CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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Author: Spellbound Dinner had been an entirely uneventful affair, they had eaten at a small café around the corner and talked about everything. Each woman revealing her nervousness and instant attraction to the other. In the small café, Tara managed to relax, her fear at being hounded by the, as yet unidentified man being pushed to the very back of her mind. In the company of Willow, everything that was harmful and possibly dangerous seemed a millions miles away, in the exquisite emerald eyes of her soon to be lover, she was safe. "So." Tara began, breaking the comfortable silence that was hanging between them. "Why did you really come over tonight?" Willow dropped her eyes, suddenly and inexplicably embarrassed by having to admit her true feelings. "I..." she stuttered. "I was scared for you." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You sounded so terrified and I thought that maybe something might be happening and when you didn't call back, I thought I should come and check on you." Tara couldn't hide her surprise. Never had she had someone who would drop everything to check in on her just because they had a vague hunch. "My knight in shining armour!" Tara beamed, her cheeks flushing as her heart filled with love. Looking up, Willow caught her eyes and was silenced by the purest of emotion she saw swimming in the blue depths. Her own cheeks flushing, she smiled coyly. "Yeah, well..." she giggled sheepishly. Outside the tiny café, a blue car passed for the second, maybe third time although neither woman noticed it. Its single occupant glared through the glass at the blonde and the redhead who were, by now, gazing lovingly into each other eyes. "I'm gonna fucking gut you!" he snarled as he passed the window and turned the car into the main street of a quiet, leafy suburb. "If I can't have you bitch, no one will!!" Taking Tara's hand, Willow kissed the slender digits slowly, sobs constricting her throat and threatening to burst from her heart. "Tara, since I met you outside that club, I felt something." she paused briefly to gather herself and suppress the tears of happiness that were filling her throat. "I don't know what it is but I think it's strong and powerful, and god, I hope you feel it too, otherwise I looked like, mad and desperate and clingy and not good at all." "I felt it too." Tara admitted. "I still feel it." "I promise you Tara, I will keep you safe and I won't let this bastard hurt you!!" Willow blurted out suddenly. After a pause that seemed to last an eternity, Tara replied; "I know you will." Returning to Tara's apartment, Willow flopped out on the couch. "I should call in to work, tell them I can't go in tonight." Tara sighed. Being back at the apartment had done nothing but bring everything that she had just run away from, back into the foreground of her mind. "You'll do no such thing!" Willow announced. "If you hide now, it'll never stop. You have to carry on as normal." "But Willow!!" "But Willow nothing." the redhead told her, "I'll go with you and keep an eye on you!" Her last comment seemed to fuel her eyes and they roamed her body greedily, drinking in every curve, line and muscle and causing Tara to blush deeply. Sensing that there was no point in arguing with the redhead, Tara sighed, her outward appearance giving the impression that she had resigned herself to this. Inside, she was thrilled. "What if he comes here and gets in or something after work?" Tara prompted, hoping that Willow would offer to stay... in the strictest professional sense, of course. "Oh. Erm.." Willow's eyes darted around the room, searching for an answer and finding none. Her mind screamed at her; 'Tell her you'll stay, you'll sleep on the couch, hell Red, you'd sleep on broken glass of she asked you, just tell her you'll stay. Give her what she wants!' "I could get someone posted outside if you'd like?" Willow offered eventually. She sounded lame and scared, she knew it and so did Tara. Crestfallen, the blonde nodded before vanishing into the bathroom to begin her ablutions before work. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Willow exclaimed when she heard the shower running. "I'll stay if you want!" she said aloud. "That's' what you should have said. Idiot!" Lost in her chastising, Willow hadn't noticed Tara reappear in the small doorway. "I'd much prefer that!" Tara purred when Willow took a breath from vocally beating herself up. "But only if you want to, if you won't get into...." "Oh Tara, I want to! I really want to!" Willow's words cut her sentence off midway. "I want you to too!" Tara replied, "Now, I'm actually going to get in the shower now, so you can finish your, well, whatever." she giggled before vanishing from sight once again. "Riot? I need a huge favour!" Willow whispered into her cell phone. "For you Red, anything!" "Can you go to my place and bring me my overnight bag? Oh, and pack something suitable for clubbing but kicking ass if I have to?" To his credit Riot didn't ask questions, he had learnt that in their years as partners, Willow's judgement was usually 100%. "Sure thing Red, where are you?" "Bring it to the 'Flying Handbag' at some point tonight." she replied. "No worries." "Oh, and Joey?" Her tone had dropped even further and he had to strain his ears to hear her. "Pack the Eagle and something sexy and my belt!" "Gotcha!" And with that, her partner hung up the phone. The Colt Double Eagle was Willow's all time favourite, at a .45 she adored its weight and feel, plus the shiny silver had made her feel more like one of the guys and with it, she had out shot all but one of her colleagues on the range. "You ok?" Tara asked as she reappeared from the shower to find Willow gazing lovingly into space. "Oh yeah, just thinking. It's busy up here!" she giggled, tapping the side of her head as she spoke. "Always?" Tara asked as she dropped onto the vacant cushion next to Willow. Gulping audibly, Willow shook her head. "Not always, some things shut me head right up!" she whispered as Tara's lips ventured ever closer to her own. "Really?" Willow couldn't decide if she'd heard or felt the word as Tara's lips found her own. The smell of warm skin and freshly washed hair filled the redhead's nose and she moaned her response into the kiss, her fingers trailing slowly up over the silky smooth, and incredibly exposed back of the blonde. "Wow!" Willow exhaled as they pulled back. "That certainly shut me up!" she giggled. "Do you want to shower?" Tara asked, her breath still ragged and shallow. "I mean, I have to leave soon." she couldn't help but sound apologetic. Nothing would have given her greater pleasure than to stay home tonight, to kiss Willow from now until the end of the world, even if it never went any further than a kiss, Tara knew she would never be happier than in those moments. "I guess I should." Willow replied as she got to her feet. "There's towels in there, they're clean!" Tara called after her. Riot burst into Willow's house and rushed up the stairs. He had no idea why Willow wanted an overnight bag AND her two favourite guns at the same time. An overnight bag and handcuffs, he could understand. As he burst into her bedroom, he grabbed the bag she kept in to top of her wardrobe that was always packed with fresh underwear, casual jeans and a couple of tops. Into it he carefully folded the shirt she had worn the last time they had gone undercover. Flowing majestically, it made her look stunning but covered a multitude of sins.... or weapons. "Right, 'something sexy'?" he asked into the empty room. "Something sexy?" pulling out the drawer within the wardrobe, he grinned before shaking his head and slamming it shut again. "Wrong sexy!" he announced before heading over to the bed. After rummaging under the pillows and still finding nothing, he caught himself for a moment before returning to the first drawer he had opened. "Just in case!!" he laughed as he stuffed some sexy matching underwear into the bag. Taking a deep breath, he stood before the small table at the side of Willow's bed. "I don't ever want to see this!" he said, squeezing his eyes shut before pulling the drawer open. Having been married for almost 3 years, he was more than aware of the things women kept in the drawers of their bedside tables and, while he had no issue with it at all, seeing these things of his partner was more than a little disturbing. After one more deep breath, he opened his eyes and wished he hadn't. "Wow, Willow!!" he gawped. "No wonder you're gay, you'd never find a guy that big!!" he reached in quickly and dropped the small gun and its ankle holster into the bag before slamming the drawer and hoping he wouldn't need therapy. "Or that colour!" he added as he turned his back and rushed back down the stairs and off to the 'Flying Handbag'. Willow and Tara left the apartment and made their way quickly to the club. Almost as soon as they'd arrived, Riot was there, bag in hand. "Get everything?" Willow asked. Riot nodded, "Everything and more!" he winked and, after a quick run down of what had happened, he headed to the station to see what else he could learn. In the office, Tara was explaining, albeit vaguely what had happened with her 'stalker', to her left a small radio played but was actively being drowned out by the huge sound system. As Willow stepped into the room, the DJ for the night spun his first song and the sultry tones of Anastacia filled the club. You walked in the room With a smile, Willow asked; "Is there somewhere I can change?" Snake stared up at her, open mouthed, forcing Tara to giggle. "Sure, I'll show you." she offered and lead Willow to the tiny room next door. Like the stars need the sky, Standing longer than was needed, each woman gazed into the others eyes, content with the intimacy they shared with this simple, everyday exchange. "I'll wait in the office." Tara said eventually and returned to the adjoining room. "Holy fuck T!" Snake exclaimed as she returned to her seat. "She's a serious hottie!!" Tara grinned, "Yeah, she's like a dream come true!" she admitted, glancing lovingly at the wall. It's hard to explain, Like the stars need the sky, In the tiny closet, Willow couldn't help but giggle. It had been years since she had 'come out' and now here she was, back in the closet again and in a gay bar of all places. "Gotta love the irony!" she thought as she slipped into tight black jeans and the long flowing shirt that Riot had thoughtfully packed for her. Shaking her hair out, she clipped her handcuffs to the back of her jeans and lengthened the holster before strapping her gun securely to her side. Proclaiming herself done, she stepped back into the corridor and into the small office next door. "Ready?" she asked Tara. "As I'll ever be!" the blonde replied, her voice shaking. I dreamed of you (and I), |
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