Love Bites
"Rupert, it's 1:30. I think we better wrap it up don't you?" You call down from the stacks. Giles steps out from behind the door to his office, open book still in hand. He peers over the top of his glasses at you sitting upon the larger bookshelf against the back wall. "There's no point in knocking yourself out tonight. It's Friday, officially the weekend." Rupert pushes his spectacles back up onto the bridge of his nose and resumes reading as he reenters his office.
You sigh and begin your descent down the ladder. "A weekend I might add where Buffy is in LA with her Dad, miles and miles away from our sweet little Amityville. So what's the huge rush?" You pick up the ladder and put it inside the cage. You lock the cage and walk over to the office doorway. Rupert is at his desk, hunched over his volume muttering something in a foreign language you can only assume is Latin. Leaning your back against the door, you clear your throat for acknowledgment.
Without looking up, Rupert finally speaks, "Finished?"
"As requested, there are now sharpened stakes above each bookcase that is too tall to see on top of and also behind a couple of the heavier ones against the wall. Buffy should be all set in case of library invasions or emergency weapons restock." Rupert simply nods his head, once again engrossed in the thick tome on his desk. "I also loaded an extra stake stash in the armory. It was running kinda low."
He once again does not look up. "Thanks very much. You can go home now if you'd like."
Your lips tighten until they are almost white. You grasp the doorknob with a talon-like grip and slam it shut with all your might. The bang startles Giles to his feet and from outside his office he can hear you talking to yourself. "Thank you so much Lord Rupert. I'm so gratified to have been of help not that you even noticed I was here in the first place. Now I get to trek out by myself at 1:30 in the morning in the middle of a deserted parking lot right here in downtown Transylvania."
You grab from the table the papers you'd been working on earlier and unceremoniously throw them into your tote bag. You sling your purse onto your shoulder, pull your sweater from the chair back and stuff it into your tote. As you shove the chair back into the table, you hear the office door open. You look up to see Giles emerge from his now dark office, briefcase in hand, jacket hung over his arm and a sheepish grin on his face. You arch an eyebrow at him as a slightly embarrassed smile threatens your righteous indignity.
"I-I thought we should wrap things up for the night. After all it is quite late an-and the weekend." Rupert's smile gets even bigger. "I'm really very sorry. I just got caught up. I'd be honored if you let me walk you to your car."
You nod as a slight pink tinge flushes to your cheeks. Rupert joins you. He catches the light as you exit the swinging doors. "Honored huh?"
Giles locks the schools exterior door as you step out into Sunnydale's crystal clear night. "Where are you parked?"
"Right next to you. I figured we'd be getting out late as usual and I didn't want to be off in the north forty." You start towards the two lone cars in the side lot. "So what was so enthralling back there?" He gives you a questioning look. "You were carting that one book around all night. What did you find out"
"Oh. Yes well, I seem to have stumbled onto a brief and infuriatingly cryptic bit of Slayer prophecy. I can read the language it is in but the dialect is throwing me. I'm having a time translating it, let alone interpreting it."
"And let me guess, it's in your case right now so you can work on it when you get home, isn't it?" You touch his arm and stop him. He looks straight down and lets a slight smile slip. "You only leaving now cause I complained, aren't you?" No answer. "You'd rather be back in your office right now with a cup of tea and no one to interrupt you."
Rupert breaks into a full smile as he puts his arm around your shoulders. "You know, no one knows me quite as well as you do."
"Great, well I don't feel too terribly guilty now."
"I can do this as well at home as I can in the library," he says over a slight giggle. You roll your eyes in frustration. Giles squeezes you close to him and kisses your forehead. "Good night." You go to your car door as he walks the five empty parking spaces to his car.
You fish your keys out of your purse and reach for the handle which you can see has a dark liquid on it. Your breathing stops and your eyes grow wide as you sweep your hand through it. As you thought it would be, it is bright red. You inhale to scream but then a shadow crosses your face. Your focus is drawn up to the roof of your car, upon which now stands a six foot tall, male vampire, its demon face covered in the same substance as your car door. "RUPERT!!!" You manage to belt out as the creature leaps down, tackling you to the pavement.
Rupert looks up just in time to see the thing pounce on you. "Good Lord!" He pulls his briefcase open and produces a foot-long, razor-sharp, wooden stake. He races up behind the monster which has you pinned down. "LET HER UP!!" It spins on him with lightening speed and knocking the stake from his grasp with one hand it slashes at him with claw-like fingernails on the other. Giles hears the stake clang to the ground a few feet away at the same time as the a stinging pain hits his chest.
"Giles RUN!" You yell as the vampire once again turns on you and this time sinks its fangs hard into your neck.
Giles scrambles for the stake and grasping it quickly, runs at the feeding demon. With all his strength, he plunges it through the thing's back, behind its heart. It throws its head back howling in pain and as your own blood drips upon you from the creature's chin, it disintegrates into a million particles and is no more.
Rupert kneels beside you and wipes the excess blood from your neck with his hand. There are two small puncture wounds there which are still seeping blood. "Thank god, not an artery." He takes his handkerchief from his pocket and folds it double, pressing it against the wound.
Rupert strokes a finger along your cheek. "Love, can you hear me?" Your eyes flutter open and instead of the 'yes' you expect to say only a groan of pain comes out. "It's all right," he says with a small smile. "I've got you." He slips an arm behind you, lifting you into his arms and carrying you to his car.
You come to again in his driveway. Rupert leans over you and looks into your eyes. You try to focus on his handsome features. "How are you doing?"
"I feel better now," you lie, "I think I can make it inside myself."
He chuckles slightly. "Well perhaps a little help from me? Please? It would make me feel better."
You smile, knowing he sees through your bravado. "Well okay, but only for you."
"Oh goodie. Hang on a sec." He exits and comes around to your door. He pulls you out gently and slips an arm around your waist, walking you to his door and into the house.
Rupert walks you up the stairs and lays you on his bed, running a hand through your hair. "Get some sleep." Rupert leaves you and enters the bathroom, flicking on the light in order to check the wound on his chest.
Rupert sets his glasses on the sink, pulls the faucet on and tosses a handtowel into the warm waters. He strips down till he is wearing only his corduroy pants.
The sound of the water clears your head a little further. You get up, a little unsteady at first and head toward the noise. Rupert grasps the towel and stands before the mirror. He turns at your gasp of concern. "What happened to you?" There is a long red welt running caddycorner across his chest.
"It's nothing, I'm fine." You take the towel from his hands and, with slow gentle strokes, begin to clean the scratch. Your free hand is following the other over his bare chest and you notice his breathing seems to have become somewhat labored. "Are you okay? Am I hurting you?"
He looks at you with a smile and strokes your hair, cheek, chin and brings his hand near the wound on your neck. His eyes are so loving and you instantly know what he's thinking, because you are thinking it too. You almost lost each other tonight, lost the chance to touch each other like this. He takes the towel from your hands, wipes the blood from your neck and throws it back into the sink.
He pulls your already ruined shirt apart, sending buttons spraying. Rupert slides it back off your arms. His hand comes up your back and soon your bra joins the shirt on the floor. He crushes your bare chest against his own, his mouth devouring yours in an urgent kiss.
As you explore each other's mouths, he reaches to the waist of your skirt and sends it and your panties to the pile on the floor with one tug. He scoops you into his arms without breaking the kiss. Your hands slip around his neck and into his hair, pushing his tongue deeper into your mouth. He carries you into the bedroom and lays you down.
Rupert steps back bathing in every ounce of you with utter adoration as he removes the rest of his clothing. He climbs back onto the bed and settles himself over you. You part your legs to accept him and he enters you. He brings his mouth to yours again and slides his hands up your arms, interlacing your fingers above your heads. He rocks inside you until you tremble with pleasure, your mouth tearing from his in a moan. He follows you over the edge and rolls onto his back, taking you with him as he clutches you against his chest. You fall asleep in his arms.
In the library Monday morning, Buffy bounds in with Xander and Willow in tow. She is smiling brightly. "So how was your weekend?"
"Fantastic. Did you have fun at your Dad's?" Buffy spies the healing wound on your neck and rushes over concerned.
"Fantastic huh? What happened here?"
"I didn't mean that part."
Rupert emerges from his office, steaming cup of tea in hand. "We were attacked on our way out Friday night."
Buffy sits down next to you. "So what happened between then and now to turn a "Hey, I'm a snack weekend" into "Fantastic"?"
You grin mischievously up at Rupert. "Rupert was there, I'll let him fill you in. I have an elsewhere I gotta be."
You try not to giggle on your way out the doors as Rupert practically chokes on his tea, all three kids turning and asking, "Well?!"
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| The character of Rupert Giles and the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer were created by Joss Whedon and are © Fox. No infringement is intended and no profits are being made. |