“Can I see the room Cordy stays in before we go to bed?” She looked at Angel’s broad and very naked back before he turned to face her. His taut muscles rippled as he moved, Dawn’s mouth went a little dry.
Going to bed. This is completely innocent, Angel. Just sleeping. That’s it. Then Angel frowned. What else did she say? Then he remembered. “Sure, princess.” Then he cast a glance in her direction. He stumbled on the rug slightly. Alcohol had a way of making him clumsier.“Why would you wanna do that?”
“Curious. She always looks so perfect, so put together. I just wanna see what her room looks like.” Dawn lied easily. Angel looked doubtful, still able to be somewhat reasonable even in his inebriated state. She pouted though and he relented. He hated to upset her and that little girl pouting was impossible for him to resist. He was such a sucker.
That didn’t make much sense but Angel nodded. “This way.” He pointed and they walked down the hall to it. Dawn entered and quickly began snooping. “What are you doing, princess?”
“Looking for stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“Yep, interesting stuff. Used to do that to Buffy all the time. I just think its fun to see what people own. Tells you a lot about who they are.”
Angel thought about it a moment. If anyone could see some of things in his closet. . .well, they were Angelus’ but he hadn’t got rid of those leather pants and other. . .accessories. Then he spied a bottle of wine in a drawer that Dawn had opened. She could lead anyone down the path of temptation.“Okay.” He snatched it up. He smirked as he began to sort through another drawer in the bureau. Let’s see what Cordy’s been hiding from me. He found a Bon Jovi C.D. “I love these guys!” He said and handed it to Dawn looking at her expectantly. She didn’t appear as excited as he was.
“Never heard of them.” Dawn said, giving him back the C.D. She’d never been into 80's rock. “If it were Backstreet Boys, I would have done a little happy dance.” She went back to perusing, finding some choice make-up items.“There’s the stereo if you wanna listen.” She pointed to the corner of the room casually.
Angel had a wicked grin on his face as he popped the C.D. in and cued up his favorite song. “Lay Your Hands on Me.” When he was Angelus once again in Sunnydale he’d discovered this particular group. He’d often blared the music in the mansion, inciting Dru to dance with him. It had driven Spike nuts, so he had made sure to play it often. He hadn’t been able to shake the fondness for their music since he’d regained his soul.
Dawn stared at him as the music came on and Angel drunkenly sang along with the recorded voices. He caught her dubious look and winked at her. Then he jumped on top of the bed, doing his best rock star impersonation. “Now listen up. I’m a fighter. I’m a poet. I’m a preacher. I’ve been to school and baby. . .I’ve been the teacher. If you show me how to get up off the ground, I can show you how to fly and never ever come back down.” He grinned down at her. “ Everything you want is what I need. Your satisfaction is . . . ,uh, guaranteed.” He thrust his hips from side to side with the music. “Nothin’ ever comes for free. If you want me to lay my hands on you. . . Lay your hands on me, lay your hands on me. Lay your hands on me.” He ran a hand down his chest. “ All you gotta do is. Lay your hands on me. Lay your hands on me. Lay your hands on me!” Then he dropped to the bed and played air guitar while he laid down on his back.
When the guitar solo was over he began to sing again. “Oh, baby, don’t you know I only aim to please?” He propped himself up on his side to face her. He stared straight into her eyes and the music quieted almost sounding church-like. He sounded like a traveling preacher in one of those tent shows. “If you want me to lay my hands on you. . . watcha you gotta do is. . .lay ‘em on me. Come on, come on, come on.” He crooked a finger at her. Without thought Dawn approached him.
She sought his lips with her own and he kissed her for the first time. The first time without the excuses they used. This wasn’t about making Spike jealous. Or a joke that they could both laugh off. Or deviling Riley, which was a better past time than you might imagine. This was about them. Dawn and Angel. It was incredible and terrible at the same time. They pulled apart, both gasping. Angel pressed a hand to his forehead. “Dawn, I’m s–“
”Don’t you dare. We both know that we both enjoyed that.” She looked at him crossly as the implications settled in. “Damn it! I don’t need this right now! I’ve almost got Spike. Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to be with him?!”
“You think I wanted this to happen?”
“No.” She sighed. “You just like to flirt. I’m someone fun to tease around with.”
“Me? I like to flirt?”
“Yes, you! You’re the flirt here! ‘Oh, we gotta fool ‘em, Dawn. Don’t you want to win, Dawn? Just ignore me while I nibble on you.’”
“I’m doing all of this to help you, remember?”
“I remember.” She took a deep breath. “We’ve got to stop fighting. This isn’t helping. We just have to acknowledge it , say we won’t act on it, and it will go away.”
He snorted. “I don’t think so, little girl. You’ve got a lot to learn about desire.”
Dawn shook her head in disgust. “I suppose you want to teach me? Thanks for my daily dose of 1950's machismo, but I’ll pass.”
Angel’s face lost all traces of anger. “I do want to teach you.” His eyes were lit with a fierce passion. “More than you know.”
“Stop that!” She turned away. “I can’t think when you do that.” She scooted back from him and leapt off the side of the bed. Then promptly tripped over a book that had been partially shoved under the bed. Dawn landed on her backside. “OW!”
Angel chuckled darkly and slid over to the side of the bed. “I would offer to kiss it and make it better but you’d–“
”Kick your ass?”
“Is that an offer?”
“Help me up! And keep your dirty mind to yourself.” He reached out and helped her up, quickly releasing her when he was finished. “What was that?” She bent down and picked it up. “Darkest Desire.” Dawn held it up and showed him the cover. “Look, the guy’s wearing a cape.”
Angel peered at the cover. “She needs some more clothes. What’s wrong with his teeth?”
“He’s got fangs.” She read the back cover. “I think it’s a romance novel.”
Angel looked worried. “Hey. Do you think she was reading that? A romance book about vampires. . .Cordy wants me.” Then he got a very male grin on his face. “Oh, yeah. Cordy wants me. She thinks I’m sexy.” He snatched the book from her and began browsing, looking for some insight into his seer. After a moment he looked up at Dawn and started in a sing-song voice, “She wants to date me . . .”
Dawn rolled her eyes but a small giggle burst from her lips.
“She wants to hu-ug me. . . .” Dawn threw a pillow at him. “She wants to ki-iss me . . .” ********
“You’re lookin’ kinda done in, pet. Wanna go home?’
“Thought you’d never ask.” Faith scooped up her lighter and cigarettes and shoved them in her jeans pocket. She followed him out the door, leaving the hustle and bustle of Caritas behind.
The night air was cool and invigorating. Faith was restless, time like this made her want to pick a fight with someone. Spike was off limits, being helpless and all. It was a pity. He’d killed two slayers and Faith wanted to test her skills against him. She knew that she had nothing to fear from the vampire but she still wanted to know who was better. “So, you’re still chipped huh?”
Spike tensed. “Yes.” He said warily. “What’s it to you, ducks?”
“Aren’t we jumpy? I was just making sure, I’m in the mood for a good fight.”
“You want to see if I could beat you.” He smirked, lighting up. “I’d have drained you dry if I were the vamp I used to be.”
“No, I would have beat you senseless and then dusted you off my jeans at the end of the night.”
“If you say so, pet.”
“I say so.” Faith clenched her jaw mulishly.
