Sleep is a funny thing, and
most times, eventually, separate from any lovemaking, which might
come beforehand. We sleep by ourselves for most of our lives, and in
our sleep, we dream alone, if not of others.
Usually, Buffy and William
would awaken, one curled around the other's back. Hugger and huggee,
though that line was often a matter of splitting hairs. Or, Buffy
would fall asleep on William's chest, until one of them would move.
As is with most solitary activities, often either of them would wake
momentarily, to find themselves in their own little island of bed
space, though each could feel the adjacent warmth coming from the
person next to them. A leg or arm might be moved to lightly touch
the other's, to reassure themselves of the other's presence, or a
turn initiated, to once more come back into the hugger/huggee
position.
But the most difficult
sleeping position to maintain between two people was front to front,
arms and legs entwined.
It was now in this position,
which Buffy realized they were actually falling asleep. Her left arm
underneath his right shoulder, her hand on his head. Her right arm
around his back, his left around hers. Her left leg on the bed,
touching his right, her right between his right and left. Her head
against his chest, just below his neck.
It was in this most intimate
position, when her breathing and heartbeat fell in sync with his,
that made it possible, even in sleep, for her to be reminded that
she wasn't alone; that she loved and was loved.
And in sleep, or perhaps a
momentary wakefulness, William's hand would roam her back, coming to
gently cup her behind, pulling him towards her. And in sleep, she
would respond in kind, pushing her stomach closer to his, where even
in slumber, she could feel his desire, hard against her. And
automatically, her breath would speed up, for a couple of seconds,
until they fell back into a deeper sleep. Another time, she might
partly awaken to feel him gently touching her breast or kissing her.
All of it gave her an
overwhelming feeling of closeness, that she didn't want to end. "Not
now, not yet," she would wish fervently, when either of them
stirred, doing what she could to ease cramped limbs, so that they
could ‘comfortably’ stay that way a while
longer.
There was something almost
beyond the pale of her words, beyond lovemaking even, that Buffy
would feel most protected, most possessed even. Not like some
old-fashioned, anti-feminist (though that might be argued) idea of
ownership, but a man-woman thing, ancient and right, somehow. When
William pulled her to him in his sleep, and she felt his desire, she
knew he was claiming her, possessively. Possessing. Possessive. With
love and protection, he claimed her.
And when she responded, she
claimed him back, as well.
END CHAPTER
131
CHAPTER 132 - SUMMER
JUNE 30, 2009
MONDAY
3:00PM
The sound of gravel could be heard
crunching, as the DeSoto sped up the drive.
The driver's door was flung open, and
seconds later William was in the house.
"Elizabeth!"
"I'm in here."
"Guess what?" William called out
excitedly, as he bounded into the kitchen.
"What?"
"Professor Wittman offered me a job
being his teacher’s assistant during the Summer II
session."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he saw me as I was leaving
today and asked me if I'd be interested."
"I didn't know professors had T.A.'s
during the summer," Buffy said, surprised.
"He told me they usually don't, but
he's in the middle of having some sort of medical treatments, and
his wife hasn’t been well, either, so he’s not having a very easy
time of it at all. That’s why the university agreed to let him hire
someone."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him I’d be interested, but
that I had to talk to you about it first."
"But you want to?" Buffy
asked.
William nodded, "I think so. The pay
is better than at either Montessori or the library, and I’d get
somewhere between 25 - 35 hours a week. At least until the end of
Summer II. After that, who knows if he’d still need an assistant or
if he’d still want it to be me," William said, shrugging.
He continued, "If I do, I’m not sure
which class I’ll be able to fit around that, if at all. I might just
take an online course instead. Oh, and I’m thinking I’ll probably
have to just quit my job at the library for now. I could probably
still be able to do the outdoor work for Montessori in the evening
or morning," he looked over at Buffy, "back to where I started,
eh?"
"You sure you’d want to go and get all
sweaty with the outdoor stuff with Montessori after working all
day?"
"Well, I could always work at the
library instead, but I think I’d rather like the diversion, after
grading papers and helping with lesson plans, which is what he said
I would be doing. Maybe helping him make some lecture notes and
such. What do you think? I hate to give up either job, if this is
only going to last for a little over a month or so..."
"I don’t know," Buffy said, "I think
that Montessori would be glad to have you whenever you could work
for them. Even if you didn’t work for them for a month, I think
they’d still want you back, if you were available. The library likes
you, too, but I don’t know if they’d have such a lenient
policy."
William nodded his head, "Guess I’d
better think it all over, eh, luv?"
She nodded, "By the way, what class is
Wittman teaching this time?"
"Classical Literature in the 18th and
19th Centuries," he replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The summer progressed, and William and Buffy
went to school; William to his new job as Professor Wittman’s T.A.;
hers at Montessori. William also found a course called Painting
with Watercolors, offered early in the morning, twice weekly,
and which he could fit in before the starting time of his job there.
Both Montessori and the library told him
they’d work around his schedule, so two nights a week he worked at
the library for a couple of hours. For Montessori, he worked one
evening per week; and every other Saturday or Sunday, whatever day
best fit his schedule.
Buffy found it strangely disconcerting to be
going off every morning to school, without William. She’d sometimes
look out the windows of her classroom almost wistfully, thinking she
was going to see him out and about, as she had for the last 9
months. She felt like that after school too, when she’d always met
up with him at the library, before they went home
together.
The first week, he drove over from San Marcos
on his lunch hour every day, just to see her for about 20 minutes,
before having to turn around and drive right back. Buffy knew he did
it because it made them both feel good to touch bases with each
other in the middle of the day, but she also didn’t want him to have
to be so hurried, so she told him he needn’t come every day. After
that, he only did so occasionally. They also found a nice little
park, about half way between the two towns, so a couple of times a
week, they would meet there at lunchtime.
They worked, sparred, fenced, and planted
both flower and vegetable gardens. She didn't have any eye for
details as far as what type of flower should go where for maximum
effect, or for a three-season effect; she just liked what she liked.
William, on the other hand, drove them to nursery and garden
centers, looked up information on gardening, and bought books on the
subject. He wound up doing most of the layout, though he made sure
to buy most of the flowers that she liked, even if they didn't
exactly fit into a planned garden.
He wanted to make many of the beds raised, so
he asked Clem to help him build those. Although William groused at
having to buy 'dirt,' Buffy convinced him that it would be
infinitely easier and less time consuming, than having to dig it all
out of the hard ground. Luckily, they were able to borrow an old
beat-up truck, which Edna still owned, for transporting the fifty
40lb. bags of dirt from the nursery to their garden. This dirt would
be their top 6 - 8 inches.
When it was finished, and all the flowers and
vegetables had been planted, it looked really great, and Buffy was
appreciative that he had such a good eye for beauty.
Clem decided that he also wanted a couple of
raised beds, and so William helped him with his, too.
"You know, Buffy, in the fall we could can
some of the tomatoes and other vegetables for the winter," Clem
suggested.
"Uh...yeah. Well...I'm not sure I'm the
canning type," Buffy said. In fact, she'd once seen a sign that
really epitomized her attitude on the whole domestic thing. It had
read: 'The only thing domestic about me, is that I live indoors.'
That was more or less, her motto.
"Well, it's not that hard, but if you don't
want to, I can probably can some of your vegetables for you," Clem
offered.
"You don't have to do that, I mean, it's not
that hard or expensive to just buy them when I need
them."
But Clem insisted that if he was going to can
for himself, he might as well do it for them, too.
She sighed. William and Clem were certainly
more domestic than she ever was or probably would be.
Oh, well.
The three of them shared a lot of dinners
that summer, mostly cooked on a small gas grill and served around
their new outdoor table and chairs. The guys would inevitably talk,
not about sports or such, but about home repairs. One weekend,
they'd finally made a plan to finish the bathroom floor, but first
they sanded the old, rough wood-hewn walls, and Buffy was finally
able to paint them, something she'd never done before. Part of it
was that she didn't want to change anything as it had been from the
time she'd come up there with him. Maybe if she'd lived there alone
for another 5 years, she might have changed her mind and made it
more to her liking, but except for little changes, it had pained her
to think of changing things from the way he'd had them.
However, now that the 'he' in question was
here and all for updating things, she had no problem
what-so-ever with the proposed changes. New floor and paint in
bathroom. Check. New toilet eventually. Check and double check!
Vampires didn't need much in the way of toilets, and this one had
obviously been put in as a second thought. Well, nevermind that. New
and improved kitchen cabinets and floor, eventually. Check and
check!
They'd taken a long weekend over July 4th, to
drive up the coast and visit some places that sounded interesting,
as well as visiting some vineyards, making it as far as Big Sur.
Dawn and John had gone with them. They'd splurged and come back with
half a case of their favorite new wine.
Buffy never saw the picture William had drawn
that night again. When she'd asked about it, he'd told her that he'd
accidentally ruined it, when his teacup had tipped over onto it. In
the interim, he'd made her lots of other lovely pictures, some even
in the same pose, but in modern clothes. She was going to ask him if
he could do that, why not of the dress, but she knew there was
something about that, which disturbed him. She had further proof of
that, when she leaned down to vacuum underneath their bed, and the
box was gone completely. She decided to not push the subject any
further.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JULY 26, 2009
SATURDAY
10:00PM
"So, now I think you must agree that A
Midsummer Night's Dream is the funnier play," William said to John,
as the four of them walked out of The Olde Globe Theatre, having
just seen the Taming of the Shrew.
"Hmm...I'll let you know over coffee," John
said, adding good naturedly, "if you’ll buy."
"Agreed," William said, as they wandered
towards Starbucks.
The tickets for the play had originally been
for June, but due to some construction going on at The Olde Globe,
the date had been changed.
"Hmm..." Buffy said as they approached the
coffee shop, "looks different than it did last time."
"Maybe it wasn't just The Olde Globe that was
getting a facelift; maybe it was all of Balboa Park," Dawn
suggested.
Buffy shrugged.
They ordered their favorites again; an Iced
Latte with skim milk for Buffy, Espresso for John, an Iced Mocha for
William, and an Iced Vanilla Mocha for Dawn, and took their
seats.
There were two guys behind the counter this
time; Eddie and Ralph, both law students from SDSU. This time when
the buzzer went off, Eddie immediately went to the back
office.
"I heard it," said Aaron to Eddie, as he
adjusted the monitors. His heart sped up, as he spotted the two
persons of immediate interest who had been there a couple of
months before. Again, they were with two other people.
"How long have they been here?"
"About 2 minutes, if that long," Eddie
replied.
"Okay, here's the plan..."
"So, what do you say now, John?"
"Okay, William, I give! I think that you're
right. Overall, A Midsummer Night's Dream is the funnier of the two
plays, both written and performed. But that's only because it's a
bit more textured. I still say Taming of the Shrew is good, even
better for just guffaws."
William grinned, "How about you girls, what
do you think?"
Buffy moaned, looking at Dawn, "They want us
to remember back to what we saw in May? Okay, I think I have to put
my money with A Midsummer Night's Dream, too," she said, smiling at
William, who smiled back at her, pleased.
"Dawn?" John asked.
"Uh...yeah, Midsummer Night's Dream. Sorry,
honey."
John threw up his hands; "The majority has
spoken, alas!"
They talked some more about the plays and
other things.
"So, same plan as before? You guys going to
follow us to Julian?" William asked.
"Sure, sounds good," John
answered.
Buffy got up from her seat, "I'm going to
make a pit stop before we get going," she said, looking at
Dawn.
"Yes, sister, I'll go with you," Dawn
grinned, "you know, it's really pathetic, she can't go to the
bathroom by herself."
William and John grinned, knowing how it was
with the girls.
"I'll have you know that I go to the bathroom
by myself all the time, isn't that so, William?"
"Well..." he said, blushing as he thought of
how they were both sometimes in and out the bathroom, regardless of
what the other happened to be up to at the moment. He cleared his
throat, "Yes, that's correct," he said, hoping this line of
discussion was at an end.
John was laughing as the girls walked
off.
"For a minute there, Buffy, I thought William
was going to give us T.M.I.," Dawn said, rolling her
eyes.
"Uh-uh, he knows better than that," she
laughed, as they walked into the bathroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"William, how about I pick up us some of
their house coffee for tomorrow morning and some of those scones
they have in the case over there?" John asked, pointing to the right
of the cash register.
"That’d be very nice, but unnecessary,
really. We have both coffee and tea at the house."
"I know you do, I just want to do this, that
alright?"
William nodded and John got up and walked to
the counter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This looks like our shot," Aaron said,
getting up, "now, get out there and distract them."
Eddie nodded and left the office.
Aaron went to the back of the room, and got
an empty garbage bag and put it into the spare garbage cart. He
opened the closet and unzipped a garment bag and slipped on the
maintenance jumpsuit and cap that Wolfram & Hart had provided.
Lastly, he put on a mustache and a pair of black rimmed glasses. He
opened the back door to the store and pulled the garbage cart
through it.
Eddie came up to the counter and nodded to
Ralph to take the new customer's order, while he waited on
John.
"What flavors are these scones?" John
asked.
"Hmm, let's see. Blueberry, apple, and
pineapple."
"William," John called over to him, "what's
your pleasure? Blueberry, apple, or pineapple?"
"Would you like a taste?" Eddie
asked.
"Sure, if you have some samples, I don't want
you to..."
"No, that's fine, we'll be getting some new
ones in tomorrow morning, anyway," Eddie said, taking three of the
scones out of the case."
John shrugged, as he turned around to
William, motioning him over with his hand.
William set down his coffee cup and walked
over to the case, just as Eddie was handing out small pieces of the
scones for them to taste.
Aaron, who had been watching from around the
corner, saw the perfect opening, and wheeled the cart into the cafe.
With a glance at the counter and towards the bathrooms, he quickly
picked up the four coffee cups off the table, and tossed them into
the special garbage bag, then turned around to leave.
Just then, Buffy and Dawn were coming out of
the bathroom.
"Shit!" Dawn said.
"What's shit?"
"That guy just threw away our drinks," Dawn
said, pointing at the man, now wheeling the cart out the door, "and
mine was practically full! You'd think he'd have known they belonged
to someone, since our jackets are on the backs of the chairs,
wouldn't you?"
Buffy looked, a couple of their programs from
the play were also there.
"Hey!" Buffy said, heading over to the door,
where the man was about to leave with his garbage cart.
Aaron ignored her, but Buffy caught up with
him and tapped him on the arm, "Hey! I'm talking to you, what's the
big idea, taking our drinks?" Buffy asked.
John and William turned from the counter, as
they heard Buffy talking.
Aaron whirled around and glared at her,
unable to think of what to say. Buffy repeated herself, noting both
the nervousness, and hostile body language.
"Miss?" Eddie called from the counter. "
Um... he's deaf, he doesn't speak either. I'm sure he just made a
mistake, we'll be glad to replace all your drinks for
free."
"Oh...I'm sorry," Buffy mumbled, as she
watched Aaron hurrying out the door, pushing the cart.
Buffy turned and walked over to the
counter.
"I'm sorry about that, Miss," Eddie said,
"he's a bit slow, too. Doesn't always notice things other people
would."
"Like the fact that someone has left their
table for a moment?"
"We'll be happy to replace all your drinks,
if you'll just tell me what you had," Eddie repeated, a nervous
smile pasted on his face, while Ralph looked on nervously, as
well.
"Never mind, I don't want anything else, but
you guys can, if you want," Buffy said, curtly.
William came over and put his arm around her,
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Can we just get out of here?" Buffy
said, her tone sharper than she intended, the incident having upset
her for some reason she couldn't define.
William nodded curtly and withdrew his arm,
"Of course," then looked at the others.
"I'm ready," Dawn said, shrugging and looked
over at John.
"That's fine," he said, picking up the bag,
containing the coffee and scones.
They got their jackets and walked outside.
"See you guys in Julian," William said, when
him and Buffy got to their car.
"See you then," Dawn said, looking over
quizzically at Buffy, who ignored the look.
William didn’t say much as he drove them out
of San Diego. He commented that John and Dawn were right behind
them, after losing them for a few minutes. Other than that, he
pretty much kept his eyes on the road.
"I’m sorry," Buffy said, once they got on the
highway.
"For what?"
"For snapping at you back there, at
Starbucks."
He patted her leg, letting her know that he
wasn’t upset about it. She put her head on his shoulder, and closed
her eyes, trying to forget about the stupid incident.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11:30PM
"We’re home," William said, gently shaking
her.
"Huh? What? Oh, I didn’t realize I’d dozed
off. Seems that's all I do when you drive us back from San
Diego."
"That's okay, I don't mind. No wonder you
wanted to leave, you were exhausted, although the coffee may have
helped with that," he grinned.
"Yeah, probably," she said, lightly, as she
got out of the car.
John and Dawn were already out of theirs,
holding their overnight bags.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once again, they played cards and board
games. This time, Dawn brought a Trvial Pursuit, Shakespeare
Edition, which of course, her and Buffy sucked at, while John and
William had no problem.
While they played, John and Dawn asked
William about his new job at the university, and he eagerly talked
about it and the class he was taking.
A couple of hours later, the girls were in
the kitchen putting away the night's collection of cups, plates,
etc., when Buffy looked over at Dawn.
"You know that thing that happened at
Starbucks? That was really weird."
"What? That guy who took our drinks thing?"
Dawn asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, he seemed...I don't know,
like really anxious when I confronted him."
"He's deaf, he probably gets his signals
crossed all the time..."
"No, Dawn. It was something else about it.
And I don't think he was deaf, either."
"Why?"
"Because he paused when I first called out to
him, then kept going."
"Are you sure?"
Buffy nodded, "About 95% sure. And when that
guy at the counter called to me to tell me about it, I saw him turn
his head the same time I turned mine."
"Maybe he just turned his when you turned
yours? I mean, lots of deaf people have to use their other senses,
so maybe he saw you."
"I don't know, it seemed like he turned his
before me, or at least at the same time. It was just...the whole
thing just seemed off somehow."
"Back to seeing elephants, when it's just
coffee?"
"I guess. I hope so," Buffy said, "I really
hope so."
END CHAPTER 132
CHAPTER 133 - FORCES GATHER
OFFICES OF WOLFRAM & HART
LOS ANGELES
JULY 26, 2009
11:00PM
Lilah reached across the bed to answer the
phone.
"Ms. Morgan? This is Aaron Hill, I'm the
manager at the Balboa Park Starbucks..."
"You got them? You're sure? Good! Just hang
onto them, and I'll have someone pick them up within the hour. Oh,
and I'll make sure the boss knows about your excellent work,
Aaron."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOS ANGELES
JULY 27, 2009
SUNDAY
7:00AM
SUNDAY
"What’s up?" Knox asked, stifling down a yawn
as he opened up the lab door to Lilah.
"This is what’s up," she said, holding out a
box. She’d gotten up the night before and had waited at the Wolfram
& Hart loading dock in back of the building for the truck to
arrive. When it had, she had personally signed for the cups, which
had been picked up in San Diego.
He took off the lid and looked at the four
coffee cups, each one in a separate slot. "You got me out of bed to
offer me Starbucks?" he asked, innocently.
"No, you idiot! It’s what’s in this coffee,
or on the lids! It’s the DNA, which I need you to isolate and
preserve."
"Sure, no problem. You want to tell me why?"
he asked, amiably.
"Do I ever?" she returned, throwing him a
backward glance. "Just make sure you get it done today."
"I can’t promise you that, it depends on some
variables."
"Such as?"
"Such as isolating the human DNA from the
coffee’s DNA."
Lilah looked at him, "Coffee’s
DNA?"
"Well, coffee comes from beans, beans grow,
all living things have DNA, therefore..."
"How long then?"
"Maybe three days, if I start right
now."
"Then you’d better start," she said, "but if
you get it done sooner, and correctly, I’ll see that you get a
bonus."
"I’ll try," Knox said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOS ANGELES
JULY 29, 2009
TUESDAY
9:00AM
"Tell her to come in," Angel said to his
secretary, who had just let him know that Lilah was there to see
him.
"Good morning, Angel," she said, smiling as
she walked in.
"What’s good about it?" he asked.
"How about this?" she said, handing him a
folder. It contained a tape of William and Buffy at the Balboa Park
Starbucks, and also the report from Knox that he’d been able to
isolate and preserve four distinct traces of DNA. And about a dozen
or more, not so distinct.
Angel looked up at Lilah, "Why so
many?"
"Well, Knox conjectures that some of the not
distinct ones might come from the employees themselves, as they put
their hands on the lids to close them, others from factory workers
as they put together the products. Everyone leaves DNA
tracers."
"Shouldn’t workers be wearing plastic gloves
or something? Make a note of it, from now on, everyone that has
anything to do with Starbucks, uses gloves."
"Angel, Knox assures me that there are at
least four very strong ones. And those came from saliva traces. I’m
sure that your William and Buffy are included in those, and the
other two, her sister Dawn and boyfriend."
"He’s sure?"
Lilah nodded.
"Very well, he’d better be. Second thing;
were you able to locate the most important participant in our little
scheme?"
Lilah nodded, "He’s in a federal prison in
Texas, high security; think it used to be run by the initiative, but
there’s been a turnover since they’re not officially an organization
anymore."
"So, what are you telling me,
then?"
"I’m telling you that it shouldn’t be that
hard to break him out, not with the schmucks who took over the
inititative’s posts. We already positioned someone on the inside,
when you first told me about him."
Angel nodded, "Good, then lets do this and
get him to Los Angeles as soon as possible. Make him an offer he
can’t refuse."
Lilah started to walk out, "Oh, and send for
Dru, too."
"Where do you want her, once she’s
here?"
"There’s some holding cells in the basement,
which ought to work just fine; completely concrete, but with
amenities. I just want to make sure that everything and everyone is
here and ready, as soon as it’s a go."
"Aren’t you worried about doing this right
under the Senior Partner’s noses?"
"No, I think we came to an understanding a
long time ago. As long as I’m not working against their interests,
they don’t mind if I take a little time and resources on my own
personal projects."
"Very well, Angel."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMARILLO, TEXAS
WORTH FEDERAL PRISON
THURSDAY
JULY 31, 2009
7:00PM
Prisoner 5382-94 sat on the side of his cot
in his windowless 6’ x 8’ cell, reading the latest pulp fiction
novel, which had come by on the library cart that day. Only once
here at Worth, had he been able to find a book, which although
looked to be a pulp fiction, actually had quite a few caster’s
spells and factoids about magic. But most the time, it was the same
old 20 or so books, that he and the other 2 dozen or so maximum
security prisoners had to choose from. This book, ‘The Maiden from
Glouchester,’ he’d already read probably 10 times, since he’d been
incarcerated here for the past half dozen years.
Before that, for two and a half years, he’d
been in a prison in California, which he was sure he would’ve
eventually been able to escape from. At the very least, their
library was infinitely better. He’d been able to request all sorts
of books which a chaos worshipper like himself could find handy,
usually under the guise of a romance novel, but with spells hidden
within the verses; if one knew how to find them.
But all that changed with his being moved to
this prison in the middle of nowhere.
The days and nights were endlessly the same.
He was only allowed out once a day, for 50 minutes, and then by
himself. Most of the prison guards didn’t talk much to him at all,
only stopping to give him his trays of food, or to pick them up
again, half an hour later. He was only allowed a spork in which to
eat his meals with, and that had to be accounted for, as did
everything else on his plate.
The only thing that had changed in his barren
landscape for the past year at all, had been a new guard, who had
started a couple of weeks ago.
The man’s badge read Win Bigg. The prisoner
had to smile at that.
"It’s short for Winston," the man told him,
"parents used to be tobacco farmers."
"Interesting," prisoner 5382-94
replied.
That evening when he delivered his tray at
6:00PM, there was something underneath it.
"Put this on at 9:00pm, sharp. No questions
now!" Win told him.
Prisoner 5382-94 looked at him quizzically,
then slowly lifted up the tray.
Now Win had returned for the tray. He only
nodded to the prisoner, but made no eye contact or further
comment.
At 8:00pm sharp, the lights went out for the
evening, and the semi-nightlights came on; which were still fairly
bright. At least his cot wasn’t directly underneath one. He closed
the book and lay down on his pillow, underneath which lay a type of
mask, which had been laid flat under the tray. He turned over
towards the wall and tried to examine it. It was very thin, but he
thought he could feel a filter of some sort, over the mouth and
nose.
Laying there, counting the minutes off in his
head, he finally got to 8:59:45 and reached under his pillow and put
the mask on. He lay there, his hands underneath his head and waited
for whatever was going to happen to start. Approximately 20 seconds
later, he heard a thud, then another, followed by another still. He
rose up and looked out and was surprised to see a small group of
heavily armed men, all coming towards his cell. They looked at him;
Win nodded, then took out the keys and opened the door.
"Ethan Rayne?"
The prisoner nodded.
"I’ve been authorized to offer you a job, the
details, and for whom you will be working with will be forthcoming,
but which are suited to your particular skills. If you accept, after
successful completion, we will supply you with false identity papers
and you can go anywhere you’d like."
"And if I refuse?" Ethan Rayne
asked.
"If you refuse, our orders are that you are
to be terminated. Now, what say you?"
Ethan smiled under his mask, "I’d say the
first offer is more than generous in it’s terms. I
accept."
"Good, let’s go then," the man said,
handcuffing Ethan to himself and heading towards the guard’s door.
Again, Win opened the door and let them through. Ethan looked around
and saw that here and there, guards lay with their heads on their
desks, obviously passed out.
"Did you disable the security cameras and get
the video feed?" The man who had talked to Ethan asked a
subordinate.
The man nodded, and pulled two tapes out of
his pocket to show the guard.
"Good."
Win led them out into the courtyard, where
prisoners not in isolation were allowed to mingle. It was only
slightly larger than his courtyard, but at least it had a basketball
hoop and some grass. He ducked his head, as he heard a sound from
above.
"It’s our helicopter. Relax, man. You ought
to be glad this is our stealth helicopter."
Ethan took a couple of deep breaths to calm
his sensory deprived nerves. Sure enough, when he looked up, he
could barely see the black monstrosity landing.
The helicopter landed and Ethan, the four
guards, presumable from Wolfram & Hart, and Win Bigg got
onboard.
About 10 minutes later, they landed at a
small airfield outside of Amarillo, and boarded a private, corporate
jet.
"How about undoing these handcuffs now?"
Ethan asked, once they’d taken off.
"Sorry, nothing doing. I was told that you’re
to be under constant supervision, including this.
"What am I going to do? Disarm all 5 of you,
then fly the plane myself?" Ethan laughed.
"Doesn’t matter," the guard said, "we also
have orders to gag you."
"Oh, I do say, that’s terribly..." a gag was
place in his mouth, and his other hand, then cuffed to guard number
two, as guard number one got up to use the plane’s
bathroom.
Ethan struggled until finally, the second
guard tore off the gag.
"What?"
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" Ethan
asked.
"Then you either go in your pants or we hold
it for you. So, do you have to go right now?"
Ethan scowled and shook his head.
"Good," the guard said, and replaced the
gag.
END CHAPTER 133
CHAPTER 134 - BIRTHDAY PLANS
AUGUST 1, 2009
FRIDAY
7:00PM
Buffy was in the kitchen, preparing a salad
for dinner. She'd already taken the fish out, and following a recipe
she'd seen, she'd seasoned it and wrapped it in foil. All that
needed to be done with it, was to put it on the grill once William
was home. She looked down at her watch, noting the time. Since he'd
only had to work a half day today at the university, William had
decided that instead of working tomorrow at Montessori, he was going
to try to get everything done there this afternoon and evening, so
they'd have the whole weekend to themselves.
The stereo was on and she was humming along
to some song about a couple riding a bus through Ohio, which made
her think of Michigan. One thought led to another, and before she
knew it, she was thinking about the cottage at Fuller's Resort and
the time they'd spent there last summer, of Leroy, of how they'd
gotten to know each other again while there with Dawn and Willow.
All of it.
"Whoa...idea!" Buffy said aloud. She checked
the time again, then put down the knife and went to the bedroom. She
went to the closet and dragged down a small, blue and red shoebox
from the shelf. Inside were some of the things she'd put in there
from their time at Fuller's. There were some of the shells from the
beach, a Fuller's brochure, the container with the sand that William
had collected the last day, a receipt from the local Wal-Mart, a
card from the barber shop, and other mementos. There was also a
piece of paper with Leroy's phone number and address.
She took her cell phone and the number
outside.
"First things first," she mumbled, pressing
#3 on her cell, "pick up, pick up!"
"Hi Buffy!" Dawn said.
"How'd you...oh, yeah. I forget about caller
ID, even when I have it."
"What's up?"
"I just had a huge, enormous, gigantic brain
storm and I was hoping you could tell me if you think it's a good
idea or just plain crazy."
"Wow, what is it?" Dawn asked, hearing the
excitement in Buffy's voice.
"Well, I was thinking about what to do for
William's birthday, which is two weeks from now, and I had this
crazy idea. William is finished with his T.A. position and his
watercolor class on the 8th, and so am I, except I have to go back
on the following Monday for parent/teacher conferences; otherwise
we'd have that weekend too..."
"So, what's your idea?"
"Well...I was thinking about calling Leroy
and if it was at all possible, to rent the cabin in Michigan
from him for maybe about a week or a little longer. William really
loved it there, and I think he'd be excited to go back again. Then I
was thinking that it would be even better if you and John came, too.
And I could call Willow and ask her if she and Kennedy could come,
maybe even Xander and his family..."
"Wow! That's is some idea you got there!"
Dawn said.
"I know, it's probably just
crazy..."
"No, it's not crazy, just ambitious. But I
like it, it would be very cool, if it works out."
"Really? You think so?"
"I do."
"What about you guys?"
"I'll have to check with John, I think he
might be able to get some time. He’s got a bunch of it that he has
to use up, and I'm free. As long as I get back in time for
registration, I'm cool."
"Really?" Buffy asked, smiling.
"Yeah, sounds like fun. Oh, one question, how
are you planning on getting there?"
"Uh...I didn't even think that far. Well,
flying would be a lot quicker, if I could talk William into it. If
not, we can always drive across country. At least he could share the
driving now, and it wouldn't take as long as it did last year, if we
didn't stop."
"And, if we're not in a big
Winnebago."
Buffy and Dawn shared a laugh over
that.
"It was fun though, wasn't it?" Dawn
asked.
"Yeah, it really was. Except for the Grand
Canyon."
"Yeah, excepting that," Dawn
agreed.
"Well, if John can come, we could take his
car, it’s the nicest one of all of ours, but I think it might still
take at least 4 days each way, that’s 8 days of driving."
Buffy did the math, "That’s another bad thing
about driving. William’s birthday is on the 15th. If we left the
morning of the 12th, we might still be on the road. I wonder how
many miles it is?"
"I think I remember Xander saying it was over
2000, even if we did 600 miles a day, that’s still over 3
days."
"Damn! I wish we could just leave that
weekend, that way we’d be there by Wednesday at the
latest."
"Well, that wouldn’t work out for John
anyway. I know that’s his weekend to work, because he’s off this
weekend. Besides, aren’t you counting your chickens before they
hatch? You don’t even know if Leroy is going to be willing to rent
you the cabin."
Buffy sighed, "Yeah, guess I’d better find
that out first of all, then I should check with William. Though, I
think he’ll be happy about the idea of going to Fullers, if not keen
on the flying idea."
"You never know, Buffy. He seems to be really
out of his shell these days. Besides, lots of people have never
flown before, even if they weren’t born in the 1800's.
"True, I only flew once before last summer
when Willow and I flew to New York to see Xander, and I don’t even
remember that. Mom said her, dad, and I went to visit some relatives
in Illinois, when I was about three."
"See, there you go."
"Guess I’d better call Leroy, then and see if
it’s even possible first of all."
"Do that, then talk to William and let me
know, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks for the advice."
"Anytime. Oh, what are you going to do if the
Fuller’s idea doesn’t pan out?"
"Who knows? Maybe just take a trip up the
coast or something like that. Something within driving distance,
more than likely."
They hung up and Buffy called up Leroy.
"This is Leroy Roberts," the voice
said.
"Leroy, this is Elizabeth Worthington, I
don’t know if you remember..."
"...I can’t come to the phone right now, so
leave a message and I’ll get..."
"Oh, damn!" Buffy
said, just about to hang up, when she heard the phone being picked
up.
"Elizabeth? That you? As in Elizabeth
and William?
"It’s me," Buffy said.
"Damn girl! I was just thinking about you and
William the other day."
"Wow, you were? How come?"
"I don’t know, can’t remember now. Think it
might have been some movie I saw. Anyway, how you been?"
"I’m good, real good in fact. We both are.
And you?"
"I’m good, too."
They talked for a while, Leroy told her of
what he’d been up to, including thinking about taking a cut in
salary in order to work closer to home.
"Do you ever see Dr. Turner?" she
asked.
"Once in a while. He’s up for head of the
psych unit now, but I’m not sure he’s going to take it. I talked to
him in passing one day right after the job opened up, and he told me
he was one of the candidates. I understand why he wouldn’t want it,
though."
"Why?"
"Because you have to play politics with the
man then. Then you become the man, whether you like it or not. He’s
a decent sort, but I don’t think the rest of ‘em are, so he’s
probably got to be considering that."
Buffy nodded. She knew all too well what kind
of people could slip by the heads of the hospital, but she still
thought that maybe it would be better if more people like Dr. Turner
were in charge.
Buffy talked about all the things that
William had been up to since last summer.
"Still without his memories? That’s pretty
impressive having to learn all that stuff again, and actually making
it work for him; getting back in the saddle ‘o life," Leroy
chuckled.
"Yeah," Buffy agreed.
"Leroy, the reason I’m calling is that
William’s birthday is two weeks from today. I got to thinking about
how special it would be for him, and for me, too, if we could spend
a week or so at the cabin at Fullers again. And I’d certainly be
more than willing to pay you to rent it. That is, if you’re willing
to rent it to me."
"When did you say you’d be wanting
it?"
"Um...well, maybe from the 12th, for about a
week to 10 days."
"I don’t see any problem with that. I’m going
to be down south in Georgia for about a week, starting next week,
but I’ll be back around the 14th. I’ll just let the owners of
Fuller’s know that you’re going to be there, and you can get the
spare keys from them. How’s that?"
"Really?" Buffy asked, excited.
"Sure, you took care of it fine when you were
there, and I’m not going to be needing it, so I’d be happy to have
you stay as my guest again. Oh, and I don’t want no rent money,
either."
"No, I can’t..."
"I said I didn’t want your money, didn’t I?
One day, I’m going to travel out west, and you and William are going
to put me up. That’ll make us even, okay?"
"Okay, that’s a promise! Oh, you said you’ll
be back around the 14th, right? Will you at least come up and see
us?"
"Damn straight I will, just leave me a
message that you’re there on my machine, okay."
"Great! I’m so happy! Now, I just have to let
William know."
"Surprise, huh?"
"Yeah, but I can’t really keep it a surprise,
since I have to make airplane reservations, and that’s the thing, I
don’t know if he’s ever flown, so...that might freak him
out."
"Well, he probably just don’t recall it,
after all, he didn’t get here from England on a boat, did he?" Leroy
asked.
Buffy laughed, "Guess not," she said, but she
was pretty sure he actually had. As in, before they ever had
planes!
"You let me know, and I’ll set it up,
Elizabeth."
"I will. Thank you so much,
Leroy."
"Anytime. Be talkin’ to ya."
"Bye," Buffy said, hanging up the
phone.
She called Dawn back and told her the good
news. She was still talking to her, when she heard the DeSoto.
"I gotta go, William’s home," she told
Dawn.
"Hey," Buffy said, as he came around the
house to the back, "you get all finished?"
"Yeah, finally," he said, nodding.
He plopped down on the nearest chair and took
off his grass stained shoes, followed by his socks.
"You hungry?"
"Very, but I thought I’d take a shower first.
Do I have time?"
"Yeah, I was waiting for you to get home. I
was just going to make some fish on the grill."
"Good. Want me to start it for
you?"
She nodded, and William got up and went over
to the grill. She went inside the porch and came back with the box
of long matches. She heard the ‘whoosh’ of the gas igniting as he
lit the pilot light.
"Want me to do anything else?"
"Nope, just go and get all unsmelly," Buffy
said, smiling.
"Do I smell?" he asked, lifting his arm
up.
She grinned at him, "Just in a working man
sort of way," she said, coming over to him and putting her arm
around him, "not that I mind. Much. Kinda sexy."
He kissed her, hugging her gently, careful
not to get her clothes dirty with his, "Hold that thought, luv. Be
back in a few," he said, giving her a pat on the behind, before
walking into the house.
She put the fish on, brought out the salad,
and set the table, even bringing out some non-citronella candles.
Lastly, she opened a bottle of the wine they’d brought back from
their trip up the coast last month and poured two glasses. She was
just turning off the grill, when he came back out.
Buffy looked over at him, noticing that he
hadn’t yet combed his hair. She didn’t know why, but there was
something totally endearing to her about the way his hair looked
after a shower, all curly and unruly, untamed.
He noticed her watching him, then felt his
head, "Oh, better go comb it..."
"Don’t. Please? I like it."
He shook his head, laughing, but didn’t go
back into the house.
They ate dinner and were having their second
glass of wine, when he looked at her, noting that she was trying to
suppress a grin, not for the first time that evening.
"What are you up to?"
"Huh? Me?’
"Yeah, you look like you’ve been wanting to
say something all evening since I got home."
"You’re right," she said, getting up from the
table and coming over to him. "Scoot your chair back," she
ordered.
He did and she took up her place on his
lap.
"I had this idea and I think you’re going to
like it a lot," she said and kissed him, tasting the wine on his
tongue. Her hands drawn like magnets to his unruly hair.
"I think I like it already," he said, as the
warmth of the wine and her behind on his lap made him feel all
languid and excited at the same time.
"No, not that kind of idea," she said,
giggling, as his hands had snaked up the back of her blouse and had
somehow undone her bra. "Stop that," she scolded.
He put out his bottom lip, "Shouldn’t have
sat on my lap, if you didn’t want me to..." he stopped, noticing her
scowling, "okay, what’s your idea, luv?"
She told him about having talked to Leroy
about staying at the cabin again, and about her idea of Dawn and
John coming, and maybe even the others, too. And lastly, about them
flying, rather than driving.
"We’d be there for your birthday," she added,
almost shyly, "I wanted to do something special for
your...."
He silenced her with a kiss, "Elizabeth," he
said, his voice full of emotion, "what did I ever do to deserve
you?"
"Does that mean you like my idea?"
He nodded, "It’s a marvelous
idea."
"And the flying?"
William swallowed, "Well...I wish we could
drive, but I think...think I might be willing to fly, so that we’ll
have more time there, and less on the road. I just hope as we’re
getting on the plane, I don’t get a case of frozen feet."
"Cold feet."
"Cold feet?"
"Yeah, it’s called cold feet, when you freeze
up. Usually it’s a term used for when guys decide they didn’t want
to get married after all and ..."
"You know that’ll never happen!" he said,
grabbing her hand with the ring on it.
"I know," she said, and she did. There was no
doubt in her mind what-so-ever that William would ever change his
about wanting to marry her, about wanting her. It was a lovely,
secure feeling that she’d grown to accept.
"So, I can tell Leroy yes? And Dawn? Make
reservations to fly there?"
He nodded.
Buffy kissed him hard, "This is going to be
the best birthday, you wait and see!"
"Well, I can’t think of any place I’d rather
to celebrate the last year of my 20’s. No, I take that
back."
She sat up, a worried look on her
face.
He rubbed his hand up her arm, over her
shoulder, and up to her face. "Anyplace that has you in it, is the
best place; no matter where that is."
"Even in a garbage dumpster?"
"Even in a rat infested sewer," he
said.
"Even if they were crawling with
mag..."
He brought her head to his, and kissed her
again. She giggled as she felt him shudder. Sometimes it was just
fun to make him squirm, but a lot more fun to make him do it in a
good way. Umm...case in point, she thought as she pushed her bottom
down on his lap with a bit more firmness and felt him squirm.
In a very good way.
END CHAPTER 134
CHAPTER 135 - POSITIONING
LOS ANGELES
SOMEWHERE IN THE BOWELS OF WOLFRAM &
HART
AUGUST 6, 2009
WEDNESDAY
EARLY EVENING
Well, one thing Ethan could say about his
spartan accommodations, is that the food was better, that is, when
they deemed to feed him.
He'd been in this small room, only slightly
better than his cell had been, for the last week or so, as far as he
could tell. The lights stayed on all day and night, making it hard
to tell one time of day from another. Nobody had yet spoken to him
or told him what they wanted from him. Between once and three times
a day, or what he supposed was a day, a slot about a foot square in
the heavy steel door was opened, and a bag of food was dropped onto
the floor. No utensils; not even a spork. Oh well, the food was
ample, tasty, and filling, if not consistenly delivered and a bit
messy to eat.
In one corner of the ceiling there was a
small camera, which followed any movement he made. Otherwise, there
was nothing other than a small sink, toilet, and the four walls for
company.
On the seventh day, Ethan was suddenly jarred
out of the silence by an intercom, which must have been attached to
the camera, which he hadn't noticed before.
"Hello, Rayne," the voice said, "I trust your
stay has been a pleasant one."
"I can't complain," Ethan answered, "except
for maybe the lights being on all the time. Makes it hard for a
bloke to get a good night's sleep."
"Ah, well, some things can't be
helped."
"Are you ready to find out about the job
we've taken the trouble to break you out of prison for, is
about?"
"Why not? Can I ask you how it is that you
know of my work?"
He heard laughter coming from the monitor;
"Let's just say I was around when some others were affected by your
plying your interesting trade."
"Sunnydale?"
"That's enough questions!"
Ethan tried to make out source of the voice,
only it seemed that it was being purposely distorted, so he couldn't
get a handle on it.
"So, what do you need me to do?" asked
Ethan.
"I need a strong protection spell, cast by a
coven of witches, disrupted for a while."
"How long?"
"Just for a night, a few hours should do the
trick. Can you do that?"
"Not exactly. I mean, not me personally. I
don't have that sort of power-breaking ability, but I can cause
enough chaos to render it broken."
"How?"
"I can summon enough demons to get the job
done," Ethan replied.
"My next question then, is can you summon
then remotely?"
"Remotely?"
"Yes. The coven is in England. Outside of
London."
Ethan thought for a moment, "As long as you
have a specific spot on the map for me to focus on, then I'll be
able to do it, but I'll have to at least go there in spirit form in
order for the summoning to work. But don't worry, you'll have
something of mine that will still tether me to this
place."
"And what would that be?"
"My body, of course."
The voice over the intercom
grunted.
"Tell me what ingredients you're going to
need," the voice said.
After Ethan had listed them, he asked, "When
will I be doing this, exactly?"
"Why, do you need to do something otherwise
to get ready?"
"Uh, no. Just curious."
"Within a few days."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She slender, dark-haired woman sat on the
edge of the bed, riveted to the screen, which played the images on a
loop.
No shutting off!
No reprieve!
No relief!
Over and over and over again!
At first she'd screamed, cursed, and thrown
things at it, but there wasn't anything hard enough in the room to
break it. Neither was there any way to pull it out of the wall,
since it had been placed near the ceiling of the tall room. She
wished she'd learned to scale walls, like some of the more powerful
vampires she'd known could. Wish she'd taken a lesson or two from
Drac on that; though he had shown her the thrall thing, which had
come easily to her.
And so she sat, her eyes narrowed, dark and
angry, as she watched Spike. Her Spike! Her William! Now, an
abomination; human again, and with that slayer bitch!
She heard a key being turned in the lock,
then pushed open. Slowly, she turned toward the sound. Not since
she'd been here, had anyone passed through it. Bags of blood had
been delivered through a slot in the door, which opened on one side,
then a tray would slide forward, causing a door to pop open on her
side, and the bags would drop onto the floor.
Angel looked down at the bags that had
collected there, "Hello, Dru," he said.
"Angel! I should have known," she hissed,
"you always did enjoy games of torture."
"Oh, Dru! Is that any way to greet your
sire?"
He came over to her and pulled her up,
feeling her thin wrists, as he did, "You've been a bad girl, not
eating since you've been here, and I've brought you the finest blood
we have."
"I don't drink cold blood from bags!" she
said. "Or warmed by things called microwaves," she said, motioning
her head to the only thing she hadn't thrown at the screen, because
that was inside the wall, too.
"I could force you, you know."
She just looked at him defiantly, her eyes
yellow.
He laughed, "But I won't. He took out his
walkie-talkie, "Bring in the kid."
The door was opened and a young man in his
20's was shoved in, the door slamming behind him.
"Mr. Angel? I think there's been some
mistake...I didn't steal those pens, really..."
The boy babbled on as Angel turned to Dru,
gesturing to the boy.
She walked up to him, morphing into game
face, as the young man's fear and blood assaulted her
senses.
"Please! Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! Mr.
Angel!" The boy screamed as Dru, struck his neck with her nails, a
long stream of blood spurting out as his carotid artery was cut.
Within seconds Dru had him by the throat and was draining him, her
body starved for blood over the past week.
"Dru?" Angel said, walking up to her, now in
game face, as well. "Save some for me," he said, pulling the boy
towards him. Dru pulled back, but he backhanded her, sending her
sprawling across the room. He grabbed the boy and latched onto the
other side of his neck, drinking for a few minutes. It was
satisfying, yet controlling his urge, more so; that was pure
artistry. That control was what allowed him to head Wolfram &
Hart, allowed him to plan out the sweetest vengeance of all. And
unlike Dru, he didn’t mind blood warmed in the microwave, straight
from the Red Cross, if that’s what it took. Besides, he’d rather
developed a yen for the rich taste of otter blood. Yes, it had been
a long time since he had tasted blood, straight from a human.
Dru watched him, a knowing glint in her eyes.
She sat up. With one arm, Angel tossed the boy towards her. She
caught him easily and sunk her fangs into him once more, drinking
until she could feel his heart come to a stop.
Angel stood over her and extended his hand,
pulling her up.
"Now that we've been social, Dru, tell me,
how do you like the show?" Angel said, pointing to the screen on the
wall, now featuring William and Buffy at the Starbuck's on Dana
Point.
She stared at the screen for a moment, her
voice low; "I knew it, Angel, I knew my William was gone and then,
he was back. The stars, they told me," she said, looking at
him.
"Yes. Yes he is," he said, his face going
dark a moment, as he glanced up at the screen and saw them in
the jewelry store.
"And with her, the slayer!" Dru spat
the name out. "I knew...knew it before he did, that he wanted her.
Did you know that our Spike once threatened to kill me for the
slayer?
Angel shook his head, "That wasn’t very nice
of him, was it, Dru?"
"Right after you tried to set Darla and me on
fire," she said, accusingly.
"I’m sorry about that, Dru."
She looked at him suspiciously, without
replying.
"You loved the slayer, too. Why do you
all want her?" Dru asked, a puzzled look on her
face.
"I’m over it," he said, curtly, "way over
it!"
Angel walked over to the bed and sat on the
edge, motioning for Dru to do the same.
"I’ve done a lot of things that I’m sorry
for, Dru, trying to..."
"Trying to be a good dog."
"Yes, but I know what I am now."
"A bad dog?"
"A top dog, one with power. One who does what
he wants and makes things happen; one who wants you to help
me correct a certain situation," he said, motioning to the video
playing once more.
"You want me to kill the slayer for you?" Dru
asked, gleefully, feeling a sense of excitement surge through her,
which she hadn’t felt in years.
"No, not the slayer." Angel said.
Dru hissed her frustration, "Why? Why can't I
kill her?"
"I'll deal with her myself, "Angel said,
"later. What I want you to do is to kill William."
Dru tilted her head to the side, then began
to giggle, "You want me to kill him, then turn him back into Spike,
so we can be a little family again?"
Angel shook his head, standing up in front of
her, and stroking her hair, "No, Dru darling. You’re not
understandin’...William...Spike; he's been irreparably tainted
beyond anything that we can ever fix again."
Dru nodded her head, "He tastes like
ashes."
"It’s sad, I know," Angel said, as his hand
slid down the front of her dress to fondle her breast. He bent over
until his mouth was next to her ear, "Think! It’ll be just like it
was in the beginning - you, me..."
"Darla?"
"Darla’s dead."
"I know, Angel. Then it won’t be just like it
was..."
"No, it’ll be just you and me, sweet thing,"
he said, pushing her back, so that she lay on the bed, her legs over
the side. He pulled up her dress and quickly undid his pants and
without fanfare, pulled her legs around his waist and roughly pushed
inside her. Iciness to ice.
"Just daddy and me?" Dru asked, grinning.
"And Miss Edith?"
"Yes, darling, just you and me; and Miss
Edith. Together again, forever."
END CHAPTER 135
CONT. CH.
136 - 139
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