A LA CARTE ~ LUNCHEON
Laura Smith
Buffy sat on the checkout counter, swinging her legs, letting the heels of her feet drum against the hard surface. Her eyes kept straying over to Giles, watching him as he read. "So, is this a normal thing?"
He looked up from the book he was reading and met her glance. "What? Research? Yes, actually. It's what the rest of us do while you save the world. I thought you knew that." He smiled affectionately at her to take the sting out of his words.
She rolled her eyes and hopped off the counter, moving over to sit beside him. Placing her hand lightly on his arm, she stroked the fine hairs there. "You know what I mean, Giles. I mean, you do, don't you?"
"This is not the place," he reminded her in a low tone. "Anyone could walk in - Oz, Xander, Faith, Wesley…any of which could put my relationship with your best friend, not to mention our sexual relationship, in serious jeopardy."
Leaning closer, she tilted her head. "What's the difference between your relationship with Willow and our sexual relationship?"
"It's…" Giles looked up as the library doors swung open. He quickly pulled his arm out of Buffy's tender hold, getting up from the table as he did so.
Wesley strode in, "Well, Mr. Giles, were you able to find anything of *any* help this time?"
His face darkening, Giles dropped the book he'd been reading on the table. "Of course not, Wesley. How could I? I'm not a Watcher and as such, simply couldn't manage to be as intelligent and thorough as you." He moved off into his office, smirking at the look on the younger man's face.
He felt, rather than saw, Buffy following him. Sighing, he allowed her to come into the office before he closed the door. "I don't like him."
"I know that. But he is your Watcher now. Listen to what he has to say, then come to me and we'll make sure he's not rushing you off to meet your death before you go out. But make a show of listening to him." He turned around and leaned against his desk, surprised to find her right in front of him.
"I like you." Her hands ran along the length of his chest and Giles struggled not to respond to her touch. "A lot."
"Buffy," he warned.
"I know," she nodded. "I'm being sort of bad. But I thought that was the whole point?"
He caught her hands, stopping them before they slipped down past his belt and into far too dangerous territory. "Not here. Not now."
"When?"
"I'm not sure. You know you're welcome to stop by."
"When…without Willow?"
He met her eyes questioningly. "What?"
"I mean, I love Will. I do. Just not…that way. And I want you all to myself, you know, just every once in a while. I mean, I know you have this with her, but…"
"Buffy, this isn't what I have with Willow." He held her hands tightly, forcing her to stay in front of him and stare at him "I…I love Willow."
"You don't love me?"
"Of course I do. But my love for you is different than what I feel for her." He thought for a moment, needing to make her understand. "You're an amazing woman. Beautiful and strong, smart and loving, lovely and desirable. But you're also my responsibility. No matter what the Council says. And, as much as I do love you, I'm…I'm in love with Willow."
"I see." Buffy stepped back, breaking his hold on her. "So, I'm just like a plaything and she's…what? The important one?"
"No." Giles sighed, wishing he could say it correctly. "You're just as important to me as she is, more important in some ways. Just as she is more important in others. You are…shit."
Buffy looked up, surprised at the profanity. "What did you just say?" She giggled, breaking the growing tension in the room.
"I want to explain it all correctly, so that you'll understand that I don't love you less." He shrugged. "And I'm afraid I'm doing a horrible, horrible job at it."
She tilted her head. "I think I understand. I'm going to think on it and get back to you." Looking out his office window to where Wesley was watching them, not so casually, she shrugged. "After I kick his butt in training, maybe you and I could get together somewhere more private and talk? And you could actually give me a workout?"
He nodded, relieved. "Yes, of course. Thank you."
She smiled at him, her blue eyes mischievous. "And we'll actually try and do some training too."
***
Giles stepped over Wesley as he lay moaning on the floor of the library. "Goodnight then, Wesley."
"Did you see what she did to me?"
"She practically knocked your weightless head off with the quarter staff and when you were gibbering about that, she swept your feet out from under you and poked you in the chest, confirming the kill. If all the vampires she faced were as well trained as you profess to be, her job would be so simple even you…or perhaps anyone but you, could do it."
Buffy grinned, watching Giles walk out the door. "Are we finished here?" Wesley simply groaned his response and Buffy dropped the staff on his chest. "Cool. See you tomorrow." Grabbing her books and duffel bag, she hurried toward the parking lot.
Giles was leaning against his car, a smirk on his face. "Good work in there."
"Not so much work as just really, really fun." Her eyes were sparkling again and Giles allowed himself to acknowledge the pull of desire the sight of her ignited in him. She tilted her head toward the car. "Can you give me a ride?"
He grinned wolfishly as the pull grew stronger, innuendo and her own wicked smile urging it on. "Where to?"
"Somewhere quiet? So we can talk. But not too quiet," she suggested. "Because we might make a little noise."
He nodded and unlocked her door, holding her arm to help her in, allowing his hands to brush across her breast. The Lycra top she wore did nothing to hide the quick hardening of her nipple, nor did she try to hide it. Instead she looked up into his eyes and smiled. Giles smiled back, shutting her door behind her and walking around to his side. When he'd gotten in and started the car, he looked over at her once again. "My place?"
"Well, that might not be best for practicing."
"True, but people certainly must be used to the noise."
"I know a place." Buffy put her hand on his thigh, running her thumb along his slacks, watching as his jaw tightened. "Big for fighting, private for noises and…fairly comfortable."
"I thought we were going to talk about…that."
"You said we had a sexual relationship. I plan to take advantage of that. Or do we just a have a relationship when Willow's around?" The question wasn't harsh, as it could have been, but Giles could hear the hurt in the words. He stared out of the windshield, wondering himself.
He and Willow hadn't talked about what inviting anyone else into their bed meant to them. And, while they'd not ever had sex alone with another person without the other one being there…Buffy was invited into their bed, he reasoned. Why not his own?
"I think we should see where the afternoon takes us."
"And what if I make sure the afternoon takes us where I want to go?" Buffy asked with a smile.
"I think, first of all, you should tell me how to get us to where we want to get to, before we go wherever we might wish to go."
***
The abandoned warehouse was empty of any life, giving them the privacy they needed. Buffy grabbed a bag of weapons out of Giles' car, as well as a blanket, just in case. She smiled to herself, knowing that the afternoon's activities were a foregone conclusion, whether Giles was aware of it or not. She hurried into the building, tossing a sword to Giles as she went.
He caught it easily, twirling it to get used to the feel before facing her. She held hers loosely, her wrist relaxed. Raising his sword, he waited for her to raise hers. They clicked together. "En guarde."
"Do you think the vamps will really say that?" She swung the sword, countering his first attack. "I mean, in my years of practice, they're not really big on protocol."
"Perhaps," Giles admitted with a grin, "but I am a gentleman."
"Amongst other things." Buffy winked at him, moving forward quickly in attack. He fended her off nicely, changing the direction of the battle and backing her away. "Like sexy. Have I ever told you that I thought you were sexy?"
"I don't recall," Giles admitted. "The first day is sort of a blur. All I can remember of us is the first time I saw you as Willow undressed you."
"And Ethan stroking your cock?" She added. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, she pressed forward.
"Willow sucking on your nipples," he noted with a nod, staying his ground and fighting.
"I'm getting sort of hot," Buffy admitted, managing to fight as she slithered her way out of the tight Lycra top, leaving her chest bare. "How about you?"
Giles nodded, his mind divided between the battle and the beautiful, half nude woman in front of him. "It is rather warm in here."
Buffy drove her sword toward him, forcing both their weapons up and Giles' out of his hand. She let her weapon fall as well, pressing her body tightly against his. "How about a little hand to hand?"
He felt her hand snake down his body until it found his erection, already hard and tightening even further at her touch. "That's not my hand."
"It's mine." She waggled her eyebrows.
"No hitting below the belt." He grabbed her hand and twisted, locking it behind her back. "You have to fight fair when you're battling me. I'm the good guy."
"Very good." She looked back at him, over her shoulder, batting her eyes.
He chuckled and bent his head forward, brushing her lips with his own. "Even when I'm frog-marching you?"
"I noticed that you're heading to the blanket," she stated. "And since I'm your prisoner, I'll have to do whatever you want, so I guess I've just resigned myself to fate."
"You've done that since you were sixteen."
"I like this fate better." They reached the blanket she'd tossed on the floor and Giles stopped. Buffy slipped easily out of his hold and spread it out then slipped back into his grasp.
"Thank you for that nice affront to my strength."
"I'm the Slayer," she reminded him. "You think you can hold me?"
He raised his eyebrows at the challenge. "Shall we find out?" Turning her around, he held her tightly against his body, letting her feel his arousal. "Do you think I could pin you to the ground with this and keep you from moving?"
"You could keep me from getting away, but you would have no luck at keeping me from moving." She ground against him for good measure, letting him know exactly how she intended to move.
Giles groaned and lowered his head, capturing her in a kiss. She slipped her hands from his grasp yet again and looped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair. Her lips were hot, her breath and tongue tangling with his as he slipped his fingers under the waistband of her sweatpants and eased them downward.
Buffy wriggled her hips so that the material fell to her feet, stepping out of her shoes and sweats in a fluid motion. With a quick bounce, she repositioned herself, her arms tight around his neck, her legs wrapping around his waist.
Lowering himself to his knees, Giles lay her back on the blanket, never breaking the kiss. As soon as she felt the soft brush of fabric at her back, Buffy released her hold on him, relaxing slightly, moving away from his warmth. Quickly shedding his clothes, Giles watched her as he undressed. Buffy, feeling his eyes on her, stretched languidly, running her hands over her breasts and down her stomach until her fingertips rested on the top of her thighs.
His eyes were hot, pinning her to the blanket as he discarded clothes eagerly. His body seemed somehow more amazing now that she had him alone, Buffy decided, feeling slightly guilty for the vagrant thought. When he knelt beside her, all thought fled from her as she raised herself on her elbows and took Giles' prominent erection into her mouth.
He hissed his pleasure, thrusting forward. Moving her tongue and her head, licking and sucking at the hard flesh, Buffy carefully helped ease him down so that he was lying back on the blanket. She got to her hands and knees, concentrating on the sensitive tip of his cock as he lay beneath her, his body quivering and tightening as her head bobbed, sending shivers of pleasure through him.
Giles reached out, running his hand over the curve of her ass, down the back of her thigh. She arched her back, thrusting back toward him. With a knowing grin, Giles moved his hand back up her thigh, his thumb caressing the soft, inner flesh before brushing along the warm, wet, dark lips of her sex.
Buffy shivered, sucking harder as her body moved, adjusting to allow him better access to her. Her hand trailed along his inner thigh, moving toward the juncture of his thighs and the tender skin beneath his testicles. Rubbing softly, she moved her fingers in a lazy circular pattern, much like she would on herself.
His groan rumbled through him as she tortured him sweetly. Taking both her hips in hand, he guided her so that she was straddling him. His thumbs parted her carefully, exposing the engorged tip of her clitoris to him. Raising his head, Giles swept his tongue along the length of her, brushing over trembling flesh, tasting her.
Buffy whimpered, her body instinctively moving closer to him, inviting him to explore her further. Accepting the invitation, Giles found her clit with his tongue, flicking it with feather light touches until she was writhing above him, her pants of need and desire muted as she continued thrusting his cock deep into her throat.
The rough pad of his thumb ran along the outer circle of her opening, moistened by her arousal. Moving away from her clit for a brief moment, he dipped his tongue inside her, tasting her. Buffy pulled her mouth away from him, resting her head on his thigh, panting as his tongue moved back to the hard button it had been torturing. She moaned softly, pushing back against him, gasping as he slipped two fingers inside of her, bathing them in her wetness.
Her hot breath breezed along his erection, aching and throbbing with need. He was on the cusp of orgasm, glad that she'd stopped, unwilling to have the afternoon end so quickly. He continued moving his fingers, rolling his hips, enjoying the feel of her body against his as she whimpered and mewled, rubbing against him as he teased her with fingers and tongue.
Buffy moved her head, biting his thigh as his thumb ran roughly over her nerve center, sending her tumbling into oblivion. Her body flexed and bucked, wracked with her orgasm as his fingers continued their tender assault.
She squeezed her thighs together, wanting more but needing a brief respite. Giles chuckled, his warm breath sending another shiver of heat along her spine as it seemed to attack all of her overly sensitive nerve endings. He sat up, moving away from her just a bit as she lay back on the blanket. He reached down, brushing his hand along the line of her bite, raising an eyebrow at the nearly broken skin. "Hungry, love?"
"You learn a lot about the erotic nature of biting when you date a vampire," she said with a shrug. "You want me to kiss it and make it better?"
"You do that," he suggested, leaning back on his elbows as she moved to straddle him. Her soft curves hid muscles like steel, yet her touch was gentle as she rested her hand on his chest, moving in slowly to press a kiss to his lips. "Mmm, Buffy," he growled low, licking her lips as she pulled back, not allowing it to intensify.
"Wait," she suggested, lowering her head to kiss his shoulder blade, licking a small scar that she knew Angelus had given him. One night, while he'd been sleeping, she and Willow had catalogued all his scars and bruises, claiming some as trophies and barely speaking of others or the memories they evoked. Her tongue snaked across his skin, moving down toward his nipple, already rigid with arousal.
She traced the darker circle surround it, slowly making her way to the center, laving the hard nub with the tip of her tongue, loving the rumble of pleasure that she felt course through him. Encouraged by the sound, she moved over to his other nipple, repeating the gesture, satisfaction at his pleasure causing the heat to start building inside her once more.
Giles lay there, his mind pleasantly vacant; his body's pleasure centers in full command. Buffy's mouth and tongue explored his body, taking her time as she found places she enjoyed. Her hands stayed on his hips, holding him down to the blanket, the small portion of her strength keeping him from moving.
She traced a scar along his sternum. It was faint and she hadn't noticed it before. "What's this from?" She asked, her breath ruffling the dusting of hair that grew around it.
"Ethan."
"What did he do?" She asked, kissing the flat plane of his stomach, dipping her tongue into his belly button before letting it wind its way down through the dark triangle of hair.
"We were…" he paused, gasping as her tongue ran along his cock. "Messing around. Trying to do a lust spell in order to get into these…" he paused again, his hand clenching as her mouth engulfed his cock briefly, her tongue swiping across the slit on the head, tasting him. "…We needed a virgin's blood."
"You were a virgin?" She looked up at him, surprised.
"In some ways," Giles admitted. Buffy chuckled and bent her head again, her lips finally finding the bite mark she'd left. She kissed the tender flesh, feeling the blood pulsing just underneath the skin. "He…he ran his knife along my chest, licking the blood as it beaded there."
His breathing was easier now that she was concentrating on his thigh. "Why?" She asked, moving her head to nuzzle against his erection, kissing the length of it.
"He wouldn't…" he pursed his lips, breathing hard through his nose as she took his testicles in her mouth, sucking them gently. His eyes rolled back in his head and he thrust upward, needing release. She released him and made her way back up his body, lying on top of him. "…He wouldn't say. But he licked my chest, tasting my blood, his hands finding their way into my jeans and then he managed to get me into bed for the first time."
The memory was still vivid, perhaps one of the most vivid he had. Buffy made a soft noise of understanding, even though her eyes showed some confusion. "Did you like it?"
"It's very…primal."
The cloud of confusion left her eyes and she moved off of him. "Show me."
"Buffy, I…"
"Not that. Well, not exactly." She got onto her hands and knees, the dark lips of her sex exposed to him. "You wanted to keep me from moving, Giles. Pin me down, so to speak, right?"
He let out a low groan, getting to his knees. He moved behind her, running the tip of his cock along her opening, coating himself with her excitement. She was hot and wet, her body asking for him. He took her hips in hand, carefully pulling her back toward him, sliding easily inside her.
Buffy's sigh was more like a stuttering cry. "Feels different," she moaned, holding the blanket to her mouth as he began moving. She trembled, her knees weak as his rhythm increased, his body slamming into hers with a mixture of gentleness and demand.
Giles slipped one hand around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. Buffy gasped, her body shaking, her muscles grasping at him as he continued thrusting. He lifted her slightly, her back fitting to his chest until they were almost both on their knees. His thrusts were shallower as his other hand came around her and moved to her clitoris.
The skin was even more sensitive from his earlier attentions and she lost control with his first touch. Her body spasmed, breaking the hold he had on her, sending her back onto her hands and knees. Giles followed her down, pinning her to the floor as he ground his hips down, penetrating her tightness again and again until he cried out as well, closing his eyes as he lost himself inside her.
***
Buffy turned her head to the side, looking over her shoulder at Giles. "I think I like that."
"I know," he said with a smile.
"Yeah, but you knew twenty years ago." She pressed her bottom back against him, enjoying the feel of his cock still buried in her. "I love how you're not my Watcher anymore, but you still teach me things."
"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try and learn these sorts of things from Wesley. You're liable to kill him."
"There's a thought," she said with a grin. Suddenly, the grin faded and she twisted her body, pushing him away from her. Gathering her clothes in silence, she gestured for him to get dressed.
Giles did as she indicated, knowing that she sensed something. He found his way into his clothes, grabbing the sword he'd used earlier off the floor. Buffy copied his movements, backing against the wall and motioning for him to do likewise.
As soon as his back touched the wall, the room seemed to explode with vampires. At least ten of them rushed forward. Buffy pushed off the wall, engaging them, her sword swinging expertly. The head vampire just laughed, dodging her blows as she seemed to slow, her strength ebbing from her. "Stupid Slayer," it hissed. "Don't know your own strength, do you?"
Buffy spared a glance at Giles, her blue eyes worried. She managed to dodge the vampire's attacks, but Giles could see that she was weakening. He moved further forward, continuing to battle the vampires that weren't focused on Buffy. He grabbed a crate from the floor, slamming it against the wall and gathering a few pieces with one had while the other wielded the sword.
"Buffy!" he called out, tossing slivers of wood to his Slayer. She caught them, although without the grace she normally displayed.
"Giles!" Her cry was loaded with questions, wondering what was happening to her. He pressed forward, makeshift stakes and sword clearing a path to her. Buffy looked around wildly, dropping the sword with a clang. Giles was too far away and the vampire seemed to be growing stronger while she grew weaker. She couldn't get close enough to stake him and, without her normal coordination, she doubted she could hit his heart.
The vampire smiled. "You should do a little history lesson," he suggested. "Except you'll be dead." His head bent toward her neck, a ghoulish smile framing the distended fangs. She felt the teeth scrape across her skin the instant before he turned to dust.
The room was as silent as it had been when they walked in as Buffy and Giles stared at each other. She rushed into his arms, taking comfort there. He held her tightly, stroking her hair. Something the vampire had said was bothering him, but he didn't have the heart to separate himself from her, didn't want her to think he could desert her when she needed him.
But he was sure there was research to be done.
Next: Coffee Break