Watchers Council

Chapter 18

“I can’t believe I still have to carry bags” Alex grumbled as she loaded the trunk.

“It’s the last one” Willow sighed and closed the trunk with a bang before leaning on it and pulling Alex against her. “If you’d rather we could drop everything off and then come back here for our own, private celebration?” she kissed the end of Alex’s nose and brushed some hair away from her forehead.

“I think that’s my line” Alex suggested and leaned in to Willow to return the kiss. “Unfortunately, last year I promised Rupert that we’d spend Thanksgiving with for for the rest of our lives so we’re stuck with being sociable”

“OK” Willow looked a little confused but moved to open the car door for Alex before driving them towards the compound.

*****

“Alex, glad you made it back in time” Giles smiled as he helped Willow to empty the trunk.

“You and I need to have a chat later, I’ve had an idea and need to run it past you” she whispered and pointed to a large box in the back of the trunk. “That one’s for you, a friend brought it back from one of her trips” she grinned.

“The good stuff?” he opened the box and pulled out one of the bottles. “Perhaps we should take this one with us for the toast later?” he asked and held his arm out to escort her inside.

“Hey Giles!” Buffy shouted at him from across the room and waved so he handed Alex the bottle and sighed dramatically before heading towards her.

“Kate” Alex smiled as she saw the woman coming towards her. “You’ve just missed Rupert” she pointed with the bottle.

“I’ve spent all day with him, I was coming to say hello to you” the woman smiled and hugged her. “Come and tell me all about your latest trip” she suggested and led Alex off to the nearest table.

“They seem to get on well” Xander nodded towards the two women as he helped Willow move some chairs.

“I think they spent a lot of time talking when Kate found out about us” Willow shrugged. “They formed a sort of support group and Kate was able to tell her all about the vampire attack”

“I remember that night” Xander sighed and sat down on one of the seats he had just placed. “I thought Giles was going to have a coronary when he brought her into the infirmary”

“I just wish I had been here” Willow sighed and sat next to him before looking at his incredulous face. “What?”

“You wish you had been here helping Giles to stake one vampire instead of in Paris with Alex on Valentine’s Day?” his eyebrow was raised so high that it almost disappeared under his floppy fringe.

“Well, I just meant I was worried about them” she admitted but this didn’t get rid of the sceptical look on his face. “OK, once I’d come down off of cloud nine, about three weeks later, I was worried” she blushed and looked down at the table cover.

*****

“Damn” Giles muttered under his breath as he headed back towards the main hall. “Buffy?” he looked around the room and found his slayer helping to put up the last of the decorations. “Buffy?” he shouted and waved.

“What’s up watcher of mine?” she asked. “Did you get the call?”

“Yes” he sighed and took his glasses off to rub his eyes. “Justin’s flight has been delayed and he won’t arrive till later tonight”

“No problem, we can send one of the students to pick him up” she suggested brightly.

“With the increase in activity recently I think I’d rather you and I collected him, if that’s alright with you?” he asked and looked down as the Thanksgiving happiness left her face to be replaced with a pout. “I’m sorry, but I can’t risk anything happening to the Chairman of the Board”

“OK” she put the pout away and turned to scan the room. “I just need to let him know” she sighed and headed towards where the band were setting up.

“Rupert, is everything alright?” Alex asked as he arrived at their table. “Buffy doesn’t look like a happy camper” she pointed towards the dejected blonde.

“I need her to collect Justin from the airport later tonight and I rather think I’ve spoiled her plans for the evening” he suggested uncomfortably as he watched Buffy explaining the situation to one of the band members. “Do we know anything about him, by the way?” he asked and looked concerned.

“He plays in a band and he’s a good kisser” Alex shrugged and laughed as Giles turned to look at her in mild astonishment. “That last bit is from anecdotal evidence” she smiled and looked up to find Willow standing behind her. “Hey, where have you been?” she reached round to catch her hand.

“Helping Xander” she mumbled as Akisskissed the palm of her hand. “What’s up with Giles?” she turned her mind to being sociable and noticed his frown.

“He’s just worried about Buffy’s new squeeze” Alex told her.

“He was about to suggest that we get the FBI to check him out” Kate added and they both laughed.

“I think Willow’s checks are a little more thorough” Giles said dryly before hearing Willow’s sharp intake of breath. He closed his eyes and counted to five before pasting a smile on his face and turning to face the three women. “So, anybody else looking forward to pie?” he asked.

“Absolutely, pie is good” Willow panicked and tried to keep the conversation on culinary lines but she had felt Alex’s grip tighten and knew from the look on Kate’s face that they had both caught his slip.

“Willow checks people out for you?” Alex asked slowly pul pulled Willow round to face her.

“No, no, I was just being witty” he swallowed and tried to talk his way out of it. “You know my wacky British sense of humour”

“How thorough?” Kate asked and turned to face Willow.

“Just to make sure there aren’t any axe murderers trying to get a job with us” she shrugged and stared placidly at the older woman.

“But John hasn’t applied for a job here, he’s Buffy’s boyfriend” Alex said in an even tone that made Willow shudder a little.

“You know Giles’ wacky sense of humour” Willow shrugged but she knew that Alex had seen through the smoke screen they were trying to put up and suspected that Kate wasn’t far behind her.

“We’ll talk about this later” Alex said seriously and turned to see Kate staring at Giles.

“I’m sorry but I need to go with Buffy to pick Justin up at the airport later” Giles shrugged and tried to get the conversation back under his control. “Perhaps Xander could see you back to the apartment?”

“I’ll wait here for you, if that’s alright” Kate said quietly. “I have a feeling we need to have a chat about work stuff before we get back to your place”

Buffy arrived to find her friends in various stages of discomfort. “John said he’ll wait for me to get back” she shrugged. “Sorry Kate, this must be ruining your night as well”

“That’s alright” Kate sighed and pulled herself together as she recognised some of her ex-students entering the hall. “I just need to go and catch up with the boys” she pointed towards the group and headed off.

“Bugger” Giles murmured under his breath and headed towards the bar to oversee the final arrangements.

“What’s up?” Buffy asked Willow and nodded towards Giles.

“You would never believe it was his birthright to be a sneaky watcher type” Willow sighed and shook her head. “We can talk about this later?” she checked with Alex and waited for her nod before dragging Buffy off to the corridor. “That guy with Laurie, he looks awful familiar” she hissed as she peeked round the door to point him out.

“It’s Brian” Buffy shrugged and looked at Willow. “You didn’t know?”

“Know what?” Willow scowled.

“Laurie and him have been going out for six months” Buffy smiled. “Turns out the reason she was keeping an eye on him at the swim meet, and saw him take the pills, was because she was keeping an eye on him” she winked and nudged Willow.

“He doesn’t know, about us I mean” Willow pointed between them.

“Nope, he still thinks it was a hallucination brought on by concussion and thter ter effects of the drugs” Buffy assured her. “He’s clean now and seems to be quite a nice guy without the ‘tude”

*****

The dinner passed off with a lot of noise and a return of good spirits to everyone involved. After the final coffee had been drunk they all started to clear the tables and move the chairs to create a larger dance floor. “This has become part of the tradition” Willow explained to Kate as they all helped. The band started to tune up and waited till the melee had quietened down a little to start their set.

“We should get started” Giles said quietly to Buffy and handed her the jacket he had collected for her. “I would guess the traffic will be quiet, we should be back in a couple of hours”

“Sure” Buffy no and and lifted her bag from behind her chair. “Ready” she assured him and he heard the clink of holy water bottle against stake.

Willow and Alex were the first up to dance, enjoying the slow rhythm of the ballad and ignoring the empty dance floor. “I’m glad you made it back” Willow whispered in her ear.

“I think you made that abundantly clear last night” Alex giggled into her neck before kissing her. “And again this morning and just before lunch”

“Enough” Willow laughed and kissed her lips to stop the revelations. “Not in front of the children” she smiled and nodded towards the students who were now dancing all around them.

“Willow they are only a few years younger than us” Alex explained patiently before returning to kissing her neck.

They danced together until the tune ended and the band picked up a faster beat. “I think we should leave the floor to the youngsters” Willow suggested and pulled Alex after her.

“Yes grandma” Alex pouted before getting a glint in her eye. “I don’t see Rupert or Buffy anywhere”

Willow looked around the hall quickly. “Nope, they must have left to get Justin” she smiled. “It will be good to see him again” she finally looked towards Alex. “What is going on in that sordid little mind?” she asked suspiciously.

“Well Giles might have left his office open?” Alex suggested coyly and watched as Willow blushed bright red. “I seem to remember the last time being a little one sided?” she very nearly managed the pout before laughter overtook her.

*****

“I think they are really happy together” Kate said quy toy to Xander as they danced a little apart at the edge of the dancefloor.

“I think Alex is perfect for Willow” Xander smiled fondly and looked back at his dance partner. “And I think you are pretty near perfect for Giles” he said so quietly that she almost didn’t hear him.

“How much is he paying you?” Kate laughed and moved a little closer to the young man. “And why only nearly perfect?” she raised her eyebrow.

“No payment required” Xander held his hands out in his defence. “And only nearly because you don’t argue with him enough” he explained and saw the confused look on her face. “He needs a challenge” he continued and almost managed to keep the smile from breaking out. “I’m kidding” he reassured her.

“I think I may be challenging him tonight” she said sadly and stopped dancing. “Do you have a couple of minutes?” she asked and led Xander off the dance floor to an empty table. “Earlier he suggested that Willow runs checks on people with whom you are likely to become involved” she started and saw him glance down at the table cover. “I would assume that would mean I was ‘checked out’ as soon as I came on the scene?”

“It’s not because we want to pry into peoples lives, it’s just we have to be careful in our line of work” he said quietly without looking up.

“I’m assuming we aren’t talking about running a school or construction project?” she asked sadly and sighed.

“No” he agreed and looked around to seo wao was near to them. “The first woman I had a crush on was Buffy and you know her deep secret” he began and settled into his chair, finally making eye contact. “The second was a substitute biology teacher who turned out to be a she-mantis and planned to mate with me before decapitating me” he smiled at his memories. “Even Willow managed to date a chaos demon inhabiting a robot body” he shrugged and looked unhappy again for a moment before looking back at her. “Over the yeae hae have all been involved with people who were trying to get close to us for the sole purpose of killing us and it is just second nature now to do some basic background checks”

“So if I’d lied about my age or had too many parking tickets Rupert wouldn’t have asked me out on our first date?” she asked incredulously.

“Nope” he sat up straighter and tried to explain. “You would need to ask him what he found but I would guess the presence of normal stuff like parking tickets and tax returns and a birth certificate for this century, that didn’t have hell as the place of birth, are the sort of things that would get you a pass”

“She really tried to decapitate you?” Kate asked after a few minutes of thought.

“And that was one of my more successful first dates” he shrugged and smiled at her.

*****

Alex walked back towards their table with two glasses of wine. She watched as Willow scanned the crowd, looking anxious. “Anything wrong?” she asked as she set one glass in front of her.

“Nope, just doing the chaperone thing” Willow took a final look round the room before meeting Alex’s eyes and grinning at her. “Are you trying to get me drunk?” she asked suspiciously.

“Do I need to?” Alex asked and smiled slowly. “Hey Laurie” she looked up to see the young couple approaching behind Willow.

“Hi Alex, Ms Rosenberg” Laurie said shyly, she was still a little afraid of Willow since the incident with Brian. “I’m sorry to interrupt, I was just wondering if you had had a chance to speak to Mr Giles yet?”

“Not yet, I’ll talk to him when he gets back” Alex assured her and nodded to the young man at her side. “It’s Brian isn’t it?” she smiled and stood up as he reached out to shake her hand.

“Alex Taylor and Willow Rosenberg” Laurie said quietly. “Brian Hart” she finished the introductions.

“Ms Taylor, it’s an honour to meet you” he smiled broadly and held her hand for a little longer than necessary.

“Are you enjoying the party?” Alex asked as she retrieved her hand and took hold of Willow’s. She could sense that something wasn’t right with her and glanced to see what was wrong.

“Yeah, the band are good” Brian agreed and looked towards Laurie as she took his hand and pulled it slightly. “We need to get back to the dance floor” he said and waved. “It was nice meeting you” he managed as Laurie practically dragged him after her.
hat’hat’s wrong?” Alex turned to see Willow staring after him.

“That’s Brian, the one who tried to hit on you at the dance last year” she admitted quietly and shook her head to get rid of the image.

“And he didn’t recognise you?” Alex whispered urgently and sat abruptly in her seat.

“He never saw me” Willow assured her and blew out a deep breath. “Laurie seems to think he is OK now but I still get the wrong signals from him” she looked towards Alex seriously. “Don’t be near withwithout one of us with you” Willow ordered, relenting a little off Alex’s surprised look. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be all heavy, I just don’t like the vibes he gives off, please be careful?” she picked up Alex’s hand and kissed the back until she felt it relax a little.

They were sipping their wine and laughing at some of the dance moves when Dawn and Danny sat down next to them. “What’s so funny?” Dawn asked and laughed as Willow pointed to a particularly energetic dancer. “You would think a Watcher would be better co-ordinated” she grinned and leaned against Danny as he put his arm around her. “Where’s Buffy and Giles?”

“Went to pick up Justin from the airport” Willow reported and turned her attention to the young couple. “Why weren’t you at dinner?” she asked and raised her eyebrow.

“I was finishiff tff the final tests on the database” Danny said with a straight face. “I left the results on your desk”

“And I was helping” Dawn nodded her head.

“I believed you right up until that last part” Willow grinned and shook her head. “Perhaps you should work on your story before they get back”

“I think the left over food is in the kitchen, why don’t you grab a bite to eat?” Alex suggested and smiled as they agreed that they were both starving.

“Was that Dawn?” Xander asked as he held out a chair for Kate. “Is everything alright?”

“More than” Alex assured him and smiled.

He shook his head, fairly sure he didn’t want to know any more. “Can I get you lovely ladies a drink?” he asked and rubbed his hands together as he collected their order.

“You survived a Xander dance, I’m impressed” Willow smiled at Kate.

“He’s not that bad and he’s Rupert’s stand-in increasingly theays”ays” Kate sighed. “I spend more time in his company than Rupert’s”

“Thingve bve been a little hectic” Willow sighed. “I’m sure everything will be cleared up soon”

“What’s happening, something bad?” Alex asked and thanked Xander as he put another glass in front of her.

“Nothing really, just an influx of vaes oes over the last few weeks and an increase in attacks on ex residents of Sunnydale” Willow looked uncomfortably at Alex and Kate. “Giles is running the team that’s looking into it and Buffy is taking the lead on patrols, so we should be clear of it quite soon”

“Top team on the job” Xander agreed and watched the two women try to assimilate the information. “If it was anything too apocalypsey they would have called on Willow so it can’t be that serious” he tried to reassure them.

“Anyway” Willow scrunched her nose at Xander and tried to get them onto another subject. “What did you give thanks for at dinner tonight?” she looked towards Kate.

“Still being alive to eat dinner” she shuddered at memories of the vampire attack. “And that Rupert had the courage to admit his feelings, even if parts of the night were a Valentines date I’d rather forget” she smiled and blushed a little.

“Hey, I’ve just eaten” Xander complained and grinned at her. “What about you, sexy lexy?” he looked towards Alex.

“I was thankful that I survived Valentines Day as well and that all of my friends are safe and happy” she smiled at Willow and squeezed her hand.

“What happened in Paris?” Xander asked anxiously. “Were you attacked?”

“By a ferocious red head” Alex laughed.

“Hey” Willow tried to put her hand over Alex’s mouth. “Too much information” she warned her and turned towards the others. “You did not hear that” she waggled a finger at both of them and finally gave in to the grin as they both laughed. “You are in trouble” she glared at Alex and pulled her in for a kiss while running her hand up her thigh under the table. “Talk of the devil” she nodded over Xander’s head as she saw Buffy and Giles enter the main hall. As they waited for them to get to the table she continued rubbing Alex’s thigh, making sure that the table cover was hiding the movement but very aware of the low groan that Alex couldn’t quite manage to stifle as she slid down in her seat a little and stretched her legs out.

Willow sighed before she stood up to hug Justin. “I’m glad you made it, how was the flight?”

“Long and boring and no gorgeous red heads or blondes to keep me distracted” he smiled as he leaned down and kissed Alex’s forehead. “How is my favourite super model?” he asked before turning to the other woman at the table. “And you must be Ms Sinclair” he bowed over her hand and kissed the back of it as Alex and Willow both groaned.

“You need to get some new moves” Alex laughed and pulled Willow back into the seat next to her.

“Please, call me Kate” she suggested and smiled at him as Giles put his arm round her waist. “You made good time, I hardly noticed you were gone” she raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Xander. “Xander kept me amused and he’s a better dancer”

“Now I know you’re lying” Giles grinned as he nodded to Justin and pulled Kate towards the dancefloor.

Xander frowned a little before accepting the laughter from around the table. “Show me how its done” he held his hand out to Alex and she shook her head and followed him to the dancefloor.

“You must be exhausted, can I get you something to eat or drink?” Willow asked as Justin sank into a chair.

“No, I’ll be fine, it’s just been a while since I’ve required an escort” he nodded towards Buffy as she skirted the dancing couples and waved at the drummer on the stage. “They really are a remarkable team” he looked back towards Willow seriously. “If I hadn’t known that something was wrong I may never have realised how carefully I was shepherded and protected from the airport to here”

“They’ve been working together for a long time” she shrugged and leaned closer to him. “I think Giles was just over compensating a little, he’s worried it would affect his bonus if he let the Chairman be killed on his watch”

“I may have given him that impression” Justin admitted and smiled at her. “Enough about me, what’s been happening with you?” he asked and they spent the next half hour catching up on their gossip.

*****

“Rupert” Alex tapped him on the shoulder. “Can I cut in?” she asked.

“You want to dance with Kate?” he stopped to stare at her.

“Well yes” Alex admitted and made a show of checking out his date. “But actually it’s you I need for now” she smiled apologetically at Kate. “Sorry, I promise you can have him back in five minutes”

“Maybe I’d rather dance with you instead” Kate suggested and winked outrageously at Alex as she accepted Xander’s chivalrous bow and danced off with him.

“I’m getting too old for this” Giles sighed and held her in his arms as the band slowed down to a ballad.

“Sorry, sometimes I can’t help the flirt” she shrugged and settled her arms round his waist. “I hate to bring up business but I really need to chat with you for five minutes or so before you leave tonight” she smiled as he dropped his hands to her waist and settled into an easy sway. “Someone at my agency has come up with an idea and they are looking for an answer tomorrow morning on whether we should take it further”

“I’m not really the best person to speak to about the modelling business” he suggested uncomfortably.

“I know” she nodded and saw him frown a little. “But you are the best person to speak to about your slayers becoming models” she held her breath a little as she got to the end of the sentence, unsure of his reaction.

“Perhaps we’d better sit down” he suggested and led her to an empty table. “Now, start at the beginning and if I stop breathing please give Doctor Crow a call” he took a deep breath and settled down to listen to her.

“OK” she nodded and collected her thoughts before continuing. “I was talking to one of the partners in the agency and showed her some pictures from my last visit” she began and settled back in her chair a little. “I’ve been thinking for a while about getting into the management side of things and she suggested I might want to buy into the agency”

“Congratulations” he murmured and waited for her to get to the point.

“Thanks” she smiled. “Anyway, she noticed a couple of the girls in the photographs and asked if they had any representation” she paused. “I have to admit I said I was acting as their agent for the time being” she held up her hand to stop any interruption but he was strangely quiet. “She suggested they might like to put together some portfolios and we could see about getting them some work”

“Are you getting to the point tonight?” he asked and looked at his watch.

“OK” she sighed. “Laurie and Jane and a couple of the others are keen to try out modelling as a career, as well as the demon slaughtering thing, and I said I would ask you if it was OK”

“I’m in charge of their schooling and training, you would need to ask their parents’ permission if they were still underage” he explained reasonably. “And as long as we aren’t talking about film crews and bikini parades at the school, I’m sure we can give them the time off they would require”

“You’re OK with this?” she needed clarification. “Because everyone seemed to think you would be a bit freaked out about it”

“Hello, my name’s Rupert Giles, I train vampire slayers for a living and fight the forces of darkness in my spare time” he held out his hand to her and smiled.

“I think Kate has had a very relaxing effect on you” she grinned back at him and pointed to the woman as she headed towards them. “I think I’ve ruined enough of your night, I’ll let you know what happens”

She walked towards Laurie and Brian. “Can I have a word?” she asked and Laurie followed her a little way off. The young girl grinned and hugged her before looking around the room to search out some of her friends. “We still have a lot of work to do” Alex warned her but the girl was too excited by the news and nodded absent mindedly as she continued scanning the room.

“What was that all about?” Willow asked as Alex arrived back at her side.

“It’s just business” Alex shrugged and looked around. “What happened to Justin?”

“He was pooped, Xander’s showing him up to his room” she smiled and pulled Alex onto her lap. “I think I’ve chaperoned enough for one night, let’s head home” she whispered in her ear and nibbled the ear lobe while she was there.

“We can’t go yet” Alex sighed and leaned into the embrace. “Rupert and I need to do the toast thing before we can leave”

“Giles needs to make you toast?” Willow pulled back a little to stare in confusion at her.

“No” Alex grinned and leaned down to kiss her. “Mmmm you taste even better than usual tonight” she whispered in Willow’s ear before sitting up again. “Rupert and I agreed to toast the passing year with a glass of very good scotch every Thanksgiving” she explained patiently.

“So you’re turning down mind blowing sex with me to stay here and drink with Giles?” she pouted.

“I’m not cancelling our time together, just postponing it a little” Alex pouted as well but she had to give in to laughter. “You wanted me to get on with your friends, didn’t you?” she walked one finger along Willow’s shoulder and down towards her cleavage.

Willow made eye contact with Alex and stared intently at her, licking her lips unconsciously as Alex’s hand rested just above her heart. Alex was concentrating on the warmth of the skin under her fingers and had faded out the rest of the room until Giles coughed behind her. “Rupert?” she looked up at him and smiled as she saw the two glasses and bottle he was holding. “Your timing is perfect” she slid off of Willow’s lap and took both glasses from him, holding them steady while he carefully poured two measures.

Giles put the bottle down on the table and turned to put his free hand around Kate’s waist, pulling her against him. “Another year older, a few more wrinkles but still no cats” he lifted his glass and Alex solemnly repeated the toast.

Kate and Willow stared at both of them for a moment before lookat eat each other. “That’s it?” Kate finally asked when Willow shrugged. “We couldn’t make out in your office because of that?” she was looking seriously at Giles.

Alex choked on the second sip she had just taken of her drink and saw Giles blush bright red and down the remainder of his drink in one go. She finally stopped coughing and turned to find Willow holding her head in her hands and moaning. “Same time, same place next year?” she turned back to Giles and smiled as he took her glass from her and finished the contents for her. She turned to hug Kate. “Watch out for the squeaky wheel on his chair” she whispered in her ear and turned away without waiting for an answer. “Ready to go Will?” she asked and followed Willow towards the exit.

Willow was desperately trying to get the mental picture of him out her head, the grin that had suddenly spread over his face when he had caught them in his office the previous year. She knew she only had herself to blame, when Alex had explained why they couldn’t leave she had telepathically contacted Giles and asked him to make it quick. She hadn’t stopped to wonder why he was reluctant and now she knew that she had almost certainly interrupted them on the way to his office. Alex had grabbed their coats from the hallway and she pulled Willow to a halt just outside the doors and held her coat out for her.

“It’s getting chilly” Alex explained in her mother-knows-best voice. She saw that Willow was still a little upset about Kate’s remark earlier and decided to give her something else to think about. Pushing Willow against the wall beside the door she kissed her as if their lives depended on it. “I need you to focus on us for the rest of tonight” she murmured before continuing the kiss. “You promised me mind blowing sex and I intend to hold you to that promise”

Twenty minutes later Alex tried to unlock their front door as Willow kissed the back of her neck. “Will, give me a minute” she sighed as she tried to find the right key. “You are an exhibitionist” she laughed as the door finally opened and they practically fell into the hallway.

“Says the swimwear model” Willow mumbled as she quickly dragged Alex’s coat off and started unbuttoning her blouse. “Too many clothes” she frowned for a moment before dropping the blouse to the floor and pulling Alex towards the sofa.

Alex decided that the comments were rhetorical and concentrated her energies on helping to remove her clothing while hopping on one leg as she tried to kick off her shoe. “Will” she sighed softly as her t-shirt finally dropped to the ground and the red head started to kiss her through the sheer material of her bra.

Alex gently ran her fingers through Willow’s hair before reaching round to undo her own bra. Letting it fall to the floor she pulled Willow up until she could kiss her. Sighing, she enjoyed the feel of her bare breasts rubbing against Willow’s sweater before pulling back and lifting the hem of the sweater. “Ups-a-daisy” she whispered and smiled as Willow automatically raised her arms in the air. “Did you remember my special request?” she asked breathily as she reached round to undo her bra.

“Mmm?” Willow managed as Alex started to lick and suck her nipples. Willow’s legs suddenly felt unequal to the task of supporting her so she slowly edged towards the sofa, making sure Alex didn’t lose contact.

Once Willow was lying on the sofa with Alex on top of her she stretched out, letting her thighs clench around Alex’s leg. “The commando tradition” Alex whispered in her ear.

“What on earth has Riley got to do with this?” Willow pulled back to look thoroughly confused.

“Who the hell’s Riley?” Alex asked as she sat up and rested on Willow’s thighs.

“Commando guy that Buffy went out with in college who turned out to be the Frankenstein monster’s brother or something” Willow explained patiently. “And you have no idea what I’m talking about, yet I’m still talking instead of kissing” Willow pulled her back down so they could get back to the good stuff.

“I meant the no underwear thing” Alex explained as she shook her head and ran her fingers down Willow’s side, smiling as she started to wriggle. “I think I’d better just check for myself” she mumbled and kissed her way down Willow’s ribs to the waistband of her skirt. “I think this needs to go” she sighed as she reached underneath her and pulled the skirt off. “Oohhh even better” she raised her eyebrows as she surveyed Willow grinning up at her wearing only a skimpy pair of green knickers. Licking her lips she leaned down and continued kissing from where she’d left off.

“I bought them as a surprise for you” Willow giggled and then drew in her breath sharply as Alex licked her belly button. “Please” she whispered before running her hands through Alex’s hair.

“There isn’t any rush” Alex mumbled and kissed around the underwear. “It’s not as if Rupert’s going to catch us in the act this time”

“Please don’t mention Giles while you’re kissing me there” Willow begged. “Don’t stop” she pressed her hands to the back of Alex’s head and lifted her hips off the sofa slightly.

“I’m not stopping” Alex smiled. “And I love the surprise but they have to go now” she sighed and threw the knickers over her shoulder as she kneeled on the floor beside the sofa.

Willow stretched herself out, her hands above her head as she kept eye contact with the blonde. “I love you” she said quietly and Alex smiled as she nodded. They didn’t use the words very often, both aware that they had been used before where the feelings hadn’t been anywhere near as strong as they were now.

“I know” Alex sighed and breathed against the red hair directly in front of her. She leaned in a little closer before turning to lick up the inside of Willow’s left thigh. “I’m thankful for your fabulous left leg” she licked her lips and watched the red head staring at her as she turned her head to give the same attention to the other thigh. “And I’m thankful for your glorious right leg” she nipped the skin at the top of the thigh between her lips and smiled to herself as Willow gasped and opened her legs further, her right foot dropping from the sofa and resting on the floor. She glanced up once more and saw Willow biting her lower lip, her hands grabbing the arm of the sofa behind her head. “But most of all I’m just thankful that we met and you’ve made my life worth living”

Willow saw Alex blur and closed her eyes tightly to gather her fast escaping senses and clear the tears that had suddenly appeared. When she opened them she watched Alex moving in slow motion towards her and fought against the urge to raise her pelvis off the sofa to meet her half way. When the blonde’s tongue licked the full length of her she closed her eyes again and spent the next few minutes digging her fingernails into the material of the sofa in an attempt to prolong the sweet agony.

Alex gave one last lick as the keening sound died down. She giggled as Willow grunted and slowly inched her way back up the red head’s body. “Are you OK?” she asked as Willow gulped in air and stared at the ceiling.

“Ask me in a minute” she finally said in a tone of wonder and stared at the cause of her amazement. “How do you do that?” she shook her head slowly and pulled her arms from above her head to wrap them around Alex, holding her tight.

“You’re not the only one with a secret super power” Alex shrugged and pulled Willow against her shoulder. “You do know that I love yore ore than anything else in the world” Alex whispered in her ear. “I am never happier than when we are in each other’s arms” she kissed her neck and felt the tears running from Willow’s cheeks onto her arm. “Honey, look at me” she said quietly as she tried to raise her chin with her finger.

Willow finally looked up but gently shook her head as her lower lip trembled a little. She kissed Alex, softly at first, as if afraid to unleash her emotions. Alex ran her hand down her back, fingers fluttering lightly against her spine. The shudder that ran through Willow seemed to flip the switch in her brain, the embrace moving from tender to devouring passion in seconds. Willow rolled over and cushioned their landing on the floor, her lips never leaving Alex’s despite the unceremonious landing.

Alex finally fought her lips free. “Can we move this to the bedroom, please?” she begged and tried to get out from under the naked woman sitting on top of her. “Will, I cannot go to work next week with carpet burns” she laughed and saw sanity return to Willow’s eyes.

“I could heal them for you” Willow pouted and tickled Alex while she wriggled underneath her.

“Will” she growled between giggles.

“We’re nearly there” Willow whispered and leaned down to kiss her again.

Alex saw the bedroom door float past them as she finally gave in to Willow’s kisses, after all she still hadn’t received her Thanksgiving present.