Shackles

Disobeying Daddy

Chapter 3

Alastor didn’t smile in his sleep. His face, so relaxed and serene, really caught Angel off guard, shadows flickering over his features in the dark. That fact that he had managed to wake briefly during the night in a moment when Al was fast asleep was…priceless. He wanted to touch the other man’s face, to pet the red fluffy ears, and to burrow into his chest…

But he also didn’t want to ruin the moment.

The infamous radio demon without his trademark grin. A sight for sore eyes. What was it about Al that made him all giddy and dumb? He didn’t get it.

He lasted three minutes before he finally caved and kissed Al’s sleeping lips. He thought he was going to regret his actions, that Alastor would get angry or cold all over again, but the radio demon thankfully returned his kisses and simply pulled Angel closer.

Did dead hearts beat? He was certain he could hear Alastor’s heartbeat…or perhaps it was his own. They seemed to be beating on the same rhythm… in tandem.

Alastor wasn’t inside him and yet in that moment he felt closer to another person than he ever had before.

“Mon Ange,” a raspy whisper. Alastor didn’t open his eyes as he spoke, just nuzzled his face lightly into Angel’s neck. “Rendors-toi, Mon Ange.”

“Don’t wanna miss out.” Angel mumbled. The smile twitched back onto Alastor’s lips as he hazily opened a single eye. “No, Al. Don’t wake up. I don’t want anythin’ from ya… just…ya know…enjoyin’ the moment…havin ya here…is all. Wanna get my fill of ya till ya sneak off ta yer own room.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He shouldn’t have said that. That sounded so…Lame. Needy. Pathetic.

A pause. Alastor closed opened eyes and sighed. “I will need to make some necessary adjustments,” he said offhandedly after a few moments. His eyes flitted around the room briefly in thought, seeming to come to one of his own little conclusions that he didn’t voice aloud. Angel just blinked in confusion. “Nevermind it. Go to sleep. I have no intention of sleeping elsewhere.”

He wasn’t going to sneak away? Angel could feel his limbs go heavy as Alastor looped an arm back around his waist.

He’d never slept so well in hell.

The Radio Demon had kept his word. Angel woke to that perky crazed smile and wild eyes staring down at him. No sooner had they climbed out of bed than Al was endeavoring to tidy up the room, dressing Fat Nuggets in a dapper little suit, and slipping out the door.

Angel didn’t know what Al had said to Charlie and Vaggie, but he was almost positive that it wasn’t the goddamn truth. When he came down the stairs for breakfast the following morning, hair still damp from his long soak in the tub, Charlie greeted him with a nervous little smile and a careful hug, promising him that if he needed to talk she would always be there to listen.

Fuck, what had Al told her? Even Vaggie gave him the sympathetic little nod of recognition and a sheepish not-smile-just-teeth thing, the kind of shit you offer to someone who is completely unhinged and who you want to be nice to but the entire situation is just too uncomfortable to bear.

It was only after Angel slumped into a chair at the busted-up dining room table that Charlie began to speak in anything besides confusing sympathetic muttering. “Alastor, um… explained…the situation,” she said. “I’m so sorry we…immediately assumed… I’m sorry.”

Maybe Al had told her the truth after all.

He felt his shoulders relax. “Nah. Don’t mention it, sugah. Smiles just likes ta play a little rough...”