Chapter Thirty Four.

Intentions.


There was a knock at the door. Impatiently, Spike went to answer it and briskly gestured for the waiter to bring their order in.


Buffy was still in the bathroom. Spike wasn’t sure if she was crying or sick, but it had to be one or the other, judging by the way she raced off in that direction five minutes ago. Spike debated whether or not to go fetch her or just let her come out on her own. He settled for the latter because he wanted the decisions to be hers. Now that she knew certain truths, there was no point in forcing her. She would either choose him willingly or he would choose for her. There was no way he would let her put herself at risk because she was afraid of a physical relationship with him.


He poured tea out for himself but left hers sitting in the pot. No sense in letting hers go cold, he told himself as he sipped the hot liquid. Outwardly he appeared calm, but the inner turmoil was well hidden. Years of hiding his true feelings allowed him to play the part well. He stared at the bathroom door as a host of conflicting emotions raced through him. Would she choose him? Did she still have feelings for Angel? Would it be possible for her to develop feelings for him? Could he keep up the pretense? Would the strain prove too much for both of them? What would happen if he was found out?


He already knew the answer to that. Masters would kill them both, but Spike didn’t care. She was worth the risk. It hit him afresh and he examined the reality. He was in love with the same woman as Angel…again. Only this time, the woman in question wasn’t in love with Angel. That gave him hope and something to build on. Buffy’s heart was free. Spike knew if it wasn’t; he would not have offered to make her his mistress.


Would she choose him? Anguished, he waited for her answer. He’d given her a choice, true, it wasn’t much of a choice, but his hands were tied and his options were very limited. He wished he could offer her more. Offer her, her freedom. Spike stared at the door.


*****


Her eyes were perfectly dry, and although she felt a wave of nausea and dizziness hit her, Buffy wasn’t sick. She sat on the closed lid of the toilet trying to gather her tumbling thoughts. It wasn’t easy.


Spike had confirmed what Luke told her. Choose him or choose death. She had to be brave and she had to think…think…think.


She needed to talk to him, and sitting locked in the bathroom of an expensive hotel in downtown L.A, wasn’t going to help her. Only Spike could provide her with the answers and she wasn’t going to get them sitting there, staring off into space.


Quietly, she unlocked the door and walked back into the sitting room. Spike was sitting on the couch calmly drinking tea. Buffy was amazed. She had a life or death decision on her hands and he was calmly drinking TEA! This was the man she was supposed to work with, live with and sleep with for the rest of her life.


But will it be for the rest of my life? What if he tires of me? What if I don’t live up to his expectations, or what if he just gets fed up and loses his temper with me one too many times? Would he send me to Masters then? Or would he have one of his own men kill me? Oh God what if it was Gilbey? STOP! STOP! STOP! She couldn’t keep doing this to herself. She had to ask him what his intentions were and stop with the ‘what if’s.’


Silently, Spike poured her a cup of tea. She sat in the chair opposite him. He pushed the cup towards her with a little nod of his head. Buffy tried to read what was going on behind those blue eyes of his, but he’d retreated to that calm place where she couldn’t fathom him out.


She was so surprised when her voice came out strong and clear. “If I say yes, what’s to say you won’t just send me to Masters when you tire of me or when you meet someone new?”


Spike nearly laughed. Of all the questions he thought she would ask, that one was the furthest from his mind. The question was revealing, it told him she was young and insecure and afraid.


“Buffy, why would you think that would happen?”


“Why wouldn’t I? You expect me to do this without any assurances I’d be safe with you and I don’t think a simple promise will work this time.”


Spike nodded, understanding her point. “What would assure you?”


She looked confused and pained by the question. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But surely you can see I expect some type of guarantee for the safety of not only myself, but my friends and family too.”


“Okay…you’d want a guarantee or some solid, solemn gesture to satisfy you of yours and everyone’s safety. Will you give me some time to think ‘bout it…to come up with a solution?”


She nodded. What else could she do?


“What’s your next question?” Spike abandoned the idea of asking her any more questions in favor of helping her purge herself of all the things that was bothering and tormenting her.


“Will you expect me to be involved in anything illegal?”


“No, and not because I don’t trust you. I know how very distasteful you would find that. Besides, there’s plenty of legitimate work for you to occupy yourself with. In fact, I think as soon as it can be arranged, I would like you to take on the duties of my PA for real and I promise you…you’ll never have to handle anythin’ illegal. So, what else?”


Buffy was so relived when he gave her a promise to go along with the simple word ‘no’, she felt she could breathe a bit easier. “Okay…I know you expect me to accept a…a…sexual relationship, but where do you see it leading?”


Now it was Spike’s turn to look confused. “What’d ya mean pet?”


Buffy looked uncomfortable and the blush was beginning to creep up her face. “Well you said it would be real and permanent…does that mean you expect it to last for years?”


Without hesitation, he replied. “Yes Buffy…I expect it to last for years and years. I already told you I won’t let you go and I won’t share you…ever.”


“But what if you meet someone and fall in love with them and please don’t say that’s not possible. We both know it’s not possible to decide who you fall in love with. You say you won’t share me, but…but what about you? Do you expect me to accept other women in your life? I have my pride too. If I’m to do this, then all my friends and family will know and I just don’t know how I’d live with their pity if you decide to flaunt your girlfriends all over town.”


At last, Spike felt he was getting to the heart of her fears. She thinks that all she’ll ever be to me is my mistress, someone who sleeps with me and has sex with me, but he knew differently. His feelings for her weren’t so shallow, but she didn’t know this. She’s young, and like all young women she must have had dreams of a home, children and a loving devoted husband who’d be there for her. Spike felt foolish for not having thought of that before. He’d spent too many years in love with a woman who never considered those things as part of her life. Drusilla would have laughed at him if he even hinted at them settling down. Buffy had probably spent most of her life taking it for granted those things would be hers somewhere in the future.


Spike believed he’d found his answers. Buffy was afraid of him. A relationship with him meant giving up on her hopes and dreams of a future with some nameless, faceless man…simply put, she expected to fall in love and live her life in an exclusive relationship. So how can I convince her she’ll be safe with me? That I’ll provide her with all she’ll ever want or need? That she can trust me…without giving myself away?


He slipped off the couch and knelt in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he looked into her face. “Buffy, we both have pasts but that’s what they are, the past. If you agree to be my mistress, I wouldn’t cheat on you with anyone.” The whole stupid, sordid incident with Cordy twisted his gut, and for a moment, shame and guilt overwhelmed him. He renewed his promise to himself, to never allow his temper to provoke him to react like that again, for both their sakes. “I hated it when Dru was unfaithful to me and I wouldn’t do that to you. I know you must have imagined a different kind of life for yourself and I’m sorry that it’s being denied to you now, but you must know I’m not to blame for that. I know I can’t give you a conventional type of life, but maybe you’re beginnin’ to realize that whatever kind of life you envisioned for yourself was lost to you when you met Angel, but you’d be safe with me. I know it must hurt to think ‘bout livin’ your life with someone you don’t love pet, but isn’t that better than the alternative?”


Sighing, he brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear in a tender gesture. “I know I’ve got a rotten temper and it’s gotten away from me on more than one occasion in the last few weeks, but I promise I’ll try harder to control it. I wouldn’t ‘urt you and you ‘ave to admit that when we both make an effort, we get along jus’ fine and I don’t mean the sex an’ stuff…I mean us…like this, jus’ talkin’ like any normal couple. I know we’ll ‘ave to work at it, but Buffy that’s the same for everyone, even people who are madly in love. In a way, we ‘ave the advantage, we’re not burdened down with all those silly romantic notions of happy ever-afters and undying love.”


Spike sighed, wondering if he was getting through to her. She was silent and just sat there, staring at him. “But you’ll ‘ave my respect…I would never flaunt other women ‘around town’ because there will never be any other women. You already know I want you. Do you really believe I would offer to protect you and safeguard you for years to come jus’ to get you into bed? No, Buffy…I won’t tire of you. How could I when I want you so much already? You’ve never hurt me like Dru hurt me. I might not be your idea of the perfect man and God knows I’m not, but I can still treat you properly and you know I can be tender and gentle with you. Wouldn’t that be enough for now? Who knows, if you give me a chance you might come to feel some small measure of affection for me. I already know I do for you…and believe me Buffy if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be offerin’ you all this. You’d be on your way to New York.”


Spike held his breath waiting for her answer.


Buffy was mesmerized. She wasn’t expecting to hear what he said. It was as if he’d looked inside her heart and saw all of her fears and tried to soothe every one of them. Well, nearly every one. He was right. They would have to work at it. It was frightening just how right he was. He knew she didn’t want to go to Masters. She didn’t want to die and therefore she didn’t really have any choice at all. Yet, here he was, going to great pains to assure her she would be safe with him. That he wouldn’t tire of her. That he would respect her and treat her well. That he even had feelings for her.


There was just one more thing she needed to clarify with him and then she was pretty sure she would be able to give him her answer.


“I don’t want children. Not with you…not ever.” Her voice was flat, expressionless, and remote.


Spike had never even considered having children and was surprised to discover how much her words hurt him, but what could he say? It was her choice and if it meant she would be his, then he would go along with her wishes.


“That’s your choice Buffy and I don’t expect that from you. If that’s what you’ve been thinking, then you’re wrong. Our life would hardly be a good environment to raise children. So don’t worry, I won’t be making any demands on you to mother my children.”


They gazed at each other…one trying to convey his sincerity and the other trying to convey her conditions.


Buffy decided he meant what he said. Sighing, she said. “Then I think I could live with that.”


Spike swallowed. “Then you’ll stop fightin’ me…be with me…be mine?”


“Yes.”


He pulled her into a gentle kiss, holding her tenderly. His eyes opened when he felt her silent tears trickle over his face. Her sadness washed over him and he vowed to try and make her as happy as he possibly could. To love her as best as their situation would allow, even if she never knew.


Brushing her tears away, he deepened the kiss and caressed her hair, rocking her gently in his arms and loving her as best he could.


*****


They drove back to the house in silence. Spike took her back up to their rooms. He told her he was going back to his study to work. Since Buffy had completed all of her paper work, he advised her to spend some time quietly, thinking things over. He told her she had until Saturday to make up her mind completely and then her decision would be final. He wasn’t willing to give her any more time than that.


*****

After only twenty minutes on her own, she was restless and edgy. She needed to get out…burn off some of the pent up energy she felt was trying to burst out of her. Buffy rang Spike’s study. She asked him if she could use the gym.


Ten minutes later, Spike escorted her to the gym. He’d pushed his work schedule aside for an hour to spend some time with her. The workout session reminded him of their very first one together, both silent and watching each other whenever they thought the other wasn’t looking.


He glanced at Buffy. She was listening to something on her M3P player, lost to the rhythm of the music as her feet pounded on the treadmill. He wanted to suggest a swim or a soak in the hot tub, but knew she probably would think he was trying to initiate a sexual encounter, so he kept quiet, but continued to wonder what she was thinking.


Buffy was working hard at not thinking. After everything was said, she decided to just give in to Spike’s wishes. Since he’d given her as many answers and reassurances as she required, she put her worst fears to rest. She knew she couldn’t deny the irrefutable truth any longer. She was trapped, caught between Spike and certain death. Now all that was left was how well she adapted to things and how she could make the best of a bad situation.


She became aware of her body telling her she had enough exercise and punishment for one day. She hoped off the treadmill and turned to see what Spike was up to. She wasn’t surprised to find him watching at her. She mumbled her intentions to finish up and then headed for the showers.


Spike didn’t try to stop her or even speak to her when she passed him. Shaking his head, he sighed and followed her, thinking they needed to work at things.


On the whole, he was happy. They had talked and Cooper was right. They needed to know more about each other. How else could they learn to be comfortable together? Spike promised before Saturday, Buffy would know a lot more about him and her new life. He would let her know whatever was necessary to make her feel comfortable and at ease, even if it meant telling her all about Angel.


*****


Dinner was a quiet meal for both of them and it wasn’t until they were sitting in front of the TV, watching some silly game show that Buffy surprised Spike by asking him what he intended to do with Drusilla. “I spoke to a Doctor Chambers earlier and I have an appointment to go and see his facility Thursday afternoon. If it checks out, and I hope it does, then Drusilla will be going there. I wish I was able to arrange to ‘ave her treated at home, but all the doctors I’ve spoken to all insist in cases like Dru’s, the best care can only be provided at special facilities. Why’d you ask luv?”


“I was just wondering. I mean, how odd would it be to live here with you as your mistress while the woman you love is locked up on the floor below us, existing in a child’s world.”


A thought occurred to Spike. “Buffy I’m not in love with Dru. I do love her and I probably always will, but I’m not in love with her. Jus’ like you’re not in love with Angel, but will always care what happens to him.”


Buffy stared at him. Then she quickly turned her attention back to the TV not quite knowing what to say to him. How could he not be in love with Drusilla? After everything he put her through just find out where Angel hid her.


“Will you come with me on Thursday, give me your opinion on Doctor Chambers and his clinic?” He asked.


“Er yeah…if you want me to, but what will you do if this place doesn’t work out?”


Spike frowned and guessed she was trying to see how serious he was about giving her assurances. “Well if this one doesn’t work out, then I’ll jus’ keep lookin’ until I find one that does. Buffy, I don’t expect you to live ‘ere in her shadow even if she isn’t aware of your importance to me. That’s not to say I don’t feel responsible for her, ‘cause I do, but there’s nothin’ I can do to help her besides get her the best care and doctors that money can buy…but you come first luv.”


Buffy felt like Spike had hit her. He just kept coming out with these statements. Maybe he meant them in a reassuring way but he was only confusing and scaring her. She was just starting to get used to the idea that to safe guard her life, she would have to become his mistress and now, here he was telling her she came first. What the hell does that mean?


Spike laughed at the puzzled look on her face. “What’s wrong luv, did you imagine I’d make the three of us live together in some twisted little comedy of a family?”


“I wouldn’t put it past you.” She mumbled under her breath, her eyes fixed on the TV.


Spike heard her and turned his head to look at her. He grinned to himself, thinking of all the naughty fantasies he had entertained with the three of them entwined around each other.


Buffy saw him gazing at her from the corner of her eye. She tried to ignore him, but after a couple of minutes with him still just silently staring at her, she faced him.


Her breath caught in her throat at the open expression of lust on his face.


“What?”


“Oh nothin’ luv, jus’ thinking.”


“Thinking what?”


“I doubt you’d really want to know,” he was smirking.


“You’re probably right,” she scanned his face and she didn’t like what she saw. “Could you stop looking at me like that?”


“Like what?”


“Like that,” she waved her hand in the general direction of his face.


“No…you’ll have to explain it to me luv,” he teased.


“Like…like…I don’t know…Oh just forget it and watch TV.”


Spike inched along the couch towards her until he was within touching distance. With his arm draped casually over the back of the couch, he started to play with her hair. “Oh I bet you do know luv. I bet you’ve guessed I was havin’ some very naughty…very dirty thoughts. I’m sure it was written all over my face. I jus’ can’t help myself when I’m with you…you bring it out of me. Two minutes in your presence and I’m thinkin’ of all the dirty ‘n’ naughty things I want to do to you…with you.”


Buffy kept her head turned to the TV, refusing to look at him in case he saw how his words were affecting her.


Spike inched a little closer and whispered. “Do you fancy some ice cream pet?”


“NO!” she yelled.


Spike chuckled at her reaction. “I jus’ love the way you do that; act so shocked and offended. You blush like a virgin. It’s so pretty. You’re so pretty. Have I ever told you that before?”


Buffy was sure she was blushing now. His compliments were definitely affecting her. Breathing was difficult and her heart was racing. She decided he was too close, so she slid further along the couch, trying to put some distance between them.


Spike smiled. He loved it when she ran away. It gave him a good excuse to chase her. He inched along the couch, forcing her to the end, where he quickly pinned her in, just in case she tried to get up. He could hear her breathing hitch and her face was a lovely shade of pink. He hoped she would always blush for him. It was so gratifying to see how he affected her.


Looking down into her lovely face he said, “Buffy, last night you said somethin’ that kinda got me thinkin’ and I was jus’ wonderin’ if you were jus’ teasin’ or if you meant it?”


She gulped nervously. “Meant what?”


“The bit about the school uniform?” he murmured.


“I…I don’t think…that…I mean it was just something that I was…” her words fizzled off. Spike was nibbling on her neck and ear. His tongue was doing very nice things to her sensitive skin, making her tingle all over.


“If I bought you one would you wear it for me?” he whispered.


Buffy forced her hands between them and pushed him away from her neck. “You see…this is definitely something we should talk about.”


“We are talkin’ ‘bout it luv,” he grinned.


“No! I don’t mean just the…the school girl thing I mean what do you expect from me. What will you want me to do? Because I don’t think I could do some stuff. So maybe you should just tell me now, so I’ll know what to expect.”


It was as if she suddenly found her voice and Spike was glad she was asking questions when they occurred to her. It gave him a chance to calm and reassure her.


Spike pulled back a bit further so she could see his face. “I don’t expect anythin’ you’re not willin’ to give.”


She looked doubtful. “But all that talk about threesomes and bondage and stuff I thought…that you’d want me to…to…” she stammered nervously.


“Okay, I already told you I won’t share you and that I prefer to be exclusive with the person I’m with. Though I ‘ave to admit that before Drusilla came home ill, I did fantasize about the three of us together,” Buffy gasped. “Calm down, I said fantasize…that doesn’t mean I ever considered it with anyone else or that I’d ‘ave acted on it. I’m a firm believer in doing what makes my partner comfortable. If I suggest somethin’ and you’re not comfortable with it or if you know it’s somethin’ you’d never want to do, then we don’t do it.”


Buffy breathed a sigh of relief, though she was a bit curious. “You’ve been in a threesome before,” she neither asked nor stated.


“What makes you say that luv?”


“Well you said you prefer to be exclusive…that means you already know what it’s like to not be…exclusive…so therefore you must have tried not being exclusive.”


“Very clever…okay, I’ll give you that, but jus’ because it’s somethin’ I’ve experienced, doesn’t mean I want to do it again or that I’d expect you to participate. I’d be more than happy jus’ being with you luv.” He kissed the end of her nose, trying to lighten things. “And as for games like the school girl one or bondage, again that’s up to you and it always will be, but that’s not to say I won’t try and persuade you so I can ‘ave my wicked way with you, but the final say will always be yours…I promise.”


Buffy was glad she asked. It was such a relief to know he would let her decide what she was comfortable with but judging from the little thrill that shot through her when he said he would try to persuade her, she didn’t doubt there would be some things he would get his way in. She remembered how in just a short period of time, he managed to persuade her to call him ‘Daddy,’ a clear indication to his powers of persuasion. Buffy thought she would have to be very careful.


“So…‘bout this school uniform?” Spike leered at her.


Startled by his leading question, her eyes widened and her brows arched as she looked at him. Buffy gulped.


*****


Lying in bed next to him, Buffy listened to his steady breathing. The room was flooded with moonlight and a warm breeze was wafting through the open balcony doors. She couldn’t sleep.


She was thinking over all the different things that happened to her and all the different things Spike had said to her. She turned to look at his sleeping form. He looked so young and peaceful asleep. Buffy wondered how old he was. Maybe she would ask him in the morning. Maybe she would ask him a lot more things in the morning, since he was in such an accommodating mood.


Restless, she slipped from the bed and wandered out onto the balcony. The stone slabs were cold under her feet. She leaned on the stone railing looking at the garden below. As usual, the fountains attracted her attention and she gazed at them, mesmerized by their slow movements.


Something caught her eye at the edge of the rose garden, a flash of something light and moving quick. Who’s that?She wondered. When she stared in that direction, she couldn’t make out anything in the deep dark.


She gasped when she felt Spike’s arms slip around her waist, the small sound carrying over the silent gardens. Spike chuckled, nuzzling her neck, making her gasp again as he licked the side of her throat. Buffy could feel the hard length of him pressed against her lower back. She wondered how it was possible for him to be always fully aroused. She shivered in his arms while little thrills raced up and down her spine, causing small moans to escape from her lips.


Spike sucked on her neck and slipped a hand down the front of her silk gown. He cupped her breast gently and rolled the soft weight in his hands before moving his fingers to her nipple, rubbing it to hardness. She was making those little moaning noises he loved. “Can’t you sleep luv?”


He felt her shake her head.


“I think I can help with that.” He continued to kiss and nibble her neck while his free hand slid down her thigh. He pulled the fabric of her gown up until he was able to slip his hand underneath to caress the smooth warmth of her leg. Buffy moaned prettily.


Spike pushed her forward. “Put your hands on the rail pet,” he coaxed.


Buffy did as he instructed, then screamed when he suddenly ripped the gown in two, down her back. The silken scraps fluttered to the floor when he yanked the thin straps away from the ruined bodice. Naked, Buffy shivered in the slight breeze. Spike quickly stepped up behind her and pressed his warm flesh to hers. Now that there was nothing separating them, she could feel his hard length pulsing.


Spike placed his hands over hers, pressing them to the cool stone of the railing. He rubbed his shaft against her soft bottom. Her breathing was picking up and she was trembling slightly. Spike could tell she liked his aggressive move…it turned her on. “Do you know how beautiful you look standin’ ‘ere all naked ’n’ washed in moonlight luv?”


She shook her head, moaning softly. Spike nudged her legs apart and slipped his hand over the small thatch of curls covering her mound.


“I’ve traveled all over the world and seen some of the most incredible works of art and beauty. I’ve seen beautiful women that would steal a man’s breath away, but I’ve never seen anythin’ or anyone that could compare to you. You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He whispered, kissing her neck.


Buffy gave herself over to his soft words and arousing touch. If it was like this…if he was like this all the time, I’ll never be able to resist him, she thought. She groaned when he placed a finger over her clit. She pushed her hips forward to meet his probing finger.


“You like that don’t you…my lovely girl?”


“Yes,” she whispered breathlessly.


“Do you want more? Do you want me to give you more?” His finger was so gentle and teasing it left her gasping for more.


“Yes…oh yes.”


Suddenly, he spun her around. He swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the table. She yelped loudly at the cold touch of the glass as he laid her down. Spike chuckled at her shocked yelp. He hooked a chair with his foot and dragged it over to the table.


He gazed at her spread out before him. God I want her so badly. Why Oh! Why did I tell her I’d give her until Saturday? When here she is, naked and beautiful and gasping for my touch, he thought. His cock was good and hard and he knew he would never be able to wait to finish her off before he would need some attention. He had to work both of them together.


He positioned her legs hanging over the edge of the table in the same way he’d been positioned on the pool table; only Spike was too tall to reach her comfortably. He pulled the chair closer and sat between her legs. Buffy was gazing up at the night sky, panting softly. The sound was the only thing he could hear. Quickly, he lowered his head to her open pussy and wildly consumed her. Her hands flew to her mouth, trying to contain her screams of pleasure as he fucked her with his fingers and sucked hard on her clit.


She was overwhelmed by his aggressive actions. There was no slow build up only a swift attack on her senses. She was screaming out her orgasm before she knew one was approaching. She panted and gasped as the shockwaves passed through her, leaving her feeling dazed and trembling. Buffy wanted more.


Spike slowed things down after her felt her slump. He was stunned by the force and speed of her climax. He didn’t expect her to come so quickly, he was amazed at how responsive she was to his touch. She is going to make the most amazing lover, he thought.


He grasped his cock in his free hand and pumped himself steadily while he continued to suck and lave at the river of juices flowing from her. He didn’t think it would be long before she was ready to come again. Thinking she must be cold, he planned to bring them both off quickly.


“Buffy luv…give me your hand,” he whispered.


She released the grip she had on the edge of the table and brought her hand to his face.


“Rub your clit luv…while I fuck you with my tongue.” Spike smiled when she gasped at his dirty words. He was pleased when she did as he requested. “Good girl…that’s it…jus’ like that…Oh! Fuck, Buffy that looks so good…now don’t stop?”


Panting, gasping and moaning, she shook her head.


Spike pumped his cock and groaned with her as together, they sped towards fulfillment. He wanted to come with her. He was so close. He could feel the pressure of his climax building painfully. He pumped harder, faster.


Buffy was rubbing her clit, moaning and writhing on the table before him. Fuck she’s so hot, he thought. He pushed two fingers into her tight wet hole and fucked her steadily for a few minutes before replacing his fingers with his tongue.


When he pulled away to draw breath, she moaned at the loss of contact.


“Buffy luv…put your feet on the arms of my chair. Yeah, that’s it. Now scoot a bit closer to me.”


Buffy wriggled her bottom to the edge of the table.


“No a bit further…jus’ until your pretty little bum is over the edge. Oh that’s perfect luv. Now don’t stop rubbing your clit.”


Spike viewed her and thought she looked fucking magnificent.


He pushed two fingers into her again while pumping his cock with faster, harder strokes. When his fingers were good and wet, he pulled one out and positioned it over her sensitive rose. At his first gentle touch she bucked and her head flew up from the surface of the table, touch, alarm clearly written on her face.


“Sssh kitten, I won’t do anythin’ you don’t want me to do. I’ll jus’ touch you like I did before. If you want me to stop…jus’ tell me and I’ll stop. I promise…okay?”


Her expression was tinged with alarm and hesitancy, but also curiosity. She gave him a small nod and dropped her head back to gaze again at the night sky.


Spike knew this was new to her and he was thrilled he would be the first man to ever touch her in this way. He knew if he was gentle and made sure she liked it, eventually she would let him do other things, so getting this right was very important.


“Relax kitten, I won’t hurt you, I promise,” he soothed her.


She moaned as his wet finger gently rubbed the sensitive flesh, making her gasp and pant. Buffy was unbelievably stimulated by the sensations his fingers were creating, one gently fucking her pussy while the other rubbed and caressed her softly. She continued to rub her clit, adding to the bliss she was experiencing. She trembled, feeling the moisture flow down between her legs, where Spike would rub his finger in it and spread it over her rose.


Spike pumped faster, harder watching Buffy writhe and moan. Gently, he pushed the tip of his finger in. She gasped, but didn’t tell him to stop. He pushed in a little further, watching her carefully. She was so tight, so wet. She felt good. He pushed deeper until his finger was buried inside her, then waited for her to grow accustomed to the feel of his finger, before he slowly pulled out and slowly pushed in again. He kept the pace slow, fucking her gently building her higher and higher until she was ready to explode, but somehow he managed to keep them both from the edge, waiting for her to tell him she was ready.


“Spike…please…I don’t think I can take any more. Please just make me come…please,” she begged.


Spike pumped them both faster, harder, fucking her with his fingers and pumping himself in time to her loud gasps. He got his wish as they came together.


Spike roared as he came, feeling her tight holes clench and contract around his fingers. She came with him and the sight of her rubbing her clit while his fingers pumped in and out of her, heightened the experience for him.


As soon as he stopped coming, Spike gently pulled his fingers from her and lowered his head to lap at the flood of juices flowing from her. She lay beneath his mouth making little noises and twitching, as the aftershocks of her orgasm passed through her. When her breathing returned to normal, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.


Under the covers she clung to him with her arms and legs draped over his chest and hips.


“Did you like that kitten?” he asked smiling.


“Yes…oh yes” she whispered sleepily.


“You’ve never done that before ‘ave you?”


“No.”


“Would you like me to do it again sometime?”


“Er…if you want to,” she said shyly.


Spike chuckled and hugged her to his chest. “Oh Buffy baby I want to. I want to very much. In fact, I want to do that and much, much more.” He kissed her passionately on the mouth, stealing her breath away. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”


“No.”


“Good, ‘cause I only wanted you to see how nice it will be between us. How much you can trust me not to hurt you…and I meant what I said. I’ll stop any time you tell me to, especially when we’re tryin’ somethin’ new or somethin’ you’re unsure ‘bout…okay?”

“Okay.”


“Good girl, now try and get some sleep…and Buffy.”


“Hmm.”


“You were very brave jus’ now. A lot of people find that a bit scary the first time, but you were perfect. I’ve never seen anythin’ as beautiful as you when you’re lost to passion. You’re incredible.” He kissed her brow.

“Goodnight luv.”


“Goodnight,” she whispered.


Buffy lay listening to the steady beat of Spike’s heart, as she drifted off to sleep feeling the smallest measure of safety since the first time she met him.


Spike lay listening to her steady breathing as he went over the events of the day in his mind; feeling happy and hopeful for the first time in years.

*************************************************************
TBC...soon.
 

Chapter Thirty Five.

Q. What’s wrong?
A. Everything.


Wesley returned on Wednesday. Buffy gave him a hesitant smile at the breakfast table. She thought he seemed serious and a bit detached. Shrugging, she didn’t think too much of it. She suspected he wanted to appear aloof in front of the others. Buffy was surprised to hear Spike announce that Wesley would be taking over all of Coopers duties, except his role as book man.


Wesley’s head shot up. He looked so shocked by Spike’s announcement that Buffy began to wonder about Wesley’s place among the other men. Now she could see a distinct difference in how Spike and the others treated him.


Buffy wondered if she’d be able to ask Spike why. At least now she wasn’t so afraid to ask questions, and Spike seemed willing to talk and put her mind at rest about almost everything. Though, she didn’t ask any more questions about Angel since their afternoon on the boat.


After her first meeting of the day, Spike led her into the rose garden where he’d instructed the kitchen staff to lay out a picnic. Buffy smiled at the sweet gesture and sat with him to eat lunch and talk.


She remembered to ask him how old he was and was surprised to find out he was thirty-five, eleven years older than her. Spike laughed at the look on her face. He kissed her sweetly, telling her the advantage to their age difference was that she got a man who was mature and experienced, while he got a woman who would always appear young and beautiful to him. Another reason why he would never tire of her, he told her. He was in such a good mood she ventured to ask a few more questions; nothing too adventurous just little things she’d wondered about. Like how did he intend to treat her in front of her friends and family, and would he allow her to ever see them again on her own? His answers were always cautious and well thought out, but he reassured her he would be very careful to treat her in a correct manner when in the company of her friends and family. He also told her it was up to her and how well she behaved and adapted to being his mistress, if he could ever trust her to be alone with anyone outside of the family. He was sure, given enough time; she would do what was necessary to prove herself trustworthy. Then he would be able to reward her accordingly.


Buffy felt the familiar sting of resentment wash over her at his arrogant words. She struggled with a sharp reply, biting her tongue. She managed to quell the urge and steer the conversation to more neutral topics.


Her second meeting of the day proved to be a bit more problematic than the first. The client, as Buffy preferred to think of the people she was helping, was not the easiest person to get along with. Ms. Tonya Hastings was in her mid thirties, tall with a figure to die for and a face to match. She made it clear to the much younger Buffy she preferred to be called Ms. Hastings. Buffy smiled tightly and decided to ignore that. In a sly way, Tonya hinted at her doubts that the younger woman could do her job, but Buffy smiled diplomatically and patiently went over her assessment of the staff problems plaguing The Black Port Hotel.


Buffy soon realized Tonya Hastings was only listening to half of what she said, and when Buffy caught her staring at Spike from her seat on the patio, she lost her patience.


Annoyed, Buffy glared at the leggy brunette. “If you think there’s something Mr. Winters can help you with, I’d be happy to call him out here for you Tonya, but I can assure you if you’d just pay attention to my report, you’ll see there is a workable solution to the staff problems you’ve been experiencing.”


Tonya didn’t even bother to look embarrassed at getting caught staring at Spike. Spike for his part, chose to ignore Buffy’s angry tone. He’d noticed the way Tonya Hastings looked at him when she was escorted through the door. Right away, he pegged her for a man eater, a real femme fatale. He’d met enough to recognized one when she looked at him in that certain way. He had to admit she was a knockout, and Buffy’s reaction was something of a surprise. She seemed more annoyed that the sultry Ms. Tonya Hastings wasn’t taking her and her work seriously, than with the way the beauty was trying to get his attention. Spike pretended to be oblivious to what was transpiring between the two women. If he stepped in now, it would undermine Buffy’s position and that was the last thing he wanted, so he pretended to be absorbed in his paperwork, but listened carefully to what was happening.


“I’m sure your report is adequate Betty, but if you had a few more years of experience in the field of personnel, I’m sure you’d see that what you’ve been discussing will only cover our more immediate problems. What we really need are long term solutions and since this is all so new to you, it might be a good idea if Mr. Winters took a look at my files,” the brunette coolly informed her.


Buffy bristled at the woman’s mistake with her name, especially when the brunette had gone to such pains to insist she be addressed as Ms. Hastings. Buffy was sure it was a deliberate mistake, a rebuff for calling her Tonya. Then to imply Buffy didn’t know what she was doing due to her lack of experience made Buffy’s blood boil. She had a total disregard for the work she’d done and Buffy saw right through the self assured brunette’s little ploy to spend some time with Spike and that made Buffy see red.


Buffy smiled politely and made her way over to Spike’s desk. She didn’t see the look of triumph in the other woman’s eyes as she walked away. She stood in front of Spike’s desk, patiently waiting for him to acknowledge her.


He glanced up, his expression neutral. “Yes Ms. Summers…is there somethin’ you wanted?” he said quietly.


She kept her voice low to prevent Tonya from hearing her. “Yes…I wanted to know if I have to clear any decisions with you concerning my clients.”


He arched a brow at her and sighed heavily, giving her the impression he was slightly irritated with the interruption. “No you don’t. I already gave you my opinion on your reports and so did Wesley. Your solutions were perfectly feasible,” he replied.


“And what if the client disagrees with my findings and refuses to even acknowledge my suggestions?”


Frowning, he sternly answered. “Well then Ms. Summers I’m sure if that were to happen, you would think of a way to deal with the client. I ‘ave every faith in your ability to do the right thing and you ‘ave my full backin’ in whatever decision you come to. Now, if you don’t mind Ms. Summers, I ‘ave a lot of work to catch up on.” He winked at her and flashed a wicked grin that told her what he was really thinking and feeling.


Buffy nearly laughed, but thankfully she controlled herself. She returned his grin with a shy half smile and walked back out onto the patio.


Buffy picked up her report and closed the plastic file, containing the paperwork. “If you’d care to follow me Tonya.” Buffy gestured for the other woman to follow her.


Tonya smiled brightly at Spike as Buffy led her back into the study, but her smile soon faded when Buffy walked straight by Spike’s desk and opened the study door. She stood next to the open door looking at Tonya, who was glancing at Spike expectantly and crossly at Buffy.


“Tonya,” Buffy snapped, gesturing with the plastic file in her hand towards the open door and the hallway beyond.


“Mr. Winters?” Tonya gave Spike one more appealing look, but he merely shrugged his shoulders and glanced back at his paperwork.


Annoyed and smarting from the obvious brush off, Tonya flounced out the door. Buffy shoved the plastic file into her hand when she passed her.


“I suggest you read my report Ms. Hastings and when you have and you’re ready to discuss my findings, you can ring me. I’ll make an appointment to see you, but I must warn you…you’ll have to wait until I’ve dealt with all the other clients first. They don’t deserve to lose their appointments just because you weren’t willing to take me or my work seriously…good day Tonya.” With calm dignity, Buffy closed the study door on the woman’s surprised face. She let out a loud annoyed sigh as she threw herself into her desk chair.


She glanced over at Spike. He was scribbling away on his notepad and didn’t even bother to look at her. Buffy walked out to the patio and collected all her notes and stationary, muttering under her breath about leggy brunettes with over blown egos.


Her afternoon was scraped thanks to, ‘Ms-move-out-of-my-way-little-girl-and-let-me-get-my-mitts-on-the-gorgeous-blue-eyed-god-behind-the-desk.’ Buffy sighed. She hated it when other women did that. It was demeaning and unnecessary. Her work was good and if the stupid woman bothered to peel her eyeballs off Spike and read her report, she would know how good it was…but no, the stupid ‘I-eat-men-for-breakfast,-lunch-and-dinner-while-squashing-all-other-females-under my-four-inch-heels’ woman didn’t give her or her work any real consideration. Well now she was paying the price. Tonya would have to wait weeks before Buffy would be willing to even take her call, and even then she would make her wait for an appointment.


Spike could see Buffy was distracted by the incident with Ms. Hastings. He tried to think of a way to restore her good mood.


“Since you now ‘ave the afternoon free, do you fancy a swim in the pool or maybe even a soak in the sauna?” he asked.


Buffy’s face lit up. The idea appealed to her. “Oooh that’s a good idea…I’ll just go and get a suit. Are you sure you can spare the time?” She was half way out of her seat.


“Oh…I’m sorry luv. I didn’t mean us…I meant you.”


Spike was pleased to see the flash of disappointment cross her face as she sat back down.


“Oh…okay then, but…er…who will you get to take me down?”


There was something in the way she said that, suddenly putting Spike on alert. His thoughts jumped to Gilbey and before he could think it through, he opened his mouth and spoke.


“Gilbey.”


Buffy’s face said a million things, most of them unreadable but Spike did pick up on one, fear, and then it was gone, her pretty face slipping into an expression of uncertainty. She smiled weakly.


“You know, I don’t know about a swim right now. Maybe I should just stay here and go over my next appointment, just in case he turns out to be as difficult as ‘Ms-I’m-a-skanky-ho-Hastings’ and then we could go for that swim when we’ve both finished,” she said hopefully.


Spike hid his feelings and smiled. “Now that sounds like a right good idea. I get to finish my work and look at you at the same time and as a bonus, I get to watch you swimmin’ all naked and pretty,” he smirked.


“I never said anything about being naked,” she said indignantly.


“Oh I know luv, but you don’t ‘ave to say it, you jus’ ‘ave to do it.”


Buffy shook her head half smiling, half frowning as she turned in her seat behind the desk and started browsing her files again.


*****


That evening, Spike took Buffy for a drive after dinner. He was thinking things over because he was unable to come to any real conclusions why he felt restless. One part of him was feeling all smug over the way Buffy handled Ms. Hastings. He was impressed with how she dealt with the vamp, and even more impressed with how she kept her cool. She’d handled herself professionally. Spike believed Buffy would do very well as his PA and as soon as she completed the projects she was handling now, he would switch her duties and again Cooper would be able to assist her. It would give his spending so much time with her even more credibility. Spike knew he needed to broach the subject of Cooper with her and wondered if he should just tell her to accept the other man’s presence or try and explain his reasons for deciding it was necessary for her own protection.


As he mulled over these things, Buffy sat beside him silently watching the surrounding countryside pass by. Since her run in with Tonya Hastings a quiet mood had settled on her, even when they finished work and escaped to the pool Spike could tell she was distant and thoughtful. Spike wondered if she was building up to another round of questions. There was a very serious expression on her face. If he was correct, he felt it was better to let her work it out on her own. He could wait for her to open up.


A half hour later, he still needed to talk to her about Cooper. His mind was worrying over more difficult subjects. Gilbey! Buffy’s brief look of fear was plaguing him and he wondered why she was so afraid. Then he thought about Wesley’s warning. Wesley hadn’t spent that much time in Buffy’s presence, so how was he able to discern Gilbey was watching Buffy, or that he meant her any harm? Spike could only think of one time when he saw all three of them together. It was the night Drusilla came home. The night he lost his temper and treated Buffy so cruelly. Did something happen that caused Wesley to suspect Gilbey would hurt Buffy? The questions were eating him up, but he didn’t want to discuss it with Buffy. He didn’t want to risk upsetting her. He would have to wait and talk to Wesley, then he would get his answers, even if he had to beat them out of him.


Buffy was having her own crisis. She was thinking about Spike and her new life. Her mother would be back in just over a week and Buffy worried about how she was going to explain everything to her. She hoped Spike would let her handle the explanation. In fact, it might be a good idea if she spoke to her before she arrived home to let her know about the new changes in her life. She would have to ask Spike for her phone and fill him in on her reasons for wanting to do this before her family got back.


Then there was the bigger problem of Gilbey. How could she tell Spike she didn’t want to be alone with him again? Wesley had warned her Spike might not believe her if she just came right out and told him about the attack. Though Buffy was sure Spike could always tell when she was lying, she was just too uncertain about his reaction to want to risk him losing his temper with her. She wasn’t sure what he would do and even though she’d told him she was willing to be his mistress. If he suspected she had encouraged Gilbey in any way, he might decide he didn’t want her after all and send her to Masters. She was sure, given his past history with Drusilla and her constant cheating, he wouldn’t tolerate, any hint of her being unfaithful to him. He’d already said he would kill anyone she let near her, but he hadn’t said what he would do if he caught her with someone else. Buffy didn’t need to guess how bad it could be. She remembered only too well the look on his face when she broke her promise and touched Angel.


It was no use. She couldn’t take the chance that Spike would understand. She was terrified she’d be the one held responsible. She would just have to deal with Gilbey herself. She prayed if he tried anything again, she would be able to fend him off with threats of Spike.


They’d been driving for quite a while and Spike thought it would be a good idea to take a break and find somewhere to stop. He spotted a sign for a bar and restaurant that looked halfway decent. He pulled into a parking spot outside and cut the engine.


“Fancy a drink pet?”


Buffy looked through the window at the bar. The restaurant was filled with people and their families. She could see several tables with moms and dads and their children. The bar that adjoined the eating area was only occupied with adults, and only a scattering at this time of the evening


She nodded her head and smiled. “Yeah sure.”


Inside the bar, they seated themselves in a small booth tucked away in a corner by a window. Buffy liked the bar’s friendly atmosphere. The happy, busy chatter that spilled over from the restaurant was reminiscent of many outings with her family and friends. Spike ordered them both beers and spicy Buffalo wings.


Buffy arched a quizzical brow at him when he ordered the wings. He looked at her sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. “I know…I’m a pig, but whenever I see them on a menu I can’t resist.”


Buffy gave him a small smile and gazed out of the window. When the waitress brought their drinks and food, Spike tried to broach the subject of Cooper.


“Pet…I need to talk to you.” Buffy was immediately paying full attention to him. She looked at him with wide eyes, an expression of fearful uncertainty on her face. Spike wondered if she was always going to be like this. Would she ever learn to relax completely and trust him?


Sighing, he continued in a rush. “I’ve decided to assign Cooper to be your bodyguard. Now I know you’re going to hate the idea of being followed everywhere you go, but if I didn’t think it was necessary for your own safety I promise, I wouldn’t do this to you…but it is. Now Cooper says that he’d be willin’ to teach you self defense and if you prove willin’, he’ll take over your exercise program. Since I want you to take over his post as my PA, he’ll also be able to show you the ropes.” He paused for breath, hoping she would give him a chance to finish before she threw a fit. “And like I said, if I didn’t think this was necessary, I’d never put you through this…but it is. I ‘ave too many enemies and you’re too vulnerable. I need to know that when I’m not with you…you’ll be safe…and there’s no one I’d trust more with your safety then Cooper. He’s a good guy and I think you’d get along okay with him. I trust him. He’ll protect you. God! Buffy please don’t fight me on this. It’s too important and the last thing I want is to argue with you ‘bout it, but if I ‘ave to I will ‘cause I’m not going to change my mind.” Spike released a harsh breath, his hands fisting apprehensively as he waited for her to explode.


Buffy was almost overjoyed. This solved all her worries about Gilbey. Though Spike was right she didn’t much like the idea of being followed everywhere she went, it was still preferable to being attacked. If this Cooper guy was willing to teach her self defense, then she would jump at the chance to learn anything he cared to teach her. Spike had stressed how much he trusted him…but then he probably trusted Gilbey and look what happen with him.


“Why Cooper…why not one of the others?”


Spike wondered if she was trying to fish for information on Cooper or in a roundabout way maybe Gilbey was her real concern, but she didn’t or couldn’t voice her worries.


“Because out of all of my men I’ve known him the longest and he’s the only one I can honestly say I’d trust with your life. The others ‘ave no problem with followin’ orders and I know they’d do a good job watchin’ you, but Cooper won’t watch you. He’ll look out for you. I trust him to look after you and to put your safety first every time. If it became necessary, I know he’d die protectin’ you and that’s important to me.”


It was very obvious Spike believed every word he said and that was good enough for Buffy. “Okay.”


Baffled by her reply, he asked her to explain. “Okay what pet?”


“Okay that you want Cooper to be my bodyguard,” she sipped her beer, relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about Gilbey any more.


Spike was so sure she would put up a big fight about the whole thing and her simple answer left him totally flummoxed. Suspicious, he wondered at her meek acceptance and tried to think it through and the only conclusion he could come to was that something had definitely happened to make her welcome the idea of a bodyguard. It could only mean she’d a bad experience with Gilbey. The possibilities of what might have already happened made his blood run cold. Now, more than ever, he needed to talk to Wesley. Spike could feel cold anger and hatred coiling in the pit of his stomach. If Gilbey had dared to touch her, he would pay a heavy price. Hiding all his dark thoughts from her, Spike smiled and tucked into his spicy wings.


The bar began to fill up and the noise level increased, making conversation impossible. A band started setting up on the small platform stage and a good crowd of the patrons moved to the dance floor. Spike sat back; content to watch Buffy sip her beer and bounce in her seat every time a song or beat caught her fancy.


Pulling her from the booth Spike tugged her onto the dance floor. “C’mon pet let’s see what some of those moves look like out of a chair,” he laughed.


In a really good mood and feeling almost carefree, Buffy laughed along with him. She was moving to the beat before they found a spot on the crowded floor. Buffy loved to dance and anyone could see she was lost to the music. Spike was left panting with sudden arousal, watching her move. He could feel himself heating up and it had nothing to do with the crowd of dancers sharing the floor with them. Buffy mesmerized him. She was sexy and sensual and it wasn’t long before she attracted the attention of more than one admiring glance from both men and women. Seeing her in this new environment, Spike wanted to stick pretty close to her. He was enthralled by her and unwilling to let her out of his sight for a second. He matched her move for move and he could tell this was one more thing they seemed to do perfectly together.


He caught her by the hips and gazed down at her intently, devouring her with his hot gaze. Buffy’s breath caught in her throat. She wound her arms around his neck, pulling them closer together, as they moved as one in their small space. Oh! God…is there anything he can’t do? she thought as his hips gyrated against hers. His hands felt like they were burning her through the fabric of her jeans and the way he was looking at her had her so aroused, she was sure everyone must see it written all over her face.


Buffy was confused. She didn’t know if she was disappointed or relieved when they broke apart, but for a fleeting moment she nearly grabbed hold of him just so she could feel his body pressed against hers again. She pushed the urge down and danced on, closing her eyes and losing herself to the beat, yet still oddly aware of Spike close by.


She opened her eyes when she felt a gentle touch on her arm. A pretty dark haired girl had danced her way into her space, silently asking to join her. Buffy glanced at Spike. He shrugged and gave her a dirty smirk. He whispered in her ear he was going to the bar to fetch a couple of drinks and she should keep dancing. Once he moved away, the girl apologized for chasing him off, but Buffy assured her he would be back and together they blended their moves to the music’s fast pace.


Spike watched from the bar, his mouth watering at the sight of Buffy dancing so provocatively with the dark haired girl. They were of a similar build and their obvious natural skill on the dance floor was thrilling. Spike was staring at Buffy, lost in delicious dirty thoughts. A host of new fantasies ran through his head. He smiled smugly as she brushed off numerous attempts from men to engage her in a dance. He struggled with his jealousies and reminded himself Buffy was a big girl. She could easily handle a couple or rather a troop, of horny men with just a glare or a cutting remark. He marveled at how different she was compared to Drusilla. If it was Drusilla on the dance floor, she would have taken great delight in flirting with every man that caught her fancy…but Buffy was aloof and reserved. Despite the obvious signals her body was sending out, she fended off anyone who approached her and gave her dance partner her full attention. Watching the two girls dance, Spike could see the dark haired girl’s interest was a little more than just someone looking for an indifferent dance partner, but Buffy seemed oblivious to the girl’s hopeful glances and her shy questing hands. Spike smiled knowingly. Buffy was so innocent she had no idea what the girl was offering and Spike felt his cock harden as he watched the girl glide her hands over Buffy’s outstretched arms and rotate her hips in time with Buffy’s.


Unable to resist her sexy body and pretty smiles any longer, Spike fought his way back to her side. There was a sheen of sweat coating her flushed face and she was breathing hard when he reached her. The dark haired girl gave him a little shrug and a wide smile and with one more disappointed look at Buffy, she melted away into the crowd. As much as Spike had enjoyed watching the two women move together, he was glad to have Buffy all to himself.


The beat slowed to a more sensual thrum and he pulled her in close to his hard body. Buffy gasped, feeling his hard length pressed against her hip and couldn’t help looking down at their bodies locked together. She groaned when Spike slipped his hand under her top and caressed her damp skin.


“Fuck baby…you’re all worked up and hot,” he whispered in her ear. “Did that girl get you all hot? Were you thinking of me?”


He pulled back when she didn’t respond and gasped at the undisguised look of desire in her eyes. She smiled sexily and licked her lips. Spike gulped. She pulled his head down and whispered.


“I am a little worked up. Do ya wanna take me somewhere and help me…calm down?”


FUCK!!!


Smiling, he asked. “Jus’ to clam down…or would you like me to work you up a bit more first?”


“Well actually, I was thinking of working you up first, but if you insist then I don’t have any objections to going first,” she answered saucily.


Spike loved her sexy playfulness. He smirked and licked the side of her neck.


“I’m a gentleman pet…I always let my lady go first.”


Buffy gasped. “Spike?”


“Yes kitten,” he rubbed against her.


“Take me out of here and…make me come,” she pleaded.


Spike gazed at her flushed face and saw her lust and need burning in her eyes. He was just about to pull her from the dance floor, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Annoyed, he turned angry eyes on the man who’d dared to interrupt him.


“What?” he snapped.


The man was nearly twice Spike’s size and clearly drunk, but that didn’t seem to faze Spike at all. He glared at the hulking drunk, angry and fierce.


“Move over little man and let the hot for it babe dance with a real man,” the drunk said.


Buffy felt Spike tense and braced herself apprehensively. Spike pushed her behind him defensively but didn’t take his eyes off the drunk.


“Look pal, my girl and me, we were jus’ leavin’ and I don’t want any trouble. So why don’t you find some other lady to dance with ‘cause my girl’s off limits,” Spike said calmly.


The drunk laughed. “You’re a Brit…aren’t ya?”


Spike’s eyes narrowed and he bristled at the less than pleasant tone of the drunk’s question. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a couple of other men closing in on them and figured they were the drunk’s friends. “Yeah, what of it?”


A circle opened up around them, everyone moved back, whispering and shuffling out of the danger zone.


The drunk leaned forward in a menacing manner that might have made other men feel nervous, but had no apparent affect on Spike.


“I hate Brit’s, that’s what. So move out my way and let me dance with the hot blonde…‘cause the way she’s been moving all night, she’s ready for a real good seeing too,” the drunk said as he tried to reach over Spike’s shoulder to grab Buffy.


Spike’s jaw was twitching with suppressed rage at the drunk’s words. He’d finally had enough of trying to be nice when the big man made a grab for Buffy.


Buffy didn’t have time to scream. Spike moved with what seemed like super-human speed. One moment the drunk was reaching for her and the next, he was lying unconscious on the floor at her feet. Spike was pummeling the hell out of two other guys, smiling and bouncing around like his feet were on fire. Buffy gasped, unable to keep up with his quick movements. One of the men broke away from the fight and made a dive for her, but Spike was quicker and before the guy could get anywhere near her, Spike hauled him back by his hair and punched him several times in the face and twice in the small of his back with a big grin on his face.


The man sagged back against Spike, clearly in agony from the powerful blows. Feeling disgusted Spike shoved him away, letting him fall into a heap on the floor next to his drunken mate. Smiling, he swiftly turned on the other man who was staggering about with blood trickling from a split lip and a shallow cut over his eye.


The guy, angry and humiliated by the beating he’d taken from the smaller man, grabbed a bottle from a nearby table and smashed it against the wooden tabletop. He lunged at Spike.


Spike laughed as if it were the funniest thing in the world. “Fuckin’ idiot…don’t you people ever learn when you’re beat.”


With a quick jump, Spike kicked the man’s arm high to the side and gleefully jerked his wrist as it swung down, sending the broken bottle skittering harmlessly across the floor. There was a crunch of bone breaking and the man fell to his knees screaming and clutching his shattered wrist. Viscously, Spike kicked him. Reaching down Spike grabbed the first drunk up by his hair and slapped him awake.


“You shouldn’t ‘ave tried to touch my girl. Maybe the next time you and your pals think ‘bout touchin’ someone else’s girl, you’ll remember I could’ve done a lot more than break your friend’s fuckin’ wrist and smacked you all around a bit. Jus’ ‘cause you’re bigger than someone doesn’t mean you‘re better, quicker or stronger, you big fuckin’ tub of lard.” Spike grinned and let the drunk’s head thump to the floor.


Spike backed away cautiously from the trio of men on the floor. He kept a careful watch on the crowd in case there were any more of the drunk’s friends lurking among the dancers. Spike reached for Buffy.


She glanced at him, nervously flinching as his hand closed over her wrist, pulling her to his side. Frightened by the vicious fight, she looked at the three men lying on the floor. Dazed, she blinked at Spike. He was talking to her, but she couldn’t focus on what he was saying. She was still caught up in the ugly violence she’d just seen him unleash on the three men.


Once outside in the car parking lot, he raised a hand to brush a strand of hair out of her face, but he pulled back from her when she flinched from him. She was staring at the blood on his knuckles. Spike cursed and quickly unlocked the car door and helped her in. He grabbed the box of tissues from the glove compartment and wiped the blood away. He sighed and glanced at Buffy. She seemed to be in shock as she gazed out of the window sightlessly.


Spike started the engine and drove out of the parking lot, keen to put as much distance as he could between them and the upsetting scene.


He drove for ten minutes before pulling off the road onto a dirt track. It wound its way to a small clearing that opened up with views over the winding coast road and the distant ocean.


“Buffy pet…are you alright?”


In the darkened interior of the car he watched her nod her head. Suddenly, she was fumbling for the overhead courtesy light. She gripped his hands tightly and pulled them into the light to inspect both the palms and the knuckles. There was nothing to see, not a trace of blood remained, though his knuckles looked a bit red.


“Buffy what are you lookin’ for?”


“There…there was blood…I thought that you’d…Oh God! Spike how did you do that and not even get one scratch? You were so…so…” she flung his hands back and quickly opened the door, escaping from the close confines of the car.


She didn’t get far before Spike was standing in front of her, frowning at her. She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself as she struggled to come to terms with what she’d just seen. Spike had beat three men, all bigger than him into bloody pulps without breaking a sweat, he’d even broken one man’s wrist. The violence had looked second nature to him. He’d moved so easily…so smoothly and he’d loved every second of it. Buffy blinked at him.


If at any time she’d forgotten who and what Spike was, and she very nearly had, until he violently reminded her in the most graphic way possible. Buffy was sure she would not forget again.


Faith’s bruised neck and arms, along with her cut and bloody lip came to mind and Buffy was appalled at how she could have forgotten that Spike was a man of such brutal violence. Maybe it was because she hadn’t witnessed Faith’s rape first hand that she’d allowed herself to forget. Or maybe because she simply didn’t want to accept she was now involved with this cruel and violent man. Buffy thought she might be sick. She shivered and corrected herself. Spike wasn’t a man. He was an evil monster…and he had defenseless women raped. He’d imprisoned Angel and took delight in tormenting him on a daily basis. He’d blackmailed her and was forcing her to accept being his mistress or face possible death. These were not the actions of an honest decent man. Spike was a soulless monster and she would be a fool to forget again.


Spike was frowning at her. Catching hold of her shoulders, he gave her a little shake.


“What’s wrong?” he questioned.


“Everything,” she answered tortuously, tears shinning in her eyes.


“Let me take you home pet. You’ve had a nasty shock.” He placed a gentle hand on her arm and guided her back towards the car.


She marveled at his gentle touch and gazed at his hand. She wondered how he could appear to be so gentle when she knew the truth and the lie.


*****

Back home, Spike ordered a pot of hot chocolate and sat with her. She was too quiet and he guessed the violence had frightened her a lot more than he first thought, but there was nothing he could do about it. She just needed some time to come to terms with it all.


Silently, they got ready for bed and Spike cursed the trio of wankers that had ruined what was shaping up to be their best night ever. Buffy had definitely been giving him all the right signals and had even gone as far as to request he take her somewhere so they could fool around. Spike remembered the thrill that had zinged along his veins when she asked him to make her come. Maybe it was because they’d been in the middle of a crowded dance floor that it had affected him so much, but Spike didn’t think that was the case. He was sure it was because it was the first time that Buffy had ever asked him to get her off without him having to coax her in some way.


Then those stupid brainless morons had killed her mood and now he felt frustrated and still worked up despite the gratifying spot of violence. He moved closer to her in the bed, but she stiffened as soon as she felt him approach. Spike thought it would do more harm than good trying to coax her into anything, so he merely cuddled her close and whispered reassurances to her as he stroked her smooth limbs through the silky fabric of her gown.


Spike made sure she was asleep before he slipped from the bed and redressed. He locked the sitting room door to prevent anyone from disturbing her and told Marti, who was standing on guard duty, that no one was to be allowed to approach the door and if she should come to the door looking for him, then he could page him and he’d come straight back.


Satisfied that she would be safe and undisturbed, Spike strode off in search of answers.

*************************************************************
TBC...soon.

 

Chapter Thirty Six.

Friends.


Wesley wasn’t sure what woke him. Upon first opening his eyes, everything seemed to be as it should be. He was in his room, in his bed. It was the middle of the night and everything was still, dark and quiet, but there was something…wrong.


He jumped, as the sudden flare of a lighter striking up startled him. The yellow glow illuminated Spike’s face as he lit a cigarette. He was sitting in a corner of the room on the high backed chair Wesley always sat in when he was reading and wanted a view of the gardens.


Recovering quickly Wesley waited for his boss to speak, knowing it must be something very important to bring him here in the middle of the night. It was either that or he was about to die.


“I’m sorry Wesley, did I wake you?” Spike said sarcastically.


“No not at all,” Wesley replied just as sarcastically.


“Good, ‘cause I’d hate to think of you losin’ sleep.”


Wesley didn’t bother answering. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and waited, watching the blonde smoke. Spike turned on the small lamp on the table next to him. The weak light pushed back the darkness, but didn’t dispel it from the room entirely.


Now that Wesley could see his face he realized he should be worried. Not that it wasn’t already worrying having his volatile boss wake him up in the middle of the night. It was just that now he could see Spike’s cold dead eyes, he knew things could get very ugly, very quickly. Wesley half guessed what this was about.


“What did he do to her? And don’t even think ‘bout playin’ dumb ‘cause I’m in no mood to play the question game with you. So jus’ tell me.” Wesley could hear the warning in his voice.


He wondered if Buffy had said something or if Spike had figured it out for himself. Not that it really mattered, but Wesley still didn’t want to get Buffy into any trouble.


“Before I tell you what he did, let me first tell you what Buffy didn’t do. She didn’t encourage him or ask for it in any way. In fact, she tried to fight him but he…” he fizzled off.


“Tell me,” Spike whispered with menace.


Bracing himself for the explosion, Wesley said, “He attacked her and if I hadn’t stopped him, I don’t believe he would have stopped himself.”


Spike sucked in a sharp breath. “What’d ya mean?” He shook his head as if to deny what he’d just said. Sighing, Spike glared at him. “Jus’ give me the whole thing and don’t worry ‘bout who you think was in the wrong. I’ll be the judge of that.”


“Fine, but I can tell you it wasn’t Buffy’s fault,” Wesley said, glaring right back at him. He was determined to make sure Buffy wasn’t going to be held responsible for Gilbey’s vicious attack. Hesitantly, he recounted the details of the attack. “It was the Saturday before last. I saw you in the holding rooms and you were all worked up over something. You ordered me to get all of Buffy’s things moved into your room. When I got to your sitting room, there was no one at the door, but I could hear Buffy screaming at someone. Without thinking, I rushed right in. I found Gilbey attacking her. He had her pinned to the large couch. He’d ripped her blouse open and trapped her arms in the sleeves so she couldn’t fend him off. She was sobbing and screaming at him to get off of her, but like I said he wasn’t stopping, despite the fact she was screaming at the top of her lungs.” He sighed, remembering the frightened sounds of her cries. “I managed to reach him and haul him off. She was pretty badly shaken but luckily, he hadn’t had enough time to do any real damage. I helped her up and stayed with her until you arrived, because there was no way I’d have trusted him alone with her again, despite the warning I gave him.”


Wesley thought Spike looked too calm…too relaxed, and that could only mean one thing. He was about to erupt. His cold blue eyes never wavered from Wesley’s face as he recounted the details of the attack and Wesley didn’t flinch under the cold scrutiny.


“What warnin’?”


“When Buffy went into her room, I dragged Gilbey out onto the balcony and pushed him over the rail. I warned him if I so much as saw him looking at her in the wrong way, I’d tell you what he’d done, and if he touched her again I’d kill him. As far as I know, he took me seriously, but I wish I’d just pushed the bastard over the edge and spared that poor girl what must have been an agonizing death.” Wesley sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. “Did you notice how small and similar that kid was to Buffy…makes you wonder doesn’t it?”


Sickened, Spike had heard enough, but he still needed answers.


“Why the bleedin’ hell didn’t you tell me ‘bout this when it happened? Why didn’t Buffy say somethin’?” he demanded coldly.


Wesley scoffed, “Maybe because that day you were in a practically foul temper. Neither myself nor Buffy were sure in your present mood, who you would’ve believed and Gilbey took great pleasure in reminded us that you were only using her to get at Angel. He seemed to think you would be willing to turn a blind eye if he wanted some fun with her. Plus, I think she was more afraid of what you might do to her if Gilbey convinced you it was her fault. So I persuaded her to say nothing, but after what happened to that girl I regret that deeply, but I was only thinking of Buffy. So I hung around knowing she would be okay when you got back.”


Spike anguished over what had happened once he arrived back. He remembered how angry she was and how she’d ignored him. Now it would seem she had every reason to act the way she had. Spike had assumed she’d been in a sulk because he’d given her a deadline and moved her into his bedroom, but it wasn’t that. She’d probably been frightened and unsure of what was going to happen to her if he’d found out about Gilbey and blamed her.


Gilbey’s attack would have scared her, but because she was more scared of him, she’d masked it with her anger, which had earned her another attack. No wonder she’d angrily demanded he let her go. Spike had never felt so sick in his whole life, but it didn’t change anything. He’d already made his vows not to let that happen again and the regret he’d felt at the time had been sincere and heartfelt and he was feeling it all again.


Something had to be done about Gilbey. Spike had to make it clear to everyone Buffy was his and his alone, and anyone daring to touch her would pay for their mistake. The cold anger that had been building inside him ever since Wesley had first hinted Buffy wasn’t safe was ready to spill over. Spike felt a small measure of regret for what he had to do, but Gilbey should’ve known better…he did know better.


Spike looked at Wesley and realized the man had braved his anger on more than one occasion to help Buffy. Spike hadn’t expected Wesley to prove himself loyal or to fit in for a long time, but now he recognized Wesley had protected Buffy, first from Gilbey and then from him and that earned Wesley a great deal of respect and gratitude.


Spike stood and stretched tight muscles. His cigarette had burned out and he looked for somewhere to dispose of the dead end. Wesley pointed to the empty fireplace.


Quietly, Spike moved about the room, scanning Wesley’s possessions, but not really looking at them. His mind was on other things.


Abruptly, he turned and strode to the door and just as his hand was about to grasp the handle, Wesley asked.


“What are you going to do?”


“What I ‘ave to,” he replied curtly.


“Buffy…you’re not going to-”


Spike cut him off angrily, snapping. “Buffy is none of your fuckin’ business…you’re not her hero and you don’t know bugger all ‘bout what I feel for her. So I suggest, you stop stickin’ your nose in or I might jus’ cut the fuckin’ thing off.”


Wesley bravely pushed on. “But if you do feel something for her, surely you must know it wasn’t her fault?”


“You know you can be really fuckin’ dense sometimes Wesley. Of course I don’t blame her, I never did…not for one second. I’ve spent enough time with her to know she’s not capable of any real deceit or blame and the fact that she didn’t let slip ‘bout any of this only proves to me how frightened she must ‘ave been…and probably still is and that I can’t allow.”


“You do realize that’s a contradiction, because she’s as frightened of you as much as everything else.”


“And again you prove jus’ how fuckin’ dense you are. Of course I know she’s scared of me, but I’m tryin’ to put that right. What the hell would you suggest I do? Let her go…let her take her chances that Masters won’t ‘ave her killed?”


Wesley hadn’t considered she was in any danger from Masters. “But why would he want to kill her? I thought you needed her to keep Angel in check.”


“I do, but if Masters wants Angel back he’ll either order me to send her with him or get rid of her and that’s why I’ve been tryin’ to secure her to me. To protect her.”


Wesley stared at Spike and realized he was telling the truth. All those months ago when this all began, he’d never have guessed he’d come to respect Spike, but now he felt a grudging admiration developing for the blonde Brit.


“Now I know you don’t know me that well Wesley, but this is the very last time I’ll indulge you and explain myself to you…do you understand me?” Wesley nodded. “Good ‘cause the next time you question me ‘bout Buffy, I’ll ‘ave Luke and the lads beat the livin’ crap out of you.”


Spike slammed out of the room.


*****


The breakfast meeting proceeded as usual with Buffy and his men going over all of the days planned events. Luke had some new business connections to try and finalise with a group of security firms. If they joined, their business would expand Masters organization and help secure Spike’s standing and wealth by an impressive degree, but Luke explained the directors were a bit twitchy. They were proving hard to convince they would be better off under Masters extensive network.


“I suppose I could put pressure on them, but I didn’t think you’d want these guys handled in that way, but if I don’t do something soon, they’ll back out completely,” Luke said.


Buffy, who’d been listening to the conversation, couldn’t help but wonder why Luke thought putting pressure on these people would help him achieve a good or lasting result.


“What did you ‘ave in mind?” Spike asked.


“Well Mr. Rogers is a family man as are a couple of the other directors. I could arrange to have Gil take some photos of the kids and just imply they might not be as safe as they believe them to be.”


Buffy made a small squeak from her seat next to Spike. Everyone looked at her. Spike guessed she was thinking about the photos he had taken of her sister. He arched a brow at her.


“You want to say somethin’ Buffy?” he asked coolly.


She turned angry eyes on him. “Yes,” she snapped. “Why do you have to pick on their kids? Can’t you find some other way to persuade them?”


Spike smiled at her indulgently. “If you can come up with a better suggestion, I’ll consider it but until then Luke-”


She cut him off sharply. “I can,” she looked at Luke. “You said they were all family men…right.” Luke nodded his head and glanced at Spike. “Well then what you need to do is make them feel secure not threatened. If they think their futures and their children’s futures are safe with you they’ll have no worries about linking their business with you, but if you threaten their kids and families they’ll spend years and years trying to break away from you. They could deliberately run their businesses into the ground rather than see their kids grow up under a threat such as that.”


She looked at Spike. “What you need to do is meet them on common ground…” Spike could see she was thinking quickly. “Invite them and their families to a reception and show them that they have nothing to worry about. They’ve not even met you. How can you expect them to be completely at ease with the idea of throwing their lot in with you, if they’ve not even met you? Welcome them into your home…wine them and dine them…flatter them and coax them if you have too, but don’t threaten their children. If you do, all you’ll achieve will be their resentment and mistrust for years to come...think of it like this…you catch more fly’s with honey than with vinegar.”


The stunned silence from his men was heavy. Buffy was new to all this and didn’t realize that no one interrupted the boss or questioned his methods. Luke, like the others, waited to see what Spike would do. This could be interesting, he thought.


Buffy stared back at him, a look of hopeful trust on her face. Spike noted the look and thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful than that expression of trust on her face. He smiled at her and covered her hand with his. He’d been wondering how he could make it obvious to his men that Buffy was more to him than just a hostage. Unknowingly, she’d just given him the perfect opportunity to demonstrate her position and importance to him.


He looked at Luke. “Since its Buffy’s idea, I want her to work on it. It’s now her project. Compile your list of potential clients and give it to Buffy and invite them all…in fact,” he paused as an idea blossomed.


He looked at the others. “You all might as well draw up a list of your new clients and give it to Buffy to look at. We could open the house and throw one big reception and try and secure all the new businesses in one go.” He scanned the surprised faces of his men. Gilbey’s was especially shocked.


Then he looked at Buffy. “This could be a pretty big event and you might need to think ‘bout how you’ll organize it and since it’s your suggestion you’ll be responsible for its success. I’ll give you to the end of next week to come up with a workin’ plan and you’ll have a month to make it happen.


He looked at the surprised faces of the men at the table. “That means she’ll need your client lists by breakfast tomorrow,” he told them. He looked each one of them in the eye and waited for their acknowledgement of his orders. He noticed the look of approval from both Luke and Wesley before he looked back at Buffy.


She was just about to open her mouth. Whether to protest or back out Spike wasn’t sure, but she looked as if it could’ve been both. Swiftly, Spike silenced her.


He squeezed her hand gently. “Well, you said you had a better suggestion. Surely you’re not going to back out now ‘cause Luke could still ‘ave Gilbey take those photos,” he challenged.


Her chin rose higher and she answered quickly. “No, it’s just I’ve never organized anything bigger than a birthday party before…don’t you think I might need some help?”


She was right. He glanced at Cooper. He would be spending a good deal of his time with her anyway and it could very well help them bond. Cooper shrugged and gave him a tiny nod.


Buffy noticed the exchange and guessed Spike would name Cooper. Since he was going to be her bodyguard, she didn’t see a problem with him helping her out on this reception, but she was taken by surprise when Spike asked her who she wanted to help her. For a moment, she struggled to find her voice. Spike was making a significant point when he asked her who she wanted to work with. She knew he could have just assigned someone to the task. She met Luke’s eyes across the table and saw the compelling look in the depths of his hard orbs. She remembered what he’d said about her being the rock that Spike would break himself against. She looked back at Spike.


“I don’t mind. I’m sure you know your men better than me. Why don’t you choose?” The look on Spike’s face was noticeably approving and Buffy felt an irrational sense of pleasure with the knowledge that he approved. She felt it was too important, considering all his men were picking up and reading the significant point they were both making so she added. “I trust you to choose the right person for the job.”


Spike squeezed her hand again and leaned forward to brush her lips with a brief kiss. “Cooper.”


“Yes boss.”


“You’ll help Buffy with her new project.”


“Yes boss.”


Spike released her hand and continued the rest of the breakfast meeting as if the strange exchange had never taken place. Buffy blinked and wondered just what she’d let herself in for. She caught Luke’s eye and nearly choked on her coffee when he gave her a ghost of a smile and nodded his head at her.


Spike, who was carefully watching everyone, caught the exchange between his first man and his soon to be mistress. The small smile and nod was all the confirmation Spike needed to know. Luke approved of Buffy’s actions and he noted Buffy’s surprised reaction. He smiled to himself. Given enough time, Spike was sure she would win them all over. Wesley from the very beginning had felt a strong sense of protectiveness towards her and now out of all of his men, it was Luke who was giving her his own seal of approval and Luke, was the hardest person to impress. Cooper’s opinion of her was perhaps colored by Spike’s open admission that he wanted her, and Dixon would probably only see her as his boss’s mistress. Though after this morning’s conversation between them, they all had to be rethinking her importance to him and were probably seeing her in a new light. Only Gilbey’s opinion wasn’t worth taking into consideration.



*****


As soon as he closed the study door, Spike pulled Buffy into a warm embrace. “Come ‘ere you wonderful woman,” he breathed in her ear as he pressed her close, kissing her neck and face.


Buffy didn’t struggle in his arms, but neither did she return the embrace.


“And what did I do that makes me wonderful?” she asked.


“Oh nothin’ much…jus’ made me very happy.” Spike kissed her softly at first, but as his tongue brushed over hers, the kiss turned heated and soon he was plundering her mouth, drawing her into his passion with a power that took her breath away.


Spike let his hands slide down to rest on her round bottom. He pushed her into his groin and groaned as he caressed her soft bum. Buffy’s hands gradually crept up to wind around his neck as she was swept away with her own rising arousal.


There was a knock at the door and they both broke apart guiltily. Spike nearly laughed out loud at the foolishness of the two of them, acting like a couple of teenagers caught fooling around by a parent.


“Yes,” he called out. He watched Buffy go to her desk and try to compose herself. Cooper opened the door and strode in. He froze for a second…then glanced towards Buffy who was busy at her laptop. He could see her face was flushed and her clothes looked slightly displaced. He continued into the room smirking at Spike who showed a more obvious mark from the heated kisses they must have been engaged in.


Seeing Cooper’s smirk Spike frowned. “What are you grinnin’ at?” he demanded to know.


“You…or should I say that very pretty shade of lipstick you’re wearing.”


Buffy’s head snapped up and her eyes locked on Spike’s mouth. She could clearly see the smudge of passion pink lipstick smeared across his lips. She looked at Cooper blushing. He grinned even wider.


“Alright…alright you’ve had your fun,” Spike said as he wiped the pink lipstick off with a hankie, smiling at Buffy and her pretty blush. “Now what did you want?”


“Me…nothing…you’re the one who left a message on my desk telling me to see you.”


Spike snapped to alert. “Yeah…that’s right…I do need to see you. Buffy has a meetin’ in half an hour, so I’ll come to your office and talk to you then, but since you’re ‘ere, you might as well tell me, did you get all your work cleared?”


“Yep, Wesley’s all set to take over things for you and I’m just about free to tutor Ms. Summers in all that is required to become a first class PA. Though we might have to share those duties for a bit while we work on her new project.”


Spike nodded. “I’ve already told Buffy you’re going to be her bodyguard and she’s agreed to let you teach her self defense, but I think I might jus’ lend a hand with that,” Spike smiled at Buffy who blinked nervously at him. “Be free by tomorrow to start your new role and I’ll talk to you in a bit about my plans for the weekend.”


“Alright…I’ll be in my office when you need me.” He nodded and smiled at Buffy before leaving.


After Cooper’s departure, Spike settled himself behind his desk and pulled the first of a stack of papers towards him. He knew Buffy was looking at him. Probably wondering what he meant by ‘plans for the weekend’ but he didn’t lift his head to look at her. Long minutes passed and they both worked quietly. Buffy began to set up the patio for her meeting. Spike had noticed she seemed to prefer the garden for all her meetings, but worked at her desk to do her reports. He’d told her he would get a secretary to do her typing for her, but she’d insisted the workload was well within her capabilities. Until she was unable to cope with the few reports she had, she was happy to do the work herself and keep busy.


“You ‘aven’t forgotten ‘bout the appointment with Doctor Chambers this afternoon ‘ave you pet?” he asked as she passed back through the patio doors.


“No…what time is it?”


“Oh, it’s not until five thirty, I thought we could drive over…take a good look around and maybe stop off somewhere and get dinner on the way back.”


“Okay, just as long as you don’t decide to start anymore bar fights.”


Spike looked at her astounded. “Buffy you can’t possibly think I started that fight. I know it must ‘ave shocked you ‘cause you’ve never seen me act like that before, but Buffy I tried to get that drunk to back off, but when he made a grab for you, he’d pushed things too far.” He got up and moved to her side. He watched the play of emotions dance across her face doubt…fear and distrust.


“I should‘ve talked to you ‘bout this first thing this mornin’, but I had other things on my mind, but if it makes you feel any better we can talk ‘bout it later?” he assured her.


“No, what’s the point it’s done now. It’s just I couldn’t believe you did those things. You broke that mans wrist and it didn’t seem to bother you at all. You looked as if you were enjoying yourself,” she said.


Spike sighed, thinking it wouldn’t be a good idea to confess to her that a part of him had enjoyed beating the crap out of those prats. “Buffy look, I know you might find this hard to believe, but we live in a violent world...a world in which we sometimes ‘ave to protect ourselves. What do you think would’ve happened if I hadn’t defended the two of us?”


She shrugged.


“The chances are he’d ‘ave got his mates to keep me busy while he raped you. You did hear him say how he thought you needed a good seein’ to…didn’t you?”


She looked uncertain as she searched her memory. Then she looked up into Spike’s face as the drunks suggestive remarks replayed in her head. Spike was right. If he hadn’t been able to defend them things could have gone very differently. Buffy had tormented herself about it needlessly and blamed Spike wrongfully.


“I guess I was wrong. I didn’t remember he’d said that. I just remember seeing you and you were laughing…and you kept hitting them and I thought I saw blood on your hands, but then when I looked in the car there wasn’t any. I guess I was wrong about that too, but God! I’ve never seen anyone do what you did. It was so horrible…so…so scary…” her voice was quiet and weak as she spoke.


Spike wondered how much of the violence from last night was affecting her. She’d seemed pretty out of it at the time, but then it wasn’t really the first time she’d seen him act violently. Though last night he hadn’t held back that much, he’d used what force he thought was necessary to get them safely out. What Buffy didn’t realize, was at the time when he’d tied her up and used his knife on her, he’d been in full control of himself. Though he’d been madder than a rabid dog, he’d still known exactly what he was doing. He’d intended to bend her to his will and he’d not stopped until he’d seen her submission in her eyes, but as soon as he had he’d stopped.


Yet, she’d recovered. She’d dug deep into her well of inner strength and was still questioning and challenging him. Buffy had hidden strengths that she had no idea she possessed and he knew the only way to make her feel comfortable about the violence was to give her control and power. If she learned how to defend herself, she would understand just how much force or control she would need to use, in order to protect herself. If she could be taught that, then she could learn to recognize it in others. More importantly she would recognize it in him and that could only be for the good because it would help her understand and trust him.


Spike made his decision and took hold of her shoulders. “When we get back tonight, I’m going to give you your first self defense lesson. When you’ve learned how to take care of yourself…you’ll see that you’ll never need to be scared again…okay?”


She looked small and doubtful, but she nodded her head.



*****


Spike left her when her appointment arrived. Making his way across the hallway, he knocked sharply on Cooper’s door and walked in. Cooper was on the phone ordering coffee. He hung up and pointed to an empty chair on the other side of the desk.


“Is it okay to talk?” Spike asked.


Cooper nodded.


Spike sat down, then asked, “So you got everythin’ tied up nice and neat and Wesley knows what he’s doing?”


“Yep and yep,” Cooper replied. “Now what’s really on your mind?” he said getting right to the point.


Spike lit a cigarette and settled back into the chair.


“I’ve made some arrangements for the weekend startin’ with Buffy takin’ a shoppin’ trip with her pals. They’ll be ‘ere in the mornin’ after breakfast. You’re to go with her and stick close. Until I make my intentions clear to Masters and officially introduce her to his business associates there’s still a slim chance she could be in danger, so don’t let her out of your sight…understood?” Cooper nodded.


Cooper had guessed Spike’s feelings for the little blonde were more than just physical. With his announcement of his intention to speak to Masters, Cooper knew Spike would fight for her if he had to. “When do you intend to speak to Masters?”


Spike thought about it for a moment squinting as the smoke from his cigarette curled near his eyes. “I’ll wait until after we’ve netted all those new clients, that way I’ll ‘ave a good bargainin’ tool. If Buffy helps us bag all those clients in one go I’ll be in a much better position with Masters…better than anyone before…even Angel never managed to pull off a thing like this.”


“And if it goes wrong…don’t you think you’re taking a big risk?”


“It’s no riskier than anythin’ else I’ve ever tried before.”


“She doesn’t know how important this is…does she?”


“No, and I don’t want her too. She doesn’t need the pressure and if I didn’t think she was up to the task, I wouldn’t ‘ave taken her suggestion seriously. Besides, it’s only the organisin’ of the event itself she’ll be responsible for. Baggin’ the clients will still be up to us, but her idea is good. Okay, I know it’s simplistic, but it has a certain charm…a certain innocence...jus’ like Buffy. I ‘ave a feelin’ with her by my side, all those potential clients will be unable to resist her charm and innocence…and though she doesn’t know it, she’ll be the honey I’ll use to bait my trap and catch all those flies. She’ll draw them in for me.”


Spike voiced his plans openly because Cooper needed to know exactly what was going on and how important it was for Buffy to succeed. This was a perfect way to insure her position in the family. If it worked, it proved she was worth keeping around. It would show her willingness to work for the benefit of the family and then he would be in a more secure position. With Buffy’s help, he could prove himself capable of running the L.A branch permanently.


Cooper broke in on his thoughts. “What are your other plans for the weekend?”


Spike crushed his cigarette out in the ashtray that Cooper pulled out of a desk draw. “I’ve arranged to take Buffy up to the cabin. You’re flyin’ us,” he smirked at the other man. “There’ll jus’ be the three of us, but I doubt I’ll need you once we arrive, so I’ve booked you into the hotel in town. I made the arrangements last Monday so everythin’ should be ready, but you can ring later and check to see if everything’s okay.”


There was a knock at the door. Jonathan entered with their coffees. He placed the tray on a side table and turned to leave.


Spike stopped him. “Jonathan.”


“Yes, sir.”


“Tomorrow after breakfast I want you to pack enough clothes for me and Ms. Summers for a weekend trip. Pack a few warm sweaters it might be cold at night, and a heavy coat each.”


“Yes sir. Will there be anything else?”


Spike shook his head and Jonathan quietly left.


Looking back at Cooper Spike said, “We’ll be leavin’ as soon as I’ve read everyone’s weekly reports. So if you could arrange to inform the guys at the air field that we’ll need the plane ready and on the runway by five, we’ll get an early start.”


“Well if you can drive yourself over to the air field, I’ll go on ahead, once I get back from escorting Ms. Summers around town that is. I’d prefer to do my own checks on the jet before we take off. Not that I don’t trust the guys at the hanger, it’s just I trust myself more,” Cooper said.


Cooper’s statement made sense. “Okay that’s not a problem. I’ll bring Buffy with me and we’ll meet you there at five.”


Cooper handed him a coffee and sat back behind his desk.


“So these friends of Ms. Summers…any of them my type?” he asked hopefully.


Spike smirked at him. “Yeah…as it happens they’re all your type.”


Cooper smiled drinking his coffee. “Yeah?”


“Yeah…they’re all whores.”


Shocked, Cooper sprayed coffee all over himself and half his desk in surprise.


Spike chuckled as his friend choked and spluttered.


“Are you serious?” Cooper demanded, patting at the brown stain on his shirt.


“Yeah…Cordelia, Faith and Harmony.”


“Aren’t they the girls you used to blackmail her with?”


“Yeah.”


“And you’re going to let her associate with them?” Cooper asked, surprised.


“I can’t choose her friends for her and it jus’ so happens that someone pointed out to me that Buffy would think I was settin’ double standards if I tried to make her accept me, but refused to let her ‘ave anythin’ to do with the girls she’s been friends with for years, even if they are whores.” He frowned as he recalled Cordy’s words and tone.


“Wow! Brave person.”


“Yeah she is, but then Buffy seems to influence people to acts of bravery…and loyalty.” He was thinking of Wesley.


Cooper looked hard at his friend. For the first time, he noticed the changes in him. This whole business with Angel and Drusilla had turned the family nearly on its collective head, but then Masters had given Spike control of the L.A branch and permission to hunt down Angel and punish him. Getting Drusilla back at the time had been an equal consideration for Spike and now Dru was back, but Cooper suspected she’d been replaced even before Spike knew of her illness. Cooper was glad for his friend. Drusilla had been bad news from day one. Though he knew Spike would probably never see it that way.


Buffy was young and fresh, and Spike was right, she was charming and innocent. In fact, she was probably exactly what Spike had been looking for all these years. How ironic was it that it would be Angel, the man who had always come between him and Drusilla, who would inadvertently introduce him to the woman he would really fall in love with. Cooper shook his head and offered a silent pray that this time things would work out for Spike.


The two friends worked through the rest of the morning until there was a timid knock at the door. Cooper called out a distracted enter and Buffy put her head around the door.


The two men looked at her. Spike’s eyes lit up when he spotted her and Cooper couldn’t help notice the faint blush that appeared on Buffy’s face when Spike’s eyes swept over her. Spike was right, her blushes were very pretty.


“Er…I kind of finished early…so I thought we could have lunch if you’ve finished, but I can see you haven’t so I’ll just…” she was pulling the door closed, backing out of the room.


Spike jumped up and grabbed her hand. “Not so fast luv. If you jus’ give me a mo’ I’ll be right with you…‘ere take a seat.” He pulled up a chair next to his and guided her to it.


Buffy gave Cooper a shy smile and sat next to Spike. Her eyes wandered around the room, but Spike’s eyes hardly left her.


Cooper coughed and Spike’s focus snapped back to the other man. Buffy frowned at the two men.


“You know, I can finish up here if you want to take Ms. Summers to lunch,” Cooper offered.


Spike jumped at the offer. “That’s right nice of you Coop…” he rose from his chair again. “Don’t forget to make those arrangements?” he reminded him.


“Consider it done,” he said.


Spike tugged Buffy behind him and out the door.


*************************************************************
TBC...soon.
 

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