Title: Et in Arcadia Ego 3/7
Author: TweedEmpress
Disclaimer: I do not own Giles, Jenny or anyone else – I just wish I did!
Feedback: yes please. I’m needy ;-) I take full responsibility for any mistakes (spelling or otherwise) in this fic.

Notes: apologies to anyone who has been waiting on this, but it kept wanting to have bits added on! So, this part is dedicated to everyone who has been asking when the next part is due. But especially to the one person who – so far – has noticed the Brideshead Revisited connection!

She sat on the edge of the bed, attempting to get her breathing under control. Giles was kneeling on the floor, between her legs, kissing and nuzzling her neck.

Jenny gave into the sensation for a few moments, tilting her head back so that he had better access to her throat, before pulling herself together enough to resume her attack on his shirt. When all of the buttons were finally undone she pushed the fabric down his arms, momentarily pinning his arms against his sides and taking advantage of this to capture his lips in a searing kiss. She locked her ankles behind his back, pulling him closer towards her and for a while, the only sounds were their soft moans of pleasure. Until Giles began to struggle against the constraints of his shirt.

'For God's sake, woman, let me out of this thing,' he muttered against her mouth.

Jenny grinned back at him. 'I dunno, I kinda like having you exactly where I want you.' Her voice sounded sultry, even to her own ears.

He pulled his back from her slightly, his mouth curving into a smile. 'You might find these positions a little…um…prohibiting.'

Jenny felt an added flutter of excitement and freed him without further resistance. One arm immediately snaked around her waist, his other hand tangling in her hair as he plundered he mouth. She could feel the muscles in his back tensing under her fingers and his skin was burning hot. His savage kisses, his body pressed hard against hers, were driving her wild with desire. She pressed herself against him as though, by holding him close enough, she could meld their bodies together - crawl inside his skin so that she would never have to leave him again. Giles seemed to sense her desperation - he loosened his hold on her, gently moving his hands to cup her face in that achingly familiar gesture. With their foreheads resting together, they both took deep steadying breaths until Jenny began to feel that great torrent of emotion subside a little.

Then she noticed something.

'You're shaking,' she whispered, wonderingly.

He dropped his head, suddenly looking sheepish and unexpectedly shy.

'Yes, w-well, this is all rather…'

'Intense?' she offered.

Giles looked up at her gratefully.

'Very,' he agreed.

'But good intense, right?' Jenny asked, a note of uncertainty creeping into he voice.

This time he smiled, his hands tenderly slipping down the contours of her face and neck until they were resting on her shoulders. He gazed deeply into her eyes.

'Wonderful.'

The kiss this time was sweet and languorous. Jenny sighed happily and the next moment found herself being gently pushed down to lie back on the bed.

Giles ran his hands adoringly down her body, pausing briefly to cup her breasts and tease the nipples between his fingers; Jenny instinctively arched her back, emitting a low groan. His hands had reached her hips and were, even now, busily removing her underwear. He allowed his eyes to drink in the sight of so much beauty waiting for him, before raising her foot to his mouth and pressing his lips to the hollow inside her ankle. His other hand began tracing feather-light patterns along her leg and over her kneecap. She felt as though electric currents were shooting from his hands directly into her body.

‘Goddess!’ she murmured hoarsely.

‘Yes,’ Giles agreed. ‘My goddess!’

And then he was kissing his way up her legs, his hands following in firm, dreamy strokes. Until he reached her core.

Jenny’s hands had already settled into a death-grip on the bedding and her head began to thrash as he finally engulfed her in his mouth. She couldn’t stop herself from crying out. He was licking her, sucking her, his teeth scraping gently over her swollen clit, his tongue rasping against the moist folds of her inner walls. Her heels were digging into his back, her body arching off the bed as the intense pressure was built under his relentless assault. His tongue pressed into her even deeper, at the same time he sucked on her, hard, and she let out a breathless scream of ecstasy as her climax pulsed through her body.

Giles continued to kiss and lick her, gently calming her with tongue and fingers. He could feel the tremors still running through her and smiled as he heard her whispering his name. He moved back up her body, worshipping every inch of flesh as though memorising her. Jenny’s face was flushed and her hair in wild disarray; he grinned at her, enjoying the obvious signs of her pleasure. She raised one hand – still trembling slightly – and traced the outline of his lips, before pulling his head down to her mouth. Her legs moved to wrap around him and she cradled his body in hers.

‘That was…’ she shook her head and sighed. ‘I can’t tell you what that was.’

‘So, it was all right?’ He queried.

‘Is ‘all right’ a gushing endorsement in your part of the world?’

He laughed. ‘Usually.’

‘In that case it was very all right!’

Her hands were running over the muscles in his back and shoulders and she could feel the tension in his body – she tilted her hips slightly and heard him groan as his powerful erection was pressed between them. Holding his gaze, she moved from under him, inching back across the bed until she was against the pillows. Her eyes travelled over his body before meeting his again.

‘I want you over here with me. In me.’

Wordlessly, he came to her – his eyes alight with desire and tenderness. Jenny pushed herself up on her hands to meet him. He tugged gently on her lower lip with his teeth before her tongue swept into his mouth. He broke away from her lips, trailing kisses along her neck and the curves of her shoulders. Jenny traced the folds of his ear with the tip of her tongue and then nibbled on his earlobe. It had the desired effect and he pushed her down into the pillows, his body flush against hers. He moved one hand between them, his fingers tracing the edges of her nether-lips, but never touching her swollen, hardened nub that was, again, aching for his attention. She groaned in anticipation as he removed his fingers and they were replaced by his engorged tip, pressing hard against her.

He felt her pelvis tilt towards him, inviting him in and then, slowly, pushed into her liquid heat. Jenny murmured incoherently, stroking his calves with the ball of her foot and gripping his shoulders a little harder. Giles rested on his elbows so that he could tangle his hands in her hair, his tongue teasing her mouth with the same deep, languorous thrusts as his hard shaft inside her. He pulled out of her almost completely and angled himself over her so that he rasped against her clit with every stroke. His upper body was entirely still, just his hips grinding against hers relentlessly. Jenny could feel his powerful shoulders shaking with effort and she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in deeper, driving away his self-control. Giles stilled over her - she was so incredibly wet and silky and fiery all around him. His beloved Jenny. He was incapable of rational thought: only aware of the primal need to possess her entirely, and lose himself in her.

Jenny gazed up at him, watching the fierce joy on his face and almost laughed from the intensity of her own happiness. She rotated her hips under him and cried out as he bucked into her. Brutal contractions were wracking her entire body and the only thought that penetrated her passion-drugged mind was that it might just be possible to die from pleasure. His body was crashing against hers, all of his strength driving into her. Her cries grew louder, mingling with Giles’ deep growls. And just when every fibre was screaming for release, her climax exploded. It pulsated endlessly through her body and she clung to him tightly, feeling him shuddering over her as he poured himself into her.

They lay in a tangle of limbs and bedding while their breathing slowed.

Giles slipped out of her, gently hushing Jenny’s soft moan of protest, and trailed kisses along her skin until he found the juncture of her thighs. She was vaguely aware that he was murmuring to her, his voice husky, but it was overwhelmed by the sensation of his mouth on her, licking their mingled essences from her thighs. He slid two fingers into her, flexing them against the spasms that were still working through her. Jenny gasped, fisting her hands in his hair, as she broke sweetly around him.

When she finally relaxed her hold on him, Giles deposited one final kiss and then moved up to lie next to her. He pulled her across him so that her head was pillowed on his chest. Jenny immediately nestled against him, wrapping one arm around his waist. His hands were exploring the lines of her shoulder blades and running up and down her spine. A simple but powerful joy had spread through his entire being. He felt slightly drunk. Giles smiled to himself as he rested his cheek against her hair and his arms tightened around her.

'I always loved that,' Jenny murmured happily.

'Umm, what in particular?'

Jenny nuzzled into his neck, her mouth brushing against his collarbone, before replying. 'This. When I can feel you under me and you're stroking my back. Love it.'

She felt his lips press against the top of her head and could tell that he was smiling. His hands continued to trace complicated, invisible patterns over her skin.

'Y'know, I think I permanently damaged my vocal cords,' she added some moments later.

This time he chuckled. 'I'm not surprised.'

Jenny rolled off him and propped herself up on one elbow, eyeing her self-satisfied looking lover. 'You can stop looking so pleased with yourself, England.'

Giles raised an eyebrow.

'Okay, so you have plenty to be smug about,' she broke off to clear her throat, 'but that isn't helping the sandpaper effect over here.'

'Drink?'

'Drink,' she agreed.

Her eyes followed him as he extricated himself from the sheets and then padded across the room, stopping momentarily to retrieve the bathrobe he had deposited on a chair earlier. It was the first time that she had been able to observe him objectively. In this brief respite, she replayed the events of the last few hours, recalling his every look. He was different. Not in essentials - in those he was the Rupert Giles she remembered and loved. But on the surface, he seemed older, harder, a little more jaded and cynical.

'That's what suffering does,' said a voice in her head.

And then there were the physical differences. She had seen the scars before, of course. Sometimes through a haze and sometimes with horrifying clarity. But the reality of them, the jagged white marks against his skin, the tautness of healed burns and the unexpected ridges along ribs where the tortured bones had knit themselves back together…

The memories of that terrible night seared her eyes and Jenny was gripped by a sudden nausea. Throwing aside the covers, she ran to the bathroom, slamming the door shut before falling to her knees and retching, pitiably, into the bowl. She wasn't actually sick, but her entire body spasmed violently. When it finally stopped, Jenny rested her head against the cool tile on the wall, closing her eyes. Blood was thundering in her ears and her entire body was prickling under the skin - she felt as though she were about to pass out. For a moment, she thought about succumbing to the darkness, but that was just taking an easy way out. They both deserved better than that. With an effort, Jenny forced her eyes open and felt her head begin to clear. She became aware of knocking on the door and could hear Giles calling her, his voice growing increasingly frantic. If she didn't reply, he'd break the door down. Her first attempt at speech resulted in a hoarse rasp. Jenny licked her lips and pushed herself away from the floor, so that she could face the door.

'I'm okay. I'll be out in a minute.'

Having successfully mastered simple sentences, Jenny began to feel slightly more in control of herself. Her limbs still felt a little shaky, but she could stand. There was another robe hanging on the back of the door.

'Gotta love the luxury suite,' she thought, slipping it on.

She leaned heavily against the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her skin looked unnaturally pale, but her cheeks were a burning red. Carefully holding her hair back with one hand, she turned the tap on and splashed copious amounts of cold water onto her face. Better. She pressed a towel to her cheeks, dried her hands, raked her fingers through her hair a few times and then made a face at her reflection.

'Idiot.'

Jenny finally unlocked the door and found Giles pacing anxiously. Three steps one-way, three steps the other. He looked up when he heard the door.

'Jenny, what - a-are you…?'

'I'm okay. Really' She offered him a smile and then made a beeline for the bed.

There were two glasses of whiskey on the nightstand and Jenny picked one up gratefully, settling herself against the headboard. She held the liquid in her mouth for a moment, her eyes closed, feeling it burn her lips and tongue before it slid down her throat. Warmth spread through her body. The bed dipped and she knew that he was sitting opposite her.

Giles waited until the dark eyes opened and met his.

'What happened?' he asked softly.

Jenny took his left hand between both of hers and ran her fingers lightly over the scarred knuckles.

'I just…' her gaze dropped to their joined hands. 'I just remembered a time when your hand didn't look like this.'

'Ah.'

She smiled wryly at him. 'That's my Rupert - master of the understatement.'

Giles reached for his glass with his free hand. 'It was a long time ago.' He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze.

'I-I know that. It's just, I mean, it was like actually being able to feel it properly for the first time. I can't really feel anything of my own anymore, when I'm…wherever it is.'

He sipped the drink, watching her anxiously. Her eyes were clouded and he could see the tension in her shoulders. Memories were stirring at her words - the ones he kept expertly buried in the light of day, but which would re-surface to taunt him during his bleakest nights. This night, however, was not the time to re-live them. He forced the monster back into its box and turned the full force of his concern to Jenny. Guilt had now been added to the array of emotions playing across her features.

'Goddess, Rupert, I am so sorry. It's not like any of it happened to me and yet, somehow, I'm the one having a nervous breakdown.'

Giles pursed his lips slightly and regarded her, his head on one side. 'I think we've apologised enough for one night, don't you?'

The sparkle started to creep back into her eyes. 'You're doing Watcher-mode here on me, you do realise that, don't you?'

A slight smile quirked his lips; pleased to hear her gentle teasing. 'I can't possibly imagine why.'

The tension dissipated and they enjoyed the comfortable silence that held them.

'Jenny.'

She started slightly, noting that Giles had a thoughtful expression.

'Still right here.'

'Th-there's something that I-I, well, what I mean is, there w-was, s-something…a-and now there is…again.'

Jenny shook her head incredulously, wondering anew how anybody so strong could be so unsure of themselves. Whatever he had to say was, evidently, both important and personal. She recognised the signs.

Giles blew out a frustrated breath and mentally cursed himself for his inability to voice his feelings without making a production number out of it.

Jenny waited patiently.

'Y-you told me once,' he began slowly, 'that you had fallen in love with me.'

She smiled, nodding slightly. It hadn't been the most appropriate setting for the words, but she had meant them.

'What I should have told you at the time - what I've regretted ever since…I had fallen in love with you. I loved you.'

He captured her face in his hands, pulling her slightly towards him.

'I love you.'

'I know, Rupert. I knew it then - I saw it in your eyes. When you asked me to come to you, that day in my classroom, I could see it. I always knew.'

Their mouths met with tender urgency. He tasted of whiskey and another slightly salty flavour that Jenny knew was her own.

'That doesn't mean that you can't tell me again, anyway!' she managed, breathlessly, between kisses. She felt his laughter, and then his breath, warm, against her ear.

'I love you.'

There was so much pleasure in being able to say it. To hear the words out loud and feel her body pressed against his as he said them, to hear the happy sigh she let out as she heard it. To feel her loving him back.

Jenny leaned back against the pillows, pulling him with her, and enjoyed the sensation of his weight pinning her down. They lay still together until, by an unspoken accord, they shifted so that Giles was resting against the headboard, with Jenny draped across him. She placed a kiss on his chest where his robe gaped open and Giles’ hand resumed its slow caressing of her back.

Silence.

‘Why didn’t you try to contact me before?’ There was no accusation in her tone, just curiosity.

‘I could have done,’ he admitted softly. ‘I-I was going to, once – but even then I kept putting it off. I always thought, or at least, I always hoped, that you were at peace. You were, weren’t you? I mean, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I was. I am.’ She nestled closer to him, quietening his concerns.

‘I’ve never felt comfortable about disturbing spirits unnecessarily,’ he continued, his voice slightly muffled as he rested his head on top of hers. ‘Unless there was some evidence of distress, I always preferred to think that they were happy. I needed to believe that about you. After everything that happened, I needed to think that you could rest undisturbed.’

‘Right now, I’m very happy,’ she purred. ‘And as for disturbed…’

Jenny’s hand slipped lower, between the folds of his robe, until she found the warm, velvety flesh she sought. He groaned slightly, immediately responding to her caresses.

‘Disturbed can be good sometimes.’

She was alternately licking and kissing his chest, scraping her teeth lightly over his skin, until he brought her face up to his, kissing her deeply. Jenny moved until she was straddling him, eager fingers moving the fabric of his robe aside so that he was exposed to her hungry gaze, unaware that he had, somehow, removed her robe until she felt the cool air against her skin. She sank slowly onto him, rocking slightly as she took him inside her. His hands caressed her hips, then were running up her back, tangling in her hair and then back down again. Jenny held still over him, deliberately clenching her inner muscles around him where he filled her. Their eyes were locked and then Jenny leaned down, kissed him sweetly and said,

‘I love you.’

Then she began to move, slowly at first, changing angles and gasping as she felt him so deep inside her. Giles had allowed this control, until his hips bucked involuntarily under her and they both cried out. He began to thrust upwards, matching her rhythm, so that he pulled out of her as she rose above him.

Her back was arching and she leaned further back, bracing herself with her hands behind her. Giles’ hands were at her waist supporting her. She felt incredibly liberated, yet incredibly secure, with his strong hands holding her steady. Her breath was coming in great, ragged gasps; her entire body resounding with the bliss she was drawing from him. He sat up, placing burning kisses between her breasts, at the same time bending his knees so that she was braced against his thighs. With this extra leverage, he thrust harder upwards, into her. Jenny cried out incoherently, suddenly bringing herself forward and throwing her arms around his neck, claiming his mouth with hers. A powerful wave of pleasure swept through both of them: their bodies shuddering, limbs gripping each other in near-painful holds. Painful but for the exquisite satisfaction they brought. Jenny rested her head on his shoulder, her body loose and weightless from the force of her release. Giles sank back onto the bed, drawing her with him. She could hear his heart slowing to a steady, regular beat – almost feel the reverberations against her cheek.

Time didn’t exactly stand still – it continued its inexorable momentum. But for Giles and Jenny it had ceased to have any meaning on this most wondrous of nights. They lay entwined together, a magic spell seemingly woven around their own private universe of two.

But even in the most magical of surroundings, reality must make its presence felt.

‘I know that this probably isn’t the most romantic statement in the world,’ Jenny said, ‘but I am starving. You could take that as a compliment.’

A low chuckle answered her. ‘Well, I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up! I was on my way out, but then I was hi-jacked by this dark-eyed temptress.’

‘Hi-jacked, huh? I’ll admit I did get carried away…’

Giles groaned. ‘That is one of the most appalling puns I have ever heard. I think the sooner I get you fed, the better.’

Jenny sighed contentedly. ‘Dinner and dancing-’

‘I draw the line at dancing.’

‘Experiencing the exotic,’ she continued, ignoring the interruption, ‘taking in the sites-’

‘I hope to God you aren’t talking about web-sites-’

‘Oh, now, there’s an idea!’

‘Calendar!’

Laughing, she pushed herself up, gazing at him lovingly before kissing him. Giles brushed her dark hair away from her face, gently stroking her face with his thumbs.

‘So, dinner?’

‘Definitely!’ She nodded, and then frowned. ‘Do you like Mexican?’

There was a moment’s pause and then, unexpectedly, Giles began to laugh.

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