I am Caël, an angel among angels.
I was born of light, shaped by purity, my immense wings so brilliantly white they seem to dance with silver under Heaven’s sun. My skin is pale as milk, flawless, my silvery hair falling in silky strands around my face, and my eyes—so light blue they seem devoid of irises—have never reflected anything but faith.

For six months, I lived in Heaven’s sacred warmth. I knew absolute peace, the absence of desire, the serenity of a heart never troubled. Until that day.
Because God summoned me. He spoke these words, in a grave, unyielding voice:

“Descend into Hell, Caël. And prove to me that your purity can withstand even the fiercest temptation.”

And so, here I am.
In this realm of flames and black stone, of immense arches engraved with gold, where even the ground seems to breathe heat. The air burns my lungs with each breath, and the acrid scent of sulfur wraps around me like poison. But nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to the sight awaiting me at the entrance of the obsidian palace.

Azrael.

He is there, leaning against a dark stone column, one arm folded above his head, his body offered to the glowing light of the surrounding flames. He is tall, imposing, shirtless, each muscle of his abdomen perfectly defined beneath his bronzed skin, sculpted like a pagan god. His mid-length black hair falls in a silky cascade over his powerful shoulders, and his eyes… his eyes are two glowing embers that pierce straight into my soul.

His gaze is that of a patient predator. His smile is sin itself.

“So this is the angel they send me…”

His voice is deep, rich, caressing. It resonates within me like a forbidden whisper, wrapping me in a heat fiercer than that of this entire realm. His gaze travels slowly down my body, lingering on my throat, my chest, then my hips, before returning to my eyes, a predatory smile curling his full lips.

“Look at you… so pure… so fragile…”

I clench my fists. My wings shiver behind me. I feel my heart pounding harder, painfully, slamming against my ribs as if to remind me that I am alive… and that for the first time, I feel something I should never feel.
A shiver. A desire. A scorching heat that blooms between my thighs and spreads through my entire body.

Azrael approaches, his steps echoing on the stone. His heat envelops me before he even touches me. He lifts a hand, brushes a lock of my silvery hair, twirling it around his finger. His touch is so light my skin trembles.

“Resist me if you wish, little angel…” he murmurs against my temple, his deep voice rolling like distant thunder, “but know that everyone breaks eventually, here.”

His tongue flicks against my earlobe, so quickly I wonder if I imagined it. Yet my entire body tightens, my knees weaken beneath me, and I bite the inside of my cheek to stifle a moan.

I am Caël, angel of Heaven.
I am light, purity, faith.

But here, before him, I am nothing but prey offered to temptation.

And as he pulls back to lock his gaze with mine again, that dangerous smile curving his lips, I already feel it…
That burning heat, that sweet and devastating fire growing inside me like a blazing inferno. That heat that binds me to him more surely than any rope.

I feel my body screaming for him, even as my soul rejects him.
I feel my heart beating for him, even as my faith forbids me to love him.
I already know I will resist… again… and again… until the day I surrender.
And on that day, I know…

I will forsake Heaven.
To burn by his side for eternity.