"What are you going to do?" Angelus challenged Buffy using Willow's
voice.  "Rattle chains in his attic?  Creak the floorboards in the
middle of the night?  Leave, Gypsy, before I change my mind and snap
your neck because you annoy me."

"No!  The paper," Faith yelled and struggled in his grip.  Angel was
still leaning against the wall for support.  He wouldn't be saving the
day anytime soon.

Angelus cradled Faith's chin in Willow's hand and pulled her hard
against Willow's body.  "Shh, don't fret.  You won't care about what
happens to the Slayer and her lapdog's souls after I'm through with
you."  Angelus placed a soft kiss on Faith's neck and ran Willow's
tongue across her skin.  "You, Angel, and I are going to have so much
fun together."  He shot a mocking glance at the ex-vampire.  "Won't
we, lover?"

While the others waited for Angel's answer, Casimir seemed to overcome
his stunned fear of Buffy and moved to the door. As he passed through
her, Buffy spoke up, "I knew you loved me."

Willow's head whipped back toward her.  "Don't say that!  I don't love
you, that was Angel.  I'm letting the Gypsy damn your sorry soul to
hell, bitch."

"Because you can't do it yourself."  Buffy's smile was smug.  Angel
watched the gypsy struggle with the front door which wouldn't open.
"You're going to let someone else do the dirty work because you can't
bear to do it yourself.  You love me.  I win."

"It's the witch.  She doesn't want me to have your souls because she
knows what I would do to them would be far worse than whatever that
gypsy could come up with.  I have her body.  I have her magic."
Willow's grip compulsively tightened on Faith's neck.

"No, you're not my Wils." Xander appeared beside Willow.  "You were
right when you said Willow's soul was gone.  This is all you.  All
talk, no action.  Remember when he used to prowl around and leave you
love drawings on your pillow.  You were sleeping.  Never did kill you,
though."

"I know.  He obviously loved me too much." Buffy nodded her head in
agreement.  Angel could feel some of his strength, what little of it
there was, return as his head stopped ringing.  He also couldn't help
noticing Willow's eyes snap green fire as Angelus' anger grew.  Faith
was turning purple.  She was going to have bruises.  Buffy and Xander
were playing a good game though, and Angel could tell it was working.
Angelus was getting too mad to think.

"Yeah, he had it bad.  You know, Buf, I think he actually had it worse
for you than Angel."

The roar that followed Xander's last comment reverberated through the
house.  Kalendash ceased his useless rattling of the doorknob.  Angel
had a brief moment of concern for Willow's throat before he was thrown
back against the wall as Angelus shoved Faith into him.  He pounced at
the gypsy, catching his hand and bending it back.

"You're human," Faith murmured hoarsely as she clutched at Angel's
chest.

"It's only temporary, I hope." Angel gently pushed Faith toward the
kitchen.  "Leave now while you have the chance.  I'll take care of
this."  He nodded at Xander, who did his ghostly best to guide Faith
from the room and out of harm's way.

The sharp snap of Kalendash's arm breaking and the bone-crunching
crackle of his hand as Angelus crushed it using Willow's petite hand
made Angel wince.  God, he hoped Willow would be able to live with
this.  He hoped that he could fix it so that she would be alive after
this.  Angelus was right, if he didn't kill her now, he would end up
giving up everything for her.  He would hurt people for her.  People
they both loved.  Angelus seized the bloodied spell paper from
Kalendash's useless hand and threw him up against the door.  Willow's
eyes glared at her best friend's ghostly form.  "It's mine now, bitch.
I'll see you burn in hell like I did for a hundred years and then
things will get interesting."  Angelus made a grab for Kalendash, but
the front door suddenly flew open and he tumbled down the steps out of
reach.  The door slammed shut.

"Thank you."  Buffy smirked at Angelus.  Her expression was less
triumphant when she looked at Angel.  "Two problems solved, one to go.
Now it's up to you.  Good luck."  She faded, leaving Angel with Willow
and his demon.

It was interesting to watch the demon survey the now nearly empty room.
Incredibly, Angel could see his own mannerisms that the demon had
adopted for centuries mixed in with Willow's.  He also found himself
looking for Willow in her movements.  He needed to know how close to
the surface her soul was.  As if following his train of thought, the
demon turned to him.  "Looks like it's just the two of us.  Or three."
Angel didn't rise to the bait.  It was too obvious, too easy.  The
demon knew him better than that.  "What will you do to save her,
Angel?  Will you kill for her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that when I kill, then that means the witch kills.
That would hurt her.  The thought hurts her now.  But, if we had
someone to do it for us...."

"Willow would still feel responsible.  Her soul would still be in
pain."  Angel looked into her cool green eyes, searching for a
glimmer of that pain.  "Yes, I would kill for her."  There it was.
Pain for him.  He knew that she would feel his pain before she would
acknowledge her own.  Willow was the type to sacrifice her soul for
someone she loved, but she would never sacrifice his - Angel was
counting on it.

Then it was gone.  The brief glimpse of Willow was snuffed out by the
demon's cunning, mocking glance.  "It won't work.  The witch won't
give me back."  Willow's body was so close to his, but there was no
warmth.  A cool finger traced down his cheek, the side of his neck.
Her palm rested on his thumping heart.  "She likes you like this, heart
pumping tasty blood through your body.  She gave you the gift you
wanted so badly.  So, tell me, Angel, how does it feel to be human
again?"

Angel thought about the question.  How did he feel?  His skin was warm,
his lungs took in air, and his heart did beat, but it was deader then
when he had been a vampire.  Without Willow, his heart had no purpose
beyond its biological one. "It means nothing to me.  I need her."

This was fun.  Angel all hurt and vulnerable, naked pain shining in
the depths of his dark eyes.  The witch had done a number on him.
Bound him by love worse than the Slayer had - Angel had been able to
free himself from that abomination.  At least the witch was worthy.
"Then you need me."  Angelus pressed Willow's lips to Angel's in a
brief kiss.  "If you're a good boy and do as I ask, then I might let
the witch out to play with you.  Will you do as I ask, Angel?"

"I already agreed to kill for her, what else do you want from me?"
Frustrated anger flared and Angel grabbed Willow's arms.  "I'll play
your game, any game!  Just let me have her.  Let me love her."
Angelus was pulled into Angel's embrace as he hugged Willow to him.

"Not today," Angelus whispered against Angel's strong, hard chest.
Angel's desperation was turning him on and Willow's body was responding
to his touch.  He looked up at the handsome face that had once been his
own.  No wonder it had been so easy luring innocent maidens into a
dark corner.  "Today I want you to show that you love me."

An involuntary bark or laughter escaped Angel.  "I don't love you."

Willow's fingernails dug into Angel's chest through his shirt.  "Fake
it."  Angelus pulled Angel's head down to meet Willow's lips and
tongue.  Angel responded to the kiss, immediately opening his mouth
and allowing the entrance of her tongue, as Angelus knew he would.
After all, it was Willow's soft lips, her tongue, her taste, her body
pressed up and rubbing against him.  Angel would respond to her touch
as her body reacted to his and hate himself for it because it was all
controlled by the demon he despised.

As games go, Angelus would never tire of this one.  He couldn't stop
the husky rumble of laughter that escaped her mouth when Angel gripped
Willow's waist and lifted her up.  Angelus wrapped her legs around him
as Angel carried them upstairs.  He was finally going to win.  Beat
the Soul down and break him so that he could never be fixed.  The best
part was that he was going to use Angel's weakness for love to do it.
Already Angel had capitulated, his tongue demanding in Willow's mouth
as he carried them to the closest bed.

Or not.  Angelus broke away from the kiss as he felt Angel mounting
another set of stairs.  They were heading for the attic bathroom.
Angelus growled, he knew about the skylight.  Without Willow's lips to
satisfy him, Angel turned to her neck.  His blunt teeth nibbled under
her jaw and when he reached the patch of skin over her jugular, he
gave it a sharp nip.  Angelus snarled and vamped, no longer concerned
with the skylight.  It was night and Angel's intentions were clear.
He wanted the witch - demon or not.

It was driving him crazy.  Angel let Willow's body slide slowly down
his, her hands clasping around his neck.  He looked down at her vampire
face.  His Saileach was in there somewhere.  He would let the demon
play his games because eventually it would lead him to Willow.  But
deep down, he also knew that a part of him really really liked this -
and he couldn't blame the demon this time.  As weird as it sounded,
he wanted to dominate the demon inside of Willow using Willow's body's
sexual urges - make the demon want him, beg for his touch.  Then he
would submit to his own body's demands and take her.  If he was lucky,
it would be the answer to getting Willow back.

The demon stepped Willow's body away from him.  Her head tipped up
toward the skylight, cold blue moonlight touched her face, casting
shadows along the ridges.  "And what are we doing here?"

"You know."  Angel trailed the back of his fingers over her cheek.
"You still have my memories as well as hers.  You know what I want."

An unholy light shone in Willow's dark golden eyes.  "You saw her in
the sunlight, but could never have her there.  You decided to settle
for the moonlight instead and take her under its colder rays.  Funny,
now she's the one with the aversion to the sun.  Do you still want her,
Angel?"

His answer was a kiss.  Not harsh and demanding as before, but a soft
brush across her lips and then a gentle pressure as he coaxed her mouth
open with the flutter of his tongue.  Angel grasped Willow's waist and
pulled her tightly against his body.  His hands roamed carelessly over
her body - flitting from her back to her abdomen and up to her breasts.
He undid the first two buttons of the leather halter, exposing her
cleavage even more than the low-cut blouse had offered.

"Yes," Willow's voice hissed in his ear.  Her fingernails raked down
his back under his shirt.  They moved to the front and he heard the
dull clatter of the buttons of his shirt hitting the floor as she
ripped it open.  Her cool-touch caused goose bumps along his warm flesh.

Angel buried his nose between her breasts, snaking his tongue along the
underside of each one.  He kissed the scarred flesh where he had marked
her as his own.  He slid his arms around her and attempted to lower
them both down to the floor rug on the hardwood floor, but Willow
pulled away.  Her face had settled back into human features and she
smiled sweetly at him.  If Angel had been more naive and hadn't known
the demon so well, he might have actually believed that it was his
Saileach smiling at him and looking at him with such love in her eyes.

"Ioniun," the demon mocked him.  Willow hadn't known what the Gaelic
word had meant.  "My beloved Angel."  Willow's lips caressed his chest,
lingering over his nipples to let her tongue bath them both.  She undid
his belt buckle, unfastening the button, and unzipping his pants in a
quick succession of movements.  Angel didn't protest or interfere as
the demon stripped him.  He would submit until it was time to take
control.  When the demon least suspected it, when he thought that Angel
was broken, that would be his chance to get Willow back.  The demon
would relax and Angel knew that Willow would wrest control from him
long enough to complete the reversal spell.  Now he just had to do
whatever the demon expected of him and hope that he didn't enjoy it too
much.

Done with him, the demon started to undo the buttons of Willow's
leather and silk blouse where Angel had left off.  He was moving much
more slowly now, exposing Willow's white flesh without haste.  The
garment slipped from her shoulders and fell to the floor.  The demon
brushed Willow's thumb over the old bite mark on her breast.  Her eyes
locked with Angel's.  "She liked it when you bit her.  It turned her
on.  Did you like it?  Did you like the taste of her blood?"

"Yes, but that was you."

"Really."  The lazy finger traveling back and forth across Willow's
chest dug down into her skin, leaving a shallow trail of blood.
"Taste it again?"

It wasn't an order or a demand.  Angel could have refused.  He wasn't
a vampire anymore - the blood didn't call to him, it didn't incite his
hunger.  Still, Angel found himself leaning towards the wound, his
tongue licking at the red liquid.  It tasted good - as sweet as he
remembered.  Angel didn't want to analyze that thought or his actions.
He certainly didn't want to think about why he was sucking harder,
drawing more blood into his mouth.  Willow's fingers wove through his
hair and she started to purr.

Angel wrenched himself away, angry, ashamed, and disgusted at what he
had done.  "What's the matter, Baby?"  Her finger traced idly up and
down his chest.  "Getting to know yourself a bit too much for comfort?
Starting to realize that it's you, not me, that's not good enough for
the witch's love?  She would have left you eventually - she was too
pure in spirit to love someone as low as you - but now I'm a part of
her.  I'll never leave you."

"Promise?"  The word came out ragged, desperate, and way more needy
than Angel wanted to be at that moment.  The demon had hit a vulnerable
point in his quest to convince Angel that he should stay within Willow.
Being a demon, he didn't understand love.  He didn't understand that
Angel would rather give Willow up than see her soul dominated by the
demon.  That was Angel's advantage.  He reached for her once again,
placing his hands on her hips, his fingertips touching soft velvety
skin and the smooth supple leather of her pants.

"I promise."  The demon made its pledge as Willow's body pressed up
close to his so she could reach up to nibble his lower lip.  "I'll be
good to you and you'll be good for me."  There was satisfaction in the
purred words.  As far as the demon was concerned, he had already won.
Angel didn't want to guess at what he would have to do to be 'good' -
kill their friends, slaughter innocents - anything that would decimate
what little hard-won redemption he had earned so far.  This time when
he lowered them both to the rug, the demon didn't protest.  His hands
passed over her body in intimate caresses, reacquainting themselves
with each dip and curve.  His ears drank in the sound of each breathy
sigh, gasp, or deep-throated moan when he hit particularly sensitive
areas.

It had been too long since Angel had touched Willow's body.  He was
tempted to savor this opportunity - who knew when he would have the
chance again - but another part of him was too aware that her reactions
were actually the demon's.  He would use this night as a taunt - no
matter whose body he was housed in.  Extending the foreplay would only
give him a weapon he would relish using in the years to come.
Reluctantly releasing a rosy nipple from his mouth, he placed soft
kisses and lingering licks down her abdomen.  He undid her pants and
eased them down her hips and legs until they were kicked aside.  She
wasn't wearing underwear.  The smell of her arousal mixed with the musk
of the leather.  Angel couldn't resist, he slipped his tongue into her
wet folds knowing she would taste as good as she smelt.  His thumb
massaged her clit and her body bucked underneath him.  He ached to be
buried deep inside her.

"Stopping so soon?" the demon mewled with disappointment.  "I was just
starting to like being the girl."

"I need her."  Angel's voice was rough with lust.  "Now."  Even though
his body shook with desire, Angel waited for the demon's permission.
He knew that his sign of submission would be seen as him acquiescing to
the demon.  He was being 'good.'

Willow's legs opened and her hands brushed through his hair.  "Okay,
but the next time I'm expecting a bit more control.  We'll take our
time."

There was no reason to reply to the dictate.  As far as Angel was
concerned, there wasn't going to be a next time for him and Willow.
The demon would either be back in his body with these past events
having done irreparable damage to their relationship or they would both
be dead by sunrise.  He thrust into Willow's responsive body.  Her legs
wrapped around his hips and she moved under him, with him.  He leaned
down, supporting most of his weight on his elbows, and nuzzled and
licked her neck.  He used his body to tease her, moving in slow, lazy
strokes.  Willow's hands clutched at his shoulders and her fingernails
dug into his back.  "Faster," she rasped.  Angel picked up his pace and
slipped one hand between their bodies to tease her clit with a pinch.

"Yes!" Willow shouted as she shuddered in orgasm.

"Willow," Angel whispered.  He slowed his thrusts, ignoring his own
need for release.  Now would be the best time for Willow to fight the
demon and gain control.  He looked down into her eyes.  They fluttered
open and their gazes locked.  "Saileach, please."

Her mouth opened, her breath still ragged.  "I..release the demon to
the nexus..to return from whence it came.  The connection...is
reversed.  This is my will, so mote it be."  Her eyes shut once more.
Angel stopped moving.  He cupped her face in his hands and waited for
the demon to possess him.  Nothing happened.

"Willow?" Angel shifted and pulled himself from Willow's body.  What if
something had gone wrong?  She could be hurt.  "Willow."

Her eyes didn't open, but her hands moved to his chest.  She was okay..
she shoved him away from her and he fell back.  Her face shifted and
when her eyes opened there was only Angelus.  "Sorry, Soul-boy, spell
didn't work.  Looks like the witch is stuck with me and if you want
her, so are you."  Willow's lips twisted in a cruel smirk.  Her hand
fondled his still erect penis.  "I did promise to be good to you.  Even
though you were a very naughty boy."  The cool cavern of her mouth
engulfed his hard shaft.  Angel groaned from the pleasurable sensation
despite his despair over the spell not working and losing Willow.  At
the very least this would keep the demon in Willow's body occupied
until morning.  Dawn was less than half an hour away.  The demon's fangs
scraped down his cock as he took its full length into Willow's mouth.
On his way back up, the demon punctuated his journey by sucking
harshly at intermittent intervals, ending with sucking at the head.
Angel wasn't going to last long enough to wait for the first rays of
sunlight.  He could feel his balls tightening in anticipation as
Willow's tongue teased the head of his cock.  As her mouth closed over
it again, Angel moaned and felt his seed shoot down Willow's throat.
The demon sucked at it greedily until his orgasm ended.

"Well, that was fun."  Willow's tongue snaked out and licked her lips.
She moved to straddle his stomach, sitting down onto his hard
abdominal muscles.  He could feel the dampness from her still wet curls
against his flesh.  "See, it won't be all bad, at least I know what a
man likes.  Now, I get what I like."  With a harsh snarl, Willow's
head bent and her fangs sank into the tense muscle of his left
pectoral.

A painful gasp escaped Angel's lips as his less-giving flesh was torn
into.  His chest burned.  Searing pain filled his mind and he felt it.
Pure, white-hot rage and frustration as the demon re-entered his body
and was promptly stuffed back into his cage.  He didn't go quietly, but
worry for Willow gave Angel strength to fight the demon.

Willow felt it the moment the demon left her body.  At first, relief at
being alone in her mind and body overwhelmed everything else.  Soon,
the coppery taste of Angel's blood mixed with the lingering saltiness
of his semen penetrated her senses and she swallowed reflexively and
backed away from him.  Reluctantly, Willow looked at Angel to gage his
reaction to her.  His eyes were closed and his features shifted between
vampire and human as he fought the demon.  Willow turned away.  She
couldn't watch him struggle with the demon, not when it was her fault
that he had to fight.  She also didn't want to see the look in Angel's
eyes when he finally opened them and saw her.  The contempt that she
couldn't fight the demon and had let him control her.  The things the
demon had said and done using her voice and body and the things he had
threatened to do to Angel.  She couldn't stand to see the love that
used to fill his eyes be replaced by hate.  She had lost him and his
love.

Angel opened his eyes and saw Willow's naked back huddled in front of
him.  She didn't want to even look at him.  He must disgust her.  Now
she knew what kind of monster lived inside of him and what kind of
monster he was even without the demon.  He had agreed to kill people,
he had relished the taste of her blood.  She hated him.  He had lost
her and her love.

"Blood and sex was our connection, the spell didn't work until I took
your blood," Willow finally spoke.  Her voice was low and shaky.  She
still didn't turn to face him.

Angel didn't reply.

"It's almost sunrise."

"I know."

Silence stretched between them as they both thought about what they
could say to the other.

"I have to go back to L. A."

"I know."

The End.

read the sequal 'Tarnished Heart'

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