Part 5
Seven hours later, Cordelia had finally talked herself into returning to the Hotel. Standing outside on the sidewalk, she gazed up at the formidable building, still undecided as to which part of the humiliating ordeal in Angel’s bedroom she was more embarrassed about.
That his highly tuned senses had detected her untimely arousal was bad enough, but her adolescent reaction when he had hoarsely informed her of that detail, made the seer want to hide under the bed-covers in total shame. Freaked out by the raw, sensual desire that she had heard in his voice, she had run away like a gauche young schoolgirl, one who had suddenly decided that maybe now wasn’t the time to lose her virginity after all.
Cordelia wasn’t usually so unsure of herself around Angel, but he’d knocked her completely off balance when he’d turned the tables on her and taken charge of the situation in the way that he had. Mortified that she hadn’t been able to handle his subtle teasing in a manner more befitting of her twenty-one years, it didn’t occur to her that, given her lack of sexual experience, her reaction was perfectly understandable.
Thus, she’d fled the Hotel as fast as her feet could carry her, prompting a concerned Wesley to call to see if she was all right. Keeping her tone of voice deliberately bright and cheery, she’d fobbed him off with a hastily made-up story about being late to meet a friend. Luckily, her Oscar-winning performance had fooled him into thinking everything was fine, when in truth it was anything but.
Angel had been more persistent in his efforts to track her down however, repeatedly calling her cell from his room at the Hyperion. Supremely grateful for caller recognition, the seer cleverly circumvented all his attempts to contact her, secure in the knowledge that it would never occur to the technophobe vampire to call from somewhere else to catch her out.
At first, she had gleefully cut him off before he had the chance to speak, but when the constant calls started to grate on her nerves and earn her death-stares from the passers-by at the mall, she was forced to turn her phone off completely.
As a result, she arrived back at her apartment, a few hours later, to discover a string of messages from Angel on her answering machine. The afternoon of retail therapy hadn’t worked and, at the end of her tether, she proceeded to delete all the messages without even listening to them – much to Dennis’s obvious disapproval.
Her ghostly roommate seemed to think she should hear what the vampire had to say for himself, but Cordelia was in no mood to listen to reason. She would much rather drown in a sea of denial, than face up to the reality of her stubbornly persistent feelings for her creature-of-the-night best friend.
“Humph! I might have known you dead guys would stick together,” she told her phantom friend. “You’re supposed to be on my side, Dennis, remember?”
Dennis didn’t reply, but, twenty minutes later, when she went through into the bathroom to take a shower, she found the word ‘WOMEN!’ scrawled across the mirror in her favourite lipstick.
“Dennis!” she remonstrated loudly, storming back into the living room and grabbing the pad of paper that they used to communicate with each other.
“All right, so tell me why you and Angel are such big buddies all of a sudden,” she demanded, wildly brandishing a pen in the air.
Dennis snatched the writing utensil out of her hand. ‘TALK TO HIM,’ he wrote in bold capitals on the top sheet of paper.
“Why?”
‘Only Angel can tell you that,’ was the annoyingly cryptic response.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
‘Because it’s not my place.’
Cordelia had continued to cajole him, but Dennis remained impassive, insisting that she talk to Angel instead. She had eventually given up with a haughty toss of her head. “Be like that then,” she said huffily, her mouth settling into a sulky pout.
After that, she refused to speak to him, and their only other interaction that afternoon was a juvenile battle over the phone-cord. The seer had pulled it out of the wall to avoid Angel’s calls, but Dennis had promptly plugged it back in, thereby inciting her wrath. She stubbornly tugged the wire free again, only for it to be swiftly replaced by her Ghost. They continued back and forth in this childish fashion for almost half an hour, until Dennis finally let her win, sensing he was doing more harm than good with his actions.
What Cordelia didn’t know was that her roommate was privy to considerably more information about the vampire’s feelings for her, than she currently was. Dennis had played witness to the full extent of Angel’s unspoken devotion, when – a few days after the seer had told her friends about the damage the visions were doing to her brain – her condition had taken a dramatic turn for the worse.
Despite her failing health, Cordelia had adamantly refused the worried vampire’s request that she relocate to the Hyperion, and so he had insisted on moving into the apartment instead. At first, Dennis was incensed that he wasn’t trusted to take proper care of her – until he realised that Angel’s constant presence was more about his need to be close to his seer, rather than any real slight on his caring abilities.
Given the events of those few short weeks, the Ghost was at a loss to explain Cordelia’s ignorance with regard to the way that the vampire felt about her. His fear of losing her had been almost palpable in the air around them for all of that painful time. He had barely left her side, the deep abiding love that burned bright within, more than apparent to anyone who observed him hovering anxiously over her weakened form.
It wasn’t until Wesley came up with a cure that Angel gained the final seal of approval from Dennis however. His tender caring had won him major brownie points, but it was only after the Ghost had eavesdropped on the two men’s conversation about the mystical healer, that the vampire had fully satisfied all of Dennis’s strict criteria.
Only someone who was prepared to sacrifice his life for Cordelia was good enough as far as the Ghost was concerned. So, when he had willingly given up his shanshu to save her life, Angel had unknowingly passed this stringent test with flying colours, and left the seer’s self-appointed guardian in no doubt of the depth of his feelings for her.
Cordelia just couldn’t seem to see it however; all she saw was someone who cared for her as a friend, but nothing more than that. Sometimes Dennis wanted to bash their respective heads together – he didn’t understand why Angel was so reticent about confessing his feelings, or why Cordelia refused to see what was right in front of her face. It was utter madness – especially considering there was now nothing standing in the way of their mutual happiness.
He needed to convince his stubborn roommate that she should give the vampire a chance, but that was unfortunately proving to be easier said than done. At least he had persuaded her to return to the Hotel, but the Ghost suspected that Angel was in for a rough ride all the same. Cordelia was going to be a tough nut to crack – her inexperience and fear of rejection had doubled the thickness of her emotional walls, and it would take hard work and perseverance to knock them down.
Phantom Dennis just hoped the vampire was up to the challenge.
***
Standing in the shower, Angel watched as the muddy brown hue of the cascading water slowly faded, and then ran clear. Placing his palms against his chest, he ran his hands down the front of his muscular torso to his six-pack abs. The defined muscles that pressed hard against his fingers were a testament to the gruelling training schedule that he had taken on in the wake of Cordelia’s comments about his weight.
The sun-kissed colour of his skin absolutely fascinated him; he couldn’t remember the last time he was anything other than pasty white. Now his pale flesh was burnished a light bronze shade, not dissimilar to the warm golden hue of his seer’s silky-soft skin. That thought prompted a glorious image of a naked Cordelia standing in the shower before him, and he closed his eyes, letting out a muffled groan as his lower body instinctively hardened in response.
He’d never actually seen her completely nude, of course. However, the shell bikini, which she’d worn for that commercial she did last year, had left very little to the imagination, and, consequently, it didn’t take much for the vampire’s creative mind to fill in the missing blanks. As his hand dropped downwards to relieve the aching pressure in his groin, Angel allowed his imagination to run riot with the vision of loveliness projected against his closed eyelids.
Redressing her in the skimpy bikini added a provocative air of mystery, and he followed that up by pressing a chaste kiss to her lush lips. He then turned his fantasy Cordelia away from him and ran his fingertips down the delicate curve of her spine to the small of her back.
Sensually sliding his hands around to her hips, he tugged lightly on the tie-fastenings that held her bikini bottoms together, and let the scrap of material drop to the floor. Then, cupping the firm globes of her bottom in his big palms, he encouraged her to bend over slightly to give him better access to her voluptuous body.
Lost in his vivid fantasy world, the vampire could have sworn he heard a soft whimper escape her throat as his probing hand slipped down between her legs to test her readiness for him. She was slick and wet, and the smell of her arousal saturated the steamy shower cubicle with its heady fragrance, making his head spin – and the pace of his hand on his engorged sex quicken.
He began to suck in lungfuls of unneeded oxygen, his arousal reaching fever pitch as he imagined positioning the tip of his erection at the soft entrance to her body, preparing to make her his at long last. He envisaged grasping hold of her hips, and slowly sinking into her inviting depths, spurred on by her breathless cries of encouragement. Human and practically a virgin, she’d be hot and tight inside, and…
“Jesus!” Angel hissed, bracing the flat his hand against the slippery tiles to steady himself as his body pulsed, then exploded in intense orgasm.
Slightly shamefaced about using Cordelia as masturbation fodder, the vampire hurriedly washed himself down and stepped out of the shower. As he blotted the dewy drops of water on his artificially tanned skin with a towel, he pondered on the meaning of his fantasy.
It had become a real habit lately. The rigid self-control, which he’d imposed on himself before his soul had been made permanent, had disappeared without a trace. Being able to indulge safely in sexual activity was only serving to heighten his need for gratification, and his beautiful seer was rapidly becoming the entire focus of his spiralling desire.
His guilty conscience was somewhat relieved by the knowledge that he wasn’t viewing her purely as sex object; Cordelia meant a whole lot more to him than that. She was his best friend, his confidante, and the woman he had grown to love more than he ever thought possible. He just had to get her to understand that, and then maybe fantasy could finally become longed-for reality.
Discarding his towel, the vampire wandered through into the bedroom and began to dress, thinking about how he could make his increasingly erotic daydreams come true. He had pushed too hard earlier, come on too strong before he had convinced the seer of the strength of his feelings for her. Was it any wonder that she had fled from him in a blind panic? After all, she still believed that Buffy was the one who owned his heart and soul.
Sitting down in a chair and pulling on his socks and boots, Angel resolved to remedy that misconception as soon as possible. As if on cue, his supernatural senses informed him that Cordelia had arrived back at the Hotel, detecting the familiar thrum of her heartbeat from downstairs.
Breathing a sigh of relief, the vampire stood up and cracked his knuckles, letting go of the frisson of worry that had plagued him during her absence. Wise enough not to back her into a corner, he had left her to return to the Hyperion under her own steam, in the hope that the space would make her more receptive to his overtures. This was his opportunity to set things straight and he didn’t intend to screw it up.
***
With only half an ear on Cordelia’s nervous prattle, Wesley painstakingly copied the transmutation spell from the large book onto a pad of paper. He figured it would be preferable to lugging the huge tome to the swimming pool, inconspicuous the heavy volume was not. As he finished writing out the last cadenza, he turned his divided attention fully back on the edgy seer.
Ever since she’d entered the Hotel a few minutes ago, a babbling brook of chatter had fallen constantly from her lips, betraying her inner turmoil to her observant boss. So, she’d been lying to him before then, when she’d told him everything was fine and her flight from the Hotel was nothing to worry about.
Something had happened between her and Angel, something that she wasn’t prepared for obviously. Hardly clueless with regard to his best friend’s mutual feelings for each other, it wasn’t difficult for the ex-watcher to figure out what.
Opening his mouth to question her about it, he was interrupted when Gunn breezed into the Hyperion with a cheery “Yo boys and girls, how’s it hangin’? The vamp-man shown his face yet?”
Wesley shook his head. “Not yet, no. He’s been holed up in his room since this morning.”
“Umm – do you want me to go and fetch him?” Fred asked, slipping down from her stool, anxious to please. “His interview is in half an hour, isn’t it?”
“No need Frederica. I think this is the grand entrance,” Gunn chipped in with a playful grin, indicating the side staircase where the vampire’s booted feet were just emerging into visible range.
There was a deathly hush as Angel descended the rest of the way into the Lobby, each of his friends stunned into silence by his altered appearance. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, which clung to his toned upper body like a second skin. His ubiquitous leather jacket was missing however, his muscular arms left exposed. The bare flesh was tanned and healthy-looking, just like the bronzed skin of his face.
Gunn was the first to find his voice. “Whoa! I never realised how dead you looked.”
“Thanks,” Angel replied, sarcasm rife in his tone. Holding out his right arm, he spread his fingers and looked down at the back of his hand, still mesmerised by the colour of his skin. “It feels weird, kind of like it’s not me, you know?”
Wesley removed his glasses, squinted, and then stepped closer. Without warning, his hand suddenly shot out and pinched the vampire’s cheek. “Absolutely fascinating,” he said as Angel irritably batted his hand away.
“So, what do you reckon, Fred?” the vampire asked, winking at the spellbound young woman who stood next to the curious Englishman.
The gangly brunette’s eyes were wide and her hands had risen to cover her mouth. “You look like… oh wow! It’s just… wow!” she stuttered, for once at a complete loss for words.
Angel grinned and turned towards his seer. “Well?” he asked, fixing his steady gaze on her lovely face.
Cordelia’s expression was a dichotomy – on the one hand, her hazel eyes were openly staring, her pupils dilated with noticeable feminine appreciation, but on the other, her forehead was creased in consternation.
“Huh?” she said, jumping at his question and shaking herself out of her reverie.
“What do you think?”
“It’s – err, umm…”
Cordelia trailed off, not really sure how to articulate her mixed reaction to his changed appearance. While the new look was undeniably hot, he somehow didn’t look like her Angel anymore, and there was something not quite right about that.
“You look great,” she said weakly, forcing her lips to curl up into an encouraging smile.
Angel’s penetrating gaze missed nothing though. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing!” the seer said quickly. “It’s just gonna take some getting used to that’s all. You look so different.”
“Good different, or bad different?”
“Never mind; it doesn’t matter. You better get going or you’ll miss your interview.”
“I’ve got a few minutes yet.”
“You don’t want to be late; it’ll create a bad impression. Go on – get!”
Cordelia gave him a gentle shove in the centre of his chest, but Angel refused to budge. Lightly grasping her upper arms, he bent to speak in her ear. “We are going to talk,” he vowed, making her stomach do flip-flops. “You can’t avoid me forever, you know.”
Releasing her, he stepped back and looked over at Wesley. “Is everything ready for the spell?” he enquired.
“Yes – I don’t think the transmutation of the glass will be overly visible to the human eye, but I thought we’d do it tonight after the pool is closed, just to be on the safe side.”
Angel nodded. “Okay, are you coming with me now then? Or will you be along later?”
“Now, I think. It’s going to take an hour or so to set things up. I’m going to need some assistance with that by the way.”
“Well, I better get on,” Cordelia cut in breezily before anyone could suggest that she go along. Indicating her desk with a wave of her hand, she added. “Lots of filing to do, you know. Lots and lots.”
“Since when?” Wesley asked, one eyebrow lifted in sardonic amusement.
“Hey!” the seer said, punching him on the arm as she went past, her lips settling into a dramatic pout. “I file all the time.”
“Just not using any system I’ve ever heard of,” the ex-watcher commented with a sly grin.
“It’s the Chase system,” Cordelia told him over her shoulder. “It’s new and revolutionary, ahead of its time. You wait – in five years, *everyone* will be using it.”
Wesley laughed and turned to Fred who was hovering expectantly at his elbow. “Fred – I’d appreciate it if you would come along. You’ve been helping me research the spell so you’re the logical choice to aid in its execution.”
“What?” he asked, swinging round when Cordelia snorted derisively from behind him.
“Like that’s your only reason,” she said knowingly, pinning him with a pointed stare.
Wesley shifted uncomfortably, looking acutely embarrassed at being caught out in his little subterfuge. So, he wanted to spend some time alone with her – what was wrong with that? He felt a warm hand on his arm and turned back to look down into Fred’s smiling face.
“I would love to help,” she said sincerely, her brown eyes warm and reassuring.
Wesley relaxed. “The supplies are in my office,” he said, and the two of them began to walk across the Lobby, side by side, their shoulders almost touching.
Encouraged by her lack of censure, the ex-watcher drew in a calming breath and took the bull by the horns. “Umm – maybe, you know, after we’re done, we could – err – go for something to eat?”
“Tacos?” Fred’s face lit up, her eyes softening with pleasure at his hesitant invitation.
“If you like.”
“That would be… really nice.”
“Okay, so Tacos it is then.”
“Cool!”
As the couple retreated into the off-shot office to collect the magical supplies, Angel caught Cordelia and Gunn exchanging wide grins and delighted thumbs-up. His eyes widened as what had previously passed him by finally registered.
Wes and Fred, huh? Actually, come to think of it, it does kind of make sense.
The vampire’s gaze settled back on his seer after that. She had her head bent over her desk, studiously avoiding him, and he sighed. What was the betting that she’d be gone from the Hotel again when he came back from his interview? Just what was he going to have to do to make her listen to him? Tie her to the bed?
The wanton thoughts that that suggestion prompted made him shudder and his borrowed blood swiftly headed south. He shook his head, trying to clear the lustful imaginings from his befuddled mind.
Jesus! Get your brain out of your pants, man! he silently admonished himself.
Crossing to stand behind Cordelia, he saw her tense up at his approach. She swiftly rose to her feet and began to rummage through the filing cabinets, trying desperately to look busy. Wesley and Fred re-emerged from the office, and Angel felt a flash of irritation, annoyed that his attempt to talk to her had been thwarted once again.
He wasn’t about to leave without re-iterating his earlier promise, however. So – reaching around his seer’s body – he grasped hold of the metallic drawer to prevent her from closing it. Stepping closer, he trapped her against the cabinet with the solid wall of his body and then ducked his head to speak in her ear.
At this close proximity, he could feel the throbbing pulse-point at her neck, and hear her quickened breathing. “Stay,” he warned. “I want you here when I get back – we have things to discuss.”
She gave a little gasp and he could suddenly smell her desperate fear of the unknown. They didn’t have the time to talk properly now, but, before he left, he did want to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about with regard to his intentions towards her.
“You asked why I haven’t gone back to Sunnydale?” he murmured quietly, referring back to their conversation over breakfast that morning. He lowered his hands and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her gently against him. “Just so you know – Buffy and me? It’s over. For good – I’ve moved on, okay?”
“Angel?” Wesley’s voice sounded from behind them.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” he replied, reluctantly releasing the seer from his embrace.
Cordelia stood rooted to the spot, watching as the vampire left with Wesley and Fred. Her heart was racing ten to the dozen inside her chest, and her palms were slippery with sweat. Instead of reassuring her, his words had only heightened her panic.
Oh God! This could actually be for real!
Cordelia wasn’t sure that she was ready for what that meant. Angel had placed Buffy on such a pedestal. How could she – an ordinary young woman who had been sucked into this wacky, bizarro-world – hope to live up to his expectations? She was no slayer, that’s for sure. How would she ever compete?
“I’ve gotta go!” she said, slamming the cabinet drawer shut, and scrambling around for her bag.
“Aren’t you going to wait to see if Angel gets the job or not?” Gunn called after her, as she hurried towards the Hyperion’s double-doors.
“No, I… I’ve gotta go!” she repeated, her mind only on putting as much distance as possible between herself and the Hyperion. Her heart in her throat, she pushed open the heavy doors and escaped out into the anonymity of the LA night…