Buffy smiled at Riley as he excused himself and scooted out of the curved booths. The fancy Italian restaurant that he'd brought her to for their fifth date was beautiful. Individual tables were dressed in deep wine-colored tablecloths that fell to the floor. Small candles sat amidst fragrant fresh flowers in the center. Strolling violinists added ambiance to the highly romantic atmosphere of the Ristorante. Everything was perfect.

"Hello, Slayer."

"Spike, what are you doing here?" Buffy hissed as the peroxide-blond slid into the plush seat across from her.

Spike shot her a devilish grin. "What, not happy to see me, luv?"

"I'm on a date." Buffy glared at him. "Unless it's an emergency, go away."

"It is an emergency," Spike told her. He feigned seriousness. "The others ran out of pizza."

Buffy threw her fork at him.

"Such manners, ducks," Spike scolded. "Does your date know of your aggressive tendencies?" The blond vampire glanced past her. "I think I'll ask him."

Buffy turned and saw Riley heading back towards the table. She quickly whipped her head back around and growled, "Spike, leave."

"Okay," Spike said with a shrug.

Then he slid down under the table.

Buffy's eyes widened and she leaned sideways, lifting up the floor-length tablecloth by her legs. She found Spike sitting cross-legged between the black pole holding up the table and her own legs. She kicked at him, and he caught her foot, grinning evilly at her.

"Spike, get out from under there this instant!" she hissed.

"Did you drop something, Buffy?"

Buffy sat up quickly, letting the tablecloth fall back into place. She smiled falsely at Riley, who slid into the curved seat across from her. "Um, my fork. I dropped it. But I'll just get a new one," she replied.

The waiter arrived just then with their meal while Buffy was unobtrusively trying to free her foot from Spike. The black, bow-tied Italian set down a plate of Fettuccini Alfredo in front of her and the scent made her mouth water. She wondered briefly if she could ask for a clove of the garlic used in the sauce and pitch it under the table at her unwelcome third to her date.

"Can we get another fork?" Riley asked the waiter. The man nodded as he set Riley's food down in front of him.

"It looks delicious," Buffy commented.

"It does," Riley agreed. He poured some more red wine into his and Buffy's glasses, then put the bottle back in the bucket beside the table.

Spike took off Buffy's high-heeled sandal and ran his fingers along the bottom of her foot. She tried to kick him with her other foot, but the vampire captured that one with his free hand and tucked it into his lap, effectively immobilizing it.

Buffy grit her teeth and picked up the clean fork the waiter had brought her. She stabbed at a long strand of fettuccini viciously, imagining her fork was a stake and the limp noodle was Spike.

"Have you heard about the new Anthropology professor yet?" Riley asked.

"No, I haven't," Buffy said.

"I hear he's really eccentric."

"Eccentric?" Buffy asked, a small frown forming between her brows. But not from Riley's commentary on the new professor, but from Spike beginning to massage her foot beneath the table.

"Yeah," Riley replied. "According to Forest, he's -- what's the word? -- absent-minded."

"Oh?"

"While Forest was talking to him, the guy was searching for his glasses. Turns out they were perched on his head the entire time."

"Did Forest bother to tell the professor that?" Buffy said, trying to ignore the fact that what Spike was doing felt very, very good.

"No, that putz," Riley answered. He stabbed a piece of his Scallopini and ate it. "Mm, this is good."

"My Mom said that it was," Buffy commented. "She also said that the Tortellini was great, too. And why am I bringing up my mother while I'm on a date?"

Riley chuckled. "That's okay. Normally I go on and on about Professor Walsh on my dates until the girl either falls asleep or runs screaming in the other direction."

"Well, luckily I'm not like other girls," Buffy said.

"That you aren't," Riley agreed with a smile.

Spike moved from her foot up to her dark hose-covered calf. He kneaded the muscle slowly, from her ankle up to the back of her knee, before returning back down again. It was getting harder for Buffy to ignore what the vampire was doing, because he was doing it so well.

"You know, I was talking to Willow the other day about Professor Walsh's Psych 201 class...," Buffy began.

"Behavioral psychology," Riley said. He nodded. "It is such an interesting class. Much more so than the Intro courses."

"Tell me about it," Buffy prompted.

"Well, for one thing, you get to learn about the fascinating difference between nature versus nurture," Riley said. "Is our behavior genetic, or is it learned? Or is it both?"

"I think it's both," Buffy said. "Some things you can't control." She stabbed another noodle. "Like the need for food. We're hungry, hence we go to Ristorante Federico."

"It's something like that," Riley said. "Let's see, you learn the different types of ways to alter behavior."

"Such as?"

"Skinner's behaviorism theory is the most popular one," Riley answered. "It's based on the system of reinforcement. Alright, give me an example of someone doing something wrong."

"There's a vampire under the table massaging my leg," Buffy said with a straight face.

Riley blinked, and she smiled and laughed lightly. "Sorry, bad inside joke. Willow, Xander, me, Anne Rice. Never mind. Um, how about a kid not, uh...putting away his toys?"

Spike ran his fingers along her knee, tracing small circles with his thumbs.

"Well, you have several ways to get the kid to do it, according to Skinner's theory," Riley said. "First, there's the rewards system. Every time he puts his toys away, he gets a reward of some sort."

"Like a cookie?" Buffy said.

"Yes, or going out to the park, or being able to watch a television program," Riley said, looking down at his food, thus missing her eyes grow huge when Spike moved up her leg further, his strong hands now massaging the muscle in her thigh.

"What else?" Buffy asked. She tried to kick Spike again, but he had her one foot pinned effectively in his lap and the other he blocked.

"There's positive reinforcement, which is the one I just told you about," Riley replied. "He does something, he gets something in return. Then there's negative reinforcement. The kid doesn't do something, he doesn't get to do something or gets something taken away."

"Wait, wouldn't that be punishment?" Buffy said.

"No, punishment is adding something negative, not taking something positive away," Riley said.

"You lost me."

"Well, spanking a child is punishment. Taking away the toy he plays with is negative reinforcement," Riley explained. "So, let's say that Johnny just got a new GI Joe..."

Buffy dropped her eyes to her food and tried not to gasp in shock when Spike's fingers brushed her bare skin high up on her thigh under her calf-length skirt, where her garters met her black stockings. She tried to close her legs together, which she had uncrossed earlier to kick at Spike, but because she didn't want to call attention to the fact that there was an annoying blond under the table, she wasn't able to do so.

"What else is the class about?" Buffy prompted when Riley finished his explanation. She grabbed her glass of wine and took a long sip. She was trying desperately not to wiggle on the plush seat as Spike's hands kept up their massage.

"Professor Walsh delves into the area of criminal psychology a bit," Riley replied. "Such as trying to figure out reasons certain killers committed murder."

"Sounds morbid," Buffy said.

"And not a proper topic for a dinner discussion," Riley said. "But it's a good class."

"I'll have to tell Will more about it," Buffy said. She set her empty wine glass down and picked up her fork again.

"How is your fettuccini?" Riley asked her as he poured her more wine.

"It's wonderful," Buffy replied. She took several quick, large bites and almost started choking when Spike's fingers danced along the thin material of her thong panties.

"Are you alright?" Riley said, starting to rise from his seat.

Buffy held up her hand and breathed slowly through her nose to calm down. "Yeah," she replied in a hoarse voice. "Give me a second."

She picked up her wine and drained it in three big gulps. Riley frowned at her as she slumped back against the curved seat of their private booth. "Okay now?"

"Just peachy," Buffy answered. She forced herself to breathe calmly when Spike's fingers, which had paused when she started to choke, took up action again.

"You know, you look a little flushed," Riley said with concern.

"Oh?" Buffy fanned herself with her hand. "I'm just a bit hot, that's all. Must be the steam from the food." She smiled brightly at him.

Riley nodded, then looked down at his plate to stab another forkful of food. Buffy put her hands under the table and slapped at the ones that were under her skirt. She squeaked loudly when a certain vampire's finger went under the edge of her panties and slid inside of her. Riley looked up at her and she pretended to sneeze, making the same squeaking noise.

"Sorry," she apologized. She picked up her napkin and gestured with it. "Tell me what other of Professor Walsh's classes are good." She leaned forward and rested her elbow on the table, hand over her mouth as she bit into the napkin to halt any more sounds she might make as Spike slowly thrust his finger in and out of her.

"Well, there's Experimental Psych," Riley said. "Which is doing all sorts of experiments, ergo the title. Uh, there's Criminal Psych, which is more in depth about what you learn in Behavioral..."

Buffy was going to die. Any second now, she was going to die either from embarrassment because of the scene she was going to cause if Spike kept up what he was doing, or from the pleasure because of what Spike was doing with his thumb on her clit and his finger slipping in and out of her. She would just leave to go to the bathroom, but Spike had her effectively trapped...and she didn't know if she really wanted to stop the delicious feeling building inside of her.

"Is there anything else I may get for you?" the waiter asked as he walked up to their table.

Riley looked questioningly at Buffy, who shrugged. "I'm fine," she said breathily after removing the napkin from in front of her mouth.

"It looks like we're okay," Riley told the waiter. The man nodded, set a thin leather check-holder down, and after checking with Buffy, took their plates away.

"You know, I could use a little more wine," Buffy said to Riley.

"I don't know, Buffy," Riley said, reaching for the bottle. "Wine packs just as much punch as any other alcohol..." Buffy looked at him. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't," Buffy said. As soon as he finished pouring, she reached for the glass and purposely knocked it over. The red wine ran across the table and into Riley's lap. She raised her eyes at the same time her muscles began tightening around Spike's still thrusting finger. "Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe I did have too much. You'd better go and wash that off before it stains." She was quite proud of herself for sounding so steady when her nerves were on fire.

"That's okay, Buffy," Riley said as he stood. "I'll be right back."

The second he walked away from the table, Buffy bit her napkin, put both hands over it and her mouth, and screamed as she let an orgasm take her. She bucked her hips into Spike's hand, his finger buried deep inside of her as his thumb rapidly manipulated her clit. Her thighs closed as far as they could as the sensations washed over her, making her entire body shake.

When it ended, she slumped back against the plush seat, surprised that she didn't slither to the floor bonelessly. The finger that was inside of her slid out and down her inner thigh, over her stockings, her knee, her calf and finally along the bottom of her foot. She felt her shoe being slipped back on her foot, then both of her legs released.

After a second, Spike appeared on Riley's side of the curved booth. He winked at her, a naughty grin on his face. "I hope you enjoyed your dinner, luv. If you're interested in dessert, be at my place in half-an-hour," he said. Then he stood, grabbed the bottle of wine out of the bucket next to the table, shot her a desire-filled look and sauntered out of the Ristorante.

"Did that guy just steal our wine?" Riley asked, as he appeared a moment later at her side.

"No, no," Buffy replied quickly. "He's one of the bus boys." She set her napkin down on the table and stood. "You know what? I think you were right about the wine, because I'm starting to get a headache. Do you mind if we call it a night?"

"No problem," Riley said. He got out his wallet and put several bills in the check-holder on the table, then offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

"Thanks," Buffy said.

Twenty minutes later, she gave Riley a chaste kiss goodnight.

Nine minutes after that, she had her dessert.

"This is really nice, Riley," Buffy said, looking around the restaurant he'd taken her to for their seventh date. "When I think Chinese, I usually think little white cartons and packets, not this."

Tse-lan's was located in the next town over from Sunnydale. Riley had picked her up at her dorm, then they had gone for a nice, quiet evening drive to watch the sunset before he'd brought her to the restaurant. Buffy really was enjoying their date so far.

Buffy liked Riley. He was nice, outgoing, couldn't even remotely be considered a bad boy, and didn't seem to have a brooding bone in his body. He was also very easy on the eyes and so very...normal. When she went out with him, she was just a normal girl going on a date with a normal boy.

"I found this place last year on one of my drives," Riley told her. "Their sweet and sour chicken is really good."

The waiter came to the table and they ordered their meal and tea. "I'm going to go freshen up. Be right back," Buffy said, picking up her purse.

"Okay," Riley said, rising partway when she stood.

Buffy smiled at him, then made her way back to the ladies room. It was a little fancier than normal restaurant facilities, decorated in a soft mauve color, the stalls separated from the sinks and mirror area. The blond set her purse down on the counter in front of the mirror and fixed her hair. She heard the door open to the restroom as she was touching up her lipstick.

"Hello, Slayer," a distinctive British voice purred from behind her.

She whirled around, lipstick tube held as a stake, to see Spike standing there. Her heart was hammering in her chest from being startled. She glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, pet," Spike said, arching his scarred brow at the lipstick tube.

Buffy scowled and turned her back to him. She closed her lipstick and stuck it in her purse. "I'm on a date."

Spike walked over beside her and leaned back against the counter. "A date."

"Yes, a date," Buffy repeated.

"With Cro-Magnum man," Spike said.

"His name is Riley," Buffy ground out between clenched teeth.

"Why?"

Buffy frowned at him. "Why is his name Riley?"

"No," Spike said. "Why are you on a date with Mr. Neanderthal after you left him to shag me?"

"Jealous?" Buffy said with an evil smile.

Spike snorted. "Of that nancyboy? I don't think so, Slayer."

"Then why are you here?" Buffy asked, giving him a pointed look.

"Because I'm horny," Spike answered bluntly.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "And you just expect me to spread my legs for you?"

"You did before," Spike said.

"Once," Buffy said, holding up one finger. "One time. Uno. And that was one time too many in my opinion."

Spike looked at her incredulously. "Right."

Buffy shrugged. "It was fun. But I'm on a date right now with someone I like, so if you'll just go fall on a tree bran-Spike!" she exclaimed, as the blond vampire grabbed both of her arms and lifted her up.

"It was fun," Spike said in a disbelieving tone. He propelled her backwards, the tips of her toes dragging along the ground, into the very last stall. He put her down, turned and locked the door.

"Spike, what are you doing?" Buffy gasped, as the vampire grabbed her again and pushed her up against the side wall.

Spike's ice blue eyes met hers. "Having fun," he growled, then smashed his lips down onto hers.

Buffy's open mouth was plundered with Spike's tongue, her eyes still open in shock until he ran his tongue along the top of her palate. The part-tickling, part-arousing sensation shocked her back into awareness, and she was about to shove him away when he broke the kiss and dropped to his knees in front of her. She looked down at his white-blond head the same time he shoved up her skirt.

"Spike, you can't-" Buffy's protest ended in a sharply inhaled gasp, as Spike pushed the material of her panties aside and pressed his mouth to her in one swift move.

Her head fell back against the stall, making a hollow echo, as his tongue found her clit. He licked it once, making her hiss, then used his other hand to spread her feminine folds apart in order to lave the light pink flesh with his tongue thoroughly. Her hands moved into his hair, grasping and releasing the soft locks.

He captured her nubbin with his lips, sucking the pink pearl into his mouth. She mewled softly, rocking her hips forward. He began to rapidly flick at the hard bundle of nerves with the tip of his tongue. She started panting, the burning, tingling sensation building in her core making her fingers clench on his head, her nails digging into his scalp.

Buffy rubbed herself against his mouth as the feelings became more intense. She was holding his face tightly to her mound, moving up and down on her toes, her head slowly shaking back and forth. Her heart was pounding beneath her breast, and she was moaning deep in her throat, the sound carrying up over the stall and into the rest of the ladies room.

She climaxed with a hiss, her body stilling, her hands holding Spike's face so hard against her, if he were human, he would have asphyxiated. The orgasm rolled through her, starting from her toes and engulfing her entire body upwards. She shook under him as he continued to suck on her clit, until she pushed up on her toes and shoved his head away from her as the feelings became too intense to handle.

Spike wiped his face on the back of his duster sleeve, sitting on his heels, as he looked up at her. Buffy met his eyes for an instant, then banged her head back against the wall repeatedly, chanting to herself under her breath in between each hit. "Dumb," thump, "dumb," thump, "dumb," thump, "dumb..."

The blond vampire stood and pressed himself against her, his hands on either side of her head. "Ready to get out of here, Slayer?" Spike said, his voice low and seductive.

Buffy suddenly came to her senses and shoved him away. "No, you bleached doof!" she exclaimed, fixing her panties and skirt. "I'm on a date! Riley's waiting for me. He's going to think that I drowned!"

Spike shot her another incredulous look. "You still want to stay here with dull boy after that?"

"I am going to finish this date, Spike," Buffy said, narrowing her eyes at him. "You are going to go home."

"And do what? Toss off?" Spike shook his head. "Forget that, luv. I'll just go find someone better to shag."

The vampire unlocked the stall door and stepped out. Buffy sputtered indignantly, unsure of why she didn't like the sound of what he said. She quickly followed him...and turned bright red when several women stared at her. She ducked her head, grabbed her purse off the counter, and practically ran from the bathroom.

"Are you alright?" Riley asked when she returned to the table. "You look a little flushed."

"I'm not really feeling too good," Buffy lied. "Can we get out of here?"

"Sure," Riley said, rising to his feet. He pulled a ticket stub out of his pocket. "Why don't you get our coats while I settle up?"

Buffy took the ticket with a nod. She wove her way quickly out of the main portion of the restaurant towards the entrance. She gave the clerk her ticket, then looked out the glass window and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Spike standing right on the other side.

A shudder of desire ran through her when she met his eyes. The clerk returned with hers and Riley's coats and she managed to look away. "Do you have a pen and paper?" she asked the clerk.

Five minutes later, she dropped the folded piece of paper on the ground outside of the restaurant as she left with Riley.

Dorm room. Forty-five minutes.