Tah-dah! This is one of my first fiction stories, so please be nice to me. Now, my normal warning.

WARNING: This story's plot is about a male main character falling in love with another male character. Also, parts/characters in this story contain my own version of angels, devils, a heaven-like place, and my own interpretation of Hell, and the people who reside there. Don't yell at me for this: I am not mocking your religion. I am only writing an interesting story. If this offends you in any way, don't read it.

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A Devil's Appeal-Prologue

"My lord, what you want is impossible!"

The devil sighed, and stretched his long legs over the arm of his throne as the small underling named Muto quivered in fear for imparting this bad news. He expected to be set afire with one of his lord's glares, or, at the very least, feel the pain of his displeasure. Like all of the devil lord's subjects in the underworld, Muto was terrified of him, and believed him to be more monster than man on many occasions. With strange eyes that could cut a man in two with a look, and streaming hair the color of the hottest fire around his wickedly handsome face, he struck fear into the hearts of men and women alike, even while his unholy attributes fascinated all those around him. All of those beneath him, subjects and lovers alike, trembled in his wake when they incurred his wrath, and Muto wiped his sweating hands on his clothes, wondering what horrible fate was in store for him now that he had risked angering the Devil Lord of the Underworld. However, Muto's news did not displease him, it seemed. Instead, he looked somewhat bored, and merely flicked an errant piece of lint from his shoulder.

"And what," he asked dispassionately as he stretched his arms over his head, "makes this so impossible?"

He appeared not to care about the answer, simply cocked his head, revealing more of his pale, slender throat above the dark cloth of his silk shirt. Muto shivered, tugging at the coarse fabric of his own wool shirt, feeling the coolness of the room penetrate the thick material. How could his lord stay so warm in his silks, he wondered, when he was freezing in his much warmer clothing? As before, he began to wonder if the Devil Lord was even alive, or had ever been, letting his mind wander as he answered the tall redhead's enquiry.

"As you know, my lord, only direct descendants, either through blood or marriage, of the heavens are allowed to rule. Since you have been divested of any rights you may have had for many thousands of years, you could only be eligible through marriage, or, at the very least, through mating. With an angel, to be exact." Muto swallowed against the lump in his throat as he watched his master tilt his head, thinking.

The devil looked over at him, the strange man's eyes connecting with Muto's. He gave a thin smile when the underling backed up a step.

"And what, pray tell, is so impossible about that?"

Muto wore a look of pure astonishment that would have been comical under other circumstances.

"My lord, angels cannot be captured, and can materialize back to their safe haven in the heavens on a moments notice. The only way we could catch one would be to enter their sanctuary, and the only way we can do that is…" Muto trailed off when he realized his lord's intentions.

"Is if we stormed the gates of the heavens. Yes, I know this Muto," he said mildly, and, for a moment, Muto was shocked into silence. He hadn't been aware that the Devil Lord knew his name, as he never had been so familiar with his inferiors. Sexually active with them: yes, since it would have been a crime for someone so who's appearance and gestures were so blatantly erotic to have been celibate. But, he had never bothered to learn the names of those who obeyed him. The idea that he knew Muto's name was not only surprising, but potentially dangerous. Rumors that had reached his ears from some of his lord's ex-lovers shifted through his mind, and he shivered. He did not want to go insane.

However, the familiarity with which his lord spoke his name, as though he was an equal, caused Muto to respond in kind, with a bit more intensity than he would have dared otherwise.

"My lord, that's suicide!"

"Perhaps, Muto. And who better to attempt this than someone who is already dead, in soul if not in body?" He asked mildly, picking up a glass of something that looked like red wine from a passing server. No matter where you went in the Devil Lord's realm, there were always people. Privacy was a foreign concept in his land, and, not for the first time, Muto wondered if this abundance of people was a tool used simply to punish those he ruled over. Whatever it was, it had been annoying Muto for hundreds of years.

He had a point. If anyone was capable of conquering the well guarded entrance to the heavens, it was the vicious warrior in front of him, who had been purged of guilt and morals thousands of years before Muto was born. While Muto had only heard the tales of his ruthlessness, and had never experienced or seen any first hand, he fully believed him able to do them all. Even if only a third were true, that was enough to cause strangers to "head for the hills," so to speak.

"Mayhap, my lord. But, that is not the only problem with this plan of yours. It is the nature of all angels to not take mates. They do not like sex, unlike humans-"

He stopped as his lord's harsh laugh echoed through the empty chamber, and he swung his legs down from across the side of his throne to better enjoy his mirth. With a small smile, he placed his nearly untouched glass on the tray of another passing attendant, and leaned his arm across the back of his throne, closing his eyes. Every move he made was flawless, the fluid grace of his movements captivating, and Muto couldn't help but stare.

"Do you really think I will have a problem convincing anyone, even an angel, to have sex with me?" He asked, amusement in his voice, before he looked up to meet Muto's staring, all traces of humor gone from his hated gaze. Muto had to concentrate just to breath normally when his lord's lusty gaze trailed over him, heating him like a warm caress, making the coolness of the room fade. While this was not the first time he had seen this look, it was the first time it had ever been directed at him, and, before, he had been grateful. Every time he had come within reach, Muto had dearly wanted to strip himself naked and throw himself at his lord's feet, but he hadn't, for two reasons. One, he hadn't wanted to lose his sanity a second sooner than necessary if he could have prevented it. He had seen the results of allowing sexual desires to overcome reason: everyone who had ever been intimate with the Devil Lord and been dismissed when he lost interest had either been driven insane with need, or turned into unthinking, unfeeling creatures who were virtually useless and who didn't know who they were any longer. Muto knew this, since many of his own family members had suffered from these problems. He hadn't wanted to lose his powers of thought for the brief physical pleasure his lord could give him, and it would be brief, for Muto had never been very attractive, and his lord would have lost interest quickly.

And two, he feared that giving into that urge would have gotten him sliced in half.

Now, however, the warnings and rationalization he had used to justify these thoughts faded when the strange eyes of his lord looked at him with a lust he had never seen before, and that he doubted few mortal men were capable of. Even worse, the youthful looking redhead was stretched languidly across the gilded throne, his slim body draped in a way that beckoned to him, promising to stop the ache that only it could absolve, in the only possible way…even worse, that his lord would speak to him in that husky and irresistible voice that had seduced men, straight men, even, and women alike.

"I have been watching you, Muto," he said silkily as he rose and sauntered towards him.

"Have you? And what have you decided?" He asked in a nearly inaudible voice, amazed he could speak at all.

The demonic creature paused a few feet in front of him, crossing his arms across his attractive chest, and looking at him with an emotionless gaze.

"You have resisted me for too long, Muto. Come here, and give in," he said, and it was like Muto had lost all power over his limbs. It was as if his mind had failed him, in his shock and delight of being the newest subject of his lord's lust, and he couldn't control himself when the Devil Lord cocked his finger at him. No more words were needed as he stripped himself of his clothing, no longer aware of the presence of the other people going in and out of the room. Without any other thoughts of right or wrong, he quickly laid himself next to his lord, his body burning as it began. Every touch seemed to sear his soul, every heated kiss burned away his resistance, until he knew that he was lost to the sensations, never to return again to this world.

There had never been a creature alive who could resist the Devil Lord.