She's Like Candy

Author: Writergrrrl

Parts: 21 - 30

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~Part: 21~

"Help me sit him up." Willow stood beside the bed holding three huge bowls of blood on a tray. "He swallows better upright."

"I remember," the dark vampire’s voice was laced with worry and sadness, and Willow swallowed back a shuddering breath. "I’ve really let him down, haven’t I?"

Willow decided that it was a rhetorical question, and so remained silent as she dipped the tip of a finger in the red liquid and formed a floating stream of blood to Spike’s still lips. She smiled softly when the blonde began drinking in earnest, the soft slurping filling the otherwise silent room. What little color he possessed returned as he ate so that he appeared normal when he had finished.

"Well, that’s the last of his supply." Willow wiped at Spike’s mouth, ridding him of the last traces of blood.

"Not the last." Angel placed Spike under the covers before biting into his own wrist and holding it to his childe’s mouth. "The blood of the sire heals all. Drink, childe."

Willow was turning toward the door with the empty bowls and tray when Spike’s pink tongue flicked out to taste the offered wrist. Suddenly, she couldn’t move. The room grew steadily warmer as Spike’s demon came out to play, followed closely by Angel’s.

The sight of sire and childe curled around each other caused something low in Willow’s stomach to tighten. A pair of amber eyes framed by tousled pale hair snapped open and snapped her back to reality even as her legs turned to rubber. A soft chuckle from the bed followed the redhead from the room.

/Goddess help me. That was... Wow./

Willow rinsed the bowls in the sink before moving back down to the lobby where she found Lorne waiting with the rest of the team.

"Hi Lorne." Willow fished her purse from the pile of luggage sitting on the floor by the stairs. "Angel is looking after Spike, so I’m going to get home."

"You’re leaving?" Wesley looked up from the books he was arranging into an impressively tall stack. "I thought that you would like to see the books I’ve been reading through."

"I wish I could." Willow rubbed at her eyes as she sunk down on the round sofa that dominated the center of the lobby. "But I have a three hour drive ahead of me if I’m going to make the two exams I have in the morning."

"Leavin’ on me, Red?" Spike’s voice caused Willow to jump, and the blonde smiled. "Not even going to say goodbye?"

"You shouldn’t be moving yet! Angel, get him back upstairs."

"I’ll not be shut away like some misbehaving child."

Willow winced at the harshness in Spike’s voice. "I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that you were so hurt."

Spike sucked his cheeks in and gave the rakish smile Willow had come to know meant that he was proud of himself. "Like I said before, pet. I didn’t even whimper... I’ve had worse."

"Would you at least sit down? You’re making me hurt in sympathy." Willow moved over and patted the cushion beside her.

Spike nodded and sank down on the plush seat with a slight sigh. "You still leavin’?"

"I have to, Spike." Willow smoothed a wayward curl away from the vampire’s forehead. "I didn’t spend all that time studying and killing myself to make it to classes dead tired from helping with demons the night before just to fail because of four exams."

"You’ll be back day after tomorrow, right?"

"No. Monday night or Tuesday."

Spike froze with his lighter halfway to the end of his unlit cigarette to turn and look her in the eye. "You’re staying in Sunnydale over the weekend?"

Willow gave short nod, once up and once down.

"In your house?"

Another nod.

"Without me there?"

Yet another nod, though this one was slower. Angel had begun glowering at her when she had said that she wouldn’t be back until Monday or Tuesday. The sight sent a tremor down Willow’s spine, and she tried to keep thoughts of Angelus from coming to mind.

"Not gonna happen."

"Yes, it is." Willow hated the hard finality in Spike’s voice. "I’m not going to not graduate Spike."

"No, it isn’t." Spike tossed the half burned Marlboro on the floor, obviously ignoring the annoyed looks and noises from the other people in the room. "You’re not going. Not alone, at any rate."

"Who’s going to come with me? You’re not. Angel and Cordy need to stay close in case of a vision. Fred wouldn’t stand a chance against Buffy, no offense." Fred simply smiled understandingly, and Willow went on with her argument. "Wesley has to stay and research if I’m ever going to figure out what’s wrong with me. Lorne’s more of a singer than a fighter."

"Aren’t you sweet, cupcake." Lorne gave Willow one of his million watt smiles that she couldn’t help but return.

"I can go." Gunn spoke up from where he was leaning against the counter. "I’m pretty much just extra muscle anyway."

Willow caught a rumbling growl from behind and turned to see Spike glaring at Gunn with glowing eyes. /What’s he all growly about?/

"Cordy can go." Angel nodded to himself.

"The cheerleader?" Spike raised a scarred eyebrow in question.

The cheerleader in question snorted at Spike’s incredulous near shout. "I was a lot more than just some cheerleader. I was *captain*."

Willow giggled at Cordelia before sticking her tongue out at the vampire sitting beside her. "She told you."

"Shut up, pet."

"Enough!" Angel shook his head at the two on the couch. "Willow, Cordelia will go home with you as long as you promise to call if anything should happen or there’s a vision. That way, you’ll have company and Spike will stop being so overprotective and jealous."

"Just don’t want anyone gettin’ any ideas is all."

"Sure, blondie." Cordelia had retrieved her purse from behind the counter and moved to the stairs. "I think I’ve got enough things here to get me through one weekend in good old Sunnydale. I’ll pack and be down."

"Okay." Willow smiled at the girl who had become her friend since their days on the hellmouth. "We can grab something for supper on the way."

"Come here." Spike wrapped an arm around Willow and pulled her down the hall to the back of the hotel. He didn’t stop nearly dragging her along until the sunlight from the back windows nearly touched his boots.

"Still don’t like this, pet."

"Well, I’m not thrilled about it either." Willow was wishing that Spike would just let her leave, even though she knew that it didn’t matter how soon she returned to her house. She couldn’t leave until after her tests anyway. "I just know what I have to do and, wether we like it or not, I’m going to do it."

"I just don’t want you hurt." Spike’s arms surrounded her body, and Willow let herself sink into his borrowed warmth.

"I know. It’s nice to know someone’s worrying about me for a change, though I don’t want to cause you to worry. Okay, I don’t think that made any sense."

"Don’t worry, luv. I understood." Pulling Willow tight against his chest so that their bodies made one fluid line, Spike kissed her deeply.

"Spike," Willow pulled back from the kiss just enough to be able to speak. "You *do* realize that my magic is stronger now, that I can defend myself, right?"

"Doesn’t matter, pet. I don’t want to be a room away from you. The thought of you being three hours away, without me to protect you, with that bitch of a slayer running around..." Spike sighed and pushed Willow’s head to rest under his chin. "It’s almost more than I can handle."

"You’re going to make me cry if you keep being so sweet."

Spike chuckled. "Can’t have that, or you might go running off to my sire."

Jerking away from Spike’s body, Willow stood well within the circle of his arms and gazed into his eyes. "Why would you even say something like that?"

"Could smell you earlier. In the room."

"Well, it was pretty intense! I can’t help it if seeing a beautiful vampire feeding his unspeakably attractive childe turned me on. I’m a young woman with hormones, and desires, and-" Willow’s ramble was cut short as Spike once again pulled her into an intense kiss.

"Never said it was a bad thing, luv." Spike brushed a soft kiss over her lower lip. "Though you can get any thoughts of Brood Boy out of your mind. I’m not sharing. You’re mine, Willow."

Willow turned her head to avoid the kiss Spike tried to initiate. "Say it again."

"That you’re mine, or that I’m not sharing?"

"My name." Willow’s eyes focused on Spike’s reddened lips. "Say my name."

"Willow," Spike’s eyes registered confusion.

"I love the way you say that." This time Willow pulled the vampire into a kiss, sinking her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck and going up on her tiptoes to crush his mouth to hers with all of her strength.

/Lips of Spike are definitely good things./ Willow soon lost the ability to form complete thoughts, and she sunk into the feelings Spike was evoking with his lips, teeth, and tongue.

~Part: 22~

Angel’s black convertible hurtled down the highway. It had taken nearly an hour and some of the heaviest begging she had ever had to do, but Willow had eventually talked the dark vampire into letting her use his car. In the end, she had just told him of her white knuckles and not being able to see anything in the mirrors or out the windows of Spike’s car. Angel had given her his keys when she made mention to Cordelia that driving the DeSoto in the afternoon was hard, but they wouldn’t be able to see to make it back out of Sunnydale if it got dark before they could leave after her tests.

Fred had braided her hair to keep the wind from tangling it past repair, and Willow and Cordelia proclaimed themselves ready to leave. After a round of hugs from everyone, Willow had been subjected to a drawn out, and thoroughly enjoyable, goodbye from Spike. The blonde had pulled her into an intense kiss that consumed her so deeply that she didn’t register Angel’s voice until he was within a foot of their embrace. Spike had chuckled at her red lips and glassy eyes before running a hand over Willow’s braided hair.

"Ever wonder about the old custom of women wearing their hair up except when they made love?" With that parting remark, whispered into her ear, Spike pushed her out the door of the hotel and into the growing evening.

Two hours into their drive, the girls stopped and got dinner at a drive thru. They didn’t want to be on the road after dark if they could help it, and the sun was setting with them an hour away from home. Willow had called Angel to get instructions on putting the roof up. She wasn’t going to drive on the hellmouth without some sort of protection over her head. Now the car and its two passengers slid through traffic with ease.

"So, you and Spike."

Willow groaned at Cordelia’s obvious interest in the topic. "What about me and Spike?"

"‘What about me and Spike?’" Cordelia imitated in an exaggeratedly innocent voice as she batted her lashes. "Please. You’re in love with him. Don’t deny it, because it’s too plain for even you to miss. It’s also easy to see that he’s in love with you too.

"Now that the facts are established, just start with the details. I want to know everything from when you realized you were in love with him until now."

"I’m not going to deny that I’m in love with him, Cordy. I’ve liked him since he first showed up with Dru, though it was more of a ‘he’s dangerous and unattainable, so I can crush on him’ thing than anything.

"After he got chipped and started helping us, I couldn’t help but fall for him. We got to know each other, and I found that I had more in common with him than anyone else I knew. We would talk for hours, and he’d actually *listen* to what I had to say. No, I’m not denying that I’m now completely in love with him."

"I’m hearing a ‘but’ in there." Cordelia checked that her door was locked before leaning against it to face Willow. "What’s wrong?"

Willow sighed and worried her bottom lip. "Well, I just don’t want to end up being a fling he has to get over Buffy."

"Buffy?" The seer straightened in her seat at that bit of news. "As in Angel’s ex, the bitch of Sunnydale, she who makes Angel broody with just the mention of her name? *That* Buffy?"

"No need to go all hysterical, Cordy. And yes, ‘*that* Buffy’. Who else?"

"Oh." Cordelia only nodded and remained silent for the next half hour.

"Yeah, Sunnydale’s still here." Cordelia looked over the town as they passed through it on the way to Willow’s house. "Are you sure you can’t do this some other time?"

"I wish I could, really I do, but I can’t do that. I’m the one who talked my history professor into giving the exam on Friday for those of us who felt ready instead of just once next week."

The two were pulling Cordelia’s two bags from the back of the car before another word was spoken. "I didn’t mean to make you feel bad back there. I just hate being back here. Too many bad memories."

"It’s okay. I knew what was bothering you." Willow led the way past the wreckage of the living room and up the stairs to her parents’ room. "I figured you’d rather stay in here than in the guest room. Spike’s been staying there, and what I couldn’t pack for him is still sitting around."

"This will be fine." Cordelia caught sight of the blood stained mess that made up the covers and sheets of the bed. "Well, after we get rid of the blood, anyway."

"Sorry." Willow set the bag she carried on the floor beside the door and retrieved clean bedding from the closet in the hall. "I wasn’t in the mood to clean before I left."

"Willow, it’s fine."

Willow nodded and smiled at Cordelia’s ‘eep’ of surprise when the pillows lifted into the air and began to shimmy out of their cases. The brunette stared at the sight before her as Willow made the bed without touching so much as a throw pillow. The quilt Willow’s grandmother had made drew itself over the sheets and turned itself down before Willow relaxed and giggled.

"Cool, huh?"

Cordelia nodded and then broke out into a grin. "And so much more fun. From messing up spells to making a bed without really even trying. You’re turning into super witch on us."

"The thing is, *I* don’t even know how powerful I am now. I mean... I sent Buffy to the Magic Box by concentrating really hard. I moved Spike and I from the mansion to my bedroom, but I was really tired afterward. I’m a little freaked out by the burning smell that happens when I get mad, that’s not mentioning the sparkage in my hair. It’s like I could burst into flames and not even know it."

"Well, at least Wesley’s still got some leads to follow." Cordelia led the way into the living room, watching as Willow once again tapped into her power to pick everything up and put it all back together. "That could come in handy."

"Yeah, I guess it could." Willow shrugged and sunk down onto the newly restored sofa.

"So, two tests tomorrow and two on Monday?"

"Yeah. After that, we’re back to LA."

"How long are you two going to stay?"

"It’s hard to tell when Spike will decide to take off. Me, on the other hand... I’m not sure *what’s* going on with me, so I don’t know what kind of timeline I’m on. All I know, is that I can’t be around Buffy right now."

"I couldn’t stand to be around her in the first place, but I get what you’re saying."

Willow nodded slowly and then focused teary eyes on her friend. "I don’t know if I want to be a Scooby anymore."

~Part: 23~

Friday came and went. Willow breezed through her first two exams, and was happy to say that both History and Rhetoric of Cyberspace were in the bag. The History had been easier than she had planned and, therefore, studied for. Her second ‘exam’ of the day saw her building a website in two hours from components supplied by the professor. All in all, it had been a good day.

She had placed a call to LA within minutes of returning home to find Cordelia washing up her lunch dishes. Spike had congratulated her on passing the tests, telling her that there was ‘no bloody way’ she could have failed when she tried to inform him that she didn’t know what her actual scores were. Willow had only laughed and asked how he was feeling.

Saturday morning blew in with a deep red dawn heralding the storms to come. Just before ten, the sky grew dark and the wind began battering the trees that lined the street in front of Willow’s house. Willow was glad they had been able to fit both cars in her garage. She didn’t even want to *think* about what Angel would do if a stray limb found its way to his car. Not long after the wind appeared, fat drops of cool rain plopped onto the worn boards of the front porch. Soon, the rain was falling in thick sheets.

Cordelia had yet to make an appearance, though Willow’s growling tummy told her it was nearly time for lunch, and she had to remind herself that the pretty brunette had different sleeping habits. While Willow could keep vampire hours, sleep for a while in the early mornings, and then be awake for the rest of the day without any problem, Cordelia obviously got her full eight hours. The witch thought of asking her why she needed to sleep so much, but thought better of it when she heard the other woman’s voice in her head lecturing her on needing the sleep to look her best.

Willow heard the shower in her parents’ room turn on and decided to fix some omeletes. Breakfast for Cordelia, and lunch for herself.

Willow had retrieved a skillet from the drawer under the oven and was reaching to turn the burner on when the French doors leading from the kitchen to the back porch exploded in a shower of glass.

"Where is he?" Buffy was pulling at Willow’s shirt before she could right herself. "I *know* you had something to do with it."

"He’s asleep." Willow pushed Buffy’s hands away from her and stepped back. The redhead winced when a searing pain lanced up her leg, knowing that her bare foot had found a shard of glass.

"I don’t feel him. He can’t be here." Blue eyes, devoid of the warmth and caring Willow had always associated with the small blonde, focused on green. "Where is he? Xander’s? Giles’?"

"No. I’ve made it so he can’t feel you and you can’t feel him." Willow caught movement at the top of the stairs and saw Cordelia’s head peaking around the corner. She chanced a quick shake of her head as Buffy looked into the living room, relieved when the brunette nodded and slipped back out of sight.

"You little bitch!" Buffy’s open hand connected with Willow’s cheek sharply, snapping the witch’s head sharply to the right. "How *dare* you-"

Willow’s eyes flashed a bright red and the room became nearly unbearably warm as she interrupted the diminutive slayer. "How dare *I*! No, Buffy, how dare *you*? *You’re* the one who came into *my* house uninvited after all the mean things you said and did. *You’re* the one who took Spike against his will, chained him up, and then beat him and broke his legs!

"You’ve always been a little bit of a bitch, and usually kinda self-centered, but I’ve always loved you." Willow took a few steps toward Buffy, delighting that the blonde slayer took an equal amount of steps back. "You’ve been the best girl friend I’ve ever had, and one of my all-time best friends ever, but I don’t know about that anymore. I’ve always stood by you, helped you, but I refuse to do it on this."

"As if it matters!" Buffy laughed sharply even as she turned to keep Willow’s slowly circling form in front of her. "He won’t want you, you know. He can’t hit you, and there’s no way you’re going to let him take a nibble. You can’t be much of a lay, otherwise Oz would have stayed. Hell, you aren’t even much of a witch!"

The slight pain at the mention of Oz disappeared almost as soon as it set in. "I’m more of a witch than you are a slayer."

"I’m the oldest slayer in history."

"Without me and Xander, there’s no way you would have lived this long. I mean, *hello*! Did you bring yourself back from the grave?"

"You dragged me out of heaven! How can you even call yourself my friend?!"

"I thought you were in hell! If I could do something to make it up to you, I would! You can’t go taking it all out on Spike. Take it out on me!"

A sneer slid over the once pretty face of the slayer. "What do you think I’m doing?"

"That’s what *I’d* like to know!"

The soft giggle that came from Buffy contrasted so badly with the look in her eyes that Willow found herself wondering if she had really heard it at all. "I started using Spike because he made me feel something. I hated him and how he made me feel, but it was something. I kept using him once I realized that it would hurt you, long before you found out about it. What better way to hurt you than to hurt the people you love most? I thought about Xander first, but then Spike just... fell into my lap."

"You were going to hurt Xander?" Willow shook her head in confusion.

"You’ve got it all wrong, Wills. I *am* going to hurt Xander. Then Giles. Then Anya. If there’s one thing I learned over the years, it’s that being thorough and picking off the people who mean the most to you one by one is worth the time and effort. I *need* Spike to be the first though."

A memory of fish strung on a line flickered in her mind, and Willow felt the air around her swirling with heat. The intense smell of copper was back, so strong that Willow could see Buffy’s eyes watering where she stood several feet away. Beyond the slayer, Willow could see rain sheeting through the broken glass and soaking the carpet.

"Leave." The voice that came from her mouth didn’t sound like her own.

"Tell me where he is, and I let Anya live." The blonde didn’t move.

"Get out of my house." Willow’s eyes flicked from Buffy to the door, and the blonde’s feet began sliding over the carpet.

"Give me Spike." Buffy tried to dig the soles of her boots into the thick gray fibers and gave a frustrated grunt when it failed.

"Get out." With a shove of her hand, Willow sent Buffy out the way she had come. The glass littering the floor picked itself up and formed itself back into a single, seamless pane in the door.

Willow caught sight of Buffy running at the door through the window’s glass. There was a thick ‘thunk’ as the slayer’s boot made contact, and then nothing. The window hadn’t suffered so much as a crack.

Buffy disappeared from view only to show a moment later in front of the large window in the living room. She punched at the glass, and then winced as she shook her hand in obvious pain. She landed a solid kick to the offending window, this time hopping a bit when it only ricocheted away from the unmarred surface. Again and again she punched and kicked at windows and doors only to find her efforts rebuffed.

Willow waited until the blonde was once again glaring at her through the window of her back door. Walking over to lean down and look the smaller woman in the eye, Willow grinned.

"Not much of a witch, huh? Seems I figured out a way to uninvite *you*." With a swirl of fiery hair, Willow turned and ascended the stairs.

~Part: 24~

Willow rounded the corner to find her parents’ room empty. A quick look around confirmed that Cordelia wasn’t under the bed or in the closet. A missing telephone and a closed bathroom door made the witch smile.

/Of course./

"Cordy?" Willow giggled at the sharp ‘eep’ that greeted her voice from the other side of the door. "You can come out now. She’s gone."

"Gone?" The door opened, revealing a clearly shaken seer clutching the telephone to her chest.

"Yes, gone. I threw her out."

"And what? She left, just like that?"

"Well, there was some threatening involved and a lot of kicking and punching at the glass. I wouldn’t call it peaceful. Is that Angel?"

"Huh?" Cordelia had moved into the room proper and was peering out the door, moving to get a better view.

Willow pointed to the phone Cordelia had in a death grip. "Are you talking to Angel?"

Nodding quickly, the brunette brought it back to her ear. "Angel?- Geez, you don’t have to yell.- Fine. We’re both fine."

Willow sprinted down the hall to her room and pulled the cordless phone from its base on her bedside table. Hitting the ‘talk’ button, the redhead was immediately assaulted by a deep Irish voice barely discernable over a thick English accent, both demanding to know what was going on.

"It’s okay! We’re Fine!" The noise stopped just long enough for Willow to take a breath.

"Are you okay?"

"What the bloody hell is going on?!"

"One at a time! First off, we’re fine. Cordy’s a little wigged, but we’re fine. Buffy showed up wanting me to give her Spike." Willow waited until the blonde vampire finished his grumbling, trying not to laugh as he mentioned the ‘blonde whore of a slayer’. "I told her you were sleeping in a safe room where you couldn’t feel each other."

"That’s what got Cordelia all scared?" Angel sounded disbelieving, and Willow could almost see the look that he had on his face. "I’ve seen her face some truly horrific things without getting this riled up."

"I think she must have overheard Buffy saying that she’s punishing me for bringing her back, making me suffer because I made her suffer."

"You didn’t-"

"I *did*, Angel." Willow sunk down on the corner of her parents’ bed, facing Cordelia. "I didn’t mean to, I thought I was going something good, but I was wrong."

"You don’t deserve this, though." Spike’s voice was comforting, but the edge in it told Willow that he was reining in his temper. "Red, I know you wanted to take your exams, but you need to come back to LA."

"She’s going to hurt Xander, Spike."

"What?" Angel answered, the pitch of his voice impossibly high.

"She was going to start with Xander until she realized, somehow, that I had feelings for Spike. That’s why she started with him instead."

"Why would she go after them?" A new voice tickled over the phone, a thick southern twang very noticeable.

"Hello Fred." Willow cleared her throat, hating to say the next sentence. "She learned it from Angelus."

"Learned what?" Angel was clearly trying to come to grips with the entire situation.

"She’s going to go through them all, one by one, until I’m left broken and alone."

"Then she’ll come for you."

"No, Angel, that’s where she’s got Angelus beat."

This time it was Spike’s soft voice that came over the line. "How’s that, luv?"

"She’s not going to kill me. She knows that, since I was a little girl and my parents started leaving me alone, I’ve always hated being alone."

"You’re not alone, Red."

"I will be... I will be."

It had taken the two vampires and the seer an hour to calm the witch down. After assuring Angel that she was okay, she spent another half hour trying to convince Spike that he needed to rest more than he needed to drive all the way back to Sunnydale.

"Spike, I’ll be fine. I’m going to get Xander, Anya, and Giles together to tell them what’s going on. I can’t just leave them here if Buffy wants to hurt them. I at least have to warn them."

"You’re right, luv." Spike sighed audibly. "I just want you here where I can look after you."

"I can take care of myself, you know." A stray thought popped into her mind. "Spike?"

"Yeah, luv?"

"What did you mean about women putting their hair up?"

A husky laugh floated over the phone, caressing her ear and tingling its way down her spine. "When I was young, women would wear their hair up unless they were going to bed. Their hair was their one last great mystery."

"But didn’t they wear long skirts and stuff?"

"Once you’ve seen a pair of legs, you’ve seen them all. The sight of all that hair floating down around a woman’s shoulders," Spike groaned. "That’s something to behold."

"Oh," Willow smiled and said her good-byes.

Now, Willow, with a sort of messy bun at the top of her head with curls framing her face, opened the door to greet Xander and Anya.

"We came as soon as we got your message." Xander smiled at Willow as he came through the door. "You said Spike wasn’t here, so we came baring only pizza and- Cordelia!"

Willow couldn’t contain the giggle at Xander’s shocked expression. He had stopped just inside the front door, completely blocking Anya’s path.

"Xander, we brought soda." Anya elbowed her way past her boyfriend’s frozen form, halting when she saw the two women standing in the foyer. "Oh, that Cordelia."

Willow moved to stand between the two women. "Let me re-introduce the two of you. The last time you met wasn’t the best of times for anyone. Anyanka, this is Cordelia, one of my good friends. Cordy, meet Anya."

"Hello." Cordy extended an uncertain hand to Anya.

"Are you here to try and take my Xander away?"

"No." Cordy looked at Willow, getting only an encouraging nod. "I’m here to help Willow."

"Oh," Anya’s face lit up with her smile as she grasped Cordy’s hand. "Pleased to meet you. As long as you’re not after Xander, we should get along fine."

"Then we’re good."

Anya’s reply was cut off by a knock on the door behind her still unmoving boyfriend. "Don’t just stand there, Xander. Answer the door."

Giles entered, took one look at the faces surrounding him, and herded them all into the living room. Xander placed the pizza on the coffee table beside the plates Willow had set out when he mentioned bringing food. Anya simply removed her coat and sat on one of the chairs.

"What is so important that I close shop and come running over here?"

Willow took a deep, calming breath and launched into her explanation.

~~~*~~~

The faces surrounding Willow were slack with shock, and she wasn’t absolutely sure that they had heard anything after her description of Spike when she found him at the old mansion. It wasn’t until she began retelling Buffy’s expulsion from her house that any of them moved. This, too, was limited to four sets of eyes (Cordelia joined the group for this part of the explanation) sliding from Willow to the perfectly remade French door and back again.

"So, plans have been messed up a bit." Willow sighed in relief that her speech drew to a close. "Instead of just the two of us," Willow motioned to herself and Cordelia. "Now, we *all* have to go."

Xander, Anya, and Giles simply stared at the redhead.

"All of us."

Another stoic look from the others.

"To LA."

Still no response.

"As in... Now."

Giles finally came out of his stupor. "Just pack up and leave? Just like that?"

"She’s not right, Giles. We need to put some distance between us and her. At least long enough to come up with a plan. After that, you guys can come back."

"‘You guys’... You aren’t coming back, Wills?" Xander sounded forlorn in his seat along the wall.

"I can’t be a Scooby anymore, Xan. Not after all of this."

Anya had pulled herself out of Xander’s lap and turned to face Giles. "You mean... we have to close the Magic Box? Do we have to stop making money for this?"

"It *does* sound like the logical thing to do, though I believe that it’s a little predictable. Don’t you think so, Willow?"

"Anywhere else has innocent people who have no clue about vampires, or slayers, or real witches with new powers they don’t fully understand." Willow stood and moved to look out the window, her hands lacing and unlacing her fingers. "Spike’s already there, so it just seems like the easiest thing right now. Angel has more than enough room in that hotel, and there are enough rooms restored for us all to sleep there."

"You’re in love with him." Xander’s voice was accusatory. "What is it with you girls and that vampire?"

"What?" Willow rounded to stare at her oldest friend. "In love with who?"

"Angel." The one word was said with more venom than anything Willow had ever heard pass the young man’s lips.

"She’s not in love with *Angel*." Anya rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, and Willow sagged in relief until Anya finished her thought. "She’s in love with Spike."

"What!" The shout came from either side of the room, making it hard for Willow to look either her oldest friend or her mentor in the eye.

"Okay, so I’m in love with Spike." Willow nodded to herself. /I can’t believe I just admitted to that without any stuttering or trying to backpedal./

"Go for it."

"Huh?"

Xander shrugged and gave a small grin. "If you’re in love with him, then you should just... Go for it."

"I don’t think he’s over Buffy. It’s too soon."

Xander crossed to her in three strides, grasped her arms in his hands, and bent down to look her in the eyes. "He wasn’t in love with Buffy. She’s the slayer. There’s no way Spike would ever let himself be fully in love with someone who would never fit together with him. We both know you would fit. You’re his puzzle piece, and I say go for it."

Willow nodded at Xander’s forceful words, smiling as she remembered the way her body fit with Spike’s as they kissed. Well, they were perfect puzzle pieces that way... It was a start.

"Maybe you’re right."

"I *know* I’m right. If you don’t give it a shot, you’ll regret it."

Willow nodded, more to herself than to Xander or his words, and smiled. "I will, Xan."

"Good then."

They shared a smile before the sound of Cordelia clearing her throat got their attention.

"What’s wrong, Cordy?" Willow wasn’t sure what had the brunette acting so impatient.

Cordelia slid from her seat on the end table beside the couch to stand beside Willow. "If we’re planning to get home before midnight, we should probably get moving."

"Right. You’re right." Willow nodded and pushed Xander toward Anya.

"Xander. They want to close the shop until we figure out if Buffy’s really crazy and going to come after us." The confusion Anya was feeling clearly written on her face. "Why would she destroy a place of business to get back at someone? That’s just not right."

"I know, baby, but that’s just the way things sometimes work." Xander pulled the small ex demon close to his chest, running a palm over the waves of her hair.

"Well, it sucks."

"Yeah, it does." Cordelia nodded and turned to Giles. "So, are you coming or what?"

"Yes, I suppose I have no other choice but to go along with this plan until a more reasonable one can be made."

"Do you ever do unstuffy?" The seer shook her head and dismissed him with the wave of one perfectly manicured hand. "Willow and I are already packed. Our things are in Angel’s car. Giles will drive it back to LA so that Willow can drive her car-"

"No." The redhead interrupted Cordelia.

"What do you mean, ‘no’?"

"The sedan belongs to my parents."

"Oh." Cordelia regrouped in the amount of time it took for Xander to cough once. "Willow will drive Angel’s car back with Xander and Anya. Giles can take his car, and I’ll ride with him since it’s a two seater. We go to Giles’ first, then to your guys’ apartment. We stay together as a group."

"Safety in numbers?" Anya looked at Xander and then grinned happily at his distracted nod. She’d gotten something right.

Willow, Cordelia, Giles, and Anya began moving toward the garage door until Xander’s voice brought them up short.

"Wait."

"What is it now, Xander?"

"Sorry, G-Man. It’s just..." Xander took a deep breath and looked at Willow. "What about Dawn?"

~Part: 25~

"We have to take her."

"Absolutely not!" Giles gave Willow a look that told her she was taking things too far. "Dawn means the world to Buffy. She won’t be harmed."

"She won’t be harmed, because she’s coming with us!" Xander was nearly panting in rage. "We can’t just leave her here, Giles!"

"If we take her without Buffy’s permission, then it’s kidnaping. I, for one, don’t want to have the police to worry about on top of everything else. Buffy would do anything to protect the girl, as she proved not even a full year ago."

Willow sighed and pushed a few curls that had worked their way loose from her bun behind her ear. "Okay, we’ll try it Giles’ way first. If there’s so much as a whimper from the girl’s mouth, I’ll know about it. I’m pretty sure I can be anywhere she is within seconds. If she’s hurt or scared, all bets are off and she’s coming with us. Agreed?"

Reluctant nods answered her, and Willow moved to the garage. "Let’s get this started then. I’d like to be in LA, and off the road, by midnight."

Cordelia slid into the passenger seat of Giles’ car before they backed out of the drive and waited for Willow in Angel’s pride and joy to catch up. The trip to the watcher’s apartment took less than ten minutes, and the group soon found themselves sitting in his living room.

Willow took a few minutes to call the hotel in LA, getting a machine for her trouble. She left a short message after the ‘beep’ telling whoever checked the messages that everyone was coming for a bit of a visit. She hung up the phone and tried to act more calm and collected than she really was.

After getting tired of the tense silence, Cordelia declared that they should be looking for on the road snacks. Since they spent most of their research sessions in the apartment, there was an impressive selection of sugary delicacies. Anya managed to locate a few bags and the group loaded them with as many unnutritious things as they could, only stopping when Giles lugged his suitcase to the foot of the stairs. Armed with two suitcases full of books and two duffels of clothing, along with their haul of road snacks, the group piled once more into the cars and headed across town to the apartment Xander shared with Anya.

"Something’s not right." Willow rubbed her shimmering arms against an imaginary wind.

Xander raised an eyebrow and quirked his head to the side. "You sure, Will?"

"Sure, I’m sure. There’s something... I don’t know, just off about this tonight."

"It’s the thought of Buffy. It will go away after we get out of here." Anya spoke softly, a sad expression on her face. "Come on, I want to get packed and out of here as soon as I can. If I’m going to be losing money, I may as well make the most of my vacation. They’re supposed to be fun, right?"

"Yes, they are." Cordelia followed the ex demon up the stairs. Willow and Giles followed, an anxious Xander brought up the rear.

The three behind Cordelia couldn’t enter the apartment until she stepped inside, so Anya’s shout of fear and surprise caught them off guard. "Xander!"

The dark haired youth sprinted past Willow, Giles, and even Cordelia only to skid to a stop just inside the door to their home. To say the place was a wreck would be like calling the Titanic a boat. The front room was in complete disarray, and Willow could see the bedroom was just as bad.

"What happened?" Anya, sounding small and lost from the confines of Xander’s arms, asked the others.

"Right off?" Willow pointed to a spot above the upturned and ripped apart remains of the sofa. "I’d say it was Buffy."

‘Where Is He?’ was scrawled along the wall in a slanted line in a deep red paint.

Intense anger flared through Willow’s body, fueled by the fear that had been building since before she first found Spike beaten and bloodied. While everyone else began moving around the room to help Anya and Xander gather what they could from the mess, Willow stood, monolithic and pale in the moonlight streaking through the broken panes of the window.

Raising a hand she pointed at the stuffing and wire that had once been inside the large tan sofa. A few pieces of fluff trembled as if in a breeze before large clumps began flying through the air or slithering along the floor to their former home. As the cushions restuffed themselves, the frame popped back in place. Willow grinned as she remembered ‘Christine’ and the car that put itself together in much the same way.

After the sofa was back in perfect condition and sitting where it always had, the witch went to work on the other pieces of furniture in the living area. Next came all the picture frames and windows. She moved into the kitchen, moving and straightening as she looked around the immaculate room. The bathroom hadn’t been touched, so she moved on to the bedroom where everyone way searching for enough clothes to last the couple at least a few days in LA.

A wave of her hand had the bed reconstructed and the covers and pillows fluffing and folding on their own. A look at the closet had its rightful contents sliding back onto hangers, and the hangers hooking themselves over the rod.

"You *gotta* teach me that!"

"Later, maybe." Willow grinned as Xander’s’ obvious approval of her abilities. "Right now, you have some packing to do."

"That was amazing, Willow." Giles blinked at her from behind the lenses of his wired glasses.

"You ought to see her with blood stains!" Cordelia crowed from her spot on the bed where she was supervising Anya’s packing by removing all the ‘unfit’ articles of clothing from the suitcase as quickly as the ex demon could put them in. "You’re not taking this shirt, when that dress is hanging there so nice and neat. Don’t forget to pack the red heels, since they obviously match so well."

"Oh, you’re right. Thank you."

Willow could only shake her head at the newly human woman as she took the seer’s advice without a second thought. /I wonder how she does that? Anya would fight me tooth and nail about just about everything I suggested./

Instead of taking up space in the small bedroom, Willow retreated back to the living room. The jagged words were still on the wall, and Willow grew more and more upset as she stared at the angry slashes of color. Green eyes slid over the letters, line by thick line, and the blood began sizzling through the redhead’s veins. Willow didn’t notice the heat, didn’t notice the smell in the air, and didn’t notice the sparking in her curls.

The first thing that drew her eyes away from the offensive words was a small flicker of blue light crawling down her arm. The blue flicker turned out to be a small flame sliding over her skin, tracing along the now glowing tribal patterns. As she watched, fascinated, the blue spot of heat grew until every patch of the tribal that wasn’t covered by her shirt or mid-length skirt was alive with blue, yellow, and orange licking flames. Willow pulled her shirt away from her body, giggling softly as the newly exposed skin flickered to life.

"Willow!" Cordelia was standing in the doorway between the living room and the bedroom. The others came at her shout, skidding to a halt when the flaming redhead came into view.

"Giles?" The flames died out, leaving a frightened Willow standing in the middle of the room. "What’s happening to me?"

"I think it’s time we get to LA and find out."

~Part: 26~

Angel was standing in the open doorway when the hotel came into view, moving into the darkening evening only when his long, black convertible was safely parked behind Giles’ flashy red one. "Anyone want to fill me in on what, exactly, happened?"

Willow had gotten out of the car first and turned to answer the dark vampire before Xander nudged her in the direction of the hotel. "Go on, Wills. We can handle this one on our own."

"Xan," Willow stopped her protest when a gust of wind that no one else felt wrapped around her petite body, nearly choking her on the burning smell that had come on in waves the entire time she’d been driving. "Maybe you’re right. I’m too... something."

"I made Spike go lay down when he couldn’t sit still any longer." Angel turned as Willow passed him. "Third floor, room 352."

The only indication that she’d heard him was a short nod of her head.

~~~*~~~

Room 352 was at the end of a short hallway that splintered off the main thoroughfare. Willow felt a knot slowly tying in her stomach as she neared the door, but kept moving. She knew that sleeping at 9:00 in the evening wasn’t something Spike normally did, and wanted to be there when he woke. /Besides, he’d be upset if I didn’t come to him as soon as I got here./

"Spike?" Willow knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open as she called his name. "Are you awake?"

Willow found herself in a suite, fitted in the highest of 1950's fashions. The velvet wallpaper was a deep blue on white, the carpeting a matching blue. Furniture in mahogany and varying gradients of blue was situated about the ‘sitting area’ in front of her. There was a counter to the left of the door that separated the small kitchenette with its refrigerator from the room proper.

An open arch stood across the room, and Willow moved through it to find herself at the foot of a large bed. "Spike?"

"Red?" Spike, shirtless though he still wore his boots, pushed himself off his stomach and onto an elbow to sweep his tousled hair from his eyes.

"Hi." Now that she was standing in front of the blonde, Willow forgot what it was she was going to tell him. "We just got in, and I thought you might want me to come up and tell you we were here."

Spike’s boots made a heavy thunking as he slid from the bed to stand in front of Willow. "I’ve been thinkin’ pet. I know you don’t want to be some fling, and I get that. But, Willow, I think we’ve got the start of something much better here, and-"

Spike’s words were cut off as Willow went to her toes and pressed an urgent kiss against his lips. With a purring growl, the vampire pulled her closer to his lean body, only to growl again and break the contact.

"What is it?" Willow knew the need she felt reflected in her eyes, not even trying to hide it as Spike continued to turn her face from side to side, looking at the top of her hair critically. "Is there something icky in my hair?"

"You’ve got it up."

"Yeah, I thought you might like it."

"Never said it was a bad thing, luv." Spike bent to nibble along the graceful line of Willow’s exposed neck. "Quite the opposite, really."

The knot in Willow’s tummy twisted tighter at the feel of Spike’s tongue, teeth, and lips on the pale column of her neck. She tilted her head to the side and back slightly to give as much access as she could. A soft whimper came, unbidden, from her lips, and Spike backed away completely.

"I try telling you that you mean more to me than anyone, and I end up... mmm." Willow had once again cut off his words with her lips. "Red, not that I’m complaining or anything, I just want to get on the same page. What’s goin’ on?"

"A former friend of mine once told me to seize the day." Delicate hands slid over pale flesh, fingers circling and plucking flattened nipples, as the redhead spoke.

Spike unconsciously licked his lips and pushed against her hands as he met her eyes. "Is that what we’re doing?"

"No, I’d much rather seize the night. It *is* where you’re at, after all."

Spike quirked an eyebrow and gave that devil-may-care grin before grasping the sides of Willow’s shirt and pulling her into a fierce kiss. "Carpe Noctem, then."

"Less talking, more carpe-ing."

Willow backed an unresisting Spike up to a wall before she nipped her way along his jaw to the sensitive patch of skin just under his left ear. She began licking and nipping in earnest, a deep moan rewarding her before she moved to kiss down Spike’s arched neck. Reaching the spot that once held a pulse, she bit down harshly, laughing at her captive’s surprised yelp.

"Red," Willow didn’t have to look up from soothing the distended flesh with her tongue to know that the warning was spoken through fangs. The redhead lapped at a pebbled nipple as she slid her hands up smooth arms to grip and test the strength of firm biceps.

The feel of Spike’s tongue sliding over hers and the flat of the wall at her back were the first things to break through the haze of pleasure she’d built around herself just from touching her soon to be lover. Willow pouted when the kiss was broken until she realized that her shirt was being removed, and obediently raised her arms to help the process.

As soon as the cloth was out of his way, Spike traced a line from her mouth to the top of the lacy green bra that encased her breasts. There were two muffled thumps as Spike’s knees hit the floor and he began licking along the bottom of the cups, snaking his tongue under the fabric to caress flushed skin from time to time. Straps gave way easily under his practiced fingers, and Willow, had she been able to focus long enough to look down at her tormenter, would have been able to watch as Spike buried his nose in the valley between the mounds of flesh before turning his head and nibbling on the flushed skin that surrounded one nipple.

The knot had moved lower, pulling ever tighter as each shock of pleasure from Spike’s attention to her breasts echoed down her body to her center. A sharp nip directly to her nipple followed by the slow laving of a tongue caused Willow’s back to bow at an impossible angle. She felt something silky slide over her hands and realized her fingers had somehow found their way into Spike’s hair.

"Spike," it was a whispered plea, though she wasn’t quite sure what the plea was for. "Mmmnnnn, Goddess, Spike."

"We’ve got eternity, luv," Spike’s fingers continued their teasing of one nipple as he pulled just far enough away from its twin to speak, lips and tongue caressing her airily as they formed words. "I’m going to take as much of it as I can making you feel like this."

Spike had unbuttoned her jeans and lowered the zipper while he spoke. Now the denim pooled around her ankles and one long finger had found its way under the cotton and lace of her panties to slowly make its way around her clit.

Spike’s mouth at her breasts and the teasing finger at her core pulled the knot tighter, and Willow began thrashing in an attempt to slake the need that was suddenly so undeniable.

Then there was nothing between her body and Spike’s expert hand. Fingers were buried inside her grasping channel, and one was pressing against her clit in glorious friction, and she was screaming.

"That’s it, Willow. That’s my girl. Scream for me."

Willow was boneless, only remaining upright because Spike’s hands were grasping her hips, his head resting just below her navel. They were both panting.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, luv?"

"Think we can move the next round to the bed?"

Spike chuckled tiredly. "Give me a minute."

"I nearly passed out, Spike." Willow ran her tongue over dry lips. "Take all the time you need."

Spike stood, scooping a giggling Willow up and moving to the bed. "Okay, I’m ready."

~Part: 27~

Willow moaned softly as Spike let her slide down his body. As soon as her feet touched down, his hands slid up her arms to deftly unravel her fiery tresses from the confines of the bun. Willow shook her head softly, smiling at the look of appreciation in Spike’s eyes.

"Cor, you’re beautiful." Spike moved to embrace Willow, but the redhead avoided his arms and moved to kiss his shoulders and back.

"Now, you were saying something about this not being a fling?" Willow peppered soft kisses along the curve of Spike’s spine, running the tip of her tongue up the long line of skin when she came in contact with the top of his jeans.

"Mmmm." Spike’s head fell back as Willow scratched her nails back down to his waist. "Just trying to tell you that I’m feelin’ far past this being a fling."

"So, we’re serious about us being an ‘us’, then." Willow had knelt behind Spike’s legs, untying one boot and then another. Spike obligingly stepped out of them and Willow shucked the socks from his feet.

"More than serious. Pet, I- Hey!" Willow had begun licking and kissing at the skin just above the denim as he spoke, taking a healthy nip when he tried to turn to look at her.

"Stand still. I’m playing." Willow’s voice was harsh, but the gentle hand caressing the prominent bulge under his zipper took the sting from her words.

"Whatever you say, luv."

"Darn tootin’!" Willow’s giggle vibrated through the lips still caressing his skin, and Spike gave a purring growl.

It took Willow a long moment to unbutton the blonde’s jeans, the zipper following soon after. Spike wasn’t wearing underwear, and Willow nodded to herself. One delicate hand slid over the crisp hair inside, and Willow couldn’t keep up the slow pace.

In a swift motion that left Spike a little dizzy, the witch leaned away from his body, grasped his hips, and spun him to face her. She buried her nose in the crinkly hair above his member. Willow took in several deep breaths, reveling in the musky smell of Spike’s body.

"Red," Spike’s voice was low and rough, and he had to swallow a few times before trying to speak again. "Not that I don’t love this whole thing, but you really can’t do what I think you’re about to do."

"And why not?" Willow quirked an eyebrow up at him.

"Because, I bloody well couldn’t take it! When you came earlier, I almost came in my pants like some wet behind the ears teenager. I wouldn’t be able to hold off if you took me in your mouth."

"What if I don’t *want* you to hold off?"

Spike wrapped his fingers through Willow’s flaming curls and gently brought her to stand in front of him. The fierce kiss full of fangs and small trickles of blood belied the feelings running through the vampire’s body. Resting his forehead against hers, Spike looked her in the eyes.

"I want to be buried so deep inside you that you forget all about any other man. When I cum, I want you coming with me. I want to feel your legs wrapped around my waist and hear my name on your lips when I let go."

Willow was shaking with need by the time Spike released her. She stood, taking in trembling breaths, until Spike took pity on her and pulled her into a demanding kiss.

Willow knew her lips were bruising, that the copper taste on her tongue was her own blood from where Spike’s game face had emerged minutes ago. She just didn’t particularly care.

Nothing was more important than Spike’s mouth, his hands that were caressing her body, or the feel of Spike’s bare chest against her own as her nails dug deep into his back.

"Take me, Spike." Willow pushed herself up against his hard body. "Please take me, and love me."

"You don’t have to worry about the takin’ luv, and I do love you, Willow."

Willow had just enough time to admire, once again, the soft accent that slid over her name before she felt herself lifted and deposited in the center of Spike’s bed. The duvet hadn’t been replaced when Spike woke up from his nap, and the cool satin of the sheets caressed Willow’s flushed skin. She arched her back in a long stretch and nearly purred her delight.

Long fingers caressed her hips before she felt herself being turned onto her stomach. "Spike?"

"Relax, luv." The vampire smirked at her unease. "It’s nothin’ like that. I just want to see your back is all."

Willow willed herself to calm down, and felt Spike’s fingers caressing the soles of her feet. She let the tension ease from her muscles as his talented hands worked the knots in her feet and legs into submission. If it weren’t for the cool sheets resting against the most intimate parts of her body, she would have forgotten she was naked with an equally naked Spike touching her.

She groaned in half disappointment, half pleasure, when Spike’s fingers left her foot to trail up and down her right leg as his lips caressed her ankle. Lips and tongue traced over her calf to torment the responsive skin at the back of her knee. Higher his lips moved, barely pressing against her at all until his tongue skimmed along the crease where cheek met thigh, skipped the wet juncture between her thighs, and ran along the identical crease of her left leg. After that, the torturous trek began anew, though this time in reverse.

Willow was writhing in pleasure as Spike’s tongue caressed the fragile bones of her left ankle. Long, deceptively delicate fingers had never stopped their teasing movements over her skin. Now, as Spike moved to explore the curve of her spine with eyes, and lips, and tongue, the fingers of his right hand slid to bask in the moist heat waiting for him.

"You still with me, pet?" Spike nipped softly at the conch of her ear as a single finger drew a slow circle around her clit. His only answer was a soft whimper and the bucking of her hips.

The whimper turned into a gasp a moment later when Spike repositioned his hands. His right arm now rested under Willow on the bed, fingers caressing her clit. Two fingers of his left hand now slid to rest inside Willow’s grasping channel. "Oh, Spike."

"Let go, Red. I’ve got ya."

"No, I want...mmm... want you in me when I come." Willow looked through the sweat-slicked curls of her hair at her tormentor. "*Please* Spike!"

At her ‘please’, Spike removed his hands and flipped her onto her back. He grasped her thighs to draw them apart and pull her off the mattress. Sitting up on his knees, Spike pulled her hard against him, impaling her on his hard shaft. Willow’s response was immediate.

Her hands wrapped themselves in the sheets. Her back arched at an impossible angle. Her legs, still in Spike’s hands, tensed until he could barely hold them. The velvet surrounding Spike’s cock gripped him so tightly that he had to bite his lip and force himself not to come. Willow’s world became fuzzy, and she screamed his name again and again as the pleasure finally broke over her body in a tidal wave of sensation.

For how long she rode the effects of her climax, Willow did not know. When she became aware of the world again, she was sitting astride Spike’s lap, his member still impossibly hard and buried inside her. "Oh, goddess, Spike. I don’t think I can move."

"Wouldn’t have it any other way, pet. Just lean your head on my shoulder and let me take care of you." Willow could only nod as Spike’s hips began a slow motion that brought a soft stirring to Willow’s abdomen.

As he gently rocked, the now familiar cord deep within her began to coil once more. A hand slid between their bodies to caress and fondle her breast, and the coil tightened. Spike’s head nudged hers up to meet him in a deep kiss, and the coil tightened.

Willow rested against Spike’s body, feeling his body rub hers in all the right places as she felt him tremor in his need for her. Moving a hand to caress the back of his neck, she pulled his face to her pulse point.

"Drink me, Spike. Make me yours." As she felt the sharp, loving caress of fangs, Willow felt the coil release in a soft climax that seemed to welcome and embrace the harsh spasms of the body below hers.

Spike’s muffled growl against her throat as he came told Willow all she needed to know, and she answered in kind...

"I love you, too, Spike."

~Part: 28~

Willow blinked slowly into the mirky light of the bedroom.

If the satin sheet sliding over her nude form and the decidedly wonderful ache between her legs had failed to remind her of her activities the night before, then the pale, muscled arm wrapped protectively around her waist would have. As it was, Willow could recall, in detail, the first three times she and Spike had worked each other to completion. After that, things got fuzzy.

She seemed to remember being woken up twice in the night by Spike's wonderful hands gliding over her flesh. He had taken her slowly both times, whispering into her ear all the things that he wanted to do, the places they would go, together. The second time they had come together this way, Willow had openly wept at the feelings Spike's body and words conjured. Spike had held her tightly and renewed his claim on her as she chanted her love for him in a mantra. Spike had told her that he loved her, cherished her, in a choked voice that Willow soon discovered accompanied tears of his own.

Now, after the hours of love making, Willow was driven by another basic human need. She was hungry.

"Spike." Willow twisted in his grasp to kiss his lips softly. "I have to get up."

"No. Go `sleep." His eyes hadn't opened, and Willow could tell by the frown lines between them that the vampire was still firmly cradled in the arms of Nod.

"I need a shower and something to eat. Just let up on the hold, and I'll let you go back to sleep."

Spike's arm slid from around her waist to rest on a slightly bruised hip. "Love you, Red."

"Love you too. I'll see you after you get some sleep." Willow kissed him gently, loving the soft smile and contented sigh that was her response.

The bathroom was decorated in a deep cream and navy blue tile. All of the accents were done in silver, making Willow smile. While most people preferred gold faucets, Willow had always liked the softer look of silver in the harsh florescent lighting. A full mirror was mounted on the back of the door, giving a Willow a full view when she gasped in shock.

The glittering sheen that had covered her body was gone. In its place was skin that would rival even the pale perfection of Spike, reminding her of Vamp Willow. Gone, too, were the pale pink vining tribal designs that had slithered over her legs, arms, and sides.

Instead, bands in the colors of flames circled her body. Four rings graced her long legs at ankles, calves, above the knee, and high on her thighs. Similarly, four bands adorned her arms. Another graced the base of her shapely neck, sitting just above where it joined her shoulders and coming to rest in a point at the hollow of her throat.

The lines at her thighs and biceps had been worked to resemble flames licking at her skin. They were all perfectly formed rings. Oranges, reds, and yellows shimmered and seemed to change with the way the light caressed them. Only one circlet of the flame- colored markings looked ill-formed.

A band roughly three inches in width ran along the line of her waist. It's coloring was perfect, yet the effect was lumpy both on top and along the bottom. It wasn't until she moved closer to her reflection that she came to realize that the band wasn't imperfect at all. It was, in fact, one of the most breathtaking changes she had undergone.

The band wasn't made up of a single, lumpy line at all! It was, in fact, a line of people made out of flame. It took a moment, but the redhead finally recalled seeing creatures like it in `Fantasia', in the palms of the winged creature that sat on top of a mountain. The small people now emblazoned on her skin had the same look to them.

Their forms were made of flame with gossamer-esque wings fluttering around them. They sat, danced, leapt, and lay to form the band that rode the line of her waist, slid over her hips, and dipped far below her navel. Willow blushed as she realized the placing of the lowest fire person put the toe of its pointed foot a hair's breath above her slit.

"Okay, that's a me and Spike only fairy." Willow giggled to herself and slowly turned to get the full effect of her new coloring. "I'm not glimmer girl anymore, but now I'm *really* pale. Good thing I always put sun block on, I'd hate to see what might happen if I got burned."

Shaking her head, Willow took a quick shower. It might not have been so quick if Willow hadn't found out, the hard way, that the hot water didn't last for more than ten minutes. After drying and dressing, choosing a pair of her favorite jeans to accompany the backless halter in case Giles and Wesley wanted to document her newest change in colors, Willow made her way quietly past Spike and out the door.

"Hello?" Willow had come down the stairs fully expecting everyone else to be working or milling about. She was at least expecting Wesley to be sitting at the table with his books, or Cordelia lounging behind her desk doing her nails. The quiet of the lobby surrounded her, making her feel almost lonely.

"Geez, I've been down here for thirty seconds and feel lonely? All work and no play makes Willow a dull girl." Willow giggled at her own misquote and chanced a look at her watch. "No wonder no one else is here yet! It's six o'clock!"

After a little exploring, Willow found the kitchen at the back of the ground floor. She was happy to see that it was neat and clean, though the obviously new appliances looked unused. A quick perusal of the refrigerator, which held precisely three carrots and a bottle of water, told Willow that the usual occupants of the hotel didn't do a whole lot of kitchen work.

Willow managed to pilfer the keys to Giles' car from the sleeping ex watcher's pocket and make a quick run to the store. It was made even more quick because she knew what everyone in her group did or didn't like to eat. She had wanted to make sure she had enough to last, not even wanting to imagine what the delivery bills would be if the members of both groups ate take out, so she made a point of getting two or three times the amount of some of their common favorites. One hour and three shopping carts full later, Willow mentally transported herself, something she privately referred to as `glitching', from the garage at Angel Investigations and into its kitchen with her purchases.

It didn't take long for Willow to put everything away, loving the `Mary Poppins' thing more and more each time a new bag opened to something she would have had to move back and forth to put in its rightful place, and she was soon in front of the stove with an obviously unused apron tied over her clothes and butter simmering in the skillet.

"Somethin' smells good!" A good natured voice boomed from the doors that Willow had propped open to give her a better chance of hearing someone come into the lobby. "What's up?"

"Hey Gunn." Willow grinned back at the good looking man. "I've got bacon on and pancakes ready to start. I'll let you have first crack at the bacon if you scramble the eggs for me."

"You, pretty lady, have yourself a deal." Gunn opened the door to the refrigerator and whistled in appreciation. "Someone went to the store."

"Can you imagine what it would cost to feed..." Willow broke off to count in her head. "Ten or eleven people on take out every time someone wanted to eat? Besides, we have a Xander in the house. We'll need to go shopping again in two or three days, tops."

"He like to eat that much?" Gunn had retrieved the eggs and began breaking them into a large mixing bowl. "How many?"

"Xander likes his sugar, and eating is his coping mechanism. When you live on the hellmouth, you *need* coping mechanisms." Willow glanced from her full griddle to the six eggs resting in the bowl on the counter. "Just do a whole dozen. Someone will eat them, I'm sure."

"How we wakin' everybody up?" Gunn grabbed a fork from the surprisingly stocked drawer.

"Xander will smell the food and wake Anya up. Giles is probably already awake, but staying in his room so as not to disturb anyone. I think I just heard either Wesley or Cordelia come in. The rest we'll just give a shout at if they aren't here when breakfast is ready."

Willow's ears had not deceived her, and Wesley poked his head through the door just as she finished speaking. "Hello Willow. I do believe this is the first time the kitchen proper has been used to actually cook in."

"Hi Wesley." Willow smiled her good morning and nodded toward the stairs. "This is about done. Could you see if Angel or Spike is awake and tell Giles he won't wake anyone up if he came out now?"

"Of course." Wesley had a spring in his step as he left to do her bidding.

Willow heard him call out a friendly hello to Cordelia, and turned to hand two full platters of pancakes to Gunn. "Go ahead and put these on the table and help yourself."

Gunn carried the large plates over to the long table sitting in the center of the room. Willow had already set out places for everyone as she was putting away the groceries, so he picked a seat at the head of one side and made himself comfortable as Willow floated three heaping plates of bacon to rest along the table's length.

"Hey Wills, what smells so good?" Xander and Anya were the first to walk through the door.

"We've got pancakes, eggs, bacon," Willow slid two baking sheets from the oven as the timer went off as planned. "And there are biscuits."

Cordelia, Giles, and Fred nearly skipped into the room, while Lorne, looking barely awake and rubbing at tired eyes, trudged in behind them. Angel and Wesley made their entrance just as they were sitting down, and Spike swung into the room soon after.

"Mornin' luv." Spike slid his arms around Willow's waist as she stood buttering the hot biscuits. Nuzzling her playfully, he placed a soft kiss on his claim and moved to the refrigerator. "What do we need on the table?"

"Um, syrup and honey from there. We need the salt, pepper, butter, coffee, and tea from the counter. I'm just putting the biscuits on some plates." Willow watched as Spike, aided by the fact that nothing had been opened, managed to carry everything in just two trips.

Floating two mugs of blood fresh from the microwave in front of her, Willow carried the two plates to the table. "Why aren't you eating?"

"It would be rude not to let you fill your plate before we dig in." Wesley chanced a glare at Xander, who visibly winced.

"Thank you." Willow quickly took a seat between Spike and Fred and filled her plate with enough food to feed three regular Willows.

"Hungry much?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow at Willow's heaping plates.

"I'm using a lot of energy on magic right now."

"Plus she has a lot of orgasms to recover from." Startled laughs, blushes, and coughs responded to Anya's frank observation.

"Aaaaan!" Xander gave a long suffering groan.

Anya looked at her boyfriend, blatantly puzzled. "What? It's not like we all decided to sleep on the other side of the hotel for no reason." Turning to face Willow across the table, the ex demon added. "Was it as good as it sounded? As good as you hoped?"

Willow chanced a glance at Spike, who had paused with his biscuit halfway to his mouth after dunking it in the mug of blood, and who was now watching her with raised eyebrows. "Better."

"Really?"

"I passed out..." Willow leaned forward as if telling a secret. "Twice."

"Wow." Cordelia, Anya, and Fred breathed the word in unison before the four females at the table dissolved into giggles.

~~~*~~~

After the meal had been eaten, and Willow thanked many times over for the wonderful start to the day, Giles appointed Xander, himself, and Angel as dishwashers. Gunn was let off the hook, as he had helped Willow. When Xander looked as if he were going to complain again, Anya had informed him that, as Willow had just gotten together with Spike and they'd had their first time together, it was time for girl talk. After that, Xander sent them out into the lobby, as the men found reasons to stay in the kitchen.

Willow was just explaining what it was like when Spike first kissed her all those weeks ago when the telephone rang and Cordelia told her to wait while she answered it.

"Angel Investigations. We help the helpless." There was a pause in Cordelia's end of the conversation before her eyes went wide and she mouthed `Wesley' and pointed toward the back. "Yes, we'll except the call."

Willow made it back the long hallway and into the kitchen where the dishes were nearly finished and Spike was winning what appeared to be another in a long line of poker matches. "Wesley, phone. I think it's important. Cordy's being polite."

Wesley nearly skidded down the hallway, followed closely by the others, to take the phone from Cordelia's carefully cradling fingers. "Wesley Windham-Price here."

Willow refused to listen to Wesley's end of the conversation, no matter how much she wanted to hope that it was about her. Instead, she went about tidying the stacks of books sitting on the table and surrounding it on the floor. It wouldn't do for her to eavesdrop and learn only that there was nothing to learn.

"Willow?" Wesley's voice seemed loud in the silence of the lobby, and Willow suddenly wondered what she had missed.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"That was MaKai, she's a MaMae demon from New Zealand. She and her mate, DraMae, knew Deacon, apparently the demon whom you encountered, a long time ago. They have a friend who's willing to fly them here, but it will take until at least Monday night or early Tuesday for them to get here."

"They'll be able to help me?"

"They say there's no cure, that you've turned *into* something and not been infected, but they'll be able to shed some light on what you can be expecting."

"Do we know if these people, demons, are telling the truth?" Spike had moved to stand by Willow's slightly shaking form, slipping an arm about her waist. "I've never met any of these MaMae things."

"I have met two MaMae demons." Giles smiled at Willow. "They are fiercely loyal, fall in love and stay that way for their entire life, and are not capable of telling lies."

"Oh." Willow nodded to herself and brightened. "Good then. That will give me time to get back from my tests."

Spike spun Willow to face him amid the uproar her announcement had created. "From your what?"

"My tests. The exams I'll be taking tomorrow morning."

"Like hell you will!"

Willow pushed herself out of Spike's arms. "The hell I *won't*! I'll leave here at six in the morning so that I can be there before my ten o'clock exam. I'll leave after the test I have at two, it should be over by three or three thirty, and be back here before supper time."

"I won't-" Spike seemed to rethink his words, clenching his jaw and forcing words out between gritted teeth. "I don't want you meeting up against that slayer and not having me with you."

"I can get away from her, Spike. I won't go anywhere but straight to campus and straight home. I'll even eat lunch in the student union and stay out in the open around lots of people. She won't attack me if there are people around, it's too risky even for her."

"I worry is all, pet."

"I know, and I love you for it, but I'm going. Taking anyone else would only make me slower if something were to happen. I wouldn't glitch only myself away, and that would make me too weak."

"Glitch?" Giles spoke from his place beside Wesley at the table amid the newly straightened books.

"When I transport myself, or Buffy that once, from one spot to another."

"No one told me about transporting!" Indignation and happiness warred for dominance on Anya's face before the happiness won out. "That's so great, Willow! That sort of thing can really come in handy."

"It just makes me really tired if I try to do it more than once or with someone else." Willow turned to Spike. "See? If she tries anything, I can get away. You *know* I wouldn't even think about getting away alone if she grabbed someone else!"

Spike nodded and brought her into the circle of his arms as the phone rang in the background.

"Ahem, Willow?" Fred's southern drawl, usually sounding so upbeat and perky, had a worried edge to it that was mirrored in her wide brown eyes when Willow pulled away from Spike to look at her.

"Yeah, Fred?"

"It's a girl named Dawn." The tone of her voice nearly made it a question. "She says she needs to talk to you or Spike. Something about that Buffy girl scaring her."

~Part: 29~

"Hello?" Willow was speaking before the phone was even to her ear. "Dawn?"

"Oh, thank God." The tremble in the younger girl's voice caused Willow's breath to catch. "I was hoping that's where you guys ended up."

"Sorry about just leaving like that." Willow knew Dawn had to have tried everyone's phones before moving on to Angel's. "Things got bad with Buffy, and we all needed to make an exit without her really knowing where we went."

Dawn snorted before the sarcasm found it's way out. "I don't think Angel's is all that secret of a place to hide out."

Willow smacked at Spike's hands as he attempted to trace the line of little people around her waist with tickling fingers. "Yeah, I get that. I was using it more as a place to stay until after my finals tomorrow."

"Got room for one more?"

"Why?" Willow held her arms out so that Wesley and Giles could look at the bands and make notes about them. "What's Buffy done?"

"Nothing, really," Dawn sighed, and Willow knew that the younger girl was running a hand through her hair in frustration. "I just get this feeling that something isn't right."

"Just a sec, Dawnie." Willow held the receiver tightly against her chest and smacked at Spike's hands that had found their way to the button of her pants. "Stop it!"

"The Watchers want to see the rest of this band."

Willow brought her lips to Spike's ear. "The lowest point of the band you're wanting everyone to see ends just above a very... personal spot that I'm not letting anyone close to but you. Unless you don't *want* to be close to anything under my pants?"

"Right then, show's over!" Spike pushed Willow away from his body slightly and turned to face the rest of the room. "I'll see the rest of it later and let you guys know what it looks like."

"We really *should* get a look at it, Spike." Giles, obviously not understanding the protectiveness in the vampire, objected from his seat.

"Only one seeing the whole thing is me, Watcher." Spike raised an eyebrow at Angel when the older vampire would have spoken, silently letting his sire know that it wasn't something he was going to let up on. "Tell you what. I'll draw some pictures for you."

"You draw?" Willow had moved the phone back to her ear, and spoke with her hand over the mouthpiece.

"Spent a few years with the Poof before he became the Poof, didn't I?"

"Angelus taught you to draw?" "He's not as good as I am," Angel spoke from his position at the counter. "But, he's better than most."

"Will?"

"Sorry, Dawn, people are being weird here." Willow turned her back to the rest of the lobby and spoke quietly into the phone. "Giles is going to have kittens, but I'll come and get you tomorrow."

The younger girl sighed. "That long?"

"I've got to wake up and be ready to leave here at six in the morning, Dawn."

"I'm sorry I'm being such a wuss, but something isn't right."

"Tell me."

"Buffy's gone all the time now. She hardly ever makes it home before I go to bed, and I know she isn't working anymore. I don't know where she goes or what she does. I don't think she's even patrolling anymore!"

Willow sighed and thought through what Dawn had said and what had been left unsaid. /Buffy isn't staying at home at all really. Dawn's pretty much been left to fend for herself. If Dawnie knows Buffy isn't working, then she's skipped school and Buffy never even noticed./

"What else is going on?"

"I've seen her twice in the last three days. Both times she's been... different. It's like she's Buffy, but she's not." Dawn's sigh nearly broke Willow's heart. "She's giving me the total wiggins, Willow. I'm scared, and I don't know what to do."

"Dawnie?" Willow turned to face Xander as she spoke, letting him know with her eyes and a nod of her head that she was talking to him as well.

"Yeah?"

"Xander and Anya are coming to get you." Anya's eyebrows lifted, but she said nothing as she went to retrieve the keys to Giles' car from Willow's hand. "They'll be there in a little over an hour."

"Thank you." Willow could hear the relief in the teenager's voice.

"Pack what you would to go to a friend's and tell Buffy you're going to be gone for a few days. Use the key we gave you to get in. Just wait for them there."

"I'll have to leave her a note, but I'll be there."

"We'll see you soon, then."

Hanging up, Willow faced the curious faces of her friends, and Giles' irritated gaze. "Don't look at me like that. Buffy hasn't been home in days, and Dawn's scared."

"When did you get my car keys?"

"This morning, when I realized there was no food in the house." Turning to Xander and Anya, Willow grinned. "She'll be at your apartment."

Waving their goodbyes, the two made their way through the back of the hotel to the garage.

"I really don't think this is wise." Giles spoke, but Wesley nodded his agreement. Angel and Fred both looked as if they were about to add their objections as well.

"Giles, she isn't going to work anymore. Dawn would have had to skip school to know that, and Buffy never noticed that one either. She isn't even patrolling.

"Dawn's seen her twice in the last three days. Twice! Both times, something has been off about her. She says it's like Buffy isn't herself anymore."

"Isn't that the reason for our little shindig?" Lorne, now looking much more awake and carefree after getting some breakfast and nearly two full pots of coffee into his system, asked from his place beside Willow. "You're all here because the slayer isn't herself anymore."

The room went quiet at that. Everyone stood looking at each other with wide eyes before Willow nodded slightly and turned to the green demon.

"Thank you, Lorne. Now, I'm going to go and get some studying done before they get here. I know how Dawnie is, and there will be no staying in tonight once she realizes that she's in LA."

"I'll help, pet." Spike bounded up the stairs after her.

Willow blushed slightly and stole glances at the blonde vampire as they entered their room. "The only thing you want to study is the rest of that new band."

Spike only grinned as he held the door to their rooms open for her to pass. "Won't you come into my parlor?"

Willow found herself laughing at the vampire's antics, knowing that if all spiders were as attractive as Spike, then no fly would stand a chance.

~~~*~~~

Willow had gotten through her notes, happy that she had been going over the material whenever she could for the last few weeks. The dates and names came easily enough, but breaking down the impact of different works of literature on the societies that they were introduced into took a bit longer. Some of the works had the same effect on the readers, but they appeared at different times. She found it all really very fascinating.

Of course, studying for an exam was made slightly more difficult than usual by Spike's insistence that she stay in one position as he drew. Lying on her back with pillows piled on the bed behind her, jeans unfastened and rolled down to reveal the figures adorning her lower abdomen, Willow knew it wouldn't be long before Spike grew tired of studying her without touching, so she wasn't really surprised when Spike sighed heavily and slipped her notes from her hand before kissing her deeply and settling himself over her body comfortably.

"Bored?" Willow quirked an eyebrow up at her lover when he let her break away for some air.

"Just decided that the watchers have enough drawings of you. I keep drawing, and the pictures are going to stay between us."

Willow's response was cut off as a questing hand slid under her jeans to encounter the slightly dewy small thatch of curls. "Spike!"

"I have some work to do then." Spike purred into her throat and his tongue slid over the twin holes of his mark. His hands blindly reached for, and untied, the straps holding her top in place as he nipped along her collarbone and shoulders.

Willow gave a breathy sigh and arched into the feel of his mouth on her skin. The movement caused her top to slip to the side, allowing Spike to pull it out of his way and drop it to the floor.

"You're so bloody beautiful, Red." The words were whispered against the flesh leading from her throat to the valley between her small, pert breasts. Spike cradled her back, holding her slightly off the bed as he feasted on first one soft mound of flesh, then the other.

Willow grasped the sheet below her with one hand and wrapped the other in the soft curls of Spike's hair. With hiccupping gasp, she pulled Spike up for a deep kiss before wrapping her legs around his waist. A few seconds, and a steadying breath later, Spike found himself looking up into laughing green eyes.

"Pet?"

"Shhhh," Willow nibbled over Spike's lower lip and trailed her right hand down his chest to untuck the tight black shirt he habitually wore. "I'm playing."

"Right you are, luv." Spike's head dropped back on the pillow as Willow moved down to trail kisses around his navel and over the chiseled abdomen she'd uncovered.

Spreading her hands over Spike's slightly cool skin, Willow let her long fingers slide up his shirt, under his arms, to grasp his back and shoulders. Placing open-mouthed kisses over his ribs, she lingered over the slight hollow made where his sternum ended. Touching the tip of her nose to his flesh, Willow inhaled the scent of him, letting it slide through her body and wrap around her bones in a lasting caress.

"I love you, Spike." Willow spoke with her eyes shut, giving a squeak of surprise when she suddenly found herself flat on her back, grinning up at Spike.

His cerulean eyes shone as he looked over her face before meeting her gaze. "I love you too, Willow. I don't know how it happened, can't tell you when, but I do."

Willow once again used her legs as leverage and switched their positions. "I wasn't finished playing."

Spike only chuckled and sat up to help her remove the shirt she had previously moved. "Sorry, pet, didn't know I was interrupting playtime."

Willow chuckled and pushed him flat on his back just as her teeth closed on his left nipple. His gasp of pleasure built her confidence, and she began teasing both of them in earnest. She only moved away from her exploring when Spike grasped under her arms and pulled her up for another toe curling kiss.

Giggling, Willow pushed against his chest to sit straddling his waist. She had figured out sometime in the last day that she could keep from becoming too shy by focusing her eyes on Spike's face when he looked at her. The looks of awe and love that alternated in his eyes made her feel as if she were the most perfect woman on earth.

So, keeping her eyes locked with Spike's, Willow moved her hands to the chopsticks holding her hair in place. Pulling them free, she smiled at the unhindered happiness that lit up her lover's face as the multitude of curls slid down over her neck, chest, and back. Even the weight of the fiery tresses against her skin felt like a soft caress as Spike combed through them before rolling them once again.

Willow suddenly found herself unsure as she gazed up at the man she loved. She knew that he meant what he had said, that he really did love her, because she had seen it in his eyes. But, on some level, she was still the shy bookworm who could only make vowel sounds around guys she liked.

"Spike?"

Her words obviously broke some spell that had settled over the blonde, and he shook his head slightly before meeting her eyes. "Yeah, luv?"

"Love me?"

Spike groaned and slid down her body till his nose was even with the curve of her waist. "With all my bleedin' heart."

A tear slid from the corner of her eye at his words, seeping into the hair resting at her temple as she pressed the side of her face into the pillow. A gasp spilled from her throat as Spike peeled the now soaked material of her jeans and panties down her legs and off. She giggled at the disgusted face her made at her Funshine Bear socks before removing them and throwing them onto the growing pile of clothes.

Spike ran his tongue over the silky skin of her inner thighs. Willow stopped him as he was moving towards her slit, and brought him up for another heated kiss.

"My turn." The words were whispered against Spike's lips as she gently moved him to rest on the bed.

Willow slid down the bed to straddle his legs at the knees, reaching behind her to remove his socks before unbuttoning the black denim. She buried her nose in the spray of crinkly hair she revealed there, letting the scent of him wrap around her again. "Goddess, I love the way you smell."

Pulling herself upright once again, Willow slid off the end of the bed to remove Spike's jeans and toss them on top of her Care Bear socks before crawling slowly back up his body. She came to rest at the apex of his thighs, licking experimentally at the weeping head of his cock.

Spike's head whipped back in an arc, and his hands wrapped themselves in her hair. "Christ! Red!"

Willow pulled away as far as Spike's tense arms would allow. "I'm sorry."

Spike removed his hands from her curls and petted them back in place as he tried to bring her up to his eye level. When she refused to budge, he settled for locking his eyes on hers and raising a questioning brow. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I...I want to." Willow fought the blush she knew was sliding over her already heated skin and looked away from Spike.

"I'm not goin' to make you do anything, Red. You don't have to do anything you don't want."

Willow had found herself looking at Spike's still erect staff, and had to force her eyes back to his in order to think. "No, I want to do it. I'm just scared."

"Scared of what?" Spike succeeded in pulling her up to rest on his chest. "I'll not think less of you either way, if that's it. Some chits think it makes them subservient to the man, but, let me tell ya, I doubt there's ever a time when a woman could be more in control than when she's got a man's dangly parts in her mouth."

Willow giggled, and Spike pressed on. "If you find you don't like the taste or feel, you can just stop and we'll make a note not to go there again."

Willow drew back to look Spike in the face. "I'm not afraid of any of that."

"Then what, pet?"

"I'm afraid..." Willow sighed in annoyance. "I'm afraid I won't be any good at it."

Spike's bark of laughter and all out grin caused her to smile in return. "Not even a possibility, Willow."

Spike chuckled again, only to stop when Willow disappeared from his side, only to reappear with her lips suddenly surrounding the tip of his slightly flagging hard on. The resurgence of Spike's erection only spurred her on, and she slowly worked more of the velvety flesh into her mouth. She rose up, letting her tongue caress the underside of his shaft as she went.

Spike wrapped his hands in the sheet, only to start when the presence of her mouth on him was removed. He looked down to see her grinning up at him as she guided his fingers back to her hair, only returning to her oral exploration when they were back to caressing her scalp.

Willow alternated the suction and the rhythm of her movements as she got used to Spike's thickness. There was a slight moment of panic when her gag reflexes kicked in, but Willow managed to ease herself into pulling him fully down her throat. Deciding to try something she had once read, Willow swallowed.

There was a husky growl and a dizzying spin before Willow found herself below the amber-eyed embodiment of Spike's demon. Both hands were clasped in his above her head, and she could feel his hands to his elbows resting against hers. Licking her slightly dried lips, Willow moaned in contentment when Spike's lips and tongue joined her own.

The ridges on his forehead rubbed against the column of her neck as he nuzzled the mark branding her as his own. The sensation thrummed down her spine, and Willow slid her long legs to rest around Spike's swaying waist. Amber eyes met green as the vampire slid home, and Willow fought to keep her eyes open and focused on his as an orgasm rocked through her body.

He worked her through the waves of pleasure at an almost leisurely pace before slowly building the intensity of his thrusts. By the time he was thrusting into her at the inhuman rate she'd already grown to expect, Willow was cresting for a third time. Somehow, though they wracked her body with pleasure, they lacked something that Willow wanted.

Seeing the way that Spike's eyes had begun caressing the side of her neck, Willow realized what was missing. She arched her neck towards her love in invitation just as the fingers of one hand made their way to caress, pinch, and fondle her clit. "Oh, Spike! I... mmmm... I'm coming. Want you... with me."

Razor fangs sunk into the healing wound at her throat just as her climax bowed her off the bed, and Willow found the world becoming fuzzy around the edges before bright spots exploded and chased it into darkness.

~Part: 30~

The world swam slowly back into focus, and Willow smiled when her gaze centered on Spikes' worried blue eyes. His not-found- in-nature blonde hair fell in waves over his forehead, barely reaching his eyes. Willow smiled softly and smoothed it back.

"Your roots are starting to show." The soft words rasped out of her dried throat, and Willow grimaced at the sound.

"You scared the hell out of me, and now you want to exchange grooming advice?" Spike nearly squeaked in his indignance, and Willow chuckled to herself.

"Actually, I want to get a drink and a shower, in that order, and before Xander and Anya get back with Dawn."

"Yeah, can't go see Nibblet and show her a night on the town looking like we just rolled out of bed."

"Let me up, then." Willow slowly pushed herself off the mattress, only to be pushed back down before she could make it to her feet.

"How `bout we have the others show her around, and *we*," Spike motioned to himself and Willow, "stay in."

Willow groaned as her body responded readily to the vampire's smirk and wandering hands before she pressed Spike off of her until she sat facing him on the bed. "How about we go and take a shower together?"

Both of the blonde's eyebrows shot up at the suggestion, and Spike was suddenly standing by the bed. Slipping one arm under her legs and another behind her back, Spike picked her up and carried her into the spacious bathroom. "I think a bath is in order."

Willow hadn't really taken notice of the size of the tub when she had used the more modern stand up shower that morning, though she was certainly seeing it now! One of those old fashioned claw-footed affairs with deep sides and edges that curled under stood in the corner. A metal basket of various soaps and shampoos rested on the floor beside the cream colored porcelain. Next to the toiletries on the floor was a mounded heap of black and red clothes, and Willow found herself smirking at Spike as he went about filling the tub with steaming water.

"What?" Spike quirked a scarred brow before noticing Willow's pointed look at his discarded clothing. "A bloke can't enjoy a nice soak now and again?"

Giggling, Willow shook her head. "I just can't picture you in a bubble bath, is all."

"I only soak and read." Spike opened a small cabinet set into the wall, retrieved some towels, and then moved to the bottles that lined a shelf beside the vanity. "You want bubbles, pet?"

"Yes, please." Willow was trying to keep her mind focused on anything other than the fact that she was naked or the delicious as sin picture Spike made as he moved about without being the least bit insecure.

"Vanilla, raspberry, or rose?"

"You pick, Spike." Willow blushed and began picking at her nails. "I want you to like the way I smell."

"Already do, luv." Spike plucked a bottle from the shelf and emptied a more than healthy amount under the running water. Turning back to Willow, he sunk a hand into her curls and brought his forehead to rest against hers. "You smell like me."

"Huh?" Willow was well aware of it not being the world's most intelligent rejoinder, but was really too confused to care.

"Not in a bad, need to shower way." Spike sighed and ran a hand through his now curling hair and placed Willow in the tub, now overflowing with bubbles, before turning off the flow of water and settling in behind her slowly relaxing frame.

"Do you know what that bite on your neck means, pet?"

Willow moved her head to one side of his chest so she could crane her neck up at him. "I read once, in Giles' watcher diaries, about a claiming bite. Is that what it is?"

"That it is, pet." Spike grabbed a washcloth and began lathering it with a raspberry scented soap. "I've claimed you. You're mine."

Willow groaned as Spike's skilled hands worked the cloth along one arm, from fingers to shoulder and back again. "What am I to you, Spike?"

The cloth disappeared, and Spike's puzzled face was suddenly in view. "What's *that* supposed to mean?"

"Am I your girlfriend, or what?" Willow knew she sounded insecure, but thought she could live with it since that was how she felt. "I really don't understand it."

Spike only nodded before returning to the task of washing the alabaster skin before him. It was nearly ten minutes before he finished with her hands, arms, and back. Soaking the cloth in the rich-smelling water, Spike once again lathered it with the soap.

"I love you Willow," Spike shushed her reply with a soft kiss as he ran the cloth beneath the water to caress the flat plain of her stomach and the softly throbbing places farther down. "Since the claim was made out of love, it means we are one." Spike grazed the line of her jaw with a kiss. "Mated." Another kiss placed just behind her ear. "Always."

The last was whispered over the puncture marks of his claim, and Willow found herself arching up to meet the kiss that was placed against them. "Always?"

"I'm forever, Willow, and there are ways of making you that way too without the loss of the soul that we're both so fond of."

As he spoke, Spike's long fingers had abandoned the washcloth in favor of caressing her skin themselves, and Willow found it hard to concentrate on his words. Planting her feet, the redhead rolled her head back to rest on the strong shoulder behind her as she lifted up to meet the thumb that flitted over her clit in teasing flicks. "Mmmm, Spike."

"Like that, pet?"

"`S nice." Willow tried to push against his hand, only to groan when it was removed. "Spike?"

"Turn around." The command was whispered against her ear, and Willow groaned at the loss of contact as she obeyed.

Once she was facing him, Spike sunk further down and pulled her to straddle his hips. Looking into her eyes the entire time, Spike positioned her over his erection and slid home.

Gasping, Willow fought to keep her eyes open and focused on those of her lover as her back tried to arch in pleasure. Licking parched lips, she moved to rotate her hips, only to be stopped by Spike's hands and a small shake of his head.

"Just stay there, Red." Spike slipped his arms under each of her knees, successfully lifting them off the bottom of the tub and giving her a new angle to enjoy.

Willow moaned in pleasure when the new position brought her aching nub in contact with Spike's body. The feel of him stretching her channel coupled with the pressure on her clit was just enough to drive her to distraction, but not nearly enough to send her over the edge. Finding that Spike's arms under her legs restrained her from doing anything to alleviate that slowly building ache, Willow groaned in frustration.

Spike chuckled. "Trust me, pet."

Willow nodded and kissed him fiercely, more to be doing *something* other that concentrating on the now undeniable ache of the tightened coil in her abdomen and desperation for contact than anything else. Spike happily accepted her kisses, but was careful to keep his arms steady under her knees.

Just when she thought that she was going to have to get away from Spike and do something about it on her own, Spike's arms moved her legs once again. Willow barely had time to register the sharp stab of his bone against her clit before her back bowed slightly and pleasure washed softly over her once again. Her eyes never left the ice blue depths of Spike's, and she felt him shudder slightly in his climax.

"I love you." The breathy voice that issued from her throat surprised her.

Spike groaned and brought her to rest against his chest. "Love you, too."

~~~*~~~

Spike and Willow were just walking down the stairs to the lobby, Willow on legs that were decidedly less than firm. They had let the water out of the tub and moved to the shower to rinse the bubbles and evidence of their lovemaking away. Spike had taken great pleasure in washing, conditioning, and combing Willow's hair, spending nearly half an hour twisting and pinning the curls into an intricate style after she'd dressed.

Willow fingered one of the twisting curls that had been left to cascade over her back and shoulders. "You *do* realize that women haven't been doing their hair like this for a hundred years, right?"

"Bleedin' shame, that." Spike's smile froze just before he cocked his head to the side and listened to something Willow couldn't hear. "Bit's here."

A moment later Dawn, Anya, and Xander came through the doorway from the garage. "Willow! Oh my God, I *love* your hair!"

"Hey Dawn." Willow hurried down the rest of the stairs and enveloped the younger girl in a tight hug. "Spike fixed it for me."

The hug had given the Dawn a close up view of the twin holes bored deep into the redhead's neck. "I'm guessing that you and Spike are a couple now?"

"Always knew you were a smart bird." Spike slid a cigarette between his lips and lit up as he spoke. "Have any troubles gettin' away?"

Dawn opened her mouth to answer, but stopped short as her gaze landed on something behind Spike's shoulder. "Do you guys know there's a green guy in a bright blue suit standing by Angel?"

"Oh!" Willow silently berated herself for the glaring etiquette mistake and lead Dawn over to the rest of the Angel Investigations team. "You know Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley. This is Charles Gunn."

"Gunn," The handsome young man shook Dawn's hand and smiled winningly. "Everyone calls me Gunn but Fred."

"That would be me." The perky Texan smiled and shrugged her shoulders in her shy way. "It's short for Winifred."

"And this is Lorne."

"Hey, Sugarkins." Lorne pulled the much smaller girl in for a hug that she barely managed to return before he'd pushed her back to get a better look at her. "You'll have to give me a song sometime, but it's almost dusk, and you're not going out dressed like that."

Dawn looked down at her jeans and t-shirt before looking at Willow questioningly.

"Lorne can tell things about people and their futures when they sing." Willow smiled indulgently. "I just figured you would want to go out, that's why he asked about your clothes."

"I'd *love* to go out, but I only packed a few things, and nothing fancy." Dawn looked over the other people's outfits with growing unease. "It's not like I was going to Bronze it on a school night, after all."

Gunn gave Dawn a rather blatant once over. "I think you're pretty enough without getting dressed up."

Spike's growl of warning was echoed by Angel's. "I can deal with the headache long enough to rip out that throat."

"Sorry," Gunn threw up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Didn't mean anything by it."

Willow shook her head at the territorial game the men were playing before kissing Spike and pulling Dawn up the stairs after Cordelia, Anya, and a reluctant Fred. She hadn't gotten to the stairs before Wesley's voice reached her ears.

"Willow looks rather pretty tonight."

"And she's all mine, mate," Spike's voice had taken on even more of the east-ender accent he put on. "Don't you be forgettin' it."

Willow and Dawn shared a smile and a soft giggle at Spike's declaration. /All his, for always./ Willow nodded to herself as she let Dawn into the suite she shared with Spike.

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