Jade Rabbit

"I'll pass- oh! - What the hell are you doing!"

"Experimenting."

"That's not even physically possible- sweet god!"

"I am sweet, aren't I, maggot?"

"Stop- this isn't supposed to be happening! Last night was a glitch in reality! You're never supposed to do this with me! I hate you!"

"Loathe you too. Funny world, isn't it? Mothers of Rot! Lilith and Naamah! Hell YES!"

"Crap, the ground's shaking! Why? Are there earthquakes in Hell?" I panicked.

"Aphrodite's ass- aaah!"

"Sam, the building's shaking-" he stuffed his wing in my mouth. I gagged.

"Shut up!" He groaned, and the quakes intensified. The torches rattled in their holders, and his scythe rolled about on the ground.

This isn't good, I thought. Pleasure coursed through me, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to worry about the impending geologic disaster. Plus, there was a handful of feathers wedged in my mouth.

Screams echoed through the doorway. Samael gave a low moan, and several torches crashed to the floor. The carpet caught fire as loose stones fell from the ceiling. I gave a muffled scream as one headed straight for my head. He fanned a wing carelessly above us, and it bounced off like hail, protecting me.

"If only- my scythe... PLEASE?"

I spat out the feathers. "No, you psychopath! There's a raging fire around us!"

A harsh wind picked up, extinguishing the totality of the flames. We were plunged into darkness, his chilling red eyes the only source of light. "Close your eyes!" I demanded, spooked. "I-" my voice faltered as waves of pleasure began to roll through me, intensifying. A high, soft sound escaped my throat.

MMM. I LIKE IT WHEN YOU CRY OUT LIKE THAT. LOSE YOURSELF TO ME, MAGGOT.

"You're doing that Christopher Walken voice thing again- ooah?..." I struggled to say, my speech deteriorating once more. The ground's violent shaking made me feel like I was riding a roller coaster. It was fun, but it certainly could not be good.

SUCH TENDER FLESH... YIELDING SO SWEETLY- AH!

The roof was literally caving in, rubble piled high around us. His wings must have been made out of titanium.

GIVE IN TO ME! YES! SWEETEST ROSE OF MY HEART - SO TENDER AND GIVING- SO TIGHT- AGH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE-

"Are you...?- Jesus Christ!"

AGH! I'VE NEVER WANTED ANYTHING MORE- SWEET DEVIL, YES! HIT IT, YOU LITTLE BABYLON WHORE!

"I don't know what I'm doing!"

I DON'T EITHER- SWEET ROTTING CORPSE!

"Would you stop with the creepy moaning- oh hell, yes!"

QUEENS OF SIN, SODOM AND GOMORRAH! I'M SEEING THOSE DAMN STARS AGAIN!

"I think I'm going to faint..."

AND THAT MOON, THAT GLORIOUS MOON- agh!

"That was wonderful- I can't breathe, Sam. Get off me!" The red pools of his eyes disappeared, and I felt his crushing weight against me.

He yawned. Loudly. The trembling ceased. I squirmed from underneath him, searching about the darkness, struggling to rise.

"Ngh," he groaned, pulling me down to him and crushing me against his chest. "No... mistake..."

"You... love... me..."

I hesitated.

"Say it... maggot!" he spat, exhausted.

"I do?"

"Yes... you do."

"I don't want to," I muttered. "I still think you're a psychopath."

"Doesn't... matter..."

"You look like a rabbit when you sleep. Your nostrils flare out and you sniff things. Occasionally, you squeak." The Angel of Death sat next to me, peering at me curiously. I shook in trepidation, draped in his robe at the corner of his bed.

I had not managed to string a word together for over an hour. He had hand fed me toast after we had fucked like wolves, I had had a breakdown about him "owning" my soul after Metatron destroyed my innards, including the cardiac tissue, then I freaked out over being heartless, with his on loan, and Samael had dedicatedly counseled me through hell and high water.

One moment I raged at my first and last love, the next, I wept like a banshee.

Now, I was silent, manically pulling down from our pillowcase.

"I watched you all night, you know, Shannon, like a gargoyle guarding its charge. When you cried out, I sang to you, and you drifted back to sleep. What is it, to ride dreams, I wonder? Your little body, so warm. That it could contain such multitudes of wonders." Samael ran his fingers through my hair, braiding it meticulously. He drew a red ribbon from the air and fixed it at the end. Samael slid his arms over my shoulders, resting his head on my brow. He smoothed the braid over my chest, fingers lingering over my heart. "I prayed that you dreamt of me."

I showed the goose feathers into his mouth. He spat them out like angel down.

"Ungrateful wretch," he snarled.

"Pedophile."

"What?"

"You're older than a velociraptor."

"Would you rather have a velociraptor?"

"At least they'd be useful. I could ride them to school like a horse. All you do is brood. And what do you mean by have?"

His hands encircled my neck, massaging the kinks. "You know," he said unsurely. "Companionship. I usually scorn it. But I've decided to tolerate your presence."

"How romantic, Bonebutt."

"Don't make me break your spine."

"Yeah, if you can keep your balance. How are the land legs Grim?"

"That's not humorous. We're having an intimate moment."

My face contorted in disgust. "You so did not just say that."

"I have mastered my emotions. Be in awe that I shared them with you." He kissed my shoulder and worked his lips down to my collarbone, pulling me on to his lap. "I love you, you know. I always have. When will you say the same?"

"You're wearing leather pants and nothing else," I deflected his advances.

His face grew dark. "And undergarments, lamb."

"No. They're called- never mind..." I sighed. He nuzzled the crook of my neck, arms fastened around my waist.

Quiet sobs came from his throat. "Please," he begged. "Don't you feel the same?" Samael's robe slipped from my shoulders and the fabric skimmed his chest. With trembling a pair of pale hands, he guided it down. "All I want is you, Shannon. Even - even the dead cannot hold me as much as your light."

"God! No, stop it! It is so cold in here, okay? I'd like to remain clothed."

"Fine. We won't discuss our feelings," he said, chalky voice raw. He cupped my breasts and worked them in wonder. "Why stay clothed when you possess these?" His fangs skimmed my jaw. I gasped.

"Exactly why," I said darkly, watching his hands with ire. "You're worse than a cad. You are purely a rake. Just like the haughty, dastardly lords in Victorian novels."

His heavy breath raised gooseflesh on my neck. Sam's lips ran over my collarbone. "What exactly have you been reading?"

"Tess d'Ubervilles. Les Liasons dangereuses-"

"Sorry I asked." He touched the skin over my heart, watching it in the sunlight that slipped through the windows. Leaning over, he pressed his ear to my rib cage, hearing it beat.

"I think this is more Faust territory, though. Or Paradise Lost on acid," I murmured.

"Have we made a bargain?" he asked lazily.

"Eh. Not really. You invented one in your head. But you're a man, and men don't know the difference between their dreams and reality."

He sneered. His heart thudded in my chest. Suddenly, it burned. I choked. "What the hell was that?" I demanded, trying to tear him from me. He clung on like a python.

"My claim. Your heart is on loan, girl. My chest it its coffin. I am trying to remember its song."

"Um, okay then. You do that, Samael."

He spoke softly into my skin like a psychopath. Like? - never mind. His hair spilled over my shoulders, black as a raven's wing, and his skin shone like the moon. He was like some god of the night. My heart lurched, arrhythmic.

"See? It speaks to me. You are my prison, worm."

"Ooo-kay. Now that's just straitjacket babble. Is there any filter on your cosmic brain? Do they teach gods critical thinking?"