Title: Belonging (11/12)
Author: Luisa
Email: leyjd@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, they belong to Joss et al. I'm just playin' with them... giving them what they *really* want before handing them back as if they'd never been touched. <Innocent smile>
Feedback: Pretty, pretty please. with Giles on top?
A harried pounding on the studded door of Giles' apartment woke up the lovers who still lay entwined on his bed. As they reluctantly parted, they became aware of late morning sunlight filling the room.
"Giles...?" She rubbed her eyes absently, "What's the time?" She dropped her hand and squinted into the brightness, "And what the hell's that racket?"
Reaching over, he turned the alarm clock to face him. "Oh, dear Lord!" he breathed and turned back to Buffy. "It's eleven-forty a.m.! I can't believe we slept in for so long."
The Slayer smiled smugly back at him. "Well, Sexy... you *did* want to make it last all night." Her eyes twinkled merrily, expressing the contentment she felt. "So we'll just have to start sleeping during the day, if that's what's going to happen every time we make love."
He grinned back at her, his breath catching slightly in his throat as sunlight washed over her face. He leaned in, planting a long kiss on her lips, before drawing back with a reluctant sigh as the pounding began again. "You stay right there," he commanded as he stood to enrobe himself. "I'll be right back." He leant down for one last kiss and disappeared down the stairs.
"You betcha," she murmured softly, touching her lips where they continued to tingle from his touch. "I'm not planning on going anywhere."
Rupert Giles descended the stairs with a happy smile stretching across his face. Buffy... the woman he'd longed after for months now, loved him back with a love as deep and eternal as his love for her. If it were even possible, the smile widened as he reached the bottom of the stairs. [And last night was...] he fumbled for the right word, [Indescribably sensation] his mind supplied. With a bounce in his step, he threw open the front door. "Good mo..." His voice died as he realised his visitor. "Riley." He cleared his throat, but made no move to invite the young soldier in. "What can I do for you?"
"It's Buffy, Mister Giles." He shifted anxiously from one foot to the other. "She... she didn't come home last night, and it's nearly noon. I think something might have happened to her on patrol. I mean... I looked everywhere for her but I can't find her. What if some creature attacked her?" His voice rose hysterically.
Giles grinned inwardly. [Some creature *did* attack her... and she liked it...] He fought to keep his composure. "I'm quite sure Buffy is capable of holding her own, if such an attack did happen."
"But... but... you don't *understand*, Mister Giles. She's *nowhere* to be found. She' s not at college, and none of her friends know where she is, either. I've checked all the cemeteries, all the crypts, even the foul alleyways, but... nothing." His shoulders slumped in defeat, and Giles' heart went out to him.
"Maybe she just had some heavy thinking to do. That's just how Buffy is, she'll go off unannounced on her own to think and then turn up unexpectedly when she's good and ready. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." He reached out a hand and placed it on the young man's shoulder, trying to shut out his conscience. Sounds from upstairs interrupted their conversation and Riley automatically lifted his eyes at the same time as Buffy appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Who is it, honey? The bed is getting awfully cold without you..." She sashayed down the fist few steps, dressed only in an over-sized spare bathrobe, halting in her tracks when she recognised the visitor. An audible gulp could be heard in the suddenly still apartment, and for the second time in as many days she wished that the hellmouth would open and swallow her whole. "Riley... I...uh..."
The Commando's eyes widened at the implications of her presence - particularly when he noticed her attire. He could only stand staring dumbstruck at her; then he watched the Watcher's flush of embarrassment before he lowered his eyes to the hand resting on his shoulder. Sudden rage swept through him as the puzzle pieces fell into place: the way she cried this other man's name when they had sex, her disappearance last night, her appearance now and the guilty expressions on both their faces. He clenched his fists until his nails drew blood. He moved his eyes back up to the elder man. "Get your hands off me," he growled threateningly. Swiftly Giles obliged and stepped back, narrowly avoiding a punch in the stomach as Riley swung for him.
"Riley, stop it!" Buffy's hysterical scream filled the apartment as she rushed down to Giles' aid.
Riley completely ignored her as she joined her two suitors, only interested in keeping this pervert away from his girlfriend. He crossed over the threshold angrily toward Giles. "Get your hands off my girl, too, while you're at it."
Giles simply laughed at the younger man, silently refusing to be made to feel endangered in his own home. "I don't think you know Buffy all that well. If you did, you'd know that she belongs to no-one but herself."