ALTHOUGH ANNIKA HAD told Lucifer that someday, she might accompany him and Detective Decker on another case, she didn't expect to find the man on her doorstep in a matter of days, wearing his infamous grin and suit with the wish of cashing in her promise. Maybe it had been foolish of her to assume otherwise — whenever Lucifer wanted something, he went after it without a hint of patience, and so, once Annika had barely gotten home from her own job, the doorbell had rung.
"Afternoon, darling. How would you like to spend the rest of the day as Annika Hayden — Civilian Consultant for the LAPD?" Lucifer proposed with his usual flair, surprising Annika as soon as she had opened the door. Rendered silent, the brunette glanced into her house with the temptation to curl up on the couch with a book and her cat, and evidently, Lucifer could sense the hesitation. "It's a missing persons case...", he sang carefully, earning a smile from Annika while she leaned against the doorway and crossed her arms over her chest.
"How did you even make that happen?" she wondered out loud, referring to the new title she had earned, all the while eyeing Lucifer suspiciously. If there was one thing she had learned about him for sure, it was that he was bold enough to make things happen whenever he set his mind on something — that, along with the undeniable charm and supreme confidence he radiated, left her heart beating and her palms sweating. It was kind of embarrassing, really, but she tried to play it cool.
And how could she help it, anyway? Lucifer was downright dreamy, especially when he was looking at her like that.
"Are you certain you wish to find out?" he pointed out, but before Annika could say a thing, he was shrugging casually. "I suppose I'm just rather talented when it comes to persuading people. Must be something about this face", he continued with the usual hint of arrogance while taking his hands out of his pockets and stepping past Annika to wander indoors.
With a suppressed smile, Annika shut the door and turned on her heel, just in time to find Lucifer poking her little Violet curiously. "Must be", she inhaled, "listen, I really appreciate you asking me, but I'm beyond tired so I'd just like to take a shower, drink a glass of wine and then head to bed." Instead of being troubled in any way, Lucifer stood up with the fluffy kitten in his arms and a wide grin painted across his face, tugging on Annika's heartstrings in the process. There was a reason she wasn't a math teacher, but a hot guy with cute animals was the one equation she did know. Swoon-worthy.
"Oh, is that an invite, Miss Hayden?" he taunted before letting Violet wander off and straightening out his jacket with determination. "Right, of course. Sex first, missing girl later", he cleared his throat in addition, and as he proceeded to loosen his tie and kick off his shoes, Annika was intervening with her hands thrown out in protest. Undeniably, it wasn't easy to stop Lucifer from undressing right in front of her, but before she could lose grip of her self-control, she was grabbing her keys and phone and gesturing towards the front door.
"Alright, alright, let's just go", she insisted with an amused smile twisting her lip and heat rushing to her cheeks, and knowing just what kind of effect he had on her, Lucifer shot her an irresistible smirk while passing her by the door.
"Whatever you say, darling. But just so you know, sex is always on the table."
—————
ANNIKA'S INITIAL HESITANCE was long gone by the time she was reunited with Chloe, all thanks to Lucifer who had led the brunette to a lavish event thrown by Carver Cruz — an out and proud douchebag from the looks of it, as well as formerly involved with the missing girl. Therefore, Chloe had chosen to infiltrate the gathering for more to go on, and with Lucifer and Annika in her company, she was destined for success. Or, so she hoped, anyway.
"Ah, now this is a party!" Lucifer insisted while lifting his hands in the air to mimic raising the roof, although the music playing from the speakers was barely audible and everyone else seemed to go for a more refined appearance. He was hardly discouraged and confidently shot a wink at the girl pinning a nametag onto his chest, earning eye rolls from both Chloe and Annika but a phone number from the lucky lady. For one reason or another, Lucifer wound up gifting someone else with the piece of paper before joining the two women he was actually there with, an arrogant grin accompanying him in the process.
"I can't believe you", Chloe shook her head at Lucifer despite being mildly impressed, and fixing the crooked nametag, the man stifled a laugh.
"Don't worry, Detective. I'd rather opt for a brunette, myself", he teased before directing a sneaky look to Annika whose heart reacted with an involuntary flip. "Just say the word and you'll have your turn", he added flirtatiously, leaning towards Annika but that was all he could do when Chloe was intervening by pushing herself between the two.
"Keep it in your pants, Lucifer. Whatever she decides is none of my business but as for you, we're here to find a murderer, not ruin innocent women, hear me?" she defied with a poke into Lucifer's chest, earning a fake gasp from the man but Annika, for one, beamed with genuine gratitude. As much as she wanted to claim that she could have handled Lucifer herself — or tried, at least — she was no longer so sure she could resist him all too well. Not like Chloe could, anyway.
Lifting his pinky to make a promise to Chloe, Lucifer gave a solemn nod, only for the detective to turn on her heel with a shake of her head. As soon as she was stepping away, however, the man was cracking another grin at Annika. "Just say the word...", he sang into her ear lowly, "though, you would have to kiss goodbye to your innocence, Annie."
As she followed the two, she had no choice but to accept that perhaps agreeing to come along had been a mistake — or alternatively, the best decision she had made in a long time.
—————
CHLOE'S PREVIOUS ASSURANCE of how well her case was going was blown to bits through the most obvious option — Lucifer had screwed up the whole thing by outing Chloe as a cop to the entire audience and Carver Cruz himself, and so, they had had no choice but to pack their bags and leave. But, Lucifer was nothing if not resourceful, and so, Annika's visit to home was only for a change of clothes. Lucifer had declared rather loudly that she and Chloe weren't provocative enough to blend in at the afterparty, and while the Hayden had erupted into a rant about the expectations put on women, she had wound up digging through her closet in despair.
And it wasn't like she whipped out her most tempting outfits all that often. In fact, it felt almost strange to take full advantage of her body with the revealing dress, but not bad at all — if anything, it was quite the confidence boost, pushing a smile up to her lip after giving a reviewing look at the mirror. If nothing else, then at least Lucifer's Civilian Consultant deal meant she got to play dress-up.
On the way to Lux where she was meant to meet up with Lucifer and Chloe, she couldn't help but wonder how she had ended up here, though. She wasn't unhappy, more so confused. She rarely went out before, let alone got involved in homicide investigations but here she was now, donning a dress she had forgotten all about and thinking about how proud Maeve would be now.
By the time Annika was standing in the elevator carrying her towards Lucifer's penthouse, the surge of self-love was threatening to falter at the thought of the man's reaction. Whether she liked it or not, she couldn't help but wonder whether or not he would like the look, all the while twirling her dark curls in anticipation — and the worst part of her infatuation was that he most likely didn't care for her as she did for him. He was used to women drooling over him, but he always moved on. He didn't crush.
Except for hearts, probably.
The ping of the lift as it halted caused Annika to snap out of her thoughts, pulling a cough from her as she entered the dimly lit, silent room with careful steps. The click of her high heels seemed to fill the entire apartment with obnoxious noise, and the nervousness pressing on her heart only gained power when she found herself all alone. She could vividly remember Lucifer cheekily joking about the two women going to his place and the swat that both of them had delivered in response. And yet, as she slowed down by the piano and eyed the bright shelf of booze behind her, she began to question if coming over had been a foolish mistake.
"Lucifer? Are you here?" Annika called out weakly, rolling her own eyes at her quivering voice before continuing. "Please tell me I didn't put this dress on for nothing", she huffed before looking down at herself and shaking her head at the way the clothes hugged her body without leaving a single thing to imagination.
Once Lucifer's soft little laugh echoed from another room, though, a smile tugged on her painted lips with relief. "Be out in a moment, just getting ready. Patience, my darling. Besides, I'm positive you look marvelous", he announced with a tone that left Annika with butterflies in her stomach. Even so, flattered beyond belief, she simply sat down by the grand piano and took in the penthouse with an amazed stare — now that she wasn't waking up in the bed in complete surprise. She couldn't even imagine being this filthy rich, convincing her that apparently, being a club owner had its perks.
"To be honest, I was kind of wondering what am I even doing here. I mean, I'm a teacher, not a detective. And you...", Annika began explaining with a heavy sigh, but when she heard footsteps, she twirled around to face Lucifer, only for the sight to be much more than she had anticipated. With her jaw dropping and eyes widening, Annika froze, unsure what to do now that Lucifer was standing there with infinite confidence — and oh yeah, no clothes on. "You are naked!"
Instead of being flustered like her, Lucifer merely flashed a smug smile. "Just as I suspected, you look ravishing, Annie!" he pointed out, completely ignoring the fact that he had shown up fully nude, and that Annika was still unable to tear her eyes away. As his words weighed in, however, she remembered how to move and didn't hesitate to turn back around with her hands covering her face in embarrassment. The image of Lucifer naked was now stuck in her head, impossible to get out, and the biggest struggle was that it wasn't a bad image, by any means. Opposite, opposite.
"Lucifer, why?" she spoke out with sincere wonder, though she was a little worried about what the answer was going to be. Eventually, a laugh escaped her mouth and the desire to turn back around mixed in with the temptation to run away, yet she ended up doing neither.
"This is brave, wouldn't you say? It's number three on Carver's list: take risks", Lucifer elaborated, and well, it was a risk, alright. Letting out a deep breath, Annika praised whatever superior power was watching over her when she spotted a towel on the couch nearby, and within seconds, she was grabbing it and tossing it to Lucifer so he could cover up. Still, he managed to catch a glimpse in the process, further tugging on her heartstrings as she tried to pull herself together — this was not a situation she would have liked to explain to Chloe, who could walk in any given moment.
"So, you're just trying to sleep with me?" Annika clung onto his words while recalling her own train of thought in the elevator. She wasn't quite sure how to go about that, although she hadn't expected anything more, but hearing it out loud was more of a gut punch than she had prepared for.
"Ah, well that sounds just heartless, doesn't it? But I suppose it's the idea. My talented therapist helped me realize that it seems like a way to get over this... fascination I've grown on you", Lucifer shrugged casually, as if it was no big deal, but to Annika, it very much was. There was a lot to unpack there — why did he want to get over it? And how exactly did he define fascination? "Dare you say no to this?" he added on before slowly turning with his arms extended out, showing off his entire body with justified nerve.
Annika struggled to not stare and take in every flawless detail of him, until she saw his back and realized that he wasn't all that flawless, after all. It wasn't that she was suddenly less attracted, but instead of jumping his bones, she stepped forward with sympathy rearing its head in her heart, causing a frown on her lips as she gasped at the sight. Two terrible, large scars, mirroring each other on both sides of his back, so gnarly that her own skin began to sting at only the idea of what could have pained him that much.
At that moment she understood that there was much more to Lucifer than a naked flirt, but in the belief that Lucifer would bring up the subject if he so wanted, she decided not to shed any unwanted attention on his scars. Lucifer was straightforward, but he hadn't ever made her too uncomfortable, simply awkward or taken aback, so she certainly didn't want to make him feel that way, either.
"You should get dressed or we'll miss the party", she noted with a smile at the attempt to lure her in, and sighing in defeat, Lucifer nodded his head before disappearing into his bedroom once more. Even then, with him no longer there, the marks on his back continued to haunt her with concern and care, and now, it wasn't just physical attraction he felt towards him.
She was deeply, genuinely interested in him and everything he stood for, on so many levels it had to be something much, much more.
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This one was a bit longer but I didn't know what to leave out so I just went with it!
Thoughts?¿ Are you guys liking Annika? Tbh I love her, maybe that's weird to say about your own stuff but she's my babY.
Update 09/04/2020: This book has now been rewritten, so the face claim for Annika is no longer Scarlett, and Myra's name is now Maeve! Most of the changes are minor but if you're suddenly confused about the subtle differences, that's why! x
thanks for reading ((: