Chapter 1
The morning was already well on its way as the Devil shows up at the precinct. Chloe finds him at the coffee machine, near the kitchen area, a pudding in one hand and a spoon in the other one, with half a dozen policewomen and policemen around him, hanging on his every word as if he were the next Jesus Christ. She takes a deep calming breath before she walks over. This Monday was gonna be a very long day for sure. If there was ever a day to not get on her bad side, today was most definitely it. She sees Dan heading towards her, a reproachful look on his face. Whether this was about his stolen pudding, her partner, or whatever reasons he had for whining after her, she wasn't interested. She stops him before he can even get any word out of his mouth.
"Not now Dan." She starts. "I am NOT in the mood for one of your sermons about how fucked up my life is, or how weird my partner is." She looks at Lucifer. "And yes, he stole your pudding and has been doing so every morning he's here. Deal with it!" She finishes, leaving Dan silent.
"I wasn't gonna..." He tries to defend himself but stops as he realises he had these exact three items on his list. "Sorry." He mumbles quickly as she walks on.
Ever since their finalised divorce, and even if there wasn't - at least according to his daughter's latest confirmation - a trace of romance between Chloe and Lucifer, he couldn't help the sting of jealousy each time he saw them leaving together, and so he felt compelled to remind her about how bad Lucifer was, from every possible angle.
Sighing loudly, he returned to his now new desk and the never-ending pile of paperwork, which had been pushed back to the very far end of the bullpen since he confessed his role in the Palmetto case. As he sits down, he smiles though. Given his ex-wife current mood and if his years with her taught him anything, Lucifer was in for one Hell of a ride today. And no amount of his devilish charms could get him out of this. No one was immune to Chloe's ire, especially not him, and that thought alone would brighten his morning.
STATION KITCHEN - A BIT BEFORE ELEVEN
"And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how you do it!" Lucifer says before he sees Chloe.
"How nice of you to show up Lucifer!" She greets him.
"And a good morning to you too, Detective." Lucifer replies, smiling, in an attempt to defuse her annoyance. But his plan once again fails.
"Do you know how long I have been waiting for you? I called you at nine this morning, and the Lieutenant has been on my ass ever since for me to leave for the crime scene." He opens his mouth to answer. "And don't give your "Perfection takes time, Detective " bullshit!" She continues, with a very bad impression of his accent.
"Hey relax, Chloe, give him a break, he had a long night!" One of the officers replies, winking at Lucifer.
Chloe rolls her eyes and bites her tongue really hard so she doesn't give the other woman a piece of her mind. Getting angry at Lucifer was one thing, but going full-on mad at a colleague was something else. Lucifer decides to jump in the conversation in an attempt to appease his partner.
"I was actually on my way to your desk when the lovely officers here required my help on a very important topic." He winks at the group. "They were asking how we managed to have such a high closing rate, and one thing led to another, we ended up talking about my night, and they needed advice on another one of my many areas of expertise."
"YOU gave police advice?" She mocks him. "Maybe stick to your other area of expertise and arrive on time, to begin with!" She says as she walks away.
" Well, that was unfair! " He thinks. But instead, he decides to keep his facade and brushes it off with a joke. "Ouch, you wound me, Detective!" He replies. Then he turns to the group. "Now if you'll excuse me, it seems I have a new case to solve to improve my closing rate!" He winks at them and leaves. "And a very pissed partner as well!" He mumbles.
As soon as he steps into the car, Chloe turns on the engine and storms out of the parking lot. The ride to the crime scene is long and way too awkward for his liking. Had he known his partner would be in such a foul mood, he would have picked up the phone instead of just showing up and would have driven himself to the crime scene. He tried to lighten the mood a bit by using one of his puns or change the song on the radio, but each time a word came out of his mouth, or if he even tried to move a muscle, Chloe looked at him as if she was about to shoot him right there - again. So he simply stared in front of him, avoiding all eye contact, casting a glance at her in the reflection of the window from time to time, wondering what could have possibly happened since they last met to have her so pissed.
She parks at the crime scene and looks at him as she turns off the engine.
"Please behave while we're there."
"You know me, Detective, I always behave."
"Lucifer." She stares at him. "This case is really important, and it's also my first high-profile case since the whole Malcolm fiasco. The force is finally taking me seriously again, so please don't blow this..." She stops as she sees the hurt on his face, either at her lack of confidence in him or after what happened with Malcolm in the hangar when he got shot. However, it lasts only a second before he catches himself.
"I'll be the perfect little angel, Detective. You have my word."
"Thanks." She says, relieved.
OLD LOS ANGELES ZOO - GRIFFITH PARK - A FEW MINUTES LATER
Ella was crouching near the body, focused on the dead man at her feet. She jumps as Chloe touches her shoulder.
"Chloe!" She yelps. "You scared the Hell out of me!"
Lucifer bites his tongue as he thinks of the perfect pun to Ella's sentence. And the brunette wasn't going to make this easy on him. She really had a way of picking the right word each time for him to find the perfect pun. It's almost as if she did it on purpose.
"Sorry." Chloe says. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"No worries. I should be used to it by now."
"So what do you have so far?"
"Not much actually. I mean the poor guy. Whatever hit him, hit so hard that half of his face is destroyed. I'm not even sure we'll be able to ID him even if we reconstruct the skull. But, I took his fingerprints, and with a bit of luck, he'll be in the system, and we'll get a hit. Other than that, your guess is a good as mine. I mean, he really had a horrible death. whoever killed him, wanted to make sure we couldn't find out who he was. Old abandoned zoo, dust everywhere, almost impossible to collect evidence of the scene, face destroyed..." She continues. "Not that there's a good way to die, mind you, but you know, you don't need to do this... Poor fellow."
"Ella!" Chloe cuts her rambling. "Focus, please."
"Sorry." She says. "As I said, no ID, and as far as the cause of death goes, I'd say the big hole in his face, unless it was done post mortem."
"So nothing yet."
"Not completely true." She counters. "I can tell you our victim is a he." She puts her glasses back on. "Hopefully the medical examiner has more information to give you. And I'll have more info as soon as I run the tux report."
"Let me know."
"Will do. Where's Lucifer by the way?" She asks. "He was here only a minute ago."
"Not sure." She says. "He probably got bored and decided to wait outside."
"Probably." She repeats, not convinced.
"Anyway, I'm driving back to the precinct. I'm gonna go over some of the witnesses' statements, maybe, they'll have something. Call me as soon as you have something, okay?"
"You'll be the first to know Chlo'".
"Thanks." She says as she heads back to her car. She takes a look around for Lucifer. Then she sees him, chatting up with the woman who discovered the body, so her main witness for now. "Oh for fucks sakes, you gotta be kidding me!" She curses as she gets closer to Lucifer and the woman. She stops for barely a second before she gets to her car. "When you're done, we need to get back to the station and do some actual police work, if you don't mind." Lucifer looks at her, surprised. "And leave her here, the squad car will bring her to the station."
"I was just finished and I was waiting for you Detective." He replies. "Bye then." He tells the woman, as he follows up with Chloe.
Lucifer didn't think it was possible, but the ride back to the station was even more awkward than the first one, the traffic between Griffith Park and downtown LA only increased Chloe's anger. They finally reach the station, and Lucifer turns to her as she's about to exit the car.
"Are you alright, Detective." He asks. "You seem a bit tense."
She grips the steering wheel harder, her knuckles almost white. "You think?" She bites back.
He looks at her puzzled. "Did I do something?" He asks, curious.
"Of course you don't get it, you never do!" She lashes out on him. "You gave me your word but you couldn't help yourself, now could you?" She adds, totally unfair to him.
Lucifer looks at her, outraged she would imply he didn't respect his promise. "What are you talking about? YOU know more than anyone that my word is my bond."
"Really." She replies, sarcastic. "And despite this, you just had to hit on that witness, and not just any witness, the main witness, knowing this could jeopardize the whole case. And even though I specifically asked you not to."
He looks at her, anger rising as well, the tension palpable in the small space of the car. "First, you told me to behave, which is what I did, you never told me to not talk to anyone." He answers. "And second, I wasn't hitting on her as you said. She came up to me and started talking to me."
"Right!" She snorts. "So her hands were trailing your chest against your will. Just like she wasn't whispering whatever in your ear, right?"
"No, but I was..."
"You know what?" She cuts him. "Save it!" She finishes, as she opens the door to get out - or away from him - before this whole situation exploded. "I'm not in the mood to hear any more of your excuses."
"They're not excuses." He says as he catches up to her, angry and not ready to let this one go.
"Whatever!" She answers, not listening anymore.
"But..." He starts, feeling the injustice of the whole situation. "Detective!" He calls out. "This conversation isn't over!"
She turns to him. "It is." She simply says. "You should go home. I'll text you once Ella has more information." She says, leaving no room for him to say anything else.
"Fine!" He grumbles, his eyes on the brink of flashing because of his contained anger. The one time he made an effort, and this is what he gets. Well to Hell with her.
"Fine!" Chloe says as the elevator door closes.
A FEW HOURS LATER - DOWNTOWN LA STATION
Chloe peruses some reports she received from the crime scene when she hears a ping that gets her out her thoughts.
"Finally!" She sighs as she sees Ella's chat.
ELLA'S LAB - A FEW MINUTES LATER
She doesn't bother to knock and walks straight towards the scientist.
"Hey!" She says. "Tell me you got more information, please. I need some good news today."
"Not sure if it's good news, but here is what I got back from the lab and the medical examiner." She says. "The cause of death was indeed blunt force trauma - aka the big hole in his face. The coroner leans towards a weapon resembling a sledgehammer or something equivalent in order to cause this much damage." She pauses. "Remember I told I wasn't sure we could reconstruct his face, well I was right. But despite an impossible face ID, she told me the victim was a Caucasian male, probably around his forties, judging his pelvic bone."
"Okay."
"As I said, I didn't get much useful evidence from the scene. The coroner also confirmed the lack of defensive wound on him, so he either knew who attacked him or the hit was a real surprise to him. And whoever killed him, hated him to a point he or she had to smashed into oblivion."
"Or he just wanted to make sure we couldn't identify the victim."
"Yeah, that too." She says, more to herself than to anyone. "Although I'm still not a hundred per cent done with the few evidence I gathered from the scene and the body, so maybe, I'll have something a bit more helpful to give you soon." She smiles at Chloe. "And the fingerprints are still running in the missing person database, juvy record, or anything really. The tux analysis is also on-going. So maybe one of these will pay out." She finishes, trying to cheer up Chloe. "You'll be the first to know if I have anything conclusive to give you."
"Thanks, Ella." She says.
"No probs." She replies. "Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"Is everything okay with you and Lucifer?"
"Why do you ask?" She replies, not wanting to lie to her friend.
"Well... He seemed a bit weird at the crime scene, and I haven't seen him since you got back." She looks away. "And... You seemed very distant this morning." She smiles. "I mean, he didn't even react when I said you guys scared the Hell out of me, and then he even decided to help by talking to the woman who discovered the body to know if she was lying or had anything to do with it."
"He did?"
"Yeah, thanks to this, they didn't even bring her in for questioning, and she's now just a minor witness. Her story matches the conclusion reached by the medical examiner. No woman could have done this.." Chloe just looks at Ella with surprise. "I mean when have you seen Lucifer ever refusing to flirt with anyone?"
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't see it per say, but the woman was all disappointed when Lucifer decided to remain professional , as she said, and stopped her wandering hands."
"He stopped her?"
"That he did. I mean, she couldn't complain enough at how such a shame it was." When she gets no response from the blond detective, she searches her eyes. "So are you two okay?"
"Yeah, we are." She replies. "Thanks again and see you tomorrow."
"See you, Chloe."
CHLOE'S PLACE - AROUND 9:30 PM
Chloe was a bit restless in her living-room, pacing, not really knowing what to do about the situation. She felt really bad after the way she treated Lucifer and given his past, or what she interpreted out of his whole Devil's persona, he had been through a lot and clearly had an issue with unfairness. She tried to call him several times but went to voicemail each time. She wanted to apologize for the way she acted with him and at least try to explain why she did it. She gave the phone call one last go, without success, before she decides to drive over there to apologize in person to him. And since Trixie was with Dan again, she had all the time she wanted.
LUX - ABOUT AN HOUR LATER
The bouncer lets her in as soon as she arrives at the door, opening up the red velvet rope. Chloe passes through directly, ignoring the death glares she gets on the way from the bystanders waiting to enter the packed up club. More out of habits than anything, her first reflex is to check out the piano to see if he was maybe there, but apparently no. He must have been somewhere in the club, mixing with the rest of the crowd, probably picking out his conquests for the night. She finally heads for the bar to grab a drink until she goes out looking for him.
"Is that really you Decker?" The barmaid asks.
"Hello to you too, Maze, and yes it's me." She answers as she rolls her eyes.
But before Chloe can finish her sentence, Maze lines up two shots of Tequila in front of her. "You know, Decker, I never thought I would see the day when you would come to Lux other than on business, but I guess, there's still hope for you then." She turns to her colleague. "Hey, Patrick! Can you believe Chloe Decker is at Lux to party?"
"You mean THE Chloe?" Patrick replies.
Maze simply smirks and looks back at the blond woman. "Yeah, and during opening hours nonetheless."
"Maze..." Chloe starts.
"Drinks are on the house, Decker. Drink all you want, and who knows, maybe you'll even get lucky, even if you're wearing these!" She adds.
"Maze, I'm not here to dance or hook up!" She replies. "I'm here to see your boss."
"Of course you are!" She mumbles.
"What did you say?" Chloe asks.
"First, he's not my boss anymore!" She answers. "And second, can you at least drink the shots and pretend to have fun for once in your life! Or at least until he arrives, you're bad for business when you look all gloomy!"
Chloe decides to follow the demon's advice and under her amused eyes, she hits the two shots in a row. Maze wastes no time and lines up two more. Chloe is about to drink the fourth one when a handsome, blond, tall guy decides to try his luck and sits beside her. To her own surprise, Chloe actually welcomes the conversation. But before it can even get interesting and as if using a sixth sense, Lucifer shows up.
"Detective!" He says, louder than necessary. He looks at the guy, and one look from him is enough to have the poor chap retreat, with a more than doubtful excuse. Chloe looks at the Devil, not even surprised.
"Lucifer!" She starts. "Did you just scare him away? You do know, I'm a big girl, right? And he seemed interesting."
"Come now, Detective, I did no such thing." He replies. "He got it all by himself. And to be honest, if a simple look scares him away, he doesn't deserve you." He finishes.
Maze smiles, enjoying more than she should the two of them flapping their wings around each other. Chloe now straighter on her chair, while Lucifer put his hand on the bar, unconsciously showing the others that they better stay away.
"Find anything funny, Maze?"
"Nope, at least, not more than the usual." She replies, a smirk plastered on her features before she goes back to her own activities.
"As I was saying." Lucifer says, his eyes boring into Chloe's. "This excuse of a man didn't deserve you, and trust me when I say you can do so much better than him." He finishes, almost towering over her.
Chloe decides to taunt him a bit after all he started it. "Does that include you?" Lucifer looks back, surprised she actually took the bait.
"I'm outside of the competition." He simply replies.
"Oh well, too bad then." She answers, downing the last shot of Tequila. "I never knew the Devil was one to run away from a challenge."
"Ha, ha, very funny Detective." He replies, his tone less playful after her insinuations he might be a coward. "You and I both know I never shy away from competition." He adds, serious. "And they don't represent any challenge." He grabs the bourbon that appeared out of nowhere on the bar. "But anyway, I don't suppose you're here to discuss my chances at winning you over some pitiful human." He finishes the drink and puts it down. "Lately, I got the impression I was more of a nuisance to you than anything." He finishes, the pain of rejection barely visible in his eyes. "So what can I do for you?"
"That's actually why I'm here, Lucifer." She says, searching his eyes. "I was unfair to you, and I apologize."
"I see. Go on." He simply says, curious as to where this apology will lead.
"It's just..."
"Yes?"
"Nothing. I'm just sorry I was unfair to you."
Lucifer relaxes as he feels her uneasiness. "Come now, Detective, what is it? You know you can talk to me, right?"
"I..."
"I won't tell a soul, you have my word."
"It was actually a lot of things." She finally continues. "And I'm getting tired of it." He offers her another shot and she takes it gladly. "I mean, lately, it has been Hell with Trixie." Lucifer chuckles at the mention of Trixie and Hell in the same sentence. Chloe realises her pun and rolls her eyes before she continues. "She finally hit her rebellious years, or it's her way of dealing with the divorce, I don't know. But it seems that no matter what I say, or do, it's just bullshit. I mean, can you believe she actually asked to go live with her Dad, because I refused to let her sleep at a friend's house on a school night?" She stops and downs another shot. "I know she didn't mean it, but still, it hurt and that was this morning, which is why I snapped at you. And Dan isn't helping either, trying to convince me, by all means necessary, that you're bad for me."
"And I am?" He asks.
"Of course not!" She replies immediately.
"Although I'm not a specialist, I do feel your pain. I mean, I'd be offended too if anyone decided to go and live with the Douche, instead of me."
"Lucifer..." She says.
He gives her a "tell-me-i'm-wrong" look before he smiles brightly. "Sorry Detective. Do go on."
"And on top of all this, there's this new Lieutenant from Internal Affairs, basically reopening every single case Dan worked on from near or far, because of his... well you know."
"I believe betrayal is the word you're looking for there."
"Anyway." She replies, not wanting to think about what Dan did. "And all of the paperwork and cases seem to magically fall on my desk. Oh, and yes, my Mom is coming to town in a few days as well. So yay me!"
"Personally, I find them delightful."
"What?"
"Your Mom and the new Lieutenant. I find them delightful."
Chloe glares at him. "So all this to say, I'm sorry I snapped at you unfairly. I guess you were just here at the wrong time."
"All is forgotten, Partner." She looks at him weirdly. "That was weird, wasn't it?" He says. "I guess I'll stick to Detective. But do try to warn me next time." He finishes with a wink.
She hugs him without thinking. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." He says as he releases her, reluctantly. "Now for your penitence, you have to have fun with me."
"Lucifer..." She starts.
"I meant a dance, Detective." He chuckles at her discomfort. "Sometimes I really wonder who you actually take me for."
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"I'm good." He replies. "But just so you know, the option you thought of is always on the table.
She chuckles. " And who knows, maybe one day, I'll take it. " She thinks before she takes his hand and joins the dancefloor.
LUX DANCEFLOOR - A MOMENT LATER
The music playing as she joins the other partiers on the dancefloor was surprisingly to her liking. And whether it was the Tequila she had before or the sight of her partner relaxed and clearly enjoying his time with her, she lets herself get enrolled by the music and soon dances as if nobody's watching. At first, she tried to keep a friendly distance with her partner, not to mislead him or anything, but the packed up dancefloor made it hard for her to stay away. She did cast a few glances left and right, worried that some bimbo might interrupt them but pleasingly discovered that Lucifer had apparently no interest to let anyone else close to her, or him.
Without surprise, the more she got lost into the music, the closer she got to Lucifer, and like a sailor caught by a siren call, the Devil found himself unable to resist the pull of her body, and as soon as his hands touched her hips, he automatically fell in sync to the rhythm she set up. When Chloe felt his hands on her, it felt as if a bolt of electricity shot through her and she turned within his grip so she could face him, her hands reaching up to rest on his shoulders.
She takes a deep breath - or more a sigh really - as she finally musters the courage to look into his eye. And what she sees there doesn't disappoint. In less than a song, she finds Lucifer is completely enraptured in the moment with her, pupils fully blown, irises almost black, with a hint of hazel brown in them. She concentrates on his eyes, as she lets her body take over her brain and follow the music, the distance between getting smaller and smaller. Then her eyes catch a hint of bright red behind the night black pupils, and she has to blink a few times just to make sure she didn't imagine the flicker of red that passed for a tiny moment. But despite this, she, nor him, don't seem to able to fight off the magnetism drawing them almost flush against one another. As Chloe feels his breath on her skin and his heart racing up in his chest, she finally realises she's tired of fighting whatever is happening between them, and their obvious attraction to each other.
Then Chloe feels a cold wind on her left, then right hip, as the song reaches an end. It takes her less than a couple of seconds to grab his hands, and place them again on her hips. He looks at her, a bit confused as to why she did it. She chuckles and brings her lips to his ear so he can hear her over the music, and if she was honest, also because it was more fun this way.
"Where do you think you're going?" She murmurs. "I believe you promised me a dance." She breathes on his neck. "And so far, this is only a half-dance."
As the new information finally reach his brain, a mischievous smile forms on his face. "I did, didn't I?" He answers, in turn bringing his lips ever so close to her ear. "And it would be a shame to disappoint you, now would it?" He finishes, as his left hand relocates from her hips to the lowest part of her back while keeping his right hand on her hip.
In turn, Chloe brings her hands to the back of his neck, her fingers fumbling with the small hair there, her chest now pressed so close that she feels his heart beat against her skin. Then an idea crosses her mind. For once, she seemed to have the upper hand on him and she decides to make the best of it and tease him a bit. She smirks at him, eyes shimmering with mischief, as she turns again in his arms, her back now pressed to his chest. Lucifer lets her turn around, his hands not moving from where they were. In fact, he uses this new situation to press her against him even more, the grip on her body tightening as the song goes on. Chloe feels the effect she has on him and decides to push her luck to test his self-control. She arches her back, pressing her butt into his body. At first Lucifer remains a bit hesitant, but once he realises that Chloe clearly knows what she's doing as she wiggles against him, he decides to fight back and moves in perfect synchronization with her, one of his hand now up her sides, while the other rests on her lower belly, trapping her efficiently in his arms.
He lets out a low groan and takes in her fragrance before his lips finally hover above the crook of her neck. He doesn't yet touch her skin. For now, he simply ghosts over the tender area, blowing hot hair on it. And if Chloe's pulse speed, as well as her sighs, are any indications, she's almost as far gone as he is. And that's what does it for him. Once he finally gets Chloe is as affected as he is, he can't resist the temptation of her skin anymore and finally presses his lips against the point where her neck meets her shoulder. As a reaction, Chloe brings her arms up behind his neck, keeping him close. Lucifer gets the message and starts to suckle a bit on the pulse point, leaving a reddish mark that he soothes with his tongue afterwards. The whine that escapes her is his undoing and he takes a deep breath, trying to get some control over the situation, given the fact that they are in a very public place at the moment.
But Chloe decides to torture him a bit further and presses back once again. As a consequence, Lucifer can't help the groan from his lips, and even through the dim light of the club, he can see her smile.
Then, all of a sudden, the music switches to slow dance. Chloe turns around so she now faces him, her cheeks red from the dance, and the evident arousal.
"I had no idea you were that good of a dancer. I'm impressed, Detective."
"Me neither." Chloe replies, her fingers now moving around in his hair, as his hands slide lower from her waist to the upper part of her butt cheeks.
"You do know you're playing with fire, Detective?" He feels the need to warn her.
"I've always liked fire." She answers, not letting go of him.
"Good." He says. He brings his lips to whisper in her ear. "Because right now, I'm burning up."
As if with a mind of their own, their bodies start to sway along the slow rhythm of the new song, each of them seeking the warmth of the other. Lucifer's hands are now almost fully on her ass, their lips only an inch apart until they finally meet. As soon as this happens, the whole world around them blurs until all that's left is them and their kiss. But soon the chaste kiss turns heated as Chloe pries his lips open and the Devil gladly accepts. The end of the song brings them back to the real world and they reluctantly part, both out of breath.
"Maybe we should take this to a place which is a bit more private?" He asks, not sure if she'll agree or if the end of the song broke the magic for good.
"That would be a good idea." She answers, leading the way to the elevator up to his penthouse.
Surprisingly, the ride to his penthouse is very quiet, both of them lost in their own thoughts, probably perusing what just happened. It was unexpected for both of them, but so far, they seemed okay with it. It takes Chloe a few seconds after the door opened to realise she's finally at Lucifer's place. She steps in, almost shyly. Then she sees Lucifer's look on her, a mixture of awe, desire, and a bit of nervousness it seems. Lucifer simply stands there, letting her adjust to the situation. Soon the silence becomes too much for him.
"You do know that whatever happens tonight, or doesn't, or after tonight, won't change anything between us."
"Won't it though?"
"Of course not." He replies instantly. "What's a little fun between partners, right?" He finishes with a joke.
"Is that all we are?" She asks. "All I am to you?"
He takes a step towards her. "Given what's about to happen, I'd like to think we'll be more than partners." He winks at her.
"Lucifer…" She answers.
He's now only a few inches away from her. "As I said, whatever happens, won't change a thing, Detective." He grabs his drink. "I'd offer you one, but I think you've had enough to drink already, and for what I have planned for us tonight, you'll need all your faculties, Darling."
"I…" She starts, as her reserves simply dissipate into thin air the closer he gets.
But like before with the end of the song, their moment is once again broken, this time with the ding of the elevator door. Chloe doesn't even have the time to turn around before the woman speaks.
"Oh no!" She says. "I missed the beginning of the party. You should have told me, I would have come earlier."
Chloe turns around, and her desire instantly turns to anger as she sees who interrupted them, and her mouth falls open as she sees the woman from the crime scene. "Seriously?!" She gasps.
" Talk about timing! " Lucifer thinks to himself. "In my defence…" He starts. "I had no idea you were coming over, and she's not the main witness anymore."
Chloe simply looks away and heads for the elevator. "I should go." She replies.
"Detective! Wait!" He calls after her. Chloe stops. "Like I said, I had no idea you were coming over. And I didn't know if she was going to show up."
"So she decides all of a sudden to pay you a visit?"
"I may have mentioned earlier that she could drop by Lux, but that was before you showed up and what happened afterwards."
"Had you known I was coming over to visit, would it have changed anything?"
"Of course it would have."
"I don't know, Lucifer."
"Come on Detective."
But before he can finish, the woman behind them gets closer and trails her fingers down Lucifer's forearm. "You know I don't mind sharing. From what I heard, the Devil has tremendous stamina. I'm sure there'll be plenty for the both of us"
Lucifer can't help but smile at the woman's comment. Chloe, however, doesn't and decides that enough is enough. "I can't believe this!" She simply says leaving.
"Come on Detective. It was only a joke!" He runs after her. "Please Detective, wait!" But Chloe pushes the button to close the doors before Lucifer can reach her.
In that brief moment, Lucifer feels the slightest guilt and feeling that he screwed up, without really knowing why. But it only lasts a minute and soon he's back into the game as he feels the olive-skinned woman trailing her fingers down his chest and into one of his belt loop.
"Anything I can help you with? You seem tense."
Lucifer thinks it over for a moment, wondering if there was the slightest chance the Detective might come back. But given how she left, he decides they are close to zero. He takes a breath and turns to her.
"I guess there are a few things we could do to make it better. After all, I didn't invite you over to play Monopoly." He says, kissing her and guiding her to his bedroom.
A FEW MINUTES LATER - SAME PLACE
As Chloe reaches her car, she realises that, in the heat of the moment, she forgot her bag up in the penthouse. She hesitates for a moment, not wanting to see Lucifer again tonight after what happened. But at the same time, she needs her purse. She finally decides to go back up. She carefully steps into the penthouse.
"Lucifer?" She calls out. "I forgot my bag and…" She doesn't finish her sentence as she sees her bag on the piano. But as she grabs it, she still catches a quick glimpse at the woman, head thrown back in ecstasy, Lucifer at her feet, having what seems to be the best orgasm of her life. Chloe turns redder than a tomato, both from anger and arousal and she clutches her bag and she quickly exits the penthouse.
LAPD PRECINCT - THE NEXT MORNING
Lucifer walks into the precinct, a huge smile on his face and a coffee in hand.
"Good morning Detective." He says. "Since you didn't call me this morning to tell me we had a case, I decided to drop by myself and check where we stood with our current case." He finishes, sticking to what he told her the night before, that no matter what happened, their relationship wouldn't change.
As Chloe sees him, she can't help the memory of what she saw last night. She didn't mean to see whatever happened last night, and yet, she finds her brain battling with itself, switching from anger, to arousal, to anger again, then disappointment, but also, she can't help but wonder what it would have been like if she had stayed, and been in the woman's place. Would she have reacted the same way, did she miss out on one of the best sex in her life as the others said? But then his blatant disregard for police protocol wins the fight and she quickly grabs the coffee he offers her, before throwing it in the trash.
"We don't currently have a case, Lucifer. And there isn't any news yet on our ongoing one, so your presence here isn't necessary." Lucifer looks at her, puzzled at how they got from almost sleeping together to this. Lucifer he might have angered her a bit, but not than the usual. And she could have stayed if she wanted to. He would have gotten rid of the other woman. Chloe cuts his train of thoughts short. "Besides, I'm sure you'll have plenty to do today. Maybe another suspect to work on?" She finishes, looking away, to hide both her light blush and her pain.
"But, Detective…"
"Go home, Lucifer." She says for the second time in less than two days. "I'll call you when I have some news on the case." She finishes before she gets back to her case file.
Lucifer looks at her, dumbfounded, not really understanding why she took it this hard that he spent the night with someone else when she was the one who left. He wasn't a specialist when it came to relationships, but even he was smart enough to know that there was no way of talking to her when she was like this. So he decides to go see the only person who could help him make sense of all this.
As he reaches Linda Martin's office, he simply passes by the reception desk and opens the office door.
"Doctor, I need your help with something." He starts. "The Detective is being all weird again."
"Lucifer…" Linda replies.
"That's still me." He says, impatient.
"I'm with a patient at the moment."
"No worries." Says the man on the couch, as he grabs his jacket and heads for the door. "Hi, Lucifer." He waves at Linda. "See you next week Doctor. Bye Lucifer."
"Bye Benny." Lucifer replies.
"How do you know…?" She starts. "Never mind." She finishes. Lucifer sits down on the couch and pours himself a glass of water. "So what did you do so that Chloe is mad at you?"
"How do you know I did something? Maybe it's her!"
She looks at him. "Question of habits, I guess." She answers. "So what happened?"
"As I said, the Detective is mad at me, for no apparent reasons."
"What happened in the last twenty-four hours?"
"We were at a crime scene, and I was helping the Detective move on with the work by interrogating the woman who discovered the body. And you know first hand the effect I can have on some people." He says.
"That I do." She answers, with a tiny hint of regret.
"She was a very charming woman and since I promise the Detective I would play nice and " behave" as she would say, I might have let slip to the witness that she could drop by Lux later on if she ever wanted."
"Okay."
"But then the Detective got all angry at me, claiming I didn't respect my promise, and then she benched me." He finishes. "Can you believe she benched the Devil? Twice!"
"Then what happened?" Linda inquires, not really seeing why Chloe would get angry at him. After all, nothing out of the ordinary happened, at least according to the Devil's standards.
"She dropped by Lux."
"She?"
"The Detective." He says. "She apparently realised she was unfair to me and came by to apologize for what happened."
"So she wasn't mad at you anymore?"
"No. We even had a few drinks and she agreed to dance with me."
"And how did that go?"
"Not like I expected it to go actually." He replies, pensive. "It felt amazing to be there with her, and one thing led to another, we headed for my penthouse." He smiles as he recalls the moment. "And we were well on our way to more pleasant things. She was finally going to know that all the about my talents are true."
"So what stopped you?" She asks, curious. "Or did it happen after all?"
"No, it didn't." He answers, a bit disappointed. Linda remains silent and Lucifer continues. "We got interrupted."
"Let me guess, by the crime scene witness."
"Yes. You're good, Doctor." Linda chuckles. He was so predictable. "And then the Detective left."
"I see." She says. "Did you sleep with that woman?"
"Of course I did." He replies. "I have a reputation to uphold and the Detective had decided to leave."
"Did you tell Chloe that?"
"More or less." He says.
Linda rubs her temple, wondering how can one be so oblivious and yet so smart at the same time. "And does Chloe know what happened between you and the witness?"
"Not that I'm aware of. Besides, she's the one who decided to leave. I would have been more than happy to send the female intruder home, had the Detective decided to stay."
"You're sure about this?"
"Well I recall a purse on the piano, but I'm not sure if it was hers. But it's also possible. I mean this morning she did make a reference to it, and she knows me, so…"
" How can I phrase this? " Linda thinks as she realises how far from the truth Lucifer was. She decides to go for the factual approach. "Sexual intercourse to you and to Chloe are two different things." Lucifer looks back at Linda. "The fact that Chloe wanted to sleep with you means she feels some sort of connection to you, and you sleeping with the first woman coming along because she left probably hurt her feelings."
"But we never really did anything." He replies. "And she never said she wanted to be the only one if anything ever happened. And like I told her, a little fun session won't change our relationship." Then it hits him. "Wait I know what it is." Linda looks at him, surprised he actually got it the first time around. "I read about it somewhere. The Detective is jealous."
She tries to calm him before he gets an even crazier idea. "It's possible, but…"
"So what I need to do is to make her understand that no matter what happens, or who happens, she'll always be my partner."
"Not such a piece of bad advice, but you have to be careful though.." She tries to warn him.
"Then we can finally continue what started last night." He finishes.
"And there it is. I thought it was too easy to be true." Linda mumbles as Lucifer stands up.
"Thank you, Doctor." Lucifer says as he closes the door.
I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated (kudos, comment, reviews...).
Thanks for reading!