It was incomprehensible. Cordelia was... well, she was a vampire, that's what she was, and it was all her fault. Not that she really could have done anything to prevent it since how was she to know that Cordelia was going to appear at the library of all places and find her vampy look-alike, but it still felt like her fault.
Because, well, VampWillow had looked exactly like her, especially in that outfit, and they hadn't thought to put up any signs or anything to warn people. No "Do Not Release Nerd From Cage" signs or "Keep Back -- Looks Fluffy But Will Bite" signs or even really just figured that leaving the vampire there alone without anyone guarding her who actually knew what was going on was maybe a bad idea.
Which lead, of course, to the biting and the bloodsucking and the turning, and she really didn't want to think about that. Didn't want to think about VampWillow with her hands and lips and teeth all over her Cordelia, didn't want to think about her lover... well, ex-lover, dying right there in the library. Oh, and then there was Cordelia's whole capture and torture of Xander thing, and she just really didn't want to think about that either. What was it with vampires and secrets. Just couldn't keep them, could they?
They'd carted the extremely weak Xander out of the library and over to the hospital for a little emergency transfusion, and the entire time he babbled. Most of it was insensible, the loss of blood thankfully reducing his verbal meanderings to the less than understandable range, but she'd managed to pick out enough to make her nervous. Things like "janitor's closet" and "she showed me" and "I watched you" and "should really get fucked", none of which served to calm her mind in the least. No, they were all a bit too specific for her tastes, and she wasn't at all comfortable with the implications of the "showed me" and "watched you" parts of the babbling.
Add to that was the whole "I can't let you kill her, Buffy" part of the evening, which would probably have been wise thing for the Slayer to do since Cordelia was, after all, now a vampire, and it just seemed to be the icing on the cake of her very bad day. Hell, Cordelia hadn't ever really been the nicest human around, and with what little there was of her soul stripped away, Willow could imagine that things in a world containing a VampCordy... actually no, she couldn't imagine it. To be truthful, she really didn't want to try and imagine it. Suffice it to say, she wasn't at all certain that Cordelia as a vampire was going to show any of the restraint that she hadn't had as a human. Hadn't she proven that already by going after Xander? No doubt she would have killed him had it not been for their timely arrival. Or, untimely arrival, depending on just whose perspective one was taking.
She couldn't let Buffy do it though, couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Cordelia was gone. Not gone in the sense of no longer there because she ever so clearly was still there. Oh, and thanks to her for taking it upon her vamp self to out Willow in the school hallway. That's something that she'd always wanted to happen, yes indeedy doo. Not that it really would have mattered, what with the divulging of secrets that Cordelia had engaged in with Xander, but maybe she could have done something to head off total disclosure at the pass. Bribes were a good thing and had always seemed to work with Xander before, but Miss Lips had pretty much taken that option right on out of the picture.
Well, in Cordelia's favor, she guessed that 'out' was maybe too inclusive. It wasn't like she had gotten lusty with any other girls. Just Cordy. Though, there had to be something in the fact that they were going on two years of lustiness together since she hadn't ever managed to sustain a relationship of that length with anyone ever, not even her fish. Oh, and that brought up bad memories. Buffy's boyfriend goes bad, and what does he do? Raids her fish tank. Angelus just had to kill her unsuspecting fishies, didn't he? All of them too. Not just a couple, but a fish necklace.
Which was really not on point at all, other than to reinforce the fact that having a soulless Cordelia running around unchecked in the greater Sunnydale area bore all the earmarks of a supremely bad thing. And it was just unsettling, knowing that her lover was a vampire. As if she hadn't had to deal with enough recently. Finding out that she was this evil, slightly trampy and utterly oversexed vampire in another dimension was pretty bad, but now... well, dealing with the fact that her trampy alter ego had turned her extremely hidden secret lover into a vampire as well was perhaps pushing things a little too far. A girl could only take so much before things started to become superfluous. Really, a little evil was just fine to jack up the readings on her "surviving evil" meter. There wasn't any need to overdo things.
And now she didn't know what to do. Should she let Buffy hunt down Cordelia? Should she approach the new VampCordelia and somehow try to reason with her? Should she move to Uzbekistan and hope never to be contacted by anyone that she had ever known ever again? Surely there had to be some fanatical nun-type cult out there just waiting to recruit a sweet, innocent little thing like her.
Well, okay. So maybe she wasn't really all that sweet nor all that innocent, but she still looked the part. And it wasn't entirely all her fault that all that purity had been sucked away. Cordy had played a sizable role in that little endeavor. And hey, come to think of it, she was completely responsible for that sucking away of purity thing. Oz was... well, Oz was the sweetest little semi-canine on two legs, but as far as the whole corrupting thing went, Cordelia had him beat hands down. Literally.
The really disturbing thing, now that she'd had the time to sit down and obsess over it, was that she was really going to miss Cordelia. It wasn't like they hadn't had their share of good times, and not all of those were in bed either. Well, most of them were in bed, but there'd been other good times too. Like that time at the hospital, right after she'd suffered that little head trauma while trying to restore Angel's soul. Cordelia had come to see her every day, and even brought entertainments. Not that Willow really had been absolutely dying to have Cordy read an entire issue of Cosmo to her in one sitting, but it had still been sweet, in its own little way. And, she really hadn't minded the manicures, even if she wasn't quite sure that she would have painted her nails "Orangesicle Dream" on her own. And, well, you had to admire the dexterity of someone who could manage to do in a hospital bed some of the things Cordy had done.
With a sigh, Willow wrapped her arms around a nearby pillow. Eyes drifting shut, she pondered that their time spent between the sheets or wherever, probably, for better or for worse, actually did comprise the majority of her fond memories. Like that one time when her parents had taken that weekend retreat to Phoenix and she'd woken up from a short nap induced by a long Saturday afternoon spent lounging around in bed with Cordelia only to find the brunette's side empty. Not gone, as she'd soon learned, eyes drawn upward by the shadow draping across her room.
"I was wondering where that had gone," Willow said lazily, rolling up on her side in the bed, dragging the sheet with her so that it was wrapped loosely around her upper torso.
Cordelia stood in the doorway, wearing a grin and Willow's pajama top. Well, she was barely wearing Willow's pajama top, having only bothered to do up two of the buttons. It was light blue, with multi-colored cartoon cats chasing each other around, and Willow was quite sure that it had never looked quite like that on her.
Walking slowly across the room, fully aware of just how much lightly tanned skin she was exposing with each step, Cordelia reached the bed and stopped, her belly only a few scant feet away from Willow's extremely interested eyes. "Oh, so I'm a that now? What kind of that? That heinous bitch? That 'ho? That girl who gave me the most intense orgasm of my life and then left?" she teased, leaning forward slightly so that her knees were perched on the edge of the mattress.
"Actually, I was talking about my PJ top," Willow said distractedly, one hand sneaking over to wrap around the back of Cordelia's thigh, urging her forward.
With a sigh, Cordelia inched forward a little more so that she was actually kneeling on the bed, looming over the still reclining Willow. "Its called flirting, hon. Try to actually engage in it next time."
Russet brows drew together in consternation at that, and Willow let her hand fall to the bed, choosing to focus on the conversation for a moment. "That was flirting?"
"It was trying to be, but alas, I'm dealing with you and so it failed horribly," Cordelia said sighing again. She was really good at playing aggrieved. But, deciding that she'd had enough of the conversing part of the evening, she reached down, tugging lightly on the sheet covering Willow's torso, sliding it slowly down her body.
Unwilling to let the subject go quite yet, Willow caught the retreating sheet, hauling it back up her body so that it was once again firmly entrenched over her naked chest. "But why would you flirt with me?" she asked, genuinely confused, a frown tugging at her features. "I mean, its not like you have to go through all that 'trying to get in my pants' verbal foreplay, you know. You've already been in my pants. Or my skirt. Or my pants and my skirt, but not at the same time because that'd just look really silly. Maybe I should say panties, because I always wear those. Unless I'm not wearing them, but if I'm not wearing them then its usually because you've already gotten inside them."
Barely resisting the urge to massage away the headache sneaking up behind her temples, Cordelia crawled further onto the bed, moving so that she straddled Willow's prone form, settling down lightly on the smaller girl's sheet covered belly. "See, this is why I prefer those times when you're using your tongue for things other than talking. Those times turn out well. The talking times do not."
For a moment, Willow looked perturbed by that. Then, slowly, a sly grin spread across her face, and her hands moved up to slide over Cordelia's thighs again, coming to a stop with her thumbs resting over the ticklish flesh where the other girl's legs met her hips. "Are you saying that my oral skills are more than satisfactory, Cordy? The non-verbal ones, that is."
Cordelia chewed on the side of her lip for a moment, looking off to the side as if in deep thought, eyes twinkling with amusement. "I don't know. I mean, its been so long since I had a demonstration that I can't really remember."
"So long?" Willow squawked, outraged. "An hour, at the most."
"Sorry," Cordelia replied, sighing forlornly. "Its all a blur. Must not have made an impression..."
Irritably, Willow shot up, pushing Cordelia back so that she tumbled onto the bed, a surprised shriek flying past the brunette's lips, filling the room. Taking a moment to survey her triumph before wiggling out from under the other girl's upturned form, the red-head slid off the bed. Standing beside it so that her back was turned, she waited, a slight smile stretching across her features as she heard the rustling behind her come to a stop.
Seconds later, a tentative voice drifted over her. "Willow? I didn't mean... I mean, come on. I was only teasing."
Taking another moment to school her features into a stern mask, Willow turned slowly. Cordelia was kneeling in the center of the bed, a repentant look creasing her features. She was the picture of contrition, and it took all Willow had in her not to laugh.
Arching a brow, Willow watched as Cordelia grew increasingly uncomfortable. Her fingers started fretting nervously with the hem of the pajama top that she was still wearing, eyes cast down.
"Don't be mad at me," the brunette pouted, crawling forward slowly until she was at the edge of the bed, hazel eyes looking up imploringly.
Shaking her head slightly, Willow crossed her arms across her chest, frowning sternly. "Sit," she commanded, a smile of gratification creasing her features when Cordelia immediate plopped to the bed, her legs unfolding from underneath her to swing lazily off the edge of the mattress.
"Willow, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. Really," Cordelia said pleadingly. She hated it when Willow got moody, but was well aware that she'd have to work her way back into the little red-head's graces before the loving would resume. Which was okay, really, because the effort ultimately turned out to be quite worth it.
In lieu of answering, Willow slid down to her knees on the carpet, inches away from the edge of the bed. Seconds later her hands had lifted Cordelia's thighs over her shoulders, and she smiled wolfishly before bending down, her tongue licking a wide path up through the other girl's exposed sex. At the brunette's gasp, she pulled back, smirking.
"I can too flirt," she said triumphantly before dipping her head down once again.
Cordelia's fingers immediately latched onto her head, winding through long red tresses as she babbled her appreciation of Willow's undoubtedly fine flirting technique.
Yeah, those had been good times.
"Thinking about me?"
Willow looked up with a gasp, shrieking when she saw the figure lounging in her doorway in a strange, somewhat horrifying counterpoint to her recent memories. A quick scramble up the bed, and she was cowering against the headboard, pillow clenched tightly in front of her chest as if it could somehow protect her.
"But... you... how did... you can't come in here..." she spluttered, eyes wide with fear. Great, she'd convinced Buffy not to kill Cordelia only to have the vampire show up just in time to off her. Wonderful foresight she'd shown there.
"Hmm? Oh that not being invited thing? Your mom got a new Welcome mat. You really should talk to her about those things. No telling who might see it and actually think that they're, oh, I don't know... welcome," Cordelia said with a smirk, moving slowly across the room. "And what's with all the running scared vibes I'm getting here, Will? You not happy to see me?"
"No... I mean, I'd be happy to see you if you were really Cordelia, but you're not Cordelia. You're an evil vampire demon-thingie that looks like Cordelia, and I want you to leave. You're unwelcome, officially, as of right now," Willow stammered, discreetly reaching for her portable phone. Not that calling 911 would really do her any good, but she did have Buffy on speed dial. Come to think of it, Sunnydale really should look into getting some kind of "Buffy 911" system going because she was quite certain that the Slayer was far more helpful than the Sunnydale PD could ever hope to be.
Cordelia pouted for a moment, the expression completely ruined by the lecherous gleam in her eyes. "Doesn't quite work like that, lover," she smirked, crawling up on the bed. She advanced, slinking forward on all fours, until she was hovering over Willow's prone form. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me. Where's the love?"
"You... you... if you don't get off me right now, I'll... I'll do a spell. Yeah, that's right. A spell. Then you'd wish that you'd just left me alone," Willow said defiantly, trying not to look as scared as she felt. She had a sinking suspicion that it wasn't working.
Settling back on her haunches, letting her weight rest on Willow's abdomen, Cordelia cocked her head to the side, studying the other girl intently. Then, with a lightening quick move of her hand, she grabbed the phone that Willow had stealthily been trying to use, tossing it across the room. "Well, now that we don't have to worry about the calvary, how's about you and I have a little chat?" she purred, dropping her fingers down to rest on the red-head's sides, tracing them up and down lightly, tickling the flesh there.
Willow gulped. She was scared and she was aroused, and she wasn't sure which one was more upsetting. Well, actually, scared was a pretty valid feeling. She was, after all, facing death. The arousal thing was something different. That one was just kind of yuck.
"Is this a quick little chat before I kill you kind of chat, or is this a I should go downstairs and make tea kind of chat?" she asked nervously, squirming under Cordelia's teasing touch. She really would prefer to be doing her chatting somewhere else. Not pinned to the bed by her now vampire ex-lover would probably be a good start.
With a small smile, Cordelia moved her fingers upward, inching them under the hem of Willow's sweater. The red-head gasped, more from surprise than anything else. Cordelia's fingers weren't really as cold as she'd anticipated. She'd always imagined vampires as cold beings, but was suddenly hit with the realization that the blood that they devoured obviously did a little bit to warm them back up. Which meant, from the relative warmth of the fingers against her skin, that Cordelia had fed recently.
"I'm not going to kill you," Cordelia murmured, moving her fingers ever higher until a good portion of Willow's belly was exposed, the silky white skin glowing in harsh contrast to the maroon of her sweater. "Unless you want me to, that is. Its good on this side, Will. Better than you could possibly imagine."
Fighting down a shiver, Willow tried to pry her mind away from the fingers now tracing light, abstract patterns over the silk of her bra and focus on Cordelia's words. "I think I'd rather stay alive," she murmured quietly. Just like Cordelia had probably wanted to stay alive, and would be if not for their oversight. This was her fault, and really, she should just go ahead and accept whatever punishment the vampire above her chose to mete out.
"Hmmm, if you insist," Cordelia hummed, smiling lazily. "Arms up."
Without thinking, Willow obeyed, realizing the other girl's intent only when the bulky sweater was pulled free of her frame and tossed off to the side. "Cordy... uh... what're you doing?"
Which, she mused, was really a rather stupid question.
Cordelia frowned, nails that had up until then been only scratching lazy designs on the silk of Willow's bra suddenly digging harshly into the flesh. "Why? Not interested anymore now that you've got Xander to play around with?"
Willow winced, hands coming up instinctively to pull at Cordelia's wrists, not surprised to find that she couldn't move them. "Ow, ow, ow. Nails, Cordy. Nails."
Willing herself to relax, Cordelia loosened her grip, petting the aggrieved skin almost gently. Her frown didn't go away, though, and Willow's mind raced, grabbing at the tails of any explanations that she could see.
"No, its not that. Its just... I don't know..." she trailed off, head turning to the side. Her eyes fell on the mirror, and she jerked slightly, surprised. The view was quite disconcerting, what with her laying unmoving on the bed, held down by what appeared to be an invisible source. What was Cordelia going to do now that she couldn't look at herself in the mirror? With a shiver, Willow hoped that she was far, far away when the other girl figured out that little side-effect.
Cordelia's fingers were tightening again, and the red-head shifted uncomfortably once more, trying to wiggle free of the biting hold. "Is it because I'm a vampire? Because, that's fairly hypocritical coming from a girl who dated a werewolf. And besides, I wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for you, now would I?"
Once again, Willow was left scrambling for an answer, searching for anything that wouldn't further enrage the woman currently looking down at her with more than a little anger lighting her gaze. "Uh, no... its not that. Its just... uh, I saw what you did to Xander this afternoon, and, uh..."
Again, she trailed off, not quite sure where she was going and even more uncertain if she wanted to put ideas into Cordelia's head. Not that the whole urge to torture and maim didn't seem to be an automatically installed component of the whole demon thing, but still, it was best to leave certain options unraised.
When a slightly cool hand drifted up to caress her cheek, Willow nearly jumped off the bed in surprise. "Poor baby. You think I'm going to hurt you? I'm not going to hurt you. I couldn't hurt you," Cordelia said softly, the words almost frightening Willow more than anything else that had gone before. Now she was apparently dealing with an obsessed undead Cordelia, and she appeared to be the object of the other girl's focused attention. Oh yeah... that was really going to turn out well for her.
"But you hurt Xander," she countered slowly, not certain if continuing with this line of conversation was wise, but knowing that she preferred it to the obviously more upsetting to Cordelia one that they'd been engaged in before.
There was a slight tug on the button of her pants, the rasp of a zipper, and then Willow felt slim fingertips dancing across the skin of her lower abdomen. "But he deserved it," Cordelia contended, absently stroking her lover's flesh. She loved the way Willow felt, so warm beneath her. "He hurt me. He hurt you. I just couldn't allow it."
Not sure if she should continue on this path or not but unwilling to pass up a window of opportunity, Willow replied cautiously, "But it hurt me when you hurt him."
The fingers on her belly tightened, and Willow winced. She was going to have bruises tomorrow. Well, if she lived until tomorrow, that was.
"Because you love him?" Cordelia rasped angrily, eyes narrowing.
"No... no, not because I love him," Willow hastened to reassure the vampire, trying to ignore the dull pain of sharp nails digging into the soft flesh of her stomach and instead concentrate on what she was saying. "Its just that he's my friend, and I don't like to see my friends in pain. I don't like to see you in pain, Cordy."
The fingers eased once more, and Willow drew in a ragged sigh of relief. Vampires were obviously extremely moody and prone to little fits of violence when not happy. She'd have to remember that. Otherwise the bruising would have her in some type of abused child intervention program. Well, maybe not at Sunnydale actually, because she wasn't at all certain that the school administration paid attention to such things.
"That's good," Cordelia said decisively, adding absently, "Take off your bra. Its beginning to annoy me."
Willow gulped, but moved to follow the order. Thankfully it was a front clasp bra, because she'd have hated to have tried to maneuver her way out of the other kind without once again drawing the wrath of the ever so touchy vampire perched on her belly.
"You know," Cordelia began, idly drawing circles with her nails up Willow's torso, leaving flaming lines of red wherever she'd been, "I was in love with you. When I was a human. Maybe I still am."
Gasping, brows drawing together in consternation, Willow tried to process that little fact. "You, in love with me?" she repeated dumbly, ignoring the way her stomach muscles jumped under Cordelia's ministrations. The faint scratch actually felt really, really good, and she was horribly aware of the fact that, despite herself, she was quite aroused.
"Uh-huh," Cordelia replied distractedly, shifting up so that she could pull the fabric of Willow's pants down off her hips. Turning slightly, reaching back behind her, she yanked the garment off, tossing it blindly to the floor. Left clad only in her pale blue cotton panties, Willow attempted to pretend that she wasn't distinctly uncomfortable. She failed miserably. "You weren't in love with me?"
Oh, and that question just had the potential for pain written all over it, now didn't it, Willow mused, quelling her automatic urge to wince. What to do? Be honest or lie.
"Actually, I never really thought about it," she said, immediately wanting to take the words back. What idiotic part of her brain had opted for the honesty route? "I mean, I guess that maybe I was, because we were together for a really long time and I certainly didn't hate you, but I never thought that you cared about me. I mean, I thought it was just you having a good time, fooling around with little computer geek nerd girl because you could."
"Hmmm," Cordelia murmured again, and Willow decided that she didn't like the sound of that. Really, a hmm was so vague. Good hmm's and bad hmm's sounded just alike, and she didn't think that now was the time for ambiguity.
So, she rushed on, trying to fix whatever it was that she'd said to earn the 'Hmmm'.
"Not that, now that I think about it, I don't think that I was. What I mean is, I think that maybe I was, because you made me happy and happy is always a good thing and maybe a fairly good indicator of love, and I'm really flattered that you love me. Or, loved me or whatever," she finished weakly, absently wondering if that verbal morass had only made things worse.
"Was?" Cordelia prompted, sliding her hands under the waistband of Willow's panties. A hard pull and two loud snaps later, and she was throwing the ruined bit of fabric to the floor, letting it mingle with the rest of the red-head's discarded wardrobe.
Oh, not a good question, Willow mused, insanely aware of the fact that she was now naked.
"I mean, I haven't really had a chance to get to know this new you, you know. So, I can't say definitely anything about, uh, now," she stammered, not at all certain that it was an appropriate answer. But, since she hadn't felt the sting of overly sharp nails yet, she figured that it must have been okay as far as answers went.
Cordelia smirked slightly, sliding one hand down until a single digit was surrounded by Willow's wet warmth. "Some parts of you are quite sure that they like the new me," she said smugly, flicking a nail over the red-head's sensitive clit.
Willow gasped, her hips bucking at the light touch. It was nearly painful, but in an infinitely pleasurable way. Things had always been like that with Cordelia though, edged with just that little hint of roughness. Almost like the other girl couldn't give up her struggle for dominance, even in the relatively safe confines of her lover's arms.
She didn't have an answer for that, but it turned out that she didn't really need one. Apparently Cordelia had decided that the chatting part of the evening was over and done with, because suddenly she was there, her lips on Willow's, and she was kissing her just like Cordelia had always kissed her. Only this time there was the faint tinge of copper on her tongue, and Willow tried desperately to avoid thinking about just what, exactly, that meant.
Soon it didn't matter, though, because she was lost, just like she'd always been lost. Since that first day, their first time together, she never had been able to think when Cordelia touched her. It was as if she floated away from her body, as if she hung there, suspended, adrift in a sea of sensation and feeling. Just like now, with those lips moving down her neck to take a taut nipple between them, suckling her, teasing her. The hand between her legs had moved even further down until two fingers were slipping inside her, and Willow moaned low in her throat at the way Cordelia immediately curled up so that she was stroking the red-head's inner walls. She knew that was the way Willow liked it, with her fingers pressing hard against that spot designed to drive her wild, and the smaller girl mused that one apparently didn't lose any memory or skills when turned into a vampire because Cordelia still knew just exactly how to play her.
It wasn't long before her conscience was free of any of the concerns that had been racing through it only moments before, the exact reality of just what she was doing and just who exactly she was doing it with resolutely pushed back into the farthest corner of her mind. It was just her and Cordelia, like it'd been for so long, and the feel of the other girl's body moving over hers was comforting and familiar and arousing all at the same time.
She could feel herself start to near climax, could feel the little signals that her body gave her, almost as if in warning. Her hands tightened on Cordelia's shoulders as her head flew back, digging into the pillow underneath her, and suddenly she was gone, her body convulsing on a wave of pleasure.
Just as she flew over that edge, she felt it, felt the sharp twin pin-pricks of Cordelia's teeth, the gentle suction of the other girl's lips on her neck. The sensation was overwhelming, with Cordelia's pleasure mixing with her own, sending her to a place that she'd never been before, and it wasn't until long minutes later that she realized that she was actually still alive.
"Just a little taste. Just so you could see," Cordelia was whispering, and Willow struggled to put all the pieces together. The other woman was stretched out alongside her, nuzzling her neck, her fingers still resting lazily in Willow's warmth, and she wasn't dead. Missing a pint or so maybe, but not dead.
"Cordelia?" she said cautiously, struggling to sit up. The movement pulled the flesh on her neck, and she winced slightly, taking in the sting.
"Shhh, don't worry. It was just a little taste," Cordelia replied softly, her tongue flicking out to swipe across the twin wounds, almost as if her touch could heal them.
And then her lips were covering Willow's once again, and the red-head realized, with a shock, that she was tasting her own blood. It was... well, not an extremely comforting piece of knowledge to hold.
Strong hands settled on her shoulders, pushing her down, and Willow knew exactly what that signified, what Cordelia wanted. She knew she was going to give it to her too, even though there was a very large part of her screaming that it was a supremely bad idea. Not that she hadn't already had a few of those in the past few days, though, so why worry about adding to that tally at this late date?
She pulled awkwardly at the other girl's clothing, working the fabric away from flesh with fingers that hadn't fumbled that much for well over a year. It seemed to take forever, but then, almost too soon, Cordelia was bare, and she was looking at the body of the same girl who had lain in her bed only days before. The same girl, but yet not the same girl at all.
She spent time on the brunette's breasts. She'd always loved Cordelia's breasts, the full, firm globes that never seemed to be anything but perfect. Even now, with the other girl on her back, they seemed to somehow rest against her body perfectly, the gently sloping upturn just begging for someone to pay it attention. So, Willow did, using her tongue and her teeth, wrapping her lips around first one peak and then the other, her jaw working as she milked the flesh. Even now she reveled in the feel of a hard nipple scraping up and down her tongue as she sucked, and she wondered, briefly, what that said about her. Abandoning everything, including her reservations, in face of the pleasure. Or, was it really the pleasure she was seeking so much as a reprieve from the death that she'd surely find at the hands of a pissed off Cordelia? No, she wasn't going to lie to herself. She did this because she wanted it, and because it felt good.
When she finally settled in between Cordelia's thighs, she found herself shocked at what she found there. For some reason, she'd expected the other girl to be like ice, and so when her tongue encountered warm, wet folds, she was shocked. The other girl's body temperature was lower, certainly, and she felt different against Willow's tongue, but it wasn't anything like what she'd expected. Which, made things better, in a different kind of way. Instead of being surrounded by the blazing heat emanating from the other girl's core, she found instead that her tongue, seemingly so hot against the slightly cooler flesh, was far more sensitive. It was like she could feel everything a little more crisply, no longer just caught up in the simple searing furnace that had been Cordelia before now. Not that it hadn't felt good before, but still, this was not at all the same and not at all unpleasant.
She looked up at she worked, as her tongue explored every single inch of the flesh that she knew so well, startled by just how much Cordelia looked like... well, Cordelia. If it hadn't been for the little things, then she wouldn't have known at all that there was something different about the other girl. Wouldn't have ever guessed that her lover wasn't quite her lover any more, though she imagined that the distinction was superfluous now. They were both her lovers, Cordelia and this vampire, so she couldn't really differentiate.
Cordelia was watching her, and Willow found that she couldn't look away. Not even when the other girl reached her climax, when her eyes lit with a golden glow and her face fell into the garish vampirish wrinkles that defined who this new girl was. She was held, transfixed, wondering just what, exactly, this meant for her now. Marveling at the fact that she was there at all.
After pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she crawled up Cordelia's limp form, laying her head on the other girl's chest, much as she had done before. Only now, there was no rapidly beating heart, and Willow felt tears prick her eyes as she laid her ear to Cordelia's skin, hearing the resounding silence of nothing.
"It beats for a few minutes after I feed."
The disembodied voice floated down to her, startling Willow out of the trance that she'd drifted off into. She considered that for a moment, imagining what that must feel like, to essentially die all over every day. As for the feeding part of it... she didn't want to think about that at all, even though some part of her mind insisted that she had to think about it, that she just couldn't wrap herself up in denial and let her own selfish desire to not kill the vampire wearing the form and carrying the memories of her lover cause even more deaths. But, she didn't want to think about that at the moment. She wouldn't think about it, not until faced with the cold, hard, dead reality. Which, of course, would be too late. But, she didn't want to think about that either.
"Time's up," Cordelia murmured, and Willow felt her heart skip a beat. Was this it, then? A good-bye fuck before another quick bite to the neck, and she really should have let Buffy stake Cordelia and she really shouldn't have let herself get lured into bed like that. Because, everyone knew that sex and death were really intertwined like that, which really was a nonsensical thought because she imagined that she'd have been just as dead if she'd turned Cordy down, though for some reason, at that moment it seemed insanely important.
But, much to Willow's relief, the other girl simply rolled out of bed at the words, sifting through the clothes littering her bedroom floor, pulling on the outfit that she'd arrived in.
"I need you to get my things for me, from my parent's house. I don't want to go back there. At least, not yet. And, I've got to find a place to sleep. Didn't go the whole arising from the grave route, so I suppose I'll just have to scout out a random crypt until I can find something more comfortable."
Willow listened to the other girl's mumblings, silently transfixed. She'd never been privy to a vampire's housing concerns before and found it strangely intriguing.
"You could stay here," she heard herself saying before she could stop the words, then cringed, realizing just what she'd offered. Yeah, that was real smart. Why didn't she just go ahead and invite a vampire to bunk down in her house.
Cordelia quirked a brow at that, somewhat amused. "Thanks, but no thanks. I have no desire to wake up on the pointy end of a stake."
Furrowing her brow, slightly affronted at that, Willow pressed on, even despite her good sense. "No, I mean, I won't tell anyone. It can be a secret. Just until you find someplace more permanent. We do have a basement, you know, and we can move a spare mattress down there."
Which was completely insane, she noted idly, even as her mouth continued to run on merrily without her consent. And fix up a mattress? Did vampires even sleep on mattresses?
Cordelia eyed the red-head warily before apparently coming to some sort of decision. "Okay," she said slowly, letting the shoes that she'd just picked up drop to the floor once more. "But, we'd better hurry. Only a little while until daybreak, and I want everything to be set up before then."
It was only as she was leaving the house, backpack settled firmly on her shoulders, that Willow completely realized the truth of her situation. She was a vampire's lackey.
But, almost more shocking than that, she was cohabitating with Cordelia.