As soon as they were alone, Lucivar pulled Marian close and held her tight.

"What's wrong?" Marian asked.

"Azazeal asked me to tell them if you'd ever hurt me and I told them the story of when you refused my offer of marriage," Lucivar said, fairly evenly.

"But I was under a spell, you know that. I love you will all my heart."

"I know but that day…Marian…"

Marian put her hand on his chest over his heart without thinking and said, "It must have hurt. I know I would have been miserable if…if you had married someone else."

Lucivar made a noise somewhere between a huff and a grumble that indicated exactly how he felt about the notion of being married to anyone else.

"I'm sorry, my love," Marian said.

"Good, and I'll be sure to remind you of that next time you snarl at me," Lucivar said grinning now and Marian pursed her lips, but quickly returned his smile.

"Jaenelle," Daemon said with more of his sexual edge that he intended as he closed the door behind them, but luckily, well sort of, Witch floating was just under the surface of Jaenelle's mind and so the effect was decreased.

She turned to him as a Queen concerned about one of her males and Daemon wasn't sure if that would help in this instance or not.

"What did Azazeal say?" She asked calmly.

"It's not what he said that is causing my mood, love."

She continued to look at him and waited for him to explain.

"You abandoned me," Daemon blurted out, "You sent me to distract Dorothea and Hekatah knowing that you might not be there…knowing I expected to marry you when I returned. I know, believe me, I know it was my Queen who sent me and I would go again, but…it hurt and it still hurts, that you could not tell me the truth."

The slight chill in Jaenelle's eyes that was Witch faded away.

"Daemon," she said and moved forward to take his face in her hands and look into his eyes, "I thought it was for the best at the time and a Queen's privilege to have her orders followed without question, but…I have to admit that it may have been a bit selfish. I can't bear to see you this way, to see you hurt and if I had told you what might happen to me and you had this look in your eyes…I don't think I could have let you go."

And that, apparently, was all that Daemon needed, the small admission that she had hurt him, but that it had been the only way. He moved past her hands and took her mouth in a sensual kiss that seemed to last forever and had her head spinning for a few minutes after. When she regained her bearings, he was grinning at her boyishly.

"Aren't we going flying?" he asked and her faces brightened with delight.

Cassie quickly left Azazeal in their guest room at Elizabeth's house before she said anything that she regretted. She found Lucifer in the living room alone, playing with Elizabeth's Ipod, which he guiltily put down once he noticed her.

"Infuriating, isn't he?" Lucifer asked with a devilish smile when he looked up at her from the couch.

Cassie nodded with a frown.

"Ah, well, he's just afraid. He'll come 'round eventually."

"Oh, but he insists that he's not afraid," she said with a sarcastic look "because in reality it's just unrealistic for him to…It's just insulting, that's all, for him to put it in those terms, like I don't know that I'm just a mortal woman and… "

"He doesn't want to be vulnerable, Cassie," Lucifer said, "That's not his cup of tea, so to speak, and it doesn't matter that you're mortal. You still make him feel like an angel, you still fill him with love."

"I know, he tells me as much in the same way you tell Elizabeth, but last night he was…And then all this defensiveness today…I don't know what to think. What was it about you being there that upset him?"

Lucifer smiled indulgently, "You see, Cassie my dear, worship is one thing: it just takes over and it is as familiar and comforting as it is overwhelming. Buuuut…what you felt just the inkling of, because the bastard's got just too much control, was actual, drum roll please, trust."

Here Lucifer paused and Cassie opened her mouth to speak but he interrupted her.

"But not just any kind of trust, of course, real, genuine, open, honest, and complete angelic trust…and trust is a choice…and that's terrifying. In heaven, trusting in God is, well, obvious, not to mention logical, He's our creator, but with you…like I said: terrifying. And you're not the only human to touch him emotionally, you know, this deeply, yes, but that boy's had quite a ride in this world."

"I know, he's told me many stories, and he doesn't have to be vulnerable for me, just not a jerk."

"Yes, actually, he does…well if he wants the full experience he does. He knows it and was just hoping it might creep up on him one day and he wouldn't have to try. I, obviously and as evidenced by the little games I so enjoy playing with my lovely wife, adore the vulnerability of trust and have always been working towards the very experience that he so carefully avoids. Opening up the doors, pealing away all the layers, and standing there, figuratively, in perfect love with no defenses, naked in a way you cannot comprehend… and her presence, her touch, her love washing over me in waves…I experience her in a way I cannot explain. It's glorious, Cassie, sheer ecstasy of spirit."

"I…," Cassie started after Lucifer finished his impassioned speech, "That's what…?"

"Yes, my dear, that was the difference that you felt and my opening up pulled him right along with me, at least part way. But I have practice, he was unprepared."

Cassie stood there silently for a moment, "What should I do?"

"Ah, there you've got me. I know what he needs but I don't know what you should do to help him get there."

Cassie frowned thoughtfully and said after a moment, "Lucifer, why did you choose Elizabeth?"

He smiled a said, "It was the other way around, actually, she chose me. When I told her who and what I was, she accepted me and only rejected the evil. Just like you chose Azazeal when you saved Malachi and stayed with him…and when you saved Azazeal from me."

"Oh, I never thought of it that way."

"Cassie, there are some things that are small to you in human terms but are significant events in angelic terms. For me, when Elizabeth," he laughed to himself, "When she finally asked me to do something for her, it was as if she pointed her finger at me and said, 'You, Lucifer, you are mine' and that was something I had been wanting to hear for a very long time. And I know you think I'm insane, with my penchant for kinky sex and over-zealous acquiescence to anything she wants, but, you see, there are a limited number of ways in which I can express my level of love and trust. And, yes, she knows the full extent of what I would do for her. She acknowledges it and takes only what she wants, which together is enough to satisfy my need to give. With Azazeal, you're going to have to look much deeper into things to find out what makes him tick."

"Well," Cassie said, "Thanks for explaining it to me."

"You're welcome but don't you agree that it would have been much better if you'd let me break him for you when you had the chance?"

Cassie laughed and said with a hint of wickedness, "The jury's still out on that issue, but I'll let you know if your services are required."

"Atta girl, I knew you had it in you."