Summary: The penultimate love scene for The Devil and his Lady-love.

Beauty In The Beast

Chloe stepped out of the bathroom. Having finished drying her hair, she shut off the light behind her. Every light in the penthouse was out and she was taken thoroughly by surprise by the sight of Lucifer stepping up the stairs to the level of the bedroom without so much as a thread of clothing on, his wings out and tucked up close behind him. His expression unquestionably conveyed his intention. Silent as he approached her, he reached for the sole button keeping the shirt fastened around her. The fingertips of each of his hands slid the garment off her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground.

"Luc–" She found herself silenced with a kiss that jumpstarted her heart pounding. When their lips finally parted, she needed to catch her breath.

"Do you trust me?"

The question taking her by surprise, she replied, "Absolutely."

"Give me your hand." Lucifer stepped back, offering up an open hand. Chloe took it and followed his lead out onto the balcony. Allowing herself to be taken up in arms, with a scant few beats of his wings they were aloft.

"Where are we going?"

A subdued smile formed on his lips and he answered her but he kept his eyes on the world below and the air ahead. "You'll see."

#

Chloe had expected to freeze en-route to wherever they were headed. As the ground passed beneath them ever more quickly, the odd pearlescent sheen over the world below became more and more apparent. The speed they were moving at should have had them both frozen. It is was almost as though they weren't flying through the air, rather behind it or underneath it somehow. They were in a place where the normal physics of the world no longer seemed to apply. As though reality as she knew it was on the other side of a thin, translucent veil. As if they were looking on the world from the inside out. Lucifer felt the moment her body began to trust it was safe, even it was still shivering nervously. He held her a little closer and tighter now that she wasn't so rigid. Chloe reached out like she was trying to touch the membrane that shielded them from the world outside.

"I wouldn't do that. It only goes so far and its chilly out there," Lucifer said gently, a half smile on and appreciative of the wonderstruck curiosity writ large on her face. Childlike, Chloe started and snapped her hand back, tucking her arm safely against her and resting her hand against his chest. She felt him chuckle gently, glancing her way before returning his eyes to the 'road' ahead again.

"I was expecting more questions," Lucifer said, amused.

Chloe laughed along with him. She couldn't do anything but take it all in. She simply shook her head in reply, wide-eyed with awe, taking in every last scrap of detail she could manage. They had gone north. And east. She could see where city lights sharply disappeared on the shoreline of massive bodies of water. Before long, they were flying much lower over land that was nearly or completely void of artificial light. Only minutes later his wings stopped working as hard as they had been and he allowed them to glide easily over the calm waters just a foot or so below. She looked up to him and he nodded. The veil between the world and them shimmered out of existence and she reached down to touch the surface of the water gently, her finger leaving a trail like a skipping stone along the surface of the water. It was warm. Wherever they were it was summer. His wingtips having carved a few trails of their own, the veil returned as Lucifer took them up and over the tops of a few forested fingers of land that enclosed the many bays along the shoreline. Only a few more had passed by when he found the landmark island he was looking for. Circling against the far shoreline of the bay before landing on an ancient, massive boulder a couple hundred metres from the rocky shoreline, he took a few steps, coming to a stop as lightly as possible.

He let her legs down, one by one. Unsteady but steady enough, she let go of his hands and turned toward the shoreline, stepping to the edge of the dry patch on top of the rock, peering down the side of the boulder they were standing on. It was a single, contiguous stone that had to be at least twelve feet tall, into the surface of which seemingly impossibly smooth ridges and basins had been worn over eons by wind and water. Basins that somehow seemed to have been made to lie in. The stone was faceted conglomerate with flecks of sparkling black, green, pink, white and clear stone. Wetting the surface gave it a remarkable translucence. The water was calm and clear as glass all the way to the bottom. The moonlight was dancing on the undulating crests of the water. She looked up toward the shoreline. The black silhouette of a pine forest loomed large over the illuminated, rocky beach. A wide stream passed underneath a highway's bridge before becoming a side-stepping waterfall that joined up with the bay just tens of metres after the last drop-off. She had never seen so many stars in the sky.

"You seem very surprised..."

Chloe let out a single laugh. "Yeah. I had guessed it would some luxurious spot on a private island or something, but... this..."

Lucifer laughed before he answered, "No matter how hard human beings try, they'll never build anything more beautiful or wondrous than the world they're consuming and destroying."

Chloe looked back to Lucifer, wide-eyed, feeling an awe she didn't think was possible – and then she took in the sight of him standing on the rock. Ankle deep in the water, his wings held out wide behind him, silhouetted against a black craggy island jutting up into the starry night sky where a large white moon sat low on the horizon over his shoulder. All the while, thin wisps of clouds were drifting lazily through her field of view on their way to fading from sight. Chloe took in and let out a breath that made it apparent she'd forgotten to breathe for a touch too long. A small sound came out along with it that cut through him, straight to the heart. It was awe, joy, sadness, love and heartbreak all at once.

"I know what awe looks like, but what are you thinking?" he asked softly.

"I think I'm looking at the single most beautiful sight and soul I'll ever see, so long as I live," Chloe replied quietly, her eyes watering and still not breathing evenly. She wasn't referring to the scenery.

Lucifer smiled subtly, tucking his wings away as he closed the distance between them, resting one hand around her waist the other under her chin pulling her toward a kiss. "Couldn't say it better myself."

When he finally allowed her to come up for air, she took one step back, then another, shoulders and chest still rising and falling with her heavier breathing. Gauging the water behind her Chloe allowed herself a daring smile before a quick, graceful reverse swan dive into the lake. Lucifer smiled and laughed, diving in beside her.

Chloe surfaced and after a fair bit more time than she expected him to be out of sight had gone by, she began to worry. As if he knew it the moment her concern changed to worry, there came a playful nip from his fingers at the back of her leg. She turned in the water and he was gone from sight again, using the larger stones on the bottom to quickly ricochet from place to place. She felt the disturbances in the water but before she could lay eyes on him, he wasn't there anymore.

Still turning about in the water trying to locate him, Chloe started laughing. "You cheeky..." She sighed, grinning. Taunted by playful grabs and tickles she swam to a nearby boulder, perching on top, resting on her heels, one elbow on her knee and the fingertips of the other hand braced against the rock, keeping her steady. Still submerged up to a few inches below the shoulder, she slowly turned, surveying the waters around her sight or sign of him, her heart pounding away. He either didn't need to breathe underwater or could hold his breath far longer than any human being. A long, cautious glance over her shoulder and she returned her gaze to the waters in front of her. A mistake he took advantage of, jumping out of the water and twisting to the side like a dolphin as he wrapped arms around her and carried her forward and back down into the water with him. She tried for a few moments to escape his teasing grip until he went still. Chloe frowned. Nothing was wrong... so she followed suit.

Lucifer latched one foot underneath a boulder to keep their buoyancy from pulling them up. Drawing her close again, both facing the surface, he put one hand over her face, taking a gentle hold. A familiar tingling sensation made itself at home on the skin underneath his hand. She began to need air and when she tried to surface, he wouldn't let her go. She had a fair idea of what he intended for her to do but fighting her instincts left her shaking fearfully. His hand began to move soothingly over the skin of her stomach. There was a quick tickle and she let herself outright laugh in spite of her fears. An action that should have had her inhaling a lung-full of lake water. Her trembling died down as she took in a deep breath... then one more and another...

It took some time but her instinctive panic was soon gone and she was breathing normally. The mild tingling appeared in her eyes as well and after a few blinks she was looking through the water as if looking out through glass that gave the already sparkling environs the same subdued pearlescent sheen that coloured the world around them during the flight here.

For a moment, his other hand came up into her field of view and between his familiar, slender digits, there was now some kind of shimmering webbing. The sight gave her a start but she held still, figuring that if she pulled away from the palm of his hand she'd be breathing in water. She could feel him laughing behind her. Slowly he maneuvered them to face the bottom and she helped the movement along as well as she could. The night was nearly perfectly clear and the moonlight nearly lit the aquascape like day.

They moved through the water, as if they had been born there, into deeper waters. A massive school of fish that looked like silver darts as they moved through and with the current. Darting here and there among patches of water grass, they came across a newborn spawning of fry. Chloe stopped moving, her wide-eyed gaze transfixed on the sight. There is nothing on Earth quite like the simple sight of new life. Lucifer took note, keeping them hovering until she felt the urge to move on.

Out of the periphery of her vision a sleek reddish-brown bullet whizzed past and she started, pulling back close against him. Lucifer slowly and smoothly brought her pelvis back to rest flush against his, the moment before the rest of the otter family followed. Heaven forbid they mistake something in the vicinity for possible prey. The crew of playful, curious creatures was sidetracked, taking hold of legs and limbs, climbing around and about the strange creatures in their path. Either sensing no danger or lacking further interest, one of them seemed to leave a kiss on Chloe's cheek before mischievously darting away, returning to his pack, when Lucifer half-seriously reached out to give the cheeky little creature's tail a joshing tug. The two continued chuckling over the serendipitous moment as they took a turn for even deeper waters.

Vegetation became sparser. The massive boulders that would have kissed the surface of the water near the shore now doubled or tripled in size and made for a glittering labyrinth. Emerging from the close quarters between two of them, Chloe and Lucifer paused as one, awed by the sight before them. A swirling vortex of fish with vibrant, blood red bodies danced in the water before their eyes. Chloe took in a shocked breath, covering the hand on her face with one of her own. From the stilted movement of her breath and body, he could tell she was in tears though in no way was that a bad thing. He could also feel her smiling. She had no idea how long she'd spent taking in the sight, but with a deep inhale and a quick nod of the head, Chloe let him know they'd seen enough and it was time to leave these creatures in peace.

Back in shallower water, the two came across a pair of ancient mudpuppies larger than any she'd seen before, snuggled up close, one tucked under the other slightly, the tail of one wrapped over the other's, on top of a stone. Just one of them was as long as from her fingertips to her elbow. She smiled when Lucifer pulled her closer and wrapped a leg around one of hers, imitating the sight before them. The vivid red fringe on their gills was on full display, moving to and fro with the motion of the water. She placed her hand over the one of his that had a hold on her stomach and slowly moved her head back to lay against him. She reached back and rested the hand she still had free on his hip. Finding herself with enough of a purchase to do so, she pulled him closer. Not having consciously taken the hint, part of him unconsciously did. A shimmy of the hips and it passed the message along.

They returned to the shallower waters where the boulder they intended to call home for the night sat. Lucifer allowed her to drift away from him placing one hand in the centre of her back, signalling what he intended to do. Chloe nodded taking a few deep breaths before she was released and allowed to return to the surface. Lucifer turned to reach for a handhold on a nearby rock, enjoying the soothing sensation of weightless suspension in the water save for that point of anchor. When his gaze returned to the surface, hoping to take in a few voyeuristic few moments before going up himself, his breath and heart seized at the sight. Chloe was floating on the surface, a black silhouette suspended in an ocean of stars through which an arm of the galaxy cut a breath-taking cross-section. With her arms extended out from her sides... the only thing missing was the wooden cross. He forced himself to breath again, a furiously beating heart following suit. A single, awed laugh escaped him.

My own personal Jesus Christ...

Closing his eyes, he let the emotion welling up inside him do so. Thank you. The thought outright startled him. His eyes shot open as his own words came back to him:

I don't even know where to begin... but I want to...

Unconsciously nodding in acceptance of this new understanding and shedding a few tears of his own, he took in a steadying breath, filing the notion away in the back of his mind for later. A smile found it's way onto his lips in appreciation of the fact that there were more pressing concerns before him at that moment in time.

He surfaced and collected her into his arms, perching atop a smaller boulder neighbouring the larger one he was back leaning on. Latching his hands together in the small of her back, there was no space left between their midsections. Chloe let out the breath she'd unconsciously been holding while their kiss lasted and let her feet go out from under her. She let herself lay back, eyes half closed, anchored yet weightless, surrounded by a glittering world. A kiss landed on her breastbone and she started in surprise, laughing. His breathing was tickling her skin and he knew it. The touch of his lips traced its way lower. She lifted her head and looked his way, greeted by a mischievous smile and a hungry look in the eyes that sank beneath the surface of the water just moments later.

Underwater, his kisses played hopscotch around her stomach until one hand gently pressed against the inside her of her thigh. She let her leg lift up and drift out to the side, still disbelieving where she thought this was headed until... yep! There he went...

She laughed at the initial sensation, muttering, 'I was beginning to think you'd need an invitation..." To her surprise, a hand reached up from under the surface flipped her the bird and with a sarcastic little wave of the fingers slipped back under and wrapped around her leg once again. He could still hear her?! She started laughing and she could feel him break away and rest his forehead against her stomach doing much the same.

"I sincerely hope that's the idea," she quipped back, whispering. One of her underwater cheeks received a firm, chiding pinch and Chloe leaned forward with a hand over her mouth, as much to keep in a howl of laughter as to keep from saying anything else.

Bringing her laughter under control, she reached down running her fingers through his floating hair. She resolved to let him concentrate on what he was doing and keep still. "Okay... sorry! I'm sorry," she said, still laughing slightly. Preceded by an underwater kiss, a thumbs up surfaced and went back under after a couple seconds. Chloe took in a deep breath to quiet the bout of laughter brought on by it and relaxed, laying back on the water's surface offering better access he took full advantage of.

Her eyes went wide for a moment as she took in a sharp breath. "Good Lord in Hell..." The caress and kiss she received in return sent a shot of pleasure through her from head to toe.

Uttering a chuckle from deep in her chest she whispered, "Ooo...! You're welcome." Blindly reaching his way, she smiled when he took and held her hand, lightly tracing his thumbnail over the most sensitive skin on the palm of her hand...

Perching on one rounded stone on the lakebed, her leg braced against another, Chloe had an arm woven under his, that hand resting on his solar plexus. He was laid out, floating just under the surface, his head lying in the grasp of her other arm and held close against her chest and neck. Eyes closed, a wash of bliss on his face, the headrush from a bygone release still subsiding. He lay motionless in the water, needing to make no effort to keep himself afloat whatsoever. Chloe remained a steady port of harbour, moving only to keep their balance and enough to let him know she was there. He'd never allowed himself to sleep like this before. Although, it wasn't surprising that after the exertion of getting them there and the frolicking that followed, a cat nap might be in order.

She had no idea how much time had gone by when a spasm shook him and his eyes shot open. A quick, guttural noise came from deep in his chest.

Running her fingers back through his damp hair, she whispered, "I've got you," resting her cheek on his forehead. His hand drifted up to cover the one on his chest as his startled expression relaxed. He turned his head into her neck even further, obscuring his sight, the rest of him following suit and turning almost sideways in the water.

"I love you." It was a whisper so subdued that even here, with no sign of civilization for tens, if not hundreds of miles, she almost didn't hear it.

Allowing herself a subtle smile and laugh, she replied in kind. "I love you, too." Gently, she nudged him out of his hiding place into a kiss. "Mmn." If a feeling could have a taste this one would have been the sweetest thing in existence. Smiling as she broke the kiss, Chloe began to creep, spiderlike, from rock to rock, bringing Lucifer with her exactly as he lay, careful to keep his head above water. Eyes closed and wearing an amused smile, he found himself brought to rest on the sloped plane of the largest boulder, one elbow shielded by a considerate hand. Bringing himself out of the doze he was in he made the minor adjustments needed to rest comfortably. Chloe pushed away from the rock and came drifting back, laying him out straight from groin to navel as she floated in to lightly rest with the length of him between them. Minute movements against and away from him with the motion of water and the occasional twist of the hips from side to side soon had his nerves singing again with ease.

She rested one hand on his hip and touched a nerve at the joint of his leg with her thumb, sending a jolt through him and eliciting a sharp intake of breath.

Sitting up somewhat he pulled her into a kiss he interrupted to say, "Easy there, my lovely. Don't be in such a hurry. We've got the place to ourselves for the night."

Chloe let a laugh start deep in her chest before it made it out of her. That was quite possibly the understatement of the millennium. "That we do. As you wish..."

The tables having been turned, Chloe took in a deep shuddering breath, eyes and mouth opening wide as release played havoc with the muscles in her upper legs and lower back, the rest of her spine arching to the sensation. Sealing a kiss and breathing one another in while the thrill subsided the pair then carefully moved themselves to drier territory, settling into a human-sized depression in the stone.

It occurred to Chloe that he'd been preoccupied with a very specific area of her body while lovemaking, and not just tonight but for some time.

"Lucifer... are you... thinking about..."

Laughing at the fact that someone with one offspring already would hesitate to outright name the suggestion, he replied, "Don't worry. As long as I'm more angel than human it's not possible..."

"I'm not worried, Lucifer, and that's not what I asked," Chloe said, cocking her head to the side slightly, looking up from where she'd laid her head down on his chest.

"Yes... and no," he said, confused. She half-smiled, grateful for the honesty. She could handle the translation well enough at this point. Yes. But... something's not right yet. He was right. There was something missing. Or somehow not in order. And she couldn't put her finger on what it might be...

Chloe brought herself out of the quick nap she'd taken to find Lucifer still perfectly awake and contemplative. A thought occurred to her, marring her expression with hesitation. It had her feeling like there was an untenable secret between them and she might never get another chance to let him know. Lifting herself up, she placed as kiss on his shoulder.

"Lucifer..."

"Mmm hmm?" he asked, turning his drowsy gaze to her, his focus genuinely fixing on her when he caught the expression on her face.

"D'you want to know what I was keeping a lid on?"

Lucifer's look turned to one of confusion. She mockingly applied his accent to her repetition of his quip. "'I really must know what you're keeping under there...'"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Lucifer laughed. She'd managed to surprise him between the sheets... in an elevator, and a few other notable spots since they first let themselves loose. Not that there wasn't plenty more to explore but... "I don't already know?" Chloe shook her head. "All right, then. Tell me..."

"When we first spoke, I was done for."

Lucifer looked at her, shocked as he'd never been before. His laughter was incredulous, bordering on injured and he reproachfully said, "You lied! Then why, this whole...?"

Chloe looked away, her expression changing to sadness as she considered how to reply. She lifted a hand and let it drop back onto her hip helplessly. "Self defense." When she looked back to him indignation had turned to regret so fast it could've blown her hair back. She smiled affectionately though it was still slightly bitter. "I figured it would be just as great as you fearlessly declared it would be. I knew if I went for it then, I'd never get over it and past it. I'd spend the rest of my life... well, you know."

Did he ever. Looking away and putting a hand over his eyes, she watched as he muscles in his cheeks and jaw worked as the emotion of that day was dredged up. He'd very nearly defiled and discarded the single most precious gift he'd ever received or would ever be given. Taking in a deep breath, the roiling emotion inside him went quiet when he remembered he done the right thing that day, every day ever since and would continue to, every day ever to come. He looked back to her, running a comforting hand over the skin of her hip and leg. "I know. I really do."

She smiled. She closed on him and kissed him, her kiss speaking her desire louder and better than any word ever could...

Chloe woke as Lucifer stirred with the express purpose of waking her. She opened her eyes to see him pointing skyward. Chloe looked up and took in a startled breath, sitting up as if she couldn't help be drawn closer to what she was seeing. The spectacularly coloured ribbons of an aurora danced in the sky overhead. Vivid greens, blues, purples and reddish pink.

"Are you doing this?" Chloe breathed, eyes wide with enrapt awe, slowly sitting up as she took in the sight. Her heart was moving in deep pounding beats for no reason other than the sheer beauty of the sight.

Lucifer shook his head. "No! Not I. I'm just enjoying the show..." he replied with mock innocence, smiling subtly and running his gaze over her, appreciating the colour playing around on her skin. He reached up and moved her hair back off her shoulder. Chloe put the palm of her hand to the centre of her chest. Lucifer frowned.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. It just feels like there's something right here that's so full it's burst and the feeling that was inside is just... everywhere..." She turned her gaze to him. "I know that sounds..."

"You've just had sex, several times, with a fallen angel – The Devil, no less – a thousand miles from home, in the middle of a bay at the north end of nowhere and you think what you just said sounds strange?" he asked, laughing unreservedly and shaking his head. Chloe, chuckling and smiling, rested a hand in the same place at the centre of his chest.

"Well, whadda ya know," she quipped sarcastically. "We've gone nowhere." Laughter burst out of Lucifer and he rolled toward her, curling himself around her. Raucous laughter had the lovers wrapping themselves up in a hugging, kissing, helpless, tangled heap of limbs. By the time the two stopped laughing both were in tears. Lucifer hadn't given that moment at her desk so much as a second thought in all this time and not once, from the dawn of Creation 'til now, had he laughed so hard, so freely and honestly, or found anything funnier. Neither had she. When she had enough control of her breathing to do so, Chloe rolled away, reaching into the water to clean the tears and runoff from her nose off her face, intermittently chuckling to herself. Laying on his side, he moved himself up close behind her so that she was seated in the crook between the top of his drawn-up legs and his stomach.

Having rinsed his face, he let his forehead drop to rest on his forearm as a single laugh burst out of him. "What in the hellfire have I gotten myself into? Have you no mercy?"

Chloe shook her head, wearing a closed, mischievous grin. "Nope. None."

Taking in a deep breath, he did his best to speak without laughing hard enough to disturb the flow of speech. "I'll bet that feeling is the same one that has me feeling like there's this atmosphere of warmth around you," he began. Chloe looked him in the eye, unwavering. Lucifer frowned momentarily. "When you spoke of redemption... I didn't understand it at the time. The most apt description I can think of is gravity. This anchor... installed itself, right here," he said, pointing to the centre of his chest. "Ever since, I've been either unable or unwilling to stay away. You're this centre of gravity and that atmosphere of yours has me wanting to get every inch of me, head to toe, inside it... if I could literally get in there, I'd stay there forever..." He rested a pointed finger on the same spot on her chest she'd covered with her palm. Dear ol' Dad's arrogant enough to think his Heaven is where the buck stops, Lucifer thought. "There... right in there. That's where Heaven is... Still think you're the strange one?" he asked, laying his head on his arm, looking up at her.

The northern lights above their now-technicolour world were reflected in her big, shining eyes as she leaned in and planted a kiss on him that said, loud and clear, 'Come on in'.

#

Lucifer, stepping lightly through the penthouse and up the stairs to the bedroom in the deepest of dark of night, laid the sleeping beauty in his arms out on their bed.

Leaning in, placing a butterfly kiss on her cheek, he whispered in her ear, "Flight 666 from Nowhere to L.U.X. has landed... Welcome home and I hope you've enjoyed the night." Chloe's laughter began before she was even truly awake.

Inviting him into a kiss, eyes never more than half open, she replied, "I loved it. Not sure I'll believe it was real when I wake up..."

Helping her under the covers, he placed another lingering kiss on her lips. "It was as real as you and I."

#

Our lives are made,

In these small hours,

These little wonders,

These twisted turns of fate.

Time falls away,

But these small hours,

These little wonders still remain.

#