Title: Tumblin' Down 13/?
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.

The next two weeks rushed by in a flurry of activity. With all of the emotional drama encompassing their lives, they were surprised to realize that it was nearly Christmas.

Buffy and Willow were able to spend some quality time re-bonding in the age-old fashion: shopping. Even though Buffy would make faces and cringe when Willow insisted on visiting every lingerie shop in the mall, it was done in the most playful manner. Especially when Willow pointed out that Buffy could shop there too.

Giles also insisted on at least one shopping trip with him, alone, so that he and Buffy could spend some quality time away from the apartment, and slaying, to reaffirm their relationship. Their trip to the magic shop wasn't entirely unexpected for Buffy, even if the reason behind it freaked her out a bit.

While Buffy, Willow and Giles went Christmas tree shopping, Xander planned his own holiday surprise. Using the key he had been given as a child, Xander let himself into Willow's parents' house. It took him about an hour to unearth the menorah Willow had been given as gift by one of her aunts, but eventually he found it.

He returned to Giles' apartment to find a beautiful, full, balsam fir set up next to the fireplace.

"Hey, Xan, hurry up, we were waiting for you to start decorating," Willow invited.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "What was so important that you couldn't come with us?"

Placing his surprise in Willow's lap, Xander explained, "I needed to pick something up for Wills."

Willow looked at her oldest friend, the question clearly written across her face. Her hands explored the plastic bag in her lap, feeling the familiar shape beneath her fingers. Her face lit up. "Is this what I think it is?"

Xander's smile lit up his face as well. "Open the bag and see."

Willow carefully pulled the plastic away, revealing her menorah. "Where on earth did you find this?"

"In one of the boxes in the back of your closet," he shyly admitted.

"What'cha got?" Buffy asked.

"This is my menorah. I haven't seen it in years. I got it as a gift at my Bat Mitzvah, but I never had a chance to use it before. We always just used my parents' menorah." Willow pushed herself off the couch and wrapped Xander in a big hug. "Thank you, Xander."

Xander returned the hug. "I thought you might be wanting it, seeing as how Hanukkah has already started."

"I was just going to skip it this year," Willow shrugged, stepping back from her friend.

"Well, now you don't have to," Giles said, taking the menorah and placing it on the fireplace mantle.

"There are candles in the bag too." Xander added. "Not much use for a menorah without candles."

"Well, lets light those puppies," Buffy said excitedly.

"Not till after sunset," Willow corrected, placing the candles next to the menorah.

"Why?" the blonde asked.

"Because that is the way it is done," Giles answered. "Until then, we have a tree to decorate."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

The next day was Christmas Eve.

Joyce prepared a special dinner for everyone. Buffy had been nervous when she'd told her mom about Willow and Giles' new relationship. After the initial surprise, she had been amazingly supportive. When Buffy had tried to express her own beliefs about whom Giles should be with, Joyce had laughed. She told Buffy that she had no interest in being anything more than friends with Giles, and she never had. In fact, since everyone else was bringing a date, she would as well. There was an art dealer in town that had been flirting with her, so she had invited him to Christmas Eve dinner.

The food was delicious, the atmosphere comfortable, and the company heartwarming. The evening was filled with love and laughter, embarrassing stories and fond memories. Tokens of friendship were exchanged amongst those closest to them.

Eventually Buffy and Riley left for a quick patrol. Xander and Anya left to have sex, which Anya had proudly proclaimed as Xander hushed her out the door. Joyce escorted her date back to his hotel. And Willow and Giles returned home to exchange their own gifts.

Willow insisted that Giles wait in the living room while she prepared his present in her room. Giles was grateful for the opportunity to dash up to his the loft to retrieve Willow's gift. He was nervous about her reaction and hoped that she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Giles felt the fluttering of anticipation in his stomach when he heard his love call out, "Rupert, I'm ready."

Willow wasn't in the living room when he descended the stairs, so he proceeded down the hallway to Willow's bedroom. He found himself in front of a closed door. A smile spread across his face as he knocked.

"Come in," Willow invited.

The anticipation he had been feeling upstairs escalated as Giles opened the door. His breath caught at the sight before him. The room was bathed in candlelight. There were clusters of both red & green and blue & white candles, but Giles didn't notice. His eyes were transfixed on the woman on the bed.

Willow was reclining against the headboard wearing a beautiful red silk robe that Giles had never seen before. She could feel her body temperature rise as Giles raked his eyes over her body.

Fingering the sash holding the robe closed, Willow sultrily asked, "Aren't you going to unwrap your present?"

Giles blinked to pull himself out of his lust-induced thoughts. On his second attempt to speak he said, "Perhaps you should go first, or else you may not get to yours tonight."

Willow's giggle was music to his ears. She held out a hand to him, inviting him to join her on the bed. As he sat, Giles placed a beautifully wrapped box on her lap.

Giles watched her intently as Willow unwrapped the box and lifted the lid. A curious smile spread across her face as she sifted through the magickal ingredients she found. She pulled out a piece of paper and read the words carefully written on it.

"A spell?" she asked.

"A strengthening spell to be exact," Giles confirmed.

"Strengthening spell," she repeated in awe. "You want me to heal myself with a spell?"

Giles nodded. "I know you haven't been practicing magicks since the accident, and I am guessing that you have missed it."

"Yeah, I have," Willow agreed. "But isn't this cheating?"

"I'm not suggesting that you cure your injury with magick."

"Then what…"

"I am suggesting that you use this spell to speed the healing process; encourage the bone and muscles to knit faster."

"You just want to get into my pants faster," Willow said knowingly, the desire in her eyes and voice letting him know that it was what she wanted as well.

Running a hand along the edge of Willow's robe, Giles said, "And the purpose of your present to me would be…?"

"Touché," Willow conceded.

"Speaking of my present…" Giles began, openly leering at Willow's reclining form, amusement in his voice. "You bought yourself lingerie?"

Willow set the magick supplies aside and slid to the edge of the bed, the silk easing her movements. She huskily whispered in his ear, "It's what's under the lingerie that counts."

Giles felt his breath catch and his half-formed erection spring to life at her words. "Show me," he breathed.

Willow's hand slipped up Giles' thigh, stopping just shy of the straining material below his belt. "You don't want to do it yourself," she asked with the most sinfully tempting pout on her lips.

Giles leaned forward to slowly lick the protruding lip, his hand moving hers to rest on his very obvious arousal. "Maybe next time," he said in a voice filled with need.

Willow kissed him hungrily, massaging him through his pants. Giles didn't even try to restrain the moans Willow's mouth eagerly absorbed.

Pulling back, Giles panted, "So do I get to see the rest of my present?"

Willow smiled and got up on her knees. She motioned for Giles to take her place against the headboard. Giles instantly scooted back, his face alight with boyish enthusiasm.

Willow continued to tease Giles for a several long seconds. Slowly she pulled the end of the sash, releasing the loose knot. However her other hand was holding the material together, so nothing was yet revealed to Giles' hungry eyes. Just when she thought he was going to tell her to hurry up, Willow dropped her hands and arched her back, the silk easily slipping from her shoulders, revealing a matching red satin and lace nightie that barely reached the tops of her thighs.

Despite the lesser amount of clothing, Willow felt the heat in the room escalate under the look in Giles' lust-darkened eyes.

"You like?" she asked, not the least bit surprised by the sultriness of her voice, given the look she was receiving.

"You're a goddess," Giles honestly told her. "A more beautiful creature could not possibly exist compared to you. Come here."

Willow crawled towards him, allowing him a view of her cleavage as she moved up the bed and over his body, straddling his legs.

"You think I'm beautiful?" she questioned, removing his tie.

Giles ran his hands over her body, the satin sensuously moving against her skin as he traced the curves still hidden from his eyes. "You, my love, are radiant. A fire goddess whose spell I've fallen under."

Willow continued to undress the man beneath her. Her fingers eagerly unbuttoned his shirt. Even though she had seen him shirtless, and usually slept next to him that way, she had never gotten him that way herself, and she relished uncovering his flesh with her own hands.

"No spell," she denied. "Just love."

"Love?" Giles questioned, hope filling his eyes as his hands stilled on her hips.

Willow finished with her buttons and met Giles' eyes. Nervously biting her lip she nodded her head. "Yes, love. I… I love you, Rupert Giles."

Giles searched her eyes, afraid to find some sign of resignation. When all he saw was her nervousness and undeniable love, he lowered his lips to hers, taking her mouth in a slow, sensuous kiss. His full name on her lips, accompanying the words he had longed to hear for years, nearly sent him over the edge.

Willow had expected such a revelation to result in a fierce, passionate kiss. This kiss, however, was not what she had expected. Oh, it was passionate, no denying that, but instead of inflaming her, it turned her to mush. Willow felt her muscles slowly melting, her bones turning to butter, as Giles teased her mouth slowly with his, his tongue languorously moving against hers. Willow whimpered at the intense pleasure he was invoking, her body going limp in his arms.

Before she knew what had happened, Willow found herself on her back, with a nearly naked Giles pressed against her side wearing nothing but a pair of dark blue, tented, silk boxers.

Meeting her disoriented eyes, Giles proclaimed, "I love you, Willow Rosenberg. As if you didn't know."

"I suspected," she grinned, tracing the lines of his face she so dearly loved. "But it's still good to hear."

Giles kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, her chin, down her neck, on downward, murmuring, "I love you," against her skin between each kiss.

When the material of Willow's nightie halted his progress, Giles looked up at his love. "May I finish unwrapping my present?"

"You may," she smiled, sitting up.

Resting his hands against her hips, Giles drew the soft material up Willow's body and over her head. He helped her to lie back down, admiring the beauty before him. "A goddess," he softly repeated. He loved the way her body flushed under his praise.

Dipping his head, Giles took one rosy nipple into his mouth, lovingly tasting and teasing her flesh. Willow's breathy moans excited him beyond belief, as did her hands that roamed as far as she could reach. The groan of pleasure Willow emitted when he switched breasts had him grinding his hips against the bed, needing some kind of friction to offer him some relief from his nearly painful erection.

Trying to ignore his own body's needs, Giles skimmed a hand down over Willow's tense belly to run through her curls and on down. He found her hot and wet for him. He moaned against the breast in his mouth and easily slipped a finger inside his love.

Willow's hips arched up at the pleasurable intrusion. She ignored the slight stab of pain the motion caused, the pleasure quickly drowning it out. Her hands blindly sought to return the pleasure she was feeling, sliding beneath Giles' body in search of the erection she knew must be painful by now.

Giles automatically lifted his hips, getting to his knees, as he felt Willow's delicate hand trying to move under him. He gasped and rested his forehead against her chest when he felt her trace the outline of his erection through his boxers, the silk caressing his sensitive flesh.

Giles crushed his lips to hers when Willow's hand slid inside the opening of his boxers to touch his flesh. She lightly stroked him in time with his hand's movements inside her. Giles had added a second finger by now and his thumb was beginning to stroke her clit in small, rough circles. Willow traced the head of his erection with her thumb in a similar motion, dipping beneath the foreskin to capture the moisture there, spreading it into his flesh as she slid back down to the base, before repeating the motion.

Giles could feel his orgasm nearing. Reluctantly ending the kiss he desperately told her, "Willow, love, I don't think I can last much longer."

Squeezing him lightly, Willow said, "So don't."

She recaptured his mouth, redoubling her efforts to bring him release. Giles seemed to redouble his efforts as well, wanting to bring her over with him.

Willow broke the kiss this time in order to vocalize her pleasure. She was finding it difficult to continue a smooth motion on Giles as she felt her inner muscles begin to clench. Her grip on him tightened briefly as her body went rigid, the pleasure washing over her. Giles thrust into her hand, taking her distraction for what it was. He grunted against her neck as he felt his balls draw up and his body jerk as he climaxed in her hand, staining his new shorts.

They stayed as they were, hands around and inside of each other, as they came down from their highs. Both were panting harshly when Giles rolled onto his back, withdrawing his hand and causing Willow's to be pulled away as well.

Turning his head to look at Willow, Giles said, "Now that's what I call a present."

Willow blushed, despite their recent activities. "I'm glad you liked it."

"I don't think I can move from this bed," Giles admitted, knowing he'd have to in order to get them cleaned up.

"Don't need to," Willow said, innocently.

"I need to get cleaned up and changed," Giles pointed out.

"Check the nightstand," Willow smiled.

Giles lifted his head enough to see that on the nightstand was a pitcher of water next to a bowl with a washcloth in it.

A wicked grin spread across his face. "Plan this did you?"

"Hey, goddess here, remember? We tend to know these kinds of things beforehand."

Giles forced himself to move enough to retrieve the items on the nightstand and lovingly ran the cloth over Willow's hand and between her thighs before discarding his boxers and tending to himself. He stood to return the items to the nightstand. He extinguished the candles before turning down the covers and helping Willow under them. He then joined her, pulling her against his sated body.

"You know," Willow casually said, "I think that I should start doing that spell tomorrow."

Giles chucked, pressing his lips to hers in a quick kiss. "Eager for more are we?"

"Oh, yeah," Willow confirmed, lovingly caressing his chest. "Aren't you?"

"Always," Giles admitted. "But this was more than I ever hoped for so soon."

"Do you think it was too soon?"

"No. It was perfect."

"Yeah, it was." Willow leaned up to kiss him before snuggling into his side and drifting off into a contented sleep.

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