PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ AT LEAST THE BEGINNING AUTHOR’S NOTE ABOVE, THANK YOU.
As she carefully followed the written directions on how to make crêpes with ham and cheese, she smiled to herself. She felt… happy, the kind of giddy-happy that came from being in love and the newness of her relationship with the man sleeping just down the hall. Sure, she’d felt this way before… once, but it was different.
With Riley, they’d met, gone on a few dates, became a couple and after just a few months were engaged with the agreement they’d move in together after the wedding. With Spike, she went from hating his very existence to being friends then fell in love… and all while living together. The whole process seemed to have worked in reverse from the norm. Even so, she knew this was something that would last because all the craziness they’d gone through together over the past several weeks was what ultimately brought them together.
“Whatchya cookin?”
“AHHH!!!” Startled, she screamed before whipping around to glare daggers at him. “Damnit, Spike! Stop sneaking up on me like that.” How he always manage to do that without making a noise she’d never figure out.
“Awwww, `m sorry, pet. Woke up and you were gone so I came out to… are you makin’ crêpes?” he asked, peering over her shoulder.
“Yeah, I… figured I’d make you breakfast since I couldn’t sleep any more.” The look he suddenly gave her was indescribable. “What?”
“Nothin’, just’… you really are makin’ me breakfast… and you’re not burnin’ it.” This earned him a harsh glare as she wielded the spatula at him, wagging it threateningly. He grabbed her wrist and wrapped his other arm around her waist. “Ah-ah-ah. This flapjack’s not ready to be flipped.”
“You are so cruising for it, Mister.” Nevertheless, she couldn’t help the grin that split her face. “You’re lucky I love you.” His expression, his eyes - well, the one that wasn’t swollen shut - suddenly softened as he tilted his head.
“Say it again.”
“Which part?” she teased, but didn’t hold out long from telling him, “I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you.” Beyond reason, she had to admit to herself. It felt wonderful, and so easy to say those three simple words that she scolded herself for not having told him at the ball.
He nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck to inhale the sweet scent of her hair. “Don’ think I’ll ever tire `f hearin’ that.”
“Good. Because you’ll be hearing it a lot from now on.” Those sinful lips of his slid sensuously up her neck and across her jaw before kissing her soundly. Tasting the mint from the toothpaste he’d used, she boldly began sucking on his tongue, shivering when he groaned into her mouth and tightened his hold to her waist. And just as she was really getting into that kiss, he abruptly pulled back. “Why’d you-”
“Crêpe is startin’ to smoke,” he replied, quickly grabbing the spatula from her and pushing her aside to get to it.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she pouted. “If it’s burnt, I hope you realize it’s your fault. You distracted me.”
Sliding it from the pan to a plate, he smirked. “It survived, see? Still edible.” He turned around to kiss her cheek. “Lemme take it from here, kitten, okay?”
“But… I want to do it. For you. You almost always make our meals so…”
She toed the ground like a little girl, looking beyond adorable as she stared at him with large doe eyes. “And I appreciate it, but le’s get somethin’ straight… `m the cook in this household. Now toddle off and feed Sebastian. At least you can’ burn his nosh.”
“Uh, you-you… fine, I will. Meh!” She poked her tongue out at him then pranced off.
~~~*~~~
While clearing the dishes after they’d finished eating, Buffy commented, “You need another Ibuprofen. The Doc said the swelling should go down within a few hours today.” Opening a cupboard, she retrieved his prescription even as she asked, “Do you want one of your painkillers?” He had to be hurting, not just his eye but his ribs, too. She hadn’t missed the way he winced when twisting his torso in order to reach the salt from its place at the edge of the table.
“Think I’ll skip the Percocet.”
“Oh?”
“You can bring it to me, though.” The confused frown she wore prompted him to explain. “Wanna have a li’l chat with you first before takin’ it so I won’ be groggy.” Seeing her body stiffen slightly told him she knew what ‘talk’ he was referring to in particular. Holding his hand out, he said, “Come here.” When she placed hers in his, he sat her on his lap and began running his fingers gently through her hair. “Relax, pet. I don’ care `bout why you ran from me last night. What I do wanna know is why the sudden change `f heart… when we got home. What changed?”
She sighed heavily. “The answer to that actually lies in the explanation I promised you.” And giving that to him took precedence over any apprehension she had as to what his reaction would be after hearing what she had to say. It must have shown in her face, too, because he gave her a supportive smile and talked softly to her.
“Hey. You’re with me `cause you love me, right?” All he cared about was that she didn’t just make that decision out of guilt over what happened to him last night.
“Yes.”
“Then there’s nothin’ to worry `bout. I jus’ want the truth, tha’s all.”
She only hoped he wouldn’t blow his top the second Angel’s name came up. “Can we maybe… move to the living room to have this discussion?” To her, the couch was kind of a safe zone, a sanctuary and source of comfort because of the many nights they’d laid there wrapped in each other’s arms. As childish as it seemed, she knew if they sat there, it would make it easier for her to tell him everything.
“Sure, pet.” He nodded, let her up then told her he had to grab the Ibuprofen bottle from his bedroom before they talked.
Once he came back, he settled himself against the armrest, insisting she sit in his lap sideways so he could see her and still hold her at the same time. Maybe he was doing it to reassure her or maybe just for the reasons he’d said. Either way she was grateful, being in his embrace always soothed her nerves.
“Okay, here goes.” Taking a deep, calming breath, she started from the beginning. “Last night…”
As they sat there, she told him the entire story from her point of view, making sure not to leave out any of the details… what Angel had said about him, her thoughts about his physical forwardness when they’d kiss, why she ran, what she was thinking when they argued in the bathroom, how wrong she knew she’d been about believing Angel after Cordelia pointed out his activities on the dance floor and finally… her decision to come home to talk to him right before Fred had called her cell phone.
During her speech, Spike remained eerily quiet, his face so impassive it was rather scary. If it weren’t for the occasional nod or the gentle stroking of her arm with his thumb, she swore he was just waiting until she’d finished before exploding… which thankfully didn’t happen. Instead, he surprised her by saying he completely understood her reasoning, even apologized for basically dry humping her on the dance floor though he had to admit he wasn’t aware he’d done it at all.
“Guess I got too caught up in the moment. Sorry, pet.”
She nodded her understanding. “So, you’re not like, mad at me? Even a little bit… o-over thinking Angel was right?”
“I wish you’d believed me when I told you how he was, but no, `m not upset with you. He’s a right manipulative bastard, and although I’d like to hunt him down, bash in that huge forehead `f his…” He lifted her hand to kiss it before smiling. “All that really matters to me now is you, your happiness. Don’ believe in holdin’ grudges, is a waste of time… time I could spend kissin’ you instead.”
He wound up with an armful of one very happy Buffy who ‘squee’d’ as she hugged him tight… until he yelped from the discomfort to his ribs.
“Oh!” She swiftly leaned away from him. “I’m so-so sorry.” Carefully lifting his thin cotton ‘T’, she cringed when seeing the bluish-purple tint marring his alabaster skin. “I really think you should take that painkiller. And God… your poor eye,” she cooed after lowering his shirt to lightly trace her fingertips around the area, mindful not to touch it.
“S’pose I can take it now. What I have to tell you won’ take long. I’ll be finished before the effects kick in.”
“What are you referring to?” she asked while opening the bottle and handing one to him.
After swallowing it and setting his water aside, he wrapped his arms around her again. “Gonna tell you the unfortunate story `f my family.”
“Your family?”
“Yeah. See… Angelus’ father and mine are related. First cousins. And growin’ up, they were constantly tryin’ to outdo one another in every way they could. It made for quite the strained relationship as you can imagine, but it got worse, much worse when…” Sighing, he told her what he knew she wouldn’t have believed until today. “My mother, Anne, came along.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, and realizing he was explaining his relationship to the O’Connors… things were already starting to click into place.
“Both `f them fancied her, wanted her, and it turned into a vicious battle for her attention… `til Liam asked her to marry him.” At Buffy’s gasp, he held up his hand as a sign to let him continue. “My Da really loved her, and was crushed when she accepted the proposal. Three years later after they had Angelus, it became obvious she was nothing more to Liam than having one up on my old man. I say obvious `cause she found out `bout his extra-marital affairs shortly after the birth.”
“She divorced him naturally, and `bout a year later when she moved to London, she ran into my Da again. After a few months, they got married, had me and because she shared custody of Angelus with Liam… I was forced to grow up with him.” He shook his head, pursing his lips when admitting, “Guess the apple doesn’ fall far from the family tree. Every time we were together, it was the same way between us like it was for Liam and my father. We competed over everythin’… includin’ how many women we each, ah… got.”
Buffy had a mental ‘a-ha’ moment. That explained the hate between them as well as their shared ‘enthusiasm’ for womanizing. The sheepish look he sported after admitting that said how remorseful he now felt over engaging in that sort of activity, so she bit her tongue. She knew he loved her, and had more than proved those days for him were over.
“The only good thing that came out of havin’ to spend time with the git is that Liam cultivated a conscience, regretted what he’d done to Anne and in turn, grew to love me like I was his own. That never did sit well with Angelus,” he said to himself before looking back up at her. “So there you have it.”
“Wow, that’s just... huh. Half-brothers and… no offense, but before today, I never would have believed it.”
“Is why I never told you.”
“God, I feel… awful for saying that, but-”
“Don’ be. There’s no need. Now that we’ve, uhmm, had this… our conversation… are we still good?”
She adored the way he acted so fidgety all of a sudden, as if he even needed to worry about that! “Better than good, we’re great, we’re… how you said it once, bloody fantastic!”
Both relieved and laughing hysterically, he responded, “It is bloody fantastic, but tha’s the worst impression `f a British accent I’ve ever heard.”
“Whatever.” She swatted his shoulder. “Are you gonna stop laughing long enough to kiss me, or do I have to do all the work?”
He sobered quickly and teased her in a seductive tone. “Oh, baby… please do.” And boy wasn’t he surprised when she did just that, taking his face in her hands to kiss him so thoroughly and with such passion, his jeans soon felt a mite too confining.
“Hmmm,” she hummed with contentment then pulled away and got up from the couch to announce, “I’m going to take a shower.”
Dazed but smart enough to cover his aroused state with a hand, he asked, “Aren’ you goin’ to the gym today?”
“Nah, I can skip it. Besides, the doctor wanted me to look out for any signs you might have a concussion.”
“I’ll be fine, pet. You can go.”
“Nope, I’m staying. But before I shower…” She went into the kitchen, grabbed a frozen bag of peas, wrapped it in a thin towel then walked back into the living room and handed it to him. “This should help with the swelling.”
And possibly my erection, too, he hoped, taking it from her with a smile and a simple ‘thank you’ before she left.
~~~*~~~
Buffy came back just in time to see Spike angrily hurl a book through the air while cussing up a storm. “What the… what’s wrong?” She walked over to pick up the abused tome before coming to sit next to him.
“Too difficult to read with one eye… givin’ me a right bloody headache.”
“Want me to read it to you?”
“No.” He sulked immaturely at the thought of being read to like some child.
“Oh, come on, Mr. Pouty.” Ruffling his hair affectionately, she encouraged him by revealing something from her past. “I don’t mind at all. I used to read to my mom every night when she was sick in the hospital.”
“Seriously?” He looked at her with a combination of curiosity and admiration. “You used to do that?”
“Yup. So why don’t you move over so I can lie down properly and tell me what page.”
“You’re really amazin’.”
“I know,” she replied cheekily.
“Page ninety eight, saucy bint.” Oh, he tried to sound serious but he didn’t fool her, not with the wide grin on his face as she nudged him over and curled into his side. As she inspected the cover, he could see the disinterest on her face at the subject.
“New book, huh?” Rolling her eyes at the title, she read it aloud in a dramatic voice. “Elegant Universe: Super Strings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene. What’s super string and what does it have to do with hidden dimensions? I mean, are we talking like Twilight Zone stuff? Because if dimensions are hidden then it’s for a reason and maybe we shouldn’t go searching for them.”
Chuckling at her naivety, he explained it as best he could. “Super string is a concept devised to help scientists describe both energy and matter simultaneously. The dimensions, like say a black hole or space-time for instance, are what physicists and mathematicians are interested in… what goes on with them beyond human perception.”
“Not that I don’t get that but, er, actually I don’t. But do you ever just like, read for fun?”
Shrugging nonchalantly, he answered, “That is fun for me, pet.”
“Let me rephrase that. I meant like a-a novel, fiction rather. Something that makes you have to use your imagination, takes you on a journey like a good mystery, drama, or romance.” He let out a quick ‘pfft’ at the latter mentioned theme. “Okay, so forget romance in Harlequin terms, but general fiction has the human element to it that science doesn’t, emotions, conflicting personalities, barriers, stuff like that. Take for example Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. Granted it’s a period romance, but it’s much more than just that. It’s about a man who is not only rich but also so prideful he doesn’t see the penniless main female character’s true worth, and she in turn is more than willing to believe the worst of him as told by a sub-character. Naturally, there was a ton of misunderstanding right from the beginning between them because of it. Now add in the element of social and economical realities of nineteenth century matrimonial maneuvering and you have even more conflict of a different nature. But nevertheless, they eventually overcame those misconceptions and braved societal norms to fall deeply in love with one another.”
That sounded somewhat parallel to ‘them’ and he couldn’t help but jest, “Think you should write a book, pet. `Bout our li’l love story. Now tha’s somethin’ I’d pay good money to read… with as complex as your noggin is.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment, because if not…” Holding the book in her hand up, she jutted her chin out defiantly. “Bet if I did, it would sell more copies than this.”
“It probably would,” he agreed then shrugged when adding, “`M simply more left-brained orientated than others, luv.”
Tilting her head thoughtfully she made a suggestion. “Maybe you should go back to school and become an astronomer or a-a physicist. I mean, what gives with you being in Sales anyway? I never understood that. Seems like a waste of that brain of yours. Oh, sorry, I totally meant that in a good way.”
“Touché.” Chit made a good point. “Guess I went with a business degree `cause tha’s what both my father and Liam do… own and run a lot `f businesses.”
“Huh, well… at least not every girl can say her boyfriend is a genius.”
She kissed his cheek as he smiled unabashedly. To hear her call him ‘boyfriend’ and sound so casual about it after wanting her for as long as he had, he couldn’t get over how it made him feel. He, William Giles, had a girlfriend, was somebody’s boyfriend… and not just anyone’s, the girl of his dreams. He couldn’t be prouder, and he’d make sure she remained happy with her decision to be with him at any cost.
Turning to the page he’d indicated, she found it was a new chapter. “‘Microscopic Weirdness’. Sure, why not? I’ve seen all sorts of macro weirdness here in New York,” she commented with a touch of sarcastic humor before diving in to begin reading.
~~~*~~~
Fifty minutes later………
“…that the energy in the field – even in an empty region of space – fluctuates up and down, with the size of the fluctuations getting larger as the distance and time scales on which the region is examined get smaller and I don’t understand a lick of what I just read,” Buffy finished then glanced over to find Spike fast asleep.
Percocet must have knocked him out. Yay for modern medicine, she cheered inwardly because her head was spinning from reading page after page of this gibberish, which meant exactly squat to her. “You are so very lucky I love you,” she whispered, removing the bag of peas to kiss his forehead lightly.
That’s when she noticed his swelling was finally starting to go down, but also that his bandage was turning a reddish brown, no doubt due to the oozing of his wound. They didn’t have any gauze here in the apartment to change it with so she decided that while he slept, she’d go to the drug store. Getting up from the couch, she took the peas with her and threw them back in the freezer then wrote a quick note telling him where she went in case he woke before she returned.
Exiting the apartment quietly, she waited until she was outside their building then called Cordy. Her brunette friend had a million questions, all of which Buffy answered before the biggest one of all came out… had she made up with Spike?
“More than made up, we’re together now,” she replied while walking down the sidewalk of the bustling city with a huge grin on her face. Cordy was ecstatic for her but stunned Buffy with her reply.
“I have no further questions.”
“Really? Wow! However, before I let you go, I have a few for you, Missy. Like what’s up with Willy and Owen? I got the impression you were dating Willy but then you were danci-”
Cordy cut her off. “I’m just keeping my options open.”
Buffy could only laugh at that. “I don’t understand what that means, but I’m sure you’ll tell me when you feel like it.”
After a quick goodbye, she went into the store and made sure to talk to the pharmacist so that she bought the proper dressing, tape, Neosporin upon his advice to prevent infection and a bottle of iodine to clean the wound with before applying it.
On her way back home, she happened to spy a bookstore on the opposite side of the street, reminding her of the chat about fiction she had earlier with Spike. On a whim, she used the crosswalk and headed straight for it. Twenty minutes later - and after talking extensively with a clerk - she located exactly what she was looking for.
~~~*~~~
“There you are. You know, pet, you keep leavin’ me every time I fall asleep,” Spike accused her as she locked the door behind her.
“Didn’t read my note, did you?” The fact he was in the process of sitting up coupled with his confused look said he hadn’t had a chance. “Never mind. How did you sleep?”
Scratching his head while yawning, he answered, “Fine.” Seeing the piece of paper she left on the coffee table, he quickly read it… then looked at her in total shock. “Bloody hell. I can read!”
“Uhmm… congratulations?” He upped and went down the hall in such a hurry that she dropped her bags and followed behind him, wondering what was wrong. By the time she reached the bathroom, she saw him staring at the mirror, and from his reflection, she instantly understood. His eye was slowly but surely returning to normal, the swelling having receded enough that he could open it.
“Just in time,” she remarked, smiling. “Oh, and we need to get that bag of peas back on your eye so it continues to go down, too.”
Turning around with his own smile, he walked over to wrap her up in his arms. “I’ll take the frozen veggies now then, `cause you’ve no idea how… jus’ in time?” It took a second before that comment caught up to him. “For what?”
“Come on.” She backed away from him to take her coat off then exited the room. “I’ve something special to show you that I think you’re really going to like.”
As he walked behind her down the hall, eyes riveted to the enticing sway of her hips, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Already see somethin’ I like… a lot,” he purred. “Ooof!” She’d stopped short and turned around to shoot him a look when he ran into her.
Poking a finger in his chest, she berated him, though not too seriously. “I didn’t mean me, you big doofus. Buuuut...” Since they were together now, turnabout was fair play. “Maybe you can tell me more about what you like and…” With half hooded eyes, she ran her finger in a seductive manner down his torso, halting just above the button of his jeans. “What exactly you’d like to do with what you see. Who knows? I might even be… agreeable to it.” Hearing him growl in response made her heat up and shiver at the same time, it always did. Another thing that drove her equally insane was that bottom lip of his. Unable and unwilling to restrain herself, she leaned in to suck it into her mouth, taste it with her tongue before pulling away to tell him, “But not right now. Later… baby.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own; it was husky and filled with need. Even her brazen behavior surprised her a little when all she’d set out to do was tease a little.
Evil of her? Perhaps. Did she care? Not in the least. She had her man, and knew when the time came… she was ready.
“Christ, pet. Please tell me tha’s a promise?” He didn’t dare molest her in the hallway like he wanted to, but that didn’t keep him from holding her to her word if she said yes to his question.
“Later, I promise.”
His balls tightened, groin aching painfully for her all over again, damnit, but it couldn’t be helped. “How much later?”
“Overanxious are we?” His eyes turned that dangerous shade of sapphire as he smiled lasciviously, making her wonder exactly what beast or demon she’d just released by making that promise. And for every step she took backwards, he took one forwards with each word he spoke.
“You. Have. No. Bloody. Idea.”
“Eeep!” She sprinted into the living room when he made a grab for her. However, he didn’t chase after her; he simply sauntered around the corner like the confident predator he was. “Later means later, Romeo,” she made sure to sound serious this time. She had to take care of him first, so picking one of her two bags up, she said, “You need a bandage change and more cold on your eye. Then I have something to show you.”
“Still gonna hold you to your word, though. Naughty vixen.”
GULP!!! She found herself literally looking forward to it… and where it would lead next. It was almost unbelievable how much this man was corrupting her – and her thoughts - without even laying a finger on her.
“Lay down on the couch so I can get to work… perv!”
“Yes ma’am. But callin’ me names, however true they are, won’ get you out `f anythin’.” After he winked, she rolled her eyes at him and headed into the kitchen.
“Alright, this may hurt a bit,” she told him as she sat on the coffee table, setting her supplies in her lap. “But I’ll be as careful as I can.”
He hissed when the bandage stuck as she tried to pull it off, but the pain didn’t last long. Buffy had a gentle touch and used the ointment she’d bought to help loosen the rest by moistening it before peeling away the remainder of the gauze. She took great care in cleaning it up with the iodine before reapplying the Neosporin, then cutting a reasonable sized piece of dressing; she taped it in place and put the refrozen bag of peas over his entire eye.
“All done. Now hopefully in a few more hours, you’ll be able to fully open that eye so you can appreciate…” Leaning down, she picked up the bag from the bookstore and placed it on his chest. “The gift I got you.”
“Gift?” Pushing himself to sit upright, he pulled a single book out of the brown sack to read the title. “Icarus at the Edge `f Time… by Brian Greene!” he exclaimed happily. “Buffy… I don’ know what to say. Never heard `f this book but you know I like the author.” With one arm, he reached for her waist and hauled her onto his lap to kiss her repeatedly on the cheek and lips, letting the peas slide between them.
Giggling, she still had yet to tell him something about his present. “You’re welcome, but you might want to read the back before you thank me.”
“Can you do it for me?”
“Oh! Sorry. I forgot.” Obviously, it would still be a task for him to read fine print such as this, so she traded him the frozen bag for the book and cleared her throat. “The starship Proxima is on a twenty-five-trillion mile journey. Icarus was born on the ship as was his father and his father’s father, but there will be two more generations before the Proxima reaches its destination. As the tale begins, the Proxima is making an emergency diversion to avoid a black hole. Icarus wants to get a closer look. Although his father explains that when something goes into a black hole it never comes out, Icarus is confident that he can journey to the black hole’s edge and still make it back. He sneaks one of the Runabout ships out of the docking station and sets off to explore the black hole on his own. The result is unexpected and startling. Icarus returns to find his world profoundly and forever transformed. In Icarus at the Edge of Time, Brian Greene has given us a fable about fathers and sons, curiosity and wisdom, and the complexity of the universe as only a physicist of his range and lucidity could.”
“And… it has full-color images from the Hubble Space Telescope,” she finished proudly. “I bought it for you because I think it’s the perfect marriage between real science and science fiction. So I hope you’ll still like it now that you know it’s actually a story, fiction.”
Bowled over, by not only her find but also her thinking behind getting it for him, he took the book from her and set it aside. “Can I jus’ say how wonderful and thoughtful you are? How much I love you?” God but he adored it when she blushed the way she was now.
“I think you just did.”
She didn’t resist when he pulled her body into a position on top of his and began kissing her tenderly, breathy ‘I love you-s’ spoken every now and then until he knew he had to stop, lest this go too far. Oh, he wanted her, right now and every minute in between, but until she said she was ready, he had to remind himself not to push too much.
“Le’s say we order in tonight and jus’ watch a movie?” he asked, caressing her cheek with his fingers, loving the way she closed her eyes in bliss and leaned into his touch.
“Mm-hmm.” It was her turn to purr. “Sounds great.” Anything so she could stay in his arms as long as she could.
~~~~*~~~
A few hours later, in the early evening………
Bellies full and enveloped in the other’s arms; the blond couple lay on the couch watching something about the solar system on the Discovery Channel. Whereas before Buffy could care less, she took an avid interest in it now for the sole sake that Spike did. Lo and behold, it was far easier to understand than she thought, well, simpler than reading a book littered with technical jargon anyway.
As that program ended and another began on ‘The Ten Deadliest Sharks’, Spike shifted so he was lying on his side, his back against the couch.
“Do your ribs hurt? Do you need another pill?”
“No, luv, they’re fine, thanks.” He kissed the top of her head and threw the now fully de-thawed peas on the coffee table. “Looks worse than it feels, really. Plus the medication is still doin’ is job.” Using the arm he had surrounding her waist, he encouraged her to roll towards him.
“Good to hear.” Turning with his movements until they were face to face, she examined his eye. “Oh wow, your lid is almost all the way open now.”
“All the better to see you with, li’l girl.”
How he managed to waggle his one good brow without hurting the damaged one and still look sexy while doing it, she couldn’t figure out. She giggled at his little red riding hood reference as he took her hand, draped it over his shoulder then cupped her chin to bring her even closer.
“Speakin’ `f seein’, someone made me a promise… and is time to collect,” he breathed hotly in her ear then licked the shell with the tip of his tongue.
“Ohhh, I-I… yessmmm.” Coherent words weren’t forthcoming right away, but who cared? Certainly not her. Still, she had to ask, “S-so what do you see that, ah-mmm.” She bit her lip against the wet assault of his open mouth on her neck that sent tingles all the way down to her toes, making them curl. “You like and-and what do you, oh-God… want to do to… to-to…” She simply couldn’t finish asking.
“Same answer for both……… everythin’,” his voice came out rough, deep. Feeling her shudder and sigh had his chest swelling with pride… and something else further south swelling with need. Heedful of any lines that she didn’t want crossed, however, had him asking in a near pleading voice, “Are you… agreeable with that?”
Oh, God, how could she say no? Apprehensive as she may be about taking this final step, she knew she’d be fooling herself if she said anything other than, “Yes!”
If he weren’t already so turned on, he’d be downright nervous by her answer. Oh, it was definitely the one he’d longed to hear but… this was it. Really ‘it’. The moment was here. He’d finally know what it meant, what it felt like to make love with the one woman he cared about more than life itself and by God, he was going to take his time with her.
‘I love you’ was all she heard before he covered her mouth with his, pulling her against his lean, strong body without an inch to spare. Holding his neck with one hand, she placed her other arm underneath his shoulder, clinging to him as she let go and gave herself over to everything he made her feel.
Seconds passed slowly as they exchanged kiss after kiss, some tender and sweet, others more needy and desperate. She could feel every hard muscle, every angular plane of his powerful form as she tried to press herself even closer against him. Her hand wandered inside his shirt, wanting to feel the soft skin of his back beneath her fingertips. The growl she earned from him for her actions came with an equally eager hand that dipped beneath her shorts to cup her bottom. No longer afraid of the erection she felt digging into her thigh, she bent her knee and coiled her leg around his as high as she could, tugging on him while her hips began moving instinctively.
The sudden heat of her center flushed to his groin, the wanton way she ground herself against his cock made him lose his mind. He snapped, went wild with the primal need to consume her, flipped her onto her back and ignored any pain to his ribs as he nudged her thighs apart with his knee to start thrusting against her.
The delightful mewling noises she made coupled with the friction created between them made him grow more untamed in his movements, almost undisciplined like a schoolboy ready to spill in his pants. It was getting to be too much for him to handle and he had to slow down; had to before he disgraced himself. Just as he tried, just as he gained an ounce of control, she spoke, and what she said amidst the heated kisses nearly had him coming undone.
“Oh God, can’t… can’t wait any, any longer, William. Please just take me, please make me yours.”
His eyes crossed, head flung back as she wriggled her tiny hand down to yank on the button to his jeans, but he grabbed her wrist, refusing to do this here on the couch. “I’ll take you, pet… but it’ll be you makin’ me yours… in your bed.”
Forehead to forehead, she nodded her understanding, panting with the desire for him to give her what she’d never had before, with any man. “Waited so long… want you so bad. Want you to be my first.”
She kissed him again, deeply, and he could feel her pouring all her love, her trust into him to take care of her right… until what she’d said hit him.
He abruptly took her head in both hands and forced her away from him. “What did you say?”
“That I want you,” she replied absentmindedly, still too dazed and breathing hard to comprehend the real question he was asking.
“N-no, the part `bout bein’ your… your first.” There’s no bloody way… was there?
