Nibblet Ch. 13

“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.

“Alright.” He opened the door of the Desoto and let her climb inside. Then he shut the door and rounded the car. He slid inside and flashed her a pearly smile. “Y’know, that’s not what I wonder about the two of us.”

“What do you wonder about?”

“That night at the Bronze.” Spike tilted his head to the side as he watched her with a thoughtful expression. “That was the reason I got interested in the Slayer, y’know. It was you, not Buffy. Never had any woman approach me like that before. ”

“Oh.” She flushed a little. “I just saw you standing there and–“

”I know.” He reached out and lifted her chin. “What do you think would have happened if we’d followed through on it?”

“I don’t know.” She winked at him. “But it might not have been bad.”

He released her and started the engine. Then he gave her a sly smile. “Did I ever tell you why they started calling me the ‘Big Bad’?” **********

“I hate you.” Dawn cried, glaring at Angel.

“Yes. But am I exciting you? Here I am, kneeling in front you. Begging you.” His voice lowered. “Don’t you want to feel me?” She didn’t speak. “Answer me. Tell me you crave my touch.”

“I don’t!”

“You lie.”

“Please. Don’t. Don’t do this, you’re just trying to hurt me.”

“Hurt you?”

“No, I’m not hurting you. Don’t try to guilt me out of this. I know you want me. Want this.”

“Please. Don’t.”

“Don’t you know that ‘don’t’ is a challenge, my dear?”

“I don’t want this.”

“I know you do. Don’t close your eyes. You won’t escape me that way.”

“Do you know what your doing?

“I do.” Then he sighed, growling low in his throat. “Oh, yes. Like that.”

“What? Like this?”

He groaned. “Feels so good. Can’t stop.”

“Don’t want you to.”

“I knew you did. You just had to let me have my way with you, liebling.”

Outside Cordelia’s door, another vampire and another Slayer sat. They’d arrived late in the conversation and had went to listen when they noticed it was sexual in nature.“Move.” Spike hissed.

“Why?”

“I’m going to break that bloody door down and have my way with him.” Spike balled up a fist.

“I can’t believe–“ Faith was getting angrier by the second. “How dare he? She’s never. . .and he’s so. . .”

“Old. That’s what he is. He is so old.”

“And what the hell is a liebling?”

“I don’t know, but I can beat it out of him.” Spike glared at the door.

“I bet it’s dirty.”

“Bloody bastard, got her liquored up and now he’s seduced my nibblet. That’s supposed to be me in there!”

She smacked his arm. “No one is supposed to seduce her. She’s an innocent.”

“Not anymore. No thanks to the great poof from beyond.” He stood up. “I’ve had quite enough!” He kicked the door in and burst into the room angrily. “Get the hell off my sweet bit!”

Angel rolled over in the bed and glared at his childe. “You’re going to pay for that door.”

“I’m going to pay? You’re going to pay for taking what’s mine. Just like you always do, you selfish poof.” Then he got a closer look at the scene. “Hey. Why are you both dressed?”

Angel gave him a toothy grin and ran a hand down his own hip. “Disappointed?”

“Piss off, pops.” He went to the bed and grabbed Dawn up and onto her feet. “You alright, bit?”

“Yes.” She dropped the book she’d been holding onto the bed.

“You don’t look like you’ve just been shagged. Though Peaches is bloody quick with that.” She raised an eyebrow. “So I’ve heard.”

“No shagging occurred.”

“Then what the hell were you doing with him, then?” He was suspicious by nature.

“Reading. A dramatic reading, actually.”

Faith walked into the room. “Must of been some book.” She exhaled in relief. Everyone was fully clothed. No, she hadn’t been worried. No, not at all.

“It was. “ Dawn grinned, still tipsy. “Lots of vampire sex.”

Spike sneered at his sire. “What? Did he need a soddin’ how-to guide?”

She handed Spike the book. “It’s Cordy’s. It’s all about a normal human woman’s romance with a vampire.”

Spike glanced down at the book, then back at Peaches. Belatedly, his mind caught up with what his eyes had just read. “Is that even possible? How bendy can a regular mortal be?”

Dawn giggled. Faith smiled. Angel glowered. Spike kept reading.

“This belongs to Cordy?”

Angel and Dawn nodded solemnly.

“She wants to date you.” ***********

Faith stumbled on her way to pick up the phone and Spike raced past her. “What the bloody hell do you want?”

“Spike? What are you doing there?”

“Bloody bloody hell!” Spike nearly dropped the phone. “Hey! It’s the Slayer!” He repositioned the phone on his ear. “How’s Capt. Cardboard, Bitchey–I mean, uh, Buffy? What’s the matter? He can’t figure out what goes where?”

“Spike! Shut up! Where’s my sister?”

“Having hot chocolate with Fai—uh, Peaches.” His eyes darkened. “I think there’s something you should know.” ***********

Faith turned the page in the book, and Dawn started giggling again. They were hunched over the small volume, sneaking a quick peek while Angel made them hot chocolate. “Now, that’s just a lie. I’ve never met a guy who came close to doing that.”

Dawn looked at her. “Like you know women who can do that.” She pointed at the next passage.

“I can.”

“Really?” Dawn looked somewhere between shocked and envious.

“Can what?” Angel walked into the room. Faith panicked and still a bit tipsy, tossed the book over her shoulder with a sound that was suspiciously close to an “eep.”

Angel walked around them and picked up the book. He looked at the page that it was folded to. “Really?” ***********

“And then he called her something really dirty, that I’d rather not repeat. No, I’m not lying!” He paused a moment. Then he turned toward the kitchen. “PEACHES!! Phone for you. It’s important. Unlife or death!”

Angel strode quickly into the room, glad that vampires couldn’t blush. He tried to keep the disturbing mental images out of his mind. Absently, he picked up the phone. “Hello?” He listened for a moment. “Well, that was rude and uncalled for.” He thought for a second. “And since when do we greet people with that word?”

Spike sat down on the floor and howled with laughter as Angel listened to the allegations the Slayer was making. Faith and Dawn came into to see what was going on and he motioned them to join him.

“I AM not. I don’t even like children very much in the normal way!” Angel looked aghast. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that word before.” He cringed. “I’m not sure you’re using it right.”

Spike reached up to put the conversation on speaker phone, and Angel slapped his hand away. “You’ve never even met my mother.” Angel glared at Spike and mouthed, “What did you tell her?”

Spike shrugged in innocence, then shouted, “Did I tell you he took her to a bar first! She’s still drunk!”

“Am not!” Dawn protested. “Who’d you tell?”

“Your sister.” Faith grinned. The trio looked back at Angel.

“I AM NOT!” Angel loudly proclaimed. “Ok, maybe a little.” He winked at Dawn.

“He just winked at her! Dirty old man!” Spike projected his voice towards the phone.

“Buffy! I don’t think it would be physically possible for me to do that.” A thought crossed his mind. “Besides do you want another visit from Angelus?” There was a beat as everybody thought that one out. “I am NOT going evil again. Why does everybody ask me that? Sure, you can talk to Dawn.”

“Hello, Buffy?” Dawn glanced nervously at Angel. “No, he’s not wearing any leather.” Her eyes widened. “Eww! Yes, he has clothes on. No, he didn’t try to show me his tattoo. Besides I’ve already seen it.” She blushed. “NO! He trains with his shirt off.” Her eyes widened further. “Wait! There’s another one?” She looked Angel over appraisingly, as she covered the phone with her hand. “How’d you hide that in a speedo?”

“Probably under his large ass!” Spike proclaimed wide eyed. Just before Angel tackled him.

“Hey stop that! You’re going to get all dirty on the floor like that!” Dawn chastised before turning her attention back to the phone. “Yeah.” Beat. “Spike.” Beat. “And Angel.” Beat. “Floor, yup.” Beat. “Not sure.” Beat. “Yeah, we all knew it , too.”

Angel and Spike sprang apart. “NO! We didn’t!”

“A what? All three of us?” Dawn looked confused. “At the same time?” Spike and Angel burst into laughter. Dawn looked to Faith. “I thought that was a type of pie? Faith, why are you laughing?”

Dawn gripped the phone and turned her back on them. “I’m pretty sure Angel’s bed wouldn’t hold all four of us anyway, Buffy.” She made a face. “Besides she’s almost like a sister or a parent. Ewww.” Angel, Spike and Faith were wiping their eyes and trying to compose themselves.

Finally, Angel stumbled to his knees and crossed the floor. Clumsily, he took the phone from Dawn. “And I thought Riley was one of those corn-fed Iowa types. Who knew he was into all of that.” He listened for another moment, but he was becoming very sleepy. “Well, where else did you learn all that stuff? It wasn’t from me.” Dawn was already reclining on Spike and Faith had her eyes closed. “Nothing else to do on a farm, I guess. Hey, keep him away from the goats.” Ahh, to hell with it. He leaned over and hung up the phone.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “I hope Cordy has a dustbuster.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t.” Angel sighed dramatically as he lay back. Then he gave a half-hearted smile. “Hey, maybe she’ll protect me. She wants to da-ate me . . .she thinks I’m se-exy . . .”

“She’s the only one. Poof.”