Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Spike or any of the other BtVS characters. And, oh yeah, the plot's not wholly mine, either. I ran across the 'have Spike be a phone sex operator' idea on a challenge site somewhere. I can't remember where now, or I'd gladly credit. So, yeah, suing bad.

Summary: AU; everyone's human. Buffy and Spike: Slayer and Vampire, mortal enemies who screw each other nightly in every kinky way imaginable, available only at Booty Calls for $8 a minute. But, by day, William and Liz are two very ordinary, lonely people who have found a way to become close despite the long-distance and their unconventional workplace. And one weekend together in real life will spark an even greater flame between them. A humorous romance. *COMPLETED, October 2003 - November 2003* NC17

Author's Note: Well, here I go, playing with reality in an AU environment again. But, hey, it's fun. I also had a lot of fun poking fun at the most absurd of the smut genre in this one, so if you run across a really dorky sex scene, yup, it's intentional. I mean, some of that stuff really is just silly when you look at it in a certain light. Yup, even mine. ~_^ So I hope you enjoy this rather off-the-wall AU, and remember it's all done in good humor. ^_^

Touch Me

by Kantayra

Chapter One

“Oh, yes, Spike! Touch me!”

“You like that, Slayer?” Spike growled in a low British accent. “You like bein’ fucked from behind by a demon?”

An exclamation half between a moan and a disgusted snort emitted from the Slayer’s mouth. “Just shut up and fuck me,” she ordered.

“You don’t order me around, Buffy,” he said her name snidely. “You’re forgettin’ who’s got twelve-inches of vampire cock poundin’ her peach senseless.”

A brief pause and something that sounded almost like a stifled giggle. “Guh, uh!” Buffy cried in response. “Oh, fuck, Spike! Too hard! You’re ripping me in two!”

“Take it, bitch,” he said harshly. “Take it all.”

“Oh, oh, yes, Spike! You hurt me so good, you big bad vampire!”

“Huh, yeah!” Spike cried out. “That’s my good li’l Slayer. Take your punishment…” His voice turned to a husky, dangerous whisper as he addressed the third party in the room. “You’re next, mate, so be ready to take it hard up the ass. No Slayer to save you now…”

“Uh, yeah!” the observer’s grunts became louder and faster as he jacked himself off to the erotic display before him. “Fuck that bitch hard! Fuck her right up the ass and show her who’s boss!”

“Hear that, Slayer?” Spike whispered, the smirk evident in his voice. “You’re takin’ a foot-long vampire right up the ass. Raw.” A loud grunt.

Buffy screamed out in agony in response. “Please, please, stop!” she cried out. “It hurts too much!”

“You’ll take it and like it,” Spike ordered harshly. “Break your walls right apart.”

Buffy’s cries turned from pain to ecstasy. “Oh, oh, yes! You hurt me so good, baby! Hurt me, Spike! Rape me harder! Make me bleed!”

“Aw, yeah,” the observer gasped loudly.

“Take my big, thick Sex Pistol!” Spike cried out, voice breaking into an orgasmic cry.

“Fuck!” cried out the observer as he came.

An all-out snort. Then, the sounds of some mechanical fumbling, followed by a final “Uh, uh, yes!” from Buffy.

Then, the sound cut off and a mechanical voice announced: “YOUR TIME HAS EXPIRED. IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE, PLEASE PRESS ONE. EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE WILL COST YOU EIGHT DOLLARS. IF YOU WISH TO SWITCH TO ANOTHER SEX GAME, PRESS TWO FOR A LIST OF AVAILABLE OPTIONS. IF YOU WISH TO TERMINATE THIS SESSION, HANG UP NOW, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS. WE HOPE YOU’LL CHOOSE BOOTY CALLS FOR ALL YOUR FUTURE NEEDS.”

Of course, the two Booty Calls employees had already switched to their talk line when the automatic message cut in. Although it had taken Liz up to the ‘terminate this session’ part because she’d been laughing so hard.

“Sex Pistol?!” she demanded once they were alone, hysterical giggles sounding over the phone line.

William chuckled. “Gotcha with that one,” he said proudly, thick London accent instantly dropping away now that their little game was over and resuming his normal speaking voice. Although he’d lived in England until he was ten, it was barely discernable in his regular accent anymore. “And I heard you activate the ‘uh-uh’ tape, so that’s a point for me,” he insisted.

Liz managed to get her laughter under control. “Definite point to you,” she conceded, “but if that call had ended only a few seconds earlier…”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t,” William retorted cockily, putting another check by his name on their running scoreboard, “which means I’m winning, 97 to 82.”

“Only because you cheat,” Liz mock-sulked, marking the latest score on her own chalkboard as well. “So, now, seriously…Sex Pistol?!”

William shrugged and grabbed a handful of Cheerio’s from the box on his desk, munching on them happily. “I got bored and was looking through my CD collection and… It just came to me, luv. Pure on-the-spot inspiration.”

She snickered. “You’re warped, you know that?” she teased. She hit the rewind button on her ‘uh-uh’ tape, setting it back to the beginning.

She and William had made the tapes as an extra safety for when their little jokes caused them to start laughing aloud while with a customer. The tapes contained prerecorded repetitions of ‘uh-uh’ with various other expletives thrown in between, giving them their name.

They’d had to resort to such measures about six months after they’d gotten their act together when Liz had called out at the moment of faux-climax, “Yes, Spike! Shatter my meat tunnel with your huge, husky third leg!” William had broken out into complete hysterics right on the line, and soon Liz had been laughing right alongside him. The customer, needless to say, had been more than a little putout that the fantasy had been completely destroyed. They’d each gotten an irate call from their boss, Darla, later that night, scolding them for such a “breech of company ethics.” It didn’t help that William had burst out into laughter again at that. Luckily, they were one of the most popular acts Booty Calls had, and they hadn’t been fired on the spot. They had made the tapes, though, to prevent it from happening again.

And had promptly begun an all-out war to try to force the other to use the tapes as often as possible. Hence, the tally. Liz sulked at how badly she was falling behind. She needed another ‘huge husky third leg’ quality comment and fast.

William chuckled. “Completely warped,” he agreed, continuing to munch away at his Cheerio’s, “and you know you love it.”

“You wish,” she countered coyly, clicking open her junk-mail folder and searching through the one-hundred fifty penis enlargement ads she’d gotten since yesterday. Spam e-mails were a godsend for absolutely ridiculous material. Ooh, ‘Make Her Swallow While She’s On Top Of Your Tree Stump’… Liz clicked the ad. No additional funny comments, unfortunately. And, when she really thought about it, was that phrase even physically possible? She moved it to the ‘maybe’ folder. Contorted positions sometimes got a chuckle out of him.

“Do I,” he agreed, tone turning soft. “Looks like that last one’s not paying for any additional minutes,” he finally commented, checking his phone lines and seeing no impending calls coming in.

“I’m not complaining,” Liz agreed. “That man needed serious mental help.”

“Uh-huh,” William agreed, half paying attention as one fiber ‘O’ escaped his grip and clattered to the floor. He scrambled under his desk to retrieve it and throw it in the trash.

Liz heard the scuffling sounds. “What are you doing over there?” she demanded curiously.

“Jerking off thinking about you,” he shot back automatically. He picked up the ‘O’ and tossed it to the wastebasket. And promptly missed. He swore and got up to throw it away properly.

Liz’s cheeks flushed. “Seriously,” she insisted, her heart still pounding and her panties feeling a bit of wetness for the first time.

“Dropped something and threw it in the trash,” he admitted with a sigh. “Ruin my little game, why don’t you?” he added teasingly.

She smiled against the receiver. “I wouldn’t mind if you did,” she flirted shamelessly.

He chuckled. “Talk to me like that, and I’ll never get those papers graded tonight,” he chided her.

“Sure you will,” she teased, “you can just write ‘Faster! Harder!’ in the margin by mistake again.”

William’s face flushed a deep red, and he buried his face in his hands. “What part of ‘never mention that again’ don’t you understand?” he asked pitiably.

“What was it Professor Marcus said in response? ‘I thought this essay was well-paced and fully handled the complexity of the issues’?” Liz continued to taunt him.

He mock-wept into his hands. “You win,” he conceded in a completely mortified voice.

Liz smiled, twining the phone cord around her fingers. “Are you blushing and holding your head in your hands?” she asked shyly.

“Yeah,” he admitted with a small smile.

“You’re cute when you do that,” she informed him softly.

And he was, too. The sole time they had met in real life had been at LAX airport for five hours one afternoon when William’s San Francisco flight had been laid over and delayed. On impulse, he’d called her up and let her know he was in town.

Nervously, they’d both agreed to meet. And they’d exchanged pictures before, so they both knew what they thought they were expecting, but when Liz had first set eyes on the man that belonged to the voice she’d so fallen in love with, her first thought had been, Damn, he’s even more gorgeous in real life.

His slack-jawed gape had indicated that he felt the same way. They’d shared an awkward hug and sat down in one of the airport cafés for coffee, the conversation starting out hesitantly but soon building to the playful battles they constantly had between call-in customers. Less than an hour in, and they had both been as comfortable with each other as if they’d known each other in years.

Liz still thrilled at the memory of their one and only kiss upon his departure. It had been short and brief, a soft press of lips, and a gentle embrace. After all, they’d been in the middle of a public place. It hadn’t been a deep kiss or a hard kiss or even a particularly passionate one. Just a hesitant exploration of the feelings they’d developed for each other after working together for almost two years.

And they’d proved most certainly that afternoon that their relationship had been much deeper than two colleagues. Liz’s lips still burned with that kiss at times, and William had admitted to her shyly the day after that his did, too. It had left them aching for more, both longing to be able to reach out and touch the other although the vastness of the state of California separated them.

Soon, though, that would all change.

“Have you packed up everything you want me to bring back with me, then?” he inquired casually, leaning back and closing his eyes, savoring the sound of her voice and the tender memory of those sweet lips…

“All ready to go,” she agreed. “What time do you think you and Dawn will get in?”

“Depends on what time someone,” William shouted out loudly enough to be heard down the hallway of his apartment, “gets out of bed in the morning!”

“Like you ever wake up early!” the yell of William’s little sister could just barely be heard over the receiver.

Liz chuckled. “Tell Dawnie I said ‘hi’.”

“Liz says ‘hi’,” William shouted in Dawn’s direction.

“Tell Liz I’ll drag your lazy ass out of bed as soon as I can tomorrow,” Dawn retorted.

Liz chuckled. “Poor baby,” she teased.

“Kids these days,” William groused good-naturedly. “Got no respect… Why, oh why, does she hafta go all the way down to LA to check out UCLA?” he demanded. “She got into Berkeley and Stanford…”

“And it couldn’t possibly be because she wants to put some distance between herself and Big Brother?” Liz teased.

He humphed. “Just wait ‘til it’s your little Joyce that wants to flee as far as possible,” he retorted.

“Luckily, I’ve got another sixteen years before any such threat arises,” Liz retorted. “And the way she’s been running around lately… Daycare can’t decide whether she’s a terror or an angel.”

“It gonna be a problem with me and Dawn coming down for the weekend?” he asked for about the umpteenth time.

“I’m sure Joycie will love you both,” Liz assured him with a roll of her eyes. “If she can stand her father, then I’m sure she won’t have any objections to a sweetheart like you…”

His cheeks flushed, and he felt his heart start to beat faster. “Did you just call me a sweetheart?” he asked in a husky, hopeful voice.

Liz felt the excitement building up within herself as well. “Yeah…” she admitted shyly.

He gulped. “Joyce been sleeping through the nights lately?” he asked non-subtly.

“Yup,” Liz agreed in eager anticipation. “Having late night company shouldn’t be a problem…”

A moment of silence as the two contemplated their reunion tomorrow. Excitement, fear, anticipation, anxiety, joy… All rolled up into one neat passage.

Liz noticed two flashing red lights on her phone. “We’ve got a hail from Darla,” she pointed out. “Must be a customer that’s on line six.”

“But Spike hasn’t helped Buffy recover from the last round,” William countered teasingly.

Liz blushed. “Okay, so what’s Spike going to do?” she asked coyly, her entire body tingling in eager anticipation.

“Hafta make this fast,” he apologized quickly, watching Darla’s insistent blinking light before his voice dropped to a low, comforting baritone. “Seems to me, Spike’s gonna start out by drawing Buffy up a nice, hot bath. Curl her right up against him, and slowly wash all that pain right off of her. He’ll plant slow kisses on the back of her neck, while he scrubs her hot skin with vanilla-scented suds. Then, when they’re all done getting clean, he’s gonna carry her right out of the tub and dry her off with a big, soft towel. Then he’s going to carry her back to his king-sized bed full of crimson rose petals and red satin sheets. He’ll set her down right in the center and feed her sweet chocolates for the rest of the night while whispering sweet nothings in her ear about how beautiful she is and how much he loves her…”

Liz shut her eyes tight, practically melting at his words. Despite their profession, they’d never actually had phone sex before. Buffy and Spike were always a silly game. But, in the aftermath, when they comforted each other from the more troubling images they’d had to face with their clients, Liz could almost swear that he was making love to her with his words. She knew that’s what she always tried to do to him.

It was a custom that had begun the first night they’d met, and Liz didn’t think she’d ever have been able to keep this work up without it.

She had been pretty much at the pit of despair when she’d first signed on with Booty Calls. Her friend Cordy had actually turned her onto it, saying it was a great way to make extra cash and it was all just silly fantasy stuff anyway. Liz had rejected the idea flat-out until she’d discovered she was pregnant.

Now, it wasn’t like she hadn’t liked Riley. He’d been a decent enough guy, in his own way. But the two of them had never really clicked much beyond shallow, surface-level stuff and when she found out that despite all her precautions she was going to have his baby… Well, she’d thought for a while that her life was over.

Fortunately (or was it unfortunately?), Riley hadn’t been ready for the commitment yet, either. And even though she’d been the one who suggested it, she was still bitter at just how fast he’d run away from the situation. Which had left her a single mother. Who had to drop out of graduate school because of the pregnancy and take up a crap job. She’d been alone, frightened, and horribly strapped for cash.

So, one night she’d called up Darla and asked for a job. It was easy, right? Just stay stupid shit like in those dumb porn movies she and her girlfriends used to rent for comedic relief and get a nice, fat paycheck. And, oh, was the pay good. She’d thought she could handle it. After all, a lot of Booty Calls’ employees were young people like herself, wanting to make a bit of extra cash for just a few hours’ work an evening. It should’ve been a piece of cake…

Until she’d gotten the psycho from hell for her first caller. She could still hear his oily, disgusting voice in her mind, and it had given her shivers for quite some time. The cold declaration that he was going to find her, track her down, and rape her until she was dead had had her sobbing within seconds. She’d broken out into outright hysterics at his continued nasty words until a deep British voice had broken into the call.

“Hello, cutie…”

She’d been a bit too shocked to really hear what happened after that. Just that ‘Spike’ had pulled some domination act and gotten the horrible caller to finally go away. She’d cried to herself throughout the whole thing. Maybe starting something like that with pregnant hormones on top of everything hadn’t been such a good idea. But then the ‘Spike’ persona turned off, and she’d met William for the first time.

“Oh, hush, hush, luv,” he’d soothed softly. “It’s all right. He’s gone, and it was just a dumb act; he’s not going to hurt you.” He’d scoffed. “Probably some little runt of a computer nerd who’s never gotten any all his life. Bet he faints at the sight of real woman like the complete ponce that he is.”

And Liz hadn’t been able to do anything but laugh at that. She’d cautiously admitted that she was pregnant, single, and probably couldn’t handle this. And he’d responded with genuinely interested inquiries about when the baby was due, and where the father was, and he’d even offered to set his vampire ‘Spike’ persona loose on Riley, just because he’d been a jerk enough to leave her alone. A little bit of her had fallen in love with him right then, despite the bizarre circumstances of their meeting; after all, all her real life friends had known Riley and had been annoyingly sympathetic to his viewpoint when all she’d wanted to do was rant.

She’d then listened in rapt fascination for almost an hour as he explained all about his ‘Spike’ persona and how he’d invented it. He’d advised her to come up with a fictional character of her own to play, so the calls seemed less personal. They’d toyed with names for quite a while before she’d finally looked up nicknames for Elizabeth on the Internet and had stumbled across ‘Buffy’. The two of them had been in fits of hysterics over how it was the most ridiculous porn name ever.

Then, he’d said the sweetest thing ever, and she could still quote the entire speech by heart, it had been burned so deeply in her brain: “Yeah, Spike’s a nasty, baaad vampire, but for what you’ve gone through, he would’ve sweetened right up. Took you out to a nice dinner, the finest champagne, the best food money could buy – he would treat you like a queen, luv, and make it all better.” It was only too clear that the words were William’s, rather than Spike’s, and strangely enough they had eased her pain so that she didn’t quit right on the spot.

By the time her next call came, she didn’t want to stop talking to him. And then he’d suggested that he help her out a bit in this one, turn it into a goofy threesome and just have some fun. She’d eagerly agreed. And they’d been inseparable since. She still firmly believed that it was their tongue-and-cheek attitude that allowed them to keep going every night and made their act so popular with the callers. After all, they were probably the only phone sex operators that enjoyed their jobs so much, and it paid off.

“That make it good for now?” William’s voice broke in, breaking her from her reflections about their first meeting. “We’ve gotta get this call.”

“Um…yeah,” Liz agreed, hitting the talk line for Darla.

“It’s about time the two of you decided to respond,” Darla snapped matter-of-factly. “This is a phone sex business, not a dating agency,” she reminded them sternly.

“Bet you could make a lot of money with the latter, though,” William retorted, not concerned by their employer’s usual brusque manner in the slightest.

“The two of you would be working your debt off until you were eighty,” Darla shot back, just a hint of amusement in her voice. “Now, you got Faith waiting on line six, and she wants to pick up where you three left off last time. Please tell me I don’t have to remind you.”

Liz winced. “Yeah, yeah, two Slayers tying up the poor, innocent vampire for kinky bondage times,” she said wearily. Faith was one deranged woman. Liz had murmured sweet words of affection to William for over twenty minutes after their last session. I mean, really, there were some things that just shouldn’t be done with stakes.

William winced even more. “This isn’t the one where she’s cut my dick off, is it?” he demanded nervously.

“She fixed that, remember,” Liz assured him, switching back to their private line. “Some nonsense about vampire healing.”

“Yeah, so she can do it again,” William shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “That woman has issues with men… Why do we get all the weirdoes, anyway?”

“Yeah, ‘cause it couldn’t have anything to do with the vampire/slayer voyeur part of the act,” Liz teased lightly before her voice softened again. “I’ll make it up to you later, baby,” she assured him. “Or, better yet, tomorrow when I see you in person…” She left a hint of breathy suggestion at the end of the sentence.

William gulped, suddenly convinced he could live through a dozen verbal emasculations as long as he got to smell the sweet perfume of her hair again on the morrow. “Ready?” he asked, finger poised over the talk button.

“Let’s get this over with,” Liz agreed, annoyed.

“Hey, B,” Faith’s husky voice greeted her immediately. “You ready to have another go at our stud?”

“Just been warming him up for you,” Buffy agreed in an equally wicked voice. “Gave him a few good lashes when he tried to get away…”

“Oh, a naughty vampire, huh?” Faith tisked lightly. “Looks like we’re gonna hafta teach this one a lesson…”

“Try your worst, bitch,” Spike spat out.

Faith snickered. “You got the stake, B?” she inquired.

“Oh yeah,” Buffy agreed in heady anticipation.

“Then you hold him down while I ride this bastard ‘til he pops. I’d like to see him talk back then…”

“You got it,” Buffy agreed in a husky voice, while inwardly Liz was rolling her eyes. Just get through this one last call, and we’ll be done with our shift for the night, she thought, looking up at the clock. And tomorrow… She could hardly wait.

Touch Me

Chapter Two

Dawn rolled her eyes in that way that only teenagers could, as if the entire world around them was too idiotic even to be worthy of the inevitable “whatever!” Completely disgusted, she turned from where her older brother and guardian still stood frozen in place by the car and turned to the welcoming committee.

“Hi, Liz!” she said cheerfully, finally attaching appropriate expressions to the face she’d only seen in pictures they’d sent back and forth. She promptly crouched down so that she was eye-to-eye with the two-year-old holding her mother’s hand. “And you must be Joycie,” she said in a sweet voice, holding out one hand to the little girl. “I’m your Aunt Dawnie. You remember, we’ve talked on the phone?”

“Dawnie!” Joyce squealed in delight, placing her little hand in the teenagers’.

“Wow, your pictures don’t do you justice,” Liz said with a smile, giving Dawn a quick hug.

“Crappy yearbook staff,” Dawn agreed with another roll of her eyes, “even if I was on it…”

Liz laughed. “Glad to finally meet you in person. Just to emphasize what a midget I really am.”

Dawn chuckled at that as well, standing half a head taller than the older woman. “Lucky for you, my brother’s a midget, too,” she countered.

“Hey!” William protested, speaking for the first time since he and Liz had first locked eyes. God, she was even more beautiful than he had remembered… “Still taller than you,” he shot back childishly.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “By about an inch,” she retorted, turning her attention back to Joyce and picking the little girl up with a delighted squeal. “And, earth to dumbas—bo,” Dawn hastily remembered to correct her language in the presence of the impressionable child. “Earth to Dumbo,” she repeated quickly as if she’d never meant to say anything else, “your girlfriend is waiting for you to kiss her.” Another roll of her eyes. “It’s no wonder you can’t get a date…” she mumbled to herself.

William seemed to snap to at that, and he approached Liz with a shy smile, holding out a hand to her. She took it eagerly and let him wrap her up in his strong embrace. “Been waiting for this ever since that day in the airport,” he whispered into her hair, savoring the scent of her floral shampoo.

“Me, too,” Liz agreed softly, fingers playing lazily with the soft hairs at the back of his neck. They were a dark brown, rather than Spike’s platinum, and Spike’s nasty eyebrow scar and all black ensemble were missing, but strangely Liz had started to picture Spike as looking like William lately, rather than the other way around.

William caught her chin gently and tilted it up so that their lips were only millimeters apart. There was a beseeching look in his eyes for a second, as if he was asking her permission, and then soft, full lips descended on hers.

Their kiss was gentle at first, that of two people getting to know each other’s responses fully. But then they began to grow more urgent. Liz pulled his head down to her, desperate for more, while William held her tightly about the waist, trapping her in his arms. Not like she had any desire to escape…

Their lips parted almost simultaneously, and relieved little moans escaped their lips when their tongues finally met. They began a slow, languid dance, stroking each other gently, exploring the cavern of the other’s mouth, until…

“Ahem,” Dawn’s voice cut in pointedly.

With a regretful sigh, they broke apart, Liz resting her head on William’s shoulder and savoring whatever touch she could get. After being separated by hundreds of miles, she’d come to revere every moment of contact she could get. The way William’s hands didn’t loosen their grip on her body in the slightest indicated all too clearly that he felt the same way.

“Just thought that maybe you’d want to consider the innocent minors present before doing the nasty right there on the sidewalk,” Dawn teased, gesturing to a clapping Joyce.

“Right,” William agreed before kneeling down and giving the toddler a smile. “You know who I am, kitten?” he whispered in a husky voice.

Wide-eyed, Joyce shook her head.

“I’m…” he began slowly, “gonna eat you all up!” he exclaimed.

Joyce giggled and ran around to hide behind Dawn while William pretended to ‘chase’ her. He finally caught the squealing ball of limbs after a few false grasps, and Joyce’s laughter just increased.

“Gotcha!” he proclaimed proudly, catching her on his knee. “And now I’m gonna eat you!”

“Eek!” Joyce proclaimed in delight, squealing and flapping her hands wildly as he buried his head against her stomach and shook it, tickling her. “Eee! Eee!”

He chuckled. “Aren’t you a sweet morsel?” he teased, fingers tickling her tummy one last time before he accepted the wide-armed hug the toddler offered him. “You know who I am now?”

“Will-yum!” Joyce exclaimed happily, latching onto him with all the enthusiasm of an over-amorous octopus.

Liz’s cheeks flushed, something deep within her stirring happily at seeing this man getting along so well with her daughter. Will: YUM! indeed…

“That’s my girl,” William agreed softly, still holding her to him as he rose to his feet.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “He is such a baby,” she informed Liz. “Wait ‘til he starts playing peek-a-boo. Even I got bored with it before he did. And I was three.”

William promptly stuck his tongue out at her, causing Joyce to laugh again and grab at it. “The’s gol my ongue!” he exclaimed.

Joyce just giggled and clapped some more, finally releasing his tongue, before she latched onto him even tighter.

“Aww…so cute,” Dawn teased.

Liz chuckled. “Why don’t we strong women-folk carry all the heavy bags inside, while the men stay back and take care of the children in the kitchen,” she teased, grateful to Joyce for being the perpetual icebreaker she always was.

“Think I’m complaining about not having to lug in those anvils Dawnie packed?” William countered, carrying Joyce into the house.

Dawn winced. “There are anvils,” she admitted to Liz apologetically.

“We’ll deal,” Liz grinned, grabbing the first bag Dawn had lifted from the trunk and tugging. “Christ!”

“Told ya,” Dawn said with a wink before grabbing her other monstrosity and following Liz inside.

“Big, strong women don’t need any help, I see,” William teased, watching them huff and puff as they lugged the suitcases down the hall to Liz’s apartment.

“Jerk,” Liz accused good-naturedly. “Where’s that super-Slayer strength when you need it?”

“You mean, like, in real life?” Dawn teased.

“Yeah,” Liz pouted, dropping the bag on her living room floor with a huff.

“I…uh…like your place,” William began casually, letting Joyce back down at her insistence.

She proceeded to toddle/run at frightening speed over to her room, making excited cooing sounds as she went.

Liz gave him a lopsided smile. “My place is a dump,” she informed him matter-of-factly.

He looked around at the threadbare carpet, the sagging couch back, and the various toys scattered dangerously about the room. “Yeah, but I felt like being polite,” he agreed with a wry grin.

Liz laughed and leaned in close, savoring the warmth of his arms as she tilted her lips upwards and…

“Will-yum!” Joyce exclaimed, tugging on his pant leg pointedly.

“Yeah, sweeting?” He gave Liz an apologetic smile and turned back to the toddler.

“You wanna see my room?” Joyce asked, cutest, most piteous look in the world on her face.

“Of course,” William assured her. He shrugged at Liz before being led away.

“You gonna hog William the entire time he’s here?” she inquired of Joyce, her tone joking.

Joyce paused where her little hand was persistently latched on to William’s leg and looked back at her mother. “Yup!” she nodded vigorously before completing her abduction of her mom’s boyfriend.

Dawn took that moment to return with the last of the bags. She released them, and they scattered around her with a clatter. “Oof,” Dawn groaned, stretching her neck. “Little hussy already snatched him away from you, huh?” she teased.

“Oh, I’m used to it,” Liz grinned. “After all, who could refuse a smile like that?” Joyce’s bubbling laughter rose from her room, followed by William’s deep, rumbling chuckle. “Besides,” Liz added with a wink, “tonight I get him all to my lonesome…for work, of course.”

Dawn snickered. “Darla wouldn’t give you the night off?”

“She’s evil,” Liz agreed with a grimace. “I just hope William doesn’t conk out halfway through.”

“But that was brilliant,” Dawn remembered with a giggle. “‘Oh, Buffy, I – snore…’”

Liz laughed at the memory and turned to the kitchen. “Any chance you’ll help me make dinner?” she inquired.

Dawn gulped. “Should I be staying at the dorm tonight, too?” she teased. “’Cause I’ve heard the stories about your cooking…”

Liz winked. “Don’t worry,” she said, holding up the phone receiver. “‘Helping’ consists of telling me what your brother likes on his pizza…”

* * *

“Oh, yes, yes, Spike,” Liz tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible while rolling her eyes in William’s direction. “Harder! Faster!”

William grinned back at her and ducked his head back into the bathroom, brushing his teeth as he began crude comments. “Fuck, baby…” *brush, brush, brush* “Squeeze your hot li’l titties…” *spit, rinse, spit* “Coat me with your dirty sex juices…”

Liz bit her tongue to keep from snickering and returned to her own secondary occupation of the night: Tomorrow’s Sunday crossword puzzle. “Oh, down!” she cried out. “Five-letter word for ‘hot’ – Spike!”

He made a gasping, snorting sound when he noticed what she was doing. She gave him a wicked grin in response and wrote in ‘fiery’ for five down. Now, if it had been seven letters, she would’ve been forced to put in ‘William’, just because.

In mock anger, he shook his toothbrush at her before retreating back into the bathroom, shouting out random obscenities into his headset.

Liz gulped. Whatever he had in mind for retaliation, she had no doubt it would be brutal.

Sure enough, it started out slowly… “Fuck, Slayer!” Spike’s accented voice started innocently enough. “Take my Johnson. Take two. Johnson and Johnson.”

She blinked in surprise. Andrew normally just wanted to hear William’s sexy Spike-voice. It was unusual that William was involving him directly in the action…

Andrew certainly didn’t seem to mind, though, and his moans increased in intensity.

“Aw yeah,” William continued in his strange amalgam of British accents, “reach so deep inside you, pet. You’re so wet, ‘s such an easy slide…”

Liz gasped and moaned, and then gave William an odd look when he emerged from the bathroom.

With nothing more than an enigmatic smile, he placed a small white box in front of her and poised his finger over the button of her ‘uh-uh’ tape.

Liz dared to look at the box…

And promptly burst into hysterics. William instantly hit the play button, cutting her uncontrollable laughter off from the call.

“Oh god, you’re warped!” Liz exclaimed, still giggling uncontrollably when William turned on his own tape as well.

He was chortling at his prank too, now, shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth.

Liz snatched up the dental floss and read the box once more:

Johnson & Johnson

REACH®

EASY SLIDE®

ULTRA SHRED-RESISTANT

WAXED FLOSS

She burst out into another fit of giggles. “Pervy dental floss?” she demanded.

“Lookit how dirty it is!” he retorted defensively.

Liz snorked before daring to turn on her phone once more, cutting off the persistent “uh-uh, fuck!”s. “Yeah, harder, baby,” she said, barely managing to keep from cracking up. “I’m ultra shred-resistant! Give it to me as hard as you can!”

Not to be one-upped, William promptly turned back to the line as well. “Oh, waxed so smooth, and all for me, baby!”

“Oh, floss me, you bad wicked vampire!”

Twin clicks as both ‘uh-uh’ tapes began again.

“‘Floss me’?” William gasped out between laughs. “That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“Fight that plaque, baby,” Liz retorted, catching him against her shoulder as he collapsed into uncontrollable fits of laughter. “Oh, so very tartar control!”

“S-Stop!” he stuttered out, struggling to quiet down his laughter enough to breathe.

Liz gave his shoulders a quick squeeze and brushed her lips across his forehead. “Gotcha,” she concluded proudly, still giggling lightly herself as she stroked the strong lines of his back, calming him down.

“Hmm…” he said noncommittally, suddenly noticing that he’d become wrapped up in her arms. He managed to look up at her with a very un-Spike-like shy smile, and his cheeks flushed.

Mmm, shy William, Liz’s body tingled, pressing another sweet kiss to his temple. “Let’s finish up this call right,” she suggested softly. “Get this shift over so we can go to bed…”

His eyelids fluttered shut at the images those words brought. “Yeah,” he agreed, voice sounding unnaturally husky as he reluctantly slipped free of her arms and returned to work. A quick exchange of nods and both ‘uh-uh’ tapes turned off.

“Oh god, Spike!” Liz gasped, breathing heavily into her mouthpiece.

“You feel so good…” William said with a ragged whisper, sticking his tongue out at her as he did so.

She gave him a good-natured scowl in response. “Y-Yes, I’m close!”

“I’m closer!”

She whapped him playfully on the shoulder. “I’m cuming!”

“With a ‘U’!” William agreed. “Love you, Buffy!” he cried out.

“I love you, too, Spike!” she agreed.

“I love you, too, Spike!” Andrew shouted out as well.

Liz made the most adorable face ever. “He loves you!” she wrote out on the edge of the newspaper between them. “It’s sooo cute!”

He rolled his eyes as the non-stop panting slowed down.

“W-Wow,” came Andrew’s shaky voice over the line. “That was a great session, guys! One of your best!”

Liz and William blinked at each other, and Liz dangled the box of dental floss before her with a grin.

William fought the urge to snicker. “Got two more minutes left,” he informed Andrew.

“I-I’m good for tonight,” the other man admitted shyly. “Take those as tip. Thanks again, guys!” A click at the other end of the line.

A moment’s stunned pause.

“Unbe-fucking-lievable,” William chuckled, shaking his head.

“Why can’t all customers be like that?” Liz sighed wistfully. “Nothing kinky. Just sweet and normal, and then nice big tips…”

“Think Spike might be fallin’ in love with him, too,” William teased.

Liz giggled at that. “Spike can do whatever he wants,” she concluded, dialing up Darla to sign them out for the evening. She gave him a coy smile. “But William’s mine.”

He gulped audibly at that, the stomach swirling in a mixture of excitement, trepidation, and just pure indecisiveness.

“Hey, Darla. Liz. We’re done for the night,” Liz said curtly into the phone. A pause. “Yup, no problems. Two hours tomorrow night?” She looked to William for affirmation. He nodded. “Right. Nine sharp. Good night.” She hung up and rose to her feet with a languid stretch. “Bed?” she suggested.

His Adam’s Apple bobbed up and down. “Y-Yeah…” he agreed, brushing his sweating palms off on his jeans as he rose.

Her cheeks pinkened slightly. “I-I mean,” she began to second-guess herself horribly, “Dawn took the futon in Joycie’s room, so the couch is still open if you don’t wanna… I mean… You know…”

“Uh…yeah,” he agreed nervously, scratching at the back of his neck. “If you want me… I mean…”

“If you wanna…”

“I mean, if you think it’s a good idea to…”

“It’s just, no pressure or anything…”

“Yeah, no pressure is good. Since, y’know…”

“So, if you want to…”

“I mean, if you do and…” He ducked his head shyly and blushed, taking a quick breath of air to try to calm his nerves.

It was all the time Liz needed to regain control of herself and make up her mind. “I really want to go to bed with you,” she said bluntly, cheeks flaming.

If possible he cheeks flushed darker. “Me, too,” he admitted hesitantly.

“I just, y’know… I’m pretty damn convinced that you’re not some psycho pretending to be someone you’re not, and…” She dared to lean in to brush her lips across his. “I get kind of lonely in that big bed by myself every night.”

He nodded. “Kinda been wanting to wake up next to you for a while now, too,” he admitted, breathing in the slight musk of her sweat.

“We don’t even have to…” she began slowly. “I mean, maybe we should wait until we’re really ready.”

He breathed a deep sigh of relief and graced her with a small smile. “Sounds like a good idea,” he agreed.

She gave him a dreamy smile. “But you’ll lie with me tonight?” she requested, heading in the direction of her bedroom.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a gulp, following after her.

Liz dug around under her covers until she found her pajamas. “You want me to…?” she inclined her head toward the bathroom.

“Sounds good,” he agreed, pulling a tattered t-shirt and boxer shorts from his bag.

“Be back soon,” she promised before retreating to the bathroom to get changed for bed and try not to crack up when she brushed her teeth. God, she couldn’t even look at the dental floss right now…

William shook his head and changed before crawling into bed. He took one quick moment to savor the smell of her that permeated the sheets before he lay his head down on the spare pillow and waited. He could hear her fussing about in the bathroom and the water running, and those sounds were strangely comforting. Domestic.

He wondered for an instant whether he was crazy not to be jumping her bones every second he could. She was beautiful and kind and funny and his best friend and… He lived in mortal fear of botching this up. She was the best thing he’d had in his life aside from Dawn since their mother died, and he didn’t want to make love to her just because it was the first convenient moment they’d had.

A sleepy smile crossed his face as he felt her weight on the mattress beside him. He hadn’t realized how close he’d come to dozing off during his thoughts. “Took this side,” he murmured, snuggling close up against her back. “Hope that’s all right.”

Liz turned towards him and rested her head comfortably in the crook of his neck, cuddling up close. “It’s fine,” she assured him. “Mmm, you’re warm,” she nuzzled up against him.

His arm slipped around her waist, holding her to him as they settled in for the night. “This feels good,” he admitted. “You feel good…” He yawned.

She yawned back. “You’re making me all drowsy,” she complained good-naturedly.

“It’s part of my evil scheme,” he teased lightly. “See, the mild-mannered English student with a side-career as a phone sex operator was all really a scam…”

“Oh, really?” she giggled.

“Yeah, ‘m really a James-Bond-style secret agent who just pretends to be an ordinary guy to lure women into my bed—”

“—Where you promptly cuddle them to death?” she teased.

“Exactly,” he chuckled.

“And Dawn?”

“She’s actually a genetically-enhanced super-hacker that works as my witty and spunky sidekick,” he joked.

Liz giggled. “Well, that’s OK then. Because I’m actually a supermodel who has to resort to phone and Internet dating in order to meet guys. The two-year-old kid is simply a ruse to lure more men in because they all want single moms with young kids and reject us poor, young models without a second glance.”

“Yeah, well, supermodels are brainless bodies,” he countered. “I’ll take the single mom act any day.” His lips brushed against her hair, and his eyelids fluttered shut.

She smiled softly. “Have I mentioned lately that you’re wonderful?” she whispered.

And got only soft, regular breathing in response.

She stroked his hair once and shut her eyes as well, joining him in sleep.

Completely wonderful…

Touch Me

Chapter Three

One moment of complete, utter bliss greeted Liz upon awakening. She woke in a hazy daze, the feel of the warm body beside her encouraging her to doze in and out throughout the morning. Sleep-fogged eyes opened, recognized William, and planted a soft kiss to his brow where his head was tucked up in the crook of her shoulder.

He didn’t awaken, but curled closer against her. The image was almost comical, given how large he was compared to her, and Liz fought back a fit of the giggles at the memory of her high-school friend Xander’s great-dane that liked to pretend it was a lap dog with humorous results. She discovered she liked to use feline imagery with William, though. A great big lion – or maybe a panther – that thought it was a domesticated kitty-cat. Yum.

One hand lazily stroked up and down his back in time with his sleeping breathing, and she briefly allowed herself the delusion that this moment would last forever.

Of course, nothing peaceful ever lasted long with a two-year-old in the house.

“Mommy, mommy!” Joyce bounded into the room right on cue, still dressed up in her teddy bear pajamas. “Auntie Dawnie’s making waffas!” With the superhuman energy that only the very young possessed, Joyce bounced onto the bed beside Liz, shaking the mattress.

“Shh,” Liz caught hold of her to calm her down. “William’s still sleeping…”

“’Mornun, Will-yum!” Joyce squealed excitedly – and loudly – bouncing yet again.

There was a muffled groan and a slight stirring from the William-shaped lump in the blankets beside Liz. “Hey, morsel,” he grumbled, still half asleep. Soft, warm lips brushed Liz’s collarbone. “’Mornin’, luv…”

Ooh, sleepy William sounds like Spike, all growly and husky… Liz added that fact to the rapidly growing mental list of things she loved about this man. “’Morning, Will.” She kissed his brow again, cuddling Joyce up to her side in an effort to keep the toddler calm for a couple of minutes. “Sleep well?”

He let out a spectacular yawn. “Mmm…wonderfully,” he practically purred, tightening his arms around her as his eyelids drifted closed again.

“Will-yum, wake up!” Joyce exclaimed, jabbing him pointedly in the head. She giggled when she noted that his rather unruly curls were shapeable in the morning and promptly set to playing with his hair with childish glee. “Dawnie’s making waffas!” she repeated.

“Mornin’ people should be illegal,” William complained good-naturedly, trying to bury his head in the crook of Liz’s arm.

“Curly hair!” Joyce protested, continuing to stick the front of his hair up in something resembling some sort of bizarre unicorn horn.

And Liz couldn’t help but smile. After all, warm boyfriend against her side, daughter sprawled over her stomach, cute playing with each other... It was enough to melt any mother’s – and any woman’s – heart. A soothing feeling of peace settled over her at it. Like this was the way her life was meant to be. Like it was all coming together now…

William finally reluctantly sat up with a groan, catching Joyce as he did so and settling her down into his lap. “Mmm…I’m hungry…” he teased with a wicked grin. “You my breakfast?”

Joyce squealed and squirmed and tried to get away, but he caught her easily.

“Yum!” he exclaimed, tickling her tummy.

Joyce yanked on his hair. “Waffas! Waffas, Will-yum!”

He looked up at her with shinning blue eyes, a contemplative look on his face. “What’s this about waffles?” he asked lightly.

“Dawnie’s making waffas!” Joyce giggled.

He pretended to consider this for a minute. “All right, have Dawnie bring your mum and me some waffles. Guess I could eat those instead of you…”

Joyce laughed, and Liz snickered. “You’re so cute,” she teased. “Whattaya think, Joycie? Isn’t William pretty?”

“Pretty Will-yum!” Joyce agreed excitedly.

William fixed Liz with a death glare. “Maybe I’ll try eating mom instead…” he joked lightly.

“Betcha could eat me right up,” Liz flirted right back, sidling up against him.

A coy little smile, and then his lips were upon hers, and Liz melted. It wasn’t a particularly good kiss. After all, they were both still half asleep, and there was a little girl bouncing on the bed again, and then there was the dreaded morning mouth. Plus, Liz nearly burst out into hysterics when she caught a lingering taste of the waxed floss he’d used the night before. But it still left both of them panting and desperate for more…although after teeth had been thoroughly brushed.

“Be right back,” William’s lips quirked before he lifted Joyce up, placed her firmly on the floor, and got out of bed. “And you’d better head off to breakfast before I decide I don’t want to wait and eat you up, instead,” he teased.

Joyce let out a delighted little shriek and ran her clumsy – but alarmingly fast – run down the hallway.

Liz felt instantly bereft as the mattress lifted slightly at the absence of his weight. She lay back on her pillows and watched him vanish into the bathroom with a satisfied smile on her lips, though. Yup, waking up with William was definitely a pleasure to be savored…

“Don’t suppose the toothpaste makes you pervy, too?” she teased, getting out of bed herself and digging around in her dresser for a clean blouse.

“Colgate? Doesn’t do a thing for me.” A rich, vibrant chuckle sounded through the door.

Liz pulled off her pajama top and buttoned up her blouse. “So what’s the plan today?” she inquired curiously, running a brush through her hair.

“Dawnie’s gotta meet with the director of admissions for the big sales speech, then she’s attending a special lecture they’ve got set for this weekend, a couple of study groups, and then she’s meeting with the girl whose dorm she’s staying in tonight,” he rattled off in quick succession.

She turned off the power-saver mode on her laptop and checked her e-mail. “Ooh! 87 spams since last night!” she said with a roll of her eyes.

He snorted loudly enough that she could hear him through the door. “Anything good?”

Liz blinked. “‘Banned Pictures And Movies Of Shitting-Pissing-Animal-Sex-Granny-Sex-Tit Torture’?” she read incredulously. “What does that even mean?”

A sudden burst of laughter from the bathroom. “I dread to find out,” he agreed. “Click on the link.”

“What? No way. I’ll be bombarded by pop-up ads,” she argued reasonably enough. “Ooh! Free tickets to Beatles’ reunion…” She giggled.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t half the band dead?” he retorted sarcastically.

“‘Make her choke on your monster tool’,” Liz continued.

“What was that?”

“Er…nothing…” Liz grinned and moved the message into her folder of ridiculous sex phrases to try to make William burst out laughing. Giving up on the rest of her junk mail folder, she shut the laptop back off and rose with a stretch. “You mind if I come in and brush my teeth?” Liz asked, knocking on the bathroom door.

“I’ll try not to elbow you,” he agreed, opening the door.

Which actually took a bit of shuffling to accommodate. Liz added it to the mental list of details she was filling in about him: Left-handed. The sort of stuff you wouldn’t know just talking over the phone, no matter how intimate your conversations were…

“Hafta pick her up tomorrow morning around noon. My guess is that whatever wild dorm partying she’ll be doing will have her just waking up around then. And then…” he trailed off.

Liz thrust her toothbrush into her mouth. “You two drive back home,” she agreed with a sigh.

“Right…” A smile quirked the edges of his lips as he spit into the sink. “Told you Colgate doesn’t do a thing for me,” he teased. “Never said a thing about Crest…” He gestured to her toothpaste.

Liz smiled and sighed inwardly. She’d come to spot long ago that he used humor to hide his inner feelings. And it was all too clear to her right now that Dawn’s leaving for the day troubled him more than he was willing to let on. She had been William’s entire life after their mother died and…

“She loves you,” she finally whispered softly, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “And you’ve done an amazing job raising her by yourself…”

A slight blush graced his cheeks. Not that he should’ve been surprised that she found him out. It was uncanny how a person he’d known only through telephone conversations for so long could read him like an open book. A woman… “Thanks,” he murmured in reply before pulling away with a sigh. “Mind if I use your shower?”

A quick, unbidden thrill went through Liz at that: Naked William in my shower! “Go right ahead,” she said with a coy smile. “I’ll try to keep Dawnie from bursting in on you…”

He groaned. “She still insists I’m paying all her therapy bills for that,” he complained good-naturedly, morning moodiness passed for now.

“That girl doesn’t know how good she’s got it,” Liz teased, eyeing his butt with a wink before exiting the bathroom. She heard the water turn on and had to forcibly banish the images of hot, naked William limbs as she got dressed and headed for breakfast. After all, she had other important things to do today besides fantasize about her boyfriend. If only she could remember what they were…

* * *

“So, where is this building exactly?” William asked speculatively, squinting hard at the map.

Liz looked over his shoulder, pointing aimlessly as she tried to find the administration center.

Dawn contemplated putting a paper bag over her head so that no one could see her. “Could you guys try to look a bit more like clueless prospie parents?” she asked rhetorically.

William fixed her with an angry look at that. “We’re trying to find out where you’re supposed to go,” he pointed out in a clipped voice.

“I can find it fine on my own,” Dawn insisted. “I don’t need you constantly mothering me!”

His teeth clenched at that and his jaw muscle twitched. “You’re lucky you had me to mother you,” he insisted.

“Whatever,” Dawn mumbled sullenly under her breath.

Fortunately, at that moment, Joyce decided to break the tension. “Puppy!” she squealed from the wagon Liz was pulling behind her.

William spotted the golden retriever puppy that had caught Joyce’s eye as it rounded the corner. “Here you go, pidge,” he said lightly, lifting her up into his arms so she could see better.

She snuggled up contentedly against him as they continued to walk. Liz bit her lip and continued to pull the wagon. Dawn trudged forward resolutely, somehow instinctively knowing which way to go.

Liz let her walk on ahead before picking up the wagon and keeping pace with William and her daughter. “She’s just itchy to be on her own,” she assured him softly.

“Itchy to get away from me…” he grumbled, setting Joyce down as they entered the building.

Liz quickly scrambled to catch the young girl, latching an elastic bracelet around Joyce’s arm. Dawn watched the toddler run out to the edge of the leash that bound her to her mother and begin running in circles around Liz.

“You keep her on a leash?” Dawn couldn’t help but tease.

“You should see how far she can run in the one second I accidentally take my eyes off her,” Liz retorted.

William merely quietly took the wagon from Liz and slipped one arm around her waist. Together, they followed after where Dawn had already reported to the desk.

“Aha!” the boy behind the desk announced, finding Dawn’s nametag and information packet from the folders on the desk. “You’re from San Francisco, huh?”

Dawn took in the dark hair, Hispanic complexion, lean build, and grinned. “Yup. Came down south for the weekend.”

“And I know you’re coming to UCLA,” he teased.

“Maybe,” she retorted coyly, twirling one strand of hair around her finger. “Got any recs for me?”

“Got a major in mind?” he retorted.

“Maybe art?” Dawn ventured hesitantly. “History?”

“Awesome,” he grinned. “Took the 100s art history sequence last year. You totally want to talk to Professor Carter, who’s…” He intentionally leaned forward so that their hands were brushing on the desk between them. “Right there,” he pointed with a bright smile.

And William’s eyes narrowed. “Ahem,” he coughed loudly.

The guide noticed him and Liz for the first time. “This mom and dad?” he asked Dawn.

“What?” Liz exclaimed. “I don’t look that old!” She turned to William. “Please, tell me I don’t look that old…”

Dawn chuckled. “You don’t look that old,” she assured Liz. “My big brother and his girlfriend,” she informed the incredibly cute guide who she’d just noticed had dimples. Yum.

“Ah…gotcha… And the kid’s…?”

“My daughter, Joyce,” Liz introduced with a smile, offering him her hand. “You’ll be giving Dawn the tours?”

“Once the whole group arrives,” he agreed with a polite smile. “They’ve still got fifteen minutes to trickle in.”

Liz noticed William’s increased irritation at the young man’s clear interest in Dawn. “Great,” she said with a smile. “Dawnie, do you want us to go on, and then we’ll pick you up at the dorm tomorrow?”

“Cool,” Dawn agreed, trying to look casual. “I’ll call tonight to let you know when.”

“You’ve got Liz’s number, right?” William broke in, still eyeing the guide suspiciously.

She gave him her patented eye-roll. “Yes, mother,” she said in a dull monotone. “I can take care of myself, you know. I mean, who went out and made breakfast, got your lazy ass out of bed, found the—”

“I know,” he cut her off with a sigh. “See you tomorrow, then?”

Dawn realized his conciliation for what it was and flashed him a bright smile. “Thanks,” she said before catching him up in a big hug. “I’ll be sure to call and let you know how everything’s going. Just…not while you two are at work,” she winked.

William actually managed a small smile at that. “We’d traumatize you right and proper then,” he teased, letting her go.

“Bye, Liz,” Dawn gave her a quick hug, too. “Bye, Joycie!”

Joyce giggled and hugged Dawn’s leg. “Buh-bye!”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Dawn assured her, ruffling her hair lightly.

William promptly removed Joyce so that Dawn could restore the circulation to her leg. “Take care,” he said to a quickly retreating back. And sighed. “She’s growing up,” he tried to comment casually, but his voice cracked.

“It just gives you time to finally focus on your own life,” Liz concluded, slipping her arm through his. “Whattaya say we head on home?”

* * *

“I take it all back,” William concluded an hour and a half later, banging his forehead on the table. “I never want to take care of a kid again. Ever.” Another bang just for good measure.

Joyce laughed at his antics in a delighted manner and threw another string of spaghetti at his head, landing it artfully in his hair. “Funny Will-yum!” she exclaimed in delight.

Liz chuckled. “Abandoning Dawn to ‘that pimp of a tour guide’?” she teased.

“Good riddance,” he agreed with a cheeky grin. “You done with your lunch, sweet pea?” he asked Joyce softly, removing the noodle from his hair and adding it to the growing collection on his napkin.

She aimed a spoonful of sauce at him.

He deftly caught it, lifting her out of her chair with his other arm. “Not nice to throw food, you know. You want to keep me pretty, right?”

Joyce pondered that for a second. “Pretty Will-yum,” she finally agreed apologetically.

“Quite all right, sweetness.” He leaned in close. “Don’t throw your food, and I’ll bet mommy won’t make you take as many baths, too.”

Joyce’s eyes widened at that. “Really, mommy?”

“Uh…yeah,” Liz agreed, a little stunned at how easily William had calmed the violent tornado of flying spaghetti.

“No baff!” Joyce exclaimed excitedly.

“As soon as we get pretty again,” William agreed, lifting her up out of her chair.

“I can get her,” Liz hastily rose.

“Nah. I’m already a mess. Might as well make the sacrifice complete,” he winked at her.

“This is just your way out of getting out of carrying all my boxes to your car,” Liz concluded with an amused humph, following them into the bathroom and watching from the door.

William sat Joyce down on the toilet seat and turned on the water in the sink. “And I thought Dawnie packed heavily. What’ve you got in those? Rocks? Didn’t know you were a geology major, luv,” he ribbed her.

“Hardy-har-har,” Liz rolled her eyes. “And I’d like to see how much your textbooks weigh…”

He shuddered and began to wash the sauce from Joyce’s face. “Heaven forbid,” he agreed. A moment’s hesitation as his brow furrowed in thought. “You are attending Berkeley because—”

“It’s the best school I got into, and I want to get my graduate degree,” Liz cut him off, knowing this argument by heart. “And now that Joycie can handle daycare for a couple hours a day, I finally have time.”

He smiled softly. “Wouldn’t want to be an unfair influence,” he commented off-handedly.

She shook her head. “The fact that in one month I’ve be living within five blocks of my gorgeous hitherto long-distance boyfriend is just an added bonus.”

“Right…” A small quirk of his lips.

A pregnant pause followed, while Liz just watched how he worked with her daughter, playing little games of tag as he cleaned her off and creating a ‘washcloth monster’ for her to play with. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched it.

He finally set down a freshly cleaned Joyce with an exclamation of triumph, finally noticing that she was watching him. “What?” he asked, slightly embarrassed.

“You’re really good with kids,” Liz complimented in a soft voice.

“Yeah, well, mum needed all the help she could get with Dawn after Jim’s death, and…” he trailed off when her finger rested on his lips to silence him.

“I know,” she assured him.

And she did. Although she’d had to pick it up through bits and pieces he’d slipped out to her, as well as that one night when he’d been slightly tipsy and had called her at four in the morning in tears. In short, he’d had more than his fair share of difficulties in his life. His father had run out when his mother had gotten pregnant with him, shattering her and forever cursing the attempted reconciliations he had wanted with his son. The only good the man had ever done was to make William as obsessively responsible and loyal as he was today – he was not going to end up like his father, he’d firmly decided.

William had grown attached to Dawn’s father, Jim, when his mother had remarried. However, when Dawn was only a year old, Jim had died in a tragic plane crash. William and his mother had both drawn in after that, taking care of each other and a baby Dawn. William had been only nine, but he’d pretty much grown up then.

Then, when William was twenty-two and fresh out of college, his mother had finally passed on from cancer after a lifetime of chain-smoking. Suddenly, he’d had a fourteen-year-old sister that he was sole custodian over, all while he was entering graduate school. Liz couldn’t imagine how he’d held it together.

But the string of tragedies had definitely left their mark on him. The real William, the one buried deep down inside, rarely showed himself. He’d built up some impressive walls over the years, closing his real feelings off from the world. Even Liz didn’t flatter herself that he was always open with her, but she got glimpses, and that was more than the rest of the world saw.

It wasn’t so different than her own reticence, actually. And perhaps that was why they trusted each other with their deepest, darkest secrets: Namely, that they were both still human and still hurt.

“I love you.”

The words seemed to come out of nowhere and everywhere, hanging between them heavily. Then:

“I love you, too.”

They both smiled at that, and Liz caught up Joyce while William washed out his own hair in the sink.

“Why don’t you move your toys into mommy’s room, so you can play on the big floor there while William and I do our boring adult paperwork?” Liz suggested lightly.

“And William especially gets to suffer through freshmen’s grammatical debauchery of the English language,” he muttered under his breath.

“Yay!” Joyce squealed, excited to have her favorite play place for the day. Her mom usually wanted the inevitable mess to stay in Joyce’s room.

Liz let Joyce down and watched the toddler vanish into her room, only to come out a few seconds later with a handful of stuffed animals.

“We’re working in bed today, are we?” William teased, tousling his hair dry with a clean towel.

“Any objections?”

“None. But you’d better get those boxes moved fast,” he teased. “I’d hate to have to start my work without you.”

“Jerk,” she teased good-naturedly, leaning in to steal a quick kiss. “You are so helping me…”

* * *

Later that evening, after William had finally finished grading his papers and Liz had completed her financial papers for the month, all between the occasional cuddle and Joyce’s babbling as her stuffed animals paraded around the room, Liz had an epiphany.

Namely, that moving the phone next to the bed had been an absolutely brilliant idea on her part.

“Oh, god, Buffy! Yes!” Spike’s voice moaned out.

“Fuck, yeah, baby! Uh! Uh!” Buffy retorted in husky gasps.

Of course, Liz and William were nowhere near the conversation. Having safely trusted to their ‘uh-uh’ tapes, they’d promptly ignored their work for some ‘quality’ time now that Joyce was asleep. It was actually uncharacteristically negligent of both of them. In fact, Darla would quite possibly fire them if she found out. However, neither really cared at the moment…

Liz’s fingers traced up and down William’s spine, dragging the fabric along with her caresses ever so slightly. One foot tangled with his, while the other slid up and down his thigh. And, all along, she thrust her tongue against his, encouraging the mating of their mouths and tasting all of him that she could.

William, rather uncharacteristically saying ‘to hell with caution’, had pinned her body beneath his on the mattress, his chest pressing her small breasts flat as he covered her body with his larger one. It had been so long since he’d felt a woman’s body beneath him, and the feel of every inch of her – all rubbing wantonly against him – had him close to exploding. But with their traditional lot of misfits and perverts on the phone only a few feet away, he had to settle for just devouring her lips. For the moment.

Her teeth found his bottom lip and nibbled at it playfully as one hand traced up his spine to the back of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Her left hand ventured between them now, alternating stroking his tight stomach muscles and the small of his back, glancing across bare flesh for the first time now that his shirt was half pulled up.

He broke away from her kiss with a gasp, lips quickly descending again, but this time just grazing the corner of her lips before covering her face. His tongue flicked out to taste her earlobe before catching it between his teeth and twisting gently. He got a moan – a real, genuine, not-fake-sex-talk moan – for his troubles and moved slowly down her throat, tasting the salt of her sweat as she held him against her.

His own hands became more adventurous as well. One palm cupped a rounded breast, balancing and kneading its weight. Her flesh wasn’t as firm as a woman who had never born a child, but its full richness was all he noticed. His free hand slid down her side, across her thigh, until he found the back of her knee. He pulled her leg up around his waist then, grinding into her, letting her feel…

“Oh god!” Liz moaned aloud, in almost perfect time with her voice on the tape. But there was no way anyone could mistake the half-bored recorded utterances with the husky passion in her voice now. “William…”

He fell to a panting rest on top of her at that, his body still rocking slightly against her subconsciously. “P-Probably should wait until our shift’s done,” he felt obliged to say.

She nodded. “Way weird with the tape playing…”

“Doesn’t seem to bother me,” he commented wryly, shifting his weight so that he lay beside her, cradling her in his arms. “But, then, we all know I’m screwed up…”

“I think you’re wonderful,” she concluded, tracing the sharp edge of his cheekbone with one hand. “And, hey, it’s not like you’re the only one with issues with intimacy.”

“I-I told you about Dru, right?” he ventured uncomfortably.

“During the infamous ‘drunken phone call’,” she assured him. “And I got the semi-coherent story from Dawnie…”

“I—” he gulped, Adam’s Apple bobbing.

“I know,” she soothed softly, fingers twining comfortingly in the soft, dark hairs at the back of his neck.

He shook his head. “I want you,” he insisted vehemently, pulling her in for another kiss.

She melted against him and let her tongue tangle lazily with his for a minute before pulling back. “That’s what I knew,” she countered with a little grin.

He laughed at that and gave her a quick squeeze. “What would I do without you?” he sighed.

“Wither away and die?” she teased.

He smiled. “Kinda can’t believe you’re really here,” he said wistfully. “That you’re so beautiful and you want me… No one has ever…” He got choked up and trailed off, tears stinging the corners of his eyes.

“I do,” she insisted softly.

“Why?” The question sounded so naked and exposed.

A soft smile curved her lips as she stroked his hair. “Because you’re kind and gentle. Because you’re smart and funny. Because I’ve seen how wonderful you are with Joyce…and with Dawn. Because you’ve always been there for me when I’m the most down.” She leaned in and brushed a soft kiss across his closed eyelid. “Because you can always make me laugh, even when everything seems so sad.” A kiss to the other eyelid. “You know…the same reasons you love me.”

He smiled at that and pulled her on top of him. “Want you even more now,” he practically purred, sliding his hands down her body. “Want to make love to you…” A delicious pout saddened his face. “But I’ve gotta wait ‘til our shift’s over…”

A wicked smile curved her lips. “Nothing says we can’t fool around ‘til then,” she said coyly. “’Cause I’m really not complaining about the necking and heavy petting…”

“Oh, no?” he grinned. “’Cause I—”

“W-William?” she cut him off, her voice sounding uncharacteristically timid and needy.

“Yeah, luv?”

“Just…touch me…”

Touch Me

Chapter Four

“Mmm…welcome to the crypt, pet,” Spike’s voice purred. “You ready for some hot fuckin’?”

“It’s me, William,” Darla’s terse voice informed him. It was impossible not to imagine the necessary eye-roll that accompanied that statement.

William’s finger halted over the ‘uh-uh’ tape, and Liz paused where she’d finally gotten his shirt off and was caressing the hard-muscled torso she’d found beneath.

“Uh…right… Sorry about that, boss,” William said with a sigh, resigning himself to actually having to participate in this conversation.

Liz groaned as well and reached over to grab hold of her headset on the nightstand. “What’s up?” she asked Darla, voice sounding remarkably composed given that she and William had been all but having sex with their clothes on a minute ago.

“Warren’s on line four,” Darla informed them.

“Ugh!” Liz shivered.

“Oh, god, no!” William protested. He checked the clock. “Hey, wait a minute…our shift ended halfway through that last call,” he insisted.

Darla sighed. “Yeah, so are you willing to do Warren before you sign off?”

“No!” Liz objected vigorously.

A pause on Darla’s end.

“He’s taken to inserting random foreign objects into her orifices lately,” William explained with a wince. “Mine, too.”

“The little creep doesn’t know which one of us he hates, but he sure loves that sadism,” Liz sighed.

Darla chuckled. “You know he’ll just call back tomorrow,” she assured them.

“Good. We’ll handle it tomorrow,” William concluded, twining his fingers with Liz’s and bringing her hand up to his lips for a quick kiss.

She blushed and smiled shyly at him.

The thought was universal: Please, don’t spoil the mood tonight…

Darla groaned. “Fine. I’ll put the jerk on hold while the two of you sign off. But only because I can’t afford to pay you the overtime.”

“Ta, luv,” William agreed a bit too quickly before cutting of the line.

“Whew,” Liz breathed, terminating her connection.

“Last thing we needed tonight,” William agreed, disconnecting as well. And then pulling out the phone cord just for good measure.

“What if Dawn calls?” Liz pointed out.

“She’s a big girl. Can take care of herself…or so she insists,” William countered with a coy smile, sliding back over onto the bed and crawling up her body.

“Mmm…” Liz murmured contentedly before pulling him back down to her. “Want you,” she whispered against his lips. She placed a series of soft kisses across his face, cupping his chin in her palms.

“Want you, too,” he agreed, pulling her up against him so that they were both sitting. Shakily, his hands ventured to the buttons of her blouse, looking up at her uncertainly.

She smiled and ran her knuckles lightly over his bare abs as he undressed her.

He managed to unfasten the first two, pausing for gentle kisses in between, before frustration finally overcame him. His fingers fumbled and failed on the third button twice before her hands came up to cover his, steadying them.

He blushed and ducked his head in embarrassment. “It’s been a long time,” he admitted shyly.

Liz smiled. “For me, too.”

“I-I’m not really Spike…in bed, I mean,” he gulped.

“And I’m not Buffy,” she assured him.

“Don’t want Buffy,” he said with a hint of a smile. “I want you.” His fingers reached out to brush one lock of long, blonde hair back from her face.

She leaned into his touch, holding his hand against her as she nuzzled his palm lightly. “Same here,” she agreed. “The sex doesn’t matter. Just being close to someone I love…” She trailed off and kissed him again.

He pulled her closer to him at that, setting her down in his lap. The slightest hint of pink tinged his cheek when she first settled against his erection and found out how hard for her he really was.

Her eyes widened for a second before a sly smile spread across her face. “Mmm, William…” she concluded, deliberately playing with her buttons for a few seconds before unfastening them for his hungry eyes.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered in awe when she finally removed her shirt. His mouth came in to plant wet, open-mouthed kisses across her now-bare shoulder, and she moaned in response, clutching him to her.

“Mmm…you, too…” she sighed, swirling her thumb around each of his vertebrae as she slowly worked her way down. God, the way he was touching her was doing the most incredible things… She didn’t think she’d ever wanted a man this much in all her life.

Apparently, he was thinking along similar lines since his hands found their way to the front clasp of her bra. In one brief moment of concentrated dexterity, he unfastened the clasp before moving down to the button of her jeans…where his hands promptly failed him again.

He let out a wry chuckle. “This isn’t my night, huh?” he joked lightly, pulling back for a second and taking a deep breath.

Liz was having similar difficulties getting his own jeans off. Probably because her desire-fogged mind had forgotten that said jeans needed to be unzipped before they could be removed. She nodded slowly and climbed back out of his lap, fumbling at her own pants.

Eyes watching her intently, he slipped off his own jeans before hesitating at his boxers.

She had reached her panties at the same time and paused for a second before slipping the black silk scrap of cloth down her legs and kicking it aside.

He gulped and let his shorts fall, stepping free of them and into the circle of her arms once more. “Sorry I’m not twelve inches,” he said in faux seriousness.

Liz spotted the twinkle in his eyes and giggled. “Not disappointed in the slightest,” she assured him. “I’d rather have seven inches of William than all the ‘mammoth footlong manmeat’ in the world.”

A grin crept upon his lips until he registered one detail. “Seven?!” he protested, looking down. “I’m at least eight!”

Mentally, Liz rolled her eyes. What is it about guys and their dicks, anyway? she wondered rhetorically. Like seven inches isn’t more than enough to please a woman only five feet tall? “Sorry,” she assured him, deciding discretion was the better part of valor in this case. Her hand slid around his erection, thumb rubbing over the head boldly. “More like eight,” she agreed.

He gasped at the feel of her hand encircling him and crumpled against her, head coming to rest of her shoulder. “Not gonna be able to take much of that…” he warned in a raspy voice.

“Mmm, come to bed, then,” she agreed, taking both of his hands and guiding him over to the mattress.

He watched her slip between the sheets, holding the corner up for him invitingly. And, at about that moment, all rational thought completely abandoned him. He practically leapt into bed, pinning her down beneath his naked body as he began covering her in kisses, his hands roaming over her fevered flesh wildly.

Liz let out a little cry of ecstasy, running her palms over strong, hard planes of muscle, savoring the wonderful sensation of feeling his weight press down into her just slightly. “W-William…” she murmured, accepting his kiss and parting her lips so that his tongue could plunder her mouth.

“I love you so much,” he gasped out, lips trailing to her throat. One hand began gently kneading her breast, while the other trailed into her rough curls for the first time, finding her clit and giving it a quick rub.

She moaned in appreciation and clutched at his hair. “L-Love you,” she agreed, touching every bit of him that she could. After being so far for so long, it felt as though she was absolutely starving for every bit of contact she could get. “I—”

“Shh,” his lips whispered against hers, deep blue eyes open and exposed to her for once, showing the true depth of his every emotion. “Do enough of the sex talk at work, I’d wager. Let’s just…feel…”

Liz whimpered in response. God, how could he read her so well? When they’d only known each other by the sound of the other’s voice for so long? “Okay,” she agreed softly, reaching up to brush a soft kiss across his brow.

He hummed in contentment at that, and his caresses turned reverent. She signalled him only with gasps and moans, guiding his hands to the most sensitive spots on her body, laying herself bare for him and showing him how to pleasure her.

His own murmurs of appreciation sounded against her ear as she stroked him, and she got a strangled little whimper when she spread her legs for him, letting him slip in between her thighs. He ground his hardness against the silk of her inner thigh, and his fingers slipped inside her for the first time, finding her wet and warm and waiting for him.

His thumb gave her clit one more quick flick that sent her hips bucking up against him before he replaced his hand with his cock, grinding slowly against her and using the mutual friction to pleasure them both.

Liz felt the bare head of him rock against her clit, sending the first sparks through her system. She sighed at the feel of his warm flesh against the entrance to her womb, the first slight pressure as he tested her opening…

“W-Wait…” she managed to gasp out, somehow managing to grab hold of one rational thought through the sensations that bombarded her.

He had come to a halt at the exact same moment. “Damn,” he swore, “they’re in my bag…” He moved to get up, but she caught him back to her.

“Box. In the drawer,” she gestured, managing to pull it open and find the condom box within. She fumbled with it, and several of the packages fell to the floor, but she got the one she needed and ripped the wrapper open for him.

“You bought rubbers, too?” he couldn’t help but tease…before blinding lust took hold of him again as she oh-so-slowly rolled the sheath down his throbbing member.

“Learned ultra-strict use of birth control the hard way,” she agreed with a shrug, lying back down beneath him and stretching her arms over her head on the pillow.

He watched her breasts perk up at him with the motion and suddenly found that the brief interruption hadn’t stayed his desire in the slightest. His mouth came down over one mound, tongue swirling around the nipple and making her writhe beneath him, before he switched sides and favored her other breast with the same attentions.

He was between her thighs again now, and Liz ground up against him slowly, rolling her hips intentionally and trying to urge him on. Fortunately, he seemed as attuned with her physical needs as with her emotional ones, and he lined himself up with her slick passage at that. His head parted her outer folds before coming to a halt.

Their eyes met and locked, dusky hazel to electric blue, each abandoning all the caution their rough lives had taught them in that moment and exposing the rawest of their emotions to the world.

“I love you, Liz,” he insisted, the words cracking as they escaped his kiss-swollen lips.

“I love you, William,” she agreed, taking his hand, locking their fingers…

And gasping as he slowly pushed inside her, inch by agonizing inch.

He was a tight fit at first. Her body had gone for so long without a man that her inner muscles struggled with his girth for a bit. But then her natural lubricants covered him, making the slide easier. She stretched with each slight push of his hips, each feeling like the last she’d be able to take until he pushed her just a little bit further…

“You all right, baby?” he murmured soothingly when he noticed her teeth clench.

She nodded and relaxed, and that’s when he suddenly slipped the rest of the way inside.

“Oh, god!” she cried out, eyes widening.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, immediately concerned.

“N-No…just…good…” And she pulled him down to her and kissed him hard on the lips.

He opened his mouth against hers, and their tongues danced and mated as their bodies began to move slowly to a song as old as time. There was no urgency in their coupling yet, just a slow rolling of hips as they caught each other’s rhythm. A gentle rocking to reinforce their connection.

“Liz…” William whispered as he pulled away from their kiss, his body feeling almost lazy in the contented pleasure that rose in him like waves.

“William,” she all but whimpered, squeezing his hand tight and undulating up against him. God, he felt so good, he filled her so completely. She couldn’t even remember her initial difficulty accommodating him now, because it had become so clear that he was made perfectly to fit her. Like they were each made off the other’s mold…

He shut his eyelids as he eyes rolled back in their sockets, burying his head in the crook of her shoulder as the motions of their bodies increased. Her slick passage was clenching tight around him now, holding him within her. The little whimpers that escaped her every time he pulled out, just made him drive back in deeper.

Their flesh beaded with sweat as they pushed themselves ever faster, a slick sheen covering both of their bodies, causing them to burn, making it feel almost as though their flesh itself was melding into the other…

The brief notion struck William that no matter how deep he went inside her or how close they got, it could never be enough. He needed to be within her completely, beneath her skin and in her womb and…

The momentary pain of what little physical separation remained between them passed, as the pleasure built within him, overwhelming all other thoughts. He kissed her deeply then, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth as his hips began to move with forceful intensity, driving his cock even deeper within her…

Liz let out a gasping exclamation as he struck the sweet spot deep within her. “There!” she cried aloud, breaking their vow of no words.

He mumbled his assent and drove into her several more times, sensing that she was close. Her body was trembling slightly beneath him now, and she was losing their rhythm amidst frantic thrusts. Her ankles locked at the small of his back, pulling him in closer, running her hands over every inch of him she could reach…

His hand slipped between their bodies, twisting her clit sharpely and giving her what her so desperately craved…

And for one sharp moment she was completely terrified. The world slipped out from under her as a relentless tide of pleasure rose over her body. All mental, physical, and emotional control shattered in a bright burst of ecstasy, and she cried out, completely at his mercy, as she came…

He held her close, tenderly, as he watched her face, keeping his thrusts even for as long as he could, until he could bear it no longer. He pistoned his cock frantically into her less than a dozen times before his own orgasm raked through him. He collapsed on top of her at that, whimpering against the sweat-soaked skin, and moaning at the tingles of delight that overcame him…

Complete silence.

And then Liz opened her eyes, looked down at the crown of the head that was still trembling against her, and placed a soft kiss in his dark curls. “William?” she whispered softly, fingers stroking lovingly up and down his back.

“Mmm…” he hummed contentedly against her breast. Then, he seemed to register the question for the first time. “Mmm?” he inquired.

“Love you,” she began…

“Love you, too,” he said back ardently.

She smiled. “…But I’m getting squished,” she finished.

His face reddened at that – although it really wasn’t visible given how flushed their recent work-out had made him – and he managed to rise up on his arms above her, slipping his softening cock out of her. Twin little whimpers of protest sounded when he left her.

And then Liz began giggling uncontrollably.

“What?” William demanded slightly defensively, settling beside her.

“S-S-Sm-S…” she seemed to have difficulty getting out the words before she took a deep breath and rushed it out. “Smack my snatch with your mammoth johnson!” She broke out laughing again.

An unbidden, surprised chortle erupted from his own lips, and soon he was laughing just as hard as she was. Limbs tangled together comfortably as they held each other and laughed.

“You’re one hell of a woman, Liz,” William whispered against her hair once they’d finally calmed down. “How’d I get so lucky to win your heart?”

Liz smiled against him, and her fingers played idly with one of his flat male nipples. “Was thinking the same thing about you, actually…”

“That I’m one hell of a woman?” he couldn’t help but tease.

She whapped his chest playfully. “The ‘what’ve I done to deserve you’ part,” she informed him with a mock-scowl.

“You had me that first night when we talked until two,” he said softly, brushing her hair gently back from her face.

“That’s about when you had me,” she agreed, tilting her head to kiss the line of his jaw. “You were all funny and sweet.”

“Who’s making the funnies now, exactly, pet?” he teased lightly, reluctantly getting up and removing the used condom. “Bathroom wastebasket?”

“Good idea,” she agreed with a groan, watching his bare ass with a satisfied little sigh. “You know, I’m all sticky and sweaty and nasty,” she began reluctantly.

“Didn’t seem nasty to me,” he countered with a wink, slipping back into bed.

She let out a massive yawn. “Should probably shower…” she commented sleepily, “change the sheets…”

“We’ll just avoid that side of the bed,” he assured her, curling her up against him.

“And Joyce’ll come in early tomorrow morning…”

“You’re trying to make me get up again, aren’t you?” he teased lightly.

“I’m all warm and tired,” she retorted in the most pathetic voice she could manage. “My big, strong boyfriend wore me completely out, so I can’t—”

He humphed and got up. “Flattery’ll get you nowhere,” he informed her with an amused grin, grabbing her nightshirt from the dresser and his boxers from the floor.

Liz watched him slide into the latter with a slight twinge of disappointment. She had been rather enjoying watching him roam naked around her bedroom. Mental note: Add to Christmas wish-list…

“Up you go.” He pulled lightly on her arms, sitting her up before pulling her nightshirt down over her head.

She slid her arms in and lay back against the pillows, watching him quirk his eyebrow at her.

“Anything else, mistress?” he joked lightly.

“Come to bed,” she agreed with a giggle, snuggling back up against his warmth when he did so. Tucked comfortably against his still-bare chest, she rested one hand on his truly lovely stomach muscles and shut her eyes.

He watched her slow, steady breathing for a minute, mesmerized by the rise and fall of her chest and the way each breath of air caused the lock of golden hair pressed against his chest to blow in the breeze. His thumb traced random, arcane patterns in the small of her back, and the realization fully hit him that they’d made love. That she loved him, and he loved her, and she was moving up to Berkeley where they could be together, and…

“Liz, luv?” he asked softly, resting his head back on the pillow.

“Mmm?” she murmured in response.

“Was it…I mean, was I…” he gulped, “good?” His voice practically squeaked on the last word.

Inwardly, Liz made mental note to curse that little tramp Dru who had left him because he, supposedly, couldn’t satisfy her. Much cursing would be done, indeed…when she wasn’t half asleep. “You were wonderful,” she assured him in a contented haze. “You are wonderful.” Her lips brushed her bare chest.

“You were pretty amazing yourself,” he admitted, kissing the golden crown of her head. A satiated smile spread across his face as he closed his eyes and drifted off as well. “Amazing…”

* * *

“You’re sure that ‘guide’ didn’t try to get fresh?” William demanded, blue eyes narrowed to suspicious slits.

Dawn groaned. “Yes, he slipped something in the crack cocaine he gave me, and then he and all his buddies gang-raped me,” she retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes heavenward. “And…’get fresh’? What decade are you living in?”

Liz merely chuckled and pulled up the blanket around a sleeping Joyce in her lap. “Let it go, sweetheart,” she soothed William. “I’m sure he was a perfectly nice boy…”

William crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. But then his head came over to lean on Liz’s shoulder, and he sighed. “So, we packed, then?” he almost dreaded to ask.

“I’ve been packed for hours,” Dawn retorted smugly. “You’re the one who’s stalling.”

Neither William or Liz could deny that fact. Impulsively, they both leaned in for a quick, sweet kiss.

“It’s only a month,” he tried to whisper reassuringly against her lips, one hand tangled in her hair.

“It sounds like forever,” she complained, kissing him again.

Dawn blinked at the spectacle on the couch. “Okay…ew! So don’t need to see my brother making out…”

With a reluctant sigh, they pulled apart. “I’ll call you as soon as we get home,” William assured her.

“I’ll be waiting,” she agreed, tapping Joyce lightly on the shoulder to wake her up. “You’ll drive safely?”

“Of course.” His lips closed in on hers once more.

“Saccharine alert,” Dawn teased. She had a little smile on her face, though, as she watched how the two of them leaned instinctively into each other, as if drawn magnetically to the other’s touch.

At that moment Joyce finally awoke with a little yawn. “Mommy?” she blinked curiously.

“William and Dawnie are about to leave, sweetie,” Liz informed her. “You want to say ‘bye’?”

“Will-yum?” Joyce fixed soulful puppy-dog eyes on him. “You leafe?”

“Gotta take your mommy’s stuff back with me,” he reassured her, taking her into his own lap and bouncing her lightly on his knee, much to her delight. “But then you and mommy are coming up in a month, and we’ll see each other again. Okay, pidge?”

She giggled and hugged him. “Will-yum come back soon?”

“Yup, that’s right,” he assured her, catching her in a hug so gentle, Liz almost couldn’t believe than a grown man could manage it. “And then you can come play with me while mommy goes to class.”

“Yay!” Joyce announced, arms wrapping around his neck in a brief stranglehold as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Aww…who’s my little princess?” he cooed with a bit of a blush, kissing her forehead as well.

“And does Aunt Dawnie get a good-bye hug, too?” Dawn asked, sweeping Joyce away once William set her down.

“Bye, Aunt Dawnie!” Joyce squealed, hugging her enthusiastically.

“You take good care of your mom while we’re gone, okay?” Dawn asked mock-sternly.

“Pwomise,” Joyce insisted, crossing her heart.

With a wistful smile, Dawn handed Joyce back to Liz. “Thanks for having us,” she said, giving the older woman a hug as well, “and for babysitting my brother while I went campus visiting…” She pointedly stuck her tongue out at William over Liz’s shoulder.

He stuck his tongue out right back at her.

Liz laughed. “It’s all right. He wasn’t too much trouble,” she teased. “And you’ll let me know just as soon as you decide where you’re going to school?”

“Well, duh!”

She and Dawn broke apart, and Liz set Joyce back down where the toddler promptly ran back over to the couch and hugged the big stuffed puppy she’d left there. But Liz’s eyes weren’t on her daughter for once.

“Hey,” she whispered softly, falling easily into William’s embrace and brushing her lips across his gently.

“Hey, yourself,” he agreed, lips playing softly against hers until delving in deeper, plunging his tongue inside, tasting the fine wine of her lips as his hands ran up and down her soft curves.

Liz felt as warm and happy as she ever had in her life until he finally reluctantly pulled away. “Only a month,” she reminded him sadly.

“God, I love you,” he sighed, planting one final kiss on her lips.

“Love you, too,” she agreed before pulling back out of his arms. She absentmindedly wiped at her eyes as he hefted his bag over one shoulder and followed Dawn to the door.

He paused to look back at her from the doorway, and then shrugged his shoulders. “What the hell!” He’d closed the distance between them once more in a heartbeat.

She clung to him and slanted her lips against his repeatedly, trying to memorize every detail of his kiss for the lonely weeks ahead.

And, for once, even impatient Dawn in the doorway didn’t interrupt them.

They finally pulled apart with a gasp, and William took her hand, linking their fingers as he headed back to the door. “We’ll talk tonight,” he assured her, savoring the last touch between them until their fingers finally broke apart and he headed for the car.

“’Cause Darla certainly couldn’t give us the night off or anything,” Liz tried for a little laugh.

“A slavedriver is what she is,” he agreed, tossing his bag into the back seat atop a box of psychology texts. “Love you.”

“Love you.”

And then he was in the car, and only thirty seconds later driving away. She watched until the car rounded the first corner and was out of sight…

* * *

“You two did it last night, didn’t you?” Dawn asked the question with a smirk the instant Liz’s building was out of sight.

“None of your damn business,” he retorted with a huff.

And Dawn chuckled. “One whole month of sex-deprived William in the apartment?” she teased. “UCLA’s looking better all the time…” But her hand reached over to squeeze his shoulder.

“Thanks, Bit,” he smiled after a moment.

“No, thank you for finally finding yourself a girlfriend who’s not a psycho,” Dawn retorted.

“You should hear the things she comes up with to do with a stake,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing for your ears,” he countered.

“Ha!” she exclaimed in triumph. “I knew you two did it last night…”

* * *

“Mommy?” Joyce’s curious voice broke Liz’s moment of lonliness.

“What?” she asked, looking down at her daughter as she closed the door behind them. Absentmindedly, she brushed at her tears.

“Why are you cwying?” Joyce blinked up at her. “Are you sad?”

“No,” Liz assured her with a little laugh. “I’m very happy.”

“It’s silly to cwy then,” Joyce insisted.

And Liz smiled. “You’re right…”