Part 2
Wesley Windham Price and Charles Gunn walked quietly behind the bickering couple in front of them, shooting each other quick glances every few seconds. Angel and Cordelia had been fighting with each other since they had left the Hyperion.
It was beginning to give Wesley a headache. He rubbed his sore temples and adjusted the bag of weapons on his shoulder.
“Hey Wes?” Gunn started. Wesley glanced up at him. “You remember when Cordy used to say that you and me act like an old married couple?” Wesley grinned faintly and nodded. Gunn smiled. “Well, how bout’ that? Pot calling the kettle a little black huh?”
Wesley shook his head. “I think she has a suitable reason Gunn.” Gunn raised an eyebrow. “Cordelia’s always had a slight temper but in all honesty, she usually has a reason for snapping. Angel’s actions…” Wesley stopped to consider that for a second. “Or lack there of…must have really upset her.”
“But he only fell asleep. It ain’t that big a deal. That Kryvoski was a bitch to fight. All of us were exhausted.” Gunn rubbed a hand over his shiny, bald, head. Wesley sighed resignedly. “I know. But Cordy…she’s always been…insecure about love and the way people treat her. And while this probably isn’t such a big deal in her book, she has every reason to be angry with him.”
Gunn’s blew out a frustrated breath and Wesley hurriedly continued, trying to reassure his friend. “It’ll blow over. She’s just angry and a little hurt. She’ll let it go.”
“That Xander dude messed her up pretty bad, huh?”
Wesley nodded sadly. “Well it’s unfair to only blame him of course. There are several people who she loves, or has loved, who have hurt her. Although what he did was particularly…”
“Dastardly, deceitful, dishonest, bitch slap worthy?” Gunn supplied helpfully.
Wesley grinned at his friend affectionately. “I was actually going for hurtful but as usual you’ve outdone me.” Gunn smirked and winked good-naturedly before replying, “All I know is, she better not stay pissed off at him for too long. Cos we all know that when Cordelia Chase isn’t happy? No one’s happy.”
Wesley pondered the truth in that statement. He prayed that Cordy wouldn’t stay livid with the vampire for an extensive amount of time. That would be fairly easy if Angel stayed as patient and as calm as he was at the hotel. Problem was, Angel wasn’t behaving rationally at all.
He was infuriated. It was evident in his daunting form, the way he stalked angrily beside Cordelia, the way his eyes had flecks of gold in them. Despite the fact that Gunn and Wes trailed several feet behind the arguing couple, they could hear every word, simply because of the escalating volume of their voices. What would it be like back at the hotel when they were all in the same room?
The two figures in question disappeared from sight, around a curve in the sewer wall. They were no longer shouting but the eerie silence made Wesley wish the commotion would return. He gulped. He really wanted a cup of tea.
***
Angel glared over at Cordelia. She had stopped screaming at him, and strangely enough, the silence was driving him crazy. Her eyes had contracted into deadly slits and she refused to look at him. Angel cleared his throat loudly. Cordelia continued to walk forward, without blinking an eye. The vampire felt his self-control slipping slowly out of his fingers. Every confident stride she took, unconcerned with the fierce emotions that were swimming around inside of him, pissed him off increasingly. It also turned him on.
She’d probably slap him if she knew that though, so he just kept his mouth shut and smirked knowingly to himself. Cordelia glanced over and caught his sneer. “Ass.” She muttered, under her breath. Angel watched his last thread of restraint snap. His demon cried out excitedly as an immense sense of wrath bubbled up inside of him and he closely pursued his prey, like the dangerous predator he was.
“What the hell are you so angry about Cordelia?” He asked her furiously. She ignored him and walked faster. He kept up.
“I asked you a question Cordy.” He towered over her now, a figure in black, tall and intimidating and very much in her face. Standing directly in front of her, blocking any escape route, the vampire with a soul demanded answers.
Cordelia looked him square in the eye and her mouth slowly curled into a snarl. “Bite me, dead boy.” She pushed against his chest, sending him stumbling backwards slightly, not far enough to embarrass him, but hard enough to make his already evident rage escalate. Angrily, he grabbed her wrists and hauled her against his hard form, placing one arm securely around her waist so that she couldn’t get away.
“Angel…what are you…let go of me!” Cordelia struggled against his chest but to no avail. Angel was aware of her quickening heartbeat, but despite that giveaway, he couldn’t smell even a single drop of fear. All he could sense was the anger coming off her in waves, as well as the arousal. He smirked. She glared.
“You are such a dick.” Cordelia whispered harshly. Angel’s smile widened as the sweet smell of arousal hit him full force. Cordelia relaxed slightly against him. Regardless of the awkward position he had put her in, Angel’s grip was gentle. Firm as ever, but he wasn’t hurting her.
“I don’t know about that Cordy.” He whispered seductively, trailing his tongue over her upper lip. She shivered deliciously against him, despite her attempts to hold it in. “Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that you were labelling me a eunuch?” He winked at her, his brown eyes darkening with want.
Cordelia glowered at him fiercely, before leaning forward and whispering callously against his chin, “After last night, I might just start using that nickname again.”
Quick as a flash, Angel slammed her against the wall of the sewer, eliciting a squeak from the girl pinned underneath him. He cushioned her from banging her head against the stone by the protective arm circling her waist, which prevented her from physically hitting the wall. She hovered about four inches away from it, her body pressed tightly against Angel’s, her chest rising and falling rapidly, adjacent to his non-breathing one.
Their hips were encased snugly together, and Angel, feeling the compulsion to test her lenience, ground his hardness against her heat. He revelled in the hungry gasp she emitted and then in the fuming stare she sent his way. They both glared at each other, the anger and desire floating palpably in between them.
Angel broke the stare first, his mouth going to her throat, suckling softly just underneath her jaw. When she moaned grudgingly, he whispered, “I wouldlove to bite you Cordy. Ask me again.” He nipped the slim column of her neck gently before raising his eyes to hers once again.
“You are so full of it.” She spat out, venom tainting her words, providing blatant proof that she was disgusted by the effect he had on her when she was trying to be angry at him. Angel felt the rage course through him for the millionth time that day.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep Cordelia. God, why can’t you ever just let it go? Does it always have to be about what I do wrong? I’m never gonna be this perfect guy who does everything just right for you. I would love to, God, what I would give to be able to be this flawless boyfriend…” He trailed off and then added bitterly, “But I’m not. And I can’t be. I’m a vampire. I’m imperfect. Deal with it.”
Cordelia’s eyes, which had softened at his initial confession, hardened again when he condescendingly reminded her of what he was. Something she already knew and accepted so wholly. “Don’t you dare throw that in my face Angel.”
Her eyes watered slightly and she blinked back tears, refusing to let them fall, reluctant to let him see her cry, although he had a thousand times before, and his had always been the shoulder to lean on. Somehow, at this precise moment, she felt vulnerable.
Angel felt his chest tighten and a cold shame filled his dead veins. God, he really was an ass. It was times like this he realised how Cordelia felt. When that razor-sharp tongue of hers beat her brain to the surface and she blurted out something that she didn’t mean to; harsh and cruel and more importantly, unfair and unnecessary.
He could see it in the slight widening of her eyes and the apologetic look that passed quickly over her features, evidence that she didn’t mean it, or that she didn’t intend for it to come out that way. That was exactly what he was experiencing right now. He didn’t mean for it to come out that way. In fact, he didn’t know what he was thinking when he said it.
It didn’t take a genius to realise that, out of all the people he had met in his very long life, Cordelia Chase was the one person who totally and entirely acknowledged who and what he was, the horrors that he was capable of, and not only loved him despite that, but because of it.
He raised his hand to Cordelia’s face, a gentle gesture to erase the pain he enforced there, but she jerked away, refusing to look at him. Angel opened his mouth but a throat being cleared stopped him from speaking. The vampire swivelled around to see Wesley eyeing him cautiously and Gunn looking…well, pissed off.
Angel carefully released Cordy from his arms and took a step away from her. He could smell her tears, even though not a single one stained her cheek. A frosty dread filled his stomach right down to his toes and made his heart lurch painfully. She glanced at him through a short curtain of dark, brown hair and then quickly looked away.
Smiling a little too brightly at Gunn, she asked, “So, we gonna go kick some big, blue, demon booty or what?”