Carnal Desires

Michael stood on the street, staring at the sign of what appeared to be a gentleman’s club. He had no idea why Lilith had asked him to come here, but the name alone made him suspect it to be a comical prank of hers. Either way, he figured there might be an important reason behind it, so albeit this reluctance, he entered the club. His gaze scanned the room, seeing the immorality unfold around him. The hungry gazes of married men. The scantily dressed women promoting lust. A few of them looked his way, their expressions revealing that it wasn’t every day that an angel walked inside. If he didn't already feel misplaced, he certainly did now. But he wasn’t going to leave before he’d asked someone about Lilith's planned meeting. He walked further into the club until he reached the bar, looking at one of the bartenders to gain her attention. “Hey, I was wondering if you could help me… I’m supposed to meet with someone in about five minutes,” he said, checking the time on his wristwatch as he said the number of minutes. He then turned his eyes to the bartender who leaned slightly closer to him, looking him up and down as to assess him. “You must be the archangel. Venus should be down in a minute,” she said, sending him a suggestive wink before she leaned away from him. Michael stared at her for a moment, wondering what kind of meeting Lilith had set up. Contemplating whether he should leave this instant to call her, but decided to wait until Venus arrived. If she was expecting him, it seemed rude to just leave. He inhaled a deep breath to calm his nerves before he turned his gaze to the crowd.

A few moments passed before he caught the scent of what he’d describe to be the perfect blend of citrus fruits, vanilla, and Heaven. His eyes landed on a brunette walking towards him, only making the scent appear stronger. Her outfit was modest in comparison to the other girls. Elegant even. The moment she laid her hand on his shoulder he turned his body to face her, feeling a strange pull towards her. Something he rarely felt near anyone. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” he said, sending her a smile as he looked into her eyes. He glanced at the bottles at the back of the bar as she asked him if he wanted a drink. “No, I’m good,” he replied. After all, he had no idea what this was about. And he didn’t intend on staying for long if their meeting wasn't regarding something important. “If you don't mind me asking... then what is this about? My friend left me in the dark, told me to show up here at this time without an explanation,” he said, glancing around the club, stopping his gaze at the stage for a moment when a woman took of her robe to reveal her red lingerie. He quickly looked back at Venus, his heartbeat increasing its rate by the second. Her presence didn't exactly help oppose that, so he hoped that she'd reassure him about the reason why he was there.

He followed her towards the staircase, looking at her as she said she was told to make him relax. It didn’t exactly explain much, but he was known to be tense and stern, so perhaps this was Lilith's attempt to ease that side of him. However, he couldn’t help but suspect it to be about something sexual. “Alright,” he said, hesitantly. He only got more tense by her answer. Nobody cared about how he was doing. And he never got time off to relax, so it was strange to think that Lilith would be the one to encourage that. He walked inside of the room, unbuttoning his suit jacket to take it off, placing it gently on the back of a chair before he sat down on the bed with her. He looked into her eyes for a moment as she suggested giving him a massage. After all, this wasn't exactly the place people went to get a massage, so he wondered why Lilith wanted him to come here. “Really?” he asked, slightly surprised to hear this, but despite everything, he didn’t see much wrong in receiving a back massage. His gaze stayed with her as he loosened his tie. “Nobody has said that to me in a long time,” he said as he started unbuttoning his shirt. His last wife had been the most recent person to express her concern regarding his constant work, but she died more than a decade ago. He then took his shirt off before he laid down on the bed on his stomach. “You must not get many requests like this,” he said, turning his face to look at the side she was. “What made you decide to work here?” he asked, hoping that the question didn’t offend her, but he was genuinely curious to know why she'd chosen this line of work. If it was because of the prospect of sex or something else.

He tried not to let his imagination leap to where it wanted to go. To what people requested of her. Those thoughts were highly inappropriate, and he certainly wasn’t going to go there. Allowing himself to be tempted by her. Not that she made that easier by placing herself on top of him. His muscles were tense as she placed her hands on his back, but as she started to massage the oil into his skin, he quickly relaxed. He closed his eyes as he gave in to the feeling of her touch. He could swear that it was magic. Feeling the euphoric emotion curse through him with every move of her hands. It was a deep gratification. Based on her reply to his question, it seemed that they lived in quite opposite ends of the world. “Where I come from sex is a gift from God reserved for marriage,” he explained. It hardly came as a surprise for anyone who knew about angels. However, he understood that it was difficult to see for someone who’d never grown up with those beliefs. And even if it was his duty to guide humans towards God’s truth, he decided to spare her from his preaching. There were far more pressing matters going on in the world and his life. Women of lust were the least of his concern. However, he did find it interesting. How other societies worked and changed over time. “What society is that?” he asked her.
He let out a delighted moan as she reached his shoulders, managing to relieve them of their weight. All his repressed emotions and thoughts seemed to vanish into a high he’d rarely experienced. It was a freeing emotion. Michael knew that he should make her stop. That whatever ability she had, it infected his body and mind with a poison of sin. But he didn’t want it to end. He wanted nothing more than the feelings to last.

He was slightly surprised to hear that she’d read the bible, and even though it was written by humans, not containing the exact set of rules that the angels lived by. It was still a book he’d read a thousand times. He was sometimes confronted by people with wrong interpretations of the original scriptures, asking him to clarify the true meaning, but most often he used it to proclaim its word. It was all he did. He never forced his beliefs upon others. It was something that they had to decide for themselves. He tried to imagine the society she described, but love could mean a thousand different things, so it didn’t explain much. After all, the bible preached everyone to love one another as well. However, it sounded like they didn’t believe in monogamy, making him wonder what they did when they fell in love. It usually made you want nothing other than to be with said person. He slowly opened his eyes as she asked him to tell her something about himself. “What would you like to know?” he asked her, looking at the wall as she continued to massage his back. He could easily spend a whole lifetime talking about the experiences he’d had. All of them leading to who he was today. But her next question made him suspect she mostly cared about his desires. Fulfilling what she was paid to do. However, she’d already fulfilled more than he could have hoped to feel. The intoxication he felt in her presence was out of this world. “But no… I don’t know what magic you’re working with, but I’ve never felt this amazing for years,” he replied her, feeling the emotions spread like wildfire inside of him, and if she took a break from touching him, those feelings vanished with her. All he knew was that he didn't want that. “Please don’t make it stop,” he pleaded. It was is only request. For the euphoria to continue.

He knew that she couldn’t continue for as long as he wanted her to, but for whatever time she had with him, he wanted her to enhance those feelings. He took a moment to consider her question. After all, he’d seen plenty of beautiful things. “My father once created a world for me,” he then said, thinking about the now apocalyptic world he’d once ruled. God created many worlds, and when one failed, he’d just create a new one to try and better it. “It’s destroyed now, but uh… before all that, it was everything that I’d imagine a beautiful world to be. Light, pure and good,” he said, thinking back on it with a wistful expression. To him, it had been the equivalent to paradise or earth without humans and evil. “Besides that, and the many natural wonders of Earth, I’d have to say, Heaven,” he added. Nothing on Earth could quite compare that. “What is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen?” he returned the question. After all, it sounded like she’d either been to a wonderous place herself or at least dreamt of visiting one. But beauty was subjective. In his opinion, the most beautiful thing was one that could be felt rather than seen.

He closed his eyes again, imagining the place she spoke of, although it quickly changed into a different world as she continued massaging him. Making him feel like he was floating into the skies towards Heaven. It felt beyond amazing. And this was exactly what she'd described her first time on the ground to be. Something he’d never felt before. He hadn't in this way, anyhow. “What made you move to Gaia then?” he asked, feeling himself falling further into the world that these feelings made him float around in. It wouldn’t even surprise him if she did it to weaken him. The feeling made up for that. It was terrifying in a sense, but nonetheless that was what his mind told him. Yet, the thought that she might be doing this to hurt him crossed his mind a couple of times. After all, Lilith and Michael hadn’t always seen eye to eye and perhaps she’d changed her mind about their alliance. But his inner voice kept redirecting him. Telling him that it was nothing to worry about. That even if it was happening, it was all going to be okay. And for some reason that was enough for him to refrain from asking her.

He understood why she'd want to live at both places. After all, that’s what he did as well when he traveled between Heaven and Earth. And around the world to complete missions. But by now, he'd started to see Gaia as his second home. He'd always returned to it throughout the ages. Michael found it interesting that they had to come home, wondering where that stemmed from. “How come? I mean… what happens if you fall in love with someone from here? Would you be able to take them with you?” he asked her, genuinely curious to know. Seeing how their society worked, love might even be looked down upon. But as far as he knew. Humans weren’t designed to be with many people. Rather they preferred monogamy. He chuckled lightly at her comment. “Yeah, I’ve not felt this calm in a long time,” he admitted. Between his many responsibilities and his children and siblings disappearing, he couldn’t really remember the last time he’d taken any time off to relax. Not until today. “I really can’t thank you enough for this,” he said quietly. He’d tried everything to calm himself. To relieve the pressure for just a moment. But nothing helped. Not alcohol or medication. Nothing. He was honestly surprised to know that she had the power to relax him despite his own attempts at doing this in the past.

With a job like hers, he supposed she had to be good at keeping her emotions separate from it. He knew that from his own work as well, albeit for completely different reasons. But being this intimate with others. It had to make one wonder whether emotions weren't inevitably going to be involved at some point. She then revealed the name of her society to be New London. He wondered if she referred to the city in Connecticut, but considering her accent he figured it was another city in England. Until she said how a foreigner could reach it. He was interested to ask her more about this. Whether one had to take a portal to get there. If it was another world entirely. But he refrained from asking. As long as they lived in peace, there wasn’t any reason for him to care about it. Either way, all his thoughts about New London disappeared the moment she leaned down to kiss his cheek. And all he wanted at that moment was to turn around to feel more of her. Instead, he just smiled faintly as she expressed that she was happy to know that she’d helped. He didn’t think he’d want to come back, let alone have the time for it. Despite how amazing this had felt. “Yes. If you don’t mind,” he replied. Technically, he could just teleport away and take a shower at his own place, but for some reason, he sought any reason to stay near her. Even if it was for a few minutes. When she removed herself from him, he raised himself from the bed and got up. Honestly, surprised to feel how relaxed his muscles were compared to before. “So, did my friend already pay for this?” he asked as he turned around to face her, glancing down at her lingerie as it was the first time he saw it, but quickly moving his eyes back to her face in an attempt to stop his thoughts from wandering. He knew that meetings like this required a payment, so the question was how much he’d need to pay if it wasn’t already taken care of.

He let out a nervous chuckle at her suggestion. “Oh no, you don’t have to do that,” he replied, despite everything inside of him telling him to say yes. And fantasizing about her joining him in the shower. But it’d be wrong of him. He knew that. He nodded as she replied his question about payment, honestly surprised that Lilith had placed such requests. He smiled at her next comment. “I suppose that depends on who you ask,” he said. Many people adored and cherished him. But there were also many who despised him. “Do you know about me?” he asked her. If she did, she also ought to know that he was dangerous to get involved with. He noticed her checking him out. Most angels had Adonis looking bodies. And he knew that his aura inevitably affected her, but he couldn't help but think that despite that, she saw something more in him. Perhaps it was just his imagination running wild with him. He tried to push those thoughts aside as she turned away from her and walked towards the bathroom. He closed the door behind him before he undressed. He then entered the shower and turned on the water. He leaned back to allow his hair to get wet, washing out the gel he’d had in it. The excess oil quickly washed off, so it wasn’t long before he turned off the hot water and dried himself in a towel. He was sure that Venus was preparing herself for another customer, so he didn’t want to take up much more of her time. He dressed himself again and opened the door to the room. He brushed a hand through his hair to lay it back and prevent the locks from clinging to his forehead. “Again, thank you. I’ve really enjoyed this,” he said as he walked towards his shirt to pick it up and put it on. He looked at her as he buttoned his shirt. He then placed the tie around his neck, tying it before he lowered his collar and lastly, put on his blazer. He adjusted his sleeves, hesitating, because everything inside of him told him to stay by her. But as she’d said herself. He could always come back. “Au revoir,” he said in his neutral French accent before he turned away from her and left the room.