Disclaimer: Not my sandbox. I just enjoy playing in it.
Still doing heavy editing on Chapter 7, so this is the last new chapter for another week or so.
Chapter 6
Angel's eyes snapped open abruptly, and the first thing he noticed was a feeling of warmth. Vampires were never warm. The sensation always required an application of direct heat—in this case, Cordelia's body pressed firmly against his back. He thought about turning around to see her, but he didn't want to wake her, so he simply luxuriated in her presence—the sound of her heartbeat, the gentle puff of her breath between his shoulders, the way one of her legs had gotten tangled between his. Reassured, he closed his eyes again and burrowed his face into the pillow a little more tightly, hoping that, if this was a dream, he would never wake up.
Some time later, he did wake up, and he knew immediately that something was wrong. One wall of his bedroom had been replaced by a portal, which rotated sluggishly in violent yellow and orange hues.
Cordelia bolted upright in the bed as a demon emerged from the portal and said, "I'm sorry, but we have to go."
Angel rolled quickly out of bed and drew himself up, all the while wondering just how menacing a person could look while wearing shorts covered with cartoon bats. He grabbed his sword from the dresser and held it loosely by his side. "I kicked your ass before, Skip. I bet I can do it again."
The demon held his hands up in apparent surrender. "Hey, if it were up to me, I'd leave you to your..." he gestured at their state of undress, "...whatever this is." He waved a hand at the slowly swirling portal. "But it's not, and I either bring her back, or answer to them."
"I'm not leaving him, Skip," Cordelia said firmly. "Not now, not ever again." Angel stood a little taller at her words. "I worked my ass off helping the Powers, and then they allow something like this to happen without letting me help? Tell them I quit, effective now."
The demon sighed and glared at her like a teacher dealing with a difficult child. "You can't resign this position, Cordelia. It isn't allowed."
"Why not?" Angel asked. "Are the Powers That Be like the Mafia or something? Once you're in, you're theirs for life?"
"No!" Skip looked first shocked and then thoughtful before turning back to Cordelia. "Well, maybe. They've given you power and they're going to insist that you use it to achieve their ends."
She put her hands on her hips angrily. "What would I have to do for them to make me a 'lower being' again?"
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It would have to be something serious. A gross misuse of your powers would probably do the trick."
"And what exactly would constitute a gross misuse of my powers?" Cordy asked.
Skip sighed and snorted softly. "If I have to explain it to you, you're not as smart as I think."
"Oh. OH!" Cordelia put her hand up to her mouth as though smothering a smile. "You don't have to explain. And thanks, Skip."
Skip may not have needed to produce an explanation, but Angel certainly needed to hear one. He never got it.
Cordy walked around the bed toward him, took the sword from his hand, and tossed it onto the bed before taking him into her arms.
"Cordelia, what—" Before he could finish, there was a blinding flash and he felt the earth tilt beneath him.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a beach. On a bright, sunny day. In full panic mode, he started to launch himself toward the porch of a white, weathered beach house a few yards away, but he knew he'd never make it before he combusted.
"Wait." Cordy's hand was firm on his arm. "The sun won't hurt you. I made sure of that."
He stopped abruptly. No tingling, no smoking, no burning. Okay, then. "A little warning would've been nice. Where are we?"
"Temporal fold. It's kind of like a wrinkle in time and space. Don't you love it?"
He looked around. The place was absolutely beautiful. The blue-green surf lapped gently at a sugar-sand beach. Coconut palms lined the shore above the high-tide line. And as far as he could tell, they were completely alone. No matter which direction he looked in, though, at a distance of about a hundred yards, the vista seemed to dissolve into an indistinct haze.
He looked down to find a view that was altogether different, but no less spectacular. He and Cordelia were lying on matching beach towels, and she was wearing a purple bikini that covered less of her body than a Kleenex would have. The sunlight revealed just how hard she'd been working during her stint as a higher being. The muscles in her arms and shoulders weren't much bigger, but they had the definition that came with hard use.
"Wow," he smiled. "It's got a great view."
"Wow right back at you."
He suddenly noticed that she was checking him out in return and was horrified to find out that he was wearing a tight black Speedo that didn't cover much more than her suit did. He hurriedly rolled back onto his stomach and rested his head on folded arms. "What exactly do you mean by a 'temporal fold'? Is it real? Are we real, in here?"
"Well, yes and no—you and I, we're real enough, but this place isn't. Even higher beings need rest, so I have the power to make one of these—a sanctuary—for just that purpose. After I've made it, I turn it over to the Powers to maintain its construction while I recharge."
"Well, can't they just turn it off now and kick us back out?"
"Not while I'm still exerting control it. I'm abusing the power they gave me by using it for personal gain, and, with any luck, they're going to be royally pissed off."
He frowned, confused. "This is nice, but they were doing it for you anyway, so how does this qualify as personal gain?"
"It's you and me, Angel. In this place, time has no meaning. Hell, reality has no meaning. And in here, you and I are safe and, well, you're grounded, if you know what I mean."
He had absolutely no idea what she was getting at and his face must have shown it.
Cordelia sighed softly. "Your soul, Angel. This is my world, and the curse doesn't apply here. Your soul is safe, no matter what happens." She blushed and looked away nervously. "Not that anything has to happen, of course, but if something did happen to happen, well, you'd still be, you know, you."
This was so surreal that it boggled the mind. If he understood her correctly, she was saying that he could have—
"Sex," she said impatiently. "Angel, the subtlety is obviously lost on you, so I'll just say it straight out. You can have sex here and not worry about the whole desouling thing."
He had understood correctly, then, but he was still stunned. "Cordelia. I don't know if this is such a good—"
"You don't want me." Her disappointment was etched in every line of her body.
"No. I mean yes. I mean—that's not it. That is so...not... it." He suddenly noticed that a few loose grains of sand had magically adhered themselves to the smooth skin between her breasts and he fought to drag his gaze back up to her eyes. "It's complicated, though. Look at my track record for just a minute. Every time I've let this happen, there have been huge consequences. Darla conceived Connor. Before that, there was—"
"Buffy."
He winced at the bitterness in her voice.
"Do you still love her, Angel?"
"Buffy is brave, and beautiful, and complicated, and one of the strongest women I've ever known."
"Hey, getting a complex here."
"Don't." He squeezed her hand lightly. "You're all those things too. Buffy and I fell in love before she ever knew what I was. By the time she found out, maybe it was already too late for us. Cordy, I forced myself to leave Sunnydale because I knew that she could never ask me to. I had to make her give up being with me so that she could deal with everything else in her life: slaying, friends, family, school. But you knew what I was before you ever started to care about me. You knew the risks and you knew exactly what I was capable of. And then you fought like hell to stay with me anyway."
"Well, I knew exactly what Angelus was capable of, but I also saw the goodness in that undead heart of yours." She placed her palm firmly against his chest. "I saw how much you cared about people and how much you would give up in order to help them. And I saw how much I changed as a result of working with you." She shook her head and smiled. "You know, I used to think the height of success was a fancy car, a hot guy on my arm, and a multimillion dollar open-ended contract. Right now, one out of three is looking pretty good."
He couldn't resist baiting her. "The Powers gave you a new car?"
"Dork." She elbowed him hard. "I'd do it again, Angel, in a heartbeat."
He dropped a kiss onto her shoulder. "I know you would. I just can't help thinking that maybe we should wait."
"Wait for what? I mean, if I knew I was going to make it long enough, then maybe. We know the prophecies say you're going to be around at least until you Shanshu, however long that takes, but there's no guarantee that I'll still be here when you do."
His chest constricted suddenly at the thought."Don't say that. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'd lose my way, Cordelia."
"Of course you would," she said, smiling hesitantly at him. "You may be a vampire, but you're also a man, and men never stop to ask for directions, especially big, gorgeous, creature-of-the-night-type men."
Her lips pursed thoughtfully for a moment and he fought down the urge to kiss them. "You really think I'm gorgeous?"
"Pffft." She gave him a thorough, lingering once-over. "Do I have to dignify that with a response? But, anyway, I'm not sure that we can afford to wait."
"Why not?"
"The Powers can't influence anything that goes on in here, but they can see. I could have brought you here to help you recover. That's a noble reason, not a selfish one. If I don't do something to royally discredit myself with them, I'm guessing they'll make me leave again as soon as we go back."
"How long do we have?"
"I'm not sure." She looked out at the ocean. "Maybe a few hours. Not more than that."
"When we go back, will we remember this?"
"That all depends."
"Depends on what?"
"On how memorable we make it." She kissed his collarbone softly.
"So what happens afterward?" he asked.
"With luck, I get to stay in L.A., and you and I get to be together again. Maybe not so much with the um, physical togetherness, but we could still work together, and talk, and be friends, right?"
Cordelia looked so eager, so hopeful, and he couldn't imagine letting her down. "I hope so."
She bit her lip nervously. "Let's make the best of it then, because this can't happen again."
"I know." He knew she was thinking about Angelus and the devastation he left in his wake. It wouldn't come to that. He wouldn't let it. "Think it would be okay if we held hands once in a while when we got back?" He took one of her hands in his and used his thumb to rub small circles in her palm.
Her eyes closed to slits and she shivered lightly. "Not if you're going to do that."
"Then let's walk." He kept his grip on her hand and used it to pull her up to her feet. He led her down to the waterline and they strolled along it, hand-in-hand, for several minutes. The water was cool against his feet and the sun was warm on his back, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this carefree. He stooped to pick up a seashell. "Is this place always a beach?"
"Depends on what I'm in the mood for," she shrugged. "Sometimes I choose a lake house or a place in the mountains. I could make this a Swiss chalet, complete with roaring fireplace and bearskin rug. What do you think?"
He tossed the shell back into the water and pulled her into his arms. Instead of being distracted by the way her breasts pressed firmly against his chest, he reveled in it. "I think you belong in the sun, and I really like seeing you in a bathing suit." With that, he pulled loose the ties on the back of her bikini top. "Or not." Without releasing her, he eased the skimpy top out from between them and tossed it into the water, where the next wave took it out of sight.
She cocked her head and smiled. "You know, I could just whip up another one right now."
"Yeah, but you won't," he grinned.
"What makes you think so?"
"Because you know how beautiful you are, and you want me to see it too."
"You're right," she laughed as she took a step back and away from him.
Oh, she was a vision—gold and glowing and practically naked—and just an armslength away. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists.
She stepped back into his arms and put her head on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Angel?"
He struggled to find the right words. "This is so perfect. I just keep expecting to wake up in the box again."
"Then I'll just have to take your mind off of it." She put her arms around her neck and pulled his head down to hers.
If last night's kiss had been a question, this one was an affirmation. There was nothing hesitant about the way she kissed him this time, and he grunted softly as she took his lower lip between hers and pinched it gently with her teeth. Her lips and tongue moved against his insistently, inviting him, no begging him to lose control and follow suit.
Turnabout was fair play and he took her mouth ruthlessly, putting one hand in the small of her back as the other cradled the back of her neck. He'd been gentler than this with Buffy, more considerate of her age and inexperience. But there was something about Cordelia that spurred him on and made him want to prove himself to her, to show her that he was every bit as much a man as the Groosalugg. Hell, he was more than a man.
He could have kissed her like this for hours, but she pulled herself reluctantly away from him with a breathy, "Wow." A sudden breeze caught her hair and she lifted a hand to push it away from her face. "That worked way better than I expected. If I'd known that was all it took to keep you from brooding, I would've tried it a long time ago."
He kissed her again, and this time he kept it slow and sweet, breaking it off when she tried to deepen it. "I guess my secret's out. You won't tell anyone, will you?" he teased.
She used her index finger to draw a symbol over her left breast. "Cross my heart."
And hope to die. He swallowed hard, hoping like hell that she knew what she was doing. A pained expression crossed her face. "What's wrong?"
She put a hand to her head. "This is taking more energy than I expected. We may not have too much time left."
He looked back up the beach at the beach house. "You're sure?"
Cordelia gave him the frustrated glare he'd seen her wear a hundred times. A thousand, maybe. "If you make me beg, I swear that I'll stake you myself when we're—"
She never got the chance to finish. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the beach house. When they got inside, he found that it was a single room, furnished all in white, with long, billowing curtains that moved restlessly in front of the open windows. He deposited her gently on the four-poster bed and climbed in alongside her. Angel took his time and let his fingertips roam over her body as he noted every place that his touch brought a sigh, every place that elicited a giggle or a flinch. He knew he'd never get to use the information again, but he wanted to remember, wanted to relive the time again and again because the memory was all he'd have left after they went back. This time, though, he wouldn't be the only one burdened with the memories. This time, when he looked at Cordelia, she'd remember too. He tried not to think too much about what those memories might do to them later.
Her skin was unbelievably soft, and the more he caressed it, the more sensitive she became. When she finally reached a point where every touch of his hands or his mouth brought a gasp and a slow, deep shudder, he rolled her beneath him before noticing a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. He lifted his head for a moment and saw another flash of lightning in the darkening sky. A fresh gust of wind brought the scents of ozone and imminent rain into the bungalow. "Looks like we're in for a storm. Your doing?"
"I guess," she panted. "I'm not doing it on purpose, but—" she stopped abruptly and arched her back as he moved roughly against her. The lightning flashed again and a distant rumble of thunder echoed across the empty beach. "I'm starting to have a hard time focusing."
"It's about to get a little harder." He used his hands to lift her hips and pull her a little more tightly to him and she stifled a moan by biting at her lower lip. She was so close, and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she finally let go. "It's okay. I've got you." He buried his face in her hair and it crackled beneath his lips as he whispered, "I love you, Cordy." The small hairs on his arms abruptly stood on end. He could feel the power coursing through her, coursing through them, and suddenly he was there and all the light and energy of the universe crashed into him. Deaf and blind, Angel gasped for air that he didn't need as he tried to cope with the onslaught on his senses.
So that was what it was like to be struck by lightning. His vision and hearing returned gradually over the next several seconds.
"I'm sorry." Cordelia's arms tightened around him and she kissed the corner of his jaw. "I'm so sorry, Angel. Are you okay?"
"I think so," he said, "but what the hell was that?"
"I don't know, but I think this is the first time that I've ever been grateful that you're not quite, you know, human. I think it would have probably killed anyone else." He rolled his weight off of her and she put her head on his shoulder and ran her hands lightly over his chest. "I can't hold on much longer, Angel. What if they take me away again?"
"I won't let them," he said with a bravado that he wished he actually felt. "I won't. It's okay. You can let it go."
Her eyelids fluttered once, then again, then slowly came to rest against her skin. He gathered her tightly to him and pressed his lips to her forehead. As her breathing grew slow and regular, he noticed that the walls and ceiling of the beach house were becoming transparent. Moonlight filtered into the room and then began to flicker fitfully as everything around them lost cohesion. The bed beneath them gave way with a sickening jolt and they fell for a very long time.
End of Chapter 6