Part 8
Angel stared at the bathroom door while he paced. *How can she still worry about Buffy or Darla? She has to know that I love her. She’s my future. How can she doubt that?*
Cordelia stepped out. She felt a slight twinge of guilt for manipulating him. “Stop brooding.”
He pulled her into a hug. “You have to know that you’re the only one I’m in love with.”
“Duh”
“Then why..” He saw the certainty in her eyes. Her intentions suddenly became clear. “Why you little..you said that to distract me!”
She gave him her best innocent face. “Huh?”
“Don’t even. You did that on purpose.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine but you totally asked for it.” She stepped out of his arms and went to boot up the laptop.
“Come again. When exactly did I ask you to torture me?”
“Pfft. When you asked me a question I didn’t want to answer.”
“What?” Cordy logic tended to make him dizzy.
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t want to talk about my past. What difference does it make to the here and now anyway?”
“You’re right.”
“I am?”
“Absolutely. In fact, we completely agree that our past relationships have no bearing on us.”
“Woah. Back it up buddy. Don’t be twisting my words. What happened between me and…that was before you and I were even really friends. What happened with you and Darla is totally different. It’s not like I asked you to give me a run down of all your past lovers. You probably couldn’t list them if you tried.”
“I could too..well maybe not from when I was..but after, definitely. I’ll make a list if you will.”
“You’re being ridiculous Angel. Now be a good husband and go get me something to eat. I want to email Wesley.”
He folded him arms across his chest. “How about you tell me about closet boy first?”
“How about you tell me about the bimbo triplets?”
“So is a sandwich okay with you?”
“Turkey please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks”
Dear Wes,
I’d like you guys to dig a little deeper into Dr. Robert Altman’s past. I know we didn’t find anything before but give it another try. He hasn’t done anything suspicious unless you count pissing Angel off. It’s just all the other counselors have offices on the upper floors. His is in the basement. I was told it’s temporary. His is being remodeled but he’s been there for 6 months. According to the files, the disappearances started a little over 5 months ago. It’s probably a coincidence, but in my experience there’s no such thing.
I need you to send your response password protected. Don’t use my usual password. Make it coffee. Angel already doesn’t like Bob. I think it’d be best to keep him out of the loop for now. If he finds out I’m a little suspicious, there’s no way he’d let me be alone with Bob. I don’t want him to get violent in front of him. Other than where his office is located, I have no reason to suspect him of anything.
By the way, you got me in trouble with your last message. Angel was a little curious about our passionate encounter. I’ll be sure to thank you for that the next time I see you.
Love,
Cordy
P.S. Why haven’t you emailed us more often. We’d like to know if you’re all okay. Just something that says you haven’t been killed by vampires, demons or evil lawyers.
***
“I brought you some soup too.”
“Thanks”
Angel watched her eat while he drank his special V8. She appeared completely calm. “You’re really not going to tell me, are you?”
“Huh? Oh. There weren’t any messages.”
Growling, he tossed the empty bottle in the trash. “Not that.” He started pacing.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?!” He threw his arms in the air. “She asks what’s wrong. You’re unbelievable!”
“Umm..thanks”
“Tell me who closet boy was.”
“You’re still on that. I thought we moved on.”
“Well I’m moving back. Who was he?”
“What difference does it make?”
“I want to know.” He smirked at her. “We shouldn’t keep secrets.”
“What about the bimbo trio?”
He sighed. “It was after I first stayed at the hotel. I was pretty pissed off after everything that happened. I ended up at a bar. They were there performing..you know. I caught their eyes. They bought me a few drinks. I was already extremely drunk. We spent the night…they told me I was the only one to ever satisfy all three. I ended up staying a few days.” He hung his head. “It was a completely empty experience.”
“I’ll bet.” Her eyes blazed in anger. “Did you enjoy repaying the favor they did for you at Caritas?”
He kneeled in front of her and clutched her hand. “I never did. I told them if anyone ever gave them any trouble, to call me. They were disappointed but I swear nothing happened.”
She kissed him. “I believe you. Oh look at the time. We should..”
He pulled her back down. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me who closet boy is.”
She worried her bottom lip. She was surprised he hadn’t already guessed. He knew she dated Xander. Buffy must have made a comment about her and Xander’s love of dark places. Angel never really liked Xander. He once admitted to her he’d been jealous of Xander’s friendship with Buffy once upon a time. She looked into Angel’s eyes. It was now or never. “It was just Xander.”
Angel’s mind was assaulted with horrible images of that annoying boy’s sweaty hands rubbing his Cordy’s body as he thrust inside her. He didn’t even notice he’d started growling. “How could you have sex with that..that..”
“Who said sex? I never said I had sex with him.”
He felt his body relax a bit. “You didn’t have sex?”
“Nope” She stood up to throw her leftovers away.
“So what did you do in the closet?”
She froze. “I told you. We didn’t have sex.”
His body started to tense again. New images assaulted his mind. “Are we going by the Clinton scale for sexual relations?”
“You know we should get going. We showed up late for Bob and group today. We shouldn’t be late for the workshops too.”
“Forget that. We’ll leave as soon as you answer my question.”
“Fine. Yes. I’m going by that scale. We never had sex but we did a helluva lot of other things. Happy now? Can we go?”
He growled. “What did you ever see in that loser?”
“What difference does it make? He broke my heart end of story. Now I’m leaving. Do what you want.”
“Cor”
“Dammit Angel! I don’t like talking about him. Just leave it alone. It was a long time ago.”
“You don’t wish things had worked out, do you?”
She stopped, her hand resting on the door knob. The fear she heard in his voice made her turn. “Angel I love you. I love my life with you. I don’t like to think about how stupid I was back then. I never even suspected anything. Finding Xander and Willow together and then falling…it changed me. Why do you think I kept pushing you away? I was terrified of being in another relationship where I was the only one in love. The way I felt about Xander is nothing compared to the way I love you. I knew I wouldn’t survive if you..”
He had her in his arms in an instant. “It won’t ever happen. I would never betray you like that. You’re the only woman I want.” He gently captured her lips. “I love you.” He stroked her collarbone with his thumb. A thought occurred to him. “So it was never like that with Xander?”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you trying to ask me if you’re better than Xander at..the other things?”
“No! Please. As if I would question..umm..so am I?”
“You’re insane. You know that right?”
“Yeah” He cleared his throat. “So am I?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a god. OK? No one I’ve been with holds a candle to you. Feel better?” She laughed at his goofy grin. His grin slowly faded.
“So who else..”
“Angel!”
“Fine. Fine. Let’s go.”
“Wait” She fidgeted. “Aren’t you going to say anything else?”
“You just yelled at me for asking.”
“Not that dumbass. Aren’t you going to say anything about my..performance?”
He took a moment to revel in the knowledge he wasn’t the only insecure one. “Cor, making love with you is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I would happily spend an eternity buried in your body.”
“But..” She looked down. “Have you had any moments of perfect happiness?”
He lifted her chin. “You’ve given me a whole new level of bliss.” He nuzzled her neck. “I should set Nabbit up with the furies as a thank you.”
She giggled. “He’d probably like that and if it keeps their hands off my vampire, then so much the better.”
“Yours?”
“Absolutely” She tightened her arms around his neck. “Mine” His hard body pressed her into the door. “Do you have a problem with that?”
His lips descended onto her neck. “Nope. It’s only fair ’cause you’re mine.” He nipped at her jugular careful not to break the skin.
She arched into his mouth. “Seems fair.”
He growled at her action. His demon was more than ready to claim her. His soul was barely putting up a fight anymore. He groaned in frustration. It was time to leave for the workshops. He didn’t even have the consolation of stealing a few touches. The men and women were assigned separate rooms. He rested his forehead on her shoulder. “This retreat is supposed to bring us closer but it mainly seems to stop us from being alone.”
She nibbled on his ear. “It has helped. We made a few breakthroughs in our relationship, wouldn’t you agree?”
“That was then. Now I want you all to myself.”
“Soon. We’re halfway through the course. Then we get to go home..”
“Where you’ll remain naked and in my bed for a very, very, very long time.” He accented each very with a kiss.
She leaned into whisper. “If we solve this case, we can go home sooner.”
He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.” He opened the door and dragged her down the hall. “We have work to do.”
***
“Hello ladies. I’m Dr. Clemens but you can call me Valerie. Some of you may recognize me from today’s group session. I sat in to get to know all of you. Here at the Wellington Marriage Center, I run the retreat for married couples with children. I also help Bob out with the female workshops, since his team is comprised of men.”
Cordelia studied the petite woman. She was attractive in a scholarly way.
“So let’s just jump right in, shall we? How is your sex life? And is your husband fulfilling your needs?”
Donna laughed. “George doesn’t even know what foreplay is. He seems to have forgotten in his old age.”
Sara vigorously nodded her head. “Tom’s the same way. A few nipple twists and he’s ready to start pounding.”
Cathy started laughing. “Josh is so predictable. He has a system. Five swirls a piece for my nipples and 20 for down south. He insists on being on top. There’s never any variety. No various positions. I’m married to the only man who doesn’t want an occasional blowjob. What kind of man doesn’t want his dick sucked?”
“I wish I could say the same. Jarod always wants that. I don’t really like doing it. And as for swallowing, I absolutely refuse.”
“I don’t mind swallowing. It seems fair since Andy goes down on me. What I hate is role playing. He always wants to play games. His favorite is the prison guard and the naughty inmate. I just want to be Becky and Andy.”
“I love role playing. We even buy outfits. John looks totally hot in a fireman’s uniform. I think sex is better when we’re not Deanna and John.”
“Oral sex, role playing and outfits are fine by me. What I won’t do is have sex in public places. Lately Ben keeps asking me to do it in his office or my office. He even wanted to do it in a dressing room at the mall. The last time we went to the movies, he wanted me to give him a blowjob.” Christine wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Sex should be done in the home.”
Jessie’s face was bright red. “I come from a very strict Catholic family. I was a virgin on my wedding night. Peter’s taught me everything I know. I don’t think I’m very good at pleasing him. He recently started renting movies. He suggested we reenact the different scenes. My priest told me it was my duty to please my husband although he doesn’t condone the use of pornography.”
“Rob likes to watch movies too. He really likes the ones with girl on girl action. I don’t get the appeal but if he gets off on it, I don’t mind watching it. I try to be open minded about experimenting but I draw the line at anal intercourse. I have no desire to have anything inserted in my ass. That street is strictly one way.” Laura started laughing. “I told him if he let me fuck him with my vibrator, I’d give it a try. He hasn’t asked since.”
Cordelia fidgeted in her seat. The women were waiting for her complaints. Wes told her to be honest whenever possible. “Our sex life was pretty non-existent lately. I kept holding back. Angel stopped saying he loved me. It was always want or need.” A large smile spread across her features. “We had a breakthrough after a session with Bob.” Images of their lovemaking raced through her mind. “Angel definitely fulfills my needs. He seems pretty happy too.”
“Yeah but the two of you haven’t been married very long. Give it time. All those things he does now will be reserved for special occasions. Eventually it becomes a couple of minutes of pounding until he cums. Tom is usually asleep by the time I make myself cum.”
“John is pretty thoughtful. He makes me cum before we have sex. He likes to use toys. He seems to like my vibrator more than I do. He says he loves the look on my face when I cum.”
Cordelia listened as the women discussed their likes and dislikes. Emphasis on dislikes. She felt out of place. She and Angel had only had sex a few times. They hadn’t been together long enough to grow stale. Not that she thought sex with Angel could ever get that way. He certainly knew how to please her. It wasn’t much of a surprise. He’d been around a long time. She tried not to think about how long Angel’s list might be. Her list was fairly short. The fact that she’d only been with a few guys was hardly something she was embarrassed about but it made her wonder. Did she satisfy Angel? He told her she made him happy but was it in the same mind-blowing way he made her?
***
Angel was in hell. Instead of making love to Cordelia, he was spending the afternoon discussing their sex life with a bunch of guys. He took some comfort that Bob wasn’t there. That man had already taken too much interest in their sex life.
“Donna always complains about the lack of foreplay. I work ten hour days, five days a week. I’m tired at the end of the day. Of course she’s well rested, she doesn’t work. We don’t have any children. I take care of the bills and she takes care of me and our home. Everything’s a compromise.”
“Vanessa and I have a healthy sex life. My only complaint is she doesn’t like giving head. She has no problem asking me to go down on her.”
“Deanna is a hell cat. My only problem is the whole role playing thing. She loves it when I dress like a fireman. Sometimes it feels like she needs me to be someone else to find me attractive. I know being an insurance salesman isn’t exactly exciting but I make a good living.”
“I love role playing. So does Becky. Her favorite is the prison guard and the naughty inmate. I wouldn’t change a thing about our sex life.”
Everyone had spoken but him. As far as he was concerned, it was nobody’s business. He reminded himself. He agreed to participate for the sake of the case. The stupid case! “Cordelia and I have a great sex life.” We do when we’re allowed to be alone he silently added. “Pleasing her pleases me. I love the way she surprises me.” His eyes glazed over as he remembered his surprise when she took him in her mouth. He smiled. “I’m very satisfied with our sex life.”
“That won’t last. It will eventually get stale so you’ll try to spice it up with games. I’ve been trying to get Christine to try new things. She’s pretty open minded except she’ll only have sex inside our home. I think it’d be exciting to do it in my office or hers. She refuses.”
Angel tried not to laugh. What would Ben’s wife say about his and Cordelia’s adventures in the linen closet. Although now that he knew that about her and Xander, he doubted he’d want to do that again. He replayed their two encounters in his mind. No. He’d definitely be willing to do it again. Showing her how pathetic Xander was is a good thing. He was tired of discussing sex. He wanted to go find Cordelia and explore every inch of her beautiful body. He looked at the clock for the millionth time.
***
“Unfortunately our time is up. We’ll pick up where we left off in tomorrow’s workshop. I want to leave you with a few instructions for tonight. After dinner, I want you all to return to your rooms and spend all evening with your husbands. I want you to remove all your barriers in order to really open up the flow of communication.” Valerie noticed their confused expressions. “That means no clothing. I want you to remain naked all night.”
Cordelia stifled a laugh. She and Angel wouldn’t have any problems complying. Angel was probably doing the happy dance right now.
“But I don’t want anyone to engage in sexual intercourse.”
***
“What?!” Angel was ready to beat Jake to death with his chair. He was sick of these damn counselors trying to stop them from having sex.
“You may please each other but no penetration. There is a tendency to focus solely on intercourse. There are so many ways to please each other aside from a man inserting his penis inside a woman’s vagina.”
“Does that mean we can have anal sex?”
“No. No anal intercourse either.”
“Damn! I thought I might finally convince Laura to try it.”
***
Cordelia was so not happy. They should have stayed in their room and skipped the stupid workshops. *I wonder what Angel said about me.* She shook off the thought. She was so sick of following directions. She was all for finding different ways of pleasing each other but having him fill her was the way she looked forward to exploring the most.
She hoped Angel hadn’t killed whoever was running the men’s workshop. She knew he wouldn’t be happy about their newest instructions. She smiled as she remembered his reaction to Bob’s suggestion. He ended up telling her he loved her. Was it really that important to follow all their instructions?
They didn’t follow Bob’s. Would not having sex really help solve the case? “You said not having intercourse would force us to find different ways of pleasuring each other but Angel already pleases me. So can we..”
“Cordelia, it’s just for tonight.”
“I know but like I said earlier. We finally stopped holding back in the bedroom and now you want us to hold back some more.” She wanted to scream. “So just tonight?”
“Yes”
“OK” But at 12:01 I’m having sex she silently added.