"What?!" Spike exclaimed. He almost giggled nervously. How embarassing.

"Can I see your tattoo?" she asked him. There was child-like pleading to her
voice, as if all she was looking for was reassurance. She wasn't interested
in seeing his arse. She just wanted to know that she wasn't the only one
branded with Angelus' mark.

He sighed deeply and stood, glad his back was turned to her so she couldn't see
the burgeoning bulge in his crotch.

"I could be drawn, quartered and staked out for the sun for this, you know
that, right?" he asked, his jeans poised to drop.

She nodded. "Spike, I won't tell a soul."

He groaned as he let his jeans fall just enough to let her see the winged
creatured emblazoned on his left buttock. The bird was clutching a  railroad
spike in its claw. Grateful tears welled in her eyes. She wasn't alone.

She couldn't help but notice what a nice ass Spike had. His skin was smooth
and flawless, like yielding marble. Like-

"Are you quite finished?" he asked, glaring at her over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, uh-huh," she nodded, blushing furiously. He pulled up his jeans
and zipped them.

She seemed totally absorbed in twitching the sheet between her fingers.
Spike looked down at her. Well, that had been worth the glaring humiliation.

"So....I guess I'll be going now," he said, pulling the strap of her
nightgown back up on her shoulder. The icy path left by his fingers remained
on her skin for a few moments. She shuddered. He began backing away from the
bed.

"No," she said, catching his wrist in her warm fingers. "Please stay and
talk to me. No one ever talks to me."

"Angelus?" Spike asked.

"Would rather spend his time doing other things with his mouth," Willow
grimmaced.

"Drusilla, she loves to talk," Spike said.

"Yes, she does," Willow grinned. "But you can only have so many
conversations with dolls before you start to feel yourself lose touch with
reality."

He chuckled, that was one of the many things eighty years with Dru taught
him. "I agree."

"So will you stay?" she asked, her green eyes wide and pleading.

He nodded, sitting next to her. "What do you want to talk about, love?"

"Anything," she sighed.

"Okay...."

A few awkward moments passed.

"Why does Angelus always leave before I wake up?" she asked. "Where does he
go?"

Spike shrugged. "Who knows why Angelus does anything. I do know he spends
most of his day in the tunnels, rambling. He never was much of a sleeper."

"What do you do all day?" she asked.

"I sleep, I read," he sighed. "Though lately I've been spending a little
time brooding."

"You brood?" she grinned. "Why?"

"Because-" Spike stopped speaking. He cocked his ears, listening carefully.
"Shh, I have to go, pet. I'll be back."

"No, Spike, don't go-" Spike stopped her mouth with a quick, tender kiss and
bolted across the room. She gasped, her lips tingling from the cool, gentle
contact. He pulled a book Angelus' shelf, the book shelf slid aside to
reveal a tiny corridor. Willow's jaw dropped. A secret passage, now she had
seen everything. He turned back and winked at her. "You didn't see that."

The bookshelf slid back into place. Willow bolted up, looking for the book
Spike had pulled to trigger the device. She grinned, it was "Dangerous
Liasons."

She heard the lock to her chamber tumble. Angelus stepped through the door.

"Evening, sweet,"  he grinned, crossing the room. She ignored the way his
fine clothes hung on him. The delicious, predatory way his eyes swallowed
her as he stalked gracefully towards her. He handed her a small
silver-wrapped box.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Open it," he said simply.

"N-no, thank you," she said, handing it back to him. She turned her back to
him and continuing to peruse his library. His face was a stunned mask of
disbelief. She had told him, "no?"

Apparently she was a little more pissed about the tattoo than he thought.

"Willow, open the box," he growled.

"No, thank you," she said.

"Willow! Open the goddamned box!"

"NO!" she shouted.

"Fine," he shouted, throwing it across the room. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to go out!" she cried. "I'm so sick of this room I could scream!"

"Okay, then," he shrugged. "Let's go out."

"Angelus, plea-" Willow stopped herself. Had he just agreed to do something
she wanted to do? Had it really been that easy? "What?"

"You heard me," he said, kissing her softly. "Let's go out."
 

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