A/N: I hope you all enjoy the conclusion of Faking It!
Chapter 14
Where I Belong
Lucifer was the Devil.
For the first few hours after learning the truth, that seemed to be the only thought Chloe's brain was capable of producing, playing through her mind on loop…until eventually, the idea didn't seem so daunting.
Now, nearly a full day after seeing the Devil's face, her terror had faded and in its place, an emptiness had settled.
In the moment when Lucifer's face had melted away, the moment he had become the Devil, a deeply embedded, instinctual fear had eclipsed her ability to produce rational thought. It must have been the shock of seeing his face morph into something else, morph into a face so scary—red and burning and charred and blistered—a face whose sole purpose was to evoke fear in anyone who set eyes upon it, that had left her so bereft of her cognitive faculties.
But it wasn't that face that had haunted her as she lay awake the previous night ruminating over the day's events. It was the memory of Lucifer's face—the face she knew, the face she cared for—pleading with her not to go as she'd crept past him that had seared itself like a brand onto the insides of her eyelids. Every time she had closed her eyes, she saw how hurt he had looked, his expressive brown eyes wet with unshed tears, a slight wobble to his lower lip. He'd been so...resigned. She had done that to him.
Her heart felt heavy with guilt and regret.
Had no one ever accepted him in his long, immortal life?
She was fairly certain she knew the answer to that question. He'd told her of the way his family had rejected him—how his own twin had thrown him out of Heaven—and she already knew the awful picture history and religion had painted of him. She remembered the surprised look on his face when she'd taken him to the planetarium; people don't do nice things for the Devil, he'd said.
She'd had the opportunity to be the first person to look past his outward appearance, to look past all of the horrible things that had been said about him since the beginning of life on earth and see him for who he truly was—vivacious, and fun-loving, and silly, and caring, and so thoughtful. Someone who longed for an emotional connection and acceptance from others. Someone who longed for a home.
She'd had the opportunity to be that for him, and she'd let him down.
A loud knock on the front door startled Chloe from her thoughts. Logically, she knew it probably wasn't Lucifer; why would it be when she'd so clearly rejected his other face? Even still, hope flared within her.
She climbed off the couch, leaving the blanket she'd been cocooned in behind in a heap, but when she flung open the front door, relieved smile in place, it wasn't Lucifer who stared back at her.
"Jed," she greeted, her smile falling. "What are you doing here?"
He scuffed his foot on the pavement, smiling sheepishly at her through locks of sandy brown hair. "I was hoping we could talk? We never got to finish our discussion from your movie premiere."
He'd sent her two texts the previous week, trying to set up a time for them to meet up, but she'd been so busy with work and with Lucifer, that she'd ignored them. Jed obviously hadn't taken the hint and had somehow concluded that showing up unannounced on her doorstep would be the next appropriate move.
"We could go for coffee? Or…" He glanced at the clock above her stove. "It's almost six; we could grab dinner instead?"
"I'm not exactly dressed to go out," she hedged, glancing down her body, clad in pajama bottoms, a stained black band t-shirt with The Clash printed across the front, and a thick grey cardigan—her moping clothes.
"Oh." His eyes swept over her, lingering on her red-rimmed eyes. Concern wrinkled his brow. "Are you okay, Chloe?"
"I'm fine," she said.
"Everything alright with Lucifer?" he asked nosily, touching her arm.
"It's fine, Jed," Chloe repeated, annoyance apparent in her voice as she shrugged her arm from his grasp. "And I don't want to talk to you about Lucifer."
Jed exhaled sympathetically. "He hurt you, didn't he?" he pressed. "I knew he would."
"No…" she corrected guiltily, "Actually, I think I hurt him."
He ignored her though, shaking his head as he continued patronizingly, "I tried to warn you, Chlo. What did he do? Did he cheat on you? He didn't put his hands on you, did he?"
"What? No! Lucifer would never do anything like that," she insisted, frustrated with him for not listening to her. It had always been like that between them; Jed wasn't the best at communication. She had just forgotten. She'd somehow repressed all of the bad parts of their relationship when she'd been so set on winning him back, subconsciously focusing only on the good.
Sighing heavily, she rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "Why are you here, Jed? What did you want to talk about?"
"Can I come in?" he asked hopefully. "Just for a few minutes? Just to say my piece?"
Why did she feel like she owed it to him to let him explain? A part of her was curious, though. Even though she was over him, she had lingering questions about why he'd ended things with her.
She opened the door wider in invitation, and he slipped past her as he entered. She closed the door behind him, and made her way into the kitchen. Leaning her hip against the counter, she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to speak.
"I just," he took a deep breath, his shoulders shrugging, as if he had come all this way but actually didn't know what he wanted to say. "I miss you, Cherry Jane."
"Jed—" she began to protest, averting her eyes to the floor.
"Please, Chloe. Let me finish?" he requested, looking at her through those puppy-dog eyes of his, and even though they no longer made her heart skip a beat, she couldn't say no to them. Jed had been her first real love; he'd been there for her during some of the worst months of her life. She thought maybe he'd always hold a special place in her heart because of that.
Raising an eyebrow, she indicated for him to continue.
"I made a mistake. A terrible mistake and I'm sorry. I was insecure and jealous; your career was taking off and mine wasn't. You were booking jobs left and right and the months that you were filming, I barely saw you. I got in my head. I thought you'd think I wasn't good enough for you and you'd leave me," he explained. "But, Chloe, I love you. I never stopped. Nothing's changed."
Chloe gulped, her heart breaking just a little in her chest. She felt sad for Jed, sad that their relationship had ended due to a misunderstanding that could have been fixed if he'd only just talked to her. But things had changed for her. She had changed and her feelings for Jed had changed.
"Please give me another chance," he said, and then swiftly closed the distance between them, kissing her.
How easy would it be to fall into his arms, kiss him back, get lost in a touch that was once so comforting and familiar? Forgiving Jed, being with him again, would be simple and uncomplicated. After all, he wasn't the Devil.
But those thoughts never even crossed her mind.
Jed's thick tongue immediately plunged past her lips and into her mouth, kissing her with a passionate desperation, as if he were trying to remind her of the love they'd once shared, as if he were trying to convince her to choose him, but Chloe felt nothing.
Warmth didn't flood her insides, arousal didn't surge through her veins, her belly didn't twist or flip, her skin didn't tingle. Her heart did not beat for Jed the way it beat for Lucifer.
Kissing Jed felt wrong.
As soon as the shock of his kiss wore off, she shoved at his chest, breaking the contact.
"Jed," she said, shaking her head. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "You can't do that! You can't kiss me like that. We're not together anymore."
"Come on, Cherry," he said in a tone that suggested she was overreacting, while holding his hand out in a placating gesture.
"No," she said firmly, stepping backward to put more space between them. "You broke up with me. I've moved on. Lucifer makes me happy and I want to be with him."
As the words left her mouth, it dawned on her that that was all that mattered. Not that their whole relationship had started out as a ruse, not that he was the actual Devil, not that Heaven and Hell and all of it existed. Being with Lucifer made her happy; everything else was just background noise.
Suddenly, she had an overwhelming urge to find him, to apologize and make everything right between them.
"He says he's the Devil, Chloe! He cuts shady deals with shady people, not to mention he's slept with half of LA. Is that really the kind of person you want to be involved with?"
"You don't know him like I do," she said, defending him, but not knowing why she felt the need to do so. "You know what, it doesn't matter what you think," she concluded, hastily ushering him to the front door.
"Chloe, please."
"I'm sorry," she continued, pushing him gently through the doorway, "but I have to go. I need to find Lucifer."
She shut the door, leaving Jed dumbfounded on her front stoop, and raced upstairs to change out of her moping clothes.
As she drove to Lux, her heart pounded with nervous excitement, but a hint of fear still lingered in her mind. Not fear of Lucifer—it was almost laughable; she trusted the Devil wholeheartedly—but fear of how she might react if she saw his face again. Her reaction the previous day had been entirely subconscious, completely out of her control. Would she ever be able to look at that face and not feel fear?
On top of that, a more pressing worry loomed over her. Could Lucifer ever forgive her for the way she'd reacted to seeing his face the first time?
When she arrived at Lux, the elevator seemed to creep up to the penthouse more slowly than usual, and Chloe bounced on her toes as she vibrated with nervous energy.
When the elevator doors opened, the penthouse was dark, illuminated only by the golden light of the setting sun as it shone in through the penthouse's floor-to-ceiling windows. Still, it was enough for Chloe to see that large white sheets covered every single piece of furniture. The place looked abandoned, and she felt her heart shatter into dozens of tiny, sharp pieces.
She was too late. Lucifer was gone.
Her stomach churned and she felt lightheaded. Grabbing tightly onto the edge of the bar, she let her head fall forward into her chest as she focused on her breathing, waiting for the nausea to pass.
She got back into the elevator, feeling devastated and hopeless and so angry at herself. Try as she might to remain hopeful, finding him seemed an impossible task. The world was huge, and he was the Devil. He could go anywhere…if he even remained on earth.
How had she fucked things up so badly? And why had he fled so quickly, without giving her time to process?
She chuckled mirthlessly through her tears and pounded her fist against the wall of the elevator, releasing some of the frustration she felt. It made her feel better, surprisingly, and she breathed deeply for a moment before moving to press the button that would take her back down to the parking garage. Instead, her finger hovered over the button for Lux.
The elevator opened into the empty club, and Chloe descended the staircase, nearly tripping over herself when she saw Patrick standing behind the bar.
"Patrick," she said, relief evident in her voice as she blinked back her tears. "Chloe Decker," she reminded him. "Is Lucifer here or…?"
The bartender's brow furrowed slightly. "He's…gone," Patrick said, shrugging his shoulder. "He and Maze said something about going home or…going back to where they belong?"
Chloe's eyes widened as Patrick's words sunk in. Back to where they belong. Was he going back to Hell?
"…a new owner would be contacting me, but he was kind of enough to ensure that my employment would continue-"
"How long ago did they leave?" Chloe interrupted him.
His eyes darted to the clock above the bar. "Oh, you just missed them. I'd say twenty minutes ago?"
Her hand smacked the bar as she spun on her heels, racing back toward the elevator.
"Thanks, Patrick!" she called over her shoulder. Her heart pounded. There was still a chance she could find him; still a chance she could stop him from leaving.
Inside the elevator, she pressed the button to the garage level no fewer than six times until the doors slowly closed and the elevator began its sluggish descent.
Somehow, she just knew where he'd be. She only hoped she wouldn't be too late.
Lucifer inhaled deeply, savoring the salty ocean air on his tongue. Goosebumps dotted his skin in the chilly evening breeze; he let himself enjoy the cool, clear air for the last time as only dry heat and ash awaited him in Hell.
His heart ached. Chloe had chosen him—only to reject him when she'd learned of his true nature. He didn't blame her, not at all; he was a monster and she deserved better.
He couldn't understand how she had burrowed so deeply into his heart so quickly. She made him feel things he'd never dreamed possible for him, a fallen angel and the actual Devil, to feel.
The emotions were so intense, unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Could it be love? He had no personal experience with the feeling, but he'd read about it and had seen it portrayed in movies. He'd always thought angels were incapable of love, but he'd thought the same thing about jealousy, and that emotion had become an entirely too recurrent experience since Chloe.
It took a lot, to allow himself to be vulnerable with someone in the way he'd been with her. Dr. Linda had told him once that opening up to someone else was the ultimate form of intimacy. He'd hoped Chloe would be that person for him, the person who'd know him best, know every little detail about him—and care for him anyway.
The closest he'd ever come was his relationship with Mazikeen, but even she was loyal because she was a demon. It was in her nature to serve him faithfully. And even still, she often had her own agenda.
Chloe's loyalty, though, had been selfless.
"Lucifer!" someone shouted from further down the beach. He almost thought his mind was playing tricks on him because it sounded like Chloe's voice.
He watched with a furrowed brow as the figure barreled toward him, and as she neared, he realized it really was Chloe.
"Oh!" Surprise and confusion welled up inside him as she came to a halting stop in front of him. Bending at the waist with her palms on her thighs, she panted heavily, trying to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry, Detec- er, Chloe," he said quickly, taking a huge step back from her, putting more space between them. "I didn't realize you'd be here."
Despite what had transpired between them, he couldn't help but drink her in. She was, as always, breathtaking. The sun had just finished its descent into the ocean, and the clear night sky was a deep blueish purple. The crescent moon shone from above, just like his stars, and the light caught and reflected on the loose golden waves of her hair and on the endless pools of her gorgeous blue-green eyes as she gazed up at him.
His heart broke as he remembered her fear as she'd stared into the face of the Devil, only confirming to him what he already knew. If she, in all her wisdom and mercy, saw him as a monster, then surely it must be true. Her intelligence was something he admired most about her.
For that reason, he had decided to return to Hell. That was where the Devil belonged, after all. Maze was ecstatic, and she promised to have all of their affairs in order by the morning. Chloe would never have to know fear, at least not fear of him, ever again.
"I'm here because I was looking for you, dummy," she said softly in between breaths.
"You were?" he asked, bewildered by the thought of her seeking him out.
"Yeah," she confirmed with a small smile as she took a step closer to him. "I went to Lux first but you weren't there. Patrick said you'd left. And then I remembered what you said about this spot—that this was where you landed when you came to earth, that it was the first place you saw your stars again, the place you go when you need to think. And so I thought—I hoped—that maybe you'd come here before you left."
He chuckled, murmuring, "Clever Detective," but the affectionate words were lost beneath the sound of a wave crashing to shore.
"Are you… Are you going back to Hell?" she asked, and her voice wobbled.
He nodded, sucking in a small breath. "Yes, I've decided to go back…to where I belong," he said, casting her a bittersweet smile before turning to face the ocean.
"But…Lucifer. You don't belong there," she asserted. "Please, please, don't go back."
Lucifer huffed a self-deprecating laugh. Shaking his head, he said, "Oh, but I do. There's no sense in kidding myself any more. I got so caught up in your favor, so caught up in trying to prove to you that I'm better than Jed that I forgot I'm not. I'm not better than Jed, because I'm the Devil. Maze and I are leaving first thing in the morning; so you needn't worry, Detective. You'll never have to see me again," he promised.
She shook her head emphatically and then blurted, "Jed kissed me."
Lucifer's head snapped toward hers and his face contorted as though she'd punched him hard in the gut. He quickly regained his composure, his mask slipping into place as he turned back to the sea. "It seems you got what you wanted then."
"No," she said firmly, stepping closer to him. She grasped his forearm lightly, drawing his attention back to her. "I hated it. It didn't feel right. You feel right."
Lucifer scoffed. How many times would she spark hope in him only to break his heart?
"Chloe, in case you've forgotten, I am the Devil," and just like before, his face changed, his skin burning away, leaving behind rough, scorched flesh. She gasped at the sudden change, her eyes never leaving his face. "Could you accept me like this?" he asked, doubt and despair clear in his voice.
Chloe stood stock still as Lucifer shifted into his other face. Fear surged through her at the sight, but it wasn't as intense this time. The emotion didn't take control of her, and it faded the longer she looked at him. Underneath the burnt, damaged flesh, he was still just Lucifer. It's still just me, he'd told her.
And it was.
She could see the shape of his long nose, the line of his jaw, the perfect cupid's bow of his upper lip. His eyes, now crimson, still reflected the same warmth, the same insecurity as he waited for her to reject him again.
But this time, Chloe took a step toward the Devil.
"I can," she breathed out, her own relief palpable. "I do accept you, Lucifer."
He stared at her, uncomprehending as she took another slow step toward him, now scant inches away.
"Chloe?" he questioned, her name sounding like a prayer. Wonder and disbelief and a tentative hopefulness shone in his red irises as they locked onto her blue ones.
She slowly lifted a hand to his cheek, wondering briefly if it was painful for him to wear this face, and stroked the rough skin tenderly.
Lucifer's eyes fluttered softly in response to her ministrations and she wondered if it was the first loving caress he'd ever received to this face. Needy for it, he pressed his cheek more firmly into her palm, nuzzling against it.
His skin was smooth and waxy beneath her fingertips, warm and surprisingly soft. She liked it, liked the way it felt to touch this side of him, liked how she might have been the only person, maybe ever, to shower affection on the Devil.
And when she pressed her lips oh so carefully to his, he gasped, his eyes popping open as he jumped back from the sheer surprise of the affectionate touch.
His face changed back, and she marveled at the seamless transition. What did it feel like for him to have two faces? To switch between the two?
Lifting his fingers to his lips, he stared at her in shock. Suddenly, her stomach churned, sadness and regret swelling inside her as she realized just how much her reaction to his Devil face the previous day had hurt him.
"I'm so sorry for the way I reacted yesterday," she said, the words rushed. "I'm so sorry I hurt you." She sniffed, tears prickling at the back of her eyes.
Lucifer finally seemed to find his voice as he dropped his hand back to his side. "It's quite alright, Detective," he said, brushing it off with a thin smile. The action was just so Lucifer of him, to want to alleviate her guilt. "You reacted exactly as I should have expected you would."
"But…you didn't. You had faith in me and I let you down. I reacted just like everyone else, when I should have been different. I know you, Lucifer, and I trust you completely. I was just in shock. I've never believed in Heaven or Hell or God or the Devil… I never expected it could all be true."
He frowned a little. "Well, now you know. I'm…I'm evil."
Her Lucifer—the man who'd boxed up a lemon bar for her because he'd remembered that they were her favorite dessert, who'd opened up to her about creating the stars, and had taken her to his special spot on the beach, who'd planned an amazing date to the San Francisco Opera for her—had spent literal eons being told that he was evil and wicked and wrong.
But he wasn't. He wasn't any of those things. He didn't bite the heads off of children. History and religion had painted an awful picture of him, and he'd suffered because of it.
"No," she insisted. "No, you're not. All that stuff people say about you? None of it is true."
She framed his face with her hands, enjoying the way the rough stubble felt against her fingers, how it felt like him. With time, maybe his other face would become just as familiar to her. She could see herself liking both. She tugged him down to her and kissed him again. It felt so right, like belonging, like coming home, and the feeling surged and crested within her.
She held him gently in place as she let her tongue slide tenderly against his, and it wasn't until she tasted the saltiness on his lips that she realized they'd both begun to cry.
Chloe gently broke the kiss and kept their foreheads pressed together. The tip of her nose nudged against his as she met his eyes and said, "I want to be with you, Lucifer. Please don't go back to Hell; you don't belong there. You belong right here…with me."
"With you?" he whispered, his eyes wide and wet, and she nodded, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug.
"With me," she confirmed against his ear, squeezing him tighter as his arms encompassed her waist.
She pressed close, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms again. He made her feel safe and cared for and it didn't even matter that he was the Devil.
"Do you forgive me?" she asked into his ear, still wrapped up snugly in his arms.
"There's nothing to forgive, Detective."
Chloe sighed in relief, burying his face into his neck and inhaling his scent deeply. "And you'll stay? You won't go back to Hell?" she pressed.
"I'll stay as long as you desire it."
They held each other a moment longer before Lucifer asked, "Are you hungry, darling? I'd like to take you to dinner."
She kissed his neck, and then pressed her forehead to his. "I'm not hungry for food," she said, eyes dark as they darted from his lips to his eyes.
"Oh, you're not, hmm?" he replied, his own eyes darkening with arousal as she shook her head against his. "Then what are you hungry for?"
She closed the gap between them. "You," she said.
For the second time that evening, Chloe stood in the elevator of Lux as it slowly ascended to the penthouse. This time, however, she didn't mind the way the elevator seemed to dawdle, taking its time to transport them to their destination, because this time Lucifer had her pinned to one of the walls of the elevator as he kissed her passionately.
She hummed into his mouth as his tongue slipped along hers. Her hands moved from his shoulders to cradle his face, tipping his head to deepen the kiss.
His fingers curled against the small of her back, drawing her close and keeping their hips in contact, making his arousal for her obvious. The feel of him wanting her made heat flare low in her abdomen, and she shifted her hips against him, searching for friction.
Lucifer moaned, his hands running down the curve of her lower back and over the swell of her butt, lifting and rolling her hips against his erection.
She kissed him hungrily, unwilling for him to have the upper hand. Her fingers traced the line of buttons down the front of his shirt and back up again, before slipping the top one from its hole. She managed to get the top three buttons undone by the time the elevator doors opened to the penthouse. Chloe took a step back from him with a playful smile on her face.
"Chloe," he whined at the loss of her body against his and he moved forward to chase after her.
She continued to walk backwards, dodging him with that same sultry smile on her face.
He looked so damn perfect in that moment, his hair windblown from the beach and curling around his ears; his eyes dark and on her, only her; the scruff of his beard, longer than usual as if he hadn't bothered to trim it that morning; and his soft pink lips, pulling up at the corners in a mischievous grin.
She eyed him warily as he surged toward her, closing the distance between them. He hugged her waist, lifting her, and her legs wrapped instinctually around his hips as she giggled from the surprisingly playful move. He carried her effortlessly past his Assyrian wall and up the steps to the bedroom, his stubbly cheeks tickling her fingertips as she kissed him again.
They undressed each other, hands shaking with nerves and excitement, trailing wet kisses over smooth skin, mapping the dips and lines of the other's body. Lucifer's fingers traced Chloe's collarbone, touching the delicate chain of her necklace with the pad of his thumb where it rested in the hollow of her neck.
She swallowed, and he watched the way her throat worked before bending forward to press his lips first to the pendant of her necklace and then up along the path of the chain, along her throat. She tipped her head back to give him better access.
Chloe hummed her pleasure as Lucifer sucked a bloom into her skin. As she felt his cock twitch against her hip, she marveled at how this incomprehensible creature could want her.
But he did. And she wanted him too.
The way he looked at her, eyes clear and open and honest as they locked with hers, made her stomach knot and her heart swell. She wanted to memorize the way his body responded to her, and she pressed closer to him, her thighs slick with her own arousal. She could hear the desire in the way he gasped her name, echoed back in the way she moaned her pleasure when he caressed her silky skin. The tenderness burned clear in the way they kissed, soft and open, and in how they held each other, comforting and protective. No one had ever loved her like this, and from the expression of adoration on Lucifer's face, it was new for him as well.
When she gently nudged him backwards to sit on the edge of the bed, he raised an intrigued eyebrow at her. Satisfied by his reaction, her own eyebrow raised to mirror his, and then she dropped to her knees between his thighs.
His cock was hard, long and thick and throbbing in anticipation of her touch. He watched her as she gazed at the effect she had on him. She gave an experimental touch, the graze of her finger tips. Lucifer inhaled sharply. She smiled up at him as her fingers wrapped around the base. He groaned at the firm grip. She stroked his length a few times, feeling the weight of him in her palm, his skin smooth and soft as she worked him up.
He watched her, his eyes nearly black and his lids heavy and half-closed, as she bent forward and pressed kisses to his inner thighs.
"Chloe," he breathed her name, pleading. "Go on, darling. Wrap those plump lips around my cock."
Her lips turned up into a smile against the skin of his thigh, and she turned her head to look up at him wide-eyed and innocent through thick, dark lashes. She nuzzled her cheek against his thigh. "Hmmm?"
"Minx," he teased.
A small chuckle left her lips before she gave him what he wanted, cupping his balls in her free hand as she licked the length of him from base to tip with the flat of her tongue. His abs fluttered and clenched when her lips engulfed the head of his cock.
She sunk down on him, bobbing her head up and down as she rolled his balls in her hand. His hands remained on the bed behind him, propping him up in a reclined position, watching, but she wanted his hands on her instead.
"Lucifer," she requested, releasing him. "Touch me. Show me what you like, what you want."
His fingers immediately threaded into her hair as he gently guided her back to his cock, helping her set a pace that he liked.
She could tell he was close when his hips started to jut erratically into her mouth, the sounds leaving his lips escalating in pitch. She focused on breathing through her nose as she brought him over the edge, and he released with a shout, in hot, salty spurts down her throat.
He leaned back on his hands, grinning down at her, looking oh so satisfied. Chloe bit her lip, devilish glint in her eye as she gave him one last lick before righting herself. She climbed onto his lap, straddling him.
"Oh," he said, eyeing her suggestively. His eyebrow did a little jig as his eyes darted from her stormy blues to her full pink lips, pouty and glistening from pleasuring him, down to the sway of her breasts as she settled. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him. His eyes traced the sharp edge of her jawline before meeting her crystalline eyes.
"You are so beautiful," he told her, voice reverent, as he looked at her with awe.
She smiled, a blush warming her cheeks, her muscles still heavy with arousal. "You're sweet." She rolled her hips, her wet slit rubbing against his still-hard cock, and she let out a soft moan at the way he felt against her hot, sensitive core. She pressed her forehead to his. "How are you still hard?"
Gripping her hips, he rocked her against him again, sliding the length of her along his cock and making her moan once more. He bit into his lower lip watching raptly as her head lolled back in pleasure.
"I've got you naked and wanting in my lap, how could I not be?" he replied, his voice husky. He rocked her hips against him again and then stated proudly, "and…Celestial stamina."
As she took in his pompous smirk, she pushed on his chest until he fell backwards onto the bed, sprawling out before her. She bucked her hips playfully against his stomach, finding it amusing that the Devil lay prone before her, his soft and tender bits fully exposed to her mercy.
His hands immediately slid up from her hips, caressing the smooth skin of her sides and over the bumps of her ribs, to cup her breasts. She arched into his hands, her hard nipples sliding against his palms as he squeezed her breasts. Grinding down on him, she rubbed her core against the smooth planes of his abs, slickened with her own arousal. The motion sent shockwaves straight through her.
He watched with a fascinated grin in place as she lost control above him, chasing release, moving his hands back to her hips to help keep her from faltering as he followed the rhythm she'd set.
The friction on her clit felt incredible, but as she neared climax, she wanted him inside her. She let herself fall forward, her hands landing on either side of Lucifer's head, and she closed the distance between their faces to kiss the tip of his nose.
The gesture made him chuckle in surprise, and she figured he wasn't used to loving, affectionate sex. Pressing her forehead to his, she held his gaze as she reached behind her and gripped him, positioning him at her entrance. Slowly, she sank down on him, inch by inch, watching as his eyes rolled back into his head as he moaned her name.
She took a moment just to look at him, to watch his pleasure play out across his features as they joined in the most intimate of ways. It felt so good, being with him like this; he felt so good.
"You feel amazing," she murmured against his lips.
His eyes opened, finding hers as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek tenderly.
"Darling, you feel perfect; absolutely incredible," he replied before kissing her slowly, so full of feeling that it nearly brought tears to her eyes.
She returned the kiss, but the hunger deep in her belly could no longer be denied. She swiveled her hips, and Lucifer moaned softly into her mouth. Pressing her hands to his chest, she pushed herself up so she could watch his reaction as she moved above him.
His hands trailed up and down her sides as he hummed his pleasure before settling again at her hips and helping her move in a way that increased the friction on her clit, maximizing her pleasure.
"Oh, yes, just like that," she urged him.
Lucifer met each roll of her hips with a thrust of his own, increasing their pace to a delicious crescendo that had Chloe quickly tumbling over the edge of her climax. She collapsed bonelessly onto his chest afterward, and he traced comforting lines up and down the length of her spine as she came down from her high.
He sat up, keeping Chloe draped across his chest and lap. She pulled her head back from where it rested in his neck and smiled at him, still a little high from the rush of endorphins produced by her orgasm.
"Hi," she said softly, her fingertips gliding over the shape of his nose and cheekbones and lips.
He kissed her finger when it traced his lips and whispered back, "Hello, darling."
She chuckled deeply, her chest swelling with happiness. Finally, after everything the past few weeks had dealt them, they could just be together. It felt like a weight had been lifted, knowing that everything between them was now out in the open. They'd confessed their feelings for one another, Lucifer had shown her who he truly was, and she had accepted him.
She moaned softly as she shifted in his lap, feeling him still hard inside her.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes sparkling as they darted over her features.
Chloe pressed her nose to his. "So good."
He chuckled against her skin. "Me, too."
Keeping her face close to his, she whispered, "Will you show me again? Your other face?"
His smile slipped and his brow crinkled. "Right…right now?"
She nodded. "I'm not afraid of you, Lucifer. Please. I want to see."
For a moment, she wasn't sure he'd agree, but then, closing his eyes, he let his face fade. The Devil's face took its place as Chloe stayed nose-to-nose with him. "There you are," she whispered.
"Chloe," he said, as if her name held all the answers he had been looking for.
Experimentally, she rolled her hips, and he gasped in surprise. "Wait," he said, gripping her hips tight, too tightly to move. She halted immediately, afraid she'd overstepped.
"Do you want to stop?" she asked. Anxiety fluttered in her belly.
He looked up at her, his red eyes wide. "How...how can you want me like this? I'm a mons-"
"You're not." The vehemence of her refusal shifted their bodies and she shuddered a little at the ripples of pleasure that coursed through her. "I want to," she told him. "But only if you want to, too."
"I- Yes. I do." The words seemed to surprise even him.
"Okay." She dropped a quick kiss to his familiar-but-not lips and continued to shift her hips against him as first her fingers and then her lips mapped out the waxy contours of his scorched face. Her hands drifted down his chest, over the rough crags of his form. He was beautiful, even like this, in an otherworldly way. She told him so, between heated kisses.
The more she showered affection on him, the more his Devil face dissolved, until eventually, it faded away and all that was left of it were his glowing crimson eyes.
"Lucifer," she gasped against his lips; the contrast of his red eyes to the peachy flesh of his face did things to her, and her hips sped up as she continued to rock against him, hot and wet and wanting.
He tightened his arms around her and then rolled them, tucking her underneath him. He smiled down at her with those shining red eyes. Chloe smiled back at him and he loved the sight of it. Without even realizing, his eyes faded from red to brown as he gazed down at her in wonder.
"Well?" she asked through a wave of giddy laughter and a little impatience, wriggling her hips against him. "What are you waiting for?"
He breathed out his own carefree chuckle, and she could sense his relief that after seeing his face now for the third time, she was unphased. More than that, she was turned on. She still desired him in every sense of the word. He pressed his lips softly to hers, her soft hum turning into a moan as he thrust into her.
Her fingers threaded into his messy hair, curling into the locks and keeping his face close to hers. She bent her legs at the knee, cradling his hips as her heels dug into the backs of his thighs as he drove slowly into her over and over again. It was unhurried, they'd both already come once, and Chloe savored the way his body felt as it covered hers.
"Chloe," he whispered against her lips. She bit his lip in reply, tugging on it gently and then laving it with her tongue to soothe the pain. She dug her nails in more insistently against his skin, and he picked up the pace. Snapping his hips, he struck just the right spot inside her again and again, and just like striking a match, flames licked to life inside her. Pleasure rushed towards its peak.
They came together, with her name on Lucifer's lips.
Lucifer traced his fingers up and down the length of Chloe's arm, goosebumps sprouting up in the wake of his caresses. She chuckled softly into his skin.
"What's so funny?" he asked, voice laced with curiosity.
She chewed on her bottom lip as she propped herself up on his chest so that she could look down at him. She admitted sheepishly, "I'm hungry."
"Of course you are," he said through his own chuckle. "You know, I did offer to take you to dinner, Detective." His fingers tickled her sides, making her squirm.
"I know," she said, lying back down on him, "and it was very sweet of you. But I wasn't hungry then. I was too focused on getting you into bed."
"Oh, is that right?" Lucifer's giggle made his chest rumble beneath her ear. "What would you like? Shall we order in?"
"Mmm," she pondered, tracing her index finger over the bumps of his abs, circling and then dipping inside his bellybutton. "Pizza?" she suggested, bending her neck to look up at him with hopeful eyes.
"Pizza?" His face screwed up in disgust. "You know darling, I once had the pleasure of dining with Raffaele Esposito in Naples."
"Who?"
"The man who invented pizza," Lucifer explained.
"Oh?" she asked intrigued; she was curious to hear more stories from his immortal life, to learn more about him and his many lifetimes of experiences. It was still too big for her to grasp, that he'd been alive long before the creation of the earth; it didn't feel real to her yet.
"I could never stay long on my previous visits. My brother, Amenadiel, was always a few hours behind me, ready to force me back to Hell."
Her brows knit. "Your brother would force you back?"
"On Father's orders, yes," he confirmed.
"What if he comes back again?" Chloe asked, her stomach churning at the thought. It made her feel powerless; how could she fight to keep him here with her when a powerful angel wanted him gone? "Could he force you to leave?"
"No, darling. I'm not going anywhere," he promised, his fingers playing with her hair. "Amenadiel hasn't been back for a while now. Hopefully he's taken the hint that I've retired and continues to bugger off."
She breathed a sigh of relief, but his words hadn't made her fear abate entirely. There was still so much about him and about his world that she didn't understand. Lucifer didn't lie, though, and she took comfort in that.
Still, the worry of him disappearing on her one day already niggled at her. Even if Amenadiel didn't force him back, Lucifer had already shown her he was willing to go back himself, without so much as a word to her, if things got tough between them. He had a tendency to run from conflict, to run when his emotions got to be too much for him to deal with, and it was something they needed to talk about.
"As I was saying," he continued, "American pizza is an insult to true Italian pizza, and I should know, I've tasted the original. American pizza is all dough and cheese."
"But doesn't all that dough and cheese sound amazing right now?" she asked with a knowing smirk, eyebrow raising expectantly.
Lucifer shook his head at her, but he rolled over to grab his phone from the nightstand anyway. "If it's what you desire, then you shall have it."
Her stomach growled loudly in answer and they both erupted into giggles. "It really is," she said through her smile.
As he dialed a nearby pizzeria, Chloe snuggled into his side, rubbing her nose against his soft skin and peppering kisses across his arm, chest, and shoulder. Her fingers traced the constellations of his freckles as she half-listened to him order the food, and the comparison made her realize she had so much she wanted to ask him about now that she knew everything he'd told her had been the truth.
After hanging up, he returned the phone to the nightstand. "Fifteen, twenty minutes."
"Thank you," she said, snuggling closer as he curled his arms around her waist. Her questions could wait. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the peaceful moment with him.
"Chloe…" Lucifer ventured nervously after a long period of comfortable silence.
Despite her hunger, Chloe's eyes had closed and she had begun to drift off. "Hmm?" she replied, blinking rapidly in an attempt to wake herself. She arched her neck against his shoulder so that she could look at his face.
"Is this real?" he asked.
"Is what real?"
"Us. Our relationship," he clarified. "We're no longer pretending… we're together aren't we?"
She hummed, rolling onto her belly so that she could rest her chin on his chest. "Do you wanna be?"
"I do. Very much so," he replied earnestly with a nervous smile.
Chloe's own lips split into a grin at his words. "I want that too," she told him, pushing herself up onto her hands to hover above him. Her hair fell around his face in a curtain, closing out the rest of the world, leaving just him and her.
She kissed him reassuringly as his arms drew her closer. She felt blissful.
She had just deepened the kiss when the chime from the elevator rang, announcing the arrival of their food. Lucifer gently rolled her off him, slipping from underneath the sheets and moving to fetch his robe from one of his reading chairs.
"Pizza?" A nervous sounding teenager called out.
"Just a moment!" Lucifer returned.
As Lucifer left the room, Chloe sat up in bed, holding the sheet up to cover her chest just in case the delivery boy stepped further into the penthouse.
Moments later, Lucifer called out, "Darling! He's gone."
"Bring it in here?" Chloe proposed, not moving from her spot beneath his silky sheets.
"Is eating food in bed a thing for you?" he asked as he appeared in the doorway, pizza box in hand.
She chuckled. "It never was before. Your bed is just so comfortable I never want to leave it."
His eyes darkened at her words. "Then don't," he replied.
She bit down on her lip, her stomach warming in response to the way he looked at her. Her eyes darted to the exposed triangle of skin where his robe had fallen open at the top. She wanted him again, and her guts twisted pleasantly at the thought of having him inside her again.
But, her stomach grumbled and her mouth began to water as the scent of hot pizza wafted by her nostrils, distracting her from her sinful thoughts.
She reached out for the box, but Lucifer kept it from her clutches. "Just don't get crumbs in the sheets," he said before relinquishing the pizza.
She rolled her eyes, but then she had a thought. "Actually, what if we eat on the balcony? Under the stars?"
"That's a splendid idea! Why don't I go get things set up for us while you put on one of my shirts that you're so fond of?" he suggested.
She smiled coyly. "You like it when I wear your shirts, don't you?"
"I do, Detective," he confirmed with a wink, "Always so clever."
She chuckled and then climbed out of bed, feeling his eyes on her until she disappeared into his closet.
She joined him on the balcony moments later in one of his white dress shirts, buttons done up the front mismatched and haphazard.
His grin was clearly amused as his eyes darted down the line of crooked buttons.
"I'm hungry!" she defended through laughter, as if that explained why she'd rushed through dressing herself.
Lucifer spread a blanket on the concrete. "I thought we could eat picnic style?" he proposed, sounding unsure of himself.
"It's perfect, Lucifer," she was quick to reassure him as she sat cross-legged on the thick quilt. He smiled happily at the compliment and passed the box to her so she could dig in. He then poured each of them a glass of wine and settled across from her.
She munched happily on her pizza while Lucifer gazed at her. She blushed under his attention.
"Stop staring at me," she said with a laugh, leaning forward to shove his shoulder playfully. "You're making me self-conscious."
"I'm sorry, darling," he apologized, but his eyes remained on her. "I'm still just trying to wrap my head around it. That you know who I am and you're okay with it. You've accepted me."
She beamed at him around another bite of cheesy goodness. "I have so many questions," she confessed once she'd swallowed.
"I'm happy to answer all of them."
"Don't you want a piece?" she asked, kicking the pizza box in his direction. "It's really good."
He eyed it uncertainly.
"Remember how good those burgers were in San Francisco and you were almost too stuck-up to try those, too."
"I was not stuck-up," he denied. "That place was grotesque. I was right to be wary."
"And the burgers?" she prompted with a raised brow.
"…were delicious," he admitted, and sighing, reached for the box to grab a slice.
She watched as he took a bite, waiting to see his reaction, but he refused to give her the satisfaction, his face revealing nothing.
"Well? I thought you had questions?" he asked, changing the subject. He took another bite, though, and she grinned triumphantly.
"I do," she confirmed with a nod. "So everything you told me…it was all true?"
"I don't lie," he reminded her, not unkindly.
"So when you told me you cut off your wings?" He nodded. "And you really created the stars?"
"I did, yes," he said with a fond smile directed up at the night sky. She marveled at him, feeling a little awestruck as the truth behind his words settled differently this time. He really did create the stars. To her, he was just Lucifer, but in reality, he was a super-powerful entity.
Snippets of other conversations flashed through her mind as well. The rebellion he'd led; being banished from Heaven; the pain he'd so obviously felt from being rejected by his Father and his siblings. All of it was so very real.
There'd be plenty of time to talk about those things later; to sift through the lifetimes of pain and rejection and solitude he'd suffered through, to ask about the rebellion and Hell. For now, though, on such a happy night, she wanted to focus on the good; she wanted to keep the mood between them light and joyful.
"What was it like? To create something so beautiful?" she asked softly, finishing her last bite of pizza and crawling over to him. She settled between his legs, leaning into his chest, and after a moment of hesitation, his arms wrapped around her middle. She let her head loll back onto his shoulder and he pressed a kiss to her hair.
"It was one of the best feelings," he whispered into her ear, and she knew he was gazing up at them again. "I'd never felt so proud of anything before…but, you know, pride is a sin. I wasn't supposed to feel pride in my work. I was supposed to create the stars because Father willed it so and then move onto my next task."
"But how could anyone expect you not to feel pride at creating light in darkness?" she questioned, feeling defensive over him. He had the right to be proud of what he had created.
"I don't know, darling. I just wasn't supposed to."
She turned her head into his neck, nuzzling him. "You can express your pride for them to me anytime you want, Lucifer."
He hummed against her. "That's what Lucifer means, you know. Light-bringer."
"It's not the name you were given, is it?" she asked tentatively, recalling the research she'd done into the Devil before their date to the planetarium. She felt his arms around her tense, and she drew patterns on his forearms as she waited to see if he would open up to her.
"Father called me…Samael. It means God's poison. I changed it after my Fall. I no longer wanted to be His anything. I guess the name suited me, though… I am poison, and he knew from the very beginning that I would be. He knew even before he created me that I would rebel…that I would Fall."
She couldn't even imagine what that must have felt like for him. To know he'd been created to fail.
"You are not poison; not at all," she said fervently, turning in his arms to kneel in front of him. Her hands came up to frame his face and his eyes tentatively met hers. "Lucifer is much better suited to you. When I look at you, all I see is light."
His eyes were glassy as he gazed at her, and she knew her words had touched him. She pressed a tender kiss to his lips, before settling again with her back against his chest.
She gave him a moment to process the conversation and collect himself. When she felt his lips brush her temple, she changed the subject. "Do you have any powers?" she asked, and then added cheekily, "I mean, other than the ability to create stars."
He laughed. "Hmm, I suppose. I'm stronger and faster than you humans; I have superior senses. When I have my wings, I can fly, obviously. I have the ability to draw out every human's deepest, darkest desire."
"You do?" she asked, intrigued. "Is that why people are so charmed by you?"
"Mm hmm. I don't know exactly how it works, but I guess I exude desire and they are drawn to it. They feel compelled to disclose their desires to me."
"Why didn't I feel that when I first met you?" she queried.
Lucifer's arms tightened around her middle. "You, my darling, are a mystery. For some reason, my charms have never worked on you."
"They don't?" she questioned.
"No. Do you remember when you came to me for your favor? I tried asking you what you desired then, but you resisted somehow."
She snorted. "I resisted because you were annoying me, if I remember correctly."
He chuckled. "You were very annoyed. But, no. It doesn't work that way. Most humans can't resist…at least not for long."
She shifted in his arms to look up at him. "Why am I different?"
"I don't know." He shrugged. "But I'm grateful that you are, because that's what drew me to you. I never would have agreed to your favor if you weren't. I never would have given up sex, if I weren't so intrigued by you."
She giggled. "Well then I'm glad I'm different too."
"You're different in so many ways," he murmured. "You were the first person to ever ask me what I desire."
"Really?"
"I guess because of my charms, most people tend to be too focused on fulfilling their own desires that they don't think to wonder about mine. Or they don't care to."
"I'll always care about your desires. And your happiness. Even if I forget to ask sometimes, I want you to always feel comfortable telling them to me."
"Thank you, Chloe," he breathed, the look on his face full of amazement. "I don't know what I did to find you; I don't know what I did to make you want me…but I feel so lucky that you do."
She tugged his face gently to hers so that she could press their foreheads together. The angle was awkward, but she remained, whispering, "I feel so lucky to have found you, Lucifer. My light-bringer."
He gasped softly at her words and she smiled at him. He couldn't help grinning back at her, and she kissed him before cuddling once more into his chest.
As they relaxed in silence, staring up at his stars, the rhythmic way Lucifer's chest rose and fell as he breathed began lulling Chloe to sleep. She yawned, big and loud, and then snuggled deeper into his warm embrace, the exhaustion from the day combined with a belly full of dough and cheese finally catching up to her.
"Tired?" he murmured into her hair, his fingers tracing her forearm.
"Mmm."
"Let's get back into bed then."
"Okay," she agreed sleepily.
They climbed into bed and Chloe immediately cuddled into Lucifer's side. He was still surprised by it, her desire to be near him, but with each touch and cuddle, the surprise diminished.
He wrapped his arms around her and she rubbed her head against his chest, getting comfortable.
He had just begun to drift off, when:
"Do you feel that?" her voice penetrated through the fog of sleep.
He hummed because even if he didn't know exactly what she was referring to, he did feel it—contentment and joy and comfort and safety and belonging.
"This is where you belong," she mumbled into his chest.
After eons of searching, he had finally found what he hadn't even realized he'd been looking for: a home; a place to belong.
Chloe was his home, and he belonged with her.
A/N: huge thanks to wollfgang over on ao3 for beta-ing the beach scene & the smut in this chapter!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the final chapter! There may be an epilogue in the works, but it probably won't be written/posted for a few weeks.