Part 6
Angelus woke up alone. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Her heartbeat was music to his ears. He waited for her to come out of the bathroom.
“Hey. Sleep well?”
“As well as a chained vampire could. The waking up part wasn’t so great.”
Her brow furrowed in concern. “Why?”
“I woke up alone. Why is that?”
“You’re getting better at the sweet talk.” She realized he was waiting for an answer. “We humans, even the semi-human ones, have this morning ritual we can’t avoid.” She rolled her eyes at his blank expression. “I had to pee.”
“Oh” He looked her over. “So what’s the plan for what’s left of today?”
“I have to go over my vision with Wesley. I left the drawing on his desk. We probably need to do a little research before Spike and I go kill it. Everyone’s still working on getting your soul back. Lorne’s chasing down some leads and Fred’s searching the net.”
“I still don’t like the idea of you going with Spike. It’s just one demon. He can handle it.”
“Maybe but I’d still feel better if he didn’t go alone. I’ll get the couple to safety while he fights…or vice versa. I’m pretty handy with a sword. I kicked both your butts, in case you forgot.”
“That doesn’t count. The soul was slowing me down.”
“Pfft. Like you wouldn’t have looked down my shirt if you’d been soulless.” She straddled his waist. Her fingers slipped under his shirt to explore his chest. “I still would have disarmed you.”
“Hand to hand is a lot more fun anyway.” He squirmed under her touch. “Let me come with you tonight.”
Her hands froze. “What?”
“I want to help.” She looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Please?”
“You want to help?” He nodded. “You want to kill the bad guy and save the couple?”
“If it keeps you safe, yes.”
The sincerity she saw in his eyes surprised her. “I know you want to keep me safe but I need you safe right here.”
“You still don’t trust me.” He looked away.
“To protect me? Absolutely. To stay in complete control of your instincts? The jury’s still out on that one.” She stroked his cheek. “You might be tempted..if you…I would have to..” She closed her eyes to block out her fears. A tear escaped to slide down her cheek. “Please don’t make..I know I promised you I would stake you but I..don’t make me live with that.”
“Shh Cor. I won’t. Just promise me you’ll be careful. I should have killed Lilah when I had the chance.” He growled. “Much as I hate to admit it, Spike is a good fighter. I know he’ll protect you with his life.” He gritted his teeth. “I really hate having to entrust him with you.”
“Afraid of bad karma, are we?”
“Something like that. You love me, right?”
“Of course. Why would you ask that?”
“Spike has a soul now. He..” She stopped his words with a kiss.
“I love you. Spike is my friend and family.” She looked deep into his eyes. “I’m in love with every part of you.” She mumbled against his lips. “Only you.”
He sucked on her bottom lip. “I love you. Please, I need you.”
She quickly unbuttoned his shirt. “What do you need?” She kissed a trail to his nipple. She gently worried it with her teeth before rolling it with her tongue. “Tell me what you need.” She lavished the same attention to his other nipple.
He was painfully hard. He did his best to thrust against her center, desperate for friction. “I need to be inside you.”
“Is that what you need?” She released his erection. With his pants pushed as low as possible, she took him into her mouth.
His hips bucked at the sudden sensation. “Cor!”
After a few strokes, she released him with a soft pop. “Is this what you need?” Her hand continued to stroke his weeping cock. She licked the few drops of precum that had formed.
He groaned in frustration. “I need to be inside you now.”
Cordy stood up on the bed still astride him. She pulled her tank top off and tossed it on the floor. Her pajama shorts and panties soon followed.
He looked up at her. Her dripping curls made his mouth water. He licked his lips. “Come closer.” She sat on his chest. He could feel her heat searing his flesh. “That’s not what I meant.”
She reached behind her and started stroking his length. “Tell me what you need.”
“God Cor! I need to fuck you.” He watched as she licked her lips. “Please!”
“I thought you’d never ask.” She shifted her hips until his cock brushed against her opening. She impaled herself in one quick movement. Her mouth swallowed his groan.
He desperately wanted to touch her. He matched her thrusts as best as he could.
Cordy spread her arms and entwined their fingers. Her pace increased. She purposely squeezed his cock with her inner muscles.
“Fuck!” His hips bucked wildly. “Do that again.” Her inner walls clenched making her already tight passageway tighter. He thrust up hard sending her crashing over the edge with a shriek.
She pulled his head to her breast. She felt his ridges form against her skin. He sank his fangs into her flesh. The moment her blood touched his tongue he exploded in long, hard spurts. She felt another orgasm wash over her.
Angelus gently extracted his fangs. He licked the reopened wound until it stopped bleeding.
***
Spike smirked when he heard Cordelia’s scream. He couldn’t help envying his grandsire a little. To be loved so completely must be an amazing thing. Not that he would know from personal experience. He could imagine it though.
“Spike, are you even listening to me?”
“What? Sorry mate. My mind wandered off. What were you sayin’?”
“I said it’s an exsul demon. It’s called that because this particular species was exiled from another dimension over three thousand years ago.”
“Fascinating. Really it is. How do I kill it?”
Wesley blew out a breath. Nobody appreciated the finer details. “Decapitation works best. I’ve prepared a potion for you. After you killed it, sprinkle it with this powder and recite this phrase. The demon should disintegrate.”
“That’s what I like. A demon who cleans up nice and easy.” He looked over the slip of paper Wes handed him. “ab igne ignem. What’s it mean?”
“Literally from fire, fire.”
“To quote our favorite girl, duh.”
“Basically it means as you sow, so shall you reap. Fitting.”
“Always hated latin.” He shoved the paper in his pocket. “Is that it?”
“Yes. There’s nothing remarkable about it. You and Cordelia shouldn’t have any problems killing it.” Wesley removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. “Spike, is there any way to give a demon a soul other than a curse or by trial?”
“If there was, I would’ve done it myself. Passing the trial wasn’t easy. It was fuckin’ painful.”
“I was afraid of that. I spoke to Lorne and Fred. I even called Giles in England. Our only hope was cursing him and that failed.” He glanced us the stairs. “I’m afraid Angel may be gone for good.” He slid his glasses on. “Be sure to let me know how Cordelia takes the news.”
“Oh no. Don’t look at me. She needs her family right now.”
“I heard her call you family in this very room.”
“Nice try. It needs to be a group effort.”
“You’re right. I’ll call everyone in. We’ll discuss everything later tonight.”
“Are you givin’ up on him?”
Wesley’s shoulders slumped. “Not yet. We’ve been focusing on what we can do. We need to discuss…we need to find Lilah and torture her until she tells us exactly what they did. Maybe that will tell us how to recurse him.”
“Now you’re talkin’. I may be all soul havin’ now but nobody messes with my family and gets away with it.” Spike growled. “Don’t ever tell Angelus I said that.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
“So what are we waitin’ for? Let’s go get the bitch. I still have a few hours before I gotta go kill the exsul demon.”
“We have no idea where she is. I had a few associates check her apartment. It’s been cleared out. Wolfram and Hart is locked down. There is no way to sneak in right now. The whole place has a force field around it. I imagine the senior partners aren’t happy about the way things turned out. There’s a very good chance Lilah’s already dead. I have some people watching every exit. If she pokes her head out, we’ll know.”
“Have I told you lately how glad I am you’re back?”
Both men turned at the sound of Cordelia’s voice. “It’s been a few days at least.”
She kissed his cheek. “I’m really glad you’re back. The place wasn’t the same without you.”
Wesley blushed. “Thanks”
“So what’s the 411 on Mr. Slimy? Is it time to hit the books?”
“It’s an easy kill, Pet. Headless, potion, chant then poof.”
“Cool”
Wesley rolled his eyes. Leave it to the blond vampire to roll all the information he gave him into a few words. “It’s a little more..never mind. How is Angelus?”
“I’m sure he’s fine. It sounded like Cordy was takin’ real good care of him. Lucky bastard.”
Wesley coughed. He ignored the deep shade of red her face became. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a few phone calls to make.”
Cordelia waited for Wes to close the office door before hitting Spike.
“Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?”
“You keep your vampire hearing to yourself.”
“Don’t blame me ’cause you’re a screamer. Oww! Quit hittin’ me. Ow! Fine. Scream all you want. Although I’m surprised the watcher didn’t hear you as loud as you were. Owww! That fuckin’ hurt.”
“You’re such a baby.”
“Oh sure. The evil vampire upstairs gets shagged and the souled one gets abuse. You know it just isn’t bloody fair. You Sunnydale women are a confusin’ lot. The slayer shagged Angel but hated Angelus. She shagged me when I didn’t have a soul and now that I got one, for her I might add, she wants to take things slow. One kiss is all I get at the end of a date. You think I could convince Angelus to switch?”
She put her arm around his shoulders. “Sorry blondie. I think he’d probably rip your head off for asking.”
He rested his head on her shoulder. “True. How about I just borrow you for a few decades? Ow! I’m willing to settle for years. Weeks? Days? Hours?” He blocked her blows. “Fine. Forget I said anything. Geez can’t take a compliment.”
“You’re so bad Spike. We both know you’re in love with Buffy.”
“Do you think she can ever love me like you love Angel?”
“It’s not a matter of her ability to love you completely. She has a lot of fears to conquer. Give her time.”
“I will even if it kills me.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“It’s a pity you left Sunnydale. We might’ve been the ones to fall in love.”
“I was a total bitch back then.”
“And the slayer wasn’t?”
“Spike!”
“If you have my memories, Luv, you know I speak the truth.”
“You weren’t exactly Mr-Nice-Guy back then.”
“True. I was evil and now I have a soul.”
“She doesn’t know how lucky she is.”
“It could have been you and me, Pet.”
She lowered her head. “No. If you’d fallen for me, you wouldn’t have gotten a soul.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I’m not worth it.” She tried to blink back the tears.
“Are you crazy?” He could tell by her tears she was serious. “Cordelia, you are an amazing woman.”
“Pfft”
“You are. You inspire a vampire to want to be a better man. Angelus is in love with you. Do you even know how unbelievable that is?”
“Thanks a lot”
“No. Not because of you. Angelus is..I never thought he was capable of love. The judge declared him free of humanity. Even Dru and I weren’t considered clean. In case you haven’t noticed, you’ve turned the Scourge of Europe into a fluffy puppy with bad teeth. No one has ever tamed him. No one’s ever come close. You did that.”
She tried to smile. “Thanks Spike”
He pulled her into a hug. He nuzzled her neck. “You’re inspiring me right now.”
She started giggling. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d be upstairs shaggin’.”
She kissed his cheek. “You’re so bad.”
“Bad to the bone, Luv.”
***
“Sorry I couldn’t find anything to help Angelcakes. Everyone said the same thing. The only way to give a demon a soul is a curse. The only way a demon can get itself one is by facing the trial.”
“Thanks for trying Lorne. I know you had to…make a sacrifice.”
“Don’t mention it. Ever.”
“I can’t believe there’s no other way.”
“There just isn’t a demand for something like this Fred.”
“The evil vamp hasn’t been actin’ like we expected so far. Maybe Barbie could convince him to face the trial.”
“He does seem to genuinely care for Cordelia but I highly doubt that would work. According to my research, the reward is your heart’s desire. I’m afraid what his might be.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Our only hope is discovering exactly what Wolfram and Hart did to prevent him from being recursed.”
“Perhaps I could be of assistance.” Lilah stood in the doorway. She was flanked by two armed men and two vampires. “I do so like being helpful.”
***
“ab igne ingnem” Spike and Cordelia watched as the headless corpse dissolved into a puddle of goo. “I love it when they do that.”
“Me too. It beats finding a place to dump the body. I hate it when we have to burn them in the hotel’s incinerator. The whole place stinks for days.”
“Sounds like fun. What say we go get a drink to celebrate a job well done?”
“No. I should get back.”
“He’s chained up. He won’t be goin’ anywhere. I think you could use a drink.”
“Pfft. I could use a whole bottle but I don’t want to make him worry.”
“Give the watcher a call. He can let bondage boy know you’ll be late.”
“I don’t want to put Wes through the trauma.”
“Huh?”
“Angelus wouldn’t take that particular message very well. He’s already jealous about you and I handling a vision together.”
“Say it again.”
“What?”
“The part where Angelus is jealous of me.”
“Yup. Now that you have a soul, he’s afraid you might steal me away from him.”
“Ahh. Being on this side of things feels pretty damn good. C’mon. Now we gotta go out. Let him suffer a bit.”
“I’ll be honest. Having some of your memories does tempt me to indulge you but I can’t.”
“I understand. How about I go get us a bottle? We’ll let him watch us drink it.”
“You’re on.”
Spike tossed her the keys to the Plymouth. “I’ll walk. Meet you back at the hotel.”
“OK”