Title: Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Author: Gileswench

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Half an hour later, Buffy and Giles walked up to the door of his flat.

"That's funny," said Buffy. "I know you don't lock doors, but even you close them."

Giles motioned her to stay back as he cautiously prodded the door further open with an outstretched hand. A plaintive cry was heard from the loft.

"Ripper? Is that you, old friend?"

Buffy and Giles rolled their eyes at one another in disgust. They entered the flat and headed up the stairs.

"When are you going to learn, Ethan?" Giles asked as he looked down at his one time friend where he lay handcuffed to the headboard of Giles' bed. "Do the mischief and get the hell out. This is how you always got into more trouble than I did."

"It was your little black book did the mischief, Ripper. How was I to know all those birds were demons?"

Buffy folded her arms across her chest and fixed Giles with a withering stare.

"You have a little black book full of the numbers of demon girls? I am so burning that up, Mister."

"It's not like that, Buffy. They're contacts, not lovers."

"And it turns out most of them aren't even female," Ethan groaned through his mangled lips. "How was I to know Connie wasn't a girl?"

"You might have asked," Giles pointed out.

"So he came over and brought a few of his pals with him. They spent half the night working me over. I shall most likely die of a rupture of some sort."

"Good."

"Now, Buffy, these are professionals. They know better than to hit vital organs unless they mean to," Giles told her mildly. He rummaged in the drawer or his nightstand for the key to the cuffs. "Ethan, I'm going to let you go, but I don't ever want to see you again, do you understand? If you come back here, I shall call Connie and his friends, and have them finish the job."

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone. Now will you please unlock these bloody things?"

Giles calmly released Ethan and put the handcuffs back in the nightstand. Buffy blocked the sorcerer's path of escape.

"Ethan, before you go, there's one thing I have to say."

"What's that, Slayer?"

She reached up and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you."

Ethan looked wildly from one to the other.

"What on earth for?"

Buffy smiled enigmatically.

"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. And if I see you before Giles does, you'll wish he'd sent Connie and company to get you first. Got that?"

"Got it, got it. If I ever show my face again, painful hideous death awaits. Now can I just bloody leave already?"

Buffy moved aside. Ethan raced out the door as fast as he could go, clutching his side.

"Blast!" Giles exclaimed. "That was my robe he was wearing. I'll never find another like it."

Buffy snaked her arms around his neck.

"We'll get you a new one. I never liked it anyway."

She kissed him warmly.

"Now, why don't you change the sheets and I'll take care of a couple things downstairs, and then I want you to keep your promise."

"What promise was that?"

"To make slow, unrushy love to me."

"Ah, that promise. Well, I do believe something could be arranged."

"But not on the sheets Ethan has been on all night. That would be too shudderworthy."

Giles kissed the tip of her nose.

"Go do whatever it is you have to, and I'll have them changed before you come back upstairs. In fact, I may burn them."

She touched his rough cheek and smiled. Without another word, she went downstairs. As Giles changed the sheets and found a new comforter, he could hear Buffy talking on the phone and moving about. He grinned at the thought that she was finally his.

When he heard the lock click into place, his smile faded. His eyes shot anxiously to the stairwell. His throat had gone suddenly dry and his heart sped in his chest.

"Is that really necessary?" he called, wondering at the high pitch of his own voice.

Buffy appeared at the railing clad only in her bra and panties.

"You tell me. If you want it unlocked that bad, I'll get dressed again. If you want me, the door stays locked. It's up to you."

For a long moment, they stood silently. Buffy could feel herself trembling as she waited for Giles' answer. The torture in his eyes hurt her almost physically, but she knew she had to stand firm.

At last, Giles extended his hand to her. She smiled reassuringly at him as she drew him into the protective circle of her arms.

"It'll be okay," she promised him. "Nothing bad will happen."

"You've been telling me that rather a lot lately, haven't you?"

"Only because it's true."

She pulled back, but took both his large hands in her tiny ones. She led him to the bed and encouraged him to lay down with her. He sat up long enough to divest himself of shoes, socks, and glasses, then lay down again and held Buffy.

"You do realize this is the only thing that would make me consider letting you lock me in here, don't you?"

"Why do you think I did it? Not the getting into bed with you part, the making you deal with the lock part. So, will you be up to it like this?"

He chuckled nervously.

"I hope so. It would certainly be damaging to my ego if I had such a lovely woman in my bed and couldn't satisfy her."

"And an unsatisfied Slayer is not a pretty sight."

She drew his lips to hers for a soft kiss.

"But that's okay, too. If you can't, well, we can still just lie here and be together."

Giles rolled his eyes and glared at her.

"Wonderful. Now I have to manage just to prove to you I can."

She grinned at him.

"See? I learned some useful things in college. Psychology comes in handy once in a while."

She sobered almost immediately.

"I just want you to know that I love you no matter what. The night Riley left..."

"Buffy, please, you don't have to talk about that."

"No, Giles, I have to. This is important."

He lay back and settled her head on his shoulder.

"Go on, then."

Buffy thought a moment.

"Anyway, that night, I was so mad at him. I was ready to just let him go. Xander found me and told me that Riley was something special; that I should go after him. He said Riley was the once in a lifetime guy. And I think maybe he was." She felt Giles' arms stiffen around her. She rubbed his chest through his shirt. "It's okay, though. He was the once in a lifetime guy, but I think he was somebody else's, if that makes any sense. He wasn't mine. I knew it was too late when I went after him. I didn't know I knew, but I think I did. See, what neither one of us wanted to admit was that I knew the once in a lifetime guy for me long before I met him. It was you. You're the forever guy for me. And I want to be your forever girl."

Giles shifted until he could prop himself on one elbow and drew his fingertips down Buffy's cheek.

"I can think of no woman I would rather spend forever with."

He leaned down to kiss her sweetly. When he pulled back, her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"You couldn't just say yes, could you? Wordy guy."

"No more words, then."

"None?"

"Don't they say actions speak louder?"

He stroked her hair back from her face as he leaned down to kiss her. His lips teased and nibbled at hers. When her lips parted, he took full advantage of the invitation. All the while they kissed, Giles touched Buffy softly, gently. His fingertips traveled up and down her arms, across her collarbones, along her cheeks and down to her waist. Her fingers wove themselves into his hair and petted him along the back of his neck until he shivered with rising desire for her.