Title: Dangerous Ground
Author: Angelicgal82 and Shadowlongknife
Posted: 11-25-2002
Rating: NC17
Email: mail@cbaird82.freeserve.co.uk and shadowlongknife@aol.com
Content: Cordelia/Angelus
Summary: Bored with tormenting Buffy, Angelus sets his sights on a wilful brunette with a vicious tongue. Part of the Dangerous Ground Series
Spoilers: Everything in Season 1 and 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Nothing Fancy and my site. Anywhere else ASK first.
Notes:
Feedback: Do you want to see more of this? Hit the reply button!
Part 1: The Hostage
He'd been following her since the Bronze, subtly, slowly, keeping to shadowed doorways, grinning smugly to himself ever since the idea had struck him. He'd grown bored tormenting Spike with the wheelchair remarks, and Dru'd been grating on his nerves too badly...then he'd seen her out one night while he was feeding...saw how she'd been with Xander, and the others...saw how acid she was to the two thugs who attempted to muscle in on that wimp Xander's territory, and how she'd backed them down armed with nothing but attitude and a smart mouth...and he wanted her. He wanted her more than he wanted to twist Buffy into painful little knots. He wanted her...and what Angelus wanted...he ALWAYS got...
Cordelia frowned. He didn't want her to stick up for him even when they were muscling in on HER? If she wanted to defend herself, she damned well would - not like he had done much to stop the two jerks who thought they'd dance on in front of Xander and right next to her.
"You're a girl! And it deflates my manliness when you stick up for me!"
"Oh, so Buffy's allowed to stick up for you but I'm not?"
"Yes." He nodded, firmly.
"Xander! That's twisted! The same thing happened the other night but..."
"This is different! They were coming onto you last time, this time they were..."
"What, coming onto you?" She asked, dryly.
"You didn't have to do that."
"You're such a dork!" She growled, stalking away from him and out the Bronze. He'd tried coming after her, offered to walk her home, but Cordelia had point blank refused and now - she wished she hadn't. Her house was quite a while away, and the shadows always seemed more intimidating when you were on your own. Frowning, she straightened her spine and continued to walk, quickly, her head held high. *Damn you, Xander Harris.* She thought, shaking her head, her arms folded tightly across her chest.
When she got to her house, Cordelia fumbled with her keys in her purse, subsequently dropping her purse and sending things skidding across her driveway. "Oh shit..." She grumbled, bending to pick them up...and when she stood, her back bumped against the chest of the man standing behind her. He slipped an arm around her waist, a relaxed arm that still felt as tough and thick as steel elevator cable, and he hissed, breathlessly in her ear, not even disturbing her finely tuned hairdo.
"Excuse me, Miss...do you have the time? I always seem to end up leaving the house without a watch, and that's SO problematic these days when I really NEED to be in well before sun-up..." He chuckled in her ear directly now, his lips lightly brushing the lobe. "Try to run and you won't make it three feet before I put my fist through your kidneys...you know that, right?"
Even as the arm slid around her waist, she knew it wasn't him. But it didn't mean she didn't hope. She hoped, that somehow, Xander had doubled back and come to her house to apologise. Hoping in a situation like this was ridiculous. As the arm slid around her waist, Cordelia swallowed - hard. She didn't want to think about what was behind her, but she knew that it wasn't human. She also knew that wasn't sickeningly disgusting either. "Angel." She said, shaking her head, "What's wrong? Got sick of tormenting Buffy and think you can start on me? She doesn't care. There's the first hitch in this little plan of killing me. She doesn't like me. So it won't work, think you can find someone else to annoy?" She asked, trying to pull away from him. Her brain had gone onto autopilot, he could kill her for fun, he wouldn't bat an eyelid. Or he could do something else... Something worse. He could try to break her. Only she wouldn't let him. She was Queen C, after all...
Angelus snared his free hand in her long hair, giving it a gentle yank. "I told you not to try running, Cordy...but, I'm in a good mood, so I'll let that go. Actually, I was hoping you and I could have a little chat. I don't want to kill you. If I did, you'd already be dead, trust me. So...how about it? You invite me in...and I won't wander over to Xander's house and set it on fire...for fun."
Cordelia winced, almost crying out when he yanked her hair, "I'm not trying to run, Angel." She said quietly. When he said he'd go over to Xander's house, she twisted in his arms, "You wouldn't..." She whispered, turning only to get a better look at him. He smirked, and Cordelia knew he would. "Okay." She said, the light behind her eyes dying a little. She wouldn't let him hurt Xander. "You have to be quiet though... My parents." Sighing, she turned with Angelus and put her key in the door, pushing it open and closing her eyes, "I invite you in." She said her heart twisting in her chest.
Angelus sauntered in, still holding a bit of her hair like a leash. He took a glance around, and smiled, looking almost like the Angel of old for a moment...
"Nice place. You can honestly tell that your mom and dad have money and LIKE things to look good. It shows. And your mother's got good taste in colors." He thrust his hands into his pockets, and nodded to her. "Which was is your room? I've always been kind of curious what it looked like, I have to admit..."
Cordelia glared at him, "What? I didn't invite you in here to get interior decorating tips from you OR for me to show you my bedroom." Frowning, her hands settled on her hips, "If you're going to kill me, then do it, but don't bumble your way through the flirting thing just like I know you did with Buffy, it's not very becoming." She almost growled. Why was he doing this to her? Showing her Angel's side, just to make her trust him? Well, it so wouldn't work...
Angel looked honestly hurt for a moment, then shook his head, letting his face morph into the face of Angelus. "You want me to turn this house into a bloodbath, Cordelia? Is THAT what you want? Because I can. Let's not forget, while I'm trying to be nice, and actually sit down and TALK to you, I could be skinning you while you stand there and watch your mummy and daddy bleed to death. So, how about you not taunt me, eh? If you'd like to live to run for homecoming queen, or may queen, or whatever it is these days."
"No..." She said quietly, "That's not what I want. But I would like you to at least be honest." Cordelia's gaze drifted to the floor, "You want me to hope that I'll live to be homecoming queen? Think again. Even I know I'm not going to make it 'til then. I'm not stupid. I'm hoping that Xander won't decide to be all chivalrous on me all of a sudden and come to apologise, 'cause I know you'll hurt him. I'm hoping that my Dad won't actually come down the stairs, 'cause I know you'll hurt him too. But I won't hope for something I'll never get." She said, looking up and meeting his eyes, "I either make my own luck? Or I don't get it at all. But I don't hope for things I'll never change - not my style." Turning, she put her keys on the table, trying to stop her damned hands from shaking, "My bedroom's upstairs. It's nowhere near my parents so if..." She winced, "I won't make any noise anyway." She said quietly, walking to the door, then stopping, realising he wasn't getting up, "Are you coming?" She asked, not turning back round.
Angel followed her up slowly, looking at the pictures on the walls. He stopped in front of one of Cordy, freshman year, bright eyes and beautiful, and he touched it gently. "Pretty..." he whispered, following her onward to her room. Hw hung in the doorway as she entered. His eyes devoured every inch of her, slowly, whgen she turned around to face him...toes...to head...He smiled again, the lazy contented smile of Angel, not Angelus. "I never realized how truly lovely you are, Cordy. Being myself again...it makes me appreciate more than tiny little arrogant blondes..."
Cordelia shifted on her feet nervously when Angelus' lazy gaze drifted up her body. When he smiled, Cordelia shivered, he could be kind with words... Looks... And could also kill her in a second. "Don't." She whispered, "Don't call me Cordy." That was Xander's name for her, she was betraying him by just being in the same room as Angel... Angelus, whoever she was. "What do you mean, you appreciate me more than an arrogant blonde?" She asked, refusing to meet his eyes, "Isn't this what it's all about? Her? Getting back at her? You hurt me, you get on up on the Slayer and all her precious Scoobies, right?" She didn't class herself as a Scooby, she was an outsider, like she'd always be. Frowning, she decided normality was the way to go - act perhaps like he wasn't there but talk to him like she was. Trembling, she picked up her silk nightgown from the bed, "Can I go get changed?" She asked, her eyes settling everywhere but on his...
"Cordelia..." Angel began, "How stupid do you think I am? I let you walk out of this room, you make a phonecall, and the calvalry comes charging in to stake me. I'm here to TALK, and because I'm dog-tired of Dru and Spike. Even at home, I feel like I'm not. If I wanted to hurt Buffy by killing someone, it'd be the Watcher or Willow...not you." He shrugged. "Sue me, I like looking at a WOMAN once in a while. Killing you would be a waste. And if you want to get changed..." he grinned again, letting his eyes linger on her cleavage. "Don't let me stop you."
She hadn't thought he was stupid. But then, he was right. That was what she would have done. Sighing, she shook her head, refusing to believe that he wouldn't kill her. Placing her nightgown back on the bed, she went to her closet and pulled out one of her Dad's old shirts, one she used sometimes as a bed-shirt, and divesting herself of her dress, she was left standing there in her bra and panties, pulling her father's shirt quickly over her head, feeling his eyes on her. At least she wouldn't look all that good in this shirt, not like she knew she would in the silk nightie... She removed her bra under the shirt and went towards the bed, biting her lip so hard, she bit through it - blood filling her mouth. Perched on the end of the bed, she looked at him, "You just want to talk?" She said quietly, "About what? I can't see us having that much in common." She said quietly.
He stood at her feet, looking at her for a long moment, untill he noticed the blood on her lip. He bent, quick as a cat, and licked the blood from her lips slowly, savoring the taste. He smiled, mere inches from her face. "Spicy, just like I thought. You never cease to amaze me, Delia...you never do. And, to be honest, I'd REALLY rather have seen you in the nightgown." His expression softened for a moment, and he wiped a stray droplet of blood from just under the hollow of her throat with a fingertip.
Her stomach turned, her lips almost burning as he licked her. This was wrong, damnit. He shouldn't be here. When Angel smiled at her, she shook her head, suppressed rage boiling inside her. The smirk on his face, she'd have dearly loved to see Buffy wipe off - with her fist. Cordelia looked at him as he spoke, chewing nervously on her lip again - then sighing as his expression softened, wiping at some of the blood on her throat. Reaching up tentatively, she wiped at her mouth with slender fingertips, her body taut with fear, "Do you want me to... *DO* anything?" She asked. "I don't have blood but... I can get you something else... You could come with me if you wanted something..." Standing, she put her hands down by her side. "If you want me to change into that... I can." She pointed towards the nightgown, tentatively. Angel sat down beside her, slowly, leaving her a bit of personal space, but not much. He touched the nightgown gently.
"I'd like that, very much. I want you to know something, Cordelia. I can smell how afraid you are. Just be yourself, and you'll be fine, and nothing bad will happen to anyone. I like looking at you, Delia..." he touched her at the small of her back with one hand. I like you at this level of threat, honestly..."
She couldn't fathom him out. One minute he was calling her Cordy, then it was Delia, then by her proper name. He wanted her to be herself? She'd be herself. She watched him touching the silk and then smiled, just gently, "Okay." She whispered, her stomach loosening from the knots it had been tied into and stood, stripping off her father's bed-shirt and blushing when his gaze drifted to her breasts. Picking up the gown, she went to pull it over her head and down her body, when Angel stopped her with a hand.
"What?" She asked quietly, "Should I... Find something else?"
Angel shook his head, smiling. "I'd just like to look at you. You...has anyone ever seen you like this before, Delia? Because if not, then what a loss they've had. You're...you've got a wonderful body. Beautiful." He reached out a hand, passing close enough to her nipple that the air of his hand's passage made her nipple tighten. "Beautiful," he whispered again.
Cordelia felt her stomach tightening again - but this time, she honestly wasn't sure whether it was from fear... Or something else. Silently, she stared at him and shook her head, "N-no." She whispered, "No one's ever..." She paused, then gasped as Angel went to touch her - only he didn't, he passed a hand close to her breast, making her nipple harden. His whispered word, made her cheeks flush a pretty pink colour... And her panties flush with a wetness that she hadn't felt before. "Uhm... Shouldn't I put this on?" She asked, gesturing to the silk. She knew she was pretty, knew she was beautiful even - so why did he make her feel like that when he said it?
He walked a slow circle around her, tugging the nightie from her and dropping it on the bed. His eyes examined every bare inch of her as he walked around her, and he raised a hand, to let it run over her silken hair. "No on ever told you how beautiful your body is?" He clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "That's a shame, Delia. Because you are, truly a treasure." He knelt on the ground behind her and to the right, and placed one cool, room temperature hand against her flank, high on her flip. He let his hand run over the soft skin there for a moment, looking wistful. "You know something, Delia...I've wanted to touch you for almost a whole year now. And now...now I can. If, that is, you have no objections to me touching you...do you?"
This wasn't Angel. This was Angelus - telling her she was beautiful. Telling her she had a beautiful body and that he'd wanted to touch her for a whole year. It was Angelus. Not Angel. And certainly not Xander. But she was scared... Scared and feeling sort of funny all at the same time.
Angelus was asking if she had any objections to her touching him and she should have nodded. Should have told him that she'd never been his but... She didn't. Slowly, Cordelia shook her head - for somewhere inside him, she believed there was a part of Angel looking back. And somewhere inside her, she knew that if she said no right now? He'd break her. He'd make her his own and he'd break her. And she didn't want that.
Angel looked up at her, and slowly got to his feet, towering over her. He moved quick as a rabbit once more, drawing her to him with one quick motion of his arm around her waist again. "I've got you uncomfortable. I'm going to go. But..."
He leans his head down, and lightly drew his fangs across the hollow of her throat, and spins, disappearing out an open window moments later...
A bewildered Cordelia watched him leave, her breath beginning to come in short, laboured gasps. Panicked, she sank down onto her bed, shaking violently. How could she tell them? They'd never believe that he'd merely touched her and then left. Even Xander would probably believe that she'd given him what he wanted and then let him go, without staking him. A shaky hand came up and touched her neck and Cordelia winced, feeling where his fangs had just been. Climbing into bed, Cordelia pulled the covers up around her, bewildered...
What had just happened? And why was she still alive???
Part 2: Confusion
** Three nights later... **
Cordelia slunk into her room, exhausted after being out all night on Scooby business. She slipped her shoes off, letting them fall just inside her doorway, and when she turned to the closet door, flicking on her light switch, she found a box, wrapped in shiny black paper...lying on her bed.
After two sleepless nights of lying with a stake she'd never use, Cordelia wasn't prepared for the box. Delicately, Cordelia unwrapped the shiny black paper, then pulled the top from the box - unfurling a silk, classy dress, dark red with black chinese writing dotting the length of the sides. Cordelia gasped. She owned millions of dresses, but by far, this was the best one she'd ever seen. In silence, her hand drifted down to the little collar, black, with a silver `C` dotted in the middle of it. Her eyes filled with tears, Xander could never afford this. And he wasn't speaking to her anyway, not after breaking up with him. He hadn't understood. She'd told him - as kindly as possible, that their relationship was going nowhere. Just so that Angelus couldn't hurt him. If he got hurt because of her, she'd never forgive herself. And Angelus seemed intent on making her his...
Confused, bewildered - and astonishingly grateful, she sighed, turning to go see if she could find Angel when she yelped - finding him standing behind her. "You startled me." She whispered, then gestured to the dress in her arms, "W-why?" She asked softly, this time meeting his eyes - wanting to trust but not sure how, Cordelia stepped forward, "This is... For me?"
He grinned, that lop-sided Angel grin, and took his hand out of his pocket. Between two fingers sat a very short-stemmed deep red rose. He stepped forward, and brushed some of her hair to the side, wordlessly, and hung the rose in her hair, behind her ear. He stepped back for a moment, looking at her, and just smiling. "What?" He finally asked. "I have to have a reason? I saw it, thought of you, so I caught a hold of the salesgirl, and negotiated a fair price."
Cordelia looked at him as he placed the rose behind her ear, pleasantly startled - and also unsure if this was Angel or not. "Uhm... No, you don't have to have a reason." She said gently, "It's beautiful, I..." Then, she stopped. "You killed the salesgirl?"
Okay, so it really *was* a killer dress but... Not something someone should die for. Sighing, Cordelia looked down, "I liked everything up until that part." She whispered. Breathing gently, she raised her head to meet his eyes, "Why do you want me?" She asked, "Why aren't you doing this with Buffy? She's the one you..." She left the sentence hanging and shook her head. "Are you Angelus, or Angel? It gets confusing when I don't know which one you are...
Angel smiled, and touched her softly, his fingertips starting at her temple, and tracing through the fall of her hair. "Delia...I was always Angelus. Angel was the name I took when I wanted to redeem myself. When my soul left...I wanted someone a little more..."me". Someone better looking...someone who took better care of herself...and someone who could keep Giles and the busybody superheroes from showing up. As for who I am...? Who do you want me to be, Delia?"
Cordelia listened to the gentle lull of his voice, watched the same chocolate brown eyes that had looked at her before - this time, softer - towards her anyway. She bit her lip gently and listened to him, "You... You want me?" She asked quietly. "But..." Okay, this was seriously weird. When he asked who she wanted him to be, Cordelia stepped closer and stood, her eyes level with his, "I want you to be you. I don't want you to pretend to be something you're not." She said gently. "I don't like you killing people. But as long as you don't bring it here, and don't... TELL me... Then... I want you to be you." She whispered, softly.
Angelus looked her eye-to-eye and smiled. "Deal. On one condition. You wear this..." He picked up the collar. "This will mark you as mine. You don't have to tell...THEM who it's from. But everyone else...all the other vamps in town will know you're mine, and that if they touch you, I'll spend WEEKS killing them. Do we have a deal, Delia?"
Cordelia nodded, smiled - and touched the collar that lay between his fingertips, "Agreed." She said gently. Reaching up, she touched his cheek, watched him as he looked at her, "I don't understand why. I'm not sure I ever will but... Promise me something. Promise me you won't hurt them. That's all I ask. Don't hurt my friends."
Angel's expression turned stern. "You want them safe...? Then convince them to stay away from Buffy. That's the one I won't promise you. Buffy, eventually, is mine. You want the others to be safe from me, get them away from her, Delia...otherwise, I won't be held responsible...get me?" He grinned that nasty grin again, and gave her ass a playful swatting.
Cordelia laughed, bitterly, "And still we come back to *her*. It's always going to be about her, isn't it?" She said, shaking her head, "They won't leave her alone, Angel. They're her friends. It's called Loyalty. Something I evidently know nothing about." Frowning, she turned away from him and slipped the collar around her neck staring in the mirror at her reflection, her reflection that should have been twisted, "There." She said quietly, "I'm yours."
Looking in the mirror she didn't SEE him, but she felt him wrap himself around her from behind, one hand slipping up and through the skirt's long slit...He parked his lips at her ear..."One more rule, Delia..." he said, looping his fingertips in the elastic of her thong. "None of THESE unless you ask me first...understood, baby?"
Why was she doing this? Fear? Or something else? Cordelia's eyes widened, "N-none - what?" She asked, "But school... I can wear them for school, right? I mean..." God, this was weird. She was asking for permission to wear underclothes? If she perhaps reminded herself that she was doing it to stay alive, to keep her friends alive - then it was easier. "Okay." She whispered. Turning her head slightly, Cordelia looked at him, "The other vampires. They won't touch me if I wear this?" She fingered the necklet for a second, "Why? Other than the you killing them horribly for weeks, which I'm okay with... Why won't they touch what's yours?"
Angel smiled, and shifted his hand under her skirt, letting his fingers slip between her thighs long enough to graze her in the warmth between them, just for the barest moment...he laughed, low in his throat, feeling the faint wetness under his fingers. "Looks like the thought of going nude under your clothes has you more excited than you let on, Delia...so, I say that you CAN wear them to school...just this week. I'll make up my mind later if I'll let you keep wearing them or not." He bent his head slowly, brushing her neck with his lips, feeling her pulse throb there. "They'll leave you alone because they don't want to see what I'll do to them if they touch what's mine. My girl belongs to ME...not to some dead street-rat...or some highschool boy, Delia..."
Her cheeks flushed as she realised that warmth had certainly flooded her - and that he was touching her there. Almost ashamed at the natural reaction to his touch, Cordelia's gaze drifted towards his, "I *can*?" She was about to protest, when wisely, she nodded, "Thank you." She said gently, feeling his lips brush her pulse point as she listened to him. A slight shiver ran through her at his words - she wasn't sure whether that was fear? Or anticipation - she was his, no one else would touch her. No one. Not even Xander. It still hurt when she thought of him. But for the sake of not letting Angelus set his house on fire, or hurting him? She'd do this. And then there was the selfish part of her that wanted it for herself too and she wasn't sure why... "Xander... Xander's not in my life anymore." She said gently, "I broke up with him... The night after y-you came here." She whispered, watching his face to gage his reaction...
Angelus smiled, and kissed her cheek softly. "That's my girl. And, although I was REALLY looking forward to hurting that boy...BADLY...I won't. Since you did the right thing...so will I. He's safe from me...until the next time he crosses my path. That much I'll give you."
"You said you wouldn't hurt my friends as long as they weren't with the Slayer. That means him too." She said, frowning. "You know for a fact that the only time he'll ever cross your path is if he's with her and even then, she won't let you touch him. Leave him out of this, for me?" She asked, hopefully.
He smiled again, placidly, and she had a flash of a long forgotten science class discussion about how a crocodile may SEEM like it's smiling, but it'd still snap your leg off and swallow it whole. He ran his hand back down her body, letting it rest at her hip, and he gently pulled her back against him, letting her feel the fact that he'd grown hard against her. He sighed, and nodded. "For now, I will...but this whole line of discussion is making me think that you're thinking about him more than me. That hurts, Delia," he said, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. She could hear the sarcasm in his voice. "Makes me wonder if my protection of you is warranted...or if you really want me here at all..."
Flushing again as she felt his hardness against her leg, Cordelia looked up at him, "If I were thinking about him more than I was you? I'd have told him what had happened and you'd be dust. The Slayer would have been after you quicker than... Well, *I* could blink at least." She said, shaking her head, "If I was thinking of him more than you, I'd have a cross at my window. But I don't. You're here." She whispered, a silent trickle of fear making its way through her body. "I want you here." And with that, Cordelia reached up and kissed him... Softly, sweetly... And fully expecting him to take her breath away with a kiss that would bruise her lips...and it never came. He kissed back, yes, but as gently as a normal man might. His hands rested at her hips, her head turned to the side and up to meet his face, and he kissed her as she'd always wanted to be kissed, slowly, thoroughly, sucking softly at the tip of her tongue when it entered his mouth slowly...but when she moved her tongue around inside his mouth, she found the sharpness of his fangs, and her hand, that had glided up his cheek, encountered the ridges of his forehead...he'd gone vamp-face on her, while kissing her like a fairy-tale Prince...
The kiss itself was everything Cordelia had ever wanted. She couldn't believe that he was the one standing there kissing her like that... And then, when her hand slid up, the kiss was completely cheapened. Pulling away forcefully, Cordelia glared at him, "What the hell..." Stunned into silence, she just stared at him for a moment, a glimmer of pain growing behind her dark eyes, "I don't know what game you're trying to pull." She said quietly, "But... Stop changing. If you're going to be someone... Be one or the other, then at least I know what to expect." Cordelia shook her head, hating him for confusing her so... For kissing her so... For enjoying it so...
Angelus growled, and grabbed her hand, hard enough that the bones in her wrist ground together painfully for a moment. He pulled her hand up to the ridges of his brow, holding it there for a moment. "This is part of me, Princess...just like the parts you seem to like. Deal with it, or do without, but don't expect one to vanish because you like the other," he spat, bitterly. "That's the way things are, Delia. And if you don't like it, maybe I shouldn't be here." He turned, and stormed to the window, disappearing into the night in a flutter of black trenchcoat.
Surprisingly, he'd hurt her. But what was even more surprising to Cordelia was that she'd actually hurt him. She didn't want any part of him to disappear. She just wished he'd be one way with her and not lead her to expect something. She wished he wouldn't switch on her, confuse her even more than she already was. She was falling for someone who'd threatened to kill her friends. Sure, she was rationalising that she was only doing it for that reason, but she herself knew that she wasn't. Grabbing her keys, Cordelia laid the dress he'd bought her carefully on the bed and ran downstairs, out the door. Her parents were in Catalina this week, didn't matter what time she came or went at all. But she needed to find him, needed to apologise for hurting him. So Cordelia ran... Round the streets of Sunnydale, wisely not calling his name, should she run into Buffy... Rubbing her hand slightly her eyes searched the places she walked. Popular hangouts for kids, somewhere he might feed... Until she was forced to admit defeat and go home...
Part 3: Falling Fast
"What's your damage?"
Cordelia looked up from her plate at Harmony, who was sitting there, a decidedly pissed off look on her face, "You're not still moping over Xander Harris, are you? Because I gotta tell you, that? It's just plain sad."
The brunette shook her head, pushing her fries round the plate with her fork, "Nope, not thinking of... Anything really." She said quietly. What a lie. She was thinking of him. On the third day, she'd expected him to show up, like he had the last time. On the fourth, nothing. Fifth, still a no-show. And tonight, would be the eighth night that Angelus hadn't come to her place. Cordelia was worried. What if something had happened to him? What if he never came back?
* * * * *
After cheerleading practice that night, she said goodbye to her friends, declining offers of a ride, of a trip to the Bronze even. The necklet she wore was a reminder for any vampire, that she belonged to Angelus and Angelus alone so she was safe enough to walk home alone. She needed the fresh air to clear her head anyway.
The only sound she heard was her pumps hitting the sidewalk, the gentle exhaling of air as she breathed. Nothing else. No Angelus, nothing. Cordelia sighed as her spirits sagged just that little bit more.
She missed him. She walked on in silence for a while, thoughts drifting back to him again and again...until she saw someone sitting on the bus stop bench at the end of her street...smoking a cigarette, and lounging there, like the king of the world. He looked up at her, a ghost of a smile on his face...
Her heartbeat quickened and her breath hitched in her throat. He was okay! He was sitting there in all his glory and he was okay! A bright smile passed across her face before the realisation hit her, of what she'd said just over a week ago. Sitting down next to him, Cordelia met his eyes, "I've been looking for you." She said quietly, "I wanted to apologise. For what I said. I didn't mean that I wanted..." Sighing, she looked down, "Fact is, I couldn't handle the tortured soul crap that Buffy put up with all the time. I like you fine the way *you* are. I don't want you to change for me." She whispered softly, before looking back up at him, "I really am sorry." She said gently, reaching out to touch his hand...his hands were already in motion, cupping her face, and pulling her close, for a kiss...a long, passionate, lip-bruising kiss, that took her breath away...
Not once, during that whole kiss, did Cordelia wonder who it was. She didn't make a distinguish between the souled version and the unsouled version. She didn't even think about asking. She just kissed him back, like her life depended on it, an old saying of her mothers flying through her head, Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Cordelia kissed him, her hand sliding up gently to stroke his cheek, "Can we go inside, Angelus?" She asked softly, then smiling, she added, "I uhm... I didn't wear panties today. You told me I could for the week and then after that..." Blushing prettily, she took his hand in hers and squeezed... I missed you. She told him silently, realising just how happy she was to see him again...
He grinned then, and he looked honestly happy. He squeezed her hand back, and he nodded. "Good girl, Delia. I had my doubts about you sticking to that...glad to see I was wrong." He nodded to the house. "Your parents away, I'm guessing? I've been here twenty minutes, and I don't see much of anything inside. We'll be alone, then?"
Cordelia smiled, "Yup, my parents are in... Catalina or somewhere." She shrugged. She didn't actually know where her parents were, only that they weren't coming home until the end of the week. Taking his hand, she led him inside, shutting the door and flipped the light switch, flooding the room with a brilliant white light. "Where to? We have the full house to ourselves." She smiled, "You want something to drink?"
He pulled her back against him, his face bending to her neck, his lips brushing her soft skin there for a moment...
"Delia...what I want to drink doesn't usually come in a glass. And you are FAR from ready for something like that. But..." He trailed off, walking his fingers across her hip slowly. "I am curious as to whether or not you really AREN'T wearing anything under that skirt. Why don't you pull it up for a moment...and let me see?"
*Dumbass.* Thought the brunette, shaking her head. Of course the stuff he drank didn't come in a glass. She closed her eyes as his fingers walked across her skin. Smiling at his words, she felt her face deepening in colour - and gently, pulled up the short-ish skirt she wore. This had been her first day. The first day and she'd thought *everyone* knew. When she'd left the house that morning, the warm air had hit her bare skin and she'd shivered, remembering his words. "There." She whispered, "I didn't wear anything..."
His hand slipped onto her inner thigh slowly, fingertips tracing idle patterns there. He let her stand there, trembling, waiting for him to touch her there, where she was feeling this slow, delicious throb...and finally, his hand came up, one fingertip tracing through the wetness there...and it was gone. He held it up to her, so she could see how damp she'd become from him. "Was that all because of me, Delia?" he whispered, words flowing like silk into her ear. "Did I do that to you?"
Cordelia whimpered as he touched her, his fingers gentle... Tender... And almost knocking her to her knees. When he removed his hand, the brunette blushed, looking down and away from his fingers, nodding, "Y-yes." She whispered softly, "It was you." Turning her head slightly, she looked up at him. She knew what was happening - but she'd never experienced it before, not with Xander, nor anyone else. Her gaze lingered on his chocolate-hued eyes, before drifting to his lips, his strong jaw line. And for a while, she just stared at him, before turning a little more and whispering two words...
"Kiss me..."
He turned her face then, with his free hand, and kissed her. It was a long kiss, and thorough, leaving not a bit of her mouth unexplored by his tongue. She felt a thrum flow through her as they kissed, and it took her a moment to recognize that he was growling, low, and deep in his chest, and it was vibrating her whole body, pressed against him like she was. And when he pulled away so she could catch her breath, he was looking at her through golden eyes, from under the ridged brow of the vampire...
Cordelia pulled away from him and for a second, she thought she saw a flicker of silent hurt shining in his eyes. But instead of moving fully away from him, she simply turned in his arms, sliding one around his neck and the other up to his cheek. Slowly, she explored his face with her fingers, touching the ridges of his forehead with gentle fingertips, the soft skin of his cheeks, then down to his fangs. She trailed a finger across the slightly raised ridges of his cheeks, her breathing returning to normal and reaching upwards, Cordelia kissed him again, sliding her tongue inside his mouth and letting it drag lightly across his fangs, her arms wrapping around him...
He stood there silently, letting her touch him, get used to this aspect of him, one hand resting lightly against the small of her back as she let her fingers do the walking. He smiled faintly when she touched his cheeks, and opened his mouth to hers when she kissed him. Her tongue moved across his fangs, and he felt it even before she did...the telltale movement that drew the barest taste of her blood from her tongue, and onto his. He stiffened against her, and she could feel him instantly hard and insistent against her tummy. He growled again, this time more audibly, the animal growl of some hungry beast, and he pulled away, pushing her back a step, one hand coming up to his mouth, the other reflexively snapping into a fist. He forced it open when he saw the shock and hurt flash across her face, and drew in a deep and shuddering breath.
"Delia...you don't know what you're playing with. I haven't eaten today. A taste like that...I don't know that I'd be able to stop myself...I don't know that I'd want to..." Frustration tinged every word...
Cordelia's stomach had tightened into the knots she hadn't felt since that first night, over a week and a half ago, when Angelus had grabbed her. Convinced when his fist tightened that she was going to be hurt, Cordelia's eyes widened in shock. He was going to hurt her? When he explained though, she half relaxed and looked at him. She knew she couldn't let him feed. He didn't trust himself to stop, so there was no way she was going to. "Isn't there some way I can sort of... Distract you? I mean, if I'm on a diet and I don't want to eat I usually..." Cordelia stopped and blushed, "We're talking something totally different here, aren't we?"
Angel forced a grin. He couldn't stop licking his lips, tasting her even now. His eyes kept getting drawn back to the crook of her neck...he shook his head. "Delia...it's like...let's put it this way. I can smell you...every bit of you," he said, pointedly looking down to where her skirt was still a bit rumpled. "I can smell everything about you. What body wash you used this morning. A little bit of that hairspray you use so much...the imported stuff...and I can smell just how excited you are right now. But, more than that, I can smell your blood. I can smell it like you would a loaf of freshly baked bread when you first walk into a kitchen. And it smells like filet mignon must to a man who's been starving on a desert island for ten years. I can't stay, Delia...and I had such...exciting plans for us tonight...but...I'll be back in a night or two. Be waiting." He stepped forward, and grabbed her by the front of her sweater, pulling her forward, into his powerful grasp for another heart stopping kiss, crushing her mouth to his for a too brief moment, and he spun on his heel, and was off, into the night again...
When he left, Cordelia realised that her heart was pounding. Pounding with the things he'd said, with what he'd done to her. Pounding with the realisation that he could have fed from her and had pulled away... Walked away, when there was a meal standing right in front of him and he hadn't wanted to feed. Her pulse was racing by the way he'd kissed her, by the way he'd pulled her into his grasp like he might never let go, like she was the only prayer for a dying man... And then, Angelus was gone.
Walking up the stairs, Cordelia stopped at the photo of her, Freshman Year, the one he'd said she looked pretty in. And after that - she went and stood in front of the mirror, just looking at herself, divested of all clothes. Just looking. Wondering what he saw in her, when he could have anyone he wanted. After a while, she turned, her gaze falling onto her plush bed and there, lay a satin nightgown, fiery red in colour that matched the fire in his eyes. Cordelia bent and scooped it into her hands, rubbing her cheek against the soft material. Slowly, her gaze drifted to the window and her heart heaved a sigh, for she'd only been away from him for ten minutes at most - and her heart called for him, begged him to come to her.
Moments later, sinking into her bed, Cordelia's eyes drifted closed and she dreamed... Dreams of death. Dreams of life. Dreams of... Him...
Part 4: Blurring the Lines
"...I'm telling you, I am NOT a crazy man, I saw a bug the size of a housecat."
"Xander, please..."
"No please, Giles...remember who you're talking to? The guy who almost became lunch for the big mantis-woman? I'd say I'm qualified to identify giant life-sucking bugthings."
"Life-sucking? Can I just say, EW?"
"Will, join the rest of us on Planet Sunnydale. How is this different from vampires?"
"Cordelia can back me up on this, being the gigantic ICK factor one just doesn't find with vampires, as opposed to mosquitoes the size of my laptop. Right, Cordy?"
"Earth to Cordy..."
The brunette glanced up from picking at the imaginary piece of lint on her skirt to see Giles, Willow and Xander all staring at her. "Yeah, right... What?"
Willow frowned, "You didn't hear a word we said then, did you?"
"Yeah, of course I did! Uhm... There was vampires the size of bugs or... Something." Okay, so maybe she hadn't heard anything they'd said. She was confused! And missing him... Damnit! She was wondering, honestly, why he hadn't fed from her when he'd had the chance.
"Bugs the size of housecats," Bit Xander, "Get it right."
Their 'friendship' still strained, Cordelia glanced up at Xander, "Oh... So, are we going into research mode?"
Giles glanced at the brunette, his squeak cleverly disguised with a cough, "You're offering to do research?" He asked, taking off his glasses to clean them on his shirt.
"Nope." Said Cordelia, "I'm offering to go get food, what do you guys want?"
"Heeyyy, I'm food guy! You throw the Hellmouth into a weird and wacky dimension if you offer to get the food." Said Xander, frowning.
Boy, wasn't HE being obnoxious today? "Well, do you *want* to go then?" She asked.
Xander backed off. She'd been especially touchy ever since dumping him. Which was strange, it was supposed to be the other way around. And yes, it still hurt to just talk, because he really really wanted to kiss her every time she did that annoyed thing she did with her mouth...yeah, that thing there. He shook his head. "You got first dibs. Just...I'm thinking NOT Chinese, what with all the giant bugs around. Who knows WHAT is in that stuff. Could be giant roach tartar, for all I know."
Giles harrumphed. "Well, I *WAS* hungry...just a tea, Cordelia, if you would. My wallet is in the office on the desk, take a 20, that should do it, yes?"
Cordelia stood and pushed her chair back, "Okay then, no Chinese. Coffee and donuts for everyone?"
"And..."
"Yeah," She smiled, "I know, a tea for Giles." Nodding, she went and took a 20 from Giles' wallet, before walking back in and picking up her purse, "I'll be about 20 minutes."
"You want me to come with?" Asked Willow, glancing at the brunette.
"Nah, The Scooby Hacker is needed, I won't be long." She smiled. Turning, the brunette left the library, greeting Buffy with a slightly uncomfortable smile on the way in and walking to her car. Getting to the door of her red Corvette, she pulled her keys from her purse and climbed inside, jumping when she turned, her heart almost leaping into her mouth. "God! You scared me!" She said, then, her face softened into a smile. "Hi..." She said softly, "How long have you been waiting?" She didn't want to kiss him in case he hadn't fed, so just stayed where she was, a smile on her face...
He smiled, inclining his head in the direction of the school "Was that my ex?" he asked, before dropping his hand down to her knee and leaning over to plant a kiss on the side of her neck, making her shiver. "I really don't want to deal with her right now. What do you say we take a drive, Delia?"
"Yup, that would be Buffy." She said gently, still feeling uncomfortable around the Slayer. Sure, they weren't great friends, but they'd still been actual friends. A shudder ran through her and she smiled, "Sure, taking a drive sounds good. I've gotta pick up some stuff for the guys to eat, they're in research mode. Xander thinks..." Cordelia sighed, "Sorry, I know you don't wanna talk about this stuff..." Putting the key in the ignition, Cordelia smiled at him, getting the car into gear and driving out of the parking lot, "Where to?"
"Anywhere that isn't here," he sighed. He moved his jacket aside, gently probing a still healing wound under it and he sighed again. "This is inconvenient. See, it's things like this that make me want to do VERY bad things to Buffy..."
Cordelia almost crashed her car in her haste to see what was wrong with him, donuts, coffee and Scooby Gang forgotten about, Cordelia gasped, "Angel, what happened? Does it hurt? Are you sore? BUFFY?" Cordelia frowned. She knew Buffy was the Slayer but that didn't mean she had to... That didn't mean she had to what, try to kill an evil vampire who was effectively trying to kill her? Looking up at Angel though, that didn't matter, instead of driving towards the coffee house, Cordelia drove towards her own home, getting out of the car and walking up to her driveway, making sure Angel was behind her.
Seconds later and they were inside her house, Cordelia ordering him to sit down and grabbing the first aid kid from the top of their refrigerator, "Take off your shirt." She said firmly. He sat on the counter, looking amused for a moment, then nodding, and removing the shirt. He dropped it casually on the floor, and she could see the stake-wound that had missed his heart by about 8 inches, give or take one.
Cordelia gasped as she saw the wound on his chest, "Angelus!" She exclaimed, her eyes flying wide open, "She... She..."
"Her aim is getting worse," he cracked, fumbling out a cigarette one-handed.
She raised her hand and punched him in the opposite arm, annoyance and a glimmer of hurt flashing through her eyes, "That is NOT funny." She said, frowning. "She could have really killed you."
In silence, Cordelia started to bandage his wound, "I never... I never thought she'd try and get that close." She said quietly, her eyes concentrated on getting his wound dressed. She was worried, really worried. She didn't want to NOT have him in her life anymore...
He half-smiled, relaxing, letting her minister to him. It was comforting, really...sort of like the old days, when he had Darla or Dru for this sort of thing. But there'd been no challenge then. Other than trying to decipher Dru's particular brand of babble. This one...didn't have that problem. And she wasn't afraid of him anymore. THAT interested him. And intrigued him...
"Don't worry so much, love," he smiled up at her. "She can't take me. Maybe she can get close, but she won't take me away from you."
Cordelia's eyes darkened, "And what if she *does* get close, Angelus?" She asked quietly, "She got close enough to deliver this little stinging slap... Oh, wait, NO, that's a sucking chest wound." She said, her pulse racing as she panicked, "If she... What if..." Cordelia frowned and closed her eyes for a second, pulling up the wall again. Ah, the wall. The one which hid her true feelings. Whenever she got close to letting it come down, up it would come again. Opening her eyes, she gently finished bandaging him up and turning away, packed the things into the first aid box, putting it back on top of the refrigerator. Pulling her shirt down around her hips again, she turned back and looked at him, "Are you alright?" She asked quietly.
He grinned, that totally unselfconscious Angelus grin, and grabbed her wrist, yanking her forward into a kiss, a soft, burning, lingering kiss from his room-temperature lips...while one hand slipped behind her and into the back waistband of her skirt slowly, giving it a squeeze. "I'm fine, Delia. I heal, remember?"
Cordelia looked up at him and smiled, "You'd better heal." She said gently, reaching up for another kiss. "I just worry sometimes that she's going to get too close or... Oh, shit." She cursed, "Their coffee. I promised I'd go get them coffee and if I don't go they'll get suspicious..." Cordelia looked at him, "Are you going to come with? Or stay here? My parents are out of town... Extended vacation..."
He rolled his eyes. "Go, take them their coffee. And remind them you have a test to take on...something or other. And you haven't studied. So come back to me. you have we'll say 15 minutes. Don't make me have to come find out where you are, Delia. 15 minutes...or you find yourself bent over my knee." He looked at her sternly. "You're judged by the company you choose to keep, Delia. At least, you COULD be. In my eyes...and I didn't even get to tell you what we're doing tonight yet..."
Cordelia looked at him, "But... Research, there's the whole research thing, and I can't exactly..."
"Delia?"
His voice was firm and she *so* wasn't in the mood to argue with him. "Okay, fine, 15 minutes." Grabbing her keys and her purse, she ran out of the house and back to her car, getting in and driving at breakneck speed to the Espresso Pump. Okay, so it wasn't Starbucks, but it'd have to do.
It took breaking almost every speed limit in the land to get to the library and Cordelia ran like her non-existent panties were on fire, pleased for the container which held the various coffees, teas and donuts. When she got to the library, Xander sat with a book open on his lap, Buffy on the stairs, staring into space and Giles and Willow looking at the computer.
"About time." Said Buffy, "Where did you go, Costa Rica?"
Cordelia frowned, "Don't start with me." She retorted, bitchily, "Next time you want something maybe you should get it yourself. Oh wait, you can't drive." She said, glaring at the Slayer.
Buffy was taken aback by Cordelia's sudden attitude, "Cord - I'm sorry." She said quietly. "It's just this whole thing with Angel, y'know? Got me... Strung out sorta..."
"Yeah," Gloated Xander, "But she managed to abate some of the strung-outness. Wanna tell us again how you got Dead Boy with a stake?"
Cordelia almost fell to the floor in shock. "Or maybe some of us just DON'T wanna know."
All eyes turned on Cordelia and she flushed, handing Giles his change. "Look, I don't feel too good, I'm gonna go home, okay?"
"O-of course," Giles said, sweeping his glasses off, and looking at her for a moment.
"You ok?" This from Oz, who'd done as he always did, and faded into the woodwork.
"I'm fine," Said Cordelia, "I'm just a little tired, that's all."
"You just said you didn't feel to good and now you're fine?" Asked Xander, softly, "Cor?"
"Stop twisting my words!"
"I'm not - "
"You are!" Her voice reached way past shrieking level, in fact, she'd be pretty certain she'd smashed the windows if it weren't durable glass. "I'm okay. Thanks for asking. Buffy, I'm sorry for snapping," She said through gritted teeth, "Just... Tired..."
Smiling, she picked up her keys again, "You want anything before I go?"
And it was Willow who pitched in for the big save, by saying, "N-no, Cordelia, please, go home, and get some rest. If we need your help on anything it can wait 'till tomorrow night at the earliest, ok?" She looked around at the rest of the Scoobies. "See? Wasn't so hard just to say, ok, tired-gal, go home and have a little lie down, was it?"
Oz offered a nod, Xander pointedly avoided eye contact, and Giles echoed Willow's well-wishes, and Cordy was FINALLY able to slip out the library doors...
It was ten minutes later that a brunette trembling with rage pulled up at her door. Getting out, she slammed her car door, stalked up to her house and then slammed that door too, walking into the sitting room and sitting straight down on the couch, trying to regulate her breathing. He wasn't in her sitting room, she was late because of the damned Spanish inquisition and now she was so mad that she wanted to punch Buffy so hard her teeth would rattle. Her head in her hands, she sat and waited for him to come into the room and dole out her 'punishment'...
Angelus wandered in, and stopped in front of her, waiting for her to look up. When she didn't, he tilted her chin upward with a fingertip, and spoke quietly, silkily, barely raising his voice above a whisper. "You look...upset. We'll talk about it in a little while. But first...you were late, Delia. After I told you not to be. I want you to listen very carefully...I want you to go out into the dining room, and I want you to remove everything but your stockings and those shoes, and bend over the table, flat, with your hands on the holding onto the edge of the table...and I want you to wait for me there. Understood?"
Her breath quickened considerably as she felt his fingertip under her chin and slowly, she looked up at him. She was late. Because of BUFFY! She went to protest but realised it was futile. Nodding, she left the sitting room and went into the dining room, doing as he said. Stripping down to her stockings and stilettos, Cordelia bent herself over the table, her hands holding the edge. Still seething from her run in with Buffy, Cordelia waited patiently...moments passed...LONG moments. And she heard a creak of a floorboard somewhere behind her, and then she felt cold leather on her back, slipping down to the top of her ass.
"It's my belt, Delia...you defied me, you're getting 10 strokes. I want you to count them off. You miss one, you'll get two more. Your hands leave the edge of that table before I'm through, you'll get FIVE more. Be a brave girl, and it'll be over quickly. Do we understand each other, baby?"
Cordelia whimpered at his words, her hair falling forward over her face as she braced herself for the first blow, her hands locked firmly around the edge of the table. "I understand." She whispered, nodding her head slowly, moisture flooding her core as she felt the cold leather being pulled away from her ass... Who'd have thought that pain actually turned her on?
She heard a rustling behind her, had just a moment to wonder what it might be, whether or not it was the belt, when the first lick of the leather struck her, directly across her bare bottom, hard and sharp. The smack against her bare skin echoed faintly in this spacious room, and she then felt the cool hand of Angelus rubbing at the stinging stripe across her ass...
Tears flooded her eyes and Cordelia almost fell off the table. Remembering his threat though, she gripped the edge of the wood, her knuckles turning white, "O-One..." She whimpered, the tears streaming down her cheeks as he rubbed at the place the belt had just hit...
"Good girl," he said quietly. She felt his lips press, cold and smooth, against the small of her back for a moment...and then, CRACK! The belt struck again across her ass...
The reprieve of his lips against the small of her back took away a little of the pain, but then it was back in full force, if not more, and Cordelia let out a sob. "Two..." She whispered harshly. Honestly, she wasn't sure she could stand much more of this, but damnit, she'd try. "Two..." She said, her voice and body starting to tingle with the numbness, "Eight more." She whispered.
Angel ran one cool hand across her trembling ass, rubbing gently, rubbing out the pain slowly, and he placed another kiss on the bruised and stinging area. "Good girl," he whispered. "You're doing quite well." His lips pulled away, and she heard the faint whipping noise before the next lick of the belt, which landed just above her tiny trembling rosette...
"Three... Three..." She cried, her face pressed against the wood of the table. It didn't matter that he was kissing it away, it damned well hurt! Briefly, she wondered whether he'd use his lips... Tongue... Where he'd just hit, her body trembling in fear, pain... And that hint of desire...
The belt whickered through the air again, this time striking her just below her ass, across the backs of her thighs, and she heard the rustle of cloth as he knelt, touching her gently there, then pushing her legs apart, and touching her dripping pussy with a languid fingertip... "Delia...you're quite wet. Were you aware of that...?"
Cordelia cried out when she felt the belt this time, tears springing to her eyes and when she felt Angel's hand slip between her legs, Cordelia whimpered. "Angelus, please... Don't... N-no more... It hurts." She whispered quietly. It wasn't his fingers, but the pain, oh God... She wasn't ready for this... It hurt too much...
Angelus knelt behind her, disgust flashing on his face for a moment...replaced by pity. Cordelia Chase was begging him. And he was LISTENING. Usually, the begging just egged him on to deeper depredations. He was USED to his victims begging. This...this seemed somehow unseemly, making her beg. She'd gotten over her fear of him...also an unforeseen occurrence. He stood, taking her by the back of the neck with one strong, yet gentle hand, and raised her up. He pulled her into his body, stroking her arms soothingly, letting her bodyweight rest against him. "Sshh...Delia...Cordy...ssh..." He kissed her temple softly. "You did fine."
When Angelus stood, Cordelia felt sure that the worst was yet to come - it never did. Instead, he drew her into his arms and let his hands run up and down her arms, gently as she cried. "B-but, I only lasted four..." She whispered, "Aren't... Aren't you mad?"
"Sshh," he said again, quietly, kissing her temple again, lifting her easily, and making for the stairs. "You've had a hard night, Cordelia. I'm...I'm not mad. And frankly, I'm not certain why. You're...having an interesting effect on me, Delia. An unforeseen one," he continued, carrying her up the stairs. He stopped in front of her parent's bedroom, kicking the door open with one booted foot. He lay her gently on the bed, stopping to remove her pumps, and slip a pillow under her head. "You could use some sleep, Princess." He moved back the sheets with a sweep of his arm, and tucked her legs under them, pulling the sheet halfway up her body, letting it rest just under her breasts. She looked at him in the half-light, and he looked...confused. He shook his head, pressing a finger to her lips. "No. Sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be in the basement. The sunlight won't reach me there. See you when you wake up."
And with that, he was gone...
Eventually, the tears dried into her cheeks. Eventually, the pain from her thighs and lower back area started to fade and it all just melted into one. What had he meant? She was having an effect on him? Sleep wasn't easy that night, even though she was exhausted. Somewhere along the line she was falling in love with a demon... A demon who wore the face of a man. She was falling in love with Angelus. Not the man. Nor simply the demon. Each and every part of him. And it scared her. Slowly, the brunette let sleep claim tired eyes... She'd think about it tomorrow...
TBC