Buffy felt his body slide from hers with a pang of regret. She bit her lip. Should she bring up the very real possibility of pregnancy? He sighed and pulled away from her. He had to know, and things were crazy. No, there was enough to talk about. It could wait.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. It was time to face the music. She grinned as her eyes slid over his guitar propped in the corner of the room. It was their room now. It had been from the first. His things had found places in the space naturally, A jacket on a chair, a notebook on the desk. Now, she just had to convince him that they had found their place together as naturally.

Her body felt wired, but the constant pain was gone, just gone. She flipped around and stroked his hair back from his face. She could feel the curse breaking apart. He had freed her from it. She pressed her lips lightly against his, pressing him on to his back. She slid astride his waist and bit back a groan as her core pressed against his defined muscles.

His eyes were closed.

"So, I'm yours and you won't even look at me?" She flicked the dark rose of his nipples with her fingers. "Is this buyer's remorse?"

His eyes flew open and she covered his mouth with the tips of her fingers. She didn't need the words. It hadn't been a serious question. Nothing hurt. She smiled down at her mate and stroked his chest, pushing off the remnants of his shirt.

"So, you decided to take my choice away and now I'm mated to a werewolf." She tapped the index finger of her free hand against her chin. "You think I should be upset. Don't you?"

He nodded, and she pushed back further on his firm abdomen.

"I'm not." She dropped forward so her breasts flattened against his chest. "I'm a mess, Oz. I'm not going to lie to you. I have more baggage than a cruise ship."

"I tend to travel light, but I have some luggage of my own." He smiled and twisted his fingers in her hair.

"Are unilateral decisions going to be an issue? I understand why you did this, but let's talk in the future. I need to have a say in my own life." She touched his jaw with her finger tips. "The pain is gone, but I'm worried about the damage this has done to all of us. Dawn and Xander, if this surged back on them, I don't know how to handle that."

"I understand, Buffy." He stroked her back. "I'm not in the habit of making decisions for other people, but the nature of the beast is to protect you above all things. Your burdens are mine, now. I feel your pain as well as your joys. It complicates things."

"Why don't I have that? Why can't I feel your pain?"

"You're human, mostly. The bonding is different for those with fixed natures." His fingers trailed along her sides. "I felt the pain of the curse for a few minutes before the spell broke. I can't imagine living like that for years."

"I didn't have a choice. I couldn't do the counter spell and give it back to them tripled."

"No, you wouldn't." Oz touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. He was being so incredibly gentle. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head coquettishly.

"We are mated. That's permanent. I made that choice for you. I don't want to force anything else on you."

"I haven't made any plans in a very long time. Well, non slaying plans anyway." She stretched up along his body, trying to entice her mate into some unplanned fun.

"Buffy." Oz rolled his eyes and stared up at her. Adoration, exasperation, delight all came through loud and clear. How did he manage to express so much with just her name? She sighed. He deserved an answer, but she was so bad with words.

"I'm not sure what I want and I don't know much, right now. The thing I do know, the thing I'm sure of, is you." She pressed her lips against his. The sweet promise of it surged through her. This man was the calm in her storm. He would be her steady center. They broke the kiss and stared at each other, breathing in unison. "This is all pretty sudden, but it feels like something we've been doing for years."

"I know." Oz nodded. "But, there are things we need to talk about."

"I'm not avoiding a conversation." She bit her lower lip, sinking her teeth in hard. They had to talk about it all. "I'm not on the pill."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know?" Buffy pushed up and looked down at him with raised eyebrows.

"You don't smell of it." He took a deep breath.

"Can you smell if I'm pregnant?"

"Not yet, but there's a good chance you are." His green gaze held hers steadily.

"Let me guess." She pressed a hand to his chest. "You can smell the fact that I'm ovulating."

He nodded and looked very serious. That wouldn't do. She wanted him to be happy.

"I'd like it." She pressed one hand over her womb. "I know it's saddling us with a big responsibility right away, but I would like to make life for once."

"I love you, Buffy." He rolled them and pressed her into the down comforter. "I have for a long time. I just wasn't ready. The wolf picked you when we were in high school, but I didn't understand."

"I wasn't ready for this kind of commitment back then. No matter what I believed. I still wanted a fairy tale." She ran her fingers through his auburn hair.

"You're mated to a monster. Seems pretty Hans Christian to me."

"Do you still see yourself as a monster?" Buffy stroked her hand down his back and locked her ankles behind his thighs.

"I am a werewolf. I'm not a human with an odd condition. I'm the wolf all the time." Oz tried to ease away from her and she tightened her legs on his hips. "Pretending that I'm just a regular guy is dangerous."

"I'm the slayer all the time. So, we're the same, more than human with good camouflage." Buffy pushed her fingers up into his hair from the nape of his neck, splaying them along the back of his head. "And, you are not gonna hurt me. I know that."

"Buffy." He sighed as she rubbed his head. "I just wish this could have been something we both wanted."

Buffy growled and jerked his head down to hers, fastening her lips to his. He was her mate. He had made her his. There would be no walking away or moaning about it. She arched her body up into his in blatant invitation. If mating was a dance of submission, she would submit 'til he couldn't think straight.

Oz shuddered and pulled his lips free. He shook, taking giant gulping breaths of the warm air around them. His body was responding to her blatant invitation, but his mind was resisting. It was so clear from the look on his face. She wanted to growl at him. He was losing this moment to regrets when there should be none.

Buffy rolled her hips and arched her back, but he was holding himself from her, sinking in guilt. It wouldn't do. She arched her neck, baring it to him. She let a breathy mewl escape her lips and felt his body shake against hers. He kissed her throat gently resting his lips against her throbbing pulse.

"Oz, please." She rolled her hips up against him again.

He pulled away from her with a sigh. She sat up and looked at him. She wanted him to push away her fears, but it wasn't fair. He loved her as a man and a wolf, but this was new to her. The whole thing shocked her silly, but it felt right. Oz felt right.

"So, you love me?"

"Yes, I do, Buffy." He turned to look at her. "The wolf side of me has since it first met you. The human side came around over the last year."

"Why didn't you come find me?" She slid closer to him. "Why stay away if you loved me?"

She sounded so pathetic. Gods, how could she blame him for staying away?

"I left Sunnydale years ago, Buffy. We were never together. It would have been presumptious of me to show up making declarations." Oz pulled her next to him. "But I would have found you soon enough."

"No, not soon enough." She pushed her body flush against his. "I missed you and I didn't know it."

He pulled back from her embrace and raised an eyebrow.

"You made the right choice." She cupped his cheek. "I want to be your mate. I didn't think there would ever be anyone after Spike, but I'm so glad there's you."

She kissed him, twisting her fingers in his hair. Oz. He filled her up. She broke the kiss and stared into his green eyes. The pain was gone, and there was something warm and wonderful in its place.

"I think I love you, too." She whispered. She traced his eyebrows with her fingertips. "I love you, Oz."

He growled and pushed her back into the pillows. The bedding slid and slipped around them as his lips crashed against hers. Serious conversations would wait for a while, maybe a long while.