***
Willow fell off the couch at the frightening sound of Angel’s voice bellowing in apparent agony. Gasping, she rolled onto her knees and used the couch as support to rise to her feet. Omigod! “It worked,” she whispered in awe at her own strategy to foil Angel. “He’s lost his soul.”
Then she realized that the sound he was crying out was a name— her own. That was not a good sign, Willow realized even as she peeked out of the living room in the direction of the stairs. The half-naked vampire was kneeling on the ground surrounded by overturned packages and shopping bags.
“Willow, get up here,” he caught her gaze and ordered her upstairs. “I take it you’re fully responsible for this.”
Not certain if he was talking about his soul or the mess, Willow asked for clarification of his accusation. “Responsible for what?”
“Me.”
“Uh— could you be more specific?” Willow stared closely trying to discern whether the evil Angelus was back or if this was just Angel being his usual compulsive self when it came to keeping things picked up.
A huff of disbelief sounded. “That isn’t obvious?”
“It depends—,” Willow began only to hear a frustrated growl from the vampire’s throat as he got to his feet and turned in her direction. Her reaction was instinctive as she cried out, “Don’t eat me!”
“That punishment might be a bit severe for leaving your shopping bags where people can trip over them,” Angel pointed out as he stepped over them to head down to the kitchen for his breakfast of warmed pig’s blood.
“A-Angel?” Lowering her arms down to her sides, Willow let out a sigh of relief. “For a second I thought that Angelus was going to drain me.”
The vampire paused to remind her, “There is no more Angelus.”
“Oh Yeah!” Willow nodded. “Right. Guess I’m still asleep.”
Watching Angel descend the stairs, Willow was overcome by disappointment. Dammit! The stupid vamp was supposed to lose his soul. What the hell went wrong? Grabbing a couple of the shopping bags, Willow moved them into the bedroom setting them out of the way. Cordelia was lying prone on the bed, her arms curled around Angel’s pillow as if she was already missing him.
Good afternoon, Willow. The voice hummed into her head. Almost in sing-song fashion. Apparently, Cordelia was in a very good mood.
Not bothering to stop at her task, Willow settled for brevity. “Hi.”
“Angel probably woke the entire household,” Cordelia laughed as Willow kept moving back and forth bringing the packages inside the room. “You know he doesn’t like clutter, pet.”
Grumbling at her use of the term, Willow stalked over to sit next to the vampiress noting that she was naked beneath the thin sheet. Oh, my. “I-I thought for a second that Angelus had returned. That your little, uh, experience last night might have been too blissful for him.”
“Hardly blissful,” Cordelia couldn’t use that word to describe it. “Hot, wild and just on the right side of rough. More like amazing. I’m surprised you got any sleep with as much noise as we made.”
“I was comatose on the couch,” Willow explained. “Someone kept me awake all night.”
“Mmm,” Cordelia acknowledged the comment, but was still thinking about her mate. “I can’t wait until tonight.”
Sarcastically, Willow asked, “You mean you aren’t planning another marathon?”
“I haven’t forgotten about my plans,” the vampiress turned over and sat up in bed her long silky hair cascading over her shoulders and her voluptuous curves holding the sheet in place.
If at first you don’t succeed—, thought Willow with a smile letting the thought drift off as she informed Cordelia about the necessary plans for the day. “I’ll get a start on looking up the necessary spell components. This one I may have to make up myself. Can you get Mel or Keanu to hang the mirrors? After that it will be up to me.”
“Consider it done, pet.” Cordelia threw aside the covers and leapt out of bed. Noticing the look on Willow’s face she commented, “Don’t drool. I’m going to hit the shower and get dressed before Angel comes up with that marathon idea. My job will be to keep him out of the bedroom while you do your thing.”
“Uh.” Too busy staring at the expanse of nude flesh, some of it covered in vampire bites, Willow found it difficult to get the words out.
Willow!
“Right. Do my thing.” Was it Willow’s imagination or was the room really hot? “I’ll stall Angel in the kitchen. Breakfast sounds like a good idea, anyway. I want something cool and juicy in my mouth. Thirsty.”
Cordelia stared after her enthralled pet. She couldn’t say that Angel hadn’t warned her about the potential side-effects. Not that Cordy really minded. It was actually funny to see the way Willow panted after her sometimes. The real amusement was that her sire also reacted with a twinge of unnecessary jealousy every time the two of them went out shopping together.
Failing to arrive home before dawn had drawn out a reaction from Angel bringing his demon so close to the surface that Cordelia barely knew the difference. Last night, the way he touched her had little to do with tenderness or even the imaginative methods that her mate often created to bring her to orgasm. This was all about possession, about being inside what was his and surrounding himself with her scent, taste and touch.
He’d given Cordelia a hard, wild ride. Fast, furious and more intense than anything they had before. Then he had flipped her over and to her utter delight repeated himself. Who needed variety with Angel inside you? He gave it to her anyway. So good! Kissed every inch of her more as a claim than a caress and followed up with bites in his favorite spots. Some deeper than others. Most would heal and vanish before tonight while others would still be a visible mark on her flesh enticing him back for more.
Mmm! More Angel. She could definitely go for that.
As Cordelia stepped under the hot spray from the shower, she arched into its heat. Felt so good— like wet sunlight on her skin. Strangely, Cordy did not miss the sun. Not like she sometimes thought she should. For someone who liked to bathe in sunshine as a human, the night was far too glorious to her to ever miss the daylight. Squeezing the soapy loofah over her skin, she closed her eyes and imagined an eternity of darkness with the vampire who had found a way to fill her empty heart.
***
Denied entry into his own bedroom, Angel wondered what Cordelia was up to that she had barred his presence. Several of the minions and Willow were holed up for hours working on something that required drilling, hammering and mystical chanting. When the group emerged, Cordelia informed him that she would call him when she was ready.
Wondering, ready for what? Angel lost heavily at the poker table to Spike, Jude, Brad and Willow because his attention kept wandering. At least the other vamps were happy with the results. Dru, who was draped over Spike’s shoulder watching the game, was the only one who looked less than thrilled with Angel’s rapt attention being elsewhere.
“Peaches, remind me to ask Cordelia to stick around the next time we play cards,” Spike laughed at his grandsire. “You’ve been staring at that door for the last thirty minutes.”
“Cordy can be a distraction,” Angel admitted.
Spike snorted, “She’s a bloody goddess and you know it, lucky bastard.”
Angel’s mouth curled upward. His chest ached just thinking about it. Unconsciously rubbing the spot that Buffy Summers had once pierced with her sword, Angel agreed, “I am lucky.”
“Unlucky at cards—,” Willow hinted with a cute grin.
The vampire finished for her, “—lucky in love?”
Angel suddenly threw his cards on the table literally by tossing away his first potentially winning hand of kings over queens. Then figuratively by muttering, “I’ve got to tell her.”
Pushing back from the table, his chair scraped the floor as Angel left the players behind without a backward glance. They called out, trying to stop him. Willow was the only one who appeared content for Angel to leave despite that he was ahead of schedule. Cordelia would cope with the early arrival.
Turning back to the others, she asked calmly, “Is it my deal?”
Cordelia heard the turn of the doorknob and sensed the presence of her sire. “That better not be you, Angel. I told you I would tell you when it was time.”
Opening the door wide, he told her, “I’ve waited long enough.”
There were shopping bags on the bed with items strewn across the coverlet. Cordelia was bending over the bed digging through one of the bags. Realizing that Angel was actually going to come in despite her wishes, she spun around to face him. Tightening the belt of her silk bathrobe, Cordy stomped her foot on the floor. “I’m not ready.”
“Ready for what?” Angel almost backed up when he saw the pout appear on her lips. She was not normally a vampiress given to pouting when she didn’t get her way.
“The surprise, you dumbass!” Cordelia grumped at him. “So much for seduction. Forget it now, I’m not going to waste my time.”
“Seduction?” Asked Angel, intrigued. “All the secrecy and construction noise had to do with you planning to seduce me? I’m easier than that, baby.”
He was laughing softly, his mouth curling sensually bringing a sparkle to his dark eyes.
“I know,” Cordelia crossed her arms under her breasts unintentionally drawing his gaze to her suddenly enhanced cleavage at the vee of her robe. “Too bad you won’t be getting any now, lover.”
Angel’s smile dropped as he caught the serious gleam in her eye. “Not so fast. I can leave and come back.”
“Grmph! Too late!”
“How about if I sit over here and just watch you finish?”
Actually, Cordelia thought that went right along with her little plan for the evening. Dragging a chair over so that it was directly in front of the door, Cordy settled her mate into it and gave a little warning despite the smile that threatened to appear, “Promise me just one thing—no more premature arrivals tonight.”
“That’s all up to you, tigress,” Angel chuckled. “I’ll guarantee to give it my best shot if you tell me what you’ve got on under that robe.”
Glancing over her shoulder at him, Cordelia’s voice dropped to a huskier octave, “Skin.”
Registering the lustful expression on his face, the vampiress turned back to her task of removing candles from one of the shopping bags. She placed them on the various flat surfaces around the room in small bunches before using long-stemmed matches to light the wicks. Reaching up beside him, Angel flipped off the overhead light leaving the room glowing softly with candlelight.
Cordelia continued on by removing the final items from the bags. As she moved the items onto the bed and removed the plastic shopping bag, Angel caught a flicker of movement on the ceiling above the bed. It was only for a moment and then the ceiling fell into shadow as Cordy moved between the table holding the candles and the bed.
“Follow me, Angel. It’s been a while since you’ve rummaged through my panty drawer, but maybe you can help me choose what to wear tonight.”
“What’s the occasion?” Cordelia looked a little hurt as he asked the question, which made him think hard to come up with the answer on his own. Two seconds later, the vampire snapped his mouth closed as he realized precisely what this night represented. “No. We can’t celebrate that. Not the night I killed you.”
Talk about a mood killer. Angel couldn’t believe that Cordelia was trying to recreate the night that Angelus had seduced her, taken her virginity and sucked her life away. That was not how he wanted to remember the human Cordelia Chase, frightened and crying beneath him. Calling out his name in ecstasy even as her life drained away.
“You were meant to die that night, Cordelia,” he reminded her. “Angelus planned to fuck you and drain you dry before leaving you on Buffy’s front porch. You were so beautiful and vibrant, seductive yet innocent. Full of life. Angelus— I took that away from you.”
“Does it look like I care?” Cordelia parried as she wound her arms around his neck. “I have what I wanted from the first time I set eyes on you: my own gorgeous hunk of salty goodness. Angelus gave me this existence, so don’t ask me to regret it.”
Pulling her into the shelter of his arms, Angel rested his cheek against her hair. Brushing his mouth across the silky texture, he admitted softly, “I care, Cordy. Somewhere in the confused depths of my brain, I am truly sorry that I ended your life. Nothing on Earth can make me regret that made you mine.”
“Glad to hear it, buster,” Cordelia used her strength to squirm out of his arms. “Now get your hot ass back to the chair. I’ve changed my mind about giving you a choice tonight. A little payback is a good thing now and then. It’s my turn.”
***
Angel thought about calling out a few suggestions, but figured that Cordy would react by selecting something completely different. He chose to keep his mouth shut and enjoy the buzz of anticipation that was strumming through his body.
What the hell was taking so long? Okay— he’d come in early. How long did it take to put on a couple scraps of lace when he knew that he could remove them in about three seconds?
“Oh! Angel?” She called out from the closet. “Would you pull that cord by my dressing table?”
There was a tasseled rope hanging from the new drape above her vanity. Obviously, this was the new installation. He had noticed the drape earlier, but thought it was just a new decoration. Giving the thick cord a tug, Angel watched as the drape parted and he found himself staring at his own reflection.
Gazing raptly at the image on the glass, Angel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was it really him? Vampires didn’t cast reflections. His hand reached out to touch the surface as if confirming that the image was really there. Back in the day, mirrors did not exist in this quality, so his vague memories of himself were suddenly sharper and it was almost like seeing himself for the first time.
Angel leaned in and blinked looking deep into his own eyes. Moving back, found himself amused by his own reflection. He was about to call out to Cordelia when he saw a swift movement in the mirror as she slipped behind him letting his broad shoulders block her out of the reflecting mirror.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,” Cordelia began with an amused lilt to her voice, “who’s the hottest vamp of all?”
With a laugh, Angel commented, “Get out here where it can see you and you’ll get your answer, Cordy.”
“Don’t turn around, Angel.” She instructed him as he was about to turn to face her. “Just look at yourself in the mirror. Do you see why we females fumble over ourselves to be near you?”
“I thought it was my scintillating conversation,” Angel joked with a confident leer while looking at his reflection as she wanted, but trying to get a glimpse of her.
“Getting a narcissistic vampire a mirror may not have been my best idea,” Cordelia told him as she leaned into his back pressing her round breasts against him through the barrier of their clothing, “but it’s gonna be fun.”
“How is this possible?” There were mystical aspects to vampires. The lack of a reflection was just one fact that he never thought possible to alter. Answering his own question, he realized what the earlier chanting was about. “Willow did this. The little witch is getting powerful.”
“Do you really want to talk about Willow?”
“No,” Angel started to purr as Cordelia’s hands wound around to massage his chest in a rhythmic fashion that stirred his lifeless blood. “Let’s talk about the things we’re going to be doing in front of this mirror.”
“I’ll show you instead.”
Slowly unbuttoning Angel’s shirt, her fingers paused at each step reveling and feeling his exposed skin. Cordelia was doing this by touch alone since having both arms around his broad chest prevented her from also leaning out to see the mirror image. Angel was rapt by the sight of her feminine hands moving over him as much as the sensations.
When his shirt came off, Cordelia kissed her way across his muscular back. Angel felt her move to the right, shifting her leg so that it came into view sweeping up along the side of his. Winding around, Cordelia stepped to his side meeting Angel’s gaze in the mirror for the first time.
“You’re so beautiful,” Angel murmured as he soaked up the image of her voluptuous shape partially covered by a short ivory shift. Suspended by its spaghetti straps, it clung from her breasts to the tops of her thighs. Once again Cordelia surprised him as he had expected her to come out in red lace or black leather.
“Like it?” Cordy fingered the lacy edge of the shift. The soft white silk revealed just as much of her as it covered.
Angel hooked a finger beneath one of the thin straps and traced the skin underneath with his knuckle as it moved up and down. “You’re the picture of innocence. Tempting and untouched like a bride on her wedding night.”
With a raised brow, Cordelia looked surprised. “Really? Is that how you want to play this?”
“I didn’t realize it was a game,” Angel found himself getting hard thinking about some of the things he wanted to do in front of this mirror. Just seeing their reflections was enough to excite him, but the idea of watching as they brought each other pleasure was too tantalizing to ignore. “You’re right, Cordy. I adore the look, but this isn’t the night I want you to pretend to be virginal.”
“Then tell me what you want, Angel,” she used the words he often said to her. “Because tonight I’m going to give you everything you desire.”
Her sire’s lips curled into a sensual smile as he caressed her face. “You do that every time I’m with you.”
Cordelia leaned up into his kiss. One so different from the violent kisses they shared last night. His mouth moved with tender motions across her parted lips garnering little sighs of pleasure. Angel resisted deepening the kiss and instead pressed butterfly soft kisses against her cheek moving to her ear where his tongue played havoc with her senses as it flicked across the sensitive whorls.
Touching his bare skin, Cordelia roved her hands around to his strong back holding onto him as he kissed his way down to her neck. “Angel,” her voice came out as a plea for him to stop what he was doing. “This is supposed to be for you, silly vamp.”
“For us,” he insisted against her throat.
Who was seducing whom? Cordelia snaked her hand around Angel’s hip down to the hard evidence of his arousal. Cupping him firmly, she moved her hand along his erection until her mate was moaning against her throat. That was more like it, she grinned. Cordy figured that she needed to get back into the driver’s seat of this little seduction plan or Angel would have her writhing in pleasure and she would forget to tell him how she felt.
“I want you naked,” Cordelia voiced as she moved her hand away to unbuckle his belt. Angel brushed her hand away as he removed his belt and kicked off his shoes at the same time. The pants, boxers and sock followed quickly while his beautiful childe laughed in amusement at his eager efforts to unclothe. “Not much tease in that striptease.”
“Too much talking,” Angel made a grab for her only to have Cordelia dance away. “Now who’s teasing?”
“That’s all you’ll get if you don’t behave.” He was facing away from the mirror standing there with his penis hard and ready. Cordelia also had a delightful view of his muscular buttocks reflecting from the mirror behind him. “Turn around, Angel. Face the mirror.”
Angel had forgotten it for a moment with his attention all on her. Considering his nude and aroused state, the vampire admitted to himself a certain curiosity with seeing what he looked like to his mate. Impressive, he had to admit not caring if it was vanity or just the simple truth. With a hand on his chest, Angel moved it down across the sculpted plane of his abdomen.
The urge to touch himself as he watched in the mirror was strong. Cordelia hovered next to him judging his reaction with a knowing glance. She curled her hand around Angel’s bicep and followed the path of his arm to push his hand downward. “Go ahead. I know you want to.”
Curling his hand around his rigid cock, Angel stared at his reflection in the mirror, the sensation heightened by the view. However, his attention turned quickly to Cordelia who was watching him as he stroked his hand slowly up and down the length of his erection. The excitement in her eyes, the lust apparent on her gorgeous face, and the panting breath that she did not need to sustain her only increased his own arousal.
Cordelia’s eyes flicked up to meet his reflectant gaze just before sinking to her knees on the rug positioning her body at an angle beside him. At first, she seemed content to watch up close as Angel continued the pumping action that brought him to his fully tumescent state. She kept her hands on his body, one clinging to the back of one steely thigh and the other running up and down his hip with the same rhythm that he maintained. Glancing up at the mirror again, Cordelia noted that her minions had done well in positioning it at a slight angle for the vanity table did not block the view at all.
“Angel,” his name came out in a moan of need, “let me touch you now.”
“Use your mouth, Cordy,” he turned to her, his eyelids heavy with lust and half-closed as Angel gazed down at her eager face. “I want to feel your tongue on me.”
One by one, Cordelia curled her fingers around the wide base of his shaft fisting him. Her fingers barely contained him. Angel spread his thighs to give her better access to his balls as her other hand brushed up against their sensitive pouch. He sucked in a sharp breath at the first stroke of his flesh. It was as if she had the magic touch knowing exactly what he wanted and Angel wondered in the one corner of his brain that could still think whether it was somehow connected to her mental abilities.
Oral pleasuring was something they both enjoyed. Cordelia felt stimulated watching his reaction as she took him into her mouth, laving the highly sensitive underbelly of the tip where it met the rigid pole of his shaft. Angel let out a groan of pure lust and his dark eyes clamped shut as he threw his head back trying to control his reaction. The combined sensation of her wet tongue, the suction of mouth and the pumping action of her fingers nearly sent him over the edge within seconds.
Fighting to hold back, Angel forced his eyes open staring down at her with eyes of deep amber. “Keep that up, tigress,” he warned, “and you’ll have to start all over again before you get to have me inside you.”
Cordelia let her mouth slide off the tip with an audible pop, brushing it against her cheek. “We have all night, Angel.”
As she resumed her attention to his swollen tip now stretching out of its foreskin, Angel dropped a hand to her head letting his fingers slide through her silken hair. His eyes kept darting back and forth between the stark reality of seeing her mouth on him to the sensual sight of the two of them in the mirror. Knowing she intended to take this all the way, he started to murmur words of encouragement.
“That feels so good, baby,” Angel’s voice rumbled somewhere between a deep purr and a growl. “I love the way you use your tongue.”
She had let him slip out of her mouth again and was flicking her tongue down to his balls, staying there until they drew up tighter against him. Angel could barely get out her name as Cordy worked her way back up to swallow him taking more of his rigid shaft into her throat.
Angel’s eyes were glued to the mirror watching as his mate held onto his thighs moving her head in bobbing rhythmic fashion as she opened her throat to take him further inside. “Cordy! Nngh! Yeah, baby. Take me deeper.”
Though his hand now fisted her hair, Angel did not try to control her efforts. They both knew it was far more pleasurable to let her set the rhythm and pace. The vampiress took him deep into her throat and held him there for a moment, not needing to breathe around him. Then she focused again on the spot where his tip and foreskin met the shaft of his cock, flicking her tongue and closing her mouth around the crowning ridge.
She knew Angel was close to coming. His entire body tensed up and his balls drew back toward the base of his sex. Laving the tip, Cordelia opened her mouth wide and caught the first spurt of his orgasm on her tongue. Angel watched his manly essence coat her tongue before she closed her mouth around him again to twirl her tongue around the tip while her fisted fingers pumped him below.
Angel stared down not only in amazement at the intensity of his orgasm, but also the look in Cordelia’s eyes as she finished him off. He recognized the lust of her highly aroused state, but there was something else he had not seen before and could not seem to identify.
Gracefully, she rose to her feet standing before him like a triumphant pleasure goddess. It was true, thought Angel, I am a lucky bastard.
Palming her cheeks into his strong, but gentle hands Angel moved close so their bodies brushed up against each other. Her hard nipples peaking against the silk nightshift were now teasing his bare flesh. Cordelia let out a soft moan as he leaned in to kiss her slightly swollen lips. They were tingling from their recent activity and especially sensitive as he nibbled at them with his mouth. The sweep of his tongue across her bottom lip had her opening to him letting him taste himself as she touched his questing tip.
Her arms surrounded his neck as Cordelia pressed herself into his hard frame, tucking her hips into his already stiffening groin. Angel’s hand slipped down her back to the upper curve of her bottom to hold her there. Then his fingers wandered lower down to the lacy edge of her shift to caress her inner thigh. Cordy let out a soft gasp as he stealthily moved back up, this time under her short garment to palm one of her buttocks.
“Thong?” A graveled tone sounded in his voice as he broke away from their kiss long enough to pose the question.
“Look in the mirror and find out,” Cordelia challenged with a glint in her eyes moving her hands to lift up the shift around her waist.
Angel stared at their reflection seeing his hand appear as she lifted the covering away. He gave a gentle squeeze to the firm flesh beneath his hand. Then he noticed that there was no string parting the two globes of her buttocks and realized with a lustful zing, “You’re not wearing any panties.”
“Nope.” Cordelia gave him a naughty grin as she yanked up the front of her nightshift that had been caught between them. Now he felt the proof as his penis brushed against the soft nest of curls at the apex of her thighs.
Angel’s fingers curled into her from behind gathering the liquid proof of her arousal. He let one wet finger circle her puckered rim while moving back to hold her against him. She let out a startled cry of pleasure and lifted her mouth for his kiss. Cordelia wound one leg around his hip trying to arrange it so that his hard shaft pressed against her clit.
Taking hold of her thigh, Angel supported it and brought it just a bit higher until he heard Cordelia suck in a sharp breath of air. He took the opportunity to kiss her deeply, moving his tongue over hers. Sounds of pleasure hummed from their throats while Angel rotated his hips so that each small movement caused his erection to slide along her intimate flesh. Cordelia’s clit was a hard nub brushing against his cock and each time he thrust against it her body jerked toward him.
Easing her leg to the floor, Angel swept her up into his arms and carried her toward the bed. Cordelia looked a bit confused having expected him to take her on top of the vanity table so that he could watch them in the mirror. Asking him about it, Angel replied, “I want to look directly into your eyes when I make you come, Cordelia. We’ll play with the mirror again later.”
For some reason, his words caused warmth to spread across her body. That felt strange to the vampiress as she realized it was not heat, but just her own feelings stretching out from their center point at her solar plexus. “Angel, I want you so much,” Cordy whispered into his ear as he gently placed her onto the bed.
The feeling was definitely mutual.
“You make me feel so—,” Cordelia broke off uncertain how to express what she wanted to say.
Angel stared into her hazel eyes, recognizing her state of confusion and wanting to put her at ease knowing that Cordelia was more used to expressing her wants during sex than her feelings.
“Good?” He laid her down upon the mattress and kissed the spot where her throat met her breastbone.
“Mmm.”
“Aroused?” Angel guessed again as his fingers tucked under the thin spaghetti straps of her shift to tug them over her shoulders. His mouth trailed soft smooches along the same path before moving to the exposed curve of her breasts.
“Mmm hmm!”
Now his hands cupped both breasts as his mouth and tongue played havoc with her senses. Cordelia’s already sensitive nipples were red and swollen from his attention. Teasing the outer curves of her breasts and the softer skin of her areolas, Angel left no part of her unattended. Blowing cool air across her damp skin, he caused a little quake as she jiggled in his hands.
“Angel,” she pleaded through the haze of her pleasure. “I need you inside of me.”
Her hands were already on him down below, stroking his erection and maneuvering her hips to get closer. Angel promised, “Soon, baby.”
The vampire was still lavishing kisses across the full globes in his hands. He loved the way they overfilled his grasp. Lush mounds with nipples large enough to curl his tongue around. Made for him. Angel flicked his tongue across one hearing his mate’s responding moan.
Then he saw the reddened mark over her skin where he had bitten her last night on the outer curve of her left breast. It had been a deep bite if it still showed now. Realizing that it must have given her as much pain as pleasure, Angel kissed the spot paying gentle homage to her skin and feeling that deep sense of vampiric satisfaction that it was his bite that had left that mark even if it would eventually fade.
Wondering if there were other similar spots, Angel lifted up slightly to let his gaze sweep across her skin from neck to navel. The move gave Cordelia better access to his erection and she quickly took advantage of that. Her flexible body allowed her to fit him directly to her opening. Angel noticed that her eyes were staring upward as her legs curled around him to force him further inside.
Kneeling and grasping her hips so that he entered her to the hilt, Angel gazed toward the ceiling and realized that she had placed a mystically-enhanced mirror there as well. No wonder the minions had taken so long preparing the room. He moved his hips so that only his tip remained within her and watched in the mirror above as she took him back in.
Then he turned his gaze on Cordelia whose attention was no longer on the mirror, but on him. “I want to hold you. Please, Angel. Let me put my arms around you.”
Cordelia had always liked to touch him during sex, but now as she voiced her needs to him there was something else she communicated. It was more than pure need or desire. Angel recognized the feelings within himself and silently thanked Willow Rosenberg for finally revealing the permanency of his soul to him. Though Cordelia might not realize it yet, Angel knew that she felt something more for him than just the sire-childe bond. That while he was her acknowledged mate, she had never lost herself to pure emotion.
Perhaps that was his fault, Angel thought, having always held back some part of his own personal experience for fear of releasing Angelus to the world again. Lowering himself so that his arms tucked under her shoulders without putting his full weight on her, Angel felt her arms come up around him. One around his neck, the other across his shoulders while her legs encircled his lower back effectively hugging him close with her entire body.
Angel was buried deep inside her feeling her inner muscles flexing and accommodating his hard flesh. “Cordelia,” his voice sounded strangled as he struggled to hold back his urge to come. “Baby, I’ve got to move.”
Then he was thrusting within her, slowly at first and then with a fastening rhythm that was answered by Cordelia’s writhing hips. Every now and then, her hazel gaze would dart up to the ceiling watching the muscles dance across Angel’s back as his buttocks flexed each time he entered her. Angel moved them to an angle advantageously placing the ridge of his penis against her g-spot.
“Come with me,” Cordy stared deeply into his eyes pleading for their mutual pleasure. “Angel, now. Come with me.”
More than ready, Angel let out a roar of ecstasy as his mate called out his name at the peak of her climax. Their bodies shuddered together with tiny aftershocks of pleasure. Then Angel felt Cordelia’s hand curve around his face. Opening his eyes, he saw her smile of contentment as she formed the words he never expected to hear fall from her lips.
“I love you, Angel.”
Unguarded, Angel soaked up the sound of those words directly into the inner depths of his being. He knew a moment where he was surrounded by her body, her scent, and her love for him. It burst within him, this instant of ultimate bliss as he stared down into the eyes of his mate.
Angel was about to return the sentiment, wanting Cordelia to know the intensity of his own feelings for her. Only the tightness in his chest that accompanied the idea that he was full of love for her became suddenly painful. There was a sudden pressure within him, a sensation he had felt before. A rending that indicated his soul was being torn away from its mystic connection.
There was only a second of acknowledgement, before Angel jerked painfully out of his mate’s arms. Kneeling on the mattress, the vampire let out a cry of loss and agony as he screamed out Cordelia’s name. There was a burst of pure light the instant before his body collapsed on the bed.
“Omigod!” Cordelia scampered up beside her mate. “Angel? Angel! What happened?”
Her mind raced at the possibilities, but there was only one she could come up with that made any sense. Declaring her love had given Angel perfect happiness. Cordelia had just cost him his soul.
“No,” she gasped wondering if his soul could sense her still. “I-I didn’t want that. I didn’t mean to do it, Angel. That wasn’t what you wanted.”
“Better make up your mind what you do want, tigress,” the vampire rose up on the bed beside her taking her hair into his fist and yanking her close.
“Angelus!”
“Oh, yes, baby,” Angelus confirmed. “I’m back.”
