Hi Kittens.
Here's the promised update, perhaps a little longish. I can't tell, since I'm still working from the laptop.
Rating NC-17 at the beginning and decreasing to PG-13.
Health Warning - Yep. You need your gear: water, ice, oxygen, etc.
Angst Warning - An 8 I think, have tissues near just in case.
And oh yes, there's a cliffy-hanger - but I promise a quick resolution - I'm off tomorrow and will spend the day writing.
So, kick back and enjoy Willow and Tara goodness.
Have fun Kittens.
****
Tara stroked her fingers tenderly over the face of the woman she loved so much. They - her fingers - were trembling, she noted. For that matter, she and Willow were trembling. She let her fingers do as they would and they wound themselves in the short red hair. She lifted her head and pulled down at the same time so that their lips met in a good, long, passionate kiss. None of that tongue-teasing that Willow had just maddened her with. But gods, that had felt so good - having Willow-tongue in her mouth while Willow-fingers thrust within her. Her breathing quickened at the thought.
"Tare?" Willow murmured questioningly as their lips separated.
Her eyes searched her lover's face avidly. She could read the familiar face now, text and subtext. Her Willow was not sated - not particularly calm, but she wasn't ravenous. "I'm okay, sweetie." She watched one russet eyebrow lift and felt Willow shift her hand. "Ohhhh."
"Uh-huh." Willow nodded. "Sure, you're okay - in a total vixen way. Want more, love?"
"Time?" Tara asked and then gasped, biting her lip as Willow stroked her fingers into her again.
"I can be late. I'll just grab a quick bite at dinner. So, ... more?" Willow's thumb circled her clit.
She nodded; wrapping her left leg and ankle over her lover's still jeans-clad right calf, she thrust up onto the fingers. She held Willow close, feeling her lover move against her. Willow-lips brushed lightly over hers and then grazed her jawline, Willow-tongue licking a path to her right ear. Warm breath surrounded it as teeth and lips surrounded the lobe, sucking and nipping. Her large, sensitive ears. She squirmed - ticklish and aroused - and moaned.
"I just remembered that I've been neglecting your ears. I won't forget again," Willow breathed. "You like?" Her lips sucked the lobe.
Her hands tightened on her lover's hips and head and she arched her entire body.
"I'll take that as a yes," her lover chuckled a bit breathlessly. "Tare, you're sooo wet."
She turned her head and captured the lips that were driving her wild, captured them in her own. Only to release them, panting and moaning, as Willow wriggled her fingers. She squeezed and was rewarded with a Willow-moan of her own.
"Oh, god, Tara! That is just so incredible. You feel so good around my fingers - sooo tight and warm and wet. And when you do that - it's like you're holding my hand."
She looked directly into her lover's eyes - amazed, hungry green eyes - and said. "Fuck me, sweetie." She squeezed again for emphasis and licked her lover's lips, which parted in invitation. This time it was her tongue teasing Willow's mouth and lips as her lover rocked against her thigh and thrust within her. She strained upward, reaching towards her orgasm, felt Willow begin her own, and held on as her lover trembled against her. Body arching, her head tipped back exposing her throat to Willow's kisses, she squeezed repeatedly, feeling her lover's fingers pressing and thrusting within her. "Harder!"
"Oh, love!" Willow kissed her neck and shoulders, rubbing her thumb over her engorged clit. Her lover shifted down, her mouth sucking on her nipples.
And that was finally enough; her body jerked hard with each wave of pleasure sweeping through it, her scream of pleasure almost an afterthought. "Willow!" Her lover cradled her body as the final wave released her and she became almost boneless.
"Oh god, you are so beautiful."
She opened her eyes and looked up into Wilow's face with a smile. Her eyes drifted closed and she sighed. This was happiness. To be held in the arms of the woman she loved, to be loved in such a way by her, to be here with her. It was almost perfect.
"Tare, I love ...."
Her eyes opened.
"I love this. Love making love to you."
For a moment she saw the original words in Willow's eyes - the words that would make this more than just almost perfect - and then the green eyes glanced away. She couldn't stop the sigh. She could tell when Willow looked back that not only had she felt the sigh, but that she could see the disappointment on her face - and knew that she was the reason for the disappointment. Her heart ached for both of them, but she said only, "It's getting late."
"Yeah," Willow's face was flushed, and she refused to look at her. "I should go." Her lover lifted herself up and knelt for a moment on the floor beside her, finding the carpet of great interest.
Sitting up, Tara bit her lip - yes, they both had plans, but they shouldn't part like this. She reached out a hand half way, but stopped. "It's okay."
"No, it's not." Willow looked at her, tears welling in her eyes. "How can you say that?" She stood and yanked her panties and jeans up from around her knees, avoiding eye contact and clearly not expecting an answer.
Besides, there really wasn't anything she could say. Instead, she watched Willow wipe the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. She straightened her clothing a little and then accepted Willow's help in standing. Nothing she could say, but plenty she could do. When Willow released her hand, she held on, pulling the other woman into her arms and holding her. Just holding her - feeling the tension in the slim body, the anger that she couldn't say three small words. There wasn't anything she could do or say to make the anger go away, but she could accept it - and she could surround it with her own love.
And Willow was able to accept that.
Finally, Tara released her. "Um, your c-clothes are all wrinkled."
Willow glanced down at her jeans and sweater, then over at her, a slight smile on her lips. "Have you looked in a mirror?"
Tara's lips quirked and she said, "I can fix that." She shrugged out of the bra and blouse, and unfastened the skirt so that it floated to the floor. "See - no wrinkles."
"Definitely no wrinkles." Willow stood motionless for just a breath or two, then caught her up again in another long hug. This one had kisses. Finally, they broke apart, breathless. "Damn."
"We have to."
"Oh, I know, big here with the keeping of promises ... really." Willow tugged her sweater down the rest of the way and walked over to her pack.
"Aren't y-you forgetting something?" Tara asked, wondering if maybe Willow didn't want ....
"No, I didn't - and just stop that train of thought." Her lover swung her pack up and settled it onto her shoulder. "I just don't know that I dare retrieve it right now, that's all. I should have taken it when I took you that last time. Now, I'm just not ...."
"Not certain how to get your present without taking me again?" She finished Willow's question with a smile that she hoped made up for the look of doubt that Willow had seen. "I'm willing to take a chance."
"I know. And so am I, but I figure I'll have a better chance of leaving if I have this on." She gestured at the pack and walked back into Tara's arms. A kiss, more kisses, quite a bit of groping and they finally stepped away from one another again. Breathless, eyes shining, Willow lifted her hand into view. "I should rinse this off. It somehow got a bit wet."
"W-Wonder how that happened? Maybe it fell in a puddle?" Tara walked to her bed and sat down on it cross-legged, her eyes following Willow with hungry interest.
"Vixen!" Willow teased as she rinsed Tara's juices from the key. Placing the key in the front pocket of her jeans, she splashed her face clean as well. She walked back around the bed and stopped in front of her. "I really have to go."
Tara nodded.
"Well, I just wanted you to know how hard it is with you sitting there like that."
She grinned up at her lover and then shifted up onto her knees, beckoning Willow close. Gently they kissed.
"Oh god, I have to go!" Willow stepped away and put her hand on the doorknob. "Uh, tonight - have fun - with Jo, at the Alliance."
"What, no well-wishing for my other plans?"
"With the wannablessedbes? Tara, I just can't ... "
"I know." She waved away Willow's frustration with the Wicca group. "And you, be safe."
"Always. Bye, Tare." The door opened, and then closed on Willow's heels.
She stared at it for a long moment and then reached for her robe. She slipped it on and padded around the bed. A shower. A bath would be better, but the shower would have to do. There were a few substitutions she needed to make in her kit. She removed her everyday honeysuckle-scented soap. Her hands unwrapped a small fresh cake which perfumed its immediate surroundings with the scent of lavender, jasmine, frankincense and sandalwood. She lifted it to her nose, inhaled deeply, and sighed. Eyes closed, she just stood there. Opening different doors and drawers in her mind, she placed her everyday concerns away until only one remained. Willow. But that was love, and eternal, not everyday.
She left her room and headed down the hall to begin her cleansing.
*****
"Hey," Willow waved as she closed the door to their room.
Buffy sat up on her bed. "Hey yourself. I was wondering if you'd ditched me. Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Why?" Willow walked to her bed and let the pack slide off her shoulders onto it.
"Well, you're about an hour late, and you look kinda rumpled." She made a little gesture with her hand that Willow followed.
"Oh, uh, I was over at Tara's and kind of ... fell asleep." Willow was turned away from her so that she couldn't quite see her face, but she sounded a little off.
She didn't quite know what to think. Willow was the responsible one, always. Well, except when she was getting over Oz. This just wasn't how Willow ordinarily acted. Except she really didn't know this Willow, this Willow who was off making friends with witchy women. The last time that had happened, they had both ended up tied to stakes while their parents tried to burn them. She gazed across the room toward the other participant in that affair; Amy the Rat seemed happy enough running in her wheel. Besides, Tara seemed a whole lot more stable than Amy Madison - not that that was saying much.
"Uh, do I have time for a shower? I've got my, uh, period, and I'm feeling kind of gross."
"Sure, Will. I'll phone Xander and let him know we're running late." Buffy looked on in mild consternation. Willow had started stripping out of her wrinkled clothes before she'd finished speaking.
"Thanks, Buff." The robe slipped over the slim shoulders; grabbing her stuff, Willow dashed for the shower.
Buffy sniffed, recognizing the smell of her best friend's arousal. It wasn't anything strange to her. In fact, it had been pretty much the norm for Willow whenever she'd been around Oz for any length of time, ever since graduation. "How peculiar," she said to the empty room. "Well, she did say she got horny around her period." She picked up the phone and hit the button for Xander's number. She sank back onto her bed to wait for him to pick up and Willow to return.
*****
She'd been half expecting and half dreading that soft knock on her door. She wiped her sweaty palms on her cords and almost stayed seated at her desk. Homework. Lots of homework. That would be a good excuse ... if this were Sunday night and she didn't have the entire weekend ahead of her. The knock came again. Slowly Jo stood and walked to the door, a glance through the peephole revealing that it was indeed her expected visitor. She rested her hand on the knob and hesitated, wondering how much Willow had told her lover of their meeting earlier. She really didn't have to do this ... but her hand turned the knob.
"Hi."
"Ready?" Tara stayed in the hall, waiting.
"Uh, sure." Jo started to join her, but stopped when her neighbor held up a hand. Her stomach flip-flopped. Tara knew. Damn.
"I th-think it's chilly tonight, so indulge me. P-Put on a jacket or a sweater." Smiling slightly, Tara blocked the doorway with her body.
"Oh! Okay." Relieved that Tara wasn't going to grill her on her activities of the morning, she grabbed up a sweater, jerked it on over her Jonathan t-shirt, and started forward again.
"Hair." Tara was smiling a little more broadly now.
"What?"
"You m-mussed your hair. Not that it's a bad look for you; tousled bedroom hair can be a very good thing. But it l-leads to all sorts of expectations."
"Expectations. Right." She whirled, stalked over to her mirror, and swiped the brush through her hair. Turning back to Tara, she asked, "Better?"
"Not tousled is good, too," Tara replied with a nod. "I need to pick up something from the cafeteria for later. Is that okay" She stepped back into the hall and let her lock her door.
"No problem." Walking beside the lesbian witch, Jo surreptitiously examined her next door neighbor with a view to expectations. Tara was wearing her blonde hair loose except for two braids just in front of her ears. Dressed in a long green-brown skirt and a green sweater, she didn't look much like Jo's images of what a lesbian should look like. She looked very earth-mother-y, very serene and untroubled. So maybe it was safe after all.
Jo finally broke her silence as they passed through the exit doors. "You know, I really didn't mean any harm earlier."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Tara paused on the steps down to the walk.
"Oh." Jo felt all too familiar sinking sensation in her belly. Obviously, this was yet another time she should have kept her mouth shut.
"What?" The blonde repeated her question.
"Uh, Willow didn't tell you?" She cast about for some believable evasion. Allen and Steve. Yes.
"Tell me what, Jo?"
"She didn't tell you anything about this morning?"
"No." Tara started walking again. "Wh-What about this morning?
"Uh, Allen and Steve heard you today, when you forgot to do that silence spell. I overheard them talking about it, and I told Willow when I bumped into her." She felt queasy at her quasi-dishonesty.
"Oh." Tara's stride hesitated just briefly, and Jo thought she might be blushing, but then it returned to normal, even though her eyes never left her.
"So Willow didn't mention it at all?" Jo was beginning to relax.
"No."
"And you're not mad?"
"Is there something for me to be mad about?" Tara stopped abruptly.
Jo stumbled to a stop several steps ahead. "Uh, no." She sighed then, unable to conceal anything. "Well, Willow was."
"Very alliterative." A smile tugged at Tara's lips briefly before being banished. "Why w-was Willow m-mad?"
"I, uh,..." Jo fumbled with her sweater's sleeves and stared at the ground. "I didn't hear you against the door, I only overheard Allen and Steve from the stairway. But I kind of ... watched you kiss. In the common room." As if there could be any doubt of the location. "I heard you on the stairs, and ducked into an alcove so you wouldn't see me - so that I wouldn't interrupt you. I mean, she wouldn't even hold hands with you in public yesterday, and then this morning the two of you were so big with the kissage. I just thought that if she saw me, she'd stop. And I thought stopping would be a bad thing." Her voice squeaked a little at the end; she'd forgotten to breathe.
Tara merely smiled.
"So ... you're not mad?" She eyed the witch with some trepidation. She'd already faced Tara's wicked sense of humor once, and she suspected that tonight would give ample opportunities for it to come into play again.
Her neighbor looked at her and didn't reply for several long moments. Jo began to fidget under the intense examination, but finally Tara sighed and looked past her. "Willow told you about the silence spell."
Question or simple statement? Jo couldn't tell, but her stomach churned even more. Whichever it was didn't matter as much as the fact that she couldn't remember ever hearing Tara say so many words in a row without pausing, stuttering, or saying 'um'. She was dead certain that when combined with the total lack of inflection in the blonde's voice it wasn't a good sign.
"Yes. She told me that you, the two of you, had forgotten to engage it this morning. But, hey, you remembered at lunch and this afternoon, right?" She could have kicked herself as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Great, mock the witch.
But Tara only chuckled. "No, sweetie, I rarely forget about s-something like that. This morning was just, um ... unplanned." She started walking again, and Jo had to hurry to catch up.
"So you're not going to turn me into a toad?"
"Do you w-want to be a toad?" Tara looked sideways at her as they passed the student checking meal cards and entered the cafeteria.
"Uh, no. No toad. Thanks."
Tara's eyes crinkled in amusement at that statement and she began collecting various food items, stowing them in containers that she apparently carried in her shoulder bag. Earth-mother food. Veggies and fruit. Some bread. A bottle of water. A cup of plain yogurt that she uncovered and began eating as they exited.
"Is that all you're going to eat?" Jo asked.
Tara nodded and licked the metal spoon she'd retrieved from somewhere in her bag. She dropped the container in a trash can, then wrapped the spoon in a napkin and replaced it in her bag.
"That's not nearly enough." Jo couldn't keep from commenting.
"Oh, but I h-had a very good lunch. Licking up all that w-witchy goodness."
Jo spluttered for just a moment. "I don't know that Willow counts as a food group."
"Wh-Why not? She was quite y-yummy."
"Okay. Okay." Jo waved her hands in surrender. "You win. As if I ever had a chance."
Tara grinned at her, blue eyes flashing. "No. Y-You didn't."
Jo jammed her hands in her pockets and sighed.
"Jo."
She looked at Tara.
"I'm not m-mad at you. Y-You were right, W-Willow would have stopped. So, thank you. And ...." The witch paused thoughtfully.
"And what?"
"Well, I was a little mad, b-but I know you didn't mean any harm. You ... you don't have any evil in you." Tara looked at her earnestly.
"Huh? That's kind of a weird thing to say. How do you know? Did you do a spell on me?" Jo asked, curious and surprisingly unalarmed.
"Um, n-not quite. I just l-looked, and ...." Tara suddenly stopped and stepped in front of her - between her and a slim peroxide-blonde man.
"Steppin' out on Red already, little bird?"
Jo looked back and forth between Tara and the stranger, a bit bewildered and just a littled pissed-off at his comment.
Tara slipped one hand in her bag. "Jo, s-stay behind m-me."
"Oh, just lighten up, will you? Harmless - remember?" He sauntered closer, his black leather duster swirling.
She tried to step up beside the witch but once again found her way blocked. "Tara, who is this guy?"
"This is Spike. He's a vampire."
Edited by: Triscuit7 at: 10/22/02 3:17:48 pm
by TromDeGrey » Sun Oct 20, 2002 12:37 pm 
Definitely too hot in here... 
And go Boots! Thanks. 
at: 10/22/02 12:01:59 pm
And Spike showing up....well if Jo had any doubts about the usage of the stakes before.....