Title: Splintered
Author: C/Aphrodisiac 
Posted:
Califi and Lysa
Rating: R/NC-17
Category: Angst/Smut
Content: C/A
Summary: Sleep deprivation and hallucinations make Cordelia the target of Angel’s obsessions. A different take on “You can’t fire me – I’m Vision Girl!”
Spoilers: AtS Season 2, First Impressions thru Redefinition.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Angel’s Archive/Go Team/Just Fic, anywhere else, just ask.
Notes:
Thanks/Dedication:Thanks to Helen for her beta skills.
Feedback:Creative feedback is always appreciated.
Chapter 1
“Do you ever miss it, my love?”
The throaty words purred close to his ear, rousing him. Forcing his eyes open, Angel hazily looked up into the pale face hovering inches above his own. “Mmm… miss what?”
“You know… the hunt…. the richness of warm, human blood… swallowing it down without that nasty guilt eating away at you, even as you eat?” Cool blue eyes stared into his as her too-red mouth curled into a smile. “Do you?”
Angel frowned in confusion. Something tugged at his fogged mind, but what was it? He swallowed several times; half lidded eyes lazily watching the descent of the head as cool lips nibbled and sucked their way across his face, sliding lower and parted to latch onto a still pulse point. “Aahh,” he shuddered with pleasure.
She always knew just where to touch him.
A satisfied grin spread across her face, and he hazily watched her descent, the erotic sensation of her naked body sliding along his, a fleeting frown marring his dark brow as the rub of cotton sheets interrupted their close connection. Running the tip of her tongue around a rapidly hardening nipple caused his back to arch at the soft, yet sensual caress. Angel lifted his arms and reached for the pale blonde hair, sliding and grasping at the strands. Then the frown returned.
Warmth penetrated the thin cotton barrier, the naked body resting fully along his softened, and he husked a pleasured moan. Hard, brittle angles melted away and the heat intensified. Blinking his blurry eyes, he again looked down at the head that hovered above his chest; his fingers twining in glossy, chocolate strands. Confusion warred with aching pleasure. His fingers tunneled through the soft hair and clutched it tightly, pulling up the head. Moans were heard as hot lips tugged on his nipple and released, her head lifting at his insistence.
Annoyed hazel eyes connected with his even as a sun-kissed arm reached up, honey-skinned fingers covering his in an attempt to get him to release his hold. “Let go, Angel.” He shook his head, twining his fingers deeper into her rich dark hair, exerting pressure until she hissed and pulled herself along his aroused body and their faces were again inches apart.
“Let go!” her voice changed tone, irritation now threaded with anxiety and a tinge of fear. “Angel, I mean it!” He blinked abruptly.
Full lips, tinted peach, pinched tight; a flush of rose mottling the soft, honey skin and eyes almost amber and shining with fear. “Wake up, damn it,” her voice again, more urgent this time.
“Cordelia?” her name on his lips whispered sinfully against her own, and she attempted to widen the space between their faces, but he wouldn’t allow it. “I miss it…this.” His mouth inched closer until cool flesh connected with heat. Those peach-tinted lips parted and pearly teeth sank viciously into his full bottom pout. His hand loosened a little even as he jerked his head back and into the pillow behind with a hiss of pain.
And then he woke up.
“What the hell is your damage?” That perfect mouth, still close enough to be tempting, trembled, the peach tint now tinged with red— his blood.
Angel released her hair fully and just stared mutely as his seer almost fell off his bed in her haste to get away. “Cor…” he stuttered out, and then shook his head. Straightening her clothes with shaking hands Cordy backed away from his bed and kept going until her back bumped against the French windows of his room.
“Vision-I had a vision. You’re needed downstairs.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she turned and disappeared into the living area. Angel still lay unmoving until the door to his suite almost slammed shut behind her retreating figure.
Then he sagged back into the mattress, shaking hands reaching up to rake through tousled hair, before tentative fingers explored the seeping cut on his bottom lip.
“Shit!”
***
Racing down the stairs, Cordelia darted past Wesley, missing the odd look he sent her way as she went straight to her desk instead of informing him about Angel. He was awake now. What more was there to say?
Cordelia’s head whirled at the memory. One minute she was trying to shake Angel awake to tell him she’d had a vision. The next, he’d hauled her across his half-naked body, slid his big, groping hands through her hair and tried to kiss her.
What the hell was that?
Nervous energy tingled along her skin until her fingers practically twitched with it. She started sifting through the pile of filing on her desk, not really seeing it, just moving it from one spot to another. So they’d locked lips. Pfft. No big. It was just his cool male mouth touching hers, just his hands sliding over her skin and into her hair as he whispered something across her mouth.
Geez, Chase, calm down, she counseled herself as her heart pounded in her ears. Sure, Angel was a hottie. That little factoid had long ago been filed away under ‘S’ and nothing was going to change it. Neither was the fact that Angel came with a touch-me-not clause attached to his soul and Cordy had no intention of forgetting about it.
A mistake, that’s all it was: a minor infringement of her personal bubble. Maybe the fact that, for a second, Angel looked like he wanted to eat her up surpassed the misdemeanor category. That hair-sniffing incident the other day weirded her out enough that she’d changed her brand of shampoo.
Nope, she needed no help to remember that Angel belonged in the no-bone category of male hotties. He managed to remind her of that every time he turned around. First with the hair, then with the grumpy, boss-from-hell attitude and now with the touchy-feely stuff. It was enough to make Cordelia wonder why she put up with the vampire.
He’s supposed to be your friend, she emphasized the relationship in her own thoughts. Now grabbing a stack of folders, she stood abruptly, letting the chair roll across the floor behind her. The hurried click of her heels sounded on the floor as she moved to the file cabinet and proceeded to shove the manila folders into open slots.
“I say, Cordelia,” she heard Wes clearing his throat from the other side of the front counter. Without looking up, she kept on with her task, blind to what she was really doing. “I’ve never seen you so wound up after a vision.”
Cordelia paused, figuring Wes would be wound up too if his boss suddenly pulled him into bed and kissed him. Hysterical laughter tittered in her head at that image. That settled it. Next time, it was his turn to wake the sleeping vampire.
Pain suddenly sliced across her skin. Cordelia looked down at her hand. A drop of red beaded across the pad of her thumb, the paper cut momentarily distracting her from her thoughts. Automatically, she lifted it to her mouth, tongue sweeping at the spot as she turned to seek a little sympathy for her injury.
The move only put Angel in her line of sight as he approached, his shadowed gaze on her mouth as she sucked on the droplets of blood welling to the surface. The coppery taste reminded her of the brief hint of blood she’d drawn when her teeth chomped down on his lip even harder than intended. Cordelia dropped her hand to her side, her eyes lingering on his swollen lower lip.
Good thing he didn’t bite back, Cordelia thought of that possibility. Lucky too, that he woke up as she intended because he might have gone on kissing her. Where would that have led except to a place they couldn’t even consider.
Though Cordelia wondered why it was that she should feel embarrassed about it when it was Angel who had done the grabbing and the kissing, just the attempt at meeting his gaze gave her a head rush. Which was not good considering her after-vision headache was already pounding away at her temples. Those deep brown eyes held hers for a heart stopping moment before hers slid away.
How that irked her. Purposely, she stared back again, but the intense look of anger there caused her to whirl around to finish the filing that she started.
***
When Cordelia turned her back on him, Angel felt the instant stir of irritation. He’d been planning to apologize, not that there was really anything for him to feel sorry about. He was the one with the sore lip and wasn’t she the lucky one considering that vampires have a tendency to bite back.
Angel raked his fingers across the nape of his neck to rub away the tension there. It didn’t really help. All he could think about was that dream. Sure he’d dreamt about Darla before, but this was so vivid. He could still hear the purr of her voice in his ear and the soft touch of her hands pleasuring him. Only her touch warmed his skin. The silken hair cascading in long waves down her back was no longer pale gold, but rich and dark and scented with strawberries. He’d wanted nothing more than to press their bodies closer and taste the warm secrets of her mouth again and again.
What the hell was that? This was Cordelia, dammit. It might be lucky for him that he just ended up with a lip wound and not something more permanent.
She’d come to tell him about the vision. Her scent surrounded him as she leaned in close. That had to be the reason his dream shifted away from Darla to her. There was no doubting that Cordelia was beautiful, undoubtedly sexy, but she was Cordy and not someone he should be dreaming about, especially when those dreams left his body aching with lust.
Besides, Cordy was too much of a pain in the ass for him to want her that way. She was a friend, his seer and occasionally a thorn in his side. Even if his eyes sometimes lingered on her lush curves or he fleetingly considered running his fingertips across an exposed patch of skin, there wasn’t really anything he could do about those impulses except to suppress them.
Tiredness weighted his limbs as Angel moved closer, his tongue sweeping across his swollen lip as he remembered the brief taste of Cordelia’s mouth against his own. It irritated him that she refused to look his way. Obviously, she was angry about it and he even thought he’d sensed a little fear.
Angel’s lip curled upward at the idea only to fall back into a firm line when the action stretched at his closing wound. There wasn’t anything to smile about. He was just so damned tired. It wasn’t time to get up. All he wanted to do was crawl back into bed, close his eyes, and drift to sleep.
***
“Angel?!” Wes inwardly winced at the harsh tone of his voice as he repeated the vampire’s name for the third time. Angel’s head snapped round, pinning him with mildly annoyed eyes.
What on earth was going on? Wes wondered, not at this point sure whether to be worried or merely curious as to both Angel’s and Cordelia’s behavior this morning.
Not just this morning, he corrected himself. Angel’s general attitude these last few weeks, especially where Cordelia was concerned, had been beyond the norm; even for the vampire who probably had cause for his brooding moments and tendency to close himself off to the humans he worked with.
But that wasn’t exactly true either. When he’d first joined them to fight the good fight, Wes had been more than aware of the ‘bond’ between the vampire and his seer. Glancing over at Cordelia, he was surprised to find her still hovering around her desk.
What exactly is Cordelia doing? She’s supposed to be over here informing Angel about the details of her vision. Wes called out, requesting her to come over. Rather reluctantly, Cordy dropped the files she was absently perusing and joined them, but wasn’t exactly free with the information. To be honest, she seemed preoccupied and more interested in keeping her distance from Angel.
Discreetly glancing the vampire’s way, Wes noticed that he didn’t seem like he was focusing on what Cordelia was actually saying… just on Cordelia herself who was now standing there with her arms crossed in a defensive manner and looking at anything except Angel.
Cordelia was being unusually brief and to the point with the details of the vision, her tone rather snappy, and Wes frowned with increasing concern; especially at the end of her description where she rather tersely told the vampire to get a move on, muttering that enough time had been lost already.
Angel instantly stiffened and glared at the now-dipped dark head before he turned on his heel and strode angrily towards the weapons cabinet.
What is it with these two lately? Wes wondered, becoming more confused as the short scene played out in front of him. And for a moment missed the vampire’s query as to whether he was accompanying him.
Wes paused long enough to attempt to process his thoughts into some order; something was definitely going on here between them. Something that made him a little uncomfortable to think about. Because, considering other recent happenings, he suspected an attraction was at the heart of this and that could actually be dangerous. It was obvious in his mind that something had happened when Cordelia went upstairs to get Angel a little while before and the evidence was right there on Angel’s face.
When finally they entered the sewers and strode side by side, Wes sneaked a discreet look towards the small, fresh wound on the vampire’s lower lip, then mentally shrugged, putting it down to one of those things he wasn’t going to ask about. The atmosphere around the hotel lately was uncomfortable enough without him adding to it.
He was going to put his previous years of training to good use. The practical side may have been beyond his abilities, but watching… in that area, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce had been a natural.