All Souls' Day - 2. Chapter 2

A month past and Halloween approached with falling leaves and smoky air. Cindy was throwing a costume party at her house, and invited nearly the whole damn hospital. I invited Az to go with me. Our relationship was growing, but we still hadn't made love. We fooled around on my couch some, but he always stopped right when things were getting good. I decided that tonight would be the perfect night to make love with him since Halloween was my favorite holiday.

"What are you going as?" I asked Az. "I can't make up my mind what I want to be."

"Not sure," he replied. "I was kind of thinking about going as the Angel of Death."

I couldn't help it; I flinched. As I looked at him reclining on my couch, though, I had to admit that he'd make a perfect angel.

“Huh. Maybe I should go as a dead person, then," I joked. "I could be your first victim."

"Doesn't work that way, babe. The Angel of Death only escorts souls to Judgment; he doesn't pick and chose who dies." Az frowned at me. "Someone higher up the ladder makes that decision."

"I was kidding." I seemed to have hit a nerve, and that fascinated me. We hadn't spent much time on subjects like this, but apparently Az had strong beliefs about what happened after death. I made a mental note to ask him about it when the time seemed right, sometime when we were quiet together.

"Why not go as a doctor?" he asked, a reasonable if boring suggestion, until he continued. "That way, you'll be life, and I'll be death."

"That's not a bad idea." I grinned. "I can be the light to your dark."

Az looked at me strangely for a moment then smiled widely. There were times since we had been dating that he'd get an odd look in his eyes, like he was seeing something that I couldn't. He never talked about his family, and I didn't push. At times, I sensed loneliness in him, a void that seemed to live inside him. I often wondered what had happened in his life that made him so closed off.

Halloween finally arrived, and I was off that night because of the party. The ER would be a madhouse before the night was done, always was. Holidays seemed to bring out the worse in people, and always increased the traffic in an ER. Mischief makers, drunken super heroes who found out they actually can't fly, and excited children in dark costumes combined with moving vehicles at night made for a jammed packed ER.

Az arrived to pick me up and I got my first look at his costume. He wore his black boots, as always, but the black leather pants were new. He had a thick heavy chain around his waist that attached to a skull belt buckle. A tight, long-sleeved black T-shirt emphasized his broad, muscular chest.

Black, thick and heavy but beautiful and lovely, outlined his expressive eyes and streaked his blond hair. His silver necklace glittered around his throat, but tonight a silver cross dangled from one ear to brush tantalizingly against his shoulder and the spiked curl in his eyebrow had been replaced with a shining silver hoop that matched that rest of his jewelry. I could see the skull tattoo on his arm. His lips and fingernails were both painted black.

The real showstopper on this man who was walking eye candy, though, were his wings. Huge, beautiful, black wings that were slightly open rested on his back. The shirt had slits so the base of the wings could be attached to his back. The feathers felt realistic, and must have cost him a fortune.

“Oh damn, you look..." Dark, sexy, dangerous, luscious... fucking hot.

I had on an old lab coat splattered with fake blood and old scrubs. My stethoscope hung around my neck, and I had on my beat up tennis shoes. My long hair was loose, but messy, like I had run my hands through it several times.

"Thank you. I like your costume, also." He winked at me as I eyed him.

"Hey babe, you ready to go?" He waved his hand in front of my face, making me blush.

I grabbed my coat, and we left for Cindy's house. The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the graveyard that she had put up in her front yard. One particular grave caught my attention because it looked like the ground had vomited it up.

The top was flung open, and had a partially decayed body trying to wiggle its way out of the casket. Vacant eyes stared at us as it shrieked like a banshee. Other graves had skeletal hands digging frantically up through the dirt, like something horrible was digging its way to freedom.

Battery operated red eyes peered at me from the trees and ghoulish jack-o-lanterns sat on hay bales on the other end of the porch. A two-headed dog snarled and snapped at me from the steps.

"Look!" I pointed at the two-headed dog, smirking. "If it had two cocks it would never have to leave home... cause you know, it could suck itself off. It's a walking sixty-nine!"

"Dare you to tell Cindy that," Az snickered. "I'll make sure I'm standing far away so when she clobbers you with that damn dog I won't get hit."

"Know what the red eyes remind me of?" I laughed, ignoring him. "Um... glory hole it much?"

"You do know that if I tell Cindy everything you're saying, she'll probably beat you senseless, right?" Az said. "We'll have to discuss what you're willing to do to buy my silence later."

Thick cob webs decorated the front porch, and creepy moaning screams drifted across the yard from outdoor speakers. A skeleton set on a bench and it greeted people when they got to the front door.

Big hairy spiders that were as black as pitch hopped around, and several ghosts flittered in the breeze. A fog machine blew a sinister smoke all over the yard. Dead leaves were scattered over the porch, and red lights blinked in the bushes.

"Man, she really went all out." I couldn't wait to see Cindy. "It's actually kind of scary this year."

The theme carried on inside. The inside of Cindy's house looked like the outside. Monsters, silent as death, were hiding in dark corners waiting to yell at you, cob webs covered everything, and the same music played inside, too.

Little plates of snack food were placed all over. There were bowls of trail mix that had ghoulish eyes staring back at you, and finger sandwiches that looked like bloody, hacked off human fingers.

Cindy greeted us in the kitchen. She was dressed as a witch doctor and serving up glasses of blood red, bubbling liquid that I truly hoped tasted better than it looked as I accepted one.

"I didn't think you could outdo yourself, but somehow, you did."

Cindy picked up a fake, headless chicken and shook it at us.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shrieked, laughing.

"Keeping bad spirits away, this is All Souls' Day." Cindy eyed us both critically. "Love your costume, Az. It's perfect."

"Thank you," Az said, laughing as well.

"Happy Halloween, Grey." Cindy kissed me on the cheek as she went to meet new arrivals. "You boys have fun, and stay out of dark corners."

There were a house full of people dressed as many different things. Some of the costumes were the usual run-of-the-mill vampires, ghost, and werewolves. One of male nurses at the hospital was dressed a pirate, and threatened to make me walk the plank.

A female doctor friend of mine was dressed like a mermaid. Others didn't do all that much, just a simple black mask. We played games like Charades, which Az couldn't play worth a damn! Near the end of the evening, the winner of the costume contest was announced, and Az won.

"Way to go!" I exclaimed as he was offered a choice of Halloween gift bags. "Which one do you want for your prize?"

"You." He pulled me against his hard body, turning away from the prizes. "You are the only prize I seek."

With those words he slid his big hand into my hair and kissed me like I was the most precious thing in the world, like I was something he would treasure always, if I would give him the chance. I lost myself in his kiss as pleasure wrapped around my heart; this is where I belonged. Loud clapping brought me back to the here and now.

The party was a blast, and we left around two in the morning. Az managed to win me a stuffed black cat in one of the games, which I caught myself petting on the way home.

"Good thing you're not superstitious." He nodded at the black toy I held in my lap.

"Nah, not really," I said. "I always wanted a black cat as a kid."

We parked in the garage, and Az walked me to the door.

"Please, come in," I said, my voice low and urgent. "Stay with me tonight."

He tilted my chin up, gazing into my eyes.

"You sure?" He asked quietly. "I was going to ask if I could stay."

"Oh yeah, I want you to make love to me."

We went inside and Az removed his big, heavy boots, leaving them by my door as if they were guarding it. I flipped the deadbolt and he swept me off my feet. Holding me tightly in his huge arms, he carried me back to my bedroom. The first kiss, as he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, was sweet and sultry, but heaven above, I was on fire.

Opening my mouth, I wrapped my arms around his neck, brushing those soft feathers on his back. It was such an erotic sensation that it gave me chills. His tongue explored my mouth, then retreated. Encouraged, I teased his lips with my tongue, finally entering his mouth.

I moaned softly as my cock pulsed in my scrubs; his taste was intoxicating. His hand threaded through my hair, holding my head still as he chased my tongue back into my mouth. Conquered, I submitted as he deepened the kiss. Lifting his lips from mine, he stared in my eyes.

"I want you, want you spread out on the bed, hard and aching for me," he panted, grasping my arms that were around his neck. "Undress for me."

I lowered my arms to grab hold of my lab coat and removed it. Pulling my shirt over my head, I let it flutter to the ground. Kicking off my shoes, I untied the scrub bottoms and eased them down my legs. I grasped the waistband of my boxers and slid them slowly off an inch at the time, teasing him with glimpses of my throbbing cock.

"Show me," he whispered. I let the boxers slide to the floor.

I stood before him, my cock standing straight out. My shaft was slender, but heavily veined, and I had a small pelt of black fur at the base that I kept trimmed. The head was mushroomed shaped, and smooth as silk. Tiny tears of desire leaked from the slit.

"Perfect." He breathed deeply. "I want to taste you."

He dropped to his knees, the incredibly toned muscles in his heavy thighs flexing and bunching beautifully as his chest heaved. Lowering his head, I watched as his tongue snaked out to lick the tip of my cock. Holding the base of my shaft, he licked the pre-come that dripped from the tiny opening, running his tongue through it. Closing his mouth over the dome, he sucked.

"Oh fuck... so good," I said, moaning as he worked me.

His other hand tapped my thigh, wanting my legs opened wider. He didn't have to ask twice; I instantly obeyed. His mouth descended down my length as his other hand rolled the sensitive orbs in my sac. Up and down his head bobbed, wetting me, and driving me closer to orgasm. His hand left my sac and I groaned at the loss.

"Why did you stop?" I trembled against him.

"Patience, babe," Az whispered as he pulled off my shaft. "I've learned not to rush when something is truly meaningful."

Again he took me back in his mouth. Slowly he brushed his hand up my chest, stopping to tease my small, hard nipples, before moving to my lips. I sucked his index finger into my mouth, curling my tongue around the thick digit, wetting it.

His hand crept back between my legs, that slick digit easing up to my puckered hole. Tapping it lightly, I felt myself tense and then relax as his wet finger entered me. My balls twitched as I clutched his shoulders.

"Close, oh god, it's too good. I'm going to come." I gasped as my hips thrust into his mouth. He hummed around my cock as both hands expertly worked my body.

"I'm coming, ah..." I moaned loudly as I exploded, flooding his mouth with all I had to give. My head fell back as he tasted me, and I shook as he continued to suck and draw until I thought the tingling would drive me insane.

"So long," he mumbled as he drank the rest of my essence down. "So very long..."

I wondered what he meant as my body shook. Breathing deeply, I decided that he had way too many clothes on. I sat up and pulled his shirt free as he stood, unzipping his leather pants. He wore thin, silky, stretchy shorts under the leather and I could see the large, dark, wet circle spreading as his arousal leaked and stained them. Together we managed to get him out of the leathers, and I stared as he peeled that strip of gauzy silk over his hard, muscled hips.

His hard, cut cock shot out proudly from its nest of delicious blond curls. Whoever had done his circumcision should receive an award for perfect cock shaping, because just the sight of him made the blood pound in my ears until I couldn't hear anything at all.

Dear god, he was huge, and thick, and long, and luscious, and I wanted him inside me so badly I started shaking and trembling. All I knew to do was grab him and kiss him, hoping my hearing would come back when he started pounding into me because that's all I wanted, damn it. I reached for that perfect piece of male anatomy, but he shied away.

"I'm too close; when I come, it's going to be inside you," he panted, his stomach muscles bunching.

"Just one taste? Please?" I asked, my voice a sexy whisper as I slowly lowered my head. I swallowed him whole, taking him straight to the back of my throat. I felt his pre-come flood my mouth and quickly bobbed the full length of his shaft several times, knowing that he was going to stop me.

"Grey, stop, I'm too close," he groaned, grabbing my head.

With one last lick, I released him.

“Up on the bed, babe."

I crawled back up the bed and lay on my back.

"Take that off." I gestured at his shirt.

"I can't because of the wings."

"Then rip the fucking thing! I want to see you," I said, startled to hear a plaintive whine in my voice. He grasped the collar of the shirt and ripped it down the middle. Watching him do that flipped the final switch in me. I wanted him and I wanted him now. Lifting my knees to my chest, I offered him my body.

"In me... need you in me!" I gasped, his finger teasing a hard nipple. My cock jumped on my belly.

"Lube?" he asked, his voice a rough growl.

"Bedside drawer."

I heard the drawer open, and a few seconds later I heard the top of the lube snap open. Warming it in his hands, he spread it on my aching hole, then his shaft. I felt the head of his cock pressing against my entrance.

"Yes, oh god..." My head thrashed back and forth on the bed.

A small burst of pain, then he slid slowly into me. I relaxed my body as he gently moved in and out of me, using short thrusts. He brushed against my prostate and my whole body shook with pleasure. My shaft filled and twitched, coming back to life under his massive, rippling body.

"Ready for more?"

"Ah, ah, yes. Go faster." I was building toward another orgasm.

Faster he moved in me, rubbing my hot spot each time. I dropped my legs so that I could wrap them around his back, but got feathers and had to content myself with pressing my heels into his perfect ass, urging him back into me like a cowboy would spur a bronco. I was sweating, my hair stuck to my temples and I braced my hands against the headboard as he rode me hard.

My eyes drifted closed as he moved above me. A sudden breeze in the room swirled deliciously around us to cool my overheated body. I opened my eyes, wondering where the breeze was coming from, when I saw those beautiful wings moving slowly back and forth, stirring the air. Those beautiful, glossy wings were moving of their own accord!

How very interesting; his wings are moving, Dr. Grey whispered in my mind. They shouldn't be doing that. Holy hell, you think I don't know that? I answered.

My lust-inebriated brain screamed like a little bitch as Dr. Grey observed the fluttering wings, right down to the intricate vein networks now clearly visible beneath the obviously living gossamer skin covering the delicate hollow bones. They were both the most astoundingly beautiful and single most terrifying thing I'd ever seen in my life.

"What... what..." I gasped as his hand wrapped around my cock, jerking me in time to his thrusts.

"Come for me, beloved," he panted. Despite it all, I couldn't disobey.

My orgasm swept through me as I watched those wings spread to their full span as he yelled, flooding me deep inside. Fear and pleasure muddled my mind as I watched, his head thrown back, as we climaxed together in powerful, clenching spasms of pleasure.

"Get... get off me!" I screeched. I struggled under his body, as common sense returned, bringing a good dose of reality with it.

He moved enough that I could wiggle out from under him, rolling to the side of the bed and falling to the floor. Lurching to my feet I stumbled toward the door, my body a confusing mass of sensations. I skidded to a stop, my feet flying out from under me because he stood in the doorway.

Shit, how did he get here so damn fast?!?

"What the fuck are you?" I yelled as I sat down hard on my wet, well-fucked ass.

"Grey please, calm down." Az reached out toward me. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Fuck calming down!" I yelled, crawling backwards away from him like a large, deranged human crab. "What are you?"

"I'm the Angel of Death." He stood proudly in the door, magnificent in all his naked glory. "My name is Azrael."

I froze on the spot.

"I don't... I'm not ready to die." My voice broke.

"Oh babe, I'm not here to take your soul to Judgment," Azrael said. "I'm here, with you, because I love you... I've loved you since the beginning of time."

"Huh?" I croaked.

Very witty, Dr. Grey whispered in my mind. Way to impress the big, bad Angel. Shut up! I snapped.

I almost held my head, but stopped myself before I actually did it.

"The first time I saw you, Man was just in its infancy. I watched you, found you interesting. You have always been a healer, all through your many lives," he explained. "But your mind was young, and new. I've never been human, Grey. And I made mistakes with you."

"Huh?" I shook my head, hoping something would knock loose in there. "What happened?"

"I approached you and showed you my true form. You ran from me in fear. Your tribe tossed you out when you started telling them about me...you starved to death. In your next life you booked passage on a ship bound for the New World but you died at Plymouth Rock. After that, you were burned at the stake in a small New England village because they thought you were possessed by the devil. The lifetime after that—"

"Whoa!" I interrupted. "Did I die each and every time?"

"Yes, and it was my fault each and every time. At first it was because I didn't understand human emotions and I scared you. I caused you unbelievable terror and for that I am sorrier than I can even express. I grieved every time I had to escort your soul to Judgment." His eyes were filled with sorrow.

"As time went on, you began to resent Death... and me. Many times in many different lives I've heard you ask me to stay away. I've tried to make you understand that I don't have a choice. It's never been my decision—who lived and who died." Azrael raised sad eyes to me. "This is a job I do, just like being a doctor is a job you do."

"Oh man." I cringed as I recalled all the times I told Death to stay out of my damn ER.

I hadn't understood. The more he talked, the more pieces of the past closed in on me. My head began to pound as memories of past lives swept through me, the love, the fear, and the anguish all completely overwhelming. I remembered making love with him, then running from him in terror, never giving him a chance to explain.

"I'm so, so sorry." He whispered.

I watched as he stood in front of the door and waited. Waited for me to come to grips with all the information swirling around in my head. If what he said was true, then all the times I had died were his fault. If what he said was true, and he had really learned from his mistakes, he was trying to get it right this time. It was becoming clear to me that my resentment of Death was misplaced.

And another thought swirled through my mind that we had never just sat and talked. On the heels of that another thought hit me... That I wasn't the same person now as I was then. I was a whole lot fucking stronger now than I had been in any other lifetime, and more able to handle what he was.

Only one thing matter to me: I loved him. I realized with utter clarity that I always had, and did again.

"I didn't mean for you to find out like this." He gestured at the bed. "I did plan to tell you tonight, since it's Halloween or All Souls' Day. It just seemed right, but not like this, not while I was making love to you. I didn't want to frighten you."

I stared at him.

"That's why I went as myself tonight. I was hoping it would stir your memories, maybe make things easier when I revealed myself. Each time in the past when I found you, I always told you immediately. This time I waited, and still managed to mess it up."

"Was it difficult to wait?" I asked.

"No. Putting my own selfish desires aside and giving you the time you needed to get to know me was... fun. Please don't run, Grey. I don't think I can handle watching you die again, then trying to find you in another life."

Walking over to him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and inhaled the potent aroma of our combined scents. Gently I kissed his surprised mouth.

"I love you," I said, my voice a low growl as my lips continued to brush his. "You know me, baby. You know I don't run. Not from anything. And I'm sure as hell not going to do anything as stupid as dying."

His wings pulsed around us, moving the air, shaking in their joy. My hair fluttered around my face as I kissed him again.

"Your wait ends now, and we begin the way we should have begun together long ago." I groaned as his strong hands caressed my back.

"I've waited an eternity for you, Grey." Azrael nibbled on my neck. "Be sure this is what you want, because once you accept me, I'll never let you go. I can't."

"I'm yours, Azrael. Just like you're mine, and you better know that," I said, smirking as I ground my reviving erection against him. "Yours, baby."

"Praise God."

"So, how do we make this work? You're not human, and I am." I snuggled in his embrace.

Azrael close his eyes, and seemed to be listening to something or someone I couldn't hear.

"You live your life, and do what you do so well... Help those heal whose time hasn't come." Azrael answered. "And when your time finally comes, I'll escort you to Judgment for the last time. You'll be reborn an Angel of Death, my mate till time ends."

"You'll be able to handle me dying again?"

"Yes." He smiled at me. "It will be hard, but this time I'll know how it ends."

Azrael cradled in his arms, carrying me back to bed.

"I love you... You are the light to my dark, the joy to my sorrow, the life to my death. You are the other half of my soul, beloved." I felt his big body tremble with joy as he lowered me back onto the bed.

"And I love you, my Angel of Death."