The quiet stillness of contentment faded layer by layer. Flashing images of blood, the taste of fear, familiar faces passing in an array of light. Cordelia fitfully stirred in her sleep, a sense of danger compelling her to awaken. Hazel eyes darted open wide and scared, a look of panic echoing her inner fears.
Calling out, “Angel,” on a frightened gasp she found him already there beside her. He lay on his side watching her.
Silently, he folded his arms around her slender form, spooning close, wrapping her in a protective cocoon. Cordelia’s eyes shuttered closed again at the touch of his lips to her cheek. He knew as well as she that the demons chasing her in her dreams were all too real. They could not be forgotten with the dawning of a new day.
Snuggling closer, Cordelia slowly realized they were both naked. Angel’s body felt warm as if he had drawn on her natural heat all night. He felt so good against her, his solid muscle, iron strength, gentle hands, and something else thickening insistently along the curve of her bottom.
Again?
Cordelia caught her lower lip between her teeth and did not know whether to giggle or groan. He was insatiable, her vampire, but she was still a little sore. A soft moan sounded in her ear when she shifted back. His hand trailed down the center of her torso to palm the flat plane of her belly holding her still.
After a moment where Angel seemed to get it together, he asked her softly, “Bad dreams?”
“Yes.”
She waited for the questions to come. Ready to rattle off a quick explanation and a curt, “I’m fine,” Cordelia discovered that it wasn’t quite that easy to lie to him. “I’m scared,” the truth came out instead. “They killed Bev. They want to sacrifice me to their demon god. My life sucks— except for you.”
Angel kissed her shoulder and then rested his chin there as he held her. Just letting her talk. Ignoring the fact that he was still hard. Providing quiet support despite the fact that his libido did not seem to have an off switch. They had made love almost all night. Little cat naps were essential to her, but Cordelia doubted he’d slept.
“I’ve been watching over you,” Angel admitted when she asked. Keeping tabs on the door more like it. Wondering if the Scoobies would come barging in at any moment. God! They were probably still down there.
Cordelia flushed at the embarrassing thought, but a part of her reveled over the idea that Angel belonged to her now. No more hiding their relationship. Buffy would just have to suck it up. Xander, too. She dreaded the thought of facing them, but knew it could not be avoided. Better to get it done quick like ripping off a Band-Aid really fast. It would sting, but the pain would be over faster that way.
“I better get up,” Cordelia really didn’t feel like moving. It felt so good being held by Angel. He was not making a big deal about his morning wood as if sensing she had reached her limit for their first night together. Though she had to admit that despite being sore, it made her hot knowing how much she turned him on.
He had shown her that repeatedly last night. With his hands exploring her sensitive curves, fingers circling, tweaking and expertly rubbing spots that left her shuddering with pleasure. Or the way his mouth and that talented tongue said so much without saying a word. God! The time he had spent with his head between her thighs.
Just the thought of it made her lick her lips remembering the taste of their passion. Angel’s kisses had robbed her of any thought beyond the desire to let him take her. It thrilled her and scared her the way he made her feel. How he filled her up, each time better than the last.
Leaving his bed felt so wrong. Cordelia crawled to the edge. His fingertips smoothed down the length of her leg barely touching her until his hand wrapped around her ankle holding her there. On her hands and knees, she glanced over her shoulder to find him staring with lazy lust darkening his eyes.
“Forget something?”
Cordelia boldly let her gaze drop to the bulging sheet wrapped loosely around his hips. Then flicking her eyes up to meet his smiled saucily, “No, I don’t think so.”
Shifting upward, Angel tugged her back into his lap so quickly that Cordelia let out a short squeal. Her long hair flew wildly around her shoulders landing in a tangled nest of silky strands over her shoulders. Coasting his hand along her spine, he fisted it in the hair at her nape.
Her hands fluttered to a stop at his broad shoulders seeking balance. Angel tilted her head back exposing the long cord of her neck, pressed his mouth there. She felt the blunt scrape of his teeth along a tender patch of skin. That spot just turned him on in ways that were all too obvious. Strangely, after the first flash of panic last night she had not worried about him biting her.
Now he loosened his grip, sliding it around to tilt her chin, to bring her mouth to his. Soft and tender, the soothing press of his lips asked for nothing. It was over all too soon. Little more than a peck that left her mouth tingling. “Good morning,” Angel’s voice rumbled huskily in his throat.
Just an inch or two away, Cordelia murmured, “Morning,” with a little whisper of surprise. That was not quite what she expected. He leaned back on his hands to watch her as she straddled his lap. Aroused, but content to let her go as if sensing that she needed some space.
Indirect light filtered into the ever-brightening room. Cordelia enjoyed staring back at Angel and watching the light play across the pale expanse of his chest. The heavy muscles of his arms stretched as he leaned back. His belly was taut but for that tasty bit that pooched out just enough to sink her teeth into. She’d learned a lot about what Angel liked, but had a feeling it only scratched the surface.
His eyes were eating her up, too, Cordelia noted, blushing at the open appreciation. “You’re staring.”
Angel pointed out, “So are you.”
Cordelia grinned, snatching the sheet around her. “Now that we’ve established that we’re both hot, I think I’d better get moving. There’s stuff I need to do today. To begin with I need to take a long, hot shower. I wouldn’t want to offend any super-sensitive noses.”
Moving off the bed dragging the sheet with her gained Cordelia a long look at Angel stretched out on the bed. Mmm, Salty Goodness! All mine. A little smirk quirked the corners of her mouth into a smile. She continued to back step toward the bathroom, almost reluctant to turn away from the sight of him.
“You know we could try to conserve water,” Angel casually hopped off the bed. He took two strides forward until Cordelia let out a strangled gasping giggle. It ended in a little snort. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Cordelia snorted again, turning her head away and reddening from head to toe.
Standing with a hand on one hip, Angel scrubbed the other across the nape of his neck. He was so casual about his nudity. As if modesty was something he had never learned or simply forgotten. Considering that she had been staring at his body when the giggles started, she managed to hit a raw nerve.
“You’re not going to say that I’m fat again, are you?” Well it wasn’t exactly his belly that had her attention.
Cordelia closed her mouth and shook her head. Then burst into giggles again when Angel took another step forward. “Sorry! Honest. I-I was looking at— it.”
Speechless, Angel’s gaze dropped in a southerly direction. There was nothing worth giggling about as far as he could tell. Women did not laugh when they looked at his penis. At least no one had until now. His worries over Cordy thinking he was fat were forgotten quickly.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Angel emphasized the last word as she did. He stepped closer forcing Cordelia to lift her gaze upward just because of his proximity.
“Not that I could tell,” Cordelia giggled even harder when realizing that Angel did not exactly get the joke. “It’s just—”
Angel barked worriedly, “What?”
“When you move around like that,” Cordelia walked her fingers across the space in between them, “it bobs. Y’know, like it’s waving around saying, ‘Hellooooo, Cordy’.” She quickly stifled the errant snort that escaped by lifting the corner of the sheet to her mouth.
The tension in Angel’s face vanished.
“That’s fun.” Cordelia wondered if it was evil of her to have Angel and sex on the brain when she should be thinking about serious stuff. Like going with Giles to see Bev’s body, she thought, instantly sobering up. “I’m gonna go shower now.”
Having had his plan for a little water conservation cut short, he tried again with, “I’m good with soap—” only to be cut off.
“No! No,” she softened her response on the next try. “Shower sharing is a little, um, personal.”
Confused by the mixed signals, Angel started to worry that he had moved too fast. He had taken advantage of her vulnerable situation again. No matter that Cordelia had been more than eager to make love last night, it wasn’t necessarily the best choice. Now he was pushing for more than she could handle. The curse reverberating in his head must have been apparent.
Cordelia stepped forward to lay her hand along his face. “I want to,” she told him, “just not now. I can’t ignore what I’ve got to do today. If I’m going down to the Police Station, I’ve got to get showered and dressed. It’ll be faster if we behave ourselves.”
Looking mollified, Angel took her hand in his sliding it over to press a kiss into her palm. “Go ahead. I’ll use one of the other rooms.”
“Okay.”
Angel started to turn away, but stopped to say, “I’m sorry I can’t go with you today. I want to help you through this.”
The tears she thought she had locked away seemed to swell up again. Blinking them away again, Cordelia let him know that she’d prefer him there to Giles. “You’d be a crispy critter if I let you tag along, so no thanks. Besides, it’s not like we’re joined at the hip. Mister Melty Face won’t want me as a sacrifice. I’m not a virgin anymore.”
“Cordy, the Crosathnam doesn’t know that.”
“He was pretty quick about sensing my ‘purity’ the first time I saw him,” she sourly reminded him. Those snoopy demon senses were way too sensitive.
Angel hated the thought of letting her out of his sight. Cordelia was not exactly thrilled with the idea, either. It meant that Buffy & Co. would have to take her over to Giles’ place. Her thoughts switched direction. “I suppose they’re still down there wondering what we’ve been doing.”
