Chapter 5
Buffy smiled
as she watched him gape at her.
Part of her
was hoping that by concentrating on his face, on the surprise that he had
quickly masked she wouldn’t feel compelled to fling herself at him.
Her tenuous
grasp on her restraint was being sorely tested by the droplets of water
clinging to his skin, they were just begging to be
licked off.
She could
actually remember doing something quite similar to her Liam once upon a time.
She’d surprised him in the shower, but where Angel she had waited patiently on
the sink for him to finish his morning ritual, with Liam, her mate she’d joined
him.
Some of her
best memories of Liam were of the two of them in his little shower or in the
field out beyond the house he’d lived in, or just
together in general.
“Have I…”
Angel began, hands moving to make sure his towel was still secure.
He’d never
had a female look at him in quite the way that Buffy was currently eyeing him. With a mixture of love and hunger.
“Decided on
your wish yet…” Buffy finished for him, cocking her
head to one side she studied him. He looked shell-shocked. Almost as if he
didn’t think he would ever see her again.
Which
was absurd because she’d left her ring as proof of her return.
“No… I… do I
have a deadline? You know for when I have to make it by?”
“No, of
course not,” Buffy shrugged as she slowly lowered her legs before her, sliding
ever so slowly to the floor. “I actually didn’t think you had made your choice
yet, it’s a big decision after all. I just thought you might have some
questions.”
“Oh…
actually I do,” Angel flushed as he studiously avoided her knowing gaze, those
eyes so familiar to him… “Is there anything I can’t wish for? I mean rules for
what I can or can’t…”
“There are,”
she murmured softly as her right hand rose to leisurely trace the water
droplets dotting his chest and arms, smiling to herself as his skin
flushed. “But you know them already.”
“I do?” he
mumbled dumbly as he fought for composure over himself. He’d never, in his
entire life had this severe a reaction to anybody. Not even Faith with all her
powers of seduction had ever tempted him to lose all restraint like this tiny
blonde woman was.
He wanted to
lose himself in her.
“You do,”
she confirmed as she moved slowly around his body, her hand gliding along his
skin, his muscles trembling in response to the barely there caress.
He almost
jumped when he felt her lips touch the markings on his back, a tattoo that he’d
gotten several years before… his parents had threatened to cut him off when they’d
seen it. And he himself had no clue why he’d felt the need to get it.
He’d seen it
and it had called to him.
“You have a
tattoo,” Buffy said in that thin breathy tone that she had.
“Yes,” he
nodded slightly. “Did… he have one?”
he asked, barely able to believe the jealousy that he could hear in his voice.
She was going to think he was nuts… absolutely nuts.
He could
feel her lips curve into a smile on his back, and his linked hands lowered so
that he wouldn’t embarrass himself in front of her.
“You know
the answer to that,” he could feel her lips moving across his skin.
And he did,
he could feel it in his bones as sure as anything else. Buffy’s Liam had the
exact same tattoo that adorned his skin.
“You look
exactly like him,” she said softly as she moved around his body again. Standing
before him she placed her hands on the sink and once more pulled herself up on
it. “Same hair,” she brushed fingers across his quickly drying hair. “Same
eyes, mouth… same soul… You are him.”
“Was he a
hunter?” Angel asked, clearing his throat twice before he managed to get the
question out. His hands settled on the sink on either side of her and her legs
separated to allow him to stand between them.
“No… he was
human, a mortal man,” she smiled wryly.
“Your brother
didn’t like him.”
“No he
didn’t. But then William would have disliked whoever I chose. If I’d chosen one
of the Djinn males that he paraded before me from the time I was able to choose
my own mate he would have found reason to find fault with them. The only one
that he might have accepted without fault would have been Daniel… and Daniel is
a brother of my heart if not by name.”
“I feel like
I should apologize… but I don’t know why,” Angel muttered in confusion.
“It’s all
very confusing for you I know,” she said soothingly a hint of a smile on her
lips.
“I just… I
feel like I know you. I have all
these memories… that, well are not memories. They can’t be because a few days ago I didn’t have
them… but I don’t know I look at you and I know… I see things about you, about
us, or him…” he said in frustration.
“We share a
soul bond,” Buffy said quietly her eyes staring into his the emerald green
seeming to radiate love and devotion, which he didn’t understand because he’d just
met her so why… “I chose Liam as my mate, my love, my husband… His soul, your
soul carries my markings, my love. Any Djinn would see them and know that you
were under the protection of my house, and thereby my brothers house and our
allies.”
“You are my
Liam, reborn. And you’ve been waiting, since the day you were born for
something that you couldn’t explain. You could feel me; like I can feel you…
you’ve been waiting for me.”
“Come
again…”
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“I can’t
believe he’s not ready yet… doesn’t he know that Professor Dougal
is going to give us the crappy assignment if we don’t get there at least on
time,”
“Calm down Wills… I’m sure he’s just running a little behind, you still
have a good 45 minutes before class… and not everyone likes to get there an
hour early,” Xander grinned as he shut the door behind him.
“I do.”
“And that’s
why everyone thinks you’re a geek,” Cordy’s voice stated as she walked down the
stairs.
“Hey!”
“Please,”
Cordy tossed her head. “You can’t deny it, and if you do I’ll just bring up the
multiple times that you copy your homework over and over again, as well as the
fact that you’re four chapters ahead of everyone else in all your classes.”
“I like
being prepared.”
“There’s a certain point where being prepared leads directly past
preparedness and lands you in supergeekdom instead
“Cordy what
are you…?” her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the sight that had halted
Cordy in front of her, barely registering the gasp from Xander bdhin her.
Sitting in the
middle of the Chase kitchen table was a young male, around their age. Clad
almost identically to those Djinn that had been in the Magic Shoppe just a
short time ago he had a bag of chips in one hand that he continued steadily
eating as he watched them with raised eyebrows.
“Just
waiting for somebody,” he gestured towards them. “You can probably come in.”
Xander
pushed past
Hazarding to
turn his head slightly he saw a young black man wielding the blade, a menacing
look on his face.
“Or not,”
the young man amended as he watched the young black man being joined by a tall,
sandy haired male, knife in his hand as well.
Cordy’s
eye’s moved frantically around the kitchen, knife pointed at Xander, another
knife directly in front of Willow… so she did what she’d been taught to do
since she’d come to the realization that life on the Hellmouth
came with all sorts of extra’s that normal towns didn’t get.
Like
vampires, demons, a brother as a demon Hunter.
She
screamed, and turned on her heel and ran.
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