ATS: The Seduction of Cordelia Chase Pt3
Title: The Seduction of Cordelia Chase
Author: Psychofilly
Parts:3
Rating: PG - NC17
Disclaimer: All belongs to the Joss-god.
Summary: This was a loose collection of short fics, that evolved. Angel knows what he wants, now he just has to convince the other party. Buffy makes a seemingly inconsequential appearance and the gang finds themselves thrown into the middle of rather uncomfortable circumstances.
What we don't know can hurt us
Buoyant
Free, happy, dizzy
In love...
Angel had said it, those three simple words that had made the last night among the happiest ever. Angel loved her. He was in love with her...the very idea would take some getting used to. It also felt like the most natural thing in the world. Why wasn't she floating somewhere up by the ceiling? Maybe because last night had almost ended up a disaster...almost. She was still more wigged than she cared to admit. His hands and lips had felt so right, but for a moment she had felt completely left behind, as if he were seeking to sate some darker need that had nothing to do with her. Of course he was a vampire, she understood from long association that his tastes were a bit...quirky.
Cordy could hear him in the bathroom, taking a shower. She sighed, sitting up, and unwrapping the bandage from around her leg. Quirky? She huffed. Try kinky, bordering on the sadistic...of course he had been neither of those things with her, but it scared her to think that the demon was there, underlying the man that she loved. And she DID love Angel, which by default meant she loved the vampire too. She just wasn't sure she knew exactly what that meant yet. Of course they had plenty of time to figure it all out together. The thought sent her heart to the stratosphere Her leg was looking pretty good, It was still sore and an angry shade of red, but it had already closed. Faster healing was nice, but couldn't the powers have made her stronger too, then maybe they wouldn't have gotten gored in the first place.
She heard a wet giggle from the general direction of the crib...Connor. She jumped up hovering by the crib, cooing and tickling the baby. She heard the shower turn off, and after a minute decided to kick him out so she could take one of her own. She kissed the top of the drowsy baby's head and with a wicked grin burst into the bathroom. She froze...Angel had his back to her, vigorously scrubbing his head with a towel. Her eyes swept down, she gulped, he turned.
"Cordy, your letting all the hot air out."
Cordelia's mind raced, but despite grasping at a haystack worth of straws all she could come up with was the patently obvious. "Uh...your naked." Her eyes swept across the taught musculature of his chest, past his hard flat stomach down to the crisp dark patch of hair. "Sorry...I, ah...eep." She squeezed her eyes shut turning back towards the door. She couldn't get the image of him out of her head...god he was perfect...big, but not outrageously so, and sexier yet was the way he just smiled, dropping the towel on the floor. She fumbled her way to the door, but a surprisingly warm arm caught her around the waist, pulling her around as he kicked the door closed.
He set her on the sink, his hands gripping the marble on either side of her, damn, trapped by her own stupidity...again.
"Cor, hey..." He chuckled. "...Someone needs to learn to knock." She felt his lips on her neck, just under her ear. Ticklish butterflies took flight in her stomach. "Good morning." His lips brushed softly against hers, then he pulled back. She opened her eyes.
She blushed. She couldn't help it. She felt like highschool, but even though he'd had his fingers inside her just last night they'd never seen each other nude. "Geeze Angel, when were you born? Aren't you supposed to be the modest one?"
He crossed his arms, trying to look stern. It might have worked if the corners of his mouth weren't twitching. "And again I say, bathroom...private...knock first."
"Fine, you got me. I should have knocked. Sooo I see you went and got Connor." He could play it cool, so could she. The smile on his face at the mention of his son made her heart swell. These two dufuses were her family. Hers. Oh shit...
"Yeah he and his pop both fed this morning." His hand patted his stomach, fingers trailing suggestively lower down his abdomen, drawing her gaze. He narrowed his eyes speculatively at the short haired beauty sitting on the sink trying not to eat him with her eyes. "So, why DID you come barging in here?"
"I'm dirty..." If possible she reddened further. "I wanted to take a *cough* shower." She smiled, her eyes flitting over him once more. "Soooo, get out."
Angel snorted. "I don't think so." He stalked forward, noting how her eyes widened and her breath quickened. She was beautiful prey. He reached for the hem of her shirt. He leaned forward. "You smell..." He pulled the shirt up slowly, her breath hitched but she cautiously raised her arms. He pulled it off, sighing at the unrestricted sight of her full breasts. "...good enough to eat." He ran the back of his fingers down her sternum and over the rise of one breast. She gasped. He cupped her breast feeling the weight. He began to kiss her neck and nip at her collarbone. "You taste even better." He rumbled, his voice husky.
He felt her arms wrap hesitantly around him, pulling him a little closer. Her fingers traced the contours of his back, digging and kneading...memorizing his terrain. Surrounded by her essence he felt an intoxicating buzz flooding his senses. He lifted her to her feet, pulling her with him as he backed towards the shower. He reached behind him and turned on the water. His hands fumbling in their haste to get back to her. He ran his tongue along her jaw, kissed a trail down her neck, and bit the juncture of her neck lightly with blunt teeth. He backed into the shower.
"What are you doing?" She moaned, as he knelt before her, pulling each breast into his mouth in turn, smiling as she arched into him. He dropped lower licking a trail around her belly button, and kissing his way down to the elastic of her boxers. His hands gripped the material, slowly slipping them down her thighs, over her calves, and letting them fall to the floor. She stood before him, gloriously naked. Her bronzed skin stood in stark contrast against his pale complexion. He rolled back on his heels and just looked up at her. She stared back her face scrunched into an adorable frown, as he stood and backed under the hot stream of water.
"But, but your already clean!" She sputtered, as he jerked her into the shower with him, placing her back to him and pulling her flush.
He let his hands roam agressively across her body at will, as he leaned down and whispered. "I plan to get VERY dirty." He smiled as goosebumps crawled over her flesh. Both hands came up and kneaded the sensitive globes of her breasts, his fingers pinching and stroking her nipples, as he slowly ground his growing erection against her backside.
He kissed the back of her neck and chased her shivers down her spine with his lips, his tongue stopping to trace her tattoo...funny he hadn't known her when she had gotten that and he had never asked her why. He whipped her around, burying his face in her stomach, reveling in the feel of her fingers running through his hair, stroking his neck, and grasping at his shoulders. He felt rather than heard her start to laugh. He stood, pulling her chin up, staring into her bright hazel eyes.
"Sorry." He was going to think she was crazy, but she just couldn't stop. "This is just so weird, you know?" He cocked a quizzical brow. "Oh, don't go all Spock on me now..." She laughed. "I'm just not used to being all sexual with...you."
He sighed. "You know Cordelia, your hell on a man's ego."
Her hands immediately came up to stroke his face, her eyes pained. "Oh, no...it's just...I well." She blew out a frustrated breath.
"I thought being stammery was my routine."
She stuck her tongue out, and he captured it with his lips, pulling her into a heated kiss. When he finally let her go she just smiled softly. "Forget it. I was just being an idiot."
"Never." He placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'd never fall in love with an idiot."
She smirked. "Why not...I did."
He growled, but his eyes were playful. "Still think of me as a no-bone."
She let out a surprised squeak as he backed her against the steam heated tiles and knelt in front of her. His hands rested lightly on the tops of her thighs, water sluiced over his back. "Maybe, but I'm getting over it...real quick."
"Do you trust me?"
"You have to ask?"
He stared up into her soft eyes. He could see the love shining in them, love he would never deserve, no matter how hard he tried. "Yes."
"I trust you."
He leaned forward, and kissed her dripping curls. Her hand slapped against the wall, the other grabbed his head. He carefully placed one leg over his shoulder, kissing the soft skin of her inner thigh. She got the idea, and her other leg came up resting on his other shoulder. He placed his hands at her hips, steadying her, then he dipped down and began to kiss the covering of neatly trimmed hair before parting her outer folds and running his tongue across the length of her heated center.
He felt her fingers pulling at his hair. He was getting drunk on just the taste of her. He hardly believed that he was actually here. A secret part of him was afraid that he was simply in the middle of a particularly vivid dream. It lent a frantic edge to his ministrations as he thrust his tongue deep inside her, his teeth scraping against her sensitive clit, as he sucked at her juices. He could vaguely hear her moaning as she writhed against him. She tasted alive, sweet with a sharp edge...just like her. He groaned, wanting nothing more than to crawl inside her womb.
Cordelia was definitely rethinking the whole no-bone idea as Angel was bringing her close to release. God, how had she ever NOT thought of him in a sexual way? His tongue moved inside her, thrusting in then slipping out to swirl around her sensitive bud, only to dive back in without mercy...damn he didn't need to breath, didn't have to stop. A soft cry escaped her lips as he discovered a particularly sensitive spot. She could feel his lips curl back as he found it again, and again, and...oh god.
Angel felt her muscles contract, he stroked along the apex of her legs, using his fingers to draw fluttering convulsions from her sensitized flesh. He heard her clearly now, as vocal in this as she was everything else...he drank from her hot surge of fluid as she came. When he had teased the last shuddering contraction out of her he stood, pleased at the slightly glazed look in her eyes. He kissed her, and this time she didn't shrink away from her taste on his lips.
Cordelia's mind was reeling. She understood what he was doing, but it broke her heart a little to know that he would never be able to give himself fully. Not from a lack of love...but because of it. She had accepted that limitation when she had accepted him. It still didn't make it suck any less. An idea was forming in her, swirling from the ashes of her orgasm exploding along already frazzled nerve endings.
Could she do it? She still felt unaccountably shy in front of this man, maybe she just couldn't understand how he could look at her so lovingly. How could she be satisfying to someone who had pretty literally done it all? She gathered her evaporating confidence around her, she was a Chase after all, and though it didn't mean what it used to...it did mean she would not be outdone by a 248 self labeled emotional retard.
"Angel." He was nibbling on her ear. Focus...
"Hmmm..." He was surprised to find himself shoved against the spot she had just vacated.
"My turn."
Did she just growl? He found himself staring into a pair of wickedly gleaming hazel eyes. Her wet hair had been pushed back, giving her a devilishly elfin look. Her body was flush from the steamy shower, the water running over her curves in gleaming rivulets. "Wha-mmph." Her soft lips cut off any protest, as she let herself play the aggressor. Angel's hands hovered over her. His erection sprang to new life as he felt her rub herself against him. He wanted to just take her, and end this game, but it was hers to play, and he could think of no sweeter torment.
Cordy leaned up standing on her toes, as she places warm wet kisses along his angular jaw. She jumped up and kissed his dripping lips, biting down, pulling at him with her teeth. His body tensed, but he let her continue uninterrupted. She nuzzled his neck finding the spot where his pulse would have been and bit there as well. His head rolled back and she heard him moan her name. She bit harder, only to run her tongue in lazy figure-eights around the spot.
His hands found her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. Her fingers flicked across his nipples raising them into small hard peaks, only to ignore them as she kissed and suckled her way across his pale chest. He began to breath as her hands ran down his sides, slipping behind him and cupping his buttocks. His breaths turned ragged as she slowly sank to her knees, running her tongue down his abdomen, nipping the skin below his belly button as her hands kneaded the hard muscles of his ass and ran lightly across the back of his thighs.
She knelt before him, her eyes drinking in the site of his erect penis. She had done this before, but not with someone like him, someone she loved. She reached out and ran her finger lightly from tip to base, running her nail against the sensitive skin of his balls. He shuddered, his hands finding her again. She smiled and cupped his balls in her hand rolling them lightly in her palm. He hissed, but stayed silent, eyes closed body tense. She pushed the skin back from his cock and swirled the tip with her tongue.
His hips bucked beneath her, and he bent over her struggling not to take over. She pushed him back up, glaring at him. His hands balled into fists, but the rest of his body relaxed. She licked along the underside of his shaft, quickly taking him into her mouth. She felt his muscles pull taught, as slowly he thrust against her. She let his movements take him gradually deeper until she could take him all. She kept a hand on his hip, guiding him. His hands roamed, over her neck and shoulders, sometimes gently caressing her lips where they formed a seal around his cock. She watched him with upturned eyes as he began to get close. She could feel his balls tense as he twitched inside her mouth, his thrusts becoming erratic. His lips parted as he threw his head back, some cross between a growl and a moan escaping as he shot his seed down her throat.
He jerked her to her feet, lips catching hers as his tongue pushed it's way in. She opened her mouth to him, letting him explore and taste until he was satisfied. He pulled back and just stared until she felt her cheeks once more burning hot. He smiled knowingly, and she squirmed, but she couldn't help but feel a little smug. She had given him a happy...not the BIG happy, but yep, he definitely was looking happy,
"I'm sorry who are you and WHAT did you do with my seer?" She giggled, turning off the shower and grabbing the last towel for herself.
She smiled. "I've got her stashed someplace safe. Right now, I'm more worried about getting downstairs before my cover is blown."
He frowned. "Downstairs? Cover?"
Ah, there was her dork.
"Work?? Wesley, Gunn Fred...here soon...ring any bells? Unless you want me to go all Lady Godiva down the staircase, then I'm thinking clothes would be good...What?"
He shook his head. "Sorry just getting the visual." He took the towel from her and began to dry her back. "I was thinking we could maybe call in sick?"
"Your a vampire, you don't get sick."
"Damn."
"Besides it's not like we can stay locked up in this bathroom forever. We still are what we are...none of this changes anything."
He stepped close, gently pulling her to him. "No, it changes everything."
She turned and wrapped her arms lightly around his waist. "I guess it does doesn't it." She lay her head against his chest. "So what are we going to tell everybody."
"Do you want to tell?" He picked her up and set her back on the sink.
She nodded. "I think we should. It could wait a couple of days maybe. It hasn't exactly sunk in fully yet...I mean you love me?"
He pulled her thighs apart, settling his body between them. "I do." He pulled her to him, pressing his erection at her entrance.
"Whoa, boy!" She pushed him back a step. "You know we can't do that...Hello McFly? CURSE!"
He blinked at her, face blank. "It won't be a problem." He stepped back between her legs, his hands running up her thighs.
"It damn well better be!" She harped. "You don't think I can inspire bliss? I'll have you know..."
He placed a finger to her lips. "It won't be a problem, because I won't forget." He stroked her cheek, but her eyes were still blazing.
"So what are you going to do, catalogue your sins while we..."
His hands dug into her shoulders, he shoved her back a little his true face slipping into view. "Don't be such a bitch." He growled.
Cordy had to let that one sink in as she stared into a pair of incredibly cold yellow eyes. Her eyebrows shot up. "What did you just call me?"
It left as quickly as it came and she found herself staring at Angel's handsome face. He seemed genuinely confused. "I...I'm sorry." He shook his head as if to clear it. "I just meant that the curse isn't about having an orgasm. I can have sex...I mean I obviously have...since Buffy. With all that's going on right now with Connor, I don't think bliss will be a problem." He winced realizing how bad he was sounding. "Not that I couldn't...with you...because under different circumstances my soul would be a goner..."
"Did you call me a bitch?" He was so not weaseling his way out of this one. "Is this a part of that whole letting your guard down with mixed results thing?"
"I uh, maybe? I'm not sure why though." He scratched his head, scowling. "We can stop." He started to back away, but she caught him with her legs. He was just so adorably confused that she couldn't help herself.
"So your saying that we CAN have sex?"
"Yes." He took her hands in his. "As long as I never forget who I am, but Cordy with you I've never felt I had to..." He felt a sharp sting against his cheek as she slapped him. His gameface slipped back on out of pure shock. "What the HELL was THAT for?!?"
She jerked him to her. "Why the hell didn't you say something sooner!" She kissed him, fangs and all.
Angel pulled her up, pushing at her entrance. Cordelia's legs wrapped around his waist. She was already wet, and he was way past ready...He buried himself deep, the sensation making his knees want to buckle. Cordy's tongue thrust into his mouth tangling with his. He forgot about his vamp face, he wouldn't have been able to control it if he tried. One hand held Cordy firmly by the ass, the other pushed her torso back towards the wall. She arched as she stretched to accommodate him, her eyes fluttering closed. He kissed her breasts taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking...the scrape of his fangs eliciting mewls of pleasure from his seers throat. He pushed her up, and thrust inside her, his mouth kissing his way up through the valley of her breasts, nipping at her collarbone. His hand stroked at her leg, pinching and kneading her thigh, her hips, her ass. Their bodies found a rhythm, for a while all that could be heard was the slap of skin on skin as took what she was so willing to give.
Cordelia felt her insides melt as Angels cock filled her completely, each thrust building on the knot of pleasure spreading across her stomach and down her thighs. His hands and lips setting individual fires that were threatening to spread into an uncontrollable blaze. She felt two sharp stabs of pain over her breast, and then Angel's lips were there forming a seal, tongue lapping at the drops that welled there. A small warning bell went off in the back of her mind, but it was completely overshadowed by the feel of Angel hammering into her as he reacted to the taste of her blood in his mouth. Suddenly she tensed clenching around him, crying out as her orgasm hit. Not long after Angel's thrusts became uncontrolled, almost painful. He came, calling out her name...his now human face buried in her neck, kissing her pulse point, sucking at the skin.
They stood there for a few moments, Cordelia trying to regain the use of her legs, Angel simply holding her up, soaking up the feel of her skin on his. He finally let her go. She swayed, but stayed on her feet.
"You can get dressed now...if you want." He stepped back leering suggestively at her.
"Pig." She smiled. Then looked down at the two tiny holes above her breast. She shot him a quizzical look. "I would tell you how mind-blowingly wonderful that was, but from the look on your face your feeling proud enough of yourself as it is."
He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "Yep."
"Dumbass." She looked down one more time at her breast, deciding the marks really were very small, not like a full blown bite. "This better not be some lame ass vamp-mojo attempt at claiming me as some sort of property."
"Nope...no vamp mojo." His eyes flashed with wicked humor. "I just realized I was making love to a VERY sexy T-bone."
"And don't you forget it." she huffed, stalking out of the bathroom. Vampires...Pfft.
She pulled on her clean clothes, and checked on Connor who was still asleep. Angel was still in the bathroom, from the sound brushing his teeth. She strode to the dresser and jerked open his underwear drawer. Did the man have to have so much black? In honor of the mood, she wanted to see him in some color. She dug through the drawer, crumpling all of his neatly folded boxers. That's when she saw it...her favorite hair band...With a smile she pulled it out of his drawer. It caught on something, and as she gave it a tug she noticed that the bottom of the drawer was loose, and a slip of paper was sticking through the sliver of space. Curious she gave the paper a tug, and the whole bottom of the drawer popped up...
She threw his underwear on the top of the dresser and pulled the false bottom out of the drawer. Cordy gasped, not quite understanding what she was looking at. Her things...all her things...Her scarf, hairclips, a shirt, even a pair of her underwear? Under all the items that he had hidden was a thick stack of drawing paper. She picked them up and shuffled idly through the pictures. They were all of her. The first few were of her and Connor, simple...beautiful really...they brought a ready smile to her lips. The smile quickly faded as she flipped through the drawings. He had drawn her sleeping, in his bed, in her bed. When had he seen her in her bed? The further through the stack the worse she felt. He had drawn her nude, pleasuring herself...sleeping with men. Oh, god These weren't random images...He had obviously seen her doing these things, she even recognized the men. Some of the men she had dated almost two years previous...How long had he been watching her?
"No, no, nonono...Angel...oh not this, no." Tears pricked her eyes and began to stream down her cheeks as she was hit full force by the realization of what he had done. She backed towards the door, still clutching the drawings.
Angel came out of the bathroom just as she opened the door to leave. He paused taking in her tearstained face, and the papers she was clutching to her chest, his head slowly swiveled to the drawer then back to her. A whole range of emotions warred for dominance over his face. Love, shame, heartbreak, anger, posessiveness. "Cordelia...no...please don't. I can explain..."
She just shook her head, as she felt her heart breaking. "No." This was NOT happening to her. She knew Angel to be obsessive, but this crossed the line...this tainted every perception, every memory. Her heart didn't just break, it shattered. Anger flooded through her system, whipping her frozen limbs into action. She turned and ran out the door.
Angel grabbed a pair of pants pulled them on and ran after her...
***********
Fred had been having a good day so far. Gunn had come by early enough to take her to the diner for breakfast. He was so sweet and thoughtful, and it was so nice that they had a place...their place...special to only *them*. They had shared a breakfast, or two, then he had dropped her back at the hotel while he went to run down some leads for Wesley. She had wanted to go, but both had insisted she stay, which was ok really because she had some interesting side research going on anyway. Also on the plus side was that it seemed like the tension between Wes and Gunn was beginning to ease. It still made her stomach tie up into tiny little knots to know that she was the one to have put them at odds with each other. There might have been a time when she would have made a very different choice, but no...what was done was done, and she loved Gunn with all her heart, but sometimes, like now, when she caught Wes just staring...
Two heads turned towards the stairs as Cordelia came pounding down them, Angel hot on her heels.
That doesn't look very promising, Fred thought, taking note of the fact that Angel was shirtless, his pants not even buttoned. She had eyes, and there wasn't nothing wrong with looking, at least that's what her momma always said, and those pant's were ridin' awfully low...
"CORDY, please, just give me a chance to explai..." He tried to grab the papers out of her hands, but she jerked away from his touch. "It's not what you think..ok maybe it is, but..."
Wes stepped out of his office intercepting them near the lobby doors. "Angel, Cordy?" He noticed the tears streaming down Cordelia's face. "What happened."
Cordelia spun around, a haughty bitter look on her face. "ASK MY STALKER!!!" She shoved the papers at Angel's chest and stormed out the door. Angel made a move to follow her, but then jumped back as the sun started to sizzle his skin.
He stood there, we all stood there for a moment, shocked to silence. Suddenly Angel threw the papers sending them fluttering around him like angry Pylean werebirds. He stared at us both for a moment, only truly registering us for the first time. Wes was about to say something, but he just raised his hand, his voice low, dangerous in a way I had never heard..."Wesley, don't say a fucking word."
He looked really, REALLY pissed. Actually so did Wes. I started to pick up the papers, just to be doin' something, anything to move a little of the tension out of the air. They were drawings, of Cordelia...all of them were of Cordy and..."Oh my."
The big Pow-Wow
"They're actually (*ahem*) quite remarkable..." Wesley flinched from Cordelia's icy glare. "Strictly from an artistic perspective, of course."
Cordelia sighed dejectedly, sinking even deeper into Wesley's couch. She tried not to think too much about the event's of the day, or the fact that Wes and Fred had spent the better part of the afternoon holed up in his apartment studying nude pictures of her in minute detail...What were friends for? She was here, quite simply, because she was afraid...
The phone calls had started before she could even make it home...pleas for her to stop running, for her to listen, for her to come home to him. The barely contained manic edge that crept into his voice had her packing her bags before the last message had finished playing. She had rushed out the doors with a hurried apology to Dennis and no clear destination in mind. She had ended up on Wesley's doorstep after driving around for the better part of the morning. Where else did she have to go? He was her only other family.
She had never in a million years thought that she would ever have to run in fear from Angel. Angelus...hell yeah, but Angel??? The emotional roller coaster of the last few days had left her too hollow and drained to cry, and so angry she could feel it crawling through her nerves like an open current, keeping her on edge, drying up any other emotions that threatened to invade. At the time Wesley had seemed like her best bet at helping her to figure this mess out.
Riiight She thought bitterly. Like Wesley would just be able to crack open the books, have a eureka moment and fix things. If anything he seemed even more upset than she was. The only person who seemed to take this all in stride was Fred...who was once AGAIN shuffling through the stack of drawings...
"He's right 'ya know. They ARE pretty..." Fred chirped.
"Great! I've discovered the man I love has gone psycho, and all you two want to do is ogle my...bits..." She trailed of, not quite sure what to make of Fred's continued study.
Wesley suppressed a sigh. Demon killing, blood and guts, research...these things he could handle. Sorting through his co-workers complicated love lives...He was a befuddled mess. "I asked Lorne to talk to Angel, they seem to have a good rapport, maybe he will open up to him. A dark shadow passed in Wesley's eyes. "And maybe he can convince Angel to let him have Connor for a few days. Gunn went along...just in case."
"Like Gunn could really stop Angel." Cordy huffed.
"Hey!" Fred had to stand up for her man, even if Cordelia was probably right.
"Sorry Fred."
"Gunn can handle himself, 'sides you said they're just going to talk to him...right?" Worry began to knot Fred's stomach.
"Unless Angel doesn't *feel* like talking." Wes mumbled.
Cordelia picked up on Wes' bitter tone. "Wes...Have you two talked about this....about me...before?"
Wes suddenly became very interested in picking the lint off the couch.
"Wesley Wyndom Pryce...you answer me, or..."
"Once. A week or so ago. I had noticed..." He glanced at Fred and she nodded. "We ALL noticed that he was..."
"Flirting with you." Fred finished. 'He has it really bad with the kyrumption and moira."
Cordelia studied her two friends. The last few weeks played through her head, the touches, the glances, thinly veiled innuendo...She had been just as much to blame, even if she had buried her intentions firmly behind a thick blanket of denial. "We were flirting. I get that..." She rolled her eyes at their shocked faces. "Come on guy's I'm not completely blind, and I'm certainly NOT stupid. I understand how this started, but...how did we get here?" She gestured despondently to the room at large.
Wes regarded her carefully. "I think that maybe *you* should tell *us* the answer to that." His posture stiffened. *YOU* were obviously aware of his advances."
"Well...yeah!" She replied sarcastically. "It was just harmless flirting, or well...It was more, but he was taking it slow...I could deal with slow. I mean really, REALLY slow, but then last night happened, and..."
Wesley's eyes narrowed. "What EXACTLY happened last night?"
"Guy's" Fred interjected.
"Oh don't get snippy with me, buster!" She shifted uncomfortably. "Things just progressed a little faster than I was prepared for." She was hesitant to meet Wes's piercing blue orbs. Her hands twisted in her lap. "Things were said...and this morning..."
"You had SEX didn't you!?!?" Wes' voice raised an octave as surprise and anger flooded his system."
"Wesley!" Cordy looked aghast, but she couldn't stop the blush that crept over her cheeks.
"Why in the BLOODY HELL?!?!? You know...YOU of all people...You KNOW what you could have unleashed!!!"
"Guy's!" Fred stuck her fingers in her mouth and blew a shrill ear shredding whistle. Cordy and Wes both jumped, only to turn and glare directly at her. She gulped, as always hating to be the center of attention. "Sorry. Ok, Angel, sex, bad...that can wait."
"Not if he has changed." Wes quietly pointed out.
"He didn't." Cordy whispered. "It wasn't bliss."
Fred's heart went out to her miserable friends. Wes looked like she had just kicked him in the stomach, and Cordelia dropped her head hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. "I'm really sorry to interrupt...It's just the dates on these pictures, they don't make any logical sense."
Wes strode to the desk and bent over Fred's shoulder. Ignoring his closeness Fred continued. "I didn't notice at first because, well because the first thing you tend to notice are the drawings themselves, and the sex ones are kinda," She cleared her suddenly dry throat. "graphic." She shrugged apologetically to Cordy and was rewarded with a weak smile. "Anyway, I really didn't feel comfortable looking at them again, so I turned them over, and I noticed that like a lot of artists, he signs and dates his work on the back." She pointed out his elegant handwriting and continued. "You guys were making me really nervous with all the pacing, and worrying, and sniping...so just to keep busy I put all the pictures in order by date...cause you know, numbers...soothing."
"We get it Fred. What's the point." Cordy asked, her voice tired.
Fred turned the stack of papers over, blushing at the content of the image on top. "You say the people in these pictures are guys you dated a long time ago right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"These are his most recent drawings..."
Wes snatched up the images and started double checking the dates. "That's odd."
"What's ODD is that he spied on me!" Cordelia exploded. Who cares WHEN he did the drawings!" She grabbed the top drawing and waved it in their faces. He watched me do THIS with Chet..."She snatched another one. "And this with Jason..." The tears the had been missing all day were finally threatening to fall. "Who cares about the when? It still doesn't change the fact that he has been stalking me!"
Wes grabbed Cordelia by the shoulders and pulled her into a fierce hug. She began to shake and heave as her tears finally broke free. "Shhh, I know Cor...We'll figure it out somehow, we always do." His own voice was soft and heavy with emotion. He began to stroke her back as she clung to him. "All we are trying to say is that regardless of what he has seen, this fixation seems to be of fairly recent origin. So...maybe there IS an explanation, some outside reason that may have triggered a change in Angel."
"He loves me!" Cordelia sobbed against his chest.
"Yes...yes he does." Wes tone was filled with quiet conviction. He wanted desperately to comfort his best friend, but in the back of his mind doubts whispered. He knew as well as she, something as simple and beautiful as love could very well be the cause of their nasty situation.
A soft knock brought them all out of their thoughts. Fred was relieved to hear Gunn calling for them through the door. The strange duo slipped inside and Fred locked the deadbolted behind them. Lorne's face was uncharacteristically grim, but Gunn simply smiled and uncovered the squirming baby tucked securely under his jacket. "It started to rain."
Lorne swept his senses over the worried aura's of Wes and Cordy. "That's right sugar plums. He agreed it would be for the best...for now.
At the sight of the baby snuggling contentedly in the Gunn's strong arms a huge portion of the tension Cordy had been carrying dropped off of her shoulders. She immediately took the baby and cradled him to her chest. She stared expectantly at Lorne. "Well?"
He glanced at Wes, who hovered protectively close to Cordy and the baby. "Slow down Pixiecat. You got yourself into a rather complicated predicament."
Cordelia began to scowl at the green demon.
"In a nutshell..." Lorne sighed. "Angel is..." He stared down into Cordelia's troubled eyes, and bit back his usual sarcasm. "He's got it bad for you hun, no doubt about it, but there is a bigger picture here, if you'll pardon the pun."
"OW!" Gunn pulled his stinging hand away from the stack of drawings. "What!?!? Research!"
Fred reared her hand back to smack him again.
"Bet English got to see 'em." He grumbled. He looked up to find the entire room shooting dirty looks in his direction. "Fine." He threw his hands up and backed away.
"Perv." Fred whispered.
"Bigger picture?" Wesley interjected.
"Angelcakes told us a rather interesting story tonight."
"It was damn creepy if you ask me." Gunn interrupted.
Lorne paused. "You going to let me finish, or are you picking up on Fred's bad habits?"
Gunn folded his big frame down onto the couch. "Hell no, It's all yours dog, I'm already trying to repress."
"Anyway the story is important, but it wasn't the point. I got a good look at Angel's aura and children, let me tell you, there is something VERY amiss in Angelville."
Wesley let out a breath, relaxing a little. "But he still *has* a soul." He watched distracted as Cordelia drifted towards the window, and stared out into the rainy night.
Lorne headed strait for the liqueur cabinet. "Oh it's still there, but his aura is so messed up right now it had ME green around the gills." He fixed a stiff gin and tonic. "All those colors swirling and flickering, and winking out..."
"Are going to tell us the problem or just make us seasick?" Cordy huffed.
"Mee-yow!" Lorne downed his drink in one gulp, smiling despite the grim looks directed his way. "Let me break it down best I can, 'K? Angel loves you, and I'm talking the big time, soulmatey, written in the stars, meant to be kind of love. Only problem is, something is pushing Angel's demon to the surface." Everyone was giving him a blank stare, but the gin was helping, and he always loved even the toughest audience. "It's all about balance folks. Angel's mission has always been about maintaining the cosmic balance on the side of good over evil. We've all read the files...Angel himself walks that fine line, having to balance the man with the demon...Angel *is* both, to be the fine champion that he is, he *has* to be." Lorne shrugged, it was all exposition anyway. "Someone, or something is trying to tip Angel's balance, and from the looks of his aura, it ain't for the side of truth justice and the American way."
Fred's face scrunched as her mind tried to wrap around what Lorne was saying. "So, your saying that somebody out there is trying to make Angel go bad?"
Lorne nodded and fixed another drink. " Something like that. I can't tell you how or why, but I can tell you that whatever they are doing to him is slowly unhinging his soul." He shuddered. "Right now it's like he's channeling the worst traits of both sides of his psyche, and that can't mean anything but trouble."
Wes' mind began to spin through the possibilities. He began to pace. "It makes sense." Cordelia turned, her bright hazel eyes questioning him. He stopped in front of her. "I understand the reason. There are a lot of forces out there that would love nothing more than to have Angelus loose again. It's not the first time an attempt has been made on Angel's soul."
Gunn looked stunned. "You mean that there are other people out there, besides the regular round-up of nasties, that have *deliberately* tried to free Angelus? That's just wack!"
"Faith." Cordelia whispered, "Oh, and Rebecca Lowell..."
"Raven?" Gunn grinned. "Damn, now that was one fine-ass chick, but what does she have to do with Angel?"
Wes remembered all to well. "She was a client. She found out about Angel's true nature, and tried to seduce him into turning her."
Gunn let out a low whistle. Fred was glaring at him. He winked at her. He was all hers, and deep down, she knew it.
"Well, to insure that her plan went off she slipped some doximil into his glass of wine, to *ahem* lower his inhibitions." Wes shook off the memories of Angelus' taunting.
Cordelia snorted. "Yeah, all she did was let Angelus out to play. If it weren't for my, dare I say, "Oscar" deserving acting skills, we wouldn't be here today."
"Only you would think that pitiful performance was worthy of an award. Though I dare say it was an improvement over that abysmal play" Wes ribbed good naturedly. "Besides *I* am the one that pushed him down the elevator shaft!"
"Pfft! Only after I stalled him long enough for you to pick yourself off the floor, where you were lying unconscious!"
"We both chained him to the bed." Wes said wistfully.
"We did didn't we." Cordy smiled warmly at the shared memory.
Lorne cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt your jaunt down memory lane, but we have a *fresh* insidious plot to tackle."
Fred began to clear the top of Wesley's desk. "We should start eliminating the possibilities. We should test Angel's food supply, and I guess there are ways to test to see if he is under any sort of magical influence...It would help if we had a recent sample of the blood Angel has been drinking..."
Gunn walked to the door, picked up a jug and plunked it in the center of the table. He looked smug as he turned to Lorne. "I guess she *is* rubbing off on me a little."
Lorne watched as Cordelia returned to the window. Wesley busied himself pulling out various supplies that Fred would need to test the blood, as well as varied text on the occult. Lorne could see a full on research session brewing. Leaving the *how's* to the two brains of the outfit, he ambled towards Cordelia. He sensed she needed some answers to the *why's*. Maybe together they could figure them out...
"Hey sweetheart. What's got you so fascinated with the window. I'll admit I LOVE the drapes, but..."
Cordy leaned into Lorne's shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of vulnerability. He draped his arm over her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You want me to take the baby?" She shook her head, hugging the baby tight and continued to stare through the panes of glass to the distorted, water warped street corner below. Lorne could see her bright eyes glistening in the reflected light.
"He's out there, you know." She spoke softly, her eyes glued to the darkest point beyond the streetlight. "I can sense him, I always know when he's close." she chuckled. but the sound choked out. "If he becomes Angelus, I don't think I could...you know, not anymore. I just..."
"What, hun?"
"Why like this? If someone want's Angelus why take his soul a piece at a time, why not just suck it out, and be done with it?" Cordelia hovered on the brink of tears. "What if Angelus is the one who loves me, what if...what's been happening has nothing to do with Angel. I c-can't go back. I...I c-can't just stop loving him, even now." She took a long shuddering breath.
Lorne rubbed her shoulder and held her tighter. "Shh now. I saw into his soul remember?" Lorne's serious red eyes bored into hers. "Whatever or whoever is doing this, I'm not sure that Angel loosing his soul is their goal. Maybe the point is to make all of us suffer, or at the very least disrupt his connection to the powers. I just don't know...I do know that Angelus' obsessive nature is feeding on Angel's darkest fears...loosing you."
Lorne could see in Cordelia's face all the questions and doubt's that she held close to her heart. He didn't need to read her aura to know what she was thinking. Lorne peered through the glass, and sure enough, after a few moments Angel emerged into the soft yellow glow of the halide lamp. He watched with growing dread as they faced off from a distance, warrior and seer. Tension flowed between them tight and strong as a steel cable. Lorne sent a fervent prayer to the PTB's that this would be resolved before either did irreparable harm to their budding relationship. He let Cordelia go, and to her surprise pulled the drapes against the darkness outside.
"Let's go put the little nipper down for the evening, and then I think I need to tell you a bedtime story."
"Is it a nice story?" She asked hopefully.
"It will probably give you nightmares."
"Of course..." Cordy glared at the retreating demon's back. "I should have expected that."
Author: Psychofilly
Parts:3
Rating: PG - NC17
Disclaimer: All belongs to the Joss-god.
Summary: This was a loose collection of short fics, that evolved. Angel knows what he wants, now he just has to convince the other party. Buffy makes a seemingly inconsequential appearance and the gang finds themselves thrown into the middle of rather uncomfortable circumstances.
What we don't know can hurt us
Buoyant
Free, happy, dizzy
In love...
Angel had said it, those three simple words that had made the last night among the happiest ever. Angel loved her. He was in love with her...the very idea would take some getting used to. It also felt like the most natural thing in the world. Why wasn't she floating somewhere up by the ceiling? Maybe because last night had almost ended up a disaster...almost. She was still more wigged than she cared to admit. His hands and lips had felt so right, but for a moment she had felt completely left behind, as if he were seeking to sate some darker need that had nothing to do with her. Of course he was a vampire, she understood from long association that his tastes were a bit...quirky.
Cordy could hear him in the bathroom, taking a shower. She sighed, sitting up, and unwrapping the bandage from around her leg. Quirky? She huffed. Try kinky, bordering on the sadistic...of course he had been neither of those things with her, but it scared her to think that the demon was there, underlying the man that she loved. And she DID love Angel, which by default meant she loved the vampire too. She just wasn't sure she knew exactly what that meant yet. Of course they had plenty of time to figure it all out together. The thought sent her heart to the stratosphere Her leg was looking pretty good, It was still sore and an angry shade of red, but it had already closed. Faster healing was nice, but couldn't the powers have made her stronger too, then maybe they wouldn't have gotten gored in the first place.
She heard a wet giggle from the general direction of the crib...Connor. She jumped up hovering by the crib, cooing and tickling the baby. She heard the shower turn off, and after a minute decided to kick him out so she could take one of her own. She kissed the top of the drowsy baby's head and with a wicked grin burst into the bathroom. She froze...Angel had his back to her, vigorously scrubbing his head with a towel. Her eyes swept down, she gulped, he turned.
"Cordy, your letting all the hot air out."
Cordelia's mind raced, but despite grasping at a haystack worth of straws all she could come up with was the patently obvious. "Uh...your naked." Her eyes swept across the taught musculature of his chest, past his hard flat stomach down to the crisp dark patch of hair. "Sorry...I, ah...eep." She squeezed her eyes shut turning back towards the door. She couldn't get the image of him out of her head...god he was perfect...big, but not outrageously so, and sexier yet was the way he just smiled, dropping the towel on the floor. She fumbled her way to the door, but a surprisingly warm arm caught her around the waist, pulling her around as he kicked the door closed.
He set her on the sink, his hands gripping the marble on either side of her, damn, trapped by her own stupidity...again.
"Cor, hey..." He chuckled. "...Someone needs to learn to knock." She felt his lips on her neck, just under her ear. Ticklish butterflies took flight in her stomach. "Good morning." His lips brushed softly against hers, then he pulled back. She opened her eyes.
She blushed. She couldn't help it. She felt like highschool, but even though he'd had his fingers inside her just last night they'd never seen each other nude. "Geeze Angel, when were you born? Aren't you supposed to be the modest one?"
He crossed his arms, trying to look stern. It might have worked if the corners of his mouth weren't twitching. "And again I say, bathroom...private...knock first."
"Fine, you got me. I should have knocked. Sooo I see you went and got Connor." He could play it cool, so could she. The smile on his face at the mention of his son made her heart swell. These two dufuses were her family. Hers. Oh shit...
"Yeah he and his pop both fed this morning." His hand patted his stomach, fingers trailing suggestively lower down his abdomen, drawing her gaze. He narrowed his eyes speculatively at the short haired beauty sitting on the sink trying not to eat him with her eyes. "So, why DID you come barging in here?"
"I'm dirty..." If possible she reddened further. "I wanted to take a *cough* shower." She smiled, her eyes flitting over him once more. "Soooo, get out."
Angel snorted. "I don't think so." He stalked forward, noting how her eyes widened and her breath quickened. She was beautiful prey. He reached for the hem of her shirt. He leaned forward. "You smell..." He pulled the shirt up slowly, her breath hitched but she cautiously raised her arms. He pulled it off, sighing at the unrestricted sight of her full breasts. "...good enough to eat." He ran the back of his fingers down her sternum and over the rise of one breast. She gasped. He cupped her breast feeling the weight. He began to kiss her neck and nip at her collarbone. "You taste even better." He rumbled, his voice husky.
He felt her arms wrap hesitantly around him, pulling him a little closer. Her fingers traced the contours of his back, digging and kneading...memorizing his terrain. Surrounded by her essence he felt an intoxicating buzz flooding his senses. He lifted her to her feet, pulling her with him as he backed towards the shower. He reached behind him and turned on the water. His hands fumbling in their haste to get back to her. He ran his tongue along her jaw, kissed a trail down her neck, and bit the juncture of her neck lightly with blunt teeth. He backed into the shower.
"What are you doing?" She moaned, as he knelt before her, pulling each breast into his mouth in turn, smiling as she arched into him. He dropped lower licking a trail around her belly button, and kissing his way down to the elastic of her boxers. His hands gripped the material, slowly slipping them down her thighs, over her calves, and letting them fall to the floor. She stood before him, gloriously naked. Her bronzed skin stood in stark contrast against his pale complexion. He rolled back on his heels and just looked up at her. She stared back her face scrunched into an adorable frown, as he stood and backed under the hot stream of water.
"But, but your already clean!" She sputtered, as he jerked her into the shower with him, placing her back to him and pulling her flush.
He let his hands roam agressively across her body at will, as he leaned down and whispered. "I plan to get VERY dirty." He smiled as goosebumps crawled over her flesh. Both hands came up and kneaded the sensitive globes of her breasts, his fingers pinching and stroking her nipples, as he slowly ground his growing erection against her backside.
He kissed the back of her neck and chased her shivers down her spine with his lips, his tongue stopping to trace her tattoo...funny he hadn't known her when she had gotten that and he had never asked her why. He whipped her around, burying his face in her stomach, reveling in the feel of her fingers running through his hair, stroking his neck, and grasping at his shoulders. He felt rather than heard her start to laugh. He stood, pulling her chin up, staring into her bright hazel eyes.
"Sorry." He was going to think she was crazy, but she just couldn't stop. "This is just so weird, you know?" He cocked a quizzical brow. "Oh, don't go all Spock on me now..." She laughed. "I'm just not used to being all sexual with...you."
He sighed. "You know Cordelia, your hell on a man's ego."
Her hands immediately came up to stroke his face, her eyes pained. "Oh, no...it's just...I well." She blew out a frustrated breath.
"I thought being stammery was my routine."
She stuck her tongue out, and he captured it with his lips, pulling her into a heated kiss. When he finally let her go she just smiled softly. "Forget it. I was just being an idiot."
"Never." He placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'd never fall in love with an idiot."
She smirked. "Why not...I did."
He growled, but his eyes were playful. "Still think of me as a no-bone."
She let out a surprised squeak as he backed her against the steam heated tiles and knelt in front of her. His hands rested lightly on the tops of her thighs, water sluiced over his back. "Maybe, but I'm getting over it...real quick."
"Do you trust me?"
"You have to ask?"
He stared up into her soft eyes. He could see the love shining in them, love he would never deserve, no matter how hard he tried. "Yes."
"I trust you."
He leaned forward, and kissed her dripping curls. Her hand slapped against the wall, the other grabbed his head. He carefully placed one leg over his shoulder, kissing the soft skin of her inner thigh. She got the idea, and her other leg came up resting on his other shoulder. He placed his hands at her hips, steadying her, then he dipped down and began to kiss the covering of neatly trimmed hair before parting her outer folds and running his tongue across the length of her heated center.
He felt her fingers pulling at his hair. He was getting drunk on just the taste of her. He hardly believed that he was actually here. A secret part of him was afraid that he was simply in the middle of a particularly vivid dream. It lent a frantic edge to his ministrations as he thrust his tongue deep inside her, his teeth scraping against her sensitive clit, as he sucked at her juices. He could vaguely hear her moaning as she writhed against him. She tasted alive, sweet with a sharp edge...just like her. He groaned, wanting nothing more than to crawl inside her womb.
Cordelia was definitely rethinking the whole no-bone idea as Angel was bringing her close to release. God, how had she ever NOT thought of him in a sexual way? His tongue moved inside her, thrusting in then slipping out to swirl around her sensitive bud, only to dive back in without mercy...damn he didn't need to breath, didn't have to stop. A soft cry escaped her lips as he discovered a particularly sensitive spot. She could feel his lips curl back as he found it again, and again, and...oh god.
Angel felt her muscles contract, he stroked along the apex of her legs, using his fingers to draw fluttering convulsions from her sensitized flesh. He heard her clearly now, as vocal in this as she was everything else...he drank from her hot surge of fluid as she came. When he had teased the last shuddering contraction out of her he stood, pleased at the slightly glazed look in her eyes. He kissed her, and this time she didn't shrink away from her taste on his lips.
Cordelia's mind was reeling. She understood what he was doing, but it broke her heart a little to know that he would never be able to give himself fully. Not from a lack of love...but because of it. She had accepted that limitation when she had accepted him. It still didn't make it suck any less. An idea was forming in her, swirling from the ashes of her orgasm exploding along already frazzled nerve endings.
Could she do it? She still felt unaccountably shy in front of this man, maybe she just couldn't understand how he could look at her so lovingly. How could she be satisfying to someone who had pretty literally done it all? She gathered her evaporating confidence around her, she was a Chase after all, and though it didn't mean what it used to...it did mean she would not be outdone by a 248 self labeled emotional retard.
"Angel." He was nibbling on her ear. Focus...
"Hmmm..." He was surprised to find himself shoved against the spot she had just vacated.
"My turn."
Did she just growl? He found himself staring into a pair of wickedly gleaming hazel eyes. Her wet hair had been pushed back, giving her a devilishly elfin look. Her body was flush from the steamy shower, the water running over her curves in gleaming rivulets. "Wha-mmph." Her soft lips cut off any protest, as she let herself play the aggressor. Angel's hands hovered over her. His erection sprang to new life as he felt her rub herself against him. He wanted to just take her, and end this game, but it was hers to play, and he could think of no sweeter torment.
Cordy leaned up standing on her toes, as she places warm wet kisses along his angular jaw. She jumped up and kissed his dripping lips, biting down, pulling at him with her teeth. His body tensed, but he let her continue uninterrupted. She nuzzled his neck finding the spot where his pulse would have been and bit there as well. His head rolled back and she heard him moan her name. She bit harder, only to run her tongue in lazy figure-eights around the spot.
His hands found her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. Her fingers flicked across his nipples raising them into small hard peaks, only to ignore them as she kissed and suckled her way across his pale chest. He began to breath as her hands ran down his sides, slipping behind him and cupping his buttocks. His breaths turned ragged as she slowly sank to her knees, running her tongue down his abdomen, nipping the skin below his belly button as her hands kneaded the hard muscles of his ass and ran lightly across the back of his thighs.
She knelt before him, her eyes drinking in the site of his erect penis. She had done this before, but not with someone like him, someone she loved. She reached out and ran her finger lightly from tip to base, running her nail against the sensitive skin of his balls. He shuddered, his hands finding her again. She smiled and cupped his balls in her hand rolling them lightly in her palm. He hissed, but stayed silent, eyes closed body tense. She pushed the skin back from his cock and swirled the tip with her tongue.
His hips bucked beneath her, and he bent over her struggling not to take over. She pushed him back up, glaring at him. His hands balled into fists, but the rest of his body relaxed. She licked along the underside of his shaft, quickly taking him into her mouth. She felt his muscles pull taught, as slowly he thrust against her. She let his movements take him gradually deeper until she could take him all. She kept a hand on his hip, guiding him. His hands roamed, over her neck and shoulders, sometimes gently caressing her lips where they formed a seal around his cock. She watched him with upturned eyes as he began to get close. She could feel his balls tense as he twitched inside her mouth, his thrusts becoming erratic. His lips parted as he threw his head back, some cross between a growl and a moan escaping as he shot his seed down her throat.
He jerked her to her feet, lips catching hers as his tongue pushed it's way in. She opened her mouth to him, letting him explore and taste until he was satisfied. He pulled back and just stared until she felt her cheeks once more burning hot. He smiled knowingly, and she squirmed, but she couldn't help but feel a little smug. She had given him a happy...not the BIG happy, but yep, he definitely was looking happy,
"I'm sorry who are you and WHAT did you do with my seer?" She giggled, turning off the shower and grabbing the last towel for herself.
She smiled. "I've got her stashed someplace safe. Right now, I'm more worried about getting downstairs before my cover is blown."
He frowned. "Downstairs? Cover?"
Ah, there was her dork.
"Work?? Wesley, Gunn Fred...here soon...ring any bells? Unless you want me to go all Lady Godiva down the staircase, then I'm thinking clothes would be good...What?"
He shook his head. "Sorry just getting the visual." He took the towel from her and began to dry her back. "I was thinking we could maybe call in sick?"
"Your a vampire, you don't get sick."
"Damn."
"Besides it's not like we can stay locked up in this bathroom forever. We still are what we are...none of this changes anything."
He stepped close, gently pulling her to him. "No, it changes everything."
She turned and wrapped her arms lightly around his waist. "I guess it does doesn't it." She lay her head against his chest. "So what are we going to tell everybody."
"Do you want to tell?" He picked her up and set her back on the sink.
She nodded. "I think we should. It could wait a couple of days maybe. It hasn't exactly sunk in fully yet...I mean you love me?"
He pulled her thighs apart, settling his body between them. "I do." He pulled her to him, pressing his erection at her entrance.
"Whoa, boy!" She pushed him back a step. "You know we can't do that...Hello McFly? CURSE!"
He blinked at her, face blank. "It won't be a problem." He stepped back between her legs, his hands running up her thighs.
"It damn well better be!" She harped. "You don't think I can inspire bliss? I'll have you know..."
He placed a finger to her lips. "It won't be a problem, because I won't forget." He stroked her cheek, but her eyes were still blazing.
"So what are you going to do, catalogue your sins while we..."
His hands dug into her shoulders, he shoved her back a little his true face slipping into view. "Don't be such a bitch." He growled.
Cordy had to let that one sink in as she stared into a pair of incredibly cold yellow eyes. Her eyebrows shot up. "What did you just call me?"
It left as quickly as it came and she found herself staring at Angel's handsome face. He seemed genuinely confused. "I...I'm sorry." He shook his head as if to clear it. "I just meant that the curse isn't about having an orgasm. I can have sex...I mean I obviously have...since Buffy. With all that's going on right now with Connor, I don't think bliss will be a problem." He winced realizing how bad he was sounding. "Not that I couldn't...with you...because under different circumstances my soul would be a goner..."
"Did you call me a bitch?" He was so not weaseling his way out of this one. "Is this a part of that whole letting your guard down with mixed results thing?"
"I uh, maybe? I'm not sure why though." He scratched his head, scowling. "We can stop." He started to back away, but she caught him with her legs. He was just so adorably confused that she couldn't help herself.
"So your saying that we CAN have sex?"
"Yes." He took her hands in his. "As long as I never forget who I am, but Cordy with you I've never felt I had to..." He felt a sharp sting against his cheek as she slapped him. His gameface slipped back on out of pure shock. "What the HELL was THAT for?!?"
She jerked him to her. "Why the hell didn't you say something sooner!" She kissed him, fangs and all.
Angel pulled her up, pushing at her entrance. Cordelia's legs wrapped around his waist. She was already wet, and he was way past ready...He buried himself deep, the sensation making his knees want to buckle. Cordy's tongue thrust into his mouth tangling with his. He forgot about his vamp face, he wouldn't have been able to control it if he tried. One hand held Cordy firmly by the ass, the other pushed her torso back towards the wall. She arched as she stretched to accommodate him, her eyes fluttering closed. He kissed her breasts taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking...the scrape of his fangs eliciting mewls of pleasure from his seers throat. He pushed her up, and thrust inside her, his mouth kissing his way up through the valley of her breasts, nipping at her collarbone. His hand stroked at her leg, pinching and kneading her thigh, her hips, her ass. Their bodies found a rhythm, for a while all that could be heard was the slap of skin on skin as took what she was so willing to give.
Cordelia felt her insides melt as Angels cock filled her completely, each thrust building on the knot of pleasure spreading across her stomach and down her thighs. His hands and lips setting individual fires that were threatening to spread into an uncontrollable blaze. She felt two sharp stabs of pain over her breast, and then Angel's lips were there forming a seal, tongue lapping at the drops that welled there. A small warning bell went off in the back of her mind, but it was completely overshadowed by the feel of Angel hammering into her as he reacted to the taste of her blood in his mouth. Suddenly she tensed clenching around him, crying out as her orgasm hit. Not long after Angel's thrusts became uncontrolled, almost painful. He came, calling out her name...his now human face buried in her neck, kissing her pulse point, sucking at the skin.
They stood there for a few moments, Cordelia trying to regain the use of her legs, Angel simply holding her up, soaking up the feel of her skin on his. He finally let her go. She swayed, but stayed on her feet.
"You can get dressed now...if you want." He stepped back leering suggestively at her.
"Pig." She smiled. Then looked down at the two tiny holes above her breast. She shot him a quizzical look. "I would tell you how mind-blowingly wonderful that was, but from the look on your face your feeling proud enough of yourself as it is."
He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "Yep."
"Dumbass." She looked down one more time at her breast, deciding the marks really were very small, not like a full blown bite. "This better not be some lame ass vamp-mojo attempt at claiming me as some sort of property."
"Nope...no vamp mojo." His eyes flashed with wicked humor. "I just realized I was making love to a VERY sexy T-bone."
"And don't you forget it." she huffed, stalking out of the bathroom. Vampires...Pfft.
She pulled on her clean clothes, and checked on Connor who was still asleep. Angel was still in the bathroom, from the sound brushing his teeth. She strode to the dresser and jerked open his underwear drawer. Did the man have to have so much black? In honor of the mood, she wanted to see him in some color. She dug through the drawer, crumpling all of his neatly folded boxers. That's when she saw it...her favorite hair band...With a smile she pulled it out of his drawer. It caught on something, and as she gave it a tug she noticed that the bottom of the drawer was loose, and a slip of paper was sticking through the sliver of space. Curious she gave the paper a tug, and the whole bottom of the drawer popped up...
She threw his underwear on the top of the dresser and pulled the false bottom out of the drawer. Cordy gasped, not quite understanding what she was looking at. Her things...all her things...Her scarf, hairclips, a shirt, even a pair of her underwear? Under all the items that he had hidden was a thick stack of drawing paper. She picked them up and shuffled idly through the pictures. They were all of her. The first few were of her and Connor, simple...beautiful really...they brought a ready smile to her lips. The smile quickly faded as she flipped through the drawings. He had drawn her sleeping, in his bed, in her bed. When had he seen her in her bed? The further through the stack the worse she felt. He had drawn her nude, pleasuring herself...sleeping with men. Oh, god These weren't random images...He had obviously seen her doing these things, she even recognized the men. Some of the men she had dated almost two years previous...How long had he been watching her?
"No, no, nonono...Angel...oh not this, no." Tears pricked her eyes and began to stream down her cheeks as she was hit full force by the realization of what he had done. She backed towards the door, still clutching the drawings.
Angel came out of the bathroom just as she opened the door to leave. He paused taking in her tearstained face, and the papers she was clutching to her chest, his head slowly swiveled to the drawer then back to her. A whole range of emotions warred for dominance over his face. Love, shame, heartbreak, anger, posessiveness. "Cordelia...no...please don't. I can explain..."
She just shook her head, as she felt her heart breaking. "No." This was NOT happening to her. She knew Angel to be obsessive, but this crossed the line...this tainted every perception, every memory. Her heart didn't just break, it shattered. Anger flooded through her system, whipping her frozen limbs into action. She turned and ran out the door.
Angel grabbed a pair of pants pulled them on and ran after her...
***********
Fred had been having a good day so far. Gunn had come by early enough to take her to the diner for breakfast. He was so sweet and thoughtful, and it was so nice that they had a place...their place...special to only *them*. They had shared a breakfast, or two, then he had dropped her back at the hotel while he went to run down some leads for Wesley. She had wanted to go, but both had insisted she stay, which was ok really because she had some interesting side research going on anyway. Also on the plus side was that it seemed like the tension between Wes and Gunn was beginning to ease. It still made her stomach tie up into tiny little knots to know that she was the one to have put them at odds with each other. There might have been a time when she would have made a very different choice, but no...what was done was done, and she loved Gunn with all her heart, but sometimes, like now, when she caught Wes just staring...
Two heads turned towards the stairs as Cordelia came pounding down them, Angel hot on her heels.
That doesn't look very promising, Fred thought, taking note of the fact that Angel was shirtless, his pants not even buttoned. She had eyes, and there wasn't nothing wrong with looking, at least that's what her momma always said, and those pant's were ridin' awfully low...
"CORDY, please, just give me a chance to explai..." He tried to grab the papers out of her hands, but she jerked away from his touch. "It's not what you think..ok maybe it is, but..."
Wes stepped out of his office intercepting them near the lobby doors. "Angel, Cordy?" He noticed the tears streaming down Cordelia's face. "What happened."
Cordelia spun around, a haughty bitter look on her face. "ASK MY STALKER!!!" She shoved the papers at Angel's chest and stormed out the door. Angel made a move to follow her, but then jumped back as the sun started to sizzle his skin.
He stood there, we all stood there for a moment, shocked to silence. Suddenly Angel threw the papers sending them fluttering around him like angry Pylean werebirds. He stared at us both for a moment, only truly registering us for the first time. Wes was about to say something, but he just raised his hand, his voice low, dangerous in a way I had never heard..."Wesley, don't say a fucking word."
He looked really, REALLY pissed. Actually so did Wes. I started to pick up the papers, just to be doin' something, anything to move a little of the tension out of the air. They were drawings, of Cordelia...all of them were of Cordy and..."Oh my."
The big Pow-Wow
"They're actually (*ahem*) quite remarkable..." Wesley flinched from Cordelia's icy glare. "Strictly from an artistic perspective, of course."
Cordelia sighed dejectedly, sinking even deeper into Wesley's couch. She tried not to think too much about the event's of the day, or the fact that Wes and Fred had spent the better part of the afternoon holed up in his apartment studying nude pictures of her in minute detail...What were friends for? She was here, quite simply, because she was afraid...
The phone calls had started before she could even make it home...pleas for her to stop running, for her to listen, for her to come home to him. The barely contained manic edge that crept into his voice had her packing her bags before the last message had finished playing. She had rushed out the doors with a hurried apology to Dennis and no clear destination in mind. She had ended up on Wesley's doorstep after driving around for the better part of the morning. Where else did she have to go? He was her only other family.
She had never in a million years thought that she would ever have to run in fear from Angel. Angelus...hell yeah, but Angel??? The emotional roller coaster of the last few days had left her too hollow and drained to cry, and so angry she could feel it crawling through her nerves like an open current, keeping her on edge, drying up any other emotions that threatened to invade. At the time Wesley had seemed like her best bet at helping her to figure this mess out.
Riiight She thought bitterly. Like Wesley would just be able to crack open the books, have a eureka moment and fix things. If anything he seemed even more upset than she was. The only person who seemed to take this all in stride was Fred...who was once AGAIN shuffling through the stack of drawings...
"He's right 'ya know. They ARE pretty..." Fred chirped.
"Great! I've discovered the man I love has gone psycho, and all you two want to do is ogle my...bits..." She trailed of, not quite sure what to make of Fred's continued study.
Wesley suppressed a sigh. Demon killing, blood and guts, research...these things he could handle. Sorting through his co-workers complicated love lives...He was a befuddled mess. "I asked Lorne to talk to Angel, they seem to have a good rapport, maybe he will open up to him. A dark shadow passed in Wesley's eyes. "And maybe he can convince Angel to let him have Connor for a few days. Gunn went along...just in case."
"Like Gunn could really stop Angel." Cordy huffed.
"Hey!" Fred had to stand up for her man, even if Cordelia was probably right.
"Sorry Fred."
"Gunn can handle himself, 'sides you said they're just going to talk to him...right?" Worry began to knot Fred's stomach.
"Unless Angel doesn't *feel* like talking." Wes mumbled.
Cordelia picked up on Wes' bitter tone. "Wes...Have you two talked about this....about me...before?"
Wes suddenly became very interested in picking the lint off the couch.
"Wesley Wyndom Pryce...you answer me, or..."
"Once. A week or so ago. I had noticed..." He glanced at Fred and she nodded. "We ALL noticed that he was..."
"Flirting with you." Fred finished. 'He has it really bad with the kyrumption and moira."
Cordelia studied her two friends. The last few weeks played through her head, the touches, the glances, thinly veiled innuendo...She had been just as much to blame, even if she had buried her intentions firmly behind a thick blanket of denial. "We were flirting. I get that..." She rolled her eyes at their shocked faces. "Come on guy's I'm not completely blind, and I'm certainly NOT stupid. I understand how this started, but...how did we get here?" She gestured despondently to the room at large.
Wes regarded her carefully. "I think that maybe *you* should tell *us* the answer to that." His posture stiffened. *YOU* were obviously aware of his advances."
"Well...yeah!" She replied sarcastically. "It was just harmless flirting, or well...It was more, but he was taking it slow...I could deal with slow. I mean really, REALLY slow, but then last night happened, and..."
Wesley's eyes narrowed. "What EXACTLY happened last night?"
"Guy's" Fred interjected.
"Oh don't get snippy with me, buster!" She shifted uncomfortably. "Things just progressed a little faster than I was prepared for." She was hesitant to meet Wes's piercing blue orbs. Her hands twisted in her lap. "Things were said...and this morning..."
"You had SEX didn't you!?!?" Wes' voice raised an octave as surprise and anger flooded his system."
"Wesley!" Cordy looked aghast, but she couldn't stop the blush that crept over her cheeks.
"Why in the BLOODY HELL?!?!? You know...YOU of all people...You KNOW what you could have unleashed!!!"
"Guy's!" Fred stuck her fingers in her mouth and blew a shrill ear shredding whistle. Cordy and Wes both jumped, only to turn and glare directly at her. She gulped, as always hating to be the center of attention. "Sorry. Ok, Angel, sex, bad...that can wait."
"Not if he has changed." Wes quietly pointed out.
"He didn't." Cordy whispered. "It wasn't bliss."
Fred's heart went out to her miserable friends. Wes looked like she had just kicked him in the stomach, and Cordelia dropped her head hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. "I'm really sorry to interrupt...It's just the dates on these pictures, they don't make any logical sense."
Wes strode to the desk and bent over Fred's shoulder. Ignoring his closeness Fred continued. "I didn't notice at first because, well because the first thing you tend to notice are the drawings themselves, and the sex ones are kinda," She cleared her suddenly dry throat. "graphic." She shrugged apologetically to Cordy and was rewarded with a weak smile. "Anyway, I really didn't feel comfortable looking at them again, so I turned them over, and I noticed that like a lot of artists, he signs and dates his work on the back." She pointed out his elegant handwriting and continued. "You guys were making me really nervous with all the pacing, and worrying, and sniping...so just to keep busy I put all the pictures in order by date...cause you know, numbers...soothing."
"We get it Fred. What's the point." Cordy asked, her voice tired.
Fred turned the stack of papers over, blushing at the content of the image on top. "You say the people in these pictures are guys you dated a long time ago right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"These are his most recent drawings..."
Wes snatched up the images and started double checking the dates. "That's odd."
"What's ODD is that he spied on me!" Cordelia exploded. Who cares WHEN he did the drawings!" She grabbed the top drawing and waved it in their faces. He watched me do THIS with Chet..."She snatched another one. "And this with Jason..." The tears the had been missing all day were finally threatening to fall. "Who cares about the when? It still doesn't change the fact that he has been stalking me!"
Wes grabbed Cordelia by the shoulders and pulled her into a fierce hug. She began to shake and heave as her tears finally broke free. "Shhh, I know Cor...We'll figure it out somehow, we always do." His own voice was soft and heavy with emotion. He began to stroke her back as she clung to him. "All we are trying to say is that regardless of what he has seen, this fixation seems to be of fairly recent origin. So...maybe there IS an explanation, some outside reason that may have triggered a change in Angel."
"He loves me!" Cordelia sobbed against his chest.
"Yes...yes he does." Wes tone was filled with quiet conviction. He wanted desperately to comfort his best friend, but in the back of his mind doubts whispered. He knew as well as she, something as simple and beautiful as love could very well be the cause of their nasty situation.
A soft knock brought them all out of their thoughts. Fred was relieved to hear Gunn calling for them through the door. The strange duo slipped inside and Fred locked the deadbolted behind them. Lorne's face was uncharacteristically grim, but Gunn simply smiled and uncovered the squirming baby tucked securely under his jacket. "It started to rain."
Lorne swept his senses over the worried aura's of Wes and Cordy. "That's right sugar plums. He agreed it would be for the best...for now.
At the sight of the baby snuggling contentedly in the Gunn's strong arms a huge portion of the tension Cordy had been carrying dropped off of her shoulders. She immediately took the baby and cradled him to her chest. She stared expectantly at Lorne. "Well?"
He glanced at Wes, who hovered protectively close to Cordy and the baby. "Slow down Pixiecat. You got yourself into a rather complicated predicament."
Cordelia began to scowl at the green demon.
"In a nutshell..." Lorne sighed. "Angel is..." He stared down into Cordelia's troubled eyes, and bit back his usual sarcasm. "He's got it bad for you hun, no doubt about it, but there is a bigger picture here, if you'll pardon the pun."
"OW!" Gunn pulled his stinging hand away from the stack of drawings. "What!?!? Research!"
Fred reared her hand back to smack him again.
"Bet English got to see 'em." He grumbled. He looked up to find the entire room shooting dirty looks in his direction. "Fine." He threw his hands up and backed away.
"Perv." Fred whispered.
"Bigger picture?" Wesley interjected.
"Angelcakes told us a rather interesting story tonight."
"It was damn creepy if you ask me." Gunn interrupted.
Lorne paused. "You going to let me finish, or are you picking up on Fred's bad habits?"
Gunn folded his big frame down onto the couch. "Hell no, It's all yours dog, I'm already trying to repress."
"Anyway the story is important, but it wasn't the point. I got a good look at Angel's aura and children, let me tell you, there is something VERY amiss in Angelville."
Wesley let out a breath, relaxing a little. "But he still *has* a soul." He watched distracted as Cordelia drifted towards the window, and stared out into the rainy night.
Lorne headed strait for the liqueur cabinet. "Oh it's still there, but his aura is so messed up right now it had ME green around the gills." He fixed a stiff gin and tonic. "All those colors swirling and flickering, and winking out..."
"Are going to tell us the problem or just make us seasick?" Cordy huffed.
"Mee-yow!" Lorne downed his drink in one gulp, smiling despite the grim looks directed his way. "Let me break it down best I can, 'K? Angel loves you, and I'm talking the big time, soulmatey, written in the stars, meant to be kind of love. Only problem is, something is pushing Angel's demon to the surface." Everyone was giving him a blank stare, but the gin was helping, and he always loved even the toughest audience. "It's all about balance folks. Angel's mission has always been about maintaining the cosmic balance on the side of good over evil. We've all read the files...Angel himself walks that fine line, having to balance the man with the demon...Angel *is* both, to be the fine champion that he is, he *has* to be." Lorne shrugged, it was all exposition anyway. "Someone, or something is trying to tip Angel's balance, and from the looks of his aura, it ain't for the side of truth justice and the American way."
Fred's face scrunched as her mind tried to wrap around what Lorne was saying. "So, your saying that somebody out there is trying to make Angel go bad?"
Lorne nodded and fixed another drink. " Something like that. I can't tell you how or why, but I can tell you that whatever they are doing to him is slowly unhinging his soul." He shuddered. "Right now it's like he's channeling the worst traits of both sides of his psyche, and that can't mean anything but trouble."
Wes' mind began to spin through the possibilities. He began to pace. "It makes sense." Cordelia turned, her bright hazel eyes questioning him. He stopped in front of her. "I understand the reason. There are a lot of forces out there that would love nothing more than to have Angelus loose again. It's not the first time an attempt has been made on Angel's soul."
Gunn looked stunned. "You mean that there are other people out there, besides the regular round-up of nasties, that have *deliberately* tried to free Angelus? That's just wack!"
"Faith." Cordelia whispered, "Oh, and Rebecca Lowell..."
"Raven?" Gunn grinned. "Damn, now that was one fine-ass chick, but what does she have to do with Angel?"
Wes remembered all to well. "She was a client. She found out about Angel's true nature, and tried to seduce him into turning her."
Gunn let out a low whistle. Fred was glaring at him. He winked at her. He was all hers, and deep down, she knew it.
"Well, to insure that her plan went off she slipped some doximil into his glass of wine, to *ahem* lower his inhibitions." Wes shook off the memories of Angelus' taunting.
Cordelia snorted. "Yeah, all she did was let Angelus out to play. If it weren't for my, dare I say, "Oscar" deserving acting skills, we wouldn't be here today."
"Only you would think that pitiful performance was worthy of an award. Though I dare say it was an improvement over that abysmal play" Wes ribbed good naturedly. "Besides *I* am the one that pushed him down the elevator shaft!"
"Pfft! Only after I stalled him long enough for you to pick yourself off the floor, where you were lying unconscious!"
"We both chained him to the bed." Wes said wistfully.
"We did didn't we." Cordy smiled warmly at the shared memory.
Lorne cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt your jaunt down memory lane, but we have a *fresh* insidious plot to tackle."
Fred began to clear the top of Wesley's desk. "We should start eliminating the possibilities. We should test Angel's food supply, and I guess there are ways to test to see if he is under any sort of magical influence...It would help if we had a recent sample of the blood Angel has been drinking..."
Gunn walked to the door, picked up a jug and plunked it in the center of the table. He looked smug as he turned to Lorne. "I guess she *is* rubbing off on me a little."
Lorne watched as Cordelia returned to the window. Wesley busied himself pulling out various supplies that Fred would need to test the blood, as well as varied text on the occult. Lorne could see a full on research session brewing. Leaving the *how's* to the two brains of the outfit, he ambled towards Cordelia. He sensed she needed some answers to the *why's*. Maybe together they could figure them out...
"Hey sweetheart. What's got you so fascinated with the window. I'll admit I LOVE the drapes, but..."
Cordy leaned into Lorne's shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of vulnerability. He draped his arm over her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You want me to take the baby?" She shook her head, hugging the baby tight and continued to stare through the panes of glass to the distorted, water warped street corner below. Lorne could see her bright eyes glistening in the reflected light.
"He's out there, you know." She spoke softly, her eyes glued to the darkest point beyond the streetlight. "I can sense him, I always know when he's close." she chuckled. but the sound choked out. "If he becomes Angelus, I don't think I could...you know, not anymore. I just..."
"What, hun?"
"Why like this? If someone want's Angelus why take his soul a piece at a time, why not just suck it out, and be done with it?" Cordelia hovered on the brink of tears. "What if Angelus is the one who loves me, what if...what's been happening has nothing to do with Angel. I c-can't go back. I...I c-can't just stop loving him, even now." She took a long shuddering breath.
Lorne rubbed her shoulder and held her tighter. "Shh now. I saw into his soul remember?" Lorne's serious red eyes bored into hers. "Whatever or whoever is doing this, I'm not sure that Angel loosing his soul is their goal. Maybe the point is to make all of us suffer, or at the very least disrupt his connection to the powers. I just don't know...I do know that Angelus' obsessive nature is feeding on Angel's darkest fears...loosing you."
Lorne could see in Cordelia's face all the questions and doubt's that she held close to her heart. He didn't need to read her aura to know what she was thinking. Lorne peered through the glass, and sure enough, after a few moments Angel emerged into the soft yellow glow of the halide lamp. He watched with growing dread as they faced off from a distance, warrior and seer. Tension flowed between them tight and strong as a steel cable. Lorne sent a fervent prayer to the PTB's that this would be resolved before either did irreparable harm to their budding relationship. He let Cordelia go, and to her surprise pulled the drapes against the darkness outside.
"Let's go put the little nipper down for the evening, and then I think I need to tell you a bedtime story."
"Is it a nice story?" She asked hopefully.
"It will probably give you nightmares."
"Of course..." Cordy glared at the retreating demon's back. "I should have expected that."