OUT OF CONTEXT
Laura Smith
An angry shout and the sound of shattering dishes caught Giles' attention. He looked up from his menu, startled to see Willow standing not more than ten feet from him. She was wearing something he supposed would classify as a dress, although the length of it led him to think of it as more of a shirt.
But what really caught his attention was the man holding her arm in his grip. He was older, perhaps almost his age, and he looked angry. When he spoke, his words and tone confirmed Giles' suspicion. "Look, I made it perfectly clear what I expected of you tonight. Now, I'm real sorry that you don't think you have to follow through on what you promised, but it's not going to change the end result."
"You offered me dinner," Willow reminded him.
Walking very casually over to the overturned table, anger flowing through him like blood, Giles grabbed the hand that held Willow in a tight grip and pulled, snapping the fragile wrist bones, eliciting a scream of pain and rage from the man. Ignoring it, Giles spoke, "I believe the lady asked you to leave her alone."
The man stared at Giles, then at his hand in disbelief. "You son of a bitch! Who the hell are you? I'll kill you for that!"
"Will you?" Giles calmly raised and eyebrow and bent the wrist back further, grinding the broken bones together. "I somehow doubt that. Now, since I'm a gentleman, I'm going to give you a lesson in the proper way to treat a lady. Something I happen to know this young woman is. You treat her with respect." With a quick movement, he wrapped a leg around the other man's and dropped him to the floor. "You handle her as if she were a most precious gem." His heel ground down on the man's throat, practically cutting off his air supply. Giles glanced over at Willow, refusing to let himself wonder or worry at the fear in her eyes. "And when she says no, no matter the question, you always, *always* agree and walk away." He slammed his heel down once, causing the man to cry out in pain. "Although it's only fair to warn you, if you ever lay a hand on her again, I'll rip it off and feed it to you for lunch."
Willow was shivering, huddled near another table. Giles looked back at her, his eyes dark and cold.
"Come on, Willow. I'll take you home." He reached out, taking her arm carefully, his touch light. "I don't think your…date will mind."
***
The car ride was silent, tension and fear thick in the air. Feeling the adrenaline leave him, Giles sighed and finally looked in her direction. "I realize that I had no right to interfere."
She laughed, embarrassed by the hysterical edge to it. "No. Interfering was good."
"Was he your date?"
"Not…he's a guest lecturer at the college. He hosted a seminar called ‘The Passionate Witch'. It was supposed to be about women throughout the ages defying the stereotypes of the day and making their own way regardless of how society treated them. And it was really interesting. The seminar, that is. When he asked me to join him for dinner afterwards, I was really flattered. I thought…well, I thought some of my comments had intrigued him. I'm guessing he might have taken them out of context." She smiled bitterly in the dark. "Or he just liked my short skirt."
"It is short," he noted.
"Yeah. But it was the only dressy thing I had that wasn't a prom dress." She shrugged. "Speaking of which, do you think…I don't want to go home, Giles. Buffy's spending the weekend with her Mom. I'd be all alone in the dorm room and I don't want…I can't be alone right now."
"Of course. Xander's?"
"Oh no!" She laughed, slightly nervous. "Anya would find her way right back to vengeance demon, trust me on that one! I was hoping…well, wondering if I could…could I stay on your couch?"
He nodded. "Certainly. Should we stop at the dorm and gather a few things?"
"No. I…he met me at my dorm. I don't want to run the risk of seeing him. Not again. Not ever. Maybe I could just borrow something to sleep in?"
It was almost ironic that he'd just spent the last few minutes saving her from some lecherous older man and now his mind was casting him in the same role. The thought of her in nothing but his shirt, or better yet, even less, sent his blood racing. "That would be fine."
"I don't want to make things difficult…if it's going to be hard…"
Giles caught his own hysterical laughter before it escaped. "Don't worry, Willow. It's not a problem at all."
***
Giles awoke quickly, aware that something was amiss. He sat up, smacking into something and groaned in pain as he fell back onto the bed. "Ooh. Christ."
Willow rubbed her head where they had collided. "Sorry."
His brain struggled to function and work its way around the sleep induced haze, not to mention the serious smack it had just taken. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see in the dark. "Willow?"
"I couldn't sleep," her voice was small and sad. "I mean, I know he didn't do anything to me, but I was afraid anyway and you saved me and you didn't have to."
"Of course I did, Willow. I couldn't live with myself if I let anything happen to you."
"Could you…I know I shouldn't ask you for anything else, Giles, but could you…?"
"Anything," he assured her, wishing for a moment that she could know how much truth the statement held.
"Could you hold me?"
He closed his eyes, struggling for control. "Of course." He managed to sit up, holding his arms open for her in the dark. She moved into them, settling back against his body. "Better?"
"Better," she sighed. Her head rested on his chest and she closed her eyes. "What would have happened if you hadn't been there, Giles?"
"I don't like to think about it. Although, I imagine if push came to shove, you would have managed to imbed a pencil somewhere he didn't particularly want a writing implement."
She giggled softly, the warm breath dancing across his bare chest. She hadn't seemed to realize that he wasn't wearing a shirt, but as long as it didn't bother her, he didn't mind.
He didn't mind at all.
Willow nestled closer, her nose inhaling his scent as she lay against him. Her cheek brushed the soft hair that decorated his chest, rough and sensual on her sensitive skin. She hadn't told him the complete truth about the seminar. It hadn't all been about the political and religious motivations of female power. Some of it had simply been about taking advantage of what was offered. Making the most of a good opportunity. "Giles?"
He felt his groin shift, her softly whispered words and breathy caresses igniting his body. "Yes, Willow?"
"You remember how you said you'd do anything?"
He nodded, his heart racing. He wondered absently if she could hear it as she pulled slightly away from his chest so that she could look up at him.
Her finger traced his jaw line and she raised up until she was staring into his eyes. "Kiss me?"
***
"I don't know that…"
She sighed heavily, moving over him, straddling his thighs and leaning forward so that her hair curtained their faces. "Giles…"
He made a soft sound, something between a whimper and a moan. His hands moved along her sides, holding her hips lightly. His dark eyes met hers, filled with lust and confusion, wonder and desire.
"Kiss me," she breathed, pressing her lips lightly to his before pulling away just slightly. "And lick me, touch me and…" she held her breath, placing small kisses along the line of his jaw. "…Be inside me."
The muscles in his body seemed to tighten, his whole body stiffening as her words washed over him, their meaning clear as she thrust against his growing erection. He found the hem of the T-shirt he'd let her borrow and pushed his hands under it, feeling her hot, smooth skin.
She sat up, her fingers trailing over his chest. He moved his own hands to her hips, toying with the elastic waistband of her panties. She smiled down at him, moving one finger to trace his lips. "But that's not all I want," she breathed, straightening as one of his fingers slipped underneath the elastic and began rubbing the damp curls. "I want to kiss you and lick you, taste you and…" she broke off as his finger pushed the material completely out of the way and slipped down to her clitoris.
He touched it lightly, rubbing the hard flesh for just a moment, watching her face as the shivers of pleasure worked through her. Removing his hand, he reached around and grabbed her bottom, urging her up onto her knees.
Willow looked curiously at him. He pulled on her ass, and she let him guide her forward. Realizing what he intended, she moved away from his hands and got off the bed. Giles lay down again, watching her as she stripped out of her soaked panties. She got back on the bed, this time sitting on his chest, her knees on either side of his head. "Is this what you want?"
"Isn't this what you want?" He asked with a hungry smile as she got up on her knees, letting the damp heat between her thighs answer him. Giles held the soft curves of her bottom once more, moving her slightly forward, inhaling the sharp scent of her.
Just the cool brush of air as he exhaled sent a shaft of need straight up Willow's spine. She shivered, gripping the headboard with both hands. Giles ran the tip of his tongue along the hot skin, parting the wet flesh easily, seeking out the hard button of her clit.
When he found it, he wrapped his tongue around it, licking the edges, circling it with feather light touches. She was silent above him, although her body told him everything he needed to know. She ground down, needing more from his touch, wanting to feel more of him, wanting him to slake the need that was building, burning inside her.
Instead, he continued to torture her, barely touching her, breathing heavily, letting the air from his lips dance along her overheated skin, stoking the fires within her Finally, barely able to hold her hips still as she thrust toward his tongue, he brought one hand around, sliding two fingers easily inside her slick opening.
Gone was the stoic silence. Willow cried out throatily, a warm rush coating his fingers and tongue as she came, writhing above him, shivering, still unfulfilled.
Convinced that he had her full attention, Giles pressed his tongue against her clit again, lapping at her arousal, feeling the hard nub elongate and distend under his ministrations. Then his teeth replaced his tongue, nibbling softly. He closed his eyes, giving himself over to the soft cries that issued forth from her, begging and pleading, calling his name.
The sound of her voice, throaty with passion, crying out for him sent a sliver of pure lust down Giles' spine. His fingers continued their activity, gaining speed with her cries, sliding in and out of her, the movement made easier by her earlier excitement, but still struggling against the tightness of her passage. He'd known that she would be tight, but now all he could do was imagine her body clamped around his, his cock trapped between her thighs, held willingly captive.
Willow was shaking uncontrollably. Her white knuckles stood out starkly against the dark wood of the headboard as she clutched it in desperation. Her knees were going to give out soon, she was certain of it, sure that before she could crest once more he was going to drive her completely insane with need.
When his teeth found her, she lost the battle to remain upright, falling forward toward the headboard. She leaned against it, the new angle allowing Giles greater access to the slippery silk of her hot core. Another finger entered her and his thumb replaced teeth as he thrust and rubbed, stroked and caressed. Willow quivered, her climax rushing through her.
Giles slipped his fingers from her, his tongue moving in to taste her, eagerly capturing her essence. When she was spent, he carefully guided her back so that she was again sitting on his chest. He felt the wild tangle of dark red tendrils, damp from his tongue and her excitement, tangle with his rough chest hair.
He looked up, surveying the effect he'd had on her. Her chest was heaving, still struggling for air in the wake of ecstasy. Her nipples were like hard pebbles, beading out against her creamy flesh and the crinkled areolas. She was gazing down at him, her green eyes cloudy with need, hazy with intense satisfaction. "All right, love?"
She nodded, slowly sliding her body down the length of his until she lay on top of him. The heady scent of her seemed to fill the air around them and Giles could feel the dampness along his skin from her perspiration and from the aftereffects of his ministrations.
"Ready for more?"
She nodded again, thrusting her hips against his. Giles grinned and grabbed them, rolling over so that she was beneath him. Willow bit her lower lip in anticipation, frowning slightly when he pulled away. Giles simply grinned, discarding his boxers before settling down between her legs once more.
His fingers stroked the inside of her thigh, coaxing her legs farther apart. Removing his hand from her hot skin, he guided his cock, parting the wet folds of velvet skin, running the tip across the sensitive flesh.
Willow shivered, still wrought from his earlier assault. Sensing her need, Giles grinned and continued to tease her with the slick head, rubbing her clitoris, dipping just inside the welcoming opening that she offered him. Finally, Willow moaned in frustration, her hands reaching for his hips, her legs wrapping around his knees. Giles capitulated, unwilling to torture either of them any more. He slipped one arm underneath her, raising her up to him as he lost himself inside her, thrusting in as deeply as he could.
She buried her face against his chest, the warmth of her breast ruffling the damp hair. Giles held her for a long moment, neither of them moving, adjusting – learning the feel of one another. Tired of waiting, wanting to feel him moving inside her, filling her, Willow trailed her tongue across his chest, tasting sweat and Giles, flavored slightly with remnants of her. "You taste like me," she whispered.
"You said I should feel you," he pulled back until just the tip of his erection still parted her skin. "Taste you," he moved forward, his hips pressed tightly to hers, "Lick you," he repeated the gestures, this time with more speed as Willow's tongue continued its exploration, seeking out his nipple. "Kiss you…"
Giles gave up on words as her body adjusted to him, opening up, the wet flesh parting as he pierced it again and again, still hot and tight surrounding him. The contrast of openness as it gave way under his thrusts, and constriction, the muscles clinging to him, clenching around him, was like a drug. He wrapped the other arm underneath her as well, holding her body flat to his.
She felt cocooned, safe in his arms, wrapped up in his body. Her mouth left his chest, seeking out the hollow of his throat, licking and kissing him, tasting the salty sweat of sex as he thrust deeper, harder, faster. Her whole body felt aflame as she crossed her ankles behind his legs, tightening around him even more.
Giles cried out, practically mindless as he pressed into her, his hips wrestling with hers as they ground together, both struggling toward satisfaction, neither wanting to surface from the depth of their need.
Willow's nails ran the length of his back, trailing lightly over the curve of his ass. The groan of pleasure rumbled in his chest and throat before he buried it in her neck, sucking at her alabaster skin. Her eyes snapped open, widening in pleasure as he slid his arms down, supporting her lower back as he lost control, forcing himself as deeply as he could inside her, trembling as his climax was wrung from him.
Willow felt the hot sensation fill her and dug her nails into his skin. She thrust rapidly against him, whimpering all the while, until she thought she might die with the pleasure. His cock continued moving, thrusting, filling her as he managed to get to his knees, her arms still wrapped around him.
She was sitting on his thighs, grinding down, her arms around his neck and his hands supporting her ass as they rocked together, both still riding the effects of their passion. Willow's passage tightened once more, the muscles contracting, wringing the last bit of energy and pleasure from him as her orgasm enveloped him.
He moved one hand up and wrapped it around the back of her neck, bringing her mouth to his. She was breathing heavily, her lips parted, and he took advantage, finding her tongue and sucking it into his mouth, switching roles, his mouth as eager for her penetration as her body was for his.
They broke apart a few moments later, Giles sinking onto his heels, lowering Willow to the bed, both of them giving in to exhaustion. The room was awash in silence, broken only by the ragged sounds of breathing. Finally, Giles moved so that he could see her face in the dawning light of morning.
"Thank you." Willow was smiling, her eyes closed. "For the best night of my life." Opening one eye, she grinned. "Well, except for the almost date rape thing with the Professor."
"I didn't much care for that part either."
"But the other?" Both of her eyes met his, a soft glow of contentment shining from them.
"The other," Moving again so that he was lying beside her, Giles stretched his body out along hers. "The other was the stuff that dreams are made of."
"But it wasn't a dream," her smile was beatific. "At least, not this time."
They were silent again, Giles contemplating her admission as Willow moved into his embrace, her fingers trailing up his stomach to trace intricate little mazes through his chest hair. A sudden smile lit Giles' features and he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. "The passionate witch, eh?"
She moved, getting up on one elbow to gaze down at him, her grin firmly in place. "Kind of fitting. Don't you think?"