FIC: Militat Omnis Amans (Every Lover is a Warrior) Part 9c/?

["KPB/LCMB" <kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Militat Omnis Amans (Every Lover is a Warrior) Part 9c/?
K. Beckett (c) 2000, with the exception of musical lyrics which are (c) the
individual artists / labels.

Disclaimers:
Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show
belong to Joss Whedon, WB and Mutant Enemy etal. Everyone and everything
else is mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living,
dead or un-dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.
This story contains descriptions of sexual acts between consenting adult
women, and was written in a jurisdiction where it was legal to do so. If
this offends you, don't read.

Rating: R
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With that, the two women began to make their plans for the evening. During
the rest of the morning, the other members of the group observed the two of
them engaging in various mysterious activities. First, they watched as the
two of them cleaned the accumulated junk out a small back room of the inn,
and then watched as they turned the room into a small dinning room, complete
with candles and fine linen. They then proceeded to thoroughly scrub and
clean the room until it was immaculate. The two of them skipped lunch, with
Buffy telling a very confused Willow to go back to her collecting and
promising that she would see her at dinner. They then proceeded to evict
everyone from the kitchen and spent the rest of the day locked up in it. In
addition to being a mage, Amana was also an excellent cook; and in Buffy she
had a more than willing cook's helper for the day.

Just before Willow was due to return from her afternoon of extended herb
collecting everything was ready. Amana went to find Grael, to have him
arrange to collect everyone, under the pretext of the mayor giving them a
thank-you dinner for the energy that they had brought to the small village.
Meanwhile Buffy headed to the baths in order to wash the day's grime away,
and to prepare herself for the return of her lover.

They had timed everything perfectly. Buffy was just re-entering the inn
after her bath when Willow returned from her herb collecting.

"Hi Will," said Buffy as she sat in a long white wool shift nonchalantly
towelling her hair dry in the large common room of the inn, "how was your
day?"
"Hi Buff," replied the arch-mage sitting down across from Buffy and
stretching her legs out before her, "productive, how was your talk with
Amana?"
"Instructive," replied Buffy as she finished drying her hair, "I've had my
bath, why don't I help you have yours before dinner."
"Sounds like an excellent idea," replied Willow, with a little smile
crossing her face, as the two women stood up from the table to head to the
baths.

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They headed to the back of the common room, where the door leading to the
baths was located. They walked the short distance along the covered
passageway until they reached the four buildings that made up the bath
complex. The baths had been severely damaged over the years, and only
recently had the group been able to restore all of them to working
condition. However, Amana had insisted that both Buffy and Willow restrain
themselves to the warm water, indicating that the extremes of the cold and
hot bathes might not be good for their babies.

Upon their entry into the dressing room, Buffy immediately began to undress
her lover. She slowly removed each piece of clothing, gently massaging
Willow as she did so.

"Mmmm," sighed the arch-mage, "that feels so nice."
"Happy to oblige," replied the slayer as she picked up Willow and carried
her to her bath.

A short time later Willow was lounging in the warm water while Buffy gently
washed her hair. Both women had begun to notice that with the advance of
their pregnancies the buoyant effects of a bath were becoming more and more
relaxing. They had begun to use any excuse to jump into the relaxing
waters.

As she inwardly sighed with pleasure and relief at the reduced muscular
tension in her legs and back, Willow noticed for the first time that
afternoon that the inn was practically deserted.
<Buff?>
<Yes love?>
<Where is everyone?>
Buffy immediately shielded her thoughts and replied carefully, <they've
taken off for the night. A party at the Mayor's.>
<Why's that, and why didn't we go?>
<It's a pretext by Amana in order to get everyone out of here,> replied the
slayer, continuing to carefully shield her thoughts in order to maintain the
surprise, while she busied herself rinsing Willow's hair, <she thought it
would be a good idea for us to spend some time alone.>
<Alone,> replied Willow in amazement, <you mean for the first time in nearly
five months we are going to be alone for a while?>
<Yup,> answered her lover, <Amana and I even arranged a nice supper for when
you finish your bath.>
<What's for dinner?>
<It's a surprise, have a little patience.>
<Want to know now,> replied the red-haired woman, as she tried to read her
lover's memories, <hey, that's not fair,> she exclaimed, <you're shielding!>
<Only to maintain the surprise,> commented Buffy, <after all, you don't want
to rune the evening now do you?>
<Pout!>

"You'll get over it," continued the slayer aloud, "now, let's get you out of
this bath and into some clean clothes for supper."
"Sounds yummy," replied Willow as she proceeded to exit the bath and wrap
herself in a large towel, which had been held by Buffy.

The two women entered the inn; as Willow proceeded to head back to their
room to get dressed she was stopped by Buffy who said, "It's ok Will. I've
got some clothes for you already."

Buffy held Willow's hand as she led her to the room that she and Amana had
worked on all day. Willow was amazed at the transformation of the former
storage area. The floors and walls had been scrubbed till the old oak
panels shone with the soft candlelight, which had been used to illuminate
the room. The room also had a fireplace with a cherry fire already blazing
in it, to add additional light and heat. An old worktable had been
transformed into a dining table, complete with linen tablecloths and
burnished copper tableware. Two comfortable chairs completed the table
setting. A sideboard was loaded with several dishes that were being kept
warm in chafing dishes in addition to several decanters of wine and spirits.
Amana had used a process to de-alcoholise the wine, which retained the
flavours of the spirits, while eliminating the risk to the young women's
pregnancies. Draped over one of the chairs was a long bleached wool shift,
similar to the one that Buffy was wearing.

Buffy proceeded to pull the shift over Willow saying, "here you go love,
this will keep you nice and comfy while we eat."

Willow noticed that the shift had been lined with what felt like silk, and
was sinfully cool next to her bare skin. The fine hairs on her body became
electrified by the touch of the material and she experienced a quiver that
ran through her body. She also noticed that even with the lining the shift
was so sheer that it was almost translucent in the candlelight. She
commented softly, "Buff, I'm not wearing anything under this, and you can
practically see right through this material."

"Its ok love," replied the slayer, "neither am I. Its not as if anyone else
can see us now is it?"
"I guess not," replied Willow, "now what's for dinner?"
"You just set those pretty buns down in a chair," replied her lover, "and
I'll show you."

The two young women then proceeded to sit down to a marvellous feast.
First, they had a mouth-watering leek and potato soup garnished with celery
leaves and lightly spiced with rosemary, so creamy that it practically
dissolved in their mouths. This was followed by a fresh spinach salad,
which was served with a sunflower oil and pine nut dressing. Buffy served a
light fruity white wine for these two dishes which complemented, rather than
distracted from the food.

"Where did you learn so much about food," Willow commented when they had
finished the salad, "everything is so tasty."
"I plead ignorance," replied the slayer with a mischievous smile on her
face, "Amana is the source of the food and potables, I was simply the cooks
helper today. You might say I was the number one person on the chop and
stir brigade."

"Well everything has been yummy so far," said the red-haired witch licking
her lips, "what's next?" The heat from the fire was beginning to provide a
deep flush on Willow, perhaps aided by the intimacy of the occasion.

"You'll like this," replied Buffy as she rose from the table and went over
to the fireplace. Using a pair of fire-tongs she proceeded to remove a
large piece of slate that had been warming in the fire and placed it on a
fireproof mat in the centre of the table. She then collected several bowls
from the sideboard and retuned to her seat.

"This is we-cook stuff," she said as she showed Willow the bowls, which
contained thinly sliced beef, chicken and spicy sausage, all of which had
been marinated in a sauce containing spices, oil and garlic.
"Cool," replied Willow, "do we have dip and stuff for it?"
"You bet," replied Buffy as she proceeded to show more bowls with condiments
such as spiced yoghurt, rice, dates, pine nuts in addition to the more
traditional chopped vegetables and sour cream that the young women were used
to.

"This is great," gushed Willow, "we get to experiment."
"Not to mention feed each other," replied Buffy as she proceeded to quickly
grill a piece of beef, then dip it in the yoghurt before offering it to her
soul-mate, "have a taste lover?"

Willow leaned over the table, and reached out for the beef with her
outstretched tongue. As she chewed and swallowed her lover's food offering,
she tasted a combination of flavours, which caused her to close her eyes and
moan in satisfaction. After a moment she reopened her eyes and commented,
"that was too good for words."

The two young women then proceeded to spend a delightful time cooking and
feeding each another, washing the food down with a hearty red wine, which
had been infused with verbena.

Before long, they had finished the meat portion of the meal Amana had
prepared and were ready for the next course. By this time, both young women
were beginning to feel a deepening sexual tension in the small room. The
food, combined with the intense emotions that each was experiencing was
causing a predictable reaction. As Buffy cleared away the dishes Willow
thought to herself, "Goddess, I'm beginning to become aroused. If this
keeps up I'll soon be sitting in a pool of my own juices."

Buffy then brought the next, and final savoury, dish. This time Amana had
prepared for them a traditional Celtic dish of trout that had been de-boned
and filleted, before being poached in white wine and herbs. The older mage
had suggested a dry white wine for this dish, which Buffy also brought over
to the table.

"Last one before desert," she commented as she arranged the dishes on the
table. "Amana told me that this was her best dish."

The cuisine lived up to its billing. The fish was light and dissolved in
their mouths. The sauce was full of flavour, and provided a subtle balance
to the trout, almost cleansing the palate after every bite. The wine's high
notes perfectly drew out the nuances of Amana's spicing. The two women were
stunned by the food, and ate in silence, each trying to imprint the emotions
and sensations of the meal permanently in their minds.

They finished, and after a few minutes to compose herself Willow summed up
her thoughts with a simple, "Wow!"

"Ditto," replied an equally expressive Buffy.

Buffy shook herself together and began to slowly clear the dishes from the
table. Willow watched in admiration as her friend and lover performed this
simple domestic task, thinking that she was incredibly lucky to have found
the one person with whom she was completely comfortable. She quietly stood
up and came up behind Buffy, who was stacking dishes on the sideboard,
reaching around to give her a hug. She softly kissed Buffy on the neck and
whispered, "Thank-you for a wonderful evening."

"Not over yet," replied Buffy, "still have dessert to go."

Willow perked up, "sweet stuff," she exclaimed, "got to have some sweet
stuff."