*****

Xander sank down on his bed with a drawn out sigh. It had been a long night, and being a bartender wasn't doing as much for his social life as he'd hoped. It was just a long, painful series of hours cloaked in dim light and strobe flashes of light, a million screams of "Gin and tonic, double limes. Bud Light. Guiness draft, please."

Of course, Buffy was there to pick him up after work, walk him home so that no big bads could get him, which made Xander's lip curl in embarrassment. He couldn't even be trusted to walk home alone. The only thing different was that Riley had been with her this time, and Xander shook away the thoughts that had plagued him the whole way home.

Xander shook his head, denying the twinge that had flashed through his body when Riley had caught him after he stumbled. Stripping out of his dirty clothes that reeked of beer and cigarette smoke and sometimes, he often thought, desperation, Xander grabbed an oversized towel and hit the shower, determined to eradicate the wayward thoughts with a barrage of cold water and soap.

Standing under the warm water, Xander's mind drifted. He tried to direct it in the direction of Anya or even his faithful old standby, naked Buffy, but his mind had a twist of its own for him and he found himself leaning against the shower wall, absent mindedly soaping himself while he debated the whys and wherefores of Riley.

More particularly, what it would be like to be caught up in Riley's arms the way Buffy was every night; whether Riley would moan for him, and how his mouth would taste, if he ever had the balls just to lean over and kiss him. Xander looked down at his body and groaned, leaning into the cold water. Leave it to the dirty thoughts to strand him alone in a shower, with no Anya and most definitely no Riley.

Stepping out of the shower and toweling off, Xander tried to think of safe things, baseball scores, the new cd Anya had bought him, Riley naked and waiting for him. He groaned, reaching for his boxers and tank top, ignoring the insistent ache.

Still, as Xander collapsed onto his bed, sleepy yet not, he found himself still hard and somehow edgy. Closing his eyes and willing sleep, he tossed and turned for a good fifteen minutes, fighting the thoughts. Realizing that sleep wasn't going to come, Xander swore softly, and worked on focusing his mind on a particularly provocative memory of Anya.

As Xander yanked off his boxers, kicked them off the bed and got comfortable, his mind returned to the walk home, the way Riley smiled and the electric feel of Riley's hard, masculine body for the split second it took to regain steady footing. Xander closed his eyes, his hand drifting down his stomach as he pictured Riley sitting next to him, all bare chest and questioning eyes.

Xander let himself fantasize that it was Riley's hand wrapped around his erection, and was surprised at the tingle of sensation. Abandoning himself, Xander dreamed that he had the opportunity to reciprocate, the opportunity to explore Riley's body. When he fisted himself, it was Riley's mouth on him, and he nearly lost it right there.

Holding back, savoring the feeling and the forbidden dreams, Xander pictured Riley's mouth teasing him, tongue swirling and catching every drop of leaking moisture. He squirmed, wanting a warm, sweaty body against him, rather than the cool pillows, but as the vision of a blond head between his thighs teased him, Xander couldn't hold back. He hissed in solitary completion as the tension of the day exploded out of him, along with a whispered "Riley".

~end~