Title: Tumblin' Down 7/?
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.dragonydreams.com/
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Willow/Giles
Summary: What if Riley hadn't been there to pull Willow out of harm's way during "Wild at Heart"?
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
Distribution: My site, the usual lists, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else - please ask.
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.
Author's Note: Thanks to my wonderful Betas for all of your help and encouragement.
"Rupert, are you coming?" Willow called from the bedroom.
"I'll be there in a moment. I just need to finish locking up," he called back.
Giles finished turning off the lights and made sure the front door was locked before proceeding to the bedroom. He paused in the doorway, observing the scene before him. Willow was sitting under the covers, several pillows behind her back propping her up. She was reading a novel, always a novel before bed. Her face lit up as she tried to stifle a laugh at something she was reading.
Willow looked up when she finished the paragraph she was reading. She smiled at Giles and lifted the bookmark from the covers to mark her page before closing the book and setting it on the nightstand.
"I was starting to think you were never coming to bed," she teased.
Moving into the room, Giles observed, "You seemed to be entertaining yourself well enough without me. I'm amazed you even noticed I wasn't here."
"I always notice when you're not here," she lovingly commented. Willow hungrily watched as Giles began to change into his pajamas. She loved watching as he stripped out of his clothing, even if he would be covering his toned body again.
Giles looked up at her when he was stripped down to his underclothes. He was always taken aback by the desire he'd see on her face for him.
"Shall I continue changing or do you want to finish for me," he cautiously asked. He knew from experience that just because she may look at him with lust didn't mean she was in the mood to act on it.
Willow sighed and averted her eyes. "Keep going."
Wordlessly he continued. Willow kept her eyes downcast as Giles slipped into bed with her. He slid over to lay next to her on his side. His hand moved to cover hers on her extended belly.
"It's alright, darling," he comforted her.
"I shouldn't get your hopes up like that," she argued.
"My hopes haven't been dashed," Giles insisted, stroking her belly lovingly. "You carry all of my hopes and dreams already."
"It won't be long now," Willow said, a soft smile replacing her frown.
"Less than a month," he agreed. Whenever they spoke of their child he couldn't keep the awe out of his voice. Giles had never allowed himself the luxury of imaging children in his life, aside from Buffy. Now here he was, with a beautiful wife, who was carrying their child. He couldn't be happier.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Giles resisted waking for as long as he could. It had been a long time since he'd had such pleasurable dreams. He felt the body lying against his side, the warm breath exhaling against his bare chest, the curves under his arm, the hair tickling his shoulder.
"Willow." Her name was a soft exhalation, a sigh of regret, a reminder that it was just a dream.
"Mmmm." She answered him even in sleep. "Fifteen cantaloupes in the watermelon patch."
Giles' eyes popped open at the mumbled sentence. First of all, because he wasn't expecting to find a warm, sleeping body in bed with him. Secondly, because the warm body belonged to Willow. And thirdly, because what she said made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Turning his head, Giles' eyes confirmed what his body had already told him. Willow was curled around his body. From her deep even breathing he assumed that she was still asleep. A smile curled his lips. He bent his head to brush a soft kiss against her hair.
Willow began to stir as her pillow started moving. She'd heard her name, but the voice was too far away to answer. Something brushed against the top of her head and she moved her arm to swat it away. Instead, she hit something.
Willow opened her eyes and turned her head to see what she had hit. Her eyes widened as she saw Giles rubbing his scruffy cheek.
"Oh my gosh, Giles, I'm so sorry," she apologized, trying to raise herself onto her elbow. She winced at the slight pain radiating from her hip at the action.
Giles pressed her back down against him. "I'm alright, Willow. Just a little startled."
"I'm so sorry. I mean, here I am, sleeping practically on top of you and then I go and hit you in my sleep."
"Were you able to sleep well?" he asked, changing the subject rather than try to deflect her apologies.
"Better than I have in a long time," she admitted. "You?"
"The same," he softly smiled. "No more nightmares?"
Willow shared a pleased smile with him. "Not a one. I told you that you'd keep me safe."
"I doubt that my presence was what kept the nightmares at bay. It is more likely that you were simply exhausted."
Willow's brows drew together in confusion. 'Why did he do that?' she wondered. Too sleepy to try to answer the question herself, she went ahead and asked him. "Why did you do that?"
"Do what?" Giles retorted, not sure what he could have done already to cause Willow to frown like that.
"Brush off your protecting ability. If I say that you kept the nightmares away then that's what happened. You don't need to get all… modest… and self-deprecating. I slept better than I have since the accident last night and that's because of you."
Willow's resolve face had slid into place by the end of her little speech and Giles couldn't help smiling at her tenacity.
"All right, fine, you win," Giles conceded, the grin evidencing his amusement with her outburst.
"Don't patronize me." Willow plopped her head back down on his chest. She unconsciously began tracing patterns through the hair coving Giles' chest as she pouted. "I'm not a child."
"I know that you're not a child," Giles agreed, quickly adding, "And I'm not trying to patronize you. I was merely trying to be logical."
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that there's no room for logic in bed?"
Giles had to suppress a groan, not only at her words, but also at what her gentle touches were doing to him. "Not lately," he admitted. Not wanting to delve further down that line of thought, Giles returned to the earlier subject. "For the record, I slept better last night that I have in a long time as well."
Willow looked back up at him, happiness radiating from her eyes. "Really?"
"Really." Giles began to stroke her hair gently, the situation becoming increasingly dangerous.
"Did you dream?" she asked.
"I did, but I don't recall what now," he lied. He wasn't ready for Willow to know the kind of life he dreamed of with her.
"Me either," she sighed. "I know they weren't bad this time though."
"I believe you said something about cantaloupes in the watermelon patch," Giles teased.
A hand flew up to cover her mouth in embarrassment. "I did? I don't even know where that came from. Oz always used to tease me about talking in my sleep."
"I hadn't realized I was awake until you did," Giles softly admitted.
"So you were dreaming about me?" Willow pressed, pleased with that thought.
"I was." Giles moved his hand to trace her jawbone, memories of Willow lying pregnant in his arms close to the surface.
"Good dreams I take it," she smiled, leaning into his touch. She was amazed at how comfortable she felt lying here with Giles, like they were old lovers spending the day in bed. 'Woah, where'd that come from?'
"Very." Giles didn't want ruin the comfortable mood that had settled between them, yet he knew that they needed to discuss the kiss from last night. "Willow…"
"Here it comes," she groused.
"What?" he asked in surprise.
"The Talk."
"We do need to talk," he agreed.
"So that you can tell me that it was a mistake?" she accused. She couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "It was an accident. We were caught up in the moment. It can't happen again."
"Are you quite finished mocking me yet?" Giles asked, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.
Willow was startled at his tone of voice. She was so sure he was going to deny what had happened. She nodded mutely.
"Yes, we were caught up in the moment. And yes, it was an accident." Giles placed a finger over Willow's lips when she was going to interrupt. "But I don't think it was a mistake."
"You don't?" she mumbled under his finger.
"No, I don't. My conscience is telling me that I should, that it was wrong to kiss you when you were in so much pain over your break up with Oz, yet my heart can't deny how right it felt."
"That was your only concern… that it was too soon after Oz?" she asked, still not believing that he wasn't denying what had happened.
"There were more, but that was the main one."
"What…"
Giles cut her off. "The others are of no importance. Now, do you feel it was a mistake?"
"Not at all. It felt right, like it was supposed to happen. I've always wanted to kiss you," she shyly admitted, "and I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by."
Giles thought his heart had stopped for a moment before it felt like it was going to pound its way out of his chest. She'd thought about kissing him before!
Willow watched the stunned disbelief turn into pleasure on his face. It was obvious that he'd thought about it before too.
"And here I thought I was the only one harboring unrequited feelings," Giles virtually purred.
Willow felt a shiver run down her spine at his tone of voice. "No, they're requited. They're very requited."
Willow reached up and pulled Giles' head down to hers. This kiss conveyed the hunger and longing that had been building inside them for years. Feelings that had been repressed out of necessity – due to age, or circumstance, or significant others – rushed to the surface and escaped through their joined lips.
The position was a little uncomfortable, so rather than break the kiss, Giles slowly rolled Willow onto her back, settling himself next to her. Willow whimpered softly into the kiss as her body settled into the new position.
"Sorry," Giles mumbled against her lips.
"Don't worry about it," she reassured him, pulling him back to her eager mouth.
A ringing telephone eventually broke through the lust-filled haze surrounding Willow's bed. As it was Giles' apartment, he heard it first and reluctantly pulled away from the woman in his arms.
"Hey, where do you think you're going, mister?" Willow protested, panting heavily, and trying to pull him back to her.
"The phone is ringing," Giles informed the redhead.
"Can't the machine get it?" Willow pouted.
"What if it's Buffy?"
"You'd better get it," she sighed, finally releasing him.
Giles hurried to the kitchen, catching the phone on its last ring before the machine would have picked up.
Willow heard his somewhat annoyed greeting of, "Giles here." She giggled, pleased that he was as reluctant to get up as she was.
She lay back on the bed, contemplating what had just occurred. 'I kissed Giles! And it was amazing. Who knew he'd be such a good kisser. Of course I always imagined he would be, but wow. It's sure is nice to be proven right.'
Willow was still lost in her thoughts with a silly grin on her face when Giles returned to the room. He took a moment to admire her. She looked radiant – thoroughly kissed.
Willow felt his eyes on her and looked up. "Not Buffy?"
"Not Buffy," he confirmed. "That was your Rehab clinic calling to remind us of your appointment this afternoon."
"Oh joy," she sighed. "I suppose I should get up, even though I was really enjoying myself right here."
"As was I. But we do need to get on with our day," Giles agreed. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"I could definitely eat," Willow acknowledged, her stomach growling at the mention of food.
"Do you need help getting up?"
"No, I can do it. I'll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes."
Giles gave her a quick kiss, because he could, and headed into the kitchen to gather together the breakfast supplies as Willow maneuvered herself out of bed and the bathroom before joining Giles for a leisurely breakfast.