Chapter 44: Non-Research in the Library
Tangled in the bed sheets, Cordelia moved fretfully as the telltale sign of rapid eye movement flickered along her eyelids. Images raced across her mind’s eye, sensory perceptions both familiar and strange. Curiosity turned cautious as a dread feeling held her in its sudden grip.
Something awaited her in the shadows just ahead. Its silent call drew her close and closer still, and yet the distance to discovery only expanded exponentially.
The gloomy haze of the dreamscape shrouded what lay beyond— something vital she could not identify. Driven by a growing desperation, Cordelia fought to close the gap. Urgency followed failure. Fear reached the panic point and in that moment one clear thought came to her in the midst of that dark nightmare.
Bolting into an upright position, Cordelia’s cry pierced the night. “ANGEL!”
Within seconds the vampire burst from the adjacent bathroom with his game face on— and little else. Still warm and damp from his post-patrol shower, Angel was clasping the edge of the towel wrapped around his hips. There was no sign of danger, he noted upon scanning the room, just the quaking figure in the middle of their huge bed.
“Cordy?” Angel’s features morphed fluidly back to his human form as he came closer. Guessing the problem seemed obvious— a nightmare. The rapid beat of her heart and her stilted breathing were accompanied by the sharp scent of fear. The last time this happened it followed a vampire attack. He readily remembered Angelus and Cordelia battling the out-of-towners and the cry that brought Angel to her side while her mate was away.
Simple post-traumatic stress working its way out in the form of a nightmare, but no such thing was to blame now, Angel reasoned. Then reconsidering tautly, Unless there are issues closer to home.
When soothing words to help her forget may have been more appropriate, Angel had to ask for the details. Knowing suddenly seemed necessary. “What is it?”
Still reeling, Cordelia pulled her knees up to her chest hugging her arms around them. Her nerves continued to leap despite the last vestiges of sleep falling away. Combined with the awful sensation of fear was a sensation of déjà vu. Why was that? Angel running into my room half naked. Check.
Turning her face to hide the wet proof of her tears, she muttered, “Bad dream.”
The effort hid nothing as Angel scented her salty tears. Sitting down on the bed next to her, Angel reached out to comfort Cordelia only to have her flinch at his touch. Stung, his hand dropped away from her face, but only to sweep down the length of her covered leg.
Wondering if this was just the after-effects of the nightmare or something to do with him, Angel tried again. “Tell me about it.”
“I can’t.”
Angel frowned at her response, now worrying that he was somehow responsible for her unwillingness to share her feelings with him. Blatant honesty was more along the lines of Cordelia’s usual comebacks. He didn’t like being kept in the dark especially after sensing her terror.
Countering swiftly, he assured her, “You can tell me anything.”
Cordelia’s eyes darted to his. The words carried with them the same sincerity that the other Angel had once promised. “There is nothing to tell. I can’t remember what it was about— just that it scared me.”
Admitting, “I thought it might be because of something I did,” Angel’s fingers traced up one golden arm to cup her bare shoulder.
Lifting her head, Cordelia swiped at her damp cheeks with one hand. Her expression was one of confusion. “What’s this— early brood mode? I haven’t seen that in a while.”
Considering the fact that Cordelia seemed to sidestep the issue, the evidence looked to point in the direction that her nightmare was somehow his fault. The last thing he wanted was to have Cordelia afraid of him. Angel could easily think of several things he’d done recently that might earn him a place on Cordelia’s list of things that went bump in the night.
Especially considering his unrelenting determination to have her accept everything familiar and unique about him whether it was his demon’s need to taste her blood or the all too human interest of playing dangerous games in public places. To push her limits. To rattle that cage around her heart just enough to let him in.
“Tonight, for instance,” Angel hinted somewhat cautiously.
Rolling her eyes, Cordelia glowered at him. “Don’t bother to bring it up if you can’t talk about it.”
“I didn’t want to upset you.”
Cordelia set her jaw firmly before responding, “Too late. You don’t have to look Giles in the eye at school tomorrow like I do. Today, actually,” she corrected herself as she glanced at the clock on her bed stand. It was already after two in the morning.
“How was I to know he would need a book from that section of the library?”
The confounded look on Angel’s face drove away the last remnants of fear replacing them with entwining threads of embarrassment, amusement and arousal. Just the memory of what they had done caused a curling heat in her belly.
A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. It was impossible to stay mad at him for something she had enjoyed with such intense passion at the time.
The change in her mood did not go unnoticed by Angel as Cordelia plopped back on her pillows, one arm curled alongside her head and her hair now cascading around her shoulders. Her breasts shifted with the movement calling his attention to the firm mounds with their succulent tips pressing up against the silk of her nightgown.
“You know the hardest thing?” Cordelia queried now forgetting all about her dream.
Angel’s brow shot up as his thoughts descended to his stirring loins. “I have a pretty good idea.”
Giggling, Cordelia kicked at his hip through the covers. “Perv! I meant difficult as in staying quiet.”
As he moved to recline next to her in a sideways position, Angel propped his head on one hand while his free hand traveled to the concave valley of her abdomen to twirl a finger around her silk-covered navel. That fact that her vampire bedmate couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of her was not lost on Cordelia who felt her body tremble at his touch wanting more.
“I thought your nightmare might have had something to do with the library,” Angel admitted quietly searching her face for clues.
“Giles finding us getting dressed again was nightmarish enough,” she sent him a grin. The look on the Watcher’s face when he realized what they had done in his precious library was both mortifying and hilarious. “He certainly made enough noise for the both of us.”
Cordelia recalled the moment with utter clarity.
“Oh, dear God!” The Watcher let out a plea to the heavens as he rounded the corner of the stacks. Giles’ eyes bugged out behind the lenses of his glasses as he clasped a hand to his chest in seeming distress at the sight before him.
With vampiric speed, Angel pulled his half-dressed companion behind the solid barrier of his body, hiding Cordelia from view. Her muttering curses were only whispers, but were as clear as a bell to both men. Still staring, unable to close his eyes due to the simple shock of it all, Giles noted that Angel was standing in only a pair of blue boxers and navy socks.
Any hysterical laughter that resounded in his head at the sight died fleetingly under the vampire’s ominous gaze. Angel’s instinctive reaction to protect the woman he’d claimed brought his demon to the surface and the human visage slipping away.
“Giles?” Buffy’s concerned voice called out from a distance. “You okay?”
“Answer her,” a low growl sounded in Angel’s voice demanding that the Watcher say nothing to give them away. His pale, powerful body exuded barely restrained control as his muscles flexed and tensed fighting the urge to ensure the Englishman’s silence by clamping off the blood-flow to his brain.
Loosening his tie a little, Giles felt the vampire’s stare closing in on his throat. This was simply an embarrassing interruption— not that he wouldn’t have a few choice words to say to the both of them later on— but nothing worth threatening his life over. Angel’s reaction was instinctive, a vampire protecting his mate, Giles realized in the few seconds that passed.
He managed to squeak out a, “Yes,” to Buffy before drawing further attention to any of them.
“Now get out, Rupert,” barked Angel as softly as his sudden anger would allow. It did not matter that this man was a friend, only that he had barged in unwanted.
Cordelia poked Angel in the ribs, whispering furiously, “Don’t be an ass. At least he didn’t come back here five minutes ago.”
The deserted school library had proved too much for them as Angel and Cordelia awaited the others. Their early arrival left them sitting across the research table staring into each others eyes until their silent flirtation slowly turned to looks of lust and unspoken desire. Cordelia had tried to behave, but she couldn’t seem to stop wanting him. All of the time.
Angel was an addiction that she couldn’t fight, but was damned well going to try as long as she could. Wanting him didn’t mean she loved him, she kept telling herself. So what if she couldn’t keep her hands off? He was a hottie. Only natural to want to strip him naked and taste every inch of that gorgeous body. Even now. Right here in the library.
Fighting off the ideas creeping into her head, Cordelia darted out of her chair and tried pacing to release some of that pent up energy. It only drew Angel’s attention to her curves and the way she walked as he followed her every move with those deep, dark impenetrable eyes. Saying nothing, Cordelia flashed him a mysterious smile and disappeared into the connecting section where the bulk of the library’s books were stacked in deep rows of shelving.
The naughty fantasy running through her head just wouldn’t let go its hold on her brain. She needed distraction. Something to take her mind off of Angel and thoughts of what he could do to make her scream his name until she was hoarse with it. Two minutes after staring at a random row of books, Cordelia sensed Angel’s presence behind her.
He made no noise; she just knew he was there. Every cell of her being shouted out with recognition at his approach. Then Angel’s arms came up beside her shoulders blocking out any route of escape. Not that she was going anywhere.
Cordelia let the book on Historic Hotels and their Legends drop back into place. “We shouldn’t,” was all she uttered hoping that it was enough to convince Angel that it was a bad idea to follow through with their mutual feelings. Bad time. Bad place.
A flush of heat suffused her body settling into a tight throb at her loins as Angel sounded out her name accompanied by a low vampiric sound. Turning, Cordelia’s thoughts of why they should not instantly altered to why not. The library was empty, after all, with the others on early patrol. They might not come back for hours. This was a far better way to pass the time than reading stuffy old books.
Angel and Cordelia reached for each other at the same time, coming together in a clash of grasping arms and parting lips. A scurry of movement and discarded clothing followed leaving them mostly naked with only one goal rattling around in their heads. Cordelia’s naughty fantasy was swiftly turning into reality as she splayed her hands along Angel’s bare chest moving them up to wrap around his neck as he lifted her up against a column between the bookshelves.
“Wrap your legs around me,” Angel moaned against her mouth, both hands full of the soft curves of her bottom as he pulled her intimately closer.
The instruction was hardly a necessity as Cordelia’s golden thighs closed around his hips, her calves crossing and ankles locking in place behind him. There would be no escape for this manpire, came the mischievous thought. Reaching between them to stroke his erection, Cordelia delighted at the sounds of pleasure emerging from his throat.
“That’s it, baby,” Angel nibbled at her ear while his hands gave her the support and leverage she needed to reach him. “Put me inside you.”
Cordelia let out a cry as the broad tip stretched her slick opening. Bringing her hips down hard as Angel thrust forward brought them together in such a way that she shuddered around him. Neither meant to go so fast and now Cordelia was reeling at the sudden pressure of having him inside her.
Softly, he whispered words of reassurance holding her steady while freeing up one hand to map her curves from hip to breast. Pressing butterfly kisses along her face until he sensed a shift inside her as her body relaxed into his hold. The hazel eyes now boring into his were hot with need as Angel moved experimentally retreating just a fraction and thrusting back.
“Mmm.” Just a tiny murmur of delight, but one that brought a brilliant grin to her face as Cordelia reestablished her grip on his shoulders. “You feel so good inside me. Ah— yes! Mmm, faster, Angel.”
They fell into an eager rhythm, muttering encouragement and lusty little responses between heated wet kisses. In the middle of a tongue-tangling kiss, their soft moans and breathy pants were suddenly drowned out by the noisy entrance of the Scoobies and Rupert Giles into the main part of the library.
Angel and Cordelia froze into a pair of interlocking statues. Leaning up against the wall, still grasping onto each other’s sweat-slicked skin, their lips still grazing as their eyes met in instant understanding of their situation.
“We’re naked,” Cordelia felt her entire body flush.
Angel’s dark eyes sparkled at her look of fury. “We’re a little more than just naked.” His mouth twisted into a smirk while his hips thrust forward just enough to remind her that it wasn’t only a strip show they might be caught at.
A gasp left Cordelia’s throat as she heard Buffy and Giles discussing the events of patrol. Xander and Willow were yammering on about the latest hit at the theaters, some stupid plot point that no one really cared about. Their mention of the movie only brought thoughts of Angelus to mind. Just him and her and an empty theater.
This was no empty theater, but a library crawling with Scoobies, a Slayer and one soon-to-be-pissed-off Watcher. Strangely, thoughts of Angelus did not cause her to balk nor did the fact that the stakes had just been raised as a challenge sparkled in Angel’s eyes. “Think you can stay quiet?”
Cordelia’s fingers traced the angles of his face as she accepted recognition of that dark playful glint. She heard him rumble as her inner muscles tightened around his rampant erection. “How about you? Think you can?”
Whispering in provocation, Cordelia knew this could be dangerous. Games of Silence were never her forte. The safe thing to do would be to stop now, get dressed and pretend they’d been conducting research on…on…on whatever subject Angel could come up with because— “Oh!”— she couldn’t really think straight right now.
Curling her fingers into the short strands of Angel’s hair, Cordelia smothered her own cry against Angel’s lips. Thoughts of what she really wanted to say colored her kiss as her tongue snaked into his mouth tasting him. Pulling back, she licked her lips to savor the tingling sensation left behind as she whispered, “Don’t stop.”
The soft plea was followed by a much louder cry as Cordelia reacted to the resuming rhythm as Angel’s shallow thrusts deepened. Sounds of friendly laughter and familiar debating voices filled her ears as she buried her head against Angel’s shoulder and rocked her hips against him. Her body tingled with a strange excitement at the idea of Angel making her come within hearing distance of Buffy Summers.
Bad thought. Cordelia’s excitement turned to a moment of panic as her climax neared, her hips bucking down to meet his every thrust. There was no way she could keep quiet. Even now it was a struggle.
“Omigod,” she gasped sending Angel a look of pure fear. Her hands slid along his shoulders seeking the leverage to push herself away. Warning him with a strained, soft undertone, “I’m gonna come.”
A husky chuckle sounded in her ear as Angel fucked her, “That’s the point, Cor.”
Sending him a dark look, she huffed, “I’ll scream.” It was no threat, just a truth that neither one of them doubted in the least.
Angel captured her mouth with a fiery kiss sensing his own body spiraling to its own climax. Breathing hard simply because his body reacted instinctively to do so, he growled softy, “Bite me, Cordelia. Bite me when you come.”
Hello, vampire. You do the biting.
Dazed eyes stared in confusion, but only for the instant before Cordelia felt her body fly apart with his next thrust, her inner muscles clenching and releasing in fluttering spasms around his hard shaft. Opening her mouth to release the simultaneous cry announcing her pleasure to the world— and the Scoobies— Cordelia found a single moment of clarity and bit down on the muscular cord of Angel’s neck stifling her cry against him.
Her blunt teeth clamped down hard, breaking the skin and drawing a hint of blood to the surface. How Angel managed to remain quiet was a miracle of control for the only thing she heard was a purr of pleasure rumbling through the wall of his chest.
Cordelia raised her eyes to his, riding out the final waves of her orgasm, watching her manpire in rapt fascination as he came inside her. “Cordy,” the soft sound of her name on his lips left her shuddering as she clasped him closer. His hands soothed her with long strokes as he reluctantly separated himself from her body.
Wobbling as Angel set her down, Cordelia grasped his shoulders again to steady herself. Now that their moment of combined pleasure and terror was over, naughty glee lit up her features, an almost shy smile curving her lips. Angel brushed the back of his fingers along her cheek, his attention focused on her pink tongue as it licked away the tiny trace of his blood clinging to her upper lip.
Both hands cupped her face just before Angel swooped down to press his mouth over hers. A single close-mouthed kiss conveying pure emotion. They sighed against each others lips as the kiss broke. That the vampire wanted her again went without saying and Cordelia would have been a liar if she denied her own wish to wrap herself up in his arms and stay there.
Wanting and having were not possible at the moment after the risk they’d already taken. Pressing their luck any longer might change it for the worst.
Scrambling for their scattered clothing, the two reached for the first items at hand. Both held up each other’s underwear. Cordelia sent Angel a mischievous look as she realized the vampire was standing there wearing only his socks. Stifling her giggles, she thrust the blue boxers in his direction.
Angel snatched them away only to stretch her silk thong like a sling-shot. “Yours, I believe,” he mouthed while sending it hurtling toward her.
Rebounding off of her chest, Cordelia caught the panties mid-air and noticed that he watched her every move as she stepped back into the tiny underwear. He put his boxers on with a rush of vampiric speed, hopping on one leg and nearly falling over when Cordelia turned her back giving him a perfect view of her rounded bottom as she bent over to grab her pants.
Another grin appeared as she shimmied into them one leg at a time. Then Angel’s hands swept around her hips brushing her hands aside and pulling her back against his chest.
“Let me do that,” he muttered closely as his mouth brushed against her soft, dark tresses.
Cordelia let her hands fall to her sides as Angel zipped and buttoned her pants just for the sake of touching her. Those fingers weren’t content to stop there. Trailing up her torso, Angel cupped her breasts, testing their weight in his palms and covering them with a gentle possessive hold. He made her feel so safe in his arms, Cordelia realized as she turned her face to look up at him.
Her hand lifted to his face as her voice sounded out a breathy whisper only he could possibly hear, “Angel, I think I—”
“Oh, dear God!”
A giant sucking sound was heard from the end of the row as Rupert Giles rounded the corner in search of a book on historic Sunnydale. He’d needed it for some research they were conducting tonight. Only— he clasped his chest at the shocking sight of Angel holding Cordelia’s naked breasts— it appeared there were other things going on in his library besides research.
Before Giles could do more than blink, Cordelia was safely hidden away behind the vampire’s muscular frame. “Crap! All that and we get caught when it’s over. Damn nosey Watcher.” Muttering, her curses were only whispers, but were as clear as a bell to both men.
Still staring, unable to close his eyes due to the simple shock of it all, Giles noted that Angel was standing in only a pair of blue boxers and a pair of navy socks. Any hysterical laughter that resounded in his head at the sight died fleetingly under the vampire’s ominous gaze. Angel’s instinctive reaction to protect the woman he’d claimed brought his demon to the surface and the human visage slipping away.
“Giles?” Buffy’s concerned voice called out from a distance. “You okay?”
“Answer her,” a low growl sounded in Angel’s voice demanding that the Watcher say nothing to give them away. His pale, powerful body exuded barely restrained control as his muscles flexed and tensed fighting the urge to ensure the Englishman’s silence by clamping off the blood-flow to his brain.
Loosening his tie a little, Giles felt the vampire’s stare closing in on his throat. This was simply an embarrassing interruption— not that he wouldn’t have a few choice words to say to the both of them later on— but nothing worth threatening his life over. Angel’s reaction was instinctive, a vampire protecting his mate, Giles realized in the few seconds that passed.
He managed to squeak out a, “Yes,” to Buffy before drawing further attention to any of them.
“Now get out, Rupert,” barked Angel as softly as his sudden anger would allow. It did not matter that this man was a friend, only that he had barged in unwanted.
Cordelia poked Angel in the ribs, whispering furiously, “Don’t be an ass. At least he didn’t come back here five minutes ago.”
“WHAT DO—,” realizing he was shouting, Giles lowered his voice to a furious whisper as he whipped off his glasses to give them a good rubbing over. “What do you two think you’re doing? This is a school. A library. MY library.”
“I think your imagination is good enough to fill in a few blanks,” Angel wasn’t about to back down or look sheepish in front of the Watcher. His voice might be hushed, but the tone got his point across. What they did was none of Giles’ business.
He ignored the fact that he was still dressed only in his boxers and socks, stepping forward menacingly enough to get the Watcher to back lift his chin in defiant refusal to back away. Cordelia had no patience for testosterone challenges. She whacked Angel on the arm and reminded him she needed her clothing trying to urge him to end this little spat.
Angel heard something about clothing and spied Cordelia’s sweater on the floor. He automatically bent over to pick it up for her, assuming that was what she was trying to get him to do. The moment he lowered his upper body, Cordelia let out a gasp, slapping her hands over her bare breasts.
Giles let out a shriek, shutting his eyes despite the pleasant view. He backed up at an angle falling against the closest stack of books. When he opened his eyes again, the Watcher was faced with a lacy bra dangling in his face as it hung from the shelf.
Though it was hardly the last thing Giles should have expected to see considering the events so far, another loud shriek sounded, this one noticed by all occupants of the library. Several concerned voices rang out from the main room.
“What was that?”
“Giles?”
“Let’s go!”
Realizing that his reaction had garnered unwanted attention, Giles backed away, swiftly moving toward the Scoobies’ gathering spot. Heading off Buffy who was already on the way investigate, Giles grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along with him.
“What the hell is going on?” Buffy demanded. “Why were you yelling like that?”
“It was nothing.”
Xander snarked, “Sounded like something to me.”
Giles pushed his glasses up and glared at the boy, “I saw a rat.”
“Must’ve been a big rat,” Xander muttered as he glanced over his shoulder toward the stacks. Shrugging, he followed the others back to the table.
There was no playing with their clothing now as Angel and Cordelia dressed at a frantic pace. Sneaking out of a back entrance, they ran all of the way to the car. Once inside, Cordelia couldn’t seem to stop laughing. Angel wasn’t certain if she was truly amused by getting caught or simply in a state of mild hysteria.
Scooting close, Cordelia leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his startled mouth. “Take me home,” she grinned at him just before the giggles returned.
Thinking back, Angel figured his worries about the library were unfounded. Yes, they may have gotten caught. Yes, Cordelia would have to face Giles before he did, but she certainly enjoyed the thrill of it too. That meant there was another reason for her nightmares. Something else that he might have done to stir up negative feelings.
Leaning over, Angel pressed a lingering kiss to her bare shoulder. “What about the other night?”
Cordelia’s hand trailed up the back of his arm as she turned toward him in bed. He didn’t have to clarify which night he meant. It was all too clear he referred to the night he carried her off to the second floor bedroom. The memory of that night was enough to make her flush with heat. “What about it?”
“I scared you,” Angel concluded swiftly, directing the blame to himself. “It was too rough. I let it go on too long.”
Cordelia’s plush lips formed a circle of astonishment as he linked her dream to their day— and night— of wild exhausting sex. Her own fear now forgotten, she found herself caught between comforting him over her nightmare and remembering that everything she experienced that night started out as a lesson.
Directly meeting his gaze, Cordelia pointed out, “There was a lot of screaming.”
A flash of gold lit those dark eyes in response. Angel’s nostrils flared, taking in an unnecessary breath of indignation at the implication. Even as her eyebrows arched in the form of a silent challenge, all but daring him to deny it, he commented drolly in agreement, “You didn’t have much of a voice the next day.”
So he was playing along now, Cordelia realized, noting the smoky look in his eyes was full of remembrance. Despite his show of power and control wielded with the simple restraint of her hands, Cordelia countered with the one freedom he allowed her— her throaty cries, lustful pleas and heated demands.
Sending Cordelia a confident smirk, Angel buried his concerns deep. His hand skated up from her belly to skim one rounded breast, his thumb teasing the hardening tip. Hearing the soft sigh emerge from her throat at his touch, Angel recalled every one of her responses that night. Like her, he couldn’t come up with a reaction that signaled anything other than passion.
“Screams of ‘fuck me harder’, ‘now, Angel, now’, and ‘do that again’ don’t count, Cor.”
While letting loose with her smile, Cordelia felt a shockwave of heat unfurl within her at the memory. Her hand crept up to cover his roving fingers, wanting the weight of his palm against her breast. “They got me what I wanted. I’d say that counts for something.”
The hint of her arousal in the air suggested he’d been anxious for no reason, but Angel wanted to hear a confirmation of it from her lips. Leading her into a response, he asked, “So the nightmare had nothing to do with it?”
Cordelia could barely recall her initial reaction to the dream. It had all been so hazy. Just feelings really that were now forgotten. “What happened between us— what I felt with you— that had nothing to do with fear.”
I would’ve sensed it, Angel realized suddenly feeling relieved. Then fishing for more details, nudging her cheek with his own to gain access to the soft spot on her neck between her earlobe and his mark, he asked, “So what did you feel, exactly?”
“What do you think?” Answering his question with a question, Cordelia left her response vague. She knew what he hoped to hear. That was something she was just not prepared to discuss.
By way of distraction, she tucked her hand beneath the loose towel around his waist. It wasn’t difficult to find her target as she wrapped her hand around his sex. With a naughty grin, she commented, “What I felt was a lot harder than this, actually.”
Angel made a sound low in his throat as his body automatically stirred in response to Cordelia’s touch, her warm fingers teasing his burgeoning flesh. “Keep doing that and you won’t get much sleep tonight,” he warned huskily.
Tangling his fingers in her wavy hair, Angel leaned in close, capturing her mouth with his and moaning into it as she continued her slow torture. Cordelia opened up to the firm pressure of his kiss tasting him as his tongue danced along hers with the same tantalizing slow pace. Sleep was not her big interest at the moment; her whole body seemed awake, alert and focused entirely upon him.
What did she feel? His question echoed in the back of her mind. Thoughts of their time in that second story bedroom brought her to a single conclusion. What she felt was— surprise. Considering she’d asked for it, Cordelia should have been prepared, but there wasn’t a moment that went by leaving her with a single conflicted emotion about being with him.
No matter that Angel’s actions verged on domination, he remained focused on pleasuring her, eking out every response her body could handle. Until then, Cordelia had never realized the extent to which Angelus had reigned in his sexual drive— or how much her manpire had been fettered by the mystical restraints of the Moirae.
There was no doubt in Cordelia Chase’s mind that the surprise was indeed all hers. As she lay with her legs still curled around him and her thoughts coalescing in to a meaningful pattern, she asked breathlessly, “How many times was that?”
A lazy smile of satisfaction curled her lips as Angel watched. Then he laughed along with that rare, beautiful smile that always captured her attention. “You lost count?”
Pushed to the brink and beyond of so many climaxes, Cordelia wasn’t certain of anything except that they had come together in a hot and alarming way. There was no tender awakening to pleasure, only a nearly overwhelming wash of passion.
Angelus had dosed out a small measure of such mind-numbing madness, always conscious of being held back. No such limitations fettered Angel as he took Cordelia on a wild rollercoaster ride without end.
Danger hinted with his expert touch, his deep stare and the steely determination underlying his every move. Taking what he wanted, controlling her responses and attaining or giving pleasure on the tenuous edge of control. Angel seemed to know what buttons to push and when to curtail his own instinctive drive. Then he’d do something only Angelus would know or conversely something totally new— and then she’d want him all over again.
The fingers curled around her wrists flexed open and closed again, pressing her down in to the soft surface of the rumpled bed covers. Freedom came only in brief snatches when his hands were occupied elsewhere; stolen moments Cordelia greedily used to caress, grope and stimulate what parts of him she could reach. Though she exulted in his strength, even in the way he could take control, the physical restraint denied her the right to explore and pleasure him with equal fervor.
“Let me touch you,” Cordelia demanded on a husky note. If it was bad to want someone this way without claiming to love them, then there was truly no rest for the wicked this night. Angel gave her no quarter.
Cordelia raised her head to get closer to the tempting male mouth hovering over hers, her lips softly swollen and inviting. Instead of taking what she offered, Angel bent his head to nibble at the nape of her neck. She let out a tiny moan of frustration and dropped her head back onto the pillow only to find him looking down at her again. Defiantly, she shut her eyes away from his probing gaze.
Leaning down, Angel touched the tip of his nose to hers rubbing gently in the form of an Eskimo kiss. Cordelia clamped her eyes even tighter, knowing he liked her hot hazel gaze on him. That soft, silly caress continued until laughter started to bubble up inside her. Eyes still closed, she mumbled, “Stop that.”
“Make me,” Angel now alternated Eskimo kisses with soft smooches on the tip of her nose.
Summoning up a spark of energy, Cordelia pounced at the first opportunity, finding his mouth with her own. Kissing him with a hunger that left her breathless again, she noted the warmth of his lips— heat borrowed from her now returning in the form of hot, melting kisses.
Angel quickly took over the kiss, his primal urges swelling to a new level, devouring Cordelia’s wanton moans and tasting arousal on the wet warmth of her tongue. His kisses wandered down her cheek to the smooth skin of her jaw. Licking at the tender flesh beneath, he caused a wave of sensuous tremors to ripple across her flesh.
Those hazel eyes were trained on him again, watching every move. Pulling against the restraint of his grip was a use of needed energy, so Cordelia focused on using the rest of her body, touching him where she could. The legs wrapped around him stretched out as Cordelia skimmed her feet down his muscular thighs and calves and then returning again. Arching her back rubbed her aching breasts against his hard chest. Her undulating hips brought her heated center into direct contact with Angel’s swollen sex.
A moue of triumph left her lips as Angel’s hips shifted back against hers. His chest vibrated with a deep growl as he released one wrist to trail his fingertips along her arm, the nails softly raising the tiny hairs and stimulating a wave of pleasure through Cordelia’s already hot-wired body. The press of his lips on the slope of her neck was followed by the nip of his teeth just shy of bruising.
He’d do that often. Follow the gentlest caress with one designed to stir her blood to boiling. Then he’d counter it again, keeping her guessing, pushing her to the edge of her limits with sensory pleasures found between orgasmic peaks that came hard, fast and frequently.
Capturing her wrist again, Angel scraped his fangs along the surface drawing beads of blood onto his tongue. Fascinated by the look of ecstasy on his face, Cordelia never thought to protest the move, especially when he sealed the superficial wound moments later and pressed a kiss over the heated pulse point at her wrist.
Angel left her shuddering, but it was not in fear. His shaft felt hard and thick against her. After all they had done, Cordelia didn’t know how it was possible to want him again, but she did. When Angel rose to his knees, he pushed her legs further apart exposing the glossy folds of her sex to his gaze, his hands on her inner thighs.
Without waiting for him to make another move, Cordelia reached between them to trace her fingers along the smooth ridges of his cock. A rumble of encouragement sounded from his throat as Angel arched his hips thrusting himself into her hand. She gripped him hard— the way he liked— and used the pads of her fingers and the half-moon curls of her nails to tease his most sensitive areas.
Then Angel’s thick fingers came down to her heated center, still wet and sensitive to the touch. Almost too sensitive. Cordelia cried out as he penetrated her with two of those long digits and used his other hand to stimulate her tender folds and the hard nub of her clitoris. Though the view below left Cordelia gasping in time to Angel’s steady finger-thrusts, she couldn’t take her eyes off of his.
Those sinful dark eyes held such passion and promise, Cordelia felt mesmerized by it. The power of that gaze was just as potent as the throbbing proof of his hard sex filling her hand. There were emotions in those eyes that left her shaking with a need that even those magic fingers couldn’t match.
Angel did not voice those three little words, mindful of garnering disdain, but they came through clearly enough in that silent stare of desire. Cordelia trembled with need, getting close now, bucking against his hands. “I want you so much.”
“Do you?” Angel slowly removed his fingers from her dripping center and then put one hand over hers as it stalled its own actions. “You make me so hard.”
Licking at her lips, Cordelia quipped, “So I see.”
Covering her mouth in a brief, fiery kiss, Angel pulled her hands away from his cock. “I need to be inside you.”
The intense look in his eyes matched her own. “Now, Angel. Now!”
“Deep inside,” Angel growled in need.
Tossing her back on the bed, Angel pulled Cordelia’s hips up at an angle. He spared her one hot stare full of lustful intent before joining their bodies together. They both sounded out their reactions as Angel’s hard cock thrust slowly into her tight passage until the full length was buried inside her.
Cordelia started to spasm around him, her sensitive passage already stimulated even before he started to move. With a deep groan, Angel retreated from her pulsing depths to plunge forward again. Each heavy thrust was met with an answering push of her hips. The rhythm escalating, their bodies tangled and pounded together.
Clasping her arms and legs around him, Cordelia fought against his every retreat, wanting him inside; so deep that he might never leave. Her glossy nails curled into the dense muscle of his shoulder as she bade him to do it harder, feeling his instantaneous response. He growled her name and fucked her with an intensity that sent her body down into the mattress.
They’d had all the tender give and take in the hours before. Now all that was left was raw passion, pure need and a drive to reach the summit of perfection. It came just as Angel’s mouth closed over his newly-formed mark, the pulse bounding strongly beneath its tender flesh. A slight sting caught Cordelia’s attention, but it drowned in the overpowering drive that sent them both into orgasm.
When the world came into focus again, Cordelia felt Angel still planted deep within her, thrusting with infinite slowness now. His mouth remained at her throat, though his fangs no longer penetrated, as he slowly suckled her sweet blood into his mouth. Soft purrs sounded in his chest, vibrating against her as she held him close.
The feelings invoked by that act closed in on her heart, the very thought of which caused that organ to beat faster. Such intimacy and tenderness, such love in the way Angel touched her, suckling at her throat as if worshipping each precious drop. Savoring the taste of her only to sweep his tongue over her mark and seal it away under a thin layer that left their scents combined.
Cordelia never felt him leave her, never heard the words on his lips or saw the swift transition of conflicted emotions cross his face at the sight of her. Exhaustion finally claimed her, sending Cordelia into an instantaneous sleep with the tears of her own emotional response still glistening upon her flushed cheeks.
Leaning in, Angel kissed away the tears tasting their salty bitterness and feeling the harsh twist of regret pulling at his insides. Amongst the soft moans and lusty cries of passion never once had she uttered any feelings except desire. So he kept his own feelings shut down tight, showing her, but never once saying the words that bloomed in his heart each time he looked her way. At least not while she was awake to hear them.
“I love you,” he whispered into her chestnut tresses simultaneously drinking in her scent and wrapping his arms around her.
