#7: LIGHT AS AIR, HOT AS HELL
---HAILEY---
Hailey strolled through the museum, just aimlessly looking around for a while and pondering things. Kitty, dear James's troubles, kitty, Holly (her prospective new gal-pal), kitty, Jason who some ancient magical fug-ugly wanted to force into committing suicide for some odd reason, but mostly kitty. Still, she was sure the Hell-hottie who cursed her best friend wasn't going to be put off by her 'tricks' indefinitely, and it was entirely possible that Jason's fug had some fug-friends who would bother him (and, by association, her) again, possibly soon. It really would be smart to have some sort of idea what she was going to do when Blaze did make her move... You know, if one actually -could- plan adequately for an antagonistic visit from the queen of Hell... It was entirely possible dear James was simply doomed she supposed, no matter what she did to try to stop it. Mostly though, she was trying to think of the perfect romantic gesture... Kitty obviously was the romantic type, which Haley found very encouraging, and promising, because she definitely was too. Her new lover had started the game with the note and the clue, which meant she had to have something equally as romantic ready for tonight, something to (preferably literally) sweep her off her feet...
Her thoughts were interrupted though, by a notice from one of her apps.
She sighed. "James, you dope." She spoke. He was back at her place now and having an unusual sort of dream. He'd left Holly's, Jason left un-seduced, when she'd specifically told him to stay put...
Still, maybe that meant he wasn't over Jace (alias Satanus, alias male edition hell-hottie) yet, despite what he'd said before? She knew, if she were in his place, she sure as hell wouldn't be. But then, she'd learned by the time she was two (seriously, that's when she'd realized it) not to expect other people to think like she did (before that, life had been all-together entirely too frustrating, not to mention very confusing). It was nice when they did think like she did sometimes though, because it made her feel less alone. And it was kind of a hugely romantic story if it were true: exiled prince of Hell falls in love with a mortal but his past catches up with him, or he catches up with his past actually (which wasn't as romantic, true, but she didn't know the whole story and there might be a good reason for everything), trouble, curses, kidnapping, rescue, reunion, reunion sex, James and Jace--happily ever after! She sighed again (but more of a dreamy sigh this time), feeling warm and fuzzy about her imagined romantic scenario. She'd always loved happily ever afters. And when she'd seen them together, she'd thought James and Jace had made a very cute couple. Maybe there was still hope for them?
The dream was what had set off her app, but the telemetry said that her soul-lock wasn't broken and that Blaze wasn't the one that was giving him the dream... someone was though. Jace maybe? She couldn't tell for sure by the readings, but really, who else would it be? Especially with how aroused James seemed to be. She decided to give them their privacy and not peek at the readings anymore though. It was only polite, after all.
Wondering around a little more, she stopped a little bit later, looking at a painting of two women making out. She considered it thoughtfully... It was a really good painting. Mysterious, otherworldly even in some ways, but there was definite heat. Still, somehow it reminded her of Ivy... She wiped away a few tears and turned away from the painting before she did something dumb like setting it on fire. Thinking about Ivy usually made her want to set something on fire again... she wished it didn't make her feel like that, but it did.
From there, she wondered through the Egyptian exhibit, where there was a definite cat theme to some of the pieces on display. That helped, made her feel better--more hopeful again, because it reminded her of kitty. She walked around a little more, before ending up in the room where the crown had been housed. She looked around curiously. At first perusal, nothing seemed out of place and nothing seemed like kitty had left it there for her. Then she looked up. Was that a red ribbon way up there on the skylight sill? She considered using an app to zoom in with her eyes so she could see it from here, but decided that wouldn't be any fun. Instead, she started floating up with her flying shoes. She had a flying app of course, but she liked the shoes... call it an indulgence of sentimentality. She liked indulging her sentimentality and did so often, actually.
She collected the expected exclamations of wonder and surprise from her fellow museum patrons, but it only made her smile because it was funny to surprise people like this. Then, of course, there were the perfunctory museum guards who came in and demanded that she stop, freeze, come down from there. Bla. Bla. Bla. As if they had any real right at all to be saying those sorts of things to her or anyone else for that matter. She ignored them, and one took out a gun and said he'd soot--he did. Talk about rude! And definitely -not- in keeping with the romantic theme of her museum visit today. Hailey made it ricochet back and hit him square in the forehead. It was only fair, he -had- tried to murder her first after all.
She reached the ribbon and saw that there was a little golden locket there. Not the kind that opened, but it was shaped like a heart. There was a small note too. "Warmer" Hailey read the one word note out loud, a sappy sort of dreamy smile on her lips. She held the locket to her heart and closed her eyes, humming to herself happily and imagining kitty putting this here for her to find. She'd been thoughtful and clever and taken her time coming up with this game, Hailey could tell. "She must love me." She spoke in a happy, sing-song voice, as she began to hear sirens. She sighed. "Why are they so dumb, huh?" She asked the red ribbon the rhetorical question. No one could hear the question, probably, and certainly the ribbon couldn't respond (as far as she knew) but that wasn't the point. She looked down at the milling security guards and smiled. She teleported them all to a field in Norway with a windmill and a bunch of flowers. "Learn to relax, jeeze." She shook her head and went all ghosty insubstantial (with another of her apps) and floated through the skylight, alighting on the roof. She shifted out of synch with reality a little (like she had when she'd first met kitty) and went to sit down on the roof's ledge, pondering the ribbon, note, and locket.
"Were to next, lover of mine?" She asked happily, a goofy smile still on her lips. It was gold and pretty and it was shaped like a heart even...
---JAMES---
"I'm sorry, alright?" He heard a soft, familiar voice say. That voice sent shivers all the way through his body and had his naughty bits starting to stand up and pay attention.
He opened his eyes, and Jace was there. A soft, secretive, oh so seductive smile on his lips. Mysterious eyes that so easily held him in their sway. They were somehow naked in bed, together again, the length of Jace's oh so shapely body laid out over him like a gift. Jace's hands were caressing his hair, and, oh yes, his sex was hard all right. "What the fuck?!" He snapped himself out of that tempting sexual haze Jace had had him in. He sat up and looked around. They were in bed all right, but everything else was all a roaring fire. Flames above, flames below--hot as Hell, in more ways than one. He looked down at Jace, who was smiling up at him, head resting on one triangled arm, and looking so ridiculously sexy it very, very nearly made James forget why he was mad at him all together.
"Well, I thought we were overdue for... a little honesty, perhaps?" Jace asked.
"...All right -Satanus- please do then." James offered, leaning back and bracing himself on his hands, appraising his lover shrewdly, and trying very hard to keep his wits about him. "Where are we, by the way?"
"Oh, my mind, your mind, some little corner of Hell or Purgatory that I may have secreted away somewhere safe just for me, who can say? And no, in case you're wondering, my dear, saintly sister most likely still can't get in here to taunt you, thanks to that surprisingly talented friend of yours. It's why I thought it might be safe for -me- to pay you a visit, while we have the chance to be alone." He explained.
"If she can't get in, why can you?" James asked, playing it cool... well, as cool as one could play it when surrounded by what might be hellfire and one's manhood was on pole-like display, telegraphing one's continued interest in what one's erstwhile boyfriend seemed to be offering.
"Oh, well, there are certain things a lover knows about the one he loves that even his best friend or my erstwhile sister may be... shall we say, less privy to?" Jace got up and caressed his face, coming onto him and backing him up until he was lain back on the bed, at his lover's apparently lacking mercy. "I know your mind as well as I know your body, lover mine... and believe me when I say..." His hands caressed James's body in a way that had him trembling with want and pleasure just from that small touch. "I know your body very, very... very well by now, wouldn't you agree?" He asked softly, his lips mere millimeters from James's own.
"I... think I can concede that particular point, yes." James admitted softly, caught in his lover's eyes and helpless to look away.
"I thought you might..." And then Jace was kissing him, pressing him down on the bed, and James's head felt like it was about to combust, not unlike the flames that were all around them that should rightfully be scorching them with unbearable heat, but somehow managed to make him feel welcome and energized. "We might not have much more time though..." Jace sighed. "So, as much as I might be enjoying this, we really should talk, don't you think?"
"So talk." James spoke simply, swallowing his desire with effort. His mind told him firmly that he needed to hear what Jace would tell him, while his body wanted Jace's hand on his sex right now... luckily though, his sense of self-preservation won out in that particular tug of war, and he held himself still.
"I'm... playing something of a game, you see... and, you, I'm afraid, are playing it with me." Jace told him. Before his eyes, Jace changed. his skin turned crimson red, his eyes went dark and deep, and then there were the horns... Those eyes though, darker as they may have been, they were still pure Jace though. James swallowed his feelings, both of unease and of intrigue.
"Let me guess: you want to be the king of Hell, is that it?" James offered.
"Well, it has crossed my mind a few times over the years." He smiled. "Would you like that? Married to a king? Living forever...? Having a bed like this all our own?" He tempted.
James swallowed again. "I can... see the appeal..." He answered.
"Oh, and I can see the wheels turning, lover mine... I know you too well." Satanus smiled fondly. "You're so... unlike anyone I've ever met, did you know? Do you know how rare that is for someone like me? ...I've been alive longer than there has been a human race, even longer than this universe itself has lived... and no one... no other lover has had me so thoroughly wrapped on his finger as you've managed to do... I have to say, your capacity for seduction and deceit, it's quite... addicting..."
"Likewise, I'm sure." James smiled, actually perversely flattered. "Though, I can't be all that good... If you didn't let me in on... well, you know... can I?" He asked.
"Mm... It wounds me that's you'd cast me in such an unflattering light, truly... No, I simply thought it would be more entertaining if you found out on your own, actually. Call it... flirting?" He asked, moving in to lick his skin and nip at his ear. "Or... perhaps, a courtship?" He offered. "If you can best me... perhaps, just perhaps... you might win my heart? As no one ever has? If someone did that... anything, absolutely anything it would be in my power to grant, why... you would have but to ask, wouldn't you?"
"A wager then...?" James asked softly.
"Mm, I like the sound of that..." Satanus kissed him, hard and owningly.
James gasped, and melted against the force and heat of it. Their bodies strained against one another, and James found himself on his belly, Satanus penetrating his ass and fucking him to a steady, sensual cadence. He gasped and his breathing came hard, he couldn't form words. He was rolled onto his side and felt his lover's hand on his sex, stroking him... His body arched, his eyes fluttered shut, and he was brought face up, with Satanus under him, still in him, holding him firm with one hand while his other stroked his sex and spurred him on towards climax... He came, looking up into the flames, his ejaculation landing hot and wet over his chest and on his lips.
"One way or the other though, you're mine now..." He heard his lover's voice in his ear. "I own you... Never doubt it."
He gasped and woke up, breathing hard. He sat up and looked around. He was on Hailey's couch again, having gone back there after leaving Holly Robinson's place. He'd been exhausted and sleep deprived after the nights previous where he'd had decidedly less pleasant dreams of being dragged to Hell... He wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to catch his breath... "Fuck me..." He looked down at himself. He was dripping wet, and he was still hard from it. He got up and, a little unsteady on his feet, he went over to get some water. "So thirsty..." He muttered, putting his head under to faucet for a while, then getting a glass, pouring the water, and downing it all in one long drink. He coughed a little and leaned against the counter, his hair dripping rivulets of water over his body, trying to catch his breath.
What was he going to do now? Should he play the game, concede it, or try to play the gamers? He ran a hand through his wet hair. "I'm in it this time, whatever I do..." He felt a sinking feeling of dread wash over him. He had the distinct feeling that no matter what he did, he didn't have much chance of coming out ahead this time. A man needs to know when he's out-matched, and Jace... Satanus... He'd played him like a first class mark, hadn't he? He'd never even suspected him to be anything other than human. No one -no one- had ever played him so thoroughly for a fool. He'd be an idiot not to think he wasn't still being played... But, what if he wasn't? What if... what if Jace really did love him?
If he did, and James truly played him false, thinking he didn't, that would be a sadness and a betrayal fairly fit to cut a man's heart out, wouldn't it? But that was the twist, wasn't it? Heart or head? His heart said he'd be a fool to turn Jace away, even knowing who he really was, and his head said he'd be a fool damned to Hell if he didn't... and what was the payoff here? Be the king of Hell's lover if all went right? Despite what he'd said to Jace, he didn't want that--not at all. He wanted Jace, just Jace, and not any of this... and it looked like, win or lose, that just wasn't in the cards, was it? So... that was it, the obvious thing--there was no percentage in this for him, and no big win to be had waiting in the wings. It was a stacked deck, and the house would win either way... so why did that make him want to play all the more? Why couldn't he get Jace out of his head and be smart about this, no matter what the facts or the odds were? Maybe it had something to do with those smoldering eyes, that smile that made him weak, and the way Jace's hands could...
He sighed, and went to the bathroom, intent on taking a nice, long, -cool- shower.
As the water washed over him, he let himself see his own life for what is really was probably. He'd liked his life, or so he'd thought... but, really, he'd always been... sort of running away, hadn't he? One thrill, one trick, after the other. Just games. Well, now he had a game he'd never wanted, and one he was very likely to lose... one that could, literally, get him damned to Hell for all time, if he made the wrong moves... Either as lover to the king of Hell or enduring a more traditional hellish experience at the hands of his sister. Obviously, one would be much more preferable than the other, but still...
For the first time in his life, he found himself sincerely wishing he'd never left the circus...
(2b continued)