The warmth tantalized him.  He arched up, trying to increase the contact, but she slapped her hands on his chest.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Giles?"

The mischief behind his grin matched hers.  "What I think I'm doing is getting hard," he replied in a deep voice that seemed to vibrate through her.

"Hmm," she murmured.  She continued her slow rub.  "I thought you said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"I do.  It can wait."

Cordelia met his eyes.  Without pausing her rhythm over his groin, she said, "Tell me now."

"It can wait."  He lifted one leg in preparation to roll her over into a better position underneath him, but she felt his movement and gave him another swat.

"None of that.  It's my turn to be on top."

"It may be your turn, but you don’t have to be so commandeering about it, Cor."

"Yes, I do.  It's more fun for me."  She giggled at him, then sucked in a sharp breath when he suddenly thrust up at her.  "Ummm."

"We could remove a few of the things in the way here," Giles suggested, tugging at the sleeve of her shirt.

"Uh huh," she mumbled, her eyes half closed as she rubbed leisurely circles against the masculine protrusion between her thighs.

"Cor," he tried.  He received another moan in return.  "Cordelia."

She paused, then looked at him.  "What?"

"You're leaving me behind."

"You'll catch up," she laughed, however she obligingly stopped her rocking.  Undoing the buttons on his shirt, she leaned down and ran her tongue from the hollow in his neck into the soft chest hair below his collarbone.

He made a noise this time.  She smiled at it before sinking her teeth into the soft flesh under his jaw.

"Ah!" he cried in protest, but her lips were tugging at his ear lobe now and her warm hands were playing with his nipples.  "Be-be careful…..I don't nip at *you*," he said between breaths.  She laughed again for he wouldn't dare leave a mark right now.  His fingertips brushed over the maternal swell of her abdomen, visible even through her clothing.  He touched her delicately, as though he were tracing the contours of a fragile soap bubble, and Cordelia flushed at it.  She could do whatever she liked and he couldn't do anything in return.

"I like this position of power," she teased.

"A little too much," Giles replied, but he was smiling too.  The way she'd indulged her jurisdiction so far had resulted in remarkable pleasures for him.  And she never drew blood.

Well, he amended, she hadn't yet.

She stroked his nipples into hard points, then reached up to take off her shirt.  She drew it over her head, an action which swung her snugly-encased breasts before him.  He touched the edge of her lace bra, then felt for the clasp within her cleavage.

Cordelia watched his actions with a tolerant expression.  "I think these are your favourite things."

"They're numbers two and three," he admitted as he freed her bosom.  The pregnancy had swollen her breasts; they felt arousingly plump and full in his hands.  He touched them with care.  Preparing for the baby had made them tender and he'd had to relearn his technique here in order not to cause her pain.

"You're honest anyway," she said, "even if you are a pig."

"I'm hardly a pig if I admit to finding you beautiful, dear" Giles murmured.

"Rupert, it would actually be nice if, just once, you called me beautiful while looking at my face instead of my tits."

"Maybe someday," he replied as he drew her down so that he could suck at her nipples.

"More, honey," she said when he took only the nubs in.  She felt his grin against her skin as he suckled a reddish areola into his mouth.  "More," she insisted, propping herself on her hands as she bent.

He took as much of her breast as he could.  The other one slid over his cheek, nestling his face.  He could hardly breathe, but it was marvelous to feel her warmth and inhale the musky scent of her talc.  As he nursed, he felt up her legs under her skirt, exploring the moist insides of her thighs before delving to her satin panties.

"Wrrmmm clorr daaaa?" he asked.

Cordelia laughed, then lifted her boobs up.  "What, Rupert?"

"What colour today?" he repeated, stroking the crotch of her underwear until she shivered.

"Do you want to see?"

"Yes, show me."

She got up, pulling reluctantly away from his groin, but maddeningly kept her skirt down.  "Show me yours."

"I asked first."

"I can wait."  She sank cross-legged at the bottom of the bed and let her hands fall in her lap.

Giles raised up on his elbows and regarded her.  "You are a devil."

Cordelia smirked at him before running her tongue slowly over her lips, first the top, then the bottom.  Then she raised her hands back up and fondled her breasts, all the while staring directly at him.

"Oh God," he mumbled.  He sat up long enough to remove his shirt, then laid back down and undid the top button of his pants.  But he pulled the zipper down only halfway.  "Now you."

"Uh uh."  She shook her head.

He laid back and waited, eyeing her though half-closed eyes.  He wanted to pull that zipper down very badly for a certain part of him was pushed up hard against it, but there was a stubborn core in him to match hers.

She went to touch his zip, but he abruptly raised a knee and blocked her.

"Who's the devil?" she asked.  He smirked at her.

"Rupert, you tormenting bastard."  She edged the hem of her skirt up, past her knees and along her thighs.  He watched the progress intently.

The hem came to rest just at the edge of a tiny piece of lace.  He raised his head and the hem whipped back down.

"Fine," Giles said.  "I can wait."

Cordelia rubbed a foot against his shin.  "Rupert."

"Yeah?"

In a solemn voice, she said, "I love you.  You're a gorgeous man.  Show me how hard you are for me."

Green eyes met hazel ones.  He had to admire her method even as his resolve puddled away.  'Damn,' he thought.  'She's good'.

The zipper came down to reveal black silk boxers.  Cordelia eyed them interestedly.  "Kinky, Rupert."

"You bought them," he reminded her.

"I never thought you'd wear them."

Giles gave her a soft smile as he tugged his pants and underwear together down his thighs, freeing his penis.  It was so erect that the heavy head had nearly come completely out of the foreskin.  Precum shone wetly at the top.

She made a little moan as she shuffled forward on her knees, then murmured again as she took his erection in her mouth.

He made a noise.  Upon hearing it, she grinned at him, her lips curling around his penis.  "Hmmm?"

"More," he managed.

She lifted up to rest her chin gently on top of his erection.  "It tastes nice," she said.

He felt the quiver of her words in his shaft.

"Beg," she added.

Giles swallowed.  "No.  I'll get up and walk away first."

"I'd love to see you try to walk with that sticking out in front."

To her surprise, he actually moved away, to the side of the bed.  "Let me see you," he demanded.

"All right."  Cordelia shrugged casually.  However, inwardly, she was rather turned on by his assertion.  She slowly lifted her skirt.  The lace came back into view, then the satin of her underwear.

"Red," he commented.

"Do you like the colour?"

"I do, very much.  On you."

She shimmied her underwear down her legs.  "What did you do before we got together?"

"What do you mean?"

Nodding at his stiff penis, she said, "When you got that way, what did you do?"

"Can't you guess?" he mumbled, watching the progress of her clothing raptly.

Cordelia let her underwear and skirt drop to the floor, then knelt and spread her thighs.  Her dark curls came into view, then the red swollen lips of her vagina.  With a grin, she pointed at his penis, then at her vulva, and said, "Do you want to connect the two?"

"Very much so."

She took some of his precum on her fingers and rubbed it between the lips of her sex, but when he made a motion to touch her himself, she swiftly closed her legs.  "What did you do before we got together?" she repeated.

He rolled to his side and raised up on an elbow.  "Are you wanting a demonstration?  Because, if I do that, I won't need you."

"Who’s the tease now?  Hmmm?" she laughed.

"Still you," Giles told her, when his hand was repelled again by her clenched thighs.  He caressed a breast instead, then made a path up to her lips and brushed them with his fingertips.  "I love you, Cor.  Let me touch you."

She opened her thighs and closed her eyes.  She felt his touch travel back down, over her stomach and to her vulva.  He eased two fingers into her passage, stroking deeply within her inflamed, clasping interior.

As he readied her for him, he whispered, "Do you still want to be on top?"

"Yes."

His touch left her.  She heard him shift and opened her eyes to find that he'd moved onto his back and was massaging her wetness over his shaft.

"That's a, mmm, sexy sight," Cordelia admitted, her breath harsh.

He looked at her curiously.  "It is?"

As she climbed onto his legs, he let go, but she brought his hand back to his erection.  "Could you last for just a moment longer, you know, doing that?"

He felt rather self-conscious, but complied.  She watched, entranced at the movement of his fingers over his penis.

"Is that how you used to do it?"

"If I was trying to stretch it out, n-not, uh, go off quickly."

She took his full testicles in her palm.  "I need to know what works if you want to finish fast."

His hand stopped moving.  After a pause, he said, "Cor, the way you touch me is lovely."

"But I don't know if what I do is the most effective.  Rupert, you don't make a lot of noise, so I can't always tell."

Both eyebrows went up.  "And the reason for this conversation is?"

She tapped his stomach.  "You're getting older.  You know?"

He shook his head.

Cordelia let out a breath in annoyance.  "I heard that men, as they get middle aged, can have, well, problems.  Sometimes.  And I'm trying to keep it going as long as possible."

"Problems?" Giles echoed uncertainly.  "As in?"

"Geez, it is so exasperating trying to be supportive with you, especially since I'm being *really* careful not to say the word Viagra."

Both hands went to his forehead.  She eyed him for a long, ticked-off moment.  "Rupert, if we're in this for the lifetime thing, stuff like this is gonna come up."  She glanced down at his groin.  "Well, hopefully."

After another long pause, she said, "Rupert!"

He glanced over, a look in his eyes she couldn't read.  "Cordelia, it's not…..inevitable.  It hadn't crossed my mind.  Until *now*.  Is there any particular reason why it crossed yours?"

"I don't think I want to tell you, if you're going to take *that* tone," she retorted.

He gestured in frustration between them.  "Is the *frequency* not enough?"

"Frequency?" she repeated.  "That's a romantic way to put it, Mr. Giles."

"Is it?"

"Actually," she looked down.  "You've been hornier than any other guy I've dated.  I can't *believe* some of the times you've picked to--"

"Cordelia!"

She jumped.  "It's…..um….."

"Cor," he said warningly.

"Well, look!"  She put a hand on her swelling abdomen.  "It's only going to get bigger and it's not very attractive now."

"You can't honestly think that," Giles said, shocked.  "Oh honey."  He sat up and drew her against his chest.  "I wish you wouldn't take these incredibly torturous routes when you want to tell me something."

"Rupert, I've looked at women with babies and, um….."  She rubbed her stomach.  "You can tell they've had a baby.  There are parts that don't seem to go back the way they should."

He sighed as he pulled back so that he could look at her.  "Cor, yesterday I came home to find you'd made dinner for me and left it warming in the oven.  It smelled superb."

"It was just stew," she said, wondering if there was a point to his story.

"Cor, you'd cared enough to make stew for me.  You'd gone shopping and left a bag on the stairs, and I found some of your makeup on the vanity in the bathroom and a magazine of yours on the dresser in here.  These were all very nice sights and, the best of all, was you, asleep in my side of the bed, wearing a heavy-duty nightgown and huge, fuzzy socks."

"It was cold."

"I was standing there, looking at you, and you woke up.  And you smiled.  At me.  That sleepy, welcoming smile was for me.  Cor, I've never seen anything so beautiful."  He grinned.  "And, did you notice?  I looked at your face when I said it."

"Ok, you know how to charm," she managed, as her cheeks flared.  Then she heard him laugh.  "What?"

"I, uh, can't believe you were considering drugging me in order to--"

She slapped his leg.  "Now you've ruined the moment.  Bastard."

He rubbed his cheek against hers, then drew back to look in her eyes, "Kiss me, honey.  Bite me if you must.  Then, please, let me come inside you."

She kissed him softly, their tongues playing.  Then she raised back up and said, "Afterwards, you'll tell me what it is you wanted to tell me."

"Actually, it's something I want to ask you," he mumbled, his focus more on getting her hips over his.

She felt his touch on her sex, a sweet rub on her clitoris.  "Oh!" she said.  "Do that again?"

He did, over and over until she began crying, "Oh god oh god oh god!"  All of a sudden, she thrust hard against him, her climax overtaking her sharply.  He felt the intense pulses in his hand and laughed in amazement.

When she caught her breath, she said, "Um, it just….."

But he was smiling delightedly as he guided her sex over his.  "I want you."

"Yes," she murmured, but as the lips of her vagina slid over his penis, the doorbell sounded from below.

"Fuck!" he cursed.  "Leave it."

He felt her vagina surround his erection, then enclose it completely as she lowered down.  The luscious friction caused him to groan so loudly that he didn't realize what she meant when she said, "There it is again."

Giles squinted up.  "What?"

"The doorbell, Rupert."

The knocking that followed was clearly audible to them both.

"It's nighttime," she added in an upset voice though he didn't know if it was from anger or fear.  "It's dark out."

In Sunnydale, dark didn't mean nice things.

"Fucking hell!"  But he was already coming down from the edge, worry overtaking the need.  Still, he had to lift her up and off.

"It had better be something *damnwell*--" she started, cut off when he kissed her in pain and aggravation.

Giles rolled off the bed to a standing position as he shimmied his pants up.

"I made us take so long," she muttered.

"It's all right," he said, though hardly in a normal tone.

"It isn't!"

"It *is*," he insisted, rushing his shirt buttons.  "I prefer it when we take time."

As he cleared the doorway, she called, "Wash your hands."

'What?' he thought, but as he reached for the deadbolt, he found he'd heard her correctly.  Her scent caught his nose as he twisted the lock open.

"Damnit," he muttered.  He swung the door to find Buffy and Xander on the porch, the latter glancing nervously behind them.

"Did you just swear?" Buffy asked, her eyes wide.

"No.  What's wrong?" Giles asked, stepping a lot farther back than was necessary to let them in.

"There's a thing," Xander said as he came in, trying not to be obviously hasty.  "We've seen it twice now.  Actually, *just* now."

"We have books," Buffy said, holding up several large ones.

Giles glanced at them in dismay before looking out into the dark.

"It ran away," Buffy said, following his line of sight, but when she tried to hand him the books, he took a huge step away.

"I-if you want to go in the living room," he said, halfway down the hall to the kitchen now.

Buffy exchanged a glance with Xander.  "All right," she said to the place where Giles had been standing a bare second before.  As she dumped the books onto the coffee table, she thought she heard the sink.

He returned after a few moments and queried in a low tone, "Thing?"

"Big shaggy smelly….." Buffy's gaze flicked behind him.  "Is Cordelia in?"

"She's upstairs.  Where did you get the books?"

"Wesley.  He managed to tell me that these were what he thought you'd need before he had to run off to the bathroom.  He's such a whiner when he's barfing.  Not like you.  You just make barfy noises when you're actually, well, you know."  At the impatient look on his face, Buffy said, "Other than that, you don't bug anybody about it.  I think he ate some escargot that wasn't ripe," she replied, bothered by Giles' defensive rumpled stance of arms crossed over a shirt that wasn't tucked in and wasn't buttoned all the way.  The sight bothered Xander as well.  He gave Buffy an uneasy look before sitting on the edge of the couch.

"Escargot doesn't ripen.  It's made from snails," Giles muttered.

"I know," she said.  "I was just teasing you."  Buffy dropped a cell phone onto the coffee table.   "Willow's with him.  She's not sick, so it's probably some strange snooty thing he's eaten that's done the damage."

Giles took a chair on the other side of the table.  "Is that Wesley's phone?"

"No.  Wesley got one for me.  He said it's better than the pager.  In fact, he took the pager away, the jerk.  Have you ever tried making roundhouse kicks with something this size banging at your hip?"

Giles drew a breath.  "Tell me about this…..thing."

"Large brown guy in dire need of a bath.  I hit him.  He grunted."

"Then he threw a picnic table and ran away," Xander added.

"…..fuck….." Giles muttered as he selected a text, but it wasn't so low that Buffy didn't hear.

She glanced at the doorway.  "Cordelia's upstairs?"

"She's sleeping.  Don't go up," he told her.

"It's only nine-thirty," Xander said.

"She's sleeping.  Don't go up," Giles repeated, enunciating each word clearly.

Buffy leaned back in the couch cushions.  Sleeping……yeah, right!  She was uncomfortable, very uncomfortable, thinking that, at any moment, Cordelia would come downstairs and make some snotty remark.  Not that Buffy couldn't hold her own with Cordy, but she was on the latter's home turf.

As well, the living room didn't look as Buffy remembered it.  At all.  It used to be Giles-ville, cluttered but precise, his belongings laying in dusty, concentric circles from his favourite chair, with the items he used the most on the tables closest in.  Tucked away under her end of the couch, he'd liked to keep a bottle of scotch.

His scotch was gone, as were pretty well all of his belongings.  There was still some dust, but it had settled warily around a few strange glass objects, an incense holder, and a CD player.  There were new curtains, a new rug, and a smell of something feminine and flowery in the air.  The former centre of everything, the chair - *his* chair - had been shoved to a patch of floor by a side window.

Xander leaned towards Buffy and whispered, "Cordyland," echoing Willow's words.  Willow was the only one who'd been here since Cordelia had moved in, and she'd come away with the strange remark that Giles must be living in his car, for there was no evidence of him left in his own home.

Buffy eyed Giles' profile and wondered if he was here on a visitor's pass, or if Cordelia actually let him come and go in the living room as he pleased.

Xander nudged her again, but his look was a little more peculiar.  He nodded at a book on another table and Buffy peered over.  It was titled, "Expectations", and a picture of a pregnant woman in a rocking chair was on the front.

All at once she realized.  Xander didn't know.  She did.  Willow did, and possibly Wesley if Will couldn't keep a secret.

Buffy quickly contemplated the options of either shrugging and pretending not to know, or giving him a look meaning shut-up-and-I'll-tell-you-later.  Either one would be difficult - Xander had dated Cordelia for nearly a year and the break-up had been messy.

"Are you sure it was a demon you encountered?" Giles asked, startling Buffy.

"It wasn't some guy who'd lost his razor.  We're talking major stinky fur, Giles."

"It sounds like a Sasquatch," he mused.

"Is that a demon?" Buffy said.  "Just tell me where the weak spot is, because I hit him hard and he didn't notice."

She noticed Xander's attention was back on the book.  "Xan--"

"A Sasquatch is a Bigfoot.  It was on X-Files," he mumbled, showing that he actually had been paying attention to the conversation.  "Giles," he started, but, just then, Buffy heard someone on the stairs.  She glanced around as Cordelia came into the room dressed in a skirt and a large sweatshirt that went down over her thighs.

Xander frowned and Buffy caught his purposeful scrutiny, but the sweatshirt was too bulky.

The three of them faced off for a moment, then Cordelia did something Buffy hadn't expected.  She said simply, "Hello," and sat down on the stuffed arm of Giles' chair.

'Excuse me,' Buffy thought, 'but the arm of Giles' chair has always been my spot.'  Then, sadly, she understood that it wasn't.

Giles stood, still reading, and said, "Cor, take the chair."

"I'm fine here, Rupert."

'Rupert?' Buffy thought.  The same thought must have occurred to Xander.  She felt his arm twitch beside hers.

"Is it a vampire?" Cordelia asked.

"No.  Demon, perhaps, or a mythological creature," Giles said.  He glanced at her, then at Buffy and Xander before returning to his armchair.  "If it is a Sasquatch, Buffy, you can't kill it.  They're a protected species."

"Really?" Buffy asked.  "But it's running around out there."

"And it throws picnic tables," Xander added, though he was still looking uncertainly at Cordelia.

She returned the look.  "I haven't seen you since the Mayor turned into a snake.  How's Anya?"

Buffy turned to Xander.  "Anya?  Is she still around?"

Xander managed a disconcerted smile.  "We travelled a little this summer.  Um, together."

"You didn't tell me," Buffy said.

"I didn't think it was any big deal," he replied.  He gathered himself, stared intently at Cordelia, and said, "I worked this past summer.  What did you get up to?"

Giles' head came up.  "Xander, would you put the kettle on?"

"After this past summer, you do know your way around a kitchen, don’t you?" Cordelia queried.

Giles abruptly stood and plopped the book into Cordelia's hands.  "I'm looking for references to Wanatus.  There should be an index at the back."  He started forward.  "Xander, come help me make some tea."

The younger man stood though he shot a dubious look between the two women.  Once in the kitchen, and before Xander had a chance to open his mouth, Giles said, "*Don't* upset her because, after you leave, *I'm* the one who will have to calm her down!"

Xander eyed Giles steadily.  "Did you knock her up?"

Giles took a second.  "Buffy told you?"

"No.  She didn't.  *Nobody* did.  There's a book out there!"

Giles stared back.  "You just found out now?  Ah damn."

"Was anyone going to bother to tell me?" Xander demanded.

"Of course," Giles retorted, irritated himself.  "The timing for *everything* tonight has been pissant bad.  Why should it be any better for you?"

"Oh," Xander managed.  He took in Giles' disheveled state again and the amount of time it had taken the Watcher to get to the door.  "Buffy and I didn't plan on getting chased here.  Personally, I'm in the mood to leave."

"Xander, I apologize for the way you found out, but I don't apologize for it."

Xander backed off a little too.  "Well, it wasn't like I ever planned to marry her or be with her or go steady with her…..or anything.”  He filled the kettle with water and plugged it in.  "You know, Giles, even I know about birth control."

Giles gave him a look that ended up silencing them both.

---

Buffy looked over to find Cordelia watching her thoughtfully.  "Giles said there was an index at the back."

Cordelia tossed the book to her, then settled in Giles' chair.  "It's your demon."

Buffy sighed loudly as she opened the book.  "Xander's here two minutes, and you go after him.  Congratulations.  Your bitchiness has entered warp-speed."

"After the look he gave me when I came downstairs, he deserved it."

"He didn't know.  He got a shock, and then you showed up."

"Excuse me," Cordelia interjected, eyebrows raised.  "What on earth are you talking about?"

"The, um--" Buffy hesitated, then gestured at the book on pregnancy.  "I didn't tell him, but he saw *that*!  Of course it's going to take him off guard."

Cordelia glanced where Buffy was pointing.  "Oh."

"Is that all you have to say?" Buffy questioned.  "God, Cordelia!"

"Thanks a lot," Cordelia shot back.  "You're acting like some terrible thing just dropped out of the sky."

Buffy paused.  "I didn't say that."

"But that's how you're acting, like I've done something to *you*.  Well, think about it from someone else's point of view for one second, Buffy.  Rupert is going to have a son or a daughter.  He's going to be someone's father.  I think he'd given up hope that it would ever happen, and all you and Xander can do is act like you're being shit on."

Buffy hated like hell when Cordelia took a grain of truth and expanded it exponentially.  As she flipped to the index, she said, "That's not how I'm acting."  Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the scowl Cordelia made.

After a few minutes, Cordelia said, "Why did you come here?  Shouldn't you have done this at Wesley's?"

"Am I not allowed to come here anymore?" Buffy asked in a quiet tone.

"That's not what I said," Cordelia corrected.  "But you brought those books from somewhere.  They're not Rupert's."

"Wesley's sick.  Otherwise I wouldn't have come here."  When Cordelia didn't say anything more, Buffy glanced over.  Cordelia, however, looked thoughtful.

At length, Cordelia said, "Even though it's not official, Rupert is your Watcher.  He'd feel bad if he heard you say that you wouldn't go to him."

Buffy almost dropped her book.  It shifted and only her Slayer reflexes kept it from falling.  "I…..um….."

"Don't push it," Cordelia cut in.

Giles and Xander returned as Buffy said, "Wanatus, from Huron Indian Lore.  Reputedly-foul smelling creature larger than a man and worshipped by the Hurons as a deity.  There's a picture and it sure looks like Mr. Stinky Fur."  She handed the book to Giles as Xander poured tea.  "Is this the thing you're saying I can't kill?  Because he doesn't have the nicest temper."

Giles read through the page before saying, "He is a living being, Buffy.  It wouldn't be right to kill him."

"We can't leave him out there.  He's not in a happy mood."

On the tea tray was a glass of milk.  Buffy's eyes widened when Xander picked it up and tried to hand it to Cordelia.  She regarded him dubiously.

"Isn't it a good thing to drink right now?" he asked, but gently.

Finally she took the glass.  "Thank you."

Giles pulled a footstool beside Cordelia and sat down.  "Buffy, if you could keep the Wanatu in one place for a few moments, I could put a Teres spell on it."

"A what?"

He closed the text and set it on the table.  "Basically, it's a return to home spell."

"I suppose you want to go out and do that right now?" Cordelia asked Giles.

He gave her a tired smile.  "If he's not in a good mood, it should be right away."

"Drink your tea first," she said.

---

Xander yawned.  It felt like he, Buffy and Giles had been in the city park for hours.  It was dark, damp, cold, boring…..and both of his legs were asleep.  He got up to walk out the pins and needles, but paused beside an overturned picnic table.  "This *is* where he was before."

"Maybe he's already gone home," Buffy suggested as she checked her watch.

"What time is it?"

The look on her face was answer enough.

Giles, sitting with his back against a tree several feet away, checked his own watch.  "Damn," he murmured.  Then he got up himself and stretched.

"Eighty percent of slaying is waiting," Buffy said.  At Xander's look, she swiftly pointed to Giles and added, "That's what he told me."

"May I use your phone, Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Sure."  She pulled it off her belt and tossed it to him.

He moved a few trees away before opening the top and dialing.  When he heard the other end pick up, he said softly, "Cor, it's your boyfriend."

"Rupert, are you calling to tell me that your ass is still in that park?"

"Basically.  Also….."  He increased the distance by several more trees.  "Before the day is officially over, I wanted to ask if you'd noticed the date?"

"I suppose.  Why?"

Lowering his voice even more, Giles answered, "It's five months today since our eventful moment in the bleachers."

He heard her laugh.  "Trust you to remember that."

"It was a fairly significant day."

"Yeah, yeah.  You got laid.  Big deal.  The world did not, as we feared, stop in its orbit because you got a happy."

He turned his back so the others wouldn't see the smile on his face.

"Is this what you wanted to ask me earlier?" Cordelia said.

"I wanted to ask you something *on* this day."

"And that was?"

Just as he opened his mouth, he heard Xander shout.

"Damn!  I'll call you back, Cor," Giles said.  He ended the call and turned to see both Buffy and Xander holding their sleeves to their nose as she delivered a kick to a big furry something or other.  As the creature went flying towards him, the smell preceded it.

Giles stepped out of the way and put a handkerchief to his nose.

"Is that good enough?" Buffy called, "or do I have to go near it again?"

"It's not good enough," Giles said as the thing lumbered up and stood towering above him.  Two black eyes stared down at him from under a matted mane.  Giles returned the look, fascinated.

"Rats," Buffy exclaimed, breaking the mood.

"Don't send it towards me!  I don't have to be that close to it to do the spell," Giles tried, but too late.  He jumped as the creature went flying into a tree beside him.  "And don’t get it angry."

"And I can do that how, Giles?" Buffy asked while trying not to breathe in.

Giles quickly said the spell.  The creature stared at him until he finished, then, without warning, screamed.

"Holy shit!" Xander cried.

"It screams like a woman!" Buffy yelled, holding her hands over her ears.  "It must be related to Wesley."

"Say the spell again," Xander started, but the creature began moving away from them.  It loped out of the park and into the trees.

"I think it worked," Giles mumbled.  He removed the handkerchief from his nose, but immediately replaced it.  "Oh, that's rancid."

"Mr. Stinky Fur," Buffy commented.  "At least I didn't have to touch him with my hands."

"Still, it's rather amazing what this hellmouth attracts."

Buffy gave him a long-suffering look before putting her other sleeve to her nose.  "Oh no!  I can smell it in my clothes!"

"It's just in the air," Giles said, hoping he was right.  The three of them vacated the park quickly, but it didn't get any better.

Buffy itched her arms through her sleeves.  "I can still smell it."

"Me too," Xander said with a look of disgust.  "At least vampires don't leave a reek behind."

Giles returned Buffy's phone to her, then lowered all the windows of the Citroen before allowing them in.  Xander opened his mouth to protest having to wait in the street while Giles got the car ready, but the latter said quickly, "Be careful what you say.  I'm having second thoughts about letting you in my vehicle."

"We'll hang out the windows," Buffy groused as she got in.

It was well after midnight before Giles got home.  Cordelia came into the hall as he let himself in, but stopped several steps away and wrinkled her nose.

"Damn, you can still smell it?" Giles asked.

"What is it?  No, don't tell me," she said quickly.  "Just drop your clothes there and you can bury them in the backyard tomorrow."

"Cor….."

"I'm serious.  It's revolting, Rupert."

He dropped his jacket and took off his shoes, then started on his shirt.  "I didn't even touch it."

"And I'm not touching you until you've had a shower."

When he'd shed everything down to his boxers, he took a step towards the stairs, but Cordelia shook her head.  "No, Rupert."

"Cordelia, it's not going to be in my--"

"Don't make me get a gun."

Embarrassed, he dropped his boxers to the floor.  "All right?" he asked gruffly.

She cocked her head to the side as she regarded his limp penis.  "It went away."

He made a grumbling noise as he trudged up the stairs, painfully aware of her scrutiny.  He wasn't much of a flasher and, though Cordelia had already seen this sight, she usually did so while in a similar state of undress.  It was a relief to get into the bedroom and behind a door, more of a relief even than the shower.

Unfortunately, she was fully-dressed and waiting for him when he returned to the bedroom.  "I made you some tea, Rupert."  She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her head propped on one hand.  "Why don't you lose the towel?"

"I think I'll keep it."

She chuckled.  "I like having a naked man around."

"I'm keeping the towel," he insisted, pulling on pajama bottoms underneath the terrycloth.

Cordelia shook her head in amusement before saying, "What did you want to ask me anyway, Rupert?"

Regret went across his face.  "I wanted to ask yesterday."

"Because it was an anniversary?  I didn't know you were that romantic."

"Neither did I," Giles said, looking across the room at her and enjoying the sight.  He took her in for a few moments longer before turning away to get something out of his dresser.

She waited, intrigued.  Whatever he'd taken from the drawer was small, cupped out of sight in his hands.  "Rupert?"

He met her eyes and his green ones were so dark that she startled.  "What is it, Rupert?"

Giles shook his head, then, slowly, bent down onto one knee in front of her.  He opened his hand and revealed a ring, its gems glittering in his palm.  "Cordelia, please marry me."

A look of utter, naked surprise went over her face.  She stared at him for so long that his heart began to thump right up into his temples.  Then, taking him completely aback, she said in an almost-bland voice, "You're only down on one knee, Rupert.  I expect two."

He eyed her in return, then rose to his feet and went to turn away.  Hastily, she grabbed his arm and said, "One knee is fine.  I'll marry you!  God, Rupert!"

Giles grinned at her tone, then sat down beside her and obligingly put the ring on her finger.  "Later," he said, "I'll get on both knees for you."

"And I know what you plan to be doing while you're on those knees," she mumbled, looking at the ring.  A brilliant green tsavorite lay between two smaller diamonds.  "It's the same colour as your eyes."  She looked up with flushed cheeks.  "Do you think our baby will have your colour eyes?"

"I don't know.  I have a preference for hazel eyes myself."  He lightly stroked her soft mouth with a fingertip.

She smiled, reached her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss.  She ran kisses along his jaw to his ear and whispered, "Lie back.  It's still my turn to be on top."

"I have a feeling it's always going to be your turn," he commented, but he did as she requested.

Cordelia hovered over him, her hair sweeping down to tickle his chest as she bent forward to slip her skirt down her legs.  Next, she pulled her sweatshirt off, extracting the hand with the ring very carefully through the sleeve.  At last she leant down to hug him.

As he caressed her, she whispered, "I don't care what happens, you're not getting out of this bed until I'm finished with you."

"Fine with me," Giles said as he fondled her ass.

She wiggled into his touch which rubbed her sex over the front of his pajamas.  "Why did you put these on?" she wondered, as she snaked a hand down to the drawstring.

He shrugged, which caused her to giggle.  Cordelia sat up again, gave him a roguish look, then shuffled down his legs.  Just as he was about to complain over the loss of contact with her buttocks, she flashed him another grin and took the end of the drawstring between her teeth.  The knot undid with a single tug.  She burrowed into the opening and licked his cock.

His penis stiffened dramatically.  "Mmm," she murmured, the sound of it quivering on his skin.  She made another little moan, then her mouth engulfed him.  The descent of the hot wetness spiked fierce pleasure through him.  He arched off the bed and nearly gagged her.

"I'm sorry, Cor," he gasped, but she laughed.

"I should have expected it after what happened earlier."  Bracing herself with one hand, she raised her hips and rubbed her vulva over his erection.  Then she sank down and whispered, "Close your eyes and let go."

"But I like looking at you," he said huskily.

She laughed, then put both hands on his chest for leverage and began to ride him.

The slick, clutching friction of her sex hardened him, taunted him, sent him reeling almost out of his senses with the sheer voluptuousness of it.  He pushed up as she came down, but, no matter how deep he went, her passage was deeper still.  He wanted to hit the core of her, to push against it, and send his seed flying.  But there was no end.  Every millimeter more he grasped sent him closer, but never to the bottom.  The drive to get there was deliciously carnal and wildly maddening.

He yanked both sides of the sheet off the mattress in an effort to find something to hold in his ferocity.  Then he grabbed the mattress itself, bending it up from the boxspring.  "Cor!" he groaned.

She understood.  She felt the swell of his cock and the head flaring out into a rigid swell.  Under her cleft, his scrotum tightened.  "Let go," she coaxed and squeezed her vagina around his shaft.

He gave in and shattered into orgasm, ejaculate spinning up his shaft and into limbo.  He came hard in spasms of bliss and anguish that hit over and over.

It took him some minutes to become aware again, aware of her over him, the mattress askew underneath, and his sweat soaking the sheet under his hips.  When he opened his eyes, she smiled, then dropped down to hold him.  The movement caused his penis to slide inside her.  He was spent, but still heavy.  The walls of her vagina tickled him.

"I could spend a lifetime on top of you," she said drowsily.

He felt some ejaculate ooze out.  "There's a mess," he said.

"I don't care," she told him, reaching down for the quilt.  She was able to grab an edge.  She drew it up and he pulled it over them.

He felt her kiss his chest, then she said, "I love you, Mr. Giles."

Wrapping his arms around her, he replied, "I love you," and closed his eyes.