Chapter 10
Cordelia played with her collarbone and batted her eyelashes. Her mother always told her to act dumb around a guy at first. It made them feel masculine and important. Her mother also told her to act dumb, even after they tell you about their stock portfolios. Pretend those words had no meaning. Smile, nod, and giggle your way to the bank.
“So, like…you’re really smart, huh?”
And while she previously thought this man to be beneath her, she was starting to realize that he was growing in popularity in mere minutes after the stunt he and his friends had pulled. Girls were waving at him in the rec room, flirting with him, and Cordelia finally noticed that Wesley was actually sort of handsome and regal looking. She wanted first dibs.
“I like smart guys,” she added, flirting with her eyes.
Wesley smiled a bit smugly, his posture immediately straightening and his chest puffing out a bit. “Well, I have been known to cosine on a tangent a time or two,” he said, chuckling at his joke.
Andrew laughed softly as he sipped his cup of punch. They figured refreshments would be in order after the ladies of the school campus had their way with Parker, and Andrew was always prepared. Too much sherbet in it, though. “That’s funny, Wes.” He hoped that was helpful.
Wesley, realizing his maiden didn’t quite catch how clever he’d been, thought he should reiterate. “You see sine, cosine and tangent make up the parts of a right-angled triangle. I was implying, through puns, that I could co-sign, like a document, on a tangent or a long diatribe of speech that would indicate—”
“Got it,” Cordelia said with a bright smile. Oh boy, this was going to be hard. “That’s very funny.” The three of them stood silently, tense and unsure what to say. Cordelia had a knack for conversation, however, and absolutely abhorred awkward silence. “So, Buffy tells me you have two last names?”
“Yes, Wyndam-Price.” He thought that a strange question, but he was speaking with a very, very hot girl and he wouldn’t ruin it. He’d answer anything she asked.
“Oh,” she said coyly, batting her eyelashes again. “That sounds…rich. I mean, so many consonants.” She giggled sweetly again and bit her lip. That combo was like kryptonite to a man. It worked on Wesley as well, she noted proudly.
He cleared his throat and a marked redness appeared in his cheeks. “It’s just a name, but it’s a handsome name, isn’t it? You know, I’m actually a Wesley Wyndam-Price III. My grandfather wanted all the Wyndam-Price men to work in his firm and for the name to carry out through the generations. Obviously, I’m pre-law. With a minor in business and finance,” he added, “in case corporate law doesn’t pan out.”
“Really.”
Just when Cordelia felt a pitter-patter in her heart and she took a step forward to up the ante on her flirting, Willow Rosenberg, her annoying, poor hygiene dorm mate came to her side out of nowhere. And oh, God, what was she wearing? Willow was like a walking nightmare of grossness. Seriously. She wore socks twice before washing them.
“Hey, Cordy. What happened in here?” she asked curiously, looking over the two men dressed in black, the trashed rec room, and the laser lights dancing on the ceiling.
“We sought vengeance on one of mine enemies,” Andrew said very seriously. “He paid dearly for crossing me. And others.”
“Oh.” Willow smiled tightly. “Cool. I’m Willow.” She stuck her hand out for Andrew.
“Andrew,” he said slyly, bringing her hand to his mouth to kiss it.
Willow gave Cordy a strange sort of fearful expression and she yanked her hand out of his grasp. “H-hey. Thanks. Um, and you are?” She turned to Wesley and Andrew’s mouth twisted to the side in embarrassment.
“Wesley Wyndam-Price. Pleasure.” He nodded politely and immediately turned his attention back to the brunette goddess before him. “You were saying?”
“I think you were saying.” Cordelia’s chest came out a bit. He looked. She scored.
“I like your pants,” Andrew said to Willow when it seemed neither Cordelia nor Wesley were interested in his presence.
Willow looked down at her purple corduroy overalls. “They’re actually overalls.” She hooked her thumbs beneath the straps on her shoulders and tugged them forward. “See?”
“Heh…yeah. So are you like a painter or something?”
“What? Oh, no,” she said, laughing. “I just like dressing like one, I guess.” She sighed, nodding a bit awkwardly, letting her eyes wander away from the strange boy who wouldn’t stop staring at her.
“I’ve got some pretty cool Gundams that I built back at my dorm room if you wanna—”
“I’m gay,” she blurted out. “Like, really, really gay. Not college gay.”
His shoulders sagged. He didn’t really like her like that anyway, but he figured that he couldn’t do much better so he took a blind stab at it. “Oh. Sorry.”
She shrugged again. “It’s cool. Thanks for asking, though.”
“You’re gay?” Cordelia shrieked, tearing her eyes away from Wesley when Willow’s words finally sank in. “Oh my God, I bet you totally touch yourself every night thinking about me! I walk around in my underwear in front of you!”
“I thought that was a myth,” Wesley said quietly to Andrew. “Girls really do that?”
“Oh, please, Cordy. Like you’re God’s gift!” Willow glared at her.
“Uh, excuse me? Did you see these knockers?” She pointed to her bodacious tatas, jerking her head to the side arrogantly.
“Seen better.”
Cordelia gasped, utterly offended, placing her manicured hand on her décolletage like a Southern belle. “You take that back right now!”
“I bet it just eats you up knowing that you’re the last girl on earth I’d ever want to take to bed.”
Cordelia stumbled on her Gucci heels—$80 markdown, hello!—her arms shooting out at her sides to grab something to keep her upright as she gasped and felt faint. Wesley caught her by the waist, she hid her triumphant smile, and then she stood straight again to glare evilly at Willow.
“Liar. I bet you write in that ugly, daisy covered journal how much you want me. You are so foul.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started,” Willow said, taking a challenging step forward. Andrew and Wesley could only watch in rapt awe. “You are stuck up—”
“Oh!”
“Rude!”
“Never.”
“And I’ve seen your Battlestar Galactica DVDs beneath your bed.”
Cordelia’s face paled. Several people had heard that, not just the two boys behind her. She inhaled, got her bitch in check, and said, “You’re just pissed off because that Wicca-wannabe Tara wants me and I’m not even gay. Maybe I’ll give her a call.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would. I could experiment. I love wine coolers.”
“I could buy them,” Andrew offered with a raised hand. He was ignored.
“You better watch it, ditzy,” Willow said threateningly. “I know where you keep your most expensive furs and I have a nasty habit of leaving condiment wrappers out, or so you tell me every chance you get.”
“If you touch my sable, I swear to God!”
“You’ll what? Pull my hair? Hit me in the face with your pom-poms? Please. You’re all bark and no bite and I wish you’d choke on your FIJI water.”
Cordy had never seen Willow stand up to her before, nor had she ever done so in a way that was…well, down right scary. Cordelia smiled. “I taught you well.”
Willow exhaled, smiling, too. “You really did, huh? Damn…”
“Feel the rush, don’t you?” Cordelia nodded proudly.
“Yeah…I’m like…energized!” Willow loosened her arms and bounced on her heels. “No wonder you’re a bitch all the time! This is great!”
“Hey,” she said nervously, patting Willow on the shoulder and forcing a laugh for the boy’s benefit, “Let’s not push it.”
Wesley and Andrew shared a look, not really knowing what had just happened. But something was nagging Wesley, nagging him more than the possibility of two girls kissing, or a cat fight breaking out; nagging him even more than the realization that Cordelia was a cheerleader.
“You like Battlestar Galactica?” he asked her.
Cordelia fidgeted nervously for a second, something Willow was currently basking over having been witness to—that girl was never nervous—and she finally said, “I mean, yeah. It’s a really good show. And that Caprica six chick has awesome bone structure. But I’m totally still hot, right?”
Wesley laughed a bit. “You’re even hotter now.” Wow, he’d said that to a girl and she didn’t slap him. He said it confidently, even. And she was smiling.
“Really? I mean, you don’t think I’m a complete dork?”
Willow mimed gagging herself with a finger in her mouth, rolling her eyes at Andrew. He laughed.
“Miss Chase, may I be so bold as to ask you to accompany me to dinner this evening?” Wesley was putting it on a little thick, but she hadn’t said no yet.
“I’d be charmed.” She linked her arm with his and smiled prettily. Before they got carried away, however, she thought it important to ask, “You’re paying, right?”
Wesley let out a hearty laugh. “My darling, you will never pay a cent for anything if I have my way.”
“Oh, Wesley!”
He smiled proudly. Perhaps his place on the totem pole had yet to be forgotten.
* * *
“Ok, question,” Buffy said, pausing the screen on William’s television. They were snuggled up on his bed, watching the next episode of Lost. He’d offered to take her out to dinner, to a movie, bowling, pool, anything. But she insisted that a night in with him was what she really wanted. He wouldn’t say no to an evening with her alone again, not after the wonderful time they’d spent the evening before. Perhaps she’d let him remove that tiny tank top she had on.
“Answer,” he said, placing a kiss on her shoulder.
“He was in a wheelchair, right?”
“Yes.” His nose was behind her ear, teasing the tiny hairs on her neck before he pressed his mouth there.
She shivered a bit. “But…how can he…he’s walking now.” Her eyelashes fluttered and his hand smoothed over her stomach to her side. He tugged her body flush against his torso. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you to ask me a question,” he said softly, his mouth teasing her neck. “You smell so good.”
She could feel her chest constricting and her nipples hardening with every soft kiss he placed on her skin. “I th-think you’re doing…s-s-something else.”
Inside, William’s heart was high-fiving his rib cage.
He’d made her stutter.
He swept his hand over her stomach again and upwards, lightly scratching beneath her breasts. Her chest was heaving, her head was dropping back on his other arm, and she swallowed.
“Do you like what I’m doing?” His fingers trailed between her breasts up to her neck until he reached her jaw. He tilted her head towards his and traced her bottom lip with his thumb.
“You’re…a lot b-bolder today,” she said with a little smile.
He returned her smile with a predatory grin of his own, slowly blinking at her. “You do strange things to me, Buffy.” He leaned forward to kiss her, stopping short when she placed both her hands on his chest and kept him back. He shook his head slightly and furrowed his brow. “What’s up?”
“Slow down,” she said, licking her lips. She rubbed his chest a bit to reassure him.
He exhaled, turned his torso slightly so that he was flush against his headboard and put his hands in his lap. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong. She was into it, he knew she was. “I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for the remote to start the show again.
“Hey.” She plucked the remote from his hand. “I didn’t mean pull away from me entirely. It’s just that it’s only the second time we’ve been alone together and…I don’t want to rush things.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “But last night you—”
“I know,” she said with a little smile. “Last night was different.” She inhaled slowly, and then chewed on her lip as she took a moment to think of how to say this. “I really like you, William.”
He smiled shyly. “I like you, too, Buffy.”
“I mean, I really like you.” She dared a glance at him before her gaze dropped to her knees. “I’d be devastated if you got bored with me like every other guy I’ve dated.”
William didn’t exactly know how to respond to that. There were so many things he was feeling that it was hard to pinpoint just exactly which emotion was the most awesome out of all of them. First of all, this girl liked him. She was afraid that he was using her, that he was the sort of guy who could use her. She was afraid that he’d end it quickly. That he’d be the one to end it. Was she completely and totally out of her fucking mind?
“I’m not sure what sort of relationships you’ve had in the past and I’m not sure what sort of relationship we’d have together, mainly because I’ve never had one to compare. But I do know me and as much as I thought college would be full of girls and sexcapades and drunken, immature experiments…I know how stupid that is. And maybe if you were someone else, I wouldn’t say what I’m about to say. But you’re you, and I’ve liked you since the first day I saw you, and I can guarantee you that I don’t want you just for your body.”
She was staring at him with this sort of teary-eyed, smiling awe that made him so nervous he had to look away.
“I’m just grateful you’ve given me this much of a chance,” he said softly. He looked up at her when she held his hand in hers. “I’ll do whatever you want, whatever makes it easy for you. I’d kick myself if I fucked it all up,” he said, chuckling.
She kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“Just promise me something?”
“Ok.”
“Don’t tease me in public.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll make it up to you later,” he said, repeating her words from the dining hall earlier that day when she grinded against his erection.
She smiled. “Well, now I never said that I couldn’t touch you, did I?”
He swallowed, felt the air rush out of his lungs, and he stared at her hopefully, desperately, dear God you better not be teasing me. “Wh-what does…what does that mean?”
“It means,” she started, crawling over him to straddle his waist and stare down at him, “that I never make a promise I don’t intend to keep.” She smoothed her hands down his chest to the waistband of his jeans, smiling through the hair that hung in her face when he started panting.
“Oh.” His arms were stiff at his sides and he inhaled sharply through his nose when her fingers dipped beneath the waist band and traced the seam from his navel to his hipbones. “Oh, God…oh God…”
She giggled. “You ok?”
He nodded rapidly and closed his eyes. “Yup. Fantastic. Keep doing…what you’re…oh God.” She’d popped the button. A girl was about to touch his privates. Did he wash it properly? Oh, fuck, what if he forgot? He couldn’t have. He always washed his cock very diligently, which usually turned into soapy masturbation fun time, and that surely cleaned it like a whistle. But what about his hair? What if it was out of control down there, or ugly? He had an ugly cock. He just had to. Oh fuck, fuck, why didn’t he prepare for this?
“William?”
He opened his eyes, seeing that she hadn’t done anything more. She was sitting upright and looking at him quizzically and he was already hard as nails. “Yeah?”
“You’re hurting me.”
“Huh? Oh, shit! Oh, I’m sorry.” His nails had been digging into her knees involuntarily. He released her and blushed, horrified. “I’m sorry, Buffy. I’m…very…”
“Nervous?” She smiled affectionately.
He exhaled a little sigh. “Yeah. No one’s ever…and…I cleaned it.” Fuck. Good work, Willie. He closed his eyes.
She barked a laugh, quickly covering her mouth to hide it. “You’re so cute.”
“Thanks.” He knew he was pouting but Christ, why couldn’t he calm the fuck down?
“No, I’m serious!” She leaned forward and kissed him. “You’re handsome, too.”
This was better, he thought briefly, her body close to his. Here, she couldn’t be as scrutinizing of his every inch when she only had a small window to look at, she wasn’t staring down at him like he was dinner, making him very conscious of what was about to happen. And she was kissing his cheeks, which was very nice, and he brought his arms around her to hold her there.
“And sweet,” she was saying, whispering, really. Kissing his neck and squeezing him a bit with her thighs around his waist. He hummed appreciatively.
“You like that?” she asked, nipping at his throat.
He gasped, feeling his legs flex and his cock twitch a bit. “Uh huh.”
She did it again and he moaned this time, smiling drunkenly when she started to giggle against his neck. Then he felt her hands sneaking beneath his shirt and he kissed her, hard, right as she pushed it all the way up, exposing his chest. Her hands coasted over him and she cooed against his lips in approval, right before she dipped her tongue in his mouth.
He dug his fingers in her hair and deepened the kiss, hissing when she pinched his nipples. She’d succeeded in calming his nerves but she was currently raising the bar of his arousal. Buffy pulled away from his mouth to kiss a trail down his chest. He watched in excited anticipation now, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths and he chuckled silkily when she smiled up at him like a sly little vixen.
“God, you’re…” Sliding his zipper down, which was why he couldn’t complete that sentence.
Keeping her eyes trained with his, she slipped her hand into his jeans and rubbed his abdomen. He groaned and his fingers curled into fists at his sides. “Did you know that I was a cheerleader?” she was saying as she opened the flaps of his jeans for easier access.
He shook his head frantically, licking his lips and craning his head forward to watch. “N-no, I…didn’t.”
“For years and years.” She kissed him right below the belly button.
“Oh. Must be…fl-flexible.” He smiled a bit and it instantly turned into an expression of pleasure when she traced the base of his cock with her fingernails.
“And everyone assumed I’d end up with some jock or some beefcake,” she said conversationally, dragging the tips of her fingers up the length of his cock. William shuddered. “But I always liked the smart guys.”
She locked her eyes with his, her head tilted to the side, and then her hand wrapped around him and he almost jumped out of his skin. “Ooh, look at you,” she said, smiling.
“Huh?” God, she was touching him. He’d bite his fist if he could bring himself to move.
“You’re…” she trailed off and stared at his cock which was now standing at full attention, completely exposed and begging, pleading that she touch him again. She looked shocked, and it seemed as though she was breathing heavily, too, but he didn’t know why. And then she licked him from the base to the tip and sucked him into her mouth and he about fucking died.
“Oh shit! Ohkay,” he drew out the last word, whimpering. Her mouth was so hot and slick and now her hand was around his prick as she moaned around the tip of his cock. Mother. Fucker. “That feels…fuck, Buffy…”
She slid her mouth further down his length, doing this amazing sucking, rolling thing with her tongue and gently caressing the rest of him with her hand. The contrast was driving him crazy. Then he felt another hand on his balls and he almost chuckled in glee. It was so intense, a sensation he hadn’t been able to recreate on his own nor would he even know how. Buffy started a nice rhythm with her mouth and hand and he clenched his jaw as he watched her swallow him.
“You’re perfect,” he said huskily. “Holy hell that feels amazing.”
She smiled as she kissed the tip. He wanted to growl, flip her over and slide his cock inside her but he held it back, especially when she took him in her mouth once again. If this was what sex felt like, he could definitely understand the addiction. But this, this was more than he could have imagined. She tightened her thumb and pointer finger around him, sliding her mouth and hand in time with one another, increasing the pressure with every stroke, moaning and sucking. God, this was like porn except better because she was Buffy and perfect and there wasn’t any techno music playing and—
“Oh my fucking Christ on a mountain!” he said suddenly, babbling incoherently when she started boasting her talents with glorious twists of her hand and flicks of her tongue. His hips lifted into every stroke. He was unable to hold back but she didn’t seem to mind, thankfully.
William couldn’t stop looking at her, and she had yet to remove her eyes from his. It made it more intimate, and though seconds earlier he was comparing this to pornography, looking at her then changed his thoughts entirely. He felt tiny, invisible threads of longing, of something more, something big, weaving their way through his body. He moaned softly, brought his knees up, and touched her cheek. Still she looked at him, her lips glistening with saliva and sliding up and down his cock, her hair falling over her face slightly, her eyes glistening with something, too. She was liberating him.
“Buffy,” he whispered, dropping his head back when he could no longer stand to hold her gaze, letting his body simply feel. She kissed his stomach as her hand continued to pump him, then his sternum, and finally, he felt her breath on his lips and he opened his eyes to see her smiling sweetly at him.
“Come for me.” She kissed him, loosened her grip on his cock a bit, and he felt his balls tighten. There wasn’t much of a warning he could give her and his head arched back as he shot into her hand, a strained moan tearing through his throat. She kissed his neck and tightened her grip once more, her hand now slick with his cum, making it last a little longer. He was smiling dumbly, every muscle tingling with sensation, her hair delicately brushing over his skin and her little kisses making it all feel incredible. He didn’t know men could have orgasms.
And he was still having one.
“You’ve got one more in you,” she said arrogantly, her hand moving speedily over him. And yes, yes he did have one more. She knew exactly how he liked it, a thought he wasn’t too keen on exploring at the moment, but she started fast and abruptly slowed down, changing up the movements of her hand as she prolonged his pleasure, kissing and sucking his lips. He felt it coming again, one last wave. His fingers twitched, his legs stiffened, and he felt perspiration on his forehead. He grabbed her wrist and held her hand still.
“What?” But she suddenly understood because he’d come again. She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Sensitive?”
He could only nod, grateful that she curled into his side. He was still panting, staring at the constellations he painted on the ceiling, the Millennium Falcon that he’d put back in its proper place, and he smiled lazily.
“That was awesome,” he said reverently.
She giggled, draping one leg over his and snuggling closer. “Glad I could return the favor.”
His head turned to hers. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you were so amazing last night that I wanted it to be just as good for you. I’d never…well, I’d read that guys could…I just…I wanted it to be good.”
“I didn’t even know we could,” he said, laughing. “Just thought we came and that’s all there was to it. That was intense.”
“And twice,” she added.
He smiled. “Yes, and twice. Let’s get married.”
She giggled and kissed him. “You don’t even know me.”
“Then let’s be common law.”
“So romantic.”
“We could buy a cat together. Or I could claim you as a dependent on my taxes.”
She laughed again, sighing contentedly when he kissed her forehead and rubbed her back with the arm wrapped around her.
“Stay the night,” he said quietly.
She propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. “William—”
“Look, I’ll be good.” He zipped up his jeans and buttoned them, holding up his hands in submission. “See? I won’t try anything, I swear.”
She smiled, watching her hand as it moved over his stomach. “You promise?”
“Promise.” He reached up to touch her cheek. “I just don’t want you to go. Stay with me? You can wear my Yoda pajama pants,” he said with a playful grin.
She snorted a laugh, collapsing onto his chest. “Please tell me you don’t have Yoda pants.”
“I don’t have Yoda pants, Buffy. I don’t even wear pajama pants.”
“What do you wear to bed, then?”
He swallowed and smiled nervously at her. “I don’t…usually wear anything to bed.”
She gasped and smiled at him. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Will you stay with me? Just sleep. I promise. I won’t hog the covers or anything.”
He wasn’t Parker. He wasn’t anyone from her past. He was William and there was no way she could resist those dimples. “Ok. I’ll stay.”
William sighed happily and kissed her, blissfully warm and sated. He had never known that something as simple as lying with her in his bed could be so comforting and he didn’t want that to end. To be able to share that with her all night made him feel…well, it made him feel sort of manly.
“William?” she said, lying back down on his chest.
“Yes?”
“Can we finish this episode now? I mean, how is that dude able to walk around when his legs were broken?”
He laughed and handed her the remote, kissing her on the cheek. “Watch and learn, love.”
He wasn’t one hundred percent, but William was pretty sure that he finally had a girlfriend.