PART 16
ANGEL’S OFFICE (TWO WEEKS LATER- EVENING)
“What the hell do you mean you lost her again?” Angel roared at the end of his tether and not caring who else knew it. He got up from his chair and came around the desk to stand nose to nose with the man.
“Sir the only explanation I can think of is she’s had training at avoiding surveillance”, Sam Carstairs, Wolfram & Hart’s Chief of Security tried not to back away from the towering dark figure of the enraged vampire. Was this guy ever in a good mood? Not that he blamed him. Carstairs was proud of his work and his team but this woman eluded them time and again, it was infuriating.
“That’s not possible”, what, she’d left LA for an intensive counter intelligence training course? He didn’t think so. This was the fourth time this week that they’d lost her. The first week had been fine, she’d spent it moving into the hotel which had at least negated one of his worries, that she would just want to get out of there and away from the memories.
“Do you or your men have any idea where she could have gone”? He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“No sir, we lost her in a crowd of people, she was talking to someone on a cell phone and then she was gone”. Carstairs waited for the tirade to continue and almost sagged with relief when there was a knock on the door and Ms Burkle popped her head round.
“What is it Fred”? Snapped out Angel, he was not finished with this and wanted no interruptions.
“Nothing much Boss, just wanted to let you know I’m finishing downstairs and won’t be available for the rest of the night” She was all bright breeziness and he just nodded wanting her gone.
“See you tomorrow then and I’ll say Hi to Cordy for you”, then she ducked out again, he was after her in a flash, nearly tripping over the door in his haste to pass through it.
NIGHTCLUB
The club was absolutely heaving, it was a trendy and popular venue and almost impossible to get into, but they’d managed it and Cordy felt the excitement right down to her toes. All three of them were dressed up and looking gorgeous, even if she did say so herself. She hadn’t had so much fun in ages.
They’d all gotten ready to go out from the hotel, playing with makeup and hair-stuff and trying on clothes, it had been so like high-school; the nostalgia had nearly had her in tears. Cathy had grumbled constantly while she and Fred worked on her but it had worked out better than fine, they all looked sexy as hell.
After a lot of soul searching she had made her decision and was putting it into action, she was going to try and have her cake and eat it too, if it didn’t work out, well, she would deal with that if it happened. Angel thought he could bully and frighten her into doing what he thought was best for her, well he was wrong. He might have frightened her at the time but not for long, she knew him too well and it had only taken a few days for her to shake off the loss of confidence and self-esteem he’d caused and decide exactly how he was going to pay for it, in spades, before she was through with him he was going to be begging her for forgiveness.
He knew she was here and the three of them looking like they did was guaranteed to make sure they got a lot of attention from the male of the species. For a moment she worried that he might send a flunky to watch over them. She shook the thought off; no way not after the spectacular lack of success those self-same flunkeys had been having over the last few days. He would come himself, she was almost sure of it.
Angel watched her from his vantage point on the upper level, a spot he’d picked out so that he could see the bar area and most of the downstairs. He was familiar with the layout, these places all seemed the same to him and he’d had no trouble finding what he wanted, a place to see without being seen.
He hadn’t bothered with the main door, there was no way they were going to just let him in and he’d hadn’t had enough notice to arrange anything through the firm, so he’d reverted back to old habits and broken in.
The three of them arrived about a half hour later just when he’d begun to think they’d changed their plans, then he saw them and his insides seemed to squeeze at the sight of her, rapidly followed by his jaw dropping when he got a better look at her and saw exactly what she was wearing, or not wearing.
His jaw came up again in his lips drew into a furious line and he nearly broke the glass he was holding. He’d bought a drink at the bar when he’d arrived, hoping to blend in better, now he tossed the amber liquid down his throat in an effort to relieve the sudden dryness of his mouth. What the hell was she doing going out in public looking like that, if he’d had a blood pressure it would have been sky high by now, even without it he felt as if steam should be coming out of his ears.
A few hours later the three women were still being besieged by groups of men and trying to look interested in talking to them. For the most part through Cordy was just glad to be out on a social occasion, her enjoyment was only lessened by the fact that Angel had yet to make an appearance.
“Dumbass” she muttered and then plastered another smile on her face when the guy she was supposed to have been listening to gave her a startled look.
She was wearing a metallic teal dress with a tight bodice that was entirely back less, no bra and short twirly skirt that flirted with her knees and exposed her golden calves and even some of her thighs when she moved the right way, her dark hair was loose and cascaded down to the middle of her back now it had grown. He should have been here salivating while she remained carefully aloof and enjoying the attention, without encouragement of course, of other men.
“Where the hell is he”? She hissed to Fred, who was blushing at something one of the other guy’s currently crowding round had just said to her. Fred just shrugged and looked apologetic.
Cathy leaned over the table to talk to her, she didn’t really have to but she wanted an excuse to get away from the jerk next to her who was trying to see down her cleavage. “Why don’t we dance”?
The lighting in the club was dark and intimate and people were dancing everywhere, some not even bothering with the dance floor but just finding any spot to enjoy the rapid, pounding beat. “OK” she agreed, anything was better than just standing around waiting for something to happen.
The two women moved away after a quiet word with Fred, they didn’t go far because they didn’t want to leave her alone, they found a good place near a corner with plenty of space and not too many people so they wouldn’t have to constantly worry about getting bumped.
The music changed to another track, just as heavy and pounding but with an almost primal undertone in its throbbing beat; Cordy started to dance and her eyes drifted shut as she let the music take over. In just a few seconds she started to feel as if her she were weightless and yet there was also a strange pulse inside her body matching the music as it flowed and pulsed intimately through her.
Hardly knowing what she was doing she started to undulate with erotic female grace, her hips swinging enticingly from side to side in an unconsciously provocative imitation of lovemaking, soon she was helplessly caught in a web of pure sensual feeling that encompassed her whole being. She had no awareness of the club, passing time or anything other than an almost primitive need to move in time with the pounding rhythm and appease the throbbing in her body.
The men around her watched, mesmerised by the sight of a beautiful woman caught in the thrall of dancing only for herself and being entirely absorbed in the joy of it; totally unaware of them watching and the effect she was having on them. Angel watched her from above; his hands were clenched around the metal bar that ran around the balcony top, crushing it without even being aware of the pressure he was applying.
He was as mesmerised as the others, his dark eyes watching with helpless fascination each movement of her hips and breasts; he had to swallow hard when with his unnatural eyesight he saw small beads of sweat form between her breasts and start to slowly travel down her body under that damned dress which just by the way it hugged her body should have been illegal. God her face looked like she had when they were making love and he was rock hard just seeing it, she was killing him with lust and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, except leave. He stayed where he was.
Cathy smiled, enjoying herself too, she loved to dance it was one of the few things she truly loved. Most of the time she hated her empathic abilities and blocked them out, but she had to admit there were times it was a definite advantage, like now. She could feel him watching Cordelia, hard to miss even in this crowd and unlike the ‘seeing’ stuff it didn’t rely on physical connection.
She almost shook her head in rueful amusement, even in a jaded and cynical society like this one, sometimes the old ways were the best. A woman dancing in a nightclub, done right could still turn men’s minds to mush; every bit as much as their ancestors had when dancing around a campfire.
OK that was enough she decided when the track changed for the third time, don’t want to over do it. Cordy felt as if she was floating and then blinked confused at the attention she was getting, what the hell had just happened? She shot Cathy a look and met a bland smile, Oh yeah that’s gonna wash. The two women walked back to the table where Fred was watching them with a big smile on her face.
“What did you do”? Asked Cordy before they reached the able; still feeling the effects of the dance.
“Don’t worry about it OK, I simply jacked up your endorphins a little bit, think of it as a free and harmless drug, the effects will soon wear off”
Cordy swallowed and avoided the hot and intent gazes of the men around them; jeez she needed a drink like now. She headed towards the bar over the other side of the club, weaving around tables and between bodies like a pro.
The music was so loud she didn’t hear one of the guy’s she’d been talking to earlier when he shouted at her to gain her attention again. Too drunk to realise she wasn’t just playing hard to get and thinking he had an edge on everyone else as he’d already talked to her. He gave a thumbs up to one of his buddies and set off after her intent on cornering her for a quick grope.
He was just getting close enough for his hand to reach out and cup her ass from behind when he felt himself being grabbed by the collar and lifted in the air. He had no idea who was holding him and if he tried to turn his head the hold on his collar tightened and threatened to choke him, he found himself being carried off to a dark corner away from the crowd.
Angel slammed the puny little shit’s back into the wall and leaned in to say in a low growl “Don’t follow, go near, touch or even look at her again, do you understand me”?
The guy just stared, head pressed back against the wall shocked at the suddenness of being threatened by a very large and menacing stranger, when only seconds earlier he’d been enjoying the view provided by one Cordelia Chase and anticipating more.
He said nothing; too drunk to realise the danger he shook his head and then choked in horror when the stranger’s eyes flashed a strange yellow. Later on he would convince himself that it had been a trick of the light, but right then he felt his bowels loosen in terror.
Quickly he nodded, “Yeah, sure I’m going now” He squealed out sliding along the wall a bit to try and get out of the strangers way. “Leave now then” the stranger growled and stood back blocking the club itself but leaving a path open to the exit. He wasted no time and didn’t even try and signal his friends, just left not turning around once.
Angel watched him leave only marginally satisfied; he’d spent hours standing back and watching Cordelia get fawned over by other men. He’d been forced to wage a constant battle with himself not to jump down in the middle of them and simply throw them away from her, toss her over his shoulder and storm off to somewhere private and that dance had stretched his control even more. He turned around to go back to his lookout and continue the torture only to find himself facing three women, all looking at him, two very amused and one not.
Cordelia had seen the guy coming up behind her in the mirror above the bar and was about to turn round and get rid of him when suddenly she saw him being lifted in the air by..nothing, no reflection. She’d whirled round just in time to see Angel carting the terrified man away. She repressed a spurt of satisfaction and signalled to Cathy and Fred to hurry over which they had.
She’d planned this meeting from the start and she was more than ready for it, even so seeing him for the first time since they’d fought was strangely unnerving and for some reason embarrassing. She forced down a blush and placed both of her hands on her hips, coincidentally highlighting her figure to best advantage, one foot started to tap and she fixed a scowl on her face that made it clear she was less then impressed.
He was caught and feeling immensely embarrassed at being found doing what he’d been doing, acting all jealous and protective again when they weren’t even talking to one another. He looked at Cordelia and without even realising it, practically ate her with his dark eyes. Even angry she made his gut ache with need.
He stood still and waited for her to come to him as he knew she would, the last time he’d seen her she would have staked him if she’d had something wooden and pointy available and he didn’t think that time would have lessened her anger. He’d known the risk of what would happen if she saw him and now he couldn’t do anything other than let her have her say. She deserved it and no matter how much it cut, he was going to take it.
Cordy saw his face drop as he ducked it a little in a defensive gesture, he looked nervous and that gave her confidence that she was doing the right thing, here was the Angel she knew and loved; it was time to implement the plan.
“What do you think you’re doing here Angel and why did you just frighten off a guy I was actually starting to find interesting”? She waited a beat and then finished deliberately “which makes a change”.
She felt Cathy giving her a sideways look and remembered her warnings about playing jealousy games, she’d had trouble convincing Cathy it was a good plan and she’d had to promise not to ‘look’ like she was trying to make him jealous. But damn it was difficult not to feel a thrill as his face showed every emotion going through him, got you, she thought with an internal smile. “Even if he was a total jerk,” she said it to both relax him and placate Cathy; it worked on both counts.
Angel did relax a bit, after her deliberate needling had made him tense up with anger despite his best intentions, he could take her insulting him but just the idea of her wanting other men was enough to make him feel more than a little irrational. He wanted to avoid her question though so he asked one of his own, of Fred.
“You told her didn’t you” he said with one of his most intimidating looks, Cordy drew in a long breath and advanced on him then, one hand coming up to poke him hard in the chest. Fred just smiled apologetically at him and he looked down at a furious Cordy.
“Don’t you dare snarl at Fred like that you big dumbass, she’s my friend too and you shouldn’t have tried to make her take sides”, she carried on poking him but he didn’t try and stop her. He must be sick or something but he enjoyed her touching him even when she was trying to poke a hole in his chest.
She must have guessed so she poked harder, he grabbed her finger and growled at her “Cordelia”, she grinned at him and curled her finger into his palm, making him twitch slightly before she tugged it loose.
“So where’s your crack surveillance team then- not lost them have you”? She said with obviously feigned concern, her face tilted up to his with a falsely sweet smile and a flutter of lashes. Angel’s contriteness changed at that to a mixture of both irritation and admiration for her, at that moment he couldn’t decide if he wanted to throttle her or kiss that sassy mouth.
Her skin was sheened with a glow made by the heat and the exertion of the dancing and it brought out the scent of her perfume as well as that special smell that was hers alone. His mouth watered and he felt himself harden again, God he wanted her.
“What’s the matter cat got your tongue, or are you just speechless at my fabulous dress?”, she lifted up the skirt a bit and sassily swung her hips from side to side, the flimsy material played a hide and seek game with her soft inner thighs, just for his benefit.
Flashes of the other times he’d seen and touched those thighs flitted across his mind and he hardened even more, straining his pants. Thanking god he was wearing a long enough shirt, he finally spoke in what he hoped was a totally relaxed voice, “What game are you playing Cordelia”?
He sounded rusty as hell and Cordy knew just by the hot lights in his eyes that the dress was having the desired effect. Men she knew about and this one the most, even the biggest and meanest could be brought to his knees by the right woman, well she was that women and she had some payback to get. “Game, I’ll tell you shall I”?
She stepped closer to him, her breasts nearly brushed against his wide chest and her hands rested on the hard muscular shoulders under his coat as she leaned in a little, stopping when her face was almost cheek to cheek with his, their eyes meeting in a heated clash of brown and hazel.
“It’s this little game called, ‘its My Life’ you should learn the rules”. Then she softly kissed the corner of his mouth and turned to saunter away with her hips swinging in that maddeningly feminine way.
He watched her gather her strange friend and Fred and then walk towards the exit; she didn’t look back at him. His hands still itched to touch her and his whole body tingled from that kiss.
He’d been expecting to be annihilated by that clever and wicked tongue of hers at the very least, maybe even punched out and instead she’d kissed him. His hand rose up to touch the spot wonderingly.
There was no one else like her in the whole world, she was unique and his. Even if she wouldn’t accept that right now, he wouldn’t give up trying to convince her until she did. He was tired of always feeling unworthy and unloved. He’d done the noble thing before, by stepping aside or leaving. This time around there would be none of that for either of them, she was too important to him.
“Mine”, the word felt strange on his tongue only now he savoured the sound of it; inside him the possessiveness that he tried and often struggled to keep hidden and repressed came loose. The emotion filled him and for the first time since he had gotten his soul back over a century ago, he let it.
HYPERION HOTEL
Back at the hotel Fred looked and Cordelia’s smug and satisfied expression and asked the obvious question, “So you’re happy with the way it went then”?
“Oh yeah this plan is going to work, I can feel it” She was positive.
Fred was doubtful, these things never seemed to go the way they were supposed to but she didn’t say it out loud, at least not directly. “I still don’t get how making him all jealous and possessive is gonna change how things are, I mean isn’t he always like that about you anyway”? She asked.
“The plan isn’t about making him all jealous and possessive; that was just to get him to make a move” Said Cordy shooting another look at Cathy.
“Deliberately playing the jealousy card is great for finding yourself flat on your back real quick, but not so good for the long-term option if you get what I mean, it’s a trust thing”, Cathy frowned at Cordelia for good measure.
“I know, I know”, said Cordy, smiling cheekily “but if I want to change his mind about not interfering in my business. Then we need to make up, but he has to come to me or it won’t work”.
“I can’t believe that you’re so willing to forgive him”? Fred asked the question that was still dumbfounding her, Cordy was a loyal friend but she could be unforgiving about some things.
Cordy had thought about it a lot this past week, not that she’d had much choice with the dreams still coming every time she went to sleep. But it was more than that, she missed him and the thought of cutting him out of her life was a painful one and she was not someone to cut her nose off to spite her face.
“He’s still a dork, but he’s my dork and anyway I know I can turn him around. I just need to make him want me so badly that he’ll be willing to compromise. I made a mistake in letting him make me try it his way”. She was not going to try and explain it more than that, something like her relationship with Angel was just too complicated to be put into simple words.
“Are you sure it’s wise, I mean what if he gets so wound up that…..” Fred tapered off.
“Pfft, if he didn’t hurt me when we were fighting, my just pushing a bit won’t tip him over the edge. All I want him to see is that even when he tries he can’t control what I do and then it’s simply a choice between being with me or without me. Simple”.
KEENE – NEW HAMPSHIRE
He watched the flickering screen with clenched fists, his handsome face was twisted with anger and jealousy and bitterness.
“You chose him over me and now you want me to help you”, he snarled at the beautiful face of Cordelia Chase, frozen on the TV screen. “I will not come, you let me leave and go out into this alien world alone”. This world was truly a hell, unforgiving and cruel and you had to become that way just to survive, so he had.
His fists clenched tighter and tears fell from eyes like blue pools. “You chose him over me and now you can pay the price”
THE HYPERION HOTEL – TWO DAYS LATER
Cordy was fast asleep in bed, content after another successful day running the surveillance team a merry chase and still managing to accomplish what she wanted. They’d found another case and they were making progress. She was smiling with her hand tucked under her face. Angel stood next to the bed looking down at her, his face strangely tense.
He crouched down next to where she lay and lifted the sheet away and down from her body, she stirred only a small bit before relaxing back into deep sleep. His dark eyes wandered over her, resting briefly on the low vest top and a nipple peaking out over the neckline before travelling down to the bed shorts that had ridden up to expose all of her thighs.
Her scent came to him then gently wafted on the night breeze that stirred the curtains at the window where he’d come in and he inhaled deeply his face relaxing from its previous tension with the confirmation that whatever she was up to it didn’t involve another man.
It had been irrational to think so but not knowing what she was doing was driving him crazy. For last few years he’d known almost every thought that crossed her mind and every time she’d had a date he’d hated it even back before he’d started to fall in love with her.
He was possessive as hell and he knew it but it was a part of him that he couldn’t ignore for long and tonight had been his limit, he’d had to know; though god knows what he would have done if she had found another. Thankfully he didn’t need to find out.
He sat back on his heels and just enjoyed the slight of her all pink and rosy with sleep, her full lips pouting even now. He was hard but then that was pretty much automatic these days when he was around her, so he ignored it. One of his hands came up to run a long, callused and yet gentle finger over one arching brow, over her cheek and down her neck, coming to rest on the slope of her breast, only a small distance from that tempting nipple. Sighing he stood up carefully and turned to leave the way he’d come.
He stopped and turned back to press a soft kiss on her forehead and whisper softly “I love you”, then he did leave.
CATHY
In bed herself, Cathy’s eyes were open and she rolled them and smiled when she heard him leave again after only a few minutes. “What the hell do you need, a written invitation”? she sighed. This was going to be hard work.
“OK then noble, boring but noble”, she relented her mind working around the possibilities.
ANGEL AND CORDY
It was nearly dawn, Angel had just got into bed and it had been hours since he had been in Cordy’s bedroom. He gave a sigh as he settled down naked into the bed sheet with the covers wrapped around his hips.
About twenty minutes later he groaned and turned on his back deeply asleep, his body twitched and he moved restlessly almost searchingly, his hips rose up and he groaned again
Cordelia turned on her back in her bed, the sheets were twisted around her torso and she pulled them off frowning but still asleep, she squirmed and moaned deep in her throat as she arched helplessly under the lash of some intense sensation.
She was naked and hot, cool hands skimmed her body, drawing ever decreasing circles towards her aching breasts, finally soothing the tight buds of her nipples with pinching little nips from fingers and teeth and lips.
The bed dipped beside her and felt a large heavy body settle next to her, soft hair prickled across the soft silky skin of her ribs as he continued to lean over and suckle on her nipple. She tried to open her eyes but they felt so heavy and the pleasure was so intense that she couldn’t get them to obey her.
The bed dipped on her other side as he shifted to lean over her completely, his muscular hardness pressing her down as his tongue danced around and then inside her mouth. Sharp teeth pulled at her lower lip in a silent demand that she open her lips wider, she did and he slid inside, the intimate invasion was both possessive and giving as his tongue danced with hers, her hips undulated under him and she felt his groan travel through her own body like a growl.
She was driving him crazy and he felt her soft wet warmth press against his thigh and finally his sex as she spread her thighs so that he settled deeper into the apex there, it tempted him too much, he had to taste her and he gave a low growl just before he slid down her body, worshipping every golden inch before he reached his target.
She protested his leaving her and came up off the bed but he pushed her down again, one large hand pressed into her belly while the other lifted her bottom up to bring her to his ravaging mouth, she did arch then but couldn’t move back from the sweet pain and the sharp lashing pleasure of him licking and sucking at her. Her legs were over his impossibly wide shoulders and he would not let her move back but lifted her higher so that he could incite and take every drop of delicious moisture her body could produce.
He was frantic with the need to bury himself inside her but she tasted like heaven and he wanted to make her come and take that too, relentlessly he drove her higher with his darting , thrusting tongue, reaching high inside her body and then circling and nipping at the incredibly sensitive bundle of nerves, lapping her up.
She screamed as she came, bucking in his hands and finally she opened her eyes and saw his dark head still between her thighs and shuddered with the pleasure the sight gave her, her legs felt like leaden weights and she couldn’t have moved even if her life depended on it. It didn’t matter though he wasn’t finished, he looked up and caught and held her gaze with fiery brown eyes, his lips curved in the most sexually predatory smile she had ever seen.
He kissed her deeply, his thrusting tongue almost roughly as he forced her to take him, she was more than willing though and arched her hips to take him inside her body with just as much welcome has she did his mouth. His big body settled heavily on her as he entered her with one penetrating thrust that nearly drove her up the bed and into the bed head. She pulled back from the kiss to gasp and moan at the pressure and he moved those wicked lips to her neck, nipping and laving playfully and then biting just hard enough to make her buck and writhe under him.
He leant up on one side and then bent his head down, still thrusting without faltering into her very depths, the pressure and friction caused by his engorged sex on her inner walls and delicate nerves of her clitoris was almost too much coupled with the strong suckling on her nipples; she cried out his name. His head came up and he looked down into her flushed face, devouring her features and watching as each thrust he gave her made her breathing hitch and eyes slide closed in ecstasy.
It wasn’t enough he wanted more, needed more to satisfy some primitive urge to create an unbreakable bond between them, a bond that she wouldn’t be able to deny afterwards and drive him away again. He sat up and drew her up with him, still joined but with her legs now wrapped around his hips, heels on the bed behind him.
She opened her eyes and looked into his and saw the strange and possessive lights in his eyes, she looked at his full lips and couldn’t resist leaning in to press her open mouth on his smiling lips, dipping her tongue out to trace them and then thrust inside his mouth, angling her lips so that she could match the rhythm he was setting. He set her back from him and she closed her eyes as the angle and depth of his penetration became even more unbearably deep.
His loins tightened and he almost came at the sight of her laid out before him, their bodies joined, her dark curls pressed and mingled with his own as he rocked her back and forth on his thighs. He lifted one hand while still supporting her back with the other, to draw on a breast, squeezing their fullness, cupping and teasing her one at a time, watching her every expression with heavy lidded eyes.
“Open your eyes and look at me” his deep rumbly voice commanded, she opened them and looked at him, his muscular body easily rising her up, muscles bunching and then relaxing in rhythm with his thrusts; his wide shoulders gleamed and his arms held her effortlessly as if she was weightless. The hand at her breast reached up and cupped the back of her neck to pull her in for a demanding kiss, her legs trembled with the threat of orgasm and she tightened her thighs.
“Look at us” he said and bent her head a little until she too saw what had nearly driven him over the edge, his thick sex glistened with moisture from her body, entering her smoothly and then retreating, relentless and so impossibly intimate. Seeing it and feeling it at the same time was too much and she whipped her head back as the spasms from her orgasm started.
He watched her start to come and felt his own tremors begin, he dropped her back on the bed and drove himself as hard as he could into her soft and writhing body, one hand gripping a knee to keep her spread for him as he continued to pound until at last he collapsed from the force of the draining pleasure.
Angel woke up wide eyed and whipped the bed sheet from around his straining sex, cursing in every language he knew. He got up and with trembling legs walked over the bathroom to slam the shower door back and get inside. He rinsed himself of the evidence of his orgasm using one arm still to support his still trembling form.
Cordy relaxed and stilled, still asleep but drained and content at the same time, she turned over and cuddled into the bed, “Angel” she whispered smiling.
KEENE NEW HAMPSHIRE
He was packed and ready to go, he was dry eyed now having changed his mind and decided he would go back to LA, obviously she had made the wrong choice and it was up to him to make sure she knew that.