A/N This very first chapter is very Buffy/Riley heavy. However there really is a reason for this and I promise that Spuffyness will ensue in Chapter 2.

RING!

"Damn it," Riley said, as he broke off kissing Buffy to look at the offending phone. Much to Buffy's dismay his hands also stopped moving under her shirt.

"Let it ring," she said breathlessly as she tried to pull him back down into another kiss.

Riley wouldn't let her though.

"It could be important," he said matter of factly.

Buffy sighed as he got off the bed and went for the phone. For a moment she had considered holding him in place, making him wrestle his way off the bed, but she knew Riley wouldn't be amused by that kind of display of her strength. The bed was defiantly not the place to remind him just who was stronger.

She hated how he rushed off after the phone every time it rang, like it was his old beeper from the Initiative. She sometimes got the feeling that he was waiting for them to call him. Waiting for the government to offer him some new monster hunting gig. But it was never the government. It was always Buffy's friends, calling to let them know about the newest weird in Sunnydale or just to invite them to hang out. And every time Riley seemed a little disappointed.

Buffy hated it. She was sorry for Riley. All of his friends had been in the Initiative, and those that hadn't been killed by Adam's human vs. demon war had left town when the Initiative was shut down. So now all he had was her and her friends, and it didn't seem to be enough for him. She didn't seem to be enough for him.

"Hello? Hey Willow, yeah she's here, hold on," he tossed the phone over to her, "It's Willow, it's for you."

Yep, there it was. Riley had disappointment voice.

"Hey Will, what's up?"

"Hey Buffy, sorry to interrupt you, but there's a purple demon on campus."

"Right okay, Riley and I'll grab some weapons and meet you out in front of the old Alma Mater in about 10 minutes, sound good?"

She and Willow finished making plans to meet in front of the chemistry building. For the hundredth time Buffy wondered how Willow could take so many courses during the summer.

"See, I told you it could be important," Riley said after she had hung up with Willow, "So what is it, some new demon? Vampires? What?"

"Purple demons. Let's go.

*******************************

"Will do you think maybe mentioning that this demon was made out of stone might have been more useful information than what color it is?" Buffy asked as her fist painfully connected with the demon's hard outer shell.

"Sorry," Willow said.

Luckily the purple lava monster, as Buffy had dubbed it, was slow moving so all of Buffy's injuries were coming from her hitting it, not it hitting her. Buffy couldn't figure out how it could eat people. But Willow had assured her, that she had rescued another student from it, before Buffy had arrived. Evidently the guy had just stared curiously at the thing as it grabbed him.

Maybe it had to do with the spit. The demon was slow, but the thing sure could spit.

This was getting her no where. She needed something to hit it with, a mace or a large hammer, or something. Riley had gone to get the tire iron out of the back of his truck, and she just hopped he'd be back soon. The axe she had brought was completely useless, and it was her favorite axe so there was no way she was gong to dull it trying to chop through stone.

The demon was shaped rather like a volcano. Buffy wasn't really sure how it moved, since it didn't seem to have any legs, but move it did. It had no face, just a very large mouth with wicked looking stone teeth and the two arms which kept trying to grab her.

"Buffy!" Riley shouted, and tossed her the tire iron.

Pthtoo!

"Eewww," Buffy cried, the demon had just spit on her while she had turned to catch the weapon.

It stung a little, but no big deal. Besides, now she had a weapon she could use. Buffy began to strike the thing with all her might, chipping away at the demon. Now wherever she struck it purple chips flew off and a thick purple fluid oozed out.

The demon emitted a high picked whine, and Buffy switched her grip on the tire iron and thrust it up into the demon's mouth. The end of the tire iron poked up out of the top of the demon. Purple blood shot up into the air, out of the wound.

"Even better than baking soda and vinegar," Buffy said. As they watched more and more of the blood poured out. Flowing down the rocky outer face and eroding it. In a few minutes nothing was left but a puddle of chunky goo.

"Well let's hope we don't get a flat on the way home, because I'm not retrieving that." Riley said.

"No, kidding," Willow said. "Well, I still have a chemistry experiment to finish, so I'll see you guys later."

They said their goodbyes.

Buffy wiped the demon spit off of her face. Then Buffy put her arm through Riley's and rested her head against him. "Let's get home and have our own chemistry experiment," she said.

Riley smiled, "Anything to further the pursuit of knowledge."

When they got to Riley's truck she asked, "Can I drive?"

"What?" Riley looked at her aghast. When they'd first met Riley had tried to help Buffy overcome her mistrust of cars and teach her to drive. He'd figured she really couldn't be that bad, she'd just never had a patient teacher. They'd only lasted one session and then they'd both happily given up. Not that Riley was scared of Buffy behind the wheel, he told himself, it just the Initiative health plan didn't cover amputations not caused by HSTs.

"D r i v e," Buffy said slowly to make sure he'd understand, "Can I?" she seemed excited and perky.

"Um, I thought you wanted to get home right away. I can get us there faster."

To Riley's relief that seemed to satisfy Buffy and she happily climbed into the the passenger seat of his truck.

As he began to drive back toward his apartment Buffy began to nibble on his ear.

"Hey now," he said gently, "I'm driving here," not that he was really very upset, the attention from Buffy was nice. She giggled against his neck, her breath tickling him. He was beginning to feel aroused, and decided that five miles above the speed limit wouldn't really hurt anyone.

Then suddenly Buffy's hand was between his legs and she was unzipping him. Before he could react she had grabbed him and started stroking him to attention. Caught by surprise his right foot pressed forward, and suddenly they were doing way more than five miles above the speed limit.

"BUFFY!" he shouted as he tugged hard on the wheel to avoid another car passing legally through the intersection where he was running a red light. The truck swerved to a stop. "What the hell do you think you're doing! Are you trying to get us killed."

"What?" Buffy said with a perfectly innocent face, "I'm just trying to be a good girlfriend."

"Just. . . just wait till we get home okay?" he zipped himself back up looking warily at her.

"Fine, I'll just sit over here," she sounded really annoyed.

Riley knew the remainder of the drive couldn't have been more than five minutes, but it seemed an eternity. Buffy was sitting all the way on the other side of the truck by the window, very pointedly not talking to him.

He had barely finished parking the truck when Buffy was out the door and standing impatiently in front of his apartment door.

As soon as they were inside, she turned to look at him and said, "So am I allowed to touch you now?"

"Buffy, I didn't mean to yell at you, I'm sorry." Riley said.

Much to his relief, Buffy smiled. "You didn't answer my question," she said coyly and knelt down in front of him. She looked up at him through her long eyelashes.

He'd lost his erection during her icy silence but now he could feel his blood rushing back down below the waist. "Yeah baby, you can touch me."

He groaned as he mouth began to suck him. Buffy was hardly the most skillful blow job he'd ever had. Hell most of the girls he'd dated in high school had been better. But then they'd had more practice. He'd known the very first time Buffy had gone down on him that she had never done it before. He loved knowing that his was the only dick that had ever been in her mouth. He'd always hated having to kiss those other girls.

But Buffy was almost only his. She'd only had two other sexual experiences before him. Although those had shown very poor judgment. Still he could forgive her that.

One of her hands reached inside the flap of his boxers, and she cupped his balls.

"That's enough Buffy," he said, pulling away from her before he climaxed in her mouth. She'd never done that before. She seemed to think that oral sex meant mouths only.

"You didn't like that?" she asked as he pulled her to her feet.

"Shh, it's not that," he said as he kissed her to keep her quiet and moved her toward the bed.

He lay her down on the bed, "Let me just get the lights," he said moving toward the light switch.

"Couldn't we leave them on?" She asked.

He turned them off and made his way by memory back to the bed.

"Or maybe try something different?" she continued.

Damn, she must have been reading Cosmo again. She always seemed to think that she was doing stuff wrong in bed. And when had she started asking so many questions again? She'd been like that when they first started sleeping together. Always afraid that she'd do something wrong, that she wouldn't be good enough and he'd leave. And then just when he'd convinced her that he liked her just the way she was, Faith came along and messed everything up. She'd been convinced that Faith in her body must have been better in bed.

She just didn't get it. He didn't want an experienced girl. He'd had lots of those when he was her age. He wanted a girl he could settle down with. A girl he could marry, who could be the mother of his children.

Still, she was obviously not going to be quiet tonight so he bit the bullet and asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"I've always been curious about what you'd feel like inside my," she stopped, searching for the word she wanted, "ass."

He couldn't believe his ears. She didn't even sound embarrassed when she suggested it. He'd never heard her be that forward before. "Buffy, how many times have I told you, I don't want to play any kinky games with you, I just want to make love to you," that always worked. She would become all apologetic and tell him how much she loved him and then they could get on with it. Evidently not this time.

"So what I want doesn't matter?" she asked irritation creeping into her voice.

"Of course it matters, I'm just not comfortable with that, okay?"

"Okay, I guess that's fair. So maybe you could tie me up or something then?"

"Has anyone ever tied you up before?"

"Not in a sex kind of way."

"Then how do you know you want it?"

"That's. . . That's stupid logic!" She reached over to turn on his bedside lamp. When the light came on he could see she was angry.

"Buffy-"

"No, that's the whole point. You're my first real lover. The first guy who ever stuck around so that it could be more than a one night stand. If I can't experiment with you, who can I do it with?"

"Buffy I love you."

"I love you too. I just don't see why you get to make all the decisions about sex."

"I let you make the Slaying decisions."

"That's not the same at all."

"Sure it is. Look, you have more experience fighting demons. I grant you that. All my military training, well, it looks inadequate compared to the stuff you've seen here in your hometown. That's why, difficult as it was, I've learned to let you give the orders in the field-"

"So this is all about who out ranks who and giving orders?" Buffy voice had become a high pitched shriek. How could she misunderstand him so badly. "So if I was a whore you'd give me what I want is that it?" She jumped up off the bed and headed for the door.

"No Buffy. Wait. That's not-"

SLAM! CRASH!

He winced as the striker for the door flew out of the door frame and crashed into his stereo. Without the striker to hold the door in place, the front door to his apartment swung open and shut.

It was Tuesday night and Spike was bored. There never seemed to be anything good on the tele on Tuesdays.

So Spike was out roaming the graveyard near his crypt hoping to find something to kill.

Then he caught the scent of vanilla on the wind. The Slayer! She was always good for some amusement. He could no longer fight her physically, but he was always up for a little verbal sparring. Not to mention the fun of watching her storm off in righteous indignation after a particularly nasty barb. She always swayed her hips in the most enticing way when she was mad.

As soon as she came into view, Spike realized she was already mad. Another vampire would have most likely avoided a Slayer so obviously on the war path. But Spike just had to know what had gotten under her skin and see if he could drive it in a little deeper.

"Oh, great, just what I need, another stupid, pig-headed, alpha-male wanna-be," Buffy said when she saw Spike.

"Well, I don't have to guess who shoved the stake up your ass. Bit unfair to take it out on the rest of the male population though. So just what did soldier-boy do to ruffle your feathers so badly."

"You think you're so smart don't you Spike?" He nodded. He didn't think it, he knew it. "Well for you're information the problem was that he wouldn't stick anything up my ass."

Spike was momentarily stunned. He couldn't have imagined the Slayer ever saying something like that. There could only be one explanation for a sentence like that coming out of the Slayers self-righteous mouth, especially since she didn't even blush. She was under some kind of spell. Still, whatever it was, it was causing her to say the most interesting things. Things that brought to mind the most interesting images.

"Wow Spike, I've never actually seen someone's jaw drop before." She stepped in close to him, placed her hand on his chin, and shut his mouth manually.

Then she looked at him as if she'd never seen him before. She licked her lips, and suddenly Spike could smell the scent of arousal coming off of her in waves. "You know what I just remembered?" she said with a low sexy voice.

He had no idea. His mind was too overwhelmed with images of Buffy bent over a tombstone as he fucked her up the ass.

She held the lapels of his duster and ran her thumbs over the leather. "You once promised me that you'd 'fuck me everywhere I could be fucked.'"

"That was supposed to be on our wedding night, luv," it was the only thing he couldn't think of to say. His mouth was dry, his cock was hard, and it was screaming at him to grab her and shag her senseless there on the ground. And why the hell had he called her luv? He hated her. She was sexy sure, hell he'd wanted her since he'd first seen her, but that didn't mean he liked her.

"Okay, if you're not interested. . ." she let him go and turned around.

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her tight against him, rubbing his erection against the ass she'd just offered him. "I didn't say that," he growled in her ear.

This was stupid, the one part of his brain that still worked told him. The spell will wear off, or be broken and she'll come straight to your crypt and stake you for even thinking of touching her.

She pressed her ass into him, obviously enjoying the friction between them.

"Are you sure, pet? I might do all sort of evil things to you?" he didn't know why he was giving her this out. Not only should he not care what she thought, but she obviously wasn't really making her own decisions right now.

She giggled, "Chip remember? You can't do anything evil."

That was it. That was what decided him. He couldn't hurt her. But he could damn well be evil. Oh yes, he'd show her evil. He'd fuck her in ways she couldn't even imagine. He'd make her cum over and over. He'd make this the best night of her life, so that when the spell or whatever it was wore off, she'd have no choice but to live the rest of her knowing that no one could fuck her like her worst enemy. Not to mention, she was Captain Cardboard's girl. Even if the wanker was too stupid to notice a gift from heaven when it was dropped squirming and horny into his lap.

He picked her up, as if he were in fact her newlywed sweetheart and started in the direction of his crypt.

"Where are we going? Why don't we just do it here?" she asked.

"Chip remember? If I'm going to fuck you up the ass without hurting you, we're going to need some lube."

***************************

It would have been romantic, if it hadn't been Spike. He'd carried her into his crypt, then kicked open the trap door that led to the lower level. He'd cradled her head in one hand to protect it, and then leapt down into the darkness.

She'd never seen the lower level before. Still hadn't really. It was much to dark for her to see anything. But Spike walked surely across the floor, and lay her down on what was obviously his bed. Then he was on top of her kissing her.

He really was as good a kisser as she had remembered. His kisses sent shivers down her spine and the dampness between her legs spread even further. It took a few moments before she was able to push him away.

"Second thoughts?" he asked. If she didn't know Spike better she would have thought he sounded hurt.

"No, I just want to be able to see you." She waited for him to tell her no, or laugh at her, or just ignore her the way Riley had earlier that night. Instead she felt him lift off of her, and heard the rustling of his leather duster. Then she heard the familiar click of his lighter and Spike began to light candles.

There had to be at least a dozen large candles spread around the bed, and Spike lit them all. The flickering candlelight made it seem even more romantic, but only in an Anne Rice sort of way, she reminded herself. This wasn't about romance after all.

This was about sex, and doing all the dirty little things that Riley wouldn't let her. About trying to learn some of those secrets that men seemed to be trying to hide from her. And about how good a kisser Spike was. And maybe getting rid of all those embarrassing dreams Buffy had had about Spike since Willows spell.

Having finished lighting the room, he started to move back down on top of her.

"Nuh-uh," she said, stopping his decent with her foot on his hard stomach. "I said I wanted to see you. All of you."

Spike bit his lower lip and smiled. He backed up to the foot of the bed and let his duster fall to the floor. Then he lifted up his t-shirt. Buffy's breath caught. Wow, that's a really nice chest, she thought. Then she watched entranced as his hands moved to his belt. As he lowered his jeans, Buffy was surprised to see he didn't wear any underwear at all.

Finally he stood before her completely naked. She felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. He was so beautiful. The candlelight danced across his marble skin, adding a redish blush, making him look almost alive. He was all hard angle's in all the right places, and below the perfectly sculpted chest and the nest of dark curls his thick eager cock glistened.

Wow, Buffy thought again. She had never actually seen a man entirely naked before. Despite her best efforts Riley always managed to keep his boxers on until he was under the covers, and the lights were out.

"Your turn," he purred at her. It sent shivers down her spine.

She kicked off her shoes. Then she lifted up her top and wriggled out of her pants. She was about to undo her bra when he said, "That's enough luv. I'll get the rest. Though I must say, I wouldn't have figured you for the black thong type."

"Guess you don't know me as well as you think. Huh, Spike?" she retorted, although secretly she was glad she had been planning a night out, and wasn't wearing some of her more ordinary underwear.

"Maybe not Slayer, but I'm about to."

He began to crawl up the bed toward her, like a predatory cat. She looked into his blue eyes and saw a deep hunger she'd never seen before. No one had ever looked at her quite like that. Not even Spike, who'd often looked at her as if she were a tasty treat.

When he reached her knees, he spread apart her legs, and began kissing his way up the inside of her thigh. She was completely absorbed in the feel of his velvet lips so it took her completely by surprise when she felt a cool finger plunge into her core.

"Oh," she gasped, as her hips lifted up off of the bed.

"Fuck, aren't you a tight little thing?" he said. His eyes were closed and he ran the tip of his tongue over his incisors. "I wager you're sweet too." With that he pulled his finger out, leaving her feeling incredibly empty, and put it in his mouth. He sucked on it. His cheeks caved in, emphasizing his incredible cheek bones even more. Slowly he pulled the finger out, as if it was coated with honey and he wanted to get every single drop.

"Do. . . do you like how I taste?" she knew she shouldn't ask questions but she couldn't seem to help it tonight.

He just smiled at her, "I'm going to have to start calling you my sweet," he joked. Then before she could form another thought, his head was between her legs as his fingers pushed aside her thong, and his tongue was teasing her outer folds.

"Spike. . . you. . . don't have. . . to," she said breathless. She didn't want him to stop, it felt wonderful, but she knew guys hated doing this.

"Want to," he said, his breath tickling her, and he went back to his work.

That was, Buffy thought, the first thing all night that actually made sense. He was lying to her of course, because he was a vampire and evil. In a minute or two, he'd get bored and move onto something else, in the mean time she'd enjoy it while it lasted.

And she really enjoyed it. She was very quickly panting out a series of oh's. It was at that point that Riley had always stopped and they moved on to other things. But Spike showed no sign of stopping. Not only was he licking her, but he'd now put two fingers inside her and was vigorously exploring inside of her.

Not that he's better at this than Riley, Buffy defiantly thought. Stupid vampire, he hasn't even found my clit-"OH GOD SPIKE!"

Buffy's mind went completely blank. Her whole world condensed down onto the feeling that was rising deep in her womb. He was sucking her clit. Flicking it with his tongue. Causing wave upon wave of sensation to run through her body like an electric shock. Her hands moved involuntarily to his head to pull him in closer. She was grinding her hips against him. Her whole body was moving about him as if he were her fulcrum.

Then she exploded.

She felt as if she'd blacked out. Slowly the world returned. She could feel her limbs trembling. With what seemed a huge effort she ordered her hands to let go of Spike's head. She had dug her fingers deep into his scalp, and she knew he'd be mad. Then she ordered her legs to unclench and let him go. She didn't even remember wrapping them around him.

He didn't look mad though. He grinned up at her and ran a hand through his now messy hair. He pulled himself up level with her face and propped his head up on one arm while he studied her through amused eyes.

All Buffy could do however was lie there gasping, "wow. . . oh. . . that. . . oh wow"

Suddenly he was looking at her very strangely.

"What did I do something wrong?" she asked. She was resigned to the fact she had. She was always doing something wrong. She just hoped that for once someone would tell her what it was.

"Don't be daft pet. What could you possibly do wrong? It's just. . . Buffy? . . Was that your first orgasm?"

"Don't be ridiculous Spike. That wasn't . . . I mean yeah it was more. . . but not. . .Riley and I have sex all the time. I like sex with him. Why would I have sex with him if I didn't have orgasms?"

It was a silly idea. Only Spike could be so arrogant as to think something like that. So yeah, that had been pretty incredible. Okay maybe the most incredible thing she'd ever felt. But still, it wasn't like there wasn't some release with Riley. There was the kissing and the passion, and she would get wet. And it felt nice when Riley was inside of her.

So why did she always want something more from him, asked the little voice Buffy could never quite keep quiet. This was the first time they had ever fought about it, but it wasn't the first time she'd hinted at Riley that she wanted to try something more adventurous. She'd just never been as forceful as she'd been about it tonight.

Why would I have sex with him if I didn't have orgasms? The little voice taunted. Because you don't want to lose your boyfriend maybe. Because you never knew sex could be like this.

"Fine. So what if it was? It's not like it's my fault."

"I never said it was pet. I'm just surprised is all. Not about Captain Cardboard. I just always figured you and Angel used to shag like bunnies."

Just when Buffy thought the evening couldn't get any more surreal Spike sent her mind around another bend. Was he serious? Didn't he know? Everyone knew? How could he not know?

"You're kidding right?"

"Why would I be. I thought you two had the big love. Or what, he get all self conscious about the cradle robbing?"

"You really don't know, do you? And hello, you're more than a hundred years older than me too."

"Yeah, but you're old enough to be legal now pet. Not that I can about that, because I'm evil, and really all about breaking the law. So what's the big mystery?"

Part of her brain was doing a little dance. There was actually someone who didn't know all about the most humiliating event of her life. Not that it felt all that humiliating right now. For some reason right here, right now, it didn't feel like her fault. It didn't feel like there was anything wrong with her that she had to hide from everyone. She felt like she was free.

And so she told him.

"How he lost his soul. It was the curse."

"You mean he's cursed not to have sex or he goes all evil. Remind me to send the gypsies some flowers."

She punched his shoulder.

"Ow."

"It wasn't the sex. I mean it was, but it wasn't. The whole point of the curse was so that he would suffer. So if he ever felt a moment of perfect happiness the curse would be broken and he'd loose his soul. And Angelus really never bragged about that?"

"All he ever said about how he lost his soul was 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.' Always was a bit of a drama queen. So it was your cherry wasn't it?"

"That's vulgar."

"So are the things I'm planing on doing to you," he whispered from her ear. And just like that Spike went from being considerate-listening-guy to just-wants-to-have-sex-guy.

Not that Buffy entirely minded. Spike as horny pig she could deal with. Spike as confidant she didn't really feel comfortable with.

"Now get on your hands and knees," he growled.

"As if. I never asked you to go down on me Spike, so if you think I'm going to suck your cock you can just forget it. That's not what I came here for."

He was reaching into a drawer beside the bed. He pulled out a plastic bottle containing a clear liquid.

"Ungrateful bitch. I never asked you to. Now if you still want it up the ass, get on your hands and knees."

Chapter 3:
Eagerly she rolled over, and thrust her butt in the air. Spike smiled and began to coat his fingers with the lubricant. Normally he would have used her own fluids. Had her suck his fingers, or used those delicious juices that had started flowing down her legs again. But there was the chip to consider. Hurting her would spoil all his fun.

What was he thinking? Normally? Normally he would have just shoved her against the wall of his crypt and used her as he liked. Reveled in her pain. It was the damn chip. It was changing him. Addling his senses. He would never admit it to any one, but once or twice he'd actually forgotten that he was evil.

Which he obviously still was. What he was about to do to the Slayer's ass was proof of it.

And what an ass it was. It was every bit as perfect as he'd always known it would be. Every bit of her was.

She wiggled her ass, as if to say, 'Hello, I'm waiting.'

First thing first. As beautiful a tableau the Slayer on her hands and knees wearing nothing but her bra and thong was, it was time for her to loose the last of her clothes. He deftly undid the clasp of her bra with one hand, although he did have to twist his wrist at an odd angle, since he was used to undoing them from the front. Then he ripped the thong off of her.

"Hey!" she complained.

He ignored her.

Instead he cupped her ass with his hands, and ran them all the way up and down her back, to soothe her. He began to press harder and massage her until he felt her muscles relax and her heart beat steady. Then he slowly thrust the finger he had coated into her tight passage.

She gasped. He held still and let her test out the feel of him. He felt her muscles squeeze him experimentally, and then gently she began to move against him.

"That's my girl," he said in his most soothing voice. The one he used to lead unsuspecting girls into dark alleys.

"Not your girl." she insisted.

He didn't care. She could deny it all she liked, but he had laid a claim to her tonight that would never go away. So Angel had been her first, who cared. Any man could take a girl's virginity, there was no skill required. But he'd given her her first taste of what sex could really be. Should really be.

He put a second finger in her, stretching her wider, and her pace increased.

This had turned out to be so much better than he ever could have imagined. From here on out, he would be her measuring stick. Any other man who ever touched her would be judged against him. And he had quite a large stick.

A third finger slid inside her and she began to whimper in pleasure. Then his other hand moved around her front and he slipped his fingers into her her other opening.

Her whole body jerked and she cried out, "Oh, god yes, Spike. More, please, your fingers. Please, yes!"

He'd only meant to wet his fingers with her juices, so that he could coat his waiting cock. But it was obvious that working both of her entrances was driving her crazy, so he let her enjoy it for the moment. He thrust in and out of her with both hands, while Buffy's body desperately tried to decide which direction she wanted to be fucked from the most.

He honed all his senses in on her. Her pulse, her breathing, the quivering of her muscles, her scent. He wanted to time this just right. He felt her movements become more frantic, her breathing more erratic, as her climax approached. That was when he pulled out of her completely.

"Nooooo!" she screamed in frustration at being denied her release.

"That's my girl, demand to be finished off," he smiled. He really hoped he was ruining her for any other man. What a sweet revenge that would be against the girl who had cost him the love of his life.

His hands however were not idle. He grabbed his cock, and quickly coated it with the fluids from both hands. Once he felt sure he was sufficiently slick, he grabbed her hips, just as she was about to turn on him.

The moment the tip of his cock came into contact with her moist passage he forgot everything else. He threw caution to the wind and thrust into her. After only a moment she began to move against him screaming his name, begging him to fuck her harder.

He had never felt anything like her. She was like slick, hot, satin squeezing every inch of his cock. She bucked under him like a wild beast desperate to be free, and yet the scent of her arousal had grown so strong that he could taste it on his tongue.

He dug his fingers into her hips and used them to thrust even harder into her. She took every inch of him and begged him for more.

There was, Spike knew, no way he could last long against this onslaught. So he let his right hand move around to her front and he pinched her clit.

"SPIKE!" she slammed against him even harder, something he wouldn't have thought possible and her muscles clenched around him pulling him over the edge with her. He screamed incoherently, his mind had been pushed to a place where words were no longer possible.

Her body continued to jerk under him, until her arms simply gave out, and she crashed head first into the pillows taking him with her. He managed to find the strength to pull out of her. But it took everything he had at the moment and he collapsed back on top of her.

It was amazing just lying there on top of her. His body rocked by the motion of her breathing as she gasped, desperate to breath again.

"Was it what you hoped for pet?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," was all she managed to say.

They just lay there like that for several minutes.

"Hey," Buffy said suddenly. "That hurt."

"Sorry pet, I tried to be gentle." That was an outright lie. He'd completely forgot about being gentle once he was inside her. But she hadn't seemed to mind at the time.

"No stupid, your chip, why didn't it go off?"

"I guess cause I wasn't trying to hurt you."

She looked at him, as if she wasn't satisfied with that explanation.

"Of course," Buffy suddenly said turning around to face him, and forcing him to roll off of her, "that did dispel all the myths I've heard about vampire stamina."

Bitch, he thought.

"Bitch. You want vampire stamina, I'll show you bloody vampire stamina." He grabbed her by the shoulders and his tongue began a violent exploration of her mouth.

"Buffy where have you been all night? I was worried about you." her mother said as Buffy got home late the next morning.

"You were worried, why? It's not like I come home every night."

"Riley called last night, looking for you. He said you two had a fight. I was just worried when you didn't come home. And now you're limping."

"It's nothing, I'm okay. I was really mad at Riley so I went out patrolling, ran into Spike, and spent the night at his place. Which is why I'd really like to take a shower now and get some real sleep."

"Of course dear, but you might want to give Riley a call, he was very worried about you. I got the impression that he was calling everyone to look for you."

"I don't really want to talk to Riley right now. Could you maybe call Giles for me. No point in worrying everyone."

"Sure thing honey, but if you and Riley are fighting, the sooner you talk to him the better," her mother said. Buffy winced as she started up the stairs. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine Mom, just a little sore." That seemed to satisfy her mom.

Actually, she was a lot sore, but she didn't want to worry her mom. It's not like she'd been fighting or anything last night. Well, except for the lava monster.

When she got to the bathroom, Buffy decided that maybe a bath was a better idea. Nothing better for sore muscles, especially ones she didn't know she'd had until last night, then a nice hot bath with lots of bubbles.

Hopefully that would also relax her enough to shut out the guilty and confusing thoughts floating through her head.

She couldn't help but feel bad about sneaking out of Spike's crypt before he'd woken up, but she'd been really tired, and had wanted a shower and her own bed. She could vividly remember the times she had woken up to find the man she'd spent the night with missing. It wasn't a fun experience. It was in fact, one of the things she loved most about Riley. He was always there. Every time they slept together she either woke up next to him or found him in the room doing his morning calisthenics. She never had to worry that he'd turned evil on her.

Not that that was a concern with Spike. He was already evil. Even so, she figured, why give him the chance to throw her out? Laugh in her face the way he had done when he'd seen Parker break up with her.

Not that it mattered to her if he did. It was just that kind of scene was too much of a hassle. It's not like she was looking for a relationship with Spike anyway.

Slowly she got into the tub. As careful as she was, it still stung when she sat down. Crap! Evil vampire, how long would it be until she could sit down again? Not that she hadn't asked for it, literally.

The hot water rushing over her sex and thoughts of Spike combined to make her moan.

What's wrong with me? Buffy wondered. All that sex I had last night and I want more? Maybe I shouldn't have snuck out. If I'd stayed and woken Spike up, maybe we'd be having sex right now.

Absently her hand sank under the water and between her legs, as she began to rub herself. Memories of the night before flitted through her head. Spike inside her, Spike on top of her, Spike beneath her, Spike's head between her legs, Spike's cock in her mouth, Spike-

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Buffy, it's Riley. I'm so sorry. . . I need to talk to you. . . Can I come in?"

Crap, thought Buffy, but I guess mom's right. The sooner we talk the better.

"Come in Riley."

"Buffy," he started, as he opened the door. Then he saw her. "My god Buffy, what happened to you?"

For a moment she was confused, then she remembered all the marks Spike had left on her body.

"Spike." she said simply.

"The chip stopped working? You staked him right?"

"What? No. The chip works, it just turns out he can hurt you if he's not trying to hurt you." Riley looked at her with a blank expression on his face. Buffy sighed and said matter of factly, "I'm sorry about what I have to tell you Riley, but I love you and you deserve to know. I slept with Spike last night." His eyes went wide. "It's not anything I meant to happen. I wasn't looking for him or anything, I just ran into him when I was patrolling, you know to work off some anger. Anyway, somehow one thing lead to another. I thought you should know."

Riley just stood there unable to process what she'd just said.

"What? . . How? . . " Finally he got his thoughts together. She could see he was angry, and waited for the yelling to begin. Instead he just stood there looking at her as if she'd grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead.

Eventually he spoke as if he wasn't really there, "Buffy, I don't think you're well. You should probably rest. I'm going to call Giles. That demon, it's spit. It must attract people to demons. That's why. . . You would never. . . I have to go."

He got up and left the bathroom.

Buffy sighed. That hadn't gone as well as she hoped. She and Riley still had all sorts of relationship issues to discuss. She didn't follow his rambling about demon spit. She didn't think the lava monster had been interested in sex. But there was nothing she could do about Riley right now, so she went back to thinking about Spike.

************************

It was the conflict of his senses that woke him. He could smell her, but when he tried to reach for her she wasn't there. Still the bed smelled of her. The sheets were even still a little warm from where she had been sleeping.

Slowly he opened his eyes, shifting to his game face so that he could see more clearly in the dark lower level of the crypt. Looking around he could clearly see that she had gathered up her clothes and left.

Suddenly he felt very cold.

He shifted so that his head lay where she had slept and he breathed deeply of her scent. His hands reached beneath the covers and he began to stroke himself.

He could feel it all crumbling around him. His evil scheme had turned on him. She had been so vibrant, so alive, that for the first time since the government put the chip in his head he felt alive too.

She had been amazing. Completely unskillful, but so eager, so desperate to learn the limits of her body as if it were brand new, and so delighted by every new discovery.

And what a body it was. Spike had always had an appreciation of Slayer's strength, having fought three, but he had never so directly tested it. At one point she had decided to take over, straddled him, and held down his arms, challenging him to get up. He'd used every bit of strength he had and hadn't been able to lift his arms up off the bed. It had only made him want her more, made it all the sweeter when he had held her exhausted form in his arms.

Suddenly he heard the door to his crypt swing open and a familiar thump thump as someone walked overhead. Riley.

Spike had no illusions of what might have brought Riley to see him. Somehow soldier boy had found out about him and Buffy, and Spike was sure Riley had brought a stake.

Luckily he had simply dropped his clothes at the foot of the bed when he had undressed for Buffy last night, so it was easy to scoop them all up and run for the sewers before Riley found him.

Spike might not be able to fight Riley, but he was a vampire, and was easily able to put enough distance between them for him to stop and get dressed. It was humiliating to have to run from a mere human like Riley, but Spike had no way of fighting Riley and no intention of being dusted by him.

Knowing he couldn't return to his crypt, Spike made his way to one of the lesser known demon bars, one he was sure Riley didn't know about, since he figured that Willie's was the next place Riley would look for him.

At this time of day, he was the only vampire in the establishment, which meant he drew a few looks as he sauntered in. He bought an entire bottle of whiskey. Maybe if he got drunk enough, he could forget not only that he'd ever shagged the Slayer but that she might just have been the best fuck of his life.

He settled in a booth near the back, grateful that none of the breeds of demon present hunted by smell since he was still covered in Slayer.

He'd had a couple shots, when he heard the word Slayer come from across the room. Suddenly he was alert, listening to what the two Harf-zdan demons were talking about.

"I know it's tacky to attack in broad daylight, but if we wait until tonight, every vampire in Sunnydale will be after the Slayer. If we want a chance at her we have to do this now," said the smaller of the two.

"You're sure about this? So some leech claims he saw her fighting a Charoite demon. We're talking about the Slayer. Doesn't mean the Charoite managed to infect her," the other one said.

Charoite demon, thought Spike, so that was what was up with Buffy last night. It all made perfect sense now. Not just the sex either, but why she had obviously not kept it a secret from Captain Cardboard.

Spike was up out of his seat. First he walked by the table where the two Harf-zdans were sitting as if they just happened to be on his way to somewhere. As he passed them, he grabbed the nearest one by the head and snapped it's neck before it even knew what had happened.

The other one tried to leap over the table to grab Spike, but he ducked out of the way, grabbing a half empty bottle off their table and smashing it down on the remaining demons head before it could regain it's footing. The demon went down hard. Just for good measure Spike snapped it's neck too. He was disappointed at how easily they had gone down. Maybe he shouldn't have bothered. Even in her present condition the Slayer probably could have dealt with them.

Still now he figured he had until sunset before Buffy was in any real danger. Which gave him plenty of time to find the Charoite's mate, and get some of its spit so that Red could work her magic.

He realized that the other patrons of the bar were staring at him.

"No one kills the Slayer but me," he said matter of factly, and that seemed to satisfy the other patrons. He walked up to the bartender, threw the last of his cash down on the bar and asked, "Heard anything about where a couple of Charoites might be staying?"

Chapter 5:
"I got donuts, so what new evil are we searching for?" said Xander as he and Anya entered Giles' apartment.

"It's a purple demon looks like a volcano. And what we need is an antidote to it's spit." Willow said reaching for a powdered donut.

"Is Buffy okay?" Xander asked, noticing her lying asleep on the couch while Giles, Willow, Tara, and Riley were all busy researching.

"She's sleeping," RIley said quietly to Xander.

"Okay? So what? It's spit put her to sleep?" Xander asked, obviously confused.

"Sadly this demon's saliva is not so innocuous. However, it would be better for all involved if we neither woke Buffy, nor discussed exactly what the poison has done to her." Giles said cleaning his glasses.

"That makes research difficult. Especially if we're looking for an antidote," Anya said.

"Yeah, what's with the big secret?" Xander asked.

"Trust me Xander, you're so much happier not knowing," Willow said, "And if Buffy does wake up, don't ask her. In fac-"

"Don't ask me what?" Buffy said yawning and stretching.

"Aren't you still tired, Buffy?" Willow asked hopefully, "You should probably take another nap."

"Yes, Willow's quite right. You should go upstairs, you can use my room to get some proper rest. A well rested Slayer is an effective Slayer, that's what I always say." Giles hurriedly added.

"Nah, I feel fine now. I did get a couple hours of sleep last night, plus I slept in this morning. Spike's crypt actually kind of cozy," Buffy said.

"Why were you sleep-" Willow leapt across the room to put her hand over Xander's mouth and stop him from asking his question.

"Don't ask questions!" Willow commanded.

"Alright, what's going on here. Willow the girl with her hand always in the air is telling me not to ask questions.?" Xander said.

Buffy sighed, "It's okay Xander, everyone's just spooked cause I slept with Spike."

"Where there many orgasms?" Anya asked.

Buffy smiled a dreamy look on her face and nodded.

"Okay, everyone knows now Buffy. I think you can stop mentioning it." Riley said from the corner.

"I so need to start listening to you Will," Xander said, as he recovered from his shock, "So this means we finally get to stake Spike right?" he began to perk up.

"I spent the afternoon looking for him. No joy." Riley said.

"Research it is then, and Ahn, the no asking questions rule goes double for you." Xander said.

They all began busily flipping through books. After about fifteen minutes the door flung open and a smoking figure covered in a blanket ran inside slamming the door shut behind him.

Riley was up in an instant, grabbing the blanket from Spike, obviously about to toss him back out into the daylight.

"Hey now, I come to warn you about Buffy's impending doom!" Spike cried out.

"Hold on, let's see what he knows," Giles said, starting to intervene.

There were a few moments of struggle, finally Riley settled for grabbing Spike by the coat and slamming him into the wall.

"Talk now." Riley said through gritted teeth.

"Hands off the coat." Spike said calmly.

"This is absurd, he doesn't know anything," Riley said, pulling Spike toward the door.

"Oh, yeah? Last night she fought a big purple hunk of rock, kind of conical. Didn't she?"

"Buffy could have told you that last night." said Riley unconvinced.

"I didn't tell him anything about it," Buffy said over her shoulder, she had barely looked up during all the commotion.

"All right, we are satisfied that you have some information. Now what do you know of any use to us Spike?" Giles asked.

"Quiet a lot, but I'm not spilling a word until soldier boy backs off AND I have your word he won't stake me," Spike said.

"After what you did? You're crazier than I thought you were. We don't need him, whatever we need, it's got to be in these books somewhere, right?" Riley said.

"Why are you all blaming Spike?" Anya asked, "Buffy was the unfaithful one. All Spike did was give her lots of orgasms."

"He took advantage of Buffy," Willow explained.

"Please, she wouldn't have even been in the graveyard last night if lover boy here could keep her satisfied. Not to mention I didn't know about the demon until this afternoon so how was I know to know that the Slayer hadn't just decided to act out her animalistic urges."

Riley punched Spike.

"Get a grip Spike, the only way Buffy would ever touch you is under the influence of evil magic," Xander said.

"Be that as it may, right now we are neither researching, nor finding out what Spike knows. Much as we all desire your demise, Spike, Riley won't stake you." Giles said, trying to reassert control over the situation.

"Not good enough Watcher. Need to hear it from Captain Cardboard himself. And no tossing me in the sun either."

"Riley," Willow said softly, "I know this is awful for you, I really get this. But Buffy's life could depend on what Spike knows."

Riley struggled with himself for several minutes. Finally he released Spike.

"Fine, if you actually know something useful, I won't kill you. But you better really know something."

Spike adjusted his coat and pretended to wipe dust off of it. Then he spoke, "First off, the thing Buffy fought last night was a Chaorite demon, very rare, native to Siberia." Willow and Giles each grabbed a book and started cross referencing. Spike continued, "They're stupid and slow, the only way they catch their food is by spitting on them. Powerful stuff that is. Makes a person completely unafraid of everything."

"Wait a minute," Xander interrupted, "That doesn't make any sense. It's not like Buffy's afraid of anything. And she can't have a fear of sleeping with you, because it would never even cross her mind."

"That's not true," Buffy volunteered, "I've been having dreams about sex with Spike ever since Willow's spell. Though I think this whole spit of courage thing is a bit ridiculous."

"He does have those sexy cheekbones," Anya volunteered.

"ANYA!" Xander cried horrified

Spike smirked.

Glaring suspiciously at his girlfriend, Xander continued, "See again, with the not making sense. Why would lack-of-fear-Buffy say something like that? I think you're making this whole thing up just to keep us from staking you for last night."

"Bloody hell! Do you people even know Buffy? You think she's not scared of anything, do you? Just because she fights vampires and demons doesn't mean Buffy's not a bloody coward. She spends all her time hiding herself behind that 'I'm just a regular girl' facade afraid that if any of you found out who she really is, what it really meant to be the Slayer, you would all leave her. You want to know why she shagged me? Because she was no longer scared that Riley was her last chance at being loved. So for once in her entire life, she went out and did what she wanted, not what she thought you all expected her to do." By the time he was done Spike's eyes had begun to shimmer gold.

"It is true that most unfaithful men have no fear of being caught," Anya added trying to be helpful.

Giles broke in, "Be that as it may, Spike's right, we do have to find a cure, before Buffy is killed."

"This poison will kill her?" Riley asked.

"Not directly, however it will surely result in her death if left unchecked," Giles continued, "What ever phobias Buffy may or may not have are irrelevant. I'll show you. Spike may I see your lighter?"

"Just be sure to give it back," Spike said, tossing the Watcher his lighter.

Giles caught it, walked over to Buffy, and lit it. "Buffy," he said, catching her attention, "Would you mind putting your hand in the flame?"

Buffy reached forward. Just as her finger was about to brush the flame, Giles pulled the lighter back and snapped it shut.

"You see," he explained, "Fear is a very healthy thing. It's what keeps us alive. It's really an ingenious poison. By repressing all of her fears, it has in effect, suppressed her survival instinct. Buffy was perfectly willing to stick her hand in the fire because she has no fear of being burned. By extension, in this state she has no fear of being hit by a car, or being bitten by a vampire, and so she won't bother to take steps to avoid them."

"Aha," cried Willow, "Chaorite demons. Found them. And there's an antidote. Oh wait," she said disappointed, "in order to make it, you need some of the Chaorite's spit, and Buffy killed the demon last night."

"Not to worry. Told you I had good info. Chaorites almost always travel with a mate, and I know where to find this one's. I just need one of you lot to come along to get the juices flowing, so to speak," Spike said.

"What do you need one of us for Spike?" Xander asked suspiciously.

Spike rolled his eyes, "Because you nit, Chaorites only eat living flesh, so the damn thing won't spit at me. We need living bait to act as a target."

Chapter 6:
"Its days like this I really miss Cordelia," Xander complained.

It was hard not to laugh at the whelp. He was dressed in a bright yellow rain coat complete with hat and boots. His hands were wrapped in saran wrap because he didn't have any water resistant gloves. To protect his face he wore an old halloween mask. Spike had thought it was a skeleton but Xander had insisted it was a Skeletor. What the difference was Spike wasn't sure.

On the other hand Spike wasn't looking forward to this anymore than Xander was. First off he was in desperate need of sleep. Buffy had done a pretty good job of wearing him out and unlike her he hadn't gotten a chance to take a nap. Instead he'd been running through the sewers looking for demon lairs and convincing the Scoobies not to kill him.

The worst part was that he had no one to blame but himself. He knew full well what he was doing when he'd had sex with Buffy not that he regretted that.

What he did regret was helping her pals put her back right. He'd thought he could buy himself amnesty by helping them. Plus he couldn't quite wish Buffy dead anymore. He told himself over and over that it was just because he wanted to shag her again, but the more he thought it, the less convincing it became. . .

And once they'd entered the sewers, Riley had made it perfectly clear that the only reason he'd agreed not to kill Spike was because he was sure that Buffy would do it as soon as she was back to normal, and he'd get to watch. Spike wasn't sure Riley was wrong either, and he wouldn't be able to shag anyone if he was a pile of dust.

So here he was, trapped in the sewers with the two people who probably hated him most, Harris and Finn. Off to find a cure for the girl who was most likely going to kill him for helping her.

He did still have one card up his sleeve though it wasn't an ace. He hadn't told the Scoobies that half the vampires in town were planning on ganging up on Buffy tonight, figuring she'd be too out of it to run. No matter whether they cured the Slayer or not, there was going to be a hell of a fight tonight, and she would need him. If he didn't grab some kip, he was likely to end up dust, but at least he'd go out fighting.

"We're here. Ready Harris?" Spike said as they approached the mouth of one of the many caves underneath Sunnydale.

"As I'll ever be, but shouldn't we be whispering?" Xander asked.

"No point, it's a big hunk of rock. Doesn't have eyes, ears, or even a nose. It tracks heat somehow, which is to our advantage, cause it won't even know I'm here, and I'm the one who has to kill the bloody thing. Remember to stay back here Finn, you haven't been waterproofed like the boy and I don't want you getting poisoned, cause no matter how hard you beg, I'm not letting you blow me." With that Spike gave his best cocky smile, and disappeared into the cave and out of Riley's reach.

"Oh, god. That was a visual I so did not need," groaned Xander.

"You and me both. Would it be breaking my promise if we just cut out his tongue?" Riley asked.

"Better be careful Finn, my tongue is Buffy's favorite part," he knew he shouldn't taunt the soldier, but he couldn't help it. Besides, he figured the damage was done. "Now get in here Harris," he called.

Spike's plan was simple, and didn't require a great amount of waiting so Spike was able to stick to it. As soon as Xander entered the cave what had seemed to be a lifeless hunk of purple rock came to life. After only a moment it had spit all over Xander and was slowly moving toward him. It's arms extended to grab what it assumed was easy prey.

But it had no idea that Spike had been standing right next to it all along. He had brought a large mace along for the occasion, and started bashing the thing in. Even if the demon couldn't sense the vampire, it knew that something was hurting it from that direction. Still it was much to slow to be able to catch Spike. He was always ten steps ahead of it. And after several minutes of bashing away at the same place on the back of the demons 'head' Spike finally managed to pierce the outer shell and hit the gooey filling. Purple blood shot out, and the demon dissolved much as it's mate had.

In the mean time Xander had taken out a tupperware container they had brought with them, and was carefully scooping the demon spit off of his rain coat and into the dish.

"Can we get out of here now? This get up is hot," Xander complained.

"Might as well, Chaorite's really aren't that much fun, they don't even scream when you kill them. A hell of a lot of effort for an unsatisfying kill if you ask me," Spike said.

"We didn't. And we don't care if you have fun or not. On second thought, we prefer that you don't." Xander said, as they turned back toward Giles' place. "How did you know so much about these demon's anyway?"

"Ran across some back during the second Russian Revolution."

"There were two?" Xander asked.

Spike rolled his eyes, "Bloody Americans. Yeah there were two, but the first one was rather brief. The second one was the fun one. Anyway, Dru and I were enjoying the mayhem, when she heard about these demons that ate people alive. So we went looking for them, she fancied one for a pet you see, anyway, we found some, but really they sound more fun then they were. Sure there's an incredible amount of blood when they bite someone in half, but I ask you, where is the fun if the victim isn't scared?"

"Sorry I asked."

Chapter 7:
Spike had hoped to be able to slip away after defeating the Chaorite demon, but Riley Finn seemed to have other ideas. He had said the whole reason he came along was to make sure that Spike didn't abandon Xander to the demon, but Spike was beginning to think that it was really so that he could deliver Spike up to Buffy for staking.

"Did you get it?" Willow asked as they returned to Giles apartment.

"Yep, we got all the spit of courage you could need. And you all owe me another raincoat." Xander said. After cleaning most of the spit off the coat, Xander had abandoned it and his saran wrap gloves in the sewers, not wanting to risk being exposed to the saliva.

Willow and Tara took the tupperware and sat around Giles kitchen table where they had obviously started mixing several things together for the antidote.

"Well, got everything you need I see, I'll just be running along then," Spike said, heading towards the door.

"You're not going anywhere," Riley said putting his hand on Spike's shoulder.

"So Rupert's going to let me sleep on his bed, because I've had a very long day here."

"Why do we care if you're well rested Spike?" Xander asked.

"Because you ninny. Every vamp and demon in Sunnydale knows by now about the Slayer's condition. And tonight you're going to have a hell of a fight on your hands. If you want me to be of any use, you'll let me get what sleep I can before the hoards of darkness come a knocking."

"And you didn't think to mention this before Spike?" Giles asked.

"I thought it was bloody obvious, Watcher. How do you think I found out about the Slayer's condition? It's all the talk in the demon bars."

Giles looked at him a moment, then sighed and said, "Very well Spike, you might as well sleep upstairs, I need to wash the sheets anyway."

***********************

Buffy was incredibly bored. No one would let her doing anything other than watch TV, and Giles didn't even have cable. He did have a bunch of video tapes, but they were all of BBC productions of Shakespeare and something called Black Adder that, Buffy thought, also looked like it might be Shakespeare.

It had been almost two hours since Riley, Xander, and Spike had gotten back from their spit safari and Willow and Tara still hadn't made the antidote that everyone thought she needed.

It was silly really. Buffy didn't think she was any different than she used to be. She felt really good in fact. She just wished she could get breaking up with Riley over with. He refused to talk to her about what had happened with Spike until after the antidote, but she didn't she what difference that could make. She'd cheated on Riley. How could they have a relationship after that. Of course Willow and been caught kissing Xander by Oz once and they had made up. But that wasn't the same thing at all. She'd slept with Spike, and had lots of sex with him too.

Spike. . . who was upstairs. . . on a bed. Suddenly Buffy had an idea of how to relieve her boredom.

She was halfway up the stairs when Willow cried out, "We've got it! Look! Buffy we- where are you going?"

"I was bored so I was going upstairs to see if Spike wanted to have sex."

Riley was across the room in an instant. He put his hand around her waist, lifted her up into the air, and spun her around so she was now at the foot of the stairs.

"Hey," said Buffy, "It's not nice to lift people into the air like that." To emphasize her point she grabbed Riley by the shirt and lifted him into the air. It was difficult, not because Riley was too heavy for her, but because he was so much taller that it was hard for her to lift him very far off the ground. "See."

"Hey, Buffy, why not put Riley down and drink your antidote?" Willow asked, offering her the mug they had mixed it in.

"Okay," Buffy shrugged and said. She hoped drinking the antidote would get her friends to stop acting so weird around her. It was starting to get annoying.

She put Riley down, grabbed the mug, and, without even looking at the contents, downed it in one gulp.

The world came crashing down around her.

"Oh god," she cried, falling to the floor. She quickly backed herself against the wall, and drew up her knees to protect herself. She remembered it all, what she had done with Spike. Telling Riley. Oh god, Riley, she thought. I'm going to loose Riley. He was my one shot at a real relationship and I messed it up by sleeping with a vampire that I hate.

But there was more. Her friends would never forgive her. They would be disgusted at her. She was never going to finish college, She'd be stuck without an education working at a fast food joint for the rest of her life, or worse, retail. Her mother would move away from Sunnydale and stop talking to her just like her dad. Giles would go back to England and she would never see him again.

Here fears just kept coming, hitting her one at a time. Too many to sort through, too many to deal with.

Angel would loose his soul (because of another woman) and come back to Sunnydale and begin killing everyone again. She would have to kill him again. No one else would ever make her feel the way Spike had last night. She was falling for Spike. She wouldn't be able to stop the next apocalypse and she'd have to watch everyone she loved die in front of her. She would loose to a vampire and be turned. She'd get hit by a car and be paralyzed, but wouldn't die, and there would be no Slayer to protect the world.

Riley was there next to her, trying to comfort her. She was sobbing violently now, it was all just too much. The world was too hard and scary a place. She didn't know how she could go out into it.

Suddenly Spike came leaping down the stairs, "What happened, who's attacking?" he asked.

"What? There's no attack." Xander said at the same time that Riley said, "YOU, you did this to her. You lied about the whole thing."

Riley let go of Buffy, and looked around the room for a weapon. Seeing the mace Spike had used on the demon, Riley grabbed it and headed back toward Spike.

"Hey now mate, none of that. We had a deal," Spike said backing up.

Willow grabbed Riley's arm from behind, "It's not Spike. It's just the antidote. It's working. This, it's only temporary, I think. Buffy just needs a chance to adjust."

"Adjust?" Riley asked.

"Willow's right," Giles broke in, "It's as if Buffy were on a drug and now she's come down off of it. Like a pain killer that's worn off and now all the pain is back. All of her fears are back and she's no longer used to them. However, she should be fine soon. We all deal with fear all of the time. Our psyches naturally adjust to it."

"So she'll be okay?" Riley asked, slowly lowering the mace.

"Yeah, she'll be right as rain, righter even," Willow said.

"It still doesn't change what he did to her. I don't see why we shouldn't kill him. He raped Buffy!" Riley said, once again raising his weapon.

A large sob came from Buffy. "Please. . . just. . . Spike. . . just leave. Just let him leave."

"I'll just be going then," Spike said softly, grabbing his blanket. "You rest up Slayer. You know where to find me," he said as he backed out the door, not taking his eyes off of her until the door was closed.

**********************

It had been the sweet smell of fear that had woken Spike. As his eyes had opened, he'd realized that it wasn't just fear, it was the scent of Buffy's fear. Something he'd never smelt before.

He'd jumped up, sure they were under attack by some big nasty. Something horrid enough to strike terror into the Slayer.

Once he'd seen there was no threat to Buffy his first instinct had been to run to her, to cradle her, and make her better. Make her feel safe, the way he had so many times with Dru when her visions had overwhelmed her. But then the grunt was coming at him with a mace, and he'd had his own personal safety to worry about.

Still, the Slayer hadn't wanted him dead. Or at least she wanted to do it herself, and that was something. He held onto that thought as he raced away from the Watcher's door, into the waiting safety of the sewers.

He'd just closed the manhole cover over his head when he realized he was not alone. He shifted to his game face to peer around in the dark, and saw a dozen other vampire's staring back at him.

"Bollox!" Spike said under his breath.

"Well, well, well boys. Look who we have here. The Slayer's lap dog, Spike. Hey, he's even got a dog's name. Hey dog, where's your collar?" the vampires all laughed at him.

A perfect bloody ending, to a perfect bloody day, thought Spike. Still things weren't quite as bad as they looked. First of all, all the vampires surrounding him were pretty young. Since the Order of Aurelius had been destroyed hardly any vampires over a hundred had ventured into Sunnydale.

Secondly, he was carrying a stake in the inner pocket of his coat. None of them seemed to be armed. And third, while they were all busy laughing at him, he'd grabbed the stake and driven it into the heart of the loud mouth who'd been taunting him.

The other vampires were momentarily stunned. It was a breach of vampire etiquette to attack during the initial taunting phase. They had been waiting for his come back. But Spike figured since he'd shagged a Slayer less than twenty-four hours ago, he was now so far on the fringe of vampire society that it didn't even matter any more.

He actually managed to stake a second vampire before they came to their senses. After that though, they all piled on him and he was fighting for his life. Luckily, they were not used to fighting together as a group, and his attackers got in each other's way. As he'd guessed, he was the only one armed, and none of them had managed to disarm him yet. That meant that although they could hurt him, they had nothing to kill him with.

He got another break a few minutes in, when one of the combatants sniffed him and said, "Did you fuck the Slayer?!" That outburst again startled his combatants and Spike managed to stake two more during their shock. That left five of them. Spike was bruised, battered, and broken. His ribs were cracked in several places. Since he didn't need to breathe they only hurt when he moved, but there was no way he could fight without great pain.

He backed up for a moment and looked over the remaining combatants. They viewed him warily. "Well, come on then. Aren't you lot the Big Bads around here? There's five of you, one of me. What? Not one of you's got the balls to take me on."

They'd already lost half their number to the older vampire. And even if his face was bruised, he didn't act like he was in much pain. The remaining vampire's decided that the odds were not as much in their favor as they had thought. They might hate Spike, but since he wasn't alive, they weren't driven by a compulsion to drain his blood. So they ran.

"That's right mates," he called after them, "I'm still the Big Bad, top vampire in this town. Don't you forget it." Despite his bravado, once he was sure the vampire's were out of earshot, he sank down against the wall of the sewer and indulged himself in some painful groaning. He hurt everywhere.

After a few moments he began to slink off to his crypt. He should have been thrilled after such a battle even if he was badly hurt. All he could think about though was that the Slayer had several such battles ahead of her the next couple of nights until she could show Sunnydale's underground population that she was back to normal.

Fuck, he thought. I probably just saved her life driving those wankers away. He had no doubt they had been waiting around that particular manhole cover, waiting for darkness so they could ambush the Scoobies at Giles' flat. Would he get any credit for it? No, they would never even know. Not that he wanted their gratitude. Well, maybe Buffy's, that is if her gratitude involved her tongue.

He made it back to his crypt. It hurt to climb the ladder to the upper level. When he did, he found that Riley had knocked over most of his stuff and broken his television. Luckily the refrigerator was still fine, so Spike had fresh, if cold blood. He greedily tore into several blood bags, letting the viscous fluid start it's healing work on his body.

He made his way back down to his bedroom. He was too sore to remove his clothes, so he simply wriggled out of his coat. Then he lay on the bed, which still smelled of Buffy, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

*******************************

Buffy leaned heavily against the side of the mausoleum. That had been her second big fight tonight. Spike hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said that the vampire population all knew about her recent condition and wanted to take advantage of it. That's why she'd been sure to allow a couple of the vampire's to escape from each battle. Hopefully the word would get out that she was up to full Slayer setting.

She wasn't sure she really was. She almost wished she'd agreed to let Riley come along with her. But she knew that if she was going to get jumped by a large group of vampires, the last thing she needed is to be worrying about was Riley.

Especially since all she seemed capable of doing was worrying. The overwhelming fear had gradually faded into a dull worry. Still, she now recognized that worry for what it was. That was why she had to go out tonight. Riley had begged her to take the night off, but she couldn't do that. If she hid inside once, she knew she'd be hiding the rest of her life.

She wished she could have done that one thing for Riley, stayed in. He was being so good to her. He'd taken care of her and comforted her through her breakdown. He wasn't going to leave her either. He'd said he understood that she wasn't in her right mind, that she had fallen under the influence of bad magics, and that she hadn't meant any of the things she'd said or done.

She wasn't sure about that. She was afraid that in some way, everything she'd done had been the real Buffy. But right now she wasn't in a position to rationally judge her fears. Also, she wasn't so dumb as to miss an out when it was offered her. If Riley was willing to make all the excuses for her, she wasn't going to argue.

No, Riley had had accepted her apologies and made it clear they were going to be alright. There was just one thing she had to do before they could put this all behind them.

She had to stake Spike.

Next