Chapter 9
Waking up next to a man after a night of passion wasn't unknown to C.C. Babcock. She'd had her fair share of lovers over the course of her life, but for one reason or the other, no man had lasted for long.
Sometimes it had been her – she'd get bored of them or just want them for a one-night stand.
Some other times, the men had just disappeared. Some of them even before morning had come.
Part of her had come to accept her perennial loneliness. She'd gotten used to being alone and relying only on herself and herself alone. She'd learnt to live that way, and it had sort of worked for the past fifteen years or so. However, she'd began to wonder if she'd ever find the one.
But now, as she woke up still wrapped in Niles' arms, she knew she had.
None of those men had been right for her.
The one man who was so, had always been right under her nose.
He was still asleep, a content smile resting on his usually tired features. The tranquil morning sun streaming in danced off his sandy-blonde hair, which she couldn't resist stroking. They were soft.
He was soft. Inside and out.
"Morning," he said, eyes still closed and voice a tad hoarse and heavy with sleep.
It surprised her a little, finding out that he was awake after all, but it didn't bother her that much.
"Morning," she replied, returning to stroking his hair. She didn't feel like stopping. "How did you sleep?"
"Perfectly," Niles replied, finally opening his eyes to look at her.
His eyes were beautiful. She'd never realised just how much they shone, especially in the light of the early morning sun.
Maybe it was what they'd done that made them shine? Or maybe it took being with him for her to notice...
Either way, it didn't matter. She wasn't planning on losing it now she had it.
"Good," she murmured, bringing her fingers down to his cheek. "I think I was exhausted..."
Niles' features slipped into a smug grin, and he kissed the tip of her index finger.
"After five times in one night? I should hope so, otherwise I'd be in danger of not keeping up...!"
"We are smug, aren't we?" she commented, smirking, and sitting up so she could move to straddle Niles. She loved the feeling of his body beneath hers, and her hands were soon on his chest, massaging it lightly.
"Can you blame me?" asked the butler, cupping her bottom. He even squeezed it a little, eliciting a small giggle from her.
"Hm, I guess I cannot, but don't get too confident," she said, lying down on his chest; he loved the feeling of her breasts against it.
"Never," he said, and kissed her.
It wasn't a surprise to either of them when, eventually, the kiss resulted in a more than pleasant round of morning sex. Unlike the night before, this time the pace was slow and unhurried, but equally good.
Maybe even better.
Because, they knew, this meant they were in it for the long run.
He then offered to prepare her breakfast and bring it to bed, but she refused. Claiming he couldn't be trusted around her food (lest he slip something lethal in her coffee), she got up and accompanied him to the kitchen.
He was more than happy when, apart from a pair of pyjama pants, she chose to wear his discarded shirt. He, in turn, was given a comfortable and warm dressing gown and a pair of pyjama pants (which C.C. had planned on gifting to Chandler, but oh well...).
He was in the middle of making pancakes (C.C. leaning comfortably against his back and with her arms wrapped around his middle) when there was a knock on the door.
"Were you expecting someone?" asked Niles.
C.C. shook her head. He could hear she was afraid, even if she wasn't saying it aloud.
"Then you stay here and I'll open the door," he told her.
After pressing a small kiss to her lips, he fastened the robe's sash and went over to the door.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Chandler! Open up!"
Niles stiffened, feeling his fist starting to clench.
So, the pig had come back to try his luck again. Well, he wasn't going to come out best in this – Niles would see to that personally!
He'd already promised his fist a date with the other man's jaw. Perhaps it was time that the two were introduced?
So he opened the door, finding Chandler stood there, looking the very picture of an agitated man.
"Oh, it's you – I didn't know you worked for C.C. as well as the Sheffields."
If Niles hadn't been so angry inside, that whole sentence would have been somewhat laughable. How naive or at least unobservant did the man have to be to not understand what was going on then?
"I came to tell C.C. that I've forgiven her for yesterday, and that we're going out today to meet my friends, to see if she can behave a little better," Chandler explained. "Is she up? I smell breakfast..."
He tried to peer over Niles' shoulder, but the butler blocked the view with his arm, and glared at the businessman.
"She doesn't want to see you," he said curtly.
Chandler's face fell, retaining only some confusion.
Then he properly looked at what Niles was wearing.
"You...don't work here, do you?" he asked.
Niles straightened back up in the doorway, drawing himself up to as much of his full height as possible.
"It certainly took you long enough to work that out," he said. "I came over last night, to make sure that she was alright."
When the butler looked closely, he realised that Chandler was trembling.
"Well...if your attire is anything to go by, I'd say that you made sure she was more than "alright"!" he shouted, slamming his fist into the wall by the door. "That bitch! I wasn't gone a few hours to cool off and to let her do the same, and this is what she does to me?!"
That did it for Niles.
Opening the door fully, he marched outside and punched Chandler straight in the face. The man staggered a few paces, hand covering his now bruised cheek. There was shock on his features, but it soon morphed into hatred.
Had Niles been able to read his mind, he would have known that he was baffled at having been hit by a servant. Chandler Graves had never been mistreated in his life, let alone by a filthy butler who didn't know his place!
"I hope that teaches you a lesson," said the butler coldly, glaring at Chandler.
"You teach me a lesson?!" he howled, stalking towards the butler, hand curled in a fist. "You are a servant. You are no one! You can't teach a lesson to your betters."
Niles scoffed at that, which seemed to enrage the man even further.
"Are you done talking? I have to finish mine and C.C.'s breakfast," said Niles, sounding bored and uninterested.
Again, this served to fuel Chandler's rage.
"I am sure you fed that whore already," seethed the man, "After all, she loves sucking di-"
He never finished his sentence, because Niles cracked him across the jaw again. This time it was enough to send Chandler to the floor.
And when he shakily scrambled back to his feet again, Niles saw the man's lip was split. Good. He deserved to look like he'd been roughed up. It might teach him a lesson to go back where he came from, humiliated and beaten.
"Don't you ever say anything like that about her again," the butler growled his warning. "Stay away from her entirely. Don't visit, don't call, don't email or fax. In fact, don't try to contact her in any way, otherwise you'll answer to me again."
Chandler scowled back at him in silence, so he continued.
"She isn't interested in seeing you. All you did was prove yourself an arrogant boor, and she deserves far better."
"And you really think that's you?" Chandler spat, a little bit of blood trickling down his chin.
Niles stared back at him, his firm gaze never once wavering, "If I can be, then I will be. Now I suggest you leave, before I call the police."
The mention of the police seemed to make Chandler bristle. Niles wished for a moment that he could read the businessman's mind – he'd give anything to hear what was worrying Chandler about the police turning up.
A previous charge of violence and harassment? Unpaid taxes or parking tickets? Or simply the damage it would do to his reputation?
Maybe it was all of those things and maybe it was none. Whatever it was, it was enough to make Chandler back off, taking a step away and point warningly at the butler.
"This isn't over," he spat, more blood dripping from his chin onto the hallway carpet. "I'll be back, when your sorry ass least expects it!"
"I wasn't expecting you today, and I still beat you to the floor," Niles retorted, not even raising his voice. "Now get out and we won't have any more trouble."
They would if he didn't go, or if he left only to return. But Niles had already proved that he'd win in a fight, and both he and Chandler knew it. So the businessman turned and marched away, gesturing rudely over his shoulder at the butler as he left.
Only satisfied when he saw the light on the elevator start to head to the lobby, Niles turned and went back inside, closing the door forcefully and heading straight to the kitchen.
He could hear that C.C. was afraid still – she'd heard the shouting and the punches, and now everything sounded far too quiet...
He hurried back to her, trying to look far calmer than he really felt. He tried to sport his easy lopsided smile, which she adored (she'd said that in her thoughts too many a time).
"I got rid of the trash," he said, moving to hold her in a tight embrace – he could hear her delight (and relief) at him being alright. "He won't be back, I trust."
Niles dropped a kiss on C.C.'s lips, slipping his hands down her back, until they were nestled in the small of her back.
"Really?" she asked, running her fingers over the blonde stubble on his cheeks; it was scratchy, but the situation in itself felt...
...wonderfully domestic.
God... what was wrong with her?! When had she gotten so sentimental?
Semi-naked, in the arms of her lover, stroking his cheek and thinking that he needed a shave...
She was behaving like a doting housewife already!
And Niles was practically glowing inside, listening to it all.
"Domestic".
"Sentimental".
"Wife"…
That last one paired with the word "already" was sending him almost into his own world of bliss. And it was a bliss he got to share with the love of his life. He took her hand in his to kiss the palm, making sure he didn't scratch her too hard with his stubble.
"Really," he murmured against her skin. "You don't have to worry about him again. I promise you that."
"God, he really is a knight in shining armour...!"
Niles tried not to grin at how overwhelmed by affection she sounded. But then her thoughts quickly changed.
Changed, to what it meant about them. And if that really and truly meant-
"So, I can expect you to stick around for at least...a while?" she asked quietly.
She could expect it for more than a while. She was expecting it for more than a while – the hope in her eyes was only second to the thought in her head that what she wanted him to say next was making her heart speed up.
And he wasn't going to disappoint her.
"As long as "a while" means "forever"," he replied, knowing she was no longer afraid of what he could say. "I… I should have been honest far sooner, but now that I can be with you, I don't want to be anywhere else."
He heard her give the mental equivalent of a swoon, and he brought his own hand to her cheek.
"That is, if you want me to stay?"
Her mind practically screamed "Yes!" before she pushed the thought down and reminded herself to play it cool. It wouldn't look any good if she lost it now - she'd embarrass herself in front of Niles!
So she leaned her forehead against his.
"I really do want you to stay, Butler Boy."
She called him her Butler Boy in her head, after that.
And Niles thought he might have died and gone to Heaven.
Her Butler Boy. He really was hers, and she'd said so!
Well, not out loud, but hearing it from her own thoughts was just as good! That meant she felt it, even if she wasn't entirely sure how to say it out loud yet. And for now, that was more than enough for Niles. He wasn't going to rush things before something happened and ruined it all.
And speaking of ruining, that was when Niles remembered the breakfast was still cooking.
"Good," he replied, kissing her once more before turning back the stove.
C.C. remained with him as he cooked, arms wrapped around his middle, chest pressed to his back and head propped on his shoulder. There was peaceful silence while he finished up breakfast, both in the room and in C.C.'s head.
It was... odd, the silence in her mind...
The peace that reigned in it, too.
He had always been a night owl, and, in a sense, the silence in her head reminded him of a quiet evening in the English countryside. It made him think of a starry sky, lonely winding roads, the faint crunch of gravel beneath his feet.
It reminded him of nightly walks, when the world was asleep and lonely. Those walks always found himself at his most peaceful.
He now found himself at his most peaceful, too, but he wasn't lonely anymore. He had the love of his life to hold and to protect.
They shared a small smile when he moved to plate their pancakes. She observed, still in mental and physical silence, as he dribbled maple syrup on their meal. Some butter followed.
"Where do you wanna eat?" he asked, breaking the silent spell.
"Bed?" she suggested.
"The sooner we finish up, the sooner I'll have him in me…"
Well, that was a thought Niles really couldn't refuse!
Smirking just enough so that she'd understand he was thinking along similar lines to what she wasn't saying, he picked up his plate as she picked up hers, and slipped his free arm around her waist as they began to leave the kitchen.
"I like the sound of that suggestion, Babs..."
C.C. chuckled, and he could hear she was going to try playing hard to get.
"Who said I was making a suggestion, Butler Boy?" she asked aloud.
Niles held his tongue on exactly who, and instead paid attention to what she was thinking. She was imagining him putting maple syrup on her chest, and she was directing where to put his mouth.
He almost didn't want to make it to the bedroom, but he had to hold fast.
"No one, my dear," he replied pleasantly, before leaning close to growl in her ear. "I just happened to think of a brilliant use of all our leftover maple syrup..."
C.C. made him turn and go back to the kitchen for the bottle after that, and breakfast was certainly the sweetest either ever had.
