"We need a vacation."
"A what?" Wesley was astonished. Had he heard right? If so, whatever possessed the woman to say that, after a not quite horrible coupling session?
"Laymen's terms: You're unemployed. I'm on holiday. We, as in you and I, need a vacation. As in traveling outside of L.A., leaving our tricky little lives behind us."
Wesley was still trying to wrap his head around it. Him, Lilah, vacation – together?
"Oh, come on, Wes," she purred into his ear. "Don't tell me you haven't needed an escape. We both know better."
Stress free, if only for a little while, was tempting and appealing. And not having to wonder exactly when Lilah would be showing up, that had its benefits as well.
"Besides," Lilah grinned at him. "Non-refundable tickets."
Wesley paled. "A-As in flying?" He was terrified of flying. "O-On a plane?"
Lilah gave a small frown. "No, on a magic carpet. Of course a plane!"
Wesley swallowed. "Where?"
Lilah smirked. "It's a surprise."
Oh dear. A surprise, coming from Lilah? That couldn't be good.
"Trust me." Lilah ran her tongue along his jaw line. "It's outdoorsy."
Lust flared up within Wesley once again. Despite all the negatives he could think of, he was beginning to look forward to the little vacation of hers. He seized her hair with his hand and used it to steer her lips to his.
"I'll take that as a yes," Lilah growled.
Wesley was white as a ghost once they had boarded the plane.
"Relax, lover," Lilah murmured.
"I can't stand heights!"
The plane began to roll along the runway.
"No turning back, now," Lilah stated.
"Oh, God!"
Later:
"Would you like a drink, sir?" asked miss tall, lanky, and blonde. Then she threw in a wink.
Lilah leaned forward, into view. "Hi, Blondie, I'm Lilah Morgan, President of the Special Projects unit of Wolfram & Hart. I am certified to carry a gun with me at all times."
Blondie stiffened and continued down the aisle.
Wesley smirked at Lilah. "Do you really have your gun?"
Lilah rolled her eyes. "No, but it worked, didn't it?"
Even Later:
"Lilah, what are we doing in a bloody forest?"
"Log cabin."
"What?"
She smirked at him. "I said 'outdoorsy', did I not?"
They high stepped over a log.
"Yes, but I was imagining something more like a beach," Wesley admitted.
Lilah laughed. "A beach? Cliché, much? We're not even in a coastal state, Wes."
"Oh. I…I suppose that rather would make sense."
Suddenly, Lilah's arm flew out to block Wesley's path. "Stop," she ordered under her breath.
Wesley heeded her word curiously. After moments of silence, he realized why she'd stopped him. There was a rattler snake not twenty feet ahead of them.
Lilah looked around for an alternate route, and saw that there was a naturally made arch from fallen tree trunks that lead past the rattler to a continuation of their path. She took Wesley's hand with one of her own, and raised a finger of her other hand to her lips, signaling silence. She cautiously lead the way to the arch, quietly as possible.
Unfortunately, at the peak of the arch, Lilah stepped on a rotten part of the wood, and started to fall. Luckily, Wesley still had a hold of the one hand, and quickly grabbed her other, as well. Lilah was biting her bottom lip hard to prevent from making noise. The rotten wood was fifty feet above the rattler, and there was nothing under her feet but air. Her hands were sweating, which made it hard to hold on, but she clung to his hands with all her strength.
Meanwhile, Wesley held tightly onto Lilah's hands, positioning himself to safely pull her to her feet without falling himself. Her hands were slipping, though. He was red in the face with strain, and with a great tug, managed to bring Lilah to her feet.
After that, panting for breath, they managed to step around the hole in the arch of trees, and continue down the arch to the ground without any further problems. Once there, Wesley noticed her lip was bleeding. "Lilah…"
Lilah glanced at him silently from the corner of her eye.
Wesley paused her movement by placing his hands on her shoulders. "Your lip is bleeding."
"It is?" Lilah sounded as if her mind wasn't with her in the moment.
Wesley nodded. "Appears that you bit right through it."
Lilah shrugged.
"Lilah." Wesley wiped some of the blood off that was dripping onto her chin. "Are you alright?"
Lilah blinked and simply shook her head, before moving it to rest on his shoulder.
Wesley might have been surprised at that, under any other circumstance. He wrapped his arms around her, though, until she was ready to walk again.
That Evening:
Lilah was stretched out in front of the fire place of the log cabin, while Wesley was reading in a chair of the same room.
"Did I thank you, yet?"
Wesley was certain he'd imagined it. She had hardly talked since the incident.
"Hello, Wes?" Lilah plucked the book from his hands.
Wesley jumped. "Oh! Er…yes?"
"I said: Did I thank you, yet?"
"For?"
"You know what for."
"No, I don't believe you have."
"Then thank you." She kissed him gently.
Wesley pulled back. "Lilah, your –"
Lilah took his hand and made his fingers feel her bottom lip. "Is fine."
Wesley was confused. "How-?"
"I heal fast." She kissed him again, and that time Wesley didn't pull back.