Sanctuary
©2001 Evenstar

Buffy had never seen a more pristine night sky in all her young life; tonight she admitted was without doubt the most stellar display of the cosmos she'd ever walked under. There wasn't a cloud evident in the sky, nor a haze of mist hovering on the earth - due to the most ferocious windstorm Sunnydale had ever conjured. Furthermore, adding to her unsettled aura was the chill of the storm; it wasn't the expected roll of warm ocean fueled gusts, but instead a steady swell and push of icy forces. To Buffy it felt as if a million needles were blowing through her as she walked towards her safe haven. She broke into a jog as she entered the cemetery, stake ruefully hidden in her sleeve, just in case she met a newly risen vamp in need of dusting along the way. Leaves and debris blustered all around her, trees cracked above and threatened to drop branches, even the graves seemed more restless than usual. Nonetheless, her Slayer's intuition told her that despite the fact the Hell Mouth was always open for business, this was merely Mother Nature's wrath.

She hurriedly rounded the row of headstones that preceded her destination and finally came upon the place she sought, Spike's crypt. As she came to the door, the wind pushed at her back and made her entire body shudder from the cold running up and down her spine and through her veins."Enough....I get the hint....not the night for traipsing through the bone yard!" she spoke to no one in particular before yarding on the door of the crypt and rushing inside as another gust of wind slammed into the sturdy edifice. Buffy exhaled a complete breath, now that she'd finally found shelter from the rising storm. She heard scuffling from down below the mouth to Spike's inner crypt and moments later a dim light broke through the darkness below and headed towards the ladder. Spike emerged from below, climbing the ladder in haste as one hand held a burning oil lamp before him. He acknowledged Buffy with libacious grin as he made his way up to her level. Once he'd emerged he listened for a moment to the angry howls of the wind outside, the rawness of the weather heightening his preternatural and animalistic senses. Placing the lamp on a stone slab he carved a path straight to the Slayer.

She slipped her knapsack off her shoulder and lay it carefully on the ground before opening her arms as he collided into her. She felt her body being lifted off the ground and hugged securely against his as he danced them around a little, their lips wrestling and passionately bruising with tongues curling and tasting. After a proper time, Buffy pulled back to catch her breath, her entire body at ease, relaxed against his all encompassing hold."I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it, m'love," he spoke, the taste of her breath flowing into his mouth as she panted."The whole city's black....lots of evils out there than need you to slay 'em."

"A promise is a promise....I'm your's all night long," she reasoned, raining little kisses over his face,"Besides....it's no big, just Mother Nature...with major PMS.....but nothing demony.....the only place I'm needed is right here....with you."

"Mmmmm.....got that right, pet.....I need you so bad it's getting hard to walk." He gave a little growl, which elicited a little giggle from Buffy.

"Well......we'll just have to get you horizontal then, won't we?"

***

Spike was practically purring as he and Buffy reluctantly slipped their bodies apart from each other. He looked like as content as a fat cat who'd just slurped a bowl of heavy cream, where as Buffy was still seeing stars."Where in God's name did you learn to do that?!" she exclaimed suddenly, her senses breaking through the delirium of her fading orgasms.

"Heh....God had nothing to do with it, love.....all Spike." He rolled on to his side and pulled her back to his torso, forming his lithe body perfectly against her's; the palm of his hand splayed out over her flat stomach. He buried his face in her neck, nose nestling at the hairline where he nipped at her with sharp fangs.

"It was incredible.....especially that little extra at the end, that....that....you know.....the twist........you know what you did to me...." His hand travelled a little lower and she moaned as he dipped in between her legs,"Oh you bad...bad.....mmmmmm.....man......"

"I know what I do to you Slayer....." He buried his hand in her center and began to stroke her, long and steady, bringing her to a fast climax. Her body shuddered and melted and she groaned audibly as a million and one pangs of pleasure tore through her. They lay silent for some time, Spike reveling in the pure kinetic heat radiating off the women he held in his arms and Buffy suffering from magnificent waves of afterglow that just didn't seem to want to die down. The past few weeks had been blissful for them, so sickeningly sweet and brimming to overflowing with tomes of love and devotion that it almost made Spike queasy. Sure, they're relationship had begun on shaky ground.....and in a crumbling building; little by little he was able to chip away at her angst, her anger, her sorrows until suddenly one night the proverbial floodgates opened and everything that was inside her came pouring out, metaphorically speaking.

As Buffy waned and fell into sleep, Spike thought back to that night. It had started as most of their couplings had, sparring and the sharing of fists to faces, then as he'd come to expect she'd grabbed his face and started kissing him. As phenomenal as their sex was, it had become little more to her than a way to forget her pain - pain Spike wanted to be the one to save her from.....so he did. The details of the hours they'd spent after he'd surprised her were unimportant. She'd cried, they'd talked...of course, in the end, they'd shagged - but it was a healing experience for her. Since then she became a different woman around him, since then she wanted to be with him. It wasn't long before it simply became known that they were together, even if they were still the only two who were aware of it. They found themselves in love, and so deeply so that it had them both confused as all hell. Neither was up to the challenge of analyzing their relationship, so they just went with the flow.....which usually led them straight to bed.

***

Less than an hour after sleep had claimed him, Spike found himself snapped out of it like he'd been struck with whip. Buffy had moved away from him at some point and was now thrashing about in the throws of an apparent nightmare. She was clearly under a great deal of stress, her face fraught with turmoil and pain. He could smell the fear coming off her in a steady thrum, her heartbeat erratic and her voice mewing like a drowning kitten. He reacted by trying to hold her still and calling out her name. Her eyes snapped open and she screamed a soundless scream until the necessary seconds passed and she realized she was no longer trapped in her dream. Even in the dark she could distinguish the blue of his eyes and the pathos that looked upon her. She remembered where she was and who she was with and she could breathe again. She held back her tears, but every breath was shaky and her body was wracked with shivers and shakes. Spike moved himself across the small divide between them and pulled her to him, cradling her head at his chest. He brought the covers over her shoulders and embraced her fully, chasing away the haunts.

Not sure of what more he could do, Spike decided to try the amateur psychology that most parents used on their children,"Did you want to tell me?? What you were dreaming about? Might help, love."

"Are you trying to play amateur psychologist? That just what my mother used to say." Spike rolled his eyes at how well she knew him.

"Right then, keep it to yourself then....but Buffy, you looked pretty terrified..."

"I was, but then I saw you and it was okay."

"Really?"

"Yes, really, Spike....I'm safe, I'm in your arms and in your bed....all good." There was a long pause and Spike could almost feel the blood in her veins as her mind worked, remembering details of the nightmare. She sighed and started to speak again,"I was in my coffin...when I woke up that first time....I remember leaving where I was and then waking up in the box....no air, no light, can barely move..."

"I remember what that's like, not in the least bit pleasant, even for a bloke who enjoys a good spot of torture. But you know you're alright now, don't you? I know it's not much, but you've got me, you've always had me Slayer....you've got me all tied up in knots....and..."

"And if I didn't have you....this life wouldn't be worth living and that's the truth. Took me ice ages to clue into it, but I have....so nightmares are dealable, as long as when I wake up, I've got those beautiful blue eyes to greet me."

"Buff...there's no power and no candles going....the crypt's black as pitch...."

"But I know they're blue and beautiful...so there."

"Do you have lots of nightmares? I usually dash before sunrise when we're at your place..."

"Not often...sometimes though....it's never going to go away, is it?" He placed a kiss on her cheek, the taste of her salty tears coming to his mouth.

"Probably not, love...but I'll do my best to make every second you're here worth it....."

"It's a wonder you even want to.....I was such a bitch, so cruel to you....But somehow back then when I first came back, you were the only one I could talk to, you understood....you were the only one I could tell about where I'd been, the only one I could trust...because, even though I couldn't admit it until now, your love brought me through it all."

"That's just the nature of the beast.....when a vampire loves, the woman becomes everything...more than the demon, more than the blood. When I fell in love with you, it was forever....even Dru n' especially Harm - they never filled me up like you....Slayer....I love you....Buffy...." His voice fell into a whisper as his lips moved to the spot behind her ear he knew would make her melt, tongue darting out to wet the lobe before his mouth took over. Suddenly, they both detected a vibration in the earth, even the rock of the cave before a deafening crack was heard, then the distinctive sound of a tree being uprooted. The wind howled so violently that even in the deepest recess of the crypt it could be heard and felt."Some storm.....you sure it was alright for you to leave our nibblet?"

"Dawn's fine...she's at a sleepover....she loves storms.....I on the other hand.....can't......stand.....them......" She turned over and hid her face against his chest and tried to block out the assault on her senses and the knowledge of the storm raging on outside.. Spike was somewhat confused, unaware that Buffy was afraid of anything. After all, the Slayer had faced a few apocalypses, more demons and vamps that she could shake a stake at, and hell, she'd gone a few rounds with him too."It's the howl.....like something's calling for me, telling me it's coming...."

"You're scared...." He said it more as a statement than a question. Spike pulled the covers up to their chins and brought their faces nary but a breath apart,"You're cold too....and my body doesn't warm you...."

"You warms other parts of me though...especially my heart...."

"I'll protect you, you know that don't you, pet? 'Till I'm dust under your feet I'll fight 'em all, anyone who dares come for my Slayer."

"It was when I was a younger....the night my father walked out there was a wind storm like this....that night a huge branch came crashing through my bedroom window....guilt by association I guess." Buffy felt his hand on her back, moving back and forth, she continued her story,"The power was already out and the wind was insane. I couldn't get to sleep......so I just lay there and listened to my mom cry in her room. I heard this crack and it was like the whole tree came through the window....glass everywhere....."

"There's no glass here...no trees....no windows.....no wind....just a vamp n' his girl in a big bed...." Buffy smiled widely and kissed the tip of his nose.

"And hours before sunrise."

"For you to ride me like I'm a wild stallion!" Their romantic conversation was brought to a screeching halt like a needle over a vintage Black Sabbath album. Buffy sat up and flipped the covers off before rising from the bed."Hey.....back 'ere now!!"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you've got all the tact of of Fyarl Demon?" By now Buffy had shuffled across the cold floor of the cave and away from his sight.

"Buffy? You promised to spend the night! Come back love! M'sorry....." She was suddenly illuminated by the striking and burning of a match and she proceeded to set to light several of the candles that rested around the cave. As she made her way back to bed she brought with her the knapsack she'd been carrying when she'd arrived.

"I'm not going anywhere." She put the bag at his feet before rolling over him and slipping back under the covers next to him. She rested her chin on his chest and looked adoringly up at him,"How could I leave such a delicious creature of the night all alone in his big comfy bed?"

"You're teasing me Summers....not nice."

"Mmmm......bite me!" Her eyes left his as she turned her face to her cheek and licked across his nipple.

"I just might, love....I am kinda hungry." She reached behind her for the bag and brought it over to them.

"Which is why I brought you a snack." She reached into the knapsack and brought out a thermos and a bag of those wee marshmallows he loved so well. She handed him the thermos as she tore open the bag."It's warm...freshly squeezed Slayer blood." Spike's eyes widened in surprise and intrigue.

"You've never brought me blood before, especially not your blood!" She shrugged her shoulders and screwed the top of thermos off for him.

"Well, it's not like you've never had it before...."

"Usually straight from the source."

"But you can't have these cute lil' white sugar bombs.....mom told me how much you like them."

"Yeah.....Joyce always made sure she had some in the cupboard....after that first time she made me hot chocolate. Of course I still wanted to kill you then......then I wanted to shag you...." She poured the liquid into the cup for him and plopped in a small handful of marshmallows.

"And now?"

"And now I just want to love you...well, and shag you rotten every night of course...."

"Of course."

"And, well, let's face it pet, I'm the best you've ever had." With that closing comment he took a gulp from the cup and virtually swooned before her eyes, there was nothing more intoxicating that her blood.

"Stroke your own ego much there?" He looked up over the second gulp of Slayer blood he was enjoying and smiled, his mouth half full of marshmallows. She knew what his gaze meant, something to the effect of him preferring her to do the stroking. She looked at him for a length of time then, as he finished the last of the offering she'd brought him. An amused smile spread across her face.

"What?" Spike found her staring at him, looking a little too self-satisfied for her own good. She burst into a fit of giggles,"What!?"

"Lumpies....you vamped out and you didn't even know it!"

"Can't help it sometimes....I mean....I'm drinking your blood here! Bloody ambrosia for vampires! What I don't get is why you find it so ballsy funny?"

"I'd hold up a mirror so you could see for yourself.....but, well, that's just.....you did a half vamp...all lopsided." He scowled at her and returned quickly to his normal humanesque visage. Buffy took the drink and its container away from him and placed them on the floor. She was certain he was pouting and Buffy couldn't abide a pouty vamp, especially her vamp."Spike?" He lay back on the bed and propped his head up on one of his arms.

"Yeah, love?" he replied noncommittally, not even looking at her. Buffy knew it was a trait of vampires to have extreme emotional reactions to just about everything, if one's pride was wounded it was wounded deep. She sighed as Spike feigned sleep, pulling the covers away and out from underneath her, Buffy made her way back to laying at his side. He pretended to ignore her, even when she turned and pressed her naked body against his, the taut tips of her breasts cutting against his skin. He could almost taste her sweet breath as she exhaled, moving her face close to his. She placed feather light kisses on his eyelids, ran her fingertips over his cheeks and to the end of his chin. Unable to resist her subtle foreplay, his fangs descended and he revealed them to her with a low, humming growl and the curl of his upper lip. Buffy slicked her tongue under the tip of one of the razor sharp teeth, slicing her own flesh before plunging it into his mouth. The taste of her blood so soon again served only to magnify his arousal tenfold.

Buffy reached down and pulled the covers away to reveal his throbbing hard-on and maneuvered herself to straddle him, poised ready to join with him again. She pulled her mouth away from his and met his open eyes she lowered herself and took him completely within her tight sheath. Leaning forward, she rested her hands on his chest, rotating her hips back and forth, choosing not to let any of his solid flesh escape form the bottom of her folds that encircled him. Her grinding motions only served to make him grow inside her, touching every inch inside, every excitable bundle of her nerves. She leaned back and took of his calves, impaling herself forward. Spike tried to reach for her but she was too far back, he could however feel between them and work his thumbs in unison around her twitching nub. After what seemed an eternity of godsmackingly amazing motions and sensations, she lurched herself forward, falling against his chest as her orgasm overcame her. Spike took hold of her hips and thrust up hard into her pulsing muscles, her body having the same effect on his. He spilled a reckless torrent, washing her insides, filling her as he had innumerable times before. "Buffy.....Buffy...." he repeated over and over, holding her face in his hands, kissing her all over,"Buffy.....Buffy....." She formed herself against his side, their limbs still entangled. She exhaled the longest breath of her life, her sweat pooling in the sinuous undulations of his muscles as it poured off her body."Almost as good as a fist fight, eh Slayer?"

"Mmmmm....where we're concerned, both can leave you bloody and bruised....sometimes with broken bones.....but, I think I prefer the finale when we make love....after a fight.....just blahs and a craving for a non-fat yogurt."

"Well, there is that perk, won't disagree there, pet..." He laughed to himself, then added a second chuckle, one that piqued Buffy's curiosity.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really.....just, us....all fluffy and lovey dovey....havin' good ol fashioned hetero American sex. This sort of behavior used to make me want to heave." There was suddenly a warm, crisp timber to his voice."Now I'm one biscuit shy of being a regular suburbanite.....it's bloody annoying...I'll have a mortgage and start paying taxes next! Bloody hell....""

"Oh come now.....you're telling me you're not into bar-b-ques, Christmas pantomimes and washing your Jetta every Sunday?" He gave a shudder and Buffy laughed apologetically.

"Would you really want to be shackled to some white bread wanker?"

"No..." She lay her arm over his chest and hugged him tightly, moving her cheek to read on his chest,"I wouldn't....I love what we have."

"Good....right.....don't forget it." He kissed the top of her and groaned as he relaxed into the mattress, Buffy in his arms, the two of them content and a kind of unnatural warmth flowing between them - when he was with her, he was warm."You don't need stakes and holy water to wound me....learned that lesson early on.....I'd stake myself if I ever lost you.....I couldn't bare to be on this earth without you....Slayer."

"You wouldn't stake yourself.....you'd stay for Dawn.....just like I know I'd go on....for years and years, knowing what I'd lost...because I've found love and and if it ever went away...."

"Which you won't!" He punctuated the affirmation by pointing a stern finger at her, trying to shake off the tight feeling in his chest that the tone of her voice was causing.

"If it ever went away.....I know I'd never find it again.....in a hundred years....I'd never find it again." Another crack of a snapping tree was heard, almost right above their heads. Buffy subconsciously found herself cowering against Spike.

"You want me to go up there? Uproot all the trees so the wind can't do it n' frighten you? I mean sure the wind'll pick up the broken branches, the hundreds of stake-like branches, and hurl 'em at me like I was a duck in a shooting gallery...but you know, anything for my girl." He was trying desperately to lighten the mood; there were some times when Buffy was vulnerable, like when she thought about when her mother had died, the time after her resurrection, or even when Giles up and left - those were times when Spike, being the emotionally jaded creature he was, was more afraid than he ever was of any demon.

"You're not leaving this bed! We made a promise to take the night off and spend it in this crypt, in this bed until the sun came up and that's just what we're going to do! Even if I have to, as you so tactfully put it, ride you like you're a wild stallion, until the sun comes up!"

"Ooooo.....Fluffy....get on!!" She playfully smacked the side of his face,"Hey now! None of that....I wasn't the one who started with the dirty talk!"

"You're the one who corrupted me! Don't scold me for your inherent badness!"

"Me?! I'm not the one who insisted we do it on the hood of my bloody car!"

"I was in the moment!"

"Face it Slayer.....you give me a run for my money most of the time." Buffy sighed and nodded in agreement before sliding her body back on top of him, running her hands over his face and resting on the top of his head, nipping at his bottom lip with her teeth.

"Time to cash in..." He shifted his body to better accommodate their familiar position, settling his reawakening arousal in the most strategically advantageous place. Spike ran his fingers through the long tresses of her hair, cupping her face in his hands he looked into the perilous depths of her eyes and saw the inkling he knew was her soul.

"I love you." She saw, reflected in his eyes, what he saw in her.

"I love you too..."

THE END

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