Elliott Kay - Good Intentions

Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but found her words overcome by a groan as Lorelei’s embrace tightened around the mortal between them.

“Lydia spoke one truth,” the succubus hissed. “I have held back on Alex. At first, it was out of weakness, but now I simply don’t want to break him. There’s less worry about that with you here…but I must know if you can accept me for what I am.”

The angel was as utterly helpless as Alex. She knew it, and so did the demon. Love made the succubus no less ruthless. “I know you love him,” Rachel whimpered with pleasure. “I’d never come between you two.”

“But you must,” Lorelei countered. “Alex and I share total intimacy. Would you not have to take away from some portion of that in order to have yours?”

“No.” Alex was hardly even a part of the conversation. His mind was there, but his body felt too good to do anything but cooperate with Lorelei’s urgings. Rachel had no doubt that Lorelei could control him like this at her whim. That she hadn’t done so already said a great deal about their relationship. “We can have ours without taking from you. I don’t want to take from you.”

“What of his other relationships?” Lorelei asked. “What if he continues with Onyx? Or Molly? I suspect that was bound to happen even before we appeared in his life. Do we allow that to continue?”

“Doesn’t bother me,” Rachel exhaled.

“Consider, then…He dreamt of marrying me once. A sexual fantasy, but the thought exists nonetheless. Yet he could not if it would hurt you. He couldn’t let you go. Would you consent to that? Would you still be his lover?”

Rachel realized that it could have been her arousal talking, but she didn’t see anything wrong with that at all. “You’d have to…write…pretty unique vows…”

“And if the situation were reversed? If he married you, would you tolerate me as his lover and mistress?”

“Yes,” Rachel groaned. She honestly couldn’t tell if that was better than the previous proposition or not.

Lorelei tauntingly licked the side of Alex’s neck before she looked at Rachel again. “How can you be so sure that you will be able to accept all of this?”

The angel’s eyes widened. Mustering every bit of willpower she had, Rachel pulled Alex off of Lorelei and pushed him aside in the spacious tub. Lorelei had just enough time to blink before Rachel planted a deep, passionate kiss on her mouth.

Lorelei had never been meant to enjoy the embrace of a benevolent soul. All her long life, men and women of virtue were predisposed to avoid her, while pursuit of her purpose as a succubus steered her away in turn. She discovered in Alex all the joys of genuine, selfless love. It held all the allure and excitement of forbidden fruit and all the warmth and comfort that defined good in contrast to evil.

Then she learned what it was like to be kissed by an angel.

Alex sat alone in bewildered bliss as the angel and demon attacked one another with increasing passion. By the time the pleasant fog cleared from his mind, things between Rachel and Lorelei had escalated considerably beyond kissing.

He watched in stunned silence as his biggest problem resolved itself in front of him.

* * *

“Sun’s about to come up,” Alex mused. He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

“You should have at least a little sleep,” Lorelei told him. Her head rested against his chest. “We will not leave you.”

Rachel sighed against Lorelei’s shoulder. “Fuck. Actually, that’s not true. I’ll have to go in a couple hours.”

“You never told us what happened with Lydia,” Lorelei noted.

“That’ll be part of it. Lydia gets judged. And so do I.”

“I still don’t see how you can be in trouble for this. You can’t just decide who you will and won’t fall in love with.” Alex scowled. “How are you supposed to control that?”

“There is what happens in one’s heart, and then there is what one does about it,” Lorelei said. “The notion that everyone is at the mercy of his or her heart perseveres mostly because it excuses irresponsible behavior. I’ve exploited exactly that for longer than I care to remember.”

Rachel nodded a bit. “I wasn’t supposed to fall for you,” she said, “and I damn sure wasn’t supposed to go to bed with you.”

“What about Lorelei?”

“Oh, there’ll be shit-talking and scandal and assloads of angels will be just fucking aghast,” the angel sighed, “but there’s not much precedent for someone like her.” Rachel’s words were matter-of-fact, but her glance toward Lorelei held affection and reverence. “I can defend my actions. I’m comfortable with what I’ve done with you both. I’m in love. That’s not going to change. And they won’t take me away from you, Alex. Don’t worry about that.”

“But?”

“But there are things that wouldn’t be a big deal to a mortal that mean a lot to an angel,” Rachel explained. “Censure by my peers. Looking like a jackass in front of everyone. Ostracism. I’ve never been what you would call popular, but it was…it was nice to have the guardians have my back once this whole mess got rolling. It’ll hurt to lose that. I’m not so hung up on the opinions of others that I’d do things differently to win approval, but it’s not like you just pissing off co-workers or classmates. These are angels, y’know?

“What scares me is that I could be removed from my post altogether. Being named as a guardian angel meant a lot to me. There are a bunch of posts that are ranked higher in the hierarchy, but guardian angels do serious work. It’s the real thing . If they take that away…I’ll be crushed. I’m gonna know forever that I was a guardian angel for a whole week and I fucked it all up, and everyone else will know it, too.”

“Even after all you have done?” Lorelei asked. “They would remove you after all that has changed as a result of your actions?”

“Like I said, this is all unprecedented.” Rachel sniffed and cuddled up to them more. “I gave up worrying about pleasing everyone with how I acted a long time ago, but this…hell, after the way I made such a fool of myself over Vincent for so long and then all the dead-end stuff I’ve had to do ever since because of those choices, I’ve felt like a complete loser.

“It’s been nice to feel like a winner for once. And I have because of you two.”

“Your involvement has been pivotal,” Lorelei said. “Who knows how this would have turned out had you acted differently?”

“God knows I’m grateful,” Alex huffed. “I know you’re not a loser. Not at all.”

Rachel smiled a bit. “There’s what God knows and then there’s what others decide to see and what not to see.” She rolled over him, kissed his chest and settled back against it. “Anyway. I’ll have to go face the music.”

“Do you have to go alone?” Alex asked.

She glanced at Lorelei, who looked at her with much the same question. “You wouldn’t see anything but me,” Rachel told him. “Lorelei might be able to see, or might not. It would all depend. They’ll gather on holy ground, though. Might fuck her up.”

“Have you any say in which site?” Lorelei wondered.

“I dunno. I might.” She fell silent for a moment. “You really want to come with me?”

“I love you,” Alex said simply. “You wouldn’t let me face something like this alone.”

“You dove into Hell for Alex and for me,” Lorelei agreed. “What sort of lover would I be if I did less for you?”

Rachel’s attention shifted to Lorelei. She was stunned.

“I am admittedly new to the concept,” Lorelei smiled fondly, “but I have had an excellent teacher, and what I have learned from him would seem to apply.”