Page 23

23

LUCIFER

T wo weeks had passed, and I was growing antsy. I sat on the couch with Marilyn in my lap, watching one of the human’s national news channels. The news anchor was a classically handsome man in his late thirties, and it was obvious he read his lines off a teleprompter. How could humans even watch this dribble?

Further investigation shows that last week’s footage from the L.A. and NYC attacks may have been doctored as part of a nationwide deepfake…

Seems like Vaulo had been successful in leveraging his media contacts to fix the damage Red caused, but only time would tell what impact it had. I didn’t like having him in Pit 13, and as soon as his necessity had run out, I planned on altering his memory and dumping him somewhere.

“So it worked?” Marilyn asked me.

I buried my face in her hair, holding her tighter as I took a deep breath in. Her earthy, floral scent calmed me down when I was stewing in my moods like this.

“In the short term yeah. The humans don’t trust the news, and now there’s enough discord about what actually happened for anyone to reach a consensus on it. Long term, we still have a lot of work to do.”

“You’re going to be busy when you take back the throne…” she trailed off.

“Yeah, Satans are busy. That’s part of the job,” I admitted. Her brows furrowed, and I knew her well enough to know she had more to say. “Talk to me, what’s going on?”

“You and Michael have always had issues when it came to your collective work. Don’t you think taking back the throne will make them worse? He’s on a break now, but eventually he’ll have to go back to Heaven…” A tear fell onto her cheek, and I kissed it away.

“I have a feeling he isn’t going back. If he is, we will work with it. Don’t forget, this time I have O, Diana, and her boyfriends.” I tried not to grimace, because for some unknown reason, she actually liked them all, even Bash.

“Don’t say it like that. They’re good men. You can tell they all care about her.” Her defense of them just made me jealous.

“They’re not as good as me?” I asked, pinching her thick thigh.

“Obviously. But I’m not worried about her being with them. They practically worship the ground she walks on. Take care of her every need. Yesterday Diana said she was thirsty and Mal teleported her not one, not two, but three different drinks to try. That’s over the top.”

“Yeah, well they can apply all that energy and over-the-top spirit to helping me run Hell. I’ll give them all leadership positions.”

“I hope that’s enough. I just got you both back, and I’d hate to lose you to your job. Work is the worst kind of mistress…”

I took her face in my hands, kissing her lips with a passion so hot, it could practically melt the sun. She kissed me back, fisting my tee shirt as she settled her legs on either side of mine, so her cunt was right over my length.

Ugh. I want to fuck her so badly, but that sounded like it had a double meaning.

Why did I have to be a better man again? Oh yeah, because I loved her and Michael, and I’d do anything to make this work. I pulled her off my lap, placing her on the couch cushion next to mine.

“Why did you say the word mistress? What’s going on up here?” I pointed to her forehead.

“Luci, I’ve heard people talk. I know you fucked people aside from Michael. Yes, you were in an open relationship and broke up and got back together more times than you can probably count, but you were fucking other people. How do I know you won’t get stressed with work and fuck your secretary? Or a pretty young demon won’t turn your head? Or maybe you’ll fight with one of us and make a mistake?”

I did exactly what Azazel told me to do. I actively listened to everything she said, even if it was ridiculous, and made strong eye contact. Then, I waited several seconds to make sure she was done talking.

“I can see why you’d be concerned,” I said, validating her feelings. “Michael and I have had a complicated relationship, with a lot of outside and internal factors that fucked us over. But this time, we’re going to do what it takes to make this closed, monogamous throuple work.” I made sure to emphasize the closed and monogamous parts.

“What changed? Why now?” She gave me a serious expression, her lips downturned.

“Because I know I can’t live without you two. Losing both of you was the hardest thing I ever had to endure, aside from letting Diana go. I want to spend eternity with you and Michael.” Feelings weren’t my strong suit, but I hoped I got the message across to her.

Her smile was a good sign. So was the way she rocked her hips in my lap. “What do you think Michael is doing right now?”

“Doesn’t matter. If Lucifer Morningstar calls, you have to answer. Perks of being the boss.”

“You’re a rogue. Link him. I think I need a demo of how you plan on making this work…”

I’ll make your pussy work.

Michael, get your ass to my apartment. Marilyn and I request your attention, immediately.

His voice filled my mind, like a favorite melody. Cool, I’m always down for an afternoon delight.

Hopefully we won this war, so we could make these afternoon dalliances a thruple tradition.