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Willow had brought her back from the dead because they needed a Slayer. It should have been simple to understand, simple logic that should be simple to follow.

It wasn't that simple.

She couldn't remember much from the time when she was dead, but there hadn't been any fighting. It had been quiet, like floating in the middle of warm water. Now, she was here, back in Sunnydale and all the horror that went along with it.

Giles was gone, off to England as soon as her funeral was finished. Probably some sort of final Watcher report. If she was really lucky, he'd gone to go give Travers a few sharp words and a solid right to the face.

Dawn was gone, placed in some private school that took her far from the Hellmouth, courtesy of a few words and strings pulled by Willow and Spike. Spike had left as well, lurking near Dawn to keep her safe. Buffy dully wished that she could worry more about her sister's future and safety.

Xander and Anya were still lost in wedding plans, running the Magic Box, managing a construction crew, and probably lots of sex. Apart from the misery of the Hellmouth and demons and vampires all over the place, they seemed happy.

Willow and Tara seemed all snuggly and happy. There was so much magic at their apartment that it made Buffy's skin crawl.

There were times when she wished that they'd just left her dead. Surely they could have found a better way to deal, some other method. Maybe that robot that Spike had built, or getting Faith out of prison... No, getting Faith would probably be a bad idea. Unwise.

But it still left here alone. Not fighting unsupported, but she had nobody to hold her, nobody to snuggle with. Nobody to give her really enjoyable orgasms, as Anya would say. She missed that.

"Miss?" The man's voice held a trace of some sort of accent that Buffy couldn't place. Something that hinted at money, and exotic places. "I'm trying to find a place where I can enjoy myself a bit. Could you help me?"

Buffy turned to look at the stranger. He was definitely nobody that she'd met before, tall like Angel had been, but more slender. His long black hair hung loose around him, and his skin was so pale that if he hadn't been standing in the sunshine, she would have been sure he was a vampire. He was also the most compellingly handsome man that she'd ever seen. It felt like she couldn't breathe, but Buffy smiled, and offered, "I could show you where the Bronze is."

"I think that would be good." His slow smile seemed to take the comment from a simple agreement and turn it into a proclamation, that things would be good because he had decided. "I am Cel."

Slowly, she smiled, feeling almost alive again. "I'm Buffy."

"Buffy..." From his lips, her name sounded exotic, alluring and wonderful. He looked as if he was contemplating enjoyable things. "Lead on to this club."

He walked at her side, and Buffy had the oddest feeling that he didn't really belong in Sunnydale, but somewhere else, somewhere grander and more impressive. As if by magic, they were simply waved into the Bronze, without the faintest mention of a cover charge or ID's.

Buffy wasn't surprised as he was swallowed up by the dancing people, and she moved around the edges of the room, trying to remember the enjoyment that she'd felt here before. When she'd wanted to go out dancing at the Bronze, enjoyed swaying beside someone. It wasn't working, there just didn't seem to be any emotion there.

"You don't look like you're having fun," Cel's voice wrapped around her, like drowning in velvet shadows.

"Yeah, well... That doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself." Buffy
shrugged, trying to hide the emptiness inside. "I'm just not feeling too much lately."

His fingers trailed over her arm, and he leaned close enough that she could smell his cologne, something intoxicating and indescribable. "What if I offered to help you feel?"

"You could do that?" Buffy asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Perhaps you have somewhere more private?" The words were temptation.

Buffy wasn't quite sure how they managed to leave the Bronze and end up in her house. His hands were sliding up her back, and she had just ripped his shirt open, running her hands over skin that felt like warm, supple ivory. Their lips were together, tongues and teeth touching in something too intense and too wild for Buffy to call a kiss. Every touch of his skin against hers sent a little tingle through her body.

"I promise, you'll feel tonight," Cel broke the kiss to pull her shirt away, caressing the newly bared flesh. "You'll feel quite a bit."

Cel was true to his word. There was passion, pleasure and pain, all of it intense. Buffy felt, possibly more than she'd really wanted.

Waking up, Buffy looked at the stunning features of her new lover. This might have been foolish, it was certainly hasty. But with Cel, she'd felt again, instead of just existing. Her mind turned back tot he things that they'd done last night and into the morning...

"Oh no!" Buffy gasped, realizing that in all the assorted things that they'd done, not once had there been any condoms used. And she wasn't on the pill anymore. "We didn't... and we did... oh God..."

Cel opened one eye, peering up at her. "What?"

Buffy was momentarily distracted by the three rings of color on his eyes, but shook herself out of that. "We had sex! Lots of sex, and without... I mean... What happens if..."

"If you become pregnant?" He sat up, sliding his hands up her thighs and kissing her stomach. "That wouldn't be a tragedy."

Buffy made a soft noise at his touch, and whispered, "A baby? How would I support a baby?"

"If you bear my child, I'll become a king, and you'll never need to worry about money again." He kissed his way up her body, covering each bruise, each mark left by his riding crop. "I'll take care of you."

"Make me feel again?" Buffy asked, deciding to worry later about his claims of possible kingship. Right now, she just wanted to feel.

Cel chuckled as he kissed her. "I'll make you feel..."