Out
DEDICATION: To Kev, who makes us all feel like ladies in froofy period dresses when we are being as raunchy as sailors. We love ya, babe.
Part 1
Los Angeles - 2005
The sound of metal slamming against metal made her jump defensively, whirling around in a subtle shadow of an attack posture. Angel rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, Faith, it's over now," his low baritone was quietly soothing and made her relax more than she had in a very long time.
It had been a rough time for Faith. She'd been in the Hell called prison for close to six years, dragged in and out of the court system on a regular basis, and ultimately Angel pushed to have her freed for lack of any real evidence. Granted, some of the evidence against her had mysterious disappeared late at night from the police evidence room, but those things happened sometimes. Particularly in LA.
While she was incarcerated, Angel had seen to it that an extremely effective, special case, psychologist had been assigned to Faith. Having demon friends in high places had it's rewards. The girl desperately needed emotional counseling after what she had been through in Sunnydale and to cope with the things she had done. Angel still wasn't sure if her desire to tread on the dark side of life would ever truly go away or if she would be tempted by it her entire life, but he could do only as much as he could do. The rest was up to Faith.
He bundled her up and tucked her into his convertible for the trip back to the Hyperion. They drove in silence, Faith obviously enjoying the cool, California night air, Angel appreciative that he didn't have to maintain small talk with her. It always seemed like some kind of inadequate foreplay to do small talk with Faith. She rarely said what she really felt under shallow, proprietary circumstances.
Just before they reached the hotel, Faith broke the silence herself.
"Angel?"
"Yes?"
"Why did
you get me out?" There was an honesty to her voice which revealed the hidden
questions beneath. She didn't just want to know why he got her out of jail,
she wanted to know why, after all the awful things she had done, he still saw
something worth saving in her.
He didn't even hesitate. "Because you'll die in jail. You can't live like
that, and I know there is a part of you which needs to belong to something bigger,
something important. You won't find that locked up playing bitchmaster to drug
addicts and prostitutes."
Angel parked the car. Faith sat there quietly for a moment, a little hesitant to enter what could be a new life in the old hotel which housed Angel Investigations. She looked at Angel, catching his eyes and holding them there. There was an honesty in her expression which touched him, though she'd have denied it if he mentioned it.
"Thank you," she said quietly and got out of the car.
* * * * * * * * * *
"How's she doing?" Cordelia was brushing her hair, still wrapped in her robe but looking like freshness and sunlight even though it was night. Angel felt his desire for her immediately awaken. Her scent filled their room and he loved this time of day with her, just before the activities started and life intervened. Alone time. Well, if Connor was cooperative and it appeared he was going to be, sleeping quietly.
"Pretty well considering," he said, a tinge of admiration in his voice. "She's settling into her room. It might be a good idea for you to check in on her." He approached her, slipping his hands inside her robe and wrapping his arms around her. A smile crept across his rugged features at finding her naked beneath. He had hoped he would. He pulled her close and brushed his lips across hers, she responded immediately, melting into him and wrapping her leg around one of his. They stayed there for a long moment until Cordy pulled back slightly, the smokey haze of desire in her eyes.
"I should check on Faith," she said with a playful smile, filled with hidden meaning. "She's probably feeling a little isolated. I want to make her feel welcome."
Angel could hardly contain himself, but teased her anyway. "You're right, Cordy, we can't have our guest feeling ... excluded." He matched her playful smile and then kissed her deeply, just letting his tongue play with the inside edge of her upper lip. He was suddenly overpowered with the scent of her arousal. Another minute of this and Faith wouldn't get a proper welcome. Cordy could feel the desire in him rising and urging her to stay. She parted her lips, and that was all the invitation Angel needed. Faith could wait.
He pushed her against the wall, his mouth probing and hungry on hers, his hands eagerly exploring the curves and contours of her body. Cool fingertips traced the slope of her breasts as his hands slipped up and over her shoulders to free her from the robe. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered across her ear as he drew the tender flesh of her neck into his mouth. She felt her knees go weak and put her arms around his shoulders to steady herself. Pressing her shoulders harder into the wall, Angel ran his hands around to her lower back, over her well-shaped ass and just beneath, lifting her up and bringing her legs around his waist. She arched slightly and pressed her mound against his lower abdomen. She was temptingly wet already, and hot, her body was so hot against his, a voluptuous heat source ready to take him in and warm him. He was so hard for her that he ached, and she played upon that by rubbing her lower body in slow circles against him, spreading her juices across his skin, his own aching arousal settled between her lower cheeks.
He dropped his head into the valley between her breasts, sucking in her skin, leaving tiny raspberry marks. He loved marking her in any way he could, this was one of his favorites, not permanent, so he could do it again and again. He moved to the right, nuzzling her breasts and teasing the areola with his tongue, making her writhe against him; tiny, pleading moans called to him as she shifted again and again trying to make him take her into his mouth. He withheld as long as he could, until he had to taste that part of her, then he attacked her nipple with ferocity, drawing it deepy into his mouth and sucking hungrily. His tongue danced over it, swirling and torturing until Cordelia was gasping beneath him.
"Angel.......," she was breathless and whimpering and wanted him inside her, possessing her and devouring her all at once.
He granted her silent wish, pulling back just enough to release his now pulsating cock from between her cheeks and plunging deeply into her depths, filling her with cool, hard passion. She gasped and pushed against him. As she captured his mouth, he began to move in and out of her, slowly and controlled. When he was fully engulfed by her, he ground his hips into her, pressing a slow circle which touched every part of her inside, flexing and touching that tender, receptive spot inside her which sent her careening out of control. She came hard against him almost instantly. Feeling her shudder around him almost made him lose control, but he wanted to last a little longer ... for her ... and pulled out slightly. Letting himself settle a little before pushing into her again and doing it exactly the same way for a second time .... those slow, torturous circles, then her gasping explosion quivering against him ... and a third time ... and a fourth. Cordelia was almost unconscious from it, her body still working so perfectly in tandum with his, but her mind completely lost in pleasure.
She dropped her head to the side, exposing her throat to him, offering, almost begging, him to take her completely. Angel slipped into game face, licking her skin, nipping at it lightly, then sank his fangs deeply into her. Cordelia gasped, digging her nails into his back from the initial pain, dragging them down as it dissolved into intense pleasure which brought her off yet again, this time Angel with her. They rode their passion together with a trembling force, Angel spilling inside her as he drew the deep crimson of her blood into his mouth and his body, warming him, filling her, and both of them calling out into the night, two demons entangled and forever one.
* * * * * * * * * *
Faith's first few months with the group passed rather uneventfully. She settled in easily and, once she got past the changes in couplings and the addition of new blood, she felt right at home.
She thought she'd never see Angel with anyone else but Buffy. They had been so poisonously devoted to one another, so self-sacrificing. It always made Faith want to heave. His relationship with Cordelia was a surprise, but once she spent more time with them, it was obvious that theirs was a deeper, mature understanding and appreciation for each other instead of just mindblowing sex. However, from the looks, and sound, of them, it was actually both. She heard them all the way down the hall more than once each day.
Gunn and Fred, the large man and the miniscule girl, were a couple of odd birds. Both of them were human, an odd thing in itself in this household, and though of different race and background ... she the intellectual, he the more athletic, action-oriented type ... they were a perfect compliment to each other. They weren't around much, but when they were, Fred was absorbed in books with Wesley, and Gunn would spend his time training with Angel. But when they stood nearby or touched one another, their magic crackled in the air. It was rather sweet.
Spike and his entourage had visited a few times. It had been staggering for Faith the first time she saw Angel & Spike embracing and the comfortable, friendly nature the pride of vampires exchanged. Some things had changed a lot while she was gone. Baby, however, took some getting used to. She was fiercely protective of Spike, particularly for a human. Perhaps it was fear of Faith as a Slayer that put her off, but she never left Spike alone with her. Then again, she rarely left Spike alone. Too bad. He looked delicious. Faith would have liked to sample him, but with her still tenuous place in the household, compounded with the underlying threat that, human or not, Baby could and would probably kick her ass, it was probably best to forego that temptation. They only visited from New Orleans, but while they were there, they were perfectly blended into the rest of the group.
The real surprise for Faith had been Wesley. The simpering former council member had become quite the hottie. He was still tightly controlled, but instead of radiating insecurity, he had a churning underbelly of danger about him. It was very attractive. Drusilla, the whacko vamp chick, brought out the protective knight in him. No one messed with her. Ever. She was obviously entirely capable of taking care of herself, but Wesley so doted over her that she rarely had to. So much as a harsh word toward her brought him barrelling to the forefront with flashing eyes, threats, and snarls. Yet to her, he was constantly murmuring and whispering sweet things. He had come a long way from the man she captured and tortured.
She had not looked forward to seeing Wesley again. She regretted the things she had done to him in the past, her cruelty, the pain she gleefully had inflicted on him just because she could. Had Angel not arrived when he did, she would have killed him without a second thought. But it was not in her nature to express remorse to anyone. She had come a long way in her therapy and had changed some dangerous and self-destructive patterns in her life, but she wasn't quite up to expressing regret yet. Somehow she had felt Angel would force the issue. Thankfully, he didn't, preferring to let Wes and Faith work it out themselves. It had taken a bit of posturing and more than a few tension-filed meetings before they had been able to sit down rationally and discuss what happened. Wes showed an eery detachment when he talked to her about it, as if it had happened to someone else instead of him. But their discussions had resolved a lot and they reached an understanding, though one certainly wouldn't call them trusting of one another.
The group as a whole functioned well together. Everyone had their strengths and responsibilities and they performed them more than adequately. When the New Orleans family was there as well, the efficiency improved with little to no adjustments, it was an almost perfect merging.
However, Faith still felt apart from things. She was included in the different aspects of Angel Investigations, but she was given no personal responsibilities. She guessed that would come in time. There were specific rules she was required to follow; Angel had gone out on a limb in springing her, she had no desire to violate that and end up back in jail. She stayed in the hotel and on outings always remained at Angel's flank, close enough for him to keep an eye on her but also to protect him if needed. Her admiration for him and what he had done with his life, as well as how he was helping her to get a clear concept of her own, grew daily. She had severely misjudged him back in Sunnydale. He was not the lapdog of the Slayer, nor was he the curse ... he had been, in many ways, her salvation. B was an idiot to ever let him go.
"Angel?" Cordelia had approached him in the workout room, concern written on her face. It was obviously nothing too earth-shattering, he could tell from looking at her, but still something was bothering her. He settled onto the floor near the punching bag and wordlessly gathered her into his arms.
"What's up?"
"Faith."
Uh-oh, was she causing trouble? Angel had been amazed at how easily she had fit into the routine and methods of their little community, but still he was very aware of the things that tempted her most, and this place was awash with them ... sex, violence, kinkiness, evil. He had hoped this would work for her, she was still so close to moving all the way into the darkest areas of life, becoming a thing instead of a person. He wanted to see her succeed and be an asset to them instead of becoming a "case" for them to deal with.
"What's the problem?" He hid the doubts he had, the concerns that this wasn't going to work.
"She's lonely."
"Huh?" That surprised him. The place was crawling with people, vampires, human, demons, how could anyone be lonely?
"Angel," she pitched her voice gently, "She has no one for herself. She's here, amongst all these couples, and she has no one. And I don't imagine her sex life was too rewarding in prison, no matter how far up the food chain she was."
Angel looked like a clueless git. It had never occurred to him that all their overt smoochies and cuddling might be a cruel blow to anyone.
Cordy continued, "I mean, geez, she probably hasn't been with a man since that weird Riley thing back in '99, and ... "
Angel cut her off. "I get it, Cordelia." "It took me a minute," he smiled and touched her cheek, softening his voice, "but I get it. Here's what we'll do." He began explaining to her in his soft, sweet tones how they could make her feel more a part of things.
* * * * * * * * * *
Cordy knocked at the door. No answer. She knocked again, harder this time. Still none. Slowly she opened the unlocked door and called inside.
"Faith? Are you here?" She ventured well into the room before she heard the shower. Smiling to herself, she slipped into the hallway and gathered some fresh towels from the closet and went back into the room, knocking on the bathroom door lightly.
"Faith?" she shouted
"Yeah?"
"It's Cordelia. Do you have enough towels?"
"Sure! Come on in."
Cordelia entered the bathroom and set the towels down on the counter. "Do you need anything else?" She peered through the transparent shower curtain, letting her gaze linger a moment at the sight of the dark Slayer rinsing shampoo from her hair.
"Keep me company? I'm still not exactly used to showering alone," Faith replied with an edge of humor.
"Sure," Cordy replied and settled herself on a small dressing bench near the shower, trying not to be too obviously watching.
They remained in awkward silence for a few moments before Cordelia rolled her eyes at herself, slipped from her robe, and grabbed something from the counter. Pulling back the curtain just enough to slip inside, she announced herself as subtly as she could. "Loofah?"
"Huh?" Faith turned around looking at her oddly. "Oh! Loofah. Sure. Back?" she tossed the soap and turned her back to Cordelia.
"Oh, this is working out marvelously," Cordy thought to herself. "Hardly here ten minutes and already naked with one of the residents." She reached around to wet the loofah, her wrists just brushing Faith's sides, then soaped it up and went for her back. In spite of her imprisonment, Faith had remained in spectacular shape. The well-defined muscles of her back rippled a little beneath the scrub, no tan lines, though she was very obviously tanned. "Good," Cordy thought to herself, "someone to share nude sunbathing." With a gentle, circular motion she worked her way down Faith's back, over her backside and down onto the backs of her thighs and knees. Cordelia dropped the loofah and retraced from bottom to top using her hands to gently wash and smooth the Slayer's skin.
Faith turned around and faced her, a look of curiosity on her face. She wasn't used to this kind of gentleness from anyone, to suddenly receive this kind of attention from the prom queen didn't fit her preconceived ideas at all. Faith looked at her more closely, admiring the voluptuous curves of her body, the exquisite features of her face, and the strength she exuded covered with a cushion of softness.
Cordelia didn't stop just because Faith had turned around. She washed and massaged her from shoulders to feet, kneeling and coming back up again, tiny trails of fingertips whispering across her flesh. Faith couldn't move. She was too entranced with what was being done to her ... no one slamming her around, hurting her, forcing her to hurt back, and nothing on earth would make her do to Cordy what she did to some of the women in prison. Finally finished with the superfluous washing, she reached for the shampoo.
"Come here," Cordy said gently and sat Faith down in the tub away from the water stream, then sat down behind her pulling her back to rest on her chest and wrapping her legs around Faith's waist. Faith wordlessly complied, letting her hands lay lighty on Cordelia's bare knees. Cordy filled her hands with shampoo and began to wash Faith's hair, massaging deep into her scalp, and rubbing the tension in her neck away, her own tension washing down the drain with the warm water beating softly on her back. She put her hand on Faith's forehead and pulled her head back to rest on Cordy's shoulder then continued gently rubbing the muscles of her face and neck, down her shoulders and across her chest. Her soft, gentle hands lightly caressed the breasts of the tortured woman in her arms, the smallish nubs of her nipples hardening beneath her touch. Faith closed her eyes. She couldn't remember ever feeling this wonderful, this loved by anyone. It was a dream world for her, an experience she couldn't even fathom. The only thing even close was being made love to by Riley, and even then he had thought it was Buffy he was giving his tenderness to, not her. This was for her and her alone. She closed her eyes tightly, afraid to open them again for fear it would all go away and she'd be left cold and alone again.
Cordelia, somehow sensing her fear, cooed to her quietly as she rubbed and washed her stomach and chest and arms and hands, "You are so beautiful and strong. Look at your hair, so dark and thick. And the strength in your hands, how narrow your waist is and the slight curve of your belly, so soft, yet so strong." She continued, murmuring sweet things as she continued touching and soothing the woman in her arms, this woman who had endured so much pain and rejection in her young life.
She felt Faith begin to chill and tried to reach up for the shower head, but it was too high. A strong arm appeared through the shower curtain, detached it and handed to her. She smiled up into the deep brown eyes of her lover. He had been watching silently, totally enthralled with how well she handled and ministered to their charge. He touched her shoulder as she took the water from him and began rinsing the shampoo from Faith's hair, running her fingers through it to remove the tangles. Then she ran the water over the rest of Faith's body, her arms, her breasts, her stomach, her thighs, lingering for a moment between them to give her a gentle, familiar warmth there.
Angel kissed his wife on the neck then whispered into her ear so only she could hear, "You are so amazing." Then he withdrew and sat quietly on the small dressing bench, watching them with appreciative eyes.
Cordelia set the water down and wrapped her arms around Faith again, holding her to her breast and rocking her slowly. She was at once the mother and the lover, nurturing and affectionate, the healing balm of a wounded life. Cordy felt compelled to do more, it wasn't quite enough. There was more to be released here than tension and trust.
She nodded to Angel and he came to her aid and helped Faith to stand. The girl was like in a trance, so relaxed and so overwhelmed by what she was experiencing. Cordy turned Faith toward her and began to touch her lovingly, caressing her arms and breasts, her stomach and waist, leaning in to kiss her gently on the neck and throat and up her jaw line to her mouth. Faith responded, parting her lips and kissing back, enjoying the taste and feel of this equisite woman whose hands kept moving and soothing while her lips kept their urgent kiss.
Angel removed his clothes and slipped into the shower behind Cordelia, replacing the shower head and turning the water toward hot to warm his own body. When he had reached a suitable temperature, he nuzzled Cordelia's neck and she embraced Faith fully, turning her around so that she was now between Cordy and Angel. His hands joined in the mix, subtly at first and then more deliberately male. They wanted there to be a difference between them. Faith came to life now, one hand began to caress Cordelia the other slipped behind her to touch Angel, at first on his hip, then sliding down his thigh. They let her set the pace and the direction, but she was finally taking an active part instead of remaining distant.
It wasn't long before the three of them were intoxicated with the scent of each others' arousal, the touches became more urgent, their quiet breathing turned to soft moans of pleasure mixing with the water and filling the air. Cordelia's hand traveled south toward the dark curls of the girl before her, she traced them, then tugged gently at them and finally parted them as she slipped a well-manicured finger between the soft folds. Faith gasped and reached toward Cordelia for another kiss, this one more active, her tongue exploring. Angel leaned down and began kissing Faith's shoulder, she responded, pressing back into him a little but not enough to pull her away from Cordelia's touch. The sensations were exquisite.
Faith's hand on Angel moved more deliberately to his hardness now pressing into her back. She wrapped her hand around it, squeezed a little roughly, but not too much and guided him between her legs. They hadn't been sure she would want a man at all, but this is why he was there, to let her feel it again, see if she wanted it again. She parted her legs a little more to let him enter and urged him to, just as Cordelia's hands brought her closer and closer to release. She began to moan, writhing beneath the unrelenting fingers which teased her clit. She pressed back toward Angel and Cordelia guided him into her, reaching through with her other hand to hold his sack in her hand while still fingering Faith. The two hands on Cordy's breasts were dissimilar, one male, one female and it made her smile, even as Faith's lips continued their kiss.
Angel began to move in and out of her slowly at first but building quickly, keeping time with her as she pulled from Cordelia's mouth and began to pant, moving closer and closer to that moment of release. Cordelia came with her, her mouth seeking out the smallish nipples of her breasts her hands still doing magic between her legs, and Faith's hands wrapped around her backside and pulled her in close just as she felt the crashing explosion of her orgasm. Angel held on a moment longer, continuing his slow, deep strokes into her, and letting his hand on Cordelia's breast slide down quickly between his wife's thighs, quickly finding just the right spot with moments to spare.
Cordelia and Angel came together as Faith was still coming down. The three of them together, embraced, intermingles and wrapped in the warmth of the water and each other.
Her head resting on Faith's shoulder, Angel leaned in and kissed Cordelia's hair, placed a soft kiss on Faith's neck, then rested his head on Faith's other shoulder.
Faith didn't move, letting the gentle hands of the other two bring her back from where she had been, a contant reminder that they were not just there for the thrill or sexual achievement, but that they were there for her, and would stay there with her as long as she wanted. She had never felt so loved nor so wanted. She decided to stay there a very long time.
~Fin~