Tender Loving
by: Saint Buffy
Rated NC-17
Pairing: B/G
Spoilers: Early S5, sometime after Out of My Mind but before No Place Like Home.
Feedback: makes me write more
Disclaimer: I have nothing to declare except my… no, wait. I mean, Buffy isn't mine, please don't sue.
Summary: Buffy finds herself tending the wrong man's wounds when Giles and Riley come to blows. Warning: Riley bashing, of both the literal and the figurative kinds. If this upsets you then run, run for the hills. I was feeling very anti-Riley when I started this.
Dedication: Jocelyn, here's your guilty pleasure… thanks for the inspiration :)
Buffy motioned with her hand and Giles, Willow and Riley shrunk back into the bushes. Giles swallowed, hands ready on his crossbow, eyes searching the darkness around them for the monster.
Riley made a complicated hand gesture which looked something like a dance move from the nineteen eighties. Giles rolled his eyes, trusting that the dark would keep his reaction from the others. He wondered why Riley had bothered. Willow hadn't a clue what it meant, by the look of things, and Giles's watcher training translated it as `I have found a suitable river crossing' which didn't seem to apply. Riley shortly followed the gesture by scurrying away in an `I'm trained to be stealthy' sort of way.
He was being harsh, Giles knew it. But Riley was a distraction in a night filled with a strange demon, the like of which they had never encountered. Giles's worrying levels for his slayer, which were usually fairly high, had shot up, especially as he couldn't provide any useful information about the thing. He couldn't tell Buffy what it was, he couldn't tell Buffy how to kill it, he couldn't tell Buffy how it would attack and he couldn't tell her if there were any more of them coming. Somewhere in him, a part of Giles registered that there were other reasons why Riley's presence annoyed him, but he pushed that part back and concentrated instead on the dark graveyard.
There was a sort of croaking howl to the left of them and Buffy tore away, curving like a homing missile towards the sound. Giles and the others burst from their various hiding places and ran after her, brandishing weapons, yelling contradictory instructions and trying to distract the beast as Buffy attacked.
The thing was around seven feet tall, with black spiky arms and a hideous, snarling mouth full of sharp teeth. It moved as a blur of speed and sound, so fast Buffy could barely block its attack, never mind landing a blow herself. The bolts Giles shot were useless, bouncing off the thing's hard skin without effect. Giles threw his crossbow to one side and leapt towards the demon with a roar, hauling it back by the shoulders as it tried to lunge at Buffy. The slayer kicked it several times in the face before it tore itself out of Giles's grasp, sending him flying into the ground.
Riley dropped to one knee near where Giles lay, his taser charged and braced on his shoulder, following the fight in front of him, trying to get a shot in. Buffy gave the demon a flying kick that sent it back over a headstone and Riley raised his taser, aiming swiftly.
Giles realised what was going to happen in the seconds before it almost did. Buffy had been proudly practising a new move last time they trained together, a jump which ended in a sharp, neck-breaking kick. Giles let out a shout, realising that Buffy was about to execute her new move, putting herself directly where Riley was about to fire.
"No!" he shouted, but Riley paid no attention, flicking a switch on his taser to power it up. Giles threw himself sideways just as his slayer threw herself over the headstone, turning gracefully in the air and snapping the demon's neck as Giles crashed into Riley, sending them both into the ground, the taser blazing harmlessly at a tomb to one side of the fight.
They both scrambled to their feet, equally angry.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Giles hissed at Riley, slightly letting go of the Ripper part of him. Riley glared back.
"I was doing my job, for God's sake, until you-"
"Your job!" Giles shouted back, angrier than he could remember having been for ages. He took a step towards Riley threateningly. "Your job was never to get Buffy killed by interfering where you're obviously not needed!"
"I was doing a better job than you," Riley shot back, trying to get into Giles's face. Giles dimly felt Willow's hand on his arm, trying to tug him away, and shook her off. "All you could manage was to get flattened, as usual. Why didn't you really help, and go get yourself knocked unconscious?"
Giles almost couldn't speak, trying as he was to keep control. "Listen, you arrogant little-"
"Guys!" Buffy cut in, trying to push in between the two men. "Shut up, both of you!"
They both ignored her. "You almost killed her, you stupid little boy," Giles hissed, furious, pushing Buffy's hand off his chest. "How `useful' would that have been?"
"Shut up, old man," Riley retorted, and Giles lost it completely, his fist lashing out towards Riley's jaw before he could stop it.
Riley reeled, then came back with a blow to Giles's jaw and another which Giles blocked. Buffy was shouting at them, and so was Willow, but neither man heard anything as they trading punches. Giles ducked Riley's fist and came up to punch the younger man several times in the face before a blinding pain across the side of his head sent him to the floor, Riley crashing down a few feet away.
Buffy stood above them, enraged. "I said, stop it," she said, her voice snapping with anger. "What the hell was that about?"
Giles sat up, glaring across at where Riley sat, nursing his face. The whole of the watcher's head was screaming with pain, but he ignored it, getting to his feet.
"I'm going," he said, standing and gathering up his weapons. Buffy and the others watched in silence as he limped away.
Giles looked in his freezer, moving stiffly, sure he had an icepack buried somewhere inside. The pain in his face had lessened to a throbbing ache, but his knuckles had begun to swell from the many blows he had landed on the soldier's body.
He could have kicked himself. Buffy had been seeing Riley for months now, and the couple seemed to be perfectly happy. Buffy's friends had all accepted him. All Giles had to do was keep his mouth shut and his fists away and things would have been fine.
But he couldn't. The more time he spent with the younger man, the more Riley annoyed him, with his unnecessary, overprotective stance around Buffy, his constant disparaging comments about the efficiency of Giles and the others' research, and more generally, the home- grown, well-rounded smugness of someone who had yet to confront the less pleasant sides of their own character.
Finally locating the icepack, Giles held it to his face, wincing a little as the frozen pack touched his face. He wasn't being completely honest with himself, he thought. Riley could be everything the watcher thought was good to see in a man and Giles would still hate him, for one simple reason. He was jealous. Riley was with Buffy in a way Giles could never hope to be, in her bed, her life, lodging firmly in her heart.
Giles sighed and went to pour himself a drink, wincing a little as he worked the top off a bottle of scotch, his hands complaining. He knew he would never have the chance to show Buffy the love he felt for her, yet still the sight of her with someone else grated more and more every day.
He jumped as the door was thrown open, banging into the wall and revealing the slayer standing furiously in the doorway. She took him in for a moment. Giles put down the bottle.
"Oh, so this is what you do?" she snapped, advancing into his flat, slamming the door behind her. "You pound on my boyfriend and then go and get drunk again? Great plan!"
Giles hurried into the living room. "It wasn't a plan," he said hotly, holding his hand out as if to ward her off, "I was just-"
"Good God, Giles, look at your hands!" Buffy interrupted, noticing them in horror. Giles belatedly pushed them into his pockets. "Where's your first aid box?" she asked, in a voice that gave Giles no option but to reply.
"Cupboard above the sink, in the bathroom," he said sullenly, and Buffy stomped down the passage towards the bathroom. Giles sat warily on the edge of his sofa, hearing his slayer banging cupboard doors open and shut with unnecessary force. A moment later Buffy returned, bearing down on him with the first aid kit.
"Give me your hands," she ordered, still looking angry enough to spit daggers. Giles opened his mouth to stop her.
"Buffy, I-"
"Giles!" Buffy snapped. He thrust his hands out in front of him almost involuntarily and Buffy sat down on the coffee table, grabbing them roughly. Giles winced.
"You punched my boyfriend," Buffy said through gritted teeth, examining his bloody knuckles. Giles watched her.
"I know, Buffy, I-"
She pulled out an antiseptic wipe and began to clean his knuckles, ignoring Giles's sharp hisses as her prods stung.
"Why did you punch him?" she asked, her voice sounding slightly less angry and slightly more hurt. Giles hesitated. he thought.
"He put you in danger," he said weakly. Buffy finished with one hand and took his other.
"I'm always in danger," she snapped, her eyes on her task.
"Unnecessary danger," Giles amended shortly. Buffy gave him a quick look and went back to his hands.
"Willow put me in danger last year, with those spells. Xander once had me turned into a rat. You didn't punch either of them," she pointed out, her voice still angry although her hands were gentle as they began to bandage up his knuckles.
"I'm sorry, Buffy, I was just angry," he said quietly, hoping she wouldn't probe any further. Buffy gave him another glare and taped down his bandages.
*-*-*-*-*-*
He was the most frustrating man she had ever met. She knew he wasn't telling her everything, but he was so stubborn, she would never get it out of him. Buffy scowled.
"Let me look at your face," she said curtly, tipping his chin with two fingers. Giles submitted silently, eyes turned away. Buffy sighed and ran her thumb gently over a dark patch on his cheekbone. "You're going to have a lot of bruises," she said, then remembered that she was still angry with him. She let go of Giles's face and sat back on the coffee table, looking up at him. "Which is good. You deserve them."
"How is Riley?" Giles asked after a moment. Buffy hesitated a second before she replied.
"I don't know. I was too angry with you to deal with him," she snapped, beginning to pack up the first aid things. Giles leant forward to help her. "I've got it," she added shortly.
"You came straight here?" Giles asked.
"No, I buried that demon, and then I came straight here," Buffy corrected, piling the last of the supplies back into Giles's first aid box.
"Shouldn't you go and see if he's all right?" Giles suggested. Buffy glared at him.
"You are in no position to tell me what I should be doing," she replied darkly, and Giles looked away again. Buffy stared at him for a moment longer, at his bruised, stubborn face, and hid a sigh. The truth was she couldn't have faced Riley's righteous anger, pretending to be on his side while she wondered if Giles was hurt- she had to make sure her watcher was all right first, even though she was still mad. She got up wordlessly and went to return his things to the bathroom.
Having given Giles a piece of her mind and accidentally seen to his injuries, the next move would be to leave him to stew in his remorse for a day or two until the whole thing had blown over. But Buffy found she didn't want to leave.
She stared at herself in Giles's bathroom mirror, not caring that she was keeping him waiting. A part of her absently imagined Giles staring into the same space, brushing his teeth or shaving or patching himself up after a fight. She was surprised how easily warm feelings crept up on her as she pictured it.
Buffy frowned. She really didn't want to leave. She didn't want to go to Riley and dress his wounds and listen with sympathy to his bitching about Giles- especially not the last part, which was inevitable. Riley had almost killed her earlier, because- because he didn't know her as well as Giles, she realised. No one did. No one completed her as well as Giles did, anticipating her every move, knowing what she would do almost before she did. She let herself linger for a moment on the fact that if Giles hadn't been there, she would be dead. So in a really annoying way, she supposed she should be thanking him.
She couldn't thank him. He'd rocked the boat; he had held an unwelcome mirror up to her relationship with Riley, exposing its fundamental flaws. Buffy knew she didn't need a man to wade in and blast away her problems; she needed one who would be there while she did her own blasting, backing her up, not taking her over. Giles had shown her that tonight and Buffy really didn't want to be shown, that was why she was so angry with him.
She stared, seeing a mental image of Giles running his hand over a newly-shaven jaw, her thoughts scattering and moving on faster than she could control. Why was she even with Riley, if somewhere she knew that he wasn't the right one? What was she afraid of?
There was an apologetic knock on the door. Buffy watched her mouth tighten.
"Are you all right?" he asked through the door, in his kind, soft voice. Things inside Buffy started to shift as she heard him, heard the subtle sounds of him resting a hand against the wood, shifting his feet a little. She moved to open the door silently and looked up at him.
Everything fell into place. He looked down at her, worried, his cheekbone purple from the blow she had dealt to stop him earlier. His eyes settled on hers, dark green in the dim corridor, shifting as he tried to read her expression. One hand was resting up against the doorframe; the other was braced against his side, the white bandaging almost luminous in the dark. Buffy watched him for a moment, letting all the emotions she felt rush over her, her face clear of what was going on inside.
"You really piss me off sometimes, you know?" she said finally. His gaze dropped to the floor; Giles opened his mouth to reply.
Buffy cut him off by hooking a hand round the back of his neck, pulling him forward to kiss him.
Their mouths collided roughly and she shut her eyes. He was still for a moment, one hand still braced against the doorframe, until he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her, responding, deepening the kiss.
She slid one hand around to rest gently on his bruised cheek, guiding his mouth as she opened hers. He really did piss her off. She had been fine with Riley, and now he had to go and show her that he meant more to her than all the boyfriends she had been with put together and minus horrible Parker Abrams. That she would drop anything to go and see if he was okay and make up any excuse, pretending to herself and others if necessary. And that if he kept on kissing her like this she would lose all sense of herself and drown in the overwhelming love she had suddenly unstoppered from within her mind.
His tongue probed deeper into her, touching the roof of her mouth, circling around and stopping when she countered with her own. They clung together helplessly, hands roaming unchecked, silent and needy.
Buffy opened her eyes as he pulled away, ending the kiss but keeping her within his arms. She looked up at him.
"What is this?" he asked hoarsely, eyes straying back and forth from her mouth to her eyes.
"It's me, showing you why I really came round here instead to going to Riley, even though you really don't deserve it," she said reluctantly. Giles stared at her warily.
"Why did you really come round here?" he asked. Buffy glared.
"Why did you really punch Riley?" she asked back. Giles returned her glare.
"Because… because I hated that he was with you and I wasn't," he answered, voice raw, and Buffy pulled him down to kiss him again. This time the desire they felt was less hindered by anger, and confusion; Buffy opened herself completely to him, face tilted back, her tongue pushing into his mouth and Giles kissed her back with equal passion.
She almost pulled back when he lifted her easily on to his hips and backed out of the bathroom, suddenly unsure of where this development was taking them. But her legs wrapped instinctively around him, to keep her from slipping, the extra contact made her shudder with fire, a passion she had never experienced before. Instead of backing away she found herself using the added height to kiss him harder as Giles made his way with confidence towards his bedroom.
They managed to hold the kiss all the way across Giles's living room, until he pulled back to navigate the way up the stairs. Buffy moved to kiss his face and neck, squirming in his arms until he groaned and doubled his pace, taking the stairs two at a time.
Giles threw her down on to the bed, coming down with her, his hands immediately moving to remove her top. Buffy started attacking his shirt buttons, lifting her mouth as he bent to kiss her. She moaned against his mouth as his hands slid over her skin, the bandages she had tied rubbing against her. He pushed her top up, and they broke apart to pull it off. There was an urgency to their movements Buffy had never experienced before; something they were both trying to take from each other, and something else they needed to give as soon and as completely as possible.
He rolled off her slightly, still kissing, both hands struggling to undo his belt. Buffy helped him pull off his pants and yanked her skirt off as quickly as possible, throwing it to one side and sliding her panties off with equal haste.
There was nothing in the dark loft except the sound of heavy, heady breathing; his gaze piercing her through the dim space. Naked, they drew to each other again, moths to a flame, each devouring the other in their heat. His newly felt touch was instinctive, homing in directly on the places that drove her wild. Her legs rose up around his, opening herself to him; they kissed hungrily, savagely, hands clutching and clawing. Giles slid his hand around her rising leg, bringing it further up, sliding over the soft underside of her thigh into the hot hollow under her knee, spreading her legs.
Buffy bucked almost before his heavy cock touched her, inflamed by the anticipation alone, and she screamed out as he pushed himself home, driving into her, her raised leg giving him freer access. His mouth worked over her chest, biting into her breasts, sucking and marking her body. He thrust again, harder, raising his head as a groan of pleasure escaped him. Buffy stared up, arms tight around him, hands gripping his back, amazed at the passion and abandon she seemed to have unleashed within her quiet watcher. He thrust again, and Buffy felt her control slipping away as an answering rush of passion met his call.
They surged together, thoughtless, concentrated on the constant contact of their sexes thrusting and arching together. He took her harder, the muscles in his back tightening, bunching as he filled her with his cock, fucking her more completely than she had ever experienced. Buffy could do nothing as they rode towards completion, her body entirely filled and focused by his. Her hands moved inevitably down to his backside and she lifted her hips, taking him deeper, feeling the electrifying rush of impending orgasm beginning to fill her.
The bed crashed into the wall as they came, together, both crying out each other's strangled names as his sperm shot into her, Buffy burying her face into his hot neck as she screamed.
After a moment, Giles released her leg and Buffy fell back into the bed, pulling him down on top of her, sated and exhausted.
Buffy woke to the feeling of his chest rising and falling against her back, the hairs she had found so erotic the night before, now brushing lightly against her skin. Buffy looked down and frowned at the arm wrapped across her. It wasn't the possessive hold in which he wrapped her that was surprising; she knew now that she belonged to the man lying behind her. More, it was the fact that his possessiveness didn't irritate her that felt so strange. She didn't feel trapped, or annoyed that this man had taken such a hold, it just felt right.
They hadn't talked much the night before. At first, Buffy was too shattered, mentally and physically, by such life-altering, mind- blowing sex. And later she was too busy having her mind blown again- twice- to think about serious conversation. But now this absence left an uneasy feeling inside her.
The arm stirred as he began to wake, his long limbs stretching carefully around her body, trying not to disturb her. Buffy smiled and turned in his arms to see his face.
Giles's blinked rapidly as they adjusted to the morning light, and he looked at her.
"Morning," he said roughly, then cleared his throat. That noise brought back other noises he had made, throughout the night, and Buffy smiled back, feeling her whole body lighten at the answering smile he gave her.
"Hey," she said softly, feeling impossibly sappy for a slayer. Her fingers found their way automatically to his face, and her eyes followed as she learnt the feel and shape of him. Giles's hand ran down her spine as his other arm pulled her closer.
They shared a sweet, fusty morning kiss, both lingering, knowing that more serious and less enjoyable occupations would probably arise when they stopped. Eventually Giles pulled his mouth away, rolling her gently on to her back, his mouth wandering down her neck and over her chest.
Buffy let her head fall back into the pillows, her fingers sliding into his soft hair to pull his mouth further into her skin.
"Do you want to get up?" Giles asked eventually between kisses. Buffy shook her head, arching against him, feeling her sore centre begin to throb with interest again.
"Never," she replied, and he moved his attentions back to her face and neck.
"Buffy…" he began, and she took a deep breath, hoping to cut the conversation short.
"I love you," she said, and felt a wave of nerves hit her as soon as the words left her mouth. What if that was too soon? What if he didn't feel that way about her?
Giles must have seen the worry scattering across her face, because his eyes lit up with a reassuring smile.
"I love you," he answered, and kissed her mouth.
Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer, hoping to end the conversation, but after a moment, Giles pulled back.
"What about Riley?" he asked gently. Buffy frowned.
"I don't love Riley," she said, eyes drawn down to his beautiful mouth. Giles tilted her head up and she met his gaze. "I don't," she repeated.
"Then why-"
"-Was I with him for months and months?" Buffy finished with a wry smile. She decided she liked this kind of heartfelt conversation, especially the parts where Giles's hand strayed to encourage her, touching her as if he knew her by heart but wanted to learn her again with every stroke. She shrugged. "It was easy," she said. His eyebrows rose and Buffy smiled. "Even when he was having crises and withdrawing from army superfood," she supplied, then sobered. "Those were problems I could handle. If something went wrong with you, with us…" she trailed a hand down his arm, feeling his warmth, his love, his eyes only for her. "I couldn't handle," she finished simply.
Giles looked down at her for a long time, raised comfortably on his elbows above her, legs crushing pleasingly against hers.
"I can't promise that things won't go wrong," he said eventually. Buffy nodded.
"I know," she said, meeting his gaze squarely. "But I forgot something."
He smiled. "What?"
"The good parts. It won't all be evil and horror- well, it might, but it'll also be…" she felt shy, suddenly, and didn't know how to go on. "It'll be last night, and having you with me all the time, and not ever lying to myself or anyone else about why I was doing things when the reason was because I really love you." Buffy frowned, wondering if the last part made sense.
"All the time?" he asked. She grinned.
"Yes."
Giles rolled to one side, and she followed, wanting to keep his face in sight. They settled back comfortably into each other's arms, enclosed, hands roaming lazily.
"I think I could live with that," he said eventually, and Buffy smiled again, pulling him closer for a kiss.
Afterthought:
There was a knock on the door as they finally got round to breakfast, one happy hour later. Buffy and Giles shared a trapped stare as they stood together in the kitchen, Giles dressed in his robe, Buffy in Giles's t-shirt. Another impatient knock sounded.
"We've got to tell them some time," Buffy half-whispered.
They both turned to look out of the kitchen in time to see Riley's head appear in the window by the front door.
"Oh dear," Giles managed. Buffy had a strange moment where she saw the scene from the perspective of her ex-boyfriend; saw herself and Giles standing comfortably in his kitchen, only half-dressed, and then she snapped herself out of it and saw instead the outraged face in the window.
Riley began to bang on the window, yelling something obscured by the glass. Buffy and Giles began to hurry automatically towards the door, only realising the added display of their disarray only increased Riley's anger.
Buffy pulled the door open and he stepped in front of it.
"How could you? After what he did last night?" Riley hissed, looking hurt. For a moment Buffy felt sorry for him, felt guilty about the technical betrayal she had committed. "With him? I'm surprised he could even-"
She didn't let him finish, as much for her own and Giles's sake as for his. She didn't want to be separated from the man she loved because either of them were in jail for homicide.
"He could even what? Outpace you effortlessly?" The look on Riley's face was satisfying, outweighing the satisfaction she imagined getting from wiping the soldier right out of him. "Make me feel so incredible that sex with anyone else hardly registers on the same scale?" She almost felt embarrassed, but knew that Giles would appreciate hearing it as much and Riley hated the same words. Giles came up and rested a hand on her hip, and she leaned into him almost instinctively, feeling that sensation missing from every other relationship she had been in- here was her home.
Riley stared almost insanely at Giles. "I could take him in a minute," he spat, and suddenly Buffy was tired of the whole thing; tired of explaining herself to someone who never fully knew her in the first place, and more than tired of hearing Riley convince himself about who he could take.
She moved her hand from Giles's arm, now wrapped around her waist, and laid her ex out flat on the doorstep.
Buffy turned to Giles as Riley groaned in the background.
"Cup of tea?" she asked as he grinned at her, and Giles nodded, flashing a smug look over her shoulder at Riley limping away.
"Of course," he said, and Buffy shut the door as her lover's mouth descended on hers again.
THE END