Part 14
The small flames of candlelight flickered against the polished sheen of the blade. The metal felt cool against her warm skin as the sharp point slithered a feathery trail down the flesh of her throat. Not sure how long his play at seduction would last, Cordelia concentrated on calming her shaky nerves.
The vision had given her only flashes and glimpses without referencing time but she still trusted Angel would save her. It was the one unwavering belief that gave her hope and gave her the courage not to fall apart under Darcy Bane’s evil touch.
The blade slid down her chest, lightly skimming the side of each breast with the gentle touch of a lover’s kiss. Her body shuddered when the sharp metal slipped down slicing through the thick rope binding her hands as if it were butter. Her breath hitched at the surprise, its release catching in her throat when her eyes lifted to his wicked smile.
Continuing his journey without pause, Bane swept the knife against the rope around her ankles penetrating the heavy bondage with the same skilled ease. The knife no longer needed was deposited soundlessly on the marble floor. Strong hands with skin as smooth as her own lifted each foot, soothing the delicate flesh irritated by the coarse twine.
The flat of his palms pressed against her legs, his hands made their way up her thighs barely disturbing the robe that blanketed the flimsy scrap of fabric veiling her private places. Slender fingers of an artist surrounded her rope burned wrists, bringing them to waiting lips. With a loving kiss placed gently against the pulse of each wrist, Bane spoke to Cordelia for the first time since leaving her bound and helpless on the floor. His voice was low but stern and filled with dissatisfaction.
“I instructed you not to struggle against your bondage. Because of your disobedience your flawless skin has been marred with imperfection. Has Angelus not taught you that defiance reaps punishment?” Not waiting for her answer, his tongue lavished her burned flesh with cool, healing licks. “No matter my sweet Cordelia, you shall learn in time.”
Cordelia listened to his words over and over again as they tumbled inside her head. “instructed” “disobedience” “taught” “defiance” “punishment” “learn in time” “sweet”
“Pfftt. Obedience is not a quality I aspire to and as for punishment, better than you have tried…and failed. I’m Cordelia Chase. I don’t do simply because I’m told. You must be used to your women being sheep.”
“Enough!” The growled command spilled from his tight lips, the sound echoing through the old structure with the force of its release.
Cordelia trembled in fear as dark pools of liquid cobalt swirled with fiery gold flames. “Now I’ve made you angry and I wasn’t supposed to do that. Angel is always telling me I don’t know how to appreciate the sound of silence.”
Hearing the quivering music of her voice, his eyes softened returning to a deep, rich glimmer of sapphire. “Angelus has chosen to be patient, to allow you to offer your loyalty freely. Tell me, when you lost your friend did Angelus promise to keep you safe and in exchange take your innocence for himself?”
“That’s not how it happened.”
“No?”
“No and it’s really none of your business…and his name is Angel.”
“Now you are the one upset and we can’t have that; can we my dear? Where are my manners? I have been a poor host leaving you so long on this cold, grimy floor. Allow me to correct this oversight and offer you more suitable accommodations.”
“Ah, no thank you. I’m fine right here.”
“I insist.”
“But Angel will come here looking for me; shouldn’t we be waiting here? Isn’t that how the game is played; he follows the clues until he finds me? Well he can’t very well find me if you keep moving me around.”
“He will find what I wish him to find Miss Chase.” In a movement of speed she had only witnessed of Angel, Bane had ripped the robe from her body exposing the sheer, form fitting teddy hidden beneath. Pausing only a few seconds to take in the now unhidden sight before snatching her from the floor, Bane swept her into his arms. The robe loosing its last cling fell from her lifted form floating to the floor in an abandoned heap. The forsaken fabric drenched in her sweet scent, Darcy Bane’s final clue for Angelus and one he hoped would be discovered too late.
***
Wesley had thought their faster than the speed of light trip to the police station had indicated the car’s top speed. To his dismay he realized not only was that assumption incorrect but in their rushed departure from the police station he had not suggested putting the top up. Inwardly cursing his forgetfulness Wesley contemplated the safety he might find in the floor of the backseat.
“Angel, I understand your urgency, and your talent for maneuvering at a high rate of speed is quite impressive but if we do not arrive in one piece our ability to rescue Cordelia will be sorely diminished.”
“No time to slow down Wesley, fasten your seatbelt.”
Shot down with one strike, Wesley decided to get comfortable with his probable death by speeding vehicle. “It’s fastened Angel.” Such as it is. Who the hell is the genius that thought this scrappy piece of a belt thing would keep motorists safe, and convertibles whose brainchild was that? Though who would have thought we’d be driving the busy streets of LA at a hundred and fifty-two miles per hour? Good Lord I wish I hadn’t looked.
“Bane only gave me two clues so he’s assuming he doesn’t have much time. The portrait of Cordy was to let me know he’s been watching her while I didn’t know he was in LA. His reference to the church was to let me know where I can find her if I can get there in time.”
“Angel what do you mean get there in time; you are referring to Cordelia’s rescue aren’t you? What the hell is this game you and Bane keep talking about?”
Angel had avoided the question at least twice already. He looked over at the man who was helping him save Cordelia. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce possessed questionable fighting skills at best and yet he had not flinched in his decision to risk his life for her. Angel owed him an answer and as much as he feared his reaction he would give him the truth.
“Just let me finish before you ask any questions. This is hard and if I don’t get it all out at once I won’t be able to finish it.”
Oh my. “Of course.”
“When I first met Darcy Bane he was human. He was everything that I never was and never would be. He was rich, sophisticated, handsome, strong, educated, talented and unlike my father, his father encouraged his love of painting. He was making a rather impressive name for himself in Paris and I despised him for it. I turned him thinking it would destroy for him the things I wanted but never had. It didn’t, it only enhanced what he already was and added an evil born of hell that rivaled my own. We were constantly at each other’s throats fighting over who Darla loved most. She would think of creative ways to keep her boys happy. It was Darla that created the game. It was her version of a treasure hunt. Each new city would start the game over. She would select the victim; always female, always young and beautiful and always innocent. She would leave clues that would lead us to where she had hidden the girl.”
“The first one to successfully follow the trail of clues would get the prize. The winner would have twenty-four hours with the girl to do with her as he pleased; that was the real prize. At the end of twenty-four hours we returned to Darla and presented her with the girl’s heart. She kept them until the end of the month when she would count the number of hearts each of us had presented and declare a winner. We’d move to another city and start the game over again. Darcy almost always won and my resentment grew until one day I decided I would defeat Darcy once and for all. There was this girl in Paris, Constance, he was in love with.
Turning him didn’t change that. He never touched her after he was turned, must have felt like it would defile her. When our travels led us back to Paris I kidnapped Constance knowing her death would be the end of Darcy Bane. I spent three days raping and abusing her before I drained her. When I returned to Darla and presented her with my special heart I knew Darcy would be able to smell the blood of his sweet Constance. He went wild when he realized what I had done. He would have killed me if it weren’t for Darla but I didn’t care; the only thing that mattered to me was that I had finally beat the mighty Lord Darcell Bane of Valenciennes. Darla berated and chastised him for being so weak that he would still love a human. Darcy left that night. I never saw him again until a couple days ago.”
***
The old church reeked an eerie mood and the corridors were much too dark for Cordelia to see. Without warning Bane kicked open a door, entering the room he had readied for their use. Blinded by the sudden flood of light, Cordelia blinked rapidly. Once her vision cleared she looked around the space that glowed under the flames of at least a hundred lit candles. She glanced appreciatively over the beautifully carved furniture until her sight settled on the large, plump bed that dominated the center of the room. The sensation of dread washing over her only served to fuel her determined captor.
Satisfied his unwilling guest had realized his intentions, Bane walked slowly to the waiting bed, placing her gently onto the soft, fluffy bedcovers. Giving Cordelia no opportunity to protest, he followed her onto the bed covering her quivering body with his.
“You are a beautiful creature but to be honest, I had expected white. Does Angelus not have you dress in the virgin white so he can peel it away exposing your innocent secrets?” His breathy words caressed her face with the delicate feel of erotic silk intensifying the shivers gushing over her trapped body.
Cordelia felt naked under his lust hungry gaze and wiggled her arms free from the trapped space between them. Her choice of underwear had been selected because of her dress, scarlet the sales girl had called it, never considering the possibility of a stranger viewing that choice. She couldn’t recall ever being seen in her underwear except for her night with Angel and thinking back Cordelia remembered that Angel had not actually seen her underwear, only his. Regardless, Cordelia didn’t want to have her undergarments exposed without her consent and Darcy Bane being the first to view her scanty lingerie made it that much worse. She brought up her hands covering the fleshy portion of her breasts swelling over the top of the strapless bustier style garment.
Countering her bold move, Bane placed his hands over hers. Large and expansive when spread, his hands completely covered hers blanketing the barely concealed flesh her small hands could not protect. Cordelia gasped at his arrogance; words of indignation ready to spout from her pursed lips only to be hushed by the determined glint in his glare.
“Never hide yourself from me Cordelia, your defiance will not be tolerated.”
Denial of her fate no longer possible, warm blood cooled as it blended with the cold hatred that surged through her veins. Cordelia jerked and squirmed beneath his heavy weight, determined that undefeatable defiance would be his last memory of her as Angel reduced his loathsome existence to scattered dust.
A satisfied grin gracing his handsome, smug face, Bane pressed her deeper into the mattress relishing the hungry arousal elicited by her writhing body. “My sweet, beautiful Cordelia, you are like a luscious fruit bursting with unbridled passion. Such splendor should be possessed by a man who knows how to appreciate that passion. I too am capable of patient and will allow time to give me that which is mine, but make no mistake my alluring temptress, I shall have your loyalty…and your love.”
Jerking a hand from its trap beneath his Cordelia landed a hard slap across his face, her perfectly manicured nails scrapping across his cheek leaving three distinctive lines of blood in their trail. The fire in his molten eyes burned into her but Cordelia was long past any semblance of fear. Hatred and disgust fueled her relentless struggle as the venom spewed in classic Queen C fashion.
“There is nothing of me you will ever have that isn’t taken by force and your empty victory will end soon enough. When Angel is finished with you, Lord Darcell Bane of Valenciennes will be just another layer of dust on an already dirty floor.”
“Foolish woman, you speak of your Angel, your vampire with a soul! Have the desires of the beast been so completely shadowed by your love for the soul that you are blinded to the fate that awaits you? You, my dear, sweet Cordelia are loved and desired by all that is Angelus’ being; the man, the soul and the demon that has lain hidden when he touched you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! You know nothing about us or who Angel is now!”
Trapping her free arm by her side, Bane’s fingers threaded through the strands of her hair fisting them into a painful squeeze. “I know the truths that lay impatiently waiting just as your souled Angelus knows. It was my desire to take you with a tender spirit but let me instead give you a taste of these hidden truths.”
Eyes widened in disbelief as any earlier acceptance of her fate washed away in the tide of cold, hard reality that loomed above her. “NO!”
His mouth attacked hers with a vicious release of beastly rage and passion. The strength of his lips forcing hers to remain open to the brutal and demanding assault, his cold, probing tongue swept into the warm cradle of her mouth. Trapped beneath the enveloping weight of his broad, solid form, his mouth tightly seared to hers, Cordelia lay helpless to change the forbidden horrors that fate had unleashed on her.
***
Wesley had remained silent throughout Angel’s spine-chilling explanation. He rolled around the various pieces of information in his head, sometimes feeling sad for the young man that never seemed to quite measure up; cringing at the similarity to his own troubled youth. At times he feared his clinched stomach muscles would manage to squeeze even the smallest remaining contents from his belly. Other times, however, he had clutched the door handle with enough pressure to turn the skin of his knuckles to a painful white fearing he would stake the coldhearted, evil bastard before Cordelia’s rescue could be completed.
“Say something.” The begging tone of Angel’s plea roused Wesley from his reflection.
“What would you have me say Angel? What could you possibly expect or dare say hope I would say in response to such a bloodcurdling account of events?”
“I don’t know Wes. I only know that since running into Bane I’ve been afraid if Cordy found out I’d lose her. As much as she accepts me for what I am I don’t think she could forgive this. I could never ask her to.”
His time for inner reflection was almost over, they were only minutes from their destination. Wesley reached further into himself than he had ever dared before. Angel had not confessed his heinous crimes to Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, the Watcher nor had he shared the shamefully hidden sins of his past to a trusted friend. The best description of their temporary collaboration was comrades. Two would be soldiers brought together for one battle.
Regardless of his reason, Angel had trusted him with something capable of generating revulsion in the most immoral of humankind and his reaction to this gut wrenching admission would be the catalyst that moved their association to a short-lived camaraderie or the start a lifelong friendship.
“Angel, at our best we are all capable of unthinkable acts. Albeit some are more capable than others.” After several attempts to clear his throat Wesley continued. “My point is, I have not yet reconciled with my own past of failures and regrets, therefore have no room for condemnation of another’s indiscretions.”
“This is way more than an indiscretion Wesley.”
“Yes it is Angel, very much so in fact and like us humans, a souled vampire can not change his past but, he can leave those soulless driven events in his past. Apologize if needed, atone whenever possible but other than that all any of us can really do is try to be a better person.”
“That’s what Cordy said. She told be I can’t spend my life feeling guilty about my past.”
“Possibly Cordelia is as wise as she is beautiful.”
“She probably is Wes. I know she takes blunt honesty to a whole new level.”
“You know if our assumption of Cordelia’s intelligence is correct she’ll probably be president by the time she’s thirty-five.”
“If she is I’m sure her first order of business will be to outlaw bad fashion choices. Hell, she’ll probably make Rodeo Drive a national landmark.”
“Angel, why are we stopping here?”
“It’s going to be almost impossible for us to sneak up on Bane.” Angel pointed at his nose to emphasize his point.
“Ah of course and I suppose his hearing is equally superior. What do you propose?”
“I’m going in first. I want Bane to think I came alone. Once I get him away from Cordy I want you to get her out of there. No matter what happens Wes, getting Cordy away from Bane and somewhere safe is your only priority. Understand?”
“Understood Angel. I will not fail her…or you.”
“Wesley…thanks for…you know.”
“Say no more. We shall have another day I’m sure.”
“Right, time for battle.”
“Indeed.” God please don’t let me fail.<
