Chapter Twenty

I'm starting to think the whole waiting plan is a very bad, poorly thought out idea. With the rain, the dampness of the cave and the cool wind, I haven't stopped shivering in the last couple of hours and Faith doesn't seem to be holding up too well either. I move closer to her and she doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around me as she leans back against the cool stone.

"Great idea about waiting around, B," she chuckles softly into my ear. "You just wanted to be alone with me, didn't ya?"

I snort and I settle back into her a little more. "No. Maybe."

"What do ya think the deal is with Falken? Thinkin' he's leading us on a wild half-demon chase here?"

"I don't know anymore."

"You scared, B?" She asks softly and I only nod my head in reply. "Didn't think anything scared you."

"Lots of things scare me. I just never tell anyone about it. I'm a Slayer. I'm not supposed to be afraid of anything."

"Sure ya are. Where does it say you ain't s'posed to be afraid?" Faith asks I shrug and I turn a little in her arms to look at her in the darkness. "What're ya afraid of, B?"

"Lots of things. Everything. You."

"Me?"

"I'm afraid of you because I'm falling in love with you," I sigh. I feel her tighten her arms around me and I only close my eyes as I wait for her to say something. Anything. Breathe even. "Faith?"

"Sorry," she mumbles as she lets go of me a little. She doesn't move away and she rests her chin on my shoulder and takes a deep breath. "Y' know, if we weren't in such a fucked up sitch right now, this would actually be kinda nice, just you and me being in here, hiding from the rain."

I open my eyes and raise an eyebrow precariously at her. I turn around fully in her arms and shiver slightly as she runs her hands up and down my back slowly. I have to admit that this is kinda nice just being here with her despite the real reason we're here and everything that's happened and led us up to this point. When she lightly presses her lips to mine, I pull back quickly. We can't do this. Not here. Not now.

"Sorry," she says and drops her arms from around me. I take a step back, putting much needed space between us. "Kinda got a little carried away there."

"You don't need to apologize," I whisper as I back up a little more and lean against the opposite wall from her.

"You think we should just head back? Don't think Falken and his little band of obedient vamps are gonna be showing up around here any time soon. Plus," she says as she places a hand over her stomach and I hear it growl slightly. "I'm starved."

"So I can hear," I laugh and I shake my head no. "We should stay for a little bit longer. We can't just give up so easily."

"Maybe that's what he wants," Faith shrugs. "Maybe he wants us to give up, make it easy for him. Maybe we should play his game too. Ever think of that?"

"And do what, Faith?"

"Give up or at least appear to give up. Let him make his move and be ready for him."

"Not the best plan," I mutter, my teeth chattering as I try to stop myself from shivering. "We barely know what he's up to, Faith. That plan? It isn't going to work."

"Don't see you tryin' to come up with a better plan than waiting around here, freezing half to death and starving ourselves."

I roll my eyes and really try to keep myself from lashing out at her. The last thing either of us need right now is to start fighting each other. I breathe out heavily, calming myself as I look over at her. I can't stop shivering and her idea to head back is starting to look like a better plan than it did at first. My stomach growls in sympathy when hers does and she laughs as she takes my hand in hers and tugs me out of the mouth of the cave.

"Faith-"

"Ain't anything stupid enough to be out in this rain tonight, Falken included. And from the way you keep shivering and shaking, don't think we can take a chance on you getting sick or some shit right now," she says as she picks up the pace until we're both running through the woods in the torrential downpour.

We reach the shack within minutes and only Xander is inside with no sign of the others anywhere. Faith collapsed onto the mattress, breathing heavily and cursing under her breath. I look over at Xander and he deadpans as he looks past me and out the door.

"Xander, where did everyone else go?"

"Hospital. Giles told me to stay and make sure you two got back okay."

"Are they staying in town tonight?" I ask as I move to sit on one of the chairs. "Xander?"

"Huh?" He looks dazed as he looks over at me. "Yeah. They're staying in town tonight at Robin's place."

"Xander, are you okay?" I ask him, standing up and placing my hand on his broad shoulder. "Xander?"

"Fine, Buffster," he says quickly with a fake smile I just want to wipe off his face. He is far from okay and I don't know why he's keeping anything from me right now. "Just tired, is all. Don't you worry about Xan-Man."

"There any food left?" Faith asks from the mattress and Xander just shakes his head no. "Fuckin' great. You two up for a walk in the rain to go get some grub?"

"It's three in the morning, Faith," I say gently and ignore my own hunger pains. "Nothing will be open now."

"Might be better if we just got some sleep and worry about getting some food in the morning," Xander says and he doesn't move from where he's standing. "Uh, guess I'll leave you two to share the mattress. I'll just take one of the tents outside."

He's gone before I can tell him it's a bad idea and the wind shuts the flimsy door shut tight with a bang that nearly makes me jump out of my skin. I look over at Faith, the flickering candle on the small wooden table the only light in the entire shack. It illuminates her like a spotlight and I can't seem to keep my eyes from roaming over her body as she peels off her wet t-shirt and jeans. The matching black bra and panties make her look deliciously sexy and it takes me a few seconds to register the fact that she's talking to me.

"B, ya might wanna get out of those wet clothes."

"Right," I fumble nervously as I strip out of my wet clothes and blow out the candle. "One thing."

"What?" Faith asks as I move to lie down next to her on the mattress. "Keep my hands to myself?"

"Yeah," I laugh a little as I pull the scratchy wool blanket over us. "Definitely keep your hands and your lips to yourself."

"You don't think I can?" Faith chuckles as she rolls onto her side facing me. "You don't think I can, do you, B?"

"I never said that. Just...behave."

She laughs again, but doesn't say anything else. I lay there quietly, listening to the rain pounding against the metal roof and to the soft sounds of Faith's breath as she slips into a deep sleep. Even with just a half a foot between us, I can feel the heat coming from her body, warming my right side and almost wishing she'd just hold me and keep me warm until the morning. I turn onto my side, my back to her and close my eyes. I know I'm never going to be able to fall asleep, not when I can't shut off the thousands of thoughts that keep running through my mind like a freight train.

I hold my breath when I feel her arm slide over my hip and pull me back into her. I know she's asleep and I wonder if she knows what she's doing right now. Maybe not. It's not as if I'm going to wake her up just to ask her that. I let out a shaky breath and relax as much as I can. The heat from her body feels like it is surrounding me, pulling me in and I stifle a yawn as I close my eyes.

Hours pass by without a moment of sleep. The rain hasn't let up at all, still thundering down on the metal roof. I can see a bit of light coming in from under the door and I sigh out softly as Faith trails her fingers slowly over my stomach just below my bellybutton. I know she's awake now, but she hasn't said a word and I don't think she will. Not until I say something first. But words are beyond my level of thinking when I feel her fingers slip under the waistband of my panties slowly. I know this is bad when I start to think about how I could wake up every day, just like this and I place my hand over hers and stop it from sliding inside my panties any further.

"Killjoy," Faith mutters softly as she presses her lips to my shoulder lightly. "You sleep okay, B?"

"I couldn't fall asleep."

"Sucks then," she sighs and she doesn't move away from me and I still haven't taken my hand away from hers still partially inside my panties. I'm torn between yanking her hand out and just letting her have her naughty little way with me right now. "Any idea what time it is?"

"Early," I reply softly. I give into the urges I can't fight off and I let go of her hand. She presses her lips to my shoulder again and I feel her smile a little as she slips her hand lower inside my panties and cups my pussy gently. "Faith..."

"You gonna tell me to stop?" She whispers against my shoulder and I shake my head no. I definitely don't want her to stop. "You want me to fuck you, B?"

"Yes," I breathe out softly. She eases a finger over my clit, teasing me until I let out a soft moan.

"Stay right like this," she says, stopping me when I try to turn around. "Just stay."

My heart is hammering so quickly and loudly in my chest it almost feels like it'll burst. I close my eyes tightly, stifling a moan as she slips a single slender finger deep inside my clenching hole. I feel her breathing quicken as she gasps against my shoulder as she fucks me harder and I push back into her body. Gripping onto her arm as I try to keep myself under control. She grinds her sex against my ass and I let out a strangled moan as I dig my short fingernails into her arm. I'm going to come quick and I know she can feel it too.

"Fuck, Faith," I moan and I bit my lip to keep from screaming out as my orgasm rips through my entire body. My legs are shaking as she slides her finger out slowly. I'm tender and slightly sore. Being fucked by a slayer is never gentle unless the other slayer is Satsu, not Faith.

"I love how you push me away and then let me have my way with you," she whispers huskily in my ear as her fingers circle over my throbbing clit. "I love how I can make you so wet with just a touch and how I can have you cum in minutes. Bet your girl can't get you revved up quite like I can."

"No," I gasp and I try to catch my breath. "Oh god, stop."

"You don't want me to stop."

"No, but-"

I'm cut off when she pulls me onto my back and silences me with her lips and tongue, feverishly kissing me as she circles over my clit. I am coming again, hard, before I can stop myself and I pull her down on top of me, deepening the kiss, my hips bucking against her hand as she gradually stills her fingers. She sucks on my tongue as she pulls her hand out from inside my panties and I wrap a leg around her waist, holding her right where she is as she pulls back from the kiss.

"You were saying?" Faith grins cockily before she rolls off me and sits up slowly. "Better get dressed and wake up Xander. Fuckin' starving right now and all I want is a nice big breakfast before we gotta deal with this Falken sitch."

I don't move as I watch her stand up from the mattress and pull on her clothes quickly. I keep my eyes on her as she runs her fingers through her tousled hair and I bite my lower lip gently, stifling a moan I know is going to slip out if I let my guard down even for a second. Faith has this affect on me unlike anything I've ever felt before. The more time I spend alone with her, the more I realize how much I want her. God do I ever want her. I want everything with her. Satsu won't let me go without a fight though and I know that until we deal with this Falken situation, this is something I can't figure out and deal with until it's all over.

Faith picks up my clothes and tosses them at me. I slowly get up from the mattress and get dressed, my clothes still slightly damp and uncomfortable against my skin. I pull my shirt down, smoothing it out a little and watch her as she bends down and unzips the duffel bag.

"Go wake up Xander," she instructs as she rifles through the bag until she pulls out a fresh pack of cigarettes and her cell phone. "Gonna give G a call, see where they're all at right now."

I pull on my boots without a word and open the door. The smell of wet grass, mud and fresh rain is overpowering and I walk to the first tent closest to the shack and unzip it. I poke Xander's foot with the toe of my boot a couple of times and step back when he stirs a little.

"We're heading out in a few minutes," I say as I lean into the tent. "Wake up, Xander."

"Give me five minutes," he mutters as he pulls his jacket he's using as a blanket over his head. I know what his five minutes mean and I grab his jacket and yank it away from him hard. "Come on, Buff. Been a long night. Could use some extra sleep here!"

"There'll be plenty of time to sleep after we deal with Falken," I say firmly as I grab onto his foot and drag him out of the tent.

"Fine," he snaps as he stands up and shakes his head and lets out an annoyed grunt he fixes his eye patch. "Would hate to see how you treat your own kids when they don't wanna get out of bed. You know, given the fact that you ever have kids one day."

I raise an eyebrow and try not to laugh as we head back inside the shack. Faith is cursing under her breath as she dials a number on her phone. After a few more tries, she shoves her cell into the front pocket of her jeans and quickly lights a cigarette.

"What's up?" Xander asks her as he lingers in the doorway.

"No service out here. Was trying to call G, see where everyone is at right now. Gonna have to wait 'til we get into town," she replies and she looks right over at me as she takes a long drag of her cigarette.

"I've got an address to Robin, Vi, and Rona's place. We could start there," Xander says as he pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from his wallet. "It's a start."

"How far is it?" I ask, unable to take my eyes off of Faith.

"An hour, give or take," Xander shrugs. "We should head out before this storm gets any worse."

None of us says anything as we head out into the rain. Xander leads the way through the woods and I stay behind him a couple of feet, walking next to Faith and trying not to reach out and grab her hand every time I feel it brush up against mine. We're all drenched by the time we make it out of the woods and head down the narrow gravel road Xander explains leads into town. I'm trying not to think about how nice a hot shower would feel right about now. Two days without one is just gross, honestly.

The walk is giving me time to think about what happened between Faith and I this morning, too much time. Even just thinking of how she touched me and took what she wanted from me makes me wet. There is definitely something between us, there's no use in trying to deny it or chalk it up to something else like say years of sexual tension between us. The changes in her are subtle, but I can see them just in the way she looks at me now. I'm starting to really be convinced that the more I see this side of Faith, the more I realize I really don't know her at all. Faith has always been such a mystery to me and I kind of want to figure her out, take the time and just get to know her. It's just too bad we have other important things to deal with right now and I really don't have the time to concentrate on my love life until we take out Falken.

The rain begins to let up as we reach the edge of the town and Xander leads us down a side road. We come to a stop in front of a small house set back from the road and nearly hidden with the trees surrounding it. With a double glance at the paper in his hand, he motions for us to follow him up to the house.

"Cute house," Faith mutters as she reaches for my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Race you for the first hot shower, B?"

She laughs as she lets go of my hand and jogs up to the front door and knocks loudly. Robin opens the door a couple minutes later and invites us inside. Faith takes off up the stairs as soon as her muddy boots are off her feet. Everyone is gathered in the small living room and in the kitchen and I look around for Satsu. I don't see her and there are a few others missing as well. Willow walks over to me and pulls me aside.

"She's gone. She took Aiko back to Tokyo a couple hours ago. She said she doesn't know if she's ever coming back," Willow says softly. I let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Buffy."

My heart feels heavy and broken. I just lost one of my best Slayers and my girlfriend.