Title: It’s good to be the King
Author: Carol (lucrenzia99@msn.com)
Rating: PG 13
Pairing: Willow/Rafael
Disclaimer: Willow is owned by Joss Whedon and associates. Rafael
is owned by Laurell K. Hamilton and associates. I’m just
borrowing them for this little ficlet. I promise to put them back
when I’m done.
BtVS spoilers: Season 6 AU
AB spoilers: Narcissus in Chains
Author Notes: For Jinni’s Quickie Challenge for pairing #137.
http://quickie.moonlitpaths.com/
Title taken from a quote from the movie, “History of the World,
Part 1”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Willow was in a rush. That was hardly unusual for the busy

redhead. She was a graduate student at Washington University at St.

Louis. She quickly got her things together. She needed to see her

advisor before he left for the day.


Not that anything was waiting for her at home, mind you. She lived

alone in a small apartment off campus. She had come to St. Louis to

work on her specialist degree in biology of the supernatural. It

seemed like a natural fit after all the research she did for Buffy

while living in Sunnydale.


When she left Sunnydale, things had been tense. She did her duty

and helped defeat the First. That was the only reason why she would

want to go back to a place that brought her so much pain. She felt

obligated to at least attempt to alleviate the hurt that she had

caused during her rampage. Of course, nothing really could be done

to recapture the trust that was lost. So, as soon as things died

down she up and left.


Willow had a new life now. True, it was just chock full of research

like her old one. But there was no apocalypse deadline looming on

her horizon anymore. No, she had rather mundane deadlines to

grapple with. And if she wanted to make with her latest then she

had better hustle.


She quickly left the tiny office that she shared with two other

hapless graduate students. She navigated the hallways like a pro as

she made her way to her advisor’s office. She prayed to any

deity that might be listening in the hopes that he hadn’t already

left yet. It was Friday and Dr. Fane did have a girlfriend. It

wasn’t too far to assume that he would be in a hurry to vacate

the premises. She had seen Ronnie before and would agree that she

was cute.


She halted abruptly at Dr. Fane’s door. She was out of breath

from her little sprint. She let out a sigh of relief. She could

hear voices within and she recognized Dr. Fane’s voice. He

hadn’t left yet. She didn’t have long to wait for the door to

open. She stood up from where she had sat down on the floor.


Whatever Willow was going to say died in her throat when she laid

her eyes on Dr. Fane’s visitor. He was tall he must have been at

least six feet. He had darkly tanned skin. Thick black wavy hair

that almost came down to his collar framed a thinly haughty face.

But his best features were his lips and his eyes. His lips were

puckered in a sensual pout. His eyes were swimming pools of

chocolate. This man was entirely too edible for his own good.


Willow blushed when she realized that she had been staring. She

tore her eyes away from Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. She had come

to the office for something. Now, if she could get her addled mind

to remember. Oh yes, the list of recommended reading. She needed

to get started on that immediately. She had such a fun-filled

weekend planned. Not.


“Um, Dr. Fane, I came about the list of readings.” Willow

tried not to fidget. She could still feel the eyes of the visitor

boring into her.


Dr. Fane seemed lost for a moment and then recollection hit him. He

quickly scurried back into his office for a piece of paper that he

had promised Willow. He handed it to her with a smile.


Willow turned to leave when an arm caught hers. Mr. Sexy Stranger

had a sparkle in his eyes.


“Hello, I’m Rafael and you are?”


Willow managed to stutter out her name. This guy was bad for her.

She could feel herself regressing back to high school. She

didn’t catch the hard glare from Dr. Fane towards Rafael. Someone

didn’t approve.


Dr. Fane interrupted the intense moment. “Willow if you leave

now, you might be able to find some of these books still on the

library’s shelves.”


Willow blinked out of her lust-filled haze. She turned and nodded

at her professor. “Thanks again Dr. Fane. I better get

cracking.”


She turned and offered a bright smile to his visitor. “It was

nice to meet you, Rafael.”


He gave her a sultry smile in return. Willow could feel herself

heating up under his intense gaze. “I’m done here. I will

walk you out.” He turned and bid a goodbye to Dr. Fane. She then

felt him take her arm and escort her out.


She wasn’t quite sure what to make of Rafael. He seemed very

commanding. He was obviously used to others obeying him. For some

strange reason, it didn’t turn her off. He made being arrogant

sexy. Heck, he probably could make anything sexy.


They were quiet until they reached the outside. Willow figured that

he probably was going in the opposite direction from her. She

stopped and smiled.


“I guess this is the end of the line for us.”


He grinned. “It doesn’t have to be. We could go out

sometime this weekend if you like.”


Willow felt a tell tale blush creeping up on her cheeks. She was

dumbfounded that this fine specimen was actually asking her out.

She hadn’t gone on a date in such a very long time. She probably

had forgotten how to.


Willow nodded and then grabbed a piece of paper to scratch down her

phone number. She shakily handed it to him and he grabbed her hand

and gave a quick kiss to her knuckles.


“I will call you later this evening to make plans. Is that

alright with you?” He just oozed confidence. It was such a turn

on.


Willow again nodded. She didn’t think she would be able to get

her mouth to move. Let alone make sound. He smiled again and

strolled off in the direction of visitor parking. Willow stood for

several minutes watching his backside recede from sight. She

couldn’t help herself. She came to herself in a start. She

still had work to do. She quickly ran off to the library to get

those pesky books.

~~~~~

They did go on that date on Saturday night and several others as the

weeks progressed. Rafael was very intriguing and he was an older

man. He probably wasn’t the same age as Giles but definitely not

around her age. He brought calmness to her life that she hadn’t

experienced since Tara. She felt grounded when she was around him.

She felt like she was learning so much from just being in his

presence.


He was teaching her how to converse in Spanish. She demanded to

know what sweet endearments he would whisper in her ear when they

were kissing and cuddling. He would laugh and then explain. She

would repeat what he said in his ear in a husky tone of voice. The

lessons would be interrupted for another bout of heavy petting.


Eventually, they arrived at a stage in their relationship where it

was customary to reveal any secrets they might have. They were no

longer just casually dating. They were an item. She spent every

spare moment she had with him. It seemed strange to her though that

they were so serious when they hadn’t even had sex yet. He

always held off. She wondered why.


She found out why when he sat down to explain his condition to her.

She had again managed to date a lycanthrope. First a werewolf, now

a wererat. But he wasn’t just any wererat. No she was dating

their king. She was shocked at first but she didn’t care that he

was furry once a month. She had loved Oz and she had fallen for

Rafael. She could deal.


Of course, she had to deal with his son from a previous marriage.

They lived out of state. His wife couldn’t deal with the

lycanthropy and finally left. Willow knew that Rafael harbored a

fear that she might leave him too. She told him about Oz to relieve

his fears.


He was ecstatic at her response. Their relationship quickly moved

to the physical realm. It was then Willow’s turn to be ecstatic.


He definitely had been around the block a few times. Her favorite

thing to do while naked with her lover was tracing the crown tattoo

on his arm. He said it was a symbol of his kingship. Probably

difficult to carry a scepter when in animal form.


Willow was deliriously happy again. She never thought that it would

happen but it did. She had the love of good man and it could only

get better from there. She couldn’t believe how her life had

turned out. She would be getting married soon. Well, as soon as

she finished her master’s degree. Now, she just needed to get

all prepared and contact her old friends in California. It would be

interesting to hear their reactions. But even if it wasn’t a

positive reaction, Willow wasn’t going to be dissuaded. The king

was finally getting his queen.


The End