21. Desmond

Diana's anxiety mounted to unprecedented levels as she power-walked on the treadmill she asked me to teleport from the gym. I felt it cloying the air, thick and suffocating like a syrup. Each pound of her feet on the track brought her closer to a panic attack I couldn't let her go through. I tried not to interfere with Diana's emotions, especially since we patched things up—she had to experience her emotions and regulate them herself—but I couldn't let her go through this alone. Every what-if and worry probably got crazier by the minute as she worried about her mother's revival.

How do you feel?I checked in.

I'm fine, she insisted, pounding away. She was huffing and puffing instead of breathing, and even her mindlink sounded out of breath.

How about you get off the treadmill, and try some breathing techniques? You don't look good and I can feel your anxiety—it's palpable, Dollface.

The mill of lies wasn't helping her. She glared at me, and I bit back the urge to go over there and pull her off myself.

You're trying so hard to be good. Bless your black demon heart, it's an honest try, Zaz linked me. I can't feel others emotions like you, but even I can tell she's spiraling. Let's get her off of that thing and into the shower. Then we'll relax.

"Angel, why don't you sit with me and we can watch a movie? I'll make popcorn," Zaz offered from the couch. He had a big hoodie on that looked perfect for a relaxing movie night, and it had a kangaroo pocket. She loved shoving her cold hands in those things.

"Great idea, that new fantasy movie came out last week. You can shower and relax." She looked at us both like we were insane and kept running.

Her breathing stuttered, and I got up and lowered her speed to two, forcing her to cool down. If she kept going like this she would trip and fall off this stupid thing again. Immortal or not, that kind of shit hurt, and my girl wasn't getting hurt again on my watch.

"Talk to us, Angel, what's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" Zaz asked her. He had a gentleness with her that I never would.

"I just don't understand why I can't be there. What if she asks for me? Or for Angie? We should be there." She wiped the sweat from her brow. She had fought with Lucifer about how he insisted she stay behind, and then put us on Diana Duty as he called it.

"Remember when you came out of equilibrium?" Zaz gave her a pointed eyebrow raise. I could see the wheels turning in her head, and a wisp of determination mingled with the anxiety rolling off her. She was going to try and argue with him.

"Yes, it was traumatic, which is why she needs all the support she can get."

"Dollface, you set our furniture on fire, destroyed the Las Vegas house, then stabbed Mal with a candle holder; one he picked out, ironically. That was only after a couple months. Think about how out of whack Marilyn will feel after years of being frozen," I explained. "Your fathers don't want you to witness that, because if she says something off, it'll hurt your feelings."

Zaz got up and stopped the treadmill, taking her hand as leading her to the couch. He waved his hand and the machine disappeared, which was for the best. Unless someone was chasing her or there were baked goods at the destination, my Dollface didn't run. Ever. And I didn't want her to start using exercise as some unhealthy coping mechanism.

"You're going to shower, then put on your comfiest pajamas. We'll all watch a movie and snuggle, eat some snacks, and then I'll send a message to Michael asking how everything went. He'll give us an update." Zaz's firm, yet soft, order resonated with her. She didn't argue with him.

"What if it doesn't work, or she comes back and doesn't remember us, or hates that she missed so much of our lives? She may hate me…" Diana buried her face in his sweatshirt.

"You have zero control over that, so it's not worth worrying about. I think she'll just be happy to be back…" I offered.

"Or she'll hate the compound and want to go back to Brooklyn, and that's not an option right. What if she doesn't like my dads and I'm forced to choose between them?" She blurted out, her words muffled by Zaz's sweatshirt.

He lifted her chin, so he could make eye contact with her. "Angel, no one likes Lucifer. And Michael can't stand him half the time. Do they make you choose?" After a few seconds of silence, he answered for her. "No. They don't. You're a big bad Morningstar. No one can make you do anything, so take Desmond's advice and stop worrying about things you can't control. Now go shower, get dressed, and come back to us ready for an early movie night."

"Okay." She got up and walked down the hallway that led to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, I heard the sound of running water from the shower head.

"That was great advice you gave her." His compliment meant a lot, because usually I just made things worse.

"Thanks, but I'll never have the way you have with her. You're like a Diana-whisperer," I admitted.

"I'm not perfect—none of us are. We just do the best we can with her and with each other." He scooched over, until he was close enough I could wrap my arm around him.

We sat on the couch, snuggling together while we waited for Diana. Az and I had our own issues the first time we dated, and I added to them recently, but we were still working through them together. The fact that he still wanted me despite everything spoke to how forgiving he was. I didn't deserve it, but I sure as fuck would take it.

I captured his lips in a kiss, drawing it out as long as I could. I enjoyed teasing him, and if the way he met my lips told me anything, it was that he enjoyed being teased. I pulled his hair to expose his neck, kissing all the way down until I hit his collarbone.

"You taste so good," I breathed into his skin.

"I know." His masculine laugh spurred me on and I kissed him again, biting his lip until he moaned.

He climbed into my lap, wrapping his arms around my neck as he ground into me. Our cocks slotted together, and my shadows slithered up the back of his legs, over his plump ass.

"Fuck, you feel so good," he rasped. "I wanna feel you inside me."

"Maybe you will…maybe you can be inside her while I'm inside you. Or she can take turns with us, then I'll finish inside you…" I whispered in his ear.

"I don't want to wait for her to get out of the shower, let"s go get her." Az always had so much control over himself, and I relished the rare times I got him hot and riled up like this.

He hopped off my lap, and we made our way to the bathroom. The water wasn't running, and the door was wide open. Az opened the curtain, and the shower was wet, and I noticed the towels on the rack were wet.

"I don't feel her magic in the barrack. Where did she go?" I asked him. He could probably use his soulbond to find her.

He shut his eyes, and his light, airy magic swirled through the air. "Hmmm, she went to the cabin Lucifer kept her mom in. Her emotions are more stable than they were before she left, but she still feels anxious."

"She was supposed to stay here," I said, trying and failing to keep the exasperation out of my tone. "She doesn't listen for her own good and one day she's going to get hurt."

"I know. She shouldn't have gone there, and I don't like how she left without a word. These are dangerous times, and we need to be considerate toward each other. We can talk to her after I bring her home. Give me a few minutes." He rubbed soothing circles into my chest, and it took some of the sting out of what she did.

He faded to her, and I sat on the couch, thinking over what he said. A few months ago, Red would have never been brazen or foolish enough to attack the Costa Coven compound. Now he's done it three times, has a mole on the inside of the coven, and he's making reckless moves. This wasn't the time to make impulsive decisions.

After five or six minutes, Az came back with a sulking, moody Diana. She must not have enjoyed getting caught, huffing like a fucking teenager as she walked straight to her room without saying a word to me. The door slammed behind her, and I was sick and tired of whatever honest try Az commenced me for. She went too fucking far.

"She's going to regret being such a fucking brat!" I snapped, shooting up from the couch.

"Desmond, hold on a minute. If you storm in there upset you'll both blow up and be right back where you started," Az said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You both need time to cool off."

"She needs time to cool off? She's clearly wrong!" My shadows shot out of my ears and hands, curving around him as they made their way to Diana's room. I felt anxiety seeping from the room, just as thick and cloying as it had been while she was on the treadmill.

"Lucifer knows his daughter too well and erected a barrier she couldn't get through. She couldn't see or hear anything or feel anyone's magic. Total black out," Az explained. "I messaged Michael for an update, and all he said was that Marilyn is alive. That's unusually short for him."

I sighed. Diana's worst fears were probably running rampant in her thoughts. It didn't excuse her behavior, but it did impact the way I wanted to handle this.

"Give her an hour. Then we can talk to her together?" he suggested.

"Okay. In the meantime, can we at least start the movie. I actually want to see how humans visualize magical people, especially in New Orleans. That place is spooky." I sat back down on the couch, and Az sat next to me, cuddling up under my arm like he had earlier.

"Remember when you, me, and Bash went, before the Louisiana purchase, and he lost that poker game?"

"Oh fuck, yeah! He terrorized that poor guy's dreams for days afterward." I busted a gut laughing, because back then, that was a very Bash thing to do. Still sorta was…

We barely watched the move as we reminisced about old times, back before a little witch-angel hybrid pulled us all around by the nose.

Diana's doorwasn't locked or warded, so we let ourselves in. She was asleep on her stomach, her head buried in her pillow and her hands folded under her chin, appearing almost angelic. Unfortunately for her, I knew she wasn't a little angel. She was my Hell on earth, chaos in the flesh. And a brat who needed me to discipline her and remind her who she knelt for.

Diana…wake up, I linked her, trying my best to gently wake her. The more relaxed she was, the easier this would be for her.

Wake up, dollface.She stirred, and within a couple minutes cracked an eye open, frowning when she saw us. Shwe rolled over, away from us, onto her side, and I faded so I was face to face with her laying on my opposite side.

"You're not getting out of this. Explain your thought process to me. Why would you do something so impulsively stupid when you're so smart?" I rolled on top of her before she could roll away from me again, pinning her down with some of my body weight, balancing the rest on my forearms. Az sat on the side of the bed watching us intently.

"I don't have to explain myself." She glared at me, so hard that I felt it all the way to my hardening cock. I loved it when she got angry.

"I think you should, Angel. We both want to know why you left without saying a word in the middle of a war. We were worried about you when we realized you left the barrack."

She glanced away, squirming under me. Even my partial body weight was heavy for her to take, but she was still breathing, and I wasn't moving until she explained herself.

"I got sick of waiting around, and wanted to see her. Zaz is right–I'm a big, bad Morningstar and no one tells me what to do, even Lucifer himself. He can't tell me to stay away from my own mother."

How does that bus feel driving over your back?I linked Az.

Ouch, not good, Des.

"So you took Az's words out of context, and used them as an excuse to make reckless decisions that could have gotten you hurt?" I clarified.

"What? No–"

"Um, yes. Red invaded this compound without warning multiple times. This location is compromised now, Diana." The fact that Az was using her given name made her shut up and listen. "If you had faded back in the middle of a full on battle, that's a safety risk. We need to know where you are at all times. Do you understand how integral you are to defeating him? How many people depend on you?"

She went from a raging little hellfire to a somber smolder. "Yes…" She had the good sense to look guilty, but I still felt her defiance radiating through the room. She couldn't fool me, and she didn't actually grasp how dire the situation was.

"Remember when Nonna got captured? How easy it was for Damon to just pluck her out of the casino mid fight?" I hated throwing that in her face, but she needed to understand.

"Yeah, but I can defend myself." She tried to move again, and I settled on her, weighing her down into the mattress.

"Well, you seem pretty defenseless right now. And anything can happen when you're caught off guard." My shadows wrapped around her hands, bringing them together above her head. Her feet were bound together as well.

The crazy part was I had only imagined it in my mind for a split second–they did that on their own.

Her eyes went wide as they tightened around her. She had said my shadows felt cold to the touch, and I could only imagine how they felt when you didn't see them coming. "I'm sorry that I left without telling you. I felt like you'd both try to stop me."

"Had you told us you were going, I would have gone with you. I always cave for you, you know that." Az's disappointed expression did her in. I finally felt her remorse.

"I don't feel like you're very sorry for your actions. I think you're a spoiled brat who needs to learn the hard way. You've gotten used to us groveling at your feet and you need to be reminded that I love you, but it's a tough love, dollface."

Her big, blue puppy dog eyes swung to Zaz, and she pouted, like I was being so unfair.

"Don't you even try it," he said. For such a laid back guy, Az had a little bit of a disciplinarian streak.

I can work with this.

I used my shadows to roll Diana over, taking her clothes off with the snap of my fingers and leaving her nude, ass up. If I could picture perfection, her ass would be it—a perfectly ripe peach. What I loved most about it was the way it jiggled after a perfectly landed slap.

"Can you levitate her off the bed for a moment?" I asked Zaz. He lifted her and I sat on the bed. Without asking, he lowered her right over my lap. "Do you understand what you did?" By the time I was done with her, she'd fully understand how life choices led to this very moment.

"Yes, I made a bad decision," she gritted out. She struggled against the shadows binding her, and I was surprised she hadn't figured out how to free herself from them yet.

I slapped her left ass cheek, then her right. Her sharp gasp sounded through the room, and my horns broke free at the sight of my red handprint blooming across her skin like an angry, red wildflower.

"I love that sound. Do it again?" he asked as he leaned back, settling in for the show. The outline of his dick pressed against his jeans. He smirked when he caught me looking.

"I understand!" she shouted, trying to roll off my lap. My shadow wrapped around her waist, catching her and holding her in place.

I spanked her again between her cheeks, making her gasp. "I know you do, but actions have consequences. And it's been a long time since you've laid across my lap. This is my favorite position to see you in, dollface."

"I'd have to disagree, it's my second favorite," Az said, as if he'd given this some thought. "I like it better when she's on her knees, looking up at me with that deceptively sweet face."

He made a good point. I did love seeing her on her knees. I kept spanking her, alternating where each blow would land so she'd be unable to anticipate it. Her gasps eventually turned into moans, her body melting into mine instead of fidgeting. I felt her arousal drip onto my thigh.

"Hm, this is supposed to be a punishment, but you're soaked." My hands found the apex between her thick thighs, silently praising her for parting them the little she could. I stroked her lips a few times, then slid a finger inside her. She was so warm and wet, and knowing I made her that way brought me close to losing the little control I had over myself right now.

"Anything to say for yourself before we leave?" Az asked her.

We're leaving? The fuck we were!

No, but I'm in the mood to hear her beg us, don't ruin this,he replied.

"I'm sorry! I made a rash, dumb decision and put myself in unnecessary danger. You're both right, and I won't do it again." She tried to work my finger deeper inside her, but we both knew it wasn't enough. "Please don't leave."

"You're precious. Give us a reason not to leave," Az purred. Fuck, that tone of voice got me just as badly as her begging did. Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes had a dark side and it was coming out to play.

"Let me go, and I will," she promised.

I obliged, and she dropped to her knees and opened her mouth wide in front of Zaz. She touched his zipper and he cleared his throat, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"I said give us a reason to stay, not just me. What about Desmond?"

Her eyes peered up at me and fluttered her dark lashes at me. "Take me from behind?" I gave her a stern look, and she added, "Please?"

I got up, undoing my belt buckle and lowering my pants. "You left a nice wet spot on my pant leg, you filthy girl," I praised her. When I knelt behind her, I lined myself up right at her pussy.

She swallowed Az down as far as she could, and he carded his fingers through her hair, keeping her speed slow. "Fuck, just like that, nice and deep."

Pushing into her from behind, I bottomed out and held myself there so she'd be able to adjust. I'd stay inside her forever if I could, because her pussy was made for me, to grip me like a vise and take my load like a gift.

Every thrust felt better than the last, and I lost myself in an indescribable feeling. The sweet love-making we had the last time was amazing, but something hit differently when it was dirty and physical like this. I dug my hands into her hips hard enough to make her moan.

Fuck, I'm going to blow, Angel, Az linked us both.

I collared her throat with one hand and squeezed, picking up my pace as she choked around Az's cock. His eyes rolled back into his head before he unloaded into her mouth. He stayed inside her as he caught his breath. I held onto her throat as my other hand snaked between her thighs and rubbed her clit until she was right on the edge of finishing.

Oh fuck, Desmond!!! she pleaded.

You'll come when I say you can, Ms. Big, Bad Morningstar. I prayed to the deepest pit of Hell that I was able to hold out long enough to make my point. You're going to think about your safety, and you're going to stop doing stupid shit. You will not put yourself into danger again, do you hear me?

Yes! Yes! Yes! she screamed through our mindlink.

I thrusted deeply into her once more time, knotting her as I rubbed down the sides of her clit. She detonated around me, milking me for every drop of cum I had to give. Slumping over her, I gave myself a few moments to come back to earth. My horns retracted and when I opened my eyes I saw Az gazing at me with a knowing look in his eyes. He faded us all into the bed, with her between us.

"Diana?" he whispered into her ear. Her body tensed slightly, and she opened her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I speak for both of us when I say that if anything happened to you, we'd be worse off than when you left. Please, don't ever make rash decisions that impact your safety again. We'll always be there to help you whenever you ask."

"Well said. I'm always here for you." Az always had a way with words and knew exactly what I wanted to say. It was one of the reasons I cared so much for him.

She melted between us, all the tension leaving her. "Okay. I will."

They eventually fell asleep, but I stayed awake, thinking of all the possible scenarios that could be happening with Marilyn. I made a promise to myself that no matter what, I'd be here to help my dollface through it.

Whatever came our way, I'd always be by her side.