The Last Cut is the Deepest

Chapter 13

"So you… cursed Spike's lips," Buffy recapped at the end of his confession. "Seriously?"

Angel nodded - and still didn't regret his petty, childish ruse. He figured it was a fair compromise, considering he was restricted from giving Buffy's overover the rest of his well deserved beating-to-death. Was he lacking in spiritual generosity, and quite possibly breaking a few of his own codes about helping others when it came to Spike?

You betcha. And he was perfectly comfortable with his own hypocrisy.

Her expression was somewhere between amused and disapproving. "That's really twisted, Angel."

"I told you I got some satisfaction from our bargain - besides making sure Spike knows I won't let him cause any more trouble."

He loosened his tie as he flopped back on the bed. It had been a long few months, that was for certain, and it didn't promise to get simpler anytime soon. But at least things were better between himself and Buffy… that made anything they had to face that much easier to bear.

She stayed where she was, staring down at him, arms akimbo, frowning in that adorable way she had.

It was good to be home. Angel smiled.

"Uh-huh," she went on, "And he just signed it? Without reading the whole thing? Something that came from *you*? God, my voice is shrill."

Angel winced. "It really is when you get like that."

She gave him a fierce pout. "Like what, exactly?"

"Like indignant," he elaborated quickly, grabbing her hand, cradling it against his chest as he closed his eyes. "Do you want to go get some dinner?"

"No," she vetoed, and plopped down beside him. "I think I'm still sort of stunned into paralysis right now."

"Because you think I made a Devil'rgairgain with Spike?" he shrugged, "I don't see why. It's a perfectly fair arrangement, and I didn't even make him sign it in blood."

Frowning, she replied, "I don't know. I guess I never thought of you being so…"

"Petty? Childish? Obsessively over-competitive? Overprotective? Possessive to the point of being scary?" he guessed, neatly listing his many Spike-related character flaws.

"Yes," Buffy answered honestly, "I mean… I thought you had… I don't know… honor or integrity or something. You're 250 years old, and this is like 3rd grade stuff - at Hell Elementary School."

He cracked one eye open to peer at her. "You asked me to give Spike a chance, and to have some faith in you. I'm doing both. I'm sure you're quick enough to stop him before his mouth gets anywhere near you, right? How is that diabolical?"

She gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look.

Angel turned on his side and gazed down at her gravely. "I want you to be safe, that's all."

Strangely enough, even with Angel's slight bout of adolescent boy-ness when drafting Spike's contract, she believed him. Really, he was entitled to a modest amount of pettiness, wasn't he, since in the end, he was doing the right thing? And knowing full well that bringing up the oft belabored point that she was the Primary Vampire Slayer and well able to take care of herself was mostly useless, she decided to let him have his smidgen of old-fashioned, chauvinistic comfort. For now. Angel had to work out his feelings about Spike in his own time.

"Okay," she finally replied, "I mean, really - how can a girl say no to that?"

Angel gave her a suspicious look. "Like you usually do."

"Well," she explained, snuggling closer to him and tucking her head into the crook of his arm so she could play with his collar. "Maybe I appreciate being protected a little more than I used to. I mean… a big part of my problem was not being able to lay it down and let somebody else carry for a while, right?"

Angel softly kissed her forehead, pleased at the change in her once-rigid independent attitude. "Right."

"So, okay, you threw a mean little testosterone whammy on Spike - I'm not entirely good with that. But the rest… everything that's going on is just… too much for only me. Knowing you're there makes everything else seem easier. I trust Spike, but I understand that you don't. And as long as he behaves himself, which we want him to do anyway, everything will be fine…"

"Mmhm," Angel agreed, and kissed the tip of her nose.

"It's really harmless, when all is said and done. And if it keeps you two from killing each other, it's actually of the good."

"Absolutely," he concurred, and began a slow march of kisses around the line of her jaw.

"Angel?" she asked once he had made his way to gently licking the veins in her neck, sending a blissful shiver up and down her spine.

"Mm?" He flicked his tongue into the hollow at the base of her throat, causing her to instinctively wind her fingers in his thick, soft hair.

"Are you trying to shut me up?"

He paused to flash her a grin. "I wasn't sure if you'd notice."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn't contain her smile, making the glare mostly ineffectual. "This is important."

"I know," he murmured, trailing his tongue slowly across her collarbone. "That's why I want you to stop talking."

Buffy laughed at his gentle stubbornness, but pretty quickly forgot what had been so significant about their conversation to begin with when his hands began to roam, and his mouth with them. He teased one nipple to a diamond-hard peak with a slow circle of his fingertips, then bent down to suckle it through her tee shirt. A tingle claimed her entire body, rushing outward from that single, aching point. She pushed him away enough to yank off his tie and begin frantically working the buttons on his shirt.

"That's enough waiting. I need to feel you," she gasped, "I need your skin against mine. Now."

Angel reached down to still her hands, his expression sober. "No more talking about Spike?"

Buffy smiled, brushing the smooth, pale skin she had just exposed with a fingertip. "Who?"

With a chuckle, he released her hands and dove down to plunder her mouth while she finished stripping off his shirt. He sat up and let the silk fall away, gazing deeply into her eyes as he smoothed his hands beneath hers and up over the warm skin of her belly before cupping her breasts. He felt her heart thunder beneath his palm, and his own preternatural pulse take up the same frantic rhythm - and instinctive answer to her body's primal call. He pulled the shirt up over her head, revealing the soft lines and curves of her torso to the cool air and his hungry gaze.

"God, you're so beautiful…" he whispered, taking time to trace the outline of her magnificent form with his hands: her cheeks and chin, her fine neck and shoulders, the rosy pebbles of her hard nipples, the tight muscles of her stomach. Her fair skin flushed with pleasure, and he could see the blood rushing through her veins, the scent of her growing desire a sweet, musky incense to his heightened senses. A vampire aphrodisiac - the very best. "I'd forgotten how your body comes to life when I touch you."

Buffy sighed deeply, melting under his touch, unable to respond, she was so lost in the sensual exhilaration of his attention. How long had they waited for this - to be able to let go together? How many millions of years had she wanted him just like this, and been denied? She ran her hands slowly up his muscular back, brushed over the cut of his broad, strong shoulders, and wondered all over again at how miraculous his body was. Smooth, cool and hard like the finest chiseled marble, and yet pulsing and shivering with life above her.

"Angel…" she whispered, "Yes…"

The breathless gasp was a gift she gave him - a benediction on the beauty of this long yearned for moment. He bent to nurse at her breasts, nipping and licking until she whimpered with joyful need, her hips thrusting fiercely into him, demanding he bring her release from the sweet torment.

He smiled to himself - they had waited so long for that precious surrender, he was loath to have the journey be so short… in spite of his own body crying out in starvation for hers. Just the sensation of her soft, warm body against his brought a throbbiche che to his groingingging him to meet her thrusts… to seek that final connection even through the barrier of clothing still separating them.

Angel slid down her body, slipping his hands down her sides and claiming the muscles of her rear as his lips trailed cool fire down the center of her form. He tugged her jeans down, carefully licking and kissing each new inch of heated flesh he revealed: the curve of her hip, the hollows of her inner thighs, that sensitive place at bac back of her knees, her tiny ankles, and finally, every millimeter of her fine feet. He drew each toe into his mouth, one by one, sucking them gently, flicking his tongue in between, and by the time her pants were fully gone, Buffy was gripping his shoulders fiercely enough to draw blood, chanting his name like some fervent devotee's prayer.

He repeated his journey in reverse until he reached the juncture of her thighs, and buried his face in the warm, furry mound she kept so carefully trimmed, drinking in the ambrosial musk of her femininity, then drew his tongue in one long, slow stroke over the cleft at her center.

Buffy cried out, clutching desperately at him, tangling her fingers in his hair to urge him deeper. It seemed like an eternity since anyone touched her with such tenderness - and she could let go, trusting Angel would take care of her. She had known the fire of lust… the detached pleasure of a well-worshipped body - but only Angel could give her both passion and the soft dissolution of true lovemaking, where everything she was surrendered to everything he offered.

Angel gently parted her thighs, revealing the heat of her most sacred, secret place, already wet and pulsing, the flushed flesh calling to him to taste… to feast. He slipped his thumbs into her, tenderly peeling open this blessed fruit and bent to indulge in her sweetness.

His cool tongue dipped into her fire, plunging deep, drawing her juices out and flicking tantalizingly over her clit in long, lazy circles, each caress a new shock to her system. A new spark in her blood. How could he know so well just how to caress her - just went to lick, when to nibble, when to suck - when they had spent so little of their time together in physical intimacy? Was this part of what he'd meant when he said their essences knew one another? Did his body just instinctively know what hers needed?

It didn't matter. All she knew was that she had never felt this washed away, this utterly consumed by a man's touch, and when Angel slipped two fingers inside of her and sucked her quivering nub with graduallyreasreasing pressure, it was all she needed.

Buffy went off with a frantic cry as she came, arching off the bed over and over again as Angel continued to devour her, and the pleasure finally tripped over into near-pain. He kept nuzzling her thighs, kissing her belly, lingering on her still throbbing lower body until she rested her hands on his shoulders and pushed him over onto his back.

He grinned. Buffy had never exactly been shy when she was younger, but inexperienced enough to usually want him to take the lead. As she straddled him, holding his gaze with her own passion-heated one, and began working on removing his pants, he was glad to discover yet another wonderful way that his beloved had grown.

He hissed as her hot mouth closed over him, convulsively tangling his fingers in her hair.

"Jesus, Buffy," he gasped, trying to hold back from thrusting deep into her throat.

She glanced up, winked at him, and licked his erection, long and slow from head to root and back again, her strong, gentle hand cupping his balls, rolling them slowly, then brushing feather soft circles on the sensitive flesh with her fingertips. She licked her way back up, and in one smooth motion, swallowed him whole, circling his girthh heh her fingers, stroking in time to her mouth's intense work on his head.

He felt pleasure like nothing he could remember rocketing through his bloodstream, burning away any lingering doubts or worries he might have had.

Or patience. He sat up and pulled her toward him until she straddled his lap, his erection pressed up against her gently curved belly. Their eyes met and held as Buffy rose up to her knees, stroking him as she guided him to her, slipping his cock up and down her steaming cleft, soaking him with her pleasure before taking him that first inch inside.

They both gasped at that nascent contact, and their wondrous gazes remained locked as Angel rested his hands on her hips and slowly eased her onto him until she couldn't take him anyper.per.

Buffy closed her eyes and gave a shuddering sigh. "Oh, Angel… you feel… so…"

"Yes," he whispered, holding back from that first thrust so that he could memorize this moment: the way her kiss-swollen lips parted… the way her hair fell like a silken curtain over her breasts… the warm scent of her skin… and the way her body welcomed his, sharing its life, its heat…

She finally gazed at him again, her mossy eyes gone smoky, and braced her hands on his shoulders. She rose up once more until he was almost all of the way outside her body… and slid, slowly and lazily, back down his length.

Angel moaned, thrusting into her, but letting her control the pace.

Buffy rode him like that… with agonizing care, gripping him with her inner muscles each time she ascended. She had forgotten he was so big… filled her so completely, so perfectly, she could feel it in her heart… her soul. And she wondered, briefly, before the last bit of coherent thought ceased, how she could ever have wanted anyone else inside of her.

He opened his eyes. "You… you're amazing. God… Buffy…"

"Mmm," she moaned, letting her head fall back as she increased her pace just the tiniest, concentrated bit. The hunger only grew… the need to have him deeper, harder, faster, now like an inferno consuming all her carefully laid plans to drive him slowly insane before she lost control. She arched back away from him, flying on the wings of this perfect union - this flawless bliss. Lost in being one with him at last.

Angel reached between them, watching her as he slipped a finger in to caress her clit, stroking in time with her increasingly frantic thrusts until her inner muscles spasmed around him, gripping him, and she gave an ecstatic cry as she came again.

The sound of her jubilant wail… the feel of her surrounding him so completely… ripped the last of his restraint to shreds. Years of dreaming, of denial, of want and need tore through him, and with a growl, he flipped her onto her back beneath him and drove, deep and hard, into her.

"More! God, Angel! Harder!" she shouted, digging her nails into the firm muscles of his rear. "Please! PLEASE!"

"Uh… Buffy… I love you so much," he cried, leaning up so he could look into her eyes as they climbed the last crest of pleasure together. "I've needed you for so long… like this… part of me…"

She caressed his beautiful face, and felt her eyes fill. "Me too. I never thought… I'd be with you again…"

He slowed his thrusts until their joining because a languid, sensual dance, and he slid in and out of her in perfect rhythm with her pounding pulse. She met each move he made in kind - each kiss, each touch, every relaxed, stirring thrust, until she felt as though they had truly become a single being… at last.

This new rapture peaked in a slow, rippling wave, taking her gently from the inside, radiating outward until both of them trembled with the ecstasy of it, and the blissful strain of struggling to make it last.

Teetering on the edge of a feeling she had never experienced before, Buffy cupped his face between her hands. "It's… only been… you, Angel. Ever. Always," she vowed breathlessly, "Come with me. go go with me. I need you. We've waited long enough."

Her gentle words rocked him, and Angel leaned down to claim las last, soul-deep kiss as the wave broke, shattering them both into a billion shining pinpoints of light.

"I love you, Angel," she whispered as she floated into a sated rest she'd waited a decade to take, their bodies still entwined, and their hearts singing together.

"I love you too, Buffy," he replied, kissing away the single tear that slipped down her cheek before wrapping her in his arms. "Forever. No matter what."

And this time, he meant it without reservation.

~

The End.

Stay Tuned for Part III of the "Scratch" series, "Ricordisi Di" (Remember), coming soon!