Complement

by Michele D

This is the first fanfiction I wrote. I began it in 2000 & completed it in 2002. I will mark it complete once all chapters are up. I'll be posting a few chapters at a time. Just a heads up, it is long. Starts in the future that only lives in my head (Prologue). Takes place right before & during Judgment (Part I).

31. XXX - I Knew I Loved You

XXX - I Knew I Loved You

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Maybe it's intuition ~ But some things you just don't question ~ Like in your eyes I see my future in an instant ~ And there it goes ~ I think I've found my best friend ~ I know that it might sound more than a little crazy ~ But I believe ~ I knew I loved you before I met you ~ I think I dreamed you into life ~ I knew I loved you before I met you ~ I have been waiting all my life ~ There's just no rhyme or reason ~ Only this sense of completion ~ And in your eyes I see the missing pieces I'm searching for ~ I think I've found my way home ~ I know that it might sound more than a little crazy ~ But I believe...
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The next week and a half were one big, long blur of lessons. Horseback riding, training with Mars, after Faith profusely apologized to both Mars and his Man-At-Arms, Lee. Lee, it turned out, was only around eighteen years old; and while he did have black hair and pale, blue eyes, he didn't look anything at all like Johnny in the cold light of day.

They spent most evenings with Lilith and Clotho, watching Buffy turn everything into ash as she continued with fierce determination trying to learn how to cook. Faith had a feeling she was going to be spending a lot of time sneaking out to get fast food, because she just didn't have the heart to tell Buffy that she wasn't even a halfway decent cook at best.

Instead, Faith and the two poor Immortals sat at the table each night and ate with smiles on their faces whatever Buffy had burnt for them that night. Faith had the worst of it though, because of the amount of food she normally ate and because Buffy decided to start making breakfast too. Faith was eternally grateful that she had a stomach made out of cast iron.

They continued to take a bath together every night and Buffy would read to them resting against Faith. They became increasingly comfortable around each other. Neither was afraid to share 'just-because' touches or kisses, though Buffy was still giving over all control to Faith when it came to the more passionate touches and kisses they exchanged and was still very cautious in returning kisses and touches. Afraid to give free rein to what she was feeling, she didn't want to inadvertently call up one of Faith's bad memories.

She listened closely to the echoes she got from Faith when she joined Faith in deepening their kisses or her hands wandered past the purely 'just because' type of touch. The second she felt any fear or Faith freezing up she would gently pull back and simply gather Faith into her arms and hold her until the fear passed, letting her know through their bond and by her actions that this was fine with her, that this was enough for her.

Faith had been weaving a seductive web around Buffy that left her catching her breath in anticipation with just a look or a casual touch. For the first time in her life Faith gave in to all the romantic little notions that she had heard and read about or seen others do.

Small things mostly, like picking daisies in the meadow by the cottage for Buffy, to candlelit dinners or snacks when it was just the two of them. From picnics by the lake, to them riding bareback and double on Obsidian in the moonlight. To waking Buffy every morning with slow sensual kisses, drawing her into that in-between place with her, to just picking her up and swinging Buffy round and round until they both fell dizzy to the ground.

Faith was romancing Buffy as if they were just starting out and she found herself falling deeper in love with Buffy every second they spent together. Delighted by Buffy's shy smiles, to her out and out jumping into her arms in joy and she found that Buffy was weaving her own seductive spell around her as well.

Once again the single red and white roses twined together by wire were left somewhere every day for Faith to find. She found little yellow sticky notes all over the place for her, including one inside her boot that simply had a B on it. To the little beanie babies waiting on the bed for her, joining the black and white panthers that Buffy had asked Clotho to bring here for them. They had a virtual zoo living with them on the bed.

To the black riding boots and the kick-ass custom made black leather chaps Buffy had made for her. To the way that Buffy always seemed to grab her hand when they were walking, to the casual touches and kisses that were purely just because.

To the little secret smile that Buffy had that let Faith know she would find something in a shoe, her coffee cup, one of her pockets during the course of the day. And it ranged from a simple note that said 'I love you' to a silver bracelet. Then there was also the massages with the warm oil and the way that Buffy always played with a strand of her hair whenever she was near.

They found themselves falling further under each other's spell every day. They were paying attention to each other's reactions in a way very few lovers ever did and they listened to the echoes in the bond they shared. And the intimacy they had discovered in that dream place they had created when they were held in hell grew ever deeper.

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Everyone had been there for Lily's little gathering the week before and it was great to see them all. It had felt like forever since they had seen anyone, especially Dawn. Both Slayers were shocked to find out that eight days here in the Incarnates' domain only equaled a little less than one day back on Earth. So while to them it had felt like they had been gone for so long, to the others it had only been a little over three days. Willow and Tara had let them know that all was under control in good old Sunnydale, Luc had sent two of his minions to pose as the Slayers and patrol.

After the party, Angel had stopped Buffy and Faith asking if they could talk about what had happened. They all went back to the Slayers' cottage where Faith was ready to go for a stroll to give them privacy. She wasn't afraid; she had no doubt in her mind any longer that it was with her that Buffy wanted to be with. She just thought that it would be easier for them to talk about that day without her there. Both had asked her to stay at the same time as if they had practiced it.

Angel, being who he was, cut right through the shit. Stating clearly and plainly that he was not in love with Buffy and he knew that Buffy was not in love with him. He even wondered if they were in love with each other two years ago when he had been human for that one day. Or if perhaps they had convinced themselves they were because of all that had happened before and because they had been denied the chance to ever really try.

He loved Buffy; she was his family just like Faith was. They were, Buffy and Faith, his Anmchara, his soul-friends. And Buffy cried, not because she couldn't be with Angel, but because he had given up his chance at being human so that she could live, so that innocents would not die. Faith found herself crying right along with Buffy, and she silently thanked the powers for bringing both of these beautiful people into her life and for letting her become a part of theirs.

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She rolled onto her back and off her mate. She stretched, arching her back up off the bed, her hands reaching for the headboard. Faith almost looked like a cat or rather a panther as her mate so often likened her to, arching, all graceful, sleek and sensual.

The covers as usual were all tangled in a bunch down at the bottom of the bed. It was a good thing they had central heating at the Mansion, and that the cottage they were staying at within the Incarnates domain had a fireplace or they would have been forced to sleep in pajamas.

She rolled back on her side towards her mate and propped herself up on one elbow resting her head in her hand. She idly started to caress the smooth flat stomach below her, smiling at the little ripples that ran under her fingertips at her touch.

God she felt good, so relaxed, so comfortable, so safe and realized with a start that her first thought this morning wasn't; Was today the day she was going to die? Realized that she hadn't had that thought for a good while since they had been here at the cottage. It was the first time since she had been Chosen that she could remember not having that thought. She wondered if Buffy was no longer thinking that first thing upon waking too.

She stared down at Buffy while she slept and couldn't help think how peaceful, how beautiful and how young she looked while she slept. The funny thing was that they were young, but it was rare that they ever got to be young.

Being Slayers added a responsibility to both their shoulders that added years to their mental age. They had been given a rare opportunity since being here, a temporary respite from carrying the weight of Slayerdom on their shoulders. And for the first time ever in her life, Faith knew what it was like to be young, carefree and normal. Something she had never been, considering the way she had grown up.

At least Buffy had somewhat of a normal childhood until she had been called. She had been a cheerleader, had friends, a Mom and a sister who loved her, things Faith never had. Things that, at one time, Faith had resented Buffy for, but now she no longer did and was happy that Buffy got the chances she never had.

She had this time now and the time before Glory had abducted them. She silently prayed daily that when they did return back to their own domain that they would be able to retain the young, carefree, normal life they had created with each other without shirking their responsibilities as Slayers.

She rose from the bed and padded into the bathroom, truly comfortable with herself for the first time since before Glory had abducted them. She brushed her teeth, splashed cold water on her face and ran a comb quickly through her hair.

She looked at herself in the mirror and no longer saw the haunted eyes that had stared back at her for almost her whole life. It had been almost three weeks since her breakdown in the shower and while all the ghosts weren't gone, they, he, haunted her less frequently. She had Buffy to thank for that.

Buffy knew almost at the same moment that Faith herself did the second they reared their ugly heads. Within seconds, Buffy's strong, safe, warm arms would surround her, and Faith would lean on that strength. She would hear Buffy whispering or asking her quietly to talk to her, to tell her what was wrong, what had triggered the memory and much to her surprise Faith found that it had gotten easier and easier to talk about it with Buffy.

The more she confronted and talked about the ghosts the less and less power they had over her. She knew that the ghost of him would always be with her, that his cold shadow-like touch would rear its head from time to time for no other reason than maybe a certain smell, a sound, or simply a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye triggered the memory of him.

But every minute, every hour, every day that went by that she was free of his ghost, made her stronger, made her less terrified, made it easier to trust again. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she knew that when it came to Buffy she trusted her completely and as for the rest of her extended family, she knew that if push came to shove she trusted them as well.

She smiled as she thought of Buffy, a little wicked glint glittered in her eyes making the emerald flecks flash. She had noticed over the last few weeks, that strong emotions in either of them caused their eyes to glow, change colors, hers emerald green, and Buffy's gold. It was going to be extremely hard for either of them to hide from the other, or anyone else, any type of emotional extreme even if they did block their bond.

She was done hiding anyway; she had nothing to hide anymore. Buffy knew everything about her and for the first time in her life, Faith felt truly free. With a smile on her face, she turned from the mirror and headed back to bed.

It was time to wake her mate. Something she found she enjoyed doing very much! And Buffy didn't seem to mind either!

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She crawled back into bed with Buffy, but instead of kissing her awake like she had been almost every morning, she started to trail her fingers along Buffy's tanned skin. The tips of her fingers barely grazing the flat surface of Buffy's newly acquired, six-pack stomach. She watched as the goose-bumps rose on Buffy's skin everywhere she touched her.

They had become increasingly more intimate with each other over the last few weeks. She loved touching and kissing Buffy; and loved Buffy doing the same to her in return, the difference now though was Buffy was reigning herself in.

And while she wasn't ready for Buffy to slam her up against the wall and fuck her into oblivion, she also didn't want Buffy treating her like a delicate piece of china that would break at the slightest touch. Nor did she want Buffy to stamp down her own desire, and since their return from Glory's hell, Buffy hadn't initiated anything beyond the 'just because', touches and kisses and had only been touching her tentatively, hesitantly.

Buffy was careful not to be too passionate, or even demanding and kept herself as still as possible. When she held Faith while they were being intimate, it was always loosely, careful to keep her control at all times, and Faith knew Buffy was waiting for her.

Waiting for her to be ready to take that next step and Faith didn't know when she would be ready for Buffy to touch her that way and she didn't want Buffy to wait for her. Didn't want Buffy to be afraid to let herself go, afraid to ask for anything.

For some reason Buffy had associated that first night they had dinner at the Immortals and her own loud moan of desire with Faith getting scared. Even though Faith had tried to explain to her it hadn't been the moan that trigger the fear, but a knee-jerk reaction to her saying No. Buffy had said she believed her, but Faith knew from their echoes and the way Buffy had been acting that deep down she didn't.

And Faith fervently missed the passionate, wild side of Buffy.

She missed the woman who had tortured and teased her in the bath that night they had first made love.

The woman who the next morning had screamed her name so loudly the neighbors had heard them.

The woman who attacked her in the shower, had thrown her over her shoulder one afternoon and made love to her until she passed out.

The woman who would kiss her until her knees grew weak and then left to go pick up Dawn at school.

The woman who arched up into her when she was touching her, or clutched at her with desire, or dug her fingers into her shoulders when she teased her.

The woman who demanded and gave as good as she got.

She missed the gentle side of Buffy too, her sighs, her moans, her screams. And Faith knew that if Buffy didn't let go now of her fear of somehow scaring or hurting Faith that she never would.

Over the last three weeks, Faith had tried repeatedly to convey this to Buffy and each time Buffy would tell her she understood and believed her, but her actions still didn't reflect her words. She never wanted Buffy to ever feel afraid to touch her, to kiss her, to hold her with as much or as little passion as she wanted to, anytime, anywhere. And right now Buffy was afraid to do that, afraid to let herself go and it was time for Faith to change that.

Faith had absolutely no fear of Buffy at all, she knew that Buffy would never force her, never hurt her. Knew that Buffy would stop the second she sensed any fear coming from her. She had shown that over and over again in the last few weeks.

What Buffy didn't realize and Faith had tried to explain to her, was that; with every kiss, every touch, every caress, every sigh that came from Buffy, it was helping Faith to remember how good, wonderful and beautiful it was to make love with someone you loved. That the act itself, whether slow and gentle, or hard and furious, when done with love, was beautiful.

While she had needed to be in control of initiating anything intimate between them in the beginning she didn't need that anymore. She wanted Buffy to be unafraid to grab and kiss her until her knees started trembling and her heart tried to pound its way out of her chest. And while Faith too, didn't know if she was ready for Buffy to make love to her, she knew she was more than ready to make love to Buffy. Would she prefer that they made love to each other, yes, but she needed, wanted to touch and be intimate with Buffy.

Just like Buffy had wanted her Faith back, Faith wanted her B back. And with that goal in mind she had spent the last week and a half playing Buffy like a fine tuned instrument and it was time to make Buffy sing.

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She lay on her side, head propped in her hand, with her free hand she continued to trace the outline of Buffy's six-pack stomach. Watching the muscles ripple as she ran her eyes leisurely over Buffy's body, starting with her cute little feet, up her well-defined calves and thighs. Over the short curls that covered her sex, her narrow hips, over the six-pack again.

To her small, but just the right size for her hands, perky, firm breasts, the rosy nipples of which were still sleeping. To the slim column of her neck, to her full lips, the bottom one even pouty in her sleep. The straight line of her nose, which was flanked by high, narrow cheekbones, over her winged eyebrows, to finally her closed eyes. Eyes that Faith lost herself in more than once a day, eyes she could lose herself in forever.

She trailed her hand down to one firm breast. Her fingertips skimming lightly over and around it, 'til they climbed up one gentle slope to barely brush, tease one nipple to wake. She leaned down and gently blew on Buffy's other nipple and couldn't help smile as it too woke to greet her breath.

She began to run her hand, fingers as lightly and softly as possible over all of her mate's body. Watching as her breathing sped up a little, as her chest began to flush, the lips to part, as the tip of her tongue came out to wet them.

She left no part of Buffy's body untouched while she slept, her fingers dipping down to feel again the familiar wet warmth. And Faith couldn't suppress her own moan as the feel of touching Buffy's heat traveled up from her fingers and through every part of her. It was almost belatedly that she realized that she could feel the shadow-like touches on her own skin as she touched Buffy.

She dipped her head down and whispered a kiss over Buffy's parted lips. She caught the bottom one between her own and delicately ran her tongue along its length, then pulled back to give the top one the same delicate treatment. She slid her mouth away and traced Buffy's jaw line, then ran her mouth, her tongue down, then back up the side of her neck, stopping briefly to nip Buffy's pulse point.

Her hand continued on its own lazily path of random patterns all over Buffy's body. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Buffy's legs parted slightly further as her fingertips brushed across the top of her curls. She moved a little so that she was flush up against Buffy's side, she slid one leg over the top of Buffy's and hooked it, pulling it back towards her, opening her mate to her.

She let her hand travel downward again, to the inside of one thigh, making little circles, writing her name with her fingertips. She trailed her mouth back up to Buffy's, kissing her teasingly with both her mouth and tongue.

Her hand traveled upwards to Buffy's heat, to run along slick folds, gathering up the essence that was her mate. Then her fingers slid away to the inside of Buffy's other thigh leaving a trail of wetness in their wake. Her mouth left Buffy's lips, as she moved down raining soft kisses over her chin, to under it, down the whole of her throat, biting, nipping, flicking with her tongue.

She continued down to Buffy's chest, leaving little love marks to show where she'd been. Up over the slope of her breast to take one, now wide-awake nipple into the darkness of her mouth, she suckled gently, as her hand moved of its own will to her mate's heat again.

She heard Buffy's breathing become more erratic as she pressed her hand flat up against her heat. She caught her nipple between her teeth and let her tongue play. She felt Buffy's arousal through their bond, burning hotly, even in her sleep.

Faith had been keeping her there on the edge every day, all day long for almost the whole week. It was a little cruel she knew that, but, she wanted, needed her B, back.

Wanted, needed to know that she could still make Buffy feel this way.

Wanted, needed Buffy to lose her control.

She needed it like she needed to breathe after all that had happened to them and between them in the last few months. She pressed her hand against Buffy with just slightly more pressure and felt Buffy buck.

Then she heard the sweetest sound she had heard in a long time, as Buffy woke moaning her name.

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She woke feeling like someone had exchanged her blood for molten lava. She breathed out the mantra that had been playing in her dream, 'Faith...' and then because she couldn't help herself she said it again, "Faith..."

Faith lifted her head reluctantly and smiled down at her, "Morning... Gizmo..."

Forcing her eyes open, Buffy just stared up at her, and the only coherent thought she was capable of was Faith's name. She wanted to pull Faith down to her, wanted to wrap her arms around her tightly. She just wanted! But she was afraid. She didn't want to frighten Faith, didn't want to ruin this moment.

Didn't want to ask Faith for something she wasn't ready for and innately she knew Faith wasn't ready to make love with her. What Buffy still wasn't getting was that Faith was more than ready to make love to her and see where it led.

She forced her body to stay still, tried to force down her arousal, her all-consuming desire and almost lost her control when she felt Faith press her hand more firmly against her.

"Cat got your tongue, B?"

Buffy just stared up at Faith mutely, afraid to move her mouth even, afraid any movement and she was going to lose it. She knew it! She so wanted to lose it, but she couldn't. She had to wait. SHE HAD TO WAIT! She started saying the 'ABC's' in her mind then decided that wasn't a good idea as she started reciting the list she made at the Fates' the day of the Joining.

"Maybe I ought to help you get it back." At Buffy's quizzical look, Faith explained further, "Your tongue from the cat that is..." She gave Buffy a wicked, down right fucking evil smile and Buffy knew she was in big trouble.

Faith's hand slid up and through Buffy's heat, her fingers pressing inward for a second, sliding over her clit, across her hip, down the side of her waist. She placed her hand, palm flat on the bed, she moved, nudging Buffy's legs further apart and lay right between them, holding herself up over Buffy, her heat resting lightly on Buffy's.

Buffy just became one large quivering, need-filled mess. She clutched desperately at the sheets, then Faith leaned down and kissed her until Buffy swore her hair was going to catch on fire. She dug her fingers into the sheets so hard that they ripped right through them.

Buffy started to recite the names of her relatives in her head. She tried thinking about Giles in that way, anything, and everything to keep away the desire that was screaming through every cell. She had been on the edge for days now. And she had taken more cold showers than she had in the weeks after she had brought Faith back from LA. She wanted to feel the full weight of Faith upon her, instead Faith just deepened their kiss, distracting her from her internal mantra and she felt the sheet shred under her hands.

She shifted her weight a little so she was supporting herself with one arm. Starting at Buffy's neck she trailed the tips of her fingers down, she moved inward a little and stopped to pay teasing attention to Buffy's nipple then moved on again. She slid her hand along Buffy's side and her back. When she reached one firm buttock, she started to gently massage and knead.

Faith lifted her head to look down into Buffy's half-lidded eyes. She smiled then ducked down again to trace patterns all over Buffy's throat, nipping with her teeth, soothing with her tongue the little tiny love bites. Her hand slid further down to massage and knead the back of Buffy's firm thigh. She continued downward until she reached the back of Buffy's knee, she lifted and wrapped Buffy's leg around her hip. Then she began a slow, light rotation of her heat against Buffy's. It was so light, so soft that Faith herself wasn't even sure they were actually touching at first. She pressed down a little more and was rewarded with a gasp from Buffy.

"Faith... uh... what are you doing?" Buffy's only answer was something unintelligible mumbled against her throat.

She knew at any second her fingertips were going to slice right through the mattress just like they had the sheet. She was chanting in her head for Faith to press down into her just a little harder, just a little harder. Instead, she felt Faith switch her weight to her other arm and start the same torturous path down the other side of her body until her left leg joined her right around Faith's narrow hips. She couldn't take it anymore, she had to touch Faith.

Faith felt Buffy's tentative, hesitant touch on her forearms. It was a start, but not what she wanted. She could feel everything Buffy was feeling, knew that Buffy wanted to just tighten her legs around her and pull her down onto her, but she was holding back. Faith had to give her a lot of credit, she had more control and will power than she originally thought.

Sorry B... Time to bring out the big guns...

Faith bent her knees a little and lifted her lower body from Buffy. She grazed her tongue down over her chest, moving to capture one begging nipple within her mouth. She let the tip of her tongue flick over just the tip of Buffy's nipple, while her hand came up to roll the other nipple between callous fingertips.

She keep her touches light, teasing, almost nonexistent and she couldn't help smile as she heard Buffy start to pant. She let her mind focus on all the things she wanted to do to Buffy, wanted Buffy to do to her, and she flooded Buffy with the images in an echo.

She switched breasts and let her hand roam of its own free will. Down over a quivering stomach, up to Buffy's mouth, down over to one firm thigh. Slipping in-between them to skim over moist curls, flicking out once briefly over Buffy's swollen nub. Letting them go wherever and do whatever they wanted; Faith let her fingertips continued on their torturous, light path as if they had a mind of their own.

Buffy was clutching her fingers in time with Faith's flicking tongue. She tried not to grip Faith's forearms to hard, but she couldn't help herself. There were bursts of lightning running rampant over her whole body and she knew all it would take was for Faith to touch her with just a little more pressure and she would go flying head first off the cliff.

She had to stop Faith before she lost her control, did something stupid and frightened her. Then she got slammed with an echo of such sensual pleasure from Faith that she started to whimper and pant.

"Faith... got to ahh..." She lost her train of thought as Faith's hand grazed her heat again. She pushed herself back into the mattress away from Faith's fingers, whimpering. She whimpered once more as she felt Faith's fingers move away.

"Gotta what, B?"

Buffy shuddered as the vibrations of Faith's voice went right through her as she spoke around her nipple. "Got.. to stop..."

"Why?" Faith eased up even further, her touches, her mouth, her tongue, now barely grazing Buffy's body. She felt her own desire rising up to the surface as it mixed and merged with Buffy's in the echoes.

"Breakfast... have to..." She stopped and whimpered in frustration when Faith's touches became even lighter. "... make it... breakfast... hungry... food... good... make... food... god... feels good..." Her hands had somehow made their way up to Faith's hair, she wanted to pull her head down firmer into her breast, but she didn't.

"Have what I want for breakfast... want more of what I'm having..." She moved her hand down in-between them again, unable to help herself. She wanted, needed to touch Buffy's heat.

She slid just a finger along slick folds, teasing slightly at Buffy's entrance then ran it along the entire length of Buffy's sex. She caught the nipple in her mouth between her teeth and started flicking her tongue rapidly across and around it, still with as light a touch as possible, while her other hand continued to tease, torment and play along Buffy's hot, slick, heat.

"St... stop... Faith, please..." She was digging her fingers into Faith's shoulders. She dug them in even harder when she felt Faith shake her head no against her breast. "Faith... please... can't control... please... don't want... to hurt you... scare you... Please..." Buffy wasn't sure what she was begging for anymore, she just didn't want to scare her mate. She knew she was a second away from losing her control and just pulling Faith down to her forcefully.

Faith shifted again, she slid both her hands under Buffy's back and gripped her shoulders, supporting herself on her elbows, her body hovering over Buffy's, less than an inch separating them from touching fully.

Both Slayers could practically feel the fire running between them as if it were a real thing. She looked down into Buffy's flashing gold eyes and didn't need anyone to tell her that her own eyes were flashing emerald. She leaned her head down, her mouth close to Buffy's ear, she had to restrain herself from flicking her tongue out to trace along its shell.

"Not gonna break... not china... not scared... nothing you could do would scare me... Want to, need to, touch you... Want to feel you pulling me to you... You're fingers digging into my back or shoulders, wherever they wanted to... Your body arching into me... Want to feel your need... Want to hear you moan... scream my name..." She felt Buffy's arms come up to surround her. She whimpered a little at her touch.

She lifted her head up and gazed down into Buffy's eyes for a few seconds before she leaned down, her breath softly tickling Buffy's face. Her lips brushed lightly across Buffy's before she began to kiss Buffy with all of her pent up passion, pouring everything into her kiss. Her tongue begging for entrance, she moaned Buffy's name when she opened her mouth to her. She teasingly ran her tongue along the velvet softness of Buffy's, enticing it back into her own mouth. She kissed Buffy until she had to pull back for air.

"I want you B... I want my B back... The one from before all this shit happened... I want you... Want you to touch me... Want you to kiss me... Want to feel your mouth on me... Want you to lose your control... Let it go... God B... Want it so bad... Want you so bad... Want to know you feel the same way as me..." She leaned her forehead against Buffy's and just stared into her eyes. "I love you B..."

She hadn't planned this, she didn't even think she was ready for this, she had started out this morning just wanting to please Buffy. Just wanting to get her B back. Just wanting to make love to Buffy, not make love with Buffy; somewhere along the way, she had forgotten that with Buffy there wasn't a difference between the two.

As she had felt those shadow-like touches on her own body, as she had let her mind think of all that she wanted them to do together. As she felt Buffy's own desire ricocheting through her in an echo, she found that she wanted Buffy just as much as Buffy wanted her. And in realizing that, she found that she needed to know that Buffy still saw her as she did before and not as some broken, frail version of herself.

She continued to stare down into Buffy's eyes waiting for her answer, as she let all that she was feeling, all that she wanted flow out of her and into Buffy in an echo through their bond.

Buffy stared up into those flashing emerald eyes. Her whole body was on fire and it wasn't entirely from the touches and kisses, it was mostly from Faith's words. Words she finally started to understand. Faith wanted things between them to be how they were before, wanted Buffy to see her as whole again, not as a delicate piece of china that would shatter at the slightest touch. Buffy didn't have any illusions that Faith's ghosts would rear their ugly heads from time to time no matter what happened right now, right here between them.

But treating Faith like she was less than whole, less than an equal was only helping those ghosts to stay alive in both of their minds. And in every other aspect of their relationship except this part, Buffy had treated her as she always had. Like a whole person and never once had Buffy ever held back what she was feeling, giving up her control to Faith in the bedroom didn't mean she had to treat Faith any differently there. It was time to trust herself, trust Faith, trust in them and what they had together to know if something was wrong, or needed to change or stop...

And right now, Buffy thought to herself as she stared up into those loving eyes, I need to stop thinking so much and just feel.

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She slid one hand up to tangle in Faith's hair, the other down to the middle of her back. She tightened her legs around her mate's hips and pulled her down fully, forcefully onto her. She arched her body up into Faith's and captured her mouth with her own. She ravished Faith's mouth, kissing her with all the suppressed passion, need and want that she had been trying to control, to hold back. Her tongue came out to chase after her mate's, entwining, seducing, sliding against and she moaned into Faith's mouth as Faith gave back as good as she got.

The hand that was tangled in Faith's hair pulled her head back and her mouth away from her own. She attacked Faith's throat, nipping, biting, leaving her mark as she mumbled incoherently under her breath. The heels of her feet pushed down to bring Faith's heat harder, more firmly against her own.

Faith let out a relief and desire-filled moan when she felt Buffy pull her down to her. Her own senses totally on fire from what she was getting from Buffy, and her own need became urgent. She began a slow circular motion with her hips, sliding her heat against Buffy's, joining their wetness.

Groaning deep in her throat, she had forgotten how incredible it felt to be with Buffy like this. How it was music to her ears to hear Buffy's sighs, her moans, feel her fingers digging into her back. How nothing ever in this world, any world could match this, this burning deep in the pit of her stomach.

Match the exquisiteness of being loved, touched, kissed and held by Buffy, and doing the same in return to Buffy. Nothing matched knowing that she could make Buffy feel this way and Buffy could make her feel the same.

Buffy dragged her mouth away from Faith's neck, pulling her more tightly to her with her arms and legs. Loving the way Faith seemed to be touching all of her at once. She looked up into those eyes filled with so much passion, but with even more love and Buffy drowned in them.

"You... feel so good... warm... god... Faith... baby..." She wasn't making sense, she didn't care. She arched up further into Faith, pressing herself harder into Faith's heat, following the motion of Faith's hips as she increased the wetness, the heat between them. Then she felt as Faith lifted herself slightly starting to slide down her body, to bring one hand down between them. "No... stay... want you... want you... to hold me... please baby... want... need... to... feel all of you... all of you around me... on me... want you... like this..."

Faith wrapped her arms back around Buffy pulling her tightly to her. She shifted a little, bringing the weight of her body to bear down harder onto Buffy's heat. She started to alternate between circling her hips and thrusting down into Buffy. Sliding the whole of her body along Buffy's, almost disbelieving the tension she felt coiling so quickly in the pit of her stomach and the wetness she felt between her own legs.

She rested her forehead once again against Buffy's, looking deeply into her eyes as she moved upon her. She felt Buffy's fingers digging into her back, then her nails raked down it and Faith's whole body shuddered with intense desire. She could feel her own release hurtling at her fast, furiously, and suddenly it scared her. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, fighting against the fear, letting herself forget about her own wants and focused on Buffy's instead.

Buffy felt it the second it started to happen. Knew instantly what it was, knew a part of Faith was afraid to let go. Could feel her mate struggling against what she was feeling as she continued to move upon her. She could feel Faith pushing her own desire down, her own release and focusing again solely on her. Buffy didn't want that, she wanted Faith with her, wanted her whole, wanted her to remember, wanted her to know there was nothing wrong with this. That she, Faith was, that making-love, that whatever they did together, that they were beautiful together.

"Faith..." Buffy gasped, holding her own release back, but she didn't know if she could stop it, not this time. "You feel so good... you make me feel so much... god you... so beautiful... no one... ever... made me... feel like this... this is so beautiful... you're so... beautiful... look at me... baby... want... you to... feel... the same... need you to..." She brought one hand up to gently stroke Faith's cheek, then just rested it there. "Faith, please... baby... open... your... eyes..."

She didn't want to open her eyes, she was afraid, her body, her heart, her soul were at war with her fucking mind. She was afraid to let go, afraid to give up her control, afraid to make herself vulnerable to anyone again. She began to slide, to circle her wetness, her heat, joining them, into Buffy's harder. Needing to please her, needing to lose herself in Buffy, needing to forget her own fears, needing to give to Buffy what she thought she couldn't find for herself. Wanting so much to release that part of herself that she now realized she had locked up tightly, safely again. Wanting, needing to let it go like she had all those months ago the first time they had truly made love in front of the fireplace at the Mansion.

"Please Faith... I need... I need... you to look at me... need... you... need... you to see... need you... to let go... safe with me... got you... always... please... let go... you're eyes... need... to... see... you... I... Faith, I... love... you..." She had no idea if she was making sense anymore, it was almost impossible to keep a coherent thought in her head with Faith moving on her so urgently. Buffy could feel the beginning of her climax rising up in her, her insides clenching, tensing and she stilled, holding her breath, trying desperately to force it back.

Faith slowly opened her eyes and stared down into the hazel-gold eyes of the woman who meant everything in the world to her and felt herself start to give up her firm control over herself, unable to deny Buffy anything. With a low moan, she let herself go completely. She began rotating, circling her hips more forcefully into Buffy's as she felt Buffy teetering on the edge, holding back, waiting for her.

Like she had that night all those months ago Buffy felt Faith release once again to her that part of herself that she kept hidden, protected all those years. The full breadth of all that Faith felt for her washed over her and she began to move with her once more, releasing back to Faith all that she felt for her in return.

Faith felt not only Buffy's arms come up to surround her neck, but felt herself being blanketed in the desire, the need, and the love Buffy felt for her. She shifted again slightly and pressed down, bringing her own swollen bundle of nerves to press down directly onto Buffy's. Thrusting her hips, rolling them to bring pressure to where they both needed it so desperately.

"Can't... can't stop... Faith... baby... god... please... with me... please... Faith... Fai..." Her whole body stilled; then her climax was thundering through every part of her. All of her was ablaze, her skin, her bones, muscles, with the force of the fire rolling over her body.

She arched up into Faith; her whole body except the back of her head came off the bed. She held onto Faith tightly as her body was wracked with spasms. All of it was there, all the need, the want, the love. Every part of her felt like it was in flames, exploding with the rapture that was her mate and what and who they were together. She just kept chanting Faith's name over and over, and then she screamed out in wordless primal pleasure as she felt in an echo Faith start to join her in release.

Faith felt Buffy's climax run riot through every part of her in an echo and she bathed in it. Then Buffy bucked, arched so hard up into her that had she not been holding on to her so tightly, Buffy would have thrown her not only off of her, but the bed as well. And Faith felt her own body responding, seeking the same release as her mate, her hands slid down to Buffy's lower back bringing her more forcefully into her.

Then Buffy's legs, her arms, tightened around her and her heat thrust up into Faith's own again hard, grinding into her. Putting pressure exactly where Faith needed it to start flying over the edge. Faith's whole body arched into Buffy, she lifted them both up and back, until she was sitting back on her own calves. Her knees spread wide, Buffy somehow snug, pressed up tight between them. Buffy's legs, her arms, her whole body wrapped tightly around, surrounding her. Breasts against breasts, sweaty stomach against stomach, heat still managing to be pressed, rotating against heat, forehead against forehead as they continued to drown in each other's eyes.

The white-hot fire in her blood that was Buffy exploded within her, her head snapped back and with a loud, piercing savage cry of Buffy's name, Faith joined Buffy in release.

Neither of the Chosen Two knew which were their own feelings, which were the other's. The pleasure scorched a path through both of them, merging, entwining with the other through their bond. It didn't matter, it was glorious and it was beautiful, and both Slayers held tightly onto the other, tears of joy streaming down their faces as they tumbled in the ecstasy that was each other, together.

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They were walking through the woods that surrounded the Slayers' cottage, having gained permission to enter from Buffy and Faith the night before. They were holding hands like teenagers. Stopping occasionally to kiss, turning what should have been a five-minute walk into a little over a half hour. At least now, Clotho knew why Lilith wanted to leave so early. She had found herself pressed up against a tree more than once as Lilith's kisses time after time turned her knees to mush.

She wasn't one though who didn't give as good as she got, so the next time Lilith pulled a surprise kissing attack on her, Clotho turned the tables on her. She bent her knees and wrapped her arms around Lilith, each hand quickly finding a firm buttock and she lifted Lilith. She turned quickly, took two steps and stopped when Lilith's back was firmly pressed up against the nearest oak tree. She growled low in her throat when she felt Lilith's legs circle her waist.

She lowered her head, her mouth brushed lightly, teasingly, across her mate's, her tongue tracing delicately along Lilith's lips and pulling back when Lilith tried to deepen the kiss. She ran her mouth down over Lilith's jaw line, down to her neck, taking a step backwards, as she moved her hands around to capture each one of her mate's firm breasts.

She smiled against Lilith's neck and acting like she really was only twenty, Clotho proceeded to give her mate a hickey. She knew Lilith was going to be a little pissed when she saw the mark, but then again her paybacks were always worth it.

"Someone's happy to see me..." She murmured, as she felt each nipple rise to attention, pressing against the palms of her hands through Lilith's shirt.

"Always..." Lilith purred and started to run her own hands over her mate's body.

The fire, the passion, the quick and furious need that sprung up at a moment's notice, like when they were first together, had resurfaced. They had spent the last few weeks re-finding, renewing the romance, the passion that had never truly died between them. They found that they were acting more like young lovers themselves, the more time they spent with the Slayers.

They had become caught up in the whirlwind romance, the love, that the Slayers had been creating for and around each other and watching them had reminded the Immortals of all the wonders that being in love was and is.

Lilith grabbed the front of Clotho's shirt, pulled her towards her and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. She moaned low in her throat as she felt Clotho's hand slip under her shirt, the other unbuttoning it, freeing her to the cool morning air. She moaned again, when she felt that same hand travel up slowly to capture and tease her nipple between agile fingers.

Clotho bent her head and took the other nipple into the warmth of her mouth, gently laving it, wrapping her tongue around it. She trailed off down a gentle slope, stopped to nip, to suck and left her mate another little present to match the one on her neck.

She felt her own desire rise up fiercely and she slowly started to sink them down to the ground, while silently praying that the Slayers' didn't stumble upon them. She laid her mate carefully on the ground and then slid up onto her, one leg naturally sliding between both of Lilith's. She pressed her thigh up into the heat between her mate's legs and pressed her own down on the leg that her mate had risen to greet her.

Christ, they were like two randy teenagers, dry-humping in the forest no less, and both Immortals were loving every minute of it. They started a rhythm that, for them, truly was almost as old as time itself. Somewhere in the back of their minds they realized they were going to be late, but neither really cared.

Lilith dragged Clotho up to her again, pulling her head down to her own. Her mouth greeting Clotho's in a wet demanding kiss, their tongues dueling wildly with each other. She began to rock, slid herself against her mate's thigh, not believing how close she was to coming.

Her hands clutched at Clotho's hips, moving her with her, bringing Clotho harder into her thigh and herself more forcefully into Clotho's. She felt through their bond that Clotho was just as close as she and was just as unbelieving. They began to move against each other with more force, in perfect sync with each other.

Clotho's head dropped down to Lilith's shoulder when they broke their kiss. She was breathing heavy and she could feel the fire coiling deep within her, felt it starting to spread throughout every part of her body.

"Lil... Lil... Lil... can't believe this... so close... so good..." She lifted a little as she felt Lilith reach between them and pop the buttons on her pants. Lilith's hand slid inside, into her, her fingers unerringly finding exactly where and how to touch her. She raised herself up and started to ride her lover's hand, the tension boiling inside her, building.

"Lil close... don't stop Lil! Lil... Lil... LIL!" She stilled and then she felt the fire streak throughout all of her, leaving a trail of blazing heat over all of her skin. Her hips continuing to grind, buck into her mate, shuddering as her orgasm overtook her.

It took her a second or two after her climax started to slow and ebb to realize that Lilith was still moving under her. With a deftness and speed of an Immortal, she unbuttoned Lilith's pants and slid her hand, her fingers into Lilith's liquid heat.

She brought her thigh up behind her hand to bring more pressure into the thrust of her fingers into her mate. She lifted her head up to smile softly down at Lilith, watching the pleasure cross her face. She brought her thumb up to circle her lover's swollen nub and smiled again at Lilith's gasped, "Yes."

"Lil... you feel so hot... so wet... so unbelievably good... Lil, come for me Lil..."

Her hips became frantic as Clotho stroked her, she felt the orgasm gathering, ready to unleash it force over her, her muscles tensed and then it washed over her with the force of a tidal wave. Then rose higher as Clotho pushed her further, she gasped out her mate's name as she rode out the waves. She pulled Clotho down to her trembling body.

They lay holding each other for long minutes, then Lilith started laughing softly.

"I can't believe we just did that." She heard Clotho's chuckle rumble through her chest from where her head lay.

"We need to do that more often... I can't believe how hard I..." The rest of what Clotho was going to say was cut off by a scream.

They both immediately realized it was Buffy. Before they even had a chance to react they heard Faith's piercing scream, a scream that both Immortal's mistook for anguished pain. They both jumped to their feet, fear for both Slayers and what might be happening to them thundering through them.

They completely forgot about the protection spell that surrounded each cottage, thoughts of what had happened to the Slayers when Glory had abducted them flashed through their minds. Neither bothered to fix themselves or their clothes as they took off running, they were merely blurs as they ran the two hundred feet or so out of the forest and down the path to the Slayers cottage.

Lilith hit the door full force crashing through it.

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It all seemed to happen at the exact same second, all in slow motion and one of those things that would never happen even if they all planned it.

Lilith crashed through the front door of the Slayers' cottage and saw the last thing that she expected. "OH FUCK!" she hissed as she came to a skidding halt a foot inside the door.

Clotho, who was hot on Lilith's heels, saw her mate stop but was unable to herself. "OH SHIT!" Clotho yelled when she saw what had stopped Lilith. She slammed full force into Lilith's back, sending them both flying and falling into a tangled heap on the cottage floor.

Buffy lifted her head up from Faith's shoulder the very second she heard something hit the door, her mouth dropped open as she saw Lilith crash through it.

At the crash of the door, Faith tried to turn around, release Buffy, push her behind her so she could protect her and stand all at once.

Buffy never got a chance to release herself from around Faith, as Faith tried to do four things at once. Somehow, her legs got tangled up in Faith's as she tried to release them from around her waist, while Faith was trying to stand.

They started tipping over and before either Slayer could stop it, they tumbled from the bed onto the floor. They lay sprawled on the floor on their stomachs, the beanie babies and the black and white panthers, under and around them. They were facing the tangled Immortals who were also sprawled on the floor by the door.

Faith half on top of Buffy lifted her head, glared and actually growled at Lilith and Clotho, and if she didn't know better she would have sworn that Buffy was stifling giggles underneath her.

Clotho gave both Slayers a sheepish grin as she began untangling herself from Lilith.

Faith sat up with her back to the Immortals and pulled the sheet and comforter from the bed to cover herself and Buffy. She wrapped Buffy in the comforter and herself in the sheet. She pulled Buffy onto her lap and leaned back against the bed still glaring at the Immortals.

Buffy buried her head in the crook of her neck, her whole body was shaking against her and now she knew for sure that Buffy was stifling giggles. It took all of her willpower not to join her mate in a fit of giggles, because the whole thing was actually kind of funny.

Both Immortals finally managed to sit up. "I'm... ah... we're... ah shit we're sorry... we heard a scream and well... " Clotho looked at Lilith for some help and saw a smirk on Lilith's face that let her know in her gut that Lilith was going to say something that she was going to want to thrash her for later. "Don't..." she warned Lilith.

"What?" Lilith looked at Clotho with a deceivingly innocent smile. "We're sorry, we heard Buffy scream and then you scream Buffy's name, and, well, we thought well... Obviously, we thought you were being attacked. And I guess, well, we weren't really wrong... We just sort of misinterpreted the ah... type of attack."

Clotho gave a sigh of relief when Lilith didn't say whatever it was that her mischievous mind had been thinking, she should have known better.

"Not a problem as long as you fix the door..."

"We can do that, Faith... Clotho and I just need to go back to our place and get the toolkit. We can't use magic to fix what we break. Kind of helps with the damage control, so we Immortals aren't trashing things every time we get pissed off," Lilith got up to her feet and helped Clotho who motioned at her. "Oh and while we're gone you might want to have Buffy put some ointment on your back, those scratc..." She didn't get to finish what she wanted to say because Clotho had put a hand very firmly over her mouth.

"Ooops... Sorry, Faith..." Buffy mumbled against Faith's neck.

"Yeah, I'll do that, and maybe you want to put some makeup on those hickeys on your neck and boob, Gran. You both might want to button up your shirts and pants too... And there seems to be a little twig forest growin' in your hair there, Gran..."

Both Immortals turned beet red when they realized that both their pants were undone and half hanging off them, not to mention Lilith's shirt was still completely unbuttoned and it was only by sheer luck that both Slayers didn't get to see first-hand Lilith's firm breasts.

"I guess we aren't the only ones that can blush. Aren't they so cute? Kinda... like frisky cubs, wouldn't you say so Faith?" Both Slayers started laughing and the Immortals, after they got over being mortified and their clothes straightened out, joined in their laughter.

"We'll call you when we're ready for you to come fix the door. There's something I need to show Faith first." Buffy's hand had found its way underneath the sheet covering Faith and was slowly making its way up the inside of Faith's right thigh.

"Sure no problem..." Clotho waved a hand and she and Lilith faded from the Slayers' cottage.

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They continued to laugh for a few minutes after the Immortals faded from the cottage. Buffy curled up into Faith, her hand just resting lightly on her thigh. She sat up facing Faith after a few more minutes; lifted her hand from Faith's thigh and gently traced the dent in Faith's bottom lip. "Did I ever tell you how much I love this little dent?" Faith just stared at Buffy wide-eyed, with a sort of innocence that always made Buffy's breath catch and this time was no different. She traced the outline of Faith's mouth with her fingertip, getting lost in her eyes. "I do you know..."

She captured Buffy's gently tracing finger between her lips, drawing it into the warm, moist cavity of her mouth. Sucking tenderly on it, laving it with her tongue and watched as Buffy's eyes started to turn gold with her reawakened desire.

She felt something awaken deep in her and could hear not only the soft rumbling, growling purr coming from her own chest but her mate's as well. She lifted her own hand and took hold of the one that was delicately tracing her mouth again. She kissed each fingertip then raised her eyes back up to Buffy's golden ones. "Thank you..." she whispered so softly that only another Slayer or Immortal could have heard her.

"For what?" Buffy asked her just as softly.

"For everything. For being there for me, for being patient. For helping me to remember, for showing me again how beautiful making love with the person you love is. For making me feel clean, feel whole again. For just being you and for loving me." Her voice was husky with raw emotion, there was so much more she wanted to say, but the words were eluding her.

Expressing herself still didn't come easy for her, she didn't have all the pretty words and most of the time what she wanted to say came out half-ass backwards. She could only hope that Buffy understood what she was trying to say.

"You're welcome... Thank you for trusting me enough to let me be the one to show and experience all of it, before and now again with you. And for sharing yourself with me, for showing me again too, how beautiful making love is.

"For being there for me, for all that you've done for me. For helping me to feel whole again. But most of all for gifting me with your love." And like Faith there was so much more that she wanted to say, but she wasn't even sure if there were words to describe what it was that she felt for Faith. Or to express what Faith had given to her in return for the simple act of loving her.

They leaned towards each other. Their mouths barely grazing the other's. They shared a kiss of infinite tenderness, commitment, and love. And while neither needed to say it to the other, they both knew it was a kiss between their souls.

They sat staring at each other after the kiss until a cool breeze blew across both of them. They both turned their heads toward the front door that was hanging haphazardly off its hinges thanks to Lilith.

"Well, at least their timing wasn't as bad as it could have been," Buffy said between giggles.

"Yeah it's a good thing I didn't make you sing sooner B."

"Sing? What are you talking about?" Buffy was puzzled, then she watched amazed as Faith turned the brightest shade of red she had ever seen.

"Sing? I didn't mean to say that, I meant to say..." She paused, she couldn't think of a damn thing to say that didn't sound absolutely stupid in her own head. "Ummm... Nothin'... I was talking about nothin', B?..." She shrugged her shoulders and felt her face grow hotter as she blushed even harder.

Buffy stared at Faith and couldn't help think that she looked so cute blushing. Now she really wanted to know what Faith was talking about! "No way you're getting off that easy F! Don't make me tickle you to get you to tell me..."

Faith stared back at Buffy in mock horror at the thought, then shook her head no.

Buffy stared back and gave Faith her best pout and puppy dog eyes, her finger idly tracing, writing on Faith's chest. "Please, baby... Please Fai..." she begged prettily.

Faith could feel herself beginning to crack, then she cracked completely when she realized that Buffy was writing over and over again on her chest; 'B loves F.'

With a groan, she told Buffy, "You don't play fair... You know that don't ya, B?" Then she proceeded to turn even redder. Just then Buffy's stomach growled loudly and Faith gave her a lopsided grin, "How about I make you breakfast for a change?"

"'K, and you can tell me all about this singin' thingy while you're cooking." Buffy jumped up and practically skipped over to the dresser, Faith just watched her, a silly grin on her own face.

She caught the oversized t-shirt that Buffy threw at her. When she tried to drop the sheet from her, she only managed to get her arm tangled up in one of the holes Buffy had ripped in it. She got up to her feet, untangled the sheet from her, slipped on the shirt, then held the sheet up in front of her. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the two large holes in the sheet. She saw Buffy turn bright red when she turned around and saw her looking at her through one of the holes in the sheet.

"Nice job B... What'd the sheet ever do to you?" Faith teased her.

A slow sensual smile came over Buffy's face in total contrast with her bright red cheeks and the oversized t-shirt that made her look more like she was fourteen rather than twenty. Even so, Faith's eyes were glued to Buffy as she moved with a graceful, sensuous stride towards her.

She stopped right in front of Faith and looked back at her through the hole in the sheet, which Faith realized she was still holding up. She started to drop her arms then stopped when Buffy leaned into her sliding her hands up her raised arms, then slowly back down raking her nails lightly on her arms through the sheet. Faith didn't think she could have moved right then even if she wanted to, which she didn't.

"The sheet didn't do anything to me, it was all you." Buffy groaned mentally, that sounded stupid even to her, especially since her voice came out so low, husky and throaty when she said it.

Stupid or not, she saw the shudder go through Faith, and watched as her eyes grew darker, and the emerald flecks started to glow. She leaned further into Faith, stood up on her tiptoes and captured that full bottom lip that was calling to her. She ran her tongue delicately down over the dent that only a little while ago she had told Faith she loved so much. She nipped it a little before letting her tongue trace along her top lip, then enticed Faith to open her mouth for her.

She teasingly let her tongue play with her mate's as she deepened their kiss. She couldn't help smiling into the kiss as she heard Faith rip the sheet in half so she could get her arms around her. The sheet fell forgotten around their feet as Faith hauled her into her tightly. One kiss blended into another, then other, each one become increasingly hot, open, wet, demanding and deeper.

The Chosen Two's stomachs decided to growl and grumble loudly their protest at not being feed a few kisses later and they both dissolved into giggles the second time it happened again in sync.

"I think our stomachs are conspiring with each other against us." Buffy half kissed, half giggled against Faith's mouth. Both the Slayers' stomachs grumbled together as if agreeing with Buffy's comment.

"They are like two little kids, gonna keep annoying us 'til they get their way." Faith growled out looking first at Buffy's stomach, which growled back, then at her own which did the same.

"Well that settles it. Get in the kitchen and cook me some breakfast, my little woman!" Buffy tried out her best 'bossy' voice on Faith who just cocked an eyebrow at her. She swatted Faith on the butt playfully, "Now, woman!"

"You... you... little... woman... you swatted my butt..." Faith mumbled under her breath.

Buffy took a few steps back from Faith and crossed her arms across her chest, an impish grin on her face. "That's right, my little woman! I kinda like it, might introduce you that way. Meet Faith... My little woman, isn't she cute? Maybe get you one of those sexy little French-maid outfits too... hmmmm... likin' that idea... Now are ya gonna get in the kitchen and make me my breakfast or what like a good little woman..."

She watched as a multitude of expressions crossed Faith's face, from laughter to disbelief. Then she saw the evil glint in Faith's eyes and she giggled.

"Oh I'm gonna make ya breakfast all right, B..." Faith purred a second before she pounced.

"OH SHIT!" Buffy squeaked before she took off running for the kitchen.

Faith caught her around the waist from behind before she made it through the door. She spun around, fell on the chaise lounge, Buffy underneath her and started tickling her without mercy. "Little woman... nope not happening... Swatting my butt... French-maid outfit like that idea... for you B..." She muttered while Buffy squirmed and shrieked with laughter underneath her.

Buffy wriggled under Faith on her stomach, trying to turn over and get away from her tickling fingers. She knew however, there was no way that was going to happen with Faith lying fully on top of her. Suddenly she became aware of the fact that not only had her t-shirt hiked itself up to somewhere around her breasts but so had Faith's.

She was acutely aware of Faith's silky skin sliding along her own, Faith's breasts pressing into her back burning holes where they touched her. Acutely aware of the soft tickle of the trimmed hair of Faith's sex brushing up against her buttocks, of Faith's legs straddling one of her own. Her shriek of laughter turned into a low moan when she felt Faith's knee press up intimately into her, her whole body jumping in reaction.

Then Faith's fingers, that were seconds ago poking and tickling her started to slide, tease and caress her. One hand slid up caressing her rib cage, while the other moved out from under her and moved her hair away from and off her neck. Her whole body shuddered as she felt Faith's mouth lightly grazing the back of her neck. She began to push herself up and back into Faith. She pushed further up into her as Faith's hand slid up further to run along the sensitive underside of her breasts. Desire started careening through her madly, fiercely, hotly.

Faith leaned back onto her calves her hand impatiently pulling Buffy's t-shirt higher. Buffy start to turn over when Faith lifted her body from her.

"No... stay don't move... stay like that..." She smiled when she heard Buffy moan as she settled back down onto her stomach.

Faith bent down low over Buffy, starting at the base of her neck and felt as Buffy arched her back like a cat in her tongue's wake as she blazed a trail down the whole length of Buffy's spine. She lifted a little and scooted forward, her knee, thigh pressing once more into Buffy's wet heat; a shudder ran through her when Buffy moaned her name. She lay down fully onto to Buffy, her mouth nipping lightly at the base of her neck and felt Buffy tremble beneath her.

"Have I managed to arouse another hunger in you B?" She whispered low, husky into Buffy's ear.

"Yes... I, Faith... I need..." The rest of what Buffy was going to say was drowned out by possibly the loudest growling grumbles coming from both Slayers' stomachs that either had ever heard.

"Food..." Faith rasped and then couldn't help giggle as both their stomachs grumbled their agreement to the suggestion.

"No... You... want you now..." Buffy moaned and her stomach growled a protest. Even she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her, she was really beginning to believe her stomach and Faith's were actually plotting together against them.

"How about..." Faith whispered, stopping for a brief second to slowly slide a little further up Buffy and captured her earlobe gently between her teeth.

"Yes..." Buffy reached one hand behind her and pulled Faith's head closer to her.

"I feed your stomach... and..." Faith ran her tongue along the shell of Buffy's ear then moved to nip and suckle lightly at the sensitive skin behind it.

"And..." Buffy asked as she trembled again and was thankful that her stomach was quiet.

"And... after I feed your, our stomachs, I take care of feeding your soul..." Faith sat back up onto to her calves and gently turned Buffy over. This time it was Faith who started to tremble as Buffy ran her hand up from right above her sex to her collarbone, to behind her neck and pulled her back down.

"Yes..." Buffy whispered against Faith's mouth before claiming it for her own.

Faith wasn't sure if she could stand after Buffy finished devouring her mouth, she lay against Buffy for a few minutes her head buried in Buffy's neck. Her breathing labored; her whole body trembling; smiling softly as she listened to the rapid pounding of Buffy's heart and ragged breathing. She finally moved when both their stomachs grumbled a quiet protest. She sat up pulling Buffy with her.

"Friggin' Slayer metabolism... always gotta feed it..."

"It does have its perks though..." Buffy purred, leaving not a single doubt in Faith's mind what she was talking about.

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Buffy leaned against the counter and watched Faith as she puttered around the kitchen, pulling out pots, pans, utensils and a cutting board. Her mouth dropped opened a little in surprise as she watched Faith set up everything just so, as if she were arranging a display of precious sculptures or some such nonsense.

Her eyes were inevitability drawn over the sleek lines of Faith's body as she moved about the kitchen. She liked the way the muscles moved in Faith's thighs and calves as she walked around the kitchen setting the table in nothing but the oversized, but short t-shirt. Her thoughts drifted to those well-muscled long legs wrapping around her, sliding along her own, how they felt under her hands, tasted beneath her mouth. She saw a shudder ripple through Faith and heard a low moan come from her.

Faith's knees grew weak and she almost dropped the coffee cups she had in her hands, as her mind was flooded with images from Buffy in an echo. "B... god you're killin' me..."

"What?" Buffy asked innocently, then let her mind drift a little more, and returned the favor of an echo filled with sensual images like Faith had done to her this morning. She liked this; in fact, she was overjoyed that Faith had made her realize they could use their bond like this. Another thought filtered through her mind.

Wonder if that will work too? Only one way to find out... Hang on Faith, I'm gonna try a new trick!

She lifted her hand and ran it lightly over her own breast, circling the nipple, teasing herself, she lightly pinched her hard nipple between her fingers and a sultry laughed escaped her when she saw Faith's whole body jump.

Faith hastily put the coffee cups down on the table and then grabbed onto the edge of it as Buffy flooded her again with images and hot, lusty feelings. Her whole body jumped when she felt the shadow-like touch in an echo of Buffy touching her own breast. Then she started to quiver when she felt another shadow-touch of fingers on her nipple.

"I've created a nympho'... all I wanted was for you to sing..." she growled below a whisper then Buffy's low laugh sent another shudder of desire through her.

"Well, that answered that question. Now about that singin' thingy..." Buffy purred to Faith.

Great Faith! Good job! Make her forget about the singin' shit and then mumble it. Slayer hearing, ever hear of it? Didn't think so, duh!

"Come on baby, you said you would tell me..."

"No I didn't Gizmo..." Faith turned around to face Buffy, hoping it was safe to let go of the table. She saw a wicked gleam appear briefly in Buffy's eyes which were more gold than hazel right now. She threw her blocks up a second before she got slammed with another echo.

"No fair, Fai... You're blocking me..." Buffy pouted.

"If I don't we'll never eat breakfast and I'll end up being a mindless puddle on the floor."

"Really?" Buffy asked her half seriously, half coyly.

"As if you didn't already know that, B..."

Faith gave Buffy one of her lopsided grins, then moved so fast that all Buffy saw was a blur. She pulled Buffy to her roughly, lifting her so she was sitting up on the counter. She moaned a little when she felt Buffy wrap her legs around her waist and felt Buffy's hot, wet, heat press against her stomach.

She slammed her mouth down on Buffy's almost brutally, her tongue demanding entrance, taking possession of Buffy's mouth, in a kiss of total dominance and need. When she felt her stomach getting ready to growl another protest at being neglected, she pulled away abruptly ending the kiss.

"Food first, the rest later..." She barely managed to mumble out, "Now behave, B..."

Buffy just nodded her head mutely, her mouth hanging open a little, her breathing shallow, she put her hands on the counter behind her, to support herself.

Faith had to tear her eyes away from the sight of Buffy sitting on the counter leaning back slightly on her hands. Her t-shirt hiked up around her hips, her leg splayed wide as if she were still standing between them, her curls glistening moistly, calling out to her to touch them.

She started mumbling, cursing Slayer metabolism and their stomachs, which seemed to be conspiring against them as she made her way over to the refrigerator on shaky legs. She tore open the fridge door, still mumbling and grabbed what she needed.

Buffy watched Faith move away from her unbelievingly. Her eyes lovingly and hungrily, tracing the lean line of Faith's body as she moved around the kitchen, pulling, eggs, bacon, strawberries, milk and god only knew what else out of the fridge.

She jumped down from the counter and sat on a chair at the table her eyes still hungrily watching Faith. She tried to calm down her body, which thirsted for Faith's touch still and she knew Faith's thirsted for hers as well, she could feel it through their bond.

She watched as Faith began to prepare breakfast and realized that while Lilith had been giving her cooking lesson it looked like Faith was the one that had actually learned something. She seemed to move and putter about with a confidence and surety that surprised Buffy. It was in its own way quite endearing and cute as hell.

"So... you were going to tell me about this singin' thing. Weren't you baby?..." Was that her voice so low, sultry and throaty? She smiled when she heard more mumbling coming from Faith. "You need to speak up I can't hear you."

"Well... um... you see it kinda was a plan for..." Faith trailed off, how was she supposed to explain to her about her plan to tease the hell out of her until her control snapped. "You know how I kept..."

Buffy fell into the sound of Faith's voice as she talked. Loving the raspy, husky, deep timber of it, the little ripples that it caused under her skin, she was hearing what Faith was saying on some level it just wasn't actually sinking in yet. She didn't realized that Faith had stopped talking until she heard her name called for the second time.

"What?"

"So are you ah... mad at me?"

She focused on Faith's face and noticed she was blushing again and Buffy whose thoughts were still somewhere in the gutter, thought she looked both innocent and hot at the same time. All at once, everything Faith had just told her sunk in.

Faith had been teasing the hell out of her, purposely getting her worked up for over a week and then backing off. On one hand Buffy understood why, she had been hearing what Faith had been telling her over the last week or so, but she hadn't really been listening. She arched an eyebrow at Faith, "No... not mad at you baby..." She purred.

Faith took one look at the wicked gleam in Buffy's eyes and the purring of her voice and knew she was in deep shit. Buffy might not be mad, but Faith knew a little payback would be coming her way in the near future. Then again, that kind of payback she didn't really mind.

She turned her attention back to making breakfast, strawberry pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, bacon and toast. She put four slices of bread into the toaster and the bacon and sausage went into the toaster oven at the same time. She cracked a dozen eggs into a bowl, added a little milk and a pinch of parsley then whipped the hell out of the eggs until they were more froth than eggs. The whole time she was acutely aware of Buffy's eyes lazily running over her body.

She moved the eggs off to the side for now and grabbed the box of pancake mix, she realized she didn't have a bowl to mix it in and without thinking stood up on her toes and reached up for a bowl on the second to top shelf of the cabinet in front of her.

She set about making the pancake mix, thinking how much she loved her Slayer strength and smiled with pleasure as she stirred the mix until there wasn't a single lump in it. She was surprised to find that she actually liked this cooking thing; she turned on the flat skillet for the pancakes and the frying pan for the eggs so they would get hot. Satisfied that the heat was the right temperature she turned her attention to slicing the strawberries, heard a soft growling purr come from Buffy and then heard the whoosh of air as Buffy moved.

She continued to devour Faith with her eyes as she set about making breakfast. Her thoughts once more drifting into the proverbial gutter and a little bit of a payback plan began to form for Faith, for keeping her right there on the edge for over a week. Faith said she wanted her B back, so Buffy was going to give her exactly what she wanted.

She licked her lips in anticipation at the thoughts that were roaming through her mind. She decided she would wait until tomorrow to start. For now, she was fighting to keep her own arousal in check, as well as her thoughts and almost won the fight until Faith reached up for the bowl.

She saw the bottom of Faith's firm buttocks peek out from underneath the t-shirt and she lost all her self-restraint. She flew out of the chair and using all her Slayer speed was across the kitchen in a flash. She pressed herself flat up against Faith's back, having to go up on her toes as she reached over Faith's shoulder for a strawberry.

"Yum... these look good. Can I have one?" She let her mouth brush up against Faith's ear as she purred out her question, smiling as she felt Faith tremble a little against her.

"Su... sure B..." Faith stuttered as the feel of Buffy against her back burned her. She focused on cutting the strawberries and not one of her fingers off, as she felt Buffy briefly nip her earlobe before grabbing a strawberry off the cutting board.

"Thanks," she grabbed the fattest, juiciest strawberry, took a bite, catching the juice as it slid over her lips and let out a little moan of pleasure. "Mmmmm this is good, want a bite?"

Faith stood stock still, memories washing over her of the morning they had spent in the garden at the Mansion feeding each other fresh fruit for breakfast. She felt a chill go down her spine from Buffy's warm breath tickling her neck. She just nodded her head not wanting to risk stuttering again.

"Open..."

Faith opened her mouth for the strawberry, which Buffy fed to her, then started to trail sticky fingertips along her mouth. Faith couldn't resist, she captured them with her mouth, and mumbled around them, "Sweet too..."

She felt Buffy's free hand skimming up the back of her thigh to her buttocks, where Buffy paused briefly to massage and knead, then Buffy's hand traveled up over the lower half of her back, around to her front not stopping until she had one of Faith's breasts in the palm of her hand.

"Beeeee..." Faith moaned, as the fever that was Buffy raged through her. Then Buffy's other hand swooped down to capture her other breast.

It took all of her will power not to sink to the ground as Buffy massaged one breast almost roughly, while teasing the other with light touches. Buffy started rubbing herself against her back like a cat and Faith's legs began to shake.

One of Buffy's hands traveled down from her breast, drawing little patterns over her ribcage, circling her navel, and Faith held her breath in anticipation as her hand moved lower still. She grabbed onto the counter for dear life when Buffy nipped the back of her neck and tweaked her clit at the same time, a guttural moan escaping her. They both smelled the bacon and sausage start to burn at the same time.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck!" Faith snarled yanking the toaster oven door open.

Buffy moved from behind Faith to stand next to her, feeling a little guilty, considering all the effort Faith was putting into making them breakfast.

"I'm sorry... It looks salvageable. Why don't you let me take care of this and the toast and you make the pancakes and eggs. I promise to be good."

"Don't apologize, B... I'm not mad, just wish I had thought to shut it off is all." She leaned down and gave Buffy a soft, tender kiss. "Let's just get food out of the way... this way no more interruptions. 'K?"

"'K..."

They moved quickly, working together to finish making breakfast. And like everything else they did together from Slaying to making love, they did it with a natural harmony and gracefulness.

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She was washing the pots and pans, feeling Buffy's eyes roaming over her. Her body thrilling to Buffy's gaze almost as if it were Buffy's hands, not her eyes, tracing hungrily over her skin. She had almost forgotten how easily, how completely just the slightest touch from Buffy sent all her senses afire.

She was trembling from the desire that was pounding through her, afraid to even look down, as she was absolutely certain there was a puddle on the floor by her feet. She continued to wash the dishes almost trance like, while Buffy continued to eat her breakfast way too fucking slow!

She should have known better the second Buffy decided to sit right next to her and had pulled her chair closer. She had almost choked on her mouthful of pancakes when she felt Buffy's hand lightly slide up her thigh a minute or two after they first started eating. And Buffy just kept on eating, sliding her hand lightly, gently, tenderly along her thigh the whole time they ate.

She wasn't really sure what she had eaten, she could have eaten a whole stick of butter and wouldn't have noticed it as Buffy's hand slid along her thigh almost absentmindedly. She had practically inhaled her breakfast, but Buffy was still eating so fucking slowly they would be a hundred years old before she finished. When she had finished eating, she had to get up and move, another minute of that delicate touch on her thigh and she would have gone completely insane, that was how she ended up washing the dishes.

Buffy watched Faith as she finished eating. She was purposely taking her time, trying to sort through all the images she was getting from Faith through their bond. There were things skirting around the edges that Buffy didn't think Faith was even aware of.

She knew Faith wanted her B back but Buffy knew she still needed to tread carefully. There was fear floating behind the desire that Faith was feeling, Buffy knew from their bond that Faith feared anyone being on top of her right now and Buffy wanted to avoid causing that fear to escalate or being associated with her.

There were other things too that she feared and even though Buffy knew on a conscious level that Faith had no fear of her, on a subconscious level Faith feared anyone doing any of those things to her, including Buffy. Time was the healer now, and in time Buffy knew they would work through this together as Faith started to work through them on her own. But she wanted to make sure that she didn't force them to the surface before Faith was ready emotionally to deal with them.

After this morning, Buffy knew she couldn't go back to acting hesitant to touch or be around Faith sexually. Doing that would give Faith the wrong message; make her think that Buffy did see her as a broken, frail version of herself and that was the last thing Faith needed. The problem was how to still tread carefully, but be herself at the same time?

She hadn't meant to get Faith so worked up while they had been eating breakfast, she had just wanted to touch her, so she had. Now the problem was how to approach her, before she would have just finished eating and attacked Faith at the sink, but she was worried about what might happen if she did that. She was brought out of her internal musing by Faith's voice.

"B... please... please... finish eating... " Faith was clutching the pot so hard in her hand she was afraid she was going to bend it. With each passing second, she became more anxious.

Everything was spinning round and round in her head again, she was afraid of freezing up, afraid of making Buffy feel rejected and she didn't understand it, not after this morning. Why was this happening again, why were all the fears resurfacing? How could they be? Especially since her desire to make love with Buffy was still there, still as strong, almost painful in how aroused she was. She was so caught up in her head she had no idea that she had spoken aloud.

Buffy just decided to follow her instincts, hoping that they once again would guide her correctly. She piled the rest of the dishes from the table and carried them over to the sink. She stood next to Faith, leaning into her a little as she placed the dishes into the sink.

"You want help doing the dishes baby?" Buffy asked then leaned up and gently kissed the side of Faith's neck.

"Nope almost done... ah... why don't you go relax in the other room and I'll be there in a few minutes. 'K?" Her voice trembled a little as the conflict raged on inside of her. She needed a few minutes alone to try to sort out what was going on in her head and she couldn't do that with Buffy in the same room.

Buffy smiled softly at Faith and gently rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay..." She started to turn away and then turned back, "Faith?" Buffy waited for Faith to turn her head back towards her, she couldn't help but see the confusion in those deep dark, chocolate brown eyes. She leaned up and kissed her tenderly, but with passion and love. She smiled softly at Faith again after their lips parted, she turned and walked to the swinging door, she turned around once again. "And Faith..."

"Yeah, B..."

"Still gonna get one of those little sexy French maid outfits for you, my little woman..." Buffy ducked, ran through the door and giggled when she heard the sponge that Faith winged at her hit the door wetly.

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She stayed motionless in front of the sink after she finished the dishes trying to sort through the jumbled, conflicting thoughts running riot in her head. She realized at some point that she was spending too much time thinking about all that could go wrong or might happen, instead of just enjoying the way she was feeling, enjoying the way that Buffy could make her feel.

She was focusing on the negatives instead of the positives and forcing the fears to the surface. A part of her still believing that after all that had happened that somehow her feeling this way was wrong. This morning had been different because she had been concentrating on Buffy and not on herself, and in the process had let herself just feel.

She further realized that this would probably happen again, would probably happen for a long time to come, but that over time it would lessen as she began to believe within herself that she deserved all the good things, all the beautiful things that life had to offer.

She knew what she felt for Buffy was right, knew that wanting to make love with Buffy was natural, was a beautiful thing. She had been reminded, shown that this morning and like she had all those months ago Faith made the decision not to let her fears, her insecurities, and certainly not what the two depraved people who had raised her to believe about herself, rule her life anymore.

She deserved this life, she had worked hard on slaying her demons, was still working on making amends, finding redemption, and she wasn't going to let them, any of them, and certainly not herself destroy this second chance or take it away from her.

It was time she started to learn how to love herself, it was time for her to start seeing and believing all the things that Buffy, Angel, Dawn, the Scoobs, the LA crew and now the Immortals saw in her and give herself the chance to be happy. And maybe in the long run being happy was the thing that scared her the most, it was something she was for the most part completely unfamiliar with, having only known it sporadically over her twenty years.

It was something she had never thought she ever deserved or could be and now after all this time it was something she found that she had started to believe again. But no more, she owned her life, she had control, they didn't, her dark side didn't, the person she had always been deep down inside did and she had every intention of making not only her own dreams come true, but Buffy's as well.

"Hey," she said as she walked out of the kitchen. She was feeling a little bit awkward, a lot shy, nervous, not to mention still aroused. All and all though she felt good, the fear was still there around the edges but she felt confident that she could handle it, and if not, she had Buffy there to help her work through it.

"Hey back." Buffy was sitting on the chaise lounge; she had been idly thumbing through the Piers Anthony book they were currently reading from the Incarnates series. She searched Faith's face as she listened to what their bond was telling her, all of it came to her. She smiled encouragingly at Faith and just opened her arms to her.

Faith flew across the room and curled up into Buffy's lap, her arms going around her at the same time she lay her head down on Buffy's shoulder.

"How did you know?" Faith's voice was low just barely above a whisper.

"Know what?" Buffy started to gently, but firmly massage the back of Faith's neck trying to ease some of the tension she felt beneath her fingertips.

"Well, in the past few weeks every time I got scared or was struggling, you were right there. How did you know this time was different; that I wanted to try to work through it myself? You knew even before I did."

"I'm not really sure, it just felt different somehow. It was kind of floating around the edges in the bond and I wasn't really sure if you were even aware of it yet. And I guess I'm just relying on my instincts in a way and I felt like this was something you needed to figure out or deal with on your own. Was I wrong?"

"No, B. You weren't wrong and I did need to figure it out by myself."

"And did you? I mean did you figure it out? Do you want to talk about it?" Buffy leaned her cheek against the top of Faith's head after she finished speaking.

"Yeah I did and no I don't need to talk about it. It was just kind of hard to figure it out while you were in the room, ya know? Then again, you probably already know that. You..." Faith paused, not sure how to explain herself or say what she wanted to say. She gnawed on her bottom lip for a minute, "You know what I mean right...?"

The husky laugh Buffy gave her let Faith know that Buffy knew exactly what she meant. "I have the same problem Fai. I have a hard time thinking about anything other than you and how you make me feel when you're in the same room with me."

Faith started idly playing with the hem of her t-shirt, trying to relax into the warmth that was Buffy and the heat from the fire. She was still nervous, which she knew was ridiculous, it wasn't like she was exactly a virgin, but she just couldn't shake it. She felt Buffy gently lay her hand over her own.

"Thought maybe you might like to read to me for a change," Buffy waved the book at Faith.

Faith sat up a little and away from Buffy turning slightly so she could see her face. She knew Buffy had to feel how nervous she was through their bond. She searched her eyes and for a few brief seconds she wondered if Buffy was seeing her as a broken, frail version of herself. At Buffy's slow shake of her head no, Faith knew that wasn't the case.

She finally felt, amid all the jumbled thoughts within herself, Buffy's own nervousness. And what she saw in Buffy's eyes, warmth, desire, passion, love and even the lust told her everything she needed to know. Buffy was just giving them the opportunity to relax with each other again. Her B was still there, Faith could see her in the impish, mischievous grin Buffy gave her when she realized that Faith had figured out everything on her own. This time it was Faith who relinquished all control to Buffy, trusting her to lead them wherever she wanted to go.

She handed the book to Faith and smiled at her, there was a little bit of the devil in her eyes that had more gold than normal in them. Faith smiled back at her, her own eyes a little more emerald than normal.

"You sure you want me to read B?" Faith asked her a little hesitantly, she still stumbled a little over some of the words when she read aloud. Reading, other than comic books was not a way she had spent a lot of her free time. She found however that it was something she really enjoyed. It was doing it aloud though that she wasn't too enthusiastic about.

"Yeah I do... Can't help it; just love the sound of your voice."

"Okay."

"Why don't you make yourself comfortable, lean up a little and I'll rub your back. Get rid of some of that tension I can see you've got going on."

"Wonder where all that tension came from B?"

She leaned forward and kissed Buffy. A kiss that was full of passion and love, that set everything Buffy had within her afire, and didn't exactly put out the fire that was still running through Faith's own veins.

"Smart ass... Now read!" Buffy teased her.

Faith just gave Buffy a lopsided grin then moved to reposition herself. She shifted until she was sitting in-between Buffy's legs. She drew her own knees up to her chest, rested the book on them and started to read aloud.

Buffy reached behind her on the floor and grabbed up the massage oil she had warming by the fire. She pulled Faith's shirt out from under her and then liberally poured the oil into her own hands. She slid her hands up from the base of Faith's spine to the base of her neck, smiling with each little sigh that escaped from Faith. She fell into both rubbing the tension from Faith's back, neck, shoulders, arms and the sound of Faith's voice as it grew increasingly deeper, huskier and raspier as she read.

Faith found it harder and harder to keep on reading as Buffy's hands moved over her. Massaging out all the tension, soothing away the nervousness and setting every piece of skin she touched ablaze with desire. She couldn't help the mumbled moan that escaped her, "B... feels so good..."

She felt Buffy's hands ease up on the pressure they were exerting. Buffy began to move her hands lightly, slowly, smoothing the silky oil into her skin and Faith turned into jello. She gave up the fight and stopped reading, tossing the book to the floor. She lay her head down atop her knees, closed her eyes and just let herself drown in the feelings Buffy's tracing, teasing hands were creating in her.

"This would be easier if we took this off, Fai..."

Buffy's throaty voice sent a chill down Faith's spine. She simply raised her arms and let Buffy remove the t-shirt from her, then she lay her head back down on her knees and fell back into the red haze of desire Buffy was creating in her. After a time, though Faith had no idea how long, she felt Buffy's gentle hands pulling her back to her. She leaned back into Buffy and could do nothing but moan as she felt Buffy dribble warm oil over her chest.

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Her head was resting back on Buffy's shoulder, neck arched, she wasn't quite sure how she had ended up in this position and she really didn't care. At some point she had tried to convince Buffy to remove her t-shirt too only she couldn't quite put a complete sentence together. The only thing she cared about now was the soft caress of Buffy's breath against her neck.

She arched her neck even further as she felt Buffy's mouth, her tongue running along its length. Her eyes closed, she could have sooner stopped breathing before she could stop the little whimpers and moans that escaped from her.

There were little land mines going off all over her body as she trembled from the desire hammering through her. There was something a little decadent about her being a quivering, naked bundle of need, while Buffy still in her t-shirt continued to give her the most sensual massage Faith ever had. She was chanting in her head a new mantra of, 'Please B, please B, please B...'

She had wanted her B back and she was certainly getting her. Buffy's hands were roaming over her in random patterns, her touch light, gentle, caressing, teasing and everything Faith could want. Only she wanted more of it. She tried to turn in Buffy's embrace wanting to touch her in return, wanting her to remove that damn t-shirt that was keeping Buffy's warm skin from touching her own.

Buffy was totally abandoning herself to what she was feeling, what she was feeling through the bond that Faith was feeling as she ran her hands, smoothing, rubbing, skimming, stroking the warm oil into Faith's skin. As her fingertips, her hands, her senses remembered, relished the silky-smooth texture of Faith, her skin, her sighs, her breath, her smell, everything. As she just remembered Faith.

She stilled Faith as she tried to turn around; her arms came around Faith's waist holding her to her, burying her nose in her hair, inhaling the slightly, sweet, spicy, musky scent that was simply just Faith.

"B... I want to touch you too..." Faith managed to get out, it was getting harder to keep a coherent thought in her head as Buffy's hands started to move over her breasts again.

"I need... want to just touch you... It feels like forever since I've touched you and... and... it's all I want right now. All I need. Just want to concentrate on what you're feeling... Want to feel inside me through our bond how you feel when I touch you..."

And Buffy realized that she needed this, needed to know that she too could make Faith feel this way. Needed to erase, or start to erase the bad memories. Needed to replace the hurtful touches with her own loving touch. Needed to know that Faith trusted her to keep her safe.

"Please Faith... Please just let me touch you for now..."

And somewhere in the back of her mind Faith knew this had to do with Buffy's need to start erasing his touch from her skin, the same way Faith had needed to start erasing it from Buffy's. So, she just gave in and let Buffy have her way and the smile Buffy gave her was blinding.

Then Buffy rewove a web of such desire, such want, such blatant need and love completely around her that Faith became lost again in a sea of sensations.

Her whole body jumped, arched up into Buffy's hand as she rolled one of her nipples between her fingertips. She turned her head and looked up at Buffy, then Buffy's mouth was on hers, she tasted like strawberries and cream and Faith moaned Buffy's name into the kiss. Her arms reached up and she wrapped them around Buffy's neck pulling Buffy to her to deepen the kiss.

Faith was drowning in the kiss, her heart racing, every part of her awake and calling out for her mate.

Without stopping the kiss, Buffy ran her own hands up from Faith's breasts, over the insides of her arms, scraping her nails lightly, knowing that she left a trail of goose bumps behind them. Then she reversed her direction and made her way back down the inside of Faith's arms.

She ran teasing patterns over her chest, stopping briefly to tease a nipple, down to her flat stomach, to run a single finger over the top of the Faith's trim curls. Her other hand roaming where it pleased, lingering in places only to move on to another destination not wanting to leave a part of Faith untouched, unloved.

Buffy pulled back slightly from the kiss and started to tease Faith with light kisses, listening intently to the echoes she was getting from Faith through their bond.

She started slowly to slide her hand into Faith's slick heat and then something almost hidden flashed in the bond they shared. Something Buffy didn't even think Faith herself was aware of, at least not yet. She stopped the downward trailing of her hand and began to move it back up its previous path.

She trailed kisses down Faith's jaw line, purring from the caress of Faith's breath upon her face, the feel of her trembling with desire in her arms. Then traced a path down the side of Faith's neck, nipping at the sensitive spot she remembered from what felt like an eternity ago. She ran her mouth, her tongue along Faith's collarbone, as her hand slid once more up the inside of one of Faith's arms, not stopping until she clasped Faith's hand with her own.

Buffy slowly brought both their joined hands down away from her neck, she rested them against Faith's stomach. Her other hand continued on its random path over Faith's body, as her mouth, her tongue, her teeth continued to nip, suck and taste Faith's neck and collarbone. She repositioned their clasped hands so that hers was underneath Faith's and entwined their fingers. She smiled against Faith's neck when she heard the barely mumbled mantra of her name.

Buffy glided their entwined hands down over Faith's six-pack stomach, stopping to twirl both their fingers into Faith's cute little belly button. Smiling again at the ripple of Faith's muscles under her fingers that had absolutely nothing to do with how ticklish she was.

She moved their hands down further, stopping right above the curls that covered Faith's sex. She felt Faith involuntarily raise her hips seeking out her touch.

"B... please..." Faith turned her head and buried it into Buffy's neck.

Her mouth, teeth, tongue, started their own assault on Buffy's neck. She smiled when she felt Buffy tremble and squirm a little behind her. Her hand that was still behind Buffy's neck, drifted upwards, tangling into Buffy's hair, her fingertips massaging and raking lightly over Buffy's scalp, eliciting a moan from Buffy.

Buffy moved their hands at a torturously slow pace down into Faith's wet, hot, core.

Faith's hips bucked up to greet their fingers, her upper body pressing back into Buffy, she bit down hard on Buffy's neck as she moaned loudly into it.

Buffy let out her own moan at the feel of Faith beneath her fingers, "Oh god Faith... it feels so good to touch you..."

She started to move their entwined hands lightly, gently over all of Faith's slick center, as Faith tried to press up harder into her hand and at the same time tried to force Buffy's hand harder into her. Only Buffy was having none of it. She was determined to touch Faith as lightly, as delicately, as gently as possible.

Faith was in a fog, she was dizzy, on fire, unable to keep still, she continued to suck and bite Buffy's neck, mumbling, groaning, whimpering against her flesh as Buffy tortured her with their entwined hands. She growled softly against Buffy's neck in need as she felt their hands slide down further over her. She tried to grind herself into their hands only to feel Buffy's free hand slide down her body to her hip keeping her from rising up too high, or too hard.

Buffy slid their joined hands down further, letting their fingers press shallowly into Faith's entrance. She didn't make any move to enter Faith, she had felt the fear flash to her through their bond. Just like she was afraid of anyone being on top of her, Faith was terrified at the thought of anyone, including Buffy, entering her.

The fear came at Faith out of nowhere, at war with her desire for Buffy to touch her. Her whole body stiffened, stilled, her breath caught in her chest painfully, while the desire for Buffy to touch her, still hammered through her.

She fought against the fear and didn't even notice that Buffy's, that their entwined hands had stopped moving. That at no point had Buffy tried to enter her, her own hand gripped Buffy's hard, ready to force Buffy's hand away from her if she had to. Through the fear and desire, she realized that Buffy had been whispering softly to her. She tried to concentrate on what she was saying.

"Faith... baby... Fai... It's okay, I know you not ready for that... I'm not going to do anything Faith, that you don't want me too... I promise... I would never do anything Faith, anything ever you didn't want me to... I love you Faith..." Buffy gave a sigh of relief as she felt Faith start to relax back against her again.

Faith felt the fear receding and she began to relax again. She realized that Buffy had let her move her hand away from her center, their joined hands were now clasped and laying lightly against her own stomach.

Somehow or another Buffy had known even before she did that this might happen, had known that Faith wasn't ready or was afraid to have anyone including Buffy enter her. Had in fact not even tried, had stilled the motion of their joined hands immediately after just pressing shallowly against her, not even really inside her at all.

It suddenly dawned on her why Buffy had reached up and entwined their hands; she had been giving Faith control of her actions. Giving her the ability to stop Buffy at any given moment and with that realization the last bit of fear Faith was feeling, evaporated.

Buffy gently ran her hand soothingly over Faith's hair, neck and shoulder. "You okay baby?"

"Yeah B... I am..." Faith lifted a little so she could turn and look at Buffy, she captured Buffy's eyes with her own and held them. "You amaze me... you knew even before I did... Didn't you?"

"Yes..."

"How?"

"I felt it through our bond, felt it in you sort of hiding along the edges... I don't know really how... I just did. You know I would never do anything that you didn't want me to, don't you Faith?"

"I know you wouldn't B. And if I didn't know before, I do now." Faith leaned towards Buffy and captured her mouth softly with her own.

The kiss started out soft, tender, loving and gentle, and then it grew into something more. The passion that had always been between them flared back up and the kiss grew wild, wet, hard, demanding, but still loving.

Faith felt her desire rise up white-hot and fiercely again. Actually, fiercer than before, because there was no doubt in Faith's mind on a conscious or sub-conscious level that Buffy would ever do anything she didn't want her to, and that Buffy seemed to be as in tune with what Faith was feeling as much as Faith was herself.

They continued to kiss trying to devour each other with their mouths and tongues. When they finally pulled apart both Slayers' breathing was ragged, harsh. Faith's eyes were half-lidded with her desire and almost completely emerald and Buffy's eyes were a decidedly wicked looking gold.

"B... I... I want you... I still want to make love with you..."

"That's good Fai..." Buffy gave Faith a slow sensual smile that sent Faith's pulse racing even harder. Then she reached down and pulled her own t-shirt off, then circled her hands once again around Faith's waist.

Faith gently grasped each of Buffy's hands against her stomach.

"Cause I still want that too baby..." Buffy finished as she gently turned Faith until she was once again lying back against her. "I need to touch you like I need to breathe..."

Faith sunk back into Buffy, delighting in the feel of Buffy's hot skin against her back. She pushed herself back into Buffy a little further and could feel the wet heat of Buffy against her buttocks and she let out a little moan.

She felt Buffy pull her even tighter to her and let out a little moan of her own. Then Faith slowly started to move their joined hands up her own body as she rested her head back against Buffy's shoulder, turning it so she could once more, nuzzle into Buffy's neck.

Faith stopped moving their hands when they reached her breasts, then she untangled her hands from Buffy's, leaving Buffy's on her breasts. With a slow, languid, graceful move, Faith raised her arms and reached up over her own head to behind Buffy's to wrap her hands behind Buffy's neck.

She gave up all control, putting herself into Buffy's safe hands, leaving herself open and vulnerable in a way she never had before with anyone, not even Buffy. There was absolute, complete trust in her action and in her mate.

Buffy was awed and humbled by the ultimate trust Faith just put in her. She couldn't even think for a moment she was so astounded, she closed her eyes and concentrated solely on what she felt in their bond. And for the first time she could remember in a very long time she felt absolutely no fear at all anywhere in what she felt coming from Faith through their bond.

"B?" Faith mumbled to her from Buffy's own neck.

"Do you know how good you feel to me right now...?" Buffy smiled as she felt Faith sucking, nibbling, biting her neck again and took that as a yes. "...and I'm going to have a billion hickeys aren't I?" She was pretty sure Faith mumbled a yes against her neck. "Hmmmm... well then I guess I am just going to have to start all over again, wouldn't want you to feel neglected since you are giving me so many little presents..."

With that last statement Faith no longer had any doubt that her B was most definitely back. "You wouldn't B..."

But Buffy could and would. And it felt like an eternity to Faith before Buffy had finally made her way once more down towards her center, where Faith now swore she would die if Buffy didn't touch her soon. Buffy had reduced her once more into a quivering, moaning, whimpering, need-filled mess.

Faith's whole body surged up at Buffy's light touch upon her heat. The ripple of desire that touch caused was so intense it started at the bottom of her feet, thundered over all her body and left Faith barely able to breathe. She felt Buffy's mouth hot against the side of her neck as Buffy's other hand ran over her, leaving small bonfires wherever she touched. It felt like another eternity had passed as Buffy explored her core with the lightest, most delicate touch Faith had ever experienced.

Buffy was breathing heavy against Faith's neck as she felt everything Faith was feeling through their bond. She could feel the shadow-like touches on her own skin in the same places she was touching Faith. And each time Faith raised and lowered her hips she pushed back and into Buffy's own overheated, tortured core and then she felt it start in Faith.

"B...?"

"It's okay baby... let go... let it go... I've got you... let go..."

And at the sound of Buffy's voice Faith let herself go. Her body tried to arch and sit up at the same time as the tidal wave of her release crashed into her. Starting from inside of her womb and expanding, exploding through every organ, every muscle, every bone, every cell in her entire body. She saw a rainbow of colors behind her closed lids and felt like she was on a never-ending rollercoaster ride as she rode the surging crest of each wave. She screamed Buffy's name with each contraction ripping through her.

Buffy felt Faith's release echoing through her with almost the same intensity that Faith was feeling it through their bond and she reveled in it. A part of her freed from her own fears that she could ever make Faith feel this way again, that Faith would ever trust her enough to relinquish her own tight control and just let herself go. Then she couldn't think anymore as she was overwhelmed with what Faith was feeling, her own senses drowning in what Faith was sharing with her through their bond. She was hanging on the edge of release in exquisite torture and knew that if Faith so much as touched her she would go hurtling over the edge.

In the midst of the maelstrom of her release, Faith felt Buffy right there with her, holding her safe. Right there on the razor's edge of release just from touching her, just from feeling what she was feeling. And she released her death grip around the back of Buffy's neck and somehow managed to get her hand in between their bodies, while her own body continued to thrash.

"FAITH!" Buffy screamed as just a single touch of Faith's fingers on her sent her spiraling into her own climax. She clung to Faith as the same tidal wave that hit Faith caught her in its wake and dragged her down into the swirling storm.

Faith felt herself start to climax again as what Buffy was feeling washed over her through their bond. Neither Slayer had any sense of time passing as they got caught up in the storm together, until finally they collapsed into each other. They held onto each other tightly as their bodies quieted, murmuring all the silly, sweet nonsense that lovers whisper until they both drifted off to sleep.

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...I knew I loved you before I met you ~ I think I dreamed you into life ~ I knew I loved you before I met you ~ I have been waiting all my life ~ A thousand angels dance around you ~ I am complete now that I've found you ~ I knew I loved you before I met you ~ I think I dreamed you into life ~ I knew I loved you before I met you ~ I have been waiting all my life - Savage Garden

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to be continued...