When Spike helped Buffy clear the door out of the arena into the more private tunnel, he felt her legs give way, “Spike…”

“I’ve got you, Slayer. Nor worries, luv, just relax.” At first he thought she had relaxed, but then he heard, or more like felt, her breathing even out. To be exact, she had passed out. Sebastian met them half way up the tunnel. The vampire was surprised to see what looked to be genuine concern on the Procurer’s face. “Spike, how is the Slayer?”

“Much better than that last lizard bloke is now, him being dead and all. If these buggers have a problem with that…”

“No, no problem at all. Any type of weapon used was a clear violation of the rules that had been laid down before the match. You will be treated as the victor that you are. That you both will be.”

As Sebastian gently brushed some hair out of Buffy’s face to have a good look, Spike had to bite back a protective growl. “Thanks for the concern, mate, but I need to get her somewhere where she can be taken care of. Now.”

Sebastian motioned towards one of the muscle bound escorts. “Here, let Furio take her for you…”

“No,” Spike was especially swift with his reply, tightening his hold on the Slayer, “We just need to get back to our room. Just get us some medical supplies and have a doctor meet us there. Like yesterday!”

“Of course, Spike. I will have Clara provide you with all the supplies you will need, and she will fetch a physician as quickly as possible.”

When Spike headed up the tunnel, he was pleased to see Clara already heading out of the arena to obey Sebastian’s orders.

*****

As Spike carried Buffy back to their suite, he kept looking down at the petite girl in his arms. Here she was, draped over his arms, dripping blood, but still a beauty. The realization had never before struck him just how small Buffy actually was. She had always given off such an air of power and strength. Not to mention, her small stature and youth easily slipped his mind when that spitfire was busy kicking his own dead ass. For such a ferocious warrior, she now looked like a broken, little waif. A little one that needed someone to take care of her, even if that care was provided by an evil vampire.

When he finally made it back to their suite, Clara was only a few minutes behind. Following her was an older woman, who Clara introduced as Sebastian’s personal doctor, explaining that the doctor was not at their disposal.

Spike led the doctor into see Buffy, who was just coming awake. “Slayer, this is Doctor Swendt. Doc here is going to…”

“No.”

Stopped in his introduction by a small two letter word, Spike looked back down at the slayer, startled, “Huh?”

“No strange doctor.” Spike felt his exasperation climbing until Buffy turned her eyes on him, and reached out for his hand hanging down close to her.

“Can’t you do it, Spike?” She must have been taking lessons on how to make puppy dog eyes from her little sis because he found himself taking the medicine bag from the doctor as he escorted her out of the suite.

*****

Later, Spike estimated that the Slayer had over twenty cuts on various places on her body, in varying depths. Cleaning up all the blood and securing bandages took over an hour. Not to mention, he suspected, she had a couple of broken ribs from that scaly asshole’s tail knocking her about, and bruises were sprouting up all over her.

In the past, he had taken care of Drusilla on various occasions, but this was somehow different. It was that difference that kept him wondering for a long time after he finished his nursing task. Kept him sitting on the side of her bed, watching over her, holding her small hand, and occasionally using his free hand to brush wisps of hair out of her face whether they needed to be or not.

Finally tucking the sleeping slayer more tightly into her covers, he stood up and absently stretched all of his own sore and stiff muscles. He made it as far as the doorway of her bedroom, but couldn’t bring himself to go to his bedroom. Bugger, it was a long way away, clear across the suite. No, just too bloody far away. Resigned, Spike dragged one of the sofas from the sitting area into Buffy’s room, and positioned it so he could keep an eye on this patient. That’s all, he assured himself until he was reminded again of how she looked like a beautiful, golden girl in need of care. Nonetheless, Spike knew the slayer would not want to feel dependent for his help, but everyone needed someone to watch their back. And was being to realize just how happy he was to watch her lovely back.

*****

Shortly after lunch, Clara collected Spike and Buffy to join the rest of Sebastian’s entourage. After handing out thick coats to everyone, Sebastian led the way through a new portal to the next dimension. When they arrived, the coats almost didn’t seem enough. As opposed to lizard land, the new dimension’s landscape was covered in ice and snow; everyone seemed to be freezing. However, the cold was nothing compared to the fright Spike received upon stepping into the new landscape. Landscape lit by sunlight. Sebastian was instantly at Spike’s elbow explaining that the sun in this dimension would do very little harm, as long as he did not sunbath for an extended period of time. It was daylight, sort of.

In between shivers, Buffy wished her slayer healing powers would work just a little faster. She was still a mass of bruises, the cuts were healing nicely, but her ribs still felt cracked, which still made it somewhat painful to breathe. While looking around this new locale, Buffy worked hard at avoiding Spike’s inquiring glances. Now the overbearing vampire was keeping a close eye on the Slayer, keeping her always in his sights. When had the obnoxious vampire become such an attentive nurse maid?

Thinking back, Buffy remembered little after passing when she and Spike had left the lizard arena. However she did vividly remember waking up earlier in the suite she shared with Spike. As her eyes had focused that morning, her first clear vision had been of Spike sprawled out, sleeping on a sofa at the foot of her bed. It had been the thought of how boyishly cute he looked asleep that had brought her fully awake. She had never noticed how curly his hair actually was. In fact, he looked so adorable that she hated to wake him. She had made a futile attempt to get out of bed, but spent most of her energy trying to suppress her groans. Waiting for the pain in her ribs to subside had been a good excuse to watch him sleep a little longer, wasn’t it? Finally, though, the strong, insistent call of nature and a relaxing, hot shower drew her towards the bathroom.

Solely focused on reaching the bathroom without incident, Buffy never saw the vampire’s crystal blue gaze admiring her retreating form. Spike cocked an eye open when her back was turned, pleased to see that the slayer was able to walk, and from the sounds of it, take a shower on her own. When that particular mental image came in focus of a naked slayer under a hot stream of water, Spike closed his eyes and laid back on the sofa to enjoy a spot of fantasizing. Ummmmm. Slick, wet, subtle but strong slayer body. But, ow, that beauty had some enormous thorns. On the other hand, Spike bet all that trouble could be worth all the pain in one hot steamy shower with his body rubbing up against her sudsy body. Bloody hell, what was he fantasizing about? Shaggin the slayer? Man, had he finally gone around the bend? Maybe some of Dru’s insanity had worn off on him, after all. Picking himself off the sofa, Spike headed towards his own bathroom and a nice, COLD shower.

Bringing both Buffy and Spike out of their respective adult-rated memories, they were soon met by a welcoming committee consisting of a large, distinguished gentleman who exuded authority. After a few more words with Spike, Sebastian made a beeline for the obvious leader. Much hand shaking and back slapping commenced, giving Buffy and Spike time to survey their new surroundings, and their inhabitants. To the left was a wide, frozen river and behind was a harsh, winter wonderland. In the front of them, Spike could make out a strongly fortified, walled city, that reminded him of York. Meanwhile, Buffy examined the people and one word came to mind over and over: purple. These people were every shade and variation of the color purple. Skin tones ranged from alabaster with a tinge of lavender to a deep shade of grape. Their hair varied from pale colors with shots of purple running throughout to deeper shades of violet.

After the initial glad-hand pumping subsided, Sebastian introduced the city mayor, Feltok, and his younger daughter, Leilor. Feltok was a tall, handsome and self-assured gentlemen, while his daughter was a tall, true beauty who didn’t hesitate to look Spike eye to eye, as well as up and down. With a wave of Feltok’s hand, he indicated his older daughter, Shardra, bringing a toddling granddaughter along a path following the edge of the river.

As they waited for other relatives to arrive, Buffy studied Leilor a little closer. The daughter looked to be about Buffy’s age if not a year or two older, but Buffy had never before thought the color violet particularly beautiful. That was before he met Feltok and Leilor, with her bright, violet eyes and hair several shades darker. Spike agreed judging by the charm he turned on when introduced to her. For some reason, Buffy felt the sudden urge to show Spike just how pointy her elbow could feel in his ribs. Leilor wasn’t *that* pretty. Buffy huffed as she caught Spike’s blue eyes following Leilor’s shapely figure.

Next, Sebastian’s party was introduced to a couple of more aunts, uncles and other townspeople. As the growing group made their way along the frozen river, heading towards the township proper, Shardra started to call out her daughter’s name. She was frantically turning in circles, looking around with wild eyes for her daughter, who had disappeared. She was standing a few feet away from an opening in the ice, probably where some people had been doing some ice fishing. As panic started to set in, Spike walked up to the edge of the ice and looked down into the freezing water. The mayor took a step forward, “You can’t. You would freeze almost immediately.”

“What? It might kill me?” With a wink to the Slayer, Spike step off the edge and was gone in a splash. Shocked, the mayor shouted orders to his aids, while Buffy leaned over the edge desperately looking for the blonde vamp. Finally, leaning down, she splashed water and bits of ice to the side, trying to see farther down. “Damn it, Spike. Get back up here…Like NOW!”

Leilor laid a hand on the slayer’s shoulder, “Your boyfriend is probably already dying.”

“Oh, you don’t know Spike. He’s already dead. He’s a vampire, and he is so *not* my boyfriend.”

“Oh, a vampire. We have heard of them here. I would love a chance to get to know him better. Well, that is if he makes it.”

“Spike will. Since I never could get rid of him before, why would this time be any different?”

A shaking hand broke the surface of the water, followed by the rest of a small toddler. The mayor’s aides picked her up out of the vampire’s arms, efficiently divested the child of her wet clothes, and then wrapped her in several blankets before passing her over to her crying mother.

As the men reached back down to pull Spike out, he was knocked back in the water a few feet out of reach. “Bugger it, what in the hell is in this river with me?”

Then they all saw it, a serpentine animal gliding through the water towards Spike. “Why the hell didn’t anyone warn me the soddin’ Loch Ness Monster’s new home was here? Bloody hell. Slayer!” And under he went.

Buffy prepared to jump in until she felt a hand grab her arm. “No, you can’t, Buffy. Think.” Sebastian was at her shoulder, speaking into her ear. “One of you have to survive for your sister’s sake. Besides, you would be no use to him down there. You wouldn’t last 10 seconds at that temperature.”

“Damn it, Spike. Quite playing around. Kill that little snake and get back up here.” Time passed with no movement, and the water calmed. “Spike?” Buffy could barely see through her eyes that had begun to tear up.

Sebastian wrapped an arm around her, attempted to comfort Buffy, but her thoughts were swimming. ‘Who would watch her back, who would make snarky comments during the fights back in Sunnydale, and who would mediate her fights with Dawn? He couldn’t die on her, he just couldn’t!’

Then the anxious spectators heard a splash a few feet down the bank form them, and turned to see Spike laboriously climbing up and out of the river. Buffy felt relief course through her as she watched Leilor rush over to Spike’s side and wrap him in a blanket. Spike was treated like a hero, cheered, everyone wanted to shake his hand. At this point, Buffy couldn’t even get close enough to see if he was alright, but thankfully heard him refuse to take off his wet clothes. But unlike Buffy, Leilor stayed pressed to Spike’s side, making every attempt to pat the vampire dry. And a few of those pats, Buffy found a little questionable.

Pausing, standing back from the crowd, Buffy looked at the bleach blonde a little differently. How did Spike go from the evil undead to a hero? He the transformation taken place just this day or had she been missing something for a long time?

After a time, all Buffy could do was follow along as Leilor escorted Spike and Buffy, of course to their accommodations. Before they were even half way to their suite, Buffy had already decided that if Leilor coooed or made googily eyes at Spike one more time, she just might puke. The second half of the walk left Buffy wondering if the puke would come out purple. Grrrhh! Purple - Grrrhh Arghhh!

For Sebastian and his traveling party, a new dimension meant new sights to see. In this case, this also provided more of the Leilor and Spike flirting show, which occurred during Leilor’s guided tour of the walled city. In all fairness, Leilor had been very polite and exceedingly friendly to everyone, including Buffy. And Leilor was a lavender beauty (Buffy just couldn’t bring herself to say, or even think, “purple beauty”), so Buffy couldn’t really blame Spike. But if the next dimension was all orange, Buffy was going to have to try real hard to find anyone that was anywhere near attractive in orange. Those Bozo and Ronald McDonald guys just kept coming to mind, grossing her out. After this dimension, Buffy thought, she would be ready for a good, regular kind of multi-colored world.

On the walk back to their lodging, Leilor invited Sebastian, Clara, Spike, and Buffy to attend dinner with her father, the Mayor, and some family. To quell any worries, Sebastian added that they would find appropriate clothing left in their respective rooms.

Once back in their suite, Buffy rushed into her room and instantly fell in love with the gown laid out on her bed. At first, she was a little scared to pick up the beautiful, bronze evening gown. Thinking back over her past, Buffy really didn’t have a great track record with long, fancy dresses. She thought back to her beautiful, white dress that the Master had decided to use as a bathing suit, when he threw her into a pond after biting her. Then there was that time she and Cordy had been competing for homecoming queen. What a night that had turned out to be, what with being hunted by some rich jerks, which certainly did nothing to enhance each of the girls’ gowns, hair or makeup. But, oh, this bronze gown was fantastic, and well worth a try. What could happen here? No one even knew her, or better yet, knew of her in this dimension.

Meanwhile, across the suite, Spike resolved himself to wear the suit Sebastian had provided. Spike grudgingly did, however, make a mental note to thank Sebastian for being considerate enough to provide him with a black shirt to wear under a sleek, black suit and a black tie with understated, red-stitched designs. Consequently, his trademark black and red made him feel somewhat less like a ponce, and more like a well dressed Big Bad. The crowning touch, though, was when he slipped on his boots instead of the poof shoes provided. Putting on those well-worn boots made him feel even better, he thought, and made sure his smirk was securely in place.

******

Thirty minutes later found Spike stomping impatiently around the living area. “Slayer?” That made the fourth time he had called for the silly bint.

Startled that he had not felt her enter the room, he spun around at the low sound of her voice, “So, Spike, patience is not one of your virtues.” Buffy wrinkled up her nose at him as she came in to the room, in a desperate attempt to not drool on him. He may look great in a leather duster, but he was simply gorgeous in a well-fitted suit.

Facing her from across the room, Spike suspected…no, to be honest, he feared that he was out and out gawking at the vision standing before him. However, both were saved from having to talk again by a knock on the suite’s door.

As Buffy made with the hellos and small talk with Sebastian and Clara, Spike took more time to admire the slayer. But “slayer” just didn’t seem to fit her tonight. This was all Buffy: tanned skin, golden hair and flashing, hazel eyes, all of which were enhanced by the beautiful, bronze dress. The dress covered one shoulder, but left the other bare for anyone to admire her bronze skin that the dress complimented so well. Admire or drool or leer as Spike thought he was in danger of doing.

Clara’s voice broke through his daze. “Sebastian, Buffy and Spike, I believe we need to make our way to the banquet hall.”

Sebastian bestowed a sparkling smile on his assistant, “Quite right, Clara, as you usually are. Why don’t you take Spike’s arm and allow this old man the opportunity to escort this radiant vision in bronze?”

Spike had been half-way across the room, attempting to retrieve Buffy himself, before the meaning of Sebastian’s words sunk into his brain and brought him to an abrupt halt.

Through narrowing eyes, Spike watched as Sebastian offered Buffy his arm, and she placed her petite hand in the crook of his elbow. Feeling a light touch on his own arm, Spike looked down into Clara’s soft, brown eyes. Giving Spike a sympathetic smile, Clara tucked her hand through his arm, and gently tugged the vampire toward the door.

Quickly hiding his disappointment, Spike turned his considerable charm on Sebastian’s assistant, who seemed to be watching Sebastian the same way that he had been watching Buffy. “Ah, Clara, my Clara. Have I every told you how fascinated I find red heads?”

“Funny, I would have sworn you preferred blondes, small sassy blondes to be exact,” Clara replied with a wink that nearly floored the surprised vampire.

******

The two couples made their way through the spacious building that they were being housed to the large, elaborate dining room to join the Mayor and his family for dinner. The Mayor’s “extended” family, Buffy thought, judging from the hundred or so people that were eventually seated at the table.

Buffy was seated with Sebastian and Mayor Feltok at one end of the long table, while Spike and Clara were seated with Leilor and her sister, Shardra, at the other end. Buffy was surprised to note that both sisters, as well as several other women around the table, gazed at Spike as if he were a hero, instead a dangerous demon. However, whenever Spike looked down the table in her direction, Buffy made sure she was admiring the absolutely beautiful room, which was glowing with crystal, ice sculptures and candles. Lucky for her, or at least she thought, the room was beautiful enough to hide the real reason her eyes kept wandering down the table towards a certain blonde vampire.

Towards the end of the meal, the niece that Spike had saved from the frozen river came in and insisted on sitting in his lap for the dessert course. Both the mother and Leilor tried to move the girl, but Spike was having none of that. Instead he shared every piece of cake that he ate with the girl, charmingly alternating bites between them. The little girl and her mother could not have been more thrilled. Not to mention, Leilor was now finding any reason to help Spike with the young girl in his lap. After the cake was all gone, the adorable toddler next begged to see Spike’s fangs, bumpies and yellow eyes over and over. Everyone here in this dimension seemed to be fascinated by his abilities to change his appearance, asking for opportunities to touch him, to explore. But not only the fangs and bumpies were of great interest, but the people had no problem providing him with local animal blood, making sure that his glass was never empty.

To Buffy’s dismay, Spike seemed to bask in their appreciation, and Buffy noticed that Leilor looked at Spike unlike the others with hero worship in their eyes. To the contrary, Leilor looked at Spike with a sexual hunger and looked for any and every opportunity or excuse to touch and outrageously flirt with the vampire.

To Spike, Leilor’s beauty shown from within as well as her outside; she was kind, sweet, beautiful and intelligent. What Spike found most appealing, though, was that she was not repulsed by the fact he was a vampire, but fascinated. She was definitely interesting woman herself. Nonetheless, his eyes kept straying down the table to the Mayor and Buffy. If that masher patted the Slayer’s hand one more time, he was going to find a knife thrown through it, Spike thought. Didn’t the bloke know he was old enough to be her Da? Ok, ok, this was the man’s house, and he was the host, Spike thought. However, as he watched the Mayor laugh at Buffy’s jokes and pat her shoulder, Spike was getting closer and closer to patting the bloke sharply up side his purple head, wondering if he would bleed purple.

Unbeknownst to both the slayer and vampire, Sebastian watched the pair with great amusement, watching Buffy and Spike trying to watch each other without getting caught by the other. That pair just didn’t know how caught up they already were in each other, Sebastian thought with a smile.

******

When the meal finally ended, everyone followed the Mayor’s lead into the large ballroom. A quartet was set up at one end who began to play at his signal. Buffy bowed out of the dancing due to her currently state of healing, but observed Shardra lead Spike out on to the floor for a dance that Buffy thought looked like old fashioned ballroom dancing.

Leilor came over to stand next to Buffy, and after a couple of moments, leaned over to conspiratorially say, “I think he is *so* sexy.”

Buffy scanned the dance floor quickly and took a wild guess on the biggest hunk-like guy dancing by, “Huh…I guess. That guy in the burgundy, you mean?”

“No, not Hethlik. He’s rather handsome, but I meant Spike. His is so appealing.”

Buffy turned to give Leilor an are-you-crazy look, “You mean Spike? You know he is a vampire, don’t you? You did see him by the river? Fangs, yellow eyes? The only guy who drank blood with his dinner tonight and later making vamp faces for the kiddies?”

“Yes, Spike. And our people do occasionally drink the blood after a particularly successful hunt. I am just glad that Spike was able to find our animals compatible to his system.”

“But, he’s a vampire. Ya know, a demon, not man! Not some Joe Bob Billy BoB hunter who swills blood for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No special occasion needed.”

“I am well aware of what a vampire is. Buffy, your dimension is not the only with such beings. We just treat ours better here.” Leilor’s eyes followed Spike as he made a pass by again. “Besides, look how he moves. Don’t tell me that you have known him longer than me, and you never noticed his attraction? He’s like a magnet!” Leilor turned her head to look directly at Buffy. “Do they have glasses where you are from? Maybe you should look into some.”

Cocking her head to the side, Buffy looked back at Spike as the current song ended, and Spike made his way towards her and Leilor. Buffy tried to look at him through a woman’s eyes instead of a Slayer’s. Sure, he was lean but muscular, graceful but masculine, and his face was handsome but, uh, handsome. Those cheekbones…

“Slayer? You ok in there?” Spike snapped his fingers in her face, abruptly ending her scrutiny, but then was surprised to watch a tell-tale blush appear on Buffy’s face.

As a new song started, Buffy had trouble putting any words together, but Leilor didn’t. “Oh, this is one of my favorite songs. Care to dance, Spike?”

‘Obvious much? That line has to be old, even for this dimension,’ Buffy thought as she watched the two head for the dance floor.

The Mayor interrupted Buffy’s thoughts by asking her for a dance. Buffy gladly complied, happy to have a new direction for her own thoughts. Buffy admitted that she had little experience in dancing, but when Mayor Feltok kindly offered to show Buffy the basics of dance in this dimension, Buffy agreed to try.

When another eligible man tapped on Spike’s shoulder to claim Leilor as a dance partner, it freed Spike up for a few moments. Taking the opportunity to watch Buffy, he leaned back against the wall and enjoyed himself immensely. A shy, awkward Slayer was a rare but beautiful sight to be hold. After a while, he had to beat down the urge to go over and teach her the dance himself. However, the song ended and another began. But before he cold take more than two steps in Buffy’s direction, he watched Sebastian claim her hand for the next dance.

Sebastian smiled down at Buffy, again reminding her of quite the posh Santa Claus. Sebastian nodded his head towards Spike, and surprised her with his unexpected words. “He’s just not what one would expect of a vamp with his reputation for killing.”

Rolling her eyes, Buffy shook her head indicating her own confusion, “No, he’s not, is he? I just don’t know what to think about him anymore.”

Sebastian thought he would stir things up a bit more than they already seemed to be. “Well, little one, I think Leilor knows what to do with your paradox of a vampire.”

As the current song ended, the local hunk that Leilor had called Hethlik asked Buffy for the next dance. Luckily, the steps turned out to be much like a waltz, and Buffy soon found herself enjoying the dance. As she began to feel more comfortable, she was able to look at the other dancers and caught a glimpse of Leilor snuggly held in Spike’s arms and promptly had to apology for crunching one of Hethlik’s toes again.

Deciding she had caused the man’s shoes enough damage for the evening, Buffy made her excuses to the Mayor and Sebastian to leave, claiming her injuries to be bothering her, and headed back to their suite. As she left, Buffy tried to tell Spike that she was leaving, but could not draw his attention away from Leilor. They were dancing another waltz. Buffy knew she wasn’t familiar with this dimension’s dance etiquette, but she was fairly certain they were a little too close. And she knew for sure in any dimension that Leilor’s hand shouldn’t be on Spike’s ass at such an important gathering.

Later, Buffy wasn’t sure what made her maddest: that Leilor’s hand rested briefly on Spike’s ass, or that Spike seemed to enjoy it so.

All Spike saw out of the corner of his eye was a very brassed off slayer leaving the ballroom.

The following day, Sebastian arranged for Spike and Buffy to have some time to train in what could only remotely be called a fighting arena. It turned out to be really more like an ice rink. As Buffy looked around, she thought that maybe they should be playing hockey instead of exchanging blows or wasn’t that what hockey was? Skating she knew, but she wasn’t too sure about trying to spin kick some idiot in the face as her standing leg slid around below her. Major battle plan changes were needed here.

Whether they would actually be helpful or not, Sebastian did provide Spike and Buffy with shoes with cleats on the bottom. Working out their footing on the ice and snow took quite a bit of time and inevitably included numerous slides, tumbles, and collisions with any object surrounding the rink: trees, buckets, benches and even each other. Sebastian and Clara kept well clear of the activities to observe and were surprised that anything was left standing, even a winner on some type. In fact, Spike started to look around for places to start a few well-placed fires. Mud wrestling might be preferable to this slick shit for a fight.

A couple of hours later, Leilor showed up rink side and invited everyone to lunch and then for a visit to the natural hot springs adjacent to their lodging. Sebastian and Clara agreed to join everyone for lunch, but bowed out of the spa experience in lieu of some business that Clara reminded Sebastian had to be taken care of. Reluctant to make her healing scars and bruises visiable, Buffy still found the idea of soaking her aching body in a hot spa just too enticing, and the rumbling of her stomach made the final decision for her as to lunch.

After a delicious lunch, Sebastian and Clara said their goodbyes. Leilor led Buffy and Spike over to the beautiful bathhouse built for the natural hot springs located adjacent to their lodge. Leilor had conveniently reserved the house for their private use for the rest of the afternoon. The bathhouse contained one communal bath in the center with three individual private baths around the central area.

In the women’s changing room, Buffy chose one of the bathing suits and a robe, changed quickly and hastily retreated to one the private baths to hide her battle bumps and bruises as Leilor had suggested. She literally moaned with pleasure as she sunk down into the tiled bath. She could feel her muscles relax, one by one by one, which would have all moaned in unison with Buffy if muscles were able. After a few minutes of pure, heated bliss, Buffy leisurely opened up her eyes and examined her wounds and bruises from the fight with Mr. Cheater Lizard. The bruises were fading quickly, and the cuts were closed, not even the scars would be visible much longer. Satisfied with her overall healing, Buffy settled back to enjoy this rare pleasure.

The only problem that Buffy could find in this little bit of heaven was that she was facing the door that she had accidentally left cracked open. Damn, Spike and Leilor could see into her private heaven. Oh, what the hell! Buffy was under the water, roasty-toasty, and way too comfortable to care enough to move. But, wait, that also meant that she could see out into the communal bath. Hummm. That could be very interesting in a voyeuristic sort of way. Way to go, French-speaking Buffy. Quietly shifting, Buffy moved to spy what she could see with her little eye.

But what she did see didn’t make her very happy. Leilor was in the bath already, with no Spike-would-be-stud-muffin in sight. Ewww, really didn’t want to see Leilor primp and adjust her boobs in her bathing suit to their best cleavage advantage for him anyway.

At that point, Buffy considered turning her back to the whole scene, but then Spike came into view. That’s when Leilor’s words came back to haunt Buffy, and Leilor had certainly been right. “Appealing” and “sexy” where two words that could and did describe Spike, not to mention a nearly naked Spike. Maybe Buffy had been a little hasty on that stud muffin dig. Absently wondering if the spa was getting a little hotter, Buffy found herself leaning over to one side farther and farther, trying to keep him in view. And she was ok with the leaning until she realized she was now leaning to see around Leilor who was now practically sitting in Spike’s lap. No wonder that little purple slut wanted Buffy to use one of the private rooms.

With a splash, Buffy turned around to go back to her calm, soothing, hot soak, but she could still hear the voices and laughter from the next bath. And then …wait…surely not…no…the sound…of kissing! Spike and Leilor kissage. Well, they couldn’t do that. Buffy wasn’t sure why not, but she just knew it had to stop.

Bounding out of her bath and bundling up in her robe, Buffy rushed over to the door. At first, she loudly coughed to try to gain their attention, but no, lips were still locked to lips. Buffy banged the door when she entered the communal area.

Startled, Leilor gave Buffy a territorial glare. Too bad, Buffy thought, today is not your free ticket to Spike day.

Seeing Buffy’s approach, Spike rolled his eyes up until they were practically closed, relieved but embarrassed to have the Slayer joining them. Leilor was a beautiful woman, but had turned out to be quite the octopus in the water, hands everywhere at once. Her kiss had come as a surprise, and Spike had been unsure how to end it politely without offending the Mayor’s daughter. But then his eyes shot open as the Slayer dropped her robe to step into the communal bath.

Buffy wanted to yank Leilor by her violet hair clear across the bath, but instead, slapped a fake smile on her own face and tried for some small talk. “Hi. I was getting a little lonely in there, and you, two, sounded like you were having so much fun in here. I thought I would join you…” Now Buffy wanted to slap herself. Foot in the mouth much, Buff? It was their “having fun” that was the problem in the first place, and she certainly didn’t want to join in. Ménage-a-whatever was soooo not going to happen here.

Now Buffy was regretting her impulsiveness to interrupt them. Not because she had interrupted their lust-fest but due to the look on Spike’s face. She knew she still looked worse for the wear from the previous fight. Self-consciously, Buffy quickly sunk down into the water, avoiding the vampire’s sharp gaze.

But Buffy couldn’t have been more wrong about the vampire’s train of thought. Initially, Spike was of course horrified by the injuries on her body, but regardless of any black or blue, she was gorgeous. Spike had seen the Slayer in skimpy out fits before, but never in this incredibly small, swatch of fabric, never that much skin exposed all at once. If Buffy had bothered to look back up at his face, she would have seen his shock rapidly change into an open appreciation. And Spike thanked whatever gods watching over this dimension that his lower half of his body was hidden below the water. Maybe Leilor had somewhere she had to be?

Buffy continued her attempts to make small talk: about the sparring this morning, about the plentiful snow, and about how convenient that a vampire can go outside most of the time due to the heavy overcast. But backfire big time, did it, when Buffy realized that Leilor started to relax again and settle back down onto Spike’s lap.

That had Spike jumping. Leilor was going to sit down on more than she bargained for. And since that little surprise wasn’t directed at Leilor now, as politely as he could, Spike moved Leilor to sit beside him. Damn it, didn’t this woman have an appointment or something? The three chatted for a few more minutes before Spike finally said that he was ready to go back to the room, make an early night of it with the fight in the morning, to which Buffy readily agreed.

******

After the spa, when they got back to their suite, both Spike and Buffy beat a hasty retreat to their respective rooms to shower and change. Had anyone been keeping time, they would have laughingly noticed each took an abnormally longer time to primp than usual and how each wanted to appear casual but still look good doing it.

Spike was first out and headed for the refrigerator and a pint of blood. He was warming it up when the Slayer made it out of her room. Without a word, she joined him in the kitchen and fixed herself a salad.

They both ate in and companionable silence as the night fell outside.

Eventually, Spike broke the comfortable silence. “Wish we had a telly…”

Smiling, Buffy thought for a moment, and then asked, “How about stars?”

“As in movies?” That perked the vampire up.

“No, you TV freak, falling stars. Sebastian mentioned that this place is known for its spectacular meteor showers -that’s when the sky actually dark instead of overcast, and it looks like the nights clear.”

“Sounds interesting, pet, except for the cold. Too cold for you out there at night.”

Buffy looked their suite over for supplies. “Well, we could watch through these big, picture windows.”

“And it just so happens that I’ve become rather good at moving sofa’s around lately.”

Thus said, Spike pulled one of the sofas up to one of the large picture windows while Buffy grabbed a couple of throws to ward off the chill. “Mr. Bloody, you are truly a vampire of many hidden talents.” They both sat down and then leaned forward to watch.

After a few minutes and no stars, Buffy leaned back but still stared at the sky, while Spike shook his head skeptically. “Sure!! There’s supposed to be a star show tonight. Slayer, don’t buy any swamp land here.”

“Pessimist, the sky looks likes the sky is clear enough. The showers should start anytime. Let’s give it a few minutes.”

“Fine, but sitting here staring up at the night sky calls for some alcohol. Wonder what passes for such in this dimension?”

Buffy could hear Spike scrounging around in the kitchen. When he came back, he waved a bottle in her face. “’Suppose this is some sort of wine. Are you game to try some?”

“Sure.”

The contents of the bottle tasted very much like wine but a little sweeter. They sipped in silence for a few more minutes.

“Spike, was it a good kiss?”

Spike thought he would let her simmer for a while longer and to give him a moment to debate if this was Buffy jealousy that he was seeing for the first time. “What kiss, luv?”

Buffy just rolled her eyes, “You *know,* the one with Leilor.”

“Saw that, did you, pet?” Spike had wondered, if not hoped, that Buffy had been watching. “Do you think she loves you?”

That question had Spike spitting out his mouth full of wine, “Huh?”

“Leilor looks at you with what could eventually be love in her eyes, through dinner last night, during the dancing, and obviously when she was all over you in the spa today.”

Spike wondered if Buffy recognized her own jealousy because he was sure he was seeing it now. What fun this could be! “No, pet, that’s just good, honest attraction with a touch of lust to keep things interesting. We certainly have not known each other long enough to develop anything more meaningful.” Spike wiggled his eyebrows at her. “But lust can be real pleasurable.”

“Then she could be to you like Parker was to me, a mistake.”

“You mean that love’em and leave’em git at UC of Sunnydale? Could Leilor be like him? Maybe, maybe not. Don’t know, pet, but you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself over that bugger. You were still on the rebound from Peaches, and being on the rebound is always a tricky tight rope walk.”

“Yeah, rebound. Angel was supposed to have been my soul mate, or so I have thought for so many years. It was hard to think any other way.”

“Young dreams die hard.”

“Yeah, like dreams of being a normal girl.”

“And enter Captain Cardboard.”

“He was tall, handsome, smart…”

“In a word, normal.”

“Yeah, but he loved me.”

“But you didn’t love him.”

“No, I don’t think I ever did. I tried. I tried so hard, but I don’t think I ever actually did. I still have so many regrets regarding Riley.

“Why?”

“Riley felt he was inferior to me when it came to fighting…”

“And you felt bad because you felt that he was inferior, a liability to you and to your job.”

“Yeah, loads of guilt there.”

Spike took his throw, folded it neatly into a pillow which he placed in his lap. Giving it a pat, “Come lay your head here, little missy, and let me play Freud for a bit.” Buffy needed no second invitation.

After she had settled down, Spike began. “Two things, Slayer.” Spike waited a moment until her hazel eyes looked into his own blue ones. “First, your business is helping needy people. I think it is perfectly reasonable to not want a needy boyfriend, also. Second, Riley was lucky to have what time he had with you. And if you ever quote me on that, I’ll deny I said anything so nice to a slayer.”

Buffy didn’t know what to say so she just watched out the window and thought for a moments to digest his words. Having finally sorted them out, Buffy asked, “If Parker was my monumental mistake, so who was yours? No…wait, let me guess. Harmony!”

“Got it in one, pet. Or maybe she should count for two.” They both laughed together comfortably.

When Buffy finally caught her breath, “What was Harmony? A brain glitch?”

“A great piece of ass…..Ow!” Spike broke off abruptly holding his side that Buffy had elbowed. “Bloody hell, woman. Don’t ask if you don’t want to know.” Rubbing his ribs once again before letting her settle her head back down on the make shift pillow in his lap, shifting to make sure he did not embarrass Buffy by any rising bulges.

“But if she had such a great ass, why no more Harmony?”

“That bint, Harmony, had negative IQ points, like a black hole. If you stood too close, you lost some IQ points yourself, like they were sucked out of you. Mostly, though, I finally figured out that she wasn’t what I was looking for.” Now uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation , Spike was saved by the meteor show putting in an appearance. “Hey! Look to the right, looks like the stars are going to fall for us, after all.”

“Oh, how beautiful. They are pinkish. I would have thought they were going to be purple in this dimension.” Buffy’s little joke helped ease the tension.

The pair watched for a while in silence, until Buffy asked the next question, “Drusilla had it, though, didn’t she?”

“No, not Dru, either. That’s why I don’t still chase her. I am looking for the kind of love that, both of you know without question that it is love between you. An everlasting love that can be conveyed in a look or glance. A love that is spoken out loud, not because your mate needs to hear the words, but because you want to tell her. She knows that you love her without having you say it a load. But it still all boils down to a look, a look of true love, words are just the icing on the cake, with the little angel on top as the reminder or the certainty of this love.”

Looking up into his face, Buffy could tell Spike was picturing in his mind’s eye that love he had obviously seen once before, giving him dreamy eyes and a slight smile to his face. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. She could tell how deeply he felt, and she was envious. Her parents had been the furthest opposite. They didn’t need to talk to each other; they didn’t have to tell each other that loved each other, because they didn’t.

Suddenly serious, Spike looked down into Buffy’s face. “Do you know what I mean, Slayer? Have you ever seen that kind of love?”

Buffy shook her head sadly. “No, I never have. I had thought that was what I had with Angel, but I look back know and wonder. It was more of that forbidden love that a sixteen year old idealizes as romantic…Have you ever seen it, that type of love you were describing?”

Spike once again looked her in the eyes for long, long moments. Finally, Spike broke off their gazes before answering her question. “Yes. Yes, I did, once a long time ago. But - let’s save that, luv, for another night.”

Taking Spike’s subtle hint that the conversation would go no further this evening and being unsure herself how much further she wanted to take a conversation about love with Spike, Buffy slowly got up to head for her own bedroom.

Whether it was wise or not, Spike was unable to let her leave so easily. He reached out and caught her trailing hand, turning it palm up to brush the fingertips of his free hand down her palm, finally placing a kiss on the pulse point of her wrist. Buffy felt shivers race up her arms, not cold but sensual. “See you in the morning, luv.”

Looking down at their hands still clasped, Buffy spoke what was on her mind, “Giles always told me that demons don’t feel, that they can’t feel love.”

Spike still held lightly on to her hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her sensitive skin. “Maybe the watcher was misinformed. Think about it, luv. Would the Council of Watchers want their killers (that’s you, Slayer) to know that they were destroying beings that had feelings besides hate?” Spike paused to place a sensual kiss on the inside of Buffy’s wrist again. “No thoughts of killing.” He placed a longer kiss on the same spot. “That you were killing beings that had no thoughts of doing any harm.” This time, Buffy felt the tip of his tongue stroke out on her skin as his open mouth contacted her skin, finishing in one of the most sensual kisses Buffy had ever received on that part on her anatomy.

Gazing into his beautiful, blue eyes, Buffy reluctantly pulled her hand back, but the lack of contact did not stopped the trindles of electricity rushing up her arm from his kiss, did not stopping the warm tingle in the pit of her stomach.

“Goodnight, luv.” As his voice rolled over her, Buffy watched entranced as his tongue peeked out long enough to lick his lips. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“’Night, Spike.” Run, Buffy thought, do not walk, run to the nearest cold shower.

The next day dawned overcast and cold, as usual by this dimensions standards, which also meant it was safe for a vampire to walk, or as it would be today, fight outside. The match quickly began when Sebastian had the Mayor choose and call the first name.

As Buffy watched, one of the locals had just entered the ice arena. Rolling her eyes for what seemed to be the fiftieth time, Buffy tried to watch the opponent’s warm-ups while trying to ignore the flirt-fest going on next to her between Leilor and Spike. Just as Buffy started to gather up snow to stuff in Leilor’s mouth to shut her up, Spike’s name was called to enter the arena as the second combatant.

Spike heard Buffy make a gagging sound as Leilor insisted on giving him a good luck kiss on the cheek. For once, Spike was reluctant to join a fight. He had been having such a good time seeing just how jealous Buffy could get. But, alas, off to work. A little taunt as he left couldn’t hurt, though. “What’s wrong, Slayer? Envious?”

“Not in this dimension or any other, blood breath.” But an evil little voice in Denial Buffy’s head asked her if she was envious? And would Spike care if she were envious? That same evil voice nudged a little harder, asking if she were jealous Leilor?

Laughing, Spike entered the arena to begin the contest, relatively confident in his cleated shoes. Watching his every move, Buffy bet it was damn hard to do his usual pre-fight strut in those cleated shoes. Nonetheless, he did still looked good in his jeans, not to mention his ass...

As the fight began, Leilor moved over closer to Buffy so her voice could be heard over the enthusiastic crowd. “Buffy, you really don’t find him attractive?”

Buffy gave Leilor a sharp look, wondering if Leilor had read her thoughts. “Uh, well…Uh, not his puny ass.”

Both women watched the fight for a couple more minutes. Spike’s opponent gained the upper hand and landed a fair punch on Spike’s jaw, sending the vampire sliding on his back. He finally coming to stop against the half-wall just below Buffy and Leilor, providing both of them quite a view of said ass.

Buffy’s and Leilor’s faces looking down at Spike dimly registered on his dazed brain, but their next words were almost as big a shock as the blow to his face had been.

“I don’t know, maybe you should look at his ass again.” Leilor was smiling down at him.

Buffy also looked down at him, pretending to try to re-appraise. “Humm, still kinda thin.”

“What are you two bints doing, judging a blokes assets when he is ass over tea kettle?” Spike scrambled to right himself.

As the clock ticked down to zero to admit a new participant, Buffy’s name was called before anything else could be said, and she entered the arena, saving Spike some of his dignity.

When Buffy entered the arena, she almost immediately slipped, fell, and ended up sliding the last few feet across the ice, bowling into her opponent. In a scene reminiscent of the old Keystone Cop Silent Movies Classics, Buffy and her opponent struggled on the ice and snow trying to regain their footing. The local guy made it up first, but Buffy quickly fixed that by pulling on his leg, bringing him back down. Figuring she had better odds staying low to the surface, Buffy straddled the guy and hit him with a right round house punch, which she followed by a yelp of pain of her own.

Spike looked over at the Slayer, who was now cradling her hand and cussing a blue streak. “What, the bloody hell happened, Slayer? Finish the bloke off already so you can get the other one while you are at it.”

Buffy flashed a glare at the vampire, who was leaning casually on the half-wall talking to Leilor. “Spike, I’m too fricking cold. And unlike you, dead man, pain shoots up my arm when I hit something when I am this cold! Come over and do it yourself, if you think you can do better.”

“Love to help you out, pet.” Flirting was fun, but fighting was better, so Spike gave Leilor a slight bow. “Be back in a moment, luv.”

Spike confidently made his way over the ice, using his cleats to their best advantage, but found himself tackled around the knees by the last local who had his name called and had finally been allowed to enter the ring. The entrance of the fourth fighter changed the scene from Keystone Cops to the 3 Stooges, actually four stooges in this case.

Buffy hit her guy one more time with little effect and fell over on her side as the pain radiated up to her shoulder this time.

Then the local threw her up against the side of the arena, trying to easily eliminate Buffy so he could go help his partner fight Spike.

Insulted to have been downgraded to a minor threat to be saved for later, Buffy started throwing snow balls at the guy leaving. She got his attention back, alright, along with his anger, too, it would seem, when he rushed Buffy so fast that she was able to jump out of his way at the last second, letting him land buried in a snow bunker.

Meanwhile, Spike finally got off a spinning move which velocity was increased considerably by the ice and took his opponent down with a kick to the head. Not to mention that his opponent hit his head on the guardrail as he went down, knocking him out. Minor details, Spike thought, as he made his way towards Buffy to help out. Her opponent had crawled out of the snow and had hit her square on the nose, sending her sliding back across the arena with her opponent following in a perpendicular path to Spike’s.

Spike blindsided the local and took him out with a clothes line move that any wrestler would have appreciated.

Checking to make sure both opponents were down and out, Spike then quickly walked over to help Buffy. “Well, Slayer. It wasn’t pretty, but we won.”

The slayer chose to just lay there a minute more. “Two matches down and three to go. Yeah, Team!!! Now, will someone pleeeeaase get me a hot, black coffee. I’m freezing. Maybe a comfy electric blanket, too.”

Looking back later at the fight, neither the slayer nor the vampire would have wanted any of it to have been seen on ESPN. None would have made any highlight reels, but maybe they could have made the bloopers, though.

*****

As Spike said his good-byes to Leilor and the Mayor off to the side, Sebastian and Clara explained to Buffy that the next dimension would be a little bit of a tricky situation, and as a result, time would be the most important factor. Clara continued to explain that they could get in quickly, and that there would be a few minutes to train in their unique arena, with the fight beginning shortly thereafter. Posthaste after the fight, they would collect their winnings and make their exit as quickly as possible.

As Spike joined them to pass through the portal, Sebastian added as the carrot in front of the cart, that if they could quickly make it through the next dimension successfully, that the next dimension was much more hospitable, and they could all grab some R & R before the next match.

After the disaster on ice, Buffy and Spike planned to take the practice session in the new dimension much more seriously. Well, at least serious for them. But of course, even this new dimension had its own little quirky joke to play on the vamp and slayer. In that first dimension there had been those lizards with their lethal tails. The second had been the frigid conditions, what with the ice and snow. But this third dimension threw them a whole new curve, gravity - or the lack of. Yep, Buffy thought, she now knew how Joe and Gandpa in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory had felt. She and Spike floated to the ceiling unless they were weighted down. However, during the fighting match they would have to use their wits instead of weights. They would be allowed very slight weights to help balance, but they could use the sides of the cage to control the situation.

Buffy let Spike experiment in the arena first. Neither Clara nor Sebastian was there to watch this workout since they claimed to be on such a tight time line in this dimension, and they needed to make sure all was in order. But their absence ended up a perk since Buffy was left alone to admire the vampire in his workout.

She could admit it now, at least to herself, that Leilor had been right. Spike was sexy. Way sexy, actually. Well, she and Leilor had already established that his ass was definitely in the plus column. But his eyes should be, also. Why had she never noticed before his beautiful blue eyes? Such a gorgeous shade of blue. And those cheek bones. Whoa! Who would have ever thought such sharply defined cheekbones could be so attractive on a man. And think of thoses sharply defined, his abs were definitely drool worthy. Maybe she had needed glasses back in Sunnydale, but she certainly didn’t need them now.

“Ok, Slayer, your turn.” Spike’s words jarred her out of her musings.

Spike watched the slayer begin her experimentation in the different gravity. Even moving unsurely, she was simply beautiful, in the way she moved, everything. But Bugger it, she was the Slayer. He killed slayers! Two to be exact!

Where had the desire to kill this slayer gone? The friggin’ chip. The desire had to been stifled by that damn chip. But hell, he couldn’t even fight her then. Back then, even with the chip, he could have had others do it for him, but Spike had always preferred a fair fight. What good was it watching someone else take her down. None!

Now that he could co it himself, but to be honest, he no longer wanted to kill the slayer. First off, she was the Nibblet’s big sis, but staying with that whole honesty gig, still even without Dawn, he didn’t think he would try to kill the slayer anymore.

Oh, she was a worth adversary, alright, and oh, what a fight to the death it would be, but still….no. Now they were more like allies than adversaries, and not just during these contests with Sebastian. As long as he was being this buggering honest with himself, he might as well also admit he still rather be her ally when they got back to Sunnyhell. But he still wasn’t wearing a white hat. It may not be black anymore, but not white. Grey, maybe.

But what about this sex appeal the slayer seemed to be throwing around lately? He had always thought her beautiful, but this was the first time he had really seen her relaxed and playful as she bounced around the caged arena. Maybe that was why he was seeing her differently now. Seeing her as a girl instead of as just the slayer. Or maybe he should say seeing her as a woman judging from what he had seen in that bathing suit at the bathhouse. Well, Spike thought, let’s see home much fun she’s up for.

“Ok, Slayer, we need to work on some fight moves. Short on time, remember?”

Buffy bounced and flipped her way down the side of the cage to the floor as Spike opened the door and let himself in.

“Ok, flat foot, bring it on.” Buffy got into a fighting stance. Spike faced the Slayer, looking for the first opening. They both carefully moved around, cautious to stay out of the other’s reach without causing themselves to bounce out of control in the low gravity. Finally Spike threw the first punch which Buffy ducked. With a grin on her face, Buffy reached under his arm, poked him in the ribs, and then bounded off yelling, “Tag. Your it.”

“Huh?” Holding his side and watching the slayer bounce out of his reach around the arena. “You silly bint, we need to work here.”

“Awww, come on. Haven’t you ever played tag, fang face?” Buffy stuck her tongue out and scrunched up her nose at the disbelieving vampire. “Nanny, nanny. Now you’ve got to catch me.”

After shaking his head a moment, it struck him. Here was the slayer wanting to play with him. No, not the slayer, but Buffy. What was he, an idiot to pass up this chance? Cocking up an eyebrow at her, he gave her his best smirk. “Dare the Big Bad, will you, you cheeky tart.” And the chase was on.

After several bounds, jumps, twists, flips, and much laughter, the chase raged on until Spike finally faked that he was going up the cage so Buffy let go of the side to float back down to the floor. But Spike fooled her and had the slayer wrapped firmly in his arms before she could react.

“Gotcha, Slayer.” Smirking, Spike held her up so they would be eye level which meant her feet didn’t touch the floor. “So, what’s my prize?”

Laughingly, Buffy tried to pull back, “What prize? You caught me, fair and square. So now we play again, but this time I try to catch you.”

Spike shook his head slowly. “Not before I get my prize.”

Buffy struggled and made half-hearted attempts to get free, which Spike thoroughly enjoyed each and every wiggle against his body.

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Buffy finally stopped her struggles. She would have folded her arms but had to settle for sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. “So, what do you want for this supposed prize?”

Spike couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away from that adorable pouty lip. “A kiss.” He heard himself say before thinking.

Those same two words sent a thrill down Buffy’s spine. “A kiss, huh? That’s easy.” Buffy gave him a kiss on the cheek, and bestowed upon him her most innocent smile, while desperately hoping that the sappy expression hid her silent prayer that he had meant more. This was Spike, after all.

“No, luv. That’s a peck. I said a kiss. A real kiss like this.” Not giving her time to think, Spike moved his left hand to the back of her head and placed his cool lips on her warm ones. After the briefest touch of their lips, he pulled back a fraction to see if he was going to regret this taste of the forbidden fruit, but then thought, what the hell, and crushed her lips with his own. Her answering moan confirmed her own pleasure. Spikes tongue tentatively searched out and touched her lips but was quickly met with her own for a leisurely duel.

Buffy pulled back with her lungs demanded air and slid back down to the ground. Kissing Spike. She had kissed Spike. She had kissed Spike, and it had been great. But what now?

“Well, ….uhu….that was a kiss.” She took a step back, starring into his blue eyes. Only one kiss and wow!

“What next, Slayer?” Was that him that sounded so nonchalant, Spike wondered? What next should entail a much more private place and much less clothes…

“Well, I guess it is my turn to see if I can catch you.” Now the twinkle was back in Buffy’s eyes.

Spike gave her a slow, sexy smile. “But what if I want to be caught, what would your prize be?”

“Well…uh…I liked your idea…” Before she could even finish, they were kissing again. No hesitation, no barriers, and no holding back. Their tongues quickly met in a wide, open mouth kiss, trying to get to know each other, trying to learn the others individual taste. Again, Spike pulled Buffy up against him, flush to his body head to toe, and then slowly brought her body up along his until they were nose to nose, once again. Both thoroughly enjoying the friction the movement caused. Unlike in the bathhouse, Spike didn’t care if Buffy saw or felt his bulge. He wanted her to know how much he wanted her. Buffy pulled back one more time to catch her breathe and gazed at him with wonder in her eyes. But then a slow, feminine smile curved up the corners of her mouth as she leaned in for more.

It took Clara three tries of calling to them from outside of the arena to get their attention. “Excuse me, you two, but we need to get some food and then get ready for the fight.”