The other rider slide off the bike and came over to her, running his fingers over her exposed flesh, one hand around her waist, one hand trailing down her back, folding into a fist, and grinding into her lower back. She arched under his hands, moaning slightly as he made contact with some of the sorer spots. He lowered her head to her neck when she tilted her head out of the way in silent invitation. Instead of sinking his teeth into her flesh, something they both longed for, he merely licked the bite marks he had left on her neck. When she moaned again, this time in frustration, and tried to pull him closer, he said "No, pet. Later tonight, I may. If you are a good girl."

"But I am always a good girl." She pouted, playfully arching into his body so that he could feel her curves. It was his turn to moan as she rubbed up and down enticingly. "That is, I am a good girl until you tell me it's playtime. Is it playtime yet?"

"Soon, pet." He murmered into her hair, eyes slanted in extasy. "Soon it will be playtime for us."

Buffy hung her coat on the coat rack and walked into the living room. Seeing Xander dozing on the coach, she smiled at her friend. In truth, her best friend and the last of the "scoobies" that still hung around on a regular basis. Tara was dead, Willow and Spike were god only knows where, Giles was in England, Angel and Cordelia were in LA, and Anya was most reluctant to come to the house. Of course, Buffy and Anya's relationship was extremly strained due to the night in the Magic Box on the geeks' candid camera. Sighing, she sat down next to Xander.

Xander shuddered once and then opened his eyes, still blinded by the dream that he had. "Buffy." He moaned quietly, voice full of pain.

Buffy knew that it was time to wake him up, this was the part of the dream that always was bad for him. He told her of it once; of hearing Warren call Buffy's name, seeing her turn around, hearing the shots fired, watching his best friend collapse on the ground, hearing Willow scream for Tara, blood everywhere. Buffy, of course, was kind of hazy on the details herself, knowing only what those that were there were able to tell her. Gently, she took Xander's hand and squeezed it, "I'm here, Xander. It's okay, we are okay, just open your eyes for me. It's only a dream, just shake it off."

The cloudiness lifted from his eyes and Xander woke fully. With a gasp, he pulled Buffy into a rough hug, clinging to her even as his body shook. "Gods, Buffy. That dream..."

"Shush, it's okay, Xander." Buffy said, allowing him to hug her, running her fingers through his hair, kneading the muscles in his neck. "I am here for you. I will always be here for you."

Xander relaxed under her tender ministrations. There was nothing at all sexual in the contact between the two of them, their relationship had mellowed more in the past couple of months until they were the absolute best of friends, more akin to siblings than anything else. He tried to smile at her, to put on the boyish facade that he so badly wanted to be able to hide behind, hiding behind humor instead, "Anything to get your hands on me."

Buffy smiled at him and lightly cuffed him on the head, "Would you stop that?" She said, less than serious. "Where is Dawn?"

"She went to bed about an hour ago. I checked on her before I came down and she was sleeping. Then I came down and was watching some tv when I fell asleep." He moved his neck and grimaced slightly, "Well, if you can call this sleeping. I call it 'weird body contortions' myself."

"Well, you do have a bed, you know." Buffy chided gently. "If you actually slept in your bed instead of the couch once in a while, you may be able to get some more sleep."

He smiled at her, a smile full of tears and loneliness, "Yeah but the bed is so empty. And sometimes, when the nightmare comes to me, it's just easier to doze in front of the tv. That way, when I wake up, I can immediatly loose myself into someone else's problems. And if I don't like their issues, I can always turn the channel." A ghost of the old Xander reared it's head, "You know, life ought to be more like tv."

"Huh?" Buffy said, totally lost but willing to find out, just to keep him on the safer emotional footing.

"You know," he grinned, "Totally hot babes everywhere you go, the power to change with the touch of a button, rewind, pause, and fast forward. What more could you ask for?"

"How about a mute button?" Buffy smiled as she said it, remembering when she and Riley fought the Hush demon things. "On second thought, scratch the mute button. I so do not want to repeat that. Do you want someting to drink?" When Xander demured, she went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. Coming back in the room, she sat back down on the couch and asked, "Totally hot babes? What am I, chopped liver?"

"No." Xander said, reaching over to squeeze her hand, "You are my sister in everyway that matters except blood. You are closer to me than my own family, my own blood. And, yes, you are totally beautiful so stop fishing for compliments from me." The two of them laughed and curled up on the couch together, content for the moment.

The phone woke Anya up. Puzzled, she picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Anya? Hey, I am so sorry that I woke you up."

Anya sat up upon hearing the voice on the other end of the phone. "Oz, where the hell have you been? I have been trying to get a hold of you for a month now."

Oz sighed on the other end of the line, "I know and I am sorry about that too."

"Never mind all that, what did you find out?"

Oz spoke, failure eating him alive, "I can't find her. It's almost like she died. I tracked her down into some god forsaken country and then I lost her. The weirdness comes in; the night I lost her, the wolf attempted to take me over again. That is the first time in years that it has done so."

"Oh." Was all that Anya could say, dread filling her. "Thanks for looking, Oz. If you do find her, let us know, ok?"

"Yeah." Oz breathed, worry deadly apparent in his voice, "Yeah, I'll do that."

Anemone - Chapter 4 - Warnings