Her thoughts were interrupted when Cordelia's car pulled up beside Oz's van. Giles climbed out immediately, looking immensely relieved to have arrived. Xander followed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Don't ever ride anywhere with her. Trust me on this," he muttered.
"This is quite remarkable," Giles exclaimed, moving closer to the house to inspect it. "I've never seen anything like this. It's quite possibly related to the Hellmouth, or at least, the Hellmouth may be aiding the spellcaster retain enough energy to support an endeavor this large."
"So you're saying what?" Xander asked. "We have no idea who could do something like this because the Sunnydale is one big demon Energizer?"
"Well, yes," Giles replied. "The strength of the Hellmouth would make it possible for quite a few different possibilities. Maybe Angel will have some knowledge of who could have this kind of power."
"Speaking of Brood Boy, where are those two crazy kids?" Xander asked, craning his neck to look around.
"Maybe they went back to the library. You know, to regroup," Willow suggested.
"Or maybe he and Buffy tiptoed off to get in some smooching time," Xander retorted.
"I'm sure Buffy wouldn't-she heard me ask her to return right away. I doubt she would do something so irresponsible," Giles said, glancing around.
"Really? I must be blind then," Cordy cut in. "Because I've
seen some heavy glances between those two lately, and if it were me, sneaking
off is the first thing I'd be doing."
"I thought you had something important to do," Xander sneered at her,
not entirely comfortable with the thought of Buffy getting horizontal with the
dark haired vampire.
"Children!" Giles snapped, rubbing his temples. He was definitely
not amenable to Buffy's personal relationship with one the most notorious vampires
in recent history, and he had no interest in discussing it any further. He was,
however, concerned that something had happened to his Slayer.
************************************************************************
Buffy looked at her surroundings in amazement. She had no idea how she and Angel
had gotten inside this monstrosity, but at least it was gorgeous. The heavy
mahogany furniture and brocade wall trimmings were in dark, rich colors that
made the whole room seem smaller. There were priceless looking knick-knacks
on all the tables and buffets, and spindly legged chaises and settees. Her gaze
traveled to the stairway to their left and several paneled doors in the back
of the parlor they were in.
"This is straight out of an Emily Bronte novel," Angel observed, picking a quill pen up out of its stand.
Who the hell is Emily Bronte? Buffy wondered. I mean, does he try to make me feel like I'm two years old? "I don't care what it looks like. I just want out." She turned to the door, yanking on the handle. A bolt of electricity shot through her arm, and she reeled back, rubbing her arm.
"Are you okay?" Angel asked, lifting her arm to examine. He rolled back her sleeve gently, his cool skin soothing the burn.
Buffy shivered at his touch. Her injury was completely forgotten as she stared into his deep brown eyes. Why is it that one minute he makes me feel like a child and the next I feel like my hormones have taken over my body? Grrrr! "I'm okay, I think. Just a bit shaken and heading towards mightily pissed off. You realize this means we can't get out, right?"
He nodded grimly. "Should we try and explore some of this place? It might have another exit."
She sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's really the only thing we can do." She reached out with her uninjured hand and pulled him toward the staircase. "There's nowhere to go but up from here."
He groaned and rolled his eyes. "That was bad, Buffy."
She grinned and started up the stairs, dropping his hand. "Yeah, but you love me, so put up with it."
Angel smiled. He certainly couldn't argue with that. He did love Buffy and he'd gladly put up with any silly remarks she made. Even bad puns. Shaking his head, he followed her up the narrow stairs to the next floor. Looking around, he saw the stairs leading to the next level up, and several closed doors in each direction. "Wonder what's behind door number one?" he quipped.
"And you say I'm bad," Buffy replied sticking her tongue out at him. "Let's just pick one and hope it's our lucky day."
Angel looked around and pointed the door at the head of the stairs. "Want to start there?"
"Let's do it," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the door with her. She opened it, peering in, and saw only a normal looking library. Deciding it was safe, she walked in, pulling Angel behind her.
Angel looked around, noting how old some of the books looked. He was about to comment on it to Buffy when he felt a draft. The house had suddenly gotten very cold, even to him, he marveled. He looked at Buffy and his eyes grew as round as saucers. She was naked! "B-Buffy?" he stammered.
"Yeah?" she asked absently, turning to face him. When she looked at him, her hands flew up to cover her eyes. "Oh, my God. Angel…you're-you're naked! Why are you naked?"
"I don't know. I wasn't naked a second ago, and neither were you," he replied, smirking.
"I'm naked?" she squeaked, her hands moving from to cover herself.
He grinned. "As the day you were born." Noting her discomfort, he moved behind a wing back chair to cover himself. He'd forgotten how self-conscious humans could be about their bodies; for a vampire like him, nakedness was nothing of consequence.
Buffy blushed and lifted her eyes when she realized what he'd done. "Thanks. I, um, well, I kinda…"
"What?" he asked, his eyes trained on hers, trying desperately to not stare at her breasts.
"Well, I mean, I wanted to see you naked sometime, soon even, but…not quite so…suddenly?" she said, almost questioning herself.
Angel's jaw dropped at her admission. He certainly hadn't planned to take their relationship to that level anytime soon. Clearing his throat, he answered, "Buffy, I'm not sure how to-I never assumed you-see, when I was your age…"
Buffy giggled, loving how absolutely stunned he was. She lifted her arms, holding them out to Angel and waiting for him to come to her. It was like his fumbling had put them on level ground and she no longer needed to feel shy and inexperienced.
Angel looked at her in disbelief, his body moving of its own accord to step into her embrace. He wrapped his arms around her, and pressed their bodies close together. She murmured softly, rubbing her belly against his, and he growled in response. His hands roamed over her curves hungrily, the arousal he felt whenever he was near her simmering to a boil.
Buffy scratched her nails down his back, thrilling to the feel of his hardness
pressing against her. She'd thought he might be a little bigger from previous
'accidental' touches, but figured smaller might be better the first time anyway.
What in the world am I thinking for? A hot naked vampire is in my arms kissing
me! She turned her attention back to Angel, moving sinuously against him.
Grinning, she moved away from him, intending to sit on his lap in one of the
tall chairs. That should be fun. My first time and I get to be on top,
she thought.
**********************************************************************
Giles ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. "It's almost midnight,
and there's no sign of Buffy or Angel. Xander, are you sure they weren't at
any of the places I sent you to check?"
"G-man! Does this mean you don't trust me? Cordy and I looked at both their places and the library. Nowhere to be found, dude," the teen replied.
"Where on Earth could they be? I'm sure Buffy knew better than to actually go inside this place," Willow fretted.
"Hey… does anyone know the number for Buffy's beeper?" Oz interjected calmly.
"Her beeper? Oh, her beeper! Yeah, I have the number," Willow said, turning to grin triumphantly at Oz. He smiled back at her, and she melted. Focusing, she turned her head to Cordelia, who busy shooting glares at Xander. "Can we use your phone, Cordy?"
The brunette rolled her eyes, and reached into her purse, digging it out. "I suppose so. But make it short! I don't want to waste my minutes just because Buffy's inconsiderate."
Willow took the phone, and dialed the numbers, hanging it up immediately. She gave the phone to Cordy, deciding to look around a bit while they waited for Buffy to call back. She was just almost to the front porch when she heard an insistent beep. Following it, she walked up the first two steps, her eyes widening at what she saw. "Um, guys? Guys!"
The gang came running when she called. Cordelia looked at her in annoyance, tapping her foot. "What is so important, Willow?"
Willow pointed to the object on the porch, her hands shaking. Giles brought
up the rear, peeking through the crowd to see Buffy's tiny pink beeper lying
on the ground in front of them. "Oh, dear," he said.
************************************************************************
Ethan grinned from the shadows. They'd finally all made physical contact with
the house. Done with gloating over his imminent victory, he closed his eyes
and raised his hands, sending the energy necessary for the house to swallow
them. When he opened his eyes, the house, the kids and Ripper were gone. It
had taken some time, but now his plan could truly begin. Ripper would pay for
betraying him…with his Slayer's life.
***********************************************************************
"Okay, now what the hell just happened?" Xander asked, looking around
wildly.
Willow reached for Oz's hand, squeezing it. Somehow, his presence made her feel less scared. "I think we just figured out where Buffy and Angel went."
"Quite. Shall we start exploring? I'm certain that's what they're doing," Giles said, looking around curiously.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's what they're doing," Cordelia muttered, rolling her eyes at the older man. "What is about adults that makes them completely unable to deal with reality?"
"Well, I guess we go up," Xander said, gazing at the locked doors at the end of parlor. Turning, he waited for everyone to follow and headed up the stairs. When he reached the top, he looked down at the group behind him. "Um, where do we start? There's about ten doors on this floor alone."
Willow pointed. "Why not start with the one right in front of us? It's the closest; maybe that's where Buffy went."
"Sounds logical Willow. Go ahead, Xander, open the door," Giles replied, making his way to the front, directly behind Xander.
Xander opened the door, peering inside and shrieked like a woman. "My eyes! My eyes!" He turned a brilliant red and scrambled down the stairs in embarrassment.
Giles' mouth opened and closed like a fish for a moment, then he turned and ambled down the stairs in a daze.
Cordelia pushed her way to the front, determined to see what everyone was freaking out about. When she saw Buffy and Angel naked in a chair, she gaped, and then closed her mouth, trying to think of what to say. All she could think of was, "Nice tattoo, Buffy." Then she turned to Willow and Oz, saying, "Just to make the story short, they're naked and about two minutes from doing the wacky in a chair."
Willow stepped into room shielding her eyes to keep from seeing anything she didn't want to. "Um, Buffy?"
Buffy's face turned even redder after hearing Cordy's words and she turned
to face her friend sheepishly. When she looked at Willow, she gasped. "Willow,
you're naked!"
"I'm what?" Willow shrieked.
"Angel, look. She's naked, too," Buffy cried.
At the same time, Willow and Angel answered. "Buffy, I'm not looking at Willow naked." "Buffy, I'm not into threesomes."
All three looked at each other in astonishment. Finally, Willow stammered, "I'm gonna leave now." She ran out the door, and Angel watched her clothes reappear as soon as she crossed the doorframe.
"Buffy, I think we just found the solution. The rooms are enchanted. We're only naked in this room," he said softly, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Oh thank God! I think I've had enough of people seeing my…tattoo," she muttered.
"Well, it is cute," he replied, winking. "And when did you get that?"
"I was out patrolling one night down by the docks, and I saw this tattoo parlor lit up. I stopped to peek into the window, looking at designs and this one caught my eye. I promised not to beat up the Resparin demon doing the tattoos if he gave me one for free," she said shrugging.
Angel eyed the heart bearing the insignia 'Chosen One' with a stake through it. "Did you add the stake?"
"Yeah. I said he could add it or I could add it to him," she smirked.
Angel contemplated this for moment. "Buffy, that was really dangerous," he chastised.
She shrugged and headed for the stairs. "You only live once; well, twice, if you're me."
He frowned, following the blond Slayer down the stairs. Sometimes, he really worried about her. Buffy's attitude could really border on reckless at times. He looked around the parlor, his eyes lighting on a familiar shock of white blond hair.
"Why, hello, Peaches. Fancy meeting you gits, here," Spike said, his grin widening as Drusilla clapped in the background.