Giles looked at the blonde curled into a tight ball beside him. She was beautiful, and he felt guilt for taking note of it. Jenny had been gone for such a short time. He stroked the cool skin of her hand with his fingers.

Sophie's pulse captured his attention, or rather the fact that she had one at all. Buffy and Spike had made it quite clear that his heart only beat in battle or when they were intimate. He closed his eyes to banish the image that brought to his mind.

The vampiress beside him took a deep breath and shifted her weight. His grip tightened on her hand, refusing to surrender the connection between them. She wasn't human, but he was discovering each day how little that mattered now.

He opened his eyes and looked at her, trying to see the demon still lurking inside. He stood and pulled her up with him. She moved easily, accepting his guidance. Things were escalating out of control, but he couldn't let her go, couldn't move away. He took a deep breath and met her steady grey gaze.

"What happened to you was a tragedy." He cupped her cheek in his hand. "Does it follow that everything that comes after must be as well?"

"I don't know. A fallen woman never became unsoiled despite the lovely novels depicting such nonsense." Sophie smiled and shook her head ruefully.

"Fiction is fine for entertainment, but it seems our realities far outclass it." He stepped close to her and let his hand fall from her cheek to her shoulder. She had only to tilt her head the tiniest bit to keep their gazes connected. He smiled gently as she licked her lips nervously.

"I'm afraid to let myself hope." She turned her head and gazed out the window.

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all." He turned her face back to him with a gentle nudge of his hand.

"Emily Dickinson," she said with a smile and shook her head slightly. "I don't have a soul though."

"I think, perhaps, you might." Giles took a deep breath and cast away all his doubts. Life was meant to be lived. Somewhere in his indoctrination into Council dogma, he had lost sight of that. He pulled Sophie close enjoying the slide of her curves against him and covered her lips with his own. He felt her stiffen, but she relaxed before he had time to pull away.

It was a simple kiss, the softest press of his lips to hers. She didn't need to breath, but he could feel the warm flash of it against his skin as they pulled apart. He stroked the soft skin of her neck.

"I lost someone dear to me not long ago. Angelus killed her. Buffy managed to save me from killing myself in a futile effort to destroy the bastard, but it still hurts. I need you to understand that finding myself attracted to another so quickly has been challenging. I've felt very guilty, but I do not want to waste my time waiting when..."

"When we could all be gone in the next battle?" She stroked his face, staring at him. He nodded. "Do you want comfort and fun or is this more for you?"

"I gave up casual sex a long time ago. I...I..." He stuttered and grimaced. "This all seems so sudden, but I am tired of sinking in tragedy and remorse. I want to live again."

She smiled, more an enigmatic curl of the lips than a true expression. Her hand rested over his heart, making him so aware of its every beat. Sadness filled her eyes. She shifted, allowing her demonic face to emerge. The ridges and glowing amber eyes were beautiful in their own way. His hand trembled as he pushed her hair back from her forehead.

"I am not alive. I am not human. I'm not certain that anything we would do to each other could be considered living. You won't have the children you deserve with me, the life you deserve." She shook her head, dislodging his fingers, and let her human features settle into place once more. "I need you to be sure. I would rather greet the sun than send you away, but I must know that you understand."

He took several deep breaths as he stared into her warm, grey eyes. This beautiful, fearsome creature was providing him a chance to think despite her own desires. He shuddered and hugged her to him with all his strength.

"I thought Buffy had lost her mind when she told me about Spike. It was not my proudest moment. The council trains us to see vampires as things. It's a black and white world in their ivory tower, but here in the real world things are different." He swallowed and gathered Sophie into his arms. "I've been watching you for days, always trying to keep my emotions at bay. You could have died tonight. I don't want to lose you without ever holding you, without giving you the love you deserve. I never had a chance with Jenny. I won't waste this one I have with you."

"I've never done this, not really." She looked at the rug thunder their feet. "My father sent us to live in Cornwall. It's lovely there, but my mother was furious. Courtesans don't enjoy being put out to pasture. If we had stayed in London, I would have died an old maid. I would never have met you. I would never have had a choice to make."

"I'm quite versed in most modern babble, what with Buffy and Willow always running at the mouth, but I have no idea what you are talking about, Sophie." He watched as she smiled up at him, entranced by the joy in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter." She stepped back and smiled. "I think I'd like to go to your room. Mine still smells of dust and battle."

He smiled and they kissed gently before taking the stairs up to his room.