Willow struggled against her instinct to inhale. She scratched and twisted
against the superhuman grip that held her beneath the water.

She could hear Dru singing a wild lullaby as she easily held Willow's head
underwater.

Suddenly she felt strong hands lift her from the water. She gasped for
breath.

"DRU!" Angelus thundered as he tossed Dru against the bathroom wall. "WHAT
THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! SPIKE!!"

"The little flame is stealing my daddy," Dru whined, rubbing her elbow
gingerly. "She must be punished."

He wrapped a shaking Willow in a towel and gathered her into his arms.
Spike rolled into the bathroom.

"From now on you keep your crazy bitch away from Willow!" Angelus screamed.
"Dru, you're not allowed Daddy's room anymore."

Willow peered at Spike from under her tangled crimson hair. "Are you okay?"
he mouthed.

She nodded.

"Am I being punished?" Dru asked as Spike led her from the room. "But I've
been such a good girl."

Angelus carried her to the bed and began rubbing her body gently with the
towel.

"I'm so sorry, Willow. I should have known she would pull something like
that, but I was just so happy to have you here, I let my guard down. You
have my word, it will never happen again or I stake her myself."

She shook her head.

"I'm just a little shaken up,"

"Don't be," Angelus said, stroking her cheeks. "Even if Dru had managed to
drown you, you wouldn't have died."

"Um, Angelus, you don't have breath, you couldn't exactly do CPR on me,
remember. We've done that episode."

"Willow, there's something I have to tell you," he said. "When I took your
virginity, I fed from you, staking my claim on you. It's a common practice
among vampires. But you bit me back, not something that happens too often-"

"Oh, my god," Willow cried. "Am I a vampire? Did I get turned?"

He laughed. "No, your virginity protected you. You're now what we call a
lifemate. You're immortal. You'll never age, you'll never die. As long as I
live, you live."

"What?" she whispered. "What if you die?"

"So eager to get rid of me?" he asked, grinning. "If I ever die, which
highly doubtful, you simply lose your immortality and age normally. So you
see, little witch, you belong to me, forever."

"Why haven't I heard of this?"

"It doesn't happen very often," he shrugged. "Vampires rarely find willing
virgins who drink their blood."

"This is a lot to absorb," Willow blinked. "How do you even know it worked?
I didn't drink that much."

"Here," he picked up a letter opener and before Willow could stop him, drew
it across her palm.

"Aah!" she cried. "SHIT, Angelus!"

She jumped away from him. Her jaw dropped as the wound on her palm closed
on its own.

"You see," his voice soft and gleeful as he licked the blood from her palm.
"You have all of our strengths, none of our weaknesses. You can still walk
in the day, eat food, you don't need blood."

She closed and opened her hand. It didn't even hurt. She shook her head.

"This is just too much," she sobbed.

"Shhhh," he whispered. "You just need to rest."

He laid her under the sheets and slid into bed with her. His cock sprung
painfully to life as her body tucked against his. But he wanted to show
control. He ignored the stirrings of his body as she innocently squirmed
against him. He buried her face in her hair and drifted off to sleep,
comforted by the images of what he would do to her when she woke.

When she was sure he was asleep, Willow slid out of bed and rushed over to
the closet. She threw on a pair of black slacks and a forest green silk
shirt. She grabbed a black overcoat and dashed out the door. She couldn't
do this. She had to get away. Dru had shown her what her life would be like if
she stayed. She constantly look over her shoulder, wondering which one of
Angelus' minions were plotting against her. Wondering when Angelus would
turn on her. The way he cut into her palm, without even thinking. She bit
back tears as she crept down the halls. The vamps were asleep, save one.

Spike watched carefully from behind the shade, avoiding the light. She was
running. He sighed. He couldn't exactly blame her. Angelus must have
explained the lifemating. He would have to bide his time for a while. When
Angelus woke up alone, he would not be a happy camper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow flopped onto her bed. Maybe if she went to sleep, she'd wake and it
would all be a dream. She peeled off the beautiful new clothes and slipped
into a pajama top. She crawled into bed.

"Please let it all be a dream." She whispered as she drifted away.

Downy black quiet caressed her on all sides. Something was calling out to
her.

"Willooooww."

She blinked. Her room was so dark.

"Willlloooow."
 

She turned to her balcony. Angelus was standing at her window and he did
not look happy. He punched through the doorknob and pushed the door in. He
stopped at the threshold.

"Invite me in, Willow."

She shook her head.

"Willow, I'm already very angry with you for disobeying me. Don't make it
worse. Let me in."

"No," she said softly.

"Willow! INVITE ME IN!" he growled.

"NO!" she shouted. "Go away. I don't want to be your lifemate, I don't want
to be your property. I don't want to be your anything. Just go away. Leave
me alone."

"Oh, when you put it that way, okay," he chuckled. "Do you really think I'd
give up that easy?"

"I was hoping," she shrugged.

"Willow, please," his eyes seemed depthless. She felt as if she were
drowning. He caressed the barrier of the doorway and she could swear she
felt his cool fingers against her skin. "Let me in."

She shrugged off the invisible caress.

"No, I can't trust you. Forget about me, Angelus, or… I'll tell Buffy."

"What if I tell her first?" he asked, grinning wickedly.

"You wouldn't," she hissed.

"What do I have to lose?"

"Your testicular health," Willow said. "You tell the Slayer you had sex
with me, she'll assume it was rape."

"Good point," he nodded. "I guess I'm going to have to do this the old
fashioned way."

"Killing everyone I love?" she said fearfully.

"I told you, I'd never hurt you," he said. "And I meant it. I can be a very
patient vampire, Willow. I'll wait. You've got to be alone sometime."

"Nope, I can live in this room for the rest of my life," Willow said. "I've
done for weeks before."

"Doubtful," he said. "I'm leaving Willow."

"This isn't the part where you pretend to walk away and make big thumping
footsteps, is it?"

He laughed. "You won't be joking when you're back in my bed, you're going
to be punished for your insolence."

"What happened to not hurting me?" she cried. "You see, I can't trust you."

"And I won't hurt you," he shook his head. "There are a lot of ways to
punish someone, Willow."

His hands roamed the air in front of the door. She could feel his hands on
her body.

"Stop it," she slapped his invisible hands away. She went to the door,
carefully avoiding Angelus' grasp. She shoved the door as hard as she
could, almost nailing Angelus in the crotch with the doorknob. He jumped back,
grinned confidently and kissed the glass near her face. He jumped from the
balcony and stalked off into the night to find a nice bloody kill.

She slumped against the window, relieved. Maybe there was some sort of
reversal spell she could work. She didn't want to think about it. Right
now, all she wanted was sleep. She climbed back into bed.

"Willlllloooowwww."

She groaned. Not again. Dammit, Angelus.

"Shhh," she hissed. "Sleeping now, threaten me with hours of sexual torture
later!"

"Willow!"

She sat up. Her hair tousled. She squinted at the door. Spike was standing
at the door. She threw back the covers and opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"Missed you desperately."

She rolled her eyes.

"Just invite me in, pet," he whined.

"Come in," she swiped at her eyes and wandered back to her bed aimlessly.
Oh shit, she thought. I just gave Spike access to my room whenever he wants.
Dammit. Stupid sleep deprivation.

He tossed his duster to the side and shut the door. He stood over her,
watching her doze. She blinked and glared at him.

"Do I have to invite you in my bed, too?"

"It would be a nice gesture," he grinned.

She lifted up her covers. He stripped down to his black boxer shorts and
t-shirt.

"How'd you get past Angelus?" she mumbled as he slid into bed beside her.
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her cheek to his chest. He kissed
her forehead. "Doesn't he have an army of minions posted outside my door or
something?"

He laughed.

"He's a little more subtle than that," he said. "Granted if any vamp in
Sunnydale touched you, they'd pray to be dusted, but he's going to wait for
you to make a stupid move and that's how he's going to get you."

"Stupid move?" she whispered.

"Going out alone at night," he said, stroking her creamy neck. "Even your
balcony. Inviting him in in a moment of weakness. Just leaving your house
could be dangerous. He's not above hiring humans to nab you during the
day."

She groaned. "What am I going to do?"

"I told you, pet, accept it." He said. "Come back to the mansion. Submit.
It won't be that bad, really. I'll be there and we can be together. One big
happy family."

"What about the psychotic sister that wants to drown me?"

"Dru won't bother you anymore," he said. "She won't disobey Angelus. She's
not that crazy. Trust me, Red. He can't stay mad at you. He'll torture for
a couple of hours and then everything's roses."

"What is all this talk of torture?" her head popped of his chest. "He said
he won't hurt me."

"There are a lot of ways to torture someone," Spike shrugged.

"What is it with you cryptic vampire guys?" she demanded. "What are you
talking about?"

"I'll show you," he said. Suddenly, he snarled and pinned her to the
mattress. She screamed. He teased her mouth with his clever tongue. He
popped the buttons from her pajama top and ripped it apart. He bound her
wrists with the shreds and tied them to her head post. She gasped. His game
face emerged. He grazed her throat with his fangs. She cried out. His
tongue lapped at her pulsepoint.

"Spike," she moaned, tugging at her wrists. His lips traveled the length of
her body, tracing infuriating patterns around her nipples but never taking
them into his mouth. She gritted her teeth in frustration. He grinned up at
her. She glared at him. He dipped his tongue into her navel and pushed her
hips into the mattress firmly. He nipped at her hipbones. She thrust her
hips up. He pushed her back down.

"Spike!"

He kissed her sex, blowing on her mons gently. She keened softly. His
tongue darted out.

"Please, Spike."

He shoved her hips back into the matress. He spread her thighs wider and
licked her gently, barely contacting.

"SPIKE!"

"Torture, isn't it?" he grinned at her.

She growled at him, shoving him off the bed with her foot. He sat up and
peered over the edge of the bed, stunned.

"Well, if that's how you feel about it, pet," he got up and started putting
on his jeans.

"Spike, what do you think you're doing?"

"Leaving," he said.

"WHAT?"

"Well, you obviously don't want me here."

"You can't just leave me like this," she cried, tugging at her bonds.

"Yes, I can."

"AUUGH!"

He sat next to her. "I could be persuaded…to stay."

"Anything," she panted.

He began unbuttoning his shirt. "This room, this place, it belongs to us."

He cupped her cheeks and kissed her thoroughly. "Angelus is never to be
invited in here. This is our sanctuary. He can’t touch us here."

She nodded. "I don't know what this is. I don’t know what it means. I mean
technically we both belong to Angelus-"

"Shhh," he kissed her again. "Let's not think about it. This place is ours,
we don't have to think about anything else."

She smiled. "Who would have thought you'd be the nice one?"

He grinned. "Face it, pet, I've always been the one with the personality."

"Oh, yes I could tell when we were holed up in that basement," She laughed.
"Since when does threatening to put a bottle through someone's face count
as personality?"

"I couldn't exactly pull your pigtails, I wanted to show you how much I
liked you."

"Well, I could think of another way to show me," she said, biting her lip.

"What's that, love?"

"Untie me and finish what you started!"
 
 

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