* * *
Buffy
led Spike by the hand through the hallways to the gym, and took him through the
locker room to the showers.
He froze on the threshold, gleaming white
tiles sparking flashes of memory, and began to tremble.
"It's okay," she
whispered, realizing what he was thinking. "I'll be right out here, too far for
you to cause harm even if you wanted to, and I want you to take care of
yourself. I *need* you to, Spike. I've got too many people expecting me to take
care of them already."
He met her eyes and nodded, stepping across the
doorway. She turned her back and took a single step forward, away from the
showers, and dropped her tote bag in front of her.
"Hand me out your
clothes as you get them off," she ordered, fishing out a towel, a washcloth and
liquid soap bottle and handing them back to him. He complied, and she stuffed
the dirty laundry into a grocery sack she'd tucked into the tote bag.
A
moment later she heard the hiss of shower spray, and, grinning, she settled down
on a bench to
wait.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To
stave off boredom - just barely - Buffy played counting games as she watched the
hands of the big black-and-white wall clock tick off the minutes. First counting
by even-numbered seconds, then by odd, then by twelves.
She'd passed a
good ten minutes that way when she heard a loud thump from inside the showers,
and took the door at a run.
Spike was flat on his back on the tile floor,
lying in a pool of suds, jets of water ricocheting off his head and onto the
walls. "I fell down," he said dazedly, glancing from side to side as if looking
for the culprit.
Buffy couldn't help it; the tension of the night snapped
inside her like a rubber band stretched too far, and she started to giggle. His
eyes rose up to meet hers, slightly hurt, and seeing no malice there found
himself starting to giggle along with her.
She knelt at his feet and
grasped his forearms, helping him struggle groaning to his knees. "You all
right?" she asked, and her fingers roamed along his back looking for
fractures.
He didn't answer, too busy staring at her. One hand came up to
push her quickly-soaking hair off her forehead, and the gentle touch made her
eyes fly to his face, suddenly open and vulnerable. His own eyes were wide and
almost childlike with wonder, and before she could stop herself she leaned in to
place a soft kiss on his lips.
He startled under the touch of her mouth,
but she held the kiss and felt a surge of power when his hands came up to caress
her shoulders through wet cotton. Shivering, he moved his mouth gently along the
contours of hers, and happiness sang in every nerve when her hands came up to
cup his jaw.
Breaking the kiss, she leaned into his body and rested her
head against his shoulder. Despite his promise to himself, his arms came up
around her and pressed her against his lean length.
"Makin' a mess, we
are," he mumbled into her hair.
"Yeah," Buffy sighed. "We're good at
that..." Her head turned into the crook of his neck, and her mouth worked its
way tenderly back up to his lips.
This time Spike didn't resist her, and
the kiss deepened. He sank back onto his heels and drew her down to straddle his
lap. Her legs settled around his waist as if it were the most natural thing in
the world, lost as she was in the kiss.
Their wet bodies rubbed together
slickly, and low moans were beginning to slip from them both. Spike pulled away,
a mix of desire, hurt and vulnerability shining through his eyes. Something long
calcified inside her dissolved at the look, and she ran her fingertips across
his lips.
"Not like before," she whispered. "Not flesh. I'm not sure what
it is, exactly. But it's not just...that...anymore."
He studied her eyes,
then nodded and arched his head up to kiss her again. Hands roamed eagerly over
her soaked-through blouse, but they shivered and froze when they reached the
buttons. Her own hands left off stroking his chest and shoulders long enough to
pull it off herself, and while he feasted happily with eyes, hands and mouth on
the newly bared skin, she lifted off his lap to tug off her skirt and
panties.
They both shook and moaned when she sank down onto his lap, skin
sliding against skin. Then they kissed and moved together for long moments,
hands and pelvises finding their way into familiar positions almost
immediately.
Buffy tore away from his mouth with a delighted gasp when he
pushed up into her heat, arching back and grinding into him irresistibly. Spike
thrust into her fiercely, arrhythmically, barely restraining his vampire
strength. His eyes were wide and childlike with wonder, and as full of love as
they had been the first time they'd had sex.
She flushed with heat and
began to shake, and her internal muscles bunched tightly around him. The sudden
intense sensation was too much for him and he cried out, jerking up into her as
his orgasm hit.
"Sorry...sorry...oh god I'm so sorry..." he mumbled,
crumpling forward and resting his head against hers.
"It's all right,"
she whispered in his ear, smoothing his hair.
"No - no it's not -" he
whimpered, reaching between her legs as his erection softened and slipped out of
her. "I've got to - got to -"
"No." She caught his hands. "This was for
you, this time." She kissed him gently and lifted off, pulling both of them to
their feet. She held him close for a moment, then broke away and gathered her
clothes. "Finish up, and I'll take these things home to clean, okay?"
He
nodded, swallowing hard, and watched her move away. She turned back in the
doorway to look at him, and his breath caught. The light behind her cast her in
silhouette, and the water made her glisten like starlight. Then she was
gone.
Spike shook his head to clear it and resumed his shower, body
alight with a renewed sense of purpose.
THE END