New Horizons: Chapter Thirty
By Annie
05-18-2002
She closed her eyes at his words, trying to find the answer to the question.
Trust. Such a fickle word, and still.
Then he stirred a little and she realized they were still as entangled as ever. Her body was still feeling the aftermath of the height he had brought her to with that last explosion and she let hear a low "mhhh" as she realized he was still inside her.
She opened her eyes partially, gazing into his.
She had asked him to show her how much he loved her.
Wow.
She couldn't help but giggle a little and he raised his eyebrows, a smirk growing on his lips as he moved a little again, her giggle cut short by an intake of breath.
"What's so funny?" he mumbled, bending down and resting his head beside hers.
She smiled a little, unwrapping her legs slowly from around his waist and relaxing them a little on either side of him as she looked up into the ceiling.
"Wow." she mumbled and now he laughed, gently pulling himself out of her and placing himself at her side.
Buffy looked at him a little questioningly, a playful gleam rising in her eyes and he grinned at her.
"Need to sleep, love," he stated. "Showdown in a few hours."
Buffy didn't know what was the matter with her, she felt giddy and excited and.satisfied. Yes, so incredibly satisfied. Relaxed. And.hopeful.
What was she hopeful for?
"I don't care," she now grumbled at his statement, rolling over and getting up, straddling him and putting both hands on his chest.
The smile on his face grew wider and he got a wicked glint in his eyes as well as he licked his lips, looking at her still sweaty body and feeling how he was growing hard again. She felt it too and she smiled as she leaned forward, her face less than an inch from his as she whispered:
"Let's set a new record."
He grabbed her shoulders and rolled with her so that she was under him again and she actually laughed, a real, hearty laugh before wrapping her arms expectantly around his neck. He pulled his head up a little, and she met his gaze. She was smiling; he smiled back, tilting his head a little and then shaking it.
"I will never understand you, Buffy," he said and she smiled wider.
"Maybe that's the way I like it," she mumbled, moving her hips up against him and he winced a little before not being able to resist gliding into her again.
She moaned with pleasure, closing her eyes, arching her back, and then she nodded a little, seemingly to herself.
"What are you thinking?" he asked and she opened her mouth, drawing a breath as he pulled back again.
"That." she whispered, trailing off as she swallowed hard, her hands grabbing a hold of his back as he moved forward. "That I."
He started to move a little faster and she gasped before putting her head up, her eyes still closed, and finding his mouth. Her tongue parted his lips and she kissed him as he kissed her back. She let the moans mix with his, mouths still locked together, as they once more ignited together.
Then they lay still, trembling, two bodies molded into one, their mouths against the others, Buffy's sharp breaths traveling over his lips, against his cheek.
Finally they started to relax and she lay her head down.
Spike drew an unnecessary breath and swallowed as he once more slowly pulled out of her.
"You need to get some sleep," he repeated, more firmly this time and she frowned, sighing.
"But." she started but he, now moving to sit on the edge of the bed turned to her and interrupted her with:
"No 'buts', Buffy." Then he smirked, cocked an eyebrow and added: "Well, maybe TWO butts, but that's not what I mean."
She laughed, getting to her knees before crawling over to him.
"You know you can't resist me," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around him from behind, pressing her upper body against his back and nestling her mouth against his neck, kissing it gently. "I don't wanna sleep, Spike. I wanna have you do ungodly things to me.all-night-long."
He reached around, grabbing her and pulling her to sit on his lap.
She smiled, and he looked at her, shaking his head slightly again.
It was amazing, all the guilt, all the fear, all the shame, it was gone from her eyes, from her posture. So, this was what she was like when. He sighed a little. When she knew that there would be no repercussions, that there couldn't be any.
Buffy noticed the sudden melancholy appearing in his eyes and the smile faded a little. She realized what it was about and put a hand gently on his cheek again, bending forward and placing her lips softly against his.
He parted them for her and she kissed him, he returned it, putting his arms around her and pulling her close.
So, he thought. This is good-bye.
He stopped the kiss, getting to his feet with his arms still around her and making her put her legs down, her feet on the floor she stood on her toes, her mouth seeking his again. But he pulled back a little and looked down on her.
"'That you' what?" he asked and she met his gaze.
She smiled a little, and then her eyes suddenly glittered with tears as she mumbled:
"That I wish I could've met your parents."
He stared at her, feeling his throat grow tight and he couldn't stop the tears building. He tried to smile as a cover up before leaning down and kissing her. He had been too late though, and she had seen how her words had affected him. She kissed him back, then pulled away softly to look up at him.
Her tears spilled over as well when she saw his trailing down his cheeks and she smiled a little again before pulling herself to him in a hug. He held her, wondering in the back of his head what had caused this to take place, this moment, this past hour, this past week. He must have done something to deserve it, he just couldn't think of what it might be.
And he wondered what had prompted her to suddenly act this way; she was tender and so incredibly relaxed. She was the way he had imagined she would be if she ever could get the bloody guts to tell her friends about them. He had imagined her happy. Was she happy?
Now she let him go again, looking up at him with a big smile on her face and he couldn't do anything but smile back.
Then she reached out a hand and suddenly her fingers were racing across his side, his muscles tensing as he suddenly roared with laughter. She kept tickling him until he grabbed her and threw her on the bed, jumping after her and relentlessly starting his payback.
She tried to stifle her loud fits of laughter as his hands groped her sides but she knew some of it was undoubtedly heard through the walls.
Thankfully Sarah and Jacob didn't have servants living with them.
"Stop! Stop it!" she yelled, still laughing hard. "Spike! I can't.breathe!"
He stopped at that, pulling back.
"You okay?" he asked, she was still giggling when she turned her head to him, nodding.
She let her eyes glide down his body and the look in them changed to longing as she met his gaze again.
She suddenly rolled over on her side, facing him, resting her head against the arm she had stretched out under and above it, letting the hand of the other, dangling from her side and down on her stomach, gently move back and forth across her skin. She tilted her head back a little and looked at him with such a submissive expression in her eyes that he found himself swallowing hard.
"Buffy," he grumbled as he moved over to her and she smiled her triumph.
"Yes?" she purred as he rolled her onto her back.
"We need to sleep."
She nodded, seriously, the playfulness back in her eyes as she reached up a hand and ran it through his hair.
"We will," she murmured before pulling his face close.
***
He was getting more candles.
Buffy stretched on the bed and then realized how messed up the sheets were. She frowned a little, getting off it and starting to straighten them out. She couldn't help but yawn as she was almost done.
"Lovemaking really takes some stamina," she mumbled, smiling widely.
"What did you say?" he asked, coming in through the door with his duster wrapped around him, looking on the border to ridiculous as he was trying to balance a load of candles in his arms AND keep it closed.
Her wide smile turned into a grin at the sight, and she walked up to help him.
"Nothing," she answered him as she took some of the candles off his hands. "Just that."
She realized that she had actually called it 'lovemaking' and couldn't stop the heat rising to her cheeks.
"Why, Miss Summers, I believe you are blushing," he mocked and she turned to him, tilting her head to the side and saying in her awful British:
"Bloody hell, Spike, what do I care?"
He stared at her before raising his eyebrows.
"Was that an impression of ME?" he asked, voice low and holding back the smile threatening to surface as he set down the candles he still had in his arms.
Buffy took a step back, smiling nervously.
"Um, no," she said, taking another step back as he turned to her again.
"Really?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Well then.Slayer. Let me ask you this.do you want it quick and painful, or slow and.not THAT painful?"
She looked up on the ceiling, imitating that she was thinking, before throwing the candles in her hands at him and with a squeal trying to get away from him by jumping up on the bed. He was on her in a moment and wrestled her down on the mattress.
The leather of the duster scraping against her skin got her all the more excited as his body pressed down on her.
"I think." he mumbled before kissing her. "We'll do both. What do you think, Slayer?"
She arched her back and he smiled, kissing her again.
An hour later the candles had been lit but were now being put out by Spike. Buffy was wrapping a sheet around her as she tried to straighten out the bedding again.
He watched her, duster off, as he bent down and blew out the last candle. The lamp on his bedside table now the only light, their shadows long against the walls. She threw the pillows on to the bed, they had for some reason gotten to be on the floor, and then unwrapped the sheet, giving up the idea, and throwing it on there as well.
She looked up and met his gaze.
They were both quiet now, he went up to the bed to sit down and she sat on the other edge. He reached up a hand and rubbed his eyes a little.
"We HAVE to sleep," he said and she laughed a little.
"What is that, the fiftieth time you've said that tonight?" she asked teasingly and he smiled, but his eyes still showed that he was serious and she sighed, nodding.
"I know, I know," she said and to his astonishment she pulled down the sheet and crawled into bed, pulling it up up to her shoulders and resting her head on one of the pillows she turned her eyes questioningly at him.
"You said 'WE'," she pointed out, reaching out her hand towards him and pulling down the sheet beside her.
He hesitated a moment. This was DEFINITELY new. Then he smiled a little, shaking his head to himself as he slid into the bed as well, pulling the sheet up to his waist and putting one arm behind his head.
"You know, if you wanna leave." he started but she scooted over, pulling his other arm, resting at his side, up and then putting her head on his chest, moving his arm around her.
"I don't wanna," she said, resting her hand now in front of her nose and letting her fingers gently trace the linings of the muscles in his stomach.
He really didn't want to push it, but he had to ask:
"Why?"
He could feel her cheek move as she smiled.
"Because I don't wanna be alone," she answered.
"I thought you were the one who said 'I can be alone with you here'?" he mumbled and she moved her head to look up at him, at first not remembering what he was referring to, and then the day she had told him about being brought back from Heaven surfaced and she nodded slightly.
"Because I wanna be with you, then," she said and he smiled vaguely, looking rather disbelieving.
"Spike," she said, pulling up and bending down to kiss his mouth. "I just wish I knew how to TELL you what I mean, but I don't." she then mumbled, looking into his eyes.
He smiled a little at that and pulled her close for another kiss. He was going to steal as many as he could before the clock struck twelve and she realized what the hell she was doing.
Thing was it was way past twelve, and she positioned herself once again with her head on his chest, her breath caressing his skin each time she exhaled.
"I liked it," she suddenly mumbled and he raised his eyebrows, his hand reaching up and gently starting to stroke her hair.
"Liked what, love?" he asked.
"The song," she said and he smiled.
"Oh, THAT," he said and now she smiled.
"Yes, that," she mumbled, yawning but still smiling, nestling her face a little against his chest. "I like your voice."
"Thanks, pet," he said, getting drowsier himself.
"Spike," she said, feeling tingles travel down her back every time his fingers slid through her hair.
"Yeah?" he asked, moving the arm he had had behind his head to tentatively place his hand next to hers on his chest.
She moved her fingers, brushing them against his and he put his hand up, spreading his fingers and feeling hers slide up against them before she gently let them lock with his.
"Why do you love me?" she asked quietly and he was silent for a moment.
"Are you really asking me this?" he asked, no anger behind those words, just the question, and she nodded a little.
"Because.God, 'cause of a thousand reasons, Buffy," he mumbled, his hand still running through her hair. "'Cause of the way you've changed my life, even though I bloody wanna kill you for it half the time," he now grumbled and she laughed a little. "And because of that," he said. "Your laugh, and your smile, and the way you can go from kicking to kissing. Your strength is unbelievable. The way you refuse to give up. And all the little things in between," he finished hastily and she moved her head to look up at him again.
"I love you for you, Slayer," he said, looking into her eyes. "Nothing less."
She smiled a little, pulling herself up again and placing her head on his shoulder instead, her hand still in his moving up as well.
"I'll never meet anyone like you," she mumbled, her eyes closed.
"I should hope not," he grumbled. "Someone who tries to kill all your friends, and YOU, isn't really someone you'd wanna meet twice."
She smiled a little again.
"Maybe, but I didn't mean that."
"What did you mean, then?" he asked, feeling her body starting to grow heavy against his as sleep crept over her.
"Spike?" she now mumbled and he nodded, realizing that of course she couldn't see him and therefore saying:
"Yeah?"
"Read me.one of your poems," she said, yawning again.
He smiled a little.
"Never," he answered and he felt her eyes flutter open, her head moving a little and then her lips gentle against his throat.
"Please," she whispered and he winced, biting his jaws together.
"Fine then," he mumbled, not BELIEVING he was actually doing this.
She nestled closer to him, squeezing his hand a little.
He thought for a moment and then started reading a poem he remembered well. When he finished he waited for her laughter, or a teasing and tired remark.
"Pretty," she said sleepily and kissed his collarbone. "Another, please."
His eyes grew a little at the first statement, then he realized she was so bloody tired he could probably start reciting phone numbers and she would call them 'interesting'.
Still, he couldn't help but smile and pull her closer to him before giving into her request and starting on another.
She fell asleep to the sound of his voice, the feeling of his body close to her and the sense of being safe, at last.
By Annie
05-18-2002
She closed her eyes at his words, trying to find the answer to the question.
Trust. Such a fickle word, and still.
Then he stirred a little and she realized they were still as entangled as ever. Her body was still feeling the aftermath of the height he had brought her to with that last explosion and she let hear a low "mhhh" as she realized he was still inside her.
She opened her eyes partially, gazing into his.
She had asked him to show her how much he loved her.
Wow.
She couldn't help but giggle a little and he raised his eyebrows, a smirk growing on his lips as he moved a little again, her giggle cut short by an intake of breath.
"What's so funny?" he mumbled, bending down and resting his head beside hers.
She smiled a little, unwrapping her legs slowly from around his waist and relaxing them a little on either side of him as she looked up into the ceiling.
"Wow." she mumbled and now he laughed, gently pulling himself out of her and placing himself at her side.
Buffy looked at him a little questioningly, a playful gleam rising in her eyes and he grinned at her.
"Need to sleep, love," he stated. "Showdown in a few hours."
Buffy didn't know what was the matter with her, she felt giddy and excited and.satisfied. Yes, so incredibly satisfied. Relaxed. And.hopeful.
What was she hopeful for?
"I don't care," she now grumbled at his statement, rolling over and getting up, straddling him and putting both hands on his chest.
The smile on his face grew wider and he got a wicked glint in his eyes as well as he licked his lips, looking at her still sweaty body and feeling how he was growing hard again. She felt it too and she smiled as she leaned forward, her face less than an inch from his as she whispered:
"Let's set a new record."
He grabbed her shoulders and rolled with her so that she was under him again and she actually laughed, a real, hearty laugh before wrapping her arms expectantly around his neck. He pulled his head up a little, and she met his gaze. She was smiling; he smiled back, tilting his head a little and then shaking it.
"I will never understand you, Buffy," he said and she smiled wider.
"Maybe that's the way I like it," she mumbled, moving her hips up against him and he winced a little before not being able to resist gliding into her again.
She moaned with pleasure, closing her eyes, arching her back, and then she nodded a little, seemingly to herself.
"What are you thinking?" he asked and she opened her mouth, drawing a breath as he pulled back again.
"That." she whispered, trailing off as she swallowed hard, her hands grabbing a hold of his back as he moved forward. "That I."
He started to move a little faster and she gasped before putting her head up, her eyes still closed, and finding his mouth. Her tongue parted his lips and she kissed him as he kissed her back. She let the moans mix with his, mouths still locked together, as they once more ignited together.
Then they lay still, trembling, two bodies molded into one, their mouths against the others, Buffy's sharp breaths traveling over his lips, against his cheek.
Finally they started to relax and she lay her head down.
Spike drew an unnecessary breath and swallowed as he once more slowly pulled out of her.
"You need to get some sleep," he repeated, more firmly this time and she frowned, sighing.
"But." she started but he, now moving to sit on the edge of the bed turned to her and interrupted her with:
"No 'buts', Buffy." Then he smirked, cocked an eyebrow and added: "Well, maybe TWO butts, but that's not what I mean."
She laughed, getting to her knees before crawling over to him.
"You know you can't resist me," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around him from behind, pressing her upper body against his back and nestling her mouth against his neck, kissing it gently. "I don't wanna sleep, Spike. I wanna have you do ungodly things to me.all-night-long."
He reached around, grabbing her and pulling her to sit on his lap.
She smiled, and he looked at her, shaking his head slightly again.
It was amazing, all the guilt, all the fear, all the shame, it was gone from her eyes, from her posture. So, this was what she was like when. He sighed a little. When she knew that there would be no repercussions, that there couldn't be any.
Buffy noticed the sudden melancholy appearing in his eyes and the smile faded a little. She realized what it was about and put a hand gently on his cheek again, bending forward and placing her lips softly against his.
He parted them for her and she kissed him, he returned it, putting his arms around her and pulling her close.
So, he thought. This is good-bye.
He stopped the kiss, getting to his feet with his arms still around her and making her put her legs down, her feet on the floor she stood on her toes, her mouth seeking his again. But he pulled back a little and looked down on her.
"'That you' what?" he asked and she met his gaze.
She smiled a little, and then her eyes suddenly glittered with tears as she mumbled:
"That I wish I could've met your parents."
He stared at her, feeling his throat grow tight and he couldn't stop the tears building. He tried to smile as a cover up before leaning down and kissing her. He had been too late though, and she had seen how her words had affected him. She kissed him back, then pulled away softly to look up at him.
Her tears spilled over as well when she saw his trailing down his cheeks and she smiled a little again before pulling herself to him in a hug. He held her, wondering in the back of his head what had caused this to take place, this moment, this past hour, this past week. He must have done something to deserve it, he just couldn't think of what it might be.
And he wondered what had prompted her to suddenly act this way; she was tender and so incredibly relaxed. She was the way he had imagined she would be if she ever could get the bloody guts to tell her friends about them. He had imagined her happy. Was she happy?
Now she let him go again, looking up at him with a big smile on her face and he couldn't do anything but smile back.
Then she reached out a hand and suddenly her fingers were racing across his side, his muscles tensing as he suddenly roared with laughter. She kept tickling him until he grabbed her and threw her on the bed, jumping after her and relentlessly starting his payback.
She tried to stifle her loud fits of laughter as his hands groped her sides but she knew some of it was undoubtedly heard through the walls.
Thankfully Sarah and Jacob didn't have servants living with them.
"Stop! Stop it!" she yelled, still laughing hard. "Spike! I can't.breathe!"
He stopped at that, pulling back.
"You okay?" he asked, she was still giggling when she turned her head to him, nodding.
She let her eyes glide down his body and the look in them changed to longing as she met his gaze again.
She suddenly rolled over on her side, facing him, resting her head against the arm she had stretched out under and above it, letting the hand of the other, dangling from her side and down on her stomach, gently move back and forth across her skin. She tilted her head back a little and looked at him with such a submissive expression in her eyes that he found himself swallowing hard.
"Buffy," he grumbled as he moved over to her and she smiled her triumph.
"Yes?" she purred as he rolled her onto her back.
"We need to sleep."
She nodded, seriously, the playfulness back in her eyes as she reached up a hand and ran it through his hair.
"We will," she murmured before pulling his face close.
***
He was getting more candles.
Buffy stretched on the bed and then realized how messed up the sheets were. She frowned a little, getting off it and starting to straighten them out. She couldn't help but yawn as she was almost done.
"Lovemaking really takes some stamina," she mumbled, smiling widely.
"What did you say?" he asked, coming in through the door with his duster wrapped around him, looking on the border to ridiculous as he was trying to balance a load of candles in his arms AND keep it closed.
Her wide smile turned into a grin at the sight, and she walked up to help him.
"Nothing," she answered him as she took some of the candles off his hands. "Just that."
She realized that she had actually called it 'lovemaking' and couldn't stop the heat rising to her cheeks.
"Why, Miss Summers, I believe you are blushing," he mocked and she turned to him, tilting her head to the side and saying in her awful British:
"Bloody hell, Spike, what do I care?"
He stared at her before raising his eyebrows.
"Was that an impression of ME?" he asked, voice low and holding back the smile threatening to surface as he set down the candles he still had in his arms.
Buffy took a step back, smiling nervously.
"Um, no," she said, taking another step back as he turned to her again.
"Really?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Well then.Slayer. Let me ask you this.do you want it quick and painful, or slow and.not THAT painful?"
She looked up on the ceiling, imitating that she was thinking, before throwing the candles in her hands at him and with a squeal trying to get away from him by jumping up on the bed. He was on her in a moment and wrestled her down on the mattress.
The leather of the duster scraping against her skin got her all the more excited as his body pressed down on her.
"I think." he mumbled before kissing her. "We'll do both. What do you think, Slayer?"
She arched her back and he smiled, kissing her again.
An hour later the candles had been lit but were now being put out by Spike. Buffy was wrapping a sheet around her as she tried to straighten out the bedding again.
He watched her, duster off, as he bent down and blew out the last candle. The lamp on his bedside table now the only light, their shadows long against the walls. She threw the pillows on to the bed, they had for some reason gotten to be on the floor, and then unwrapped the sheet, giving up the idea, and throwing it on there as well.
She looked up and met his gaze.
They were both quiet now, he went up to the bed to sit down and she sat on the other edge. He reached up a hand and rubbed his eyes a little.
"We HAVE to sleep," he said and she laughed a little.
"What is that, the fiftieth time you've said that tonight?" she asked teasingly and he smiled, but his eyes still showed that he was serious and she sighed, nodding.
"I know, I know," she said and to his astonishment she pulled down the sheet and crawled into bed, pulling it up up to her shoulders and resting her head on one of the pillows she turned her eyes questioningly at him.
"You said 'WE'," she pointed out, reaching out her hand towards him and pulling down the sheet beside her.
He hesitated a moment. This was DEFINITELY new. Then he smiled a little, shaking his head to himself as he slid into the bed as well, pulling the sheet up to his waist and putting one arm behind his head.
"You know, if you wanna leave." he started but she scooted over, pulling his other arm, resting at his side, up and then putting her head on his chest, moving his arm around her.
"I don't wanna," she said, resting her hand now in front of her nose and letting her fingers gently trace the linings of the muscles in his stomach.
He really didn't want to push it, but he had to ask:
"Why?"
He could feel her cheek move as she smiled.
"Because I don't wanna be alone," she answered.
"I thought you were the one who said 'I can be alone with you here'?" he mumbled and she moved her head to look up at him, at first not remembering what he was referring to, and then the day she had told him about being brought back from Heaven surfaced and she nodded slightly.
"Because I wanna be with you, then," she said and he smiled vaguely, looking rather disbelieving.
"Spike," she said, pulling up and bending down to kiss his mouth. "I just wish I knew how to TELL you what I mean, but I don't." she then mumbled, looking into his eyes.
He smiled a little at that and pulled her close for another kiss. He was going to steal as many as he could before the clock struck twelve and she realized what the hell she was doing.
Thing was it was way past twelve, and she positioned herself once again with her head on his chest, her breath caressing his skin each time she exhaled.
"I liked it," she suddenly mumbled and he raised his eyebrows, his hand reaching up and gently starting to stroke her hair.
"Liked what, love?" he asked.
"The song," she said and he smiled.
"Oh, THAT," he said and now she smiled.
"Yes, that," she mumbled, yawning but still smiling, nestling her face a little against his chest. "I like your voice."
"Thanks, pet," he said, getting drowsier himself.
"Spike," she said, feeling tingles travel down her back every time his fingers slid through her hair.
"Yeah?" he asked, moving the arm he had had behind his head to tentatively place his hand next to hers on his chest.
She moved her fingers, brushing them against his and he put his hand up, spreading his fingers and feeling hers slide up against them before she gently let them lock with his.
"Why do you love me?" she asked quietly and he was silent for a moment.
"Are you really asking me this?" he asked, no anger behind those words, just the question, and she nodded a little.
"Because.God, 'cause of a thousand reasons, Buffy," he mumbled, his hand still running through her hair. "'Cause of the way you've changed my life, even though I bloody wanna kill you for it half the time," he now grumbled and she laughed a little. "And because of that," he said. "Your laugh, and your smile, and the way you can go from kicking to kissing. Your strength is unbelievable. The way you refuse to give up. And all the little things in between," he finished hastily and she moved her head to look up at him again.
"I love you for you, Slayer," he said, looking into her eyes. "Nothing less."
She smiled a little, pulling herself up again and placing her head on his shoulder instead, her hand still in his moving up as well.
"I'll never meet anyone like you," she mumbled, her eyes closed.
"I should hope not," he grumbled. "Someone who tries to kill all your friends, and YOU, isn't really someone you'd wanna meet twice."
She smiled a little again.
"Maybe, but I didn't mean that."
"What did you mean, then?" he asked, feeling her body starting to grow heavy against his as sleep crept over her.
"Spike?" she now mumbled and he nodded, realizing that of course she couldn't see him and therefore saying:
"Yeah?"
"Read me.one of your poems," she said, yawning again.
He smiled a little.
"Never," he answered and he felt her eyes flutter open, her head moving a little and then her lips gentle against his throat.
"Please," she whispered and he winced, biting his jaws together.
"Fine then," he mumbled, not BELIEVING he was actually doing this.
She nestled closer to him, squeezing his hand a little.
He thought for a moment and then started reading a poem he remembered well. When he finished he waited for her laughter, or a teasing and tired remark.
"Pretty," she said sleepily and kissed his collarbone. "Another, please."
His eyes grew a little at the first statement, then he realized she was so bloody tired he could probably start reciting phone numbers and she would call them 'interesting'.
Still, he couldn't help but smile and pull her closer to him before giving into her request and starting on another.
She fell asleep to the sound of his voice, the feeling of his body close to her and the sense of being safe, at last.