Willow closed her eyes and tried to forget where she was. She knew she
needed a plan to escape, but she didn’t even know where to begin. She
could barely understand why she was still alive. *If only I hadn’t
fallen asleep,* she berated herself. The things she’d seen while hiding
in Drusilla’s
closet flooded her mind’s eye. Strong muscular stretches of naked flesh;
passion glazed eyes. Submission and dominance. It all made her blood boil
and her skin tingle. Her imagination put her in Spike’s role, submitting
to the animalistic lust and then it switched to Angelus’ dominance. Somehow
she found both exciting and thrilling. Unconsciously, her hands roamed
over her warm wet flesh.
She knew the submissive role would be easy to play. Her nature was to
be passive and unassuming. But could she take command and force
someone to submit to her will? The tiny dark part of her mind that
remained tucked carefully away would do almost anything to find out.
A knock startled her out of her fantasy. Quickly, she sank lower into the bath water as the door opened.
Spike watched the girl’s face blush to match her hair. *Wonder what
she was doing,* he thought as if he couldn’t guess. He raised the tray
in his
hand. “Food,” he said. He entered the steamy room and set the tray
on the floor beside the tub. Casually, he sat on the edge. He brushed his
fingers against the mound of fluffy bubbles.
Her green eyes widened as the bubbles began to pop. “What are you doing? Stop that!” she demanded in a panic.
“Not doing nothing, pet,” he replied as he continued stroking the bubbles.
“That’s a double negative,” she mumbled absently as she watched her covering vanish. “I said stop that,” she reprimanded with a splash of water.
Spike jumped to his feet as the water soaked through his jeans. With an angry growl, he gripped her jaw tightly in his hand. “You’re going to regret that, pet.” With a final squeeze, he released her and stormed out of the room.
Willow shuttered as her hand rubbed her sore jaw.
****
The Slayer strode purposefully towards the little weasel of a man. He saw the angry glint in her eyes and tried to find the quickest escape route. He jumped when she slapped a picture on the bar. “Where is she?”
Willie glanced at the snapshot of the pretty red head. “How should I know?”
Buffy started to reach across the bar to grab the slimeball by the shirt.
Willie retreated quickly. “I don’t know, Slayer. Honestly. Beat me up if you want to, but I swear on my mother’s grave I don’t know.”
“Probably sold his mother into slavery,” Xander muttered.
“Hey, that was my sister and the cow deserved it,” Willie objected.
“Look, Slayer. We both know you can kick my ass six ways to Sunday, but
I
have not seen your friend.” He saw Buffy start to say something and
interrupted her. “I haven’t heard anything about it either. Kidnapping
one of
your friends would definitely make the rounds.”
The blonde sighed in frustration. “I’ll be back,” she promised as she turned on her heel. Xander followed her out of the dim bar and into the sunlight.
“Now what?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
The teenage boy shoved his hands into his pockets. “What about Angelus?”
Buffy ran her hands through her hair. “Since they abandoned the factory, I haven’t been able to find their new lair. But I’ll track him down tonight.”
Xander nodded in agreement. A thought drifted through his mind. “Buffy. What if it was a regular kidnapping?” he asked.
“Let’s go to the police,” Buffy relented. Her gut told her Angelus was involved somehow, but she didn’t want to rule out any options.
*****
After her bath, Willow wrapped herself in a thick towel. Silently, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Small bruises dotted her jaw. “You’ll regret that,” he’d told her. She was sure she would, but the question was how he would punish her. With a sigh, she picked up her discarded clothes. A quick peak around the door told her the bedroom was empty.
She dropped her clothes on a wing backed chair. Not wanting to wear
the same clothes, she searched the dresser for something to wear. She
borrowed a black tee-shirt and pair of black jeans, which she had to
roll up the cuffs a couple of times. Willow returned to the bathroom to
retrieve
the tray Spike had brought her.
She set the tray on a table and picked at the roll as she tried to think
of her next move. She needed to come up with a plan. Willow knew her
friends would be looking for her. Since her parents were out of town
it was unlikely they would even know she was missing. When her stomach
rumbled, the tired red head dug into her soup and didn’t stop until
the the last of the roll sopped up the final drops. A yawn forced itself
out of her
mouth when she pushed the bowl away from her. Her green eyes drifted
towards the large comfortable bed. She wanted to sleep, but that would
be giving in, wouldn’t it? With a stubborn mind she grabbed a blanket off
the end of the bed and curled up into the wing-backed chair. Eventually
her heavy lids fell and her lashes brushed against her cheeks.