Author: M. Jade
Title: Hot Summer Night
Email: m_jade@hotmail.com
Summary: Late night research + heat wave = ?
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to “Restless”
Feedback: Please, sir. I want some more
Disclaimer: So we all know I have nothing to do with BtVS. So what? I
wrote it anyway!
Distribution: Strange Brew, Bite Me…Please, slayerette.org can have it,
anyone else ask
Notes: Written after listen to a little too much Meat Loaf, although it has
nothing to do with the song “Hot Summer Night (You Took the Words Right Out
of My Mouth)”
Thanks: To my lovely coworker who thought of the ice

**************************************************************

“You took the words right out of my mouth. Oh, it must have been while you
were kissing me.” Meat Loaf, “Hot Summer Night (You Took the Words Right
Out of My Mouth)”, written by Jim Steinman.

Added just cause I liked the lyrics. *g*

**************************************************************


A heat wave had rolled into Sunnydale. The heat and humidity had seemed to
cling to the city for the past week, and the forecast showed no relief in
sight. The whole town seemed to be feeling it. Tempers flared among the
agitated populace, among other things. It also made the most normal of
activities nearly impossible.

After a very short meeting of the so-called Scooby Club, Buffy had gone on
patrol with Riley, Xander had headed off the work, Tara to her summer class,
and Spike had decided to make a stop at the local butcher for his weekly
supply of blood, leaving Giles and Willow alone to research the demon of the
week. “Wasn’t your super supposed to get this air conditioner fixed,”
Willow groaned as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her
hand. Giles gave a short nod.

“Yes, but it seems that the repair is beyond him. It’ll take another two
days for him to get the company to fix the bloody thing,” the former Watcher
explained as he wiped his own drenched brow.

“How are you even supposed to sleep in this place! It’s like a furnace in
here, Giles!”

“Not that bloody well,” Giles muttered. He and Willow went back to trying
to read their respective books, but the heat was beginning to get to them,
and it was far too difficult to focus. Finally, after he couldn’t take it
any more, Giles declared, “This is too much!” He silently got off the couch
he had been sitting on and walked to the kitchen. He opened the door to his
freezer and pulled out a full tray of ice cubes. He took a hand-full and
replaced the tray back in the freezer. He came back into the living room
and handed some ice cubes to a grateful Willow.

“Thanks,” she breathed as she palmed the cooling ice. She automatically
began to rub the ice around her neck and shoulders. Giles began to follow
her lead, letting the ice cool him as he sat back down. They continued on
in silence, for a short time, letting the ice do it’s work. Until Giles
began to eye the sensitive skin of Willow’s neck. He took a moment to take
in the graceful curves, a distraction Willow soon noticed. “Are you okay,
Giles?” she asked quietly as she stopped.

“Ye-yes,” he stammered, silently admonishing himself for looking at Willow
that way. He was being an old fool, he told himself. She’s no more than a
friend, he had to remind himself. A beautiful, charming, and wonderful
friend, but a friend none the less, and you don’t look at a friend that way.
He tried to get back to the work, but he kept finding himself taking in
the view of her long legs that were exposed by the shorts she had worn or
the gentle swell of her breasts that her tank top couldn’t hide.

Not that Willow wasn’t distracted herself. She couldn’t help but to steal a
glance at Giles’ chest and the muscles she knew must be underneath that tee
shirt he had worn or give an appreciative nod at his form-fitting jeans.
“Goddess, that’s Giles’,” she thought with a slight air of disbelief.
Willow hadn’t really taken the time to take in his features since she had
abandoned her crush on him some time before, but now she clearly remembered
why she had had one in the first place. “You can’t say that he’s let
himself go,” she thought with a giggle. “Bad Willow,” she chided herself.
“Tara. Think of Tara!” The idea didn’t seem to work too well, especially
when Giles shifted in his seat, causing his shirt to ride up just a bit,
exposing some of the firm skin beneath. “Um, I need some more ice,” Willow
said quickly as she dashed for the kitchen. “Can I get you some, Giles,”
she called.

“Yes,” Giles managed to squeak as he got a nice view of Willow’s ass. “Ice
is good,” he told himself. Willow quickly came back and handed him some
more ice cubes, which he gratefully accepted. Just the electric feel of
that simple touch nearly drove him mad, so he figured it was a good thing he
had the ice. He had rubbed down his neck and arms, but his shirt had become
drenched in sweat and still clung to him uncomfortably. Willow couldn’t
help but notice.

“You can take your shirt off if it would make you more comfortable, Giles,”
Willow offered softly. He gave her a pointed look, then thought better of
it.

“Oh, bugger it,” he declared to himself as he peeled the shirt off. Then he
heard Willow softly take in a breath. “What… Are you okay, Willow,” he
asked.

“Yes,” she stammered. “Especially if you count the view from here,” she
added to herself. Now she was convinced that Giles had taken care of
himself. They tried once again to get back to work, but it was an
impossible task. Giles kept thinking of the young nymph that had been
haunting his dreams since he had met Willow, the one he hadn’t even told
Olivia about, and Willow kept thinking about all the daydreams she had had
about the older librarian back in high school. Actually, she decided, this
is better than any of the ones I could have thought up. A sweaty,
shirt-less Giles, alone with her and some ice? Definitely daydream-y.

As Willow was pondering her daydreams, she absently began to rub some ice on
her chest and lower neck, just above her tank top. It liked to have driven
Giles bonkers, and he finally couldn’t stand it any more. Willow opened her
eyes to see Giles closing the gap between them, thinking, “Please say he’s
going to kiss me.”

He met her mouth with a fervor he didn’t realize he possessed, and she
returned in kind. All the tension that had built up over the past three
years between them was let loose in one swift motion. All the waiting, the
what ifs, the others who were supposed to fill their lives. It was gone in
one moment, with one simple kiss. After some time, they finally parted, and
stared at each other.

“Did what I think happen just happen,” she asked quickly.

“What would that be?”

“You kissed me. And I kissed you back,” she said decisively.

“Then, yes. I believe it did.” She gave him a nod and a smile.

“Good, because I thought it may have been a dream.” He gave her a nervous
glance. What they had done, the line they had crossed…

“Do you want it to be a dream?” he questioned softly, to make sure.

“No, I happen to like the reality.”

“Then it’s yours,” he offered. She gave him another smile and kissed him
back.

“This is even better than I could have imagined,” she sighed has they broke
apart again. Giles raised his eyebrow and gave her a glance.

“You’ve imagined this?” he asked with a wry grin. Willow gave him a happy
nod.

“Not exactly this way, but the point is still the same,” she explained.
“What about you, mister. Have you thought of this before?” She practically
dared him to spill all the fantasies he had had. The thought was tempting.

“Well, we don’t have to go into that… Aren’t we supposed to be researching,
Willow,” he adding teasingly. Willow giggled.

“We are. Just not the type you’re thinking of,” she added. “I don’t see
how a break could hurt anyway…” Giles shook his head.

“We aren’t supposed to.” he said softly, reminding Willow of another time
when she ‘wasn’t supposed to’. “Giles is not Xander,” she reminded herself.
“And this is not the factory.” Willow gave Giles another kiss, and he
relented to her touch.

“Perhaps we could take a break…” he breathed. Willow returned by nipping
gently at his earlobe.

“Do you want to get the ice, or shall I?” Willow asked.