* * *

      She would get him to teach her to play poker. It was
pure genius. The plan had formed in the little red
head's mind the second she saw the box sitting on the
movie store shelf. He would never know what hit him.

      Willow was practically bubbling over with excitement
as she carried the bag back to Spike's apartment.
Another Friday night, another movie. Even with their
new found freedom to get together anytime during the
week, the couple still enjoyed their movie nights. It
was a tradition they wanted to keep up.

      The smile never left her face as she unlocked the
apartment door with the key SPike had given her. It
was as much her apartment as it was his he had said.
Knowing he would share what he had with her made her
feel all warm and happy inside. "Spike? I'm back with
the night's entertainment!"

      She slipped off her shoes as she waited for the
vampire to join her in the living room. The smell of
buttered popcorn drifted in from the kitchen and she
had to smile. He could be so domestic sometimes that
it made her laugh - William the Bloody, domesticated,
the underworld would die laughing. Fishing a deck of
cards from her the back pocket of her jeans she laid
them on the table for later.

      Spike smiled at the sight of the red head sprawled on
his couch. The mere sight of her was enough to make
him hard. The simple teasing they had been giving back
and forth for nearly a month was driving him slowly
mad. He needed to feel the warmth of her skin against
his, feel her body shake with release, feel... He
ground his teeth together in frustration. "What'd you
get, pet?"

      "Rounders." She handed him the video cassette, her
eyes straying to his firm ass as he turned to put it
in the vcr. Damn he was fine.

      "Rounders?" Spike asked, returning to the couch and
pulling her into his arms.

      "Yeah...something about two friends and a poker
game." She smiled at him innocently.

      "Right." The vampire smiled down at the little witch
in his arms. "And afterwards I get to teach you to
play poker?"

      Willow smiled at him, pointing to the screen.
"Shh...Its starting."
 

* * *

      Willow stopped the video as credits began to scroll
by. They had actually made it through the whole movie,
a rare event lately, and she had been happy with it.
Unlike some of their other selections it had been
okay. She smiled over at the vampire next to her. "So,
ready to teach me to play?"

      The blonde turned to face her with a leer on his
face. "I can think of other things I'd rather be
doing." His hand slid playfully up her thigh.

      "Spike!" Willow slapped his hand away, laughing. She
knew that the past few weeks had been, well, hard on
him. The sexual tension in the air had been almost
unbearable at times. But they had survived and he
hadn't even complained. It made her love him all the
more. She grabbed the deck of cards off the table,
tossing them at him."You are going to teach me to play
poker." The resolve face was on, he didn't stand a
chance.

      "Ok, ok." He grinned at her. "Clear off the coffee
table while I go find a handful of change or
something." He smirked as she jumped to obey, her face
as happy as a child's.

      The red head hastily removed everything from the
coffee table, arranging some pillows at either end for
them to sit on.  She smothered a giggle and hoped he
wouldnt catch on to her little ruse to soon. "Ready!"
She chirped happily when he came back in the room. She
held her hands out for the handful of pennies he had
for her and waited for him to begin teaching her.
{This should be fun...}

* * *

      "So...I...umm...call?" Willow's brow creased in mock
confusion as she contemplated the cards in her hand.
She had a pair of fives and was pretty sure he had at
least three of a kind from the number of cards he had
drawn.

      "If you think thats right, pet." The vampire stifled
the urge to laugh. She was so cute when she was
confused. He could almost see her brain working as she
thought long and hard about her next move. He had beat
her at every hand so far and he didn't really see her
luck changing. She tossed a few pennies into the
center of the table. "K, Red, whatcha got?"

      Willow fanned out her cards in front of her, forcing
her face to look hopeful and innocent. "See! I have
two fives. Thats good right?" Spike chuckled, laying
down his trio of kings for her to see. She pouted.
"Well I guess you win again!" Her eyes took in the
bland expression on his face. "Are you getting bored?"

      He smiled gently. "Not really. Playing for pennies
isn't much fun though, luv."

      Willow hid a smile. {Come on, Spikey, make this easy
on me.} "Well what else is there to play with? I dont
have much cash on me."

      Blue eyes sparkled in the lamplight. "Well we could
always play *strip* poker." he purred, leaning across
the table to capture one of his hands in hers.

      "Strip poker?" Willow squeaked. "How do you play
that?"

      "Well..." Spike drawled, his thumb rubbing small
circles on her palm. "For every hand you lose you
remove a piece of clothing." He felt himself harden at
the thought of getting her naked.

      "I dont know..." She chewed on her bottom lip
thoughtfully, bending her head down to conceal the
laughter she knew was showing in her eyes. Finally she
lifted her head and smiled shyly. "Sure. Sounds like
fun."

      Spike practically leapt for joy. He gathered the
cards from the table, his eyes never leaving hers as
he expertly shuffled them, dealing five to himself and
five to the young woman in front of him. He took a
quick look at his cards, his face impassive. A pair of
sixes. Not a great start, but not too bad either. "How
many cards you want, pet?"

      Willow hoped he would attribute her rapidly beating
heart to nervousness and not to excitement. She laid
down three cards, deliberately breaking up the pair of
queens she had started with. She would let him win
this one hand. Then it was her turn to shine. She held
her breath as she added her three new cards to the
pile. Good. A totally worthless hand. Her eyes met his
as he, too, took three cards.

      Spike glanced at his cards. Still only that pair of
sixes. She might get lucky and win this hand. He
flashed her one of his most seductive smiles and laid
the cards out for her to see.

      "You beat me." She smiled at him, laying her own
cards down for him to see. "Do I chose...or do you?"

      "Let me." Spike purred. He couldnt believe his luck
at winning that awful hand. "Take the shirt off,
sweets." He held in an unneccessay breath as she
lifted the tshirt up over her head, exposing the
satiny greenness of her bra. He could see the gentle
slope of her breasts and felt himself once again
spring into hardness. He looked up at her face,
surprised to see her not blushing, instead looking at
him with an air of complete calmness.

      "My deal?" She asked sweetly, gathering the cards and
shuffling them thoroughly. Green eyes remained on blue
ones as she defly dealt out five cards to herself and
him. She smirked as she saw her cards for the first
time. She couldnt have gotten a better hand if she had
actually cheated. Her voice was playful when she
asked, "How many ya want, Spike-y?"

      The vampire looked up into her laughing eyes,
wondering how long she would stay this happy as she
lost her clothing piece by piece. "Just two, ducks."
He looked at the cards in his hand, happy with the
results - three jacks. He watched, startled, as she
laid down her cards without taking any. A flush.
Bloody hell. "Good job, luv."

      "Lose the shirt."  Her eyes narrowed with lust as he
pulled the tshirt over his head in one fluid movement,
baring his hard chest to the cool air of the
apartment. She longed to reach over and run her hands
along it, to suck his pale nipples into her mouth and
nibble on them until he screamed in pleasure.

      Spike smirked, shuffling the cards for the next hand.
Her eyes hadn't left his chest since he had taken off
the shirt. His nostrils flared slightly as he sniffed
the air. She was aroused at the sight of him! The
thought that she obviously found him attractive sent a
warm rush of pride coursing through him. It had been a
long time since he had seen himself. It was nice to
know that he still could have that effect on women.
"Gonna look at your cards, ducks?"

      Willow blushed, grabbing the cards. She forced her
mind to concentrate on what she was looking at and not
on the expanse of flesh across from her. She grabbed
three cards and placed them on the table, praying to
the goddess for a little luck. Bingo! Full house.
Again her breath caught in her throat as she waited
for him to lay down his cards. She really didn't want
to lose anymore of her own clothing tonight. Her luck
was still holding, though. "Looks like I win again."
Her eyes roamed his body. Socks or jeans, socks or
jeans. "Take off the socks, luv." She smirked as she
threw his own word back at him.

      The vampire looked at the woman across from him as he
removed his socks. Something was going on. What had
happened to the little confused girl he had been
playing with not a half hour past? If he lost this
round that was it. There was nothing on under the
jeans, though he was sure *she* didnt know that. He
watched in amazement as she picked up the cards,
shuffling them in a rather elaborate fashion before
dealing them out. Green eyes were sparkling and
suddenly he realized she had been hustling him all
along. "Red!"

      "Blondie!" She laughed, peeking at her cards.
Perfect. She was finally going to see if it was boxers
or briefs. From the look on his face she could tell
that he had figured her out.

      "Where did you learn to play poker, luv?" He set down
three cards slowly, noticing that she only took one
for herself. He knew without a doubt that he was going
to lose. The thought of being naked in front of his
red haired goddess made his cock twitch with arousal.

      "Well, when me and Xander were kids we used to play
all the time for pennies or nickles....or at Halloween
for candy. We still do on occaision."  She smiled,
laying down her cards for him to see. Four of a kind.
She heard him let out a long breath.

      "Looks like you won, pet."

      Willow barely had time to contemplate what he meant
by her 'winning' before he stood and eased his jeans
down over his slender hips. Her mouth formed a silent
'O' of wonder as she caught sight of his rather
impressive arousal. She licked her lips, any sort of
intelligent thought leaving her mind as she moved her
eyes to his smirking face.

      "So...what now, Red?"
 

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