Chapter six
Angel hung up the phone. Well that explained the dreams and everything else. Soul mates, uh. Well, he could live with that, in fact he needed, wanted to live for it. He just hoped Cordelia could.
Angel went back up to his bedroom, glancing at the pictures strewn all over the floor. He gathered them all up and put them back in the drawer. He wasn’t necessarily hiding them again, but like his mistake with Darla, Cordelia didn’t need to be made aware of their existence, not yet.
After all, she wasn’t even aware that she and Angel were soul mates. First things first. Then he would find the right time to show her the drawings and tell her about Darla. Maybe. Angel picked up the small wrapped box and put it by his bed.
He climbed into his big lonely bed and waited
***
Angel walked into the lobby of the hotel. Cordelia was standing in the doorway waiting.
Angel paused, resisting the urge to go to her. “Are you going to come in?”
Cordelia scrunched up her face. “You don’t talk, you’re not suppose to talk.”
“Are you coming in,” he repeated, reaching his hand out to the young woman.
“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes? Me, I’m always naked. But, you always have clothes on, even that billowing, swooshing leather coat…..at least………….Maybe not towards the end of the dream………But, yep definitely in the beginning. Yep. This is weird; I want to wake up. This is a dream, right?” she said in sudden panic.
“It’s a dream,” Angel reassured the nervous girl.
Cordelia let out a deep sigh. “Thank goodness, I would hate to think this was real.” She said moving a step closer.
“Really? You don’t want this to be real?”
Cordelia scrunched her face again, as she took another step closer. “That’s not what I mean I would…..It’s just that here in dreamland; you want me, a lot. Out there,” her arm swung out around the hotel. “You don’t.”
“Rest assured I want you anyway I can have you. Though, it would make work more bearable if you wanted me in the non dream world, too. I love you Cordelia.”
Cordelia stumbled back. “You just said you loved me and you’re naked.”
“Yes.” Angel nodded.
“Okay,” she reassured herself. “This is just another dream. Just a little different, that’s all. You talking, saying the things……” Her eyes shot up, in sudden realization. “saying things that………..I want you to say……….this is just another dream. That’s all.” Her shoulders slumped. “Now, how am I ever going to face you at work? It was impossible enough when it was just sex. Oh, I’m losing my mind,” she gulped.
“Then so am I,” Angel said softly. “I love you, in this dream land.” Angel’s hand mimicked Cordelia’s earlier movement. “And out there.”
“Really? You will love me when we both are awake?”
Angel nodded.
“But, how is it, that this is a dream and I’m not poof on a desk, on my floor, in your shower, on my kitchen counter, on my bed, tied to a your bed, or in a grave yard……you know I’m still having some problems with that one. The others okay, maybe okay. But, a graveyard, ewww, even the sewers were better than that,” Cordelia complained.
“I’m dead, the grave yard was in Sunnydale, I imagine there are many meanings behind that one. You will have to check your book. But this time, get a better conclusion than that you’re just sexually frustrated and need a good lay.”
“I did check the book. And it said that grave yards………Hey, how do you know about the book? You’re my dream Angel, how do you know about my real life reality bound book,” she glared.
“I read your dream journal.” He admitted.
“You couldn’t have. You’re not real.”
“This is a dream, Cordy. But, I’m real,” he emphasized. “I did go to your apartment, I did read your journal and I know about that dimwitted gym jock.”
Cordelia stumbled further back, as she pinched frantically at her arm. She didn’t like where this dream was going at all.
“Cordelia, stop, do you really want to wake up, alone?”
Cordelia paused and narrowed her eyes. “You’re not mad? About Billy, I mean.”
Angel shrugged.
“Is that a yes or no?”
“Non answer. Just an acceptance that it happened.”
“So, nothing is going to happen to Billy.”
Again, Angel shrugged.
Cordelia stormed towards the vampire, reaching out to grab his arm. “Listen here, ‘grr’ guy…” She stopped as her hand clutched around Angel’s forearm.
“I can touch you.” She said glanced up in awe. In the first couple of dreams she hadn’t been able to, then later as the dreams progressed, she could, but never right in the beginning.
“It’s your dream. You can berate me or you can touch me however you want. It’s your dream… and mine.”
Cordelia bit her lips. Her hand tentatively stroked up his arm. The cool skin tingled under her fingers. Or was it her fingers that tingled? She looked questionably up at the vampire.
“I felt it,” he said roughly. Angel struggled to control his instincts. Part of him raged; this was his dream he should be able to do whatever he wanted and that was to have the young woman on the floor, touching and tasting her. Yet, the other part needed Cordelia to choose the direction of their actions.
This was a dream, but he was conscious of everything. He was traversing the dream, living in it. And he wanted Cordelia to come to him. Their waking actions would be decided by this night.
A large bright smile lit up over Cordelia’s face as she eagerly caressed Angel’s arms, chest, and stomach. She trailed her hands around to his back, bringing her body in contact with his larger, harder one.
“This is a dream,” she whispered huskily into his chest.
Angel closed his eyes as her breath flickered across his skin.
“Do we have to………Nevermind,” she said giggling as she found herself sprawled out on Angel’s bed. “I guess, we poofed.” She giggled harder.
Angel smiled and leaned into her giggling lips. He kissed her, devouring her, his lips and teeth tugging at her mouth. Cordelia’s tongue ran over his lips before plunging into his mouth. Cordelia grasped at Angel’s back, alternating between stroking and clawing. Cordelia broke from the kiss, her lips resting on Angel’s.
“The book says that a kiss may indicate feelings that are difficult to express during the day. It suggests warmth, affection and happiness.”
“And will you have difficulty expressing those feelings in the light of day,” Angel growled, flipping her over, covering her body with his.
“Not if you won’t,” she answered honestly, hugging him close. Cordelia squirmed deeper in the mattress as Angel’s mouth trailed to her breast, then back up to her face. He lifted his head. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Cordelia smiled in awe. She did love Angel. She didn’t just really like him a lot. But real love. Cordelia felt an overwhelming peace at her acknowledgement.
Angel smiled as his lips and hands created magic on Cordelia’s skin. Cordelia moaned out loud as her hands continued to caress and clutch at Angel’s back. “Angel,” she gulped. “How are you doing this? I mean how? The dreams, did you do them?”
Angel leaned up from his ministrations. He ached to continue to taste Cordelia. His body cried to be embedded in Cordelia’s heat, but he also should answer her.
“Wes,” he finally was able to answer.
“Wesley,” Cordelia shrieked, scooting up on the bed. Wesley was responsible for her dreams of Angel. That was really embarrassing and…really weird.
Angel growled as she moved away. He was beginning to really regret not just taking over the dream and ending it he way it should be ended. With his cock firmly embedded in the beautiful woman and his teeth clamped on to her delicate skin. Angel calmed himself.
“Wesley doesn’t know about the dreams, he is just responsible for them,” Angel managed to lean up from Cordelia. His flesh ached for the heat of her skin. “He got a book, an ancient book, The Life and times and Spells of a Greek dream god. In his usual eager self, he translated the book, invoking a spell inadvertently. One that allows lovers, soul mates to enter each other dreams. He did it right before your birthday.”
Cordelia scooted further away. “You remembered my birthday, but didn’t at least say Happy Birthday,” she shouted. Her mind totally switching gears.
Angel sat up, his ardor deflated. He might as well get it all over with now. “I remembered your birthday, I even got you a present,” he defended.
“Present, would that be the big fat nothing I got on my birthday?” She yelled.
“I forgot, after the dreams started. They were sort of preoccupying.”
Cordelia glared and then relented a bit. The dreams had sort of driven her birthday out of her head too. So, you were really in my dreams? Do you still have my present?” she asked rapidly.
“Yes and yes.”
“When can I get it?” She said happily, her mind on her present.
“First thing tomorrow morning.” He smiled.
“Goody,” She scrunched her brow again. “Angel, we weren’t lovers, so how did the spell work?” Her mind switching again at a tremendous speed. Angel wondered how he would ever keep up with his beautiful seer.
“Soul mates. I guess. Do you have a problem with that?” He answered.
“Soul mates?” Cordelia asked wistfully, then her eyes widening, and her brow and lips wrinkling in a sad frown. “This is it, isn’t it? We can only do this here. I can’t touch you not ever when we’re awake.”
“You better,” Angel disagreed forcibly.
“Angel, your soul. Angelus. For some reason, the happy clause hasn’t sprung into effect in dream land.” Cordelia’s eyes widened as she scooted even further away from the vampire.
“Angel, maybe we shouldn’t do this. I mean now we’re sort of awake. I mean its still a dream, but…” her hand shot back and before between them, “we’re talking and stuff.”
Angel cringed. Even in dreamland, as Cordy called it, he had no doubt that is his seer could pack a wallop of a tirade. He took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself. “My soul is permanent.”
Cordelia’s big eyes blinked rapidly. “This is true, not something that I just dreamed up, just like it was true that you loved me, right?” she said quietly.
Angel nodded that wasn’t so bad.
Cordelia shot off the bed. Her hand raised outwards, she glared at her empty hand.
“Cordy, what are you doing?”
“I’m picturing a big pointy stake,” she glared. “It worked before, I pictured us in bed and poof.” She glared harder at her still empty hand. “Damn’t” she threw down her hand in disgust.
Angel readjusted his original conclusion. This was bad. And it was only going to get worse, he could feel it.
“When? How? Why? And why didn’t you tell anyone?”
Angel seriously considered picturing the raging young woman tied to his bed and gagged. He had read the passages in Wesley’s book. Granted, ancient Greek wasn’t his strongest language. But he had a lot of time on his hands when he was wandering the sewers with his new soul. He had studied. And in his mortal life, he had been an altar boy, Latin and ancient Greek weren’t that dissimilar. He could read it.
And he had figured out how to manipulate the traversing part of the Morpheus spell. He had done pretty well so far. He could probably change the dream without Cordelia actually even knowing it before she was gagged.
But, then unless Angel was willing to try to wipe her memory of all that had already happened, she would be even angrier. He winced as he watched her pace back and forth. May be that wouldn’t be so bad. Angel shook his head and summoned all of his courage. “After my first epiphany.”
“You had more than one?” Cordelia exclaimed, her tone accusing.
“Two, the second was that I loved you.” Angel pointed out hopefully, smiling encouragingly.
“That’s nice. Go on.” She retorted. “You still have the how and whys left to explain. Which should be really interesting since you were such a bastard before the ‘first’ epiphany.”
Angel winced, truly scared. “Cordy, I love you, only you,” he whined stalling.
“Angel,” she demanded sharply.
Angel closed his eyes and blurted it all out. “MistakewithDarladidn’tlosesoulPowersrelievedgavemepermanentoneto
Preventrepeatofmycolassalstupidiy,” he finished taking a deep breath.
Cordelia moved slowly and purposely over to the bed, she leaned over until her flashing eyes were inches from Angel’s cowering ones.
“Mistake with Darla,” she spat. “Mistake as in potential soul losing mistake,” she said tersely. “You risked your soul, my life, Wesley’s life, god only knows how many other lives Angelus would have tortured and killed with that, that blonde dead floozy, just because you were going through a down period in your long life.”
“It was a little more than just a down period. And I didn’t lose my soul, no joy or anything.” Angel defended and excused at the same time.
Cordelia shot straight up. “I’m waking up, now. This dream is over,” she glared and disappeared.
Angel lay back on the bed, scared and lost. Cordelia left him. He looked up at the ceiling of his room. He tumbled off the bed, his knocking off the small box of the bedside table. Angel clutched the box tightly in his fist and waited until morning.
Waiting to see if Cordelia would come back to him.