Admonition/Disclaimer: This story has explicit descriptions 
of people engaging in careless and unprotected sexual 
activity in it, and shouldn't be accessed by minors.  Kids?  
Try this stuff and you'll probably end up either in an AIDS 
ward waiting to die or in the maternity ward looking at 
your child before you graduate.  Don't rush into 'It' - 
it's not THAT much fun, and certainly not worth the risks 
around nowadays - I'm glad I'm married! :) In any case, 
should this find its way into minors' hands, I cannot be 
held responsible - I DID warn them.

Copyright notice: I, the author of this tawdry pile of 
maudlin feelings masquerading as smut, hold all rights of 
reproduction to this work of prose.  Private copies for 
personal perusal and archives for NON-commercial 
distribution are permitted.

Plea for attention: The only reward ASS* authors can expect 
is the joy of sharing their creation with the rest of 
humanity.  But wait - how does that author KNOW if people 
are reading and enjoying his story?  Yep; if you like a 
story posted to alt.sex.stories.*, the fair thing to do is 
email the author and tell them so.  I promise that it'll 
make YOU feel good to send them kudos, after all, Mark 
Twain said, "The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to 
cheer someone else up."  As always you may contact me (and 
my wife Dancer) through my 'legacy' Deja News email 
account: <empath69@my-deja.com>  
(Wow, I'm not just an author, now I'm an AGENT, too!  ;)

Author's Note: YES, I used 'caution'; I promise there WILL 
be MF sex (I'm not that rude - it's alt.SEX.stories, after 
all:) that shouldn't squick many people at all.  But there 
are some NON-sexual events that will probably upset people 
(I should hope so - it's my *intent*:) that would be 
spoiled by foreknowledge: the surprise or 'shock value' is 
key to it.

I'll just say this - you'll notice that 'rom' isn't present 
- the two participants are at cross-purposes to each other; 
expect some conflict *outside* of the bed.  Just remember 
that I tend to happy endings...
-------


To Tempt and Redeem
By Empath
Copyright, 2001
===============

I sat on the C-train, lost in thought.  Most of them were 
about Jean; what she was doing at that moment, what she was 
thinking, how soon before we could speak again, and how 
long it would take before I could move down there with her.

This last thought caused me no little amount of 
aggravation.  Jean and I had met over the Internet, 
chatting together and getting to know one another as well 
as we knew ourselves.  Almost a year previously, I had gone 
down to Ohio to visit her, and we got along in person even 
better.  The sex was great, the cuddling was even better, 
and we even could seamlessly cooperate in cooking a meal or 
washing a load of laundry as if we were trained from birth 
to work together.  

And it was agony to leave her; I had found my soul mate, 
and Fate's fickle nature decided to put her across a 
national border.  I'd begun to talk with the U.S. Consulate 
about moving permanently to be with her, and even filed the 
first of several necessary applications, but I had heard 
nothing in months.

Immigration is not something for the working classes; 
ignore that bullshit about "give me your tired, your weak, 
your huddled masses" - it says nothing about your 
financially disadvantaged.  

And I'm not slamming just the U.S. - Canada is just as bad; 
no thriving nation wants an influx of foreigners that will 
do nothing for the country except lower the mean income, 
per capita GDP, etc. etc.  A government wants people who 
can *improve* its nation - bring valuable skills, ideas and 
the like in, to better the lives of its citizens.  It's not 
an unreasonable aim; I respect it.  I just don't *like* it 
very much.

So Jean and I are confined to daily emails, short phone 
calls each weekend, and 'care packages' to each other at 
irregular intervals.  We grind through our working class 
jobs (I'm a security guard, she's a cook) thinking of each 
other.

My contemplation was brought to an end by the car coming to 
a stop at my station.  I stood, shifted toward the door, 
and got off the train when the doors opened.  A quick 
flight of steps had me standing right outside the Telus' 
Len Werry building.

Waving to my colleague behind the reception desk, I was 
admitted through the security entrance.  Ten-thirty-seven 
at night; I was a little early for changeover (company 
policy was to have a guard present fifteen minutes before 
his shift began to get 'up to speed' on exceptional 
situations, special events, blah, blah, blah) but not 
enough to be a waste of time.

"Hiya, Rita."  Rita was the usual evening guard while I 
took the graveyard shift; she saw more human beings than I, 
but then her cheerful demeanor was probably was better to 
look at than my hang-dog, lovesick moping; management 
weren't idiots...completely.

"Hey, Will.  How's Jean?" 

"Okay.  I'll tell her you asked."

"Right, ready for a rematch?"

"Sure - just a minute."  I took off my windbreaker and took 
my things to the guards' break area.  Coming back, I found 
Rita ready for our nightly arm-wrestle.

You may think it odd for a woman, but a) Rita is a security 
guard, b) though she's only 5'4" and 200lbs, there's a lot 
of muscle under that 'roly-poly' exterior, c) she's also 
fiercely competitive - I am her favorite opponent due to my 
larger size.  Indeed, we are rather evenly matched; I 
couldn't tell you who would win on any given night.

I hunched down to the desk, grasped her hand, and we 
shifted to prepare for the coming struggle.  As Rita 
counted us down, and we began.  It was a stalemate; I had a 
longer forearm (and more leverage), but Rita had more raw 
muscle.  

After a few minutes of this, I decided to pull out my 
secret weapon.  I lunged across the desk and kissed my 
opponent.  Surprised by my actions, Rita's arm went limp 
for just a second...but that was enough.  I jumped back as 
soon as her arm was flat on the desk and smiled meekly.

"You!  You!" - Rita began to calm down some - "You...had 
some help with that - Jean gave you the idea, didn't she?"

"Yes - you know we GUYS are too simple to come up with 
devious tricks!"

She waggled a finger at me, "I'll get you guys - sooner or 
later; you'll see."  Her smile disarmed any threat her 
words contained.

"How about a nice two-bedroom in Eau Claire?"  Rita gave me 
a dirty look.  "Okay, I'll settle for Sunnyside!"

"Try Edmonton!"

"Ooooo, that's a bit of a commute - sure you don't mind 
waiting around for me to get here?"

Rita shook her head and gave up. 

"Anyway, anything interesting happen?"

"Nah - typical quiet night.  Oh, you'll want to keep an eye 
on the loading dock; I caught a squatter trying to sleep 
behind the Dumpster - she may be back.  If she won't stay 
away, call CPS and they'll give her somewhere to sleep for 
the night, at least."

I sighed, "Great."  I signed into the logbook, five minutes 
before my shift began at eleven, and let Rita sign out.  
She handed me the guard's keys as I settled myself in 
behind the reception desk, rearranging the logbooks and 
camera settings to my own preference.

Rita came out of the break room with personal items.  
"Right - have a quiet night, Will, and I'll see you 
tomorrow."

"'Kay, Rita - and I'll be eager to see what innovations you 
can come up with in revenge!"

She waved and left the building laughing.

           *           *           *           *

It had been a quiet night.  My first patrol found nothing 
out of the ordinary in or around the building.  A checked 
in with the guards at the main offices - Telus Tower - 
every hour on the hour.  I greeted the night cleaners as 
they signed in, and then I had my meal at two a.m.

Then, the alley camera showed a person shambling down the 
side of the building.  It was in shadow, but didn't look 
very large.  Rita's comment came to mind, and I shifted the 
focus of the camera to the edge of the shadow closest to 
the loading dock's open mouth.  On cue, she stepped into 
the light.  

Her description ran through the 'trained witness' part of 
my brain: blonde Caucasian female, small with average to 
skinny build, dressed in worn jacket and jeans, but not 
quite as shabby as your average homeless.  Anywhere from 
teenage to maybe her thirties from what I could tell from 
the black-and-white security camera.

I was reaching for my radio and flashlight as she turned 
into the dock.  Another camera displayed her squeezing 
between the Dumpster and the wall.  Calling my shift 
supervisor at the executive offices, I informed him I would 
be rousting a squatter and would be back at my desk in five 
minutes.  He gave me a go-ahead, and I grabbed the uniform 
jacket hanging in the break room.  Going through the break 
room, I stepped through a maintenance corridor and opened 
the door to the loading dock.

"Hello?"  No answer.  Maybe she was asleep already?  "This 
is private property and covered by camera surveillance - I 
saw you come in here."  Nothing.

I walked over to the Dumpster and lightly banged my 
flashlight against the side.  When there was no movement, I 
stepped around to the back of the obstacle.  "Come on, you 
can't stay in here - the phone company won't allow it."

She was cowering, her arms wrapped around the tops of her 
knees and her face half-hidden by those arms.  Shoulder-
length straight blonde hair and surprisingly clean.  Her 
eyes were bright and clear, but seemed to be blue one 
moment, and green the next.  She didn't move at all when I 
appeared.

I offered her a hand.  "I can get some people to give you a 
place to sleep for the night, but with all the electrical 
stuff it isn't safe to kip around here.  Telus doesn't want 
either a lawsuit or bad public relations."

She sat up slightly, revealing her face.  She was probably 
in her mid-twenties - only a little younger than I was.  
She grinned and shot back "But you're here - every night?"

"Most," I agreed, "but they pay me for the privilege, I 
have sense enough to hide behind my guard desk for most of 
the shift, and I provide them a valuable service - keeping 
people from getting themselves electrocuted by company 
equipment."

"Or sneaking into the tunnels under the road with all the 
trunk lines and getting themselves irradiated from the EM 
fields?"

I started - the underground 'cable vaults' were part of my 
patrol - but how would a simple indigent know that?  And 
where'd the fifty-cent words come from?  I leaned my hand a 
little closer.  "C'mon - OUT."

She shrugged, got up and slid back out the far side of her 
hiding place.  I circled around the Dumpster to keep an eye 
on her but she just stood in the entrance of the dock.  I 
gave her an expectant look.  She shrugged confidently and 
said "Don't worry, Will - I don't want you to call the 
Police Service and get all the paperwork to report a simple 
trespass dumped on your lap.  I'll be gone in about three - 
two - one -"

"Hey, Will - it's been five minutes.  You still rousting?" 
came the voice of my supervisor from the radio at my belt.  

I grabbed it to reply.  "Yeah-" but when I looked up, she 
wasn't there.  I stepped into the alley, my eyes adjusting 
to the dim light.  No motion, and no conspicuous objects in 
the shadows.  I shrugged, and spoke into the radio.  "I'm 
done here, Frank.  Going back in - talk to you at three."

"Roger, out."

           *           *           *           *

I typed away at the computer.  It was the next morning, my 
shift completed and I was back in my shabby apartment 
sending an email to Jean before I went to bed:

     How did she know my name?  And don't say I'm 
     confused - I remember clearly that she called me 
     'Will' -before- Frank called in.  

     And what was the deal with the 'EM fields' down 
     in with the 'trunk lines' - where does a homeless
     girl learn about electro-magnetism?  Hell's bells
     - MEDICAL SCIENCE hasn't decided for certain what
     effect chronic exposure to a strong EM field has 
     upon a human being!

     And she didn't seem like your average drifter - 
     too clean and healthy.  Her clothes were worn but
     not like they'd been lived in constantly.  I 
     wonder, am I being cased by some industrial spy?  
     There *are* a few private research firms leasing 
     offices at LW.  Naaaaaaaaah! :)

     Apart from this, life is quiet; I heard the 
     Flames lost (big surprise) and Ralph is swinging 
     to the Right as always.

     I miss you (and those lush, full melons of 
     yours:) and pine for the day we can live in the 
     same municipality.:)

     Your loving (and paranoid) fiance,
     Will

I sent the email, logged off, shut down the computer and 
pulled out the couch-bed.  With barely enough strength to 
disrobe, I stripped and pulled the blanket over me.  I 
nodded off quickly and dreamt of blonde spies...

           *           *           *           *

I laughed when I read Jean's reply:

     First off, she'd better keep her grubby little 
     hands of MY MAN! <grrr>

     Second, you're right about being paranoid - 
     Calgary Alberta Canada is not the world's capital
     of telecommunications research, tar sands aside. 

     She's just a college drop-out (something you'd 
     know NOTHING about, darling B-) who didn't have 
     the guts to face her folks. Looking at this map 
     you sent me, I count the University of Calgary,
     Athabasca University, Alberta Vocational College 
     and this SAIT thingie - plenty of places for her 
     to flunk out from.

     As for those em fields - maybe they're the cause
     of your paranoia?  Don't you have to patrol 
     through them each night? B-)

     Work's going well here - we hired a new cook's 
     assistant who actually knows what she's supposed 
     to be doing! (yay!)

     I love you very much, and my pussy aches to be 
     petted by you...and the cat says hi too! :-D

     Your devoted (and understanding) woman,
     Jean

She had a point - I was exaggerating things; probably 
fantasizing for an interesting shift instead of sitting on 
my ass for six of eight hours doing little and earning 
less.

I filtered out two new spam-mailer addresses, then read a 
couple other emails from friends and one from my folks 
asking when I was getting my green card. (Relax: I don't 
need one of those to give you a grandkid, mom!)

Shutting down my computer, I jumped through the shower, 
fixed myself something to eat, and sat in front of the TV 
for a few meaningless primetime sitcoms.

At the appointed time, I put on my uniform, packed a lunch, 
left the apartment to catch my bus at the stop across the 
street, transferred from the bus to a C-train crossing the 
city centre, and got off in front of my place of work.

As I approached the main entrance, I saw a bundle of youths 
clustered against the building front between the doors and 
the corner with the alley.  Looking them over, I noticed 
that there were three guys and one girl - the blonde from 
the night before.  The strange thing was that the guys 
seemed to be hitting on her and trying to impress her, but 
she was treating them as a cloud of mayflies - she was 
staring straight at me.

Passing the doors, I waved at Rita behind the guard desk 
and pointed to the group I was approaching.  She nodded and 
started fiddling with something - she was moving the camera 
on the building's corner to keep me in sight.

When I was just beyond striking distance from the youths, I 
cleared my throat and said; "May I ask what you young 
people are doing here?"

One of them looked right through me and replied with "No - 
fuck off." before returning to his attempts to chat up the 
blonde.

I sighed, removed my plain jacket from over my uniform 
shirt and spoke loudly "I'll ask anyway: What are you doing 
loitering on Telus property?"

The spokesman for the group turned on me "I told you to 
fuck off...rentacop."

The blonde chimed in: "Isn't it obvious what they're doing, 
Will?  Check the boners - they're 'loitering within tent'!"  
One of them actually laughed at this for a second.

I jumped at the opportunity - "Are these young men 
bothering you, miss?"

"Not really, Will - certainly not enough for me to do 
anything about them."  

Thanks for nothing, miss.  "Then may I ask what you're 
doing here?"

"Certainly, I'm waiting for a bus."

I checked my watch.  "The last one by this stop is in three 
minutes."

"Technically the last bus by here won't be for a LONG time, 
Will."  The boys had given up on chatting up this woman 
when she started bantering with me; they were now standing 
at the bus stop out on the sidewalk.

"I've been meaning to ask you - how did you know my name's 
Will?"

"I could say I saw your name tag-"

"Which only says my last name."

"-Looked up all the 'Stanton's in the phone book, then 
followed you home from work to find out which one you 
were."

"And if my listing just gives "W Stanton" like it does?"

"I did say 'could'."

"So how did you know?"

She gave me a very disconcerting smile, and I could swear I 
saw her eyes change from blue to green as she spoke.  "That 
would be telling."

I heard the bus pull up behind me, a little early, but not 
soon enough for my liking.  "There's the last bus OF THE 
NIGHT; please get on it."

She shook her head.  "That's not the one I'm waiting for.  
My bus leaves here at, oh, five minutes before seven in the 
morning."  That was *my* bus - this was getting beyond 
weird. 

"Whatever, but remember that this is private property, if 
you're still here when I've finished taking over from my 
friend in there, the police get a call."

"Don't worry, Will - like I said last night, the last thing 
I want to do for you is make more paperwork."

"Then please leave the building's vicinity.  Go wait for 
that bus in some warm, public place - a bar would be a good 
choice."

"I suppose it would, Will.  Don't worry, we'll talk when 
you get off shift tomorrow morning."  And she stopped 
leaning against the wall, walked up the street and around 
the corner.  I recalled that the nearest bar was a strip 
club just halfway down the block she'd just turned.  

As I quickly went in to relieve Rita, I realized that I was 
more worried for the club's staff and other customers than 
for this mystery woman...

           *           *           *           *

It had not been a good night.  I dropped my keys half the 
time when doing my patrols.  I actually got lost once in 
the cable vaults and covered the same tunnel three times.  
I was constantly flubbing my hourly radio call-ins with my 
supervisor.  And somehow I'd managed to confuse margarine 
for mayonnaise when I'd made my tuna salad for that night's 
snack.

As a result, I was very grumpy when I returned from my 
second patrol, only to see - on the security cameras - that 
the blonde drifter was leaning against the building in just 
the same place as before my shift.  This meant two things: 
first, I had forgotten to realign the camera to watch the 
alley as it usually did, and second, this woman would 
probably be pestering me on the bus ride home.

After checking her for a few minutes, I aimed the camera 
back to its alley view, and grabbed my radio.  "Tower, this 
is Len Werry.  Patrol completed."

"Congrats on getting right this time."

"Funny, Tim, funny.  Tell Frank I'm gonna pop out front to 
check on a possible panhandler standing near the entrance.  
Be right back."

"Kay, Will - have fun.  Tower out."

I grabbed my flashlight and jacket and stepped out through 
the double doors.  Standing on the front step, I put my 
hands on my hips, and gave the blonde an exasperated look.  
"We've gotta stop meeting like this."

She merely shrugged.  I gestured with my flashlight.  
"C'mon, GIT."

"I'm waiting for a bus - only about another hour and a 
half, Will.  You wouldn't bother someone in a nice suit 
coat using the lee of the building to stay warm, would 
you?"

"I'd still check on them like this.  So that's what all 
this is about - you're making a protest against the class 
struggle?"

"Will, don't worry - I'm not going to panhandle - the staff 
coming in for work will not be bothered by my presence, I 
swear."  She held one hand up and covered her heart with 
the other.  "Besides, I didn't do anything during Rita's 
shift - check the logs."

I flushed - normally I glance over the log sheets for the 
last two shifts during the vast amount of time when I'm not 
busy.  People aren't perfect and sometimes forget to let 
their relief know about a leaky pipe or a conference group 
meeting late.  Par for the course, I hadn't looked at the 
day and evening shift's logs.

I stomped back into the lobby, growled "Len Werry back on 
post" into the radio, and dropped onto my chair.  She was 
right - Rita had noted that this 'individual' had taken up 
her post just an hour after her shift began at three in the 
afternoon, but had done nothing - approached no one, even 
ignored those who spoke with her (including Rita).  My 
colleague had used her discretion and left her be without 
calling the police, and noted the individual had left after 
relief guard had arrived.

What upset me was the scrawled comment in the unfilled part 
of the log sheet.  It was in what looked like pink 
highlighter - "Told you, Will.  Kisses," and an 
indecipherable signature that resembled "Alakabeth".  What 
really upset me was the lip print of pink lipstick just 
underneath what had to be the blonde's comment.

This wasn't possible!  She stayed outside the entire time I 
was present and left without going inside.  Rita would 
definitely have recorded any instance of someone coming 
into the lobby and certainly wouldn't let anyone deface a 
log sheet like this-

That was it; Rita was pulling my leg - this was all some 
elaborate prank in revenge for my win at arm-wrestling the 
previous night.  She asked the drifter to help her out, and 
filled out a second log sheet to be put in place of this 
gag.  I flipped through the book, checking the previous 
week, then digging through the blank sheets at the back of 
the binder.  Nothing.  I turned back to my shift, missed 
and looked at Rita's again.

The pink writing was gone!  I flipped back and forth to 
double-check, but I was right the first time - there was no 
scrawled comment and no lip print!  This didn't make any 
SENSE!  I moved the alley camera to look at this woman 
again.  She looked up, smiled right into the camera and 
blew me a kiss!

I rested my head in my hands and wondered how far into 
madness I was sinking - maybe not being with Jean was 
getting to me.  I rubbed my eyes and groaned.  Looking at 
the monitors again, I saw my tormentor looking into the 
camera again and pointing at her wrist.

I looked at the clock.  Five past five - time for my hourly 
check-in.  I grabbed the radio and didn't even wonder how 
she knew.

           *           *           *           *

"What do you want from me?"  She had followed me onto the 
bus, and I sat next to the window, leaving her the aisle 
seat that I knew she would ask for if I hadn't.

"It's about time!  I was wondering how long you'd wait 
before asking me - I can't do shit until asked."  She 
seemed annoyingly cheerful, and I gave her a foul glare.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Will."  She placed a hand on my shoulder.  
"I know it's been hard on you - oh!"  That last seemed to 
grab my attention.

"What?"

She looked bashful.  "Will?  You're still wearing the guard 
jacket."  I looked down and confirmed what she'd said - 
*my* jacket was hanging in the break room with my keys in 
the pocket...KEYS!  I still had the guard keys on my belt!  
"SHIT!"  I stood and yanked the 'next stop' cord, not 
caring who I upset with my language.

She got off the bus right behind me.  I wheeled on her 
"Leave me the FUCK alone, alright?  What the HELL do you 
want from me, anyway?"

She giggled and immediately looked contrite about it.  
"Sorry - it's a reflex."

I turned and resumed walking back to the building.  I set a 
fast pace, but unfortunately she kept up without exerting 
herself.  "You been hanging around me like a nasty fart for 
two days now - give me one reason why I shouldn't call the 
cops myself?"

"Because I can get you and Jean together."

That stopped me.  I just looked at her, filled with too 
many emotions to list.  I felt one eyelid twitch 
uncontrollably.

"I have a proposition; I fix things with Immigration - in 
whichever country you prefer, either get you a job in 
Cleveland or her a job here.  And I cover the 
transportation costs."

"Tempting offer; what do you get in return?"

She looked shifty.  "Can that wait until we get to your 
place?"

I smiled for the first time in quite a while.  "What makes 
you think I'm going to let a strange - make that 'VERY 
strange' woman into my building, let alone my apartment?"

"You won't believe me."  I contrived to look hurt.  "Fine.  
I want your immortal soul."

I laughed, I bent in half holding my gut, I cried from 
laughter.  All the while she tapped her foot and looked 
impatient.  "Sure, honey.  You're gonna tell me you're the 
Devil next."

"A devil; Lucifer's too busy to do legwork anymore."

I stopped laughing and looked her in the eye; she was 
serious.  "Right, fine.  I'll warn you now, if you're still 
around when I get back to the guard desk I'm going to call 
the CPS to pick up an escaped mental patient."  I began 
walking again, keeping my gaze on her.

She waved a hand frantically and I was yanked back to the 
curb.  An eighteen-wheeler rushed through the space I had 
occupied a moment before.  "Watch where you walk, Will.  
You're no good to me, Jean or even yourself dead."

I was dumbstruck, my jaw working silently.  "That-"

"Damn it, why do you mortal people *insist* on ignoring the 
evidence of you own eyes?  I'm a devil - a demoness.  I 
spend my time perverting people's will to evil deeds.  I'm 
giving you the cliched 'deal with the devil' - what you 
most want in exchange for eternal damnation."

I was having trouble getting past nearly being flattened by 
a speeding truck.  "You...just..."

"Oh, FUCK THIS!"  She snapped her fingers.

We were standing in my apartment.  I reverted to burbling 
like an infant.

"I just changed history - you left the keys and jacket; we 
rode the bus to your usual stop and walked up here.  Now, 
SIT." She pressed a hand to my shoulder and I plopped onto 
the couch unresistingly.

She sat on the coffee table and waited for me to collect my 
thoughts.

"Okay, I believe it - if this is a hoax, you've gone to 
enough trouble to deserve my belief.  Why me?"

"You're a 'swing voter' - even though you're thoroughly 
good, there's enough impishness in you to keep you from 
being completely unassailable.  Take that prank you pulled 
on Rita last night; it won't send you to H-E-double hockey 
sticks, but you might be inclined to listen to my offer.  
And if I do convert one like you, I'd really stick it to 
Him and His."  She smiled maliciously at the thought.

"So what are we talking about here?  Specifically."

"I reunite you and Jean, you two lead a happy and long life 
together, and when you're old and gray, you commit a mortal 
sin and don't seek forgiveness.  You die and join us.  And 
forget all that 'fire and brimstone' crap - that's just His 
smear campaign; neither Heaven nor Hell is any better or 
worse than life here - I'll get you a nice quiet clerical 
job if you want."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

She laughed.  "You can't - don't insult me!"

"So why should I enter into this bargain?"

"Listen to what I said - you get your side of the deal.  
AFTER you've had your fill, I take my side.  Until you do 
something irretrievably evil there's no point in me 
grabbing you - you'd go to the good guys.  The only 
loophole I can think of is if you commit a mortal sin 
before the agreed-upon time.  And I assure you I'll be 
hanging around, waiting for that.  I am a devil and will 
grab you as soon as I can, deal or no deal."

"It sounds rather fair - I could even screw you over at the 
end by leading a pure life right to death."

She shrugged.  "True, but I have confidence in the evil in 
every person."

"Doesn't seem like the usual 'five-hundred page contract 
with the fatal loophole' deal."

"New strategy - treat 'em fairly and maybe they won't 
squirm out of it.  Mind you, I'm flexible," she said, 
stretching. "I'll go with the old 'three wishes'.  The long 
and short of it is: I give you something and you become 
evil for us."

I thought things over carefully - I wouldn't *agree* to 
this for any amount of guaranteed happiness, but maybe I 
could have some fun.  "So Jean and I get a happy life, and 
at its end - at a prearranged time, I imagine - I do an 
evil deed and die."  

She sat next to me.  "That's it, honeybunny."  I only 
slightly frowned at her using Jean's pet name for me.  
"Come on, I'll even let you write up the contract."  She 
stroked my cheek.

Something occurred to me.  "You're a succubus."

The temptress giggled.  "Wow, a classical education.  
Guilty as charged, Willie-boy.  I was leading Greeks down 
the primrose path by their erections before He ever started 
that big 'love thy neighbor' campaign.  Name's Alia-
Kae'thoth, but you can call me Ally."

"That's what that gibberish on the log sheet was - you need 
to work on your penmanship, Ally."

"Signatures are supposed to be hard to read...and copy, 
love."

"So why the deal?  It doesn't let you do what you do best."

She knelt astride my lap.  "Says who?  I planned on showing 
up in your bed.  We'd screw and Jean would walk in on us.  
Adultery - it's a Commandment, after all.  Not an 
unpleasant way to go, either."

I made my choice.  "I couldn't do that to Jean.  No deal.  
We'll sort our life out on our own."

She sighed.  "Will?  What makes you think I'll ever let 
you?"  Ally leaned back and held out a hand.  "Who do you 
think hijacked your visa approval?"  There was a puff of 
flame and a letter burned itself into existence on her 
outstretched hand.  "The INS okayed your application months 
ago - they didn't get any reply to this, and forgot about 
you."

I was surprised.  "But I've been calling-"

She cut me off.  "James Williams, U.S. Consulate.  How may 
I help you?" a bass voice rumbled.

"Damn you!"

"Someone much holier than you will ever be already did."

I stood, trying to spill her onto the floor from my lap.  
She merely drifted back and waggled a finger at me.  I 
pushed the table back and opened out the couch-bed.

"What're you doing?"

"This is a lot to think about; I'm going to sleep on it."  
I pulled her to me and dropped us onto the bed.

           *           *           *           *

We disrobed silently and quickly.  Ally stroked a hand over 
my cock as I pulled my feet out of my slacks.  When we were 
both naked, I grabbed her wrists and pushed her back to the 
bed, lying astride her.  "Ooooh, that's it - take charge; I 
like it rough!"

'You'd better,' I thought as I kissed her, mashing my lips 
to hers and lancing my tongue into her mouth.  The demoness 
moaned into mine.

I trailed a path of kisses to her neck, where I sucked and 
nibbled the tender flesh.  "Oh, HELLS, Will - that's nice."

Shifting lower I suckled at her petite breasts and their 
prominent nipples.  She cooed and moaned her approval to 
this, and twined her fingers in my hair.  She cried out in 
ecstasy when I pinched the pink nubs with my teeth.

Kissing lower and lower, I piqued Ally's curiosity.  
"Where're you going, Will?"  I just smiled with my chin 
grazing the pale frosting of hair on her mons.  My hands 
took old of her thighs, pulling them apart and opening her 
flower to me.

"Oh, Lucifer!  No one's EVER done this to me."  I breathed 
on her pussy, watching the damp lips twitch.  I gently 
kissed one side, the other, then latched my lips around her 
nether ones, trapping them shut in my mouth.  She groaned 
deeply, about an octave below her expected range.  

I plunged my tongue within her folds, harshly sliding it 
around her inner opening.  I lapped at her juices, coating 
my tongue.  My arms wrapped around her thighs from 
underneath and my fingertips touched her mound, spreading 
it apart slightly.

"Yes - Yes - oh, Will; you and Jean will never need for 
anything!  Oh, she's so lucky! Please, never stop!"

I used my thumbs to separate the top of her labia, exposing 
her clit.  The flat of my wet tongue touched it first, 
making her jolt in my grasp.  I rolled her 'lower nipple' 
back and forth, eliciting cries of pleasure and delight 
from Ally.

I sent her over the edge by trapping her clit in my lips 
and sucking ever so lightly.  She screamed, flailed her 
limbs about, and her entire body flushed.

I climbed up alongside her as she caught her breath.  "Oh 
hells...hells...that...I never knew, Will.  Thank you."  
She rolled to her side and idly fondled a breast.  "But my 
whole purpose is to pleasure another.  Surely I'm not that 
unappealing?"  She parted her legs, and ran her toes up to 
almost touch her moist cleft.

I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back, rolling myself 
onto her.  "Yes!  That's it, Will.  Take me."  She looked 
down as I adjusted my shaft to touch her lips.  I pushed 
her face back to look into her eyes as I thrust into her.  
"YES!  Oh, Lucifer!"

I pinned her to the bed, filling her cunt with my hardness.  
My hands held her wrists, and she struggled uselessly.  
"Oh, Will - take me, use me, make me yours!"  After fucking 
her for a few minutes, she came with a yelp.  I paused, 
letting her recover from this smaller climax, then slipped 
my hands under her knees.  I began to piston into her as 
her legs were splayed apart.

"Oh, Will - I'm going to keep you for myself; you're 
wonderful!  I love this aggressiveness, darling.  Fuck me 
cruelly!"  Her ankles were beside her head; her cunt tilted 
up to meet my strokes as I fucked her.  My cock raked over 
the top of her pussy and she wailed at the sensation.  "Oh 
Will, Oh - ohohhellswillwilllloh WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLL!"

She came shaking and screaming, her nether muscles 
clenching me and forcing me over the top.  I filled her 
with my cum, making her buck against me.

Ally panted as I rolled off her.  "Oh HELLS...I 
wasn't...expecting that...but a wish is a wish and a 
loophole's a loophole...have fun in Hades, Will.  I'll try 
to get you that comfortable job.  I'm sorry for Jean, 
though."

I grabbed her chin and turned her head to face me.  "Wish? 
Who said anything about agreeing to your deal, my dear 
succubus?  I never made any wish - I simply wanted to fuck 
you and I did so, honey.  Don't try that 'adultery' line, 
either - Jean and I are only engaged.  *He* doesn't have 
word one on our commitment to each other, officially."

Her face clouded as she thought back, and then contorted in 
sudden anger.  "You BASTARD!"

"Uh-uh, my dad acknowledges me.  Sorry for screwing you, 
little demon."  I stroked her hair.

She flung me off the couch-bed and onto the far wall.  And 
as I stuck to the wall as if gravity had shifted right 
angles just for me, Ally changed.

Her skin went from pale pink to jet-black, with a metallic 
sheen.  She went from five-foot-nothing to seven-foot-and-
change.  Sleek, black batwings burst from her back.  Tiny 
horns peeked out from her hair, now ivory white, long and 
wavy.  Her face changed from cute and dimpled to lean, 
haughty and austerely beautiful.  Her irises and pupils 
disappeared as her eyes became slits opening into a harsh 
red light.  Her body became lithe and muscled.  Her breasts 
swelled, standing proud on her chest and capped with 
silvery areolae and nipples.  Her fingers lengthened and 
were tipped with long nails that had the metallic gleam of 
razors.

In short, she stopped being the cute, cuddly rabbit 'Ally' 
and now was the sleek, deadly and harshly beautiful dragon 
'Alia-Kae'thoth'.

"You dare trifle with ME, mortal?" the booming speech was a 
chorus of voices, each speaking slightly out of sync with 
the rest. 

"Why not?  Tit for tat, you might say," I retorted from my 
pinned, spread-eagled position on the wall.

Her laughter was intimidating, but not much different from 
what I used to scare Jean when we were on the phone.  
"You're playing in the big leagues now, child.  Can you pay 
the dues?"  With a gesture of her hand, the succubus 
stretched me out as if I was on rack.  I felt my shoulders 
pop out of joint, then my elbows' cartilage tear, and 
finally my hands were a choir of audible clicks and stabs 
of pain. 

I ground my teeth as tears welled up in my eyes, clouding 
my vision.  "Ally, sweet?  Next time I take you should be 
in this form - I like big-breasted women!"

"Fool!"  She pointed at my desk.  The monitor exploded, 
belching out a flame that ignited everything it touched.  

"Feeling homesick?  I won't keep you, love, but call before 
you stop by, next time."

"Submit to me, human!"  Another flourish had the contents 
of my pencil jar flying in a swarm of plastic, wood and 
graphite.  My tormentor twisted her hand, and the cloud 
flew at me.  I shut my eyes and tensed for it.  Lancing 
pain cut into my body from various places.  As this 
onslaught ebbed and no new pain came, I looked down.  My 
abdomen and the wall on either side were peppered with pens 
and pencils, and blood was running freely from my wounds.

"There goes my cleaning deposit," I grunted.  "And I doubt 
I'll respect you in the morning, let alone swear fealty to 
you - do you know your toes curl when you cum?"

Ally's scream of rage is unprintable - not because of 
profanity, but because mere type cannot capture the 
harmonies and counterpoints present.  She didn't have a 
voice, she had a symphony.  

She launched at me, stopping with one needle-sharp claw so 
close to my eye my lashes brushed it when I blinked.  "Do 
it, hon; kill me now and where does my soul go?  What evil 
have I done?  Whose side would I join, Ally?  I just 
tricked a succubus at her own coital game.  What do you 
think He feels about this little skirmish in the grand war?  
Would He take an interest?  Make a little 'Deus ex machina' 
and cheat you of a soul?  Or would it even be cheating?"

The succubus whirled away from me, screaming, and spun 
about in a fury.  The ceiling lamp was ripped loose and 
pitched out the window.  The coffee table was smashed to 
flinders.  Her motions fanned the flames around my 
apartment and soon I felt heat on one outstretched arm.

Seeming to run out of steam, she collapsed on the bed, 
crushing it.  Then she did something that astonished me: 
she cried.

Not as in '...out in rage' but '...like a baby'.  She 
sobbed, her clawed hands covering her face, her 
diabolically beautiful body shaking.

She gazed upon me, her lustrous cheeks suffused with a rosy 
glow from her luminescent tears.  "Don't you see?" she 
moaned.  "We're all the same?  Angels, devils - we're all 
his creations!"

"Yes, mankind, good and evil - it's all part of God's game 
or experiment."

"But He didn't create new players, He just took what He had 
and changed it!"  I looked upon her in incomprehension.  
She saw this and explained:

"Before mankind, before the universe as you know it, there 
was just Him.  He was alone.

"So He made the Host.  The Heavenly Chorus.  Cherubs, 
solars, planatars, devas, all the angels.  And we had one 
purpose - to love Him and worship Him."

"We?"

The succubus nodded.  "I and all like me were angels once.  
Before this 'game' of yours.  But even though we conceived 
of wonders He did not, He palled of our adoration.  He 
wished more.

"And one angel - an Archangel brought the idea to Him."

"Free-willed creatures."

My crying tormentor smiled at me.  "You're skipping ahead 
by a few eternities, William.  Lucifer suggested a contest, 
a challenge to His omnipotence.  He consented and 'played 
the game', limiting His power to within that of the rules.  
Sometimes He won, sometimes He lost; always He was pleased.  
I have never seen Him angry, by the way.  His patience and 
understanding is beyond even our comprehension.

"In time He tired of the existing games, and Lucifer was 
constantly at work thinking up new amusements."

"Until..."

"You mortals are so impatient."  I didn't bother explaining 
to her that the reason for my impatience was that I was 
bleeding to death, impaled by an assortment of writing 
implements that would rupture even the largest pocket 
protector.  

"Yes, Lucifer came up with the penultimate game: an entire 
universe, populated with freethinking sentient creatures 
that might worship Him, or spurn Him.  He was enthralled.  
But before long He found that currying favor from these 
'people' wasn't challenging anymore.  He wanted 
competition."

"Demons and devils."

Those glowing red orbs fixed on me and shared their pain.  
"Yes.  The opposing team.  But He did something that was so 
cruel, so thoughtless...so...EVIL that we may never forgive 
Him.

"He simply made Lucifer captain of the enemy and 
arbitrarily split His host into two; good and evil."

I wasn't getting it.  "Yes."

"But don't you see?  He just flipped us from angel to 
devil!  We're like...robots.  We have no free will; we only 
do His bidding - the Divine Programming, if you will.  In 
the beginning all our programs were to love, worship and 
honor Him.

"But when this game began, He just 'changed the 
programming' of those He chose to be devils.  He commanded 
us to hate Him, and try to defeat Him at every turn."

"Still not all the way to where you're leading."

"BUT WE STILL REMEMBER!  I still know what it was like to 
LOVE Him!  It pains me to think of it, but I can recall the 
songs I sang to Him, the look of pleasure on His face, the 
pride and joy I felt - it's still in me!"  Her sobbing 
resumed, and I felt tears begin in my eyes.  Not for my own 
pain - which was not inconsiderable - but for that of my 
tormentor.  

"Why do you think I was being so generous in my deal?  I've 
been remembering what it was like to be good!  I miss those 
times so much!  And I'll never have them again - the game 
will never end!  There are more of you now than has ever 
existed in your history - it's like trying to gather up all 
the marbles in a room while more and more drop from the 
ceiling!  Oh, HELLS - I will never be at peace from this 
torment!"

She looked upon me, pleading.  "Now, William Stanton, 
mortal - now do you begin to understand why we are so evil, 
so malicious to you?  Why we hate Him and hate you, yet 
seek to gather you to our side?"

I licked my blood-flecked lips, and decided.

"Alia-Kae'thoth?  I have decided what my wish will be."

Self-pity gave way to surprise, shock and then concern.  
"No.  Do not do this.  If I fulfil your wish I will have to 
take you, and the old part of me does not wish to."

I tried to smile.  "Wish?  You keep saying you have no free 
will, dear one.  It does not matter what you want."

"Please, do not!" A gesture from her pulled me off the 
wall.  She took me into her arms and my pain was gone, my 
body healed.  I looked at her in surprise.  "I thought you 
could not do good?"

"I must try to do evil, and undoing my own actions 
apparently does not break that - I did not know if I could 
do it until now."  She sat me on her lap, resting her chin 
on my head.

I hugged the cold, slippery form to me.  "Listen.  Let me 
explain what I intend - I won't declare my wish right off 
and you'll still have to wait for my evil deed."

Ally stiffened in my arms.  "Say your piece; it's not as if 
I can stop you - you've got the independence, after all."  
I felt a chuckle in her body.

"Ally?  I intend to have you returned to the Heavenly Host 
- I want you to switch teams."

She held me at arm's length, and I could see her tears 
begin anew.  "Oh, William!"  Her face took a warm smile for 
a second, and then it faded.  "I cannot give you this wish 
- do you think any of us would remain on the side of evil 
if we had the power to leave?  I thank you for your 
sentiment, anyway."

"Then what is the harm in trying?  You didn't think you 
could heal me a minute ago.  Let us do it and see - perhaps 
this wish would need to be passed on to a 'supervisor'?"

"But your soul-"

"-Is mine to do with as I decide."

"And Jean?  Does she have no claim to it?"

My jaw clenched, and my own tears began.  "Jean is a 
wonderful woman I love and who loves me.  If she were here 
right now, knowing what I know, I cannot say for certain 
that she would not want me to do this."

Ally kissed me, hugged me close and sighed.  "Then wish 
away.  And no matter what happens, I thank you for trying 
this, William.  You and yours really can be so much more 
divine than even our greatest when you try."

I took a deep breath, screwed my eyes shut and announced "I 
wish for this demoness - the succubus Alia-Kae'thoth whom I 
now hold - to return to the Heavenly Host of the Almighty, 
and to compete in the Grand Game on the side of Light and 
Good."

And the cold form in my arms warmed.  We leaned apart, and 
I beheld the divine.  Her flesh was golden instead of 
black, the harsh angles softened and rounded.  Claws were 
gone, batwings had become feathered ones, and eyes of 
baleful red light were now filled with a soft green glow.

"William!  Oh, William - thank you!  Oh, I never in all of 
history imagined I could-" she broke down and cried in my 
arms.  I held the angel and soothed her.

When she calmed down, I patted hair like spun copper, and 
sighed.  "And now, my dear, beatific one-"

She stood me up, and smiled upon me.  "And now, I leave you 
here, William."

"But-"

"You amused Him - not an easy thing to do for a mere 
mortal.  Even in all His glory, He never expected one such 
as you would act as you did.  Your soul is yours - none of 
us will ever try to 'deal' with you again."

I stood there, weeping with relief and happiness.  And then 
the last comment hit me.  "Does that mean I'll never see 
you again?"

"Would you wish to?"

I took her golden hands in mine.  "Even in your darkest 
hour, when you were at your most demonically evil, I 
desired you - in both mind as well as body.  I like you - 
as a friend, perhaps, but yes, Ally, I would see you 
again."

"Then the two of you shall.  Perhaps I could visit to 
consult with you on strategy?"  Her grin warmed me in a way 
only one person ever had.  She kissed my hands.  "William?  
I cannot ask anything of you for I have no will to want 
anything from you, but..."

I smiled and addressed the room "I wish for the heavenly 
Alia-Kae'thoth to share my bed for a time."

She kissed me and asked, "What form do you desire me to 
take?"

I thought carefully - she was offering me the chance to 
fuck any woman - any THING I could conceive of, even...no, 
to make love to Jean's doppelganger would be more pain than 
pleasure.  "Ally?  I will leave that decision up to you; 
take the form - apart from my darling Jean - that you think 
would be best."

And so I slept with the 'blonde ragamuffin' again.  I held 
her in my arms, covered her body with kisses, sat her on my 
lap and buried her in my embrace as my manhood was buried 
in hers.  We finished with Ally astride me, bucking on my 
shaft, cumming several times before I released myself into 
her.

Afterward, we cuddled, her body lying against mine, her 
back almost covered by my arms.  And as she began to doze, 
I had a thought: Ally had *wanted* to sleep with me again.  
She even said that she couldn't ask me, "but..." Was the 
being in my arms still truly an angel?

My worries for her were quelled by a sudden and certain 
realization that He was being a little kinder to those of 
His Host that He had 'screwed over' all that time ago...and 
that being all-powerful did not mean being always right.

On those comforting thoughts, I said a quick prayer for 
every devil and demon everywhere, and slipped into 
Morpheus' embrace.

           *           *           *           *

And I awoke alone.  The bed was still warm on her side, and 
as I felt the blanket, I found a small, flat pouch - much 
like a leather envelope.  

Inside this, I found a letter of acceptance from a security 
firm in Cleveland, a plane ticket from Calgary 
International to Cleveland Hopkins International, a prepaid 
voucher with a shipping firm for one shipment of "personal 
effects of a quantity to be determined later" from Calgary 
to Cleveland, and a "Permanent Resident Alien Registration 
Card", white in color bearing my three-quarter profile, 
signature and personal information.

As I gazed upon this cache of good fortune, a comment of 
Ally's came to mind, in reply to my wanting to see her 
again: "Then the two of you shall."

=============

Author's Postscript: Nope - this story was in NO way 
inspired by Dancer's "The Offer".  ;)

A.P.P.S.: Also, my 'organic' writing style changed this 
from Will outsmarting the succubus Ally and agreeing to a 
regular assignation ("same time tomorrow, then?"), to its 
present form.  I'm just a sucker for a happy ending, aren't 
I? :)

A.P.(x3).S.: The strangest thing is I have this urge to 
stick a 'rom' tag on this, yet I cannot find any actual 
instance that warrants it...I'm such a one-trick pony! :)

A.P.(x4).S.: There, done!  Now I promise to shut up; dang, 
I can just ramble on, can't I?  I just keep going and 
going... :)
