Chapter 4
Will followed Xander and Faith into the ballroom of the Summers mansion where the party guests had congregated. Waiters circulated carrying trays of champagne and people stood in groups of three or four admiring each others’ costumes. Will saw Hank standing with a group of friends and business associates, dressed as Elvis, complete with white jumpsuit and quiff. His wife Maggie was standing a few feet away, dressed as a twenties flapper, her cleavage displayed to the maximum and being rather unsubtly gawked at by her nephew, Angel, who was dressed as a bandit.
Faith followed his sight line. “Oh yeah,” she said with a smirk on her face. “Maggie Summers and her nephew have a rather unconventional relationship, by which I mean he’s fucking her right under his uncle’s nose. Either Hank’s oblivious – which I doubt, or he couldn’t care a less because he’s getting his naughty on elsewhere.” With a wink, she headed off in the direction of the bar – she preferred JD to champagne – with various pairs of eyes, including Hank Summers, glued to her barely covered ass.
He turned back to scan the room to see if he could see Cecily, when his gaze fell on a petite blonde. Her hair was curled and adorned by a gold diadem, while her slim tanned body was encased in a white bandeau dress which clung to her slender curves and lusciously ripe breasts. A pair of white feather wings stood out from her back. She looked incredible and she was currently being drooled over by Mayor Wilkins stepson, Riley Finn, who was dressed as a cowboy.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his whole life. Cecily paled in comparison to this golden goddess. He had to speak to her, to know her name, to have her smile at him the way she was currently smiling at Finn.
Will did not believe in love at first sight – or at least he hadn’t until this moment. He had thought himself in love with Cecily, but now he knew his feelings for her had been nothing but infatuation. He felt as though he’d been sucker punched and he felt his heart inside his chest literally aching to be close to her. He wanted to hold her in his arms forever.
She must’ve felt his gaze on her, because she turned then and their eyes met. She too must have felt the connection, because she continued to stare at him until Finn said something to her to draw her attention back to him and a few minutes later, they headed for the dance floor.
But even as she danced, she looked over Finn’s shoulder at him, making him follow her across the room to keep her in sight and causing him to knock into a tall dark guy by the bar.
When one of the other guests knocked into him, Angel felt a flare of anger and turned menacingly to face the man who was dressed as a pirate.
“Sorry, mate,” the man said, before turning back towards the dance floor and moving towards the other side of the room.
Familiarity struck Angel and he knew he’d seen the guy before but couldn’t quite place him. Then suddenly the cogs in his brain clicked into place and he recalled where he knew the man from. It was William Rayne.
Slamming his glass down on the bar, he whirled round and stalked off in the direction he had seen Rayne go.
He didn’t give a shit about Wilkins’ latest threat. He was going to find that bastard and put a bullet through his heart. That would teach him to come and gatecrash a Summers party.
As he stormed across the room in search of Rayne – his hand reaching for the gun in his holster, he was suddenly waylaid by his inebriated uncle.
“Angel, what’s up m’boy? Are you not enjoying yourself?” Hank paused to down another measure of Scotch.
“Rayne’s son is here. If he thinks he can gatecrash this party and take the piss out of us, then he’s got another thing coming!”
“William Rayne is here?”
“For fuck’s sake, yes he’s here and I’m gonna find him and teach him a lesson.”
He went to move past his uncle, but Hank stopped with a hand on his arm.
“Calm down, Angel. Don’t go causing any more trouble. From what I’ve heard Rayne’s boy is a nice kid and I don’t want you starting a fight with him. Now get yourself another drink, put a smile on your face and enjoy yourself – this is supposed to be party after all.”
“But he’s a fucking Rayne. I’m not just gonna let this go.”
Hank may have imbibed too much of the single malt but he sensed the tone of Angel’s voice and tightened his grip on his nephew. “You will.” He paused to make sure Angel knew he was serious. “I won’t tolerate your insolence. You will not start another fight. Not in my house and not at my party.”
“But Uncle Hank…” Angel began.
Hank’s eyes narrowed. “I told you what Wilkins said and if you’re stupid enough not to heed his warning then I’m ashamed to call you family. Now get out of here, boy and if I hear that you or any of your lackeys have done anything to Rayne, there’ll be hell to pay!”
At the dismissal, Angel headed back to his friends. He felt the rage rushing through his veins and mingling with the patience that had been forced upon him, making him visibly shake. God, he wished he could go after Rayne, but he knew better than to test his uncle.
“Make the most of tonight’s festivities, Rayne,” he muttered under his breath as he signaled to the bartender. “I’m gonna make you wish you’d never stepped foot in this house.
Buffy stood against a pillar, a glass of champagne in her hand. Riley had disappeared with her father about ten minutes ago and she was kind of hoping he didn’t come back too soon. He may be handsome but he was kind of boring.
In fact she was thinking more about the gorgeous pirate she’d seen earlier.
“Hello, pet.”
She turned to see the object of her thoughts standing behind her and smiled. “Hi,” she said. “I like your costume.”
“I like yours too.”
She smiled again and held out her hand. “I’m Buffy.”
“Will,” he said, taking it. “Are you sure you want your angelic little hand sullied by a big bad pirate like me?”
“And if I don’t?”
“Well perhaps I could kiss it better.”
Buffy looked him up and down, assessing him, even as he continued to hold her hand, his thumb stroking it, sending shivers through her.
“I don’t think you’re as badass as you make out. You’re like a priest kneeling before a statue of the Virgin and touching the hand of the statue, your palms meeting like a kiss.”
Will grinned and moved closer. “Well, if our hands are sharing a kiss, what about our lips.”
Buffy raised her eyebrows. “Priests use their lips for prayer.”
“Hands come together to pray, so lips should do the same.”
There was now less than an inch between them as Will cupped her face with his hand and whispered against her lips.
“ Yes, I definitely feel in need of a little prayer time…”
His mouth covered hers, his lips soft and firm and Buffy’s eyes slid closed. A few seconds later he pulled away and she opened them again to see Will grinning.
“My prayer has been answered. I have been cleansed of the sin of piracy.”
“Then I must have taken your sin through the touch of our lips,” Buffy smiled, her tongue licking her bottom lip. “I guess you sullied me after all.
His eyes followed the movement of her tongue. “You have my sin? But you might use it to tempt me into further sin. I’d better take my sin back.”
Taking her hand, he pulled her behind the pillar and out of view of the other partygoers and kissed her again, this time inciting her to open her mouth, allowing their tongues to meet.
“Buffy!”
Buffy backed out of Will’s embrace when she heard her name being called and turned to see Joyce standing a few feet away, a small smile playing on her lips.
“Your mother was looking for you. I think she wants a word.”
“Oh…ok.” With a brief glance back at Will, Buffy headed off across the room.
Joyce was about to follow her, but Will stopped her.
“Excuse me, who is her mother?” This girl was the most beautiful creature he had ever met. He had never seen her before at any previous parties he had gone to. Maybe her family was new in town.
“Her mother is tonight’s hostess,” Joyce replied. “Maggie Summers and her husband, Hank are lovely people and their daughter is an absolute sweetheart. I’ve worked for the family since Buffy was born. Whoever marries the darling girl will be a lucky man. And wealthy too.” At that, she walked off in pursuit of Buffy.
Maggie and Hank Summers! His golden goddess was their daughter. He was aware of the girl’s existence, but he’d thought she was named Elizabeth or something. Obviously Buffy was a nickname. He liked it. But his smile quickly faded as he realized the implications of the situation.
He, William Rayne was smitten with the daughter of Hank Summers, his family’s greatest rival. He felt as though he’s been sucker punched…as though his life was completely over. He’d spent little more than a few moments with Buffy and already he couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing her again.
As he tried to get her head around it, he saw Xander coming over.
“Hey, Will, we’re gonna head out. Faith’s done the rounds and she can’t find anybody to interest her that she hasn’t already had...and you know she never does anyone twice! Plus, Anya’s been texting me for the last hour telling me she’s got a surprise for me when I get back. And since the last time I saw her, I was dropping her and Willow off outside Victoria’s Secret, in weighing up the pros and cons of staying versus going, this party is definitely losing. So you ready to go?” he asked, hooking his arm round Will’s neck.
“Yeah...” Will had hoped to have another chance to talk to Buffy, but chalked that up as a foolish impulse, and instead allowed his cousin to lead him towards the exit.
Having managed to escape her mother’s Riley Finn inspired version of twenty questions, Buffy arrived at the top of the main staircase in time to see Will heading towards the door and turned to Joyce.
“Joyce, do you know that guy that I was...er...talking to earlier? The one who’s over there near the door with the guy dressed as a soldier.”
Joyce smiled a knowing smile. “No, dear. I’ve never seen him at any of your father’s parties before. Maybe his family is new in town.”
“Do you think you could possibly go and find out for me? Before he leaves.”
Joyce rolled her eyes, unable to help indulging the girl who was like a daughter to her and hurried down the stairs towards the door. Buffy watched as she caught Will’s attention and he said something to her that made Joyce’s eyes widen. Maybe he was telling Joyce that he had a girlfriend and had only been looking for a little bit of fun to liven up the evening’s festivities. Immediately, Buffy felt stupid for openly flirting with him and even worse, letting him kiss her, without even finding out anything beyond his first name.
Joyce was coming back up the stairs, a strange look on her face.
“His name is William Rayne,” she whispered, when she reached the top. “He’s the son of Ethan and Drusilla Rayne.”
The news was ten thousand times worse than the thought that he was only playing games with her – Will was the only son of her father’s greatest rival. The few moments she’s spent talking with him and the brief kiss they’d shared had been the highlight of her evening and in that short time he’d made her feel more alive than she’d ever felt in her whole life. How was she supposed to just forget that?
“Buffy, are you ok?” Joyce asked, having seen Buffy’s face pale at the news.
Buffy blinked. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m a little tired. I think I’m just going to go to bed. Would you give my excuses to my parents and to Riley?”
Without waiting for Joyce’s assent, she walked away down the hall to her room.
[Reviews - 21]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1497 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Yeah, I know...it has been a lifetime since I posted. Unfortunately I work full time which pretty much saps any creativity I might have. You might need to read the earlier chapters to remember this story, I have made a couple of changes but nothing huge. Anyways, read and review...pretty please!
Chapter End Notes:
I will try to post more often but even if I can...don't worry I haven't forgotten about this or any of my other stories. Thanks for your continued support :o)