To Tempt the Devil

Series: Brimstone

Disclaimers: Brimstone characters belong to Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, Warner Brothers, and now I guess to SciFi. Cassie belongs to me (Sorry, Luke).

Rating: R for M/F sex. I try not to be too graphic, but if this offends you, then get the hell out now.

Warning: Character death/transformation.

Author's notes follow. I'm sorry, but there are rather a lot of them.

By Wesa.

"So Ezekiel took care of all their questions?" Luke asked Cassie as they walked hand-in-hand through the greenery of the park where Zeke had first discovered them.

"I don't think they were entirely satisfied with his answers," Cassie replied softly, "but he answered most of them. Joe was actually more interested in our relationship. I think he was afraid I had sold you my soul. I don't think he was entirely reassured when I explained that I had only given you my heart." She grinned mischievously. "He never got up the nerve to ask whether we were having sex."

"What would you have told him if he had?" Luke wondered, holding a branch aside for Cassie to walk past and under.

She paused to smell the needles of the cedar. "Mmm," she murmured in appreciation of the scent. "I don't know what I would have said. I should have told him that it was none of his business. I might have said that you weren't yet ready to make love with me, and let him make what he wished of that!" she chuckled.

Luke grinned. "You're learning," he approved. He brought her hand up to his lips. "My lovely lady," he murmured, "when will you make yourself mine?"

Cassie gazed at him blankly for a moment. "Is that up to me?" she wondered. "I can only wait for you."

"Even if you wait until you die?" he asked sadly.

"I will wait for all eternity, if necessary," Cassie replied gently. "If you still want me."

Luke shook his head. "I didn't know of you before chance brought us together that day," he said, "but now that I do, Cassie, I want to be with you. Your love is stronger than I would ever have believed could be contained within so frail a vessel as a human body." He touched her face, brushed her dark hair away from her eyes. "I need you."

"You've been attentive and gentle with me," Cassie told him, "but you don't need me. You've proved to God and everybody that you don't need anyone. Except Ezekiel, and you need him only until all of the 113 have been returned to Hell, and only because God wouldn't allow you to go get them yourself."

"That has always been God's decree," Luke admitted. "If I were to use my powers here on Earth, I would be punished like the sinners whose souls have been entrusted to my care. I am allowed to wheedle, to cajole, and to lie, to plant ideas and suspicions in the minds of those who might be tempted by these things. Only words, but any words. Yet the one word that would make you completely and wholly mine I cannot utter. Why?"

"I don't know why," Cassie told him. "I cannot imagine a reason that makes sense in the context of Lucifer as a Fallen Angel. All I know is that you do not lie to me, and that when you tell me you love me, I will be safe in believing your words."

"You seem confident that I will tell you that, eventually."

Cassie shook her head. "No. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I'm terrified that you never will." She looked at the grassy path in front of them, leading, in the far distance, to the sea and the sunset. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. "I love you so much it hurts. I want to believe that you love me, too."

Luke tightened his grip on her hand as they continued to walk. "What if we were to marry?" he wondered at last.

Cassie looked up at him in astonishment. "Marry?" she repeated. "Can archangels do that?"

He smiled. "If we get permission, will you say yes?"

"I'll say yes now, but how can we get permission? I'm not worthy to go into the presence of God. I'm still mortal, I have flesh, I - I - "

"I cannot take your body there; it's not a physical place," Luke explained. "But I can take your spirit. If you truly wish this."

"I want it," she told him, "but I'm afraid."

"You are not now destined for Hell," he said. "If it goes wrong, then you will take your place in Heaven. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she replied in a low voice, but without hesitation.

"Are you afraid?"

"Not of you. Not of Death," she said faintly. "I'm afraid of pain. Will it hurt?"

"It doesn't have to," he assured her, gently caressing her cheek and jaw. "How would you like to die?"

"In your arms," she replied instantly, "making love, blinded by the glory of your true form." She looked up at him adoringly, tears standing in her eyes. "I want to see you let go of your control."

**********

Luke kissed Cassie and caressed her arms as he slowly removed her blouse, giving her plenty of time to change her mind, but she returned his kiss with equal passion, shaking her arms free of her sleeves and reaching to unhook her bra while he unfastened her jeans. Her desire to join with him was becoming urgent, and he drew back enough to whisper, "Slow down, beloved. I'm not going anywhere for a while."

Her eyes widened, and he smiled when he realized what he had said. He knelt and drew her panties down her legs, lifting her feet free of them and kissing the top of each foot tenderly. "You still have your clothes on," she breathed.

He rose and pulled her against his body; in the instant their bodies met, there was suddenly nothing separating them. "Is that better?" he asked. Giving her no chance to answer, he fastened his mouth upon hers once again.

Her hands roamed over his body as they kissed, exploring the perfection of this human shell, trying to find places that her touch could please him. Everywhere she touched pleased him, and Luke twined his tongue with Cassie's, his hands caressing her body, mirroring her touch upon his. After a few minutes he picked her up and gently placed her in the center of her bed, where she had turned back the bedclothes in preparation for this moment.

He broke lip contact to follow her down, looking at her body admiringly, though without comment. His eyes found hers as he caressed her breast and thumbed her hard-pointed nipple. Still watching her face and especially her eyes, he kissed her again, on her mouth, her chin, and her jaw, then moved to kiss her ear and throat, nipping lightly at her earlobe, drawing his tongue along the tendon to the notch in her clavicle.

Cassie had raised her chin invitingly, easing his access to her throat, and at the merest touch of his hand on the inside of her knee, she spread her thighs to allow him to move between them. He kissed her chest, her breasts, her stomach and belly before he looked up to see Cassie looking at him with an expression somewhere between fear and hope. "What is it?" he asked, half-expecting she had changed her mind.

For a moment she had difficulty speaking; her mouth opened, but nothing came out. "That - Please, save that for later," she finally managed. "I don't want to come alone, and if you ... do ... that ... I'm afraid ... I mean, I want you with me."

Luke smiled and moved up along her body until his belly rested upon her just below her own. "I am with you, Cassie. I was only going to make certain that you're truly ready to have me inside you, but I can do it another way," he said gently. She nodded wordlessly, her eyes on his. "All right," he murmured.

He moved up and kissed her, keeping his eyes locked with hers, and slowly nudged into her, joining their bodies together. At first she caught her breath sharply at his intrusion, then managed to relax and welcomed him whole-heartedly. Her arms went around his back and she moaned softly in pleasure, her eyelids fluttering and her eyeballs rolling up.

"Keep your eyes open," he warned softly as he moved between her thighs. "If I am to give you what you asked of me, you have to keep your eyes on mine."

"Yes," she gasped, forcing her eyes open. "Oh, Luke, I love you!"

"I know," he told her. He raised himself over her, bracing himself with his hands on either side of her shoulders as he slowly thrust into her. "I know. Are you sure you want me to let go completely, Cassie?"

Her hands caressed his nearly hairless chest, stroking the lines of the muscles, fingering his nipples, now also pointed and hard. "Yes," she breathed. "Soon, Luke. I can't hang on much longer."

Her body began to twitch under his no-longer-so-gentle assault, but her eyes remained locked on his. Her flesh clutched at him involuntarily. She began to writhe uncontrollably, and he allowed himself to moan in pleasure. As if that first moan had broken a dam, he found he couldn't stop making the soft growling noise. The sound echoed from deep in his chest as his human flesh, no longer able to contain him, dissolved away to reveal his luminous, true self. He was much larger than his human persona, looming brightly over Cassie in her bed. The hair that fell around his face and shoulders was no longer dark, but a fiery auburn. His wings unfurled, brighter than the glare of sunlight on pristine snow, filling the room with the rustling sound they made. He screamed his pleasure aloud, seeing his own love and glory reflected back at him from Cassie's eyes, and she echoed his cry as he filled her with millennia-worth of his seed.

He barely caught himself before he collapsed on top of her. Cassie. His beloved. The only female he'd cared about since - since Lilith had vanished so long ago.

A human female.

Mortal.

If his sheer size hadn't hurt her - but the pleasure on her face had told him it did not. If the manifestation of his true form hadn't destroyed her - but the love and awe in her eyes had said no. Then the force of his ejaculation must surely have killed her.

Eventually he forced himself to look at her.

She was dead, her head thrown back in an expression of ecstasy, her open eyes still locked on his face. "Cassie," he mourned softly.

There was movement. It wasn't physical movement, but her spirit shifted, losing its bonds to her body. "Wow," she murmured.

He stared. "Lilith? What are you doing in Cassie's body?" he demanded. "Where is she?"

"I am Cassie," Lilith replied softly.

He backed away, returning to the form Cassie had called 'Luke.' "Lilith," he growled, "don't try to lie to me. You never were a good liar. The only thing you were ever good at was whoring."

"That was long ago, Sammael," she replied, calling him by the name he'd been given on the day they were created. "Even a fallen angel can change in that length of time, especially if she's been trapped in flesh the entire time."

He'd been about to argue, but one word caught his attention. "'Trapped?'" he repeated.

She sat up and spread her wings, moaning a little in pleasure. "I haven't been able to stretch my wings for thousands of years," she explained. She got up and turned back to her corpse, frowning. "I can't let them find me like that," she complained, straightening her limbs and drawing the blankets up to her shoulders.

Luke stared at her even harder than before. "Lilith, are you - It's not possible," he protested.

She looked down at herself, then back at him. "Well now, it does seem unlikely," she agreed, her hand curving over her swollen belly. She frowned again. "Luke, do you remember the last time we were together - I mean, we had sex, then you took off to Hell, and I went looking for a human man who was ripe for seduction. When I was done with him, though, I couldn't return to my natural form. His friends caught me and stoned me, and the next thing I knew, I was being born. And it has continued that way, over and over for millennia. Until now, and suddenly I'm free, but I look nine months gone."

Their eyes locked. "Is that what humans are for?" they asked simultaneously.

"Lilith - Cassie," Luke said. "Are you still Cassie?" She nodded. "I asked you to marry me and you said you would. Is that still your answer?"

"You still want me?" she asked in surprise.

His green eyes twinkled. "We'd better go talk to Father before whatever you've got in there hatches."

"You'll have to carry me," she warned. "I don't think I can fly that far."

"Out of practice?" he teased.

"And in labor," she replied. Seeing his dubious expression, she told him, "Sammael, I've been in human flesh for thousands of years. I was rarely celibate. I've borne hundreds of babies. I know what it feels like."

"Is it mine?" he asked as he came around the bed and lifted her effortlessly.

She rolled her eyes. "What would I have seen in any of our brothers after I had been with you?" she asked as he once again assumed his true form, no longer fearing to blind her. "Presuming that a human man can't make an angel pregnant, it has to be yours. Um, I think you should hurry."

Sammael lifted his wings, and the downstroke launched both fallen angels toward Heaven.

**********

Zeke Stone entered his apartment, a little startled to find his 'boss' lounging in his only chair, smoking a cigar, his feet up on the small table between the chair and the TV. He stared in astonishment and anger. "You've got a hell of a nerve, showing your face around here, today of all days!" he exclaimed.

"A Hell of a nerve, indeed," the Devil joked, "but why are you not out hunting my fugitives? Today is the same as any other day for you, Detective," he added sternly, but his eyes belied his tone. "Well, perhaps not quite." He offered Zeke a cigar identical to the one he smoked.

"No, thanks," Zeke demurred.

"Don't you trust him, Zeke?" a soft voice asked from the kitchen.

Zeke whirled to stare at her. "Cassie?" he gasped.

"Why are you surprised?" she asked, checking the small squirming bundle she held. "It's not as if you'd never seen a dead person return, after all. You see one in the mirror every morning."

"I - I went to your funeral," he told her.

"I know, I saw you," she said, gently bouncing the bundle. "Thanks for the flowers, by the way. I always liked carnations. They smell nice."

"What's that?" he asked, indicating the bundle.

"Careful, Detective," warned the Devil. "If the sight of my son burns your eyes out, even though he hasn't any control as yet and couldn't possibly do it on purpose, you'll still be just as Hell-bound."

"Your ... son?"

Cassie chuckled. "Come here, Ezekiel," she said softly. "Come see what he gave me. It's okay. I put a couple of veils of darkness over him."

"His name is Lindor," Luke said. "Cassie wouldn't let me name him Damien."

Zeke walked over to Cassie and looked into the tiny face of the infant she held in her arms. The baby yawned, then looked up at him with bright blue eyes full of lively interest, a fuzz of downy red hair covering his head. "How?" he asked. "I don't understand. You weren't pregnant, were you? And was he -" He jabbed a finger at the Devil sitting in his armchair. "Is he the father?"

She smiled, letting her eyes rest lovingly on her new husband. "He is," she confirmed. "And yes, I was pregnant. Cassie wasn't, but I was."

It was too much for Zeke to take in all at once. "If you're not Cassie, who are you?" he asked. "And how can you bear his child? Don't you know what that will mean for humans?"

"Sure," Cassie laughed. "It means that you will never know whether anyone you meet is in fact an 'angel unawares.' Since Lindor was born, every female angel has been intensively courted, and knowing that it would mean spending millennia trapped in human flesh, every one of them is being very cautious about the possibility of getting pregnant."

"Much to the dismay of the male angels," the Devil chuckled. "All of our brothers have suddenly discovered they are intensely interested in reproduction, even though most of them have never shown the slightest interest in any of our sisters before. At least, not as bed partners."

"Sisters?" Zeke repeated. "Ewww!"

Cassie laughed. "Since when do you require a bed, Sammael?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Ewww!" Zeke repeated. "That's disgusting!"

Author's notes: Throughout our culture and Christianity in general, everyone knows who the Devil is, but no one seems to know his name. It is not Satan, nor is it Lucifer. Satan means only "adversary", and seems not to be a name, but a position of authority, something like the prosecutor in the American justice system. Lucifer originally referred to the planet Venus when it appeared as the morning or evening star, and when it was first used to refer to a being, that person was King Nebuchadnezzar of Persia, when he went mad.

In rabbinic literature, Samael (also spelled Sammael) is the chief of the satans. He is also one of a number of angels of death, and the one sent by God to fetch the soul of Moses. Talmud speaks of Samael as Esau's guardian angel. In The Holy Kabbalah, Samael is characterized as the "severity of God." In The Ascension of Isaiah, the passage "there I saw Sammael and his hosts, and there was great fighting therein and the angels of Satan were envying one another" makes it clear that Sammael and Satan are interchangeable.

In fiction, James Branch Cabell calls him Red Samael the Seducer, the "youngest and most virile of the 72 princes of Hell, a red-headed rogue who had made his reputation some centuries ago with both Eve and Lilith." According to Cabell, Samael is one of the seraphim. I find it interesting that the very word seraph means "fiery serpent." Perhaps Eve really was tempted by a serpent; it just wasn't a snake.

In Jewish tradition, Lilith is the bride of Sammael. The Zohar describes Lilith as "a hot fiery female who at first cohabited with man." Lilith and Sammael are said to have "emanated from beneath the throne of Divine Glory, the legs of which were somewhat shaken by their [joint] activity." They have no respect. It has long been known, of course that Sammael (or Satan, or Lucifer, I don't suppose he really cares what you call him) was once a familiar figure in Heaven, but not that Lilith was up there also, assisting him. Lilith also has gone by many names, 17 of which she was forced to reveal to the prophet Elijah (M. Gaster, Studies and Texts in Folklore). In Arabic legend, female angels are not uncommon; they are called benad hasche, "daughters of God."

As for angels and sex, Genesis 6 says that the sons of God (angels) "saw the daughters of men ... and took them wives" from among them. The progeny of these unions were supposedly the giants that are mentioned shortly following. This is not surprising, as the height of Metatron (who has been variously identified as the angel who wrestled with Jacob in Genesis 32, as the angel who led the Israelites through the wilderness after the Exodus, and even as Sammael) has been described as "equal to the breadth of the whole world." (The Zohar) And although I can't seem to find the reference at the moment, I read somewhere else that he was ten feet tall.

Lest anyone think that I did all this research myself, I freely admit that I got all of it from A Dictionary of Angels by Gustav Davidson, and just as freely admit that I discarded what didn't suit my purpose of the moment. There is so much information in this book (and all of it documented) that by using it, I think one could prove that God and the Devil are one and the same.

One final admission: Heretical though it may be, I do not believe that God will ever condemn anyone to Eternal Hell. Hell, if there is such a place, is only the state of being separated from God, a punishment more than a fate, rather like being sent to your room. Sammael, by disagreeing with God over the creation of Man, separated himself from God. He is constantly tormented by this separation, though his pride will not allow him to admit to being wrong. In his position as the satan, he has become the prosecutor of mankind in the court of God, where he is allowed to come and go as freely as any of the great angels. In this court, of course, while Sammael is the prosecutor and God is the Judge, it is we who are on trial.

We will be found worthy, eventually; God doesn't make mistakes.

We could end Sammael's torment sooner by trying harder.