Chapter 45

The rain having stopped some time ago, they walked up the driveway to the hotel hand in hand and now slightly drier; each casting frequent glances toward each other, almost as though they thought the other person may disappear suddenly.

The walk back to the hotel from the village had been a slow one, stopping, as they had been forced to do, to kiss every few yards.

Buffy looked up at the large house with sudden trepidation. "What are you going to tell your parents?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, well, about us."

"Well, I'll probably start by saying that I finally got up the nerve to ask you out and that you said yes - y'know - the truth."

"Oh, right." She paused. "Jenny said you told her everything. Did you tell them how you felt about me?"

"Of course..."

Buffy smiled. "You think that maybe, well, that maybe the fact that we ended up in the same room possibly wasn't a hotel mistake?" she asked, the humour evident in her tone.

"You think that... Nah. I mean... You really think?" Spike asked. Buffy nodded, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "She wouldn't - would she?" he finished.

"Don't see why not..." Buffy said.

"I think me and mum are going to have to have some words."

"Come on, let's go in - and if she did set this whole thing up, don't be too hard on her, okay?"

"Hey, have you noticed me complaining recently?" Spike asked, pulling her in for yet another kiss.

The only other two people in the hotel lounge when they entered were Giles and Jenny, sitting on one of the sofas and sipping tea. Spike threw a glance at Buffy and smiled, a smile that was quickly and happily returned as they walked over to his parents.

Jenny was the first to notice the two walking across the room and she smiled in greeting. "Hi there," she said, startling Giles into looking up.

"Hello," he added as Buffy and Spike sat down.

"You two look happy," Jenny commented, a small smile playing across her lips.

"Yeah, well, we got a few things sorted out," Spike said, looking tenderly at the girl sitting next to him and taking her hand again gently.

"Yes, well," Giles interrupted, taking his glasses off and cleaning them. "I have to say, I think it's about time that you two got things, how did you put it? Oh, yes 'sorted out'."

"And this time it's all above board?" Jenny asked - the smile fully evident on her face.

"Yes, this time it's real," Spike agreed, watching his mother's face carefully. "And you had nothing to do with this?" he asked.

Jenny's face suddenly became a picture of innocence. "To do with what?" she asked.

"The rooms, the throwing us together?" Spike prompted.

"I just don't know what you're talking about," Jenny declared, but both Buffy and Spike could see the vestiges of the laugh she was holding back. They looked at each other and decided that it was best to just let the subject drop.

"So, it rained then?" Giles asked, placing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose and deftly changing the subject.

The door to their room burst open as Buffy and Spike launched themselves through it, tangled in each other's arms. The day seemed to have gone on forever and now, so late at night, was the first real opportunity they'd had to be alone.

&&&&&&

Spike slammed the door shut behind them with his foot, not willing to leave Buffy's arms for a second to close it properly. He broke the kiss for a second to look into her eyes and smile, before she reached up and tenderly kissed him once more as her hands fiddled with the buttons on his shirt.

She slid the material down his arms to drop in a puddle on the floor as she began to kiss her way across this chest.

"You wouldn't believe how much I've missed this chest," she murmured before deftly flicking her tongue over Spike's left nipple. He groaned and ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying the feel of the silky mass tickling against his chest as she moved lower, kissing a path down his firm chest, across his tight stomach, to his belly button. He looked down, anticipating her path as she started to undo his belt.

"I thought you wanted to take things slowly?" he asked with amusement, referring to an earlier conversation.

She stopped and stood up, looking him in the eyes. She grinned an almost evil grin, and lightly swept a hand across his chest, digging in ever so slightly with her nails, a move which made Spike groan with pleasure and anticipation.

"Oh, I do," she purred, as she reached up to teasingly place a feather-light kiss on his lips. "I want to take things veerryy slowly," she continued, looking at him now through hooded eyes as she took a step back so that Spike could see what she was doing and her hands moved down to unbutton the blouse she was wearing. She oh so slowly popped each button open, her eyes never for a second leaving his as she watched his pupils dilate yet further, turning his cerulean eyes black, and his tongue flick out to lick his now dry lips. She slowly let the blouse slide down her arms, revealing the cream lace bra she was wearing underneath.

Spike could stand it no longer as he closed the distance between them, his hands coming up to tease the nipples hidden only by the light covering of lace. He felt them harden beneath the garment and Buffy moaned softly as he continued to play, running his thumbs round the nipples one moment, flicking lightly at them the next.

"Slowly," he murmured in agreement as he reached round to her back and flicked the clasp of her bra, letting it fall to the floor, revealing the perfect breasts he'd fantasised about for so long now.

His eyes raked her now semi-naked body before returning to her face, holding her gaze with a burning intensity that signalled his desire more than any words ever could. Buffy felt as if she could melt away under that gaze and she suddenly felt as if there wasn't enough air in the room. Her mind screamed at her, wanting to know how she could even consider 'slowly' as an option, but she'd set the ground rules and that was how things were going to go.

His arms slipped round her waist, pulling her towards him, their bare skin meeting, their bodies flushed and hot with their mutual arousal. His hands played up and down her back, stroking and caressing, never in the same place for a moment, always on the move, now tracing her spine, then in her hair. She mirrored his movements with her own hands, tracing the muscles in his back, gently dropping her fingertips lower and lower with every sweep, letting them linger for longer at the top of his jeans, gently pushing them under his belt to tease at the very lowest part of his back, a shiver going through her as she ventured still lower to the top of his buttocks.

The kiss seemed to last forever as they gently caressed each other, exploring and rediscovering each other's bodies, taking their time and savouring every inch, relearning it with their hands. An eternity seemed to pass before Buffy once again found herself pulling at his belt, and this time she met with no resistance. On the contrary, Spike's own hands engaged themselves in a similar task.

Long moments passed, but soon they were standing there, in the middle of their hotel room, surrounded by a pile of scattered clothes.

"God," Spike whispered, almost reverently. "I've missed you so bloody much."

"I've missed you too," Buffy agreed, her eyes sweeping his body, open as it now was for her total appreciation, remembering and reliving its perfection, but at the same time, feeling that she was seeing it for the first time, as if she'd never really noticed him before.

She felt almost nervous as they lay down on the bed, his hand stroking lightly over her stomach - a move which would have been classed as ticklish if she hadn't been so aroused. As it was, it simply made her want the man next to her even more.

She moved closer to him, reaching up to kiss him gently as his hands continued their exploration of her stomach, moving ever lower. She pulled him closer to her, enclosing him in her embrace, letting her passion flow through to him on the kiss. He groaned into her mouth as he moved to cover her body and her hands slid down his back, urging him on. He pushed forward and they both let out simultaneous moans as the feelings slammed through them. He looked down at her, meeting her gaze as they lay perfectly still, simply enjoying the sensation which was flowing through both of their bodies.

"Slowly?" he asked her, his eyes shining.

"Oh, God, yes," she breathed as he started to move within her, rising and falling in an almost impossibly slow rhythm. She felt herself begin to move with him, their two bodies combining in a way she'd never before experienced. Previously, it had always been about self-gratification, about achieving climax as quickly and as often as possible, nothing more. But this was different. This exceeded anything she'd ever felt before and she pulled him closer to her as they moved in perfect unison, their climaxes building together.

She stared into his eyes, losing herself in him as they came together and she realised that this was where she wanted to be, where she always wanted to be. "I love you," she whispered into his ear.

As she came down from her high, she looked over at the clock on the bedside table, as it clicked round to show the time as now being 12:01. She laughed and looked up at her boyfriend. "Happy birthday," she said softly to him.