Author: Sarah
Feedback: Yes Please! Send care of Saeah. Now let me clarify... NO FLAMES PLEASE! I don't mind if you don't like, but please only give constructive criticism on how can I make it better, tell me!!
Pairing: Buffy/Angel(us)
Summary: AU :) sorry thats all you are getting
Disclaimer: I could never be as cruel as Joss by keeping them apart, so no they are most definitely not mine
Rating: NC17 eventually
AN1: This is my first story so please be very kind and generous with the feedback. Will be archived at Sempiternal Beloved (whttp://www.geocities.com/danishafer).
AN2:Thanks to Danielle for agreeing to Beta this story in what little spare time she has. I love you for it!!
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Chapter 1
The night was cold and bitter, a fierce wind sweeping around the corners of the dark buildings. Suddenly the heavens opened, as if somehow knowing the reason why the young woman walking down the street was risking being out on a night like this.
The rain was cold as it beat down on her, making her clothes cling to her body like a second skin. She set off running towards the club, every step putting her nearer to shelter. Before entering she took a quick second to glance around to make sure she had not been followed to the rendezvous and then stepped inside the open doorway quickly.
The smell of smoke and alcohol pervaded her nostrils immediately whilst her eyes took several seconds to adjust to the dim lighting within. Bodies writhed against each other on the tightly packed dance floor, moving to the steady beat of the music. She glanced around looking for the man she had arranged to meet, silently wishing she had set off earlier so she would have a few minutes to sort her appearance out before facing him.
She quickly chanced a look down at her watch, which showed she was already 20 minutes late. Deciding suddenly that it wouldn't hurt to make him wait a few more minutes she wandered into the restroom and approached the mirror cautiously. Her reflection showed her what she had suspected, her long blonde hair was thoroughly soaked and any semblance of style had completely disappeared. Luckily she had decided on impulse to only wear the lightest of make up tonight so that was easily fixed, a smile appeared on her face at that thought.
She opened her small bag and produced a brush, which she proceeded to pull through her hair roughly until all of the knots had been worked out. Her hands worked quickly through the mess that was her hair as she pinned it back with a small plastic clip. She next applied a small amount of eye shadow to each eyelid, whilst thanking god someone had invented waterproof mascara. All that was left to be done was apply some more lip-gloss, which she applied liberally.
Checking her reflection once more she pronounced herself satisfied and turned to leave when she suddenly recognized the girl just entering the restroom.
Old memories flooded back and she took a moment to compose herself before starting towards the slightly swaying door. A hand on her arm stopped her and she slowly turned around, coming face to face with the person she had once trusted with her life.
"So B, you don't even say hello anymore?" The sarcasm dripped heavily out of her mouth, her snotty tone evident for everyone to hear as the dark haired woman huffed.
The blonde haired woman's frown turned into a scowl, everyone around the two women took a hasty step backwards not wanting to become involved in something that looked like it could turn nasty at any second. The brunette was well known around these parts for being a troublemaker and several people who had pissed her off had suddenly disappeared and not been heard from since.
There were rumors about her being everything from a killer for hire to the daughter of a known gangster. Everyone just laughed these assumptions off, as she certainly didn't look like a killer with her thin wiry body and as far as everyone knew, she had no family, or they just didn't want to admit she belonged to them.
"To say hello would be acknowledging that I know you, and I haven't known you for a very long time, have I Faith?" the blonde replied scathingly, whilst shaking the other woman's clammy hand off of her arm. She turned to leave again, but stopped when Faith spoke once more.
"Oh come on Buffy, what was so bad about what I did. You would have done the same to me if someone had offered you what I got." Faith stated angrily. 'How dare this bitch hold a grudge about something that happened over 2 years ago! She should have forgotten about it by now and moved on. She had!'
"Knowing you, I was most probably sold out for a quick fuck, now I'm leaving and I hope we don't ever run into each other again. Stay out of my way Faith, I mean it." Having bitten out her last words, the blonde turned and exited the restrooms once again entering the throbbing mass of the club. She took a quick breath, her nerves calming as the heavy smoke of the club filtered into her lungs.
She quickly scanned the tables, her eyes constantly moving around the club, in hopes to see her client so she could get her business over with and leave. Spotting a man sitting alone at a table to the left of the dance floor she maneuvered her way towards him, ignoring the crude comments and come-ons from the men she passed. Looking down at her outfit she realized that she should never have worn the short black skirt and red halter top, that would be perfect for anywhere else but here it was like a neon sign over her head telling every male within 10 feet to try to get it on with her. She started pushing through the crowd faster hoping to get to the table before she ended up punching someone and getting thrown out.
The man rose to his feet as she reached him and extended his hand to her, which she shook before sitting at the chair across from him. A waitress approached and placed a glass containing a thick amber colored liquid in front of each of them before leaving and approaching another table.
"I hope you don't mind Ms. Summers, but I ordered our drinks when I saw you enter the club. Its a good job you took a while reaching me or you would have had a long wait for a drink!" the man informed her whilst watching as she lifted the glass to her lips. The thick amber ran down her throat smoothly, as the heat engulfed her warming her from the inside out.
"No, that's good. Thanks I really needed that!" She slammed the now empty glass onto the hard table, "And how did you know that it was me you were waiting for Mr...." She let the sentence trail off fully expecting him to fill in the name.
"Mr. Wyndham-Price. I take it your employer did not tell you who you were meeting. I have a colleague who has worked with you previously. He was full of admiration for how you dealt with his um, how should I put this, situation, and the discretion that you showed. I could also ask how you knew it was I who you should approach?" he questioned, suspicion in his voice.
"Willow, who is so not my employer, simply told me that I was to meet an English guy for a new job here at this club. It was an easy guess that it was you. You are the only man in a 10-block radius wearing a suit and tie. That definitely made you stand out. Plus when they ran the background check on you my friend printed off your picture so I had a good idea who it was I was looking for". Buffy said simply whilst grinning. "Now, can you tell me what this job is, because I am tired, I am cold and I so do not want to be here right now."
"Quite, here are the details relating to the job that I wish to hire you for" he told her as he pushed a large manila envelope towards her. "All of the subjects details are in there including photographs that are now 4 years old. We have not been able to obtain any more recent ones due to the level of security surrounding the house. The full security of the premises is included along with details of all alarms, cameras and sensors. I have also provided you with a list of his known acquaintances. We will pay you any fee that you ask for this job, but we have one request of our own." he finished cryptically.
"And this request is?" Buffy asked intrigued. 'Any fee I ask, this must be some job, can't wait to get out of here and find out what it is'
"We would like for one of our associates to work with you on this, and be with you when you enter the premises. He will be recovering items that belong to my partners and I." He answered, awaiting her refusal. Miss Summers was not known for playing nicely with others, but it had to be this way.
"I work alone!" anger rose inside her immediately as she got her response out, unable to believe the audacity of this man. Everyone knew that after what happened with Faith she refused to have a partner on any of her 'outings' as she liked to refer to them.
" I am afraid that this is not open for negotiation Miss Summers, the partners and I must insist that our associate, Mr...." He never got to finish his sentence as Buffy stood up abruptly and pushed back her chair.
"I am afraid that it is not open for negotiation on my part either, so I wont be accepting your offer. Have a nice evening" Buffy turned to walk away after delivering her refusal, all the time still wondering who could be so important that they would offer her any fee she asked.
"Miss Summers, wait!" Wesley stood quickly, "Take the envelope with you and once you have read the contents, then decide if you want the job or not. I think that you may change your mind once you have all the facts." He stated firmly holding the heavy envelope towards her.
Against her better judgment Buffy turned and took the envelope from him before walking away. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a good-looking dark haired man standing over the other side of the club staring at her.
Their eyes met briefly, before she broke the contact. Ordinarily she would have wandered over and introduced herself, allowing him to buy her a drink and then taken him home with her for a night of meaningless sex. But tonight was business. Ignoring the strange feelings building inside of her she carried on walking towards the exit. The dark haired man just smiled as he finished his strong drink quickly.
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Chapter 2
The front door slammed loudly behind Buffy as she entered the house, walking straight through to the kitchen before slumping down at the table. She turned the large envelope over and over in her hands its smooth surface gliding across her hand. She wondered if she would be doing the right thing in opening it. Once she had done that there was always the chance that she would want to take the job, but she could not risk working with a partner again, not after Faith. Even just thinking that name brought back unpleasant memories.
"Hey! Your home." Happily sang a young woman with shocking red hair. "Are you going to open that or just keep turning it around in your hands all night?" Her voice was light and playful as she stepped closer to her friend.
"I'm not sure Will. The client I just met gave it to me, but if I take this job I have to work with a partner, so I told him no. He gave me the envelope anyway telling me I would change my mind once I read the contents. Do I open it, and take the chance he is right or tear it up? Oh, I don't know!" sighed Buffy banging her head down harshly against the table, her mind mentally surrendering.
Willow could understand the conflict going on within her friend, and did not blame her after what had happened the last time she worked with a partner, and that was someone she trusted. Any advice she gave would be wrong in this situation, so she just sat down at the table to wait for Buffy to come to her own decision. As her best friend it was her job to be supportive not judgmental. A few seconds later Buffy raised her head, while her slender arm reached out to grab the envelope from where it lay. She tore open the flap and emptied the contents out over the table. "Well, here goes nothing," she stated as she started to read the papers that lay scattered around her.
Two hours later, both young women were still sitting at the table, their eyes huge and their mouths hanging open in utter shock. Buffy had been offered at long last the chance to seek her revenge on the man who had arranged the murder of her parents, and with the full sanction of the syndicate. She would not have to worry about any retaliation from them towards her or the people she loved. The only downfall was the amount of intricate planning and expertise needed to carry it out, but Buffy knew she was capable of it and would not fail. 'Oh my god, I just thought I will not fail. Since when am I even entertaining the idea of doing it? Partner equals bad. Very bad! But the chance to kill that murderous son of a bitch! What do I do?' Buffy began the mental debate all over again.
Willow had been quietly watching Buffy having the silent conversation in her head, knowing exactly what she was thinking. In the end she knew Buffy would take it, it would finally allow her closure over her parents deaths. 'She has always needed this and maybe finally she will be able to get out of the business she is in. She has never really belonged there.' Willow thought shaking her head.
"What are you shaking your head for?" Buffy asked, knowing full well what Willow was thinking. "I am not going to do this, we both know I can't work with a partner. Right? Not after Faith! What if they double crossed me like she did, I could end up dead or even worse I may lose my one chance of revenge on this guy." Buffy shot out, her green eyes pleading with her friends, if she could just get a second opinion.
"We both know you will do it, this man has laid the bait and now he just needs to reel you in, I think your are halfway there already." Laughed Willow.
"I still won't work with a partner though, I can't. What if they sell me out again? I saw Faith earlier tonight and she still can't understand what she did. She believes we should be all best friends and just forget it ever happened," Buffy moaned as she placed her head in her hands.
"Maybe you should meet the person. You don't have to agree to work with them, just meet them and see how you get on", Willow suggested helpfully. 'She will do this job if she considers that idea!'
"Your right, I will call the client tomorr" Buffy did not get the last word finished as the phone started to ring. "Who is that at this time of the morning" she said looking at her watch, which showed it was half past three. Buffy walked over to the telephone and picked up the receiver whilst trying to think up some appropriate words to greet the caller with. When the person on the other end of the line first spoke she nearly dropped it, the voice startling her.
"Hello, Miss Summers"
"Hello, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce?" questioned Buffy, wondering why he would be calling her so soon after their meeting earlier that night.
"Yes, it is, sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I would like to know if you have reconsidered taking us up on our offer. You should have had sufficient time to study the file and reach a decision," Wesley stated, having been informed by the men he had keeping an eye on her that she had indeed been studying the documents for the best part of the last two hours.
"Before... and IF, I agree I would like to meet the associate you would like me to work with. I will then decide if I would like to take this job..." she cautioned, knowing in her heart that unless the person she met was a complete moron she would accept this job no matter what the terms were.
"Certainly, I am sure that can be arranged. But I will tell you now that there is no room for negotiation when it comes to this individual. He is one of the very best, like you are, and we want him on this job. We rather insist he is". He coolly informed her, wondering how on earth he had managed to get stuck with trying to get her to agree. Buffy Summers was not well known for being the most co-operative of people at the best of times, let alone if the client put conditions on the assignment.
"Fine, but if I don't like him, I wont take the job. Goodnight" Buffy snapped, annoyed at him for putting her in this position in the first place.
"Goodnight Miss Summers. I will call you tomorrow to arrange an appointment for the introduction" He politely informed her before placing the phone back on the receiver.
"Well, that's that Will. He's going to arrange an 'appointment'" Buffy said mimicking her last word in his English accent as she sunk back into her chair, her head aching in confusion.
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"Buffy, wake up! A Mr. Wyndham-Price is on the phone wanting to speak to you." Willow called through the thick wood of the door, before escaping down the stairs as fast as she could.
Buffy rolled over, her eyes opening slowly as her vision was assaulted by the unforgiving sunlight that streamed through her window, the light making the room appear golden in color. 'Fuck, I should have closed the curtains before going to sleep last night'. "Ok Will, I am awake. I will be down in a minute." She yelled angrily. 'Nothing like a wake up call in the morning to get you going!'
She opened her eyes again, gradually adjusting them to the brightness that threatened to overwhelm her. Looking at the clock on her bedside table she saw that it was 7am. 'God, doesn't that man ever sleep?'
Easing herself up and off of the bed she stood gingerly on her legs, hoping they would support her after the sleepless night she had just endured. All of her dreams had been plagued by disturbing images of a gorgeous dark haired man doing things to her body she would not even admit she fantasized about to Willow. 'It has been way too long since I last got laid!' Walking over to the door she unlocked it and then preceded to walk down the stairs silently cursing Mr. Wyndham-Pryce for calling at this ungodly hour.
When Buffy entered the kitchen, Willow instantly passed her a cup of strong black coffee and then the phone, knowing that Buffy would not be pleased about being woken up after the late night they had shared. 'Why now? It's been so long and now he suddenly wants to offer her exactly what she has dreamed about for years? This is the only reason she got into this business in the first place, so that one day she would have the opportunity to strike back at him'. That one question had been spinning around in Willows mind all night resulting in a sleepless night and her being awake and in the kitchen when the telephone rang.
Taking the coffee and then the phone from Willow begrudgingly, Buffy took a long deep drink from the cup, her body wincing at the strong caffeine. She waited for a moment, her anger displacing before placing the phone to her ear.
"Hello, and what can I do for you at this fucking early hour in the morning? Maybe being English you may not understand that people need to sleep!" she snarled intent on making her feelings about being woken up early very clear to him.
" I a.. am v..very s..sorry Miss Summers, but this m..matter is of the utmost i..importance and I thought it imperative that I call you as soon as possible to arrange the meeting with the gentleman who will be assisting you on this 'case'." Stammered Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, rushing the last part of the sentence in his haste to placate her.
"OK, so when and where?" Buffy abruptly asked wanting to get this conversation over with so she could go back to the luscious warmth of her soft bed.
"Well, Miss Summers he has requested that you meet him at 2pm at Luigis over by Sunset. He will be sitting at a table... "
"Wearing don't tell me... a suit and tie, just like you!" interrupted Buffy, her sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"No!" Wesley gruffed out, his annoyance raising a notch, "If you tell the maitre'd that you are meeting Mr. O'Conner he will take you directly to the table". He corrected whilst wondering why the partners had decided that they wanted this uncouth young lady to deal with an assignment of this importance.
"Oh, right" a remorseless Buffy replied, wondering what it would take to get past that British reserve, 'Maybe pliers to remove the stick?'
"I hope these arrangements are acceptable to you. We felt that a public meeting place was for the best under the circumstances. If you need to contact me for anything I could be of assistance with I believe you already have my telephone number". He said, needing to get off of the phone from her before this rude girl managed to completely annoy him.
"Thank you. And ...Sorry I am always a little grouchy in the mornings and the early wake up call didn't help". Apologized Buffy, realizing she had been a little harsh with him.
"That's quite understandable. Can I assume that the arrangements are acceptable to you?" He questioned cautiously, not wanting to upset someone he knew could be very vindictive when unhappy with the people she dealt with.
"Yes, I will meet Mr. O'Conner at 2pm at Luigis" she conceded, wanting to hurry up and get back to bed for a few more hours sleep before the meeting.
"Well, I believe that this concludes our conversation, I will leave you to get back to sleep Miss Summers. Good day". He answered, putting the phone down before she had a chance to ask any questions about whom she would be meeting. 'This does not bode well. Two very impulsive and temperamental people working together, on this assignment? Whatever were the other partners thinking of?'
"Goodbye". Buffy answered to the dial tone wondering why he was in such a hurry to get off the phone. After all he was the one who called and woke her up!
Buffy hung up the phone absentmindedly as she turned towards Willow. 'Stuffy English prick' she finally decided. "What's going on, and who was he?" Willow questioned, knowing full well that it was her new client.
"It's the guy who offered me the new job. He has arranged the meeting with my 'partner' for today. I can't wait! Hopefully he will be a complete idiot and then I have a good reason to say no to the whole thing!" Buffy replied, knowing full well that this was an offer she couldn't easily refuse. Only the possibility that her partner could be a liability and get her killed would stop her from taking it.
"So when are you..." Her boyfriend placing his lips over hers and pulling her into a deep kiss stopped Willow short. When he pulled back needing air she looked at him enquiringly, silently asking why he had just done that.
"I wanted to", Oz replied with a raise of his eyebrows and his mouth twitching up towards a grin.
"Ok, I am so outta here. If you guys want to get into that, I am disappearing back to my lonely bed." Buffy muttered, as she walked out of the door.
Oz looked towards Willow his eyes showing an invitation, which she accepted gladly. He pulled her up into his arms and walked her back to their bedroom.
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"Bye Will" Buffy yelled as she walked out of the front door towards her car. She opened the door and drove towards the restaurant in deep though about the meeting that lay ahead of her.
At long last pulling into the parking lot at the back she exited the car making sure that the locking system engaged. Hoisting her bag onto her shoulder she quickly looked around, instinctively checking all possible hiding places for unwanted guests. Satisfied that everything was normal she entered the restaurant approaching the man at the front desk.
"Hi, I am here to see a Mr. O'Conner." Buffy stated simply, a part of her hoping that the man would tell her that he had never heard of him.
"Of Course Madam, If you would be so kind as to follow me I will take you to your table". He declared in a prim voice that did not bode any refusal.
Buffy obediently followed the man towards her 'new partner', absently checking out the other groups of people sitting at tables, each party enjoying their meals and indulging in idle conversation. No one looked particularly threatening, but Buffy had learned a long time ago that looks could be deceiving. After all wasn't she one of the best paid people in the business of taking care of problems, and yet she could do with growing a foot taller and still only weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. She had used it to her advantage numerous times when people underestimated her due to her size, but unfortunately most people were now very aware of just how much her looks could be deceiving.
Arriving at the table, the maitre'd moved aside to place Buffy in front of the handsome man she had seen at the club the previous night. He was only better looking up close she had decided quickly as he smirked at her lazily. His jet black hair was carefully spiked and only seemed to make his soulful brown eyes appear larger than they were. 'You could get lost in those eyes' she thought. His face was beautiful yet purely masculine at the same time. Something she had never though was possible. His finely chiseled jaw lead up to extremely kissable lips that you could spend hours enjoying. Her gaze tapered down his body to his broad chest that just begged to be touched and..... 'Oh god, what am I doing. Bad Buffy thoughts! This man is supposed to be your new partner not a potential... anything. Just stop looking. Ok stop looking. Why cant I stop looking?'
He stood slowly a devilish smirk plastered on his handsome face as he sensed what his presence was doing to her. "Hi, I'm Angel, it is good to finally meet you." He stated calmly whilst his eyes took their own journey up and down her body. His eyes widened at just how perfect she really was, from the long blonde hair that he knew reached far down her back, to the intense green of her eyes, and that full lower lip that he was already dying to take between his teeth and nibble on.' God, she is beautiful, and it should be a sin for her to wear trousers that tight. I wish I was them, clinging to her body and feeling, is it possible to be jealous of pants?... Noooo, I am not going there, bad thoughts!!'
Buffy was incapable of thought let alone speech. All she could focus on was the way the leather pants he was wearing were clinging to his slim hips and unfortunately she could and was imagining what he looked like without them. 'And is that, oh my god it can't be!' Pulling herself together, her eyes racking back up towards his face, she finally managed to make her mind and tongue function, her words coming out in a lust filled stammer, "I'm Buffy Summers. Pleased to umm... meet you!" 'Not the best introduction, but it will have to do'.
Angel grinned, knowing this was going to be easier than he thought. Not for the first time was he thankful for the reaction his appearance got from women. She would be a pushover!
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Chapter 3
The late lunch had gone surprisingly well. The conversation had flown freely between them about past jobs they had been involved in, which had lightened the mood considerably and built up a feeling of camaraderie.
When the last course was finished the unobtrusive waiter cleared the empty plates, the dishes stacking noiselessly into his arms. The tension radiating from the small table was almost overwhelming; the waiter found himself smiling slightly as he staggered off, his balance impeccably timed.
The tension at the table soon became painfully more obvious to the two as the silences grew longer and longer between them. Buffy was in the middle of a particularly erotic fantasy of Angel's dark head buried between her silky thighs when he asked THE question. "So, are you going to work with me?"
Damn, that mans voice, it was so deep and creamy she could just imagine that tongue and those lips trailing down her ..... "YYes", was all she managed to utter her hand clutching tightly at the table, her knuckles whitening, all the while wondering just how he managed to have this effect on her.
"Good", he purred. Raising his glass to her, he offered a toast to a flawless job. Buffy tapped her glass against his, the crystal chiming softly as she lifted the delicate vessel to her lips. Drinking deeply, she hoped desperately that the alcohol would stem the rising passions in her and stop her from making a complete and utter fool of herself.
Angel was having just as hard of a time, literally. He had had a raging hard on ever since she had approached the table, and it was taking all of his willpower not to throw her on top of the small table and have her then and there with everyone watching them. His mind had been thinking of different ways to seduce her throughout the meal and he knew that forcing himself upon her was not the answer, no matter how much he would have enjoyed it. Smiling to himself he realized that there would be plenty of time to get to know her better later.
Mentally shaking her head to clear it, Buffy regained some of her senses and managed to finally remember the question she had been thinking about all the way to the restaurant. "So just how involved in this job will you be?" she asked already suspecting the answer. Being around him for only short periods of time would be bearable, well not bearable but she might just be able to restrain herself from tossing him onto the nearest available surface at the first opportunity. If she had to spend too long around him it would be harder to resist.
"I will be the true definition of a partner, in every way..." Angel spoke out deliberately, his thick velvet voice caressing her ears, knowing full well the double entendre that he presented to her. 'Now is a good time as any to start working on that seduction.'
Changing his tone slightly, he proceeded to explain the plan that the partners had come up with as the best way to target the individual. "Since most people know us both by our reputations only, we will change identities for the assignment and pose as husband and wife. This is so that we can freely mingle in the same circles as Mr. Marsters and not draw his suspicions. We will need to present ourselves as a couple that has a lot of family money, using this we should be able to draw Mr. Marsters into doing business with us. This way we will have free access to his house for when we decide the time is right to complete the hit. Any questions?"
"You said, husband and wife? Please tell me you didn't just say that?" whispered Buffy having heard only those three words out of the whole plan he had just outlined. She was completely shocked at the thought of having to spend so much time alone with this devastatingly handsome man who just had to look at her to makes her knees go weak.
Angel winked at her before replying, "That's right baby, husband and wife!" Smiling to himself he realized quickly that this was going to be the best damn job he had ever had.
More naughty thoughts started whirring through Buffy's brain, not helped by the knowledge of how she had just been told that they had to target the man they had been ordered to kill. It sounded simple enough just reading the file, but they had forgotten to mention that her partner was temptation incarnate and the way they were going to be accomplishing the task. 'How am I going to get through this without succumbing to him and ending up in his bed?' she thought, mentally cursing whoever decided to create this man so perfectly that no one could ever resist him.
"Well, seeing as we will only be PRETENDING to be married, I hope you will act appropriately". She stated firmly, hoping he would not seeing her hand starting to shake as she tried to call his bluff.
"Really! Well I can't wait for our first night together as man and wife then. Things could be very interesting. I can assure you I wont disappoint", he promised in a silky tone as he wondered just what it would feel like to have that golden hair draped over his muscular thighs as she took his hard cock into her mouth.
Buffy started trembling slightly, certain that he was not boasting at all with his promise and also highly aware that she needed to get out of there fast before her mouth landed her in even more trouble. She took a deep breath before pushing her chair back and standing on her quaking legs. "It was good to meet you Angel, but I have to go now. My friend is arriving back from a business trip this afternoon and I want to be there for when he arrives home. Has Mr. Wyndham-Pryce given you my phone number?" Her tone was crisp and business like, not betraying the tremulous feelings ripping at her better judgment.
"Yes he has, but he has neglected to give me your address." Angel stated, knowing that obtaining this information would help him bed her at the first opportunity possible.
"Call me later and I will give it to you then." She told him, whilst wondering why she had not mentioned exactly who Xander was to Angel.
"Thank you, please let me accompany you to your car." he asked, wanting to spend just a few moments more in her company. ' I can't remember ever being this violently attracted to someone before.'
"Thank you, but won't they chase after us for the bill?" she questioned nervously, wondering why she did not want to be completely alone with him and not realizing she had interrupted a private dialogue in his head.
"That won't be a problem. I own this place, so they will not be bothered in the slightest about me leaving with you". Laughed Angel throatily.
Buffy's mind kicked into overdrive again. 'Leaving with me! Oh god, what the hell am I doing. I have to stop fantasizing about him. I don't even know him... besides... Angel, what kind of a name is that? Perfect for him. I'm doomed!'
Angel stood perfectly still whilst she carried out the silent conversation with herself, grinning as he already understood the reason for her confusion. 'I'm sure I can add to that a little' he thought. Finally realizing this could take a while he walked around to the other side of the table and placed a hand on her arm to escort her to her car. At the first touch of flesh upon flesh an electric charge shot through him, so violent that he pulled his hand back to check it for burn marks. Looking into Buffy's shocked eyes he could see that she had felt it too, and he wondered what the hell had just happened. "Come on, I will walk you out", he told her, whilst mentally concocting the next part of his plan for her.
They exited the building and walked towards Buffy's car, her mind wondering exactly what she was getting into agreeing to work with someone she was so fiercely attracted to. 'I have never felt this way before. Is this what Willow feels for Oz?' Her inner thoughts were suddenly brought to an abrupt halt when Angel grabbed her by her forearms and pulled her towards him. Once she was firmly pressed against him he released her arms and held her to his body with one arm whilst the fingers on his right hand caressed down the left side of her face.
Cupping her chin in his hand he pressed his soft lips against hers, causing a feeling of intense pleasure to overtake her. He increased the pressure of their lips, as he began to nibble gently on her lower lip silently asking her for entry. She parted her lips instantly her body shivering as he moaned softly before thrusting his tongue forwards to taste her fully. He guided her backwards so that she was leaning against the side of her car as he continued to plunder her mouth. His hands started roaming her body as he broke off the kiss and started placing gentle kisses along the side of her face, progressing downwards over her neck and onto her collarbone.
Buffy's legs were growing weak with his kisses but she was unable to summon the control to tell him stop him. She didn't want to. His kisses and the feelings he was creating inside of her were intoxicating and nothing in this world could make her pull away. He moved one of his hands to her halter-top and began to caress her breast through the wispy material, making the nipple pucker and harden instantly. Buffy suppressed a moan at the painful pleasure he was inflicting on her body and wondered what it would be like to be fully naked with him and experiencing this fully.
Angel meanwhile, was trying his hardest not to pick her up and place her on the bonnet of the car and make love to her there and then. Only an enormous amount of willpower on his part had so far stopped him from doing that. He had been rock hard before he even touched her and his cock was now begging for release. He sucked on her neck more feverishly as he slowly pinched her nipples. He heard her soft moan and he knew that he had to have her, willpower be damned. He started moving her along to the front of the car, determined to sate the permanent arousal that he had been feeling whenever he was around her. 'Surely if I have her just this once it will stop and then we can focus on the job '. He picked her up and she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist whilst he seated her on the hood. Still kissing her, he begun undoing her trousers and succeeded in pulling them down until he could get her legs a comfortable distance apart. He moved her panties to the side, pressing his thick fingers against her soaking mound. He was shocked at how wet she already was.
Inserting a long finger into her, he started pumping it gently back and forth, her honey coating his hand deliciously. She arched her back and released a deep guttural moan that only made him harder, if that was possible. He inserted another finger amazed at how tight she was, and thinking how fantastic she would feel clenching tightly around his hard dick. Unzipping his trousers, he released his rampant manhood and removed his fingers from within her. She was mewling softly and kissing him back with just as much passion as he was kissing her. Grabbing his aching cock, the mushroom tip just mere centimeters away, his mobile began its distinctive ringing. "FUCK!" he growled out his teeth clenching, knowing who was calling and that he had to answer it.
He instantly pulled away retrieving his phone from his pocket he barked a curt "Hello, what's up!" whilst looking down at his quickly deflating member.
It was the annoying chirping of Angel's phone that had managed to rouse Buffy from her passion-induced stupor, making her realize what was she had almost let happen. She was practically having sex with a virtual stranger, a sexy one mind you, in the middle of a restaurant car park in the heart of LA. She quickly jumped down off of the car and pulled her pants back up. She rushed around to the driver's side and got in before starting the car and driving away as fast as she could. Trying to put as much distance between herself and Angel as possible, shocked that she had let things go that far.
Angel turned around when he heard the car start, and raced forwards to stop her leaving, but she was moving too fast. He sighed deeply knowing that he would have a lot of ground to make up before he would get anywhere near her again.
Arriving home Buffy entered the house and quickly ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She flung herself onto her bed and finally gave way to the tears that had been threatening to spill ever since she had left Angel talking on the phone in the parking lot.
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"Buffy! Xander's here." Willow called up the stairs loudly, hoping that her friend could hear her.
She had been worried about Buffy when she came rushing in after her meeting and gone straight to bed in the middle of the day, which was very unusual. Normally she would have sat and talked to Willow about what had happened, wanting the other girls opinion on how things had gone. The fact that she hadn't, made Willow fear that Buffy's new partnership was not going to be smooth sailing.
"Don't worry about that Will. I'll just go up and get her myself. God I have missed her." Xander said as he started climbing up the stairs two at a time. He walked into her bedroom after seeing that she was asleep on the bed and the curtains were pulled shut. He walked over and sat down besides her, gently shaking her until he was sure that she was awake. Placing a kiss on her forehead he noticed that her skin was red and blotchy from crying. Anger welled within him, as he wondered who had managed to upset his sister who he had never seen cry since she was 14 when their parents had been killed. 'It has been 9 years since I last saw her this upset! What the hell has been going on while I've been away?' Xander wondered.
"Hey baby, it's only me. Wake up! I have missed you so much while I have been away." he whispered to her, whilst silently fuming inside.
Buffy opened her eyes slowly, looking up into Xander's kind brown eyes. She pulled him to her in a tight embrace, holding him for a long time before drawing back and pushing a wayward tousle of hair out of his eyes.
"What upset you baby? Please tell me, I promise I ill sort it out for you. I can't bear to see you hurting," his warm tone soothing her cold heart.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter. So how have you been? How was New York? Did you get the contract you wanted?" Buffy asked, glad to change the subject. Xander would not be happy if he knew what had happened, and she had no intention of telling him what had occurred between her and Angel. She had never told him of what her work entailed. He only knew she was a troubleshooter and even then he most probably thought that it was something to do with computers. It had never come up the exact details of her employment.
They had lived completely separate lives since their parents were killed. Buffy had been shipped off to England to live with her Uncle Giles who was a bachelor and had always had a soft spot for her, while Xander went to live with his brother Doyle. When they had both reached the legal age to live without guardianship Xander had chosen to move to LA and run a construction business that was currently competing for a massive development project in New York whilst Buffy was nowhere within the law in the profession she had chosen.
Her sweet Uncle Giles was actually the broker who dealt with all of the problem people who operated in the Los Angeles branch of the Mafia. Buffy had picked up conversations over the years, knowing full well that one of the families her Uncle dealt with were the people who ordered her parents deaths. The reason for which was still unknown to her. She managed to cajole Giles, not too much pouting required, into letting her take an active part of his business, working her way up from tea girl at 15 to full on killer at 18.
He had seen inside her a glimmer of the pure ruthlessness and lack of morals that was second nature to him in his line of work, and he knew that she would be fully able to function in his world. She could also be the kindest most loving person, when she cared for someone and would not hurt a fly if she were not paid too. She moved back to the US, with his blessing at 19, to take care of the overseas side of the business for him. Now four years later, she had made a name for herself as being completely merciless and people who did not know her, but only heard the rumors surrounding her, wondered if she had a soul, or had even been born with one.
Buffy had taken on her mothers maiden name of Summers upon moving back to the States so no-one would associate her with her parents death and had managed to live a fairly incognito existence. Many people still did not know what she looked like only that if she was after you, you had better start preparing for your funeral. Not one target had ever escaped from her, she was aptly named the siren of death, beautiful but deadly.
Xander opened his mouth to answer when they were interrupted by Willow yelling up the stairs. "Buffy, telephone. Some guy with a very sexy voice!"
Buffy got up slowly off of the bed, putting her hand on Xander's shoulder for a moment to steady herself and then walked downstairs tiredly. She picked up the phone that Willow had discarded on the work surface and took a deep breath. "Hello" . "Hi. Buffy?" Angel questioned, with a hint of trepidation in his voice.
"Yes, its Buffy speaking" 'No way am I making this easy for him, after the way he left me! If he wants just another toy to play with he can just go out and buy one.'
" I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have run off like that, but I had to take that call." He tried explaining, knowing full well it wasn't going to be that easy.
"That's ok. I wouldn't have expected anything less from you!" Buffy responded trying to prevent the hurt and anger from creeping into her voice, but not making a very good job of it.
"So you're pissed at me?" he quietly asked, already sure that she was. He couldn't really blame her after the way he left her before; it wasn't the ideal way to seduce a woman. He would have to work doubly hard from know on so he could get between those well-toned thighs again. Just the thought made him start to get hard.
"Why would I be pissed at you?" snarled Buffy. 'Its not like you left me practically naked, sitting on the hood of my car for all the world to see, while you went and took a fucking phone call.'
"You know why. Look when do you want to meet again to sort out the details for this job?" he snapped, she was starting to irritate him now. 'Yes, I made a mistake but is she going to hold it against me forever?' He couldn't seem to understand just why she was so upset with him. 'I have left a woman for a business call lots of times, they have never complained before. Besides I had every intention of going back and finishing what I started. She just took off before I had the chance. I need to calm her down a little '
"Whenever you can fit me in to your busy life." she hissed getting more annoyed by the second. 'The cheek of the man, expecting her to roll over and fall at his feet after the way things ended before.'
"I can fit you in anytime baby..." he purred his voice pure sex as he hoped to repair some of the damage between them so he could get started on his plan for getting her into his bed.
"That's not what I meant! How about tomorrow at 3pm." she breathed huskily, images of Angel fitting her in flashing through her mind.
"My place or yours?" Angel already knew that her place would be the safer bet, he didn't want any interruptions next time.
"My place. The address is 2210 Richton Drive..." she muttered, whilst wondering how she was going to make sure that Xander was not around whilst Angel was there.
"Ok. I will see you tomorrow at 3pm. Please don't be mad at me. I will make it up to you. I promise." he pleaded. Something told him this girl would not be easy to win over.
"Oh, don't worry, you wont get the chance!" she retorted angrily. 'Fuck I'm in trouble, two minutes on the phone with him and all I can think about is how good it felt when his hands were.... No! I have to stop this. Bad Bad thoughts.'
On that note Buffy hung up the phone, cursing herself for agreeing that he could be her partner. 'At least Faith didn't expect sex. But then again she didn't have his body!!'
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Chapter 4
Placing the phone gently back on the hook, Buffy turned around to find Xander standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he sent an angry look her way.
"So, who's the guy you're pissed at?" Xander enquired, shuffling his feet while he waited for an answer, mentally wondering why she had not told him that she was involved with someone. 'Not that it mattered; they never lasted long anyway! Plus there was no way he was jealous of her latest fuck buddy!'
"Just a business acquaintance that decided to get a little fresh earlier." Buffy finally managed to come up with after racking her brain for long minutes.
'Well, I suppose he did get a little fresh.' she thought trying to assuage her guilt about openly lying to Xander.
"Are you okay?" his stance changed as he moved towards her, all the previous anger forgotten as concern took its place. There was no way in the world he wanted to see her hurt.
"I'm fine." Buffy moved away from his comforting hand whilst trying to figure a way out of this awkward situation with her brother. She never spoke to him about her personal life, if you could call meaningless sex, a personal life!
"If he's the guy you're meeting here tomorrow, I will make sure that I'm here so he doesn't try anything." Xander stated, whilst making mental plans to call and cancel his lunch date.
"Xander! I will be fine. I am a big girl now. I don't need you protecting me. I have been capable of looking after myself for a long time. Besides, he knows better than to try anything again." Buffy replied, knowing full well that if Angel did make a move she would find it near on impossible to resist him. 'But Xander can't be here. He can't find out about what I do. It would kill him to know that I am working for the very people that condoned our parent's murder. He wouldn't understand that this is the only way I can get my revenge; I am so close. He can't ruin things now!'
"I'm sorry." Xander said meekly. "I just worry about you and what you are doing at times. I don't want you to get hurt, least of all by some guy who is not worthy of you".
"Xander. I love you, but I need to make my own decisions. This is just a work thing. I will only have to deal with him for one order, so don't worry about me." Buffy pleaded, hating the fact that she was lying to the closest family that she had left.
"Ok, but I want to meet this guy, Angel, when he arrives. Just let me do that Buffy, please?" He begged.
"Fine. But I'm telling you know that this contract is really important, and if you wreck it by pulling some macho crap I will never speak to you again. Understand?" Buffy angrily retorted, recalling the past times that he had "met" a guy she was acquainted with.
"Understood. Besides, I can't wait to meet the man who has finally broken through your ice cold mask!" he laughed, wondering just how this man, who she couldn't have known that long, could have managed to get her this upset and then protective in the short time since he had been gone.
Buffy finally relaxed and walked over to the table and sat down on one of the chairs. Motioning for her brother to come and join her, she made herself comfortable before they started discussing how his trip had gone.
When Xander left to return to the mansion in the early hours of the morning after a night of drinking, both felt that whatever damage had been made to their relationship earlier in the day had been successfully mended during their conversation. The high point being, Willow's story regarding a lecturer at the college. The teacher had been suspended after the school board found out that he had been creeping into the girl's dorm rooms and pinching their underwear. He then proceeded to tack it to the wall in his apartment, where he had nearly covered an entire wall before being caught. The case of the "Knickers Pincher" had been successfully resolved after 6 months of police investigation. The stupidness of the crime lightened the mood considerably and the hysterical laughter that followed was a welcome relief.
Buffy was now finally able to openly talk to Willow about what had happened earlier in the day with Angel. As Buffy described the way the plan had been set up for the hit, Willow was speechless at the audacity that would be required to pull it off. Plus her and Angel would need to be comfortable around each other to make it work. Judging by the way Buffy had been with him on the phone earlier, there was no love lost between them, thought Willow.
When Buffy started explaining about what had happened outside of the restaurant, Willow's mouth fell open in shock, unable to believe that her friend had very nearly had sex with a man she had know less than two hours in an extremely public place. Needing to know why, Willow frantically asked, "Why, you never get involved with people you work with, why him, and why there?"
"I honestly don't know Will. There is just something about him that draws me to him. I can't help myself when I'm around him. I look at him and visions of him doing things to my body that I could never even describe properly come to mind. I know I would enjoy anything he did! He just radiates pure sex to every impulse in my body. I felt it as soon as I saw him, and when he touches me its pure electric." Buffy finally said, after trying to find words to describe how she felt around and about him. Not wanting to acknowledge to herself that she was getting in far too deep this time and it would only end badly.
"You need to be careful Buffy, you both have a job to do and what do you actually know about this guy apart from the totally gorgeous, sex God part?" Willow asked anxious and worried about her friend and what she was getting into. From the way she was talking, it was possible that she could wind up getting her heart broken. Most people believed that she didn't have a heart at all, but Willow knew differently.
"That's just it, I know nothing! I wish there was someway I could find out...? That's it! I will call Gunn. He knows everybody in LA and what their background is. Hopefully he has some information on my new partner that could prove useful in helping me stay clear of him, bodily". Buffy reached for the phone and pressed in the number she knew by heart.
She considered Gunn a close friend and they helped each other out from time to time on difficult cases. He was known in their world as the man who could find out anything about anyone, and if he couldn't find it, it didn't exist in the first place.
"Yo!" a deep masculine voice answered.
"Hey Gunn, Its Buffy" she said, waiting for the inevitable questions about why she was calling him at this time of night, as she hoped that she had not disturbed him and his latest girlfriend. She was pleasantly surprised by his response.
"So, what's up girl? Don't tell me, you finally realized I am the only man for you and you wanted to ask me out? Or maybe not, because there is another guy in the picture. You know, tall, dark, brooding!" He teased, having already been told by a reliable source what had taken place earlier that day between Buffy and Angel. Once upon a time he had believed that maybe he could stand a chance with her, but when all she offered him was friendship, he had accepted it gladly knowing that she was extremely loyal to her friends and that he did not want to risk losing her altogether. At least this way he was a part of her life.
"What! How the hell do you know about Angel?" she demanded, whilst trying in vain to remember exactly who had been in the restaurant during their lunch.
"Its my job remember!" he laughed, knowing she would be puzzling over how he had picked up that tit bit of information. It was only pure luck that they had been spotted together by one of his friends earlier. There were very few people who knew Buffy by face and Angel was very discrete in his business dealings, claiming all of his money was inherited and that he had made good investments with it. He was the ultimate playboy and no one knew he was a hired killer. Very few people got to meet him personally in that capacity and he always worked alone. As a result Gunn was one of the few people who was a close friend of his and knew who he truly was behind the image he had created for himself. 'But how do I tell Buffy?'
"Gunn. This is important, who saw us?" Buffy snapped, not wanting to get into the normal game of cat and mouse they usually played on the phone.
"Chill girl! Damn you are an impatient one. One of my friends saw you and Angel O'Connor having lunch today he assumed you were his latest conquest. I think I am one of the few people who knows that you two meeting up means someone is in big trouble," He smoothly said, trying to calm her down a little. An agitated Buffy was not a good thing in his experience.
"Thank god. Gunn, this is an important job to me, no-one can know that Angel and I are working together, it's... " Gunn, interrupted her then, "Buffy, calm down! How long have you known me? Have I ever done anything that would put you in danger? This information is for me only. I just thought it would be a laugh to tease you about it! Boy, was I wrong!" He trailed off; hurt by the fact she could think that he would tell people what she was doing. They had been friends for years and she thought that of him.
I'm sorry Gunn. Just had a really really shitty day! I actually called to find out what you know about Angel, if there was anything I should know or could find useful. I know you are the person to ask". She pleadingly said, not wanting to upset this man whose friendship she valued highly.
Somewhat mollified Gunn proceeded to fill Buffy in on Angels history, including the fact that they had become close friends over the years, as Angel came to purchase information from him. Feeling slightly protective towards his young friend, Gunn decided to warn her about Angel's relationships with women. He went into too many details as far as Buffy was concerned about how Angel was the kind of guy you were lucky to still find there in the morning. How he nowdays had no idea what the words 'monogamous' or 'relationship' meant and that he just walked away without a word when he grew tired of his current flavor of the month. Only one of his lovers had ever lasted for longer than a night and 3 years later when she left him he started back into his vicious cycle of one night stands. That relationship had ended over 5 years ago and he still showed no sign of settling down. After a short while Buffy was practically begging Gunn to stop, saying that she had absolutely no intention of getting involved with him, that this was purely business. After a few pleasantries they ended the call promising to speak again soon.
"Well that's that then Willow". Buffy murmured, feeling strangely let down by what Gunn had told her about Angel's history with women. She didn't expect him to be a saint looking like he did, but the way Gunn described him; he had no respect for women whatsoever. With a heavy heart she bid Willow goodnight and made her way upstairs to shower before bed.
She washed quickly and dried herself off while thinking about her last encounter with Angel. Just remembering the feel of his body against hers, and the way he kissed her made her body scream silently for more. When his talented fingers had ventured inside her she thought she would orgasm on the spot so knowing was his touch. Shaking her head to try and rid herself of thoughts of a naked Angel she realized that this assignment was going to be hell for her. Would she be able to ignore her body's call to be near and touch him?
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Angel had arrived at Buffy's home early, after waiting irritably all day for the meeting. Unwanted thoughts of her had been clouding his mind all day, resulting in numerous cold showers in an attempt to quell his lust for her. Pulling his car in to the driveway behind hers, he frowned at the black sports car that was carelessly parked half on the sidewalk. Wondering who else was at the house, he let himself out of the car and made sure to lock it after him, a habit acquired by the years in his profession that had taught him people are not to be trusted.
Walking up the pathway he knocked on the front door, waiting patiently until a smiling redhead opened it. A face then appeared behind her that did not look quite so friendly; in fact if looks could kill he was already dead. The scowling young man was obviously unhappy about his presence there and Angel smirked at the thought. This only caused the young man to scowl even further until the young woman opened the door wider blocking him from view.
"Hi! Come on in. I'm Willow. Buffy told me you were coming round today but she didn't mention the time so I'm afraid she's still in bed. We had a bit if a late night last night and there was drinking involved. Buffy and alcohol do not really go together, and I'm going to shut up now. If you want to wait down here I will just go and wake her". Willow babbled, completely enchanted by the handsome man standing in front of her. She had known instantly that this was the guy who had her friend tied in knots, and Willow couldn't blame her one bit! He was completely gorgeous and the way his lip was curling up to one side in that smirk made her knees start to feel weak.
"Thank you. My name is Angel. I am a little early for our appointment, so I'm sure she wasn't expecting me just yet." Angel smoothly replied, all the while his thoughts running wild with ideas of how he would like to wake her from her sleep. Visions of kissing down her spine until he reached her femininity and then using his tongue to rouse her filled his mind.
" Xander stop standing there just staring at our guest, show him into the living room. Sorry about him Angel, he's not always like this." Willow apologized, knowing the reason why Xander was behaving this way. It had been obvious for years that Xander had feelings for Buffy that were not just brotherly, and if they had been reciprocated it would not have been a problem as they were only related by their parents marriage. Unfortunately for Xander, Buffy had never shown the slightest hint of feeling anything for him other than sisterly affection, and had never realized the true extent of his feelings for her.
Pushing these thoughts aside, Willow waited until Xander ungraciously showed Angel into the living room before she raced up the stairs to waken Buffy. Banging on her bedroom door she finally succeeded in rousing her. Once she was certain that Buffy was really getting up she walked back down to the living room only to find Xander practically snarling at Angel about the fact that he had overstepped his bounds.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Willow shouted, knowing full well that if anyone had started the argument, it would have to be Xander. He could start a row about anything if the mood took him, which it obviously had.
Xander abruptly fell back down into his seat on the sofa, looking somewhat chagrined while Willow smiled apologetically at Angel. Angel smiled back and Willow felt her knees go weak again as the full impact of his devastating smile hit her. 'How is Buffy going to work with him and not let anything else happen. Especially if they are going to be practically living together while they are getting close to the target!' Willow wondered having full knowledge of the plan that was in place for the job.
"W..w..would you l..l..like a cup of tea or coffee or we have soda or if we don't have what you want I can go and get it for you". Willow babbled wondering what it was about him that affected her this way. Not even Oz had managed to floor her with just one smile. At this moment in time she would gladly sign away her first-born child just to see it again.
"Coffee would be great thanks. I take it black," offered Angel, sensing her discomfort around him.
Willow turned and left the room, but not before signaling for Xander to follow her. At least this way he couldn't pick another fight.
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After raiding her entire wardrobe to find something to wear for her meeting with Angel, Buffy finally decided upon a knee length black skirt, a white cowl neck top and strappy black sandals. Fastening her necklace she gave herself the once over in the mirror before smiling at how she looked. 'I look hot! I don't want him, but looking good is never a problem.' She tried hard to convince herself of this, whilst inside her blood was screaming from being so near to him.
Walking down the stairs she turned and entered the living room, stopping in the doorway at her first sight of Angel. He was standing with his back to her at the mantelpiece, looking at her family photographs. Whilst his attention was away from her she took the time to properly inspect his body from behind, her gaze moving slowly down from his perfectly coifed hair, to the broad shoulders leading to large muscular arms. Her eyes then continued, wandering down his back until they got to his pert cheeks, which were nestled within the tight confines of another pair of leather trousers. 'They look like a pair of ripe peaches, all juicy and ready to be eaten.'
Her inventory of his assets was rudely interrupted when Angel coughed loudly and then laughed out, "Take a picture, it lasts longer!"
Turning around, he laughed even harder when he saw the mortified expression on Buffy's face from being caught. His laughter stopped abruptly when he took a closer look and saw just how beautiful she looked standing there in front of him. Her skirt, while knee length, clung to her like a second skin and showed off what a spectacular body she had. Not that he doubted it after the day before, but he didn't really pay much attention at the time, there had been other and more pressing matters on his mind. Talking of more pressing matters; he could feel himself beginning to harden within the tight confines of his pants. He had never had a woman affect him in this way before just by being in the same room as her. 'Oh, this is going to be interesting!'
"I could say the same to you". Buffy softly murmured, mesmerized by the growing hardness his trousers were not concealing in the slightest.
Angel stalked slowly towards her slowly, all the while remembering how good it felt to touch her and have his fingers surrounded by her hot warmth, wondering what it would feel like to have his cock clamped between her strong internal muscles. He stopped mere inches from her and reached his hand out to touch her face. Just before flesh met flesh, Xander and Willow reentered the room. Willow came abruptly to a halt when her eyes registered the tableau before her, Xander bumping into her from behind, making the dark coffee she had in her had splash dangerously.
Buffy quickly moved away from Angel and walked towards Willow, silently pleading with her to get Xander away from the house. Willow accepted Buffy's unspoken request and handed Buffy the cup of coffee she was holding. She then grabbed Xander's sleeve and started dragging him towards the door, passing a laughing Angel on the way. Xander continued struggling against Willow until she uttered the magic words. "Xander I have resolve face. See! Resolve Face."
Recognizing defeat when he met it, Xander let out a long sigh and acceded to her wishes, glaring once more at Angel before he was roughly pushed out the door. Willow turned around and waved as she left, yelling out, "Bye Angel. Nice to meet you, see you later Buffy!"
As the front door slammed behind them, Buffy and Angel simultaneously burst into hysterical laughter at the way the petite redhead had managed to forcefully propel the much larger man across the room.
When they finally managed to regain their composure, the atmosphere in the room became highly charged again with sexual tension. Their eyes met, and neither Buffy nor Angel wanted to break the moment. Finally Buffy managed to regain control of herself and averted her eyes, before moving over to sit in the armchair, thereby preventing Angel from sitting next to her. She then started the conversation that he was there for in the first place, the intricate planning of their 'marriage' and the resulting interaction with Mr. Marsters. An hour later they were just finishing with the details and Angel decided now was the perfect opportunity to say what had been on his mind since she first entered the room.
"Buffy, now that you have finished dealing with the minutest details you can think of, could we talk about what happened between us yesterday?" Angel asked, fully expecting to be yelled at for leaving her how he did.
"What's there to say? We both got carried away with the moment and its a good thing it ended when it did." she calmly said, having already decided that getting involved with Angel would be suicide for her emotional stability. After her phone call with Gunn last night to find out more about his life and what jobs he had worked on, she had received a lot more information than she had bargained for. The fact that Angel was reputedly a major player and was known for loving them and leaving them, generally when a better offer came along, had steeled her resolve against him. Most women were lucky if he was still there in the morning and Buffy was determined not to become another notch on his bedpost, which he had most probably had to replace several times already due to lack of space. "Now that the business is finished with, I think you should leave".
Angel did not know what to think. Yesterday, they had nearly had sex and today she didn't want him in the same room as her. Deciding to let her play it her way for a while, he raised himself up from the couch he had been sitting on and started walking towards the door. Buffy was following him, presumably to make sure he did leave, he though wryly. As he moved to open the door she was standing with her back to the wall next to it. Acting on impulse he swooped on her, pinning her between his body and the wall. Bending his head downwards he moved his lips to cover hers and gently kissed her.
Buffy stayed ramrod straight refusing to acknowledge that she was feeling anything or wanted him to do this, until he started alternately nibbling and sucking on her bottom lip. Suppressing a moan Buffy's mouth opened involuntarily and Angel darted his tongue in quickly, beginning to kiss her in earnest.
Unable to ignore the desire building in her for a moment longer, Buffy started kissing him back, sighing with pleasure at the sparks that were flowing through her veins. They continued this way for long minutes, both lost in the other and unaware of anything but the way they were feeling. Suddenly Angel pulled back, removing his arms from around her. Buffy threw him a confused look, not understanding why he had moved away. Throwing her a smirk, he jauntily walked out of the door whistling a happy tune.
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Chapter 5
Angel was smiling happily as he arrived back at his apartment following his meeting with Buffy. Kicking the door shut behind him he walked through to the living room and checked his machine for messages. Finding three he pressed the button to listen to them as he walked over to the picture window while the tape rewound. Looking at the sprawling city of Los Angeles laid out before him, he felt a sense of happiness wash over him. God he loved this city, there was so much potential for anything to happen.
His sense of peace started to dissipate as he listened to one of his lovers whining on and on about how much she missed him, and asking when could she see him again. This torture went on for two whole message spaces. Sighing he pressed erase before she continued too far on to the third. Sitting down in his leather armchair he reflected back on how well things had gone at Buffy's.
Despite her ideas to the contrary, it was obvious that they didn't just get carried away yesterday, as the same impulses were there on both sides again earlier today. If he hadn't pulled away from her he knew they would have still been making love right now. 'Sex, not making love. Pure unadulterated sex! Isn't that what I always do?' Part of him was saying to him self, even though he knew that he had never been this fascinated by a woman before. Normally they just fell laughing into bed after one look, he took what he wanted and then moved on. Buffy seemed different, she was fighting what was going on inside herself, and if those feelings of desire and lust were anything as powerful as his were, she was a lot stronger than he gave her credit for.
It wasn't that he didn't want to make lo... have sex with her earlier; he just wanted her to admit she wanted him. He was used to women falling over them selves to be with him, not rejecting him every opportunity that they got. He wanted to be the one to walk away afterwards, not her. This was going to take some serious planning. She looked stubborn, plus he didn't really want to piss her off too much afterwards, she wasn't known for playing nice with people she disliked.
Look at Faith; as much as he had nothing but contempt for the woman, he didn't envy her or the beating she had suffered at the hands of Buffy after she double-crossed her. It had put her into a coma for 6 months and most people were still completely in the dark as to why Buffy had done it. He had only recently found out the facts from his friend Gunn after mentioning he might be working with Buffy, who it turned out, was a good friend of his as well.
The ringing of the telephone interrupted any further musings he might have on the subject and he reluctantly stood up and walked over to it. He lifted the handset before the machine could cut in, speaking gruffly said "Hello!"
"Hey man, what ya up to tonight?" Gunn replied knowing Angel would recognize his voice.
"No plans. Why?" He questioned, thinking that a night out with his pal, a few drinks and a hot young woman could be just what he needed to forget about Buffy Summers for the evening.
"Wanted to know if you wanted to go to the re-opening of Route tonight. I managed to get my name on the guest list." Gunn answered, knowing that there was no way Angel would want to miss out on what was guaranteed to be wall to wall honeys.
"Count me in. I'll meet you at the usual place around 9." Angel hung up the phone before Gunn could reply, but he knew that he would be there anyway. That was one thing about Gunn, he did what he was told, plus he was damn good at finding out information.
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"Tell me again, why I agreed to this?" Buffy yelled, whilst trying to apply her lipstick and put her shoes on at the same time.
"Because you love me!" Xander yelled up the stairs, grinning at the night he had planned for the four of them. Willow and Oz were already sitting comfortably downstairs waiting patiently for Buffy to finally finish getting dressed. If she had stopped complaining every five second about him just turning up and demanding they were all ready within 45 minutes, she would have been finished a lot sooner he thought, chuckling to himself about the idea of telling her that. Realizing that he liked being able to use his arms and legs he decided not to.
Buffy slowly walked down the stairs, wondering what the hell Xander was up to. All eyes turned towards her as she entered the living room and Willow immediately stood up dragging her boyfriend with her.
Xander eyed the goddess in front of him slowly, taking in every little detail of her. She didn't realize just how beautiful she was standing there with her hair loosely curled and falling down her back. The black dress she was wearing left very little to the imagination, but what little there was he was imagining. It was a halter that swept down in a deep v between her breasts and was completely backless until you reached the curve of her behind. It came down to about mid thigh and the strappy black sandals that she was wearing made her legs seem longer than ever. He felt an irrational wave of jealousy surge at the thought of other men seeing her like this, and resolved to not let her out of his sight tonight for one moment.
Willow coughed loudly, trying to interrupt Xander's slow perusal of Buffy, which she could see her friend had not yet noticed. Xander looked over towards Willow, realizing he had been caught; he quickly motioned for everyone to follow him out to his car.
Once everyone was seated and all the doors were closed, Xander decided the moment was right to tell everyone where he was taking them. "I thought we could go and see Doyle first at the bar." Everyone started groaning, after having got dressed up in their best at Xander's insistence, that he was just taking them to Doyle's Irish Bar. Xander held his hands up before the groans could turn into very vocal complaints and finished his sentence, "and then on to the re-opening of Route." He smiled proudly at this, the girls, especially Buffy, had been saying long before it closed for refurbishment that they would really love to go there. It had only taken him a couple of phone calls to get all four of them put on the guest list for the night and he was inordinately pleased with himself.
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Angel and Gunn were smoothly ushered through by the doormen at Route, and then preceded onwards into the dark interior of the club. The flashing strobe lights illuminated the nubile young flesh on display all around them, and both men looked around with great interest. Sporting an immense grin, Gunn pointed out one particular female to Angel who seemed to have forgotten the top half of her outfit. All she was wearing was what looked like a couple of jeweled patches over her nipples and a short black skirt.
Angel shook his head in wonder at what some women would do to get noticed. His Buffy would never wear anything like that. 'Fuck, she's not my anything; she is just another woman to add to the list of people I have fucked. I'm only thinking about her because I'm horny as hell, and haven't got that far with her yet. But I will!' He tried to convince himself he was not interested in her for anything more than just becoming one of his conquests, but failed miserably. Looking around the club, he could not see one woman he wanted to take home with him. 'Oh well, that will change when I have had a few drinks. ' Gunn motioned to him that he had seen someone and moved away from him. Moving towards the bar Angel ignored the women who were openly staring at him, focusing instead on getting as drunk as he could.
When he finally managed to get served he walked over to the railings that separated the dance floor from the main bar, deciding to check out the available talent again. Looking from person to person, he noticed Gunn dancing and smiled, wondering which unlucky lady he had managed to convince to dance with him. When the dancers around them shifted slightly his hand clenched around his glass, as he saw who Gunn's partner was on the floor.
Buffy was lost in the music, it was directing each movement as she slowly wound her hips in enticing circles in time with the beat. Moving backwards ever so slightly her back made contact with the front of Gunn's body, her movements now became more obvious as she gyrated against him, feeling his body start to respond to hers. Turning around she placed his hands on her hips and tilting her head upwards ever so slightly she gave him a coy smile.
Gunn smiled back, lost in the rapture of this moment. The instant that the blonde beauty had walked into his office three years ago, and then preceded to shout at him for giving her out of date information, had enthralled him. To have her here in his arms was a dream come true. Many times he had fantasized that the woman he was in the process of making love to was Buffy and it seemed that it could become reality at this instant. She continued to grind against him before moving slightly and still moving her hips in time with beat wandered around to stand behind him, her arm slowly dragging across his abdomen as she let it trail behind her as she moved. She rubbed against him suggestively for a few moments before moving back around to face him and resuming her earlier position in his arms.
Angel could not believe what he was seeing. The woman he had not been able to get out of his thoughts from the moment he met her was currently dancing, if you could call it that, with his friend. And from where he was standing there was a lot more going on over there than just dancing. The glass splintered in his hand from the pressure of his grip and he threw it aside as he stormed onto the dance floor, fully intending to drag her away from Gunn and show her how much he wanted her.
Neither of the two dancers were aware of another persons presence until Buffy suddenly found herself gyrating against empty air. Turning back around she saw Angels fist connect solidly with Gunn's jaw, a punch that sent him flying backwards into a nearby group of people. Buffy let out a gasp of shock as she quickly moved towards her injured friend. A hand grasping her by the shoulder stopped her movements, and she then found herself propelled off of the dance floor and dragged towards a deserted corner of the nightclub.
Angel pinned Buffy against the wall with the hard length of his body, looking down into her eyes that were sparkling brightly with anger. "What the hell was that about?" she demanded, hoping that Gunn was ok and being taken care of by someone.
"How dare you dance like that with him?" An equally angry Angel shouted. 'She's mine, for when I want her. No-one else is going anywhere near her!'
"How dare I? Oh, what a damn nerve you have. Do you think that every woman wants you, is that it? Well I'm sorry, but not this woman. I couldn't care less if I never saw you again. The only reason we have even met is for this job, and once it is over I will never have anything to do with you again EVER!!!" Buffy yelled back, realizing how untrue that statement was even as the words left her mouth.
"Really!" Angel's lips twisted into a smirk as he realized exactly how to deal with this little show of rebellion. "So, if I turned and walked away right now you wouldn't care?"
"No I wouldn't". Buffy firmly stated, hoping that he wouldn't follow through on his words. Just the feel of his body pressing into hers was having the most profound effect on her. She could feel that he wasn't totally immune to her either, judging by the long hard bulge pressing against her hip.
Angel could tell that her denial was just wishful thinking. The slightest tremor could be detected in her voice as she spoke. He rubbed his erection against her hip slightly, her lips parting slightly with a sigh. Swooping down he captured them in a fiery kiss that wakened every nerve in his body. He thrust his tongue into her mouth mimicking the actions his body would be making later, and he had to grab her and stop her from falling as her knees nearly gave out from pleasure. 'If this is the foreplay, I can't wait to find out how good the real thing will be.' Buffy thought, all other ideas disappearing from her head as she lost herself in the moment and ground her hip against his hardness. She smiled into his mouth as he elicited a moan. Wanting to feel his smooth skin she pulled his shirt from his leather pants and moved her small hands underneath and up over the ridges of his abs, stroking and tracing her long nails over the firm and muscular flesh.
Angel was fast losing control of the situation. What had started as him trying to prove a point, had rapidly escalated into something he had no will to stop. Moving his hand down to her thigh he started caressing her supple limb through the thin material of her dress, slowly moving the fabric higher with each motion of his large hand. Buffy was only vaguely aware of what his hand was doing, so enthralled she was in the motions of his mouth, she returned every ounce of his passion in the deeply heated kiss they were sharing. The only time they broke apart was when their bodies were screaming out for air, and then only for the few seconds it took to gasp a quick breath into their burning lungs before resuming where they had left off.
They were so wrapped up in each other and the flames that were igniting between them, that it wasn't until the person standing before them spoke that they even realized where they were and that they had a spectator. Angel quickly pulled Buffy's dress back down to protect her modesty before moving a step away to provide her with room to move.
Buffy turned her body to face the last person she had imagined or wanted to see in front of her. Not caring that she had been caught in an extremely compromising position, or that her face was flushed with lust, Buffy snapped out harshly, "What the fuck do you want Faith?"
Faith's face broke into a wide grin at the sight before her. She had obviously found them just before the climax of the show! Finds out about this latest development! It was obvious to everyone but Buffy that the fool had been in love with her for years, and this would kill him. 'But how can I upset things here, I wonder? Oh, I know!'
Buffy was standing there silently watching the different emotions pass over Faith's face. Just before she finally spoke, Faiths face settled into a smug grin. Buffy braced herself for what was coming. "So B, having to make do with my cast offs now are we? I always knew that the little nice girl act that you had going wasn't the real you! You should like him, he's very good, but he's had plenty of practice you know. Personally, I can't see you holding him for more than 5 seconds, but you never know you might last for 10!" laughed Faith, reveling in her chance to get one over on the younger girl who had hit a massive blow to her ego a few years back, and possibly ruining Angel's night into the bargain.
"Whatever your thoughts are on what you just saw, they are completely wrong". Buffy manage to bite out from between her grinding teeth. 'So Faith had slept with Angel, what a surprise'. Is there anyone in this town the two of them haven't had between them?' "And I thought that I told you the last time I saw you, not to come anywhere near me. Or did my little lesson two years ago not get the point home to you. If you didn't quite understand, perhaps we should have that 'conversation' one more time?" Buffy didn't really want to get into this here and now, but if she had to she was more than ready to wipe that smug grin off of Faiths face.
Faith stood her ground, knowing instantly that she was referring to the beating she had been given following her betrayal of Buffy. It had taken Buffy only one month to recover from her injuries and track her down after she had turned on her. The people she had trusted to protect her new identity she had obtained after hearing that Buffy would survive, had changed sides as soon as they were faced with Buffy's full fury. Faith had narrowly escaped with her life and had promised to stay far away from LA. Turning up at that club the other night had been the first step in breaking that vow, and she was surprised that B hadn't threatened her in this way then.
"Well, I figured Los Angeles is plenty big enough for the two of us. Plus I like this city, lots of business and lots of men!!" She blustered, false bravado filling her voice whilst looking Angel up and down. "I am back B. Deal with it!!
Having got the final word in, Faith turned and walked away disappearing into the heaving mass around them. Buffy turned and leaned her head back against the wall, taking a deep breath as she realized that she would now be looking over her shoulder permanently. Why did she have to have that one last rush of conscience about killing her? Yes, she had been a good friend, but she had betrayed her in the worst way. IT was a lesson she had never forgot and the reason she no longer had a partner. Except now, with someone Faith had been 'involved' with, to use the term extremely loosely. Could she trust him after finding out that fact? He had been at the club the other night and so had Faith. Were they there together, plotting against her? The thoughts and concerns started racing around her head and the full implications hit her like a freight train. 'Oh god. Just what I don't need to have to worry about!'
Angel moved predatorily towards her again, hoping to continue from where they left off, but Buffy spotted him and moved away before he reached her. Confused Angel looked at her face, wondering what had changed in the last 5 minutes.
For Buffy's part, she had too many thoughts in her head right at that moment to even think about dealing with him and what Faith had just told her. She just needed to find Xander and her friends again and check up on Gunn. She needed to warn him that Faith was back in town. Gunn was one of the people who had found out for her where Faith was, when she had run after the attack on Buffy. If Faith was going to go after someone apart from her, it would be him and he needed to start watching his back. Turning to Angel once more, she gave him a distracted half smile before walking away.
Angel pounded the wall with his fist, frustration taking over control of his body. Damn Faith, he had just been preparing to move things out of the club and to his apartment when she turned up. What the hell was her problem? Couldn't she see that they were in the middle of something? Now his opportunity with Buffy had been lost, yet again. Damn, why hadn't he just taken her in the hallway earlier like his body had screamed out for him to do?
Deep down he knew the reason why. He genuinely liked her and wanted her to admit first that she felt something for him, or at least wanted him. Her constant denials were gnawing at him and it was only when she had clawed at his shirt and returned his kisses with the same passion filled intensity that he had realized she felt exactly the same as he did. Deciding he was not going to let her just walk away from him, he started towards the direction she had gone.
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Xander smiled as Buffy approached their table. He had been worried about her when she didn't come back from her earlier dance with the guy who had introduced himself as Gunn. Jealousy had overtaken him, until Buffy had explained that they worked together on occasion, so smiling tightly he had watched her leave with another man. Now she was back alone, and he couldn't be happier about it. Rising from his seat he made a motion to pull her chair out for her, when Buffy's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Has anyone seen Gunn?" She asked, concern evident in her tone. Xander was taken aback at the rage that ran through him at the thought that maybe there was more to the relationship between the two than what Willow had told him.
"No! I thought he was with you Buffy." Willow said, wondering just what had happened since Buffy and Gunn had left for the dance floor a long time ago. Buffy's face was flushed and her hair was in a wild state of disarray. Her eyes were sparkling, but showed immense concern in them for her friend. 'What on earth has happened?'
Buffy for her part had searched everywhere looking for Gunn and could now only come to the conclusion that he had picked himself up and left. Mentally cursing Angel, she decided to call Gunn tomorrow and apologize for what had happened, even though it was not her fault. "He must have just gone home. I got talking with an old 'friend' and lost track of time", replied Buffy, hating herself for lying even though technically it was the truth. Faith 'was' and old friend and she 'had' lost track of time with Angel. Deciding that she would need an excuse to leave the table again, so soon after she had returned, she told them she needed to use the bathroom before melting into the crowds.
"Is it just me or have we not seen much of Buffy so far tonight?" Xander moaned, slightly annoyed that the evening he had planned seemed to be going slightly off track.
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Faith was waiting quietly in a dark room for Buffy on the way out of the ladies restroom. She had moved into that spot when she had seen Buffy enter, and was now growing impatient for her to appear. Still annoyed about their earlier confrontation she had decided that she would make her 'I'm back' statement plainer to Buffy. Seeing her finally emerge, she moved nearer to the open doorway and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the room as she went to pass.
Buffy hit out blindly at her assailant, knocking them back a few feet from the force of her blow. Faith was unprepared, and wanting to take the opportunity her obviously unexpected defense had brought her, Buffy followed through with a kick to her head that had the required effect and sent Faith tumbling to the ground. She slowly turned around and closed the door before fumbling for the light switch, all the while keeping her ears alert for movement, hearing none she continued to scour the area with her palms until she managed to flip the switch and provide light with which to check the identify her opponent. Not that there was much doubt, but it couldn't hurt to check.
Seeing Faith, Buffy sighed deeply, boredom overtaking her and wondered if this girl would ever learn. She was nothing compared to her and would never win no matter how much effort she put in. Deciding it could be a while before Faith woke up from her nap, Buffy pulled a stool over to her position in front of the door and settled down to wait.
Consciousness returned to Faith slowly, accompanied by a thumping headache. As she started moving her limbs slowly to check for any other injuries, the memory returned of what had just occurred. She ceased all movements as she listened intently for the sign that someone else was in the room, hearing nothing; she started to position herself to stand when Buffy finally spoke.
"So, you still don't fucking listen to me Faith!" The anger in her voice was barely controlled and it had taken her this long to calm herself enough to realize that killing Faith in the store room of a nightclub was not the best way to go. Taking her outside and doing it was still a viable option though.
"Oh I listened B. I listened to the sound of my ribs breaking as you kicked the shit out of me. I listened to the sound of my fingers dislocating as you bent them in the wrong direction, just to try and make me scream. I listened to the sound of the knife entering my body as you tried to finish what you started! Oh I listened B!" Faith angrily yelled, as vivid images of the torture she had suffered at Buffy's hands flickered through her mind, heightening her rage at the younger girl. She had lain in that coma for 6 months following Buffy's extremely thorough torture and assault of her. Even now she was still sometimes in pain from the injuries and was slowly working her way back into the trust of clients. Righteous indignation overcame her anger at all that she had suffered because of one small mistake.
"Well, obviously you didn't pay attention to the lesson. I think you need a quick refresher in how not to piss off Buffy 101!" she snapped out, wondering how many times she would have to do this before faith finally got the message.
Walking over to her, Buffy grabbed Faith by her lank brown hair and pulled her up harshly. Faith threw a punch at Buffy as soon as she was standing, which Buffy easily blocked. "Now that wasn't a good idea Faithy! But then again you never did have any sense". Buffy stated as she pulled Faith's head back to an angle that made her upper body useless and caused the muscles to scream out in protest. Using her other hand to grip Faith's throat, her fingernails biting into the delicate flesh, Buffy softly started trailing the fingers of her other hand over Faith's windpipe whilst all the time whispering in her ear.
"Just think how easily I could kill you right now. It wouldn't be so difficult, you know! All I have to do is grab your windpipe and pull real hard. You know I can do it, you have seen me do it! Remember! The oxygen would be cut off from your brain and you would ever so slowly suffocate. There would be pain, mind you, a deep burning sensation that would gradually work its way through your body until you were crying and begging me to end it".
A sudden clapping broke the spell that Buffy had created between the two girls and both simultaneously turned their eyes towards the intruder. Angel stood there smirking at the surprise on their faces, as he gazed in wonderment at the sight before him. When he had entered the room to make a phone call in private, he had not expected to find Buffy holding Faith by the neck and quietly threatening her with what he knew to be an extremely painful death. She looked incredible with her hair hanging wildly around her face, her cheeks flushed, and green eyes blazing with fire. He could not remember ever seeing anything as arousing as the sight before him. Walking towards the two girls, he decided upon his course of action. Having no love for Faith, especially after her intervention between his and Buffy's passionate moment earlier in the evening, he glared menacingly at the immobile girl.
"I would listen to her Faith, she knows what she is talking about." He purred whilst wondering how quickly he could get rid of Faith so that he could continue his and Buffy's earlier discussion. Images flitted through his mind of lifting her up and embracing her in his arms as she wrapped her lithe legs around his waist, him pressing her against the wall and grinding his arousal into her. Him undressing her and sucking on her pert nipples whilst his fingers delved deeply inside her moist center, thrusting into her for the first time and making her scream his name as she came. The images had a side effect and he could feel his arousal for her growing with each and every thought.
He was snapped out of his reverie, "What the fuck does this have to do with you?" Faith shrieked, embarrassment and anger at being caught in this position by him boiling within her. She hated him with all her might as she remembered just how their 'relationship', if you could call it that, had ended with him kicking her out of his bed straight after he had come. He had even had the cheek to tell her that he had had better! Who was he kidding; she was the fuck of his life!!
Resentment towards the two other people in the room took over the logical part of her brain, and without thinking she tried to jerk her head away from Buffy's iron grip. The pain shot through her body within mille-seconds, making her muscles go weak and her whole body dropped as the stabbing sensations careened through her. The ferocious pain was unbearable and it felt like a thousand knives were slowly being pressed into her skin all at the same time, all attempting to cut through to her inner organs. Faith screamed in torment and tears of agony appeared from her eyes and slowly dripped down her face.
Angel smiled, upon seeing the exquisite look of agony on Faith's face after she had tried to escape Buffy's clutches. He looked towards Buffy and met her eyes. They locked immediately and he could see in them a mixture of anger, confusion and doubt. He fully intended before they left this room to once again see the smoky haze of passion brimming within them, but first things first.
"I thought I would catch the show and believe me so far I'm not disappointed!" Laughed Angel, whose grin got even wider at the expression on Faith's face as the words registered within her brain. "I believe Buffy was trying to get a point across to you". He opened the conversation up once more to Buffy, hoping that she would get this finished quickly as he needed to feel her body against his urgently.
"That's right Faith, have I made it yet or do I need to try harder?" Buffy reinforced her words with a sharp tug of Faiths head that left the older girl unable to speak for several minutes. "Yes, you have made it, ok! Are you happy now?" Faith shouted, whilst trying to fight the pain that was burning inside of her. A sigh of relief came unbidden from her mouth as Buffy released her neck and pushed her away, as if her hands were dirty from touching her.
"I hope so". Buffy warned, the underlying menace coloring her tone.
Faith slowly pulled herself up from the floor, keeping her eyes on Angel and Buffy as she slowly backed away towards the door. Promising herself that this was not over, she silently left berating her self mentally for letting Buffy get her into that position.
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Chapter 6
Once Faith had exited the room and they were sure the coast was clear Buffy did not know where to look. Thoughts were swimming round her head about attempting to explain that this was not her usual behaviour to be found in a small room threatening to kill an ex friend, or even demanding to know what had happened between him and Faith or should she just leave quickly before he looked at her........ like he was looking at her now. His eyes locked intently with hers, made black by the passion that was raging inside of him.
Angel quickly closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. His lips melded with hers in an earth shattering kiss that left them both breathless and shaking with arousal. Wanting her to feel what effect she had on him he moved his body against hers and rubbed his groin against her stomach causing her to gasp aloud. Buffy grabbed his head and pulled him down into another passion filled kiss, tangling her tongue with his as he grasped her waist and pulled her up inviting her to wrap her legs around his waist. She accepted the invitation and he started moving them both backwards, kicking the door shut on the way towards the wall, and then crushing her into it when he rested his weight on her.
Buffy's head was swimming with desire and all rational thoughts were pushed aside for the sweet promises his body was offering to her. As he pulled the halter neck of her dress roughly over her head she started unbuttoning his shirt ripping several of the buttons off in her haste to get to his naked skin. They made a soft pinging sound in the room that went unnoticed by either of the lovers. Finally accomplishing her task Buffy started caressing his muscular chest while he move his head down to take a perfect coral nipple into his mouth. Buffy moaned at the first touch of his tongue on her erect flesh, but the moan soon turned into a sob as he proceeded to nibble and gently bite on the nub. Wanting to feel him inside of her desperately she moved her hands lower and started to undo his belt, getting flustered as the buckle refused to open. Angel sensed her frustration and impatient himself, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He slowly moved her hands away from his belt and placed them around his neck all the while grinning wickedly at her. He slowly unbuckled his belt and then his leather pants, relishing the look in her eyes while silently cursing himself for torturing them both. All he wanted right now was to feel her silky walls closing around him as drove them both to orgasm. But no, he had to torment her a little first! When he finished opening them he pushed his pants down to his ankles, smirking as he freed his rampant manhood to her sight for the first time.
Buffy stared incomprehensibly at it, stunned into silence by the size. 'I didn't know they came that big and how on earth will that fit in me?' Sensing her sudden discomfort Angel pulled Buffy into another kiss that pushed all her doubts to the back of her mind. He suddenly decided he couldn't wait another second before being inside of her warmth and moved their bodies so his member was rubbing against her, coating itself in her dripping arousal. Without any warning he powerfully pushed inside her, forcing himself in until he was buried to the hilt. Buffy moaned and thrashed, driving him even deeper until she suddenly came sceaming his name. Angel stopped moving, on the brink of orgasm himself. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he rode out the storm.
When the waves of her orgasm had passed, Angel slowly started moving again relishing the feel of her still gently quivering muscles. This did not satisfy Buffy's ardour for him and she moved her feet to his bottom to force him to speed up his movements. Angel, believing that the lady was always right in these situations heartily agreed and proceeded to pump into her with such force that he thought she must surely break. The feel of her boiling hot flesh closing tightly around him was sending him near to climax and for reasons he couldn't identify he wanted her to come with him. Reaching a hand between their writhing bodies, he started to caress her swollen clit in time with his thrusts, bringing her closer to the edge with him. As he started to come his movements became more frantic, all sense of rhythm lost and he twisted her flesh sending her spiralling into her second orgasm.
Unnoticed by either of the lovers, so lost they were in their own pleasure, they once again had a spectator to their intimacy. The man stood in the doorway unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of Buffy as she climaxed, her eyes firmly closed and her head thrown back in abandon. The whimpers she was emitting served to make him rock hard even as the violent force of his anger overwhelmed him.
Not wanting to be seen by Buffy, Xander slowly turned and walked back out of the door, his heart slowly breaking, whilst plotting a way to take revenge on the person he loved most in the world for once again rejecting his love. He had planned tonight when they arrived home to tell Buffy how he felt and had visions of her throwing herself into his arms confessing her undying love. He would then carry her up to her bedroom and make love to her all night. But no! She wanted a man who would use and abuse her and thought nothing of fucking her, there was no other words for it, against a wall in a nightclub! He now realised that all his thoughts of her over the years had been in vain as she would never return his love the way he wanted. She didn't see him as a potential lover just a brother.
Meanwhile, Buffy and Angel were slowly working their way down from their recent orgasms. When Buffy finally opened her eyes again she realised that Angel was still holding her and looking at her with lust filled eyes. Feeling him beginning to harden inside her again she gave herself over to the pleasure that his hard cock filling her brought. Moaning gently she pulled his face towards her and started nibbling gently on his lower lip, licking and sucking at it until he groaned loudly and pulled her into what seemed like a never ending kiss. His dick grew harder with every second that passed until Angel slowly started moving within her again.
Deciding that he wanted to taste her fully before they again made love, he pulled out of her leaving her red faced and open mouthed in shock. Lifting her down to the floor he dragged her down until she was lying underneath him. Angel suddenly realised that they had neglected to lock the door before their previous encounter and he smiled at their good fortune of not being interrupted again. Quickly standing he strode over to the door and pressed the bolt across. Returning to Buffy's arms he caught her pout from being left alone and smirked at her.
Angel started to remove her dress, softly caressing every inch of her skin as it was revealed to him with his hands, his lips, and his tongue working Buffy into a frenzy. She retaliated by pulling his shirt fully off of him and moving her hands down to stroke his hardness. Closing one of her hands around the shaft she began stroking him until he was purring and thrusting into her hand. He pushed her hand away and finally succeeded in removing her dress
His lips slowly trailed from her neck down to her bare breasts. He licked a path down o one of the small mounds and gently sucked the coral nipple into his mouth. When he began laving the rigid nub with his tongue the moisture started running freely again from between her legs. She looked down to see his dark head perched over her chest and his lips sucking on her breast like a babe. Craving friction she started rubbing her dripping mound up against his erection, only to be stopped by his hand pushing her back towards the floor. Whimpering in pain she tried moving again only for him to stop her. "Relax baby. Let me take care of that". he purred, moving his head from her breast to speak before returning to what he was doing.
His hand trailed downwards, whilst his mouth continued to caress her delicate flesh. Slowly he moved his hand towards her weeping centre. He ran a finger up and down her drenched core before quickly thrusting two fingers inside of her. She arched her back and clutched at him whilst moaning from the intense pleasure. Unable to wait any longer he slowly released her nipple from his mouth and started working his lips down her body all the while moving his fingers in and out of her at a fast pace. Upon reaching her flat stomach he was unable to resist swirling his tongue in the small indent, barely suppressing a groan caused by the pleasure that just touching her brought him.
Buffy was floating in a cloud of delirium, knowing that this was the closest she would ever get to heaven. His fingers were awakening all of the parts of her that were never normally touched upon. She could just feel the waves about to break over her when he suddenly withdrew his fingers. Shocked she went to sit up only to have his hand push her back down on to the floor as he moved his head between her spread thighs.
He slowly dragged his tongue, lips and teeth along her inner thighs, purposefully avoiding the place she wanted him most, until she was writhing in frustration. Smirking , he decided to put her out his misery and moved his mouth higher until he was level with her dripping sex. Stroking long, wet licks across her silken folds, he avoided her pleasure centre wanting to torment her until she was screaming for him. He moved lower and gently sucked up the juices that were freely flowing from her, tasting himself in her essence. Wanting to taste more of her honey he inserted his tongue inside her and thrust it in and out of her heat for several minutes until she was moaning his name like a mantra. Deciding that this was good enough for the time being he moved upwards to her clitoris and started alternately, sucking, biting and licking the sensitive piece of flesh.
The feelings were overwhelming her and she came once more, screaming his name as he prolonged her orgasm and then slowly brought her down from her high. Angel slowly moved his body upwards positioning himself between her open thighs. Opening her eyelids, Buffy looked into his passion filled eyes and moved her head forwards to taste herself from his lips. She groaned with pleasure and writhed her tongue inside his mouth trying to capture as much of their mixed juices as possible. She suddenly felt his hardness rubbing against her coating itself again in her recently released juices before probing forcefully into her hot depths. Her arms automatically moved to his back, gripping the hard flesh whilst moving her hips towards him to accommodate him fully. With a final thrust Angel seated himself completely inside her, touching her womb. Waiting a moment for her to again adjust to his size, he moved his lips to resume the kiss that had been broken at the first contact of his manhood against her cleft. When he felt her begin to wriggle her hips against his he slowly started moving in a slow rhythm that had Buffy digging her nails into his back to stop from screaming out loud. She finally reached her breaking point and growled "Harder!".
Angel smiled to himself as he started moving his hips against hers in a punishingly hard motion that had her screaming his name, as the waves of sensation coursed through her. Feeling his balls begin to tighten Angel knew he would not last much longer. He gently moved himself off of her enough to guide his hand down to her weeping slit where he started to caress her clit in time with his body's motions. When her inner muscles started to clench around him he realised she was near to the edge so his fingers twisted the delicate flesh until she came screaming around his cock. Ramming himself into another three times he finally let go and joined her in ecstasy, his warm seed coating her insides.
He waited a few moments until he his breathing had returned to normal and his hear stopped pounding before rolling off of her. He pulled her into his embrace and stroked her hair as they each relished the afterglow of their mating.
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Xander walked aimlessly back towards the table he had left Willow and Oz sitting at, after earlier feigning the excuse of needing the bathroom as a reason to leave. His heart was still crushed from seeing Buffy in the middle of a lovers embrace with Angel, her so called business associate. He was lost in thought about Buffy whilst trying to remember where their table was when a hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
Slowly turning around Xander found himself face to face with Faith. She smirked at him, making him remember all of the good times they had shared before her and Buffy had ceased to be friends. The reasons for which were still not totally clear to him, but Xander being loyal had also broken all ties with her .The fact that she was here now, made his blood start flowing faster through his body, shooting straight to his groin. She had always had this effect on him. Some of the best times he had known were spent in bed having frantic sex with this woman. Those memories alone served to lighten his mood as he wondered absently why she was now standing in front of him.
"Hello Xander! Long time no see." Faith punctuated her comment by slowly trailing her gaze up and down his body, making his blood rush faster to his now hardening manhood.
"Yeah! So how have you been?" questioned Xander, willing his body not to respond to this woman, this was an impossible feat for him though and his mind started replaying previous encounters they had experienced; Faith pushing him back on the bed and impaling herself on his hard cock before riding him to the strongest orgasm of his life, indulging in a threesome with Faith and her friend Anya after he told her of that fantasy. He was snapped out of his reminiscences by Faith's laughter.
"I'm five by five Xand..... Guess seeing little miss perfect and tall dark and broody fucking has made you a little horny. Well i can take care of that if your up for it!" she remarked, already plotting how she would let Buffy find out she was having sex with Xander. ?She will never trust him again. Plus, its been a while and i need to get laid badly'.
Xander felt the pain shoot through him again at the thought of Buffy and that guy Angel. His thoughts were in turmoil. He had always liked Faith, she was one of the most upfront people he knew. If she wanted to say something, she said it and to hell with the consequences. She was also fantastic in bed and although they had never been in a relationship with each other, he could honestly say he loved being in her company. She made a refreshing change from the blonde bimbos who were always chasing after him because of his money.
He finally decided to go with what his body wanted and needed, and a certain part of his body was pointing straight towards Faith. He needed something to erase all of the hurt that seeing the lovers embrace had struck him with and Faith was the perfect solution.
Moving closer to her he raised his hand to her face and lovingly stroked it before pulling her in for a deep kiss.
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A bright light illuminated the night darkened room as lightening streaked slowly across the sky, only seconds before the loud booming noise of thunder roared directly overhead, making the walls shake. The rain pounded incessantly against the windows as if trying to seek a way in and find refuge from the storm.
Buffy awoke slowly from her dreamless sleep, and upon opening her eyes she found herself in an unfamiliar room. Sensing the presence of someone beside her she turned her head to find herself staring straight into Angel's warm brown depths. Vivid images of the night before came flooding back to her.
FLASHBACK
When they had finally raised themselves from the floor of the room and managed to dress, which was not easy as every time either one of them placed an item of clothes on their body, the other tried to take it back off again as fast as possible to re-reveal the naked flesh. Only an agreement between them that they were merely moving to a more suitable location ensured that they did not end up having sex on the floor again.
After leaving the club, Angel had driven them to his apartment, which was a good deal closer than Buffy's house. She started to blush as she remembered slowly stroking her hand against his confined hardness building up the desire in them both until she couldn't take anymore and reached over and unzipped his pants. Angel had struggled to choke out the words "I'm driving, we can't!"
"Your right, we can't. But you can". She giggled, determined that she was going to torture him for a while before letting him again find his release. She reached into his pants and pulled out his erection, slowly stroking her hands up and down his shaft and pushing the foreskin back while she licked her lips wantonly.
Angel had groaned, wishing the miles to disappear so he could throw this vixen onto his bed and spend the night pleasuring her. The feel of her tongue licking away the pre cum that had formed on the tip pushed all thoughts from his mind as his body luxuriated in the feel of her lips on his skin. He moaned as she swirled her tongue around the head, he whimpered when she took him deeper into her mouth than he would ever have thought possible whilst laving the tender underside with her tongue, and he started chanting her name as she took up a fast pace with her mouth that engulfed his cock before releasing him so that only the tip remained in her mouth.
Buffy snaked one of her hands downwards and started caressing his balls, feeling them beginning to tighten more from her touch. Her other hand continued following the motions of her lips, wanting to enhance his pleasure from this act.
Angels mind was in disarray and sneaking a peek downwards, the sight of Buffy smiling wickedly up at him while his rock hard dick was pressed firmly into her mouth was his undoing. Trying valiantly to keep some part of his attention on the road, he started thrusting upwards into her mouth, realising his release was only seconds away.
Wanting to warn her he managed to get out "Buff......stop.....come!" but she simply shook her head and took him in deeper. He swerved the car over to the side of the road and placed it in park just as his orgasm overtook him. Pumping his hips wildly, his stream of salty semen hit the back of her throat which she swallowed whilst continuing to caress his softening hardness with her tongue. Releasing his now soft member from her mouth, she licked him clean before sitting back up with a smile on her face. Angel pulled her to him and melded her body to his as he took her in a passionate kiss tasting himself in her mouth.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Angel sensed that Buffy's mind was elsewhere and in all honesty so was his. The tip of one perfectly formed breast was peeking out at him from beneath the crimson silk sheet. Unable to resist the urge any longer he moved himself closer to her and took the peak into his mouth, sucking on it gently whilst his other hand travelled beneath the sheet and started caressing the other firm globe.. He heard her breathe a gasp of surprise before leaning her body into his and rubbing her mound against his already prominent erection.
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The thunder rolling across the sky only served to enhance Xanders bad mood. He had been sitting in his armchair for hours watching Faith sleep whilst searching deep inside himself for the answers to the questions he had.
His and Faith's coupling had been satisfactory but nothing like previous times. Maybe his heart just wasnt in it after the long time apart or it might be because he had tonight realised that the only thing he had ever really desired would never be his. A new spark of anger turned the already tumultuous thoughts inside his head into cold hard rage.
'How could she? With him. What does he have that I don't? I would do anything for her and all he wants is a meaningless fuck!' Xanders ire towards the lovers was epic in its proportions. Thoughts were running madly through his head about making Buffy pay for her rejection of him and he sensed that Faith was the perfect person to help he succeed. He didn't trust Faith but at least she had always been truthful with him and he knew if he asked she would tell him what had happened with Buffy previously.
Buffy had never said a word to him about what had taken place between her and Faith 2 years ago, but when she had failed to return from her ?business trip' and Willow had informed him that she was staying with Giles for a while before coming back to the states, he had known something was wrong. Fearing the worst had happened and she had been seriously hurt on a job, he had arranged a flight to England for later that day. His worry and concern for her overtaking everything else. Calling Giles to inform him of his decision, Giles had passed the phone to Buffy who had assured him she was fine and was just taking the chance to spend some time with her Uncle before returning home. He had cancelled his arrangements and waited patiently for her to return home. Return she did, 3 weeks later with a dark look in her eyes and a newfound vehemence for Faith. She informed him that her and Faith were no longer friends and she did not even want him to speak her name in front of her. Something in her tone had convinced Xander that she was deadly serious about this, and none of his prompting could glean any information from her as to why the fallout had occurred. After failing to get anywhere with Buffy he had asked some of his contacts to investigate, but they had all come up empty handed. Even now it was still not known in the circles he travelled in as to what had happened to make two close friends and partners enemies overnight.
Pushing these thoughts to one side for now, he wondered how his knowledge of Buffy could possibly be used to hurt her. This guy Angel was also an assassin, though not a well know one, he most probably had some skeletons in his closet that were just waiting to be made public. But would that hurt her at all. If he was just a casual lay, no. If something more than that, yes it would. It was something to consider later on perhaps, but until then he needed to find a way to make her hurt now.
Faith was lying motionless in the bed watching the flickering of emotions cross Xanders face. She knew what he was thinking about, the only thing he ever thought about. Buffy! ?That must have killed him seeing them together' she thought, trying desperately to stop the grin that was threatening to form. The fact alone that he had not sensed she was awake made her aware of how deep his thoughts were, and knowing the true nature of Xander Harris she doubted they were about fluffy bunnies. That bitch deserved anything she got so let him go ahead and hurt her. In the end Faiths face was going to be the last thing Buffy saw before she died and the wheels were already turning on that one.
Faith was one of the few people to now that Xander Harris was one of the leading investors for the mob. He helped to finance schemes that needed legitimate money involved, but were also to be partly owned by certain families. One of these families Faith was currently working for, after the boss had reneged on a deal with the committee. She was providing protection for the man, but last night she had made sure he was safely tucked up in bed with his current girlfriend before leaving the usual bodyguards in charge and going out.
Deciding that she had spent enough time for now watching him, she slowly sat up, letting the silk sheet drop to her waist. Xanders eyes had turned to her the moment she moved and now they snaked downwards to her breasts that were on view for him.
"So, what have you been thinking about for the past hour? It wouldn't be Buffy, would it!" asked Faith even though she was already positive about his answer.
"What does it matter to you?" barked out Xander, his face reddening with the rage that was boiling up inside of him. He did not need Faith putting in her two cents over the situation he had seen earlier. His eyes had already given him a pretty good idea that they weren't just talking.
"Doesn't matter at all. I was just wondering what you were planning on doing about it. The Xander Harris I know and love shouldn't just sit idly by whilst the woman he has been waiting for all his life walks away with someone else. I'm thinking pain and lots of it. How about you? I mean she has kicked you in the teeth, so to speak. Taken everything you have given her and laughed in your face. Doesn't that make you angry?" goaded Faith, sensing that these were the right buttons to push at this moment. If she wanted her own revenge on Buffy who better to help her than someone Buffy trusted beyond doubt.
Pain lanced through Xander at Faith's words. She was right, Buffy had taken his love and tossed it aside like it was worthless. The fact that Buffy had no idea how he felt about her did not even register in his mind as he allowed the hurt to fully manifest inside of him, flowing freely to every corner of his being. Faith had struck open the wound with her blunt words and he realised that he could no longer count on Buffy for anything. She had rejected him for the last time. He could easily put to the side of his mind all the times he had jokingly made references to what things would be like if they were a couple and the times she had just laughed at him, believing he was purely joking. But not this. Never this. This was the final insult he would take from her. Xander did not realise that he was playing right into Faiths hands at this moment in time. He was crossing a line between love and obsession that would ultimately destroy the people he loved.
"Yes, it does" he ground out from between gritted teeth. "What idea did you have" He had finally given up the struggle within himself and would fully embrace any plan she had to offer that might help him forget all about Buffy Summers.
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Chapter 7
The small blonde turned her key in the lock of the door in front of her noting with a sense of satisfaction that he had never changed the locks even after all the time they had been apart. It was a sign that he still longed for her the way she did for him. Even putting an ocean between them had not dampened her ardor for him, and so she had returned to him finally, wanting nothing more than to feel his arms around her once more.
She quietly entered the apartment, seeing at once his jacket that was strewn haphazardly over one of the dining chairs, she smiled inwardly at the memories she had of all their clothes being shed before reaching the bedroom, so great their need for each other had been back then
Her gaze wandered until she saw his shirt lying a few feet away, accompanied by a tiny black dress. Anger welled within her that he had another woman in this apartment right at this moment when she was fully prepared to take him back once more. Such was her indignation she put to the back of her mind the fact that it was she who had left him, and as such had no right to be judgmental or even be concerned over what he was doing right at this moment.
Darla stormed into the bedroom, her eyes coming to rest on her Angel, sleeping soundly intertwined around a naked blonde. "What the hell is going on Angel, and who is this SLUT sleeping in our bed?" demanded Darla, fully prepared to fight for her man, regardless of if they were together at the moment or not.
The lovers stirred slowly, tiredness from the endless lovemaking of the night before taking its toll on their bodies. When Buffy finally opened her eyes and saw the visitor staring at her with ill disguised hatred, she grabbed the sheet that had pooled around their feet during the night and gathered it up to cover her body.
She looked to Angel for help but he too was busy looking at the woman with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Realizing that she was not going to get any answers from him she turned back to the woman determined to find out what the hell was going on.
"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?" Buffy demanded, anger slowly starting to build within her at the nerve of this woman standing before them. How dare she waltz into the apartment whilst they were sleeping and wake them up?
The intruder did not even acknowledge that Buffy had spoken; she continued to calmly look into Angel's eyes for what seemed like hours until she finally spoke once more. This time the words sounding like a lovers caress as the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile "I'm back baby!"
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Willow jumped up off of the chair she has been sitting in for hours at the first sound of a key being pushed into the lock. Running to the front door she yanked it open to find herself staring into the tired and reddened eyes of her best friend. Pulling her towards her, into a tight embrace Willow started silently thanking god that she had returned home safely.
Buffy pulled away from Willow and was moving aside to make her way into the kitchen when she felt a sharp tug on her arm. Turning around she found herself looking straight into eyes that were glittering with rage.
"Where the hell have you been? I have been a worried sick about you, and you then breeze straight in without any explanation. You could have been lying dead somewhere for all I know. Also Gunn filling me in on the details of what happened between him and Angel in the club so did not help". Yelled Willow, fear radiating from her voice, which had gradually increased in volume and intensity with every word, she spoke. Her body was shaking from the anxiety she had been feeling all night, and right now she wanted answers to her questions.
When Buffy had failed to come back from the restroom and Xander had left shortly afterwards feigning the same excuse, Willow had started to grow concerned. That concern had turned into full-blown panic when she had glimpsed Faith wandering through the nightclub, knowing that whenever Faith showed up it usually meant big trouble for Buffy. They had looked for Buffy everywhere inside the club, but finding no trace of her and realizing that Xander had already left when they discovered his car missing, her and Oz made the journey home alone. Fully expecting to see a repentant Buffy and Xander waiting in the living room for them. The plan was to make them grovel for leaving them in the club without saying goodbye.
Arriving home they had found the house in total darkness, and willow knew before opening the door that Buffy was not home. That still did not stop her from running around checking each eerily quiet room for any sign that she had returned at some stage. Finding nothing she had called Gunn, hoping that perhaps Buffy had left with him after running into him again. That had happened a couple of times previously, with Buffy turning up the next morning after staying at Gunn's the night because she had been too drunk to return home. He had not answered the telephone so Willow had resorted to leaving a message on his answer phone asking him to call her urgently when he arrived home.
He finally returned the call two hours later and explained what had happened on the dance floor between him self and Angel. Desperate to reassure Willow that Buffy would be ok he only made matters worse by explaining how Angel may be a cold sadistic killer but he never hurt his friends, something that the growing bruise on his jaw seemed to refute.
Willow had eventually ended the call but not before promising Gunn that she would let him know when Buffy eventually returned home. That still did not stop him calling hourly to check and see if there was any news and Willow was currently awaiting his next check in.
With no news and nowhere else to turn, Willow had packed Oz off to bed as he had an important day tomorrow at work and needed to get some sleep. She had settled into the armchair with a cup of coffee and every intention of killing her best friend the moment she showed her head around the front door, if someone had not already completed the job for her.
All thoughts of murder were now forgotten as the relief started to flow through every inch of Willows being, that Buffy was safe and well. Perhaps not completely well, judging by the tears still shining brightly in her eyes and the evidence that she had been crying, but safe at least.
"I'm sorry Will. I didn't think. I was with Angel", Buffy finally managed to choke out before allowing the tears to start pouring from her eyes once more. Her heart again breaking, even though her mind still insisted that it was only from outrage at the way she had been used and discarded by him.
Willow pulled the hysterical girl towards her and gently rubbed her back whilst whispering soothing words to her, trying to stem the emotional flood that she was being drowned in.
A short while later when Buffy had finally calmed down enough to speak they moved themselves through to the kitchen, where Willow placed Buffy on a chair at the table while she went to make some coffee, knowing inwardly that they would not be getting much sleep today.
Waiting patiently for an explanation that did not seem to be materializing, Willow decided to take the bull by the horns and attempt to find out what happened. In her most gentle tone she asked the question she had been wondering ever since she had seen Buffy break down. "What happened between you and Angel that has got you so upset? Did he hurt you?"
"No, Yes. Oh I don't know". Whimpered Buffy, still completely shocked by the way events had transpired against her.
She had gone out last night completely determined that nothing would ever happen between herself and Angel and somehow she had ended up having sex with him in the nightclub, followed by an all night session at his apartment. Only the fact that his 'girlfriend' Darla had arrived had made her finally decide to leave his side.
In such a short time he had made her feel things that she never knew could exist between two people, and it wasn't just the sex although she had to admit that was fantastic. His touch made her feel loved beyond compare and he was so gentle towards her when they arrived back at the apartment as if he thought she might break. She had soon disillusioned him of that theory; she smirked.
Memories of the various ways his hands had touched her and the kisses he had placed tenderly all over her body sprung into her mind. He had worshipped her body long into the night and just when she thought she couldn't take anymore he had instigated a new position that took the pressure off of already abused nerve endings and started the vicious cycle of rapture all over again. She had lost count of how many times she had climaxed during the night but knew when they at last had fallen into a satisfied slumber that she was pleasantly numb.
Darla's rude awakening however had ruined the blissful interlude and it had made her worst nightmares where Angel was concerned come true. Her mind had automatically put together the pieces that this was the woman Gunn had told her about. Darla was the only woman Angel had had a relationship with in his life, but how she could have just walked away from him was beyond anything Buffy could understand.
But she now obviously wanted Angel back, her words had been brief but to the point divulging that piece of information and Buffy had immediately made to leave after hearing that, expecting Angel to stop her from going, just offering her something, but he didn't. He carried on silently staring at Darla as he had been doing ever since they were woken up.
She had managed to stay in complete control while she was dressing and continued to stay calm until the moment she had closed the front door behind her, when she had broken down into sobs. Somehow she had found the presence of mind to call a taxi to bring her home, and here she was, sitting around waiting for Willows judgment of her.
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Angel was furious at Darla's timing. He had just experienced the best night of his life only to be woken up by Darla announcing she wanted him back. Buffy had practically run screaming from the apartment, not that he could blame her. He would not have been very happy if an ex boyfriend of hers had turned up declaring his undying love and devotion to her. In fact he would most probably have killed him for disturbing them.
Now he had to somehow try and get rid of Darla and fast so he could drive over to Buffy's and explain what had happened and who she was. Somehow he could not see Buffy reacting well to the mornings events.
Angel waltzed into his living room unsurprised to see Darla lying provocatively on his couch completely nude save for jewelry and a pair of stilettos. . A small part of his mind inwardly ridiculed her for falling back on this old trick. In the past this was always her ploy when trying to get around him in some way and it usually worked. If not the fact that he had practically worn himself out last night feasting on the exquisite blonde he was still insatiable for, he might have thrown a quick fuck into her for old times sake.
"Darla, what the fuck are you still doing here", he sighed, exasperation leaking through into his voice. 'I really don't need this right now!'
"Baby, you know you want me", she purred sexily, moving her legs slightly apart in invitation for him. Revealing the place he used to, a long time ago, consider paradise.
"Why the hell would I want you? Did you see the woman I was in bed with when you walked in?" ranted Angel, unable to believe that Darla could still get under his skin after all this time.
"Maybe I have learned some new tricks since I've been gone, wouldn't you like to find out. Its not like the blonde Barbie is going to be receptive to you again after this morning. Luckily, I don't hold grudges so I'm willing to forgive you for all the little indiscretions that have taken place while I have been gone. Stop thinking so much and just fuck me. Its not like you to turn a willing partner down from what I have heard. Besides you won't be getting any from her again after letting her leave without even saying goodbye", she stated her voice sounding like a lovers caress, rather than the caustic tone of an embittered woman. As she was speaking she raised herself off of the couch and walked towards him and begun slowly pulling him back towards it, pushing him past her until his legs hit the base and he fell backwards so he was fully reclining on it.
Darla's silky tone started to affect him and he felt the first stirring of life below. Thinking of all the times they had shared previously he made his mind up, whilst wondering how on earth he could possibly be considering this after the night he had just spent, with the woman he was now beginning to realize he was falling in love with. But after today he knew she wouldn't want him anymore, as much as he hated to admit it Darla was right. There was no way he was going to be able to explain all of this to her and still be able to be with her the way he needed desperately to be. The ironic part of it was that he had just realized how much he cared for the tiny blonde woman who seemed to push him away at every opportunity. He would now never get the chance to tell her.
"I think you are right. I should stop thinking". Angel said, noticing the look of triumph crossing over her face, that Darla was trying her best to hide from him. She slowly straddled him placing her heat right at the top of his groin and pressed down before raising herself completely off of him to enable her to unzip his trousers and retrieve his hardening manhood.
All of the earlier fight had left him and dejectedly all he could think was he had ruined the one chance at happiness he had been offered. He decided to put his pain aside and just immerse himself in the warm body that was currently being offered to him. Instead of drowning his sorrows in alcohol, he would try and lose himself completely in he, the sense of defeat coming off of him in waves.
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Willow lay tossing and turning in bed beside Oz trying to get her mind around everything that Buffy had told her had transpired the previous evening and this morning. Her heart had gone out to Buffy at how her friend had been used and then thrown away when the blonde had appeared, but something told her that things might not be quite what they seemed. Trying to get Buffy to understand this was a different matter altogether. The main question hanging over Buffy's head at the moment was whether she would be able to work with Angel after what had occurred. The job required them to pose as a married couple, and their very lives depended on the act being believable to those around them. Willow did not know what was going to happen and just hoped that something changed for the better and made all of their lives a lot simpler again. With this thought in mind she snuggled closer to Oz and settled into a dreamless sleep.
In the other bedroom Buffy was staring at the ceiling trying her hardest to comprehend why she had let things progress so far with Angel. Yes, she had had a few one-night stands in her life but never ever with someone she worked with. Hell that was part of the reason she had never acknowledged Gunn's attraction to her. If they got involved and then things didn't work out she had lost a good friend, plus their working relationship would be shot to bits.
One thing she couldn't deny though was the attraction she had felt the instant she had first laid eyes on Angel in the restaurant. It was as if she had known him all of her life, wanted him all of her life. Now she had to work with him knowing that he had been more intimate with her than any of her other lovers simply because she had let him get under her skin and make her feel something for him.
The ringing of the doorbell pulled her out of her thoughts and she quickly threw on her bathrobe before walking down the stairs to answer it. Opening the door, she was shocked to discover a repentant looking Angel standing on the step waiting to be let in. Indignation overtaking her senses she slammed the door in his face feeling a grim satisfaction at the loud bang it made.
Angel stood on the step wondering if he should chance ringing the bell again after that welcome. He knew she would be pissed at him, but wasn't that a little over the top! Deciding he needed to speak to her, he pressed the button hearing the chimes echo throughout the house. Shuffling his feet he waited for her to appear with a weapon of some kind to fully get her point across.
Buffy sighed, and walked back over to the door, upon hearing the renewed ringing of the bell. She opened the door and turned straight around to walk into the living room, leaving him to follow in her wake if he chose.
Angel slowly entered the house, wondering what trick she had up her sleeve this time. Arriving in the living room he saw she was already seated in the same armchair she had occupied at their last meeting so he reluctantly settled on the couch, trying to figure out what he should say to her.
After an uncomfortable silence between them, Angel had finally decided enough was enough and without thinking his words through properly he started to say what was on his mind, so determined was he to get his side of things across before she threw him back out.
"Buffy. I am so sorry about this morning. Darla is... well, she was my girlfriend. We haven't seen each other in over 3 years before this morning and I simply forgot to get the locks changed after she left! I had no idea that she would just turn up suddenly and I'm sorry for the way it looked", rushed out Angel, desperate to make Buffy realize that he had not arranged this on purpose. Something deep inside of him was telling him to try and make her see that he was telling the truth and to make her understand how much he wanted her and just her.
"So, she just happened to wander on in. Ok, sure I'll go with that one for now. What about the way you tried so hard to stop me as I left. If I remember rightly, which I think I do, you didn't say one word to me. Correct me if I am wrong". Angel hung his head at this comment, once again seeing the desolate look on her face as she had left his bedroom.
"But what about after I left did you two have a fuck for old times, huh? Or did you chuck her out straight after I left?" Buffy gasped as she saw the expression of guilt flicker fleetingly over Angels face at her words. She realized in a moment of complete clarity that he hadn't just thrown her out, her had had sex with her again, after they had spent their one night together. Adamant that she would not let him see just how much this news had devastated her she steeled herself for her next words.
"I think that under the circumstances we should both just forget about last night and continue with our assignment as planned. There is no need for any bad feeling on either part and we can just put it down to experience. We need to move on from this and concentrate on our job". Cooley stated Buffy, whilst inside she could feel herself crumbling under the strain of keeping her voice and expression neutral. Only the slightest flicker of emotion could be picked up in her voice and even then it was hard to tell if it was anger or grief.
She quickly stood and walked out of the door, throwing over her shoulder, "You can let yourself out!"
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"Hello" Buffy irritably snapped, annoyed at once again having been woken from sleep.
"Miss Summers. It's Mr. Wyndham-Price. I am sorry to disturb you, but there has been a slight change of plans", he said matter of factly, bracing himself for her to make some sarcastic comment, as usual.
."What's the change English?" she responded, not in the mood to play guessing games with the pompous twit.
"Oh, well we need you and Mr. O'Connor to begin phase 1 of the plan now. The subject is traveling to New York tomorrow to attend a series of charity balls that are supported heavily by some of his investors. This would be a perfect time to begin your integration into the circles he mixes with as a married couple". He was genuinely shocked with the easiness he had managed to impart that information and waited for the backlash that was sure to follow.
"Fine. Can you tell Angel?" Buffy asked not wanting to have to deal with him quite so soon after their talk that afternoon.
"Certainly, Miss Summers. I will speak to you again shortly. Good day to you". He said hanging up the phone as soon as the words had left his mouth. Silently wondering what on earth had happened that had made her be civil to him for once.
Buffy slammed down the phone knowing that she would not be getting any more sleep today. There were plans to be made for the first part of the operation, not least the collecting of the new identifications for her and Angel. That would mean a trip to see Gunn who was currently organizing that side of the preparations. Buffy wondered what his reaction to her would be following last nights events. She had not yet spoken to him concerning Angels misdirected jealousy in the nightclub but she knew that was going to have to be dealt with and quickly, or she could lose a good friend and that was the last thing she wanted.
The hardest part of this assignment would be living with Angel as man and wife. Her heart screamed aloud at the thought of spending every night in the same bed as him but not touching him after how close they had been. It was so unfair that she was partnered with a man who would make the angels above weep for his touch, even knowing how wrong it was. Why did she have to fall for him of all people, a faithless monster that thought nothing of hurting the people who cared about him? 'But I don't care about him', she thought, her sense of self-preservation finally kicking in; a little late, but there nonetheless. 'We have a job to do and that is it. I don't care if I never see him again afterwards!' The lies starting to flourish deeply within her and make her believe that perhaps she could make it through this.
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Angel entered his apartment in a trance like state; silently cursing him self for everything that had happened after Buffy left that morning. Why hadn't he just kicked Darla out like he originally intended, instead of fucking her. That was the reason Buffy no longer wanted anything to do with him, but he was weak and he would admit it to anyone. In this moment of weakness though, he had hurt the person he cared for most in the world. He already knew that he loved Buffy, the pain twisting in his gut told him that and he knew she cared for him. The slight tremor in her voce as she told him that they should just put it down to experience made him aware of how she felt. But how could he make her see how deeply he cared for her, she did not want to listen to his reasons. Not that they were any excuses to be made for what he had done. Surely though they could put it behind them and move on. There was something special between them that he knew he would never feel with another living soul.
Walking into his living room he was again confronted by Darla who was sitting on his sofa leafing through a magazine, as if she did not have a care in the world. This time though she was fully dressed, which was lucky for her considering what he had planned. He had had plenty of time to decide what to do to her as he made the drive back from Buffy's house and nothing would give him greater pleasure than to throw her out from his home on her ass.
Stalking over to her he grabbed her by her forearms and hauled her up off of the couch. Dragging her across the floor he finally managed to get her to the front door, ignoring her screaming and angry shrieks as his fingers dug into the flesh of her arms.
"Angel, what the hell do you thing your doing?" she shrieked desperately trying to pry his iron grip from her arms.
"I'm putting you where I put all the trash. Outside!" retorted Angel, loving every second of the outraged look on her face. 'God, I'm enjoying this'.
"But, we made love. You love me!" protested Darla, hoping that somehow, someway, she could get through to him before he reduced her to the history pile.
"I never loved you Darla. We just fucked, screwed or shagged, whichever you want to call it. However, I do love and made love to the young woman you managed to scare off this morning, which now won't have anything to do with me. So because of this, I am getting rid of you, once and for all. If you come back here again don't expect me to let you off so easily. You know what I can do, don't try me!" snapped Angel, finally losing his patience with the obnoxious woman before him. He thrust her out into the hallway, closing the door rapidly after her. He however could not resist a parting shot at the woman he had spent 3 years of his life with, "Don't worry about returning your key, I'm getting the locks changed to prevent unwelcome whores from entering my home!"
He slowly walked back inside feeling emotionally drained. Picking up the bottle of whiskey perched on the side he was starting to debate how much he could drink before lapsing into unconsciousness when the phone rang.
Striding over to handset he pressed the button to answer the call, and said "Hello" hoping desperately that it would be Buffy on the other end of the line, wanting to sort things out between them. He was sadly disappointed to hear Mr. Wyndham-Price's prissy voice.
"Hello Mr. O'Connor. It's Wesley Wyndham Price here. I'm just calling to let you know that the start of the assignment has been brought forward. You and Miss Summer's will need to fly to New York tomorrow. The subject will be they're attending a series of charity balls for which some of his investors have donated heavily", he blurted out, hoping to be off of the phone before Angel's renowned temper caught light.
"What!" Angel snapped, wondering what on earth was going on now. One moment he was trying to decide how much alcohol would be needed to lapse into a blissful unconscious and the next he was being told he would be traveling to New York tomorrow.
"I have already informed Miss Summer's and she was very agreeable to this. If you have any questions please contact her. Goodbye". That said Wesley hung up the phone, thanking god that he had managed to tell Angel all of the important parts of the message without getting yelled at.
Angel stared at the phone that was loudly emitting the dial tone, still resting in his hand for several seconds before switching it off and placing it back down in the handset.
'What do I do now?' he pondered. 'Shall I call her and find out the rest of the information that he obviously did not want to tell me, or wait for her to call me?'
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She slowly walked into Gunn's offices at the Hyperion with her head hung low, waiting to see his reaction to her after last nights events.
Approaching the front desk, she chanced a look upwards and came face to face with Gunn, his eyes staring intently at her. Seeing the livid bruise on his jaw, she rushed around the counter to him, apologies flowing freely from her lips, her hand gently caressing the damaged flesh.
Gunn brushed her hand away, anger evident in his tightly clenched features. He was truly hurt that she had left with Angel last night. He had thought as much when he received the call from Willow, but now seeing her face it was clear as day to him. She had the look of a totally satisfied woman. Someone who had been thoroughly ravished the night before and had loved every minute of it, even if the morning may have brought harsh reality. The redness of her eyes and the grim lines of her full mouth told the fact that Angel had played his usual game.
Buffy stared at him, wondering just why he was so mad at her. She was not the one who hit him, in fact she was just as much a victim of Angels possessiveness towards her as him. But it was your fault, a voice inside told her. If you weren't trying so hard to forget about Angel you would never have danced with him the way you did. The logical part of her brain acknowledged the truth in this statement, but her heart that had been broken into tiny pieces earlier today rebelled with all it's might.
"Fine, if that's the way you want it to be I have no problem", she snapped, all her anger towards angel coming to the fore. "I am just here to pick up the fake ID's you were getting for us. Are they here yet?"
"Sure, here you go. Somehow didn't think you would be stopping by to apologies for your 'boyfriends' behavior". Needled Gunn, knowing full well by the state of her eyes that he wasn't her anything anymore. The yearning for her had obviously already dimmed and he had moved onto the next victim.
He passed the package containing their new identities to her silently, hoping that she would just deny that she had been intimate with Angel. He couldn't stand to think that she also had succumbed to Angel, when he, who would be willing to give up his life for her didn't even get a second glance.
Buffy took the package from him and moved towards the door. Before exiting she turned and looked over her shoulder at him saying in a sad voice, "He's not my anything!"
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Chapter 8
"Could all passengers waiting for internal flight number 8216 to La Guardia Airport, make their way to gate 42 for boarding please", came the voice over the speaker system.
"That's us!" confirmed Angel, grabbing both sets of hand luggage and placing them over his shoulder.
Buffy didn't even try to argue. He had insisted on being the perfect gentleman ever since he had picked her up from her house this morning to drive them both to the airport. The only problem was that she already knew he wasn't a gentleman after yesterday's events and nothing he did would make her ever forget that fact.
They slowly walked towards their gate, the air thick with unspoken words between them.
Buffy was determined not to break and speak first, but this damn silence was really starting to piss her off. She started concentrating on her hands that were clenched tightly in front of her, anything to keep from saying the first word.
Angel was also experiencing trouble staying silent. He wanted to blurt out how much he loved it when she pouted like she was now, and that all he wanted to do was kiss everything away until she was moaning in pleasure.
Neither knew the right words to say it though, so they continued onwards in silence. The thick silence was still not broken when Angel placed the luggage securely in the overhead lockers or when Buffy brushed past him to take her seat next to the window.
Sitting down Angel noticed that Buffy's hands were tightly grasping the armrests of the chair that she was sitting in. Not quite believing that she could actually be afraid of flying, he chose to phrase the question carefully so as not to rouse her anger, which he already knew to be formidable.
"Buffy, do you fly very often?" He asked slowly, hoping that she would at least put their differences aside long enough to answer that simple question.
"I fly... when I have to". She managed to grit out, her body taut with tension at the prospect of the plane taking off. She had never enjoyed flying and she only ever relaxed after they had leveled out after the ascent, but at the same time she was already dreading the landing that was still to come. Most of her jobs involved travel but where possible for places in the US she drove, not caring how long it took or how tired it made her, so long as she didn't have to fly.
Realizing that Angel was trying to make a sort of peace between them, she decided to explain to him about her irrational fear. "I have always been scared of flying. I just don't understand how a box of metal with two large wings either side can stay up in the air". Buffy muttered, wondering why they couldn't fly out separately. Couldn't they pretend they were an unhappily married couple?
"Don't worry! There are less deaths through plane crashes in 10 years than there are in 1 day for road traffic accidents". Angel reassured her, hoping that this piece of new information would placate her somewhat. He really didn't want to have to hold her down in her seat as the plane took off. 'But on second thoughts at least I would get to touch her', he mused.
"I know. People always tell me that, but it doesn't make me feel any better about it. Thanks for trying though", Buffy said, appreciating the fact that he had tried to help her. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. 'No, think of Darla who he fucked right after you two spent the night together' the logical part of her brain told her.
The sudden whine of the engines staring made Buffy jump in her seat and Angel quickly grabbed her hand, without thinking, trying to calm her down. As the pane slowly started to taxi down the runway Angel started to panic, Buffy was shaking like a leaf and looked like she was about to rip her seatbelt off and bolt, which would draw all sorts of unwanted attention to them.
Deciding fast, he did the only thing he could think of in the circumstances to distract her. He undid his seatbelt and leaned into her before moving his lips to hers and giving her a soul searing kiss that when he finally pulled away had both of them panting for breath. Not wanting her to realize they were in the middle of taking off, he resumed kissing her for a long time, only leaving her plump lips for short moments while they both took in the much needed oxygen, before carrying on like they hadn't stopped.
Angel suddenly became aware of someone tapping his shoulder, reluctantly breaking away from Buffy to turn around and look at them, he came face to face with one of the cabin crew offering them complimentary champagne. He sighed, knowing the moment between them was now over and he would have to face her anger. Accepting the champagne for both of them he realized he would most probably need it to anaesthetize himself for the tongue-lashing he was due any time about now.
Buffy's first impulse was to hit him for forcing himself on her, but understanding that she had not put up much of a fight, well ok, no fight whatsoever, she decided that she couldn't do it to him. Looking around she realized that people were walking freely around the cabin. Letting out a squeal of joy, all previous thoughts forgotten, she realized that they must have taken off already. Taking the glass of champagne from Angel she took a large gulp before settling back in her seat to enjoy the in flight movie.
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When they later walked through the airports automatic doors and out into the brilliant sunshine anyone looking at them would have instantly taken them for a married couple. Angel was behaving more like the perfect gentleman than before. He was pushing the trolley containing their one shared suitcase, while Buffy was hailing the taxi.
After the driver placed the suitcase and their hand luggage in the trunk, they settled into the back of the car and fastened their seat belts knowing New York taxi drivers of old. Angel then asked to be taken to the Plaza, the driver's only response being a low whistle. The car then set off and proceeded to dart through the traffic making Buffy and Angel glad they had belted up before setting off, as they would have been thrown all over the place otherwise.
When they arrived at the main entrance to the hotel they both exhaled a sigh of relief at having made it there in one piece. The driver got straight out of the car and popped the trunk open so that the porter could remove the luggage from the car. Angel paid him and grabbing Buffy's hand he led them both into the hotel, walking across the smooth marble floor until they reached the reception desk.
Announcing himself as Mr. Angelus, Angel signed the sheet of paper passed to him, only paying it a cursory glance and then took the card key from the receptionist. Looking at the key he noted the number 1423 and then placed it into his back pocket, once again taking Buffy's hand to walk over to the elevators. The doors opened in front of them and they followed the porter and their luggage inside pressing the button for floor 14.
Relaxing back into the side of the elevator, Buffy reflected on how natural all of this seemed to Angel; the fancy hotel, the staff practically falling over their own feet to assist him. She may have traveled but she had never had service like this anywhere. She supposed it would help if she were about a foot taller so she could actually see over the reception desk, then perhaps they might have paid attention to her.
The doors opening brought Buffy out of her thoughts and again the feeling her hand being taken by Angel's came to her as they walked down the corridor until they came to the door clearly marked 1423. He pulled the card key from his back pocket and swiped it through the box, the loud click of the lock opening resonating in the quiet hallway. Turning the handle, Angel pushed the door open and gestured for Buffy to enter.
Walking through the open door, Buffy found herself standing in the most sumptuous room she had ever seen. The enormous room was painted a soft shade of peach and had the biggest bed she had ever seen in her life off to the right hand side. Above the mahogany headboard was a gorgeous golden orange canopy, this sent a secret thrill through her body, as the thoughts of what she would like to do to Angel in it. There were two small armchairs in a cream material and mahogany furniture scattered throughout the room.
Moving forwards, she opened a door that she automatically assumed led to the bathroom. Stepping through she found herself in a room that was bigger than her bedroom back home, her attention immediately being drawn to the large bath that you could easily fit two people in. The room also contained a shower stall, sink and a toilet, but Buffy could not take her eyes away from the tub. Naughty thoughts once again filtering through her mind of Angel taking her whilst the cool jets soothed their entwined flesh.
Dragging herself out of the room she walked straight into Angels solid chest, automatically reaching out to grab onto him to steady herself, she found herself looking up into eyes that were black with lust. Pulling away from him quickly, she looked around for the porter but only found the baggage deposited on the floor next to the massive bed. Her gaze could not move from it as she realized that would be where her and Angel would both be sleeping that night; together but apart. 'How the hell am I going to get through this?' she thought, silently reprimanding herself for agreeing to the partnership in the first place. Realizing there was nothing she could do about the situation now, she consoled herself with the thought that they should only be here for a couple of days, and then she would be back home, and away from him.
Angel walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders, wanting nothing more than to throw her on the bed and make love to her all night, but something held him back. He knew that even if he succeeded in seducing her tonight nothing would change between them and he wanted more than just sex. His cock that was rock hard disagreed with him, but Angel wanted her long term not just for this one night, and he would do anything to make sure that happened. Even if it meant him taking cold showers every 15 minutes that they were here, so long as she was eventually his forever.
Breaking away from his inner turmoil he politely asked her "Do you want to use the bathroom first to freshen up or shall I?"
Again images of naked Angel started entering her mind, their one night together filling in all of the information she needed about his body and the glorious way it was formed. From his beautiful face to his perfect toes he had been made as a creature whose skin you longed to worship with butterfly kisses along every millimeter of flesh and your hands caressing in your lips wake.
Buffy shook her head willing the images to leave her mind, knowing that she would not get a minutes sleep while she was here with him. The sexual tension in the room was already unbearable and was bound to get worse after nightfall.
Needing to be away from him for a few minutes, to get her mind again thinking anti-angel thoughts she said, "I'll go first. A quick shower would be good". Hurrying over to the bed she grabbed her hand luggage, which only contained a change of clothes and her toiletries. She had packed it with this purpose in mind, not wanting to have to root through the suitcase as soon as they arrived. Without looking at Angel she strode into the bathroom, firmly closing and locking the door behind her. Angel sighed deeply; this was going to be so much harder than he had thought!
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Spike strode into the Four Seasons Hotel, his minions surrounding him, silently checking the lobby to make sure that their boss was not in any danger.
Satisfied his men had not found anything untoward, he gestured for Riley to check him into his suite while he waited. 'Bloody hell, I hate fucking New York' he thought, tapping his heel on the marble floor impatiently'
When Riley finally returned, Spike let himself be lead over to the elevator 'why they couldn't just call it a lift, was beyond him', and they all waited while the elevator' made its journey back down to them.
When they finally stepped inside, Spike pulled Cordelia towards him and started kissing her, not caring about the other 6 people occupying the tiny space with them. Just as his hands were starting to wander southwards, the door pinged open signaling they had arrived at their floor. Pulling away from her he strode out into the corridor and motioned for Riley to open the door to his suite. Wandering in once his men had checked for any intruders, Spike looked quickly around, not paying any attention to the decoration of the room before making his way through to the bedroom, snapping his fingers for Cordelia to follow him. Without shutting the door he pulled her down with him onto the bed.
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"Buffy, are you going to be in there all day?" Angel called out, exasperation coloring his voice.
"One minute!" she yelled right back, smiling to herself at his impatience.
Angel groaned, she had said that, ten minutes ago. Sitting back down in the chair he steadfastly refused to return the admiring looks he was receiving from the female customers in the shop, knowing that he was already in the doghouse without adding to his list of crimes as far as Buffy was concerned. 'What the hell was she doing in there?' he thought.
She had taken two dresses to try on, after earlier convincing him she needed to find an outfit for the charity gala they were due to attend the following night. Mr. Wyndham-Pryce had arranged for the tickets to be couriered to the hotel, and just his luck Buffy had been the one to open the door. If he had realized it would mean a full shopping expedition he would have not told her until an hour before they were due to leave for the party.
Insisting that she needed a male opinion she had literally dragged him down to the stores with her, and then spent nearly an hour looking through the displays. Every time he picked up a dress to show her, and hopefully speed up the process, she had looked at him like he was mad and shaken her head before resuming her search.
When she had finally held the two dresses up and announced she was going to go and try them on, he could have kissed the people in the shop out of sheer joy. He only restrained himself because he knew Buffy would not appreciate it, but then again, she was the only person he really wanted to kiss.
Buffy was laughing silently to herself at how pissed off Angel must be at her making him wait for so long. She had already guessed that shopping was not his idea of fun from the dresses he had shown her before, for a guy who had great dress sense himself, he sure had no idea what to choose for a woman.
Thinking back on how things had been between them since he had picked her up at her house that morning Buffy could not deny that they had been getting along better since they arrived in New York, both respecting the invisible lines that had been drawn between them since she had made him leave her house. It was so hard being around him when all she wanted was to feel his body against hers again. Mentally cursing herself Buffy pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, not wanting to dwell on something she had promised herself would not happen again, even though this time together was going to be the hardest thing she had ever had to endure.
Feeling the need to tease him a little, she decided that maybe she had zipper trouble. Peering out the curtain that was hiding her from prying eyes she softly called his name. Getting his attention she signaled for him to come over to her and pulling back the curtain she dragged him in, one arm firmly holding the front of her strapless dress up.
"Can you zip me up please?" she sweetly asked, laughing inside at the look that had overtaken his face when she had grabbed his arm and yanked him into the cubicle with her, slowly drawing the curtain back across to shield them from prying eyes.
Angel nodded his head, before moving his arms towards her and grasping the pieces of fabric in his hands. His trembling fingers slowly pulled the zipper up the tracks until the back of the dress was firmly fastened. Moving his hands slightly higher, he begun to caress her shoulders losing him self in the feel of her warm flesh. Suddenly Buffy pulled away from him, turning around to look into his eyes that showed his bewilderment at her actions.
Without thinking about the consequences, Angel moved forward pinning her up against the partition wall, dipping his head to capture her lips with his. Pouring all of his frustration and love into the one kiss, he relentlessly nipped, licked and sucked at them, waiting for her lips to part. The instant they started opening he pushed his tongue inside her moist mouth, feeling intense arousal descend upon his body immediately.
Buffy was completely lost to the power of her longing for him, telling herself that one kiss would not hurt, that she could stop at any time, she kissed him back with everything she had, knowing that she had already lost her heart to this man.
Angel sighed with unrestrained pleasure at finally being allowed close to her. He had thought she would never let him near her again after the events of yesterday. He started creeping his hand round her body until he could undo the zipper he had only just closed. Opening it fully, the dress fell to the ground, and he looked with lust filled eyes down at her, completely naked to him now save for a tiny thong.
His brain was not functioning properly, all thoughts leaving his head as her glorious body was uncovered to his sight. His gaze trailed up and down her body, frantically trying to decide where he wanted to touch her skin first. Should he start with her full breasts that were calling his name or move his lips straight down to her swollen lips so he could once again taste the sweetness that was pure Buffy?
Decision made his hands moved to her nipples that were already hardening with desire, caressing them gently with the balls of his fingers. Buffy moaned her approval, and pushed them further towards him, pleading silently for more of his tender touch.
His mouth left hers and his lips then kissed a trail of fire along her cheek, and down to her neck, where he stopped for a moment to gently suckle her skin between his teeth, relishing in the way her breathing grew shallow at his touch. Continuing his movement he placed gentle kisses on her collarbones before ending at her breasts, where he sucked a perfect coral nipple into his mouth, gently nibbling at the area surrounding it.
Buffy's head fell back against the wall, the waves of desire crashing through her body, rendering her senseless to any form of logic. When he moved his head away from her breast, she groaned her displeasure, trying to use her hands to force him to finish what he had started.
He merely evaded her hands and moved so he could slip the other hard nub into his mouth, delighting in the milky taste of her trembling flesh. One of his hands moved lower and started stroking the skin just below the top of her thong. Her hips moved forwards, silently entreating him to touch the part of her body that was like a sirens call to him. Needing no further encouragement Angel's hand moved down to the valley between her legs and a finger slipped between the flesh, passing over her swollen nubbin before dipping into the well of liquid awaiting him.
Buffy let out a loud moan at the first touch of pressure on her throbbing clit. When his finger journeyed lower and moved ever so slightly inside her, she let out a shriek, the feeling of need for him was so great. Grinding her hips downwards she tried to force him in deeper, but Angel refused, moving his finger back a little bit with every motion she made.
Realizing that he was not going to let her come without tormenting her, she decided that she would inflict a little punishment of her own. Running her fingers up his muscular thighs she traced small circles with her hand on each of them before reaching forwards and rubbing his already hard cock through the leather of his pants. At the sound of his moan she cupped him with her hand and started moving it against him in earnest, before losing patience and finally unzipping his pants, releasing his throbbing cock out to the cold air. Angel groaned loudly, wanting nothing more than to feel her internal muscles clenching around him at this precise moment.
Just as Angel started to lift Buffy up, intending to impale her on his erection before she could change her mind, the curtain to the cubicle was pulled open, and a middle aged lady stood staring in at the lovers in their embrace.
"Excuse me, this is not that sort of store!" she exclaimed, her mouth hanging open at the sight before her.
"Excuse ME, I'm about to fuck my wife!" Angel ground out, wanting nothing more than to carry on regardless of the interruption.
Unfortunately for him Buffy had regained her senses, and pulled away, trying in vain to cover her nakedness with her hands. Grabbing the dress from the floor, she managed to shield herself from the prying eyes of the other customers in the store before muttering an apology to the woman.
Angel sighed and after pushing himself back into his pants, he zipped them up and walked back out of the changing room, leaving Buffy to get dressed.
Satisfied that every thing would be respectable now, the lady re-closed the curtain leaving Buffy to get dressed.
Inside the changing room, Buffy was trying in vain to tamper down her arousal, knowing as soon as she exited the small room that she would have to face Angel again.
"How on earth did things get so out of hand", she wondered aloud, pain inflected in her voice.
One moment I was harmlessly teasing him and the next we are about to have sex in the changing room. Thank god that woman walked in, or actually not, seeing as I now have to face her and all the other customers who must have known exactly what was going on in here.
Looking into the mirror Buffy smoothed her wayward hair down with her fingers, realizing that was about all she could do to try and salvage her appearance. There was nothing to be done about her lips, swollen from his demanding kisses or the faint stubble rash that started at her cheeks and continued down past the edge of her pale pink tank top.
Gathering her things together, including the two dresses she had decided to buy, Buffy steeled herself to ignore the reactions of the people in the shop when she exited the changing room and used her free hand to sweep the curtain back. Stepping forward, chin held high she ignore the amused glances of the people around her and not spotting Angel, 'typical man, leave me here all alone to face the consequences!' she walked straight over to the cashiers desk and placed the items she wished to purchase on the counter.
The lady gave her a sly grin, having heard the noises coming from the changing room before, and the tempered exchange between her colleague and the 'husband'. Glancing at the young woman in front of her, she noticed the lack of wedding band and choked back a laugh. Packing the two dresses into a bag she placed the bill in front of Buffy and watched her sign it before handing the garments to her. As the young women left the store, a pang of jealousy went through her that a tiny blonde had captured the heart of the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.
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Angel gazed at the displays before him for what seemed like an eternity before finally his eyes settled on the objects he needed to buy. Gesturing for the shopkeeper to assist him he pointed the two items out that he had chosen and informed him of the sizes he required.
Nodding happily at the large sale he had just made, the man informed Angel that they would be ready for collection within the hour. Angel thanked him and left the store, wondering just how he could pass the time he had to kill before returning.
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When Angel opened the door to their hotel room, his eyes immediately latched on to the sight of Buffy lying fast asleep in the huge bed, looking more fragile than ever. Trying to control his burning desire to join her, he shut the door quietly and walked straight through to the bathroom, his hands gripping onto the sink whilst he attempted to calm his arousal.
As soon as his yearning for her had receded slightly, he walked back out of the bathroom and over to the bed, where he lightly perched himself beside her and gently shook her awake.
Buffy's eyes flew open at the first touch of his hand on her arm. Looking up into his chocolate brown eyes, he tried to remember the reason she was annoyed at him, but her mind refused to co-operate with her.
Angel smiled down at her sleepy face, trying to remember what he had wanted to tell her. The plans for he had made for them suddenly rushed back into his mind and with a slow smirk he told her to get showered and changed for their evening out.
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"I don't understand why you won't tell me where we are going. What's the big secret?" Buffy demanded to know, excitement building in her at what he had planned as she applied the faintest of make up to her glowing face. Tracing a faint sliver of black eyeliner around her eyes, she stepped back to check the result, satisfied when she saw how much it emphasized her eyes.
"Its not a secret!" stated Angel, before adding, "It's a surprise!" Smiling as he heard her groan at his teasing.
Neither of them had felt brave enough to mention anything about what had taken place in the changing room earlier, knowing that any reference to it might upset the delicate balance that they had to maintain to pull this assignment off. Putting it to the back of their minds had seemed the best solution and both seemed to be doing this quite well, for now.
Walking out of the bathroom, he inhaled a deep breath as his eyes took in the outfit Buffy was wearing. The black dress clung tightly to her generous curves, the thin straps sitting on her shoulders before leading down to the modest neckline above her plump breasts. The glossy fabric was stretched tight over her body before flaring out at the knees until it reached her ankles. A spilt from the hem to the middle of her right thigh allowed enticing glimpses of her tanned thigh as she moved around the room.
Buffy's head snapped up as she sensed Angel reenter the room. Her mouth closed tightly, as drool threatened to spill out at how incredible he looked in his tuxedo. The jacket making his broad shoulders look wider than ever and then flaring in to accentuate his slim waist and hips. He looked positively yummy!
Angel approached her then, noticing that in her dangerously high heels the top of her head was in the perfect position to place a kiss on. Brushing his lips on her hair, he felt his pants start to tighten around his groin and held back a sigh. 'Can't my body just behave around her for five seconds!'
Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out a small velvet box, and handed it to her, smirking as he did so. Her shaking fingers slowly opened the box, wondering just what it could be. Inside laid an intricately carved, white gold wedding band encrusted with small diamonds. Gulping for breath, Buffy asked, "What. I don't understand".
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but here in New York we are married, right? That means we both should be wearing wedding rings. I have got mine on", he said, holding his hand out to show her the thick white gold band that was now encircling his ring finger. "This is your one".
"But, why this? Why not just get me a plain gold band?" a confused Buffy asked him, wondering why hers was so elaborate.
"Because according to our stories we are a wealthy couple. The ring needs to look the part", answered Angel, knowing full well that the real reason he had chosen the ring was because he had been able to picture her wearing it as soon as he had seen it.
"Oh!" Buffy murmured, a small part of her having hoped he had chosen it especially for her, not just grabbed the first ring that looked the part. Pushing her disappointment aside she walked away from him and grabbed the shawl that went with the dress, placing it lightly around her slim shoulders, before tucking it through her arms.
"Are we ready to leave now Mrs. Angelus?" Angel politely asked, the corners of his lips twitching as he tried to hold back a smile, while he held his arm out to her.
Buffy walked slowly over to him and linked her arm through his, smiling up into his eyes as they made their way out of the room for their evening of fun.
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Chapter 9
The room was purposefully dark; the thick velvet curtains hanging closed over the large window preventing any natural light from entering. The only sounds to be heard inside were the soft breaths of the two occupants and the low sound of Faiths footsteps as she paced back and forth across the room, occasionally stopping and turning to look at Xander before resuming her previous path. Her mind deep in thought about how far she should involve Xander in her plan for revenge. Finally coming up with something simple for him to do, that even he could not screw up, she stopped moving and turned around to face him, seeing the discomfort in his eyes that her continued silence had caused.
"Ok, I need you to find out everything you can about what B and Angel are up to. Try and listen in on their conversations and get info on who their hit might be from them. This could be the way to get back at them. If they fuck up they will lose their reputations in this business, and no-one will ever want to hire them again," Faith said, wondering if Xander would ever click on to the fact that if they fucked up on a hit, they would never be hired for a job again because they would be 6 feet under. Oh well, if he wants to think that everything will be rosy afterwards so be it, but the hard truth is that if Buffy realizes he is working against her she will deliver the same fate to him that she did to me, brother or not!
Xander's mouth twitched upwards at the corners, as his mind reveled in the knowledge that they were finally getting started on their joint revenge. Even though he was only information gathering he still knew it was the beginning of the end for Buffy and her illustrious career. He had finally succumbed to his full obsession with Buffy, where the only thing that mattered to him now was payback for her unknowing rejection of his love. He would have given her the worlds and she had thrown it back in his face. The fact that she had no idea how he felt didn't matter to him, he was slowly disappearing into the pit of despair and he wanted everyone around him to feel the same way. Faith was his salvation. She had offered him the chance to make his object of desire feel the same hurt he did, her career was the only thing that had ever really mattered to her, as she tried to get revenge on the people she thought had murdered their parents and losing the long running battle would tear her up inside.
"Not a problem! I'm going to head on over to the house just as soon as you leave. How long will you be in New York?" Xander asked, wanting to get things moving along quickly before he changed his mind.
"Who knows! He has some gigs he has to attend and then he might do a little business before flying back. I'll just go with the flow but I will call you from there to find out what you have learned." She stated, anxious to leave and catch her plane. She had gambled on the idiots that were with him to protect him for yesterday and today, but now she needed to be there to take care of the security arrangements herself. Xander was capable of doing what little she had asked of him without fucking up and that would enable her to sleep easily knowing that things were in motion while she was gone. "Look I've gotta go, or I'll miss my plane. I'll call you tomorrow. Find out what you can!"
Faith turned and walked out of the room as Xander pulled himself up off the bed and readied himself to face Buffy.
*******
The uniformed driver held the door to the black Mercedes open for Buffy, and she eased smoothly into the car, feeling the warmth of Angel's firm hand resting on her back, as he gently guided her inside the vehicle. She quickly slithered across the seat, placing herself practically up against the opposite door in her haste to get some space between herself and the object of her desire. Her heart was beating frantically as she once again felt the moisture gathering between her legs from just the thought of him touching her, something she knew she could not allow to happen again, no matter how much she wanted him. At the same time her mind was desperately trying to think of where he could be taking her, but she didn't believe for one minute that he would tell her before they arrived at their destination.
As Angel sat down on the leather upholstery, he inwardly groaned as he saw the length of Buffy's toned leg exposed by the slit in her dress, the material gathering around her body to give an exciting peek of what the flimsy fabric was concealing. He also noticed how far away she was from him, and deciding to rectify the situation, he reached his arms out and gently pulled her towards him, his arms enveloping her tiny form, that started to tremble slightly under his touch. Angel tucked her into his side, marveling at how well their bodies fit together, almost as if they had been made for each other. He slowly lowered his head to place a soft kiss on the top of her hair, pausing briefly to breathe in the fruity aroma of her shampoo.
Her flesh felt like it was on fire as she unconsciously nuzzled deeper into his embrace, their bodies winding together in a way that only lovers could, the intimacy between them obvious to anyone who cared to look at them. Buffy's heart was now pounding so wildly in her chest she was sure that it would explode at any minute just from the feeling of being held in his arms, and she would welcome the relief from the exquisite pain she was feeling at his touch alone.
Angel's heart was racing also as he slowly inhaled the intoxicating scent of Buffy Summers, his sense kicking into overdrive as he felt her delectable flesh pressed so enticingly into him, he was unable to prevent his own bodies automatic reaction to her and he felt his member begin to harden beneath his pants, the fabric tenting as it struggled to free itself from the restraints it was placed in. Stifling a groan, he absently looked out of the tinted glass window, his eyes not focusing on the sight beyond as he tried to calm down, using all his remaining willpower to stop himself from taking her right then and there.
Buffy stared resolutely out of the window, unable and unwilling to break the silence that engulfed them, creating an impenetrable wall between them. The bright lights from the buildings they passed reflected in her eyes as she determinedly ignored the firm body holding her in its arms. Every passing second seemed like an eternity to her as she fought against her most basic instincts and ignored the pull of desire eating at her insides like a disease she could not control.
The car gently pulled to a stop in front of a brilliantly lit building, the glass doors of the entryway brightened by two lanterns standing atop the black iron railings. Buffy gazed silently at the small little statuettes aligned on a ledge, adding a splash of color to an otherwise gloomy night.
"Where are we?" Buffy eventually managed to utter, her senses still reeling from their close proximity in spite of her aloofness towards him.
"The 21 Club. We have dinner reservations if that is agreeable with you?" answered Angel, a smirk gracing his features as she looked at him with a mixture of bewilderment and delight.
"But.?? How??" muttered Buffy, her eyebrows raising as she was aware from her previous trips to New York that it took weeks to get a table at this exclusive restaurant, and even then sometimes they turned you down because they didn't know your name. Her mind started spinning in circles as she pondered how Angel managed to get a table here so quickly.
"I know the Manager." Angel simply stated, not bothering to embellish his explanation with any details of his prior 'arrangement' with Anya who to this day remained a close friend. Somehow he got the feeling that Buffy would not appreciate knowing about his intimate relationship with the woman she was about to meet. Apart from his obvious need to prove to Buffy that he cared for her and wanted her and only her, this meeting would also lay the groundwork for their fake marriage to become public knowledge. He could guarantee that within five minutes of Anya hearing that they were married the news would be all over New York, deepening their cover to the point that no one would question them being together. He smiled at the thought as the chauffeur opened the door, and held it firmly as he patiently waited for them to leave the vehicle.
Angel moved first, quickly disentangling his arms from around Buffy, he climbed out of the car with the grace of a panther, not ruffling his immaculate appearance one iota, before extending his arm to assist Buffy in her exit.
She clasped his hand as she lifted herself from the car, automatically releasing his hand and smoothing down her dress as she finally stood before him, aware of his eyes sensuously sweeping over her body before he turned away and looked at the driver.
"I will call when we need to be picked up," Angel coolly stated, before turning away from the man and looking towards Buffy's unmoving form once more. He reached out for her hand, a smile appearing on his face as she grasped hold, before he slowly led her towards the entrance of the building, anticipation for the forthcoming evening heightening his senses.
Everything seemed surreal to Buffy as they entered the antiquated looking building, the immaculate surroundings impressing her in spite of the reservations she had about Angel's motives. As they moved through to what she assumed was the lounge area, judging by the comfy looking armchairs and the relaxed lighting, a beautiful looking young woman approached them and threw her arms around an astonished looking Angel, who returned the gesture with his free arm, refusing to release Buffy's hand from his cast iron grip even when she tried to pull away. So this was why he had brought her here, she thought. Anger clouded her mind as she realized just how futile her feelings for him were. He obviously had women scattered around everywhere, and to bring her here to meet one of them was crueler than words could describe. If he had to rub her nose in his complete lack of morals couldn't he just tell her rather than dangle his flights of fancy in front of her. She yanked her hand away from his, using all of the force she could muster, and took a step away from him, watching as Angel pried himself out of the blondes embrace, before turning to look at her.
Angel had been shocked beyond words at Anya's enthusiastic greeting, instantly knowing that Buffy was not going to be impressed by her show of affection towards him. When she yanked her hand from his, using a strength he did not know she possessed he moved away from Anya, his eyes pleading with Buffy's to understand what was happening but he could quickly see that his plea had gone unheeded as her eyes sparked with rage. Deciding to do the only thing he could think of in this situation, he inhaled a deep breath before saying, "Buffy, this is Anya. The owner of The 21 Club. Anya this is Buffy. My wife."
Anya was the first of the two women to regain the power of speech as she unthinkingly blurted out, "Your wife! Why the hell did you marry her?" as she ran her eyes up and down the smaller woman's form, her mind reassuring her that she was the prettier of the two of them.
Buffy openly glared at the interloper, her eyes revealing a maelstrom of emotions before she hurriedly forced herself to revert to her usual implacable business like demeanor, determined not to let Angel see just how hurt she was at him flaunting his floozy right under her nose.
Angel just stood there unmoving, aware that he was going to be caught in the crossfire between the two women but unable to stop it from happening.
************
"Spike!!!" yelled Cordelia, as she tried in vain to zip up her dress, her hands flailing wildly behind her in her futile attempt to gasp the silky fabric of her cocktail dress. It was beyond her imagination why they created dresses that required someone else's assistance to fasten them, surely they could find a way of making them so that the person wearing the damned thing could do them up.
Spike shook his head slowly, not moving from his seat in the sitting room when he heard Cordelia's high- pitched cry, immediately knowing what her problem was. "Riley. Go and zip up her dress will you? Also if you could bloody well gag her at the same time I might just give you a bonus!"
Riley moved from his position by the fireplace and entered the main bedroom, studiously ignoring Cordelia's look of distaste that a 'minion', as far as she was concerned, would be touching her. This woman was a nightmare to everyone around her, he reflected as he pulled the sipper up and fastened the button to secure the garment. What his boos saw in her, he would never know. The only reason he and the other guards could think of was that she must give fantastic head! Even if that was true, Riley still didn't think that he could put up with her incessant whining for all the head in the world.
Cordelia grimaced as she saw Riley approach her, knowing that Spike had ordered him to help her so he wouldn't have to. She shouldn't really complain, he seemed a nice enough guy just nowhere near her class. It irritated her no end that Spike didn't appreciate that she was from a wealthy family and as such should not be subjected to 'mere mortals' touching her precious skin. She had to admit though that part of her attraction to spike was that he put no stock in who she was and ignored her airs and grace totally, treating her like he would any other woman. 'Oh well, he will do for now!' she thought, as her mind wandered back to the hours they had spent in bed that day, visions of Spike pleasuring her with his extremely talented mouth filling her mind, before he had made vigorous love to her until she couldn't take any more and was begging him to stop. 'Oh yes! He will definitely do!'
She coolly moved herself away from Riley to stare once more into the mirror, checking her appearance one final time until she determined that she was satisfied that she would be the best looking woman by far, at the Gala. She slowly walked out of the room, Riley trailing behind her as she stopped to stand in the sitting room, impatiently waiting for Spike to announce they were leaving.
****
The couple was promptly ushered to their seats in the main reception room of the hotel hosting the charity gala, Angel holding on tightly to Buffy's arm the whole time. He was fully conscious of the lascivious looks being directed at Buffy by the numerous men in the room, some of them looking like they couldn't wait to tear her dress off and sample the delights hidden within. A wave of intense emotion flowed through him at the thought of any of them touching her, their hands sliding across her creamy flesh until they reached ........
He could not stomach the ideas moving around inside his head, his body attempting to reject the food he had eaten earlier as his hand automatically clamped down more firmly on her arm as he slowed her progress across the room so she was nearer to him. Buffy sensed the possessiveness in his touch, deciding that she would allow it in order for their appearance as a couple to be more believable, while at the same time her pulse sped up from the nearness of his body. As they walked across the polished wooden floor she could feel his strong muscular thighs brushing against her with every stride, sending shivers of pleasure throughout her system.
As they reached their table, the waiter started to pull out Buffy's seat for her until Angel rushed to intercept him, moving the ornate mahogany chair away from the table with a flourish, his arm extended in a gentlemanly manner inviting her to sit down. She quickly made herself comfortable on the seat as Angel moved down beside her, their legs touching in the close confines of the space appropriated to them, making each of them fully aware of the others presence. Buffy's gaze raked over the other occupants of the table as she tried to assess how dangerous they could be to their plans, nothing alerted her about them so far but it wouldn't do to take unnecessary chances. With that in mind she placed her small hand over Angels large one that rested on the table and gave it a comfortable squeeze while smiling brightly up at him.
Angel looked up in shock as he felt Buffy's warm hand enclose his, her eyes telling him to go along with what she was doing. He quickly gazed around at the people sitting talking at their table, not detecting any threat to them but instantly noticing the blonde haired man that was paying more attention than appropriate to Buffy. His lips twisted into a smirk before he turned to face Buffy, lowering his lips to meet hers in a tender kiss which quickly became more passionate as they both forgot where they were and gave into the sensations that had been building between them all night. Their mouths pressed against each other brutally as Angel's tongue gently lapped between the seam, waiting for her permission to enter. Buffy sighed with pleasure and her lips parted immediately, Angel's tongue darting into her mouth and delving inside until her tongue met his and they engaged in a playful fight, lust reawakening, even though it had never fully died, through both their veins as they kissed once more. Finally Angel's senses returned to him and he reluctantly pulled away, but not before nipping her swollen lower lip with his teeth, smiling at her moan of loss.
The dazed look in her eyes that she directed at him as he pulled away would have disillusioned the most ardent suitor, but not Lindsay. This was a bigger challenge than he had originally thought and he would rejoice in taking away the most exquisite creature he had ever seen from the man opposite him, who seemed to be so unsure about his possession of her that he saw the need to prove it to everyone around them. He met the dark haired mans glare head on, unspoken words flowing between them as they both realized that the gauntlet had been well and truly thrown and that it was up to Lindsay whether he wanted to pick it up.
Buffy sat there silently watching the interaction between the two men as she tried hard to stifle a laugh at the caveman attitude they were both displaying. If Willow were there they would have shared a giggle over the sight, both of them making fun of the way that the men were eyeballing each other as they attempted to unnerve the other. She had been aware of the appreciative glances being sent her way from the moment they walked into the room and how Angel had reacted to them in an almost jealous manner. A ripple of pleasure went through her body at he thought of Angel being jealous and she stored the information away so she could try and find a way to use to her advantage later on in their silent war. After their somewhat intense discussion earlier, following what she would think of as the 'Anya incident', she knew that she also experienced a case of the green eyed monster as Giles would say when it came to Angel and other women. She was just glad she wasn't married to him in real life as she would spend all her time hunting down and killing his former lovers, which would be a considerable task. It had been a smart idea though, she had to unwillingly agree, telling Anya, who turned out to be very nice, if not a little abrupt, so she would broadcast the news to the whole of New York that they were married ensuring that they would not have to explain their presence. Now all she had to do was prevent Angel getting into a duel before the gala ended!
Thinking quickly, she suddenly pushed her chair away from the table, ignoring the loud scraping sound it made against the wooden floor, and stood up from her seat. As she turned to face Angel, Buffy noticed his shocked expression, so she placed a tender smile on her face while extending her hand towards him. "Will you dance with me?" she asked in a tentative tone, unsure what she would do if he refused, while studiously ignoring the good looking stranger staring at her from across the table.
Throwing the blonde man a languid smirk, Angel rose from his seat and took Buffy's hand, his large fingers entwining around her tiny ones as he slowly lead her through the tables, towards the spacious dance floor. Guiding Buffy into the midst of the dancing couples, he slowly drew her into his embrace, his arm curling around her waist, pulling her flush against his body, while his fingers spanned the small of her back. His other hand continued to hold hers, and he felt a wave of pleasure go through him as her free hand traveled around his back and started to caress the small hairs at the nape of his neck sending electrical currents through every cell of his flesh. Their bodies slowly started swaying to the beat of the music, their feet only moving in small steps as their upper bodies remained locked tightly together. Buffy and Angel were both highly aware of the arousing sensations of flesh brushing against flesh as their eyes locked and a myriad of emotions passed between them. Overwhelmed with a sudden burst of longing, Angel broke the gaze and lowered his head to hers, resting his forehead against the brow of Buffy's head, as his heart was filled with an intense sense of peace and righteousness.
A chill went down Buffy's spine and she stiffened involuntarily as she spotted the peroxide blonde head of their prey as he entered the room and was immediately escorted to his seat. The brunette beside him was staring around the room as she blatantly checked out the other women's gowns, assessing if anyone rivaled her beauty, her lips twisted into a superior sneer until her eyes landed on Buffy.
Cordelia's brown eyes widened and she halted her scan of the room to rake her eyes over the diminutive blonde's gown, sensing instinctively that here was her only competition. The young woman was pressed closely to the most attractive man she had ever seen, and she felt a tingle of desire go through her as she studied his well built form, her gaze stopping for a second to memorize his chiseled features before moving down his muscular body once more.
Sensing that his companion's attention had wandered, Spike turned his head, enabling him to follow her train of vision, immediately locking his gaze on the beautiful young woman in the revealing black dress. His attention was riveted on the expanse of creamy thigh by the clinging fabric, the muscles flexing as she barely moved in her slow dance with her partner. He felt his member begin to stir again, surprising him after the rigorous work out he had given it with Cordelia earlier that day. The brunette was fun, but she was too much of a snob for her own good and he was going to enjoy taking her down a peg or two ands making her realize her unimportance in the grand scheme of things, but right now all he wanted to do was get to know the blonde before him.
The second Buffy had stiffened in his arms, Angel had spotted their target and the numerous henchmen he had brought to the event with him. The brunette on his arm only earned a cursory inspection from Angel before he decided that she was simply the girlfriend and no threat whatsoever. Once more he turned his attention to Spike, his gaze never wavering as he tried to assess their next move. It was obvious that he was attracted to Buffy and that might be their key to getting closer to him, as much as Angel detested the thought of him being anywhere near her. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins, the thrill of the job at hand sending tingles through every nerve of his body as all his senses came alive once more. He had long ago learned that the rush he got with every job was the main reason he had stayed in this business and the fact that he had been paid to meet the woman of his dreams was an extra bonus.
As Spike finally made a move to sit at his table, Angel possessively pulled Buffy further into his embrace and moved his mouth down to her neck, placing butterfly kisses along the expanse of flesh, he smiled as he felt her tremble slightly at each touch of his lips on her skin. As his mouth progressed upwards he found her ear and whispered his plan softly to her. Reluctantly leaving her neck he pressed kisses along the line of her jaw until his lips met hers, the sweetness of her taste overpowering his senses instantly. The kiss began slowly, both of them wanting to luxuriate for a while in the feel of the other but as the kiss progressed their lips were soon meeting with bruising force, all of their pent up passion coming forth. When Buffy's tongue slipped inside Angels mouth, his came forward and met hers, tangling together until they were forced to break apart, gasping for the oxygen that their lungs demanded. As they inhaled the much-needed breath, Angel placed kisses all over Buffy's face, as his fingers wandered to her swollen lips and gently caressed them. Acting on impulse, Buffy's tongue came out and slowly licked his long finger, before sucking it into her mouth, an action which made Angel moan out loud and start panting for breath again as he envisioned her doing the exact same thing to his now hard cock. As her tongue gently swirled around the digit he fought the urge to drag her back to the hotel and make love to her all night. It took every ounce of self control he had to pull his hand away from her tempting mouth and slowly break their embrace, aware that they were supposed to be watching Spike and not indulging in a make out session like a couple of teenagers.
Attempting to calm herself, Buffy averted her gaze from Angel's, not wanting him to see the blatant desire that surely must be evident in them. Her small hands smoothed down her dress, brushing away imaginary creases, before she allowed him to lead her back to the table, his hand spanning the base of her back as they walked off of the dance floor.
All the eyes in the room were on the couple as they progressed back to their table. The women lusting after the tall mysterious man who was unfortunately obviously in love with the young woman he had just been kissing so intently on the dance floor. The men hungry for the blonde who had returned his attentions with such ardor they wanted to experienced the feeling themselves and revel in the feeling of her golden skin beneath their fingers.
The couple were unaware of the indiscreet looks being sent their way as they both tried to ignore the feelings building up inside themselves and concentrate on the task at hand. When they were once again seated at their table, the rest of the evening seemed to pass by in a blur, mundane conversation was made with the other occupants and Buffy fended off Lindsay's advances towards her, while keeping an eye on Spike. Angel was very quiet next to her and this worried her, but she was sure he would tell her what was troubling him later on. For now, she just placed her hand over his and gave it a gentle squeeze, smiling as he returned the gesture and pulled her chair closer to his.
The man of the moment had stayed at his table all night, seemingly behaving, although his eyes kept wandering towards Buffy at times, the gleam of lust apparent in his eyes. Angel was torn, they could use Spike's obvious desire for Buffy as their tool to get close to him, and he could make sure that Buffy was never alone with him. Or they could stick to the original plan, which was definitely more risky. If Spike was thinking with his libido it would be much easier to fool him until they were presented with the perfect opportunity to take him out and recover the items that the commission wanted. It was something they needed to consider and he would have to talk to Buffy about it tomorrow after he had mulled over all the possibilities that night. Angel was dreading what would happen when they returned to the hotel. He had already decided that he would sleep on the floor and let Buffy have the bed, but being so close to her and yet so far away was going to be sheer hell for him.
As the guests started to leave, Buffy looked to Angel, silently asking him when they were going to depart as well. Her nerves were on edge from what was to come and she now just wanted to get it over with. The thought of spending night in the hotel room alone with Angel but not touching was making her feel ill, she didn't know how she was going to survive the night without blurting out words of love to him, that she knew would never be returned.
"Are you ready to leave baby?" Angel purred, his words coming out as a silky caress, instead of just a simple question.
"Yes, I am," managed Buffy, her body still tingling from his previous words as she let him help her out of her seat.
They exchanged good-byes with the others at the table before Angel led Buffy out of the hotel, keeping a tight hold of her hand until they were seated in the car once more and on their way back to the hotel. No words were spoken by either of them, they simply gazed out of the windows, staring at the brilliant lights of the buildings they passed and the people milling aimlessly around the streets. They were too intent on their own feelings of trepidation to even make small talk with the other, lost in thoughts too complex to explain.
The door to the bathroom opened and Buffy slowly walked out in her silk pajamas, ready for bed, and was surprised to see Angel placing a couple of pillows and a blanket on the floor. He obviously intended to let her have the bed, but part of her was upset that he did not want to be anywhere near her. Deciding that it was unfair that he should have to sleep on the floor while the bed was more than big enough for the both of them, she prepared herself for his rejection of the offer she was going to make.
"Angel...the bed is plenty big enough for both of us and it's not right that you have to sleep on the floor. I don't mind sharing it with you, plus what if a maid walks in and sees you there, it could blow our cover," Buffy said, watching the surprise flicker across his face before being replaced by his usual stoic mask.
"Are you sure Buffy? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Angel asked, unsure if she was only saying this because she felt it was the right thing to do. He hoped deep down that it was because she was finally softening towards him again, her resolve weakening even after his mistake with Darla. Ok, not so much a mistake as a massive mistake.
"I'm sure. Now lets go to bed," she blurted out, instantly realizing her choice of words was somewhat risqu?as she saw a small smile cross his features. "I...I...I didn't mean it like it sounded. You know what I meant right? "
"I think so... I'm only joking. Don't worry Buffy, I know what you meant," answered Angel, burying the desire to tease her about the innuendo in her words.
Relief washed over Buffy, and she quickly walked over to the bed and pulled back the cotton sheet before sliding her body onto the bed and pulling it back across her.
Laying her head on the soft pillow she closed her eyes and willed sleep to overtake her quickly, an impossible task considering whom she was sharing a bed with. She felt the mattress move slightly beneath her as Angel climbed onto the opposite side of the bed, his body moving under the sheets as he tried to get comfortable. Somehow, Buffy knew it was going to be a long night.
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Chapter 10
The morning light filtered slowly into the room through the small gaps in the heavy velvet curtains, announcing to the world the beginning of a new day.
As the soft rays streaked slowly over the large bed, it became visible, in the previously darkened room, that the sheets had long been abandoned and were strewn in a heap on the floor, both occupants having tired of wrestling with them through the course of a sleepless night.
Buffy sighed softly, her brain still unable to shut down and lapse into unconsciousness, even after six hours of contemplation over her impossible situation. The fact that the object of her thoughts and desires was lying asleep next to her was making the possibility of sleep even more remote. All she wanted to do was press kiss after kiss all over his body and make love to him until they were both unable to move, but she knew that her heart could not cope with another rejection from him.
It was still impossible for her to believe that he had slept with Darla just after she had left him following a night of making love. She knew it was true though, even if her heart refused to accept the idea. The look of distinct shame on his face when she questioned him told her everything and she didn't know if she would ever forgive him for it. Stamina was not something he had to worry about though, she thought morosely.
Unbeknownst to Buffy, Angel was also awake but feigning sleep in an attempt not to disturb her. It was taking all of his willpower to remain where he was, his brain recognising that he should stay away from her, as she had requested, while his body screamed in pain at not being able to hold its mate. His hand kept twitching towards her, irrevocably drawn to the beauty lying beside him, needing to feel her soft flesh beneath his fingers.
His mind kept flashing back to the scene in the changing rooms. He knew inside that if that damned saleswoman had not interrupted them, he could be making love to her right now, instead of lying here thinking about it. The memory of Buffy writhing against his hand, trying to force his fingers deeper as she moaned her pleasure, her eyes dark with lust, sent a shiver of arousal down his spine and made his member harden at the images flashing behind his closed eyes.
He quickly rolled onto his side, not wanting Buffy to wake up and see that he was getting hard from her presence, the logical part of his brain attempting to focus on the assignment they were undertaking to cool down his ardour. The fire in his blood had other ideas though, and he was immediately assaulted by visions of Buffy in her dress from earlier that night. The way she had pressed her body invitingly against him, rolling her hips against his as they danced, the feel of her plump lips cocooning his finger in her moist mouth and the way she whispered his name as she kissed him.
The mattress lurched suddenly, as Angel rolled over onto his side, facing away from her, Buffy's body being gently shifted by the movement. Her breath caught in her throat at the possibility of him waking at any moment and she knew she could not face him while she was feeling like this. If he looked at her with those gorgeous brown eyes that appeared to hold a myriad of secrets, she knew she would be unable to stop herself from touching him, even though she knew it was wrong.
This was going to be the hardest hit she had ever undertaken, she realised. Physically and mentally it was no harder than any job she had done before, but emotionally she knew it was going to cripple her. The feelings running through her veins were not welcome, but refused to leave. If only she had an on /off switch, she mused. It would be great to just flick the switch and not care about him anymore. The only problem was, that he had managed to dig so deep under her skin that the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him, and the more intense her feelings grew. She believed he was remorseful about what had happened with Darla, but she had learned long ago that appearances can be deceiving. That lesson had been ingrained into her mind after the betrayal by Faith, and now she only trusted her closest friends and family. Nobody else was allowed into her heart or her life; caring for someone was dangerous and could easily cost her everything.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Angel rose up on the bed, sitting silently for a moment before sliding off the edge and walking into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him and engaging the lock. Buffy relaxed her tense muscles and opened her eyes, squinting at the steaks of light that were invading the room. The sound of the shower starting reassured her that everything was ok and she should just try and get some sleep, putting all thoughts of Angel from her mind.
That was easier said than done though, as the next second the realisation hit her that he was naked in the next room. Her mind instantly supplying the mental pictures for her that she didn't need or want. Her mind began constructing visions of his body glistening from the warm water raining down on him, the soap sliding over his firmly chiselled chest, sliding downwards until it reached... No. No. No. Mustn't think about that. Bad Buffy thoughts!
****
Angel had known he needed to get out of that bed the moment he started thinking about Buffy taking his now rock hard cock into her mouth, slowly teasing the flesh with her lips and her tongue before taking him deep in her throat, sucking him dry. Sitting up quickly he waited for a second, listening to her steady breathing to ensure he had not woken her, before climbing off of the bed and making his way to the bathroom. Locking the door securely behind him, he leaned back against it, his head thumping softly against the wood, as his erection pushed against the confines of his silk pyjama bottoms, making the fabric tent out.
Quickly moving away from the door, he approached the shower, sliding open the glass door and reaching an arm in to turn on the water. He quickly pulled his T-shirt over his head before untying the drawstring of his pyjama bottoms and sliding them down his legs, his hardness finally bouncing free as he stepped out of them quickly.
As he stepped into the shower, he felt the blessed water rain down on him, warming him further with its touch. His eyes immediately fixed on the bottle of vanilla shower gel that Buffy used sitting on the shelf, his hand reached out for it, clasping hold of it like a dying man. His fingers fumbled to open the lid, before he raised it to his nose and took a deep breath of her familiar scent.
His erection surged, getting impossibly harder as he stifled a moan, not wanting Buffy to hear him. Moving his hand downwards he grasped his cock firmly before starting to slide his hand up and down the silken shaft. His mind fuelled his hunger further with images of Buffy on her knees, taking him into in her mouth, her tongue swirling around him as she kissed and nibbled her way down his manhood.
Pouring some of the gel onto his length, his hand started sliding across the flesh more easily, as her sweet aroma filled his nostrils. Leaning his head back against the wall of the shower with his eyes closed in pure bliss, he sped up his motions, his hand moving up and down the turgid flesh, as his breathing started coming out in short pants. The sensations of pleasure were flowing through his body faster and faster as he neared release and he worked his hand faster. His balls begin to tighten as he imagined spreading Buffy's legs and plunging into her molten heat, feeling her vice like channel gripping his shaft as he moved his hips against hers, pumping into her harder and harder as she twisted beneath him, urging him on.
Squeezing his length tighter, he felt the familiar tingles run down his spine and the beginning of his orgasm crashing over him, as he pictured blonde hair and green eyes. His manhood began throbbing as he shot his seed onto his stomach, his knees nearly buckling from the force of his climax. Sighing deeply, he wished that his fantasy had been reality and that she was here with him rather than sleeping in their bed.
**************************************************
The knock on the door reverberated throughout the house, causing Willow to drop the papers she was studying and drag herself up from her seat. Muttering curses under her breath at being disturbed while she was working, she quickly made her way towards the front door, hoping that whoever it was would leave quickly.
"Hey Willow. How are you today?" Xander asked as he pushed past her to enter the house, his eyes searching for any sign of Buffy. Upon entering the kitchen and finding no one, he relaxed slightly, not sure he would have been able to look her in the eye knowing what had occurred between her and Angel, his own feelings of betrayal clouding his mind.
"I'm good Xander. Why?" enquired Willow, curious about his strange behaviour. He looked like he was hiding from someone, she thought. It wasn't like him to just barge into the house; he normally waited for an invitation, let alone take a walk through the whole of the downstairs obviously looking for something or rather someone. Xander obviously didn't realise just how easy he was to read where Buffy was concerned. His feelings for her were abundantly clear whenever she was around or at the mere mention of her name.
"No reason. Why would anything be wrong? I'm just great!" rambled Xander, his eyes still darting nervously around the room, expecting Buffy to come jumping out from behind a corner to berate him for being with Faith. He couldn't restrain himself from asking, "Where's Buffy?"
Willow had been expecting the question, knowing how Xander felt about her friend, but it still didn't help her when she had to lie to him.
"She's in New York on business. She flew out yesterday," Willow answered, her eyes watching his expression carefully as she tried in vain to discern his thoughts. She had thought his emotions would be as easy to read as they had been when he first walked through the door, but now his face seemed to go blank, stopping her from seeing what he was really thinking. She impulsively took a step back, the shiver of fear running down her spine, some internal alarm telling her that she needed to get as far away from him as she could.
"Oh, so how long is she gone for?" asked Xander, his mind whirring happily as he contemplated the possibility that it might be easier to find the documents that Buffy had hidden somewhere in the house than he originally suspected.
"I'm not sure Xander. Buffy didn't say," she paused, looking at him skeptically. "Why is it so important to you how long she'll be gone?" questioned Willow, her feet automatically taking an involuntary step back as she wished fervently that Oz had not popped out to the shops just before Xander arrived. Something about him was different, and he was in all honesty starting to scare her.
"It's not important Willow. Can't a brother ask where his sister is and how long she's going to be gone without needing to have a reason?" snapped Xander, false exasperation colouring his tone as he attempted to make the redhead believe his questioning was down to brotherly concern and not anything sinister.
"Sure. I was just wondering if there was a reason, ya know, like you needed to speak to her or something? That's all!" she replied, her mind trying desperately to discern what about Xander had changed. His outward appearance was exactly the same as usual, but his eyes were a different story. They seemed cold, devoid of life, staring intently into her eyes as if they could find the truth within their depths.
She shook her head, and moved her gaze away from his penetrating one, silently praying for Oz to hurry up and return home. "I was just about to make some coffee. Would you like a cup?" Willow asked, trying to break the silence that had now settled between them, an air of tension filling the room as she walked slowly across the room towards the kettle.
"No thanks. I have places to be, people to see. If Buffy calls, say hi for me. Ok?" Xander coolly stated, already walking towards the back door as he spoke, needing to get out of the claustrophobic atmosphere that had built between them.
"Ok. Bye Xander," muttered Willow, breathing a sigh of relief as the back door closed behind him. Something strange was going on with him and she didn't feel comfortable being around him. Had he heard something about Buffy and Angel? That could be it, she thought. Xander was never happy when Buffy got a new boyfriend, not that it happened very often, and if he suspected something was going on with Angel, that would easily explain his current mood.
Even as she was latching hopefully onto that being Xander's reason for acting oddly, a ripple of fear surged through her again, and she shivered as goose bumps appeared all over her body. Something was wrong, she decided and promised herself she would talk to Buffy about it as soon as she could.
***********************************
Soft classical music played in the background, just low enough to be audible, but not intrusive of the conversations of the diners seated haphazardly around the large restaurant. Although it was only early afternoon, the room was darkened considerably until the light in the room was only an intimate glow, providing privacy for its patrons.
The clientele ranged from adults in the midst of an adulterous affair who wished to lunch with their lover without the fear of being caught, to businessmen who were conducting a secret deal that they had no intention of anyone finding out about until it was already finalised.
Buffy and Angel fit into neither category, as they were simply following the lead that Spike would be lunching there that day. Both were desperately wanting to ensure that they were nearby to continue gathering information about any possible plans he had to return to his mansion in L.A., contemplating ways to infiltrate his life.
If anyone had cared enough to concentrate on the good-looking couple for any length of time, they would have been aware that there was a palpable silence between them, few words having been exchanged since they entered the restaurant. Any familiarity between them had been shattered by the waves of longing they were both helplessly fighting, unable to pretend that they were just friends any longer after the sleepless night they had both endured.
Buffy was seriously considering this to be an extreme waste of time, as Spike had still not arrived. But given the option of following a lead on Spike, or remaining in the hotel room alone with Angel, she knew this was for the best and didn't care if they gained any new information or not. Left alone with him too long, she might feel the irresistible urge to jump him, and that would be bad. Well, not bad exactly. Very, very good actually, she thought.
The second the words she was thinking to herself registered, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying her hardest to remember the reasons she was keeping him at arms length.
Angel watched Buffy's eyes drift shut, as her chest rose higher than normal and wondered what she was thinking about. His earlier self relief had only sated him temporarily, especially when he was sharing a hotel room with the object of his affection, his arousal reawakening the moment he entered the bedroom again after his shower and saw her. They could not maintain this charade much longer if they were unable to look at each other, much less act the happily married couple.
On impulse he reached his arm across the table, carefully avoiding the objects placed haphazardly in front of him, and laid his hand over Buffy's, gently brushing his fingers across the soft skin as he looked directly into her eyes.
Her eyes flickered open the second his hand touched hers, all thoughts flying from her head as she lost herself in his gaze. The sensual pull of him was already making her resolve waver and just the feel of his flesh on hers, no matter how innocent the gesture, made her want to forget all of the promises she had made to herself about him and simply immerse herself in his warmth. She did not care about the consequences or what would happen tomorrow, all she wanted was him.
"Buffy?" Angel whispered, his words sending a shiver down her spine as her arousal built higher.
For a long moment Buffy was unable to articulate words, his presence affecting her like no other before him. As she saw a concerned frown mar his beautiful face, she finally managed to answer him.
"Yes, Angel?"
"I want to get to know you. The real you. Not the image you give to everyone else, but the Buffy that your friends and family love. Silly things, like your favourite colour, favourite food even the name of any pets you ever had," murmured Angel as he continued to stare deep into her eyes, his heart swelling with emotions he couldn't identify, as his body tensed waiting for yet another rejection. He needed to know everything about her, and not just for the job at hand; there was something primal screaming inside of him that wanted to possess every part of her, including her past.
The simple request floored Buffy; it was the last thing she had been expecting him to say to her, and possibly one of the most intimate. A war raged in her mind about letting him into every aspect of her life and telling him things that only her close friends and family knew about her. The earnest look on his face ended the argument and she silently begged him to not throw her trust for him back in her face. She had no idea why she felt this way about someone she had known for such a short time, only certain that she was powerless to stop it, the inherent honesty in his expression was making her walls against him tumble down.
"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours!" she laughed out, her words soothing him immediately as he visibly relaxed in front of her, a smile gracing his lips.
"Ok. I'll go first then. Blue, Sushi and Mr. Gordo. Well… Mr. Gordo is not technically a pet. He is a stuffed pig that I have had for years, he was a present from my parents," murmured Buffy, tears welling in her eyes as she remembered the day they gave it to her.
Angel sensed her distress and squeezed her hand gently, his eyes filling with sympathy for the young woman before him as he inwardly cursed himself for upsetting her. Trying to lighten the mood he flippantly said, "Black, obviously, Italian food and no pets unless you count some of my ex-girlfriends."
She could not suppress the laughter that bubbled up inside of her at his last comment, the sorrow leaving her temporarily, as she let out a low laugh. Angel's deep laughter joined with hers, the unhappy moment passing quickly and once again the sexual tension between them became apparent.
He moved his hand slowly, his long fingers tenderly caressing the fragile skin of her deceptively small hands, stroking along the fingers until he reached the back of her hand, his touch sending a new thread of fire throughout her body.
A gasp welled up in her throat as the tingles spread up her spine, her eyes watching him intently as he suddenly removed his hand and stood up from his chair, moving to the one beside her, sitting down so close that his muscular thighs were touching hers.
In a desperate attempt to hold back the desire that was threatening to make her lose all sense of reason, Buffy tried to think of something to say to him. Blurting out the first thought that came into her mind, she asked, "Why did you sleep with Darla?"
His body visibly tensed at her question, all his muscles coiling up as if he was preparing to take flight. Realising that the next few words he uttered would determine if he could ever make amends for what he had done and possibly make her understand that he wanted to change for her, so he could be with her and just her, he braced himself for her reaction. His hand reached for hers again, and he was heartened by the fact that she did not pull away, merely remaining motionless as he tried to form the words to explain his actions.
"I don't know why I slept with her Buffy. I wasn't thinking straight. All I knew was that you wouldn't want me anywhere near you again after that morning. I was lost, and Darla played on it. Played on my old feelings for her until I didn't know right from wrong. I know that I made a huge mistake and I regret it more than you know. All I want is the chance to prove to you that I can change, that I can be the man you deserve. I have these feelings for you that I can't explain. I just know I need to be near you, get to know you and hopefully in time you could trust me enough to possibly see me as more than a business acquaintance," the words tumbled out, revealing his feelings as best he could to the woman he knew without a doubt he was in love with. It was too soon for him to tell her that though, even if he wanted nothing more than to stand up in the middle of the restaurant and declare his undying love for her.
His words soothed her troubled mind, and even though she still couldn't understand the reasoning behind his coupling with Darla, she now knew that it was something he bitterly regretted. Angel's reluctant admission of his feelings for her sent a warm glow travelling through her body, as hope surged that maybe, just maybe, he could change.
Leaning forward towards the table, she raised her arm and trailed her fingers across the side of his face, tracing his chiselled cheekbones before her fingertips softly caressed his lips. Her eyes sparkled with lust as she wondered if it was perhaps the wine she had been drinking that made her more agreeable to his charms.
His skin tingled at her touch, and he happily released the breath he had been holding awaiting her response. Lifting his hand to capture her travelling fingers, he brought them to his mouth and tenderly kissed each one, taking one into his mouth and playfully sucking on it as his eyes twinkled with undisguised playfulness.
Slowly releasing her finger from his mouth, he gently moved both their hands down to the table, where his fingers caressed her flesh while his eyes bored into hers, awaiting her reaction to his next words.
"I was born in Ireland 31 years ago, and was raised by my mother. My father, her husband, left her for another woman when I was five months old. We were dirt poor…my mother had to work as a cleaner for a rich family while I was growing up and I hated the fact that everyone treated her as if she were beneath them because of it." He took a deep breath before continuing- the pain he felt years ago still burrowed deep into his soul.
"She died of cancer when I was 15. The doctors said that by the time she went to them, it had progressed too far to do anything. All they could do was prescribe painkillers that didn't make any impact on her at all. As she lay there breathing her last breath, she called out for my father, the man she had never stopped loving even though he had deserted her years ago. It was that one moment that changed my life and plotted my destiny. I suddenly knew what I had to do. Kill my father!" Angel's eyes flashed with anger at the memory of how frail his mother had become and yet she still yearned for the man who had left her to survive alone.
"Angel. I'm so sorry," whispered Buffy, her free hand reaching out to lie on top of his, grasping it firmly as tears swelled in her eyes for the pain he must have suffered so long ago.
Angel didn't appear to hear her, so lost was he in his thoughts of his mother and what came next. He continued speaking, his voice a dull monotone, as if he weren't really there saying the words. "I decided then and there that I would never live in poverty again. I wanted to ensure that my future wife and children never had to want for anything or lack for anything. My father was a rich man and had gained his fortune by nefarious means, it would be hard for me to take him down, but I was determined. I started to study martial arts and worked as a runner for a man who was quite high up in the criminal underworld. I worked my way up the ladder until there was nothing more I could learn from him. When I arrived In England, I managed to work my way into the employ of a man who was well known throughout the circles I was now mixing in", he paused for a minute as he leaned back in his chair before looking her straight in the eye. "You know him quite well. Rupert Giles!"
"You worked for Giles? Ok, don't answer. You already said that. How could I have not known? I lived with him for years. I would have seen you, met you or something," snapped Buffy, her mind spinning round in circles as she tried to remember seeing Angel before as she also tried to digest the information about himself he had just freely given her. Her heart lurched at the careless words he had just uttered, knowing deep down that they changed everything for them and any possible future they could have had.
"I left his employ just before you arrived to live with him. I was there throughout the problems he had with the commissioner," answered Angel, not wanting to have to expand on that answer as he knew things about Buffy that Giles had told him confidentially and could not be repeated.
"So how long did you work for him, and why did he never tell me?" murmured Buffy, her eyes looking everywhere but at him as she tried to understand what he was saying.
Angel quickly glanced around the restaurant and noticed that most of the customers had already left. Realising that they could not easily continue the conversation there, where anyone might overhear, he gestured to a nearby waiter for the bill as he used his free hand to grasp Buffy's face and make her look at him.
"We need to leave. We can finish this conversation back at the hotel where there are no prying eyes or ears. Ok?" he whispered softly to her, hoping she would automatically understand his concerns about privacy.
"Ok," Buffy whispered, still shocked that Angel had worked for Giles. That was something Gunn had not told her when he was informing her about Angel's past. Did he know what had happened with her parents? Could he tell her why Spike had killed them? The thoughts continued to torment her as they waited in a tense silence for the waiter to return.
The waiter came towards the table carrying the familiar leather folder containing their bill. As he placed it down on the table, Angel withdrew his hand from Buffy's, swiftly flicking the folder open before laying several twenty-dollar bills in it and closing it again. Pushing his chair back, he stood and reached his hand out for Buffy, helping her out of her seat before quickly ushering her towards the entrance, without glancing back.
**********************************
Buffy slowly walked into the hotel room, her mind not focusing, for the first time, on the fact that she was alone in the room with Angel. The sound of the door closing behind her snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned to see Angel leaning back against the door.
"Do you know why?" she asked, her voice little above a whisper, but she could see that he had heard her as his eyes flickered with something before being replaced by his usual stare.
"It's complicated Buffy. I made a promise a long time ago, never to reveal to anyone what happened during that time. Giles trusts me with that information and I can't betray him. You should ask him. I can't help you," stated Angel, wishing that he could alleviate her suffering and take it upon himself, take the hurt away from her.
Buffy sighed, knowing that Giles would never tell her. She had asked him and others who worked for him often enough when she lived with him, a wall of silence meeting her every time. She slowly walked over to the bed and bending down, removed her shoes before curling her legs underneath her, facing toward him.
She was overloaded by her emotions. The constant pull she felt for Angel along with the familiar grief for her parents was pushing her beyond her limits. She felt the tears start to build behind her eyes even before she asked her next question, knowing inside that he wouldn't answer her, no matter how much it cost him. "Why? All I have ever wanted to know is why they were killed?"
His resolve melted as the first tear began its slow journey down her face. Rushing to the bed to enclose her firmly within his arms, he felt his heart break for her. There was nothing he could say to her that would make her feel better, and the knowledge of the full extent of what her parents had suffered before they met their death would only make her hurting worse.
She nestled further into his arms as she began to sob uncontrollably, the feel of his body against hers, holding her tight made her feel safer than she had in a long time. Tilting her head upwards she saw the compassion for her in his eyes and acting on impulse she raised her mouth to his and placed a tender kiss on his lips.
The passion that he had tried so hard to hold back, ignited within him and moving his hand so that it cradled her head toward his, he placed his lips back upon hers, meshing them together as if he would never let her go again. They nipped and sucked at each others lips, the heat between them flaring to life as Angel slowly lay back on the bed, holding Buffy's body tight against his own.
She raised her arms up to twine around his neck, her fingers raking restlessly through his hair as she pressed her body closer into his, her breasts pushing against his broad chest, the nipples already hard nubs begging for his touch. She could feel the hard length of his erection against her thigh and she deliberately moved her hips, swallowing his moan of pleasure in her mouth as they continued to kiss.
Angel was lost to the sensations that she instilled in him, every cell in his body crying out for her. He loved her with everything he had and wanted nothing more that to make love to her, but he needed to be sure that this was what she wanted. She was emotional at the moment and if he took things further, which the demon inside of him was telling him quite explicitly to do, she could regret it later and he would never get anywhere near her again.
Reluctantly he pulled away from her, his body protesting loudly as he did, his hands leaving the succulent flesh that was calling out to him and lay them resting idly by his side.
Buffy slowly awakened from her desire filled haze as she realised that Angel was no longer touching her, his lips were no longer on hers. Looking him straight in the eye, she ground her lower body against his, smiling in satisfaction as he emitted what sounded like a low growl of protest. Slithering up his body, she felt his hands grab hold of her arms, stopping her from reaching her goal. Her lips curled into a pout as she gazed into his eyes that were black with lust for her. Deciding to torment him a little more she purposefully moved her lower body to writhe against his, her flesh teasing his hardness as he struggled to stop from moaning.
Angel looked deep in her eyes, needing to know that she wanted this as much as he did, before things got out of hand between them. Seeing the raw lust she was displaying, he released her arms and watched her slowly progress up his body through heavy lidded eyes, his arousal becoming more painful with every second that passed.
As her lips pressed against his, he pulled her towards him, her body pressed in enticement against his, the molten desire between them burning brighter than anything he had ever known. Their lips joined once more, a flurry of tender kisses designed to ignite passion as Angel slowly slipped his tongue into her open mouth, the need to taste her taking over any thoughts he may have had about waiting. She met every motion he made, her tongue swiping across his as she unbuttoned his jacket and slowly pushed it back so she could work on his shirt buttons. Her hands seemed to be everywhere; one was slowly unbuttoning his shirt while the other was unbuckling the belt of his pants. Needing to slow things down, he grasped the hand undoing his pants, ignoring the moan of disapproval that she made and placed the hand on his chest.
Buffy moaned in disappointment, she had been so near her goal when he decided to call a halt to things, but hey, Angel chest was still of the good. She slowly traced along his abs, the chiselled muscles contracting as her fingers caressed the flesh. She felt his erection twitch beside her thighs and allowed a slow smile to cross her face as she continued to kiss the man she wanted more than anything. All thoughts of her parents and her sorrow were forgotten as she gave herself completely to the love she had been denying for what seemed like forever. She would worry about tomorrow when it arrived, but for now she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in the desire that was threatening to consume her while she had the chance.
Her wandering hand was his ultimate undoing, quickly rolling them over so he was resting on his elbows above her, trying to spare her his weight, he slowly kissed her, before trailing his lips downwards, along her jaw line and onto her throat. Tenderly nipping the flesh with his blunt teeth, he worked his way down to the skin covering her jugular and sucked some of the flesh into his mouth, sucking on it until he was sure that he would leave a mark that anyone would recognise as his ownership of her.
Turning onto his side, his hand travelled across her chest, teasing a nipple with his fingers before he moved his fingers to the thin straps of her dress, slowly pushing them across her shoulders and down her arms to fully reveal her luscious breasts to his gaze. His mouth watered at the sight, his eyes flickering with emotions that he tried hard to contain as he lowered his head so that his lips brushed gently across one of her nipples, her chest rising towards his face as she moaned her appreciation.
Buffy felt his lips flick teasingly across her nipple before moving up towards her collarbone. Letting out a sigh of disappointment, she gave herself up to his caresses as he tasted every inch of her upper torso as if memorising it, blatantly ignoring the twin peaks that were already aching for him. As his hand finally reached up to cup her full breast she arched herself into his touch, pinpricks of sensation flowing through her veins as he reached the place she wanted him, her mound pressing into his hand as he moved his fingers to gently tweak the erect nubbin.
Angel caressed the flesh she had so kindly pushed into his hand, his mind trying to focus on his tremulous thoughts as he ground his hip against hers, his member pressing against her intimately, even through the barriers of their clothing. He wanted her now, but he knew he had to take things slowly. When he made love to her again, he never wanted her to leave him, it couldn't be something that happened quickly, he wanted to savour each and every moment.
Buffy had other ideas however, needing to feel his flesh against hers she pushed his open shirt back off of his shoulders, prompting him to sit up and drag the offending material from his body, even as her hands reached down to finish unbuckling his belt. As the belt fell open, she started to pull down his zipper, her other hand caressing his turgid length through the material, delighted to feel how hard he was already.
A deep groan filled the room as Buffy finally managed to free his manhood from its tight confines, the shaft bobbing up and down for a second before her hand grasped hold and started stroking him from root to tip. Angel's mind was swimming, unable to cope with rational thought as his goddess gently pushed his foreskin back and traced her fingers along the tip. If she kept that up he knew he wasn't going to last long. Once again dragging her hand away from him, he encouraged her to sit up on the bed so he could pull her dress further down before dragging it under her hips and down her legs. The garment eventually being thrown across the room as he focused his eyes on her lithe body, now only clad in a pair of scanty panties.
His tongue snaked out to wet his suddenly dry lips as he took in every inch of her delectable flesh, saving the details to memory in case he never got this opportunity again. Pushing her back down on the bed, he hovered over her for long minutes before sucking a nipple into his mouth, his tongue laving the flesh as her head fell backwards on the pillow and she arched further into his knowing touch.
Her panties were already dripping wet, her centre throbbing with arousal as her lover played with her breasts. She moved her hands through his dark hair as her body writhed beneath him, his manhood pressing against her inner thigh as she moaned in pleasure. Raising her body, needing to feel him closer, she locked her legs around his waist, his length hitting her opening with every movement she made, making them both groan with need.
He was overcome with the sudden need to taste her. Releasing her breast from his mouth, his lips travelled swiftly down her body, caressing the flesh with his lips and his teeth until he met the edge of her black lace panties. One of his hands moved to take a firm hold of them, ripping them from her body without pause before he continued his journey across her soft curls, his tongue flicking out to taste her honey that had already escaped from her core.
The first touch of his tongue on her heated flesh had Buffy crooning his name, beyond caring if anyone could hear the high-pitched sound. As he placed long languid strokes across her sensitive opening every nerve in her body came to life, and when he inserted a finger into her opening she yelled his name, her inner muscles clamping around his finger, already close to orgasm from just the smallest of his touches.
Feeling her contract around him, he increased the force of his tongue, before inserting another finger, swiftly followed by a third into her tight sheath. Slowly pumping them in and out of her body, he raised his eyes to look at her flushed face, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, never relenting on the pressure of his tongue.
Buffy screamed his name as she spiralled into orgasm, waves of seemingly endless pleasure coursing through her entire body until she was lying spent beneath him, as he eagerly drank down her still flowing juices.
Buffy finally managed to regain her bearings, the only thought coursing through her mind being the need to feel his hard flesh against her and inside her. She swiftly moved her hands down from his hair to firmly grasp his shoulders, pulling him up her body until they were face to face and the tip of his arousal was pressed firmly against her.
Angel entwined his fingers in her hair, gently pulling her face towards his so he could press his lips to hers, engaging her in a breathtaking kiss as he entered her with infinite care. His hips slowly moving forward as he inched his way inside her silken walls until he was completely engulfed in her.
A low moan filled the air as Angel felt Buffy's internal muscles clench around his hardness. He remained still inside her for several long minutes as he savoured the sensation of finally being one with her again, before the need to move threatened to overwhelm him. Rolling his hips slightly, he drank down her moan of pleasure before withdrawing until only the tip remained inside, her fingers biting into his shoulders, as her hips jerked up towards his in an attempt to tempt him back inside.
Every muscle in Buffy's body was tense with anticipation, needing to feel him deep inside her again. No one before him had ever managed to make her feel as loved and complete as he did from this simple act alone and it was that exact moment that the realisation hit home. She was completely in love with him! Surprise marred her features for a moment before Angel slowly thrust into her welcoming body again. She raised her legs and carelessly flung them around his hips, her feet pressing into his ass cheeks as she tried to force him to speed up his movements, needing to feel him filling her totally, as she kissed him back with all of the love that was filling her heart.
Heeding her call, Angel sped up his pace, pumping in and out of her at a furious pace as they made their way toward ecstasy together. He kissed her everywhere, his lips trailing across her face, down her neck where he smiled at the mark he had placed on her earlier, across her shoulders and down to her perfect breasts, lingering there as he suckled at their tips, relishing her cries as he continued to make love to her. Not the tender love he wanted to show her, but one imbued with passion so hot it threatened to sear their very souls.
As he felt his climax starting to overwhelm him, his thrusts becoming uneven and jerky, he looked deep into her eyes, pleading with her to stay with him as they reached their own personal heaven. As the rapture washed over them, their bodies convulsing with the harsh intensity of their orgasm', their eyes remained locked, the love they felt flowing between them as they finally succumbed to their emotions.
**********
Later that night, as Buffy lay cradled in the safety of Angel's strong arms as he slept soundly next to her, she felt a kind of peace envelop her. It was a calm she hadn't felt since she was a child, cradled in the arms of her parent's love. The pain and hate had been brushed aside temporarily, thanks to the love she felt for him, but she knew it would return…like it always did.
It killed her deep down that in the morning she would have to push him away yet again, destroying another piece of her heart in the process. She loved him with a passion and could no longer deny that fact, even to herself. It wouldn't work though, there were things he did not know about her and she hoped he never would. He needed someone who could give him everything he wanted; not someone who was damaged goods.
She knew sleep would not come easily to her tonight, not with these thoughts running through her head, so she curled herself further into his welcoming form, allowing herself for one moment to pretend that she was a normal girl falling asleep in the arms of her normal boyfriend.
tbc...