Double or Nothing. 26a

Two hours passed by before Angel put in an appearance sweeping into the Bronze in a swath of black on black. Dipping into the shadows as was his habit, the vampire let his gaze wander over the club in search of the others.

He picked them out of the crowd one by one— or rather two by two.

Angelus and Cordelia were locked into a tight embrace performing moves on the dance floor that appeared to belong in their bedroom. Apparently Cordelia’s lessons had paid off, because they looked good together. Willow and Oz were out there too, but dancing far more sedately than the vampire and his mate. Buffy and Xander were by the bar placing an order for drinks.

Noticing the empty couch where their coats and other belongings were piled, Angel sat down dead center and stretched out his legs in front of him. This was not where he wanted to be tonight, but he had made a promise to Cordelia to come to the club, so here he was. He watched from his position on the couch as Cordelia and Angelus slowly made their way back across the dance floor. Angelus had his hands all over her causing Angel to growl low in his throat.

It was obvious that their dancing had aroused them both to a point where being in the center of the dance floor had its disadvantages. Angelus groped her ass as Cordy fisted the short ends of his hair holding him to her as she opened her mouth to the probing invasion of his tongue. Finally, they arrived back at the couch, barely sparing him a grunt of acknowledgement. Fine. He wouldn’t have to explain his tardiness.

Angelus moved his hands up to Cordelia’s shoulders, his eyes hot with passion as he gave her a push toward the couch. Tumbling backward, Cordelia let out a little gasp of surprise as she fell against the statue-still form of the vampire sitting there. She had no time to say anything to Angel because Angelus descended upon her mouth to smother it with more of his skillful kisses.

Any second now, Angel was going to put a stop to this. His brother had Cordelia in a position that practically draped her across his side, her back up against Angel’s left arm and her bottom pressed up against his hip. This was worse than the theater. It was dark there compared to here. At least they were in that space tucked away behind the stairs, but anyone could see in here if they glanced this way. Angel didn’t care about the audience, not when her hand accidentally brushed along his thigh.

Just a little higher, sweetheart. The irrational thought was guilt-free as her hand clamped down on the muscle just holding on as Angelus made her forget her own surroundings.

A strangled gasp sounded as Buffy and Xander rounded the corner carrying sodas. The display in front of them was mind-numbing and neither could manage to speak. Angelus and Cordelia were necking on the couch. No shocking surprise there since they had seen something similar every time those two were together. It was the fact that while all this was going on, Angel’s head was turned toward Cordelia, his eyes closed as he seemed to be scenting her hair.

Xander’s gasp startled the kissing couple and Angelus pulled away long enough to note that the boy was staring at Cordelia’s misplaced hand. The vampire glanced at Angel whose face gave away nothing of the lust he felt. Taking Cordelia’s hand away, he placed it high on his own thigh and continued to kiss his mate.

Glaring at Angel, Buffy felt like throwing the sodas at the three of them just to cool them all off. He’d just been sitting there, letting Cordy touch him and sniffing at her hair like he was trying to memorize her scent. Angelus didn’t seem too upset at Cor’s mistake. Maybe it was obvious to him that she hadn’t done it on purpose. Or maybe, just maybe there was something going on between the three of them.

Buffy’s jaw dropped open at the thought. No, surely not. That would be…the two of them…hot in a totally weird and disgusting kind of way. Angelus was too possessive to let someone else look at Cordelia, much less touch her, she assured herself.

“Time for a cold shower,” Buffy’s voice was just as icy. “Break it up or I’ll have to settle for my soda.”

Cordelia was still seeing stars when Angelus straightened them both up. She glanced at Xander who appeared to be in some state of shock and then realized he was not looking at her, but at Angel behind her. She vaguely recalled seeing him, but hadn’t realized he was sitting quite so close. When’d he get there?

“Angel, you made it,” Cordelia’s smile instantly melted his stony expression. “I knew you’d get here.”

“No you didn’t. You were probably plotting to kick my ass,” Angel said knowingly.

“Duh!”

Angelus rose from the couch holding out his hand to Cordelia. “I think it’s actually time we left, babe.”

Peeking up at him, Cordelia smiled that impish grin. “Five minutes? Angel just got here.”

In fact, Cordelia was a little concerned about leaving Angel alone right now with the Slayer. Buffy was looking rather pissed off and it was no wonder considering how late Angel had left it to join them. She might still be mad about being bitten if what Angelus hinted at earlier was close to the truth.

“Promise me that you’ll try to have some fun,” Cordelia faced Angel again who was looking like he found fun contrary to his existence. “Dance. At least try to dance.”

“Angelus inherited all of the rhythm in the family,” he deadpanned right back.

Cordelia laughed in spite of the fact that she knew that wasn’t true. Anyone watching the way he moved would know Angel could move gracefully. He just thought too much about what he was doing when on the dance floor. “Funny, but it won’t score you any points tonight. Buffy’s had to put up with Xander all evening and you know what that’s like.”

“Hey!” Xander sounded a protest.

Angel never bothered looking in the boy’s direction. He was too entranced by the green-gold hues in Cordy’s eyes. Then his hand automatically came up to her throat as he fingered the gold choker with the sign of the Order of Aurelius. Looking at what was essentially his mark displayed around her neck, Angel found the temptation to kiss her getting to be difficult to ignore.

Then Cordelia leaned forward and whispered something into Angel’s ear that left him laughing in a way none of them had ever seen before. The sound was so surreal that it was almost scary. Buffy stared at Angel’s beautiful smile like it was a sunrise she’d seen for the first time.

Overhearing Cordelia tell Angel to try out the Bunny Hop if the dance moves got too complicated for him, Angelus simply rolled his eyes and waited for the five minutes to pass. Time was ticking.

“I think it’s time for you to go,” Angel told her catching his brother’s impatient look. No matter that Angelus stood there watching them, any longer and he wasn’t going to stop himself from taking what he wanted. Not that it would stop with a kiss, he told himself. Cordelia deserved more than just a damn tattoo and a choker to signify her importance to them.

Reading something in his eyes, Cordelia found herself agreeing. She joined Angelus as he stood next to the stairs. “See you at home?”

“I won’t be late,” Angel nodded.

Cordelia and Angelus were barely out of hearing distance before Buffy exploded. She just couldn’t take it anymore without confronting her boyfriend. “Can’t wait to leave? You sound like you can barely stand to be near me.”

Rising from the couch, Angel towered over the petite blonde. “Are you sure you want to have this conversation here?”

The vampire glanced in Xander’s direction making Buffy aware that they were not alone. Xander felt his own fury growing and the hatred he always felt for Angel was welling to the surface. This was what he’d been afraid of all along. That the vamp would lose it and hurt Buffy. He’d bitten her! Now he was practically drooling over Cordelia in spite of Angelus’ presence.

Xander watched, his mouth a tightly drawn circle, as Buffy and Angel stared at each other across the small space separating them. An almost palpable vibe passed back and forth between the two as if some dark counterforce was signaling danger ahead. It was the Slayer’s defensive stance that shocked him, her unconscious method of moving into a position while facing an enemy not a lover or a friend. The look on Angel’s face caused him to freeze into position as if sensing the vampire’s predatory nature for the first time.

Reminds me of Angelus, he gulped down the lump forming in his throat. Except that the soulless vampire had been doing a terrific job of playing Good Guy. Plus, he actually had a sense of humor and knew how to have fun unlike Dead Boy.

“We’ll go out back,” Buffy told Angel. “To the alley.”

Angel quipped, “So no dancing?”

Xander took it back. The vampire did have a sense of humor. It just made people want to kill him.

Irked by Angel’s attempt to joke about this, Buffy set her soda down on the table top with such force that it sloshed everywhere. Whirling on her heel, she headed to the back exit of the Bronze. Angel was about to follow when he felt himself held back by a hand grabbing a fistful of his leather coat.

“Harris.”

“Angel.” Their usual cool greeting extended into a warning on Xander’s part. He didn’t care how frightening the vampire could be or what he had on his mind when he bit Buffy or sniffed at Cordelia’s hair. “Be careful what you say and do. Buffy may be able to physically defend herself if necessary, but she still has feelings.”

“Remove the hand,” growled Angel with perfect cold clarity, “before I permanently remove it for you.”

As fast as humanly possible, Xander dropped his hold on Angel’s sleeve. Inwardly wigging out, he realized that maybe it did matter how frightening Angel could be. Hell, he was damn scary! Letting Angel go, he watched until the vampire passed through the exit door before deciding what he needed to do.

Pacing back and forth like a caged tigress, Buffy stopped mid-motion as Angel came into view. She didn’t wait for explanations. Baldly, she barked, “I’ve had enough.”

“Enough?”

“Yes, Angel,” she confirmed. “Enough of this. Of us. If there ever was an us.”

Angel watched her mouth tremble, but it was adrenalin and not fear that caused it. She went on and he let her. “I know we had something, Angel. I loved you. I really did and I know that you loved me, too. What happened to that? Was it all just my imagination?”

“No,” he admitted. “We had something real, Buffy.”

The Slayer noted bitterly that he also used the past tense to describe it. “Was it real enough to fight for? Real enough to do anything not to let it go?”

“You tell me.”

Giving him an odd look, it took Buffy a minute to figure out what he meant. Licking her lips, she realized what it was. “The deal with the Fates.”

“I wanted more for us,” Angel reminded her. “What we had was a dream of what we thought we could be together. I wanted to make it real for both of us. Thought I had found a way.”

“You were wrong.”

The accusatory tone in her voice made it clear that Buffy was still angry about his decision to bring Angelus back as a way to secure his own soul. “Yes, I was wrong. The deal is done and there is no going back to the way it was, Buffy. The Moirae just don’t work that way.”

She watched as Angel circled around her, a habit of many vampires as they paced around their prey. Buffy refused to wheel around to watch his progress. She stood her ground and kept her senses open to his movements.

“What is it about this deal you made? I know there is something that Giles hasn’t told me. He refused to say anything more than I already know. You told me that this could be deadly, Angel. I never realized that you meant it could be deadly to me.”

Angel stopped dead-still as he listened to what she had to say. “I never intended to kill you. Not consciously.”

“You would’ve if you hadn’t realized what you were doing.”

He couldn’t deny it.

“You never even told me you were sorry about it,” Buffy yelled at him.

He admitted quietly, “I am sorry it happened. I don’t want you hurt.”

“Well thanks for that,” Buffy returned sourly. “I loved you. Truly, I know that I did, but I’ve changed too. I’m not the same girl I was a year ago…before I thought I killed you and sent you to that hell dimension.”

Silently, Angel listened to her speech. He couldn’t say that he disagreed with any of it. Buffy told him that she realized, “We want different things. It’s way beyond the physical stuff…y’know…sex.”

Even now, she had trouble saying it to his face. Angel braced himself against the inner laughter that threatened to pour forth sensing that she would not take it well.
“You’re the Slayer, Buffy. I find myself reacting to you as a vampire rather than a man.”

“You are a vampire, Angel.”

A slow smile crept onto his face, one of irony. “There was a time when I wanted you to see me only as a man, Buffy, but I came to realize that I needed you to accept me as a vampire. That was something you couldn’t do. Until I bit you.”

“That will never happen again,” she informed him slowly enunciating every word like a warning. “You see, I’ve decided I’m not going to take that chance anymore. You’ve changed just as much as I have. The deal with the Fates has made you into someone that I just don’t recognize anymore.”

Angel had to admit there were days he barely recognized himself.

“So that’s it,” Buffy shrugged the heavy weight of despair from her shoulders and stood determinedly before him. “I quit.”

Moving with sudden speed and accuracy, Angel gripped her shoulders pulling her close. Despite the fact that the Slayer was giving him an easy way out, Angel found that it riled him. He grasped her hair in his fist staring down at her with the sudden release of his own anger. “You don’t quit me unless I say so.”

Buffy pushed him away using her Slayer strength. “Just listen to you. This isn’t like you. You’re not the man who gave me that Claddaugh ring. We’ve just been living a lie these last couple of months trying to be something we are obviously not.”

“Then what are we, lover?”

“I-I don’t know, Angel. Please, let it go for a while.”

“Did my bite frighten you so much that you would give up the rest of it?” Angel knew that she enjoyed the sex. He may not have enjoyed it to the extent that he wanted to, but she certainly did.

Holding her hand to her throat, Buffy admitted, “Yes, it scared me. I let my guard down because it was you. Biting me was never something I would have let you do if you’d asked permission.”

“Maybe that’s why I didn’t ask.”

She let out a mad laugh, a trill that came across as something he might hear from Drusilla. “Just listen to yourself. You’ll realize why I’m not taking any more chances. This bite had nothing to do with love. It took me a while to realize the truth, but I finally understood the reason why.”

Angel looked puzzled. If he didn’t understand it, how could the Slayer possibly hope to do so?

The look on her face caused Buffy to laugh harshly. “Forget about the biting and the deal with the Fates. I think I have more than enough cause to be mad at you right now.”

Wondering what else he had done, Angel stared back at her with a dense expression. “So clue me in. What’s the problem?”

Buffy used her words like a weapon, striking at him with everything she had. “You’re so into her you don’t even know it. You don’t think anyone else can see it. I’m not stupid or blind, Angel. Maybe it’s taken me a while to believe it, but there is only one thing I can’t tolerate in a boyfriend…the fact that you’re in love with someone else.”

Dumbstruck, Angel simply stared at her as the words slowly penetrated his mind. In love with someone else?

“Like I said, you don’t even know it.”

No sooner had the thought sunk into his mind than Angel accepted it as the truth. Cordelia. Obviously, she was talking about Cordelia. There was no doubt in Angel’s mind that he wanted Cordy. No doubt that he was irrationally possessive about his brother’s mate. The idea that he loved her stunned him and yet he found that denial was impossible.

That word…love…it linked up perfectly with feelings that seemed to free-float in his system. Feelings he had never felt for anyone before, not even Buffy.

The thought was enough to remind him of his plans to take back the right to claim Cordy as his own. He needed time and patience and planning, for such a task would not be easy considering that she was Angelus’ mate. There might be protests from Cordy, too. After all, she professed to love his brother. Despite that love, he knew there was an attraction between them that had nothing to do with the fact that he and Angelus were look-alikes.

“Say something,” demanded Buffy. “I’m breaking up with you, accusing you of being in love with Cordelia and you can’t even tell me to shut up or that I’m wrong?”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Oh.” Buffy felt the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. Fighting against it, she blinked them away. Suspecting was one thing, but hearing a confirmation was quite another.

“Face it, Buffy,” Angel surrendered to the idea of their relationship ending, “whatever we had it started in spite of who we were. Slayer and vampire. The physical aspect simply complicated matters. It brought out our diametrically opposed natures.”

“You’re saying we were never meant to be together,” she realized sadly.

“You need someone human, Buffy. Someone whose instincts don’t oppose yours. A man who won’t kill you if you try to dominate him.”

Blushing at that last statement, Buffy realized the extent to which Angel hated the fact that she needed to control him during sex. It had to be part of her Slayer nature in response to him being a vampire.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Looking at him with wide soulful eyes, she asked him, “Let me go.”

Despite the fact that he knew this was the right thing to do, Angel felt torn between his naturally possessive feelings about Buffy and relief that she wanted to end their affair. Weighing everything in the balance, Angel realizes the decision is easier than he thought. His feelings for Cordelia tipped the scale.

Nodding his consent to the decision, he told her simply, “It’s done. Over. If that’s what you want, we’re finished.”

Angel turned on his heel walking down the alley toward the front of the club. He sensed her watching him, but he also sensed something else. More precisely… someone else. Passing a nearby dumpster, Angel stopped in his tracks.

“You can come out now.” Angel waited until Xander poked his head out from behind the trash bin. “It’s over, Harris. She’s all yours.”

Seeing that Xander had been listening in, Buffy stalked up to his side demanding to know why he was spying on them.

“Uh— Buffster, can you wait to ream me out until Angel leaves?”

“No.”

Angel decided it was time to escape before he got caught in the middle. Reminding them both, “I’ll be seeing you two around. Angelus and I are still tied to Sunnydale and fighting the Good Fight as long as this deal with the Moirae is in effect.”

Looking startled by the idea, Buffy hadn’t really considered spending that much time with Angel, Cordelia or Angelus after breaking up with her boyfriend. The strange truth was that she was a little relieved. She didn’t want them to disappear from her life.

“Yeah. See you around.”

Xander and Buffy waited until the tall figure turned the corner at the entrance of the alley, his dark coat billowing behind him. In an instant, they were arguing again.

“I was worried about you,” Xander defended his actions. “Considering the biting and all.”

“That doesn’t give you spying rights,” Buffy complained. Then she decided to give up on the argument. Tonight had already been rough enough without dragging anything else into it. “Let’s go.”

The Bronze had little appeal left as far as Xander was concerned. At least for tonight. “I’m all danced out. Wanna rent a video and call out for pizza?”

Buffy considered the offer. “Sure, but let’s do a routine patrol first. I’m in the mood to dust a few vamps.”

Chapter 27

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