‘Damn sneaky buggers,’ was Spike’s first thought as he struggled up through a dense cloud of pain blanketing his body. When he finally made it up through to a poor excuse of consciousness, his second thought was, ‘I’m a big bad sucker. That’s right, mate. A bloody, award winning wanker, you are, for letting those pillocks come up behind you.’

As Spike moaned, his mind replayed how his body ended up in such a fucked up condition. He had just picked up a bail jumper. No problem. But then his mind drifted off to its favorite happy place, his new memories of Beth. Then instead of “no problem,” it was now a “big problem.”

With no consideration for the vampire’s pleasant daydream, the next thing Spike knew, he was beaten to the ground with a bat, and while lying in the dirt he was repeatedly kicked stabbed twice. Proud of themselves, the three bastards left him for dead. Oh, they were right about that bit. He was dead alright, but what they didn’t count on was that he was the undead, who would heal up, and then be back for them.

He wasn’t sure how but he was no longer lying in a dirt parking lot, he must have made it back to his loft somehow since. Now he lay on his bed, only half conscious, hoping he hadn’t damaged the Jag too bad and trying to forget his excruciating pain by planning how to dole out his revenge.

As he slowly became more aware of his surrounding, his brain jumped from oblivious to his surroundings to level red alert. Amazingly, his shirt was removed, the blood that should have covered his body was cleaned off, and his numerous cuts and wounds bandaged. “What in the sodding world is going on?” Spike started to lift his right arm to inspect the bandages on his chest but abruptly stopped when he felt an weight resting on top of his arm. He froze for a second, and due to the pain in his head, Spike dreaded moving his head, so he decided to look out of the corner of his eye. He saw a hand. A small, feminine hand. Shock, he snapped his head to the side, but all he saw were stars in front of his eyes from the pain throbbing throughout his head and body. When the little buggers finally cleared, he found himself looking at the slayer sleeping at his side. No, not the slayer. Beth.

He lay there for a while, relishing the sight of the blonde beauty, not wanting to move in case he might wake her. To distract him from his pain, he concentrated on the feel of her delicate hand on his arm and the beauty of her face which was relaxed in sleep so close to him. Yes, they had lain together during the last few days before fighting the First Evil, but her reasons were never completely clear to him. Relations between them had definitely improved those last months he and the slayer had been together, but he had never been sure if she had been looking for comfort and went to him or found comfort being with him. Big difference. Funny though, this time, Beth was comforting him, no need to hide anything, no impending doom, and especially no vampire versus slayer rubbish. As he looked his fill, the pain eased, and Spike finally fell back into peaceful sleep.

*****

When he awoke the next time, Spike knew before he moved a muscle or opened his eyes that he was the only person in the bedroom. After laying there for a while trying to clear his mind, he was starting to doubt that Beth had only been a lovely pain induced delusion. Yet he still had bandages all over which did mean someone must have patched him up. But then Beth herself inadvertently settled his inner debate as she walked into the room with a smile and a casual “Hi” as if she walked into his bedroom all the time.

Just her entering the room lessened his anxiety or pain. “Hello, pet.” Spike noticed that Beth was holding a book that he assumed that she found to occupy herself while waiting for him to wake up. Bloody hell, he would have woken up sooner if he had known that she was waiting for him.

Equally casual as when she entered the room, Beth strolled around to the empty side of the bed and sat down to face him. She pulled her legs up under herself, and then squirmed a moment getting comfortable. Once settled she scrunched up her nose at him, which only made him want to kiss away the wrinkles created. “I think I’ll skip the whole ‘How do you feel’ part because I think I can guess and go right to the ‘What the hell happened to you’ part?”

“Right, then let me do the ‘thank you for patching me up’ part before the ‘how stupid could I get’ explanation.” Her laugh made him feel even better than her presence already had. “So, first things first. Thank you, Nurse Nightingale.”

Instead of looking flattered, Beth appeared to be a bit uneasy. “Uh, maybe you should wait until you’ve healed up to thank me. See, I don’t remember ever learning how to do first aid, so I may have done it all wrong. But it was so wiggy because I felt like it was natural, even like I had practiced in a way. Just think, you could have ended up all mummy-like. Bandages round and round with only your eyes showing.” Actually, just seeing his eyes would be enough to make her knees wobble.

Spike laughed but was immediately reminded by his ribs that he had been beaten all to hell. His smile came out looking a little strained, “I’m sure you did fine, pet.”

“We’ll see. If you have gaping, puss-filled yucky sores in a few days and want to sue me, I’ll just claim that I’ve never met you before. Besides, what would you get from me? College text books? Take them, and I will even thank you. Hey, I will deliver them, no charge.”

When William smiled at her joke, Beth returned it with one of her own until she realized that she was just sitting there, on his bed, and would be perfectly happy to look at him all day. And all night, and the next day… Beth mentally shook herself. ‘Enough of the mime act. Talk. You know, that thing were the mouth moves and sounds come out that other people understand.’ Beth tried to remember what they were even talking about. “So now I guess we’re are up to your whole ‘What the hell’ and ‘stupid’ explanation.” She patted herself on the back. ‘There you go, Beth. Get him to talk and you have a reason to sit back and stare.’

Rolling his eyes up to stare at the ceiling, Spike gave a long, suffering sigh, not wanting to admit to anything about the incident. Not one word. Mortification just wasn’t something a big bad wanted on his resume, ‘Experience: Number of Times Mortified…’ No thank you, even if she no longer knew what a big bad was. “I was on a job, picking up this sodding waste of life, who was out on bond for a manslaughter charge. He had killed this other git in a bar fight. Not that I don’t enjoy a good bar fight as much as the next bloke, but when you kill your opponent, you’ve stepped over the line of recreational fun.”

“Definitely a do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, and go straight to jail.” Buffy replied with a stern look, but the twinkle in her eyes gave her tease away. “But you ended up looking like you were the one on the receiving end of the beating.”

He closed his eyes before admitting. “That, pet, would be because I was the ninny getting beat up.”

Beth had a hard time comprehending the story now. “Huh? I thought you caught the bad guys not the flip side, them catching you with knives and bats.” Suppressing a smile, Beth watched William’s jaw clench and unclench a few times before he continued

“I waited for the skip outside a shabby excuse of a bar about 10 miles north of town. He came out. I grabbed him. Easy. But as I hauled him to my car, I got distracted, and two of his friends jumped me from behind. So, it wasn’t stupid. It falls more into the category of bleedin’ idiotic.”

Since her merriment was starting to go past a smile, Beth bit her lip trying not to laugh and thus making him feel even worse. It was in the top ten rules of dating. So not of the good to make a potentially serious boyfriend feel inadequate, and as she studied his face, he looked far from inadequate. In fact, the eyebrow with the scar was fascinating. “Oh, William, you know better than turn your back to a bar, especially when you are pissing people off.” While still talking, she slowly reached her hand toward his face before absently adding, “At least I hope you never made that mistake at Willy’s.”

“Willy’s?” Spike’s eyes flew wide open, eyes seeking any clue in her face. He couldn’t stop himself from asking, but he didn’t think she meant the Willy’s in the Sunnydale of the past. Or better yet, he prayed that it was not Willy’s demon bar.

She, however, was focused on her hand which now was only a couple of inches from his eyebrow with the fascinating scar. “You know, Willy’s bar, the best place in Sunnydale to beat information out of people.”

Not even aware of her hand, Spike was instead paying attention to what her words implied. As he searched her face, he suspected that she didn’t even realize what she was actually saying or what she was jeopardizing for them both. For her, she would lose her normal life; for him, he would lose her again and no telling what punishment from the Powers That Be. Remembering Willy’s was way too close for him. But then Beth’s finger ran across his eyebrow, and all his thoughts and anxieties packed their bags and soared out the nearest window.

She stroked his eyebrow again, “Did you get this scar in a bar fight?” Surprising her, tingling sensations shot up her arm from the contact, but she wouldn’t have withdrawn her hand, losing the contact with his skin, even if he told her to get away.

What was he going to say about the scar? That a Chinese slayer nicked him before he killed her? What a conversation topic that would make. “No, luv. Childhood accident. Ya know, misspent youth and all that rubbish.”

She stroked across his eyebrow one more time before her fingertip made slow progress down the side of his face. Carefully avoiding any bruises or cuts, she continued the intimate caress, lightly tracing along his defined cheekbone and then on down to his upper lip. As Beth slowly rubbed across the sensitive skin of his sculpted lip that seemed, back and forth, she leaned in closer, whispering in a huskier than normal voice. “Do they hurt?”

Before he answering, Spike was unable to suppress a deep moan. He suspected that her sensual touch was causing his brain melt down. But how could such a light touch feel as if she was spreading her warmth through to his body. “What hurts, luv?” He watched as a slow, beguiling smile spread across her face. Looking at her, it struck him how much the tables had turned with Buffy to Beth. He was the one being seduced, and he wanted more, more, please more.

Beth looked up into his clear blue eyes. “Your lips. Do they hurt?”

Spike lied with ease, anything to keep her that close in proximity to him. “No, they don’t hurt a bit.” He heard a soft “good” before she closed the small gap left between them and kissed his lips. Even without much experience in the human custom of dating, Spike knew first kisses carried great importance, influencing the relationship to come, but also broke a barrier between them, taking the relationship forward. This first kiss was light, tentative but sweet, leaving you anticipating the next one.

Suddenly self-conscious, she slightly pulled back to gage William’s reaction, and Beth was pleased to notice that his eyes followed her wet tongue licking across her upper lip.

But now it was Spike’s turn to ask a question. “Do you want to know what distracted me, pet?”

Curious where his question was leading, Beth’s smile faded as she tilted her had to the side. “Sure.”

“You.” His reply came out low and thoroughly masculine, which sent a tingle shooting down her spine. She wanted to purr in delight

“Huh?” Pathetic reply as it was, that was all Beth could manage.

“Thoughts of you distracted me.” Spike ran his fingers through her hair before tucking some loose strands behind her ear.

Her smile quickly returned along with her sense of humor. “So you’re saying that I’m the reason you were beat up? Like I was there dancing naked on the hood of one of their cars?”

He just nodded, still mesmerized by her lips, but her words still registered, especially the naked part. “I don’t know. May have been more like a table dance? It just so happens that I have a table that would be perfect just in the other room.”

“Then let me see if I can make you feel better with another type of dancing.”

This second kiss had no hesitancy like the first kiss. Their mouths met, open, tongues at once seeking each other’s touch. Falling back to old habits, Spike had expected this kiss to have the taste of his past with Buffy, desperation flavored with regret, need tainted with shame. But this kiss was deliberate instead of desperate, a yearning instead of a forbidden desire. When Beth pulled back to catch her breath, the truth finally seeped into his thoughts. What were the differences? He saw no regret in her beautiful, hazel eyes. Instead he saw was simple pleasure with no shadows instead of some stolen moment, but freely given affection, conscience free of any weight of duty pulling her down. Catching her breath quickly, Beth kissed him again. With this kiss, Spike savored her taste of a possible future. A future he knew he didn’t dare hope for, but he was determined to enjoy every moment he was unbelievably blessed with. A vampire tasting heaven on a human’s lips.

Surprising her, Spike was the one that pulled back this time. Satisfying an intense need to see her face, he studied her smile, gazed into her hazel eyes to see her need for him. With a groan bordering on a growl, he threaded his fingers through her hair, cupped the back of her head and pulled her forward with a gentleness that the slayer never wanted from him. Sure, during those last couple of months with Buffy, she had allowed him to show her tenderness in his embrace, but nothing more, not even a sweet, chaste press of his lips on hers. In sharp contrast, as he kissed Beth, not only did she accept his tenderness, but she mirrored his gesture, bringing her hand up to caress the short hair at the nape of his neck.

Desire satisfied for the moment, Spike lightly stroked the back of his knuckles down the side of her face. “You were right.”

“Always right. Cross my heart and hope to not get caught being wrong.” Trying to regain her equilibrium, Beth wasn’t grounding herself but drowning his gaze, swimming in his desire that matched her own. However, who wouldn’t get lost looking into his intense, azure eyes? She gave him a cocky smirk, “But feel free to share with the class what I was right about this time.”

“You do make me feel better.” He moved his hand to play with a strand of her golden hair, leisurely wrapping it loosely around his finger, and even though she tried to hide any outward sign of her excitement, he knew and thrilled listening to her heartbeat increase.

She didn’t care what her biology teacher said about hair not having any nerve endings. His small intimacy made her want to purr. In fact, she would be happy if William played with every hair on her head. Individually. Slowly. Returning the gesture in her own way, Beth ran her fingers across his arm, which was lying on the bed. She lightly caressed his pale skin marred by harsh, black bruises. “Feeling better is definitely of the good. And that must mean that I just passed my first exam in first aid.”

“Luv, as much as I would love to stay right here with you, but…” He paused as he watched her eyebrows rise in question. “I am starving.” He could feel his stomach rumbling, calling for blood he desperately needed to help him heal. Actually, he was surprised she hadn’t heard the noise herself.

Buffy was immediately up and heading for the kitchen, “My bad. What can I get you?”

“I would love some soup, which I don’t have. Would you mind running to the market, luv?”

*****

Shaking his head, Spike would have never thought he would be so thankful that he was out of blood. There was no telling how long Beth had been in the loft while he was out, and so in all likely hood, she went looking around for a drink or eats. As soon as Beth was out the front door, Spike called downstairs to beg a delivery of blood to be brought up.

The mortician, Josh, took pity on him and immediately sent some with his son, Devin. So when Beth returned, his demon had been fed, Devin had taken any remains of meal of blood back downstairs, and the secret side of his nature was safe again. But then he had to dutifully eat the chicken noodle soup that Beth heated for him, all the while kicking himself for not asking for a soup that he actually liked.

Even though Spike fought it, with his stomach full and the blood accelerating his healing, he soon fell back into a much needed, healing sleep. The next time he woke up, he wasn’t surprised that Beth was gone. However, he reminded himself that this wasn’t the slayer, who would run away with the idea of never returning. This non-slayer had mentioned that she needed to check in with her dad. So that’s where he assumed Beth had gone, not run away, and Spike would bet his hair bleach that this girl would return.

*****

And Spike did win the bet. Sunday morning, Beth was back, bearing gifts and more shocks to his sanity, which he had already in questioned himself when he first had coffee with her at the mall.

Earlier that morning, Spike had hobbled from his bed into the entertainment room. Consequently when she arrived, she was surprised to find her patient sprawled on the sofa, watching a soccer game.

Beth wore a bright smile while holding an assortment of breakfast offerings such as donuts, bagels, danishes, among others. “Morning. I brought a little taste of each since I don’t know what you like for breakfast.” After setting the goodies on a side table next to Spike, she kicked off her shoes and joined him on the sofa. Spike didn’t fail to notice that Beth sat as close as she could without touching him, and that she faced him instead of the television. “So, Rocky, do you feel as bad as you look?”

Spike rolled his eyes as he finished off a decadent Danish, “Luv, I feel like I was stabbed and beat with a baseball bat. Oh…wait…I was stabbed and beaten with a baseball bat. And I HATE baseball. Bloody boring excuse for a sport.”

Taken aback, Spike nearly dropped his donut when she leaned over and gave him a hello kiss on the cheek, which gave him the first shock of the day. Not that he was appreciative of the affection openly shown by this different version of Buffy, but he just hadn’t gotten use to the change yet since it was the same face, voice, hair, type of clothes, everything. The spontaneous kiss had been a very non-Buffy action to him. Or for anyone that kissed him for that matter.

As she pulled away, she gave him a perky smile, “At least we have that in common. Baseball is a total yawn fest.” She glanced at his TV. “Now soccer is one of those sports that I can watch but don’t get.”

“Noooo, I know football. Guys, pads, very tight pants, topped off with brain buckets.” The corners of her mouth tipped up. “Did I mention tight pants?”

Spike groaned while rolling his eyes dramatically. “Too small knickers would be the highlight of American football, no doubt, but if you are going to watching the telly here with a Brit, you’ve got to learn what you are watching. See soccer is called football around the world. Just you Yanks have to be different as usual. No wonder you do so poorly at the World Cup. I digress. Let’s start with the goal keeper and work our way down the field.”

At halftime, when Spike finished his ‘football” lecture on how a tight defense functions, Beth shifted so that she could see William better, turning in her seat in order to face him. “Professor William?”

“Yes, pet?” CuriousSpike also shifted so that he could look at her while wondering why this bubbling blonde suddenly sounded serious. What he didn’t realize was that the seriousness was just a precursor to the next shock of the day.

With a slight wrinkle between her brows, her expression confirmed the resolve he could hear in her voice. “Can we skip the tutelage and go straight to the kissage? Now would be good.”

This woman did have some characteristics in common with the slayer that he enjoyed seeing again. Forward. Direct. Take Action. As the fire started to burn in his eyes, “I wouldn’t want to be in the way of something you want.” Spike’s hand moved up to cup the back of her head, bringing her face closer to his own. “Anything you want, luv.”

Instantly intense, they kissed like a couple of sixteen year olds on her parents’ sofa, stealing secret delights. But instead of the fear of getting caught by her father as a teenage boy would, Spike’s injuries and pain provided the firewall, not letting their passion progress any further than good, old fashion necking. Regardless, Spike loved every minute, every second her lips were pressed onto his. After the slayer had been brought back from the dead, they had only shared two kisses before their hot, heavy, hard sex began. He found this slower approach more satisfying, enjoying the simple contact.

Football forgotten, they whiled away the day, kissing, talking and occasionally breaking for food, beverages, and the like. During a pause in the kissage, while slowly pushing back any of her hair that had fallen across her face, Spike encouraged Beth to talk about her life in Sunnydale. A life that was the same but yet different from the slayer’s dark life that he had witnessed for years. No Master drowning her, no Angelus to torment her, no Mayor to wreak havoc, and even no Spike, William the Bloody trying to add another dead slayer to his tally. Asking her to start from when she moved to Sunnydale, Spike listened to three years of Sunnydale High with normal ups and downs, and with regular, human boy friends. Princess Cordelia picked on shy Willow and geeky Xander. Beth befriended the pair. The Librarian, Giles, befriended Beth, Willow and Xander and provided Beth with a father figure. Non-withchy Willow dated a non-werewolf Oz. Xander still had dated Cordelia. Go figure on that one. Spike had never been sure before, let alone now, who got the short end of that stick, the whelp or the vicious mouth.

After her high school graduation at what she called a “boring” ceremony, she moved on to college, but never meeting Riley, Captain Starch, her freshman year at college. ‘That was a gift from above,’ Spike thought. ‘The git was probably terrorizing another unfortunate town and its demon populace.’ But then Spike wanted to groan, realizing that there was some other schmuck vamp with a chip implanted in his head out there somewhere. He wouldn’t even wish that on Peaches. Well. Maybe.

As for Xander, after high school, he still did odd jobs until finally landing on a career in construction. Oz still left Willow. Having a soft spot for Red, Spike decided the pillock couldn’t recognize a keeper if it bit him on the arse. During college, Beth had to take time off from school because her mother was sick, but when Joyce got better, Beth returned to school to finish her criminal law degree. Just a mild shock here. Spike wasn’t surprised at all at her choice of major. Buffy was still shining through Beth, still trying to catch bad guys. All in all, Beth had had the normal life she had asked for.

“So that brings us up to recent history. My dad moved here a few months ago. I came to visit him and met you. Then I squiggled my way into your life. Bonus!”

Taking the opportunity, he leaned in close. “Glad you think so, luv.” Once more, he lightly brushed her lips before running the tip of his tongue along her lower lip. He savored kissing her and demonstrating just how glad he was to have met her.

“Uh, where was I?” Afterwards, Beth sat back, blinking at him with owlish eyes. “Yeah, you’re a bonus. Oh, and Willow and Xander are sick of hearing about my mystery boyfriend in Sacramento. They are dying to meet you. And I’m getting soooo mom-ed by my mom. ‘Who is he? How old is he? Where does he live? What does he do for a living? Yada, yada, yada… Don’t have to look so shocked. It’s just the usual parental inquisition.”

Big shock this time. “It’s not your mum’s questions, pet. To tell the truth, it’s the boyfriend part that gave me a jolt.” She had actually referred to him as a boyfriend? This relationship was a great deal different than he had ever encountered. Not with Dru, certainly not with Harm, and definitely not with Buffy. It was so…so…so conventional.

Not understanding what he meant, Beth wanted the ground to swallow her up as her face blushed a bright red. “Oh, my bad. I just thought with all the making with the smoochies yesterday and today. But you being older, you may not make much of that kind of tame stuff. I just assumed that…”

He reached up and cupped her chin in his hand while watching her nervously chew her lower lip before placing a tender kiss on her lips to settle her uncertainties. “You just keep assuming what ever you want, luv. I’ll follow your lead.”

Much to his regret and diminishing patience, Spike’s current case started Wednesday in Sacramento, and by Saturday, he had trailed the skip up to Seattle. Since he was able to wrap up the case and make it back to Sacramento by Monday, to say that he wasn’t that disappointed to see Beth over the weekend was like a stripper saying that she was just a little chilly in Iceland. On the other hand, the thought of being referred to by Beth as “the boyfriend” kept a smile on his face until she bounded into the loft the following Friday.

The only snag in his excitement was that Beth arrived an hour before sunset, which made her an hour and a half earlier than she had predicted on the phone the previous night. Spike wasn’t as concerned about the time as he was glad to be with her sooner than expected. The snag came when for a few moments, he forgot himself and thought of her as the old slayer.

The faux pas unfolded while standing in the kitchen, holding a pitcher of blood, Spike was startled when the door to the loft suddenly flew open and slammed hard against the wall. This trademark entrance immediately took him back to the slayer when she use to storm into his crypt. Using one of his own trademark, big bad smirk, he jokingly called out, “You’re just in time for a cup of blo…b…Beth. Uh, a drink.” As he caught his inadvertent and almost catastrophic slip of his not paying attention tongue, Spike wasn’t sure which was worse trying to be a smart ass to the slayer that no longer existed or that Beth was walking up to him while he was holding a pitcher of blood from which he had almost offered her a cup. Actually, he was lying to himself. The answer was no contest: Offering her blood was far worse. All he could do now was remind himself that first this was just a normal, human girl who knew nothing about vampires, second he should keep his gob shut, and third he should be incredibly thankful that the pitcher he was holding was opaque.

Oblivious to his predicament, Beth practically skipped up to William. “Hi to you, too. Yeah, me because I’m early. I didn’t even speed…much.” Her smile sparkled. “And a cup of what?”

“Uuh…juice. A cup of juice, pet.” Spike quickly put the blood back in the refrigerator, pushing the pitcher as far back as possible, and pulled out on orange juice carton. Actually, when he returned from Seattle, he had planned for such a dilemma by hiding a small refrigerator in his library. However, his new problem was that he hadn’t hidden the blood yet and then how he could move the pitcher of blood from the kitchen into the library without the inquisitive blonde finding out. What in the bloody hell could he say? ‘Could you wait a sec while I move this pitcher to the hidden refrigerator in the library. Be right back, ducks.” Spike wanted pop himself on the side of his head. ‘Yeah, right you git. Ha bloody ha, or it was more like, I’m sooo bloody fucked.’

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Beth moved closer until she was just inches a way from him, grabbed his shirt to pull him down so that his mouth was level with her own and gave him a quick kiss. When she released his shirt, she took a step back before leaning her hip against the counter to simply enjoy watching him. She especially enjoyed his expression that started with shock, shifted agreeably surprised before ending with passion he thought he could hide. No hiding with those expressive, blue eyes; they told quite a story on their own.

Spike was wondering if he would ever get use to her freely given affection. As a result of her current example, he was working hard to make his brain, which was overloading with passion, think of something to say next. “You’re early, luv.”

Pointing towards the front door, Beth took a step back, turning to leave. “I could go drive around if you want and come back later. I’ll be back in...hey!”

She only made it one step away before Spike’s arm shot out, wrapped around her waist, and pulled her flush against him.

Beth wanted to groan over his much improved reaction to her arrival, but wanting to stay a nonchalant woman of the world, she settled with what she hoped was a sophisticated laugh as William growled, nipping at her ear. “Be good and no biting. At least…not hard.” That comment earned her another, deeper growl that sent shivers down her spine. Yeah, she had to work on drawing these types of reactions out of William because when successful, she wanted to blissfully melt where she stood, leaving a Beth puddle on his floor.

“If you only knew how good my bite actually is, pet.” Pulling back her hair with his free hand, he bit down with blunt teeth where the curve of her neck met her shoulder.

All of a sudden, the spell was broken for Spike when he bit her neck she broke free of his embrace. Her past boyfriends had kissed on her neck, used their teeth across her skin, but never an actual bite, so she suffered major freakage this first time. As Beth jumped back from him, she squeaked and quickly put her hand up to her neck. Spike’s spirits instantly plummeted, assuming that he had gone too far, and maybe triggered the wrong memories. That fear seared through him until she giggled. Giggled?

“Ooo, you gave me goose bumps.” She held out her arm for him to examine. When he curiously ran a cool hand across her forearm, she wiggled her eyebrows. “Promise to do it again? Maybe a little higher next time?” She brushed her index finger across the preferred spot.

“Promise, luv. Anytime you want.” Spike took a couple more bites as he made his way up her neck. By the last one, she was leaning into him and making a sound that sounded close to purring. “Anywhere you want.” Never in his long unlife would he have ever imagined that the feel of goose bumps on a woman’s arm could make him so aroused.

Smoothly closing the distance between them again, Spike pinned her body against the counter top before his mouth captured hers. Beth’s moan made his erection harder then as it had been just moment before, and her hardened nipples, which rubbed through their shirts against his chest, spoke volumes for her own arousal.

For Beth, all she could see was the desire burning in his blue eyes, making her want all the more. The nonchalant woman of the world quickly vanished and all she could think of to say when she had reluctantly broken free of his lips to breathe, was “A world of *wow.*”

When she had pulled back to catch a breath, Spike stayed close against her, looking down into her face and gave her an enticing smile. As she blinked up at him, he watched a blush redden her cheeks. Her unguarded reaction reminded him that this stunning woman he held in his arms wasn’t the hardened slayer, who in a deserted house had traded him blow for blow before having equally abandoned sex all night long. This, however, was an optimistic college student looking forward to a career, husband, family, and an overall bright future ahead of her. Bright, that was the rub because he had no choice but to remain in the shadows. So instead of letting desire run wild, he forced his desire to cool its heels and took a step back to put some space between them. Spike poured some juice into a glass giving him a moment for him to regroup and push his desire aside. The problem was that his libido must have had his intense desire for Beth on a rubber band because it kept springing right back.

Taking the drink he offered, Buffy floundered around for something to say that would make her sound calmer than she honestly felt. “It’s a gorgeous day outside. Oh, it’s such a shame you can’t go out and enjoy it.” Before her mouth stopped moving, she realized how horribly insensitive her comment had been. She slapped a hand over her mouth that was now doing an impressive imitation of a goldfish.

Not even acknowledging her comment, he poured the remaining part of his and her juice down the sink, and with his head slightly tilted and his scared eyebrow raised, Spike turned and speculatively gazed at her. He didn’t appear mad, but

Beth still felt like a cockroach that should be squished.

But instead of the much deserved squishage, Beth was left trying to get her firmly embedded foot out of her mouth. “I’m sooo sorry.”

Not saying a word, Spike took her hand and pulled her toward the front door.

“I can’t believe I said that. I know - way harsh and way rude.” Beth continued to apologize as he pulled her down the stairs. “I am incredibly sorry. You should know that I would not hurt you on purpose…Where are we going?”

When they reached the small foyer, instead of heading for the door that led to the parking lot as she assumed they were going, he opened a side door and pulled her through. With Beth’s mouth now hanging open, she stopped resisting as they cut through the funeral home’s room that displayed their selection of caskets for sale and out into the main hall.

When William headed for the front door, Beth dug in her heels. “Wait…No, William…Please, I wasn’t daring you.” When his hand was on the doorknob, she shifted from scared to out and out panic mode. “What the hell do you think you are doing? Suicide flambé is so not on the menu today.”

“You should learn to have more faith in me, kitten.” Spike paused long enough to throw a cocky smile back at her before opening the door and stepping out into the bright, sunny day.

Kitten? No meow’s from her since she thought her heart would surely stop when they stepped outside. When her brain came out of shock, she realized that they were under a wide, maroon awning that led across the side of the parking area and over to where green grass of the serene cemetery began. An awing that Beth had unfortunately not seen since she parked in the parking spaces on the other side of the building.

Still holding on to William’s hand, they kept walking out using the shade the awning provided over to the diffused light provided by oak trees. The tall, old trees spread so wide that Beth found it hard to tell where one tree ended and another began. The welcome advantage of the enormous trees was that they provided continuous shade throughout the oldest part of the graveyard.

“William,” Beth jerked her hand out of his grip. “WILLIAM!”

Feeling the loss of her hand in his, Spike stopped to look over his shoulder at her. He didn’t have to be told that Beth with her hands on her hips was bleeding big trouble for him. Spike mentally shrugged, ‘no surprise though.’

Beth made an all encompassing swipe of their surroundings with her arm. “Huh? Let me rephrase that. Huh…What?”

“I said that I was allergic to the sunlight, luv, not that I don’t go out in the day.” When Spike turned to walk further into the graveyard, he just chuckled when he felt her kick him in the ass.

“That was so not of the funny. To think that I was scared for you…you can just burn for all I care. I won’t even visit you in the hospital.” Contrary to her words, however, Beth spent the rest of the walk trying to help him keep safe from any stray rays of light. Making their way through the old section of ornate tome stones, crypts and statuaries, Spike found a tree with a huge trunk so that he could sit against it with her in relative privacy. He sat down with his back against the trunk and then patted the grass beside him as an invitation.

Beth demonstrated her still fuming anger by kicking him in the leg since he was now sitting on his ass. After his “oomph,” she was satisfied, and she sat down against the tree, so she could then enjoy a non-combative silence and happily watch him rub his abused leg.

After calming down, Beth tossed William an olive branch. “This is such a beautiful spot. No wonder you chance daylight to come here.”

“Glad you like it, pet. It’s one of my favorite spots to ponder the various twists and turns of life.” Spike wanted to add that during the last few years, she had provided the biggest twists and turns in his unlife.

Beth’s thoughts were still on the possibility of him getting burned severely. “So…do you go other places besides this in the daytime?”

“When the sun is up, I tend to stray outdoors upon occasions.” When she leaned forward and started to protest the dangerous activity further, he turned toward her and laid a finger on her lips to cease any further protests. “Look, luv, I refuse to live my life in fear like a sodding nancy-boy.” In a huff again, he sat back against the tree. “I guess that philosophy explains the heavy tinted, roll-down shades on the windows of your loft. You must open the curtains during the day. And you the tinted windows on your car so you can go driving when you want.”

Spike sat back and watched the antics of the squirrels and birds among the trees while Beth leaned her head against the tree with eyes closes. Nonetheless, even now that her mouth wasn’t moving, he could tell her mind was still going a mile a minute.

After several quiet minutes, she suddenly turned to face him, gave him a grin, and held up her hands above her head as if holding up some invisible object. “I can just picture you running into this quaint, little shop with an old blanket over your head for protection.” She giggle at her own joke, falsely assuming she had good-naturedly zinged him. Only Spike wasn’t laughing.

‘Where the hell did that came from?’ As stunned as he was, Spike decided to play along with her “joke” instead of lying by denying her unknowingly accurate image. “Well, Miss Smarty Pants, I’ll have you know that I bought a new blanket for such errands.”

His comment transformed Beth’s giggles into laughter, leaving Spike a moment to wonder if she was ever going to put all the pieces of her memories into one picture.

.

Not wanting to know the answer to such a disastrous question, Spike leaned over and placed the fingertips of his hand on the side of her face, ever so gently turning her to look into his eyes. He kissed her while she’s still laughing, capturing her smile and feeling a transfer of her merriment to his own lips.

When she tasted him, her amusement changed to passion with joy staying on as a welcome passenger. Her tongue explored his as her arms crept over his shoulder to hold on tight, not wanting to let him go away, any space between them was excruciatingly too far. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t shared a kiss before. Their first kiss on his bed when she had found him injured, and others shared the next day on his sofa watching TV had been tentative at first but each kiss was just as sweet but more exciting each time. This kiss carried more intensity, more heat, and much more hunger. With the move to another place like as under the oak trees, tranquility permeated their surroundings and called for gentle lovemaking as opposed to hot, devouring sex. Accordingly, the touch of their lips reflected the setting and resulted in a burning but intimate caress.

After the intense taste of her lips, he pulled back looked down into her face. Trying to soak in her golden beauty as she looked up at him with yearning in her hazel eyes, the words escaped out of his mouth on their accord. “So sweet. Oh god, kitten, you are so incredibly sweet.”

‘I’m the sweet one, huh?’ Beth thought while trying to catch her breath. ‘I am going to show you just how sweet *you* are, William.’ With the corners of her mouth beginning to tilt up, Beth’s hand moved from his shoulder up to behind his head and pulled him back down to her. Much too much space between them. Just before their lips met again, she whispered into his slightly open mouth, “Then taste me again, William, or better yet…let me taste you.”

Without being told, Spike intuitively knew to hold as still as he could and follow her lead, which he later thought may have very well been a mistake. Her moist pink tongue slipped out between her lips to follow a trail across his sculpted, upper lip and then back across his oh so sexy, lower lip. When she completed the tasty circuit, she brought the tip of her tongue to the corner of his mouth along the gap between his lips from side to side, but not venturing in. Motionless, Spike continued to follow her, her kisses became an intense fire but still infuriatingly brief. Each quick kiss to follow was punctuated by an impish smile in between.

With a growl starting from deep within him, Spike loved the playfulness, but was also frustrated that she wouldn’t hold still long enough for him to kiss her good and proper. And longer. Grrh.

Belatedly, Spike realized that he had been wrong before. She wasn’t just sweet, but she was also sweet torture. With his need roaring in his ears, Spike tried to take back control, needing to press his mouth to her own and sending the kisses deeper. However, Beth wasn’t ready to relinquish her control. Going on instinct mixed with pleasure, she pulled him down with her to lie in the grass. Now this garden path he was happy to follow her down. Never breaking the kiss, Spike shifted them so he was on his side between her and the tree, rolling her to face him at the same time. Oh, how he wanted to roll on top of her, feeling her body fully against him, but that unfortunately also meant rubbing his very noticeable erection on her. And that implied quite a bit more than he wanted to at this point. Surprising even himself, he wanted to be on his best behavior and take smaller steps with Beth than he and Buffy hand taken, which had really been just one big leap. However, his hand resting on her side didn’t seem to want to follow his restrictive plan and as he stroked her back and her side, his hand slid up to brush just underneath her breast.

Since meeting Beth, Spike left his hair on the top of his head to slightly curl, fearing that the slick back looks would look too familiar. Regardless of the style, Beth was still drawn to the bleach blonde locks. She raised her hand from where it had been resting on his shoulder and entangled her fingers into the side and then the back of his hair, loving the feel of the curls springing free of the gel and listening to him practically purr. With her hand on the back of his head, she slowly but firmly encouraged his lips harder onto her own. While at the same time, she rolled from her side onto her back, taking him with her so that his face was now over hers and the upper part of his body was pressing her down into the thick, cool grass.

Taking in their new position, Spike pulled back, searching her face, trying to decide if Beth realized she was inviting him to more than sharing kisses. The invitation in her eyes and smile on her lips told him that she did. His mouth descended on hers with his tongue passing between her teeth, deeply searching and tasting. And she met his intensity full on, pressing back into the kiss hard enough that her head left the ground. As their passion continued to soar higher, Spike slid his hand up her rib cage to cup her breast and brushed his thumb across her erect nipple. At the contact, Beth moaned into his mouth. Loving her response, Spike brought his index finger and thumb together to gently roll her hard nipple, slightly pulling, causing her to arch up against his hand with a gasp.

Spike would have never guessed show good it felt to lay in the grass enjoying something as simple as kisses and fondling a woman, where in the past, it would have just been a quick prelude to fucking. This interlude with her made his passion soar, kissing instead touching, ecstasy. However, the passion soon soared a little higher when he felt her hand slide over his jeans down his hard shaft to finally cup his cock and balls. So much for the plans of keeping this little and playful. This little kitten was going to show him what she wanted. With their mouths now devouring each other, she continued to stroke his balls as the heal of her hand rubbed up and down his throbbing erection.

Spike had always been careful to breathe when with Beth even though it was unneeded, but Spike was the one to pull back from their kiss, feeling like he needed air instead of her. He closed his eyes for a moment, determined to pull his desire back in check.

Quickly withdrawing her hand from his genitals, Beth started to chew her bottom lip, “Did I do something wrong?

Something I shouldn’t have? Something I should have?”

Spike’s blue eyes shot back open and locked with her hazel eyes. He stroked his hand down the side of her face. “Oh no, pet. The problem is that you did everything so right. But as much as I’m enjoying this, I was just scared that if we went any further like we were headed, I would embarrass myself by coming in my jeans.” Spike winced. ‘A little too graphic, mate,’ Spike thought as he watched her blush.

But then the look of determination reformed to her sparkling, hazel eyes. “I wouldn’t want you to mess up your jeans.”

Contrary to the innocent look on her face, Spike nevertheless felt her hand at the button of his jeans. “So let’s just take them off. Problem solved.”

He reached down and stilled her hand, holding her warmth in his grasp. “Wait a sec, luv, do you know what you are doing?”

Confused, Beth took the question at face value. “I’m not a virgin; I know how to have sex. I’ve only been with three guys, but I’ve figured it out…Is it that you don’t want me?”

“Oh god no, sweetness, I’m flattered that you would want to choose a bloke like me, but what I was asking was if you realize that things would permanently change between us if we were to have sex and would never be able to go back to how they were?” He wanted so much to call it making love but didn’t want to make any implications, and he couldn’t help thinking how sex, which for Buffy had not been making love, had forever changed his relationship with her. After the slayer’s death and resurrection, they had gone from tentative friends and allies to lovers without mutual love, to a horrid mess that never was completely patched up, even after he won his soul and accepted him back as friend and ally.

Still not completely understanding, Beth tilted her and frowned, “Color me confused, but what do you mean?”

Spike rolled onto his back and ran his hand through his hair, freeing any curls that were still held by gel. Trying to push all the painful memories aside for the moment, Spike sighed and looked up at the canopy above them. “I’ve mucked this up. Ok, let’s approach this at a different angle. What happened with the other three guys? Assuming that you weren’t wed and lived happily ever after, so being with me are just weekend binges.” Spike joked with a smile trying to put her back at ease.

Feeling a little more relaxed again, Beth gave a little laugh. “I thought the first one, Andy, was the love of my life. He was the older, mysterious, brooding type. But he left me to go to Los Angeles, thinking I should find someone better. I eventually got over him. You know how first loves go. Embarrassingly enough, the second one, Palmer, was a one-night stand. I was stupid and fell for his full court press. Ugh! The last, Ryan, was a Mr. Perfect. Tall, handsome, boyish charm, always polite. He loved me, and I tried to love him but just couldn’t. He finally left me to go into the military. So, William, you could say that you are a weekend binge, but I don’t have a hubby stuck away back in Sunnydale. Just you in Sacramento and no one else needed.”

“But did stay friends with them.” Spike prodded her further, not as question but more of a statement. “All but Mr. One Night Stand.”

Beth shrugged. “Not close buddies but friends. Well, distant friends.”

Spike quietly stared at the leaves and shadows above for a few minutes. He had not failed to notice how closely her boyfriends in this reality resembled her relationships with Angel, Parker, and Riley. Even the names were very close. But he also had noticed that any facsimile of him had not been part of her new life. The only question was if Buffy and The Power That Be had not wanted any semblance of him in her new life or his history with her had yet to be written. For that matter was their history being written now? If so, he prayed to any god that would listen that this time they did not mirror the first time around. If he was truly blessed with this second chance, he was going to make sure to avoid the awful mistakes from before. And the start with Beth had been promising, knock on wood. Beth was not holding anything back and obviously wanted him. Something he was still getting use to. But Spike still had worries for the future. Taking in a deep breath, he prepared himself to open up to her as much as he can in an effort to further explain his withdrawl. “I couldn’t stand to be a small recreational detour of your life. I know it sounds sappy, but I would rather just be friends than to later walk away as ex-lovers. Like you, I’ve had only three lovers. One was like your one night stand, a few more nights longer but a bump in the road you later say, ‘Bloody hell, I should have driven around instead.’ The other two I loved.” Spike paused, fearing that his voice would crack in the next part. “One left me for another…man, shredding my heart she walked away. With the last, what started out as animosity became adoration, and I ended up loving her more than life. But this little tale ends badly also. Regardless of how hard I tried, it never really worked out between us because she could never justify being with me, no matter how she felt. And in all honesty, I didn’t deserve her. Maybe given more time…but it ended before that.” Spike thought of the irony of telling Beth, the reincarnation of Buffy, about his relationship from start to finish with Buffy. One of those sodding cosmic jokes he supposed.

He moved to sit back up again the tree, and she followed suite. “I’m sorry, William. Those two women were both fools.”

“Well, the cosmic jokes kept coming,’ Spike thought. Now the reincarnation of Buffy was trying to comfort him about his failed relationships with Dru and Buffy herself.

Both were silent for a moment, thinking while listening to the sound of wind in the trees.

Breaking the companionable pause, Spike tried to continue his explanation. “What I have taken the long way around to tell you is that as much as I l…like you and enjoy being with you, I can’t go through all the pain again. Up until now, we have just been having fun, going out, spending time together, harmless kisses, but if we go to that next level of intimacy, I just couldn’t stand to loose…”

To stop his nervous but touching speech, she put her hand on the side of his face, forcing him to turn his head to look at her. When she could look into his eyes, Beth leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “William. You are not a bump while driving, not even a detour. I don’t know where this between us is headed, but believe me, I’m on the exact road I sincerely want to be. So relax, worry man. I know this kind of intimacy will change our relationship, but I want that change and I want this between us to work.” She shifted around to lay back down, this time using his thighs for a pillow. “Hell, I wanted to hop in your bed since that first day in the mall, and when I walked away that day, I knew that I should be with you. So let’s kick back, relax and enjoy this little, beautiful spot and the animal follies.”

When she finally felt the tense muscles of his legs relax under her head, she reached her hand back in a silent request for him to hold. After a hesitation, she felt his hand grasp her own, and then she brought it around to lie on her stomach so she could draw whimsical patterns on the back of his hand. Beth smiled when she felt him start playing with her hair. She first felt him wrapping a strand of her hair around his finger and then rhythmically stroking. His simple caresses soon lulled her asleep. Not that he didn’t still have worries about the future, Spike smiled down at her as he continued caressing her, pleased to see that, if judging by the smile on her beautiful face, she must be having a pleasant dream, hopefully dreaming of him just as he dreamed of her night after night.

*****

Continue to Part 2

“Bugger it all to hell, I hate being noble,” Spike grumbled as he hurled a book across his library. Watching the novel hit a wall and fall to the floor, he ran his hand through his already mussed up hair. “Never works. All virtuous acts ever seem to do is backfire and make me loose my bleedin’ temper. Well, not that I normally need an excuse to get right pissed.” Picking the sorely abused book back up, Spike resumed his pacing along with his tirade. “Not withstanding a sodding inferior vamp joke, most noble acts just all around suck. My latest shot was a right cock up which just ended up making me as randy as a college freshman spending spring break at a beach on an island in the Caribbean.”

Their day spent in the cemetery had almost been surreal, but it had been a very real, very willing Beth. After their kissing and her acceptance of a future for their relationship, he had sat there, stroking his fingers through her varying shades of blonde. But then reality came crashing back down, and bugger all, no matter how pathetic of a love-sick wanker he was, he just couldn’t go through the inevitable torture that came with loving Buffy even if she was in the new form of Beth.

His few times alone with Buffy had been like sneaking into a little corner of Heaven. After the Hellmouth was closed, Spike thought of his existence as a type of purgatory, with him knocking on the locked gates of Heaven for fighting the good fight but still doomed to hell for being a demon that killed for over one hundred years. He had accepted his lot in his unlife, but now with Beth, he was beginning to believe he could visit that corner of Heaven again.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t a fool to think there was any kind of future with her since this relationship would be temporary at best. Beth didn’t even know that vampires were actually real, and Spike suspected that before he could even finish explaining and showing her about demons, she would probably run screaming all the way to Alaska.

Considering all these sodding points, Spike nobly decided it was wisest to keep her at arms length. However, keeping Beth at arm’s length was turning out to be a Herculean task, and he certainly wasn’t and had no desire to be ninny Hercules. Hell, this act of chivalry was harder than getting a soul. The sodding problem was he couldn’t bring himself cut off all contact with this beautiful blonde he had worshipped for so long, but he wanted to keep their relationship friendly instead of intimate. Play it safe. Bullocks, he knew that it just wasn’t a Spike-like thing to do.

To help to stick to his decision, Spike thought it best to avoid intimate situations by sticking to public locations. Hence, for last Saturday, he bought tickets to an amusing play, made restaurant reservations, and made sure she didn’t have a chance to come up to the loft afterwards. Above all, he needed to avoid any physical contact.

However, when Spike returned Beth to her car at the end of the night, he must not have consulted Beth’s plans because before he could dodge out of the way, she had pulled him down and kissed his lips. She tasted so persuasively sweet that all he wanted was more. Luckily she ended the kiss with a moan of pleasure and a sassy wink before she left. Kicking himself, Spike knew that he was such a bleeding pushover, but at least with her gone, he was safe from temptation again. For the next week, Beth was out of sight and hopefully out of mind most of the time. Make that half of the…Ok, a little of the time…while he was asleep…in between his dreams of her. Then Thursday the little minx called informing him that she would see him at the loft Friday and hung up before he could form the first words of his reply. Maybe he needed a good thump to his noggin since he should have known then that Beth was going to knock down his short, incomplete wall that he really didn’t want to build between them anyway.

*****

On the other hand, Beth had a different view of their relationship. Driving toward Sacramento on Friday, Beth thought back to the previous weekend and decided the best way to describe her last visit to see William was major league tense. An A+ in tension. Once she had seen the phrase “sexual tension” in a romance novel but thought the phrase was an exaggeration to heat up the story. Well, she certainly knew better now. Actually, this electricity between her and William shot right past tension to its own torture for lovers. And how in the hell did things between them start so fairytale-like, and then become so wonky? Not like they fought or anything. Well, they did have heated, intense debates at times, but not fights per se.

Their time kissing in the cemetery had been magical, but then he had weirded out. William had “suddenly remembered” that he had to go out on a job and hurriedly walked her to the Jeep to say goodbye. And “say” was the operative word since the goodbye was all talk and no kissage. Regardless, Beth promised William to see him the next weekend.

However, a sicky-bug invaded the Summers’ home that week. Beth ran a fever on Wednesday and Thursday, and then her mother came down with it by Friday. Unfortunately, her mom wasn’t faring as well as Buffy had. Joyce had high fevers that made her as weak as a new born kitten, too weak to walk to the kitchen or negotiate the stairs. Any food Joyce could manage to get down bounced back up like her stomach was a trampoline. Beth was happy to look after her mom, returning her mother’s care from all the times her mom had taken care of her. The only down side was that she couldn’t go to Sacramento that weekend. But when she called William to let him know, for a couple of seconds of his reply, he sounded disappointed, but then he sounded more removed.

Originally Beth had thought she wouldn’t be able to get away from Sunnydale for the next weekend, but with major effort, she was finally able to free up Saturday afternoon and night. She drove to Sacramento as if chased by hungry cannibals whose had a preference for short blondes. She was stunned when she arrived. Usually in rather casual attire, Buffy didn’t know what to think when she found William in a nice pair of pants and a nice button down shirt. Next, he surprised her with tickets to a play and reservations in a nice restaurant. The play was funny, the food afterwards was yummy, but William was a gorgeous, blonde *stiff.* And it was not the good bulge in the pants kind of stiff that she had felt pressing against her briefly that day they had lain in the grass. But that night, he was the not joking, barely smiling, overly serious kind of stiff. The wrong-o-meter in her head was dinging like crazy. Unfortunately, as soon as they had returned back to his loft, she had to leave to go back to Sunnydale, and she highly suspected William planned that timing specifically. Why? She didn’t know, but before she got into her car, she still pulled him down for a kiss before she left, a kiss way too chaste than she had had in mind. At least a little tongue. What a rip.

So many other little things had been missing that night. She wanted to see his blue eyes darken to a deep sapphire when he gave her a steamy look, which made her hot in all the right places. Looking at her with longing and desire. She wanted to watch him tilt his head when teasing her and the way he listened and talked to her without ever making her feel like a dumb blonde as other people had. And unbelievably, she was actually shocked to think that she missed his sarcasm that usually made her laugh. And the kisses, those should have been on the top of her list of things she missed. Their kisses had been getting hotter and hotter and always making her wanting more. Yes, more whether he thought it was a good idea or not, which she suspected was going on.

After thinking through the evening again and again and again, what she remembered the most were his eyes after she kissed him to say goodbye. They were the only sign that he wasn’t really as distant as he wanted her to believe. In his eyes, she saw passion and desire swirling together to make a blue fire burning for her. So here she was, driving back to Sacramento with her thoughts coming back full circle to sexual tension. During that drive she decided that particular term described their current relationship perfectly. The problem was that the term was usually about two people that wanted to have sex but can’t, unfortunately in their case, she and William could have sex but don’t. Or more exactly, he won’t. So not of the good.

Ha! The joke’s on him, though. Instead of putting her off, his cool demeanor made Beth all the more determined. She carefully planned her next moves and executed the first steps to perfection. After packing for the whole weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Beth intentionally “forgot” to call her dad to let him know that she would be coming to town, kissed her mom good-bye, and headed out with her stubborn face firmly in place. She was going to kick this relationship up a notch; William just didn’t know it yet.

*****

When Beth arrived with her book bag slung over her shoulder, she played her hand close to her chest. She hesitated at the door, thinking through her plan a couple more times. Usually she barged into his loft without knocking, but this time she wondered if she should take the more polite approach. She didn’t barge into anyone else’s house. Well…maybe Willow’s and Xander’s sometimes, but they didn’t really count since they were her best friends, did they? But this was a bachelor’s home. He could be in the middle of an activity, some bachelor type doings such as running around in the buff or something. ‘And the down side of his nakedness is…? What am I waiting for?’ With a wicked grin, Buffy shrugged, and without knocking, forcibly pushed the door wide open. “Hi. I’m here,” she sing-songed as she passed through the foyer. Beth set her school book-bag on the sofa before heading into the kitchen to grab something to drink. She barged into his loft, so why not barge into his refrigerator. As she entered the kitchen, Spike came out of his bedroom buttoning his shirt, Beth was a little disappointed because he was fully clothed. As she opened the refrigerator, she was sure that a naked William would have been much better.

“Hello to you too, pet.” He raised an eyebrow in her direction enjoying the view of her ass as she bent over to look around the frig.

‘He had better appreciate the view,’ Beth thought as she rummaged around. ‘But a little wiggle or two of my butt couldn’t hurt.’ When she heard his low groan, she knew that the first act of her show was definitely working. When she turned around, William was facing her on the other side of the counter that opened up to the living room. She couldn’t see below his waist, but he did look a little strained. She wanted to laugh at his attempt to hide his erection. ‘Color me enticing,’ Beth thought as she gave him a sparkling smile. “Nice shirt. What kind of pants are you wearing?” She asked while leaning over the counter trying to see for herself, but he quickly blocked her view by cinching up against the counter. ‘Bad Beth,’ she scolded herself but she just couldn’t help herself from teasing him. His expression was just so cute that she wanted o kiss his nervousness away.

At her words, Spike chose to assume she didn’t want to see the massive bulge in his pants. As she backed off and poured a drink, he assessed more of her clothes since he could no longer ogle her delectable ass. Black warm up pants with a baggy sweatshirt? Huh? “Pet, I thought we would go out tonight.”

She kept her face down, watching the diet coke she was pouring into a glass. She knew if he saw her face, she would give her seductive plans for the evening away. “No, I was hoping we could stay in. This week’s been way up on the crazy scale, and I don’t want to make with the party mode.” After putting the bottle back into the refrigerator, she picked up her drink. Then Beth walked around, out of the kitchen she made herself comfortable next to her book bag on the leather sofa. “Besides, I didn’t think you would mind helping me study for a couple of exams I have next week.” She purposely didn’t give him a chance to argue.

While she had been looking away, Spike rubbed his eyes and resigned himself that they were staying in for the evening. Beth in the loft for a span of time made it too bloody tempting to haul her into his bedroom and not let her out until she had to return to Sunnydale for her first class on Monday. Or maybe her Tuesday or Wednesday’s classes. Or even better, skip the whole sodding week of classes since she was going to return to him next Friday anyway. Ummm, he could picture her in his bed, naked, golden hair on the pillow, a smile on her face just for him… Way too many graphics floating around in his head and settling below his waist. Change of thoughts definitely required. “So, luv, do you want something to eat. I could run out and pick it up.” For awhile, that would take away his temptation to hold her, kiss her, and much more. Damn, he really needed to excuse himself and take a cold shower.

‘Oh no,’ Buffy thought, ‘you’re not getting off so easy.’ She gave him a bright smile. “Let’s just have something delivered. I know, pizza! The staple of the delivery business. And yummy.” Wanting to laugh, she watched him head to the phone. ‘Yes. Now all I need to do is get him on this sofa with me.’

Spike thought as he looked up the number to the local pizza delivery, ‘No way, I’m sitting on that sofa with her. If she’s going to study, then I will read a book in my library. That should keep my did in check. The history of the North Pole or something like that. Cold and nothing arousing about it.’ When he came back into the living room, he sat down in a chair with coffee table between his seat and the sofa. “So, what are you studying, pet?”

“The Psyche of the Criminal Mind for my major and an elective that I should have taken my freshman year, Twentieth Century European History.

“Do you like…?”

However, before he could even finish his question, Buffy began the next scene in Act Three. “Is it hot in here?” Not waiting for an answer yea or nay, Beth set the book in her lap onto the coffee table. Then grabbed the bottom hem of her sweat shirt and whipped it off over her head, revealing a white sports bra which left little to his imagination, such as her erect nipples. For this occasion, she had actually gone out with Willow in tow, to hunt for the skimpiest, sexiest sports bra she could find that would also push up her breasts for optimal viewing pleasure. Willow had been horrified at first, but over lunch, Beth explained her purpose for the shopping trip. By the time they were finished eating, Willow and Beth were giggling over how skimpy a top they could locate for Beth. In fact, Willow found the winner of the seductive sports bra award. Judging by William’s reaction when he first saw the top, Beth made a note to tell Willow that her choice was perfect.

After setting the sweat shirt aside, she made a show of reaching for another book sitting on the table close to him, making sure to give a good view of her cleavage as she reached past him. Looking at his face out of the corner of her eyes, she could see his widely startled eyes focused on her breasts and exposed skin. William’s eyes shift from his normal ice blue to a dark sapphire filled with desire, and he quickly too the book he had been reading and flipped it over and to it down to cover his lap. Damn, she should have looked down faster to enjoy the sight of his bulging hard-on she knew she had him so far. A sense of feminine satisfaction coursed through Beth’s body only to be quickly pushed aside by her own raging desire for him.

Later, when she glanced over at William reading in his chair, and she could tell he had relaxed again, Beth knew that it was time for act 3. After a few minutes, Buff broke the silence. “Do you know anything about the early twentieth?”

Thankful for a topic other than her breast to think about, Spike rolled his eyes and chuckled. He couldn’t exactly tell her that he not only knew about that particular time, but that he had actually lived it, as well as the end of the ninetieth century. And for her other class, he could tell her about the criminal mind from personal experience. “Actually, luv, I know quite a bit about that period of time. What do you want to know?”

Beth put on the most confused while innocent expression she could conjure up on her face. “Color me confused about this whole section in this book.”

”Well, read it to me, and I’ll help you out.”

Beth shook her head hoping that her hair was swinging attractively. “It’s way too long to read out loud. Come over here and read so we can discuss it.”

Spike knew better than to get that close when he could practically see her breasts through that transparent top. “Just pass it over here, pet, so I can read it”

‘So the hottie was going to play stubborn, was he?’ Beth thought she saw a flash of determination in her eyes. “There are graphs and pictures that go along with the reading, so we need to look at them together. Come over here, please. I won’t attack you or anything.”

Spike shut his eyes while running his hand through his hair. ‘That’s the rub,’ Spike inwardly groaned, ‘I wouldn’t mind jumping you.’ Still holding his book in a strategic location, Spike moved so he could sit down next to her, making sure there was as much space as possible between them. Unfortunately Beth immediately changed that situation.

Beth scooted over to sit as close to William as possible so that their knees actually touched, while she pointed out the section for William to read.