Love In Vein - Chapter 12

Buffy frowned in her sleep as she felt a chill sweep over her. Tugging the blankets closer around her, she snuggled into them and curled up. It had been hard trying to get to sleep in her mother's room--even harder due to the fact it was broad daylight outside.

"Buffy…"

She wrinkled her nose up and pouted, not wanting to come out of her restless slumber but feeling like she was being dragged out of it no matter how much she protested.

"Buffy…love…wake up sleepy head."

Opening her eyes, she expected to see Spike in front of her; his voice still rang in her head.

Nothing.

Just a dark room.

"Mmm…" She rolled over and curled up under the blankets again. "…Weird dreams…"

"Not dreaming, kitten."

"Spike?" She frowned as she sat up, looking around the room and trying to discover where the voice was coming from. "Where are you…quit hiding…it's not funny."

"Not hiding from you…not unless you want me to…"

There was a distinct purr to his words that made her think of perverse hide and seek.

"Where are you?" She scrambled out of bed and started to look behind the curtains, the sunlight that streamed into the room told her that he definitely wouldn't be hiding behind there.

"Your bedroom."

"Huh?" Buffy walked out of her mother's room and down the hall. Pushing the door open, she peered around it at him where he was laying on the bed.

Spike grinned.

"Morning, sweetheart."

Buffy looked confused.

"What's going on?"

He crooked his finger and she walked into the room, closing the door behind her and then turning to face him. As the look in his eyes turned hungry, she dropped hers to her clothes and looked mortified.

She was standing in front of Spike in nothing but a camisole and panties.

Hurrying across the room she grabbed her bathrobe and wrapped it around herself to cover her body.

Spike pouted.

Buffy surmised he was definitely feeling better today.

"Not like I haven't…" He was going to say 'seen it before' but quickly reconsidered--the last thing he wanted to do was dredge up memories of that night.

"What's going on?" Buffy stood next to him and frowned as she repeated her question.

Spike caught hold of her arm and tugged her down so she was sitting next to him on the bed. Her eyes dropped to rest on his exposed chest and she swallowed noisily as they traced the smooth curves on his torso, his wounds now barely scratches on his skin.

"Pay attention, love." He placed his finger under her chin and raised her eyes back up to his face.

"I was paying attention." She half frowned, half pouted at him.

"Hey."

"What?" She frowned, not noticing that his lips hadn't moved.

Spike rolled his eyes and tried again. "Hey."

Buffy let her eyes widen as she realised what he was doing. She concentrated hard. "Hey back."

Spike smiled. "You're cute when you concentrate, love. Get this little wrinkle between your brows."

Reaching his hand up, he smoothed the wrinkle out and watched her smile.

Buffy concentrated again. "This is fun…kinda hard…this one of the perks?"

Spike nodded. "Telepathic communication. Distance it works over depends on just how strong the tie between us is."

"If I could feel you all the way in LA…must be strong, right?" She spoke out loud and watched him nod again like she'd said exactly what he'd wanted her to. "Spike?"

"Yeah, love?"

She took hold of his hand, her fingers brushing against the hard pads of his fingers as she looked down at them together.

"I wanted to thank you, for what you did for me…looked after me. I know that you kidnapped me in the first place and I know that should count against you, but thanks for being there…for saving me…for comforting me…"

Spike tried not to flinch at her words. They were a pointed reminder of what he'd done and how he was responsible for what had happened to her. Her thanking him for something felt more like stabbing him in the chest. His demon revolted against the way it ground in his ears and reminded him that he was going to be fighting alongside her now for the good of the world. He almost felt like telling her never to do it again.

Almost.

"No problem. Was protecting my interests." He smiled through the desire to put her in her place and cupped her cheek with his free hand.

Buffy smiled and looked him over. She had sensed his feelings go off the Richter scale when she'd thanked him but she wasn't sure why. He'd seemed pained. "Feeling better today?"

Spike grinned at the way she slipped into telepathy. "Much. Still weak but I'm getting there. Hungry though…was thinking a little Scooby snack."

She swatted his arm and frowned. "Rule number one, no eating my friends…or my mother…or me."

Spike pouted and caught hold of her wrist. "There are other ways to eat you, pet…way's that'll make your toes curl."

When she blushed violently he smiled wide and tried to think of something else that was naughty so he could say into her head.

"Don't." She arched a brow at him.

"Suit yourself." Spike sighed and eyed her neck again. "Am hungry though, but I get the feeling I'm not going to be sending you out for human blood."

"Afraid not." She gave him an apologetic look and then bit her lip.

Staring down at her wrist, she considered it for a moment. Her giving blood to him was starting to become a habit and no matter how many times she told herself it was just giving him blood to make him strong again--she couldn't convince herself wholly. Part of her actually enjoyed the sensation, the pleasure pain that accompanied his sharp bite and the hard pull on her blood that made her head spin.

Holding her wrist out she met his eyes and gave him a look that said she was serious.

Spike didn't need to be told.

Taking hold of the arm she proffered to him, he licked her wrist and placed a soft kiss against it before letting it go.

Buffy frowned.

Spike knit his brows as he thought over what he was about to say--he was going to sound like he'd gone soft.

"Not there. I can't bite you there…damage…tendons, bone. Understand?"

Buffy did understand. If he sank his teeth into her wrist there was a high chance of him doing some serious damage to her. He could snap some of the tendons or break her wrist.

She walked over to her wardrobe and rifled through the kit bag she kept in there.

Spike watched with interest as she bent down and searched through something in the cupboard. He wasn't sure what she was looking for but when she turned around with a large knife, he wasn't surprised in the least.

"Suits you." Spike grinned at her as she walked back towards the bed in her bathrobe, carrying the large knife in her hand.

Sitting down beside him again, she held the knife shakily in her right hand and took a deep breath as she sliced a thin line over her wrist. Her heart hammered hard as she watched the blood begin to spill from the wound. She knew he wouldn't let her die but cutting her wrist seemed so suicidal, so much like death.

Spike's eyes widened and he knocked the knife from her hand as the blood began to quickly run from her wrist, trailing around to the underside of it and dripping onto her bathrobe.

He didn't know what he'd expected her to do with the knife but it hadn't been this.

"Stupid bint." He growled and pulled her legs around.

Wrapping his left arm about her waist, he moved her onto his lap. He held her tightly to him as he took hold of her left wrist in his hand and bought it up to his lips. The sight of her hurting herself forced his hunger from him.

Buffy watched him blankly as he wrapped his lips around her wrist, sucking on the wound and running his tongue against it. She waited for his face to change but it remained human; his brows knit tightly and his eyes closed as he attended to the wound she'd inflicted upon herself.

Her stomach heated through as she felt the feelings inside him, he was conflicted. Part of him felt like it wanted to change into demonic form but it was being held back by a part of him that felt like it was concerned, focused wholly on trying to heal and clean the cut.

She moved a shaky hand up over his shoulder and let her fingers slip into the hair near the nape of his neck; it felt soft under her touch. As he sighed out through his nose she watched him again, his expression full of pleasure as he continued to drink from her wrist. Her thighs ached, her abdomen warmed and her heart raced.

Spike knit his brows tighter as he felt it inside her and her blood spoke it clearly to him.

Desire.

He opened his eyes and stared down at her exposed thigh, her backside slowly warming his own thighs and her body painfully close to his.

Flexing his fingers, he grasped her waist tighter and drew her closer to him still. He felt her heartbeat accelerate and inhaled deeply, catching the sweet heady scent of her arousal as it hung in the air between them.

"Spike…" Buffy leant her head forwards and nuzzled just above his ear as he continued to drink. "…Don't stop."

Spike arched a brow and sucked harder on her wrist, swallowing down the precious liquid as it flowed from her. He'd have to stop soon no matter how much she protested. He could feel her weakening as she leant into him, her thighs trembling against his and her breathing becoming rapid and shallow.

Reluctantly releasing her wrist, he licked the wound slowly to seal it and then wrapped his arms tighter around her as she slumped slightly. He frowned at the expression on her face, her eyes closed and brows furrowed as she curled up slightly. He could feel her desire had changed to drowsiness from his taking too much from her.

He'd seen that expression so many times on the faces of so many girls.

Usually it thrilled him to see them so weak, to know that if he took a little more blood there would be no tomorrow for them.

This time it scared him.

Holding her tightly against him he cradled her in his arms and smoothed her hair down with his free hand.

She whimpered quietly, her breathing and heartbeat still struggling to return to normal.

"I've got you, love." Spike whispered at her and for the first time felt like she'd got him. He let his feelings for her show on the surface as he watched her, the safety her room offered giving him the opportunity to let her see the man he held inside. Brushing the backs of his fingers against her brow, he let his hand open up and cupped her cheek. "I've got you."

Buffy opened her eyes and blinked into his, they were different now. All desire and lust, all coldness and violence was gone from them. They spoke of passion, of love and affection so strong that she felt overwhelmed.

Reaching her hand up she mirrored his actions and cupped his cheek, narrowing her eyes and letting her lips play into a tender smile.

"I've got you too." She whispered quietly and saw his eyes narrow with his smile.

Closing her eyes, she let her head rest against his chest and her arms circle his neck.

"I'm not hurting you am I?"

"No, love…not hurting me at all." Spike looked down at the top of her head and resisted the temptation to press a kiss to her hair. "Not at all."

"Can I stay a while?" Buffy raised her head up and looked into his eyes again. It wasn't that she was asking his permission to stay in her own room, she was asking if she could stay locked tight in his embrace, close to him. The feeling of safety it gave her was like nothing she'd experienced before and no matter how much her instincts still protested over being close to a master vampire, she didn't want to leave anytime soon.

"Sure, pet." Spike stroked her hair as she relaxed back into him. He knew she was feeling as conflicted as he was but he was quickly growing used to having her near him. When he'd awoken that afternoon to find himself alone he'd felt agitated, frustrated that she was no where to be seen and that he couldn't really feel her. He'd reached out his senses in search of her and realised that she wasn't registering clearly because she was sleeping. After feeling her sleeping for a while he'd decided to wake her and test their connection at the same time. It hadn't taken much to get her awake, it hadn't taken much to get her to come to him.

He blinked slowly as she closed her eyes again.

Deep inside he could feel William taunting him, saying that he'd been right all along and that he'd known that he had feelings for her.

Feelings.

Spike frowned slightly. He had feelings for her and he was now teetering on some kind of precipice, unsure of what to do. If he took the leap and made a fool of himself by confessing to her what he felt would she react well?

He shook his head.

The connection between them should have reassured him that she had feelings towards him but he couldn't bring himself to voice how he felt about her. The one in a million possibility that she wouldn't reciprocate or admit to her feelings was one too many.

For now Spike would win, William's need to declare his feelings to her would have to wait until he felt less confused and she had given him a sign that she felt the same way about him.


Buffy fluttered her eyes open slowly to find them settling on Spike's bare chest. She found his arms still holding her tightly and his breathing slow and steady. She frowned and pulled away from him, looking up at him with a sleepy expression.

"And she awakes." Spike smiled at her. "Nice nap, kitten?"

Buffy blinked and stretched carefully so she didn't hurt him.

"Sorry…dozed off I guess. How long was I?"

"Not long, couple of hours maybe." Spike waited for her to move, she did.

Sliding off his lap, Buffy stood up and looked down at the alarm clock on the bedside table. He was right; she'd been asleep for a few hours, curled up in his arms and now she felt strangely refreshed--like she'd had her first good sleep in weeks.

"Feeling okay?" Spike frowned at her vacant expression and then saw her smile.

"Actually I am." She stretched again and looked down into his eyes. "You want to shower? Make you feel better…get you clean, dressed…wash some of the dried blood off."

Spike nodded and swung his legs over the edge of the bed before standing up slowly. As he wobbled slightly, Buffy caught hold of his arm to steady him.

"Communication breakdown with my legs." He raised his brows as he looked down at them.

"That'll happen…few days stuck in bed and a fat Slayer sleeping on your lap…"

Spike caught hold of her waist and span her to face him. "Not fat, love…trim…taut…" He purred down at her as his eyes fixed on her waist. "…Perfect."

Buffy blushed violently from head to toe and felt the sudden need to get the subject far away from her waist and how perfect it was. "I've got your clothes…your combats and shirt…mom cleaned them for you."

"Thanks, love…now show me to the shower." He wrapped his arm about her neck and leant on her as they started towards the bedroom door.

Buffy held his hand tightly as she led him down the hall to the bathroom. On entering it, she picked up the nearest towel and put it on the vanity unit for him.

"It gets a little hot sometimes. Does that bother you?"

"Huh?" Spike pulled a face that made it clear he hadn't quite followed what she was saying.

"Does the heat bother you? Like hot water? Do you really feel it?" As Spike nodded at her she smiled. "Then don't turn it up too high unless you feel like getting a little warm."

"Warm is good…tired muscles still like a long soak, pet, no matter how long they've been dead."

Buffy frowned at the reminder of his undead status. It was slipped in there in such a manner that she got the impression he was testing the water and seeing how she reacted to being reminded.

She just smiled and placed the clothes down next to the towel.

Turning back around to face him she couldn't help looking him over. He was standing in the middle of her bathroom dressed in nothing but a ragged pair of jeans shorts and running his fingers through his hair, tousling it further than it already had been.

She almost sighed.

Vampire as he was he still managed to push the right buttons inside her when she looked at his physique. His compact muscles barely hidden beneath his pale skin spoke words of power and strength to her. She blinked slowly as she took in the sight of him, his expression becoming almost awkward as he realised she was watching him. As his eyes narrowed she swallowed hard, the come hither expression that had surfaced in them made her knees want to buckle and her palms sweaty.

She rubbed them on the bathrobe.

It would be so easy. The door was locked, her mother was downstairs and thought she was asleep. All she had to do was step towards him, untie her bathrobe and let it fall off her shoulders and she was sure he'd do the rest.

Moving her gaze back to the towel and his clothes she shut down the feeling inside her. She still wasn't sure how she truly felt about him and if she was ready for a man to touch her intimately. Instigating a physical relationship with him, no matter how tempting it was, was only going to muddle her feelings up even more.

Spike arched a brow at her and as her eyes met his again he saw that she was in control again, all the fire gone from her beautiful green orbs.

Buffy paused for a few seconds before turning and walking out of the door.

He wasn't sure what he would have done if she had made a move. The sexual predator side to him had been clear about what it wanted to do with her but instinct told him it would be the wrong move right now. She was clearly still confused about what was happening and what she'd been through. She was unable to fully cope with the various feelings he'd seen in her eyes throughout the afternoon and to push her now was to inevitably push her away. He would think he was closer to her than ever but she'd slip free from his grasp.

It was probable that it was also an after effect of her relationship with Angel. She was now walking around wondering what she'd gotten herself into with another vampire, a soulless one this time. One that still desired the hunt, still bowed to the need for human blood over animal, one that still wanted her above anything.

Above everything.

Anything she asked he'd do if he could just stay with her.

To give her up would be like giving up heaven, bliss was being in her arms, nirvana was her touch, and ecstasy her blood.

Yet in order for him to have her, someone had given her up.

Spike snorted and slipped out of his shorts before stepping into the shower.

Angel was an idiot.
 

Love In Vein - Chapter 13

Buffy tied her hair back into a ponytail as she walked down the stairs. Her bathrobe had been replaced with dark blue jeans and a deep red jumper that had sleeves long enough to cover her hands--or at least the band-aid that was now firmly stuck over the wound on her wrist. It wasn't that Spike hadn't done a good job of healing it; she just didn't want her mother or her friends to see the cut there and get panicked about what she was doing.

Rounding the bottom of the stairs, she smiled warmly as she saw Willow sitting in the living room with a large book on her lap.

"Hey, Buffy." Willow placed the book down carefully on the coffee table and wrapped her friend up in a hug.

"Hey, yourself." Buffy smiled warmly at her as she was released. "How come you didn't come up and see me?"

"Your mom said you were sleeping. She made it pretty clear in her own little way that she didn't want you to be disturbed. So we thought we'd do a little research and wait for you to wake up." Willow sat back down and picked up her book again.

Sitting down next to her friend, Buffy frowned at the large tome she was reading. The pages were crinkled and delicate looking and she could tell by the gentle way Willow turned them that it was very old.

"Spike woke me up." Buffy said casually and watched her friend's fingers pause. "We? Who else is here?"

"Spike? Is he feeling better?" Willow looked up to see Buffy smiling slightly. "Giles gave me a lift. He's talking to your mom in the kitchen. I suspect it's about your houseguest."

"Spike…when he makes lewd suggestions that means he's feeling better, right?" She watched Willow's eyes widen dramatically. "Kidding…he's good, he's in the shower…which is progress."

"It's my house, Rupert…it's up to me who stay…" Joyce cut herself off as she noticed Buffy sitting on the couch.

Giles looked awkward. "Buffy, looking a little better today."

Buffy let the frown that had developed on her face melt away as she realised that her mother had been standing her ground on the Spike as a houseguest issue.

"All good with the sleep." She beamed up at him.

There was a loud thump upstairs and the muffled sound of swearing, Buffy pressed her hand against her mouth to stifle a giggle--afraid that Spike would know she was laughing at him.

Joyce, Giles and Willow stared up at the ceiling and then down at Buffy for an explanation.

"Spike. He's a not so patient English patient. He was looking a little bored in bed and he's feeling a little better today, so I said he could take a shower and get dressed."

"That's good to hear, sweetie. Does he need anything?" Joyce gave her a look that Buffy interpreted as the 'anything' in question being blood related.

"He's fine." She curled up on the sofa and peered over Willow's shoulder again as she started to flick through the book. "So what're we looking for?"

The phone ringing caused Buffy to frown for a second, and then dismiss it. The chances were it was someone for her mother or just Xander calling in. Except part of her knew that it wouldn't be Xander. Since he'd found out that she was bonded to Spike and that Spike would be staying no matter what he said, he'd been avoiding her. Everyone else she knew was already here.

Joyce saw that Buffy wasn't going to make a move to answer it and walked across the room to the phone and picked it up.

"We're looking for information on claims. Just trying to see what kinds of things you and Spike are likely to share, and if there is any information on human-vampire claiming." Willow gave Giles a little look to see if she'd got it right, when he smiled reassuringly, she turned to Buffy.

"I already know some of the things we can do…Spike woke me earlier, he was talking…" Buffy beamed at them and then trailed off as her mother spoke.

"Cordelia?" Joyce breathed out in a sigh and then frowned into the phone as the room descended into silence.

"Cordy?" Buffy was on her feet immediately, crossing the room to where her mother was standing and ready to take the phone from her.

"She's right here, hang on." Joyce handed Buffy the phone and gave her a concerned look.

"Cordy?" Buffy furrowed her brows as she heard her sniffling down the line. "What's wrong…seriously? No…it's going to be fine…I'll do everything I can to get there…we'll find him, Cordy. Don't do anything until I get there…when? I'll do my best. Bye."

Placing the phone back down, she stared at it for a moment as she tried to get everything straight in her head. She felt nauseous, her body suddenly drained of energy as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Buffy? What is it?" Willow touched her arm and Buffy gave her a look that said she hadn't even noticed she had moved from the couch.

"Angel." Buffy stated flatly and started towards her weapons chest. Opening the lid she pulled out her axe and crossbow and then froze--she didn't know where to look. She turned to find her friends staring at her with confused looks. "Angel. The people who had Spike…they tracked Angel down and took him."

"What are you going to do?" Giles gave her a questioning look. "You can't go after them alone."

"I know." Buffy raised her head up and gave him a hard look. "I know. Spike would go with me but he's not strong enough, he'd be itching for payback and he'd know where to look. I know him; he could hunt down Angel from the tiniest trace of blood. I have to do something, Giles."

"I'm going with you." Giles stepped forward and put his hand gently on her shoulder. He was relieved when she only tensed and didn't swat his hand away--it was a good sign that she was making progress with controlling the effects the claim had on her.

"Me too." Willow stood up. "You're not leaving me behind. Besides, Oz has a van he could drive us to LA in."

Buffy smiled mischievously as an idea popped into her head. She only hoped they'd have the time to do it before they had to leave for LA.

"What is it?" Giles frowned at her as she grinned, her hands gripping the axe tightly.

"Spike will come with us. He'll be strong enough if I help him." She held her hand up as Giles went to protest. "Not blood. Something else, this time. Something he was looking for in Sunnydale and I know he was close to finding it."

"What?"

"A gem."

"A gem?" Willow looked incredulous--how could a gem make Spike strong?

"God…he told me…boasted about it…um…Gem of…I remember I teased him, I said 'Gem of A-what-huh?'."

"Amara?" Giles offered.

"Bingo!" Buffy pressed her finger against her nose and pointed at him. "Gem of Amara."

"It's a legend, Buffy…a vampire Holy Grail, it doesn't exist."

"Spike thinks it does, and I think it must since it made him come back here to find it, risking a major ass kicking by me. He had a whole team looking for it. He was close, Giles, I know he was."

"But Buffy…" Giles was cut off as she raised her hand up to silence him, her eyes closing as she knit her brows.

She reached out. "Spike?"

His voice came back loud and clear, making her stomach swirl as he purred at her. "Yeah, love?"

"The Gem…do you know where it is?" Buffy knit her brows a little tighter, trying to get a lock on his location in the house and wondering if he was still in the shower. She blushed at that thought.

"Yeah…why? Didn't think you'd been one to endorse my finding it, pet."

"The guys who hurt you, they have Angel. I need you to help me…you need the Gem."

There was a long pause and Buffy wondered if the mention of Angel was the cause of it or whether he was just considering his answer to her plea.

"Why?" Came his reply, his voice laced with suspicion.

Buffy hesitated this time, unsure of whether she wanted to give him the reason that had just come into her head, fearing he would see it as an admission of her feelings if she didn't word it right.

"Because…I can't do this without you and you're still weak. The Gem will make you strong, invincible right? Then you can come kick their asses with me. Get some payback?"

As she waited quietly for his reply, she could feel everyone in the room staring at her--they probably thought she'd gone insane just standing silently in the room with her eyes closed, one hand raised in the air.

"Invincible." Spike slipped into his combats.

"As in they can't kill you?"

He paused with his fingers on the button of his fly, her words hitting him hard in the chest. Giving himself a moment, he put to memory her words and the concerned voice she'd spoken them with. He slipped his shirt on.

"Wouldn't let them kill me, kitten."

"You dressed?" Buffy let her frown disappear as her stomach heated through. She couldn't stop imagining that she'd been talking in his head while he'd been naked.

"I am now." Spike swore he could feel her blushing as desire laced what he was feeling from her.

"Come downstairs?"

"Anyone holding pointy weapons?"

She glanced around the room and then closed her eyes again, trying to ignore the way his tone of voice had told her he didn't exactly trust her friends.

"Only me." She replied.

"That's good then." Spike appeared at the bottom of the stairs and watched her open her eyes. He had to admit she really was cute when concentrating so hard on talking to him telepathically.

Relief washed through her on seeing him standing there, dressed in his red shirt and black combats and looking like he was almost back to normal. Only he wasn't. Neither of them ever would be back to normal again; they were changed irrevocably by what they had been through together, and what she had done.

Buffy moved across the room to him immediately, her instincts making her want to protect him from the unsure looks he was receiving from Giles and Willow. When she reached him, she noticed the way his eyes had narrowed and his head had cocked to one side as he watched her. She smiled nervously.

"So you want me to play bloodhound and find him for you?" Spike's tender look disappeared. It stung him inside to talk about Angel with her. He'd witnessed them enough over the years to know that a small thing like a claim wasn't going to stop them feeling for each other. All he really wanted to do was ignore her plea for help and let Angel die, that way he'd be guaranteed there was no way for his grandsire to steal his new found girl away from him.

But he couldn't.

He knew that if he told her he wouldn't help her that she would just go out into LA alone and do her best to find Angel using her senses. It was more dangerous if he didn't help. The chances were she would either get herself killed by the gang, or she would rescue Angel and stay with him.

He wasn't about to let either of those happen.

No, he'd go with her to LA and help her as best he could under the pretence of getting revenge on the gang who beat him to within an inch of his existence. Buffy would know that he was going solely to protect her and his interests but she wouldn't say anything. He'd realised since capturing her and the aftermath of the events that followed that she was the kind of girl that noticed everything, picked up on the tiniest things and saw straight through the lies but never said anything. She'd let him pretend that he was only going so he could do some vengeance, and all the while, she'd know he was there purely to protect his girl.

Dragging his eyes away from her, he looked at the other people in the room, the little red headed Wicca that he'd threatened to bottle, the ever-diligent Watcher that was giving him a look that was clearly meant to tell him not to step out of line, and the mother.

Joyce.

She was a good woman. The only one who'd really listened to him when Drusilla had left him, the only one of them that had actually got close to killing him, the only one he wouldn't eat if given the chance.

He gave her a smile and wasn't surprised when he received a warm smile in return.

Buffy watched the way he was looking around the room, his eyes seemingly just taking in his surroundings as her senses told her different. He was weighing up the situation, measuring up the adversaries and figuring out their strengths and weaknesses.

"Find him with me." She said quietly and watched his head immediately turn to face her, his eyes narrowing questioningly.

He ignored the rest of the room as he fixed his eyes on hers. They seemed to sparkle at him as he looked into them, searching them for the truth behind what she'd just said.

She wasn't commanding him or pleading with him anymore. Her emphasis had been on showing him that she wanted him to be with her on this mission, she wanted him to fight alongside her.

As an equal.

As her mate.

Spike took a step towards her and ran his fingers lightly over her hair, his eyes following them as he gently moved to cup her cheek and raise her head up so he could see into her eyes.

Buffy let her eyes run over the small cuts that still littered his face, the bruises slowly fading more and more each day. She knew the blood she'd given him had helped to quicken the pace of his healing, and if he needed more to strengthen him, she'd offer it to him.

Leaning into the palm of his hand, she almost averted her eyes from his as he smiled down at her. The warmth of it caught her off guard. She was so used to seeing him with a cold expression on his face that the sudden show of real tenderness towards her hit her hard in the chest and she found herself questioning the concept of a soul again. From where she was standing, and the depth of emotions playing out in his eyes, it seemed suddenly clear that he didn't need one to love.

"I've got your back, Summers."
 

Love In Vein - Chapter 14

Buffy gripped the flashlight tightly in one hand while her other was being held firmly by Spike. She glanced down at their hands, her small fingers interlocking with his and his thumb absentmindedly caressing hers. She wondered if he knew how much he calmed her by doing that. To the eye it seemed like a tiny display of affection, but inside it felt like a whole mountain of tenderness.

Raising her head, she shone her light into the darkness ahead of them, the honeycomb of tunnels that had probably been here for centuries felt cold and foreboding to her. Bad memories lingered around each corner and the only thing that was keeping her moving forward was the perpetual motion of Spike's thumb against hers.

Her plan was a simple one--or at least it seemed simple on the face of it. They needed to return to the caves to find the Gem of Amara and then get back to her house where her friends would be waiting for them. From there, they would journey to LA to find Angel.

She just hoped that finding the Gem wouldn't take as long as it sounded and that the lingering voice in the back of her mind was wrong--Spike wasn't going to lead her in circles long enough for Angel to be dust in the wind.

She knew that their history was against her. Spike didn't really want to rescue his grandsire from a painful death, not even after he had been saved by him. No, Spike wasn't doing this for Angel.

He was doing it for her.

She'd seen in his eyes that his only reason for going with her now and travelling back to LA to play the hero to her heroine was because she had asked him to and he couldn't let her go alone.

She'd seen a lot more in his eyes besides that.

He wasn't hiding anything from her anymore. She'd seen everything he needed to tell her, and for some reason, it didn't scare her.

It didn't scare her, because she knew that she felt the same way. Even though she couldn't bring herself to admit her feelings out loud, deep inside she knew they were the same as his. The claim she had placed on him was testament to how she felt and it was only a matter of time before she built up the courage to let the whole world know.

Buffy was dragged out of her warm reverie by Spike suddenly coming to a halt. She shone her flashlight in a wide arc in front of them to try and see why he'd stopped.

"Two paths." She raised her brows and looked up at him for an answer.

As he slipped into game face, she let her eyes widen slightly and felt her heart skip a beat. She remembered when he'd tried to throttle her on the bed and the effect it had had on her.

Spike let his eyes slide across to rest on her face as he listened to her heartbeat accelerating. He wondered for a moment if it was just an instinctive reaction to seeing him in vampire guise or whether there was something else at work. Inhaling deeply under the pretence of discovering which direction to go in, he resisted the temptation to smile as he caught the scent of her arousal in the air.

He gave her a sly look and watched her cheeks darken.

Buffy dropped her eyes to rest on the flashlight and tried to ignore the way his gaze seemed to burn into her.

"This way." Spike pointed and then realised she wasn't looking. She was staring at the torch with her head turned slightly away from him in a shy manner.

He'd given up trying to pretend he didn't feel anything towards her. Half way through his shower he had been pondering their interlude in the bathroom and it had dawned on him that if she wanted to know how he felt about her all she had to do was reach out and sense it in him.

Acting like there was nothing happening between them seemed pointless after that.

When she'd spoken into his head about wanting him to go to LA with her he'd surrendered completely to his emotions. William was well and truly free and was making the most of it. Every time he looked at her, he found his head filling with poetry he'd thought was long forgotten.

He let his eyes trace over the profile of her face as they started to walk again, taking in the curve of her lips as she concentrated on the darkness ahead of them and the way her soft golden hair framed her face so perfectly.

As she turned her head to face him he slid out of game face, his features morphing back into human form as his demon receded--forced away by the emotions that rose up on looking into her eyes.

"How close were you?"

"Close enough. Reckon a few more hours drilling and I would have been through the rock and into the chamber."

"And you're sure?" She didn't want to sound sceptical but she had been on the receiving end of Spike's plans often enough to know that they rarely went as he intended.

"Sure as I can be." He led her down a slope and then to the right.

She recognised the area as the one he had carried her through that night.

Spike felt her fingers tense and grip his hand more tightly. He gave her a reassuring squeeze and moved closer to her.

He didn't like being back in the lair anymore than she did, his memories of the place weren't good ones and he got the feeling that they probably weren't alone. Places like this in Sunnydale wouldn't have remained unoccupied for long. He just hoped that his drilling equipment was still there on the scaffolding and that the power supply was still in place.

Moving through the maze of tunnels he kept a firm grip on Buffy's hand, only relinquishing his hold on her once they had arrived in the spot he'd been drilling last.

Spike took the flashlight off Buffy and moved the beam across the room.

Buffy watched as he inched the light up a scaffolding tower and then finally came to rest on a hole in the ceiling. Or at least, the start of a hole.

"There." Spike said quietly. "I was getting close to something. The sounds of the rock was starting to change last time I was drilling, I could hear it getting weaker and thinner. Something echoed in it."

He handed her back the torch and quickly ascended the tower.

Buffy held the flashlight steady as she watched him moving about on the tower.

"Still here." He called down and held the drill up so she could see it. "Find the lamps, they should be near the corners of the room."

Walking around the room, she hummed a quiet tune to calm her nerves as she searched for the lights. The small beam of her torch seemed pathetic as she tried to illuminate the large expanse of the chamber. She frowned into the darkness and smiled as something metal reflected the beam back at her.

Fumbling up the length of the pole, she grasped hold of the switch and flicked it.

"Let there be light." She beamed up at Spike as the room was flooded with a warm yellow glow.

Spike's eyes widened.

Buffy frowned.

The vampire growled.

As he leapt down from the scaffolding, it looked to Spike like Buffy was moving in slow motion. Her eyes grew as round as saucers as she turned to face the large vampire behind her.

"Buffy!" Spike ran towards her as the vampire hit her hard across the face.

She fell to the floor; the only noise she made was the sound of her breath being knocked out of her by the hard ground.

Spike tackled the vampire and pinned him to the dirt, punching him repeatedly across the face as he slid into vampire guise himself. The rage he felt inside him was primal, like nothing he'd experienced before and he knew it was because he'd seen his mate attacked and hurt. He growled viciously as he grasped hold of the vampires head with both hands and twisted it clean off.

Slowly standing up, Spike dusted his knees down and stared at the grey ashes littering the floor. He turned to face Buffy and held his hand out to her.

Buffy looked at his hand for a moment, her heartbeat refusing to settle down and her imagination running away with her as it bought images of the other demons that could be lurking just out of sight in the caves.

Slipping her hand into his, she let him haul her up off the dusty ground. As she brushed down her backside, her eyes remained fixed on his large hand as it firmly held her small one. The thought of what they could do to her seemed to make the images of demons in her head disappear until there was only him.

Holding her hand tightly as he looked after her.

Warmth spread through her and she smiled at him.

"You alright?" Spike watched as her expression turned dreamy and he couldn't help wondering what she was thinking.

"Uh huh." She nodded dumbly and kept her eyes fixed on his as her smile widened.

"You sure?" He was starting to worry that she'd had the sense knocked out of her, the grin on her face was continuing to widen.

"I'm fine. It's just…weird." She realised from the confused look on his face that he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. "I mean, I'm usually the one doing the rescuing and it's just a little weird being the one rescued."

Spike let his brows rise as he looked up at the scaffolding in an attempt to avoid her eyes. He could feel her balancing, could sense what was coming next and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He was a vampire. He was evil. The fact that he was slowly being pulled over into the world of fighting against evil was bad enough, but being thanked by Buffy for doing good--he didn't want to go there.

Spike wondered at just what moment his whole world had changed.

He already knew the answer--it was staring him in the face, or at least staring at his face. He let his eyes shift to rest on hers as she tried to get his attention.

The moment he'd seen her, he'd fallen. She was in his system quicker than a virus and had taken him over piece by piece each time they'd met.

He let go of her hand.

"It's nothing…" Spike started moving towards the scaffolding again but stopped when he found her hand firmly holding onto his wrist, not letting him get away from her.

"I just wanted to say…" She jumped slightly as he span quickly to face her.

"Don't! It was bad enough when you said it in your bedroom." He said sharply and saw her eyes widen. "Just…I mean…evil, love."

The way he'd spoken the word 'evil' had been enough to tell her everything she needed to know. He'd sounded so desperate to reiterate it to her, to put his point across with one little word that she understood perfectly.

She understood why it upset him better than he did.

He was scared.

Not that he'd admit it of course but she could see it clearly in his eyes.

He was scared that he was slipping into the realm of good and he felt he had to stop her before she pulled him in further by thanking him. She let go of his wrist and nodded at him, showing him that she could appreciate where he was coming from.

Watching him mount the scaffolding again, she realised that being with Spike was going to mean living with the things he had done and the things he could do. The more she pushed him to try and make him good, the more likely he was to retaliate and give Sunnydale a massacre the proportions of which it had never seen before.

Walking towards the tower, she mused how she was going to handle him.

Her favoured option of force was well out the window when it came to Spike.

She would have to play gently with him. Let him choose his own path and just give him the occasional nudge in the right direction when he stepped a little too out of line. She hoped the claim would ensure he behaved himself. That being bonded to her and the feelings he felt for her would keep him in check when it came to his desire to hunt.

Either that or she was going to be donating blood a lot.

She just hoped the residents of Sunnydale would be thankful to her for it.

A hand shooting into view caused her thoughts to leap away and she ran her eyes up it to his arm and from there to his face. He was leaning over the edge of the boarding on top of the scaffolding with a patient look on his face.

"Think it's safer if we both stay up here. Not much room, though. Might be a little snug."

Buffy smiled and clasped hold of his forearm near his elbow and squealed slightly as he grabbed her arm and hauled her up onto the platform. She definitely wasn't used to having someone around again who was as strong as she was.

Spike chuckled quietly but stopped when she shot him a glare.

"Sorry. Just never imagined you could make that noise." He picked up the protective helmet and raised his brows at her.

"I could make better noises than that." Buffy mumbled quietly and then bit her lip as his eyes narrowed on hers, the intensity of them showing her that he'd heard.

She silently cursed vampire hearing.

Spike gripped the helmet tighter and decided not to ask her for specifics about the noises she thought she could make. Maybe one day she'd show him first hand.

Putting the helmet securely on his head, he turned to face her and waited for her to laugh.

Only she didn't.

She just smiled at him, like she had the last time he'd expected her to laugh.

He was starting to get the feeling that she was less predictable than he'd always believed she was.

Picking up the drill, he pressed the ignition button and grinned widely as it gunned into life, filling the caves with a loud rattling noise.

Buffy stuck her fingers in her ears and frowned at him.

Spike shut the drill off and grabbed the pair of ear defenders on the platform near him. He'd wanted them to protect his own sensitive ears but he couldn't deny his need to look after her and he found himself offering them to Buffy.

She took them with a smile and slipped them on, wriggling them until they felt somewhere near comfortable. She didn't want to imagine how unattractive they made her look.

When Spike chuckled at her, she didn't have to.

Buffy stuck her tongue out at him and waved dismissively at the drill.

Still smiling to himself over how ridiculous Buffy looked, her small head framed by the giant yellow earmuffs, he lay on his back below the hole and fired the drill up again. He pulled the face guard down and braced himself as he started to drill into the rock.

Buffy let her eyes roam the recesses of the chamber below them as her hands toyed with the flashlight. She couldn't stop replaying the sight of Spike coming to her rescue and killing the vampire who had attacked her.

Was it always going to be like that whenever they were out together?

Would he always have her back the second she slipped up or was in danger?

Buffy surmised that he would because she would do the same for him and for the first time in what seemed like eternity, she felt safe. She couldn't deny that it was a nice feeling to have. After all the years of fighting countless demons alone or with her friends, she would finally have someone alongside her who could defend her if she needed it.

Not that she'd need it.

But it was a nice feeling to have.

Angel had protected her while on patrol and she'd been thankful for it, but Spike protecting her had a different feeling to it altogether. She knew Angel would have done anything to save her but she got the feeling that Spike would go beyond the limits of what Angel would sacrifice.

He'd die if it ensured that she'd survive.

Extending her senses and focusing on him, she closed her eyes and let her feelings wash away, only to have them replaced by his a moment later.

She frowned.

He felt tired.

His muscles were protesting over their current constant use when they had grown used to not being in demand. She could feel the struggle within him--the desperate need to keep the drill steady so he would break through the rock faster.

Buffy pulled the plug.

Spike sat up and lifted the visor. He looked at her wearily and then frowned as he saw she was the reason the drill had stopped.

"Give me the drill."

"No." Spike said flatly, but saw she wasn't going to take it as an answer.

"Give me the drill."

"No."

"I'm not asking you for the drill, Spike. I'm telling you to give me the damn drill." Buffy knit her brows and held out her hand.

"Why?" Spike frowned at her, not relinquishing his grip on the drill.

"Because you won't admit it but I know you're tired. You need a rest." Buffy watched his expression soften on hearing the note of concern in her voice. She kept her eyes locked with his as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Her heart hammered hard against her ribs. Taking a deep breath, she curled her outstretched hand up and crooked her finger. "Come here."

Spike blinked at her, unsure of why she wanted him to come to her but still getting the feeling that she was up to something.

He placed the drill down and took off the helmet, running his fingers over his platinum locks before moving slowly along the platform to her.

Buffy met his eyes again and tilted her head to one side. "You're weak still, I know you don't want that…you want to pretend that you're a hundred and ten percent again but I can feel you, Spike…I can feel that you're weak and you're tired. Drink."

Spike stared at his marks on her neck as he considered her words and her offer. They were nothing more than a few scabs and scars now. She was asking him to bite her again, to feed from her and inflict a new set of wounds on her throat. He slowly moved his eyes back to hers, and frowned.

"Angel will see." He said in a tone that expressed just how curious he was about her motives.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. I need you strong, Spike. Feeling you this way…only makes me concerned about you…I feel like I can't concentrate. And since when have you needed someone to ask you to bite them?"

"Since I met you." Spike spoke the words quietly and moved his eyes to her neck. "Funny thing that…thought I'd bite you in a heartbeat, but turns out it doesn't feel right if it isn't consensual."

Buffy's stomach warmed up and flipped. From the look in his eyes, she could see that he was being honest with her and part of her wanted to thank him for not wanting to bite her without permission--only she remembered how well her last attempt to thank him for something went.

"It's always consensual, Spike." She blushed slightly on saying it out loud to him and could see by his widening grin that he'd picked up on the fact that she liked it.

Leaning towards her, Spike slipped into vampire guise and wrapped his arm around her waist, tugging her to him and holding her tight as he perused her neck. He was more fascinated than hungry, the thought of his grandsire seeing his own marks replaced by his childe's was too sweet a one to ignore. He brushed his lips against her neck and listened as she sighed out her breath, her head moving to grant him easier access.

Spike breathed in deeply and closed his eyes.

He was enthralled.

It wasn't just Slayer blood anymore, he was captivated by the thought that she was his--body and soul, blood and heart. He belonged to her now, was claimed by her and would be always unless she reversed it soon. He knew she didn't realise that by allowing him to feed from her she was strengthening their bond to the point where it was becoming irreversible. He didn't have the heart to tell her that of course.

He didn't have a heart.

Letting his teeth slowly puncture her throat he made the most out of it, relishing the way she bit back a moan and how her fingers threaded gently into his hair and held him against her. She was divine, a creature more perfect than any he'd imagined. She clung to him in the most exquisite way and he found himself clinging to her tightly in return.

Drinking deeply from her, he savoured each drop of blood that passed down his throat, feeling it melting into his veins and making him stronger as it became a part of him.

He'd never let her go.

It was just a matter of time before he made his move. He would wait for the moment; the very second that she showed him that she really wanted to be his and his alone.

Then she'd find that this claim between them now was just the beginning.
 

Love In Vein - Chapter 15

Spike was mesmerised.

He couldn't take his eyes off her as she lay on her back, the heavy drill resting slightly against her slight frame and the vibrations causing her breasts to wobble. He raised his brows and stared at them. They were slowly being covered by a layer of small rocks and dust but each time she shifted, the covering fell away and revealed them again.

He smiled.

She seemed to have everything in the palm of her hands--strength, agility, grace, beauty, perfection and most of all, him.

He continued to stare at her, unable to tear his eyes away from her chest. He didn't even realise she'd broken through the rock above her until she was on her feet and putting the drill down. She lifted her visor up and peered into the hole.

Spike shook his head to clear it and grabbed the torch that rested on the platform nearby. Walking over to her, he clicked the button in and shone the light up into the rough entrance.

In the darkness, he could make out a vaulted ceiling; old frescos adorned it along with some form of decorative stone relief.

Buffy pulled the helmet off and looked to Spike.

"Wait here. There should be some lanterns in this room somewhere. I'll go find them. Just keep an eye out for trouble." He slid into vampire guise and handed her the torch before dropping to the floor.

Buffy shone the beam around the room, trying to scout for potential danger in the dark recesses where the lamp couldn't reach. Reaching out with her senses she could only feel Spike in the vicinity, no other dangers registered on her Slayer radar. She listened to him as he moved around the tunnels nearby, his boots making a quiet scraping sound in the dirt as he used his heightened vampire sight to find the lamps.

He held his arm up to cover his eyes as he reappeared directly in the spotlight of her torch.

"Jesus…Slayer…blind a man, why don't you." He growled and slid out of vampire guise, his eyes hurting from the intensity of the light.

"Sorry." Buffy smiled awkwardly at him as he ascended the scaffolding.

He handed a lantern to her with a flourish and gave her a smile.

Buffy turned the torch off and turned on the battery-powered lamp. It glowed eerily white in the darkness, casting strange shadows in the chamber.

Placing it inside the room above them, she hauled herself through the makeshift entrance and then stood up slowly, taking the lamp with her. She held it up high and looked around the room as she waited for Spike to follow her.

There was row upon row of dead men, nothing more than remnants of skin and bones now. She surmised they had been there for a long time, as long as Giles had predicted when he'd told them before they'd left about the last known sighting of the Gem of Amara.

Spike of course had felt the need to add more detail to everything Giles said.

It was all she could do to keep from laughing even now. The look on Giles' face had been priceless, his brows knitting indignantly each time Spike had added his titbit of information in a sardonic tone of voice.

Buffy turned to look at the vampire in question as he looked around the room, a frown etched on his features and his lips slightly parted in concentration.

"So what exactly are we looking for…ring, bracelet, necklace?"

Spike shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest. Weren't exactly any pictures of it in the research I did."

Buffy giggled. Spike arched a brow at her.

"Sorry…just…never pictured you as research guy. You and Giles would get along so well…if you don't count the bickering you guys did over the Gem yesterday." She started moving around the room in the hopes of avoiding the way he was looking at her--like she was proposing he should don angel's wings and sing at the Christmas pageant.

"I know it's green. Gem like. That's all."

"So how are we supposed to find it?" She ran her fingers over the end of one of the tombs and then pulled a face as she saw all the dust on her fingers. She wiped them hurriedly on her jeans. "I mean, I hate to say this, but it's a needle in a haystack kinda scenario."

Spike pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and held it out with the handle pointing towards her. Buffy stared at it but didn't take it.

"It's easy, love. I try something on, you cut me. Process of elimination."

Buffy didn't like the sound of that; the thought of cutting him each time he put something on made her stomach turn. She looked around the room at the hundreds of pieces of jewellery and artefacts that had gems on them. By the time they found what they were looking for, he could be as weakened as when she'd rescued him.

"No." She said flatly and saw his brows knit into a frown.

"No?" He sounded incredulous, as if no one had ever said it to him before.

"No." Buffy shook her head vehemently. "I don't want to hurt you anymore than you are already."

Spike stepped towards her and tilted his head to one side. "I'll be fine. We get the Gem and it will heal me…so, no harm done, right?"

He felt his free hand twitching by his side as she furrowed her brows. He desperately wanted to stroke her cheek and reassure her more than he was allowing himself to, but the closer they got to mounting the attempt to rescue Angel, the less inclined he was to lay his heart out on a silver platter. He mused that what was left of his heart may be dead but it still hurt like hell when it got trampled on.

"If we find the Gem." Buffy gave him a stern look.

"It's here, just got to find it." He looked around the room and then down at the knife in his hand. "If you don't want to do it…"

Buffy watched in horror as he grinned wide and drew the blade down the length of his forearm, cutting himself deep enough to make her want to be sick at the sight of the wound. As his blood started to spill out, she found the sickened feeling in her stomach growing worse as it was joined by blind panic.

"You…there are no words for how stupid you are." She growled and looked up at him with a frantic expression, then froze as she realised that he'd turned the tables on her. Where she had cut herself in order to get him to do something to her, he was now cutting himself to get her to find the Gem. Buffy mumbled. "Idiot vampire."

Spike held his arm out to her and watched her face blanch of colour as the frantic edge returned to her eyes. "Clock's ticking, pet."

He smiled as he watched her start to move around the room searching for anything with a green gem in it. Spike casually walked around the tombs trying on everything from necklaces to bracelets to rings in the hope of finding something that would heal him.

It wasn't that the wound on his arm was life threatening, not like Buffy was treating it as. It stung a little, but it was nothing when compared to what he'd suffered at the hands of the vigilantes. It was more irritating than anything, a hard throbbing that he knew she could feel as keenly as he could. The sight of her so panic-stricken had made him instantly regret his decision to cut himself. He'd done it to spite her. To see just how much she cared about him so that later in LA--when they had found Angel--he could compare the panic she felt for him to how panicked she got about Angel.

He toyed with a small bracelet, a delicate weave of gold and diamonds.

It would be perfect for her little wrist.

Buffy raised her head to look at Spike as she walked towards him with an armful of jewellery. He was staring down at something with a soft but distant smile on his face and she wondered what he was looking at. As she reached him, he moved his hand so the object he'd been so fascinated with was hidden from her.

"Try these." Buffy dumped them down on the tomb next to him and started handing him them one by one.


As he tried on and discarded the last one, she started to lose hope that they would find the Gem of Amara in amongst the masses of jewellery surrounding them. Buffy slipped her fingers under his hand and raised it up slightly, furrowing her brows as she noticed that it was covered in blood.

Spike swallowed hard as he felt what she was feeling inside.

Hurt.

Pain.

Fear.

All too reminiscent of the feelings he'd sensed in her that night in these very caves.

Grabbing a rag off the tomb, he let go of her hand and wiped his own clean with it before raising his arm up and licking along the length of his wound. It wouldn't heal it but it would alleviate some of her distress.

Spike took a deep breath to steady himself.

"I'm sorry."

Buffy's eyes shot up to meet his, a questioning frown etched on her features over the sincere way he'd said those two words. She closed her eyes as the backs of his fingers brushed against her cheek, sapping the warmth from her but replacing it with its own kind of heat.

"We'll find this Gem, Buffy…and we'll be in LA before you know it." Spike let go of her cheek and started to walk towards the table at the end of the room.

Buffy remained with her eyes closed for a few seconds as she absorbed the warmth of the touch and the way his words reassured her deeper than he could have possibly known. Turning around, she followed him to the other end of the room and silently began to look through the piles of artefacts and jewellery there.

Picking idly at the lockets and rings and other trinkets gathered on the table she let a smile creep across her face as she held up a tiara. She turned to Spike with a mischievous look and showed it to him.

Spike rolled his eyes in a way that said he was clearly unimpressed.

"Would be funny, though." She grinned as she tossed it to one side, thankful that the mood between them was starting to lighten up.

Her fingers grasped a small ring. Holding it up for inspection, she frowned at the green stone that resembled a scarab beetle. It felt different to all the things she picked up so far. She could almost feel power in this one.

Her stomach flipped with nerves.

As she stared at it, the atmosphere around her suddenly felt heavy, full of tension as she mused how such a small thing could bring so much power to Spike.

More power than even she had.

Her stomach bubbled again and she swore her hands were trembling. In the back of her mind doubt surfaced. She wasn't wholly sure what to expect from Spike once he had the Gem of Amara. How was he going to react to commanding all that power? Would he kill her?

As Spike turned to look at her, she jumped slightly, betraying the fact that she was nervous about something. He looked down at her hand and arched a brow at the gold ring she held in it.

Spike reached his hand out to her. He could sense how anxious she was and he knew she had found something of interest.

Buffy slowly placed the ring on his finger, her hands shaking even though she was trying her hardest to stop them. She watched him sniff and then frown as he waited for something to happen.

Her eyes widened as the remnants of cuts and bruises on his face disappeared, leaving behind his usual smooth pale skin. Looking down at his arm, she blinked as the long cut there healed itself.

Spike let a grin stretch across his face as he felt the power flood his system, his cracked ribs and wounds all healing rapidly. Picking a cross up off the table, he slid into game face and let his smile widen as he chuckled.

Buffy took a step backwards and away from him as the nerves in her stomach escalated. In front of her was the Spike she'd thought had long gone, the sociopath killer she'd known two years ago.

She gasped as he grabbed hold of her wrist tightly and pulled her flush against him. His arm snaking around her waist, he grinned down at her and held her firm as she wriggled.

Buffy went still as he brushed his lips against her neck. Her eyes rolled backwards and her heart raced. The intensity of his signature in her abdomen made her feel sick, the strength of it seemed to have increased a hundred fold and it made her head spin.

"Spike…" Buffy breathed into his ear and listened to him growl against her neck. "…We really need to move…"

"Not yet…" Spike purred. "Something I need to do first."

Buffy whimpered as he held her painfully tight and bit down hard on the left side of her neck. As the initial shock and pain faded away, she found herself clinging to his shoulders as he pressed her backside into the table. His hips rubbing against hers.

Threading her fingers into his hair, she let them tease it into intricate swirls and listened to him growl low. She knew it wasn't a threatening growl or a commanding one, this one rang of appreciation--he liked what she was doing.

As he pulled harder on her blood, she realised it wasn't just his signature that felt different. His bite felt stronger, more intense. It was more like death but at the same time, she felt safe.

Spike released her neck and licked it clean. He frowned at how deep he'd bitten her when he saw the wound. It had been a moment of need on his part, an undeniable desire to leave his mark on her and ensure that she was his. He knew that the moment he pulled back he'd find a questioning look in her eyes.

So he didn't move.

"I needed to…I felt…I just needed to do it." He pressed a soft kiss against her throat before turning sharply and walking towards the hole in the floor.

Buffy was stunned. Reaching her hand up she pressed it against the marks on her neck. Her eyes widened.

He'd bitten the opposite side of her neck.

The unmarked side.

Watching him climb through the hole and back into the chamber below, she realised why he'd done it. It hadn't been unmotivated or just something he needed to do. He'd intentionally marked both sides of her neck so no matter what she did, Angel would see.

Her stomach flipped.

She was well and truly his now.
 

Love In Vein - Chapter 16

Buffy flinched as the van jolted over a pothole and almost caused her to fall from where she was precariously balanced in the back of it on one of the low benches that ran along its sides. Spike raised his head up where he was sitting opposite her and growled.

"Bloody hell, keep an eye on wolf boy's driving up there, would you, Red?" He scowled towards the front of the van before lowering his head again and staring at his hands.

Willow looked back at Buffy and Spike from her comfortable perch in between Giles and Oz on the front seat. "Sorry."

Turning her head back towards the windscreen, she muttered. "Cranky vampire."

"Hey…" Spike hollered at her in an indignant tone. "I heard that."

Buffy suddenly found his eyes on hers for the first time since he'd bitten her after they'd found the Gem. They hadn't spoken since then, she'd fallen silent on the walk home and he'd avoided meeting her eyes at all costs. She toyed nervously with the axe in her lap. She didn't know why she'd brought it with her; it was for comfort she supposed--it wasn't like she could kill the people responsible for hurting Spike and kidnapping Angel.

Looking into the deep blue depths of the eyes that were firmly locked on hers, she realised that she couldn't let Spike kill them either. She could see in his eyes that he wanted revenge. He was itching for the fight even more than she was and she couldn't blame him. If someone had hurt her that badly she would have been out for a little vengeance, too. She surmised that she also was--in a way. She was dealing out payback on the gang that had assaulted her mate and taken her former lover.

Spike let his brows knit as his eyes moved to rest on her throat. The deep bite marks that adorned it were rapidly bruising and by the time they arrived in Los Angeles, they would be almost black. He felt his stomach tighten up and looked away, letting his eyes roam anywhere but where he'd bitten her.

Buffy reached out and tried to grasp how he was feeling. She could sense complete disharmony in him. His feelings were chaotic underneath his supposedly calm exterior, but in amongst them she could sense guilt and anger at himself. She'd wanted an apology from him for what he'd done to her but now she didn't need him to verbally say one to her, he had done it emotionally instead.

She placed her axe down on the low, bench like shelf she was sitting on and fixed her eyes on him. He was staring down at his hands again, picking at his nail varnish and making it more chipped than it was before.

Buffy reached out and was surprised to find that it had become more instinctive to her, she didn't feel the need to concentrate in order to talk telepathically anymore.

"Spike."

She watched his fingers freeze.

"Don't ignore me."

He raised his head up slowly and looked into her eyes. She frowned on seeing them so full of sorrow.

"Better. Are we good?" She let her brows relax as he nodded slowly.

"We're always good, love." He smiled briefly at her.

"I hate this feeling."

Spike arched his brows and cocked his head to one side, wondering if she was talking about the air of discomfort between them. "What feeling?"

"The build up to the fight. I don't like it when I have time beforehand to think about it…you were always the worst for that…"

His brows rose. "I was?"

"Don't give me the innocent look. I remember the night I met you…in the alley. You gave me the date of our next meeting and stated flatly you were gonna kill me…I had days to sit and wonder…of course, Giles didn't help with his stupid books and research, telling me how you killed Slayers…"

Spike shrugged.

"Think it wasn't murder for me to have to wait that long? Hell, you were there…I couldn't wait. Had to bloody see you…fight you…just do anything to be…"

Buffy frowned as he cut himself off. "To be what?"

"It doesn't matter…it's nothing."

She shook her head. "Nu huh…you're not getting away with letting that hang there…it's going to ruin my concentration if I'm thinking about that all through the fight."

Spike surrendered and moved to sit next to her. She turned slightly to face him and smiled as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I couldn't get you out of my head. I still can't. Drusilla saw straight through me. I was blind. I would've done anything to get close to you…I still would."

Buffy placed her hand into his and squeezed it. "You are close to me. You're the one with the magical Buffy insight…can't you see that? You told me that I don't let people get close to me, you're close to me Spike…sometimes a little too close."

He dropped his eyes to her neck and stared blankly at the marks. She was right, she had let him get close to her and he'd bitten her for it. He'd taken the trust she'd shown him and used it against her in a fit of petty jealousy. He brushed the pads of his fingers over the wound and then looked up into her eyes.

Buffy frowned on seeing his eyes so full of sadness. Letting go of his hand, she cupped his cheek and drew him towards her.

"It's fine. I know why you did it. You don't need to explain anything to me."

She leant closer to him and felt her breathing hitch in her throat as her lips neared his.

"Everything alright back there?" Giles turned to see Buffy shooting away from Spike with an awkward smile on her face.

Spike growled.

"All good." Buffy grinned and then moved her eyes back to Spike's as Giles turned around again.

Spike stared at her. He couldn't quite believe that she had been about to kiss him and now that moment had passed, flitted away and left his lips aching for her touch. He shifted closer to her and watched her cheeks turn rosy as her eyes dropped to rest on her knees.

Placing two fingers under her chin, he slowly raised her head up and let his gaze settle on her lips, their shiny redness luring him in. He stopped breathing as she closed her eyes, her head tilting back slightly in invitation. Since kissing her thighs while healing her wounds, he'd been dreaming about kissing her lips, wanting to explore them with his own and feel how soft they were.

He listened to her heart as it pounded against her chest, her blood rushing through her veins and her breathing becoming heavy.

It was all too sweet, too perfect.

Sitting in the back of a dark van with three of her friends not two metres from him, and her willing to let him kiss her. Him. Kiss her. This girl that had played on his mind from the moment he'd seen her; this woman that had teased him without ever knowing it. She had slipped through his grasp innumerable times and now she was openly submitting to him.

Taking a long deep breath, he zeroed in on her mouth and moved towards her slowly. He rolled his eyes closed as his lips touched hers.

Buffy furrowed her brows as a sweep of tingles raced through her body, shivering down her spine and making her insides heat through. The feeling of his lips brushing gently against hers was incredible. They were soft and tender with their kiss. She felt like she was nothing more than a girl again and experiencing her first, her stomach swirling with nerves and her heart beating sickeningly hard against her chest.

Spike sighed out through his nose as he pulled away. He felt floored. Unable to think clearly--unable to think at all. All he could concentrate on was the feeling buzzing inside of him, and the desperate need to kiss her again--to taste her sweetness and her innocence.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her. She was sitting with her hands in her lap, her eyes closed and her lips parted slightly.

She was an angel.

She was beautiful.

She was his.

Opening her eyes on feeling him so warm and affectionate towards her, Buffy blushed as she smiled shyly. She slipped her fingers into his and let her head come to rest against his shoulder as they journeyed on towards Los Angeles.

Los Angeles.

Those two words made her body ache with conflict and she held Spike's hand a little tighter, watching his thumb caressing hers idly like he'd done when they were in the his old lair. She realised it was because he could sense her nerves and apprehension and was wordlessly trying to soothe her.

"Almost there, Buffy." Willow called back at her from the front of the van.


Buffy frowned as the side door of the van slid open, revealing an early evening lit side street of LA to them. Spike let go of her hand and she looked at it. It felt strangely cold without his holding it firmly. Picking up her axe, she hopped down from the van and stretched as she gazed up at the building Angel ran his business from.

Cordelia was pacing nervously on the steps.

Spike stepped out of the van with an unimpressed look on his face and then frowning as he looked up at the evening sky with a distrusting air. Buffy could see he clearly wasn't happy about being back in LA.

Cordelia's eyes widened in alarm on seeing Spike and her nervous pacing grew more rapid. She wrapped her arms tight around herself and gave him furtive looks as he and Buffy walked towards her, closely followed by the rest of the gang.

"Cordy." Buffy said calmly and ignored the way she was reacting to Spike's presence. "Let's go indoors."

As she stepped into the building, Buffy couldn't help reaching out to Spike and sensing how he was feeling. He was full of anger the moment he crossed the threshold, the sight of the basement door clearly a painful reminder of what happened the last time he was here. Buffy turned her head slightly and caught his eye as she gave him a small reassuring smile.

"This won't take long." She said quietly and then followed Cordelia up the stairs to the first floor.

Settled around the table in Angel's office, Buffy remained near Spike as Cordelia desperately tried to get things in order. Buffy could see that she was nervous, and it wasn't just about Spike. She was getting the feeling that the brunette was nervous about herself being there, that Cordelia's concern for Angel was more than just that of a friend.

"We need all the information you have on what happened to Angel and what the vigilantes have been up to; if there have been any sightings in specific locations, I need to know about them. I know Angel was looking into this gang, so he'll have the file somewhere. Time is important, Cordy. The quicker you give us what we need the quicker we can get moving."

"We?" Cordelia looked stunned. "Don't tell me he's going with you? I mean it's one thing to bring him back here, but to take him with you to find Ang…"

"Listen…I don't have time for this…" Buffy ground out from between clenched teeth and then took a breath to steady herself. "I'm going to find Angel but I need Spike with me in order to do it…I don't see you volunteering to come along as back up and I don't think you quite have the senses for tracking…so do what I asked you to and make it snappy."

Spike frowned as Cordelia looked at him and then hurried out of the room muttering to herself.

Buffy tried to ignore the way her friends were looking at her. She knew it was wrong of her to shout at Cordelia at a time like this, but she didn't need another person questioning her liaison with Spike or her reasons for having him with her. She glanced over at him and felt her stomach heat up like a volcano as he gave her a crooked smile.

Casting a glance around the room at her friends, she couldn't help noticing the way their eyes continually worked their way from her back to Spike. She couldn't blame them for being on edge around him. He'd joked enough times about eating them and she'd seen the look in his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking. To him they were all fair game. The only one he hadn't looked at in that calculating way was her mother. She knew the only thing stopping him from killing them all right this minute was the fact she'd told him not to and that seemed good enough--for now at least.

Buffy walked over to them and sensed Spike's disapproval at her leaving his side. She ignored the desire to go back to him and continued towards her friends.

"Hey, Will." She spoke quietly and frowned slightly as Spike started pacing the room. Willow's eyes followed his every move. "He won't hurt you, I promise…I know that you're all probably thinking I'm crazy, but I swear to you he won't try anything."

Willow didn't look convinced.

Buffy looked over her shoulder at Spike and widened her eyes slightly to intimate that he wasn't helping. He stopped dead and narrowed his eyes on hers before dropping them to rest on her lips.

She subconsciously licked them.

Tearing her eyes away from him, she turned back to Willow, Giles and Oz.

"Please…trust me, guys. I can't explain what happened but…it's deep…the connection runs deep between us…I can't ignore it, and it certainly isn't just going to go away…" Buffy saw that Willow was starting to cave and looked over her shoulder to Spike. "Come over for a second?"

Spike paused for a moment, as if he was considering her request carefully, and then moved towards her. When he reached her, he stared straight at her neck. Buffy sighed as she realised he wasn't going to make things easy for her.

She ducked her head and caught his eye. "Spike…don't be an ass…just, these are my friends, I'm not going to lose them because they think you're going to make a snack out of them…please?"

The sound of her pleading with him was enough to make him reconsider his actions and think about doing what she asked. He knew she rarely pleaded with anyone and for her to do so to him must have taken a lot, even with the bond.

Spike let his eyes move across to her lips again. He felt like they were singing a siren song to him; now that he'd tasted her a little he only craved it more. If he kept giving her friends the 'I'm going to eat you' looks, he'd never get to kiss her again.

"Fine…" He watched her lips twitch into a smile and licked his own. "On one condition."

"Name it." Buffy didn't hesitate.

Spike just stared at her mouth and heard her heart beat harder as her teeth worried her lower lip.

"Spike…I…in the van…I…" She furrowed her brows and realised that she couldn't say 'no'.

She had no excuse ready.

Nothing came to mind.

Because she wanted to kiss him again as badly as he wanted to kiss her.

She could feel Willow, Oz and Giles staring at her as her eyes remained locked with Spike's. Her hands trembled and she clasped them together to try and stop them. Her mouth seemed drier than the Sahara.

Her heart raced.

Palms sweated.

Anticipation.

It was killing her.

Spike took a step towards her and saw her back away. He continued stalking her in the same manner until she bumped into the desk and couldn't escape him. He grinned down at her.

Buffy felt her knees buckle.

Swallowing hard, she found her eyes falling to rest on his mouth, the full lower lip begging her to kiss it, to lick it and nip at it.

Spike smirked as he tilted his head to one side, listening to all the hallmarks of arousal as they took over her body. He leaned in close to her neck and inhaled the tempting fragrance of her blood.

Buffy closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the desk tightly as she waited for him to make his move. She willed her heartbeat to slow down so her head stopped feeling like it was spinning. Her stomach ached with anticipation.

Suddenly the feeling of him drifted away. She couldn't sense his body next to hers or feel his cool breath against her neck. Opening her eyes, she found her friends all staring at her and Spike was nowhere to be seen.

"Son of a…" Buffy grumbled and looked towards the doorway, feeling more than a little stupid over being so enthralled by him in front of her friends.

She went to move to find him but Willow caught her arm.

"Buffy. You okay?"

Buffy smiled at the first show of genuine concern she'd received from her friends in what seemed like a long time. "I will be once I get hold of that tricky little bastard."

"Buffy…" Willow released her arms and looked over her shoulder at Giles for reassurance. "…We trust you…it's just, free range vampire with a history of trying to kill us all? It's going to take a little getting used to."

Buffy sighed out her relief and touched Willow's arm. "Thanks…it's taking a lot for me to get used to him, too, and I'm the one who claimed him. Could my life get any crazier?"

The sound of swearing and screaming in the other room made her cringe. She could hear Cordelia screeching and Spike growling obscenities, and then something that sounded like glass shattering. Running to the door of the office, she grasped hold of the doorframe and stared wide eyed at them.

"What the hell is going on here?" She shouted and watched them both pause mid-swing.

She couldn't believe the mess as she looked around the room, vases and lamps had been smashed and pieces of paper littered the floor. Just how could one vampire and a girl make so much damage in such a short amount of time?

Buffy realised that the answer to that would be something verging on easy if the vampire was Spike and she was the girl. They had always managed to cause a mass amount of destruction with their fights.

"She started it." Spike pointed at Cordelia, a lit cigarette bobbing up and down on his lips.

Buffy was bought sharply back to reality.

"He's smoking…" Cordelia whined at Buffy and she wondered if her voice could reach a higher pitch without it leaving even her hearing scale. "I told him not to…told him I'd kick his skinny white behind if he lit that thing up…does he listen? Rude vampire."

"Stupid bint." Spike growled at her and blew cigarette smoke into her face with a malevolent grin.

"Oh, that is it…" Cordelia swung hard and grunted with effort.

Spike caught hold of her fist in a casual manner, his expression turning bored.

"Spike…" Buffy set her sights on him. Her eyes narrowed and she tensed her jaw up as she walked towards him. "Let her go and put out that damn cigarette."

Spike just arched his brow, both the cigarette and his grip on Cordelia's hand remaining firmly in place.

"Spike, I'm not going to ask you again." She stood next to him and put her hands on her hips.

Spike leaned his head back so he was looking down at her, his eyes narrowing in a show of defiance.

"Right." Buffy went to punch him but found that the hand he'd been holding Cordelia's with was quickly wrapped around her own.

She gasped as he twisted her around so she was leaning over backwards and then rolled her eyes closed as his lips descended upon hers. Her whole body went lax under the subtle pressure of his kiss, his large hands holding her steady and his body as close to hers as possible. As he pulled away, she just stared into his eyes. She was too shocked to do anything else or to make sense of her situation. All she could focus on was Spike, his fingers as they held her waist and supported her back, his eyes as they searched hers and his mouth as he smiled at her.

Her lips played into a serene smile and she brushed her fingers lightly against his forearm.

Spike blinked at her languidly. "You're beautiful."

Buffy's cheeks burned up.

Giles coughed.
 

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