Dark Sorceress Series.

TITLE: Beware of Strangers Bearing Drinks 1/1

SERIES: Dark Sorceress. Chapter 6.

AUTHOR: Patricia RD

EMAIL: patricia_rosemary

SITE: www.angelfire.com/realm2/call_of_the_dark

RATING: NC-17.

PAIRING: Tara/Darla.

SUMMARY: Tara and Darla celebrate.

SPOILERS: AU seasons 5 and 2.

ARCHIVE: My own site. Jade. Everyone else ask first, please.

FEEDBACK: Like good sex, you can never have enough.

*********************************

Cold wind comes through the window and dances on my bare skin, chilling the warm blood my sire has used to trace intricate designs on my breasts and stomach.

"Do you want me to close the window?" Darla asks. I shake my head. Cold doesn't bother me anymore.

She shrugs and dips her fingers in the porcelain cup. When she pulls them out, the tips are red and shiny. "I'm proud of you. What you did last night..." she trails off, letting her hands and mouth do the talking. I just relax and enjoy. I know the rules. I'll take the compliments, but keep my feet on the bloody ground. As much as we hate to admit it, we're merely pieces in the evil puzzle. We want to rule? We need each other. As long as we understand the order, we'll get along.


"How's Lindsey, by the way?" I ask, not caring a lot actually.


"Healing. He should rest, so Angelus took him out to hunt." She looks at me. "I told him you were sorry."


"It was Lilah who did that to him."


"And you knew it could happen, yet didn't warn him."


"I needed him to be surprised. Lilah had to believe his reaction."


"Baby, Lindsey is a lawyer. He knows how to lie."


I don't say anything, waiting for her to drop the subject and keep on playing. After a while she does, or at least that what I think.


"You made it," Darla says suddenly. "Angelus tested you, and you passed."


"It was child's play. He'll think of harder ways to test me."


"He just wants you to be strong."


"I am strong."


"Stronger, then." Her nails dig into my stomach, adding my blood to her finger painting. I wince in pain, but say nothing. "You are now a child of the darkness, Tara. And spare me the talks about Anne Rice cliches. For centuries, the Order of Aurelius ruled the underworld, inspiring fear and respect among humans and demons alike. Even during his imprisonment underground, the Master was the sovereign of iron fists and eyes of blood."


"And he was killed by the Slayer," I remind Darla. She just looks at me.


"A terrible loss for all of us. But Angelus will make a worthy new Master soon."


"And we will bring forth the golden years."


"Yes. Don't let the power go to your head, darling. You are beautiful, smart and powerful, but you're still young."


"Young enough to know everything." I grin. "And old enough to get into a bar."


******************************************


She likes this bar, small and exclusive, black and mirrors all around her. Her drink of choice is single malt scotch. She has at least three before heading home, a ritual almost nightly and sometimes as early as noon. How else is she going to make it through the day? Is this safe little routine _bar, drinks, office away, rejecting some losers who think they're at her level_


She is Lilah Morgan. And her routine is about to change.


She doesn't look up from her drink when the pretty girl sits next to her. Doesn't bother checking out if the girl's a young escort or some rich kid drinking up Daddy's money. Lilah doesn't care. She does pay some attention to the man who takes a seat on her right side. and only because she knows him.


"If it isn't Mr. I-go-to-work-wherever-I-feel-like-to," she says smiling at him. "Well, Lindsey, I thought you were dead."


"I bet that broke your pretty little heart." Lindsey says, then he frowns. "Wait! You don't have one."


"You can't make it here with one of those. Why don't you get that? Your pretty boy looks and good luck can only take you so far."


"I got more than that going on for me and you know, Lilah," he looks at the bartender, orders a scotch and a martini. Then waits for him to go away before resuming his conversation. "In fact, it's the thorn in your side, isn't it? The fact that when the time comes, I'll be the one getting the promotion while you stay under the glass floor, cursing your bad luck."


"You have a big mouth for someone who likes to sleep with danger, literally," she takes a sip of scotch. "What? You think nobody knows? You're an idiot if you really think Darla won't kill you now that she has Angelus back." she thinks about this. "I like the sound of that."


Lindsey nods. "Good girl. You've done your homework. then I guess you've heard about the new adition to their family."


"The witch? Of course I have. The firm will deal with her when the time comes. Have you met her yet?"


He nods again. "Pretty thing. Stronger than she looks."


Lilah scoffs. "Hope she's not a nutcase like Dru."


"Why don't you ask her yourself? She's sitting next to you."


********************************************


"Tell me more," Darla asks, her initial rage dissipated. "The look in her eyes, how was it?"


"Priceless. She was expecting someone bigger, scarier. All she got was a chubby girl gone bad."


"I like the flesh. More for me to nibble on."


She follows this with an example. I shiver in pleasure. "She was scared. I could tell that."


"She had the right to."


"True. Do you want me to go on?"


She stops her ministrations, her lips inches away from my clit. "Please do."


I smile. "You don't have to stop."

******************************************


"Tara MaClay," Lilah said, her voice cool, her veins running with ice. "Heard a lot about you."


"All bad, I hope," Tara says raising her martini towards the brunette lawyer. "Lindsey said we could talk business."


"Anything our firm has to say, they'll say to Angelus. He is your leader after all."


"Among other things, yeah." She looks at Lilah's hands. "I like your jewelry. Diamonds are a girl's best friends."


"I won't say no to that." The lawyer talks the way she would talk to a very small child. This girl can be the new Big Evil on the city, but Lilah knows better. She can't show any fear now. First impressions can be deadly. Still, she knows the vampiress can sense the faster heartbeats, the cold sweat.


"You look tense," Tara says, confirming Lilah's worries. "Why don't we go out somewhere we can talk?"


Lilah's about to reply when he hears Lindsey speaking to the bartender, paying for their drinks. The corner of her catches the smiling bartender, pocketing what seems to be a generous tip, saying goodbye to thin air...


Oh, shit.


Before she can make a move Lindsey's hand is on her shoulder, his hold painful and cold, even through her jacket.


"As my new friend said," he whispers in Lilah's ear. "Why don't we go out somewhere we can talk?"


This time Lilah says nothing as the three of them stand up and head for the exit. She knows words can't help her now, and she hates them for it. Any chance of smooth talk seems a waste of time now. all she can do is wait, watching how Lindsey captures the wrist of a young girl just as they leave the bar.


"A snack," he whispers to his former colleague, giving her a ray of hope. If the girl was a snack, Lilah was to be kept alive then, but for how long? And in what condition?


What a great ray of hope, Lilah.


The girl Lindsey picked up is looking around, terrified of this stranger's strong hold and cruel look. He's warning her about screaming, telling her he will snap her neck and slice her open before anyone can come to her help. And Lilah believes him. Lawyer-with-a-conscience-Lindsey is gone. Whoever took his place is whistling a country tune as he follows Tara into a dark alley, one prisoner on each arm.

******************************


"The fear," I say as Darla lies next to me, licking her lips. I purr, almost spent. "Dru is right. It does taste like apricots."


"You learn fast, my girl," she says kissing me. I can taste myself in her lips.


"Wish I could say the same about Lilah." I let a hand move up and down her shapely thigh.


"She can be a little thick sometimes. Still, she's made it in Wolfram and Hart. She has me..." she gasps as I slid a finger inside of her, flesh pulsating against mine.


"Quiet," I hush. "You'll miss the ending."


"As long as you keep on doing that, I'll be as quiet as possible."


"That is yet to be seen."


Maybe I should test her a little. A second finger joins the first one. And then one of her hands moves down to my breast, the nipple raising at her feather-like touch. A shiver runs down my spine, amazed at how well she knows me. My Dark Goddess. I lean forward for another kiss, tongues entwining, free hands bringing us closer, busy hands bringing us to ecstasy.


We only come apart after a long time, licking blood for our fingers. Pain turned to pleasure.


And the best part is, it doesn't have to be your own pain to bring you pleasure.

***********************************


She's not going down without a fight. Vampire or not, he's still Lindsey, and anything that hurts him is good.


He's a little away from her now, holding the frightened girl against a wall. Tara watches them amused.


Lilah pretends to hug herself, letting one hand slid inside of her jacket, pulling out the small vial. Lindsey has taken a step back from his victim, probably to admire the shaking figure. Then he turns to face Lilah. Perfect.


Just as he's turning Lilah smashes the vial of holy water on his face. He growls as she winces in pain as a piece of broken glass cuts her palm. No time to cry over it. Lilah attacks with everything she's got_ heels, nails and glass on her hand_, but he's too strong for her. Plus there's Tara.


Where's Tara? Is she the one walking out of the alley or is that one Lindsey's snack? No, in the middle of everything she can see is Tara leaving the alley. Was this the plan all along? to make Lilah feel slightly safe and then turn her into vamp food? Why does she feel there's something wrong about all of it?


He has Lilah against the wall now, close to the stupid girl who won't run now that she's got the chance. Desperate, she raises her knee, brings it right between his legs. He groans in pain as Lilah kicks him once more and tries to run for it, not caring about the disappearing vampiress.


Lindsey grabs her by the hair and pulls her back. She screams. This is it, years of fur and diamonds and she dies on a dirty alley, killed by her once partner_ well, that part she did imagine.


Suddenly he's not holding her anymore. She turns around and sees the 'frightened' girl punching Lindsey on the face before throwing him against a wall.


"Jerk!" she says, shaking her head, Lilah slowly takes a few steps back, but not quite getting away yet.


Then the girl turns, giving Lilah a vamped up, evil grin.


"We need her alive."

****************************************


"It was then that she realized *I* was not Lindsey's dinner-to-be," I finish. Darla applauds.


"Bravo. You did it, baby."


"Yeah," I sigh. "I just regret not killing the vamp we paid to impersonate me. She wasn't supposed to leave yet."


"Angelus will find her. don't worry about it."


I kiss her again. "You are my hero."


"I know," she says, pulling on top of her for another kiss. "So, now we have a lawyer... I still think you should have killed her."


"Angelus says we might need her. A connection to Wolfram and Hart."


"They'll want our heads."


"Not at all. They wants us on their side. As long as we stand our ground we'll be fine."


She doesn't say anything. I rest my head against her chest and close my eyes.


"You'll have your whilrwind back, my goddess. And darker than ever. We'll give it to you."


Even as I drift to sleep, I can feel her smile.


FIN