Giles followed Cordelia through the mansion. He suspected they could have gotten to the backyard without the tour, but let her show off her home and even made appreciative comments. He was genuinely impressed. It was a large, beautiful house filled with expensive things. He expected no less from the parents of Cordelia Chase.
She stopped at the sliding glass doors leading outside and reached for him. His hand grasped in hers, she led him onto a cement patio where two lounge chairs and several other chairs sat overlooking the big yard. A pool in the shape of an eight was the centerpiece. The clean clear blue water sparkled in the sun surrounded by a neatly trimmed green lawn and a wooden fence that was so high one would need a 10 foot ladder to see over it. The nearest house was at least a hundred yards away with many trees between it and the fence. Off to one side, hanging between two strong trees with thick, gnarly trunks, was a hammock.
"Well?"
"It looks like your home," he said, simply.
Cordelia, understanding his meaning, was pleased. "Thank you. Would you like something to drink? I know there's lemonade in the refrigerator."
Giles moved closer to her and lightly brushed his fingertips along her jaw. "I think I'd like you more."
Laughing, she scooted away. "Uh uh. Not yet. First we do things my way." She stepped back into the house, stopping on the threshold to smile at him before going further inside.
"Cordelia, wait."
She stopped at the serious tone.
"Are you absolutely certain that no one is going to come home? Your parents? The maid?"
She came back to him and rubbed his arm. "I'm very sure. I spoke to my folks first thing this morning. They're in Zurich. Consuela won't work on her weekends off -- not for love or money. No one will interrupt us."
One more smile and she went inside the house.
Giles slipped his fingers into the tight pockets of his jeans and wandered around the yard while he waited.
He waited nearly 15 minutes, and was beginning to wonder if he should go inside to see what had become of her, when she returned.
He stared.
Cordelia held a tray with a pitcher and two frosty glasses of lemonade on it. As though to complement the pale yellow of the drinks, she wore a bright yellow string bikini. There wasn't a whole lot of material used in the creation of that particular outfit, he noted. And Cordelia amply filled out what little there was.
Cordy set the tray down on the table near him, leaning over longer than necessary. When she straightened, she smiled at him and said, "You're drooling."
Flustered, Giles glanced away but only for a moment. He decided she deserved to be stared at; she was made to be stared at.
Cordelia held her arms across her stomach, seemingly unsure of what to do with them, her smile suddenly nervous. Giles realized what the problem was.
Holding out his hands to her, he said, "Come here."
She moved into his arms without hesitation, almost gratefully. She clung to him, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. Giles held her, letting her stay for awhile where she was comfortable. Then he gently pried her loose. He held her at arm's length and just looked at her, letting her see the appreciation in his eyes. He rubbed her shoulders slowly, sensually, running his hands down her arms, feeling the layer of muscle under the silky skin. His fingers traced slow circles against her ribs and she jerked away laughing.
"Ticklish?"
"No!" But she was cautious about him touching her there again, flinching twice more when he got too close. The moment relaxed her, and the tension drained away. She stood before him, gaining confidence, standing straighter with her hands at her sides, as he continued to study and admire her.
At last, he let his gaze settle on the ragged scar that blazed across her upper abdomen. It flared dark pink against her skin. He put his hand against her stomach just below the injury.
"May I?"
She nodded, biting her lip.
He touched the raised skin lightly, briefly.
"You've been suntanning," he observed, attempting to distract her.
"When no one is around, I sometimes come out here and swim. The doctor said as long as I'm careful it shouldn't hurt anything. It pulled at first but it's getting better. It's too soon to have plastic surgery done," she added quietly.
"You still need to heal," he said flicking his gaze up to her face.
She was looking at him in wonderment. "You're so understanding. Harmony and the others at school didn't even believe at first that I had been injured. Then they wanted to know when was I was going to get it fixed. Like it's some horrible thing to have removed. Okay, so it is horrible and I felt the same way after it happened, but it's real, you know? It's me or...or a part of me. I'm not so sure I'm in a hurry to have it taken away. It's weird."
Giles nodded. "It's a reminder of what happened to cause it. It's natural to want to hang onto that memory. For good or bad."
Wide-eyed, she said, "Yeah. That's it exactly." She studied his face for a moment, then asked shyly, "Do you have any scars?"
Smiling sadly, he said, "A few. One will always remain with me for a similar reason."
"Will you show me? Please?"
He hesitated, then turned away from her and lifted his shirt while pulling down on the waistband of his jeans. He exposed the ragged white line that ran high across his lower back, above his left hip.
He heard Cordelia's intake of breath then felt her repeat what he had done by touching it. Her fingertips were cool on his skin.
"You're lucky you didn't lose a kidney or something. When did it happen?"
Letting his shirt fall back into place, he kept his eyes averted.
"The night we thought Buffy had killed Ted. I was patrolling. Jenny picked that particular time to apologize to me. A vampire attacked. While I dealt with him...or, rather, he with me," he smiled ruefully, glancing at Cordelia, "Jenny grabbed the crossbow and shot at the vampire. She hit me instead. It didn't go in too deeply, but it hurt like bloody hell for quite a while afterwards."
"And despite the sorrow connected to the memory -- about Jenny, you never had the scar removed," she said, once again proving his conviction that she had more depth to her character than she normally let people witness. It pleased him to know this about her.
"It's not like a lot of people are going to see it. You're the first person I've told about that night."
"Really?"
He nodded.
"Thank you," she said quietly. Lifting a hand, she stroked it across his cheek.
Something happened as they looked deeply into each other's eyes. It hit them suddenly, forcefully.
Giles leaned closer, brushing his lips on hers, moving them back and forth. Cordy moaned low in her throat, flinging her arms around his neck and opening her mouth to let his tongue gain access to hers.
Giles began walking, forcing Cordelia to move backwards in order to stay with him. When the backs of her legs hit the edge of the lounger he carefully guided her onto it, putting one hand down to ease their way. Cordy stuck with him all the way down. She wriggled upwards on the padded chair to get into a more comfortable position and they ended up with Giles lying between her legs. She brought her knees up, forcing her pelvis against his.
Unable to help himself, Giles began to rock against her very slowly; his movements were small but they created a response in Cordelia. While their tongues did battle, Cordy's thighs tightened on his sides. Giles's hands roamed all over her bronzed skin. His increasing arousal was making it difficult for him to think clearly, yet somewhere in the murkiness that was his brain, was the thought that they should stop. Now. Before they did something they would regret.
He didn't want to stop. Cordy tasted too good. Forbidden fruit often did have an addictive quality. Besides, hadn't he come here with the hope of making love to her?
He was arguing with himself.
Giles dragged himself out of her arms and sat on the edge of the lounger.
"What's wrong?"
When he remained silent, she said dispiritedly, "I know. We're going too fast. You're right." She, too, fell silent for a bit. Then: "We came here to swim, didn't we? There are some brand new trunks on the bed in the upstairs guest room. We keep extra swimsuits in case someone staying over forgets to bring theirs. If you like, you can go up and change and we can go for a swim. It's the first room on the right at the top of the stairs."
Taking one more glance at her lying there on the lounge chair with tousled hair and lips swollen from his kisses, he sighed, stood up and went inside the house.
He took even longer than she had to come downstairs. Part of it was unease about his appearance in such little clothing, and part was that he had wanted to wait for his partial erection to subside. That would have been just too embarassing to deal with. When he returned, he was on the receiving end of an open-mouthed stare.
He felt self-concious wearing nothing but a pair of blue swim trunks. He was only too aware that he had let himself get somewhat out of shape the past few years. Too many days and nights of sitting while researching, subsisting on junk food, and just a general lack of exercise had given him a bit of a soft belly. He wanted to suck it in, but Cordelia had already seen it.
She moved closer and placed the flat of her palm on his chest, very slowly drawing it downwards to rest against his stomach. There was a humourous smile flitting across her mouth that she was very obviously trying to hide.
Giles sighed. "Go ahead. You know you want to."
She swallowed the smile and with a straight face asked, "Want to what?"
"Laugh."
She shook her head. "No." She sounded sincere. "It's not that. I was just thinking that all those times I was checking you out at school, I thought about what you looked like with your shirt off and...well, I was very close to the...actual...you." She leaned in close and kissed him so gently he barely felt the contact.
Before she could move away, he took her by her arms and held her to him. He kissed her back.
"You, um, thought about me that way?" he asked when they parted, staying close.
"Well, yeah! You're one sexy guy. I'd be stupid not to. And I am not stupid -- especially when it comes to men. Well, there's one -- who will remain nameless but his intials are Xander Harris -- who slipped through my radar. But you were just too scrumptious to ignore."
"I thought... Never mind." He shook his head, feeling awkward for having even voiced that much.
Cordelia tilted her head to the side. "You thought I didn't notice you? Silly. I noticed you even before Buffy transferred in. Any new male in the school gets noticed. By everyone." She watched him, not even attempting to hide the genuine amusement this time.
"You mean you and your friends...?"
"Yup. We saw, we discussed, we fantasized. Well, I did. Later. After I started hanging with you and Buffy and Willow and Hormone Boy. I can't speak for Buffy, she's so short- sighted sometimes, but Willow... You do know she had a major crush on you?"
"I suspected..." he admitted.
"Giles, are you blushing?"
"No. I'm... it's hot out here."
"Then let's go for a swim." She pulled him toward the pool. She had an answer for everything. He stopped and laid his glasses on the table near the lemonade, then went with her to the edge of the pool.
Cordelia let go of his hand and dove in, barely creating a splash. Giles didn't hesitate. He followed her in, proud that his form was at least as good as hers. He stayed under a long time, revelling in the sensation of being weightless, loving the slipperiness of the water passing over him and himself passing through it.
He surfaced in the middle of the pool and looked around. Cordelia was treading water a short distance away, her hair plastered to her head. He swam over to her.
"You're a strong swimmer," she noted.
"So are you."
"I won a lot of trophies in junior high."
"Really? So you were a...a jock?" he teased.
She tossed her head. "I was a strong swimmer," she said pointedly, but she smiled back at him.
"Care to race?"
The surprise on Cordelia's face made his afternoon. It was obvious she hadn't expected that question from him.
"All right. What does the winner get?"
"Winner's choice."
"O-kay." There was a mischievous light in her eyes that worried him momentarily.
"To the far end and back to the other?" he suggested.
"You're on!"
"On the count of three."
"One," she said.
"Two," he said.
They both cheated and started early. Cordelia struck out, slightly ahead. Giles caught up with her and they reached the first goal together. She pushed off from the wall with a powerful kick and got ahead of him.
Again Giles caught up with her and they battled side by side for several feet. Cordelia was a fierce competitor and she plunged her arms in harder and kicked faster and soon pulled ahead one more time. She reached the end scant seconds before Giles put his hand on the ledge beside her.
"I won! I won!" Cordelia raised both hands over her head, took a deep breath and went under. Giles saw her swim between his legs, brushing against his right one as she passed through. She popped up behind him. He twisted around so he could see her.
"Now I get to claim my prize." She put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to keep them both afloat.
"What is that you want?" he grinned, caught up in her exuberance.
"You have to do whatever I tell you. Kiss me."
Obediently, he did.
"Not good enough. Harder."
He grabbed her under her arms, placing her against the cement wall of the pool. He put his hands on either side of her, gripping the ledge and moved in as close as he could. The water slopped up between them and then there was no more space between them.
Cordelia wound her arms around his neck and brought their faces close, noses and foreheads pressed together.
"Love me," she whispered.
There was a tiny bit of common sense left in the back of his mind.
"We don't have any protection."
"I'm on the Pill and I'm clean. What about you?"
Fortunately, he understood what she meant. He sighed heavily. "I've been celibate for longer than I care to think about. There's no chance that I'll be bringing anything unwanted into this."
Cordelia drew her hand along the side of his face, sorrow in her eyes. "A man like you should have more...fun in his life." She kissed him lightly on the side of the mouth. Drawing back, she looked at him, then leaned in to kiss him again.
"Love me," she repeated against his lips.
Giles dropped one hand to her breast, cupping it with sweet consideration, caressing it with his thumb. Cordy's hand travelled down to the waistband of his trunks, fingers creeping inside and sliding down the curve of his backside. They kept bumping their legs together while they treaded water.
He located the string ties at the sides of her swimsuit bottom and pulled on an end. The bow came undone beautifully.
Cordy gasped in surprise looking down and then back up at him.
Giles undid the other side and the piece of material fell away. He held it up out of the water for her to see and then tossed it up on the deck.
A determined expression came over her. Moving swiftly, she shoved him away, vanished under the water, yanked his trunks down his legs, and surfaced with them in hand. She tossed them over her shoulder. They landed next to the half of her suit. Re-situating herself in his arms she anchored her legs around his hips and reached up to untie her top. He stopped her.
"Let me."
Cordelia balanced her elbows on the ledge behind her, holding him afloat. He tugged on the tie at her back then went for the one at her neck. The scrap of yellow came off easily. He threw that the way of the rest of their clothing then reclaimed his role of anchor.
Looking down at the tops of her breasts just under the water, he felt a surge of desire rush through him. When it passed, he had an intense ache in his groin.
Cordelia trailed a hand across his chest, nails scraping over his nipples. He hissed in pleasure.
Giles gripped her soft bottom, tugging her firmly up against him. Cordy's eyes widened when they made contact. She smiled and said, "Happy to see me, sailor?"
"Pardon?" he laughed, amazed that she would know a reference like that.
"I saw an old black and white movie on tv the other night."
Giles slipped his hand between her legs and started to finger her soft folds. "Did you watch it all the way through?"
Concentrating very hard on what he was doing to her, she nodded. "Uh huh. It actually didn't suck." She moved her hips.
"Now that's a recommendation worthy of any movie critic."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"Not at all. Just obeying the wishes of the winner of our race."
Cordy briefly closed her eyes. After a moment, she said, "Oh. Right. Love me."
"As you wish."
Continuing what he was doing, he captured her mouth with his. Cordelia's movements were becoming frantic. Wide- eyed, she moved against the friction he created with his nimble fingers. Then she stopped moving, cried out and more or less just drifted bonelessly into his arms. Giles held her, bringing her down with kisses all over her face and neck. When she stopped trembling, she pushed away from him enough so that she could look him in the eye.
"You're a beautiful man." She kissed him on the nose. "Let me take care of you."
With their foreheads pressed together and the two of them staring each other in the eye, she reached down and quickly took him to the same plane from which she had just descended.
Giles hung onto Cordelia, resting his chin on her shoulder.
When he was capable of speech again, he said hoarsely, "Good thing we're near the filter. I'd hate to be the pool cleaner."
With all the eloquence she possessed, Cordelia said, "Yuck."
"Indeed."
They continued to hold one another for a while, content to remain in each other's embrace. Finally, Giles stirred.
"Perhaps we should get out of the pool before we wrinkle," he whispered in her ear, receiving her answer in the form of a giggle. "I have an idea about what we can do next."
They floated apart, came back together and swam over to the ladder.