal, knowing immediately what was happening, cocked his head and closed his eyes for a second before Cassie punched him in the arm and said, "Don't listen!"

"He was always so much better at it than me," he replied quietly.

"No…he's not," Cassie said with such conviction and annoyance that Azazeal smiled proudly to himself.

"What is it?" Jaenelle asked suddenly. She was facing him but her eyes were looking inward.

"You can feel it?" Azazeal asked. Jaenelle nodded but he could tell she could only barely catch it.

"It's like when she kissed him earlier…but…"

Azazeal smiled at her broadly, "He loves her. And because forceful orders from her tend to produce a…passionate response from him, she used the kiss earlier to control his reaction to her order to calm down." He paused.

"Our angelic language is a very intimate form of communication and is expressed in more than words. His body doesn't show it this time because…it doesn't know what to do...but there is a piece of the Creator that exists it all of the mortals, perhaps in your people too, and she has found a way to show that part of herself to him at will. Voila, instant angel! Though it's much more impressive if you're the focus of it. What you can feel but not see is that his being is performing the intricate display of joy and love for her that used to be his constant existence while he was in the presence of the Creator. Before he fell."

"He existed like that…no wonder he gets cranky in this world!"

"Yes, well, Elizabeth helps him as much as she can."

While they had been talking, Elizabeth had lowered her eyes and released Lucifer. She had said something out loud to him in another language that had made the Cassie smile and Lucifer had started to respond in the same foreign language. Elizabeth had put her hand to his face and, interrupted him with a smile saying, "Yes, I know." He had appeared to want to say much more, but he just swayed a bit, as if stopping a rush of emotion, and then apparently, in response to some unspoken order, he had sat back in his prior spot but had claimed Elizabeth's hand as his reward. His eyes were calm again but prowling behind the calm was the fire of desire.

For his part, Lucifer was grateful for Elizabeth's second assertion of her control over him, taking him to a deeper level of submission, but he knew that it wouldn't last long. He was still too confused and enraged by the thought of Elizabeth being in harm's way to act responsibly. The threat of the pain and madness he knew would come if he lost her was terrifying. Although he had worked his magic to ensure that she would not age or be mortally damaged easily, she was not invincible.

When she had kissed him earlier, she had only asked him to be calm, to listen to her, to let her decide if killing were necessary. He had responded with thoughts of love and obedience in beautifully phrased mental angelic, accompanied by the ecstasy and trembling that always went with expressing such things in his natural language. He was little more enthusiastic than was necessary as his agitation had wanted an outlet, but Elizabeth had kept him from losing himself in it.

He felt better now that she taken more complete control of him by showing him the part of her that he considered to be his goddess and promising him that he would be allowed to fully unleash the desire that had flared up to worship her later. He wasn't exactly happy that he needed her assistance to remain calm but she would not judge him for it. She understood that he was not always capable of the kind of self-control that she usually expected of him and this was an extenuating circumstance. He would have normally killed them all out-right and taken pleasure in it, so it had to be worth something that he hadn't. He trusted her and was willing to regard the strangers in front of him as nothing more than interesting guests who would only become more than that at Elizabeth's command…or if they attacked. His apparent calm would have no effect on his reaction time.

Of course, what he really wanted to do was change into a silky black panther, rub against her legs purring to her in contentment and then eventually curl up at her feet with a protective growl. But that new little trick would have to wait because he knew that right now she would not be as amused by it as she usually was.

The lust and desire that was holding back his wild fear that Elizabeth would be harmed would get the better of him soon, but for now he would obey.

"I think we should change our arrangement" Jaenelle announced suddenly, "Why don't the Ladies take the large couch and you boys can pair up on the others?"

In unison, the men pursed their lips in annoyance and did not budge.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Cassie chimed in, while Elizabeth merely smiled and nodded.

Azazeal and Lucifer rose first, followed by Daemon and Lucivar. Each hovered protectively over their Ladies for a moment before moving to switch couches. Azazeal and Lucivar ended up together, leaving Daemon to glare at Lucifer before they settled next to each other.

The Ladies were quickly chattering away about nonsense and since the couches were far enough away from each other for quiet private conversation, the boys eventually gave in to the urge to question their neighbor.

"Well, you certainly seem attached to her" Daemon said with an amused sneer, seeing if he could provoke him again, "What exactly is your relationship?"

Lucifer responded calmly but firmly, "I am her lover, her warrior, her servant, her angel, her hu…"

Lucifer stopped here because he was still confused about the concept of husband. He wanted to use the word to describe himself because its meaning did apply in many respects, however mortals were very specific about using the term only when a marriage ceremony had somehow been performed. Cassie and Azazeal had considered themselves husband and wife since they had exchanged rings and announced it to the angels. But Lucifer hated the idea of the meaningless ceremony in front of witnesses who already knew they were committed to each other with worthless rings made from the scraps of creation. And yet if Elizabeth had given him a ring to wear and told him he was her husband, he would have worn it proudly and honored the title.

"And she is everything," Lucifer finally finished with such certainty that Daemon was convinced that it was true, even if it was only true for Lucifer. He also hadn't missed the hesitation at the word that he assumed was going to be "husband," but he let it go for now.

"And a pleasure slave too? That's a lot for one man to handle."

"Oh, I am utterly at her mercy," he grinned in a unexpectedly sociable way, "but then again, she is often at mine."

Daemon couldn't resist, "And she hurts you, does she?"

"Only when I deserve it," he grinned, a little wickedness creeping in. He paused as Daemon looked at him curiously, "Ah, but you see, it's just so wonderfully fun to let people come to their own conclusion about the horrible things she might do to me. Especially when they all know that no matter what they come up with, I would let her do it." Lucifer chuckled at Daemon's stunned face.

"I surrender and I trust, Daemon, just like you."

There was a seriousness in his voice that gave Daemon a glimpse of what Elizabeth must already know about him. Lucifer was telling a stark and shocking truth and yet not the whole truth. There was also genuine affection and tenderness between them that he was hiding behind his blatant sexuality, protecting it from prying eyes, by describing their relationship only in the harshest of terms and emphasizing the extremes to which he would go for her. While the truth was that they were deeply in love with each other. Before Daemon could ask another question, Lucifer continued as if they were now best friends.

"Oh, and you should appreciate the fact that Elizabeth can be kind of like the Sadist in the bedroom only there is sensuality in it instead of cruelty. And that makes all the difference." Lucifer said, the naughty amusement back in his eyes.

"The difference?"

"Pain was used to abuse and humiliate you but it was used to tame me," he said with a slightly cocky smile, "And I needed to be tamed. After my fall from heaven, I was so confused and hurt that I became more viscous and cruel than your Dorothea." Daemon cringed at her name and then became shocked by the realization that Lucifer had picked up a lot more information from his mind than he had thought.

"But then I fell in love with Elizabeth and I wanted to serve her, I wanted to obey again, but I was not emotionally capable of surrendering to her completely, not that she could have accepted it at the time. So, I tried to get her to give me things to do that would please her while I tried to figure out how to exist with a human woman as my …," he stopped, unable to express it, he shook his head and went on.

"She discovered how to sensuously mix pleasure and pain and tease me until I would agree to anything, which was obviously helpful in deterring my evil tendencies. I began to surrender little things to her and then once I trusted that she would not abandon me if I displeased her as my Creator had done…," Lucifer finished with a shrug and slight shake of his head.

"Now, my love for her is such that surrender and submission are merely tokens and pain is just part of our considerable sexual repertoire."

From a misplaced since of openness, Lucifer gave Daemon some images of what their sexual repertoire included. Some made Daemon smile, some made him shudder, and some aroused him, but all of them had that sensuality that Lucifer had mentioned before. Either of them could be anything from masterfully dominant to completely submissive and they clearly were not shy about pleasing each other in the bedroom.

Daemon could not keep himself from looking uncomfortable but now he had a perfect example of what Azazeal had referred to as the depths of the angelic experience. Lucifer was continuously trying to give himself to Elizabeth and since her small needs and desires did not scratch the surface of what he was capable of, he sometimes expanded what he provided by coming up with "gifts" of his own. Because of what he was, Lucifer would not flinch from offering things inside and outside of the bedroom that would have made even the Sadist a bit unnerved.

"I belong to her," Lucifer continued causally, "my entire being is at her command, and I cannot exist with out her. I will always rush to please her no matter what the request: whether it's just fetching some trivial item from the other side of this world or influencing an entire continent of people. And when she has any need, I fuss, and hover, and dote, and pester until she let's me fulfill it. But, then, you should see me, after I come back from doing her will," he shuddered, "I can no longer hide my pride and, uh…excitement," he grinned again and licked his lips, "This was all very disconcerting for her at first, but it is what I am. Of course it took her long enough to understand and accept this, so I can hardly expect you to understand it at all."

"I think I do," Daemon responded quietly.

Lucifer inspected him, "Maybe you do…in your way."

After a pause Lucifer added, "Your Lady will understand with time. Love can sometimes reach depths that its focus cannot understand or accept immediately. But you cannot ignore the fact that she had always been different from everyone else, an outcast. She will not just open herself up to you at your touch. How is she to know that at any moment she might not do something that will cause you to abandon her? She needs to learn to trust again and you will have to teach her."

Daemon had just begun to digest this when Lucifer suddenly, rose and flowed over to Elizabeth, depositing himself next to her on the arm of the couch with his eyes full of blatant lust. He leaned towards her with a naughty smile and licked her ear before whispering a brief but graphic description of exactly what he wanted her to do to him when they got home. To her credit Elizabeth blushed only slightly but it deepened when she realized that everyone else had heard and he whined, "Please," in her ear to provoke her further. She glanced at Cassie with a small smile and then set her face in an amused but arrogant mask.

Turning to him she said, "Well, since you don't seem able to behave yourself, I don't see why…"

Lucifer interrupted her, pressing his lips to her ear again, and continued in a harsh whisper that was now serious and pleading, "And when you're done with my body, command me surrender everything else…and as I offer myself up to you, trembling in devotion and naked adoration…run your fingers through my helplessness and know that I am yours."

"Will you make another window so that our guests can return home?" she asked evenly and quietly.

He rose but did not take his eyes from her. He raised a hand and casually gestured back towards where the window had been before and it reopened. The wine bottles and glasses repositioned themselves on the side tables. And then his hands were immediately on her as he drew her up carefully and laying back on the coffee table, pulled her on top of him.

Cassie was just about to scream at them when they disappeared.

"Thank God!" She exclaimed and Azazeal suppressed a laugh. Daemon and Lucivar also stifled a laugh because they didn't need to understand to concept of God to grasp the gist of her exclamation.

"Will she really…?"

"Oh, yes!" Cassie responded to Jaenelle's unfinished question, "Don't doubt it for a second."

Jaenelle gave Daemon a curious and innocent look as if she might ask him to explain the things that Lucifer had said and he thought that he might faint.

"Sweetheart, shouldn't we be getting back?" he managed.

"No, I have more questions."

Lucivar and Daemon exchanged anguished glances and then Daemon leapt up to prowl around the church and inspect the window back to their world.

Let me know if you think I should continue!