“Hey! Spike’s here!” Willow cried, obviously a little tipsy from the two beers she’d already had.
“Yes, he’s here, honey,” Tara said, running a hand over her lover’s hair. “But we need to get you home.”
“Red’s trashed? What’s the happy occasion?” Spike asked, picking up a pool cue as he looked at the girls in amusement.
“She was able to stand in front of her Drama class today and do a monologue.”
Spike looked at her in confusion.
“Stage fright,” Tara clarified.
“I see,” Spike said with a nod, glancing over at Buffy as she stood quietly beside the pool table. “Well, Red, congratulations.”
“Thanks, Spike!”
“Yeah,” Tara said, her voice softer as she looked at the vampire. “Thanks. For what you did a few days ago.”
“Your family, you mean? No harm done. Could’ve told you that you weren’t a demon, love. All you had to do was ask,” he said with a wink, giving her a smirk.
“Well, I better get her home,” Tara said, glancing at Buffy.
“What? Now?” she asked, looking between the two women. “But… but Giles finally gave me the night off! I can’t go home now,” she said with a winning pout. “It just wouldn’t be right. I would be doing a disservice to all of the poor people who are working and wishing for a night off.”
“Sorry,” Tara said, an apologetic look on her face as she led Willow toward the exit door.
“Great,” Buffy muttered, angrily kicking the pool table.
“Easy, pet. You forget your strength and you won’t have anything to do tonight,” Spike said, gesturing toward the newly cracked wood of the table.
“Oops,” Buffy muttered, making a face at what she’d accidentally done. Briefly glancing at Spike, she looked away almost as quickly, dropping the pool cue on the table as she turned toward the exit.
“Fancy a game?” Spike asked, picking up the blue chalk resting on the side.
Buffy slowly turned around to face him, a confused look in her eyes. “What?”
“Didn’t really sound like you wanted to go home. Soldier boy is obviously off, being more than he can be or some rot.”
“Riley’s… he’s busy,” Buffy said, realizing that she hadn’t cared to ask where Riley was or what he planned to do that night, too excited and preoccupied that Giles had told her not to worry about patrolling for a change.
“Right,” Spike said with a slow smile. “Well, not like you really want to play a game with your mortal enemy-”
“Or a neutered vampire,” she interrupted, trying to bite back a smile when he narrowed his eyes on her. “What? Like you didn’t walk right into that one.”
Rolling his eyes, Spike lined up his first shot to break, ignoring the Slayer as she looked back and forth between the table and Spike.
“You really want to play?” she asked, almost hopefully.
“With you?” Spike asked, glancing up at her with a wicked smirk. “Any day of the week, Slayer,” he said, putting the right amount of innuendo in his voice.
“Am I supposed to be flattered?” she asked, watching as he hit the cue ball, sending three solids into the nearby pockets.
“Be anything you want, love,” he said, walking toward her, invading her space as he looked down at her. “Just move.”
“What?”
Gesturing with his head toward the table, indicating that he wanted to take his next shot, Buffy stepped out of the way, slightly embarrassed that she’d let Spike get that close to her without pushing him away.
“So, this is the plan?” she asked, leaning against the pool cue as she watched him. “Just hitting a few balls into the pockets of a table?”
“You got a better idea?”
“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “We liven it up a little.”
Spike smiled, slowly walking toward her, looking her up and down. “What did you have in mind, pet?”
“Ew… not that.”
“There’s something seriously wrong when a reference to sex is met with an ‘ew’ on your part,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her. “What’s the matter, Slayer? Cardboard not getting it up?”
“Spike,” she said in warning.
“I’m just saying,” he continued, dropping his voice to a soothing tone as he looked at her. “If you were my girl… you definitely wouldn’t be alone tonight. And you wouldn’t be bored,” he finished with a smile.
Buffy noticeably swallowed as she looked at Spike, trying to control her breathing, not wanting him to see how much he was affecting her.
“What did you have in mind?” he finally asked, taking pity on her.
Buffy seemed to shake herself as she glanced around the Bronze. “A bet,” she said casually, shrugging her shoulders.
Spike raised an eyebrow, letting a slow smile spread on his lips, obviously intrigued by her offer. “A bet?” he repeated, not believing what he was hearing. “And, uh… what type of bet did you have in mind?”
“Name the terms.”
“Alright… you win- you get whatever you want.”
“Liking the sound of that,” she said with a smile. “Maybe a week off from patrolling – let you do all the work for a change.”
Spike nodded his agreement, noticing her tense up slightly when he closed the distance between them, his body barely touching hers as he looked down at her. “I win… I get a lap-dance from the honorable Chosen One.”
Buffy’s eyes widened in disbelief as she frantically took a step back, shaking her head. “No. Are you out of your mind? I’m not doing that!”
“What’s the matter, Slayer? Afraid a vampire can beat you at something?”
Glaring at him for a moment, Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. “As if you could.”
“You seem to be a little scared that I could,” he said with a smile.
“Dream on.”
“Then what do you say, love? Taking the bet?”
Looking over at the pool table, Buffy slowly turned back to the vampire in front of her. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” she said with a smug tone in her voice.
* * * * *
Buffy felt sick.
There had never been a moment in her life when she felt so lost and uncertain. Merrick telling her that she was a Slayer, hearing that she was prophesized to die, the knowledge that she had been the key figure in releasing Angelus on the world, having to live off of tips and barely-there paychecks in Los Angeles, her first day of college.
Everything else seemed to pale in comparison as she watched Spike line up his shot, announcing: eight ball in the corner pocket.
Her entire body tensed when he looked at her, raising an eyebrow as he hit the cue ball without even watching the black ball go into the pocket.
But Buffy did. With every agonizing rotation of the ball, she felt her control spiraling even farther out of reach.
“And that’s the game,” Spike said, standing up with a victorious smile on his face. “Think it might be time that all losers pay their debts.”
Buffy took a deep breath, looking up at him with a hard expression. “Here? Now? I don’t think so.”
“That’s alright, pet. We can go back to my place. I don’t have a problem where I collect.”
Buffy knew that she could get out of this. She could. All she had to do was threaten Spike a little more than usual, maybe beat him up and then walk out, dignity still firmly in place.
Yes, her dignity would be in place, but her principles would be shot to hell. She made that bet knowing exactly what she was getting into. Now, the knowledge that she had two less than appealing choices was starting to get to her.
Wordlessly putting down the pool stick, she walked toward the back of the building, never seeing the smile fade from Spike’s lips before he followed her out of the building.
Watching her for a long moment, Spike’s shoulders slowly dropped at the implications of what he was doing to her. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body as if she was trying to ward off a chill, in spite of the warm California air. She looked at the ground as she walked, obviously thinking of the next hour of her life and what it would mean.
Gritting his teeth as he looked at the sky, Spike growled in frustration, nearly punching the brick wall of the Bronze. “Slayer… wait.”
Waiting until Buffy turned to face him, he slowly approached her, a heavy sigh spilling from his lips as he looked at the ground, hating himself and his inner-William for saying what he was about to say.
“We’re not doing this,” he said, glancing up at the sky to avoid the look of relief that he knew would be displayed openly in her eyes.
“What?” she asked, drawing his attention back to her a moment later.
“You heard me,” he said, clenching his jaw. “I… It was unfair. I have no intention of making you honor that bet.”
“It wasn’t unfair, Spike, I knew exactly-”
“I’ve been playing pool for a lot longer than you’ve been alive, Slayer. Think it’s safe to say that it gives me an unfair advantage.”
“You’re a vampire- you always have the unfair advantage,” she said with a slight smile.
Spike laughed softly to himself, looking at the ground as he kicked the concrete. “Yeh, well… I’m not gonna use it this time.”
Finally meeting her gaze, he was shocked to see the look of gratitude in her eyes. Even more shocked when she took a few steps forward and brushed a tender kiss to his lips.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes slowly moving back and forth from his eyes to his lips.
Spike’s eyes widened when her lips hesitantly touched his for the second time – the first was enough to put him in a state of shock, but this nearly had him keeling over.
He could feel her trembling against him, obviously uncertain about taking the initiative. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he firmly held onto her, his hand resting on the small of her back, applying gentle pressure to keep her where she was as he closed his eyes and returned the kiss.
Feeling Buffy slowly relax against him, he deepened the kiss, his tongue hesitantly brushing against hers, almost scared of her reaction. Spike felt Buffy’s arms slowly slide up his arms, coming to rest at the back of his neck.
Buffy clutched at Spike, too scared to let go. The intensity of the moment was racing through her until she felt like she was losing control. All of her pent-up desperation and desires seemed to surface in this one moment.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She could do nothing but feel his lips on hers and the sensory overload that the act of a simple kiss could cause her.
His hand slipped beneath her shirt to the warm skin beneath, tightening around her waist until his fingers were bruising the skin. She knew that he was scared to let her go, scared to see whatever judgment might be in her eyes. Just as she was scared to step back and separate from him, letting the world come between them once again.
Buffy gasped as Spike pivoted them around, pushing her against the wall, letting the shadows hide them from the casual view. She could feel his erection pressing into her stomach, her body naturally thrusting against him, hearing the growl low in his throat.
Briefly parting to breathe, Buffy looked into his eyes, seeing the uncertainty that he carefully tried to mask. Grabbing his shoulders, she pulled him toward her again, hungrily kissing him again until she felt as if she was growing weaker.
“I-I can’t,” she whispered against his lips, swallowing hard when he pulled back slightly, looking at her with a mixture of insecurity and irritation.
“Because of your toy soldier?” he asked, taking in a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm his nerves.
“This just… It’s not right,” she said weakly. “I shouldn’t have started…”
Hearing the hesitation in her voice, Spike lowered his lips to her jaw, kissing and lightly biting a trail down to her neck, hearing her moan in response to the attention that he gave the sensitive skin.
“Who said everything always had to be right?” Spike whispered, kissing the soft skin behind her ear, smiling when he heard her gasp. “Tell you what, pet,” he breathed. “You tell me that you can get this with him… and I’ll let you go. Never bother you again.”
Buffy shuddered when he pulled away from her, already missing the feel of his body against hers. Opening her mouth to respond, she stared into his eyes for a long moment, fully prepared to say what she needed to say and walk away.
Until she saw the vulnerability in his gaze and she knew. This went beyond the normal Slayer/vampire code that they seemed to live by. This was something that they’d both been holding back for years.
Grabbing the lapels of his duster, Buffy spun him around to slam him against the wall, her lips crushing his as she desperately kissed him. Her hands ghosted over his body, feeling the muscles beneath her fingertips flex in response.
Spike’s jaw tightened as her lips broke away from his to trail down his neck, leaving soft bites as she continued even further, her tongue dipping into the hollow of his throat. “Guess this is my answer,” he said, grabbing her shoulder with one hand and resting his other on her cheek, leaving soft kisses on her bare shoulder, moving higher until his lips met hers in a tender kiss.
“I think it’s time we get out of here,” she whispered against his lips, closing her eyes at the feel of his hands threading through her hair.
“Why’s that, love?”
“Because,” she said with a coy smile. “I think it’s time you collect on that debt I owe you.”