Part 2<\/b><\/p>\n
Angel\u2019s anger nearly consumed him. Seeing some overly-muscled creep with his arms around Cordelia had unhinged him, loosing his demon and making it difficult to spare the life of this worthless man. Angel\u2019s fists connected repeatedly with the attacker\u2019s face and body, denting his ugly features and reducing him to a whimpering, bloody mess. Hearing Cordy\u2019s groan and seeing her sitting up was the only thing that kept Angel from snuffing her attacker\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Cordelia slowly placed her hand on her forehead, her thoughts fuzzy. When her vision cleared, Cordy took in the pulverized features of her assailant who was now spread-eagled on the dingy hallway floor. She glared at Angel, sending him her patented Geez, you\u2019re a moron! <\/i>expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel!\u201d Cordelia hissed. \u201cThe guy\u2019s unconscious. If we wanted any information, we won\u2019t get any from him now.\u201d She grabbed the hand that Angel offered and struggled to her feet as gracefully as a micro-mini and five-inch heels would allow.<\/p>\n
Angel\u2019s dispassionate features showed no remorse for his treatment of the thug. In his opinion, the guy was fair game; Cordelia wasn\u2019t to be touched by anyone except him. Well, maybe Wesley, but even Wesley would be walking on thin ice if he touched Cordelia with intentions beyond friendship. It belatedly occurred to Angel that his thoughts didn\u2019t exactly sound boss-like. More in the neighborhood of stalker-like. He shrugged off the uncomfortable thoughts and concentrated on his woozy seer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t our guy,\u201d Angel explained simply. \u201cNot a demon.\u201d He placed Cordy\u2019s hand in the crook of his elbow and led her out of the hallway and back onto the main floor of the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo!\u201d Cordy argued in a whisper, her exasperation clearly evident. \u201cMaybe he\u2019s got brainless human henchmen working for him.\u201d She didn\u2019t want tonight\u2019s trauma to be for nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the last abduction, remember?\u201d Angel reminded her. \u201cThere\u2019s an MO here. Tranq dart, then abduction by brainless demon henchmen.\u201d Angel guided her back to the group of Jeremy\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n
Cordy muttered, \u201cFigures. First time I go incognito and I attract some dim-witted, beefy Jethro trying to cop a feel.\u201d She plastered her famous 1000-watt smile firmly in place once more. \u201cRemind me why I agreed to this again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was \u2018helping the hopeless,\u2019 as you like to put it,\u201d Angel reminded her.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh-huh,\u201d Cordy returned grudgingly through clenched teeth and sighed. \u201cI did sign up for this, didn\u2019t I?\u201d Giving in to the inevitable, Cordy realized she needed some alcoholic sustenance to continue with the charade. \u201cGet me a drink, would you, Angel?\u201d She asked. \u201cSomething fruity.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled briefly and released her arm. With a last look that said \u201cbehave yourself,\u201d Angel turned and threaded his way through the crowd toward the bar.<\/p>\n
The alcohol had definitely been flowing freely during Cordelia\u2019s brief foray into the dangers of the club\u2019s bathroom hallway. The wives, Cynthia and Jennifer, were waving wine glasses as they gossiped. It was their third round, if the empty glasses on the table were any indication. Jennifer\u2019s speech flowed nearly uninterrupted as she scathingly dismantled every other woman in the room, from hairstyle to footwear, all comments and haughty looks poorly concealed behind her diamond-encrusted hand. Cynthia giggled frequently at Jennifer\u2019s comments, a laugh that grated on Cordelia\u2019s nerves. It was a high-pitched titter that Cordelia supposed was intended to sound like tinkling glass, but actually sounded more like a baby hyena with it\u2019s tail smashed in a car door.<\/p>\n
Jennifer momentarily paused in her catty attack on L.A.\u2019s society when she saw Cordelia standing alone. \u201cWhere\u2019d that scrumptious husband of yours take off to, hon?\u201d Jennifer asked. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t let that one out of your sight for long,\u201d she warned, the sticky sweetness of her phony smile not reaching her blue eyes. \u201cHe\u2019s a prime target.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any answer Cordy would have given was preempted by the advances of Mark, Jeremy\u2019s libidinous friend. A smile, undoubtedly meant to be sexy, became a drunken leer as he perused Cordelia\u2019s features. He sauntered over, taking advantage of Cordelia\u2019s lack of companionship to make his move. Cordy braced herself for the onslaught of sleeze.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia,\u201d Mark propositioned, \u201cIs your father in prison?\u201d A sly, toothy grin stretched across his face.<\/p>\n
Cordy struggled to keep from rolling her eyes as she played along. Ironic that he would use that pick-up line,<\/i> she thought wryly as she recalled her father\u2019s felonious activities. \u201cNo, why?\u201d She asked innocently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he should be. He stole the stars from the heavens to put into your eyes.\u201d Mark smirked, proud of himself for getting the lame line right.<\/p>\n
\u201cHa, Ha! You\u2019re so funny, Mark!\u201d Cordelia said with false brightness, her headache intensifying as the cheesiness increased. She was infinitely relieved when she saw Angel returning to her from the bar, a pink drink in one hand, a scotch on the rocks in the other.<\/p>\n
Handing her the pink beverage, Angel snaked his arm around her waist and brought her hips in line with his. She shivered as his hand caressed her hip, Mark\u2019s lame come-on forgotten, Angel\u2019s cool fingers brushing the bare skin between the silk scrap of her top and the cloth of her skirt. Her eyes slid shut at the narcotic-like bliss his touch inspired. Get a grip, Cordy!<\/i> she berated herself. The last thing she wanted was a replay of the earlier inner gooiness at the feel of Angel\u2019s hard body next to hers. He lowered his lips to her ear, looking to the casual observer as if he were murmuring passionate phrases to his lover. Cordelia was chagrined at the disappointment that surged through her when the words from Angel\u2019s mouth were far from lover-like.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not getting anything useful here tonight,\u201d Angel whispered. \u201cLet\u2019s make our excuses and leave. We can rethink this tomorrow and try again.\u201d His lips brushed the sensitive skin under her ear, undoubtedly for the visual effect, but the physical effect was powerful.<\/p>\n
Mark was obviously put-out that his conquest of Cordelia had been thwarted. He glared at Angel and sipped his martini. Cordelia met his eyes and shivered at the ruthlessness she saw. He quickly shuttered his gaze, and Cordelia was left to wonder if she\u2019d just imagined it.<\/p>\n
Cordy turned to Jennifer and Cynthia. \u201cThanks for a fun evening, girls,\u201d she said insincerely, but attempting politeness. No one was going to say that Cordelia Chase was ill-mannered.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course!\u201d Jennifer returned, her own insincerity dripping from the words. \u201cWe must do this again soon.\u201d Her statement was followed by Cynthia\u2019s hyena giggle.<\/p>\n
Angel grabbed Cordelia\u2019s hand and they hastily exited the club. Once on the street, Angel didn\u2019t release Cordy\u2019s hand and she didn\u2019t try to take it back. It felt right, somehow. Neither of them dwelt on the thought, but the feel of her warm hand encased in his was pleasant, and Angel wasn\u2019t about to give that up.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Cordelia lay on her bed, counting the ceiling tiles and contemplating the state of her emotions. Angel was ensconced in the living room, asleep on the couch as he had been every night for the past month since his apartment was bombed, but Cordelia had never been more aware of his presence than she was tonight. Unbidden, the feelings his touch had unexpectedly created kept replaying in her head. Every time she thought about how it felt to be held by him, the slow fire in the pit of her stomach grew hotter. She turned over restlessly, ruthlessly pummeling her pillow and finally burying her face in it.He\u2019s your boss, Cordelia!<\/i> she lectured herself sternly. No \u201csalty goodness\u201d vibes there, okay? You have to work with him. Workplace romances are in poor taste. You see him every day, he lives in your apartment, he sleeps under your blankets, he showers in your bathroom, rubs your towels over his . . . Oh, make it stop! Just stop thinking!<\/i> She tossed again, flinging her blankets off her heated flesh. I\u2019ve just been without sex for too long. Yeah, that\u2019s it. Not since that creep Wilson. He made me swear off men, and now I\u2019m all torqued up. Nothing else!<\/i> Cordelia continued her attempt to convince herself.It can\u2019t be Angel. He\u2019s a vampire, for Pete\u2019s sake! Okay, so he\u2019s a totally hot, hard-stomached, broad shouldered, full-lipped, smoldering-eyed, strong-armed hottie, but . . . Oh, this is NOT helping!!<\/i> Cordy rolled over, mutilating her pillow once again in frustration. Damn pillow\u2019s even out to get me!<\/i> she groused, sending the offending object sailing towards the door.<\/p>\n
In the living room, Angel heard the soft muffle of the pillow as it connected with the other side of the closed door. He could sense Cordelia\u2019s unsettled state, and his own mind was in total sympathy. He had played his role of doting husband to the hilt tonight, and he was surprised at how much it had affected him. Cordelia was a beautiful woman; he\u2019d known that since Sunnydale when he\u2019d found her hiding in a dumpster full of severed body parts. But before tonight, he\u2019d never considered her to be his<\/i> beautiful woman.<\/p>\n
Sure, he was territorial where she was concerned, but he\u2019d considered that to be a result of her status as his friend and seer, not anything more. Now he wasn\u2019t so sure. She\u2019d dressed to kill, as she always did, but he hadn\u2019t ever noticed just how soft her skin was, how good her hair smelled, or how perfect she fit in his embrace. He hadn\u2019t felt anything this right since Buffy, and even that hadn\u2019t been so fantastic at the end of his tenure in Sunnydale. In short, Cordelia\u2019s presence was messing with his mind and heating him up faster than he\u2019d thought possible.<\/p>\n
There was another, more easily admitted reason for his overacting tonight: getting Cordelia worked up was a kind of fun that Angel didn\u2019t have very often. The demon in him liked the emotional torture, and while Angelus would have ended the manipulation with pain and death, Angel was heading down a more dangerous road: falling in love. He\u2019d intended to fluster Cordy and give himself the satisfaction of gloating in the power he\u2019d realized he had over her, but he hadn\u2019t intended to be affected himself. He was dangerously close to losing his heart to his beautiful seer, and he wasn\u2019t sure he was ready for that.<\/p>\n
Angel sighed and sat up, running his fingers through the short spikes of his hair. He knew he wasn\u2019t going to get any sleep tonight, so he might as well be awake. He walked into the kitchen, pausing at a cabinet and removing a mug.<\/p>\n
In her room, Cordelia sat on the edge of her bed, staring into the mirror on her wall. Her haggard appearance, highlighted by the dim light, only served to more firmly cement her bad mood. She stood up abruptly, flung open the door, and marched into the kitchen. She flung open the door to the refrigerator, only to have Angel\u2019s hand brush hers as she reached for the milk and he for the container of blood. The sparks that flew between them as their skin brushed could have lit up the room. Their eyes whipped towards each other, and Cordelia\u2019s heart stopped as she bathed in the heated intensity of Angel\u2019s gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia,\u201d his deep voice broke the silence. \u201cWe have to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n