Part 6
“What’s the suspicious look for?” asked Cordelia as Angel met her at the door of the mansion.
“You’re here.”
Cordelia looked around the empty foyer. “I don’t see any ‘No Tresspassing’ signs and it’s not like I haven’t been over before.”
Angel closed the door behind her noticing that she carried a Blockbuster video tape in her hand. “We’re watching a movie?”
“No,” Cordelia answered. “Angelus and I are watching a movie. What? No Buffy lovin’ tonight?”
“You…shouldn’t say things like that, Cor,” he admonished and would have blushed if it was possible. The blunt talk only went as far as making a point rather than hearing hers.
“Hmph. The answer must be a big fat no,” she smirked.
Admitting, “Buffy and Giles have some training thing tonight. We’re supposed to patrol later.”
Patting his cheek condescendingly, she cooed, “Poor widdle vampire. You can join us if you think you can stand having a little fun.”
Thinking about it, Angel declined. It had been almost three weeks since the fiasco at the Bronze when he’d said far too much and Cordelia had somehow managed to get him to agree to letting her try to domesticate Angelus under the bonds of friendship. Anything to stop her from going down that self-destructive path of letting herself get too close.
The only problem was that while Angel had accepted the limitations of those ties, his brother only took it as a challenge.
Angel sat back watching as Angelus worked his charm over Cordelia and the entire Scooby Gang. The evil vampire laughed when things were funny. He beat down demons and defended them from danger. He played the gentleman to Cordelia’s lady even when she snorted in his face and told him to make it a little less obvious next time.
So he did. If Angel had called him on it, he would have looked like a jealous fool for saying Angelus had an agenda. That he didn’t want his brother spending time with his people. Buffy started to encourage Angelus’ Scooby Time. It kept the gang occupied allowing them to be alone.
Only their alone time seemed to be less and less romantic. Angel wasn’t certain what it was, but ever since they were able to be together consistently, Buffy became more and more aggressive. Not that Angel didn’t like it rough, but he wanted to give her tenderness as well and that was something the blond slayer no longer craved. It was as if she wanted to control the demon in him and so their lovemaking became more and more about pure, raw sex.
“I’ll be in the study,” Angel told Cordelia as if to assure her that he wasn’t far away in case Angelus got out of line.
“Whatever.”
Just then, Angelus came bounding down the stairs with a grin on his face. “Cordy!”
And she claims I’m Buffy’s lapdog? Lucky I have no gag reflex. Angel watched with a stony expression as his double enveloped Cordelia in a tight hug which was readily returned by the brunette.
“I brought Dirty Dancing,” Cordelia sing-songed.
Angel’s eyes widened at her words. Sounding clipped, “What?”
“The movie, dorkula,” she thrust out the video tape and waved it under his nose. “I wasn’t planning any lap dances.”
“Damn!” Angelus gave a mock look of disappointment. “I thought for sure that was on the agenda.”
“Don’t push your luck,” Cordelia laughed good-naturedly.
Angelus gave her the puppy dog eyes. “Not even a little bump and grind?”
Cordelia wiggled her hips as she moved toward the living room, laughing as she went. “That’s as close as you’ll get, buddy.”
“See ya later, bro,” Angelus quirked his eyebrows at Angel and dashed after Cordy.
This is intolerable, thought Angel as he headed into the study not bothering to turn on the light.
The really bad part was that he knew there were feelings involved. Cordelia might be completely aware that Angelus was incapable of truly loving her, but the vampire seemed to be out to prove her wrong. Maybe it was just an obsession, but Angelus treated her with a tenderness Angel thought him incapable of producing.
In the dark, Angel listened to the sounds of the movie, its music and the character voices blending into a fusion of background noise. Interspersed were the familiar tones of Cordelia as she squealed with laughter or talked to Angelus during the movie. His brother was less talkative and Angel imagined that it was because all of his attention was on her.
Cordelia. Just the thought of her caused his body to tense up. Even from here he could pick up her scent, that mix of floral body wash and woman. Closing his eyes, Angel could see her here with him. She’d be sitting on his desk talking about some nonsensical poll from a magazine expecting him to answer the questions and have it mean something.
Then she’d smile at him with that brilliant flash of teeth and Angel knew he wouldn’t be sitting very long. Taking the magazine out of her hand, he’d get rid of it pronto. Make sure her hands were occupied by touching him. He’d pull her hair down since for some reason she wore it up and let it cascade through his fingers.
Cordelia’s nimble fingers would start to undo the buttons on his shirt as they kissed, their mouths blending into a series of soft, butterfly caresses almost too tender by nature. The brush of her lush mouth against his, the plump silk of her lower lip as it caught between his and the warm rush of her sweet breath as it whispered against his mouth all came to him with the vivid memory of her taste from their one and only actual kiss.
Now her hands bunched into the loose material pulling out the shirttails from Angel’s belted pants. Hazel eyes burning with need, she moved her hands up the contours of his chest pushing the shirt from his shoulders. Taking her hand, Angel pressed a kiss into its center before guiding it back down his torso to the buckle of his belt.
While her hands were occupied, Angel dropped his to her thighs uncrossing them and opening her up as he stepped closer between her bare thighs. The miniskirt she wore provided easy access to the smooth skin underneath and his thumbs circled there as she whipped the belt from its loops tossing it to the floor.
Before Cordelia could return to unfasten the button on his pants, Angel peeled her top over her head taking a moment to enjoy the view of her full breasts cupped so temptingly in her lacy…turquoise bra. Yes, tonight it was turquoise. He’d have to touch, just to trail the back of his fingers across her soft curves for now. Maybe just a little more indulgence allowing himself the pleasure of testing the weight of one firm breast in his palm, brushing his thumb over the nipple until it poked up through its silky barrier begging for his mouth.
Angel tasted her through the silk, nipping at her erect flesh and laving it with his tongue until her moaning need sounded in his ears. Her hands were busy again as he kissed his way up to her throat. Not so steady now, Cordelia’s hands fumbled with the button and zipper of his pants until finally, finally she reached in to grasp his straining flesh.
“Touch me, Cordy,” Angel moaned aloud allowing himself that much and knowing that the sounds in the other room would drown out his own voice.
As his hand wrapped around his erection, Angel imagined it was her. Cordelia licked her lips, whispering to him about the way he felt in her hand, giving due praise to his size and telling him how much she wanted him inside her.
“Make love to me,” she pleaded with that honeyed voice as her fingers danced along his shaft teasingly.
Covering her mouth with his, distracting her with deep kisses, Angel divested her of her silky bra letting it flutter to the floor atop his shirt and belt. She’d be beautiful, of course. He’d imagined seeing her a thousand times bare to his gaze, only for him. He knew the curve of her breasts, the shadow of her generous cleavage, the golden silk of her skin and the shape of her puckered nipples just large enough for his tongue to curl around.
His mind worshiped at her luscious curves for a while as he stroked himself, his hand tightening its grip while his fingers and thumb rubbed against the sensitive crown of his cock. Angel scooted lower on his chair reaching a better angle to spread his legs wider, cupping his sac with his free hand. It was Cordelia who did it, stroking him there and making his body jerk with building pleasure.
“Angel,” her name whispered across his skin in a husky tremor, “I want you so much.”
He eased her back onto the desk watching as her hair spread across the mahogany surface, her skin glowing against the dark wood. The skirt had to go and so it did, instantly through the convenience of his lustful imaginings leaving Cordelia dressed only in a tiny scrap of turquoise silk.
Pulling her hips to the edge of the desk, Angel spread her legs and flexing them so that her toes hugged the edge. Cordelia’s eyes blazed with need as she gazed down the length of her bare body watching as Angel stroked her through the thin barrier of her panties, moisture gathering there, her hips writhing in an effort to create more friction as he teased her swollen bud.
“Angel,” she sounded more insistent now. Ready. He ripped away the scrap of silk and stepped close rubbing the tip of his cock against her wet folds.
“Angel!” The feminine voice finally snapped him out of his fantasy as Angel tumbled off the chair onto the wooden surface below. “What are you doing here in the dark?”
Quickly tucking himself back in his pants and fumbling with his zipper, Angel peeked over the edge of the desk as he knelt on the floor. “Hi, Buffy. How’d you get in?”
“Through the door,” Buffy thumbed in that direction. She never knocked, so she was surprised that he was asking.
“Oh,” he cleared his throat while climbing back into his chair pulling himself as far in to the desk as possible.
“So what are you doing in here? I thought I heard moaning,” she commented with a frown.
“That’s probably the movie,” Angel told her. “Cordy and Angelus are next door in the living room.”
“Yeah, I found them first. Dirty Dancing lessons,” Buffy let out a sound of disgust. “I know Cordelia hasn’t had a boyfriend since Xander, but does she have to pick one that looks like mine?”
“Boyfriend?” Angel sat up straight in his chair, the swift move not exactly pain-free. “What lessons are you talking about? They’re watching a movie.”
Giggling, Buffy commented, “Acting parts of it out, maybe. Cordy said she was trying to show Angelus how to move his hips.”
“What th—?” Angel was out of his chair in less than a second, barging past Buffy and leaving her standing in the doorway.
Rounding the corner, he found Cordelia and Angelus standing in the middle of the living room, their bodies pressed together and moving in a manner that in no way looked like a simple lesson. Cordelia was grinning and laughing as Angelus tried to follow along with the music chanting along in his off-key voice. Hearing Angel’s shout demanding an explanation, they broke apart like a pair of guilty children caught with their sticky hands in the cookie jar.
“Dancing,” Cordelia huffed, refusing to blush at being caught doing something Angel obviously thought crossed the line of friendship that her project allowed. “What did it look like?”
“You know what the hell it looked like, Cordelia,” he scowled and glanced at Angelus accusingly. “I told you to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing?” asked Angelus cryptically having heard more than enough through the connecting wall to discern the truth. “Keeping your hands to yourself?”
Then his grin spread a little wider as he saw the petite figure sidle up to Angel’s tall form. “Hello again, Buffy.”
“Hi,” Buffy sounded bored. She tugged on Angel’s sleeve to get his attention. “Can we go now? I was hoping to patrol with you tonight.”
Angel knew what that meant. A short sweep of the cemeteries followed by a long screw in the Walker Family Crypt. While a certain part of him wanted nothing more than to finish what he’d started, there was no way Angel was leaving Cordelia alone with Angelus. Especially after finding them wrapped up in each others arms with their hips bumping and grinding together in a dance that was more about sex than it was about music.
“I’m not leaving the mansion tonight,” he told Buffy firmly never taking his eyes off the pair under his scrutiny.
“Why not?” whined Buffy with a pout. It was ineffective unlike most times because Angel wasn’t even looking at her. “Don’t you want to patrol?”
He didn’t miss the extra hint as she enunciated that last word. Angel’s answer was simple and frankly he didn’t care if it came out too bluntly, “No.”
“Have it your way,” Buffy’s lips tightened up into a small circle of anger. She turned on her heel and stalked back across the foyer slamming the front door behind her.
“Way to go, dumbass,” Cordelia rolled her eyes. “You’ll have some making up to do tomorrow.”
Angel wasn’t certain he wanted to make the effort. He was tired of being at Buffy’s beck and call all the time. He was tired of pretending that he only wanted Cordelia’s friendship and very tired of putting up with seeing his brother’s hands on her.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked into the room. “So what’s this movie about other than the obvious?”
Cordelia’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Since when are you a movie aficionado?”
“I like movies,” Angel answered looking hurt. “I’m a vampire, not totally culturally deprived.”
Even Angelus looked doubtful knowing precisely the extent of his brother’s movie know-how. He kept his mouth shut not wanting Cordelia to think otherwise.
“Riiight!” Cordelia held out her hand waggling her fingers at him until he put his hand in hers. She led him to the couch. “Sit down. You’re about to be culturally aware of just how hot I find Patrick Swayze.”
Angelus snorted having already experienced the drooling episode as Cordelia zoned out at the bare-chested actor. The little buzz put her in the mood for some fun, so he wasn’t about to complain. His brother, on the other hand, wasn’t so pleased with the idea of Cordelia finding any man hot, even if he was just on the television screen.
They spent the rest of the evening sitting together on the couch, Cordelia in the middle, with their legs stretched out and feet resting on the coffee table in front of them.
Cordelia was surprised that Angel wasn’t complaining about scuff marks on his table, but the vamp was too distracted to think about it. He spent most of the movie stealing glances at her.
