Epilogue. CORDY
Two figures stood in the middle of the room facing each other.
The woman was a middle height, mocha skinned, eyes of sooty hazel watching the taller broader man grinning down at her with a mischief in his chocolate eyes that spoke of more than what was about to happen in this room.
An answering smile on her face stretched out until her teeth peeked out and her gaze dropped down slightly bashful.
“Nervous?”
My eyes rose and the smile widened. “Are you?”
Angel raised a cocky eyebrow. “The last time I was nervous was when I had to ask Susie Wellington to be my valentine back when I was human.”
I smirked. “Yeah, because then as the number of valentines increased so did the size of your ego.”
And he took a step closer and I took my first breath out of synch with normal breathing.
“But your ego never inflated even with all the men falling in your feet whispering words of love.”
I bit my cheek from grinning like an idiot. “Words of love never impress me Mr. Angel”
And he took another step closer to me as my heart skipped its first beat. “Then tell me what does Miss Chase and I’ll do that.”
I let my eyes rake over his form slowly as if in caress; taking in the unruly spikes of his hair to the smooth planes of his forehead, the twinkling chocolate eyes, sharp slanting nose, past the crooked smile down his smooth jaw to the bob of his Adams apple, peeked into the V of his shirt and then over the angles of his chest and the dip in his waist, skimming my eyes over the firmness in his hip to the strength in his thighs partially hidden under black pants, along the long stretch of his calves and the familiarity of his bare feet.
I could barely hold my giggle as his toes wiggled slightly in the lushness of the carpet and I lifted my gaze back up to his face. Kicking off our shoes at the threshold had been a good idea after all.
“Like what you see?”
The snicker escaped before I could stop it even when I tried to muffle it with my hand. I nodded mutely and took my first step towards him. I should have guessed this would be as cheerful and easy as everything else was with this man.
Not that the intensity didn’t crackle in the air or that the room wasn’t charged with sexual energy. Out of all the silly mistakes, stolen kisses, lost moments and accidental touches, this was the pinnacle of every intimate interlude.
No more death threats and desperate embraces. Just the flickering desire mingled with a teasing happiness in his eyes that I knew he’d put in my eyes.
I saw him return the favor, feeling every sweep of his gaze as he took inventory of my loose shoulder length mahogany hair, the twitching mouth, the stretch of my neck, past my collarbone and pause for a second at the dip in my neckline.
Unable to help the spurt of laughter, my shoulder’s shook as I stood there a few inches away from his gaze. He peeked up at me through raven lashed and raised an eyebrow.
“What’s so funny woman?”
I laughed harder. “What is it with men and breasts anyway?”
His eyes sparked with wicked intent and all laughter choked in my throat as his knuckles brushed the underside of my left breast. At my shuttered gasp and the noisily swallow of my throat he smirked, obviously pleased with the results.
“I think they’re fascinating.” The humor was mixed with the husk of his sexy voice. The same voice he knew too damned well how to use. Electricity buzzed down my spine, pooling in my womb as his hand hovered close but didn’t touch again.
Licking my suddenly parched lips I took a steadying breath. “You sound like you’ve never seen many before.”
“Not yours I haven’t.” And then the mirthful jesting was lost to the soft brush of his knuckles across my jaw. And that was why I loved this man. He knew exactly how to touch me. The barest brush of fingers sliding along the curve of my jaw to the soft tremble in my chin and then the cold fingers drifted over the fullness of my lower lip and it parted from the upper without any effort as the muted puffs of air rushed in and out only noticeable by the rise and fall of my chest.
The rougher pads of his fingers trekked down the expanse of my neck to my collarbone as I took a thirsty swallow. But I hadn’t noticed my eyes had fallen shut until his palm slid up the side of my neck and his hand cupped my face, his thumb fitting perfectly between my ear and cheek and his fingers slid into the soft hair behind my ear and melted into his touch.
“Open your eyes Cordy.”
With an effort enough to move stone, I lifted my eyes and stared up into the smoldering depths of his eyes and lost the breath in my lungs in a jagged gasp. And he knew me so well. He knew the words weren’t what impressed me; it was the reverence and utter adoration in those eyes that turned me into a great big pile of liquid bones and twitching fingers; even if my memory eluded me.
And I could tell he knew just by the way his mouth lifted at one corner in a perceptive smile. “Angel?”
“Hmmm?” I couldn’t stop my lips from drooping again as he leaned closer as he stepped forward the last step separating us and his left hand mirrored the position of his right on my face and lifted my jaw to meet his gaze.
It was so like him. He always liked my eyes on him, my full attention always on him, and for a second I forgot what I was saying as he weaved the slow cocoon of melting fire around me. If he kept this up, I’d be the one claiming him instead.
Another thirsty swallow and I opened my mouth to speak but his gaze flickered down to my lips and instead of telling him that, I loved him, that I wanted to be his, him to be mine or promises and vows I knew I’d never made to anyone before I could only offer a silent prayer.
“Oh god.”
His nose brushed mine in a soft Eskimo kiss before he smiled. “You’re acting like you’ve never been kissed before.”
“Not by you I haven’t. Not that I remember the other either. Humph.”
His shoulders shook with a soft chuckle and the riposting smile on my face only tightened the web around me. “Well then you better be prepared baby, because I plan to kiss you all over.”
With a helpless groan I slid my arms up over his chest and wrapped them around his neck just as his mouth descended over mine and I was surrounded with Angel. The firm press of his mouth slanted and the hiss of air snatched from our noses mingled as I pressed myself against him, just drinking in the contact of his mouth on mine, his chest pressing against the fullness of my breasts, the hardness of his hips against the curve of my belly and the firm strength of his thighs against mine.
As if on cue, his hand slid across my ear, his fingers tangling in the mass of my hair, his palm cupping the base of my skull and my fingers threaded through the soft hair at the nape of his neck and our lips parted in synch.
Heightened gasps mingled as his tongue made its first pass into my mouth, tangled with mine before coaxing mine into his and then I didn’t remember where one kiss started and another began. Before always, when I’d kissed Angel or he’d kissed me there had been reigned passion and the responsibility of making sure things didn’t go too far.
Now without any limits placed on where this was going, I let him claim every inch of my mouth, his hands fisting in hair as if afraid I’d pull away. In reassurance I let my hands slide out of his hair, down his chest before my arms wrapped around his chest. He like me was a creature of sensation. His fingers sifted through the softness of my hair, the smooth skin of my neck and over the bones in my shoulders while I let mine roam freely over the planes of his back.
When much needed air forced my mouth to leave his, we stood there tangled and out of breath, our forehead still connected as before, his eyes closed as mine stared at him in wonder. And it seemed I wasn’t the only one who had problems believing this was real.
“Open your eyes Angel.”
Surprised chocolate eyes snapped up to mine at the familiar request and I dropped another soft kiss to his mouth. He was the initiator of this relationship, but it was my hands that ducked under the hem of his shirt and met the velvety skin of his back.
And the shocked gasp was his when I stepped away far enough to pull the shirt off his head, his arms rising up to aid my goal. Staring in wonder at my bravado, he slid his thumb slowly down the expanse of my mouth before whispering hoarsely.
“Fucking hell Cordy, I think I’ve created a monster.”
“You were a very good teacher.” I winked; my mouth still damp from his kiss and my skin flushed with love and happiness. I reached forward to touch that delicious firmness of his shoulders, but his wrists caught mine and I blinked up at him in surprise.
Angel was all about touch and sensation. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why he didn’t want my hands on him when that was all he’d been trying to do since the first time he’d seen Spike in my apartment. And then I saw the chocolate irises of his eyes narrow with what looked like regret or pain and I was thrown off my Ferris wheel of desire.
Here cometh the king of Brood. “What?”
His fingers tightened on my skin before he took an un-needed breath to calm himself. “I’ve wanted this since the moment I saw you with my baby in your arms Cordelia.”
The mention of my first name sank my heart just a little bit, along with the memory that Connor was no longer that bond, before he continued. “But I’m not going to do this without knowing for sure you won’t regret this tomorrow.”
My mouth parted with surprise and I stared up at him. “Oh my god, are you serious!”
His mouth twisted with reproached disappointment. “Does it LOOK like I’m joking about this Cordy?”
I continued to stare at him. “No! Are you crazy Broody-Boy?!” I held his face much like he’d held mine, the sheer grip of my hands made him blink in surprise, the anxiety leaving his eyes as I glared up at him in amazement and disbelief.
“YOU are insecure about MY partiality towards the prospect of making love to you? Are you daft!”
He glared back, looking adorably pissed while I held his cheeks, his mouth pouted. “I’m the one who threw you over my shoulder, you were screaming about kissing Spike.”
“What happened to the whole ‘I know you love me give in and let me make sweet honeyed love to you’ bravado?”
“This isn’t a joke!”
“And that was?” I couldn’t believe him! “You can’t bring me here to this point and then leave me there to jump on my own. I can’t! I won’t!” I shook him slightly. “I love every stupid inch of you. That ridiculously guilt ridden mind of yours and this undeniably delicious body; both!” His mouth stretched into a slow smile and I only glared harder.
“Don’t! I cannot believe you! You spend all this time throwing me around and acting all growl-y only to lose your nerve when I’m the one who wants you for everything you are with everything I am!” I stepped away from him. “Butthole!” He tried to catch my arm and I wrenched away from him fuming at his gall and the whole wrongness of him needing reassurance after THAT kiss.
“Don’t touch me!”
Hands clasped firmly on my shoulder yanking me back against his chest, his hips sliding to the curve of my ass. “I’m going to be more than touching you princess.” When I tried to twist out of his grasp his hands wrapped around my wrists and pinned them against my chest as he held me there in the circle of his arms.
“I’m human too Cordy. Well almost. It’s just…sometimes I need to hear you say it.”
The struggle left me as his breath played across my ear and I swallowed the anger still simmering in my belly, the heat morphing into desire by just the sheer gravel in his admission. When his lips skirted over the shell of my ear and down to my shoulder planting soft kissing along its way, I couldn’t hold the tension in my body and relaxed back into his arms, my head falling against his shoulder as my eyes slipped shut.
“God I love you more than breath. You know it better than I do.”
“I know baby. Helps to hear it though.” His teeth nipped at my earlobe and the smile returned to my mouth. When my hips rolled back against his inadvertently, he let out a grunt. “Or you could do that.”
I chuckled and this time when I pulled my wrists from his grasp to slide one hand up into his hair and the other along the side of his thigh, he let me. While his mouth played along my shoulders, I felt this hands slide around my waist and up into my shirt, over my stomach, his fingers tightening into the flesh there for a second before his hand wrapped around one silk covered breast without hesitation.
With my lower lip caught between my teeth, I jerked slightly pushing further into his hand wanting to feel his other hand on the lonely breast that tightened just in anticipation. Craning my head, I breathed harshly against his ear before sliding the tip of my tongue along the shell of his ear. “Don’t stop.”
“Couldn’t if my life depended on it baby.” His chuckle fused with his groan as his fingers rolled one nipple between his thumb and pinched gently enough to call the answering gasp across his ear. And that’s when I felt the change of temperature across my stomach and chest and my eyes flew open.
Looking down, my eyes widened as I saw my shirt gaping open around both his hands wrapped around my breasts and I forgot to moan or whimper as the lonely one also got its due attention.
How the hell did he unbutton my blouse?
But the question didn’t linger in my slowly combusting brain as his hands worked magic across my skin, barely concealed behind the white silk of my bra. The shirt slid down my shoulders to pool around my elbows.
“When you wear virginal white Cordy, you bring out the demon in me.” His mouth kissed down between my shoulder blades and I bowed further into his hands.
The shiver jumped into a shudder when his tongue slid under the clasp of my bra and then the straps fell along my hands as both the bra and the shirt dropped between our feet. And if his hands on me had felt good through the material of my bra, the cold of his fingers on my nipples made me jump like a fish in his arms.
And then it was all Angel and his need to touch people and this time there was only me. I could feel the raw heat ignite where his fingers touched my skin, spread down my belly and burned low and bright between my legs.
Not quite able to hide the need to be touched there or the heady moans slipping past my lips; I arched back into his body, pressing into the insistent bulge behind me so that I could feel the pressure where I needed it the most.
Only I couldn’t bend enough as his chin rested on my shoulder, his eyes caught on my breasts in his hands as they weighed them deferentially, stroking heightened skin and rolling the erect nipples between forefinger and thumb until I was wild. The only thought running through my head:
damn this man could touch.
When one of his hands slid away from my breast I groaned with protest, my hands clutching his soft hair in my hand, but the protest died on my lips as his palm smoothed down my belly and his fingers ducked inside the hem of low-hung jeans and panties before meeting the damp wetness there.
“Oh god Angel.” My back bent as his fingers slid through slick folds to skirt over my aching clitoris teasingly. If he hadn’t been holding me, his arm around me, his hands caressing my right breast I would have pooled on the floor next to my shirt and bra.
“Shhh princess. Don’t want the others finding out you’re being naughty now, do you?” The teasing humor only fuelled my frustration as he moved his fingers around the outer lips of my vagina without giving me the pressure or direct contact I craved.
“Fuck the others Angel!”
The pad of his thumb pressed firmly into my clit and I sucked in a dazed breath, my body freezing at the confident contact. “You sure about that?”
With the dull ache where his thumb stayed unmoving and the screaming pulse in my ears I could only shake my head minutely. Dear god, was it possible to spontaneously combust with just the fire building in my belly? “Angel I…”
“Unbutton your jeans for me princess, I need a little more room to move.”
With a slow drag of breath I reached down and undid the button of my jeans before sliding the zipper down. The only sound in the room was the rasp of metal or the rush of air out of my lips and then the soft cry of absolution as one finger slid comfortably inside my body. “Oh!”
I felt more than saw his smile across my cheek. “I think your body likes me.”
Incensed at the smugness in his voice I gritted my teeth gathering the strength to shift my hips and twist, his hand sliding out of my pants before I pivoted in his arms quickly enough to surprise him and claim his mouth with a kiss to steal his breath; if he had breathed.
A shuttered groan echoed through his chest when my hardened nipples brushed the angular planes of his chest, sliding once over his own flat nipples before my mouth slid down his chin and caught the soft skin on the base of his neck and suckled.
His hips bucked, his fingers digging into my hips as I held onto his shoulders, my teeth caught around the cluster nerves now baring my mark. Breathless myself, I raised my head and smirked at him with a wild hunger reflected back in his eyes. “I think your body likes me about as much.”
Unashamed longing darkened his eyes as he watched my hands slip down to undo his pants and push them past his hips. Leaning down to flick my tongue into his navel I was rewarded with a bark of laughter as I straightened and pushed his pants down with one foot as he stepped out of them.
Did I mention I love it when Angel laughs? It gives me happy shivers all the way to my toes. It was when I stepped closer to receive the kiss in his eyes that I realized something poked me in the navel.
Looking down I let out a shocked breath to see him completely naked and standing proudly against my belly. “Oh dear god!” My head snapped back up. “You went commando!”
The wicked snicker deepened as he pulled me closer to his body, rubbing against me like a big cat. “Did you really expect something else?”
My shoulders shook with silent laughter as his hands traveled down my back to push my own jeans and panties down my hips. Wriggling against him, I helped as he squatted down in front of me and again his sinfully dark eyes shifted from humor to hunger as he watched the darker, trimmed hair covering my still aching center.
When he didn’t rise, I slid one hand down into the softness of his short hair and he leaned forward. Eyes widening ,I didn’t realize my fingers had tightened a tad painfully into his hair until he yelped and lifted his hungry gaze to mine. “I want to taste you Cordelia.”
The panicked swallow almost lodged in my throat at the wicked picture he presented kneeling in front of me. And I stood there dangling between just fucking decorum and modesty and the shuddering fear of surrendering control to him.
I had a vague hue of a memory of giving another man that privilege and coming out feeling dirty and more afraid that before. But I couldn’t remember if it was mine, or a vision I was remembering. When he caught the fear mingled with desire in my eyes his hands wrapped around my ankles before rubbing up my calf slowly.
His eyes didn’t leave mine, waiting for my answer. The knot in my stomach tightened and I wondered if I said no, he’d think I was a prude or get pissed. “Angel I…”
He rose to his full height slowly, his eyes locked with mine, his hands trekking up over the back of my knees, the sudden rigidity of my thighs, along the curve of my ass and rested there as he looked down at me. “Yes or no Cordy; I want to make love to you in every way possible. I want to devour and taste and swallow you whole.” My breath hitched in my throat.
“But only when that fear is gone from your eyes.” A soft relieved breath left me and I wrapped my arms around his chest, his arms wrapping around me, his fingers rubbing soothing circles across my shoulder blades and the curve of my lower back.
And there for the first time in my life I felt cherished and respected. And the realization brought tears to my eyes.
Burying my face against his shoulder I could only whisper brokenly. “Make love to me Angel. I don’t want to remember anyone touching me besides you.” Lifting my head I met his eyes with clear demand. “And I promise to learn to trust you with my body, like I trust you with my heart.”
A soft happy moan tore out of his mouth. “You beautiful, gorgeous, crazy woman.” His mouth buried itself against mine and I was lost in a sea of sensual touching that was the essence of Angel.
When my feet left the ground, I realized he’d lifted me. Carrying me over to the dark tones of his bed sheets he placed me there, his mouth never leaving mine, before his weight settled along my body.
With a muffled groan into his mouth, I lifted one leg until the inside of my thigh gripped his hipbone, the heel of my foot sliding along his leg. His mouth jerked away from me with a ragged breath. “Ah hell, where’d you learn to do that?”
With a smile I pulled my other leg out and mirrored the same caress over his other leg. “Some things come naturally to a woman Angel.”
“Any more of those and I’m your humble slave woman,” he muttered only half joking before angling his hips, his elbows resting on the bed beside my head and met my eyes, the sharp jut of his cock just brushing between the folds of my vagina.
The gravelly moan was mine as he paused there without moving a muscle. When my fingers tightened on his back he raised a cocky eyebrow at the smoky longing gathering in the depths of my body and eyes. “Last chance.”
“Oh god! You arrogant, self-centered, idiotic twit! We are WAY past the last change marker!” His beautiful mouth widened into a sinfully delicious leer and I nearly screamed as the tip of his cock slide up to press into the sensitive bundle of nerves that drove me half out of my mind.
The quick tightening of the jaw muscles behind his cheek bones and the tenseness in his pale biceps, defining them perfectly told me enough that he wasn’t quite as immune to the situation as the grin on his face belied. With wicked smirk of my own I dragged my long legs up around Angel’s body, locked them over the small of his back and pulled him close; within touching distance of my sex.
“Jesus Christ Cordy! You’re like a cat in heat.” He laughed breathlessly quickly followed by a moan as I shifted impatiently underneath him, way past any point of issuing protests.
“I never took you for the religious type.” I had nothing else on my mind then besides filling the hollow void inside me that seemed to tug at my heart the longer he teased me.
“You have that effect on me baby.” His forearm came to lay flat against the bed as his mouth rained kisses down my throat making me arch under him trying to ease the ache I couldn’t describe.
And then the head of his cock found the entrance and all I could do was moan softly into his ear as mouth kissed lovingly down my shoulder as he slid deeper inside, slowly to let me adjust until a kaleidoscope of colors burst behind my eyelids. “Angel, please…” The cry was broken and I felt his body tremble before with a single, sure thrust he was inside me.
Jerking with the combined shock of intrusion and fulfillment I watched him raise his head and look down at me in wonder that probably mirrored my own. I hadn’t realized how thick he was until that moment and it didn’t hurt, but the shock was probably at the utter hot power and rightness of our joining.
And I would have cried had he not been grinning down at me like the cat with his paws in a bowl of cream; given the situation I couldn’t suppress the smile of contentment. A feeling that was of completeness and finding the one thing in your life that makes you whole.
Reaching out I touched the fine lines in his brow before quirking an eyebrow at him. “As amazing as this is, do you think we should move?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know I kind of like….ARGH!” His eyes nearly crossed as his hips jerked into mine, our pelvis’ colliding with a resounding sound of flesh hitting flesh and I tried really hard not to laugh. I swear I did.
But the wide lust in his eyes, and the fangs sliding out against his will were enough to make my shoulders start shaking with mirth. And to think I had reduced my vampire lover to this.
I really was Cordelia Chase and all because I’d learnt how to use other muscles in my body. “Bloody fucking hell! How did you…”
Wrapping my arms around him I rubbed my nose with his. “You’ll learn as we go along Angel, that there are a great many things I do really well.” Lifting my hips I tightened around his shaft again. “That is only one of them.”
The growl of reverent muttering spurred him into action and took all laughter from me. Then keeping his eyes focused on me in a way I found captivating beyond belief,
Angel slowly began a gentle rhythm, rocking softly as he watched just which movement took me closest to the edge and I discovered with him I was an apt pupil to his administrations and quickly responded, listening to my own sighs as if they were somewhere far away.
He was right again, as he was about almost everything else, my body did like him. Oh goodness gracious how it liked him to pieces.
After the span of several heartbeats, I began to clinch my inner muscles around him, twisting my own smooth motions counter clockwise to his, like a variation on a theme in music, echoing and complementing. Like we did in almost everything else we did together.
Here was at least one little trick I found drove Angel wild and that kind of power I my hands had been rare before. The sensation resulted in a low, fierce growl from deep in Angel’s throat, and I not too silently thrilled to the idea I could make him that aroused.
“Ah hell, if I’d known you were this damned hot Cordelia, I’d have lured you into bed sooner!” He gasped between movements. “Do you even know how long I’ve wanted…” His voice trailed off, adrift in the heady sensations we were sharing.
His meaning, though, wasn’t lost on me. “Oh….I have….ugn…some idea Broody.” The full feeling of him inside me, his low groans in my ear and I was so damned close.
The pinpricks of pleasure and the dull ache of his movement inside me built like a blinding freight train, out of my control and came hurtling out of his body and into me. We rushed head long into the abyss, our tempo at a maddening pace, frenzied and fierce.
And over my own cries of pleasure I heard Angel murmur my name over and over, like a chanted mantra, and my own breath came in short gasps, racing toward the edge.
“Angel.” His name was little more than a breath on my lips.
“Cordelia!” It was more of a savage growl than a word. I felt myself flutter and tighten around him. Then the kiss on my neck tightened and Angel’s fangs sank into my jugular. An unrestrained scream ripped out from the depths of my chest and after one last deep thrust, I let go in a burst of grateful joy, followed immediately by Angel.
In that moment, I was caught beyond time, I was pure sensation and bliss, existing in him, and he in me in a way I hadn’t thought possible as I floated back to reality slowly, like a light feather on the wind, feeling totally complete of body and spirit.
Reluctantly, I felt Angel pull away, his tongue sliding over the twin holes reverently, sealing his claim. Between his soft raining kisses, and I settled myself into the crook of his arm, out of breath and still groaning with the taxed muscles and singing nerves.
His lips parted to speak before my hand clamped down on his mouth and I let out a half laugh, half moan of contentment. “I’ll dust you if you ask me if that was good for me.” I could feel the soft smile under my hand when I lifted my eyes to meet his; the love and contentment were the only things I could read in his eyes. Unable to deny him even that, I nodded. “Yes egomaniac. That was very good for me.”
“Better than all the others?” One eyebrow arched with mischief.
I chuckled, “What others?” Before leaning over and rolling on top of him.
“Good answer,” he spoke huskily as I captured his mouth in a breath stealing kiss.
He groaned softly. “You’re a witch Cordelia Chase.”
Propping up on his chest I couldn’t help raise an amused eyebrow. “How so?”
“You bewitched me.” His fingers raked lovingly through my hair melting my insides like butter. “That’s the only explanation.”
I laughed. “Well then you should be careful Angel. I might turn you into a toad.”
“You already turned me into an idiot.” His answering laugh was just as teasing as he slid his hands down my back. “Being a toad wouldn’t change much I think.”
“I like toads.” I blinked at him innocently and shrieked with laugher as his fingers dug into my ribs tickling mercilessly.
Listen as the wind blows
From across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning
Memories trapped in time
The night is my companion
And solitude my guide
Would I spend forever here
And not be satisfied
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I’ll take your breath away
And after I’d wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes dear
Through this world I’ve stumbled
So many times betrayed
Trying to find an honest word
To find the truth enslaved
Oh you speak to me in riddles
And you speak to me in rhyme
My body aches to breathe your breath
Your words keep me alive
The End