Never Alone Again
by Spikeskat

Chapter 1

Four months later…

Spike had had enough.  He was tired and hungry.  He’d been tracking the slayer almost since they’d left Sunnydale together.  Only the fact that she was able to travel by day and night prevented him from catching up to her.  That, and the accusation he’d likely see in her eyes if he’d exerted his control over her – forcing her to his side so that they could settle this thing between them once and for all.  He’d not wanted to give her any more ammunition to use against him.

Didn’t want to have her watcher’s words proven true. 

The ramifications of his claim had likely been written in a hastily scribbled letter slipped into her bag by Giles before they’d departed. If he wasn’t so intent on finding the slayer, all while keeping an ever-vigilant eye out for any of the Order’s assassins, he’d have traveled back to the Hellmouth just so he could tear out the man’s heart, like the watcher had done his.  He’d told the wanker she’d accepted him, so he should have left well enough alone and let the two of them work it out when the time was right.

But did he?

Hell no.

What had possessed the man to tell his slayer about the claim he’d placed on her?  He knew the girl’s temperament.  Was he trying to get them both killed?  Now he had this added headache he didn’t need.  Like he didn’t have enough to worry about.  They’d been two against who knew how many – and now they weren’t even a two.  Just a one and a one with the latter trying desperately to look after the former…without much success.

Oh, Spike knew she’d be mad, furiously so, when she eventually found out what he’d done.  But that time had been a long way off.  Say years, maybe.  However long it took them to find the Order’s stronghold.  And, at the rate they were going…

Yeah, it was safe to say it would probably be a few years before he’d have to tell her.

He gnawed on his bottom lip as he contemplated his current situation.  He’d have to stop soon.  Find a place to hole up for the day.  Another beat-up motel, just like the dozens of others he’d occupied – with and without the slayer by his side. 

Spike was cutting it close when he finally stopped some thirty minutes later.  The demon inside practically climbing the walls at the imminent sunrise – desperate to be away from its deadly rays.  He fit the key into the lock and stepped inside, just as the bright orange globe appeared on the distant horizon.  The door closed and locked, he dropped his bag on the carpeted floor and crossed quickly to the window to close the curtains the last few inches, sealing the room in darkness.

Too restless to sleep, he stripped and made his way towards the shower.  Hoping the hot water would help relax him.

But he doubted it.

Ever since the slayer had split, he’d been running on about three hours of sleep each day.  Too…worried… to sleep as the sun began its natural ascent into the sky.  Only falling into an exhausted slumber a few hours before dusk.  Usually after a day spent watching bad daytime television, or a day spent pacing.

Sometimes, when he could concentrate – when he felt through the claim that the slayer appeared to be sleeping – Spike would force himself to read through the books he still carried.  It wasn’t the same, however.  Usually when they’d engaged in what she liked to call “research session” they often bounced ideas off each other, hypothesized as to the possible meaning of the text they happened to be reading.  Now the endless quiet motel rooms just seemed to mock him.

After his shower, Spike settled on the bed and flicked on the television.  He channel-surfed for a few hours, catching up on current events before the morning shows came on.  Refusing to watch the hosts with their overly cheerful expressions and fake, plastic smiles, he set it to C-SPAN, hoping the monotonous tones of the country’s leaders would lull him to a quick slumber.  Anything to take his mind off the girl who’d slipped away one day while he’d been sleeping.

It didn’t work at first.

He still remembered the fear he’d experienced when he’d woken and she’d not been snuggled in bed next to him.  Felt her anguish pound into his consciousness as he’d shaken off the last remnants of sleep, knowing without even looking around the room that she’d been gone.

A cursory look about the interior had revealed her missing bag and a few of the more promising books as to the Order’s whereabouts.  He remembered being half tempted to exert his control over her, while he’d crammed his meager belongings in his bag and shot out into the night after her. 

He’d tracked her.

Relentlessly dogging her footsteps and forcing her onward.

If he was going to be miserable, then, by god, so was she!

An hour of listening to a boring committee of something or other question a witness of something or other and his eyelids started to droop.  He must have reached the end of his reserves, because it wasn’t long thereafter that he succumbed to his body’s exhaustion and slept.

~*~*~*~*~

Buffy was tired of running.

Not to mention lonely.

After having Spike as her constant companion for over a month, these last four without him had been rough.  Why she’d taken this long to come to terms with things, she wasn’t sure.  The one thing she did know was that the vampire hadn’t once done any of the things to her that Giles had stated in his letter that he was now capable of.

Maybe she was testing him.  And, subconsciously, she probably was.

Even if she knew – buried even deeper in her subconscious – that Spike would never do any of the things that the power of his claim granted him.

A week ago, a month, the minute she’d snuck away while he slept – again, the exact moment of dawning reason eluded her.

All she knew was that she was tired of running.  Tired of waking alone. 

She’d isolated herself long enough.  Had no doubt put herself, and him, in danger by her foolhardy actions.  

The sun was high in the sky when she used the secondary key to let herself into Spike’s room, having backtracked to find him once assured his movements had been hampered by the sun.  Sometimes it paid being the slayer, especially when the motel was run by a demon.  The K’larbur coexisted peacefully with humans and was only too happy to reunite her with her “wayward” vampire once the scar on her neck had been revealed.

Her duffle fell discarded from her fingertips as she gazed at the slumbering vampire upon the bed.  He’d not bothered with covers; his pale, nude body gleaming in the meager light. 

She became worried when he didn’t wake as she drew near.  Upon closer inspection, she could see that he’d lost weight – much like she had.  The sharp angles of his face even more pronounced now.  He was exhausted.  Clearly so.

And no doubt hungry.

She’d done this to him.  Forced him to this half existence as he’d apparently trailed not too far behind her. 

Guilt assaulted her.  Caused her eyes to fill with tears at his condition.

She’d been wrong to leave him.  To heed Giles’ warnings and completely disregard the time she and the vampire had spent together.  If she’d stayed away much longer, there would have been nothing left of her Spike to come back to…he would have wasted away to nothing.

Hurriedly, Buffy stripped out of her clothes and palmed the knife she kept hidden in her boot.  After a shallow cut to her neck, she climbed on the bed and cuddled close to the slumbering vampire, not surprised in the least when his arms automatically wrapped around her back and pulled her closer.  A hand at the back of his head directed him to the drops of blood oozing from where she’d nicked herself, and she expelled a hopeful breath when he lapped at the life-giving substance.

She felt his face shift mere seconds before his fangs pierced her flesh.  Unlike the last few times, this bite happened to hurt, but she forced herself to remain unmoving in his arms while he fed from her.  Ever the gentleman – though he’d refute the comparison if it were ever voiced aloud – he sucked lightly, oftentimes just allowing his mouth to fill with her blood before swallowing.  As if he knew instinctively whom he held in his arms.

He finished far sooner than she would have liked, licking closed the fresh marks he’d made.  His purr of satisfaction as he drifted deeper into sleep brought a smile to her lips, and she snuggled a bit closer and gave herself over as well.

For the first time in four months, Buffy slept without having to keep one eye open and locked on the door.

~*~*~*~*~

The growing pressure building at her apex woke her, and her eyes fluttered opened to reveal Spike situated between her legs, propped on his forearms.  His hips moved in a slow dance above her, and she felt the hard length of his cock as it slid in and out of her pussy.  Her body arched up against him, trying to drive him deeper.

Her hands lifted to caress his ridged brow and whatever control he seemed to harbor while she’d wavered between sleep and waking snapped.  Wrapping his hands around her shoulders to hold her in place, he buried his face in her neck and thrust into her for all he was worth. 

Buffy’s nails dug into the exposed flesh of his shoulder blades as her legs snaked around the backs of his thighs.

There was no way this wasn’t going to be over fast.  After four month’s separation—

Even as she thought it, she felt herself explode.  Her mouth opened on a silent gasp, her hips arched reflexively, enabling his cock to brush against her sweet spot over and over until she thought she’d black out from the pleasure. It didn’t stop him, however.  If anything, her orgasm just egged him on, drove him to pump harder, faster.  Growling as her inner walls continued to squeeze him tight.

The slayer had no time to bask in the post-coital afterglow, for she could already feel her body drawing taut in anticipation of a second, more powerful climax.  And she was grateful for the fangs that seemed to glide back and forth along the throbbing carotid artery, knowing that when he struck, there’d be no way he’d be able to hold off coming.

Neither would she.

Her fingers moved from his back to his head, twining through the longish curls to grip, tug, push, pull…force his sharpened canines to penetrate the smooth expanse of skin at her throat.  Anything to get him to end the torture of being held poised on the edge with no relief in sight.

He snarled in her ear, the perverse vamp no doubt pleased with the rough treatment she’d inflicted.  Just when she thought she could take it no more, he struck.  Latching onto her neck with a primal roar.

Buffy saw stars as pain and pleasure collided to produce one mother of an orgasm.  She screamed her release, unmindful to the other guests of the motel.  And really…demon motel here – she was sure they were used to the noise.  Besides, she was too busy caught up in the vampire above her.  Her womb flooded with his seed as his cock pulsed deep within her pussy.

Utterly spent, her arms and legs collapsed upon the mattress covers, while she struggled to control her breathing.  She felt Spike’s weight for just a moment before he recovered enough to roll them, their bodies still intimately joined as he settled her on top of him.

Neither spoke in the aftermath of their reunion, unwilling to break the peaceful silence that permeated the room. 

~*~*~*~*~

Spike took note of the subtle changes in her body.  She was skinnier, like him.  Losing weight she could ill afford to lose.  Her hair had gotten a bit longer; it was dyed black again, the unnatural shade of red she’d worn before no more than random streaks placed in intervals about her head.  He somewhat missed the red; although, the black was nice too.

His own hair was probably a lot worse off.  He’d not done anything with it since the time she’d dyed it.  And, he hadn’t the time or the patience to invest the time necessary to keep the color she’d given him… or to see it cut.  Maybe he could talk her into a repeat performance now that she was back.

Once he felt her breathing and heart rate return to normal, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.  He gained his feet, her body still held in his arms, although his lagging erection managed to slip free, causing them both to groan at the loss.

“Come on, luv, let’s get washed up.  We’ve some talkin’ to do, yeah?”

Buffy nodded into his neck as he walked the few feet to the sparse bathroom.  Again, neither said anything, their movements practically mechanical as they washed each other off quickly and stepped out of the shower.

By tacit agreement, they donned clothes, then settled into the two seats on either side of the small table. 

Buffy startled him by going first; the last thing he’d expected was an apology. 

“’M the one that should be sayin’ ‘m sorry,” he told her.  “Though…I am evil an’ ’s not in my nature.”

The smirk in his voice seemed hollow even to his ears, although he did manage to produce a brief smile to the slayer’s lips.

“Yeah, well… I shouldn’t have let Giles’ letter get to me.  We’d been doing fine on our own.  And I’m sure there was a good reason…there was a good reason, right?”

“Yeah, pet.”

“See…I shoulda’ waited.  Instead, I panicked and took off.  I didn’t like to think…I just didn’t want…”  Buffy was having a hard time putting into words what she was trying to say.

“C’mere, Buffy.”

The use of her real name threw her; Spike never used her name.  It was always, “love,” or “kitten,” or “pet,” or her personal fave, “slayer.”  Though, the “slayer” had been lacking since they’d been on the run – didn’t want the wrong people overhearing.

She got up, and placed her hand in his, allowing herself to be pulled down onto his lap.  A feeling of rightness settled over her as he held her close.  Something she’d been sorely lacking these last few months.  It had been them against the world until her “world” had fallen apart as she’d read Giles’ letter, urging her to be careful now that she was essentially Spike’s property.

And what was with the property?

Buffy felt Spike stiffen beneath her and she realized she’d voiced that thought out loud.  Rather than cower, she challenged him.  It was time for them to get this out in the open anyway.

“It is what I am now, isn’t it?”

“’S not like that, pet,” Spike tried to reason with her, his temper flaring in the face of her own.

“Oh, really?  How is it not like that, Spike.  Cuz, from what Giles’ said, that’s what it amounts to.  You master.  Me property.”

“Yeah, well technically, yeah…I guess you might see it that way—”

“See!” she accused, jumping to her feet.  “This is why…how could you?”

Spike’s eyes flashed yellow as he stood as well.  “I said ‘s not like that.”

“Right…and I’m so going to take the word of an evil vampire.”

“Watch it, slayer,” he growled.

“And that’s exactly what I’m talking about.”  She ignored the inner voice that told her she was egging him on.  She’d latched onto his aggressive behavior and was twisting it to her own purposes.

“Wot?!”

“You…with the intimidation tactics.  Like I’m not your equal—”

“Trust me, pet…if you weren’t my equal, I’d have you stripped from the waist down and bent over this table,” he roared.

“And there we go again with the threatening.  Exactly what Giles warned me about!”  Her voice increased to match his in volume.

At the mention of the watcher’s name, his face shifted; the ridges on his brow becoming more pronounced as the flecks of amber in his blue eyes completely eclipsed the softer shade.  He stalked towards her, ready to turn her over his knee for making this more difficult than it had to be.  As it was, it took all he had to restrain himself as her eyes narrowed as if waiting for him to dare try something.

“An’ I told you tha’s not why I did it,” he yelled back.

“Oh yeah?  So, you’re telling me that you don’t like the fact that you can pretty much make me do anything you want…any time you want.”  The loss of control that she would experience if that were to ever happen caused her voice to rise in hysteria.  “Because the way I see it, you’ve got your third slayer bagged and tagged and at your whim.”

“Bitch!” he growled as he closed the distance between them.

“Tell me that’s not the reason, Spike,” she taunted as she dropped into a defensive position.  Not that it would do her any good if he actually chose to exert that will over her.

“It’s not!”

“Yeah…well then, what is the reason,” she demanded hotly.

“I didn’ wanna be alone!” he roared.

His eyes widened comically as he realized what he’d just said aloud.  He, the Big Bad, had confessed to being lonely.  And had claimed the slayer in an effort to prevent her from leaving him.

Big Bad?  Hardly.  More like bloody wanker!

He spun away, wishing that it wasn’t still daylight so that he could escape into the night and not have to see her horrified look.  Or worse…her laughter.

Buffy couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d told her he loved her.  Not that she didn’t have feelings for the vamp, or him for her…but she didn’t think either of them was at the stage of declaring their undying love.

Still…

For him to say that he’d not wanted to be alone, and had claimed her?  Why not turn someone?  He had the gift of immortality, unless he happened to be on the losing end of a slayer’s stake, so…

With blinding clarity, it came to her.  He did care about her, and this was his way of showing it.  He’d not done it to lord his status over her.  He’d done it to make her his.

This time it was she that closed the distance, laying a reassuring hand upon his arm.

“I’m sorry, Spike,” she told him sincerely.

“Not your fault.”

Ok…not good with the stiffening and the abruptness.  But at least he was still talking to her.

“Yes, it is.  I should have listened to your side of the story, rather than running off.  Causing you to practically waste away as you tried to track me down.”

“Didn’ fare much better,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Why didn’t you tell me?  That night…” she asked.  “The claim…that’s how you found me so easily in Sunnydale, right?”

“No place you can’t go that I won’t eventually find you, pet.”

Oooh!  Pet name.  Pet names mean not quite as angry as before.  Time for a little more groveling.

“I really am sorry, Spike.  About everything.  I should have trusted you.  Heck….deep down, I probably did.  Do...  Otherwise, I would have found me a nice stake and broken this hold you seem to have over me.”

“Yeah, well…I should have told you,” he conceded as he turned around to face her.  “I just thought I had time, ya know.  Told the watcher you’d accepted me.  Weren’t like I was gonna do anything to betray your trust.”

“Wait!  You spoke to Giles?  About the claim?”

“Yeah…back when we were stayin’ with your mum.”

“He didn’t tell me that!  Oh, he is so dead.”

“Really?  Can I watch?”

He smirked at her, and Buffy knew that they were going be all right.  That this thing between them would be worked out, and they’d be able to put it behind them.

“Maybe,” she sassed.

tbc...

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