"Wesley." Rupert Giles' voice carried a note of trouble in it.
Wesley Wyndham-Price swallowed noisily.
"Y-yes? Is there something you wished to speak to me about, Mr. Giles?"
He watched as Giles moved away from the door to his office where he'd been leaning and slowly walked forward. Wesley shifted uneasily on his chair at the big oak table in the center of the library. If body language was anything to go by, he wasn't certain he was going to enjoy this chat. The lines of Giles' shoulders and torso spoke of trouble. And just when they were getting along better as colleagues. He was always doing something wrong and Giles and the children hated him for it. There was no way anything good was going to come of this.
Wesley swallowed again.
Giles leaned against the table right next to Wesley. He crossed his feet at the ankles and folded his arms across his chest. His gaze was distant. As long as he wasn't glaring.
Wes relaxed just a smidgen.
"Cordelia came to see me today. She was very upset. She said you and she kissed in the stacks awhile ago."
"She told you?" Wesley blurted out.
"She and Buffy and the others tell me everything. They appreciate it when I help them fix their problems."
Wesley caught the odd note when Giles said the word "appreciate" and it gave him shivers. He could just imagine what that meant. He'd overheard Xander and Oz talking upstairs in the stacks. Wesley shuddered. Mr. Giles certainly had unique relationships with his young friends. Some of the things he'd learned they did with their mentor...
That thought stopped him cold. Technically speaking, if one stretched the meaning of the word, Giles was his mentor as well. Now wasn't that interesting?
"S-so Miss Ch-Chase told you her woes? I imagine she found me somewhat...inadequate."
Looking at him, Giles' gaze and voice softened. "Yes. I'm afraid she did express a bit of disappointment."
"I see." That stung even though it wasn't unexpected. He stood up to face the elder Watcher. "Well, you see... I was nervous. Miss Chase is so very..." his breath left his body just thinking about what Miss Chase was so very.
"Yes, she is." Giles got a faraway look in his eyes again.
"I, um, wonder if you could help me out so that the next time...if there ever is a next time, I could perhaps do better?"
Giles was interested. Wes could see that.
"I suppose I could teach you a thing or two."
"Excellent! Um, I mean, that would be fine. Thank you. I appreciate your help." He placed just a slight emphasis on the word appreciate.
Giles eyes narrowed.
"Take off your glasses," Giles ordered while he did the same and placed them on the table beside them. Wesley picked up Giles' glasses, removed his own and took both over to the checkout counter.
At Giles' inquiring look, he explained, "I'm terribly afraid I might knock them to the floor. I, uh, have a tendency to move about a bit overmuch."
"Cordy did say that you floundered around like a landed fish."
Wes blushed.
"As I said, I was nervous."
"Well, there's no need to be nervous now. I won't bite - - unless you want me to, of course." Giles smiled. "I'm joking. Relax."
Giles took Wes's face in his strong hands and gently urged him closer. "Now this won't hurt a...mmmph!"
Wesley latched onto Giles' lips and proceeded to kiss him hard, deep and senseless. His tongue violated Giles' mouth and swept around to tease the other man's tongue into a duel. One hand cupped Giles' backside, fingers splayed against the rounded muscle and gripped it hard. Then he encircled Giles' waist and he brought his other hand into play, searching for and finding the swelling erection there. He gave it a couple of firm strokes. When Wesley let him go, Giles' eyes were glazed and threatening to cross over. He staggered a moment, groping behind him for the table.
"What was that?" he gasped.
"A kiss," Wesley said smugly. "Did you enjoy it?"
By way of answer, Giles reached for him. "More."
Wes gave him more of the same.
When they broke apart this time, Giles' shirt was off and his trousers were hanging from his hips. Wesley, of course, was unmussed.
Leaning way back on the table, Giles struggled to find his voice.
"If you can kiss like that, what the bloody hell happened with Cordelia?" he asked plaintively.
"I said I was nervous. I'll do better next time if she'll let me."
Giles reached out and pulled Wesley down to him, his mouth closing on the younger man's, hard and brutally. Wrenching away from the bruising kiss, Wesley looked into Rupert's green eyes and saw the fabled Ripper.
"Ah, there you are. About time, I'd say." He descended on Giles again, but was stopped by a strong hand.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"You. Ripper. My school chums had older brothers who used to speak of you in reverence. Seems you had quite the reputation. After I arrived in Sunnydale, I realized who you were and I finally got up my courage to see if I could get you to come out and play."
Giles smiled in a way that gave Wesley those shivers again. Definitely Ripper.
As their mouths collided again, Giles murmured, "All you needed to do was ask."