Title: Unwilling Bride
Author: Neamh1
Disclaimer: Not mine
Warnings: NC17
AN:
Buffy stood staring at the items on her bed trying not to think about how hungry she was. It had just turned one in the morning and Molly had just brought her all the things she'd asked for. She made quick work of disposing of her dress and changing into the tight breeches. Molly told her that they were a pair that she had taken from Angelus since he had so many pairs; they would have been to big for Buffy but Molly had thoughtfully adjusted them to fit her better. Without proper measurements she had made them a little tight but they weren't uncomfortable.
She looked at herself in her mirror and at her new outfit; she couldn't help the giggle that burst forth from her lips. She looked like a young boy with her hair tucked up in the Stetson styled black hat. The white shirt tucked into her breeches was very baggy which helped conceal her breasts. She'd also tied some cloth around her chest to hold them still in case she ran into anyone; she didn't want to give herself away as a woman as that could put her in danger.
The black riding boots she had stolen were from the stables and must have been Toby's; he was small enough but still at least one size bigger than Buffy was. Her black cape finished the outfit, falling from her shoulders down to the backs of her knees. It would keep her warm at night while she was out and that's all she wanted it for.
Taking a deep breath she headed out with the rope, which Molly had secured from the stables, and tied it securely to the railings on her balcony. Climbing onto the ledge, she lowered herself down using the ivy- covered treacle to aid her footing. She would have simply climbed down the treacle, but it was old and she wasn't sure of its strength, so rather than test it, she went with the safer option.
Her feet touched the floor and she smiled in triumph at her conquest before quickly moving around to the back of the house, pulling out the key which Molly had given her for the servants entrance to the kitchen. She opened the door and went straight for the larder, she was starving and Molly had told her that she had saved some leftovers in there from dinner. She filled herself with as much as she could eat and then wrapped the rest for the next day so that she wouldn't go hungry through breakfast and lunch. Quietly looking up she headed for the stables. Attempting to saddle up one of the horses and get it out of the grounds undetected was not going to be easy and she gave up before she got caught. It didn't seem so noisy in the day when she did it and everyone else was moving about but at night when the world was silent, the noise carried a long way.
She would have to think the problem through and come up with a solution. Riding bareback was one but she still needed for the horse to be left some where away from the main house. She would have to speak with Molly and see if she could get Molly to persuade Toby to leave one of the horses in the field overnight for her.
She stayed outside as long as she could and only headed back to her room when she feared it was getting too early and she might be seen by one of the staff starting their morning chores. At least now she had provisions to get her through the next day and an escape from her room at nighttime. All in all she felt very pleased with herself as she changed out of the breeches and hid all the evidence in her dressing room. She had no reason to come from her room now before she received an apology from Angelus. She went to sleep with a huge smile on her face that morning, one point for Buffy, zero for Angelus!
The next day went by without incident and after their dinner, Angelus sat in the parlor drinking whiskey with William.
"So...you owe me some money." William said as Angelus passed him a glass.
"Really, and why is that?" Angelus asked, he was annoyed and surprised at the same time that Buffy had not been present for any of their meals that day. He was sure that she would have left her room, but he had asked Molly's brother to wait at the end of the hallway quietly and inform him if she so much as unlocked the door. He had paid the boy at the end of the day but she had not moved. Peter had said that she was silent until around two in the afternoon when he heard her begin to move around. Angelus figured she must have been sleeping until then; probably hadn't gotten much rest through the night and was making up for it. He felt slightly bad that she was alone in her room after what had happened; he thought that she would need to speak with someone about it but she refused to come out and he refused to apologize.
"Angelus?" he heard his name being called and looked up to Will.
"What?" he asked confused.
"Bloody hell, even when she's not around you're thinking of her constantly, just go and see her." Will urged, knowing that no amount of prodding on his part would change Angelus' mind. It was simply a matter of who cracked first.
"Why did you say I owe you money?" Angelus asked again, paying attention this time.
"Well, as you've noticed, Buffy is still in her room and you bet that she would be out by lunch today, you lost, you owe me." Will said with a wicked smile.
"Firstly, we never bet anything on it and secondly she won't be in there much longer. I admire her for staying in there all day without food to prove a point to me but she's not going to win. She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday morning; it won't be much longer now." Angelus said, sounding confident to Will but not to himself. What if she stayed in there, too stubborn to come out for food? What if she made herself ill? How long would he let this go on for?
"Well in that case, let's have a toast shall we? To Buffy!" Will said and raised his glass then emptied the contents. He didn't know yet what she would do but he could guarantee that she wouldn't be coming out from her room any time soon.
Late that night, Buffy escaped from her room again and after eating and getting supplies she headed out over two fields to the place where Toby had left a horse grazing. Hanging over the fence was a set of reigns and attached was a piece of paper. Opening it up she read the note and smiled.
'Buffy,
Molly asked for the horse to be left for you.I'm not sure what's going on, but as long as you promise to be careful, I will leave the horse for you every night.
Take care,
Toby.'
Concealing the note in her pocket she took the horse out for a ride around the estate grounds. She didn't yet feel confident enough to travel along the road; it was only her second night of freedom and she was content staying close to home...for now.
At lunch the next day Angelus was beside himself in anger, she had still not come from her room and according to Molly's brother she was still sleeping. He walked past her room and waited for a few minutes to see if he could hear anything but there was no noise coming from inside. He decided it was time to get out of the house, if he stayed in any longer thinking about Buffy he might go crazy.
He headed for the stables and waited while Toby saddled him a horse, "I'm going into the city for the day if anyone wants to know where I am while I'm gone. I should be back for dinner." Angelus said as he mounted.
"Very well," replied Toby, "I'm heading there myself this afternoon, there's some stock that's needed for the horses." Toby said before Angelus rode away.
"I don't mind getting them if they can fit in my saddlebag, it will save you the trip." Angelus replied, grateful for something to do to take his mind off a certain blonde.
"Thank you, here is a list of the things that I was going to collect this afternoon." Toby said handing Angelus the piece of paper from a pocket in his jacket. Angelus nodded and tucked it into his pocket hen rode away for the city; this was exactly what he needed.
The city was busy that day. Angelus left his horse at the livery and made his way through the crowds to the supplies store he needed. Once inside, he waited his turn and produced the note from his pocket when he got to the front of the queue.
"Good day Sir, what can I get for you?" the shopkeeper asked.
"I need two pairs of stirrup irons, a loose ring bit and one of your training ropes." Angelus said, wondering what was wrong with the rope he saw Toby using nearly every day. Maybe he's had trouble with one of the horses? He shrugged it off and paid the shopkeeper once all his goods were ready for him. Picking up the paper bag he headed to the nearest saloon to waste some time. He hadn't thought of her the whole time he was in the shop and he didn't intend on starting now.
Angelus didn't make it home for dinner that night, he'd spent the whole day in the saloon drinking and gambling and stumbled out of there around two in the morning when he was too tired to lift another glass.
"Are you sure you wanna ride home Mr. O'Connor? It's a fair way and you ain't in the best of states," said Bill Thompson the livery keeper.
"I'll be just fine." Angelus slurred and attempted to mount his horse.
"Well you might wanna try facing the same way the horse is." Suggested Bill.
Angelus looked up, "Where'd the horse go?" he asked and when Bill pointed behind him he swung around in the saddle to face the right way. "Good night."
Angelus saluted with his hand as Bill watched him ride away. He'd be surprised if Angelus made it back to his estate, but that wasn't his problem anymore. Bill went back inside to tend to the other horses as Angelus rode out of the city.
Angelus made it half way home before passing out and slumping over the horse's neck. The horse continued on the same path though, walking slowly and following the road.
Buffy was riding through one of the fields, she'd been out for around an hour and had decided to go a little further and do some jumps over the fields fences. Her horse was tiring now though and she decided to head back slowly. She kept looking out for anyone who might be out but she'd seen no one all night, which was why she was surprised when she noticed a horse walking along the rode with no rider. Scanning the area she still couldn't see anyone so she quietly headed over, knowing that she was probably doing the wrong thing, as someone could have seen her and could be waiting for her to get closer to them. It was dangerous, but her curiosity had always gotten the best of her.
The closer she got the more she could make out of the animal, and as she approached the fence she realized that the horse wasn't without a rider, but that the rider was slumped over the animal unconscious. Her conscience wouldn't let her turn and ride away, convincing her that the rider could be hurt; she dismounted and climbed over the fence, it was then that she realized the horse looked familiar, it was Angelus' black stallion. She stopped dead in her tracks, Angelus was the unconscious rider! What should she do? She couldn't very well leave him out here alone but she couldn't let him see her. She approached his side and said his name but he was out cold and he stunk of alcohol. Shaking her head she took the reins from his hands and pulled them over the horse's head. She then tied the horse to the fence while she retrieved her own. Jumping the fence was easy and so she led Angelus' horse with him on top back to the estate. Once in the stable she dealt with her horse and then turned to look at Angelus. He was too big for her to carry into the house; she could either leave him in the stables for the night or go and get help. If she went to William for help then he would know what she had done and would be forced to tell Angelus in the morning. That left her with only one choice.
She pulled his feet from the stirrups and led the horse over to stand next to the pile of hay that was stacked in the corner of the barn. Standing on the pile, she took hold of Angelus around his waist and pulled as hard as she could. He fell from the horse toward her and they landed in a heap on the hay, the horse shifted away from them, startled slightly.
Buffy opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, Angelus' prone body was sprawled over hers on the pile of hay, her hat was lying on the floor having been knocked off and Angelus was mumbling something unintelligible into her chest. She pushed as hard as she could at him and managed to roll him off her but her success was short lived when he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Buffy? Hi!" he said drunkenly and smiled at her. She rolled her eyes at him and climbed up from the hay, brushing off her clothes and retrieving her hat.
"Sleep it off Angelus." she said to him and replaced her hat.
"Don't you want to stay with me?" he asked as he tried to get up, "You're wearing breeches." he stated confused as he looked up and down at her outfit.
She put a hand to his chest and pushed him back down into the hay, "Sleep." she said and he closed his eyes and smiled to her. She looked down at him and couldn't help her perusal of his body. He was perfection and she wanted just one taste of that, she was already caught now. Why not take advantage? Lowering herself down she attentively touched her lips to his. He responded immediately and his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her down flush upon him. She lost herself in his kiss as his tongue stroked her lips begging for entrance. When she opened her mouth he plundered inside and mimicked his movements. As she tasted him everything else dropped away, it was only his moan of passion that brought her back to the present. She abruptly ended the kiss and fled from his arms; as she walked through the stables door she heard him call out to her.
"Buffy, stay with me?"
But she continued to the safety of her room and sat on her bed trembling, from what she wasn't sure. This kiss had been different to the one at the wedding, this kiss had been lust filled and intensely scary, but she wanted more...
TBC...
