The Iron is Hot - Cordelia & Wesley
Beauty Secrets
Author: AngelChase
Contact: [email protected]
Site: http://www.geocities.com/lifeisbittersweet
Summary: Wesley watches one of Cordelia’s rituals.
Pairing: Cordelia/Wesley
Rating: PG
Note: Response to the 20 minutes with Cordelia Chase challenge at Your Mission.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Joss Whedon & Co.
Distribution: Your Mission, The Iron is Hot. Anyone else, just ask.
She’s sitting on her desk, not even trying to look busy. She has already taken care of her nails, which are now perfectly covered in a provocative shade of burgundy. Cordelia hasn’t been able to afford manicure for a long time, so “do it yourself” has become her new philosophy.
Now she is working on her makeup. She checks her face in the pocket mirror and gestures, examining if the lines linger after each expression. She smiles, satisfied. Cordelia Chase doesn’t have wrinkles. Of course, she’s too young to have any.
She applies some blush over her cheeks and he watches absently as the brush caresses her skin, darkening her already tanned skin slightly, giving depth to the sides of her cheekbones.
Then she experiments with the eye shadow. It’s a loud shade of green and she gently applies it over the sensitive skin that covers her eyes, while he imagines what it’d feel like to kiss those eyelids. She picks a darker shade and covers the angles with it, expertly, confidently.
The time for the dark eyeliner arrives and she applies it with a steady hand. His hand, in the contrary, can’t stop shaking as Cordelia finally grabs the lip liner and tortures him –unintentionally probably, although he’s starting to have his doubts about that-. The lip gloss follows, and he stares at her, remembering how it feels to taste that surface.
That is when Wesley draws the line. He leaves his desk and turns to leave the office, unable to endure the need to kiss her. But when he’s about to walk away, a thought strikes him. Walking back to Cordelia’s desk, he picks up one of the cleansing towels and hands it to her without saying a word.
She takes it, giving him an annoyed look. She knows she’s not supposed to take time from work to put on makeup, but it’s not like she has anything better to do. Glaring at Wesley, she starts removing it softly.
He gulps, watching the towel trace the surface of the skin he wants to trace, caressing the lips he wants to caress.
“Happy now?” Cordelia asks when she’s done, as she throws the towel into the bin.
Wesley is happy. Because the makeup looked beautiful on her, but she looks naturally beautiful now. And since he worked up the courage to hand her a cleansing towel, the next step just seems easier.
So he bends down slightly and places his hand on Cordelia’s chin while his mouth descends on hers. He kisses her softly, catching the faint taste of the makeup remover. It only takes a few seconds until she kisses him back, hesitantly, probably shocked until the surprise goes away, letting passion take over.
When he pulls back, she looks at him, speechless.
“You look good without make up,” he says with the characteristic nervousness in his voice. He felt so bold a while back, but now he knows he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.
Although, judging by the look on Cordelia’s eyes and the smile on her face, the aftermath seems like something he’s more than willing to deal with.
The End