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CHAPTER 11 - Green Be The Colour of Envy

"Ah, this is my niece, Elizabeth Summers," Giles introduced as she placed the extra cup down on the tea tray. "I believe you've spoken with her over the telephone?"

"I have indeed," Liam replied, walking over to her with his hand outstretched. "It's a pleasure to finally put a face to the voice," he told her smoothly.

Elizabeth clasped his hand and was taken by surprise when instead of shaking it as expected, Liam turned it over then raised it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back. Eyes never leaving hers, he then pulled back and gave her a half smile as she blushed prettily. "A real pleasure," he reiterated softly.

"I-it's nice to meet you too, Mr. Connell," Elizabeth stammered awkwardly, conscious of the fact that she and Liam were the centre of attention.

"Oh, come now, I thought we already agreed that all my close friends call me Angel?" he admonished lightly.

"Um, yes, of course…Angel," she amended, glancing over at William's disapproving expression as she tugged her hand from the publisher's grasp.

"Your uncle's been telling me that you've been working hard on the book and that you'll be able to tell me far more about its progress that he can," Angel continued as he reluctantly released her hand. "Maybe we could have a private chat after I've finished speaking with your uncle?"

"Uh…yes…of course," she replied in surprise. "I have a small office next door we can use."

"Great," he enthused and produced an infectious grin that she couldn't help but respond to.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked.

"Love some," he answered amiably.

Elizabeth smiled and busied herself with the task while her uncle drew Angel's attention back to him and they began talking about the book. After handing out the drinks and carefully avoiding any further eye contact with William, Elizabeth sat down and listened to Angel's ideas and expectations for the book.

Having had his own work published, William brought up a few pertinent queries that Angel answered quickly and comprehensively. Elizabeth was impressed with his replies and when she risked a glance over at William she saw that even he had a grudging look of respect for the man.

It was decided that the first draft should be with Angel in six months. Elizabeth mentally calculated the rate of work both her and her uncle were producing and was reasonably sure that the date could be reached without problem.

"So, have you any more pages ready that I could possibly have a look at?" Angel asked, looking at both Giles and Elizabeth. "Any notes?"

"Yes, I have some here," Giles replied, going to his desk and beginning to search through the many papers that littered it. "Somewhere."

"I have the next chapter all typed up in my office," Elizabeth revealed as she stood up. "I'll go and get it."

Angel also stood. "I'll come with you and we can have that chat while your uncle looks in here, okay?" he suggested blithely.

She nodded and picked up the empty cups and put them back on the tray. "I'll just take these out to the kitchen first."

William moved to open the door for her but, much to his chagrin, Angel was quicker, opening the door with a flourish and simultaneously throwing a smug grin in the other man's direction.

William's jaw tightened painfully and he shot the taller man an icy glare. The bloody wanker was trying to goad him.

Angel waited until Elizabeth walked past him then followed her out into the hallway. "I'll wait for you here," he informed her pleasantly.

"Okay, I won't be a minute," she replied, hurrying away to the kitchen.

William went to close the door and hesitated as he saw Angel blatantly staring at Elizabeth's retreating figure, his head tilted to the side in obvious admiration of the blonde's swaying backside. "When you've quite finished," he bit out pointedly in a low voice.

Angel turned and looked at the shorter man consideringly. He knew when a woman was off limits and by the look on Saunders' face, this one was definitely a no go. Still, he'd never let that stop him before…

"Can't blame a guy for looking," he goaded succinctly.

"Wouldn't be too sure about that mate," William retorted forbiddingly.

They stared at each other for a moment until Elizabeth walked back out of the kitchen. "Everything okay?" she asked noticing the thick tension between the two men.

"Yeah, fine," Angel informed her smoothly, his ready smile in place. "Ready for that talk?"

"Sure, my office is just here," she replied gesturing to the door on her right while looking at William with a quizzical frown.

William merely gave her an angry look then stepped back into the study and shut the door leaving her and Angel alone in the hall.

"I don't think he likes me very much," Angel commented dryly as he courteously opened the door to Elizabeth's office and waited for her to go through.

Elizabeth agreed but remained silent. She didn't want to get into a conversation about William.

They walked into her office and Angel shut the door while Elizabeth picked up the folder from the top of the pile of books she'd left it on earlier.

"Here's the next chapter," she said holding out the file.

Angel took the proffered folder and flicked through the pages inside before closing it and handing it back with a smile. "You know, what I particularly like about this book is the human aspect of the characters. Usually when we have work submitted by the learned kind of man your uncle is, we expect it to be more…text like. It was a complete surprise to find something that was so refreshing and readable which is why I'm so keen to publish."

Elizabeth blushed, wondering if Angel had guessed that she was responsible for the humanising of Giles' work. Apparently he had…

"You've made an excellent job of interpreting your uncle's work, Elizabeth. You've definitely got a gift for this kind of thing. Tell me, are you inbetween career moves right now or…?"

He let the question hang and Elizabeth felt the usual irritation that arose whenever someone made the assumption that she couldn't possibly find any satisfaction in helping her uncle. "I'm not really an ambitious person," she said curtly.

She had no intention of pretending to be something she wasn't…well, not towards Angel anyway. Not even if he was charming and looked at her in such a way that it made her wonder if her sister had actually known the effect the blouse would have when she'd bought it.

Angel was unfazed by her abrupt reply. "Even so, you've got talent, Elizabeth, and if you're ever in need of more work please get in touch with me and let me know. You'd be a godsend to a lot of our writers'."

"Oh," she replied, feeling surprised and pleased by his flattery. "That's…I'll keep it in mind."

"Good," he said simply as he walked slowly towards her. "And if you want to discuss anything more about the book then I'm more than happy to do so over dinner…say tonight at eight o'clock?"

He was close now and Elizabeth instinctively took a step backwards, her mind a whirl at the realisation that Angel had just asked her out on a date. As she moved, her hip contacted heavily with the pile of books on the edge of her desk causing them to topple forward. Angel immediately reached out and grabbed hold of her, pulling her into his arms out of the way of the weighty tomes.

"Thanks," Elizabeth said smiling gratefully as she looked up at him, her hands resting lightly against his chest.

"No problem, I save you and get you exactly where I want you," he replied with a grin as he tightened his grip slightly. "Win win situation as far as I'm concerned."

Elizabeth's eyes widened at his words and then flew to the door as it suddenly opened and William walked in. Oh God, oh God, oh God, she thought, closing her eyes and opening them again with the hopes that he was just an illusion. No way would he believe that what he was seeing was innocent…on her part at least.

William froze in the doorway and stared at the embracing couple feeling as if all the air had been sucked from the room taking his capacity to breathe along with it. In silence he took note of Angel's self-satisfied smile then watched as Elizabeth blushed and dropped her head guiltily as she awkwardly moved out of Connell's arms.

"Rupert's found those notes," he finally told Angel flatly.

The publisher gave Elizabeth a regretful look. "I'd better go but we'll talk later, okay?"

The blonde remained silent and looked over at William who refused to meet her gaze. Keeping his eyes fixed determinedly on the publisher, he waited until Angel walked passed him then followed him out closing the door softly behind him.

Elizabeth stayed where she was, feeling numb. Could his timing have been any worse? And Angel hadn't helped. She'd seen the look he'd given William and hadn't been pleased. True, the publisher was charming and very handsome but when he'd held her, she'd felt absolutely nothing.

No sudden racing of her heart; no heightened awareness of his every movement…no matter how slight; no urge to claim his lips and definitely no inclination to move further into his embrace. He was just too…big for her to feel comfortable whereas William…William was just the right size, she realised.

Recognising the way her thoughts were going, she shook her head and turned around to begin picking up the books. If she kept herself busy then she wouldn't dwell on what had just happened.

Ten minutes later, the books were neatly put away and a knock came at her door before it opened to reveal Angel.

"I'm leaving now and just thought I'd better say goodbye," he told her with an engaging smile as he stepped into the room.

"Goodbye," she replied quickly, giving him a tiny wave as she stepped back.

Angel sighed, his face dropping a little at her evasive movement. "I take it that means no dinner tonight?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, no," Elizabeth replied with a slight shake of her head.

"Tomorrow?" he tried, hopefully.

Another shake of her head. "Sorry."

A rueful smile appeared and he raised his hands up in defeated pose. "Okay, I know when to back off," he said easily. "But if you ever seriously want to do more work, then don't forget to give me a call at least, alright?"

She nodded.

"Great," he said with noticeable relief. "Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Elizabeth and I'll ring in a couple of weeks to see how you're getting on with the book."

They said their goodbyes and Elizabeth went into the study to get the empty sandwich plates while her uncle and William saw the publisher out. She took them back to the kitchen and had just finished putting them in the dishwasher when the kitchen door opened behind her.

Her hair stood up on the back of her neck and when she turned around it came as no surprise to see that her visitor was William. One furious William if his expression was anything to go by, she realised as her heart plummeted. It was no use telling herself that he had no right to be angry…her body refused to listen.

"What is it with you?" he began as he strode up to her. "Does it give you some kind of thrill to pick up strangers? Do you get some kind of sexual kink out of it that you don't get with your fiancé? First me and then Connell!"

Without thinking of the consequences, Elizabeth's hand came up in an arc and slapped him hard across the face. His cheek reddened at the place of contact and his lips tightened into a grim line as he glared back at her.

"How dare you?" she spat, her own temper rising at his allegations. "You don't know me! Sharing my body doesn't mean that we shared emotion or our hearts or any kind of understanding."

"Then tell me," he demanded harshly as he stepped up and grabbed hold of her arms. "Tell me so I can comprehend what the hell is going on because right now you're driving me insane, Elizabeth." His voice took on an almost desperate note. "To have known you so intimately, to have felt your naked body moving under mine…knowing that you revelled in that feeling as much as I did and now to not be allowed to touch you…barely even look at you…"

Elizabeth roughly broke away from his grasp, his words conjuring up memories that she didn't want to remember lest it weakened her resolve. "There's nothing to tell," she told him harshly. "I'm engaged and you and I were a mistake. A terrible mistake that I want to forget…"

"Well, I don't!" he interrupted savagely, his anger rapidly returning on hearing her crushing words. "I've touched your skin…caressed it, tasted it…I've loved you, Buffy…"

"Loved me?" she repeated shrilly and let out a short bark of laughter. "You had sex with me, you mean." What was he trying to do to her? Why was he saying these things? Tormenting her like this when she knew all he wanted from her was to resume the intimacy they so briefly shared. Sex…but not love. She wasn't that much of a fool.

He drew in a sharp breath and narrowed his eyes. "Alright, I had sex with you," he ground out, trying to maintain a semblance of control despite the way she was reducing their night to nothing more than a cheap lay. "And now I want…"

"To use me like I used you," she interrupted bitterly. "But I won't let you. I may stupidly have once allowed you…"

"Allowed me!" he repeated in harsh disbelief as stared back at her with icy disdain. "You asked me!"

"No!" she denied.

"You begged me to make love to you," he continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"No!" she refuted even louder as she put her hands to her ears in an effort to block him out.

"You wanted it as much as I did, Buffy!"

"No, no, no," she chanted, shaking her head, her control breaking as the words hit her like physical blows.

William reached out and wrenched her hands away from her head. "Yes!" he told her forcefully as he stared at her terrified face "Yes," he repeated with soft emphasis as he released the tight grip on her wrists and took a deep, calming breath. "Buffy…I…" he broke off, suddenly silent and looked deep into her eyes.

She found it mesmeric, just like the slow caress of his thumbs as they gently rubbed little circles over the frantic beating of her pulse at her wrists. Something was happening to her. Something familiar and dangerous. Something that only William seemed to be able to set in motion.

Once before he'd made her feel like this and even though her brain cried danger, her body refused to listen. The relentless stroking of her wrist had her pulse hammering wildly beneath his touch and her lips parted and her eyes grew slumberous as memories of the one time they'd been together overwhelmed her.

William murmured something soft and inaudible deep in his throat that had her body immediately responding so that it softened and yielded, pressing eagerly against him. His hands left her wrists and lifted to entwine gently into her hair, moulding the shape of her head, holding her still as he slowly bent towards her.

She knew he was going to kiss her and she welcomed it, her hands already gliding up his chest, tracing the hard muscle underneath. Relishing the feel of his strong shoulders, she slid her arms around his neck and let her eyelids drop, lifting her face in anticipation.

The pressure of his lips was light at first but as soon as she opened her mouth willingly, he deepened the kiss. Their tongues met and caressed, sliding slowly and erotically against each other as they both gave in to the familiar sensation.

It was the sound of her uncle calling her name that brought her back to reality with a shuddering thump. Abruptly, she pulled back at the same time as William released her, mortified at what she'd just let happen.

Unable to bring herself to look at him and endure the humiliation of the triumph she knew must be in his eyes, she kept her head down. "Coming, Uncle Rupert," she called out shakily. Brushing past him on unsteady legs, she ignored the brief flare of awareness that quickly rose again at the fleeting contact and hurriedly left the kitchen.

Once outside, she drew in a deep breath and touched trembling fingers to her softly swollen lips. If it wasn't for her uncle's timely interruption, she knew she would have let William do whatever he wanted. Not only let him, she acknowledged to herself shamingly…but, she would've happily aided and abetted him.

It was a sobering and frighteningly shocking thought that she had no doubt would haunt her for a long while to come.

TBC IN CHAPTER 12





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