~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~Part Eleven~*~
Getting some of her own turned out to be more emotionally difficult than Buffy had otherwise thought. She stepped back against a spot on the wall of the club that was otherwise unoccupied, sipping daintily on the drink some guy had bought for her within moments of her entering the club. That was nice of him, she knew; especially since she had little interest in even dancing with him and had made that clear from the moment he asked her.
But the drink had already been in her hands at that point.
So – she might as well imbibe of its alcoholic loveliness.
She grimaced as the liquor hit her tongue. Tequila. Ick. And there was way too much of it in the drink and not nearly enough of whatever juice this was. Oh well. More the easier to get sloshed.
Maybe then she’d be able to get up the fortitude to just dance with someone. There had been plenty of offers, but she wasn’t up to the taking of them. Not when the memory of Riley was so fresh in her mind. It had been so easy for her to storm out of her dorm room, intent on having some fun; but the reality was that fun was a long way in coming.
She spotted a flash of red hair in the crowd, moving steadily towards her. Willow.
“Hey, Wills.” The Slayer smiled wearily at her friend, unable to hold her accountable for what had been going on behind her back.
“Hey. You okay?” It was unspoken – the fact that Willow hadn’t really expected to see Buffy at the club that night, if ever again.
“Yeah. I’m good.” Buffy murmured. “Came to have some fun.”
“So – no starting any trouble, right?”
The blonde nodded an affirmative.
“Nope. No trouble starting from me.”
“Good.” Willow sighed in relief. She gave her friend an appraising look. The blonde still looked sad, depressed even. It was to be expected, of course. She had ended things with her longtime boyfriend only the night before, finding out that said boyfriend had been cheating on her with one of his college frat buddies. But still – “If you’re here to have fun – what’s with turning down all the guys that have asked you to dance?”
“You’ve been watching?”
Willow shrugged.
“Was hanging out in the security room and saw some of it. Spike’s got a camera trained on you to make sure you aren’t here to kill anyone.”
Buffy snorted.
“I doubt I’m up to even maiming tonight, Wills.”
The red head smiled, her eyes kind with sympathy.
“Dance a little, Buff. Have fun.”
“I will.”
“Promise?” Willow implored. “Promise you’ll dance with the next guy that asks?”
The blonde sighed, but nodded.
“Yeah, I promise.”
“Good!” Willow chirped. “If you need anything else, just let the bartender know. I already told him to keep an eye out for you.”
With that Buffy watched as Willow disappeared off into the club. She seemed so at ease here, even amongst so many people where Buffy would have assumed she would retreat into her introverted barriers and shut down. The Willow that dated Spike and was a mistress of this club was far different than the Willow she had gotten to know over the past few years, though.
But it wasn’t necessarily different in a bad way, the blonde decided. It was refreshing and inspiring to see Willow so ready to socialize with others. She smiled and laughed her way across the room, past the point where Buffy could still see her. That was the type of Willow Buffy had always hoped would come out to play – the one that the blonde had always knew existed beneath those frumpy clothes.
“Dance with me?”
Buffy stiffened at request, spoken by a voice she knew all too well. She turned slowly, her eyes shooting daggers at the man standing there.
“Graham.”
“Buffy.” He smirked, inclining his head in greeting.
“You actually have the balls to ask me to dance – after last night?” She snorted, shaking her head in amazement. “You are either very brave or very stupid.”
“Or very confident that the bouncers wouldn’t let you hurt me too much.” Graham chuckled, though the sound was without humor. He held out his hand to her, his eyes daring for her to just accept the dance.
And, to his surprise, that’s exactly what she did.
“What the hell.” She sighed, knocking back the rest of her drink. “I promised Wills I’d dance with the next guy that asked. It’s your lucky night. We’ll have to hold off on that ass kicking until tomorrow.”
When Graham snickered again she blushed, the sound making things in her stomach clench up. He had always been handsome, but never before had she ever taken an interest in him. Now, though, she allowed her mind to ‘go there’; trying to figure out for herself what Riley had seen in him.
‘Nice ass.’ She started out, her eyes roaming in the decidedly southern direction as they waded through the crowd. His tight blue jeans didn’t give any room for imagination, showing off every curve and arc. She bit her lip, moving on. ‘Great body. I’ve seen that before, of course. Beautiful eyes. Silky hair. And that voice…’ She shivered, overcome by both the alcohol and the tone of her thoughts. Yes, Graham was a stud muffin and always had been. But he was Riley’s stud muffin. Her ex-Riley’s stud muffin, at that.
She sighed into Graham’s chest, his arms wrapping around her for what turned out to be a slow dance to a slow song. He was strong, she noted. The muscles of his arms were bulging beneath the plain white t-shirt that he was wearing.
“He does love you, you know.” Graham murmured softly.
Buffy snorted.
“Yeah. Loves me so much he slept with you.” She couldn’t stop the sadness that worked its way into her voice, or the hurt that ached in her heart. “And I so don’t want to be discussing this with you, of all people.”
“You don’t have to discuss it.” He whispered into her ear, eliciting shivers in the blonde haired woman that he was completely oblivious to. “But I –am- going to talk about it. He loves you, Buffy. He talks about you all the time – when he and I are ‘together’ and when we’re not. All he ever wanted was to come clean to you. To tell you the truth. He wanted –“
“He wanted a threesome.” She muttered unhappily. “And I don’t know if I could ever give that to him, Graham. As studly as you are – that might be too ick, even for me.”
Graham nodded.
“I thought as much. He insisted you didn’t have a problem with gay guys or bisexual guys. But I always thought that you looked like the type that would be ‘ick’ about it.”
“Huh?” Buffy squeaked, pulling back to look into his face. “I am –not- ‘ick’ about gay guys or bisexual or whatever!” She stammered, blushing. “I was just saying that I don’t know if I could handle Riley sleeping with someone else! I wouldn’t care if you were a woman – it would still be ‘ick’!”
“Sure.” Graham ventured, his tone bordering on sarcasm.
“Really!” Buffy insisted angrily.
“I bet you couldn’t even be in the same room with Riley and I without getting ‘grossed out’.” He taunted, hoping for the response he was looking for.
And lady luck must have been watching out for him.
Either that or Buffy had definitely had too much to drink.
In the end, it didn’t matter either way. Graham had lured her into exactly the position he was aiming to achieve.
“You have yourself a bet, Mister.”
~*~Part Twelve~*~
Willow watched from lowered lashes as Graham led Buffy by her hands off of the dance floor and towards the staircase that led up to the private rooms. Riley was up there already, she had been the one to show him to his room for the evening. In fact, she was even aware of the duo’s plan for getting Buffy to warm up to them.
And that was a literal warming up, of course.
The red haired witch snickered, sipping her drink. Spike was somewhere off in the club, roaming about and being the big boss he was. He enjoyed running the club more than she had initially thought he would – she had to give him that much. When he had first proposed the idea of opening Sunnydale’s first and, currently, only kink club, she had been wholeheartedly against the idea. It would never work, she had said. The people in Sunnydale were too tame for something as wild and crazy as a sex club.
Boy had she ever been wrong.
The public had shown up on opening night in great teeming throngs, eager to get into the club and get it on with their partner of choice. The upper rooms were booked solid for the first two months after the grand opening – from the time they opened right up until the doors locked early in the morning. The club was a success.
And Spike was good at running it, she admitted. He interacted with his employees, kept tabs on the accountant and managers. Everything ran very smoothly. She was proud of him.
“Whatcha smilin’ about, pet?”
Willow jumped, falling nicely into her lover’s arms.
“You, actually.” She admitted with a rueful grin. “And how well you’re doing with the club. Makes me all tingly with pride.”
Spike snorted, amused, and pulled her close to his chest.
“Was that Bitchy I saw running off to the upstairs rooms with Soldier Boy’s Fuck Toy?”
Willow nodded.
“Sure was. He pretty much dared her to have the courage to sit in the room with him and Riley while they – “
“He did not –“ Spike exclaimed, wide eyed. At Willow’s hesitant nod the vampire shook his head, chuckling. Boy’s got balls of pure steel.”
Willow laughed, tipping her head up to get a kiss from her lover.
“He’d certainly better hope he does if Buffy doesn’t fall into his little trap. Otherwise he’s in for a world of pain.”
~*~*~
Buffy found that she was holding her breath as they made their way through the quiet upstairs hallways, to a room with a black door. She bit her lip, exhaling slowly and trying to calm the aching nervousness in her chest. She didn’t want to do this. Didn’t want to see Riley with Graham, even though a part of her was curious.
But Graham had dared her.
And she wasn’t going to back down from a dare.
“If it gets too much for you – just leave.” Graham cautioned her, his hand on the door knob.
“Don’t worry about me.” She murmured. “I’m not afraid of what I’ll see. Just how much it will hurt.”
Graham’s eyes were sad when he met hers, blue to blue.
“It doesn’t have to hurt, Buffy. But – I can’t say anything to make you believe that, so I won’t try.”
‘But showing doesn’t hurt.’ He thought wickedly to himself, sending up a silent prayer to any God that may be listening for her to just take the bait.
“And – another thing.” He cautioned her, knob caught in half-turn as he remembered at the last second. “Whatever you see – he likes it. I would never hurt him.”
Buffy opened her mouth to proclaim that that was so much not what she needed to hear, only to be cut off by the door opening. She snapped her mouth shut and followed Graham into the room, wide eyes taking in the setting with no small amount of trepidation. The room was just as black as the door was, with a plush white carpet to offset it. She felt her shoes sink into it, feeling almost naughty for just wearing them on such a perfect white expanse.
There were manacles on the walls, some for hands and some for ankles. A chair off to one corner was much like the one Riley had been in that first night when she walked in on him and Graham. She blushed, remembering all too clearly seeing Riley trussed up and quite enthusiastic about it. Never in a million years had she ever imagined that he was the type of guy who enjoyed being tied up. That he got off on pain and submission. He had never mentioned it to her. Not once.
And maybe that was a good part of what hurt. The lack of honesty in their supposed relationship.
The bed was the last thing for her to look over, and there she found her ex-boyfriend. He was already tied up, laying face down, a look of peaceful contentment on his face, as though he had fallen asleep while waiting for Graham to return. He probably had, she decided on second thought. He was looking at her now, and he didn’t seem surmised to see her. Not really. The look on his face was more anticipatory. She let her eyes travel from his face, down over the naked expanse of his back and then over the curves of his ass. So perfect in their lightly tanned glory. Was he already hard, she wondered? Laying there, tied up and waiting for his lover to return.
Lover.
Not her.
Graham.
‘He wants both of you.’ Her inner voice reminded her. ‘Just having me in the room must be like some weird fantasy come true for him.’
That thought should have made her leave the room at a run. She should have just given in, said that Graham had been right. She couldn’t be in the room with them, especially when it was so obviously planned.
But she didn’t.
She neither moved further into the room nor towards the door.
Standing there, staring at Riley’s naked body, she could remember the times they had come together in passion. She could still taste the salty goodness of his sweat on her tongue. Could still feel the hardness of his body inside of her, pulling in and out. And all it would take would be closing her eyes to remember what it sounded like to hear him call her name in pleasure, cry out to God his love for her.
She shivered, though the room was far from cold.
“You can leave at any time.” Graham reminded her again, softly.
She looked towards him, surprised to find that he was already half naked, clad only in his pants. His chest was toned nicely. So much time working out, training for their little military missions. He was a handsome man. At least Riley hadn’t chosen a loser to break her heart with.
“I’m fine.” She whispered. She cleared her throat, gathering up more spunk and courage than she would have thought she was still capable of. “Could we get this over with? I have men to seduce tonight.”
>From his position on the bed Riley arched an eyebrow at her, hurt radiating over his face in a visible wave. He wisely kept his mouth shut, though.
‘Seduction is a good word.’ Graham thought idly to himself, gathering a wooden paddle from a tray of instruments on the bedside table. ‘Too bad she won’t be seducing anyone tonight. Its about time someone seduced –her- nice and good.’ He slapped the wood lightly against his hand and sat on the bed next to Riley.
“As you wish, Buffy.”
~*~*~
Spike watched, amused, as Willow glanced at the stairs for the second time in that minute alone.
“You worry too much, pet.”
“No I don’t.” She smirked, her eyes again darting to the stairwell.
Her vampire lover chuckled.
“Dance with me, Red. And leave the worrying for later. She won’t hurt them – they’d enjoy it too much.”
Willow laughed and blushed at the same time. The idea of Buffy hurting anyone for pleasure was just too wild. Riley and Graham she was used to. Buffy would take some time – if she ever got off her high and mighty Slayer butt and allowed herself the pleasure those two men were offering her, that is.
Taking Spike’s hand, the witch let herself be led to the dance floor. They moved nearly as one, his arms coming around her body, molding her to him. His lips kissed delicate patterns on the flesh of her neck, bringing forth moans from her mouth that did nothing but bring his body to a rather frustrating state of arousal. Her lithe body moved against his, her hips and pelvis deliberately gyrating against the bulge that now strained against his zipper.
“You are a tease.” He whispered into her ear, biting the tender lobe hard enough to bring a groan from her mouth. He smirked down at her, the epitome of the gorgeous face that evil could put on, the seductive nature of demons.
And Willow loved every second of it. This was her mate. Both in the vampiric sense and that of soulmates. He was her other half, her completion. She would never tease or deny him anything that he wanted or needed.
And right now he needed her.
“I don’t tease you.” She murmured contritely, winking at him as she began to dance them backwards off of the floor. She turned, pulling out of his arms, and headed towards the stairs, tossing over her shoulder –
“And if you come upstairs with me, I’ll show you.”
~*~Part Thirteen~*~
She had always thought that women had the easier way of things when it came to their hormones. They could hide it with little difficulty. They didn’t have a very physical reaction to stimuli, not in the way that men did. They weren’t led about or tempted by those same hormones, instead they let their brains do their thinking and everything worked out fine in the end.
Or so Buffy Summers believed prior to this night.
For what had to be the hundredth time she shifted in her chair, her inner thighs creating enough friction to send a jolt of pleasure coursing up through her body, from the very aroused core of her being. She bit her tongue to keep herself from crying aloud, moaning her desire to the very men that she had walked in this room with every intention of hating.
Graham.
Riley.
It was decidedly odd, she had realized early on, to both detest them and feel lust for them at the same time. How hard would it be, she wondered, just to hate them in their entirety and be done with it?
But, no; her body had other ideas.
Or maybe it was that they were so handsome, so sexual, with each other that she couldn’t help herself, her traitorous reactions.
They were both equally tanned in skin tone, the light brown color that came with a gentle acclimation to the sun’s rays. Not a chocolate color, almost like golden caramel. That same skin glistened, both of them, with the sweat that could only be borne of passionate toils. It made her tingle inside, low in her body where nothing should have been able to affect her.
But affect her it did.
Graham was stern, yet loving. The whip and paddle he used on Riley could both caress and mete out swift, stinging rebukes at the same time. She had never expected to find it so erotic, this game of pain and pleasure; and yet there she was, watching with wide eyes, her juices pooling behind the thin cotton of the thong she had worn beneath her leather pants.
The thong was soaked through within minutes.
Riley, for his part, had kept his eyes on her for almost the entire time she had been in the room. Those eyes, so sad when she had been snappy at first, warmed with desire and passion under Graham’s tender mercies. Those brown eyes that had always looked at her with such love, such devotion, now stared back at her with something she realized she had never seen in their bed.
Unabashed desire.
It wasn’t her fault, she realized at that moment, anymore than it was his own. He was different, and maybe he hadn’t known that when he got involved with her, it didn’t really matter. He needed the pain and the pleasure; he needed a man and a woman.
Hadn’t Willow said . . .
“Buffy?”
The blonde blinked, unaware that she had spaced out. Graham was kneeling before her, the whip laying on the ground next to him. His blue eyes were so considerate, so worried. She sighed. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. One man and one woman. That was how it was supposed to be. Or, one man with one man, one woman with one woman. She didn’t care the mixture, as long as it was one on one. Three people being together just wasn’t normal, wasn’t right.
But, then again, she was the Slayer and her life had never been ‘right’.
Willow was a witch, and she was dating a vampire, surely that didn’t fall into the ‘right’ category, either. But they were doing it, making it work.
“Buffy? Are you okay?”
She looked down, shocked to find that his hand was on her knee now and that he was just a little closer, almost kissably close. He was worried about her and she was just sitting here, off in the la-la-land of her thoughts, somewhere far far away from the realities this room had shown her.
Or maybe not so far away at all.
“Fine.” She nodded slowly. “I’m fine.”
“You can leave if you want.” Graham murmured. She nearly laughed aloud. He was mistaking her silence and spaciness for something entirely opposite of what it was. This wasn’t the silence of someone that was disturbed or depressed. Sure, she was disturbed, and on some levels she was sad at the loss of her own ideals, those ideals she had dreamed of as a little girl. What would her mother have said? One bride and two grooms. . . if marriage could even ever be considered.
“You don’t have to stay anymore, Buff. You proved your point.” Riley was speaking now, from the bed. He was untied. When had that happened? When had he gotten to go free while she sat here, bound by her own emotional turmoil? She frowned, but it was only inside. On the outside she was still as cool and calm as she could possibly be.
“Did I?” Was that her voice? Sounding so small and helpless?
“Yeah.” Riley nodded. “You did. This was stupid. I just – “
He loved her.
The words didn’t have to be spoken aloud for her to hear them.
He just loved Graham, too.
“I know, Ri.” She sighed, a weak smile on her face. She stood, her legs trembling, resting a hand on Graham’s shoulder as she walked around him with a confidence she didn’t feel, on legs that felt as though they would give way at any moment. And she stood before him, the one she had given her heart to, and wondered if she was strong enough to do this, to do what had to be done. Her hand was shaking when she held it out, running a fingernail along his face. His eyes closed, cheek leaning into the touch as though it could be his last. She took a deep breath and placed one finger beneath his chin, tilting his head up until his eyes opened to, slowly, look into hers.
“I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere, if that’s okay with the two of you?”
~*~*~
Willow skipped lightly down the steps to the club, her eyes roaming over the deserted dance floor, the bar that was clean and closed. She smiled. This was her favorite time, long after the patrons had left, when she could just wander about, sometimes dancing to music she would turn on in the sound booth.
She was too sore to dance this morning, though. Too tired and sore after a night of fun in first her private room and then one of the hot tubs, and then back to her room for a little more.
Spike really could go all night, she had learned early on.
Instead of dancing she swayed back and forth to the music in her heart, the music of love.
“Should I leave you alone with yourself?”
The red head whirled, clutching her robe to her chest. The embarrassing fear was replaced by sly amusement when she saw who stood there, hair tousled and sleepy-faced.
“Long night, Buffy?”
The Slayer laughed loudly, joyously. It wasn’t the bitter laughter of the night before, the forced laughter of someone trying to find solace from their pain. This was happiness.
“Yeah. You could say that.”
Willow smiled; so Graham’s seduction had worked. Good for him. And for Riley. And Buffy, too, of course. The three of them would be good together. Buffy was too much for one man, anyway. And Riley needed the attentions that both Buffy and Graham could provide.
And Graham . . .
Well, he was just a walking hormone; but he’d be true to them. She had no doubts about his loyalties.
“Wanna go back to my room and get cleaned up before we get back to the dorms?”
“Back to the dorms?” Buffy pouted. “But I wanna go back to the fun room. I was just looking for a drink.”
This time it was both of their laughter that filled the empty club, as they giggled their way back into the kitchens in search of snacks and drinks.
~*~Part Fourteen~*~
~*~Three Months Later~*~
“Are you sure you need to go, Wills? I mean. . . the bleached wonder can do this by himself – can’t he?”
Willow raised an eyebrow at the blonde haired woman standing in front of her.
“I’m sure he could, Buff. But I would no more want him to go off and leave me here by myself than you would want Riley, or Graham, to do to you.”
Buffy stuck her tongue out, the gesture depreciating into giggles after a moment.
“Fine. I’m just going to miss you.” She conceded after a minute of laughter.
“It’s only for a month!” Willow cried in mock frustration, throwing her hands into the air. “Just one little month. Long enough to get the new club up and running and make sure its in good hands.”
“I know, I know.” The Slayer sighed, glancing around the club she had first wandered into so many months before, only to have her heart broken and then repaired, better than new. And now there would be a new club, up in Los Angeles. “Still going to drop in on Angel?”
Willow snorted.
“That’s up to Spike. Personally, I think he has a death wish. Angel is not going to be happy to see him. Nor will he be happy to see him with me. But. . . “ She shrugged. There was no stopping her mate once he got an idea in his head, and this was the idea of the moment – go by the Hyperion and say a big old ‘hello’ to his grandsire.
Joy.
“You’ll be careful, right?” Buffy asked, genuine worry in her tone. “Angel can get a little unthinking when his temper gets the better of him.”
“Don’t worry. I have enough sense to get out of the way of an angry vampire. In fact, I plan on not being anywhere near the scene when they meet up for the first time again.”
Buffy nodded, placated just enough by this reassurance to feel some of the panic around her heart ease.
“And you three stay out of trouble, too.” Willow smirked. “Spike wants this club in one piece when he gets back. Not run into the ground or debauched beyond all recognition.”
The blonde haired woman snorted.
“Debauched? Such language, Wills.”
The witch shrugged.
“Word of the day calendar in Spike’s office. You three *will* behave, won’t you. I mean. . . I trust you. . . It’s just. . .”
“That leaving the club to Riley and Graham and me doesn’t sound like a good plan even on the best of days?” Buffy added helpfully with a smile at odds with the words she spoke.
“Yeah.” Willow chuckled. “That’s it exactly. If it comes to it – tie them up and keep them away from the club. I’m sure they won’t mind. . . too much.”
Buffy grinned wickedly.
“I think they’d enjoy it. Give them just enough chain that they could still touch each other but not –“
“Cor! Knock it off, Slayer. The last thing I want to hear is about your sex life.” Spike called from halfway across the deserted dance floor, slowly strolling towards where they were seated at the bar.
“No one asked you to listen, blondie.” Buffy deadpanned, pleased that she had managed to catch her once-nemesis off guard again. For all that vampires were supposedly sexual creatures, Spike sure did hate to hear about other people’s sex lives, especially hers. Something about it giving him chills to think that the Slayer might actually one day start a family and raise lots of little baby Slayers.
She caught his eye, saw him shudder, and knew he had just thought about the exact same thing.
“You’ll take care of the club?” He asked, switching from joking to serious in a matter of seconds. “If not I’ll be forced to kill you, of course.”
Buffy raised an eyebrow.
“As if you haven’t already tried that, blondie.” She was teasing, but her voice held an edge of steel to it. Never threaten a Slayer, it said, even when just playing around.
“Right. Come along, then, Red. Say your goodbyes.” He walked off a ways, towards the door. Willow assumed he had already stowed their bags in the car. A real car, and not the rickety old DeSoto that she had forced him to send to the junkyard once his club starting doing well.
“Well, that’s my cue.” She smiled at Buffy. “You three take care of each other and we’ll be back before you know it. You have the number for our hotel written down, right?”
Buffy nodded, opening her arms to take Willow into a tight, warm hug. She closed her eyes, thankful for the friendship she had and happy that the secrets that had been kept hadn’t ruined it. True friendship was so rare in life, after all.
”We’ll be fine. Go on.” Buffy shooed her towards the door. “Before Spike comes looking for you again. I don’t think I can deal with his wit a second time tonight.”
Willow laughed and turned, letting the silence of the club follow her to the door. It was hard to believe that somewhere this serene could become so loud in only a couple short hours.
‘This is where it all really started.’ She mused. ‘For me, for Spike and even for Buffy.’
So much for being a Midnight ‘Rendezvous’.
They might want to think of changing the name to ‘Midnight Dating Service’, specializing in vampires, Slayers and former top secret soldier boys.
Willow laughed.
‘That just might be a hit, after all.’
~*~The End~*~