Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and afetr all it is Joss & co. world, we're just visiting.
Written by: Tara Ann Stridh
THE DEFINITION OF BLISS






Darla stepped out of the bathroom and smiled. He was sitting in the black leather chair with his leg resting on his knee. Her violet eyes twinkled.
"I knew you were here. I doubt you're here to apologize for the mean words you gave me last night. My meaning nothing to you after those one hundred fifty years, but I forgive you actually. You're a man, so of course all you care about is the inside."
Angel gestured to Lindsey tangled within the blue sheets.
"Found another black soul to match your own?"
"If you really believed my soul was black you wouldn't be here."
"What did you do - drug him?"
"Like I drugged you? No." She tilted her head as she admired Lindsey. "Men are so much more tolerable when they're asleep." Her eyes turned to him. "Especially you Angel." As he observed her petite and slender figure he secretly savored the elegant way her head rested upon her neck. Her spaghetti-strap plum dress conformed to her titillating hips. Her manicured nails raked across the flesh beneath her sexy collarbone, and she arched an eyebrow at her child. "How did you know I was here?"
"Were you trying to hide from me, Darla? We're one, remember."
She closed her eyes, her head swaying as she purred. Angel stood, his tall figure sexual in his black leather coat. Her melodious sensual voice chimed to him.
"I can smell you. I can taste you." As she spoke he noticed her fingers tracing along the long trail of graze he had given her the night before in lust and wickedness. His eyes glistened over her body.
"You're scared of me." A smile.
"Of course I am, my darling boy. I'm the one who made you. I've seen you maim and kill and feed in all your soulless glory. Any mortal would fear you, and now I'm no exception." She took a step towards him, and he remained where he was, his eyes watching her closely. "Look at you. All moral because you're the vampire with the soul. You still have your ego Angelus. Angel. Deep inside you're still the same man you were. Men never change. They can only be taught."
Hearing her voice intoxicated him. It rang with simple loving guidance, and he tried to resist its charm. "And look at you, Darla. Human and still not a single tear of remorse?" As her finger stroked the palm of his large hand she sniffed the scent of his coat. Her perfumed breath whispered near his neck.
"Oh, I have remorse, baby. Foolish remorse all for you." He looked into her eyes, trying not to play into her game.
"What about all the people you killed, Darla?" With a smile she backed away slightly.
"Yes. Some we even killed together."
"Wait and feel it, Darla." She studied his face briefly.
"Threatening me? Keep saying my name, Angel."
"Telling you." His smooth face was firm, and she wanted to touch its beauty.
"And when you feel it-"
"I'll run to you? Is that what you want, Angel? I admit that I still want you." Her body backed away from his, waltzing with realization. "That you hurt me with your words, but why are you lying to me? I'll never kneel for your pity or cry on your thigh." Angel took a step forward.
"And what makes you so certain that I'll repent what I've done? Because my flesh ages now?" Her eyes glimmered dare to him. She looked up at him as he stood in front of her. His fingers pressed into her chest. His voice was soft but steady.
"Because you have this." As his fingers twirled through the straight blonde strands of her hair she stroked his cheek with her warm fingers.
"You never knew my soul." Deep into her violet eyes he searched.
"Maybe not, but I will." Then his eyes fell to the healing wound he had given her, his cold fingers causing her to shudder as they traced along the length of dry red stretching from her collar bone to her left breast.
"Feel my heart. What does it say to you?" Her eyes lowered as he placed his large hand over her left breast. Instead of feeling her heart she felt his tongue lick her wound. Darla closed her eyes, tilting her head back slightly, as her wound tickled with fading pain.
"You always had to leave your mark." Her delicate fingers glided through his dark hair as if urging him to lick her harder. "Last night I thought you were going to bite me. You disappointed me. You've never done that before, Angel." She smiled, looking down at him. "Except when you came to me with a soul." A sudden gasp escaped from her throat as Angel pushed her on to the floor, her cranberry plum strap falling off her tender shoulder. The smirk on his face was familiar to her, but it was also mocking her as he towered above her.
"And that's when you threatened to kill me, casting me out."
"You betrayed me long before I betrayed you?" His smile was smug.
"How Darla?"
"Drusilla."
"You led her to me. Chose her for me." Darla clenched her hand into a fist, pressing it against her chest.
"You think because I'm human and have a soul I'm no longer your sire anymore? I no longer have power over you? I have more power over you than you can ever imagine, my boy." He knelt in front of her.
"Spare me, Darla, I'm bored with you."
"You raped me. Once. Does your little soul remember that?" He lowered his eyes for a moment. Then they met hers.
"You didn't stop me." A brief moment of hurt flickered within her eyes. Then she smiled.
"Cold. That's not the Angel who helps people. That's the Angel I want back." She reached for him, pulling his face to hers as she kissed him. After several seconds he shoved her away, this time slamming her back into the wall. She began to laugh, her hair disarrayed, falling in front of her eyes. He stood over her, and she looked up at him, her wickedly girlish laugh summoning his rage and lust towards her.
"I told you I wasn't going to scream. Never." Angel paced the room, ready to make his accusations against her.
"You brought Faith into my dreams. How dare you!" With a tiny movement Darla pulled the strap up over her shoulder.
"She wanted to. She was in your room as you slept. The darling girl. She's much prettier than the last. She didn't know any better. Vampires and slayers whipped by love. She only wanted to be with you, and I let her.
"You didn't seek me out to talk about the dark-haired slayer. Tell me your thoughts. Why have you come back to me?
"I screwed you in fantasy and reality. And I did it all with magic, tricking you into thinking I was still immortal. William saw through my trick straight through, but he always could." Her eyes became distant, and when Angel didn't respond to her she stood up, leaning against the wall for balance.
"My humanity, if that is what you would call it, was just as much a surprise to me as it was, is, to you. At first I refused to believe I was one of them, but I couldn't lie to myself. "I was born again, and I'm getting used to it. Liking it more and more. I can taste food again and buy shoes on Rodeo Drive with the sun kissing my hair and shoulders. Your soul keeps you in darkness. Mine doesn't, but I'm sure you can do brooding for two." Darla's smile faded as she cherished him with her eyes. "You don't have to lock yourself away, Angel. How do you keep on lying to yourself? Did you come here for that little happy moment I'm just itching to give you?"
"Gee, Darla, how did you know?" She took a step backwards, uncertain of the tone braiding within his calm voice. His smile was a smile she had never seen before.
"Take off your dress." Darla covered her breasts with her arms.
"No." The trembling silence between them lasted several moments. Then Angle stood up, smiling at her.
"Guess we'll just have to try it another time." Her lips parted slightly as she watched him walk out of the hotel room, and she suddenly remembered that she not only loved him, she also hated him, but she still wanted him.