Part 9
Opening her apartment door, Cordelia called out to her invisible roommate. “Dennis, I’m home and I know, out all night again without calling. Sorry, Dennis. But these little nighttime excursions will not become a habit.” Cordelia cast an accusing glare toward her partner in crime. “Will they Angel?”
“Huh…no…of course not. Sorry Dennis. Work…couldn’t be helped.”
The lights flickered several times responding to Angel’s stuttered apology. Dennis’ way of letting Angel know he didn’t like Cordelia being out all night. With the lights now a steady glow, the couple watched as the balcony window drapes pulled shut protecting the vampire from the rising sun. Dennis may be irritated with Angel but he wanted him around to keep Cordelia safe when she left his protection, which was restricted to their apartment.
Angel was relieved that he would not have to spend the day avoiding any flying objects that would be hurled at him by the over protective ghost. “Thanks Dennis for understanding.”
“OK get on with the explaining and the discussing. I’m hungry and I need to take a bath.”
Angel had been silently working through the speech he would need to convince the resident ghost to remain in his wall while he made wild, passionate love to his beautiful roommate. Having already thrown out versions one and two,
Angel had just started version three when Cordelia intruded with her more urgent request. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Angel, every time I asked you anything in the car your answer was the same.” Cordelia mimicked Angel coloring her words with an irritated and whiny tone. “Wait till we get home Cordy. We’ll discuss it inside Cordy.” Crossing her arms, Cordelia glared at the vampire with eyes red and glassy from too little sleep. “Well we’re here Angel…so talk.”
Accepting that the talk was necessary to get to the lovemaking, Angel settled himself on the sofa. Rubbing his hands over his tired face, he decided to start with the easier explanation and work his way up to the more difficult admission.
“OK first, I was not with Kate last night. Cordy, I was scared out of my mind when I got back to the car and found you were gone. Kate called while I was trying to find you and told me you had been arrested. I raced to the station to get you, but they wouldn’t let me downstairs until all the paperwork had been processed. That’s what I meant when I said I was with Kate. Satisfied?”
Oh, he was more worried about finding me than boinking the blonde. Wasn’t expecting that. Think, no ignore it and come back to it later.
“OK fine, but what about the way you’ve been acting? What’s that about?”
Between losing his friend and his growing feelings for Cordelia, Angel had experienced more emotions in the last two days than he had in the last two hundred and fifty years and had only started to figure things out for himself. Resting his head against the back of the sofa, the mentally exhausted vampire contemplated how to begin what was sure to be a long and detailed explanation. His brain refusing to cooperate, Angel released a tired sigh.
Not sure that she was prepared for Angel’s answer, Cordelia was already regretting that she had asked the question. She was a realist after all and would not risk fantasizing about a love she would never have. Cordelia knew Angel was struggling to find the right words and she did not need to have her heart broken by those words to know he would never love her like that.
Cordelia decided to bravely move on to her next dilemma before Angel had a chance to begin his answer. She had to deal with the fact that Doyle had passed the visions to her. She needed to tell Angel and she needed Angel to help her get rid of them.
“Cordy…” Angel sighed softly, his eyes still closed.
“Kiss me.” Cordelia’s soft but demanding tone broke through Angel’s struggling concentration.
“Kiss you?” Angel opened his eyes, staring up at Cordelia from his slouched position. He was shocked but by no means unwilling to comply with her request. “OK.” Rising from the sofa, Angel walked over to stand in front of her.
Angel agreeing just a little too quickly, Cordelia held her hand up before he could step too close. “No wait. You’re just a little too anxious, I’ll do it.”
“You’ll do it? What am I suppose to do while you’re doing it?” His irritation was growing by leaps and bounds from the frustrating girl’s jump from one subject to the other.
“Just stand there and keep your hands to yourself.” Cordelia raised her face to Angel’s almost brushing her lips against his. Dark brown eyes gazed at her, flustering her already fragile nerves. “Close your eyes. I can’t do this if you’re staring at me.”
A little put off by her less than romantic tone, Angel withdrew the lean of his head. “You didn’t seem to mind my eyes being open before.”
“Don’t Angel. Don’t make this…just don’t and close your eyes before I change my mind.” Cordelia placed her hands on Angel’s cheeks, bringing his face down to hers.
Closing his eyes, Angel fought against instinct and yielded to the control Cordelia demanded. He felt her supple lips brush against his mouth and willed his hunger into submission. Feeling her short, nervous breaths against his mouth and knowing she was seconds from pulling away, Angel captured her sinuous mouth and deepened the kiss. His hands itched to feel warm skin as he wrapped his arms around her pulling Cordelia flush against his hard body. He had waited so long to taste her again, to feel the heat of her flesh pressed against him. Her breathy moan opening her mouth to him, Angel slid his tongue deep into the hot, moist cavern.
Cordelia could feel herself getting lost in the kiss and knew it was going too far. This is how Doyle passed the visions to her, the kiss is required; her body could hear the echoed warnings of her brain. Need and desire battled with common sense as her arms slid around his broad shoulders. A barrage of truths flooded and cooled her inflamed senses; this is about the visions, the kiss is clinical at best, he doesn’t love you. To allow herself to believe anything more she would only be fooling herself.
Abruptly ending the kiss, Cordelia pulled away with a quick jerk. “I didn’t feel anything. Did you feel anything?” Afraid to look at Angel for fear that she would ask him to try it again, just to be sure, Cordelia focused on her objective.
Stunned and a little angered by her question, Angel inhaled a deep, unneeded breath. “Feel anything? That’s what I’ve been trying to tell…”
“Arrg! That means I still have it! Damn it, I can’t believe he did this to me!”
“Who did what?”
“Doyle! I thought our kiss meant something, and instead he…he used that moment to pass it on to me!”
“C-Cordy…what are you talking about? Why did you kiss me?”
“I didn’t ask for this responsibility Angel, unlike some people, who shall remain lifeless! I don’t have anything to atone for. If they know what’s good for them, the PTB better stay out of my head.”
“The Powers That Be? You had a vision?”
“Boy! Howdy. And guess what, you know how they look painful? Well, they feel a whole lot worse!”
“Another door opens. That’s what the oracles said. Cordy, you’re my link to The Powers, now.”
“I’m nobody’s link to anybody. I lost control of my entire nervous system getting that stupid vision…and I’m not sure, but I think I may have…drooled a little.”
“What was it? When did you have a vision?”
“Pfft! Who knows? It was a thing! And it zapped me when I was locked up in that dungeon with the other hookers. Those floozies were gawking at me like I was crazy. I drooled in front of strangers, Angel. I’m Cordelia Chase. I don’t drool.”
Angel snapped his fingers trying to interrupt Cordelia’s latest tirade. “The vision Cordy! What was the vision?”
“What difference does it make? I’m nobody’s link and nobody’s vessel for catching the six o‘clock news. I’m not doing it Angel. So you just talk to those oracles again. You tell them that their boy, Doyle made a mistake. I’m going to take a bath.”
Cordelia stomped across the room headed for her bedroom. “Dennis! I need strong coffee and lots of it.” Slamming the door behind her, she left a clueless Angel standing in the middle of the room.
Minutes later Angel was still standing in the middle of the room trying to figure out how they went from the sweet kiss to the irate rampage that sent Cordelia to hide behind the locked door.
Felling the need to scrub from head to toe, Cordelia opted for a shower instead of her usual bubble bath. Sharp nails scraped across her scalp, vigorously washing her long hair in an effort to push the steamy kiss from her thoughts.
Angel flopped down on the sofa, stretching out his long form as he released a loud and heavy sigh. “You’re a man Dennis, well mostly; what do you think just happened here?” Nothing. Angel’s question was met with absolute silence.
Cordelia tried to concentrate now that her tense muscles had begun to relax under the hot, pulsing spray. She had to get control over her feeling and not be thinking about jumping Angel every time they were in the same room.
“Why does he have to kiss so damn good? Makes sense though, he’s certainly an expert with all the other stuff. Two hundred and fifty years of practice; who wouldn’t be an expert?”
“Don’t be angry Dennis. I think…I might…I think I might love her.” Angel could feel the cool air swirling above him. “Did she tell you what happened?” The light flickered filling the room with darkness for only a second while Dennis answered Angel with a yes.
Rinsing away the shampoo, Cordelia’s fingers jerked through her tangled hair. Her heart refused to listen to common sense causing her muscles to tense again. “Maybe I could be content with just the mind-blowing sex. Besides, when it was happening I felt loved.”
**
“She won’t talk to me. I don’t even know how she feels.” The closet door opened and a pillow floated across the room, sliding under Angel’s raised head. “Thanks Dennis.”
**
“Poor Buffy, she got the amazing sex and his undying love only to have to give them both up. Stop being so selfish. Angel is your friend and he’s confused right now. You can’t use him as your boy toy so just store that night away as the over the top experience you’ll never have again and be the kind of friend Angel deserves.”
**
Angel closed his tired eyes longing to be rescued by the solitude of sleep. “If she doesn’t feel the same way, I’ve got to let this go. If friendship is all she wants, I’ll take what I can get.”
**
“OK, I feel better. OK, not really, but attitude is ninety-nine percent of good battle strategy; right? Right. I have to do this. I don’t want to lose Angel’s friendship. I can’t lose him. I need him in my life.”
**
“I can’t lose her. I need her.” Angel’s last words barely a whisper as his mind drifted to a place that comforted him with the answers he needed. Dennis quietly lifted a blanket from the closet shelf and covered the sad vampire.
**
Cordelia steeled her nerves as she took one last look at her appearance. “All clean and appropriately dressed. Now take a deep breath and get your butt out there. I’m Angel’s seer and he needs me. So I’m going to go out there, share a cup of coffee with my friend and tell him about the vision.”
Her patented Cordelia Chase smile firmly in place, she opened to door to join her friend only to be greeted by an eerie silence. “Where’d everybody go? Dennis, I don’t smell coffee; what’s going on?” The swooshing sound of running water followed by the aroma of fresh ground coffee drifted from the kitchen. “Oh, OK, better late than never I guess. Where’s Angel?”
Cordelia stilled as she moved farther into the room, the scene of a sleeping Angel curled up on the sofa melting into her heart. The perfect little boy smile etched on his handsome face, Cordelia couldn’t imagine it possible he had ever been a coldhearted, soulless creature. His arms clutched to his chest as though he was holding something precious. Or someone.
It took Cordelia only seconds to remember who that someone was. She needed to tell Angel what she had seen in the vision, but hesitated to take him away from his beautiful dream. She kneeled down beside his sleeping form and watched as Angel dreamed of a love he could never have.
A tray with two cups of delicious smelling coffee floated from the kitchen and was gently deposited on the table beside her. “Thanks Dennis.” Cordelia whispered, careful not to disturb her sleeping friend. “I’m going to let Angel sleep a while longer, he’s dreaming about Buffy and I don’t want to intrude on his fantasy.”
The irritated ghost snatched a magazine from the table and swatted the stupid girl on top of her head. “OW! What is your problem? Has every man in my life decided to go insane?”
His dream interrupted by the arguing roommates, Angel watched helplessly as reality took hold and the beautiful brunette slipped from his arms. Eyes fluttered open to the view of Cordelia’s freshly washed face. “Hey.”
“Hey. Sorry, Dennis and I were arguing. Do you want some coffee?”
“Umm…smells good, but not right now.” His lips stretched into a contented smile as he took in the innocent face of the young woman kneeling beside him.
“What are you smiling at?”
“You.” Angel answered, tapping the tip of her nose with his finger. You’re so beautiful. Without the makeup, your face scrubbed clean, you are naturally beautiful. Cordelia Chase, you are nature’s perfection.”
“Angel.” Cordelia could feel the warm blush tinting her cheeks as his loving words soothed her heart. “Thank you.”
Cordelia dropped her head, hiding the sadness glazing over her eyes. “Angel…I saw what he did to those women, how he hurt them.”
“That was your vision?” Angel felt his muscles tense as the dread crept over him, worried that The Powers had seen fit to show Cordelia the past as well as the present.
“I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want it to be real. I don’t want to see those horrible images in my head.”
“I know baby. I don’t want you to see that either. I’m sorry.” Angel sat up, wrapping his arms around Cordelia and pulling her onto his lap. “There’s a lot of things I’ve done that I’m sorry about, especially last night. I just wasn’t thinking straight. But I promise you Cordy, I’ll stop him. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Cordelia knew she shouldn’t be sitting on Angel’s lap. But her common sense was more than willing to accept any argument offered by her heart about one friend comforting another. Just for a little while, Cordelia reasoned, she would snuggle into Angel’s strong, protective arms and pretend it was ok.
“You said he smelled familiar. Do you know him?”
“Yea. A long time ago we traveled together…we…played together.”
“Did you do those things to women back then; before you had your soul?”
“Yea, I did. I‘m sorry.”
“No one can change their past or their mistakes Angel. We can only try to do better with what we have now. You can’t spend your time apologizing about the past. Angel, you’re one of the good guys now and you’ll stop him. Your seer had a vision and you’ll stop him so he won’t hurt anyone else.”
Angel thanked whatever power or deity that might be willing to listen to a creature such as him. He nestled his face into the crook of her neck and silently vowed to protect this precious gift.
“I’ll stop him because I won’t let him hurt you. When I talked to the oracles after Doyle…I asked them to bring Doyle back. They wouldn’t. They told me one door closes so that another one opens. Cordy I think you’re that door.”
“Me?”
“Haven’t you wondered why I didn’t lose my soul when we made love?”
The talk was coming and she wasn’t ready. It didn’t seem to matter. The words were coming whether Cordelia was ready or not. She couldn’t look at Angel, not yet.
“No, not really. Pretty much know why.”
“No you don’t.” Angel kissed Cordelia on the top of her head and tightened his embrace pulling her closer against his chest. “You just think you do Cordy. I believe it’s because you’re my link in this mission for The Powers. It doesn’t matter how happy or content I feel, I won’t lose my soul because we’re linked.”
OK Chase, time to do the good friend thing and win that Oscar for best performance. Now look him in the eye and mean it when you say it.
“Angel don’t you think maybe it was just good sex? Sex you haven’t had in a while, but still just sex and that’s why you didn’t lose your soul.”
“I know what I felt. It wasn’t just sex. Not for me. My soul is bound with you. We’re bound to each other Cordy.”
Wasn’t just sex, keep talking; what was it then? Don’t be greedy Chase. He may not be in love with me but he cares about me; I’m important to him.“So, me being your seer binds your soul.”
“Yea…I think….”
“Ummm…Angel, Doyle was your seer.” Angel caught the mischievous twinkle in her eyes as a sly grin stretched across her face. “Did you have sex with Doyle when no one was around?”
“What?” His tone almost a squeal from the shock of her question before Angel realized he was being played. “You are a naughty little girl Cordelia Chase. Do you know what happens to naughty little girls?”
“NO. What?” Cordelia asked, mimicked shock and wonder coloring her face.
“They get tickled…and smooched.” Before the teasing girl could take her next breath, Angel whipped her from his lap and she found herself trapped between the sofa and the weight of his outstretched form. Angel slid his hands under her shirt, the pads of his fingers pressed firmly against her ribs. “Get ready, you brought this on yourself.”
“Angel…don’t you dare! A N G E L !! Loud giggles and high-pitched squeals filled the apartment. “Stop! Please! Can’t breathe.” Cordelia begged as Angel continued to tickle her without mercy.
“What’s the matter; can’t take your punishment like a big girl? How about this?” Angel shoved her top up exposing the smooth flesh. Attaching his mouth to the fleshy spot just under her belly button, Angel blew a large raspberry that tickled against the sensitive skin of her stomach. The crude noise sounded out and blended with Cordelia’s cackling protests.
“Angel you are one wacky vampire, you know that?” Cordelia chuckled as Angel continued his assault on her stomach. But the assault was beginning to feel different. The playful nips were quickly turning into hungry sucks and licks across her flesh. “Hummm… Angel?”
Her skin tasted fresh and clean and uniquely Cordelia. Angel could smell the feminine scent of her sex that lay hidden just inches from his open mouth and wanted to taste that too. He kissed and licked his way up her body, pushing her top out of the way. Aching for more contact, Cordelia’s body arched against the tingling sensation of his cool tongue. Angel’s mouth opened, ready to capture the perked jewel covered only by the sheer fabric of her white, lacy bra but stilled as fate forced its way into their haven with a ringing shrill of reality.
Cordelia froze as the answering machine clicked on and the familiar voice invaded her fantasy. “Cor, it’s Margo, hun. I’m having a party tonight and Oliver is insisting that you be on the guest list.”
“Get up Angel. Get off me you big lug before Margo hangs up.” Ummp! Unprepared for Cordelia’s hard shove Angel hit the floor with a heavy thud.
“I think someone’s interested in auditioning you for a role and Oliver wants to represent you. Call me.”
Cordelia snatched the phone, gasping as she pulled air into her lungs. “Margo, hey it’s me. No, don’t worry I’ll be there. Yea great. Bye.”
Replacing the phone Cordelia turned around to find Angel still lying in a heap beside the sofa. “Angel get off the floor.”
“I can’t I’m hurt. You should kiss it and make it better.”
“Gees Angel, you’re a vampire. Where could you possibly be hurt from falling off the sofa?”
“You can’t see it unless you take my pants off, but I’m sure it will feel better when you kiss it.”
“Dork. Just my luck, The Powers linked me to a dork.”
“I’m going to ignore that little dork comment because you need to call Margo back and tell her you’re not coming.”
“I don’t think so Angel.”
“Cordy it is too dangerous for you to be out at night alone. Besides you’re not going to any Hollywood parties that have hookers on the guest lists.”
Cordelia reached her hand down to Angel tugging him from the floor. “Come on, get up big guy.”
“Why? You could come down here instead.”
“Because you should be standing when you leave.”
“Leave? I’m not leaving.”
“Yea, you are Angel. You’re leaving and I’m going to get some sleep so I won’t be all puffy eyed at the party tonight.”
“Cordy, I said…”
“I know what you said Angel and my reply to that ridiculous order is…PFFTT. So if you want to keep me safe get that cute, little butt; which is not going to be feeling these lips…” Cordelia tapped her index finger against her puckered lips. “…out on the streets and take out the evil vamp.”
“The sun is up Cordy. Can’t very well find him in the daylight.”
“Pftt. I’ll bet that super vamp snout of yours can find a sewer tunnel that leads all the way to that sleazy alley you left me in. You know the one Angel, where I was arrested.”
Giving in Angel stood and accepted that not only would Cordelia not be removing his pants she wasn’t going to be kissing anything below his belt either. “I’m going to pay for that for a long time; aren’t I?”
“Like you have never paid before big guy. Now scat. I’m tired and I’m hungry. I promise I’ll call you before I leave and I’ll let you know when I’m home. And I promise I won’t stay out late.”
“Not good enough Cordy. I can’t take the car now anyway, so you drive it back to the office before sundown and I’ll take you to the party.”
“Angel you can’t…”
“I’m not planning on staying Cordy. You can call me when you’re ready to leave and I’ll pick you up.”
“Fine. Now get out. You have work to do. Champions for the PTB can’t spend their day just lying around.”
Angel wanted to kiss her before he left. He wanted more of what they had started before the ill-timed call interrupted. But the insecurities that shaded Cordelia’s face made him hesitate to pursue those particular wants.
“Alright Cordy, you just make sure you’re at the office before dark.” Cupping her face, Angel planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. “If not you’ll be enduring some more tickle punishment young lady.”
Angel couldn’t resist just one more quick taste of her sweet lips. His mouth barely brushed against hers and the nip on her lower lip was so quick she almost missed it. Abruptly releasing her face, Angel grabbed his coat from the chair as he strolled out the door.
“Whew.” Cordelia released the breath caught in her throat as she collapsed on the sofa. “Are we going to jump each other like animals in heat every time we’re in the same room? Well Dennis, I just hope the PTB know what they‘re doing.”
