Part XV - "Nothing warms the body... like another warm body."
Xander suddenly crashed back into the conscious world by the eerie feeling that he wasn't alone in his room. Afraid to let the intruder know that he was awake, he slowly opened one of his eyelids to take a quick peep. However, what he saw quickly caused both eyes to open. There, beside his outstretched hand was a mass of honey-blonde hair. From the looks of things, Buffy had pulled a chair up beside his bed on the side nearest to his sprawled out form. And apparently, sometime in the night, she'd fallen asleep with her head as near as she could get to part of his body without moving her butt from the chair. Xander moved his fingers around trying to get some circulation back in them when he felt some soft strands of silk brush against the pads of his fingers. So this is what woke me up! Buffy's hair must have fallen onto my hand when she fell asleep. Smiling at his opportunity to touch her hair without her knowing it, Xander began to gently rub that tendril of hair between his fingers. God. Her hair is so soft... I could play with it for days.
Buffy was slowly brought back from a dreamless sleep to a feeling that she hadn't felt for a long, long time. She distinctly knew that touch and what it meant. Xander was playing with her hair. A small battle waged inside of her, warring between pretending to be asleep and reveling in the touch of a man her soul burned for, or waking up, and finding out what he had in store for her.
Before she could stretch out and let him know she was awake, she heard Xander begin to speak in a voice that was just barely audible. She decided that she dared not move a muscle, else she break the mood.
Xander stroked the tendril of Buffy's hair reverently, almost as if by touching her he was breaking some sort of universal law. "It's just so not fair. It seems like every world in the universe has it out for Xander Harris. I have to watch the only woman I'll ever love in the embrace of another man, while the Xander of this world gets all I've hoped and dreamed about and gets murdered. Why can't I just love you like I want to Buffy? Even though he's gone now, I would have given anything to trade places with him, if only to have a short time loving you."
Buffy was certainly happy that she wasn't anywhere close to facing Xander, otherwise the tears streaking down her face would have given her away. Her heart was breaking inside for Xander, and she felt that she had only scraped the surface of his pain. He sounded like a lost little lamb, all alone and scared. And damn it, she was tired of being alone too. Slowly she leaned her head into his hand, allowing him full access to her golden hair.
Even though he was surprised beyond belief that she'd pressed her head into his hand, he couldn't help but take the opportunity that she was giving him. "How long have you been awake?"
Buffy had to even out her tone to hide the tears she'd been shedding. "Long enough."
Xander realized what she meant, and quickly withdrew his hand in embarrassment. "I'm... I'm sorry Buffy. I... I saw you sitting there asleep, and your hair was so soft. And..."
Buffy placed a manicured finger against his lips, signaling for him to be quiet. Of course, she let her finger linger on his lips a little longer than necessary, a touch becoming a caress. "It's OK, Xander. I didn't mind one bit. In fact I loved the feel of you playing with my hair. I could get used to it again you know." Buffy turned her head around to face Xander, and flashed him a million-watt smile.
"It's kind of a new experience to wake up with you next to me, so to speak. So, I was wondering, to what do I owe the privilege of you in my bed?" Xander wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
"Well, I was worried about you when you went to bed, so after I heard you start to snore, I came in to watch you sleep. You know, to see how you were doing."
Xander grinned at her, knowing that were the situation reversed he would have done exactly the same. "So, how long did you watch me?"
Buffy could only blush and hide her head in her arms. "Umm, maybe three hours?"
Xander's eyebrows rose skyward and he patted the expanse of space beside him on the bed. "So all that time I was fast asleep, how come you didn't join me when you got tired?"
Buffy blushed. "Well, I did think about it... I just didn't know how you'd feel about waking up with me laying next to you."
"Well it'd be like something out of a very surreal, but very wonderful dream." Xander felt like a million bucks when he saw her face light up with his compliment. "Besides Buff, it CAN'T be comfortable sleeping like that."
Buffy sat up and stretched out like a cat, trying to work the kinks out of her back. When her eyes returned to Xander's, she blushed deeply when she saw the way he was looking at her, not to mention where he was looking. His eyes were glued to her chest, made more prominent by her arched back, and the look in his eyes was one very familiar to her. It was the one her Xander gave her, right before he ripped all of her clothes off of her and ravaged her body.
Xander could see her flushing and could only imagine what could be making her temperature rise so much. Not knowing what else to do, Xander opened his arms up, a clear signal for Buffy to climb in with him.
Buffy was snuggled in his arms quicker than Xander could blink his eyes.
Xander suddenly crashed back into the conscious world by the eerie feeling that he wasn't alone in his room. Afraid to let the intruder know that he was awake, he slowly opened one of his eyelids to take a quick peep. However, what he saw quickly caused both eyes to open. There, beside his outstretched hand was a mass of honey-blonde hair. From the looks of things, Buffy had pulled a chair up beside his bed on the side nearest to his sprawled out form. And apparently, sometime in the night, she'd fallen asleep with her head as near as she could get to part of his body without moving her butt from the chair. Xander moved his fingers around trying to get some circulation back in them when he felt some soft strands of silk brush against the pads of his fingers. So this is what woke me up! Buffy's hair must have fallen onto my hand when she fell asleep. Smiling at his opportunity to touch her hair without her knowing it, Xander began to gently rub that tendril of hair between his fingers. God. Her hair is so soft... I could play with it for days.
Buffy was slowly brought back from a dreamless sleep to a feeling that she hadn't felt for a long, long time. She distinctly knew that touch and what it meant. Xander was playing with her hair. A small battle waged inside of her, warring between pretending to be asleep and reveling in the touch of a man her soul burned for, or waking up, and finding out what he had in store for her.
Before she could stretch out and let him know she was awake, she heard Xander begin to speak in a voice that was just barely audible. She decided that she dared not move a muscle, else she break the mood.
Xander stroked the tendril of Buffy's hair reverently, almost as if by touching her he was breaking some sort of universal law. "It's just so not fair. It seems like every world in the universe has it out for Xander Harris. I have to watch the only woman I'll ever love in the embrace of another man, while the Xander of this world gets all I've hoped and dreamed about and gets murdered. Why can't I just love you like I want to Buffy? Even though he's gone now, I would have given anything to trade places with him, if only to have a short time loving you."
Buffy was certainly happy that she wasn't anywhere close to facing Xander, otherwise the tears streaking down her face would have given her away. Her heart was breaking inside for Xander, and she felt that she had only scraped the surface of his pain. He sounded like a lost little lamb, all alone and scared. And damn it, she was tired of being alone too. Slowly she leaned her head into his hand, allowing him full access to her golden hair.
Even though he was surprised beyond belief that she'd pressed her head into his hand, he couldn't help but take the opportunity that she was giving him. "How long have you been awake?"
Buffy had to even out her tone to hide the tears she'd been shedding. "Long enough."
Xander realized what she meant, and quickly withdrew his hand in embarrassment. "I'm... I'm sorry Buffy. I... I saw you sitting there asleep, and your hair was so soft. And..."
Buffy placed a manicured finger against his lips, signaling for him to be quiet. Of course, she let her finger linger on his lips a little longer than necessary, a touch becoming a caress. "It's OK, Xander. I didn't mind one bit. In fact I loved the feel of you playing with my hair. I could get used to it again you know." Buffy turned her head around to face Xander, and flashed him a million-watt smile.
"It's kind of a new experience to wake up with you next to me, so to speak. So, I was wondering, to what do I owe the privilege of you in my bed?" Xander wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
"Well, I was worried about you when you went to bed, so after I heard you start to snore, I came in to watch you sleep. You know, to see how you were doing."
Xander grinned at her, knowing that were the situation reversed he would have done exactly the same. "So, how long did you watch me?"
Buffy could only blush and hide her head in her arms. "Umm, maybe three hours?"
Xander's eyebrows rose skyward and he patted the expanse of space beside him on the bed. "So all that time I was fast asleep, how come you didn't join me when you got tired?"
Buffy blushed. "Well, I did think about it... I just didn't know how you'd feel about waking up with me laying next to you."
"Well it'd be like something out of a very surreal, but very wonderful dream." Xander felt like a million bucks when he saw her face light up with his compliment. "Besides Buff, it CAN'T be comfortable sleeping like that."
Buffy sat up and stretched out like a cat, trying to work the kinks out of her back. When her eyes returned to Xander's, she blushed deeply when she saw the way he was looking at her, not to mention where he was looking. His eyes were glued to her chest, made more prominent by her arched back, and the look in his eyes was one very familiar to her. It was the one her Xander gave her, right before he ripped all of her clothes off of her and ravaged her body.
Xander could see her flushing and could only imagine what could be making her temperature rise so much. Not knowing what else to do, Xander opened his arms up, a clear signal for Buffy to climb in with him.
Buffy was snuggled in his arms quicker than Xander could blink his eyes.