SUN, BLACKMAILS AND FUN
Author: Lu
Main Characters: Buffy/Spike
Disclaimer: I know these characters don’t belong to me
Feedback: I’d like it
Setting: During “ The harsh light of day” (I’ve just borrowed some quotes from the beginning, just a bit. Thanks anyway to the writer of that episode)
Summary: Spike found the Gem of Amarra, but Buffy is ready to stop him and … just read!
PART 1
Just to stop her whining, Spike had decided to take Harmony to a ‘party’ and the place had happened to be the Bronze.
As soon as he let in, he felt her presence and the second after he saw her: she was hugged to a guy, engaged in a slow dance.
< Who is that loser and what bloody right has he got to hug the Slayer? >
While he was trying to figure out why that annoyed him so much, Buffy ’s astonished glance met his.
It was time to show up.
He took unceremoniously Harmony by the arm and went towards her.
“ Spike… and Harmony!” Buffy exclaimed.
< Harmony? He and that brain-dead bitch together? What the hell can he possibly find in her; and most of all… why am I wondering that? >
“ Well, it looks like a sort of double date!” Spike exclaimed.
The boy close to Buffy held out his hand towards Spike.
“ Hi, I’m Parker!” he said with a courtesy smile.
Spike confined himself just to watch that hand.
He would have taken it just to break it, for the simple reason he had dared to hug Buffy with that hand!
Maybe also Parker felt that threat coming, ‘cos he immediately drew his hand back, looking scared at the blond guy.
“ He’s got… um... what’s the word? Vulnerability!” Spike said.
“ And you and Harmony! What, did you lose a bet?” Buffy stroke back.
He smiled.
“ Well, now it’s late. Gotta go!” he informed, before running away with Harmony.
“ Stay here, I’ll be back in a moment!” Buffy said to Parker, before dashing off in pursuit.
She found them on the way to the Graveyard.
“ What’s the matter, Spike? Did Dru dump you again?” Buffy asked, getting close to him.
“ Maybe I left her!” he justified.
Harmony was about to say something, but he shut her up with an icy glance.
“ Harm, we’d better go, it’s not time yet!” he commented.
“ Yeah, but as soon as we have the Gem of Amarra you…” Harmony exclaimed, but he covered her mouth with a hand before she could end up her sentence and he yelled exasperated, dragging her away.
“ The Gem of What?” Buffy wondered, puzzled.
She knew where to find all the info she needed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ You, bloody stupid bint! You were about to screw up everything!” Spike said, dragging Harmony by her hair in the tunnel.
He had nearly located the exact point: for him, to find the Gem of Amarra was a matter of few hours, maybe less.
“ Sorry blondie bear! I didn’t mean to. And anyway, she hadn’t understood anything!” she said.
“ Now, what are you gonna do? Don’t tell me you want to come back digging in this stupid tunnel!” she whined.
“ Exactly. So, if you don’t agree, you’re free to bloody go away and stay out as long as you can! Or better, why don’t you do me a favour and never come back?” he yelled at her.
“ What do you mean, baby?”
“ It’s over, Harm. I couldn’t stand you a minute more. Being with you is the most bloody stupid crap I’ve done in my whole life and un-life!”
“ Oh no, it’s not so easy. It’s not you dumping me; it’s me dumping you!” she justified, ‘cos she didn’t wanna give him the satisfaction of humiliating her.
“ You’re too boring for me; I’ll find someone else who knows what real fun is! It’s over, Spikey!” she said, departing.
“ I couldn’t ask better!” he muttered, resuming his work.
Only after a half he found the room where the gem was. Although it was hidden among lots of other jewels, he realized soon which it was: the ring with the shining stone for strange reasons seemed to sparkle the most.
He slipped it on his finger, feeling a great power flowing inside him.
He grabbed a cross in the nearby: no stinging.
< Bingo! >
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spike heard a soft noise of steps behind his shoulders.
“ Why are you back? I’ve said it’s over!” he exclaimed, without even turning, sure it was Harmony.
“ Fine! By the way, since when the flaming hell me and you have a story?” Buffy stroke back, crossing her arms.
“ Slayer!” he started, turning all of a sudden.
“ How did you find me?”
“ You know… Willie knows so many things and he can’t keep a secret!” she replied with a half smile.
“ That wanker! I told him I would have pummelled his face if he had opened his bloody mouth!” he muttered, rolling his eyes.
“ And I told him the same if he * hadn’t *! Maybe, he dreads my punches more than he dreads yours…”
She approached him and, before he could realize what was going on, she smashed a punch on his chin.
“… you can’t blame him, after all!” Buffy sneered.
He chuckled.
“ I missed that!”
“ Uh?” she watched him in disbelief.
He took advantage of hit, planting a vicious kick to her stomach, which sent her on the ground.
“ But I missed more * this*!” he sneered.
They began a fight, where at the end she came off better.
She managed to block him, his face pinned to the wall and she held his hands behind his back.
That’s when she noticed the ring.
“ So, Spikey, now you like sissy jewels?”
“ Hands off!” he summoned her.
“ You’re not in position to give orders!” she reminded him, pressing him more.
“ Plus, C’mon! It’s not even your style; you don’t look so manly with it! Why don’t you take it off?” she said, taking it off.
He managed to free himself from her grip and with a leap he switched roles: now she was the one pinned, her back against the wall.
“ Have your mum ever told you it’s not nice to steal something from someone?” he whispered in her hear, snatching the ring from her hands.
Her knee connected with his parts, so the fight started again.
“ I’ve beaten you before, don’t you think I can do it twice?” she said, trying to punch him, but he was faster.
“ You can try, Slayer. Give me your best!” he stroke back, blocking her fist and smashing her to the wall.
“ You’re gonna pin me to the wall once again? C’mon Spike, you lack imagination!” she teased him.
“ Wanna suggest me something new?” he raised his eyebrow.
She shoved him to the ground before he could react, straddling him and drawing out a stake.
“ What about me winning and you losing?” she replied, taking his ring away once again.
“ I had told you I could do it twice!” she smirked, getting up.
Before he could attack her again, she turned to him, raising the stake.
“ Ha-Ha. Behave yourself or you end up a pile of dust!” she warned him, going towards the exit of the tunnel.
“ Bloody Hell, Slayer! I guess you feel very satisfied now that you screwed up my plans once again…” he exclaimed, wondering silently why she hadn’t staked him.
“ I was so bloody close to make my dream come true!” he sighed.
“ And which would it be, Spike? Killing whomever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, however you want?
‘Cos I know everything ‘bout this gem: it would give you immunity to stakes, crosses, holy water…”
“ Sun.” he exclaimed.
“ All I wanted is to see the sunrise, taking a walk in full daylight, letting the sun warm my face like it hasn’t done for more than a bloody century! Yeah, it’s such an evil scary plan!” he yelled between ironic and desperate, sitting on the ground with an upset expression.
“So, you all of a sudden have a SUN WISH!” she commented sarcastic, just not to show him how much his words had impressed her.
“ Yeah. At least, the poet in me needs it!” he admitted.
“ Poet?!” she frowned.
“ Never mind, it’s a long story…”
“ So, do you really wanna make me believe you had worked restless in that tunnel to find this gem just to walk in the sun? What ‘bout the huge powers it can give you?”
“ Believe me or not, pet, but I don’t mind. It’s not that being unbeatable or not killable sucks… it’s just that I don’t need it, it’s not my style: I like hurting, and killing and feeding with my only strength … that’s more fun!” Spike smirked; then he returned sad.
“ I just needed it to see the sun again, at least once. I miss it so bad…”
He remembered he was not alone, so he tried to contain his feelings.
“ Well, I guess you’ve bloody won. So now, would you mind to leave me alone in my misery?” he asked exasperated, embracing his legs and burying his head on his knees.
A sudden tinkling made him raise his head and he realized that the thing rolling to his feet was nonetheless the ring.
He looked at Buffy interrogatively, cocking his head to one side.
“ I give you a day, just one! Then, you’ll give it back to me, with the good manners or the bad ones!” she explained, approaching to him once again.
“ Maybe I’ll regret doing that!” she rolled her eyes.
“ Why? Why are you doing that?” he asked, wearing the ring before she could change her mind.
“ Don’t know. Maybe, ‘cos you’re the first vampire I met who misses the sun; all the others hate it!” she justified.
“ Anyway, I’ve got some terms!” she added.
“ First: you can use it just and only to walk in the sun, you’re not gonna kill anyone with it!”
“ Fine. I’ve already said it’s not fun killing wearing it!”
“ Second: at the end of the day, you will not only give it back to me, but you’ll also leave and never show up here anymore or… I’ll have to kill you…” she kept talking. He could almost swear she was unhappy to tell him the last part.
“ Is there any other term?”
“ Yes, there is: I’ll spent the whole day with you!” she informed him.
“ What?! No way, I don’t wanna have you around me every bloody second, why are you asking me that?”
“ Hey, don’t flatter yourself! I’m not happy ‘bout it, too. But you can’t expect me to trust you just because you told me you won’t kill anyone. I must control you!” she explained.
< Mm… Harmony is not here… maybe he dumped her… it’s not that I care; but something tells me he dumped that ho, bye bye stupid useless bimbo! >
And a half smile crossed her face.
“ Ok, so, since we’re gonna spend some time together, I suggest a ‘No-One-Kills-No-One’ truce, do you agree?” he exclaimed, getting up and holding out his hand to her.
“ Deal! As long as I have not your fangs in my neck you won’t have my stakes in your heart!” she promised, shaking it.
“ I don’t eat my words, but I can’t say the same about you!” she said, a bit worried.
“ You can trust me this time, pet, really! Besides, I’m too thankful to kill you!” he smiled, playing with the ring.
Spike approached the exit of the tunnel, turning to her.
“ Are you coming?”
“ Where?”
“ I wasn’t joking before: I really plan to watch the sunrise; so if you wanna control me so bloody much, follow me outside!” he invited her.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a while, they arrived to the Park. There was more or less two hours to sunrise, so he sat on the grass, waiting.
She sat beside him.
Seeing her yawning constantly, he smiled.
“ Pet, you can sleep if you want. I’m not going anywhere! Plus, I’ll watch over you!”
“ It’s reassuring to hear these words from my sworn mortal enemy!” she commented ironic.
“ Anyway Spike, if you can stay awake, I can stay awake, too!”
Twenty minutes after, she was already asleep, her head on Spike’s shoulder, searching for the softness of his leather coat.
He smiled, seeing that she could already trust him that much.
After all, he could have killed her in a heartbeat, vulnerable as she was right then.
Instead, he enjoyed himself watching her breathing, counting every change of expression she made, like she was dreaming.
Killing her was the last of his thoughts.
After an hour, he awoke her gently.
“ You’re missing the show, pet!” he whispered.
She opened her eyes, just in time to see the several shades in the sky as the darkness of the night was giving up its space to the light of the new day.
She didn’t remember the last time she had stayed up waiting for sunrise; but she was sure she wouldn’t have ever forgotten the show of that moment.
And then, she noticed something she wouldn’t have ever expected: a single tear has fallen from Spike’s eyes and he hadn’t even realized it, bewitched as he was by that sight.
He came out of that state of trance few minutes after, rubbing his eyes.
“ Well, sweetie, I guess that now we can take a nap: it’s too early to do anything, after all …” he explained, laying down and closing his eyes.
She said nothing, but she made a mental note to find out as much as she could about that poet in him.
And then, she followed his example.
PART 2
Buffy awoke first. Although she had fallen asleep far away from Spike, right then her face was few inches from his.
The most amazing thing was that she didn’t stray from him. She had never seen him sleeping.
It softened her; not even Angel had ever seemed so innocent to her when he slept.
Besides, she noticed spellbound a ray of sun lighting up his face, making his blond hair so bright it almost hurt to look at him.
What surprised her most was that he seemed to enjoy that heat, according to the serene smile on his lips.
Reluctantly, she decided to get up before he woke up.
Killing him would have been so easy in that moment: all she had to do was take his ring off and let the sun do the rest.
But killing him was the last of her thoughts.
Few minutes after he began stirring, opening his eyes.
“ Good morning!” she smiled.
“ Yeah, it’s a really good morning!” he smiled back.
“ You know… I was afraid to wake up as a pile of dust… I guess our truce works!” he admitted, getting up.
“ So, you doubted ‘bout my word. Naughty, naughty, naughty!” she said, acting insulted.
He raised his scarred eyebrow to her.
“ Am I the only one?”
“ Ok, I have to say: tonight, when I’ve fallen asleep beside you, I was afraid to wake up a little drained… or worse, not to wake up at all!” she confessed with a shy smile.
“ Oh! You didn’t trust me then. Naughty, naughty, naughty!” he mocked her, shaking his head disapprovingly.
“ So, what’s your plan for today, Master?” she asked, slapping his shoulder playfully.
“ Well, first I’d like to go somewhere nice and in the open to eat… Hey, I mean a real breakfast, don’t worry!”
She chuckled amused by his rush to clarify the point.
“ Then, what about a whole day at the beach?”
“ Uh? A whole day at the beach? It’s odd from you… are you planning to be the first Vampire with a tan?” she teased him.
“ Why not? That’s the idea! So, are you coming? Day is not so long…” he said, taking her by the hand.
“ You’re my guest today!” he smirked.
“ Hey, I’m not your guest! It’s more like you are my … kind of… hostage!” she retorted.
“ I don’t bloody feel kidnapped! Anyway, see it as you please, just let’s go!”
After few steps, Buffy noticed that Spike carried on blinking, struggling to keep his eyes open.
She opened her rucksack, drawing out a pair of dark sunglasses.
“ Your poor eyes, got used just and only to darkness for more than a century, maybe need these more than mine!” she said, putting them on him.
“ Thank you, pet! Now it’s better.”
“ You’re welcome. Then, … they suits you!” she admitted shyly.
After their breakfast, he took her to his car.
“ Spike, if we’re going to a beach, I need to come back to the Campus to take my bathing suit.”
“ Well, what’s the matter, sunshine? Let’s go to a nudist beach!” he suggested, raising both of his eyebrows.
“ Spike…” she warned him.
“ Ok, ok! Go taking your stuff, I’ll give you a ride!”
He parked in the nearby of her University and they both got out.
“ I’ll just take a minute, wait here!” she said, running away.
So he leant against the car door, smoking a cigarette.
When she came back, Buffy almost had an heart attack: Spike wasn’t anymore where she had told him to stay… and the worst thing was that right then, near his car there was nothing but a pile of dust.
She gasped, bending down to touch the ashes with a trembling hand.
“ Nooo!” she screamed.
“ Wasn’t that stupid ring supposed to work?” she wondered out loud, almost crying.
“ Miss me, pet?” Spike exclaimed, appearing behind her shoulders suddenly.
Turning, she saw him smiling, lowering his sunglasses just a bit to look at her seductively.
She was torn between hugging him tight or punching him hard for scaring her so bad.
“ Don’t flatter yourself! I was just disappointed ‘cause I want to be the one turning you into a pile of dust!” she justified, but he watched her with a knowing smile.
“ Anyway, if you dare to do that again, I swear I’ll stake you!”
“ Yeah, blah, blah, blah!” he chuckled, putting himself at the wheel.
“ Jump on, pet, the beach is waiting for us!”
They arrived to the beach after about an hour. They left their things in the car and decided to go for a walk on the promenade.
“ Couldn’t you bloody quit walking behind me holding that pointy stake?”
“ All these ‘ Happy Meals With Legs’ around you might make you lose your control and I’m here to prevent you from hurting someone, remember? And you’d better behave, because, gem or not, a stake in the heart is never a pleasant experience!” she warned him.
“ I know, anyway relax! I’m gonna respect our truce and I’m too bloody happy to be hungry! So, throw away that sodding thing; in case you hadn’t noticed it, people are eyeing us with suspicion!”
She took a look around and realized he was telling the truth.
“ You’re right. I’ll take your advice!” she said, throwing away the stake.
“ Wise decision!” he exclaimed with an evil smile, lifting her up, while she was struggling to get free, punching his chest.
“ You, stupid, bleached, put me down, put me down NOW!”
His only answer, he held here even more firmly, going into the sea, stopping just to a low sea level not to get too wet.
“ If I’m not wrong, you wanted me to put you down!” he commented, loosening his grip, while she was clinging to his shoulders, wrapping her arms ‘round his neck.
“ The water is cold, I’m fully dressed… you won’t… “ she begged him.
He sneered, freeing himself from her grip.
“ I will!” he laughed, throwing her farther, where the sea level was enough to get her completely wet.
He was about to come back to the shore, but she was faster, grabbing his T-shirt and pulling him to her.
“ Come here, Mister! You look a bit too dry to me!” she informed him, dragging him into the water with her, flooding him.
“ Thank your lucky star I left my coat in the car, Slayer!” he said, splashing her.
So they began a sprinkling of water fight, giggling like two children.
When they came out of the water, looking at the state they were in, they burst out laughing together.
“ We are totally soaked!” she exclaimed between laughter, squeezing both of her hair and clothes.
“ I suggest to take off our clothes and dry ourselves at the sun; I don’t want you to get a cold because off me!” he said, taking off his T-shirt.
“ Yeah, because throwing me in the freezing water is such a great way to show me how much you care ‘bout my health!” she commented sarcastic, starting to undo her shirt.
She realized that the blond vampire’s eyes were on her.
“ Spike! Tell me you didn’t do that to see me in bikini!” she exclaimed, but she had trouble trying to take her eyes off his sculpted chest.
The way he was looking at her gave her the answer.
“ You know, I would have taken my clothes off anyway… maybe… just later. After all, we were having a walk…”
“ Well pet, I’ve never been known for my patience!” he sneered, taking his pants off.
For an instant she dreaded he wore nothing under them, instead she saw a pair of black boxers that fitted him to a T.
By then, she had also taken off all her clothes, parading a deep red bikini, very scanty and clinging.
“ You look tempting, Slayer!” he exclaimed, while they both were lying down at the sun.
“ Well, according to the fact that you usually eat people … should I take it as a compliment… or a threat?” she asked worried.
“ The only way I’m devouring you is with my eyes, pet!” he replied, making her face match her bikini.
“ Shut up and enjoy your beloved sun!” she retorted, turning to the other side.
After a while, she turned back and she watched him with great attention, taking advantage of the fact that his eyes were shut: he stayed in the sun, quiet and blissful, his hands under his head, a serene look on his face, which already seemed less pale.
“ I know I’m bloody good looking and irresistible, but stop staring at me, pet!” he exclaimed, without even opening his eyes, with a triumphal smile.
“ Oh! No, it’s not what you think… I wasn’t… I just meant to… never mind!" she stuttered, turning to the opposite side immediately.
Her reaction made his smile grow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ We have been here for so long. I’m more than dry and sand is becoming hot! Wanna bathing?” Buffy suggested, getting up.
“ I was about to ask you the same!”
They ran into the water, letting the waves rock them.
“ Hey, let’s see who reaches the buoy first!” she challenged him, pointing the buoy.
“ Consider me already the winner!” he replied with a smirk.
“ Ready, steady…” and before saying “ Go!” she had already dashed to the buoy, swimming as fast as she could.
In fact, she reached it first, ready to make fun of him for whole hours; but Spike was nowhere to be found.
“ Spike? Spike! C’mon… if it’s another of your stupid jokes I…”
Before she could react, she felt someone slipping off her bra under water.
“ Hey, it’s not fair!” she squeaked, covering her now naked breast with her hands, staying under water with just her head surfacing.
“ You have just cheated at our competition and * you * are talking about fairness?” Spike explained, surfacing not far from her, holding her bra in a hand, that triumphal smile back on his lips.
“ You, stupid, pervert, idiot, pig, asshole, fiend…” she muttered, fuming.
“ Insults won’t bring you anywhere, sweetie!” he warned her.
She would have liked to strangle him, but her hands were too busy covering her breast.
Neither of them made a move. So, after a quarter and lots of other insults aimed at the vampire, she decided to change tactics.
“ Please, Spikey… be a good vampy and help the poor little Slayer… I’m freezing…” she tried to move him to pity with the most innocent of the looks.
“ If you’re so cold, just bloody come out from the water!” he retorted, trying not to laugh.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had had so much fun.
“ Grrr! If you haven’t notice, empty head dumb idiot, actually I can’t!”
“ Oh! Maybe you need * this*? “ he asked her, handing her the bathing suit, but before she could take it, he withdrew his hand.
“ Ha-Ha. Not so quickly, sunshine: on one condition!”
“ And which would it be?”
“ A day more. Let me wear this ring another day!”
“ You won. Now gimme it back and I promise I’ll let you wear the ring once more!”
“ I had told you to consider me the winner!” he exclaimed, throwing the bra to her.
“ So, that’s not about the competition, you had already planned everything!” she accused him between surprise and anger, while she was fastening her bra without showing him anything.
“ Exactly, pet: I was just waiting for the right moment to strike. After all, I’m the Big Bad!” he sneered.
“ Anyway, you’ve promised, Slayer! And I’m beginning to trust your word…”
She would have never told him, but she didn’t find so bad the idea of spending another day with him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was evening. Spike had left the ring at his crypt, where Buffy was waiting for him, while he was outside feeding.
She had allowed him to do it, because she knew it was his natural instinct, but she preferred not to hear about that.
She couldn’t imagine that Spike, for once, hadn’t killed anyone: he had just taken from his victims blood enough to satiate him, but not enough to cause them a serious damage.
When he came back, she saw a painful expression on his features.
“ Slayer, please, stake me and end up my torment!”
“ What’s wrong?” she asked, puzzled by his request.
His only answer, he took off his coat and raised his T-shirt, showing her his very reddened chest and back.
Buffy burst out laughing.
“ It’s not bloody funny!”
“ Hell yeah it is! I guess that the powerful gem can protect you from self-combustion, but not from sunburn!” she said between laughter.
“ This wasn’t supposed to happen!” he grumbled, grimacing for the pain.
“ You should have used some sun-protection cream, like every good wise vampy…”
“ Name me a vampire who bathed in the sun!”
“ Mm… you?” she smiled, approaching to him, to examine him better.
“ If you dare to slap me on my chest or back, truce or not, I swear I’ll kill you!” he summoned her, backing off.
“ Yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Why don’t you just shut up, take off your T-shirt and lay on the bed? Maybe I can help you…”
“ Uh? Pet, I don’t think this is the most suitable moment for a shag…” he commented confused, taking off his T-shirt and laying on the bed painstakingly.
“ Pervert idiot! I was talking about an ointment for burns and scalds: I’ve got one in my beach bag; but if you don’t stop being such a pig… I’ll just go and leave you in your pain!” she said and she would have punched his shoulder if she hadn’t remembered his current state.
“ No, please. I’ll be a good boy! Help me, my un-life is in your hands…” he begged her.
She smiled, taking the ointment.
As soon she began smearing it on his back he sighed, pleased not only by the relief of that fresh cream, but also by the sensation of Buffy ’s hands on his body and her touch, so gentle for once.
Even Buffy seemed to enjoy that contact, because she found herself sighing with him.
“ Feel better?” she smiled
“ A lot” he murmured.
She made him turn and she began to smear also his vigorous chest, enjoying its smoothness.
“ I’m glad that Willow didn’t find me this morning: I have told her I had to go on a mission to fight a demon. If she had caught me in our room I wouldn’t have known what to say: what kind of mission requires a bathing suit and a beach bag?” she chuckled, keeping her massage.
“ Well, me!” he smiled.
“ I don’t see you as a mission. I mean, not anymore: we had spent a whole day together, we went to the beach, had water works, you made dumb jokes at me… it sounded more like…”
“ A date?” he cut her, looking at her with an expression as astonished as hers.
“ Yeah, sort of. I mean, when you aren’t all ‘Grrr’ an in a ‘ I-Wanna-Kill-The-Slayer’ mood… you’re not so bad…” she admitted with a shy smile.
“ Well, I have to say: I also like being around you when you’re not too busy trying to dust me, sweetheart!” he smiled back.
“ Well, now you’re all fixed up!” she exclaimed, before a dangerous silent fell between them, getting up to put the cream in her bag.
“ Oh! It’s already half past midnight…” she commented with a yawn.
“ I’d better come back to the Campus. I’ll be here for tomorrow, early morning, to give you the ring. You know, something tells me you won’t be up to see sunrise. We had a plenty full day; I don’t know about you, but I’m completely worn out!” she admitted yawning again, taking on her jacket.
“ Me too. So, why don’t you stay here, pet? I mean, you seem too sleepy to reach the Campus now and I’m sure Red can face another day without you! Plus, this is a double bed and we’ve got a ‘No-Fangs-In-Neck/No-Stakes-In-Heart’ truce, you can trust me!” he said, patting the empty side of his bed to invite her in.
“ Stay!” he whispered once more.
She approached the bed, put her bag on the ground, kicked off her shoes, took off her jacket and slipped under the sheets.
“ Just because I’m too sleepy to get away!” she clarified.
He smiled, getting himself comfortable without invading her space, glad that the burning sensation was relieved a bit more, and he closed his eyes.
“’ Night, pet!”
He heard her laughing.
“ What?” he asked, trying to open his eyes.
“ You. Vampire. Falling asleep just when you’re supposed to be outside, lurking in the shadows!”
“ What can I say? To spend this day in sunlight has been like going on a journey for me; maybe now I’ve got jet-lag!” he said, starting to laugh with her.
She was right: that situation was paradoxical!
“ Didn’t know vampires suffer from jet-lag!” she muttered, closing her eyes.
“ There’s so much more you don’t know ‘bout me, sunshine!” he slurred already half-asleep.
PART 3
As the morning before, Buffy awoke close to Spike.
She had fallen asleep as far as she could from his side, but somehow right then his arm wrapped lazily her waist and her head laid on his chest, so comfortable and so… different!
She felt him beginning to stir, so she rolled to the other side, before he could realize where she was.
“ ‘Morning, pet!” he greeted her, popping his eyes open.
“ ‘Morning, Mr. Tan-With-Fangs!”
“ You called me what?”
“ Just look at yourself!”
When he did it, he realized why she had given him that nickname: thanks to his healing powers, the redness of his skin had gone, replaced by a considerable suntan. He smiled satisfied.
“ It’s not right! I mean, I spend whole months bathing in the sun to take some color and you, only after a day, are more tanned than a surfer! I hate you!” she said, crossing her arms, but she couldn’t help noticing how much the tan suited him.
She jumped off the bed, to take the ring and then she sat beside him, taking his hand and placing it on his palm.
“ A promise is a promise!” she smiled.
“ Ready for another journey? It’s already ten ‘o clock, what are you planning to do today?”
“ Mm… don’t know… probably not the beach!” he smiled, remembering the painful ‘side-effects’.
“ What ‘bout a nice quiet tour through Sunnyhell? You know, there are so many stores I’ve never seen ‘cos they’re closed at night…” he explained.
“ Deal! I’ll be your guide in the wonderful world of shopping, no one knows it better than me!” she smiled, surprised once again for his odd suggestion.
He was so different from all the other vampires.
When they went outside, she noticed that instead of his usual black T-shirt under his red shirt, he had chosen to wear only the shirt widely unbuttoned to set off his tan.
And he just wore that.
“ No coat? Ok, who are you and what did you do to the real Spike?” she teased him.
“ Gotta take some advantage of it as long as it lasts, that’s all, pet!” he explained, slipping on her sunglasses, while they went to his car.
She had to admit to herself that he had got a breath-taking beauty, not that he wasn’t gorgeous in his usual paleness.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They spent the whole morning at the center of town, visiting everything.
He ran from a store to the other, dragging her with him with the enthusiasm of a child. That amused her a lot and his excitement was contagious.
They spent the biggest part of time at the Clothes Shops, modeling for each other.
They laughed together all time long.
As used as she got to see him wearing always the same outfit, Buffy was really shocked seeing Spike paraded all the brightest colors … and there wasn’t one that didn’t suit him!
In fact, she managed to persuade him to buy some colored T-shirts and shirts.
He also stopped at every music store and even the Bookstores seemed to arouse his interest.
Buffy attributed it to the poet he told was in him.
After they came out from the last store, Spike did something that Buffy had to add to her list about what she wouldn’t have ever expected from him: he offered her an ice cream and he ate one himself!
She could easily get used to all his oddities.
“ And now what can we do?” Buffy asked, realizing it was just half afternoon.
“ Let’s go, I wanna show you something…” he said mysteriously, taking her to his car.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They got out from the car and after few minutes walk they arrived to a wonderful place, that only Spike seemed to know.
There were trees, a wide meadow, a small brook and, most of all, a huge quietness.
“ Fancy it, Slayer?”
“ It’s amazing!”
“Well, well… only you and me, all this place just for us…” he murmured, caressing her hair.
“… are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he said, raising both of his eyebrows.
“ Sure! The first move is yours!”
Just the time to say it that and his fist connected with her chin, making her back off.
“ And you call that a punch?” she teased him, punching violently his nose, sending him on the grass.
“ * This * is a punch!” she sneered satisfied.
He jumped up immediately and hit her mouth with his elbow, making her lower lip bleed.
“ Better?” he asked with an evil smile.
“ Better!” she smiled back, wiping her blood off with a hand.
“ And what do you think of this?” she exclaimed, jumping and trying to kick his face, but he dodged her blow, grabbed her leg and threw her to the ground.
“ I think you can do better!” he said, straddling her.
“ C’mon, give me your best, Slayer!”
“ Like * this*?” she retorted, freeing her legs enough to kick his stomach with both of her feet.
He clutched his stomach in pain, chuckling at the same time.
“ That’s my Slayer!”
She grabbed his shoulders, rolling with him in the grass: right then she was straddling him.
“ Oh! You have seen nothing yet!” she sneered.
“ I’m afraid you won’t show me much!” he laughed, taking her wrists and helping him with his legs to flip her behind his shoulders.
She landed with her back on the ground and he flung on her, before she could get up, blocking her with his weight and holding her arms behind her head.
“ I guess I won!” he whispered in her ear, pinning her on the grass, under the shadow of a tree, where only a single ray of sun filtered, lighting up her face.
She stayed there, panting, some blades of grass in her now ruffled long blonde hair, her clothes dirty because off their fight and the passion in her eyes.
She hadn’t ever been so beautiful to Spike as she was in that moment.
Buffy was completely under his power and when she saw him bending down on her, she wondered if he was about to kiss or to kill her.
And honestly she didn’t care: right then the only thing that existed for her was the blue ocean of his eyes, which she could see behind the dark sunglasses he still wore.
Their mouths were skimming, when they heard a sudden ring.
That distracted him and she got up.
“ My cell phone!” she exclaimed, drawing it from a pocket, while he watched her puzzled, wondering since when she had a cell phone and why it had rung just in a so precious moment.
“ Maybe it’s Giles, maybe something bad happened!” she explained, before answering the call.
“ Hallo?” and then she was dumbfounded.
“ Hi, Parker!”
Hearing that name, the vampire rolled his eyes.
“ How did you get my number? Oh, Willow gave you it!” and she made a mental note to ‘ thank’ her friend for her brilliant intervention.
“ You’re right… I’m sorry… didn’t mean to leave you waiting for me at the Bronze that night, but I was busy. Long story…”
She carried on repeating the boy’s sentences, just as she wanted let also Spike know what they’re talking about.
“ Yeah, it had something to do with those two friends of mine… hey, no! WAIT! He’s * not* my ex! How can you think that?”
Spike seemed very interested in that conversation and he approached her.
“ By the way he was watching me?” she repeated in disbelief, looking at the bleached blond.
“ Jealous? Of me? Really?” she exclaimed and a pleased smile crossed her features.
“ There’s some truth in the bloody whelp’s words!” Spike whispered to her, smiling back.
“ You wanna meet me again? I don’t know if … anyway, now I can’t! I’m busy. No, I can’t extricate myself from this commitment… and I don’t want to!” she explained, winking at Spike, happy for her words.
“ It’s not any of your business… HEY! Watch your mouth!… Ok, if you are so bloody curious, I’m with him, now, yeah, and ..DON’T CALL ME THAT! I don’t owe you any bloody explanation, I’m not your girl, and now I can swear I’ll never be. Bye!” she yelled, closing the conversation, without realizing that she had just used one of Spike’s most typical words, even twice!
He had noticed it and it amused him.
“ Someone lost a date?” he exclaimed.
“ He was nothing special anyway! Then, you are way more fun!” she smiled.
“ It’s getting late, pet. We’d better come back” he informed her.
Her smile faded.
On their way back to Sunnydale, they said nothing at all, both of them too confused for what had happened or had almost happened, and too scared by their feelings.
They arrived to his crypt few minutes before sun set.
He let in to pack up his things.
“ The sun is down. The day is over!” he sighed, slipping off the ring and giving it back to her.
“ A promise is a promise!” he quoted her words with a sad smile, as sad as hers.
“ I don’t need neither these anymore. Thank you, pet!” he said, taking off the sunglasses, handing them to her, but she refused to take them back.
“ You can keep them!” she said.
“ It’s not like I need them during the night!” he commented perplexed, but he put them in his pocket, anyway.
“ I’ll just be on my way: no more sun for me, no more trouble for you! Those are the terms, remember?” he explained, putting himself at the wheel.
“ Wait!” she screamed before he set the car in motion.
He got out, leaning against the car-door, waiting for her to speak.
“ What about… reviewing a term?” she suggested shyly.
“ A term?” he repeated astonished, a weak hope in his eyes.
“ Yeah, the first is untouchable, you know… but the second one… you know, I hadn’t told anyone ‘bout the gem, so… I could keep it and gave you it when you feel like seeing the sun again… you know, it would be our little secret… and it would imply that you don’t have to leave the town… and me!” she explained nervously, getting closer to him.
“ I like this change of term!” he exclaimed, getting closer to her.
“ On one condition!” she blackmailed him.
“ Anything!”
“ Show me what you were about to do before the cell phone rang!”
He smiled.
“ It’s not a condition…” he replied, playing with a lock of her hair.
“… it’s a pleasure!” and he bent down to her, approaching slowly his lips to hers.
At the beginning it was a tender and a bit wavering kiss, then she took the initiative, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, deepening their kiss.
He put an arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, caressing her back with the other hand and the kiss became more passionate.
After an eternity, they parted.
“ So, you want me to stay?” he asked, panting heavily, resting his forehead to hers.
“ Yeah. Plus, I can’t wait for you to spend another day in light, with me!” she replied, pulling him to her by his shirt-collar, kissing him again.
“ Can’t wait for you to spend another night in darkness (kiss), with me (kiss), in my crypt (kiss), to be your pillow once again!”
“ So, you have noticed that!” she exclaimed surprised.
“ And I liked that, Buffy!”
She was breathless.
“ It’s the first time you call me that!”
“ It’s such a cutie name. I love it! And if you stay with me tonight, maybe we can experience another kind of… first time!” he said, raising his scarred eyebrow to her, suggestively.
“ Pig!” she laughed.
“ I’ll stay, but I guess we should better wait for that kind of first time. After all… I’m not that easy!” she said, letting with him in the crypt.
“ I know, pet. Don’t worry, I’m a gentleman! I can wait.” He smiled, caressing her face sensually.
She moaned at his touch.
“ Well, Spike, if you behave … you won’t have to wait for too long!” she murmured, kissing him once more.
They kept kissing all the night long, and then they laid down on his bed, tenderly hugged… and still completely dressed: Spike had really been a gentleman.
“ Buffy?” he exclaimed, making her shivering again for using her real name.
She lifted her head from his shoulder to watch him better.
“ You were serious? I mean… about the ring: doesn’t it make me look manly?” he asked worried.
Her only answer, she took his face in her hands, covering it with kisses.
“ You (kiss) are (kiss) always (kiss) so, so manly (kiss), my (kiss) Big (kiss) Big (kiss) Bad (kiss)!”
That seemed to reassure him.
He traced her neck with a finger, bending down to nibble it softly, with his blunt teeth.
She arched her head back in pleasure.
“ Buffy?”
She shuddered once again and that pleased him.
“ I realized you like my name, but you can’t keep on repeating it every now and then!” she moaned, arching her head back even more.
“ I love the shivers it sends to you when I do it!” he replied, his mouth never leaving her neck.
“ I love that, too! So don’t stop!”
“ Ok, ..Buffy!”
Another quiver, another moan.
“ Anyway, I was just thinking.. we’d better review another term..”
“ Which one?” she asked curious, pulling his face even closer to her neck.
“ Our truce… not the part involving the stakes, there’s not a chance they can give pleasure! But the other part…”
Buffy started, but, surprisingly, she didn’t pull herself away from him ;she just allowed him to continue, and she already knew what he was about to say.
“.. I mean, vampires don’t bite only to kill or feed…you have no idea about the pleasure it could give, not just to me, to both of us.. ” he whispered in her ear, and he could swear she whined when his lips left her neck.
“ Wanna try, Buffy?” he murmured, his mouth coming back to her neck.
“ Spike…” she moaned..
He was about to shift to his game face, but she raised her hand.
“ Stop, please.. not now..” she said and he stopped.
“ It’s not that I don’t want that..” she explained and he immediately resumed nibbling her neck, gently.
“ Mm ..it’s just .. I mean, everything is happening so quickly… I just want to take my time for everything!”
“Ok, pet. I was just trying to push my luck!” he smirked, kissing her neck one last time, before pulling himself off her.
That closeness was too tempting.
“ If this Vampire carries on behave, maybe this Slayer could misbehave for him… soon. It’s just a matter of time…” she sing-sang, nibbling his neck.
“ You know, time is definitely not a problem for me!” he laughed, caressing her hair.
“ So, for now neither sex nor bites..” he pouted.
“ Well, there are other interesting activities we can do…” she whispered, claiming his lips once again, for a very long time.
“ Spike?” she said, caressing his face.
“ Mm?” he purred pleased.
“ Tell me something ‘bout the poet in you!”
THE END
TBC
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!