Anatomy of a Seductionby Jainie G & Mistress Ace
Chapter 3: Your Cheatin' Heart**Oh God...He's kissing me...** Riley struggled for a minute, trying to reject what was happening to him. This he hadn't expected, more bravado, perhaps a little swaggering or bragging about having him in his power, that he had expected. Not this....
Not this tender assault on his mouth, teeth barely scraping his lower lip, a cool tongue flickering along his upper lip. Slender fingers of one hand released their grip on his jacket and found their way into his hair. His rage melted away in that instant, disappeared without a trace. Riley moaned aloud, his mouth opening even more under that subtle pressure as he gave himself over to the languid sensuality of this vampire's kiss.
Spike continued to pull on Riley's coat, until the commando was kneeling between his spread legs. Twining his legs around the boy's hips, he broke the kiss, especially pleased to see that Riley was now panting. Lips brushing ever so lightly against Riley's as he spoke, he whispered, "Ask me again."
"N-no...." Riley tried to pull away from him, tried to regain what might be left of his self-control. He couldn't withstand another bite, the kiss was bad enough, but if Spike bit him again there would be no stopping this. But that insistent mouth found his again and he was lost....
Not accepting that as an answer, Spike nibbled at Riley's lower lip, gently coaxing, even as his left hand journeyed downward, cupped the boy's left buttock in his hands and pulled Riley's hips tightly against his own. The vampire thrust upward against him as he tilted his head to one side, tongue sweeping into the lad's mouth, deepening the kiss further. Sweet, oh so sweet, trembling lips and such hesitation, not even his most violent blood-soaked slaughter had been quite as good as this tender claiming.
Riley felt those hips moving underneath him and the very hard evidence of the vampire's sexual interest in him. He moaned as that wonderfully agile tongue entangled with his own, the repressed tension of the past four days over-took him and he found himself responding fully.The stranglehold on Spike's t-shirt was forgotten and that hand found its way up the strong column of his neck until Riley's fingers were buried in that soft blond hair. Riley Finn found himself grinding his erection up against those slim hips, found his chest pressed tightly to a well-sculpted and very masculine form. He opened his mouth further, somehow taking control of the kiss, bearing down on the body beneath him and feeling a sense of pride, even accomplishment when he heard Spike's own wordless sound of delight.
**Yes... oh yes, that's right...** Spike's mental voice sighed in triumph as he felt Riley's warm body blanket his own. **Yes, that's right... give in to me... give in to me like a good boy...** With a final nibble, Spike twisted his head to one side, breaking the kiss again.
"Ask me..." he said again slowly, softly. If his body still had any use for air, that kiss would have stolen all the breath from him, much like the young man whose body was now a heavy, welcome weight. Cupping that innocently handsome face in his hands, his tongue snaking into Riley's mouth, the pointed tip gliding torturously along the length of the commando's. "Ask me again... I wanna hear you say it," he entreated.
"Oh God....Spike..." Riley turned his head to the side and arched his neck, giving in to the smouldering temptation that had been burning a hole in his soul since that night. Everything was forgotten but that raw need, he craved the pain and the pleasure that went along with it. His voice was barely above a whisper as he admitted defeat, "Bite....please..."
Cradling Riley's chin in his hands, Spike turned the boy's face back. "No, no," he shook his head. "Not like that... like this." Spike pressed his lips to Riley's again, appreciating the way the boy had given himself over so quickly. A few well timed kisses and gropes and he was like so much putty in Spike's hands.
Drawing Riley's lower lip between both of his own, Spike knew he had to time things just right to keep from startling the boy. He gave his ass a tight squeeze, wringing yet another low, pleasing sound from the mortal. This one was going to be noisy which was something he really enjoyed, sound was just as exciting as touch or smell or taste. And Riley was beyond satisfactory to all of his senses…
When the time was right, when the boy was just on the edge of climax from their slow grinding against each other, the vampire struck. Spike thrust his hips sharply upward against Riley's as his blunt human teeth sunk deeply into his lower lip, neatly severing the tiny artery that could be found there.
Riley felt his mouth fill with blood and he shuddered. He had been so close to coming that sharp pain had almost done it, had almost sent him over that edge. And the coppery taste of his own blood, combined with the now voracious mouth that was drawing every last drop of it out of him served to drive him further and further away from safety and sanity.
He wanted to reach between them, wanted desperately to do something, anything at all that would relieve the unbearable pressure building inside of him. This was just too much, he couldn't stop it, couldn't even slow it down...
Spike continued to rock his hips against Riley's, purring his appreciation as he teased the wound on the boy's lower lip with his tongue, coaxing the blood out of the tiny wound he had made. He tasted so good... and felt even better.
Gently gripping a handful of hair at the back of Riley's head, he held the boy still as he continued to feast on his lips. The blood that trickled from them and the sharp scent of arousal made the air around them thick enough so as to be barely breathable. Not that Spike needed to breathe but it might be nice if the boy survived long enough for both of them to come. Taking control again, he drove his tongue deeply into Riley's mouth, inviting the former soldier's to twine with his.
Riley followed Spike's lead, his warm tongue sliding around, along and over the vampire's cool one. He could hear sounds that he couldn't quite recognize at first, they might be an animal whimpering, something that was experiencing either horrible pain or incredible ecstasy, he couldn't determine which it was.
But eventually he realized that it was not animal that he heard, instead it was his own and Spike's inarticulate expressions of passion. This couldn't be right, it had to be another one of those damned dreams that he'd been having. Any moment now he was going to wake up in a pool of sweat and come....any moment now....
Spike let his teeth find their way back to that small wound they'd made and grazed it lightly, latched on to Riley's lower lip and drew on it deeply as he cradled his head in both of his hands, coaxing still more of the lifeblood from the lad. He hadn't experienced anything quite like this in years. Hell, longer. Decades. And it was sweet, so sweet. Swallowing the blood along with the desperate moans and whimpers.
**Oh God....if he doesn't stop, I'm gonna come....** Riley tried to pull away, tried to break their kiss, tried desperately but he failed. His body was no longer his own, instead it belonged to the creature that held him so tightly. It belonged to his master...it belonged to Spike.
He got it now, more so than the first night. This was how vampires truly hunted, they might take down a victim here or there, fledges were notorious for the body count that they left behind. But a master had no need of that, a master vampire could take a human and turn them into an ever-renewing source of food. *And they didn't have to use force to do it.*
Judging by the way Riley's body had begun to tremble, Spike could tell that he was very close to orgasm. This was, by far, the moment he loved the most. After this, their bond would be unbreakable, the boy would be his until the last day he drew breath.
Both of their lips stained red with blood, Spike drew back ever so slightly. "Yeah," he whispered, his voice nothing more than a growl in his throat. Another kiss, then, wet and salty and sweet, all at the same time. He loved the way the former soldier's large, muscular body strained against his, lips seeking his out as soon as contact was broken. "That's right..." he murmured, the tip of his tongue teasing the young man's lips.
Riley finally found a hair's-breadth of will power, dredging it up from deep inside of himself. He pulled away, turning his head so their mouths no longer met. This had to stop, it had to stop before he went mad. "N-no...no more..."
The young man struggled weakly, trying to escape the arms that were around his body, the hands that were threaded through his hair. But the vampire was too strong, the embrace was too seductive, the only way out was to beg for it. "*Please*...no more..."
Spike hooked a finger under Riley's chin, once more turning his head back. "Riley," he said, astounded at how calm and even his voice sounded, despite his own frustration. This was far from done. "Look at me."
Maggie Walsh had trained him too well, Riley could not resist the tone of command even when it was used so quietly. His eyes found Spike's and those cerulean depths had him hypnotized within the space of a single heartbeat. He couldn't move, couldn't look away from that mesmerizing gaze.
Brushing his lips against Riley's, Spike spoke softly, his words simple and to the point as he searched the hazel eyes trained so steadily on his own. "I wanna make you come. I wanna make you come and I wanna watch when I do... and you know I will. You're so close already. I can feel it."
Those softly spoken words set his skin on fire, he wanted it so badly, he *needed* that release. But Riley couldn't, it was beyond wrong. He swallowed heavily and shook his head. "I can't...we can't....*Buffy*..."
The young man already felt so damned guilty, so dirty for what he'd allowed to happen tonight. If this went any further, if he let Spike do what he'd just described, he might as well be dead. *If she didn't kill him, he might do it himself.*
"Buffy won't know unless you or I say something to her... and I won't," Spike combed his fingers through Riley's hair, smoothing the fringe off of his forehead. His voice was soft, coaxing, practically dripping with forbidden sweetness. "So as long as you keep mum, there's no reason to worry about it... is there?"
A vague alarm went off in his head and Riley could just imagine the disappointment on his mother's face if she ever found out about this. She'd drilled it into his head since he was very young that there were two things you never did, you never lied and you never cheated. One of those cardinal rules had been broken when he accepted his assignment to Sunnydale, the Initiative had taught him how to lie with the best of them.
But the cheating rule was one he'd never broken...until now.
The young man placed both hands on Spike's shoulders and he stared down into those fathomless eyes. Riley was going to refuse, he had to refuse, he had to just get up on his feet and walk the hell away. But he didn't….the words seem to come unbidden out of his own mouth, shocking him to the core as he whispered, "You won't tell her?"
"You have my word as your Master that I won't say a word to her about this," Spike was taken aback by his almost immediate reply. Could it be that he wanted this, needed this almost as much as the boy seemed to?
He'd fully intended to tell the slayer, had relished the thought of seeing her heart breaking in her eyes as he described to her in great detail what her lover looked like when he came, what noises he made and how he tasted. But as he gazed into the boy's dilated and pleading hazel eyes, Spike knew he meant every word of it, he would never tell her.
Riley believed him, believed those words which were spoken with utmost sincerity. He closed his eyes and whispered in return, somehow knowing he was sealing his own doom. But that path had already been destined for him, had been so ever since he set out on this little journey and it looked to be a rocky, rocky road. Might as well take what pleasure he could before the axe fell….. "Please....make me come...."
The vampire could barely stifle the triumphant moan which flew from his lips at that quiet request. And with Riley's words, his tacit permission, Spike was overwhelmed by a surge of such absolute hunger. Capturing the boy's mouth, his hands quickly pushed the jacket off of Riley's shoulders and down his arms.
After a second of hesitation Riley eagerly responded, raising up just enough so he could rid himself of the offending garment. He hesitated again, his hands hovering over the buttons of his shirt. "Should I....do you want all of them off?"
This was insanity, pure insanity. He wasn't a virgin, hadn't been since he was sixteen but this was beyond his realm of experience. Sure, Riley had known some gay guys, the military was full of them, despite all protestations to the contrary by the government, but he'd never indulged in such pursuits.
He was in the dark here, not knowing how to proceed.
"Not yet," the blond muttered distractedly. Deft fingers converged on the belt buckle and fly of Riley's jeans, making quick work of the frustrating snaps and zippers and such. Spike slipped his hand between both of their bodies and into the waistband of Riley's boxers, grasping the slickened hardness he found there. Nice and thick, weighty in his palm and so damned warm.
"Oh fuck...." Riley Finn's whole body shuddered again, those slim, cool fingers enveloping his cock was almost more than he could take. They felt so much different then he'd imagined, he'd even experimented two nights ago with soaking his own hand in ice water to mimic what he thought the sensation would be like. That night, he'd come three times in rapid succession, each time harder than the last.
But that experience didn't *even* come close to what he felt now. The air around his body was electric, he kept forgetting to breathe as that hand moved with agonizing slowness along his distended and just this side of painful erection.
Spike worked the boy's considerable length carefully with his left hand as he plucked open the buttons of Riley's shirt with his right. Sliding his hand inside, he pinched one of Riley's nipples -- already hardened to painfully sharp nubs -- between his thumb and forefinger as his fingers squeezed the cock which throbbed in his palm.
The vampire buried his face in the crook of Riley's throat, eager to get as close to him as possible, suckling on his earlobe and delighting in the almost pained sounds that issued from the human. "Fuck my hand," he whispered roughly into Riley's ear as he nibbled on the lobe, nipping lightly with his teeth.
Riley complied, his hips moving slowly at first and then with ever increasing speed. He turned his head so their mouths were once again entangled, his own warm breath filling long-unused lungs in a seeming parody of the kiss of life. It was as if he were trying to raise his master from the dead, to give him life and have him be reborn in this act of possession.
That blessed relief that he sought was so close, a thrust away, perhaps two or two dozen. He didn't know, didn't care...All that mattered now was that tunnel of cool moving flesh that he was blindly rooting in, that he was losing himself and his soul in.
The battered armchair which Spike had found long ago as a cast off at the Sunnydale dump now creaked and groaned wearily from the burden of weight as well as the constant thrusting of Riley's hips. That sound was combined with their own gasps and cries, the boy's deep moans filling the enclosed space with such a delicious resonance, they reverberated in the vampire's chest, spurring him on to seek even closer contact.
Spike parted his lips wide under Riley's, kissing him greedily, even as he continued to pump his fist back and forth over Riley's cock. The chair itself that the two men sprawled in was rocked back on its legs with the force of the human's thrusts. Even the barest amount of air the vampire's lean body still held was driven out of him forcefully as Riley pounded into him.
Eyes closed, sweat pouring down his face, Riley was reaching for it, his whole body straining toward that goal, his heart thundering in his ears as he danced along the precipice, along the razor's edge. One word, one sound, one more sensation would do it. Just one more...something.... *anything*...
It hurt, it hurt so badly, his whole body ached with unfulfilled destiny, unsurceased lust. Heedless to that fact that he was in the embrace of a demon, Riley cried out silently for divine assistance. **Please...oh god please....help me...**
The boy's frustration was so great that it was almost palpable. Breaking off the kiss with a gasp of his own, Spike bent his head and dragged the flat of his tongue along the tender skin that had been witness to his first mark, his first bite.
And that was what was needed, that last sensation, the final benediction from his immortal lover. Riley Finn's eyes closed and his whole body convulsed as that little death Spike had mentioned almost idly in passing overtook him. His heart actually ceased beating for a fraction of second while his cock grew impossibly hard.
Ultimate pleasure washed over him, he'd never come like this before, never knew it was possible. Everything else in his life paled in comparison, if this was death, he welcomed it with open arms. Let it enfold him in its dark embrace, let it own him, heart, body and soul......
The world spun away and the old Riley Finn went with it. Like the legend of Icarus, he'd flown too close to the sun and now was the time for his fall to earth.
Spike held Riley tightly as he shuddered and loosed an ear-splitting cry, clasping the back of that thick, warm neck even as his hand continued to gently milk Riley's cock. At last, the boy collapsed against him, although his body continued to tremble with the aftershocks of his powerful orgasm. Withdrawing his hand from the confines of Riley's boxers, he slipped his left arm around his waist, holding him tightly to him.
Pressing a soft, nuzzling kiss to Riley's temple, Spike held the boy with his legs as well as his arms, cradling him with his body. It had been a shattering experience for him as well, more so than he'd expected. Spike had to establish his dominance now, otherwise it would be lost under the sheer force of his own reaction to what he now hoped would be a long-term lover. "I think you understand, now, don't you?"
Riley was weeping, something he had not done since he was a child, crying as though his heart would break. It had been all too much for him, this was not what he had expected, not in his wildest fantasies or more horrendous nightmares. Riley Finn was forever changed by the experience, innocence was behind him now. His eyes had been opened....
*Never to be shut again.*
Spike combed his fingers through fine, dark blond hair, lips pressed to Riley's temple as the boy wept in his arms. Oh, but here was something he could cherish -- so unlike his beloved Dru in so many ways, yet she and Riley shared some intangible quality -- this young man was nothing short of a treasure. "Shh," he murmured as his other hand rubbed slow, soothing circles into Riley's back. "Shh."
That soothing touch and the quiet voice brought him back to the world slowly. Riley finally came to his senses, realizing that he was draped over someone in a very awkward position. His eyes and throat were clogged with tears and there was a warm and far too familiar wetness on his stomach. He blinked in surprise, trying to figure out how he'd ended up here and why he was in the arms of a man.
The all-encompassing haze from the alcohol had faded as well as the forgetfulness that he had sought within its influence. He'd had sex, he'd had sex with someone other than Buffy, he'd had sex with a man.....
Riley turned his head and groaned aloud. He'd had sex with Spike? This was so not of the good. **God, I'm begging you. Could you please open the Hellmouth for just a minute and swallow me whole? I'd really appreciate it....**
Spike let his head settle back on the armrest and gazed up at Riley. Face tear-streaked, hair a cyclone of dark cornsilk, lips smeared with his own blood. Spike couldn't remember the last time he'd seen anything so beautiful. Smoothing his hand over Riley's neck, he smiled, "I love those sounds you made... wonderin' just what I have to do so I can hear more of them."
With a barely suppressed groan of despair, Riley sat back on his heels, swiftly buttoning his shirt back up. He refused to look at the vampire, refused to touch him. This was so wrong, he was going to burn in Hell for this, he just knew it.
"Trust me when I say this, Spike, you'll *never* hear those sounds again." The ex-marine ran his hands through his hair, knowing that no matter how much he showered this time, he was never going to be clean again. He fumbled around for his coat, finding it in a crumpled heap behind him and pulled it back on.
Spike took a deep, purposeful breath and rolled his eyes. Hooking his leg over the arm of the chair he watched as Riley hurriedly tried to put his clothes back into some semblance of order. Glancing down at his hand, he could see traces of Riley's orgasm glimmering on his fingers. Lifting his hand, he slid his index finger into his mouth, clear down to the last knuckle, tongue noiselessly cleaning away the droplets of semen.
The boy had fucked himself sober and was having doubts now, that much was plainly obvious. But Spike wasn't about to let this one get away ... not with business unfinished.
Riley glanced over at the indolent figure sprawled in the tired old armchair and felt the blood rush right back to his groin again. The sight of Spike cleaning his fingers so assiduously, deep-throating them in fact had him hard all over again. He wanted that mouth on him, wanted to feel that tongue swirling over the rounded head of his cock, wanted to watch his length disappear past those lips.
But he couldn't indulge himself, not even in the briefest flash of fantasy. Riley had to get out of there, to escape this hellhole where the last vestige of his self-respect had just been spilled like so much cheap whiskey.
**C'mere, boy... we're not done, yet - you know we're not. So get your ass back over here to me and let me play with you some more.** Spike drew his middle finger from his mouth with agonizing slowness, lips curling up in a small, enticing smile. "Oh, I will," he said, voice husky laden with equal parts desire and amusement. "Every time I wank myself off, I'll be imagining you touching me. You, Riley."
Oh, but Riley looked at him now, didn't he? Head snapping up to regard him, expression a peculiar mixture of want, disgust and shame. "Yeah... and when I'm close, all I'll have to do is think about what happened tonight. The way you screamed for me when you came." Spike drew the flat of his tongue along his palm, as if he didn't want to miss the single tiniest droplet. "Mmm..."
Riley swallowed convulsively, backing up and almost stumbling when he missed the step that led out of the crypt. His eyes were mesmerized by the merest flash of a pink tongue as it traced over the vampire's palm. There was a flash of white teeth and saffron-tinted eyes that dared him to come back, dared him to take that last leap of faith, to plunge headlong into whatever depravity that Spike wished to introduce him to....
"No...It didn't happen...This is a dream..." One large hand ran shakily through his disarrayed hair. Denial was the way to go here, if he didn't deny it, he was lost. "This is a nightmare...It has to be..."
Dream, nightmare, hallucination, Riley could think whatever he liked about what had happened between the two of them, but Spike knew the truth. So, let him leave, if he wanted... let him think he had a handle on everything... let him think he was in control. Spike could permit that... for the moment, at least.
Riley straightened up to his full height as he reached the door. He looked back over his shoulder at Spike and had it not been for the vampire's preternatural hearing, his words would have been lost to the darkness. "Abandon all hope ye who enter here...."
For this was hell, his own personal hell. There was no denying it, no escaping it, he would walk away tonight but Riley Finn knew he would be back.
---
Riley parked his jeep in front of his apartment complex and laid back in the seat, replaying the events of that evening. Guilt was setting in like a smothering blanket, he could just see his mother's disapproving face and hear her words in his ear, 'I didn't raise you to be a cheating man, Riley Finn. I'm so ashamed of you...'
How in the world had he allowed it to get *that* far? He should have stopped it, should have just said no. Lord knows, he'd turned down plenty of propositions in his time. After all, Forrest had spent most of a semester trying to get him laid but he'd refused almost every one of the girls sent his way. Why had he not been able to do it this time?
A shower...he needed a shower to clear his head and wash away the last vestiges of his infidelity. Maybe then he could fix this... Riley got out of the car and made his way up to the front door, dodging the bike purely out of habit. His key slipped easily into the lock...
Buffy yawned, head lolling on the pillows as she heard the front door being unlocked. She looked up and smiled. "Riley... you're back! Where'd you go? I got done patrolling hours ago!"
**Oh God, no....Not tonight...** She'd pretty much left him alone since the Dracula incident, had almost gone out of her way to avoid him. Last night had been the first overture his girlfriend had made since she'd been bitten, Riley turned her down then, feeling guilty because he'd gotten aroused by Spike's first bite. After what he'd just been through, why did this have to be the night Buffy picked to finally grace his bed?
For she was in his bed and if the pile of clothes laid neatly on his couch was any indication, Buffy was naked. This was so not good..... Riley ran a hand through his hair as he apologized, knowing it was a lame excuse, "Sorry, late night at school....How'd the sweeps go?"
Buffy rolled over onto her back, folded her hands over her stomach. "Pffft... two or three vamps got dusty, but that was pretty much it. Really quiet." She tilted her head slightly on the pillow, a concerned glint in her hazel eyes. "You okay?"
"I'm good...Little sticky though. Mind if I take a shower?" He didn't wait for her response, just dropped his jacket on the end of the couch. Riley knew he was being distant but this was beyond awkward for him.
She opened her mouth to reply, but let it close, clearly befuddled, as Riley stepped hastily into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Fair brows furrowing, Buffy lay back, snuggled down into the pillows and waited.
Last night, they'd both been too tired for much of anything and before that it had been a couple of days since she'd really had any time to spare him what with school, slayage and her bratty kid sister. So she was looking forward to a good ol' fashioned Riley Finn smooching session. One thing she could always say about her boyfriend, the guy really knew how to kiss.
Clothes were scattered haphazardly on the floor, he'd toss them in the hamper once he was done. All that mattered was getting clean....even though he would *never* be clean enough to touch her again. Riley couldn't believe this was happening...maybe he could plead exhaustion for another night and send her home?
He took a fast shower, setting the water hot enough to par-broil the first three layers of his skin off and scrubbing fiercely with a bar of sandalwood soap... It was the soap she'd given him for his birthday, telling him that it had a really nice guy smell.
For a second, Riley wondered if Buffy had chosen the sandalwood because it reminded her of Angel and then he shook himself. This obsession had gotten way out of hand, time to put a stop to it. No more thoughts about Angel and if he ever saw Spike alone again, he'd just dust the bastard and be done with it....
Buffy folded one arm underneath her head, shifting under the sheets in an attempt to get comfortable and still put off the proper "Come Hither and Jump Me" vibes. Another yawn and the Slayer settled her head down onto her arm, eyelids growing considerably heavier. Just how sticky could Riley be after a late class, anyway?
Water off and a brisk towelling before leaning over to look in the mirror, wondering if he needed a shave. Riley's eyes widened as he realized that there was a dark red mark on his neck from the very first bite. How the hell was he going to hide that from her?
The tiny blonde curled her arms around Riley's pillow, nuzzling into it as she slipped deeper into her slumber, all thoughts of vampires, sticky boyfriends and seduction cast far, far away from her. Riley would wake her when he got out of the bathroom…..
The young man found his robe hanging on the back of the door and pulled it on. Shutting off the bathroom light, Riley opened the door slowly and breathed a sigh of relief. His super-human girlfriend was asleep, one little hand tucked up underneath her chin. Buffy looked so tiny in his big bed, when he saw her asleep it was hard to believe that this petite girl was probably the strongest living person on the planet.
Buffy distantly heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, feeling a waft of steam on her bare shoulder. Muttering blearily in her sleep, the little blonde pulled the sheet over her shoulder and snuggled into the pillow. Sleep, sleep was of the good….for with sleep came dreams….and with dreams came….
Riley made his way into the kitchen, getting a beer out of the fridge and leaning up against the cupboard. This was just a small reprieve...he had to tell her....It was the only fair thing to do. Honesty was the best policy after all……And maybe, just maybe student health or the V.A. would cover his exorbitant medical bills after she got done kicking his ass from here to eternity.
But he wouldn't wake her with this news now. Not while she looked so peaceful and from what her mom had told him, Buffy had not been sleeping well since the Dracula incident. His confession could wait until morning, best to just let her get some well-needed rest. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
Riley looked at the beer in his hand and made a face. Alcohol had gotten him in enough trouble already tonight. He set it back in the fridge, making his way through the darkened room to his side of the bed and dropped his robe on the floor. With a sigh, Riley slid between the sheets, pulling her slowly into his arms. This might be the very last time he got to hold her so he might as well make the best of it....
Buffy cuddled up to the large body that slipped into bed beside her and enfolded her in his strong, familiar arms. She was snuggling and humming contentedly, now deeply asleep. With her eyes closed, she leaned over and pressed a sleep-fuzzy kiss to his throat, murmuring. "Hmmmm... Angel... love you..."
With those words, that name on her lips, Riley's heart fell right through the floor. He blinked back tears, she didn't just say that, did she? Here was the proof he'd been looking for, she did still love Angel, that's why she kept him at a distance. Nothing in the world could have hurt worse....
**Get up out of the bed and go sleep on the couch....Do it now!** He tried to extricate himself from her grip but even in sleep she was far too strong for him. So the ex-marine who had given up his command, had given up his career for the little slip of a girl who had him pinned in his own bed laid there quietly with his heart breaking into a million pieces.
Riley had never heard her say those words to him....not once. It was time, time to pack up the bags and go....Graham could get him back into the Corps, had told him that over the phone not less than a week ago, but Riley had categorically refused the offer. She had needed him…..or so he thought.
Buffy pressed another kiss to her lover's chest before pillowing her head on it, her lovely face, usually so animated in the waking hours, was now perfectly serene with sleep... She was content and that was due in no small part to her companion. Her immortal beloved….
Her actual bedmate looked down at her, trying to memorize her features. Through an ever-deepening haze of pain, Riley Finn murmured brokenly as tears rolled down his face, "I love you, Buffy....But God help me, I can't take anymore of this…."