Chapter 10: Feeding the Hunger

“Mmm good.” Buffy’s voice was muffled due to the large mouthful she currently was trying to chew.

“Did you want me to go ahead and catch a couple more, then?” Solum asked her.

“Mmpf!!” She tried, but there was still too much food in there to be understood clearly, so she settled for nodding frantically.

She glared at the smirk on Spike’s face when he tried to hand her a bowl of water.

She drank some water and swallowed down another large section of food, enough to be able to communicate at least. “Yes, please.” She managed to get out, but then started coughing and choking.

Spike burst out laughing then ducked down as she threw a fish tail at him.

“Easy Slayer, we’ll go catch some more fish for you.” He stood up and followed the other male, still laughing at how adorable she was, even with her cheeks packed with food.

“Your little lady has quite the appetite, don’ she?” Solum commented.

“You’d be surprised.” Spike said, then it hit him what he had agreed with. “But she’s not my lady. She’s not MY anything.”

“Really. Shoot, I wish I had a woman like that, with no strings attached. That would be like a childhood dream come true.”

“Nah, mate. It’s not like that at all. We’re actually mortal enemies.”

“Enemies? I take it you’re going with the whole concept of ‘keeping your enemies closer’.”

“We just agreed to a truce until we can get out of here. Then we will go back to our normal behavior of trying to kill each other.”

Solum just gave him a very confused look, but didn’t say anything else as they entered the cavern with the large underwater pool that held that fed the streams where the fish lived.

Spike and Buffy had been very pleasantly surprised by Solum’s makeshift home under the ground.

They had followed him through several dark and winding tunnels, unlike the Garden itself, the only source of light had been from the torch he carried. The roar of water, unseen surrounded them.

“Is that the water that feeds the day-glo moss?” Spike had to shouted over the water.

“Yeah. That was the trickiest part, you know? That moss likes its moisture, but it hates water. So I had to figure out a way to keep it happy. Rocks I understand, plants are like a whole other species. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah, plants and rocks are a bit different.” Spike shot an amused look at Buffy, who fought to hide her grin.

“Well, here’s the front door.” Solum had said, stopping in front of a solid rock wall. He offered Buffy the torch. “Can you hold this darlin'?” After she took it he put his arms up to push it aside. “I guess it’s actually more like a back door.” He began pushing and they could see light through the widening crack he created. Then he stopped again. “Or more like a side door even.” He looked over at them and seemed to realize they didn’t care which it was. “Oh sorry.” He moved the rock out of the way and stepped through the lighted doorway, leaving them to follow.

Since it was so narrow, Buffy slipped through first, still carrying the torch.

“Spike!!” She yelled. “It’s a way out.”

Spike followed quickly, but stopped short when he saw what her excitement was about.

They were in a large cavern about three hundred yards across. In the center was a large underwater lake that took up almost half of the space. High above the lake, about one hundred and fifty feet was a large skylight in the ceiling of the cavern.

“I don’t think so, Slayer.” Spike told her.

“What are you talking about?” She demanded. “Look!! I can see sunlight and clouds and all we have to do is climb up to it.”

Spike shook his head. Yeah, it would be simple if you didn’t mind crawling upside down across the ceiling about a hundred feet. He grabbed her arm. “Buffy.” The use of her name caught her attention. “Neither one of us is up for a climb right now. Let’s talk about this after we get some food in you.”

Buffy looked up longingly at the sunlight again, but this time she seemed to notice how difficult it would be.

“Ok. She said, disappointment evident in her voice.

“We’re not giving up, here.”

“I know.” She said forcing a smile.

Her stomach growled loudly.

“Let me give ya’ll the tour, then I’ll catch us some lunch.” Solum said.

Across from the area they entered was a cavern Solum used for his main living quarters. He had set it up quite nice. There was even furniture and a bed made out of a leopard hide.

Spike asked how he managed to find wood and animal skins down here, which led Solum to show them the net. It was spread out across the stream that flowed out of the lake and deeper into the tunnels to feed the moss. In that he caught animals, trees, driftwood, leaves.

He then showed a small alcove that had a large geothermic pool in it.

“I can take me a bath in there and dry out my find over here on this vent.” He said, pointing to where a large pocket of steam rose towards the ceiling. “I also can dry out my drawers.”

“Your what?” Buffy asked.

“He means his pants, pet.” Spike told her.

Buffy gave him a disbelieving look.

“His pants?”

“Yep, I hate wearing wet britches, gotta dry ‘em somehow.”

“Of course, they’re your pants.” Buffy said. “Um, I don’t mean to be a pain, but could we get to the eating part soon. Please?”

“Sure thing, darling. We’ll head over to my little place and you can wait there while I catch us some grub.”

And now here Spike was trying to catch more fish for Buffy so she could build up her strength and Solum seemed to think they were a couple or something.

“I mean I have someone in my life.” Spike continued on even though Solum hadn’t said anything else. “Someone I’ve been with for over a century. You don’t just throw away a commitment like that.” Solum raised an eyebrow at him.

“Granted, Drusilla is pretty ticked off right now because of the last truce I had with the Slayer, but she’ll get over it.” Again Solum said nothing, this time he didn’t even look up, just watched the water where put his line in.

After a few minutes of silence Spike spoke up again. “She dropped an organ on me once. Put me in a wheel chair for months, she did.” His voice gathered more emotion, it became very decisive. “Actually, I hate her. It taking all of my energy NOT to kill her.” Spike saw Solum begin to pull on the line because he had a bite, but Spike just continued on. “Sure I respect her as a fighter. I mean I haven’t been able to kill her yet and I’ve killed two Slayers in my time. That says something about her skill. But still I hate her. I do. Once we’re out of this place I’m going to kill her once and for all.”

“As long as you’re certain.” It was almost a surprise when Solum spoke up, Spike had forgotten him. “Ya think this is enough fish?” He asked holding up another cluster.

“Uh, yeah.” Spike said, wondering when he had time to catch all of those.

“All righty, then. Lets head back to your mortal enemy.”

“Right.” Spike said with a growl, glad he reminded him of his anger. He turned to follow him, but then stopped. “Do you have another water container? She’ll probably need more to drink.”

Spike didn’t understand the smirk on Solum’s face as he took the carved wooden bowl from him.


It was with a full belly, Buffy woke from her nap. She could tell from the now dim light above the sun was about to set. She saw no sign of Spike or Solum, but she vaguely remembered them talking about using some of his finds to make them more comfortable.

After she had eaten Buffy had lay her head back against the wall she was sitting against. Even though it was cold and damp it didn’t counteract her fatigue. For the first time, in a long time she felt almost content. She had food in her stomach and the fear and worry that had been her constant companion for the past few days had disappeared for the moment. She tried to follow the conversation going on around her, but her eyes had closed of their own volition.

The last thing she remembered before her eyes closed was Solum saying that there was only one other alcove along the main cavern so they would have to share. Then he got a strange smile on his round face and said he didn’t imagine they would mind sharing.

Buffy hadn’t had the energy to question that statement at the time, but now she wondered about it.

Did Spike tell him something about her? Did he tell him something about the two of them?

Did he tell that…that… what was Solum anyway?

She shook her head. Spike had better not have told him about their kiss.

Then again that didn’t seem like something he would do. She remembered her dream. The sight of William’s eyes as he pleaded with that horrible woman to give him a chance, the love and adoration he obviously held for her. The same look he gave Drusilla now.

That wasn’t someone who would play with her like that. Sure, he would try to kill the first chance he got, but playing games like that just didn’t seem his style.

No that was much more like Angelus.

She shook her head again, trying to rid herself of the treacherous thoughts about her boyfriend and her soft feeling towards Spike. He would kill her as soon as they were out of here. This was just another one of their truces.

(When did that become so acceptable to her mind?)

The only reason that the kiss happened between them was because they were fighting to survive and that desperation led to the intense feelings and THAT led to the kiss. She had seen enough soap operas to know that plot. She also knew from the soaps, that it never worked out after they got back to civilization. The characters were usually just trying to cling to something familiar.

(So why did his kiss affect her more than sex with Angel?)

Now she needed to stop worrying about this silly stuff.

She should go find the guys and help them. Although she didn’t know if she should consider Solum a guy.

Why didn’t Spike wake her? She wondered as she stood up and stretched. Her muscles were still tight and sore, but she did feel better. Her injuries weren’t nearly as painful as before.

Spike had to be in worse shape than she was. He hadn’t slept in days probably, plus he was injured, plus he had been paralyzed only a few hours ago.

The stupid vampire should have woken her up.

When she didn’t see either of them in the main cavern, she headed to the bathing room, thinking she would find them there, but when she arrived there were two torches on the wall and no sign of them.

She turned to look at the steaming pool and found herself drawn there automatically. She knelt down and ran her hand in the water.

It was definitely warm, bordering on hot, but not uncomfortable so. It would be so nice against all of her sore muscles.

She looked down at the now filthy and torn shirts she had one. These were almost as bad as what she had arrived in. She was surprised Spike hadn’t mentioned the smell again. Even she could smell herself.

A bath would easily get rid of the smell and getting rid of the smell would probably help Spike sleep. She owed it to both of them to get a bath.

Having made up her mind, Buffy allowed herself to slip into the water; a sigh of bliss escaped her lips at the feeling of the water on her sore body. She sank down to her shoulders and tilted her head back allowing her neck to feel some of the soothing heat.

This was so nice. She could stay here forever.

She noticed all of the dirt floating away, coming mainly off the shirts that now clung heavily to her. She looked at the entrance to the cavern doubtfully for several moments. She listened for any noise coming from the main area, but heard nothing. After debating with herself for several more minutes, she finally decided to get truly clean she would have to take off the shirt, they needed to be wrung out to get all of the dirt out of them and she couldn’t do that with them on. Besides, she would be able to hear Spike if they came her way and she could easily throw her clothes back on then.

The water felt even better on her naked skin. She smiled to herself then pushed farther out into the water. It wasn’t a large pool only about twelve feet across at the widest point, but it was still large enough for her to spread out and float across on her back. She had a shirt in each hand as she floated, using them almost like flippers to move through the water.

By the time she reached the other side the tension melting away made her almost giddy. She couldn’t help but giggle a little at how good she felt, and then quickly did a series of back flips pleased when a delightful number of pops ran down her spinal column.

When she finally stopped she realized she still held the shirts in her hands and they still needed to be cleaned. She started agitating them in the water, with much zeal. Soon she was jumping around dancing and splashing in the water.

She was so caught up in having fun she never noticed Spike’s approach.


Solum had been starting to get weary so Spike told him to go ahead and get some sleep. He would finish setting up their space and then go quietly move Buffy when he was done, certain she wouldn’t wake again before morning.

He was currently headed back to the bathing room with his hands full of sticks, which he was going to dry then use as a frame for two small beds for them. He had enough supplies that if he were going to make one bed, it would almost be comfortable, but for two beds it would be a little bit better than the stone floor.

He just came to the entrance of the room that held the warm pool when he saw her.

She was bouncing up and down singing to herself and spinning his shirts around her in the water.

And she was naked.

He dropped the sticks he had been carrying and for several long moments he just stood there with his mouth hanging open. Her watched her breasts as they bounced up and down with her movements; droplets of water ran down them enticingly only to drip off of her nipples.

He watched as she stopped bouncing and flipped backwards in the water giving him a glimpse of the dark hair at the apex of her thighs.

‘Well, well, looks like someone isn’t a natural blonde.’ He thought to himself. That thought seemed to get him over his shock. He quickly picked up the sticks he dropped and ducked back around the entrance so she couldn’t see him. Once there he tried to get control of himself. His pants were so tight against his crotch it was almost uncomfortable and he used one hand to adjust himself trying to get a bit of room.

He debated for a moment of just walking away and coming back when she was finished, give her the privacy to enjoy her bath.

Then the evil part of his brain jumped in. Tormenting her was way too big of a temptation for him to pass up. Not too mention the fact that he may get a closer look at some of those goodies he just saw bouncing around in front of him.

Mind made up, he hoisted the sticks up onto his shoulder and ducked his head. He again headed for the entrance to the bathing room only this time he started whistling loud enough to announce his presence.

He made it about five feet in, keeping his head down and his eyes averted from the pool when she noticed him. The splashing sounds came to an abrupt halt and he heard a shocked gasp then.

“Spike!!” He looked over and couldn’t help but smirk when he saw her now ducked down in the water, making it difficult for him to see anything but the bright red of her skin as she blushed in embarrassment at being caught in the buff.

“Well hello there Slayer. Decide to freshen up a bit?” He asked her, barely managing to keep any sort of innuendo out of his voice. If anything her blush deepened.

“Yes.” She said, trying not to meet his eyes.

“You should probably wash out those shirts too. They were getting to be a bit ripe, you know.”

“I already did.” She said.

Spike laid the sticks on the vent to dry and turned back to Buffy. “You want me to put them up here to dry? That way you don’t have to put on wet clothes and go back into the damp cave. We don’t want you to catch your death no do we.”

Buffy was so caught up in her embarrassment she didn’t even notice the teasing in his voice.

“Um, I don’t think, that is, um, I don’t know if that’s…”

“It will only take about five minutes. Sol says if you leave clothes on there for longer than that they burn up and we don’t want that do we?” Spike went and stood at the edge of the pool, but still couldn’t see anything very clearly since she was ducked down in the water.

“Come on, throw them here, I’ll see about getting them dry for you.” With a nervous glance at his face before she ducked her head again, she threw the wet heavy shirts in his direction and they managed to land only three feet from the edge, too far for him to reach.

He gave her what he hoped was an admonishing look, not a predatory one. “Now you are going to have to push them the rest of the way over. I swear Slayer, are you trying to be difficult here?”

“No.” She swam closer to him and pushed the shirts almost to the edge. She didn’t notice him hungrily looking at her rear when she did this. “There you go.”

Spike bent down and picked up the shirts. He took them over and carefully laid them on the sticks lying across the vent.

He glanced behind him to where Buffy was still almost submerged in the water and decided to see how far he could take this torment. He hid a grin as he headed back over towards the pool.

“There you go Slayer, just five minutes or so and you’ll be all taken care of.” He told her, and then began to unbutton his pants. It was the sound of him lowering his zipper that caught her attention. She looked up and saw what he was doing and gasped.

“Wha-what are you doing?” She turned around in the water so her back was to him.

“What does it look I’m doing?” He asked, unable to keep the smile from his face. “I’d like to get clean too, ya know.”

“But I’m in here.” She protested uselessly

“I can see that.” He answered, sliding his pants down over his hips. He noticed her head darted to the side and out of the corner of her eye she could see he was indeed taking his pants off. She turned the whole way around again.

“So don’t you want to wait until I’m done?”

“Why would I do that? Do you have a problem with me sharing the pool? Its more than big enough for the both of us.”

“I’m naked.” Buffy answered desperately.

“Really? So am I.” Spike kicked his pants off and began to step in the pool. The hot water didn’t affect him as it did her, but it did soothe his tired and aching muscles. And he gave a little ‘mmm’ as he sank down into the water.

“I think its safe to turn around now Slayer, I’m all hidden in the water.” He told her, but she still didn’t turn around.

“What is it you are afraid of, luv?” He couldn’t resist taunting her further. “Afraid you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself if you get a peak at my naked goodies?”

”No, that is not what I’m…” Buffy started to protest, turning around angrily. Her complaint dropped off when she took in the sight of him standing before her naked, on in the water up to his hips, his abdomen on display for her view. Buffy tried to regain her thought. “I’m not at all tempted by your washboard stomach.” He didn’t think it was possible for her to turn even brighter red than she already was, but she did.

“I mean…”

Spike chuckled slowly and advanced on her. “I think I know what you mean, pet.” He told her quietly. “I think I know exactly what you mean.”

“Spike.” She breathed, and then held her hand out to stop him about a half foot from her. “Stop.”

“Stop what? I’m not doing anything.”

He was close enough now that he could see her clearly under the moving water. Despite her protestations her nipples were as hard as small pebbles under the water and he knew that she couldn’t blame that on being cold.

He was still hard from when he had first entered the cavern, but now this close to her it was becoming almost painful, especially with her hand splayed across his chest the way it was.

“Buffy.” He whispered, almost as if he shouted at her, her eyes snapped immediately to his. He could see they were dark with passion and the force of it made him swallow thickly. He could feel the desire rushing through his own body. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and crush her to him. He remembered his daydream from before of pounding into her while drinking down her essence. He took a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself down.

Buffy couldn’t make herself turn away. She knew this was Spike, she knew he was probably only messing with her, but yet she felt herself drawn to him in the worst way. She could feel her blood pounding through her body and it seemed to be pooling in between her legs.

Yet even while she was drawn to him, common sense was making her want to pull away and she felt trapped in the magnetic push and pull, unable to move in either direction, trapped there staring into his eyes, wanting him to touch her as much as she dreaded it.

He brought one hand up and brushed her cheek, just as she felt something brush against her hip.

Her eyes got even wider.

Surely that couldn’t be…

They were more than six inches apart. That couldn’t possibly be…

When she felt the light touch again and saw that Spike’s other hand was down by his side far away from her hip, she risked a glance down. She gasped at what she saw and looked back up quickly.

Water made things look bigger right?

But even water wouldn’t make it stretch out that far so it could touch her.

She wanted to look again. Actually she wanted to do more than look, she wanted to touch him. She wanted to touch Spike. She wanted to feel him. She didn’t realize her desire was communicating itself to her hand, which had begun to grasp and caress his chest.

She looked up hopelessly into his eyes, wanting him to understand her dilemma and help make her decision for her. The open lust on his face almost made her swoon into him. She felt the lips of her sex thicken with her desire; her breathing was coming out in pants now.

Just before the desire won out and they attacked each other the smell of burning reached her. Buffy turned sharply.

“The shirts!” She yelled. She started to run to get them, but then hesitated realizing she was naked.

“If you don’t go get them, then you won’t have ANYTHING to wear.” Spike told her, his voice low and thick with his desire.

Inside he was cursing himself for putting the shirts on there in the first place. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to coax her back into the water with him.

Buffy hesitated for another second before the sight of the smoke thickening spurred her to action. She quickly got out and ran to the vent. She pulled the shirts off and without waiting threw the red shirt on.

Spike almost growled in frustration when she covered up.

She stood with her back to him for several minutes, trying to get herself under control.

Spike wanted to get out and push the issue; he wanted to force her to confront her desire for him. However, he was afraid that would be a mistake. He didn’t want to have her do anything she would regret later. Finally she turned around.

“I should probably go, set up our space some more. Where is it?’

Spike found himself furious with her cowardice, in not admitting what almost happened between them.

“It across the pond, it’s the only other opening here. You could try looking you know.” He snapped at her.

She didn’t even rise to the bait.

“Ok, I’m just going to go.” She moved to leave, but stopped where his pants lay on the ground.

“Did you want me to dry these?” She asked nervously.

Spike looked at her stupidly. “They aren’t even wet.”

“Oh, right. I guess that’s a ‘no’ then. Um, ok.” She hurried out of the area nervously.

Once she was gone, Spike was left alone with his frustration. He noticed that at some point, probably while watching her run for the shirts, her cute little bottom moving with her, he had lowered his hand and was stroking himself. Yet, it wasn’t giving him any sort of satisfaction, it just seemed to enflame the raging hard on he was sporting.

With a loud curse he snatched his pants up from the ground and began washing them violently.

All sorts of sexual daydreams ran through his head while he did this.
Taking Buffy in every way imaginable.
Fucking her, until all thoughts of Angel were completely wiped out.

It was obvious from all of her reactions to him that even though she slept with Peaches she must not have gotten anything out of it. Hell, he wouldn’t even be surprised if the selfish prick didn’t make even her come. Angel probably wouldn’t have even noticed if she didn’t.

Spike would make her come. He would make her come over and over again until she couldn’t deny him anything. He would show her all the temptations of physical pleasure; he would show things she never even dreamed of. He would make her scream.

With a growl he climbed out of the pool and threw his pants over the drying vent while he paced back and forth furiously, all sorts of kinky pictures running through his head.

Pounding into her from behind, with one hand on her hip and the other wrapped in her hair.

Going down on her, his face buried in her moist heat, one hand wrapped around with a finger invading her in a place she probably didn’t know could give her pleasure.

Buffy straddling him, her legs wrapped around him while she rode him furiously.

He shook himself, trying to get it under control, but it was no use. He was going to need to jump in the other pool and try to cool down before he got near her again. Otherwise he wasn’t going to be able to control himself around her.

He tried to remind himself of all the reasons he hated her, but they just slipped from his mind and the only thing the remained was the innocent, yet completely decadent way she had looked up at him, her eyes filled with such desire and yearning.

Frustrated beyond belief he grabbed his pants off of the vent and headed, completely naked out of the room intent on diving into the cool water.

However, once he left the room he stopped short. Standing twenty feet away from him, with her back towards him was the source of his torment.

She turned around slowly. The red shirt was only buttoned with the bottom two buttons, leaving the top to hang open exposing her neck, the sloping sides of her breasts and her flat stomach. She seemed to falter a bit at the sight of him standing hard and naked in front of her. There was nervousness in her eyes, but also the desire he saw from before.

For a long moment, neither said anything, just stared at each other.

Then she tilted her head to the side slightly and spoke, her voice husky. “I thought you might hungry.”

Chapter 11: Quenching the Desire

After running out of the bathing room like she did Buffy stopped abruptly once the cooler air hit her. She wrapped her arms around herself to try and keep the cold at bay, with shaking hands she tried to button the buttons, but stopped after two of them because she was frustrated with herself.

She looked up hopelessly towards the vent. Now that the sun had set she could see a few stars beyond the canopy of leaves overhead.

A deep shiver ran through her. The stars seemed so close, but they might as well be in a different dimension. The only thing that seemed farther away right now was Sunnydale.

She heard cursing behind her, coming from the place she had just run away from.

Spike, obviously upset with her.

A very naked Spike.

The desire she felt in the pool hadn’t left; instead it seemed to be even more insistent. He was like a drug and even though she knew she shouldn’t be having these urges towards him, she was. And they were much stronger than anything she had ever felt before.

She should be afraid. Afraid of these feelings, afraid of what was happening between them. Even afraid of the dream she had about him, about his past. Yet she wasn’t afraid.

Ever since her dream, she felt certain that she had nothing to fear from Spike. True, someday he would try to kill her, but he would never hurt her emotionally.

‘Not like Angel.’

THERE!!! That was it. That was why she kept running. That voice in her head. The one that kept popping up to put Angel down. The one that kept insinuating that all the pain and torment she lived through because of him was for nothing, because she never really loved him.

Yet her love for Angel was what filled her for so long, it became so much a part of who she was. She didn’t know who she would be without it. And if she didn’t really love him, just the idea she had of him what did that say about her? How could she have felt that much pain and anguish over an illusion?

The chill outside in the cave seemed to have sunk into her now. It was in her bones, in her heart, but this was a familiar chill. It was the fear and loneliness that lived inside of her. Her constant companion since being called as the Slayer. Sure, she overcame it. She didn’t let it affect her job, but it was always there, inside of her. Whether she was with her mom, or her friends. For a while she had believed that Angel kept the cold at bay, but now she saw that he just helped her hide it deeper. When she was with him, she worried about him so much, she didn’t notice the chill.

Buffy glanced behind her. Towards Spike.

Spike.

The thought of him sent a completely different shiver through her.

She didn’t notice the chill when he was with her. It certainly didn’t seem to be there a few minutes ago and it wasn’t the hot water that made it leave.

‘And it certainly wasn’t there when he bit you.’ That damn voice again, but this time she understood what it was saying.

She relaxed her grip on the red shirt she had been clutching.

She was so tired of this chill.

She could hear Spike approaching, the nervousness she thought she would feel wasn’t there. All there was was anticipation.

She heard him stop suddenly behind her. She turned slowly, letting him see the shirt was still unbuttoned most of the way.

She brought her eyes up coquettishly and felt her mouth go dry at the sight he made standing there completely naked.

He was perfect. His white skin seemed to glow from the lit torches behind him. Every lean muscle was outlined in shadow and light. His red cock jutted out angrily from his body was the only thing that wasn’t a pale white.

And in this instance it seemed that objects in water WERE the size they appeared to be.

When he didn’t move or say anything she realized it was up to her. Since she was the one who had run away, he wasn’t going to initiate anything else with her.

“I thought you might be hungry.” Her voice sounded strange, dry in her own ears, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the vampire in front of her.



Spike was certain you could have knocked him over with a feather at that moment. She looked like a golden ray of light against the darkness that surrounded her. The shirt concealed, but it also left little to the imagination. He could see her nipples, rock hard, pressing against the cotton. He could also make out the beginning of her pubic hair down below her belly button.

Gods, he wanted her. All of the images in his head flew away at the reality of her. None of them could even begin to compare to the sight, the smell of the Slayer standing before him.

He held himself tight, rigid. Afraid if he relaxed he was going to rush over there and take her. Make reality out of all the fantasies he’d been having. And he wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t about to take her against her will, despite the obvious game she had to be playing with him.

Then she spoke. Her words, the invitation in them, along with the look in her eyes almost had him spurting right there with no contact. He felt his cock jerk in response to her. His voice came out thick and angry, filled with lust and frustration.

“If I get that close to right now Slayer, I’m not just going to drink from you.”

Her eyes never wavered. “I know.”

Spike inhaled, trying to get himself under control before speaking again. “Do you now?” Against his will he started moving closer to her, but he moved slowly giving her every opportunity to turn and run again. “Do you really know of all the things I want to do with you right now?”

Now she hesitated, he didn’t sense fear, but he could clearly see her uncertainty and some confusion. “I know you want me. I know what that means. I don’t…” Her voice trailed off, uncertain of what to say.

He was almost upon her now and she still hadn’t moved back. He watched her as she licked her lips. The action almost caused him to moan out loud.

“I want to fuck you Slayer. I want to take you and then when I’m done I want to move down and suck the juices right out of your quim. I want to make you come over and over again until you are almost too tired to move. Then I want to put you into all sorts of delicious and nasty positions and keep fucking you. I want to hear you screaming and crying out my name over and over again while I make you tremble and weep for release. I want to feel your mouth sucking my cock until I explode down your throat, then I want to feel you drinking me down.” He purposely tried to be as graphic and offensive as he could, he wanted her to know the depth of his lust at this point, give her one last chance to run away.

Instead he watched her pupils dilate so there was hardly any color in them at all. Her breathing quickened to little gasps. The smell of her arousal completely overwhelmed him.

And she made no attempt to move away from him.

She stood right where she was. He was almost touching her now.

Just one more thing.

His face changed. “But first, I am feeling a bit peckish.”

She didn’t even flinch, just tilted her head farther to the side to give him better access.

Spike wasn’t sure he was going to survive this.


Buffy’s body felt like it was going to explode. She could feel her own heartbeat as the blood pounded through her body. It felt like with every thump the moisture between her legs grew.

She never felt anything like this before. His words enflamed her, they put images in her head that she never dreamed of before.

She also knew that if he didn’t touch her soon she was going to die.

When his face changed didn’t slack a bit. She expected him to dive right for her neck and prepared herself for the pain of the bite. She never expected what happened next.

Soft, soft lips brushed against the corner of her mouth. She never imagined a vampire’s lips could be that soft and tender.

She turned to try and capture those lips, uncaring of the fangs behind them, but he moved his head instead brushing them across the other corner of her mouth. She opened her mouth, seeking him, wanting to taste him, but he evaded her again. This time a soft kiss was placed on her cheek, the lips lingered for a few seconds as if he savored the softness and flavor of her. Then his hand lightly cupped her chin, he turned her face so he could kiss the other cheek.

Her eyes slid closed as she whimpered, the desire inside of her began to boil over.

He nuzzled her cheek lightly. She could feel the ridges of his face and feel his breath in her ear. Her legs started to feel rubbery so she grabbed his elbows to steady herself.

She felt his hands moving between them, the shirt opened the rest of they way as he unbuttoned the two buttons she had managed to fasten.

Her legs almost gave out when he pulled the shirt down and finally put his hands on her. He slid them up over her hips to her rib cage. Once there he just let them rest there lightly, right underneath the swelling of her breasts. She tried to push against him, craving the feeling of his cool hands on her, but they stubbornly stayed right where they were.

“Easy, pet.” The breath tickled her ear; his mouth was so close his lips brushed against her lobe with the ‘p’ in pet.

Spike pulled back a bit to look at her. She was so alluring. Her lips parted to allow little gasps of air to escape. Her eyes were still closed, showing a remarkable amount of trust in him for being a Slayer, but he could still see the desire written clearly in her expression. As much as he sought the gratification her blood and body would bring him he wanted to take it slow. He wanted to give her more pleasure than her body could handle.

When he lowered his head and she almost cried out in relief. She arched her back wanting to meet him, needing him to take her nipple in his mouth. It was so hard; she needed him to take it, to suck it in.

Once again, he avoided her movements. Instead he placed more of those soft kisses along the tops of her breasts moving from one side to the other, pausing only to nuzzle her like he did before.

Her whimpering now was constant. The pounding between her legs was insistent. She tried to brush her chest up against his, get some friction in some way, but he used his hands to hold her back.

She could feel his thumb, moving slowly back and forth on her sides. She opened her mouth to beg him, to plead with him, but words escaped her. All that came out was more of the same whimpers only they were louder now.

The kisses were now moving up her chest, they were still soft and gentle, but now they were also more open leaving a trail of saliva to cool when he moved on. That cooling along with the upward motion had her eyes drifting closed again. How could simple kisses in such an innocuous spot feel so decadent and wonderful?

Her hands gripped his elbows even tighter trying to communicate the need her voice couldn’t.

She felt like every nerve in her body was alive and just waiting for the cool touch of his skin against hers.

When he reached her collarbone and began moving along it, her head fell backwards on its own. The kisses had changed again, now they were suckling along her flesh with a brief swipe of his tongue committing the taste of her to his memory. Unable to stand it any more Buffy threw her leg up over his hip and pushed her dripping wet sex against him.

The growl that came out of him when he felt her overflowing wetness against his cock made her almost jump into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, still growling and she threw her other leg over his hip on the other side.

He began suckling up the side of her neck surprising her with how very sensitive it was. Her whimpers had turned into cries by now and her hips were moving on their own, rubbing her wetness against him, desperately seeking to envelope him, but still he avoided her. He was going to draw out this torture as long as he could.

The sucking along her neck got stronger and with every pull on her skin she became convinced he was pulling at her between her legs. The pressure building up inside her was becoming almost unbearable. She was completely unmindful of the noises that were escaping her or the wild way her hips moved against him seeking satisfaction.

Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly and the grips on his elbows were almost painful now, but Spike savored the pain. She was almost there. Almost ready for him.

While he supported both of them, he rubbed his hands up and down her back, caressing the strong muscles that surrounded her spine. Her head still hung loosely behind her while his lips caressed the soft skin of her neck. Her hips sped up their movements and Spike knew that it was time.

With one hand he grabbed the back of her neck and raised her head. He was still sucking on her neck, only now he began to suck harder. Her cries and movements became desperate. Just a little bit more.

“Spike, please!!!” The words exploded from her as she finally regained her ability to communicate.

That was it.

With infinite care Spike sank his fangs into her tender flesh. Her scream didn’t even register with him; he was too caught up in the sound of her heart pounding and flavor of her. At the first swallow of her blood he pushed his pelvis up against her. He didn’t penetrate her with his cock, but he could feel himself exploding all over her stomach. Just as he could feel her coming against him as her juices poured out from her as her Slayer muscles squirted her pleasure out at him.

Wanting to prolong her pleasure he used the hand not supporting her neck to slip between them and rub at her clit in time with the pulls he was taking on her blood.

Thanks to the strong power of her blood he never softened after he came, instead his cock began to immediately throb with a want for her. He pulled back his head and licked his lips to make sure he had every drop of her elixir before he changed back into his human guise to look at her.

Her eyes were half opened, but he could tell she wasn’t seeing anything. Her mouth was opened and contented sighs and gasps were escaping her lips. He gentled his movements between her legs while he allowed her to come back to herself. When he saw her eyes begin to focus he leaned forward and kissed her lips fully.

He felt more than heard her moan when his tongue slipped between her lips.

The act felt so intimate even after what had just happened. It was like a yummy chocolate cake after a big dinner. She just wanted to savor the taste of him. Her grip on his elbows finally relaxed as she wrapped on arm around his neck to hold him to her.

Knowing breathing would become a problem for her he broke the kisses giving her a chance to breathe before diving back down for her lips.

It was during one of these breaks that she found her voice again.

“What was that?” She asked before his lips found hers again.

“What was what, Princess?” He asked the next time he broke from her before claiming her lips yet again.

“What happened before? I thought I was going to explode or pass out.” Spike stopped his descent for her lips again and pulled back to look at her incredulously.

Angelus was a complete and total selfish bloody fucking wanker whether he had a soul or not.

Buffy looked worried at the expression on his face. When he didn’t say anything, just stopped kissing her she worried maybe she said something stupid and as a result she began to turn red with embarrassment.

Spike shook off his hatred of Angel, noticing the Slayer’s discomfort. He gave her a cocky grin; Angelus’ loss was his gain.

Spike walked over to a large flat rock and urged Buffy to release him so he could lower her down on it.

Once he had her spread out before him naked, he couldn’t help but feast on her with his eyes.

“Spike?” She asked, her voice was hesitant, because he still hadn’t answered her and that made her nervous.

Finally when he was done surveying every inch of her he looked up to her face hungrily.

“That, luv, was an orgasm.” He told her seriously.

Her eyes went wide with shock. “And that’s supposed to happen every time?” She asked.

Spike couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him.

“No.” Spike lowered his head down between her spread legs. He used one hand to spread the lips of her sex and open her up to him. He noticed the gasp of pleasure when she felt his hands on her there. “With me that’s going to happen over and over again.”

Then he lowered his mouth to drink from her.

“Oh my god!” Buffy had time to gasp out before the pleasure made her head go lax onto the rock and her eyes practically rolled back into her head.

This wasn’t something she had ever felt before. His tongue was running around and around her opening while he used one hand to hold her open and the other one to lightly stroke her clit. This was a sweet torture she never anticipated. She could feel the pressure building inside of her again. The sweet torment of waiting on the edge that he kept her on for so long before. Now she didn’t know if she could take hanging on the edge like that knowing what came next. Her hands reached down and tangled themselves in his hair. She pushed her pelvis hard against his mouth, wanting his tongue deeper, needing him to rub harder, faster. Only instead of obliging her, her stopped rubbing on her and moved her hands. She opened her eyes and forced her head up so she could look down at him. His blue eyes were focused right on her watching her expressions eagerly.

She again tried to reach down for his head, but instead he guided her hand to her own breasts. A deep shiver ran through her at the contact with her nipples, she tried to get him to rub over them again. Instead he moved her hand so it was over the nipple, then he urged her to pull on her nipples. When she complied with his wishes he pushed his tongue farther inside and used the hand holding her open to tap her clit lightly. The sensations caused her to jump upwards, almost bucking him off.

His eyes were still focused on her and they seemed to be urging her on. He took his hand away and resumed his shallow licking while he watched her. Feeling as though she was taking direction from the look in his eyes, Buffy hesitantly pulled on her nipple again. Again she was rewarded with deeper thrusting of his tongue and a light tap on her clit.

Feeling braver she moved her other hand to the other breast and began to rub her nipples with both hands. Spike immediately rewarded her by burying his face and tongue inside of her as deep as they would go. He also began to rub quickly on her clit. It took almost no time at all for the fire inside of her to build again. She could feel the pressure inside of her from her crotch up through her chest. Lost in her lust she pulled on her nipples with wild abandon and pushed her pelvis farther up towards his mouth. Spike pinched her clit hard and that was all it took to push her over the edge. It was with a strangled moan she came. She could feel her internal muscles pulsing around his tongue. The kept clenching trying to trap the muscle inside of her.

Buffy found herself wishing she had something bigger and stronger inside of her for her muscles to hold on. Spike didn’t stop his assault on her with his tongue, just kept going through her orgasm and instead of letting her come back down he attacked her with a renewed vigor causing another one to build on top of this one.

“SPIKE!” She yelled out as an even more powerful orgasm crashed through her. She could feel him down there sucking at her sex and again he didn’t seem to show any signs of stopping. She let her body go lax and just enjoyed all these sensations he seemed determined to push into her body.

After about the fourth orgasm, it was hard to keep track when she couldn’t tell where one ended and another began anymore, Spike slowed his attack on her. She felt him start to kiss and lick his way up her body. He paused to suck at both of her nipples, soothing them slightly from the abuse she had performed on them at his silent request. Then he was there before her. Forehead resting against hers while she tried to catch her breath.

She could feel him nestled between her legs, his cock waiting at her entrance.

“Are you ready for me?” He asked her quietly. One finger ran over her collarbone, not far from where he bit her. She shuddered at the small movement.

“Are you ready to let me inside?”

“Not quite yet.” She surprised him by answering and before he recovered she rolled them, nearly knocking both of them off the rock, but in the end wound up on top of him. She ran her hands over his chest alluringly. “I thought you wanted to explode down my throat.” She asked innocently. She sat up and looked down at his cock, now almost purple with its need. She ran one fingertip along the vein running along the top, mimicking his innocent action from a few minutes before. Her eyes seemed to darken when it jumped towards her.

Spike found he suddenly couldn’t speak. Buffy looked back up at him. “Well, wasn’t that what you said?”

Even though he couldn’t speak, Spike found the muscles needed to nod his head. He saw uncertainty flicker in her eyes and immediately assumed she had never done anything like this before.

Buffy, though, being the provocative seductress he suspected she was used that to her advantage.

“Its so big though. How will I ever fit that down my throat?” She asked. She wrapped one hand around him watching as his eyes closed and he hissed through his teeth.


Spike had woken something up inside of her and it demanded she satisfy her curiosity. Her first time, had been in the dark and she hadn’t had a chance to see anything much less experiment. She moved her hand up and down, taking time to rub her palm over the head.

He was as soft here as his lips, yet she could feel how hard he was for her.

Her mind flew back to their first day here, when she passed out in his lap. When she first woke up she had been groping him, unknowingly. She had confused him with a steel bar. The memory made her smile slightly in remembrance. She couldn’t wait to feel his cool length inside of her.

“That feels so good.” Spike almost purred beneath her. His words brought her back to the moment and she began to fondle him with more enthusiasm. She took her other hand and lightly cupped the sacs that were hanging down behind him. She rolled them lightly in her hand and enjoyed as he now began whimpering under her ministrations.

She decided maybe she should torture him a little bit more. “Oh! I’m not hurting you, am I?” She took her hands off him. “Should I stop?”

Spike’s eyes flew open and turned golden. “Don’t you dare.” He growled out.

She gave him a naughty little smile. “Maybe I should try something else instead.”

Then he gasped out her name as she lowered her head and began to lap at him like a cat. Little licks up and down his shaft, almost up to the head, but stopping just below the ridge. Gradually she began to lick farther and farther until she was running her tongue from root to the tip. Occasionally when she reached the tip she would dip him into her mouth briefly, sucking the precum form his leaking head, before releasing him and continuing on her licking.

It didn’t take long before she had him begging her for release.

“Please Buffy. Please suck me, baby.”

“Not yet. I’m not finished exploring yet.” This time instead of licking his cock she went lower. Ever so gently she took his balls in her mouth, first one then other. She swirled her tongue around them and made sure to cover every inch with her saliva.

Now Spike was the one in desperate need. His erection was becoming almost painful. Out of his mind with desire he grabbed himself with his own hand and began to stoke himself feverishly.

Buffy stopped her tongue bath as soon as she noticed what he was doing, much to his disappointment.

“Uh-uh.” She admonished him.

“Baby, please.” He murmured, licking his lips. The need in his gaze flooded her with renewed wetness.

“Well, since you asked so nicely.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him innocently before opening her mouth and taking him in as far as she could. She wrapped her fist around the bottom and used that in tandem with her mouth. On each down stroke she tried to take more and more of him inside her while speeding up her strokes.

Almost instinctually, at one point when she reached the point where she began to gag instead of pulling back she swallowed and found her nose nestled in the hair at his groin. His loud groan let her know she was doing a good job and that’s when she let loose. She sucked on him as hard as she could, swallowing and running her tongue along all the veins she could feel. She used one hand to fondle his sac while she worked him over with her mouth and tongue. She was amazed at how much this act turned her on. The throbbing between her own legs was becoming painful again.

It didn’t take long before she felt his sac tighten and his cock throbbed desperately against the roof of her mouth.

“Fuck.” Spike roared. “Coming.”

She felt the sperm hit the back of her throat and began to swallow quickly, not wanting to miss a single drop. His cries echoed in her ears. She continued sucking after he stopped coming, finding this act much more pleasurable than she ever would have imagined. It was only when she felt his hands pulling at her shoulders she released him and slid up his body.

He pulled her down to him and kissed her fiercely, uncaring at the taste of his own dead sperm still in her mouth.

“You are the most amazing woman.” The look in his eyes when he said that made her heart swell. And the smile that crossed her face when he said that almost made his heart beat.

“I want you.” He told her earnestly.

“How do you want me?” She responded.

“I just need to be inside of you.” He pulled her on top of him and felt her wetness leak out onto his stomach. He saw the look of hesitancy cross her face again and knew that this was a new position for her.

“Just ease it inside. Go at you own pace.”

She lifted her body up and reached down to hold him. She put the head at her entrance and began to slide down onto him.

She barely got the head inside when she stopped, her eyes wide. It had been a while since she had been with Angel and that had only been the one time. As a result he muscles were in no way stretched out for him.

“Its ok.” Spike soothed her, when he saw the look on her face. “Let me help.” He used one thumb and began to rub her clit. She bit her lip and felt more moisture begin to leak from inside her, another couple of inches slipped inside. There was a stretching full feeling, but it wasn’t painful. Actually it made her crave more.

She pushed down farther and watched Spike’s eyes cross in pleasure.

Her snug passage surrounding him with the sweltering heat coming from within her was the most incredible feeling he ever encountered.

Unable to stop now if she wanted to, Buffy began to move up and down along his length each time taking more and more of him. Finally, with a strong thrust down she buried him inside her causing both of them to cry out.

She stopped moving for a few minutes, wanting to enjoy this feeling. Deep inside her, right where the ridge of his head rested, there seemed to be a spot that was just itching. Remembering her earlier musings about having something more substantial inside her to squeeze with her muscles she gave a little squeeze along his length.

“Buffy.” He shouted out her name.

“Oh my god.” She cried at the same time. Whatever she just did caused that ridge to hit something inside of her that made her almost swoon with pleasure.

She couldn’t help it, she did it again.

“Bloody hell, Slayer. Are you trying to kill me?” The look on her face alone was about enough to make him come, but the feeling of her muscles rippling over him had him about to lose all control.

“Spike.” Her voice was desperate with need and desire. “I can’t…it feels so good…I need it.” Once more she contracted her muscles.

Unable to take any more Spike grabbed her hips and began moving her up and down on his cock, every time she descended she gripped him tightly with her muscles. The dual sensations had him growling, cursing and almost spitting with the need to come.

Becoming frustrated with the lack of movement this position afforded him, Spike sat up and twisted them quickly. Buffy landed hard on the rock and in any other situation the impact would have hurt. In the current situation she barely felt it. She instinctually wrapped her legs around his hips.

“Fuck me.” She gasped. “Oh please fuck me.”

That was it. Spike pounded into her furiously. His hips jack hammered into her. All she could do was lay back and pant and moan. As his movements grew faster she grabbed at his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh. He leaned over her and she gripped him even tighter. He could feel her internal wall tensing up and he knew it would only be a matter of seconds before she came.

He slammed into her several more times and then unable to stop himself his face changed and he dove for her neck. As soon as his fangs pierced her skin, her muscles clamped down on him tighter than anything and he exploded inside of her.

The feeling of his cool spending splashing down her insides took her orgasm to another level. The two of them crashed together over and over again until it all became too much and Buffy lost consciousness.

Spike pulled his fangs from her neck, but unwilling to let her go just yet he wrapped his arms around her and gathered her close, still buried inside of her.



Across the cavern, in his living quarters Solum lay in his bed.

“Man, I sure need to get me one of them mortal enemies.”

Chapter 12: Waking Up

It was surprisingly hard to leave her side. Even the hard, unforgiving surface of the boulder they were precariously perched upon seemed bearable surround by her warmth.

The thought that had him moving was how uncomfortable she would become as the night wore on. She deserved a restful night’s sleep after everything she had been through in the past weeks and he wanted to make sure she got it.

He delicately extricated himself from her arms, the cool air in the cavern was not unpleasant, but definitely not as nice as the air he just left.

He quickly pulled on his pants then wrapped her up in the shirts they had let fall to the ground. She looked so peaceful and sweet in sleep.

He considered the possibility of her waking before he returned and wondering where he went, but the light snore escaping her mouth made that unlikely. He just didn’t want her to wake up and think he’d left her alone.

He brushed a light kiss across her forehead, smiling when he saw a smile cross her face even in her sleep.

He moved quickly, almost running to the little cubbyhole Solum said they could share. The sooner he finished up, the sooner he could get back to his warm snuggly Slayer.

The torch he left burning was now barely lit, having burned almost the whole way down to the green vines that held it on the wall. He lit another torch from the dying one and carefully removed the first one before replacing it with the fresh torch.

He surveyed the small space they had to call home indefinitely as he began pulling the two sleeping pallets together. He didn’t have much to work with, but he was right in his earlier assessment that it would be better to make one bed than two. He wanted to make sure his Slayer was comfortable. He wanted this to be the best it could be for her.

She deserved it.


She was floating. No flying.

This had to be a dream. Only in a dream could she feel this carefree freedom.

She was surrounded by clear blue, that seemed to swallow her and yet it also buoyed her. She could feel strong arms around her abdomen, but they didn’t restrain her they just seemed to guide her and move with her. It was so wonderful.

At some point the arms slipped away, but still she floated. She recognized the blue in the sky? Or was it an ocean? It made her happy, that was all that mattered.

After a while she began to notice the blue that surrounded her seemed to be fading and with it went her carefree feeling. She began to feel cold and alone. Her legs especially seemed to be chilly.

Asleep on the rock, Buffy tried to curl her legs up to her, trying to get them under the slight warmth of the shirts that were wrapped around her.

In the dream, the blue was still fading. Buffy tried to swim towards it, but the faster she approached, the faster it seemed to fade. She thrashed out moving her arms and legs determined not to let it go.

She saw out of the corner of her eye that it seemed strong still off to her right. She quickly turned that direction seeking it out…

And rolled right off the boulder onto the hard ground.



Spike was just about finished setting up their now cozy little room. The bed was made out of large branches, filled in with leaves and covered with several animal hides to be used as padding and blankets. He also added several hides to the walls to keep the dampness out. On the floor near the entrance he made fire pit in a natural indentation in the rock floor.

Granted, it wasn’t a five star hotel, but it would do.

Almost fit for his Princess.

Princess?

His dark princess?

Drusilla!!!

What the fuck was he doing?

How could he have forgotten all about Dru so easily?

So sex with the Slayer had been good.

Ok, better than good.

Great.

Amazing.

Incredible.

Best he ever…

No! Those thoughts were WRONG! They betrayed everything he had with Dru.

Drusilla was everything to him. She made him. And not just that she made him who he was. What was he if he wasn’t Drusilla’s?

It was one thing to shag the Slayer, but that was it. That was all it was.

Shagging

Boffing

Banging

Screwing

FUCKING

That last one almost made him cringe before he stopped himself.

It was nothing to him. She was nothing to him. She sure wasn’t HIS Slayer. He shouldn’t have these soft, fluffy feelings towards her. He sure as hell shouldn’t miss her arms wrapped around him. And he definitely shouldn’t be doting on her like this.

He was tired too and she had slept a lot more than he had in the past few. He should have woken her bony ass up and made her set up their room.

Dammit!! He loved Drusilla. What the hell was going through his mind?

He needed a cigarette.

He grabbed his Duster from off the bed were he put it and searched the pockets frantically for his pack.

Found it!!

Only two left. FUCK!!

Now if he could just find the lighter. He searched the other pocket, before triumphantly finding it. Then he noticed something else there as well.

The crystal!! He had forgotten all about it.

Of course he recognized it. He had known what it was as soon as the Slayer pulled it out.

It was a messaging device. Angelus and Darla used to have a pair to keep track of each other. It worked like an answering machine they could leave messages for each other. They were popular with all the vamps for a while, then telephones came and they were pretty obsolete. He didn’t even know any still existed.

He peered into it; know that his concentration level would activate it. He wanted to know what messages it held for him.


Buffy sat up quickly.

Where was she?

What was going on?

She started to stand up, but the sore muscles in her thighs stopped her. She started to stretch while wondering what she had done to wear out THOSE muscles and then it hit her. Her face turned a bright red matching the red shirt she was draped in as the images of before flooded her mind.

She had sex with Spike.

She had an amazing, earth shattering, almost religious sexual experience with Spike. That was what sex was supposed to be. Not the awkward fumbling that led up to the grunting and pushing she and Angel had experienced.

She had no idea such pleasure could be found.

Things that she always thought were dirty and disgusting or degrading had been so natural between them. His words and touch turned her into a sexual creature, craving him and everything he had to teach her.

Unlike Angel who had treated her so gently and carefully, he treated her like such a virgin she felt all of her inexperience more than she felt his touch. Spike just made her feel sexy and desired. She never once felt self conscious or awkward with him.

And there was still more to experience. New peaks to reach.

She felt her heartbeat faster at the thought.

She looked to where she thought he would be laying and felt like someone poured cold water over her.

‘You have a lot to learn about men, kid.’

Spike wasn’t there. She looked around frantically, but didn’t see him anywhere.

It felt like someone just punched her in the stomach. She couldn’t breathe right.

She focused on channeling the pain into anger, then she stood up and pulled the shirts over her, determined to find and punish the cocky vampire.

Truce or not, he wasn’t going to get away with using her like that.



After a couple seconds of concentrating, Spike began to see something in the crystal. He saw the vampire from upstairs, the Egyptian one who stopped them.

“William, I hope you get this message before the creatures of the Garden find you. You need to know that not all believe as Mastema does. We think your punishment unfair and want to help you.”

It is our belief that your skills and accomplishments should be rewarded. We want to see you as the head of the Clan of Aurelius. Please respond as soon as you can and we will work on setting you free.”

Spike stared incredulously at the crystal. This bird was out of her mind. She made Dru seem stable.

Him as head of the Aurelius Clan?

He was pretty certain the old bat would dust himself before he let that happen.

There were more messages though, so Spike leaned in to see more.

“It was a wise decision to team up with the Slayer, it may increase your chances of staying alive until we can get you out. Once again your unconventional thinking does you credit. I know that will make it harder for you to contact us, but please do so and SOON.”

Spike snorted. At least this answered the question of whether or not the mist could report their actions.

After that the messages became more demanding, then almost pleading by turn. She claimed greater respect for him and urged him to answer her. She also spoke of wanting to drain the Slayer with him once he was free. She wanted to talk of a strategy. She spoke of ruling the world.

What a crazy bint.

What sort of strategy did a prisoner have? And how could she rule the world when she couldn’t even stand up to Mastema?

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to answer her, see what she had up her sleeve. The question was, what to say? Would he turn on the Slayer for a chance at freedom and power?

Footsteps behind him alerted him he wasn’t alone. He shoved the crystal in his pocket and turned to come face to face with a furious Slayer holding a stake.

“You’re awake!” He said in surprise, and then cursed himself for stating the obvious.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” Her voice was filled with acid.

“Well, I was hoping to have all this finished before I came to get you.” He tried not to let his nervousness show. Did she know about the crystal? Is that why she had the stake gripped in her hand?

Confusion crossed her face, but she held onto the anger tightly.

“What are you talking about?” She demanded, taking a step closer to him. Spike refused to back down under her fury, but he did step to the side so she could see the bed he made more clearly.

“I had two of them before, but they didn’t look very comfortable. So I turned the two into one and, uh, tad dah?” He finished uncertainly. Looking at it now, the bed he had been so proud of, looked like nothing more than a random pile of debris.

He watched the confusion on her face grow as she looked back and forth between him and the bed. Her grip on the stake relaxed slightly.

“Buffy? Luv?” She met his eyes, but seemed startled at the use of her name. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She licked her lips and tried again. “I woke up. I woke up alone. I thought…I thought you…”

All thoughts of Ipwet and Drusilla flew out of Spike’s mind and he rushed to her side.

“Oh, pet. I’m so sorry. I didn’t abandon you.” Even though she still held the stake he didn’t let that stop him from gathering her up into his arms. She seemed to melt against him and he felt so much tension drain out of him just at the feeling of her resting there. “I just wanted to do something nice for you and I thought a comfy bed would be nice. I was going to come back and carry you in here.”

The hopeful look in her eyes almost did him in.

“Really?”

”Yes.” He insisted, kissing her for emphasis.

“I thought…” He silenced her with another kiss.

“I know what you thought, but what you didn’t consider is that I’m not some over gelled, frou-frou wanker.”

A slight smile touched her lips; she didn’t even scold him for talking about Angel like that.

“So, you made me a nice cozy bed?” Her voice was coy.

“Its all for you, baby.”

”Cool, where are you going to sleep?”

Spike gaped at her until she laughed.

“I’m only kidding.” She said.

“Oh, thank you.” Spike breathed a sigh of relief.

“You wanna break it in?” She asked, her voice suddenly breathless.

What could he say to that? He kissed her deeply, letting her know how much he liked that idea.

“Someone is wearing entirely too much clothing to be ravaged properly.” He murmured against her lips.

“And I do believe its you.” She answered, dropping her hands down to the button on his pants.

Spike stopped her movements and pulled back from her. “You go and get all naked and I’m going to step out there and have a fag real quick.” She made a funny face at him. “We don’t want this poison in your lungs now do we?” He asked her.

“Eew, NO!” She said with a disgusted look. “Although tobacco doesn’t taste too bad on you.” She said, stealing his lips again. “Are you sure you need it?” She asked when he pulled away. He noticed she started unbuttoning her top.

“I won’t be long.” He assured her.

“Fine then. Hurry and go so you can get back faster.” She removed all the coverings from her body and posed before him naked. “Then we can have some fun.”

Spike turned and headed out before the sight of her body had him forgetting what he needed to do. The crystal was already in his hand when her voice called him back.

“Spike.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to say, I wanted to thank you for this.” She gestured to the room. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I should’ve known you wouldn’t betray me like that.”

Spike gave her what he hoped was a winning smile even though he felt sick inside and headed back out. Once far enough away he stared into the crystal and answered Ipwet’s messages.

“All right you have my attention. What do you have planned?”

He put down the crystal and looked up towards the vent. It was a good thing he didn’t have a soul because he could only imagine how crushing this guilt would be if he did.