under4

"That was very sensitively done," commented Aurelius.

"Bollocks, " said Giles as he threw down his napkin. He got up and left the room.

Aurelius looked across the table at Dawn. She fiddled with her napkin, folding it onto a fan. "Alone at last," he said. She looked up.

"I don't have anything to say to you," she said in a clipped tone. Quick as a flash, he was at her side, her wrist held in a firm grasp.

"Come with me now," he said as he gazed down at her. Captivated, she followed him. Her held her wrist as he propelled her across the dance floor and down a hallway. He scanned a security badge on a door and pulled her in. He flung her onto a couch and strode to an empty desk.

"You're so very lovely," he said meaningfully. "I haven't been so moved by a human being in centuries." He looked at her, his eyes warm and soft. "Your beauty drew me in, and your laughter filled me like wine." He leaned against the desk as he pulled something from his breast pocket and flung it at her. She caught it in her hand. It was her fake ID, with her picture and her sister's name.

He stalked towards her. Her fingers gripped the cushions but she didn't move. "My heart ached when I found out you were to be married." He sat down next to her and their thighs touched. "Married to my friend, and pregnant with his child."

Dawn gulped. "I didn't mean to..." Her voice broke off as he rubbed his finger lightly across her lips. He traced their outline sensuously.

"I preferred the costume you had on earlier," he said as he slipped the bow off the end of her braid. His fingers quickly separated the strands and her hair waved over her shoulder and down her breast. He slid his hand across her chest and made her gasp. He seized the other braid and freed her hair from it. "I prefer the siren to the innocent," he said in a low voice. He ran both hands through her hair, making her moan and throw back her head.

"I need to touch you," she whispered. She pulled him to her, and pressed her mouth to his. He growled and held her close. They embraced with passion as their mutual desire overwhelmed them.

He broke away. "You like to play games, you like to wear masks," he said quietly. He brought forth his beast, and showed her his demon. "I know all about that," he said.

She stared at him. "I'm not afraid of you," she said firmly. She licked his bottom lip, and he opened his mouth with a sigh. She impaled her tongue on his fang, and her blood flowed into his mouth. She held his face tightly as he sucked her essence into his mouth.

"You're insane," laughed Willow. Xander pulled her close to him.

"I'm serious. Will you marry me?" he looked at her intently as he waited for her answer.

"We can't," she said.

"Why not?" he asked. "We're in Las Vegas, the land of weddings. We can go get a license, proceed to the chapel of your choice and do it." He looked at her seriously. "I have never wanted anything so much as this. And you want to, I know you want to." She shook her head in denial. "You're making that face that you think is a poker face but its not because I can read you like a book," he blurted out. "I love you. You love me. I need you, and you need me too. Take a gamble, and I'll make you happy for the rest of your life."

Giles rapped on Tara's door. Anya opened it. Her face was puffy from crying, and her hair was a mess. She was dressed only in a white terry bathrobe. "Anya? What's wrong?" asked Giles. She rested her head on his chest and began to sob. He carried her into the suite. He sat down on the couch, and rocked her gently as she let it all out. After a while, she calmed down. "Why don't you wash up," said Giles, as he tucked a tendril of her hair behind her ear, "and you can tell me all about it." She nodded, and wandered to her room. He waited patiently on the couch. Shortly, she returned, with a freshly washed face and combed hair. She sat down on the opposite side of the couch.

"Xander broke up with me," she said, her voice barely in control.

"You told him the pregnancy was a deception?" he asked, his voice gentle.

She nodded. "He was very angry. " She sighed. "I don't get it. Doesn't every human want to be married, to have a family? I still don't understand what I did that was so wrong."

"I understand that you had the best of intentions," said Giles delicately. "But you expressed them in a way that betrayed him, that violated the most sacred places of his heart."

Anya looked sick. "Would it really be so hard to love me, to want to have a child with me?"