| Mastery by ComedyofErrors |
| Chapter #12 - Chapter 12 |
Mastery by ComedyofErrors Chapter 12 Angelus scowled at the map of Sunnydale taped to the wall of his new lair. The Mansion was no longer safe, certainly not with his limited supply of minion guards. Damn Watcher. Should have taken more precautions after the first attack at the factory. Factory, to Mansion, to an old hotel on the edge of town called the Sunnydale Arms. The dilapidated hellhole was far below his normal living standards; that it was also filled with rats brought to mind unwelcome memories of years spent in alleys, living on the worthless beasts. The accommodations aggravated his already foul temper. Six nights and six days had passed, not including the night of the 'banquet' on which Buffy was stolen from him. Dawn was imminent on the seventh day since the disappearance, and there had yet to be a sign of her. Or of Spike, the little prick. Angelus's fist crashed into the exposed drywall beside the map. The large round hole it left was one of several that decorated the room. Taking his anger out on the walls had proved to be his only relief during the day. He couldn't afford to dust anymore minions to take the edge off his displeasure, because he needed the few he had. It all came down to Spike. Angelus had been trying to decide since the moment Buffy disappeared just how he'd done it. He'd planned and plotted and escaped undetected. He probably had minions assisting him, but it was impossible to know how many were with him, with so many piles of dust in the Mansion. Angelus had been certain that Spike would go to ground in another abandoned building. He'd had the minions searching every night since the disappearance. Now more than three quarters of the map had been crossed off, the buildings in the canvassed having all come up clean. They examined ever abandoned factory and condemned building. Nothing. The tombs and crypts in the local graveyard. Nothing. The tunnels and caves throughout the city underground. Nothing. Even the mall, the clubs, the slaughter houses, the museums, and the schools were being searched. Still nothing. Angelus had intimidated every source he could find and beaten up Willy once again. He'd offered rewards. He'd come as close as he ever would to begging. And still that little shit of a grandchilde eluded him. Not a wiff of him, or a sight of his De Soto. The butcher shops had only sold bulk blood to non-vampire demons lately. And all of them paid in cash, no names and no addresses exchanged. Angelus had contacted a local black witch to do a locator spell using what little Spike had left in the Mansion, but without success. Either he was out of range, or he was protected by wards. Spike wasn't the type to cut and run. Angelus suspected that he was still in town, waiting to strike. But from where, damn it? Angelus growled at the walls. The thought that Spike was touching what Angelus had rightfully taken was enough to drive him round the bend. He was certain Spike would enjoy that knowledge. The boy had always loved to irritate him. Well, the search wasn't over yet. There were still plenty of places the boy could be hiding. As if it wasn't bad enough that the wayward vampires were beyond his reach, so were the humans Buffy had left behind. None of them left their houses at night, and none stayed home alone. They had all been staying with the Slayer's mother, including Cordelia. Ha. He would have had fun with her if she came his way. He would have enjoyed any of them. Even the boy in the hospital was being protected every night. Sweet little Willow had done some kind of spell on his room to repel demons. Two of his minions had bounced off the barrier as though they'd been disinvited from a public place. Who had guessed Willow was that strong? Angelus grinned suddenly. Of course, the advantage to all of them living inside the same warded house (oh yes, the Watcher had been very careful), was that all but Xander had been present when Joyce found his home movies. He wished that he could have seen her face. After all, it isn't every day you watch your daughter kill a human. ____________________________ Buffy walked silently down the stair case toward the living room, with a quick glance back at the loft to see if Spike had followed. She had moved slowly out of bed and watched closely to see if he moved. A single twitch and she would have pretended to be asleep, which she normally would have been, since it was almost 7 a.m. They always went to bed around 5 a.m. It wasn't as though she was breaking a rule by being out of bed, because really there weren't any restrictions on where she could go or what she could do in this house, but she was still nervous. She was looking for advice, and the only person she could bring herself to ask was Alexa. Buffy got on well with all the minions, but she was closest to Alexa. They'd got to talking after she went shopping for Buffy and found out they both liked chocolate, romance novels, and designer labels. The tentative friendship had been cemented when Buffy asked Alexa not to call her 'Mistress', at least not when they were alone. Alexa was older both as a human and as a vampire than Buffy. She was obviously very smart, but she never talked down to Buffy. It was kind of like having a friendly older sister. Spike was wonderful, but every once in a while a girl needs girl talk. It wasn't just talking, either. When Buffy wasn't having lessons about vampires and Order Aurelius from Spike, who by the way made it all sound a lot more interesting than Giles ever had, she and Alexa sparred. Buffy had found that she was significantly stronger and faster than she had been two weeks ago. So much so that she accidentally broke one of Alexa's hands the first day. After that, Alexa stayed behind the brand new punching bag that had been set up in the downstairs living room/gym. The other minions were less daring. They were friendly, but fighting the Slayer, or at least the former Slayer, was too scary. Buffy would love to be fighting Spike again. None of her other opponents were ever as inventive as Spike. He was kind of like the Wile E. Coyote of vampires, only his plans actually worked. Sometimes. But Spike just wasn't that steady on his feet yet. Buffy knew that he worked on his coordination whenever she was downstairs with the minions sparring, or in the main living room playing Nintendo, now that they had a T.V. She'd come upstairs early once and he had been doing push-ups with his back toward her. She had left quietly, so as not to disturb him. He was proud. He hated to be seen below par. He came downstairs for blood when they woke up, and he and Buffy usually did her lessons on the main floor sofa. Buffy had asked Alexa to buy her a notebook so that she could keep track of the symbols and history associated with vampire families. She would take notes on the coffee table, while he stretched his legs out on the couch behind her. Then they'd have a midnight snack with the minions and Morrie in the dining room. They sometimes talked for hours. Later she usually went downstairs to train. He never came with her, probably because it made him self-conscious to watch her fight when he couldn't. He'd be taking a shower or in bed watching early-morning talk shows when she got upstairs in the morning. Spike, she had found, was not the brash bad boy he pretended to be. Sure, he was the Big Bad in public and in a fight, but in private, he was more...passive. He liked to laugh and watch cheesy soap operas. He was the only person she knew, other than her mother, who could stand to watch Passions. Spike played a fair share of video games, too. And he read. She'd found a big suitcase full of books, mostly poetry, tucked under the bed once while reaching for a sock that she'd dropped. They were old, worn, paper backs; obviously they'd been read many times. Spike must take them with him everywhere he goes, she decided. He ate human food, especially marshmallows. The little kind you put in hot chocolate, only he put them in his blood too. There was another odd thing. He hadn't asked the minions to bring him human blood, or for that matter, a human. It wasn't as though he wouldn't eat a human given the chance, she was sure, but he wasn't overcome with bloodlust because he hadn't tasted a real artery recently. Neither were the minions. Did they just have that much control, or could they really live like this on a permanent basis? Buffy didn't know what all that meant for the salvation of vampires as a whole. All she knew was that Spike was as tender and kind without a soul as Angelus had ever been with one. And that was her problem. No, not so much problem as...motivation. Buffy had to admit that she'd always thought Spike was attractive. He had that roguish image, a combination of black leather and danger, but at the same time, he'd come thousands of miles in a vague hope to cure a woman he'd been in love with for over a hundred years. And of course physically he was nothing to sneer at. He had broad shoulders and a thin waist, but not disproportionately so. He was slim but muscular, just above average height. She didn't feel crushed when he hugged her, and lying next to him at night made her feel safe. From the first she'd wondered what it would be like to do more than just lay next to him. She hadn't told anyone, but she'd had her first chance four days ago. They'd gone to bed in the morning as usual. It was easier to fall asleep during the day, though with all the curtains in the house, it didn't hurt to be awake. Buffy'd awoken around noon, but wasn't immediately sure what had disturbed her sleep. She was lying under the covers with her back toward Spike's front. She'd stretched languidly, and come into contact with something hard. At waist level. Buffy froze. She turned over slowly. Spike was sound asleep, breathing unconsciously as he usually did. He didn't even realize that he was aroused, so her first thought was relief that he didn't mean anything by it. It wasn't like he could help his dreams, after all. Buffy just smiled and watched him sleep. He was so beautiful. She hadn't mentioned it to him; she just rolled over and went back to her own dreams. She hadn't been ready yet. She'd still been kind of in shock from Angelus's treatment. Buffy stayed focused on Angelus for the next few nights. She tried to imagine what she could do to prepare for when she faced him again. What she could do to fight him. She had come to the very simple conclusion that it wasn't the time to worry about it. They didn't have the strength to fight back, especially considering the number of minions he had. They would have to run if he came their way. So it was time to wait and learn. She'd been doing that. With Spike. Buffy found that the more time she spent with Spike, the more she wanted to spend time with him. She'd begun to notice how he cocked his head to the side when he was curious. His smirk was now more appealing than irritating. Accidentally seeing him without his shirt a couple times had been very pleasant. And really it had been kind of flattering that he got hard lying next to her. It happened again yesterday. She woke after being poked in the back by his erection. This time as she watched him, he let out a low, sensual growl. It touched something in her. She felt herself responding to the sound. She knew it for its possessive, dominant nature. It was the kind of sound a vampire made while having sex. Angelus had done something similar at the Mansion, to remind her of what he could do to her if she disobeyed. From Spike, it sounded more like an invitation than a threat. She suddenly realized that she was ready to accept it. She wasn't really sure how to proceed. Timidly, she had placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't move. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. After a few moments he began to respond. His tongue reached out and played along her lips. She opened her mouth, and it moved inside, exploring. She ran her own tongue along its sides. His tongue pushed up to her palette and began to prod the chevron shaped ridges that line a vampire's mouth even out of game face. Buffy shivered in pleasure at the sensation. Her movement must have been enough to awaken Spike, because he pulled back suddenly. He stared at her in confusion. "I woke you." Buffy nodded, but smiled. "It's okay. I..." "I'm sorry. Go back to sleep, I won't bother you." And with that he had turned his back to her, then gone back to sleep himself. Needless to say, Buffy didn't fall asleep. Spike ignored Buffy's attempts to revisit the issue when they got up that evening. She spent all night trying to decide what she'd done wrong. She knew she was inexperienced, but surely one kiss hadn't turned him off that much. Or, was it that he didn't feel the same way about her? Maybe he just thought of her as a childe. Maybe he was dreaming about somebody else. That was why she needed to speak with Alexa. _______________________ Alexa sat with Buffy at the kitchen table, drinking a mug of pig's blood and trying not to smile. Buffy had related her story with such nervous sincerity. "Why don't you ask Master Spike about this?" Buffy stared into the cooling red sludge in her own cup. "I tried. He didn't want to talk about it." She sniffed slightly, afraid she might start crying. "What did I do wrong?" Alexa put her hand over one of Buffy's. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's not that he isn't interested in you; the Master misunderstood your advances. You must realize Buffy, Master Spike is terrified of doing anything to influence you into intimacy." Her brow furrowed. "Why?" "Because of Angelus. You were originally his childe, and the Master thinks that the only reason you were kissing him was that you thought it was your duty, not because you wanted to." "How do I convince him that I want him?" "I'm not sure Buffy." Buffy stared at the table. "You and Jacob are kinda together." "Mm-hmm." "What do you do to..." She felt embarrassed even thinking the question. "Get him hot?" Alexa watched Buffy's mouth fall open in surprise. After a moment she nodded sheepishly. "Well I know what Jacob finds special. You have to find something like that for the Master." Buffy sat in thought for a few minutes. "Alexa, would you teach me how to do something?" _______________________ Buffy made her way back into the bedroom. Spike had rolled over onto his back, but he was still sound asleep. Buffy was grateful. She would rather start this without him watching. She chewed her bottom lip nervously as she walked over and pulled the covers off him. She climbed cautiously up onto the mattress and kneeled beside him. She cast a clandestine glance at the crotch of his drawstring pants, feeling pleasantly naughty. He wasn't hard, so she figured that had to be the first step in seducing him. He seemed to like being kissed, but she was afraid to wake him and give herself away too early. She sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. She lingered, feeling the lean muscle underneath his skin. And the bone. He was still so very thin. She was glad she'd stopped drinking from him. Her hand moved over to his collar and down onto his chest. She could feel every rib beneath his shirt. Slowly, as if it had a mind of its own, her hand ghosted down across his flat stomach. He stirred, leaning his head back a little and sighed. Buffy felt a temptation to get another look under his shirt. She lifted the edge with both hands, and pushed it up his body to where it bunched under his arms. He had beautiful abs. She traced the outline of his muscles with the tips of her fingers. They tightened...oh, he was ticklish. She smiled. She would definitely have to use that to get her way sometime. She leaned her head down and kissed his abdomen. He let out a moan. She kissed her way up his torso until she encountered a nipple. After a quick glance at his sleeping face, she put her lips around it and sucked gently. He let out that same low growl. Buffy looked down his body and saw a bulge forming beneath the drawstring. Ah ha. She sucked a little firmer on the nipple, then moved over to his other and did the same. When she bit down with her blunt teeth, he gave a loud moan and one of his arms reached up lazily as though trying to grab her. She pulled back quickly and waited until the arm settled at his side again. Deciding that she should start on the main event, Buffy crept lower down on the bed. She straddled his legs, careful not to put any weight on them. She untied the string, accidentally brushing against him through the thin fabric. The bulge swelled noticeably, and he groaned. She would have been blushing if her capillaries still worked. She managed to undo the knot and loosen the waist. She ran a finger inside the band. She had known not to expect underwear. She'd been through all of the walk-in closet's racks and the dresser's drawers and there was no sign of any. Now here was a problem. She needed to get the pants off, and he showed no signs of moving. She bit her tongue, trying to think. After a moment she placed a shaking hand above his poorly hidden erection and stroked it once through the fabric. His hips lifted instantly from the bed, and she pulled his pants down his legs. Getting them around his knees, then his ankles, was much simpler. That was when Buffy took her first look at a man naked from the waist down. Her first time with Angelus had been tender and lacking in visuals. At the Mansion, she hadn't cared to look, and even if she had, the angle the chains held her at wouldn't have let her. Her only real look at a penis was in a biology text book, and that just didn't begin to give her the feelings she got now, looking at Spike's. Buffy did wear underwear and hers felt really wet. She supposed it was large. She didn't really have a history to go by. If they all looked like that she wondered how they fit inside. It was leaning over toward Spike's stomach. She tilted her head to get a better look. Mentally she was reviewing what Alexa had told her. There was the tip, so that must be the foreskin... She pushed his knees apart slightly; he seemed to get the idea even though he was asleep, because they moved far enough out of the way for her to kneel in between. Spike wasn't a natural blonde. She giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth and looked up. He hadn't moved. She was sure he wouldn't have found it amusing for her to giggle while looking at his dick. Okay, here goes. She cupped her right hand around the shaft, barely touching it. So smooth. Alexa said it wouldn't hurt to use some real pressure, so she tightened her hand around it in a firm grip. Spike's head shifted. Another moan. Slowly she moved her hand up and down the length, a little faster once she got a rhythm started. "Buffy..." he whimpered in his sleep. She felt very warm. He was thinking about her! Okay, now for the hard part. Ugh, bad pun Buffy. She leaned her head forward and kissed the tip, while her hand continued to stroke. There was a little precum there. She licked it off. Salty. She licked her lips, then opened her mouth and edged forward. She closed her quivering lips around the tip and sucked. Spike gasped and opened his eyes. ***** Thanks to all the kind readers, please enjoy. Thanks to Linda, my beta. |