Part 14<\/b><\/p>\n
Newberry Cemetery
\nLater that night<\/b><\/p>\n
Cordelia shuffled her feet against the damp grass, as she made her way through the surrounding headstones. She was still wearing her cheerleading outfit from earlier. After school had gotten out, all she wanted to do was take off. She\u2019d figured the outfit was all smelly from practice, so why change for the sake of slaying.\u00a0Better one funky outfit than two.<\/i><\/p>\n
After today\u2019s slayer versus slayer fiasco and seeing her tweeked grandfather, a night out slaying was just what she needed. Seeing Daniel Bellaver for the first time in ten years had unleashed a rage inside her that was boiling. Her only wish was that somehow he was a demon or would become one so she could kill him.<\/p>\n
Thinking about him was fogging up her instincts. She could sense there was a least one vampire in close vicinity around her. Clutching her stake, Cordelia tensed her muscles in apprehension.<\/p>\n
Whipping her head around, her high ponytail flying, she tried to home in on it\u2019s location. \u201cStop checking me out and come out, vampy. I\u2019ve had a bad day and I don\u2019t feel like hunting your ass!\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as she was about to cut around one of the mausoleums, Angel stepped from the side, directly in front of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoa, damn!\u201d Her senses had been totally primed, ready to attack a vampire. And her slayer-sense had not failed her. She just wished it had been another kind of vampire. The soulless kind. \u201cYou so almost got wasted! What the hell are you doing out here?!\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel clenched his jaw as he dragged his eyes over her form. He\u2019d never seen her slay in her cheerleading attire. There was something so incredibly innocent, but sexy, seeing her with that on. The stake in her hand only added to her dangerous allure. \u201cUh, sorry. I was just- um- looking for Buffy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe takes over the north side of town,\u201d Cordelia rolled her eyes in annoyance, as she maneuvered around him, carefully trying not to touch him. \u201cIt was part of our agreement, remember? She takes the north, I take the south side.\u201d A few months ago, Cordelia had made the suggestion about dividing the cemeteries between the two of them. It was a perfect arrangement. Cordelia slayed- alone, while Buffy & Co. slayed in groups. Occasionally, Willow would join in Cordelia\u2019s fray, but Buffy always made it silently clear that she didn\u2019t want her friends anywhere near the\u00a0other<\/i>\u00a0Slayer.<\/p>\n
Giving an exasperated sigh, Angel decided to drop the pretenses. \u201cActually, I was coming to find you, not her. I heard about what happened today at school from Giles. You okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYup.\u201d<\/p>\n
He could tell she was lying and it pissed him off. \u201cWhy can\u2019t you open up to me?\u201d For months, ever since the final battle with the Anointed One, she\u2019d been pushing him farther and farther away. It was driving him nuts, especially since he didn\u2019t know why she was doing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you going to be? My diary?\u201d Cordelia scoffed, with a nasty sneer. She pivoted around and began to move away from him.\u00a0Walk away, walk away<\/i>, she silently chanted, hoping he would do just that. She couldn\u2019t be close to him, not now!<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he shouted out, moving with his vampiric speed. Angel reached out and grabbed her wrist, spinning her back to face him. \u201cYou are not walking away from me this time, Cordelia. We\u2019re going to talk. Now!\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrenching her arm back, she took a step back away from him. She really didn\u2019t like the look in his dark eyes. They seemed be trying to bore into her soul. Cordelia could tell by the chip in his voice that he wasn\u2019t going to let her go without a fight. And\u00a0that<\/i>\u00a0was out of the question. She didn\u2019t want\u00a0any<\/i>\u00a0physical contact between them! She didn\u2019t think she could bear it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. Talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel took a step toward her, trying not to growl as she instinctively backed away. He hated this. Hated that she kept avoiding him. \u201cI want to know what happened today. From your point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuffy got mad that my granddaddy is part of the Watcher\u2019s Council and I never told her. She made a big fuss and got knocked on her ass for it,\u201d She crossed her arms, glaring up at him. \u201cSorry I decked your girlfriend, so can I go now? I\u2019ve got things I need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0only<\/i>\u00a0thing you need to do right now, Cordelia, is to stay here and talk to me,\u201d Giving her a wicked sneer, he again invaded her space by stepping forward. \u201cUnless you wanna go back to my apartment and take this up there?\u201d Angel secretly smiled to himself. Her back was to the mausoleum, as she kept moving away from him, she was unconsciously cornering herself for him.<\/p>\n
His apartment would be the only place he could take her at the Merchant Building. She\u2019d never invited him into her penthouse there. \u201cAnd what would dear, sweet Buffy have to say about that one? I\u2019m sure she\u2019d love finding me in your apartment.\u201d Her eyes lit up in merriment. \u201cOn second thought- yeah! Let\u2019s go there. There\u2019s always fun to be had in that category.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaking his head at her, Angel couldn\u2019t believe how she was acting. \u201cWhy are being like this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust being the person everyone thinks I am, vampire. A cold hearted bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody thinks that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia laughed, \u201cYour girlfriend does. So apparently, whatever Buffy thinks is true for what everyone else thinks.\u201d Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, Cordelia tried again to will Angel away. \u201cI really don\u2019t have time for this, okay? Why don\u2019t you go to the north side of town and leave me alone! I\u2019ve got my own Watcher now, so none of you have to deal with me anymore. So go!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere, Cordelia,\u201d he whispered, inching closer to her again. This time he let a smile catch his lips, when he saw the realization on her face that she was now cornered by him. She was pressed up against the wall and she knew there was no way around him. He\u2019d stop her every move.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave.\u201d She clenched her hand tightly around her stake.<\/p>\n
The movement did not go unnoticed by Angel. \u201cYou gonna stake me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have to, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling her bluff, Angel ripped open his dark red shirt to expose his chest. \u201cGo ahead. You want it so badly, just do it.\u201d Opening his arms wide, he offered himself to her.<\/p>\n
Cordelia\u2019s heart was beating so hard she felt as if it would burst from her chest. She knew he could hear it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, Cordelia. Give in.\u201d Angel pressed even closer to her, letting his arms drop. \u201cYou want to destroy everything around you, then start with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to start anything with you!\u201d Feeling the cold wall against her back was a slight comfort to the heat that was beginning to spread through her body.\u00a0This is why I can\u2019t open up to you<\/i>, she silently confessed to him. Every time she was around him, she could feel- almost see, that connection between them grow inevitably stronger. She felt consumed by it.<\/p>\n
Angel could almost taste the desire that was seeping out of her. It matched his tenfold. \u201cDon\u2019t you? Say my name, Cordelia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n
Letting a grin come on his face, not unlike that of Angelus, Angel moved impossibly closer to the girl that haunted his dreams. \u201cI want you to say my name. I haven\u2019t heard you say it all night. In fact- I haven\u2019t heard my name on your lips in weeks.\u201d Hearing the rapid sound of her heart, seeing her flushed face- she\u2019d already confessed to him with her body as to why she was avoiding him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right,\u201d Her smile just as calculating as his. \u201cLiam<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel blinked at her incredulously. She was deliberately provoking him, testing how far he bring himself. Her beautifully classic face was turned up to his, and she wasn\u2019t batting a lash.<\/p>\n
It had become too much for him. All the way back to that first taste of her blood after she\u2019d slayed the Master, to seeing her come back from Japan. Those brief, yet wonderfully welcoming days when she had returned to Sunnydale and they were becoming friends. Then those months that she had receded from him completely, almost shunning him.<\/p>\n
Releasing a growl of pent up anger and desire, Angel violently grabbed her by her upper arms, bringing her against his chest. Ignoring her gasp of alarm, he took the opportunity to assault her glossy parted lips.<\/p>\n
Trying to pull herself away from him, Cordelia soon felt lost when he slid tongue past her lips, roughly caressing her tongue. Cordelia groaned when he locked her arms behind her back, her wrists held together by a large hand. Absently, she notice that her stake dropped from her limp fingers to the damp grass below.<\/p>\n
Using his free left hand, Angel slid his fingers long the side of her waist and up toward her right breast. All the while not letting up on his kiss, if anything deepening it. Feeling her body lax to him in surrender sent another growl rumbling from his chest. She tasted like everything he\u2019d imagined she would. She was his! This cemented it.<\/p>\n
Cordelia gasped in his mouth, as she felt his hand skim over breast, pressing into it\u2019s fullness. There was a silent alarm sounding in the back of her mind, as Angel sealed himself against her. He knew exactly how to kiss her, his blunt teeth nipping her lips, then crushing her mouth open to dual with her tongue. This was what if felt like to be truly alive. Her body hummed with it.<\/p>\n
Angel had to get closer. Releasing her arms, Angel kept kissing, moving his hands down to her hips. Grinning to himself, when her heard her cry out, as he lifted her up. Slamming her against the mausoleum wall, Angel groaned when she gripped his waist with her long legs. Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck, trying not to cry out when his hands traveled from her hips to explore underneath her cheerleading skirt.<\/p>\n
This was too much too fast. Much too fast. Mustering all the inner strength she had left, Cordelia wrenched her mouth away from his, bracing her palms against his shoulders and pushed with all her might.<\/p>\n
Completely taken aback by her sudden burst of strength, Angel fell back on the ground, Cordelia slumped out of his grip onto her knees. Still in the tides of passion, Angel looked at her with heavy lidded eyes. She was crouched before him, her chest heaving as she fought for control of her turbulent emotions.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo- don\u2019t do that again!\u201d She stammered, not taking her hazel eyes of his. Her hand searching the ground for her stake. Finding it, she surged to her feet on shaky legs. \u201cOr I will stake you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still not moving from where she\u2019d shoved him to the ground, Angel narrowed his eyes at her. \u201cThis is far from over, Cordelia. It will never be over!\u201d Now that he had tasted her, felt his desire for her- he knew now this could never end. \u201cAll this time you\u2019ve been avoiding me- It\u2019s because you\u2019re in love with me. Don\u2019t deny it!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI don\u2019t love you. I\u00a0can\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0love you!\u201d Her anguished scream echoed through the cemetery. \u201cGod, just stay away from me, please!\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel shook his head, leaping to his feet before her. \u201cNever. You belong to me!\u201d He moved again, so fast she barely had time to raise her hands to him. Grabbing her wrist, he snatched the stake out of her hand, throwing it over his shoulder. \u201cNo matter who comes into your life, you\u2019ll always belong to me, Cordelia!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia kicked out, her tennis shoe slamming into his knee cap. Feeling his grip slack, she pulled away and began to run. Pausing by a headstone, she turned around, \u201cThis has to stop here and now, Angel! I know- I\u00a0feel<\/i>\u00a0it in my gut that this- us will end badly if you don\u2019t leave me the hell alone!\u201d Seeing him slowly shake his head at her words, Cordelia felt tears well in her eyes. \u201cStay away from me or I will leave town. For good!\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning on her heal, not waiting for him to reply, Cordelia sprinted out of the cemetery as if the devil himself were on her heals.<\/p>\n
Straightening his shirt, Angel allowed her to run from him. This time.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext time,\u201d he whispered to her retreating figure. \u201cYou won\u2019t be able to run from me. And there\u2019s nowhere in this world that I won\u2019t be able to find you.\u201d Deciding it was best not to hook up with Buffy and her crew this evening, Angel opted for a much needed drink in town. He rapidly headed that way, his only thoughts were of Cordelia<\/p>\n
Too consumed with their passion, neither vampire nor slayer had noticed they had had an audience. Daniel Bellaver and Vinessa Chandler had seen and heard the whole spectacle. Emerging from the shadows, Daniel grinned at his beautiful charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I leave, Vinessa, you know what you must do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing her blue-green eyes to meet his, she obediently nodded. Vinessa finally saw when she looked up at the head Watcher, that Cordelia had his hazel eyes. Of course, she didn\u2019t have the evil that lay within the depths that Daniel Bellaver had. \u201cYes, sir. I know exactly what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n