"I think the phrase, Sam, is 'bite me'" Chloe spat as they headed back towards the cabin in a sudden blaze of fury.
"Would that I could", Lucifer-otherwise-known-as-Sam muttered under his breath as she flashed him a furious text book death stare. She was sure she saw red in his eyes, just for a split second before her head flew around again. Chloe knew full well she shouldn't rile the Devil but
"You don't do relationships!" Chloe continued, ponytail swinging angrily with the momentum of her walk. "You are the king of the one night stand. Have ever tried to be monogamous? Even tried once? Because that it what I would want if we were ever to..." She tailed off with a vague gesture of her hand.
Lucifer ducked his head as they shifted past their own hired car. "No. I've not..." he sighed, knowing full well that every 'relationship' he had had to date was based purely on sex and gratification. Now, what had started with a play fight with the Detective, had rapidly turned into a very real one as Chloe stormed ahead across the dusty car park. Lucifer had no idea what he even said but whatever it was, it must have hit home with her very quickly as she went from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds. He could feel the fury over the several feet between them as he scrabbled to catch her up.
Chloe spun back to him, key in hand for the cabin; her voice suddenly low. "Even with Eve you had..."
"Other partners" Lucifer responded, keeping out of slapping distance. "With her consent" he added quickly, "but yes other partners".
"So, you have seemed so keen to get me into bed since the first moment I met you. Why should I believe you when you say you can be faithful? You'll get bored of me and I need to know that now..." Before I get in too deep Chloe concluded (to herself) with a sigh; the key in the lock, turned and door open before he could respond. She was letting some of her insecurity show through and they had barely even kissed. Lucifer closed it behind them, hearing her drop the keys on the bed with a muffled clunk.
"Detective..." he started, causing her to turn around. "When I first met you, yes, all I wanted was...well, to feel you come so hard around me – and believe me I still do" he added quickly seeing her face still like stone. "I wanted to see if I could make you scream and not out of frustration because you want to kill me" he continued with a little laugh but seeing her face was still impassive. He ploughed on nevertheless. "You were a challenge to me then, but now I know you better, I want to know YOU. Trust me, I won't get bored of you". She shook her head and folded her arms. "Chloe" Lucifer continued stretching out his hands to place them on her shoulders. Her name caused her head to snap up. "I think the absolute world of you. You're the closest thing I have to a true and real friend and that will never change regardless of what we become more or not. Everyone else wants something off me; whether its money, favours...even Maze. You don't..." he concluded earnestly.
Chloe licked her lips and looked briefly at the floor again to avoid the pleading look in his eyes. "You do nothing but help me. Even when I did not know you were you and didn't believe you, you still kept helping me". She looked up . "I'm sorry. I should never have flown off the handle at you. There was no need for it".
"Something I said caused it though", Lucifer offered in return pulling her against his chest into a welcome warm embrace that diffused her temper even more as she shut her eyes and revelled in the comfort he offered. "Even though I am not entirely sure what I said" he continued, gently twirling that incensed ponytail between his fingertips as the golden blonde strands wandered smoothly over his skin. "It must have been something..."
She knew she had to tell him. She had gone off on him and he was owed an explanation. "When Dan and I separated within 2 weeks he..." Chloe almost couldn't speak the words and the memories were too close to the surface.
"Had a bimbo on his arm", Lucifer responded and without thinking pressed a kiss to the crown of her hair, breathing a brief waft of strawberries.
He felt her laugh. "Yeah I mean I know it was a reaction to us splitting up" Chloe responded resting her cheek on his chest. She could stay here all night. "She wasn't his type but it still hurt that he could just bump along like that like Trix meant nothing to him..."
"You meant nothing to him you mean" Lucifer added.
"Well, yeah but Trix first you know?" Chloe responded, wiggling slightly so he could release her so she could look him in the eye.
"Look" Lucifer started, "Lets just take things as fast or as slow as it happens. How about I go back to Lux after the meeting, pick up another bottle and see if we can piece anything from Catherine's employment file tonight and plan what we do next. Yes?"
She simply nodded and even he surprised himself with how patient that sounded.
Once she had calmed down and freshened up, they had made to the main hall where today there would be a lecture by the one and only and rather elusive 'Jo' aka hopefully Joseph Ferguson. Chloe and Lucifer, sorry Sam and Jane, walked up to the building where there were already a number of couples loitering until the doors opened. They had deliberately got there a little earlier than everyone else they had hoped, but it seemed everyone else had the same idea, maybe, if the whispers were anything to go by to get an early look at the lecturer. Why he was being treated by the small crowd as some kind of God Chloe would never know, but maybe that was because she knew he was potentially implicated in two murders now, if not more. Who knows how many people have been through these very doors before today? How many potential victims could there be?
Being as gently polite as Chloe knew he could be, Lucifer slipped them both through the crowd to a poster on the door that he had spotted. It had given him a sense of foreboding even more he had met the man. "The Path to an Enlightened Marriage" the poster screamed at them both in big black and gold writing. Underneath it, a picture of Jesus, arms outstretched in welcome and surrounded in swathes of light. "The website said barely anything about religion" Chloe muttered, mainly to herself as she heard Lucifer utter the word 'bollocks' under his breath.
Before they could speak any more the doors swung open and they were faced with Little Miss Bowl Cut wearing an utterly fake smile and as each couple walked into the building, they were handed a leaflet extolling the virtues of their lecturer today. They took a seat, near the front so Chloe could get a good look at the man.
What followed was a short, very short white haired man, in a blindingly also white suit standing on the podium and she felt Lucifer shift awkwardly, his knee bumping hers. She could almost read what was running through his mind as he tensed and squinted towards him, tightness rising in the whole of the Devil's body before they both jumped at the sudden scream of music from the speakers either side of the stage. It boomed, shook the floor, as it reminded her of the music that was pumped out at a Presidential Rally to incite the crowd. Ever so gently she took up Lucifer's hand, jamming it between their thighs in the hope he would get the message that she was here for him. From the poster alone she knew it would cause him distress let alone this white bedecked man obviously thinking he was some kind of God.
The speech that followed, the gestures that followed gave Chloe the shivers. This was far deeper than she thought; over and above a 'simple' marriage counselling camp, it seemed run by a man who was drunk on his own power, yet the remainder of the audience lapped it up and the adreneline running through the room was almost overwhelming. All of a sudden 'Jo' - who by now Chloe was certainly convinced he had such of a sufficient high opinion of himself to dispose of a few inconvenient people here there and everywhere - shushed the crowd and sat on the edge the wooden stage.
"My children..." he started, and Chloe felt Lucifer shift again. "You are all here to find your true paths and restore your marriages to the greater glory. Only if you sacrifice yourselves to the Lord's hands and join in Holy Matrimony to the the Lord God Himself..."
"Married to my Dad?"Lucifer whispered in her ear. "My Mum couldn't stand it...this lot don't know what they're in for..."
"Sshh" Chloe responded.
"Something to say Mrs Matthews?"
Chloe's head shot up at her 'name' being mentioned by Ferguson who had clearly heard her. How did he know who she was; recognise her?! Chloe shook her head quickly feeling like a child told off by a teacher. "No, sorry".
Ferguson cleared this throat and slipped down off the edge of the stage, standing closer to the all of the seated participants. "Now, ladies. Perhaps you would care to retire to your cabins. I wish to speak to the gentlemen alone".
Around an hour later, Lucifer reappeared at the cottage ready to take off to Lux but he needed to speak to her first as he had some rather interesting news to impart. He found her curled up on the covers of the bed, a throw over her calves obviously pushed away in the late afternoon heat. "Sleeping on the job eh?" he smiled as he locked the door as, well, you can never be too careful. Cautious of the small box that was now in his inside breast pocket of his jacket ever so gently he knelt up on the bed, crawling up and over her. Lucifer gently brushed her cheekbone but she did not react, so he tried again. This time she spun around in fear, ready to strike out and Chloe promptly kneed him in the groin and Lucifer fell to the bed with a thump and a groan. Damn you vulnerability! Damn you!
"I'm sorry!", Chloe squealed, scrabbling about on the bed next to him, the throw getting more and more wrapped around her ankles. "I really thought you were a prowler or something!" With a grimace she ripped the offending material from around her legs and sat up properly.
"Quite understandable" he replied, his voice still pained and suppressing a cough. In their scuffle, the box he had in his top pocket had fallen out and Lucifer noticed that she had seen it and had in fact picked it up; their little contretemps forgotten. "Now there's something you might be interested in. Open it". As he righted himself to sit on the edge of the bed, Lucifer was not particularly bothered that Ferguson had said not to show it to her.
Chloe flipped open the lid. "A blue diamond?" she asked, her voice shaking, wondering why Lucifer would suddenly have one of these in his possession. In fact her heart suddenly began to race at why he had it, but also how quickly evidence had managed to present itself to both of them so easily. Careful of any DNA left on the ring Chloe kept it where it was, no matter how tempting it was to take it out and examine it properly. "So, how did you get it?"
"Our friend Jo pulled me aside after the meeting" Lucifer began. "Said he would like to talk to me; hence me being away for you to fall asleep waiting for me, poised for attack!" He saw an affectionate smile. "He said that he had been observing us and believed that we were prime candidates for his personal attentions. Said he could feel our marriage was built on a godless foundation".
Chloe snorted. If only he knew. "So what's the ring for?" Chloe asked. It was clearly a symbol of something or other.
"I am supposed to give to you as an indication of our committment to God and a goal for us to work for at the end of our time here" Lucifer replied taking the box from her and watching the ring glint in the light; his own words horrifying him. "Are people really that blind not think this thing came from a Christmas cracker?!" he offered. It looked cheap and nasty. If ever one day he would present her with a ring, it would be...Oh bloody hell...!
"So...the others..." Chloe carried on, her mind ticking over. "They were chosen for his personal attentions too, or had some kind of personal attention from him and I assume he gave a ring to these women or rather to their partners". She frowned and crossed her legs. "It doesn't make sense. Catherine was here as an employee. I could see Lizzie having one of them but the husband never mentioned it..." A thought struck her. "It makes me a potential victim doesn't it?"
"Not with the Devil on your side" Lucifer smiled, leaning over and brushing a kiss to her cheek in easy affection. "I was thinking, whilst I might go and get us some wine, I might also deliver this pathetic sparkler to Miss Lopez. See if she can weave some magic upon it!". Before Chloe could reply her cell buzzed on the bedside table. "Ah, speak of the Devil!" Lucifer quipped, picking it up and seeing 'Ella' on the screen. Before Chloe could even attempt to take the cell off him, he had swiped his thumb over the screen and with a flourish, pressed the device to his ear. "The Delectable Detective Decker's phone! Her Personal Assistant speaking!"
Chloe heard Ella laugh and it brought a smile to her face, shuffling closer so she could hear what was about to be said. In the end she was only passing on a message from Dan for a conference call with the Lieutenant in the morning but Chloe mentally made a note of the time - 7.30am! - as they chatted before the call came to its natural end. Lucifer put the cell back down. "I found something else too whilst I was there...You were right. The back of that main room we were in, I saw him going into what every much looked like an office when we were done".
She smiled. "We need to get into that office" Chloe responded. It must be where the other files were. "Can you do it? she asked, shifting into his personal space. "I mean you'll be able to get in and out quickly and use the mojo. Two minutes" she continued, resisting running her hand over his knee and firmly in the camp of using his skills to their advantage today. "Ferguson must have a register of people who were here and if we can get a copy of it or anything about their lives..."
He shut his eyes. Accursed woman. "I have conditions" he offered. "A desire I wish fulfilled".
"This is for work Lucifer" Chloe replied, flipping back into professional mode and he missed the feel of her hand on his knee. "We are here to investigate what looks like what might be a serial killer now not to fulfil your desires...If we get this conviction, Rogers won't dare to speak to me like he does anymore".
"So is this what it's about then?" Lucifer replied, leaning back out of her immediate range and squinting skeptically at her. "You being on top. I mean I really don't mind helping you climb up as it where..." Chloe saw that smirk again and a raised eyebrow. Why did he always have to look at her lips when he did that?
"Go on" she huffed, arms folding about her body. "Conditions then".
"Only one" Lucifer replied, holding up a finger. "One condition. Singular. When we get back, you go out for dinner with me". Chloe frowned. She had been out to dinner with him more than once already. It was hardly a 'condition'. She was about to answer when he took up her hands. "Not as my friend, not as my work colleague, not as a 'thank you'". He had ticked off everything except as his 'date'. "You think I'm a pain in the arse, can't pay attention, thorn in your side..." He didn't hear her say 'I don't'...and he so wanted to prove himself..."and I would admit it's rather a step to be on a date with the devil, but..."
Chloe raised her head and straightened her shoulders. "So where are we going?"
"Anyone would think you had lost your marbles to even think about it. I mean, the enormity of it, the effect it could have if someone realised who I was...Pardon?" his head snapped up. He was never usually this introspective.
"I said, where are we going?" Chloe repeated, forgetting her moment of insecurity, at least for now. "Tell me where are you taking me..."