__Be Mine Now__
By Beadtific



“Where were we going again?” Giles said lazily a moment later. “I’m sure I had a plan.”

“I dunno. There was talk of chocolate and pots,” Buffy replied, delighted by his distraction.

“Oh, lord, the pot!” Giles snapped out of his languor and began pulling her toward the kitchen. “It may have boiled dry by now.” Buffy smiled to herself - just yesterday he would have bolted for the kitchen and left her standing there.

The pot was nearly dry, and Giles took it off the eye to refill it with water. “You still would like dessert, I take it?”

“Sure, sounds yummy,” she said. \\No, you sound yummy. The heck with dessert,// was what she thought.

\\Good,// he thought, as he settled the water on the stove and relit it.\\We really shouldn’t rush things.// He’d much rather chuck the chocolate and all the fixings in the bin and kiss her senseless. \\Steady on, old man.// Still, they had a few moments while they waited for the water to boil.

“Now, where were we?” he said with an innocent air.

“We were measuring my stature.”

“Ah yes,” he said, drawing her into a hug. He wondered a bit about her shyness around him. Except for that teasing kiss, she hadn’t initiated anything more intimate; other than that moment, she waited for him to touch her. While this aspect of their relationship was very new, Giles felt as if her modesty masked a lack of confidence. He inwardly cursed everyone she had ever dated, living or dead.

“Buffy,” he said, running his hands gently down her back, “Would you like to open your present while we wait for the water to heat enough to melt the chocolate?

“That sounds good,” she said, propping her nose in the vee of silk created by the open collar. Her breath tickled his chest.

“It’s in the lounge,” he prompted.

“Okay,” she said, still not moving. “We’re in the kitchen,” she pointed out unnecessarily.

“Buffy,” Giles said, leaning back to look into her face. “Was there something?”

“We were going to try out the kitchen: kissing.”

“Excellent idea,” he murmured, flipping a strand of hair off her shoulder and brushing a finger across her cheek.

Buffy buried her head against his chest. She didn’t know why she was hinting around so much and didn’t just kiss him. Something about this whole new thing with Giles was making her feel really shy. She stood there telling herself how silly she was being as she moved her arms from his waist and slid her hands up his chest. That was as far as she could get.

“Buffy,” Giles said very tenderly, “It’s all right. We have all the time in the world and I’m not going anywhere. Not again.”

She heaved a shaky sigh. “I guess I need to hear that. I haven’t had the greatest track record with guys. I mean, this is my Giles I’m having all these feelings about, and I just couldn’t stand it if I screwed things up.” She thumped her head against his chest a few times and then laughed at herself. “Oh God, we’re in the middle of our first date and I’m worrying about messing things up and getting my heart stomped.”

“I should worry if I were you,” Giles said seriously. Buffy made a hurt sound and began to pull away.

“Let me finish,” he said, pulling her back, and looked down into her face. “I should worry if I were you, if I’d had your past experience. You’ve never had an easy relationship with a lover, which is not surprising, given our lives; maybe you never will.” He cupped her cheek. “But,” he said with a sweet smile, “Easy, happily-ever-after is for children’s stories, and I, for one, believe that some things are that are precious are worth hard work. And you are terribly precious to me.”

Buffy basked in that a moment, then gave Giles a shrewd look, “You know, you’ve already done a big chunk o’ fightin’ with me. And there’s the added bonus that you’ve already seen the worst; I’ve caught hell from nearly every friend or boyfriend I’ve ever had about being the Slayer and you can’t pull that with me. You know what you’re getting into and you know I’m not easy to live with.”

“Nor am I, I should think; I’m up all hours of the day and night, have the habit of reading all sorts of apocalyptic literature, keep swords, stakes and crossbows in a box by my bed, and am trained to look into the face of evil every day. Not to mention I’m trying to reorganize an institution that brought you nothing but misery. I’m told I can get quite gloomy, at times.”

Buffy grinned at him, “You don’t seem very gloomy now.”

“No, but I can’t guarantee that I won’t ever get into that sort of state again. Do alert me if I show signs of wearing gray sweaters and prowl about brooding?”

“Absolutely.” She said, stepping back into his arms. “And if I ever become Alienating-Everyone & Speech-Giving Buffy, you do the same.”

“Agreed.”

Giles glanced over Buffy’s head to check his pot of water; it was boiling quite nicely now. A startled gasp escaped him when Buffy’s warm lips grazed the hollow of his throat. The gasp turned into a moan when she settled her weight against him and rose on her toes to reach further up his neck.

“Thought you’d like that,” she whispered to his throat. “Come down here, watcher mine.”

Instead of leaning down to taste her lips, Giles propped his back against the counter, spread his legs and effectively shaved a few inches off his height – allowing Buffy’s face to almost be on a level with his.

“Ooh, better,” she said, running her hands up his arms and behind his neck. Her fingers threaded into his hair. “Much better,” she murmured, leaning closer, her lips nearly touching his. Her gaze flicked from his mouth to his eyes, and she gave him an instantly inflaming glance of desire. “Watcher mine,” she breathed in possession, and pounced.

She started with a few gentle lip-biting kisses, but quickly abandoned herself to a more fiery dance of tongues and teeth. Buffy raised herself on her toes again, dragging breasts and belly up Giles’ body until her pelvis cradled his near-painful erection. It caused them both to groan, and Buffy rocked against him.

Giles growled into her mouth, picked her up, walked two steps and sat her on the opposite counter. She wrapped her legs around his waist and drew him tightly against her. She rocked her hips again, harder this time, and broke the kiss to moan aloud. Giles caught himself, head resting between her breasts, running his hands up her thighs and under her dress to draw her even closer.

“Buffy, we,” he pulled back, gasping.

“Like kissing in the kitchen?” she said, with a glaze-eyed grin. “Don’t have to have dessert right now? I agree.”

“No, I was,” he tried again. She put her fingers on his lips.

“You were going to say something about rushing into things. After eight years, I think we know each other pretty well. I know how I feel about you. I’m ready to show you.”

“Buffy,” he sighed with wonder, relief, and a few last shreds of caution. Her fingers shushed him again.

“Giles. Rupert,” Buffy said with conviction. “Be mine. Now.”

He kissed the fingers covering his lips, and reaching up, grasped her wrist and kissed it as well. Giles kept his smiling eyes on hers as he moved a few steps to switch off the stove, and when his eyes were caught by something in the lounge behind them, he gave her a bit of a shamefaced look. She turned to see what had drawn his attention as he whispered something under his breath. As she noticed the still-glowing candles, they all blew out. She turned a surprised and amused look on him. “In a hurry?”

“Never,” he lied, swept her off the counter into his arms and carried her into the lounge. “Where to?”

“The door to your room is open,” she pointed out.

“Ever practical,” he smiled down at her.

“That’s me,” she laughed, and kicked her feet.

* * *