WDWG - Chapter 29: Home
When they turned off the motorway onto the local road towards the farmhouse, Giles woke, stretched his back and yawned, and after he did so, he tightened his hold around his fiancée and nuzzled his face into her hair.
"Thank you for letting me sleep, my love," he said, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
Buffy turned towards him, gave him a small smile, and ghosted her fingers along his cheek. "I'm glad you got some rest, you looked so tired."
Ducking his head with a small smile of his own, he agreed, "I was, but I am feeling better now. Not much further, about twenty minutes and we'll be home."
"Home," Buffy repeated, as she pulled him down for a gentle kiss. It started off as soft and lazy before escalating into playful little kisses and finally igniting their passion when he teased her lips with his tongue. Feeling the heat rise between them, she captured it with hers, deepening the kiss.
She threaded her fingers through his hair as he ran a hand up her back and lightly caressed her neck. Letting out a little giggle, she released his lips and laughed against his mouth.
"Ticklish?" Giles asked in an amused tone.
"No ... well, yes, but, I was just thinking that never in a million years did I ever envision making out with my Watcher in the back of a Bentley."
Leaning in, he nibbled on his Slayer's earlobe and asked, "Ah, but did you ever envision making out with your Watcher?"
"Mmmm. Yes... in my fantasies."
"Yet, here we are."
"My current reality beats fantasy any day," she breathed as he softly trailed the thumb of his injured hand down her side.
"Mine as well," he agreed before taking her lips in a searing kiss.
"If we keep this up, we're going to give Alan a show," Buffy stated when they broke apart, firmly putting an end to their amorous antics and cuddling into his side.
"Well, he has signed a confidentiality agreement," Giles countered, smiling into her shoulder as he hugged her close, and when she playfully smacked him on the arm, he whispered huskily into her ear, "But stopping is probably for the best, what I want to do to you will take far longer than the rest of the trip."
Trying to ignore the butterflies that were doing cartwheels in her tummy, Buffy drew in a breath and ran her hands over his well developed chest. "I'll hold you to that, Mr. Giles." Then she changed the subject, asking with a partially teasing voice, "Any surprises I should be aware of? Things you've forgotten to tell me?"
"No surprises, Buffy. I promise."
As they drove by an old church, Giles pointed out, "That's All Saints."
"Wow! We're going to get married there," she whispered in awe, taking his hand in hers.
"Indeed."
"It's cute."
Chuckling, he argued, "Puppies are cute, love. Buildings-"
"Can be quaint, charming, lovely, impressive, ornate, and even cute, Giles. Quit picking on me."
"Yes, dear." He tried to sound put upon, but he couldn't quite pull it off, the huge grin plastered on his face betraying his amusement. Five minutes later, they turned onto a gravel drive and he announced, "We're here."
When the car stopped, Alan came around to open the door for them. Buffy got out first. Giles handed the driver the key to the house as he exited the car and joined her as she stood at the edge of the drive surveying the property and the surrounding landscape.
"You lied to me," she accused, her voice filled with awe as he embraced her from behind.
"Excuse me?"
"You said there were no more surprises, but this... nothing could prepare me for this." Buffy motioned to the sight before her as the sun cast a golden hue over the countryside.
"Magical, isn't it?" he sighed, taking in the vision and enjoying the feel of her in his arms. They stood a few more minutes enjoying the peace they found in their surroundings and in each other, before Giles took her hand and led her towards the old grey two-story house with ivy growing up the side of one wall.
On their approach, they were greeted by Alan, who gave Giles his keys back. "I've placed your bags next to the stairs, Sir Rupert."
"Thank you, Alan. Would you like something to eat or drink before the long journey back?" Giles asked.
"No, thank you. Welcome home, Sir. Miss."
"Thank you," the couple responded in unison.
As they approached the entrance to the house, the Watcher swept his Slayer up in his arms, pushed the front door open with his foot, and carried her across the threshold, kicking the door closed behind him. All the while Buffy giggled, holding on to him around his neck.
"Be careful of your hand, Ru, I swear if you hurt it more ... and hey! Aren't you a bit early with the whole picking me up and carrying me inside thing?"
"My hand is well protected in the splint. And it's bad luck for the bride to trip over the threshold the first time she enters the family home."
"Did you hit your head and I missed it?" she teased. "We haven't even set a date for the wedding."
He set her down in the foyer and rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "Cheeky girl," he remarked, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Since it was the first time you entered our house, I thought it was rather apropos. Now, would you like the tour or do you want tea?"
"Oh, grand tour, definitely."
Buffy was immediately taken with the kitchen, it was large, modernized, and had an island in the middle, and she could easily see them being domestic together: cooking, making tea, baking, and partying with friends and family.
"How did you manage in Sunnydale? It was a closet compared to this."
"I think at one time it might actually have been a closet," he mused. "The kitchen in my old flat in London was rather small as well and I thought I would want something bigger when I came home, so I had the addition put on and moved the kitchen into it. Seemed like something to do at the time, I suppose."
"Did you do a lot of entertaining?"
"No. Rarely do I have visitors here. The renovations were finished just a few weeks prior to me moving to Sunnydale, so I never really got much use out of it. I must admit that I do like having the extra space to work," Giles explained, walking over to the refrigerator and taking out two bottles of water. He handed one to her and continued to show her around the house.
Opening a set of French doors with a flourish, the Watcher proclaimed, "Now here is the room my great grandfather added on. The library."
Buffy entered the room with a sense of awe. It had two stories of books and a balcony for the second floor. There was a large research table in the center with matching chairs and a sofa and two comfortable leather chairs off to the side of the room near an ornate stone fireplace. Off in a remote corner sat a large antique desk befitting a Watcher-scholar. The interior of the room was richly decorated with dark wood and rich navy blue and hunter green upholstery. It wasn't anywhere near as big as Sebastian's library, but it was rather impressive for a farmhouse and the retired Slayer immediately felt at home because, in many ways, it reminded her of the library at Sunnydale High.
"It's a bit ostentatious, but I haven't the heart to redecorate it since Nan loved it so. Miri and I spent quite a bit of time in here with her in the winters. In the evenings, we'd light a fire and read adventure tales like Swiss Family Robinson or Mutiny on the Bounty together."
"It's perfect," Buffy remarked, smiling at her fiancé and taking his hand in hers.
After leaving the library, Giles showed her the rest of the main floor.
"No training room? I find that highly suspect for a family of Watchers," Buffy commented in a teasing manner.
Giles gave her a wry smile, "It's the outbuilding nearest the stable."
"Of course!" she laughed. "I think I can wait to see that. Show me the upstairs."
"Alright."
They picked up their bags and Giles lead the way up the stairs. He motioned to set them down at the top of the landing before placing a hand on her lower back and guiding her into one of the front bedrooms. There wasn't much in the way of decoration, it just had a twin bed in it with a side table and a small writing desk. The walls were covered with a neutral beige wallpaper with some texturing on it and the windows had both shutters and heavy burgundy blackout curtains that matched the bedspread.
"This was my room when I would stay here as a child. There is an adjoining bathroom through that door there and on the other side is the room Willow stayed in when she was here."
Buffy followed him through the bathroom into the other guest bedroom. The decor was much more feminine, and reading between the lines, she presumed it to be due more to Miri's influence than Willow's. The bed was larger in this room, with nightstands on either side, and in the far corner there was an upholstered chair next to a side table with a lamp on it.
On one of the nightstands sat a picture and the curious Slayer picked it up to take a look at it. The photo was of her, Giles, Willow and Xander, taken on a camping trip the summer after blowing up the high school. Oz had been with them and had taken the picture when they had stopped to rest against a large boulder on one of their hikes.
"This is Willow's. She kept it on her desk in the dorm, but I haven't seen it since," Buffy mentioned distractedly. They were so young and it felt like a lifetime ago. Hell, for her, it was a lifetime ago. Giles had already retired his tweed and was wearing a button down cotton shirt over a t-shirt with jeans, a canvas Australian bush hat, and a broad smile. In fact, none of them seemed to have a care in the world, happy to be alive and together.
"She ... uh ... gave it to me. I promised to keep it here for her. It was her focal point during her recovery."
"Why did she leave it?"
"Because she was heading back to Sunnydale to you and Xander and I wasn't-"
"I always thought you would come home with her."
"I wanted to... It's just things were starting to spiral here with the assassinations of the Potentials and their Watchers, and Travers and his cronies ignoring the signs until it was too late."
"I know," she acknowledged, tracing the outline of his figure in the picture. "We all look so happy."
Giles slipped one arm around her waist. "Despite everything that had happened, we were," he stated matter-of-factly. "We'd survived the ascension and you had all managed to graduate despite Herr Snyder's best efforts. Cause enough for celebration."
"Yeah, that was a great trip. We all needed that," she mused, setting the frame back onto the nightstand, knowing the real reason behind the trip had been to take her mind off a certain brooding vampire who had just walked out of her life.
They made their way to the back bedroom, which overlooked the garden and had a breathtaking view of the countryside and the nearby town in the distance. It was slightly larger than the other two and had a desk and a couple sitting chairs in it. Buffy looked around and then gazed at the view out the window. She could see how everything about this place had captured his imagination as a young child and why it had become his haven. When she turned to Giles, it was with tears in her eyes.
"What is it, love?" he asked, moving from his perch in the doorframe.
"Sorry, just a little emotional. I love the house, I love whatever county we are in, I love you, and this," she looked around the room, "is perfect for the nursery."
Giles felt his insides flutter, and as she walked into his embrace, he unconsciously placed a hand on her tummy. "Somerset, and I love you so very much."
He leaned down, capturing her lips with his. They were finally alone, no commitments looming over them, no friends or relatives to worry about, and Giles took his time as he deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth as though it was their first.
Buffy responded eagerly, bringing her right hand up to cup his cheek. When the kiss ended, she rested her head against his chest and listened to the strong beat of his heart, ticking along at a faster rate than his usual steady sixty-eight beats per minute.
"Show me our room, Ru?" she requested, lifting her head and gazing into his expressive eyes.
A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and, taking her hand in his, he led her down the hall to the master bedroom and opened the door. The room was large and uniquely Giles'. The furniture was antique, made from a dark wood, the linens and curtains were hunter green, and the walls were painted a sandstone color with burgundy accents that matched the throw pillows on the bed and the reading chair in the sitting area of the room. Next to the chair was a small bookshelf, which she instinctively knew to have a mixture of classics and the occult.
Walking into the room, she noticed it smelled very Gilesy, even though he hadn't lived in the house for almost a year, and she let herself be taken in by it. As she looked around, she found there were several picture frames placed throughout the room. Pictures of his family, their friends, her sister, and a couple of group shots that had been taken over the years. On one of the nightstands underneath the green dragonfly Tiffany lamp he'd had in his apartment in Sunnydale, was a picture of her sitting at the research table in the Magic Box leaning over a tome. It had been taken the moment she looked up, a mischievous grin adorning her face. She'd never seen the photo before, nor could she place when it was taken, but she was both surprised and touched to know that he kept a picture of her by his bedside even though they had been so far apart, both physically and emotionally.
"I can't imagine that having my picture next to your bed would've been very popular with your... girlfriends," Buffy teased.
"You're the first, Buffy," Giles said, joining her in the room.
"You've never brought a lover home?" she asked, turning around to face him.
"Not here... never here. It just never felt right. When I was living in London, I'd come here to escape and when I came home after... everything... well, this place... it seemed irreverent somehow..." he explained, trailing off, but he wasn't quite finished. "Willow was the first person to stay here with me who wasn't a blood relation."
At a loss, Buffy cupped his cheek and breathed, "Giles, I don't know what to say-"
"Shh," he murmured, circling her waist with his arms and lightly nuzzling his nose against hers before giving her a soft kiss and tracing her jawline with his lips. "Welcome home, Buffy," he whispered huskily, his hot breath tickling her ear.
She closed her eyes, allowing the physical sensations to take over. Shivering when he gently scraped his teeth down along her neck, Buffy grabbed his shoulders in support when she felt her knees go weak and melted into his embrace.
Between Giles' injury, exhaustion, their disagreement, and sleeping in someone else's house, neither had initiated any serious intimacy since before they'd left LA, and they abandoned themselves to the desire that had been building over the past several days.
Lifting her head, Buffy found his lips and brushed hers against them as her fingers found their way beneath the hem of his shirt. She stroked the fine hairs on his belly just above the waistband of his cargo pants and smiled smugly when she heard him let out a ragged sigh.
"I want you," he breathed as he cupped her backside with his right hand, pressing their bodies together, and she moaned in approval when she felt the hard evidence of his arousal against her stomach. "So very much."
She made an appreciative noise and ran her hands up his torso lifting his shirt and kissing the area above his heart. Giles pulled it the rest of the way off and let it drop to the floor without a second thought. When she trailed her mouth to his nipple, licking around it and taking the hardened nub in her mouth, he threw his head back in bliss.
Raising his injured hand, he placed his index finger under her chin, lifting it up to claim her mouth with his. He led her over to the bed, lipping, nipping, and stroking her tongue, unwilling to surrender the sweetness of her kisses. Buffy's hands strayed to unbutton his trousers, knowing he had trouble with it, and, after she unbuttoned his pants, she ran her hands over his bare ass as she divested him of the last of his clothes.
"Lie back on the bed, Ru," she said, biting her lip, admiring his naked form.
Giles did as was requested of him, propped up by the pillows, watching her as she started to undress: first removing her blouse, then popping the snap on her slacks. She bent over, dragged them down her legs leisurely, and he let out a low growl.
"Like what you see, Watcher?" Buffy teased, taking in the site of his engorged cock standing rampant and proud between his legs.
"You know I do," he replied hoarsely.
Reaching behind her, she undid the clasp and shrugged off her bra, her eyes trained on her fiancé's face, watching his reactions as she undressed for him. Before joining him on the bed, she hooked her thumbs into her panties and removed them.
"Come here, love."
Buffy crawled towards him with a predatory look and started to nibble and kiss up one of his legs, running her fingers along the other. He bucked beneath her when her nose nuzzled against his balls as she licked along his inner thigh. When she caressed his rigid shaft with her tongue, tasting his essence, he instinctively fisted his good hand in her hair, his breath catching in his throat.
Continuing her journey up her lover's body, she kissed his belly and straddled his thighs. As she settled herself above him, Giles sat up and drew her down for a passionate kiss, teasing her tongue with his, and before he was aware of what she was doing, she sheathed him deep within her. Tearing his mouth from hers, he let out an astonished groan, and stared up at her in shock.
Amusement danced in her eyes as she held his startled ones. "I love you, Ru," she declared, starting to rock against him.
Giles happily let her set the pace, steady and slow, resting his left hand on her right hip and caressing her left thigh with the other, watching her move above him, her eyes closed, enjoying the ride. He allowed his hands to wander, light caresses mixed with a firm touch up her sides and onto her breasts where he lazily drew circles around her nipples. She changed the angle and ground harder against him and he started to thrust, meeting her as she quickened the pace.
"Touch me, Giles," Buffy pleaded, opening her eyes and locking on his. He nodded and rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, applying more pressure until she moaned.
Unwilling to be an inactive participant any longer, he raised himself up to a sitting position, placing open-mouthed kisses on her neck, under her chin and below her ear, sucking at the sensitive skin. She clutched him tighter to her, losing the steady pace she had set as her control faltered.
"You feel so good," she moaned, shifting her position. "Yeah... there!"
Giles could feel her tensing around his cock, his balls tightening, and he too, dangled close to the ledge. He opened his eyes, gazing into the dark, stormy ones before him, resting his forehead against hers, silently pleading for release.
"Come with me... so close..." she moaned.
"Yes... just a couple more..."
The desperation in his voice alone was enough, but it was his intensity, the tightening of his jaw and the straining of his neck muscles that kept her focused, and she held on long enough to take him over the edge with her. They screamed each other's names and lost themselves in each other's arms. Giles held her close, fell back onto the pillows, and rolled them onto their sides, softly kissing her cheek, chin and nose as she came down. His body jolted periodically from the aftershocks and from her touch as she brushed her fingers along his tummy and chest.
"You've wrung me inside out, love," he said running a finger along her cheek, still gasping for breath.
She giggled lightly. "Just wait and see what I've got planned for round two, big guy!"
"Oh, feeling sporting, are we?"
"You up for it?" she asked, her eyes darkening as she licked his upper lip.
"I'm sure I can be convinced," he murmured, rolling over and kissing his way down her neck.
