She gently moved his arm, allowing her to sit up. Pulling the covers down she took a moment to survey the planes of his back and buttocks. The lash marks were almost completely gone, just as he had said they would be. She was still stunned by her behavior from the night before. Maybe it was the demon, but Buffy suspected some of her darker urges had nothing to do with being a vampire. Angel woke as soon as the sun had set. Rolling onto his side he studied his childe.

"Giles was here last night. You should probably call him," he said quietly.

"Giles? When was he here?"

Angel laughed quietly. It wasn't a particularly happy sound. "He showed up right after ... after you lost consciousness."

Buffy was shocked into stillness. Giles had seen what Angel did to her? What had he thought? Oh gods, he must be so disappointed in her.

"What exactly happened?" she asked when she found her voice.

"He came in and found you on the floor right where I had left you. He was armed, threatened to kill me. He told me I needed to be gentler with you, that you weren't a demon. Basically showed me what a total ass I'd been."

"So he saw me, like ... *saw* me. Naked and bruised and stuff?"

"Yes," Angel said well aware of the mounting hysteria in his childe. "Buffy he's a Watcher and an adult with a rather sordid past himself. He knows what happens in vampiric relationships. He was angry, but not shocked."

Buffy had never thought of it that way, never thought that Giles would be completely aware of the kinkier details of her and Angel's private lives. She supposed it was unavoidable. They were vampires and lovers, any trained Watcher would be able to make the same assumptions.

"I wonder if he would be shocked?" she said rather wistfully.

"About what?" Angel asked in confusion.

"If he knew I chained you up and beat you last night," she said with a smirk.

"Doubt it. He'd probably be happy you got even. Why don't you tell him?" he said, only partially kidding.

Buffy smacked him on the arm. "I am *not* telling my Watcher about our kinky sex life," she said, mortified by the idea.

Angel just laughed, pulling Buffy back into his arms. "I like our kinky sex life," he purred just before he started pressing rough kisses into the flesh of her neck.

Buffy moaned, arching into the contact as she positioned her body over his, straddling his hips. She had to admit that she more than liked their sex life, she *loved* it. Before he figured out what she was up to, she'd dropped herself onto his erect cock, burying him to the root.

"Buffy," he hissed. Damn her independence and forward nature could piss him off at times, but he also found that he absolutely loved it.

Pulling her neck away from his mouth, she sat up on him, beginning to rock up and down. She placed his hands over her breasts and bit into her lower lip as he rolled her nipples between his fingers. She was about to bemoan the loss of one of his fingers on her nipples when he began to stroke her clit harshly while thrusting up into her welcoming body. All thoughts of whining fled from her mind as she exploded into orgasm, her entire body shaking.

Needing to be in charge for a while, Angel flipped her over onto the bed so she laid on her back. Spreading her limp thighs he thrust into her again, intent on making her peak again before finding his own release.

Buffy hadn't fully recovered from her first release when she felt herself building towards another. Moaning, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing up into his thrusts while baring her neck to her Sire.

Angel growled at her submissive posture, his eyes turning golden. He'd intended to prolong this session, but if she wanted it, who was he to argue. With a snarl he lunged at her neck, gorging himself on her ambrosial blood. At the first contact his fangs made at her throat, Buffy exploded again, purring as Angel drank from her, coming inside her in little cool jerks.

"I swear, I'm fine, Giles," Buffy said into the phone. Her pacing, sharply hindered by the length of the phone cord.

Angel watched her, knowing full well she was much more nervous than she needed to be. Giles was well versed in the ways of the world. He wouldn't be shocked she was still with her Sire. Hanging up the phone, Buffy walked over to the couch, seating herself at one end, facing her Sire who was sitting at the other.

"How is Giles?" Angel asked, not looking up from his book.

"Fine," she said quietly. "I'm just afraid he's disappointed in me."

"You're right," Angel said with mock severity. "You should have staked me last night and moved in with your Watcher."

Buffy kicked him, though it wasn't very hard. Angel looked up at her, smiling gently.

"As for everything else that happened last night ..." he started.

"What else?" Buffy asked, feigning ignorance. She didn't want to talk about this with him. She knew he was going to be a stubborn oaf.

"You know I'm talking about Spike, Buffy. I know you can feel him."

Buffy sighed in frustration. "You can feel him too, can't you?" she asked, becoming angry. "You can feel how lost and alone he is and you're not going to do a damn thing about it."

"What am I supposed to do? Spike has been without me for more than a century. He doesn't need his Sire to hold his hand."

"He may have been without you, but he's never been *alone*. And he is alone now. Completely. I know you can feel his pain as much as I can, probably even more."

Angel didn't say anything. She was right. He could feel Spike's pain more acutely than his own. And Spike was lost and alone for the first time in his unlife. It was his duty as Sire and Master to bring his childe home, to give him shelter. But they weren't exactly on the best of terms. Spike would surely shun his help.

"Don't you miss him?" Buffy asked, tears beginning to form in her luminous eyes.

Angel thought about it. This was something he hated, something he avoided doing, thinking about his childer. Spike was an animal, a cold blooded killer, a beast to be put down. But he was also Angel's childe, his favorite until Buffy. Spike was stubborn, insolent, belligerent ... but he was the one being in the world that Angelus never tired of. He was creative, bright, and so damn easy to love.

Spike had been so attached to his Sire, Angelus' constant shadow. He'd been so desperate to please – when he wasn't being a jackass. Angel knew that the return of his soul had destroyed something in Spike. The peroxide blonde was still mourning the loss of *his* Sire. Angelus' return a year before had been even worse for Spike than losing him the first time. The loss of Angel's soul did not return the creature he had worshiped for decades, it brought a madman hell bent on revenge and pain. Spike had suffered the brunt of his rage, enduring even more brutality than the Slayer had.

"Yes," Angel admitted, "I miss him. But that doesn't change things, Buffy. Spike is still dangerous, especially to you. Not to mention the fact that he hates me."

"He may hate you, but it's only because he loves you," Buffy said quietly. "All he's ever wanted from you is for you to accept him."

Angel stared hard into his youngest childe's eyes. "Please promise me you will stay away from him."

"I can't do that."

The End

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