| Needlework by Holly |
| Chapter #19 - Our Star Will Shine |
Our Star Will Shine Gunn stumbled into Giles’s duplex just seconds after Angel slammed the door shut, walking into a heated trade between the old Watcher and his employer. The vampire had stormed out of Spike’s crypt much too fast for any normal human to successfully follow, and while Gunn prided himself on his strength and agility, there was no way to keep up with his boss when he was running on pure fury. “I told you to leave her alone if she—” “She’s clearly not in her right mind! She claimed Spike! Do you have any idea what that means?” “No, Angel, I’m only one of the top human experts on vampires and vampiric ceremonies on the west coast. Please explain a ritual claiming, preferably slowly and with small words.” The vampire’s gaze raged yellow. “How can you be so calm about this?” “Ummm.” Gunn raised his hand. “Is this the reason you moved to LA? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you have more than three facial expressions…ever.” Giles grinned wryly. “One of many reasons,” he retorted without tearing his eyes away from the tall brooding sulk. “I told you to leave Buffy alone if she was with Spike because she wanted to be. You were to go over there, gauge the situation, and only return with Buffy if that was what she wanted.” “Why isn’t he all…eunuch Angel?” Gunn frowned disdainfully. “Did you just throw in that bit about castration to keep us in line? ‘Cause man, threatenin’ a bro’s package ain’t cool.” “No,” the Watcher replied. “That much was very legitimate. My only guess is that Angel never got close enough to attempt a bodily removal of Buffy from Spike’s crypt. Is that right?” “I never touched her.” “Yes, I suspected as much.” Giles heaved out a sigh. “Very well. You have done what I asked. Thank you.” A pause. “Now leave.” There was a long, silent beat. “Leave?” “This is what a civilized person typically does at the end of a transaction.” “You really think I’m going to leave while Buffy is mated to Spike?” Giles’s eyes darkened. “From where I’m standing, you don’t have much of a choice. This was her decision, and quite frankly, if your current behavior exhibits the match she could have had for eternity, I say all the better for her.” “How can you approve of this?” “I never said I approved. But, from where I am standing, it is not my choice to make. Obviously, Buffy’s feelings for Spike have changed radically over the past few days. None of us can or should know what happened between them, but if she feels this strongly for someone, I believe you know as well as I do that there is nothing anyone can do to sway her.” A pause. “Especially now, since she has decided to seal her lifeline with his for the rest of time.” “If I challenge Spike’s claim—” “No. You will not be doing that. I’ll have Willow whip up a new spell that will ensure you will not bother Buffy or Spike again.” Gunn drew in a breath. “As in ‘dust-to-dust’ right? I didn’t miss that, did I?” “No. You did not miss a thing.” Angel stared at him, his eyes cold and dead. “You don’t know Spike like I do,” he replied. “You can’t begin to know what she has gotten herself into. He’s soulless, she’s not. He is not restricted by moral absolutes. He thinks he’s in love with her, sure. But love affects Spike…he’s at his most dangerous when he’s in love.” Giles was unmoved. “Then I’m going to count my blessings that it’s the Slayer that won his heart and not a deranged vampire that you made after destroying her family. Perhaps with someone who does hold moral absolutes as his mate, this dangerous shadow in Spike that, quite frankly, has never truly shown face, will dwindle altogether.” “Never truly shown face?” “Not in the way you led us to believe when he first barreled into Sunnydale, no.” “He’s a monster.” “Yes. And yet, I don’t recall hating him quite as richly as I hate Angelus.” The Watcher’s eyes flickered dangerously, and he stepped forward. “Now get the hell out of my house.” The look on Gunn’s face had gone slack with both astonishment and distant shades of a man truly impressed. He released a deep breath and stepped forward, placing a hand on Angel’s shoulder. “Come on, man,” he said. “We’re done here.” “I’m not.” Giles stepped forward again, his gaze not wavering. “Oh yes,” he said. “You are.” That was it. No more discussion. No more debate. There were so many unanswered questions. Things that troubled the Watcher to no end, but similarly, things he recognized he was too far on the outside to understand. Why his Slayer would have chosen Spike to share eternity with, he had no idea. Only that it had to be something extremely potent. Extremely powerful. And something beyond his comprehension. Something so compelling that no one, no matter how close they were to Buffy, would ever fully grasp. It didn’t matter. He had his answers. Everything else would come slowly. And he would simply have to wait until she was ready to come home. There had never been a feeling like this. The air crackled. She was aware of every move he made. Aware of every breath that shuddered through him. Aware of the tension wracking his being, the adoration pouring through every cell. From before where it had all been words and the feeling burning her own insides, to now where every tremor through her body vibrated with the wealth of his love for her. Ever since she came to him, he had shaken her with the intensity of his eyes. How he regarded her with such tender reverence. How he made her feel like royalty. Like she had fallen from reality into Heaven, and there had never been anything like this. She was sitting at the edge of the mattress, Spike kneeling before her, running his hands up and down her bare thighs. “You’re so gorgeous.” He buried his face between her breasts and shuddered. “I’m sorry.” “For what?” “Wanted to do to the claim here. Wanted to be inside you when it happened.” He rested against her for a minute, then raised his head and pressed a kiss to the proud mark on her throat. “Wanted to…” “It was perfect,” she replied, cupping his face gently. “It couldn’t have been more perfect.” He smiled gently. “We’re not gonna have a lot of time,” he said. “Angel’s gonna be back with an army once he tells Giles what you did upstairs.” “Screw ‘em.” A chuckle clamored through his throat. “See, the only person I wanna screw is right here.” “Pig.” “I’m a pig, huh?” He chuckled again, and she gasped at how good the vibrations felt against her. “Don’ you eat pigs?” She smirked and urged him away from her, smiling candidly at the frown that crossed his face. “Well, I ate one earlier tonight,” she replied, popping the button of his jeans and lowering the zipper. His cock sprang into her grasp, her other hand tugging his trousers down his legs. A long whimper tore through his throat as she lapped at his length, suckling at his head delicately. “It was good, but I think I like this one a little more.” Spike laced his fingers through her hair. “Jus’…a li’l more?” “Mmm…” Her tongue took to the underside of his erection, her hand dropping to cup his sack tenderly. “Maybe a lot more.” It was amazing. Before, their lovemaking had been revolutionary. Beyond anything she had ever felt. Beyond anything she had thought herself capable of feeling. Everything was different, now, and it broke through the boundaries of sensationalism. Every shudder that rushed through his body built her own arousal. Every pleasured nerve that her talented tongue uncovered sent shivers of rapture quivering through her blood. She felt his building euphoria as though it was her own, and it was unlike anything in the world. “Oh bleedin’ fuck,” Spike gasped, throwing his head back. “Such a pretty, hot li’l mouth. God, Buffy.” Pressure was building. Her insides were on fire; every stroke against his cock echoed against her clit. She needed him to touch her. Needed to feel hands that weren’t invisible caressing her. And yet, the sweet torture of suckling at his erection and swimming in pleasure through what she gave him was too good to forfeit. Her teeth slid over his belled head, and dueled gasps ripped through their mouths. Her stomach tightened and she flushed with alien warmth, tiny pinpricks of ecstasy numbing her skin. Buffy threw her head back, her eyes flashing, her hand pumping him speedily in the absence of her mouth. “Oh God!” she cried, unable to restrain herself another beat. “I need you.” Spike shot her a heated, smoldering look. “’m here,” he assured her, coaxing her away, shuddering when her touch left his body completely. “Scootch back, sweetling.” “Spike…” His mouth dropped to her throat, and he lapped attentively at the claim mark he had engraved there. “Always here.” “Ohhh…I need…” “I know.” He dipped a hand between her thighs, and she sank her nails into his shoulders as his thumb settled over her clit. “Fuck, you’re so wet.” “Uhhhh…” “God.” His eyes studied his hand’s ministrations for a few seconds before flickering to her face. He was breathing harshly, gaze overwhelmed with lust that went beyond anything she had ever seen, or shared. “God, I feel…oh my God.” Buffy nodded urgently with a strangled mewl. “Oh God.” Spike sank his blunt teeth into the claim mark, eliciting a long moan before he took chart down her body. “I gotta taste you.” “Uhhh…” “You’re driving me crazy.” He whipped the t-shirt over her head, mouth latching onto one of her breasts with a hum of approval. “Your scent. Your taste…your…fuck, I love you so much.” “Love you.” He released her nipple with a wet plop, abandoning her breasts with some difficulty to kiss a teasing trail down her belly until his face was buried in her pussy. His thumb continued its slow, achingly sweet caresses to her sensitive bundle of nerves, his tongue plunging inside her without formalities. A pleasured cry ripped past her lips and her head whipped back, her legs sliding over his shoulders. “You taste so bleeding good.” “Oh God.” “Christ…” His tongue drew a long line up her slit. “I feel everythin’.” She nodded unintelligibly, drawing him closer. “Uh huh.” “Every li’l…thing.” Spike burned her with his eyes, nibbling lightly on her folds. “’S unlike anythin’ I’ve ever felt before.” “Oohhh…” She arched into him with another long moan, her hands twisting the bedsheets as unbridled bliss tore through her body. “Spike…I…oh…oh my God. I need…” He withdrew his mouth from her tight channel, replacing his tongue with his fingers. “You’re so hot,” he murmured. “My tight, hot li’l Slayer.” He suckled her clit between his lips, drowning in her juices. In her taste. In every little gasp that rushed through her body. “My gorgeous mate.” She caught his eyes, drawing him in heatedly. “Mate,” she growled in agreement. “Want to feel you come.” His teeth scraped over her clit lightly. “Come for me, baby.” “Spike…” His thrusting fingers were touching parts of her that only he had explored, secret places within her to which only he held the key. And every time he revisited her, the wealth of sensations collided with each other to the point where she didn’t think she could take it. And then it happened. She touched the sky and fell back again, a hoarse scream bursting past her lips. She felt Spike growl into her in turn, felt the shudders quaking through his body as they shared the power of her orgasm. Drowning in euphoria that was almost too wonderful to bear. As though she was going to explode with feeling when it became too much. And he was there, holding her in her fall, resting his cheek against her hip bone and purring with contentment. There had never been anything like this. And it was only the first day. The first day of forever. “I love you so much,” Spike whispered softly. “I love you, too.” She smiled and cupped his cheek, urging him back up her body. He was hard again, his cock nudging her moist folds tenderly. “Spike…” “Shhh.” He slipped within her without another word, and buried his face in her throat at the feel of their union. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and tossed her head back, her eyes falling shut as he began to move within her. And the plateaus she had thought to have just reached were blown away. Her entire body set aside on a windstorm of discovery. There was nothing like it; absolutely nothing. Pleasure soared through her body; like she was a beginner taking her first attempt at a master’s course, and was too overwhelmed to keep up. The slow slip and slide of his flesh from hers, the burning heat between her thighs, his fingers tweaking her nipples, his mouth worshipping her throat…it was sensory overload, and she was tumbling too fast without anything to hold. And it was unbelievable. “Oh my God.” “Mmmm,” he hummed against her in agreement, thrusts slow and controlled, though there was a burning behind his eyes that she was beginning to recognize as his control slipping away. Unlike when he fought or sought blood, his sexual control had a completely different look. Like he wanted to pound her into the mattress, but needed to continue this sweet torment. “Like satin.” “Oh.” He smiled against her lips. “Like satin wrapped in sunlight. You’re so bloody warm.” His mouth danced over hers, tongue dancing with hers, the taste of her mingling with the taste of him until they simply tasted like each other. “You feel like…you feel so fucking good.” Buffy smiled cheekily. “You’ve told me.” “Won’t ever stop tellin’ you.” He shuddered a sigh, cock sliding rhythmically in and out of her passage. He was saturated in her juices, swimming in her scent, and burning with the addictive taste of her kisses. “Not like this before,” he gasped. “Not before. Not even with you. ‘S new, baby…this is all new.” “Yeah.” “So good.” “You too.” Her nails dug further into his skin, and then the scent of blood tainted the air, coinciding with a sharp gasp, and his thrusts made the sudden jump from slow and luxurious to speedy and needful. “Oh God!” “God, what you do to me.” Spike’s mouth returned to her throat, a hand slipping between them. His balls slapped noisily against her with every parry, the guttural sounds rumbling through his lips matched only for the animalesque sounds erupting from her scrumptious body. His fingers found her clit with ease and began a speedy massage, his body tingling with every gasp of pleasure that touched the air. Every vibration of euphoria that soared through her skin soared through his as well, and it was wonderful. “Spike!” “I love you.” His fangs burst through his gums, and the sensations surrounding him grew even more potent, if it was possible. “I love you so much.” “I love you.” Her eyes flashed. “Bite me.” “I’d be delighted.” The tease registered, but she ignored it. She was too foregone in feeling to care about anything else. “Show me…what you wanted.” Spike’s eyes widened and it was over. His fangs slid into the milky flesh at her throat, over the claim mark that tied them together for eternity, and she exploded around him. Sheer bliss tore through her, and she was left to a white feeling of utter clarity. It was all around her. Her mate thrusting into her, her blood pouring into his mouth, and this was it. This was where she belonged. This was where she had always belonged. And she was finally home. “Mine,” Spike whispered into her. “You’re mine, Buffy. Forever. Mine.” “Yes, yes.” “Say it.” “Yours. I’m yours.” He was still thrusting into her as he lapped the wound closed, love shining through his eyes. “Bite me,” he replied in turn after drawing her mouth to his for a tender kiss. “Tell me who I belong to.” Her demon sprang forward as another fire began building within her. A fire that shook her spiraling into a second orgasm as her fangs pierced his skin and his blood touched her tongue. And Spike rumbled in release, flooding her with himself as her muscles milked him for everything he had to give. She drank him greedily; drawing as much of him into herself as possible “Mine,” she growled, forcing her teeth back into her mouth, suckling gently at his wound. “Mine.” “Oh, I am so fucking yours.” Buffy giggled and drew her mouth away, her eyes dancing. “Yes, you are.” “Hey, you’re mine, too, you know.” “Completely.” Spike smiled and brushed a kiss across her forehead. “I can’t believe this,” he said with a long, contented sigh. “What?” “You. You’re here.” “I’ve been here for a while, buster.” His grin broadened, and he reached over to the unoccupied side of the bed, capturing two of the rose petals he had scattered throughout the crypt in preparation for their ritual union. For this sacred night. Red and white paper-thin wedges of beauty. He had done all of this for her. No. Buffy frowned inwardly. That wasn’t right. For them. He had done it for them. “You’ve been here,” he agreed a minute later. “I jus’…I guess I never thought you’d really…” “We have a bad habit of having to talk each other into believing this is real.” Spike brushed a kiss against her mouth. “When it’s never been real before, pet, I think that’s natural. An’ you’re really here.” He dragged the red rose petal slowly down her chest, encircling her nipple reverently before drawing her into his mouth. “Red for blood,” he murmured. “An’ passion. An’ fury.” The white rose petal followed course, mimicking the red’s actions against her other breast. “This for purity,” he concluded. “Perfection.” “I’m not pure or perfect.” “No, baby. No one is…but you’re as close as a bloke on this bloody planet could get.” His brow fell against hers. “You make me wanna be a better man. The sort’ve man that could deserve this…someday.” “Spike—” “I have you,” he replied. “Doesn’ mean I deserve you. I’m a monster, pet. That’s the way it’s gonna be forever. But I’ll be a good monster for you. I’m gonna do things that…it’s not gonna be perfect, sweetheart. But I’ll give you as close to perfect as I can. I’ll be good for you. I jus’…I—” Her mouth devoured his, and he lost himself for a few blissful seconds. “It doesn’t need to be perfect,” she replied. “Just real. I love you. I’m not expecting perfect, Spike. I never will. Maybe I did once, but…perfect doesn’t exist. We’ll burn those bridges when we get there.” “Don’t you mean cross?” “No, I think we’ll burn them.” She paused. “You helped me touch the monster…even though eating a pig in the forest is hardly…but I’m not the Slayer I was, if I’m a Slayer at all anymore. If something happens, it happens. I don’t…I’m not that girl anymore. I’m a vampire, and I know what you have to fight. What you’re fighting right now. You’ve shown me everything without trying to hide that part. And I love you.” “I love you, too.” He released a trembling sigh, wrapping his arms around her as she lowered his head to her shoulder, the rose petals smothered between them. “I jus’ wanted that said before the cavalry arrives. Before your Watcher comes in here, staffed with the entire Sunnydale cleric branch to take you outta here an’ get you to ‘snap the hell out of it.’” “It won’t happen.” “Buffy, you can’t be that bloody naïve—” “Oh no. Not the first part…but someone’s going to get hurt if they try to take me out of here against my will.” A small smile drew across his face. “That’s my girl.” Buffy settled back, running her fingers lovingly through his hair. There was something about this; about this peace. About simply resting in his arms with the scent of their lovemaking perfuming the air. His cock resting within her body, more for the need of that connection than anything else. She had never felt closer to anyone than she did to Spike. Never. And she never would. He had delivered her through the darkness and into the light, into a place of calm, soft enlightenment. A place she hadn’t known existed on this plane of being. He had brought her peace. The demon that had raged inside was completely docile, not merely quiet. Calm. The wail for her sire was gone. She was in the arms of her mate. Their blood was kindled. Their path was the same. That was the last thought that fluttered through her head before sleep overwhelmed her, and the gentle hum of morning spread over Sunnydale. The beginning of a new day. And they rested. To be concluded in Chapter Twenty: The Long And Winding Road… |