TITLE: Christmas in New York 4/?
AUTHOR: Claudine
EMAIL: claudine423@yahoo.com
PAIRING: W/E, W/G
RATING: PG
FEEDBACK: If I beg ?
NOTES: This is a future fic.
DISCLAIMER: Permission to use these characters relating to BtVS & AtS has not been given. Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy own TM and copyrighted them. Nor do I own the rights to The Grinch or any of the other stories/songs I mention. Gimme a freakin' break Mr. Copyright man - I'm merely a humble fan havin' some fun. No infringement is intended. Say goodnight, Gracie.....
They walked in silence all the way to Willow's building, her leading the way, Ethan following eagerly. She was overwhelmed by the things she was feeling: good and bad, right and wrong, certain in one breath but confused in the next. She was holding his hand, holding Ethan Rayne's hand - leading him to my bed. Her stride was quick and certain, the want in her body trying to block out her conscience.
Willow's keys were in her hand by the time they reached her block. She didn't want to waste one second looking for them once they stepped inside. The doorman opened the front door for them, the desk clerk greeted them with a "Merry Christmas, folks." But neither Willow nor Ethan were interested in losing any more time on niceties with practical strangers.
The elevator was empty and, as soon as the doors fused closed behind them, Willow was in his arms again. He pressed her up against the wall and held her by the throat, his thumb pressed into the soft spot below her ear, just behind her jawbone. She took a deep breath and lost herself in his kiss while his knee inched higher between her legs.
They made it out of the elevator into her hallway, but Ethan couldn't keep his hands off of her. If she thought they could have been quiet she would have taken him right there. But her building was full of wealthy socialites who had nothing better to do than peep through their peepholes. Even at 3 am. Even on Christmas Eve. And by the way Ethan was using his tongue to kiss her, she knew she'd be howling like a banshee beneath him in no time - not something she wanted the neighbors to witness.
She tried to unlock her door, but Ethan stood behind her, his hand on the outside of her thigh, his lips moving wildly over the back of her neck making her task almost impossible to accomplish. His breath spilled hot over her ear when he whispered her name, "Willow," and slid his hand under the waistband of her shirt. She rested her head against the door for a moment, her senses heightened, her body all but lost in his touch.
Inside, in the dark, with lights blinking all around and the scent of evergreen lingering in the air, Willow dropped her bag, her coat, her keys and pushed Ethan up against the door as it closed. He slid down the door, his back only slightly affected when he passed over the beveled panes in the wood. When he met the floor he was cradling Willow's body in his arms as best he could. The moment was awkward, but it didn't matter. She immediately broke their kiss and straddled him. As quickly as she had pulled away from him, she pressed her lips to his again.
She slid her hands under his scarf and he leaned forward, never pulling his mouth away from hers as she tore the coat off of his body. Her hips instinctively ground down against him and he moaned - already quivering, already throbbing, already ready. She reached down between their bodies and unbuttoned his pants, but he stopped her with his hand.
"No," he whispered. Ethan stood and swept her up into his arms, "Which way," he asked and smiled.
She guided him to the bedroom but just as they were about to cross the threshold, Willow reached out with both arms and grabbed onto the frame of the door. It stopped Ethan in his tracks. "No," she said, suddenly reminded of Giles. "Not in there."
Ethan lowered her to the ground, his mood quickly ruined. Willow leaned up to kiss him, but he stopped her. "Ah, but there's someone else," he said. "You don't want me, Willow. And I wouldn't want to take advantage."
She met his gaze and listened, but she never meant to turn him down. All she meant was that her bed was off limits. Ethan knew that, no matter what she said, her heart was off limits. "I don't want you to leave," she said. "Stay with me, just...." she looked over her shoulder into the bedroom, "Just not in there."
Ethan was about to protest but then he thought aloud, "Oh, what the hell - I'm not evil anymore, but I am still a man." He kissed her again and lifted her body off the floor into his embrace. "Show me where," he managed.
Willow broke their kiss when he lowered her to her feet again. She took his hand and led him down the hall to another living room. It was rich and warm, the walls draped in emerald velvet, a grand piano in the center. It could have easily held a hundred people and yet, with the lights dimmed and the two Christmas trees in opposite corners, it was very cozy. Willow eyed the fireplace and whispered, "illustro" and flames ignited at her command.
Ethan stopped when they passed a stereo receiver. "Hmm, I wonder what I'll find," he teased and pushed the on button, "Are you a Fanilow Miss Rosenberg?" But just then the entire place was filled with soft, romantic, jazzy holiday sounds.
"And what if I am?" She asked coyly.
He twirled her once around and then pulled her to him, his lips ready when their bodies met. Willow kissed him softly and then lowered her head to his shoulder.
He held her in his arms, the cadence of their echoing heartbeats a dulcet tone in his ears.
They danced a slow dance for over an hour, each one's body contouring the others. They made love on the floor in front of the fire, Ethan's strong, hard body a machine that sated Willow's need over and over again to the point of exhaustion before he found his own release.
When the sun finally poked through one of the windows, Willow stirred and woke up. She was on the sofa close to the spot on the floor where she had fallen asleep in Ethan's arms. But he wasn't around.
She covered herself with the blanket that had been draped over her body and made her way through the flat, searching for signs of Ethan. When she walked past the bathroom, Ethan reached out from behind the door and grabbed her and pulled her into a backbend kiss. "Morning."
Willow smiled when Ethan righted her again. "I missed you."
"Music to my ears," he said and kissed her again. "Come with me." He took her by the hand and led her to the jacuzzi tub. It was surrounded by glass windows that had snow gathered in tiny drifts at the wooden panes, but the sun was shining brightly throughout the room. "Allow me," he said and peeled the blanket off of her body. "I'm not looking, I swear." His eyes were closed. Kind of. He held her hand while she stepped into the bubbling water and sank modestly below the water line.
"You can look, now," she said.
As if. "Since this morning was so unexpected, I obviously didn't have time to get you anything."
"Ethan..." she said while she shook her head back and forth. "You don't..."
"Shhh...." he interrupted. "I know I don’t have to, but I want to." He kissed her on the top of the head. "You have a nice, long, relaxing bath. I will make you breakfast and then, if you don’t have any other plans, I'd love to spend the day with you. Dinner at my place tonight?"
She just smiled and nodded yes.
"Good." He was beaming from ear to ear.
"Hey," she said changing gears, "I never asked, but....that call you made last night? Who's Nicky?"
Ethan smiled. "I told you I was going to help those boys."
Willow rolled her eyes. "Nicky? St. Nick? I don't think so."
"No, no," Ethan said with a half laugh. "Nicky Kringle. She's Kris's great, great, great, great....great, I think, grand-daughter. I've never met the old man, but she and I worked together on a few projects a while back when I was living in London. She said she'd help."
Willow was skeptical, but Ethan's soul showed her that he was good, now. She tried to believe him. "Ok."
"You don't sound convinced." He handed her a loofah and grinned. "But something tells me I'd be wasting my breath if I bothered pressing the issue."
"I believe you," she said. "When you let me look inside of you last night, I saw a lot of things. And I believe that you're telling the truth. It's just...well....Kris Kringle? We always had a big, honkin' menorah on the mantle so Christmas stuff was always hard to believe." She looked into his eyes, "But I know you haven't lied to me."
Ethan leaned over and took her hand, "Bath, breakfast, maybe a quick shag and then we're going out...on...the...town." He punctuated each of his last four words, pausing to kiss her after each one.
"Can't wait," she said and sank down completely into the water. When she came up for air and opened her eyes, Ethan was gone.
He found his way around the kitchen in no time. Though there weren't many ingredients for a continental breakfast, Ethan managed to whip up quite a spread. He set the table, lit a few candles and turned a silk rose into a real rose with a brief incantation.
Table set, food ready, candles all aglow, Ethan found his way to the back living room where they'd slept. He was searching for his watch and wallet. He put on his watch and then headed back down the hall. Just as he passed her door, Willow stepped out into the hallway. She was wearing a silk robe and her hair was swept up in a loose knot on top of her head.
"You're absolutely stunning," he said and kissed her hand.
"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself." She really wasn’t sure what to say to him, so she had to settle on something.
"Breakfast is served, madam," he said and held up his arm.
She wrapped herself around his arm and rested her head on his shoulder while they strolled toward the dining room. The night was magical and Willow was looking forward to getting to know Ethan better.
When they reached the dining room Willow stopped and gasped, the blood quickly rushing out of her warmed face. She pulled away from Ethan immediately, instinctively pulling her robe tighter around her body while tears welled up in her eyes. "Giles?"