"Owww," Willow moaned, stretching her abused back muscles.

"Pet, I told you, if you keep cracking your back like that, you're just
going to make it worse," Spike grimaced. She had been kvetching for days
about her back. She had been sore as hell ever since she had scuffled with
an anguish demon in the cemetery during a routine slay. She was thrown over
a tombstone and hadn't been able to straighten up since.

Spike hated to the see the little witch in pain. She was the only one who
didn't make him feel as if he was being babysat when the Watcher was gone as
he was now to some bloody occult book auction in San Diego. She brought over
videos and board games, she even made snacks. He had never had popcorn
before, but hers tasted ambrosial.

Not that he was biased.

He watched as she tried to turn her attention back to the movie they were
watching - Runaway Bride.

"I can't bloody believe she's leaving him, too!" Spike cried, tossing
popcorn at the screen. "Running off on a bloody mail truck! Silly chit. Why
doesn't he just rip open her jugular and drink her dry?"

"Absence of fangs?" Willow grimmaced as she twisted on the other end of the
couch. She tried to reach for the popcorn and cried out as her back spasmed.

"That's it!" Spike cried, clicking off the telly. "Strip."

"Excuse me?" she asked, blinking back the tears of pain gathering at the
corners of her eyes. Spike went to the bathroom and tossed a thick white
towel at her.

"I'm going to help you and I don't want to hear any ifs, ands or buts about
it," he said sternly. "You're hurting and I just can't watch it anymore.
Grab that blanket, strip to your skivvies. Lay on your stomach and I'll be
back when you're all covered up."

He returned to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He leaned his
forehead against the cool wood of the door and squeezed his eyes shut. "You
will just ease her pain. No matter how much you want to, you will not throw
her to the floor and shag her til she's blind. You will just ease her pain."

"He's just trying to get you to stop whining," Willow told herself as she
laid down on the floor. "He doesn't even want to see you naked, see? He
left. He's just going to rub your back. That's it. Just a backrub. No matter
how much you want to, you will not pin him to the ground and fuck him til
his eyes roll back into his head."

"Decent, pet?" he asked, stepping out of the bathroom.

(That's debatable, she grumbled in her head.)

She nodded and laid on her stomach.

"So you would be ... what? The vampire master of shiatsu?" she grumbled as
he knelt beside her.

"Nope, let's just say I know how to touch people in the right places," he
grinned.

(I'll bet, she thought.)

Spike let his fingers slide over her warm pale skin. She gasped.

"Hands a bit cold?" he asked. She nodded. He grinned and poured some sweet
almond oil between his palms. He spread his fingers wide and pressed down
firmly as he slid them over her spine.

"What's that?!" she demanded.

He held up the bottle. "Found it in Giles' medicine cabinet."

"I... don't even want to know, do I?" she grimaced. They shook their heads.
Her forehead returned to the pillow. Spike's thumbs pressed against either
side of her neck. She heard something pop. She gasped and tried to roll her
head. No pain. For the first time in a week she could turn her head. She
moaned in relief.

Spike's hands stopped as they descended down her spine. Her moans. Why did
she have to moan like a bloody wanton? The timber of her voice reverberated
through him, enveloping him in a symphony of carnal sound.

"Spike?" she said.

"Sorry, pet," he said, continuing to trace small circles along her spine.
Slowly the tension around her spine eased. Spike ran his oiled hand over a
particularly viscious knot. She moaned as he kneaded. She felt her panties
soak through with warm release.

(Stop it, Willow. You're getting turned on. He'll be able to smell it on
you! Think of anything anti-sexy. The smell of Xander's feet. Ed Asner in a
Speedo. High school gym showers. Spike in the shower. Warm soapy Spike in
the shower. ARRGH!)

Spike's fingers kneaded deeper into her flesh as he let carnal images float
through his head. Willow naked and blindfolded in his tub. Willow covered in
chocolate syrup. Willow writhing beneath him as he-

"Spike?" she asked, her voice strained and demanding. "Lower."

His hands brushed aside the towel to seek more skin. He shifted in his
knees, edging the towel over his bulging crotch. Willow fought against
grinding her hips against the floor. The tension was flowing from her back
to her lower abdomen. She grit her teeth and frantically searched for a way
to release it.

Spike's fingers continued to slide over her skin, kneading and caressing.
Spirals of esctasy coiled through her. Her thighs were slick and wet with
her juices. Spike was too caught up in the hypnotic movements of his hands
on her skin to notice the coppery smell of her arousal filling the room.

Her breath was coming in short spurts. His hands pressed deep against her
lower spine. Her hips thrust forward as her spine realigned. She screamed in
pleasure and release.

Spike was caught off guard. He was snapped into the real world as Willow
laid panting and keening on the floor. Her scent hit him like a tidal wave.
His hands left her back.

He didn't know whether to run out of the room and jump in a cold shower and
take her right there on the floor. He leaned back. Suddenly a vice-like grip
clamped around his wrist.

"Who told you stop?" she growled.

THE END

read the sequal 'Therapy'

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